Ancestral Teeth

Terence pokes Gaius awake.

Huuh....what is it? sighs Gaius.

Wrong notes, says Terence. 

Can't be, says Gaius.

They seem to be about the wrong possum, says Squattu.

Let me see, grumbles Gaius. Aha. This is a note I made on the chunia plegei. If you read on, you'll come to my notes on the Leadbeater's possum.

Oh, says Squattu. My mistake for not reading on.

Not at all, says Gaius. My notes can be sometimes confusing. I jot things down any old where. But in this case I thought, should we be fortunate enough to meet a Leadbeater's possum, it might be interested in the peculiar tooth structures of its distant ancestor.

I'm sure it would, says Squattu. Chunia plegei. I'll try to remember.

Who cares about an old tuna possum? says Terence. 

Chunia, says Gaius. As in chewing.

Chewing? asks Squattu. 

To help him remember the teeth, says Gaius. 

Are we there yet? asks Terence.

No, says Gaius. Continue reading the notes on the Leadbeater's possum, Squattu.

Gaius closes his eyes to finish the forty winks he was having.

Terence slides off his seat.

I'm going to walk to the end of the carriage, says Terence.

Go ahead, says Squattu. 

And I'm taking the drone, says Terence.

Don't take it out of the box, says Squattu.

Terence takes the box out of Pierre-Louis's back pack, and walks off.

He reaches the end of the carriage.

He takes the drone out, then the controller.

Then he puts the drone back in.

Is that a drone? asks a kid who had seen Terence walk past with a drone box.

Yes, says Terence. It's mine. 

Can I have a go? asks the kid.

No, says Terence. It's an outside drone.

They work inside too, says the kid. Let me show you.

No, says Terence.

But the kid takes the controller from Terence and fiddles with the knobs.

The drone rises from the drone box, and hovers, then shoots forward, stops and comes back to the box.

Cool drone, says the kid. How come a little kid like you's got it?

I'm on a science team, says Terence. We're looking for.....possums.

What kind of possums? asks the kid.

Tuna possums, says Terence.

Ha ha, says the kid. You won't find any. They went extinct.

It's surprising what kids know these days.

Not tuna possums, chewing possums, says Terence remembering.

Same, says the kid.