Ben Blazze and Heimdall's Orb

Chapter 14: The Octopus Chef

The walkway led them further into the building until they reached a large hall full of tables and chairs - the refectory. It was packed already. A line of students passed slowly in front of a counter, where the daily dishes were displayed. Behind it, a huge green octopus-like creature served the students' trays using six of its tentacles while standing on the remaining two.

Ben followed the others to get in line. Sweetflower picked up a tray specially made for Caelis and hovered in the air, just behind Ben. On the back wall, behind the octopus, Ben saw the menu of the day:

Loosabian leech hamburger;Bicapitibus-crane liver souffle; Tengshenese vegetable risotto; Assorted fresh vegetables (beware of Theta Chamaeleontis Bouncing Mushrooms!!);Naos 14's Blue-bat milk.

"Is it safe to eat those things?" Ben asked Sam.

"We have no reports of deaths," Sam replied, "but don't be alarmed if you suddenly feel like running to the bathroom or licking the floor."

"Stop scaring him, Sam," said Kaleb, then turned to Ben. "Relax, bro. You'll be fine. But whatever you do, don't let Chef Blorb..." he indicated the giant octopus with a subtle head tilt "... catch you complaining or scowling at his food. Trust me; you'd deeply regret it."

When Ben's turn was up, the chef asked him in a voice that seemed to come from an oceanic abyss:

"What do you want, skinny?"

"Some of everything, please."

Blorb made a sound that could have been a laugh or a principle of respiratory arrest and then served Ben's tray. The boy widened his eyes at Sweetflower in such a frightened expression that she almost dropped her plate, trying to hold back her laughter.

They found a table to fit the five of them and began to eat.

"I'll start attending the special classes tomorrow," Sweetflower said.

"What do you mean?" Ben asked as he tried the leech hamburger. It tasted like chicken gizzards, but much softer.

"Well, some races are so anatomically different from humans," Sam answered, cutting in on her, "that the SCAM could not disguise them as an ordinary person..."

"Right," Sweetflower said, cutting in back at Sam and frowning at him. "Those races can't live in human homes nor do regular human activities, even though they live in the outside world. Most Caelis, for instance, live in forests and woods where they can easily be transcoded into small animals if they accidentally bump into a human."

At that moment, a Bhillian boy – a race of centipede arthropods from the Zeta Reticulum system – desperately crawled past their table. He was trying to grab his bouncing mushrooms that had escaped from a knocked-down containment jar.

"I WARNED YOU!" Chef Blorb screamed so frighteningly that he made the boy jump up and bang his head under a table. Laughter burst out around, and Kaleb got up from his chair to help him pick up the mushrooms.

"For such cases," Sweetflower continued, ignoring the commotion, "the regular human classes are offered down here in the mornings. I've already applied using the ASIMOV's Aliennet page while hiding in your bag."

"Got it," Ben said, taking a sip of bat's milk. "Hey, this is good! It tastes like blueberry bubblegum."

So, they finished lunch. Ben seemed to enjoy almost everything but the pink vegetables that "tastes like phlegm." Kaleb, on the other hand, seemed to adore them and ate everything Ben set aside.

Leaving the cafeteria, they came across a pitiful scene: that obnoxious Giovinnian from their class was bullying an Edidar boy (the same race as their history teacher). The Edidar was much smaller and was full-on shaking, unable to answer anything as Eduardo, the Giovinnian, shouted at him:

"You insignificant library mouse! If you keep staring at me like that, I'll break you in half!" he said as he pushed the tiny boy by his forehead.

Seeing that, Ben approached and tried to calm things down: "Dude, you don't need that. I'm sure he meant no harm."

"What do you have to do with that?" Eduardo replied.

"Nothing, it's just... I think you're overreacting. Look at his state!"

"Get out of here, elf, or you'll get worse than him."

"Chill, Eduardo. No one wants to fight, bro," Kaleb interfered, keeping his calm manner but using his size and strength to command respect.

At that, Eduardo's friends approached, ready to fight.

"Why, Fern," mocked Eduardo, "are you this HALF-BREED elf's girlfriend now?" Seeing the surprise of others for using that word, he continued to offend Ben. "Yeah, I heard you talking. This trash is son to a human. He is worth nothing to me, like the rest of humans!"

When things got to the boiling point, a steady voice made everyone freeze:

"Stop that now! There will be no fight! Eduardo, go now to the coordinator's room. We'll talk there." It was an adult Vaghi that Ben hadn't met yet. Eduardo passed Ben bumping his shoulder and whispering a "you'll pay me" in his ear.

"What's the matter with that guy?!" Ben asked his friends while the adult Vagui attended to the Edidar boy – who was still shaking.

"Get used to it. Eduardo's an asshole," Sam replied.

"We've all had problems with him. He only gets along with those three jackasses who hang with him all the time," added Anna.

"How did he hear our conversation?" Ben asked.

"Those cats' hearing is sharp," Sweetflower replied. "We better be more careful."

The adult Vagui left, and the Edidar boy approached them.

"T-thanks, guys," he stuttered. "I'm G-Gabriel," he said, barely managing to raise his hand forward for Ben.

"I'm Ben," he replied, shooking Gabriel's hand.

"I-I know," Gabriel replied, turned around, and left. Ben watched him go for a second and then cast an inquiring look at Sam, who, in response, shrugged his four shoulders and raised his four hands.

"And that Vaghi, who is he?" Ben asked.

"That's our Alien Sociology teacher, Professor Rainor Ethir," Anna replied.