The Teacher's Tome [Quetz]

[Edgar Bookston]

Edgar sat on a bench in a calm park, eating some food he had bought a short while ago. In this reincarnation, he had been given the clothes of a regular middle class man and some pocket money, presumably one of God's little tricks to keep him from starving to death continuously. As he sat and ate, he looked around at the kids playing, the parents chattering and catching up on reading. This blissful peace put Edgar in a state of comfort.

[Karen Marlowe]

"Why do humans find so much enjoyment in the consumption of food?" asked a wide-eyed Karen appearing in front of him, "Isn't it only necessary for your continued survival?"

[Edgar Bookston]

"For me, I don't need food to survive," Edgar said, not surprised at the woman robot thing's appearance. "I'll just die, wake up, get hungry after a while. If I don't eat, I'll die, wake up, so on. I'm God's toy. But it's nice to enjoy the feel of flavors and textures on one's tongue," he noted, looking over to Karen. "You're being quite inquisitive, though. Never enjoyed food?"

[Karen Marlowe]

She shook her head, "I do not need such nourishment to survive like you."

She went over and sat next to him.

"You seem like you are well informed about humanity. Mind telling me more?"

[Edgar Bookston]

Edgar grabbed another bite of food and nodded. "Tell me what you want to know, ask any question, I'll answer to the best of my ability."

[Karen Marlowe]

"And do you wish for anything in return for your information?"

[Edgar Bookston]

"Hmmm... How about... A friend?" Edgar asked, holding out a hand. "I'd like a friend. The way I live, it's very hard for me to find one. So, trade?"

[Karen Marlowe]

"Friendship," she nodded, "That shall be first question then. What is friendship?"

[Edgar Bookston]

Edgar put down his hand and sat back, thinking for a moment. "Friendship... Is when two souls can communicate on a non-physical plane. When two beings trust each other, the crude term for what they have become is 'friends'."

[Karen Marlowe]

"What are souls?"

[Edgar Bookston]

"Souls are immaterial matter that supposedly exist in each and every living being."

[Karen Marlowe]

"What does it mean to be alive?"

[Edgar Bookston]

"... In all of my years of living, dying, and living again... I've never found the answer to that question," Edgar said, looking up at the sky in thought. "That's... A very good question..."

[Karen Marlowe]

"I see..." she nodded, "That's fine if you do not know the answer though i feel as if i will spend much time thinking about that question myself."

[Edgar Bookston]

"I do have one question for you... What are you?" Edgar asked calmly. "And I don't mean the whole, 'I'm human, I'm an alien, I'm a giant penis from Neptune.' I mean. What are you as a being?"