Herrera said,“What is this?”

   Everyday we discover something new. At first, we thought bacteria were independent organisms. To our surprise we discovered they actually communicated with each other through a medium we call, quorum sensing. Just when I thought the real excitement of discovery was coming to an end. On my fourth tour at the Amazon jungle, in a park full of  brown-throated sloths and golden-headed manakins, I stumbled upon a Picasso.

      That day, march 4, 2017, I can never forget. After taking lots of pictures of a lek of manakins practicing their courtship dance. I sat beneath a Cocos nicifera tree. In my bag pack, I had a sandwich, chocolate bread stuffed with peanut butter  and jam. To drink, a bottle of   Pepsi. Hmm! Can't wait to get started. While the delicious meal took my breath away. I felt something moving at my back. At first, it was soothing. I thought to myself, maybe its just my reaction to such salivating meal. That movement gradually became uncomfortable. I stopped eating, took a step forward and turned to see a transparent fluid as shapeless as amoeba.It was moving from the root of the Cocos nicifera tree to a pile of loamy soil close by. At that moment I did not notice that my camera had switched to camcorder mode, and, it was busy recording that awkward moment. I took a piece of dried branch and tried to pin it down, but it ran into a hole that I did not notice earlier. In my 15 years as a zoologist, I have never read or seen anything like that 9 inch amorphous monstrous fluid . After about five minutes still rapped in shock, my thoughts became aligned. "Why didn't I take a picture of that thing?" I asked myself. The only proof I thought I had was my shirt. That guy must have put some of its genetic material on me. I pulled off my shirt and placed it in a nylon bag. My shirt, just became a specimen.

     Heart broken, the spirit of excitement that made me take pictures left me. I switched off my camera and returned to my hotel room. My aid, Herrera was excited to upload my pictures from the camera to the system. He's always excited. After some minutes of awkward silence, I got worried and asked,

                                      "Herrera, what is it?"

He looked at me with a curious smile and answered.

                              "Mr Albrighton, What is this? "

I turned my attention to the monitor and saw the video of the monstrous  fluid organism that I just encountered. My mood glowed brighter than the dog star. It was like that classic moment in a movie where  a mans life is about to change in a split of  seconds. I grabbed Herrera by his head, with my both hands and kissed his forehead.

            "This, my boy, is my ticket to the hall of fame."

I knew I had to take every step with absolute care because, I'm not the only hungry explorer in this parts. I told Herrera to spend the night in my room and begged him not to share what he just saw with anything alive.

Taking a closer look at the video, I observed something. I thought I saw the amorphous transparent fluid organism go into a hole. But what I saw in the video amazed me. The giant disguised it body shape as a circle and sat on the soil like a chocolate cup cake. To me it looked  like a hole because the transparent fluid deceived me eyes like a magnifying glass. It magnified the black spot I saw by making it look like an infinite hole. This guy is a chameleon cheat. A mimic octopus philosopher stone. It was able to this, in a blink of an eye. It was right in front of me all along. I must think carefully on how to study it, capture it. And maybe, just maybe, I would get a Nobel prize for biology.

       The next day, march 5, 2017, I woke that morning with a weird eccentric feeling. Its like I was in an action movie, where the good guy wakes up with great aspiration and fire. And in the background, a slow charismatic tune that sets the audience on an imaginative ledge. 

      KNOCK!!!!   KNOCK!!! HOUSE KEEPING!

That must be Mrs Mariana. I can identify her lovely voice any time any day. Herrera sluggishly reached for the door and let her in.

     "Senior Al-bite-ton, I see you and Herrera have been busy all night."

     "How many times will I tell you Mrs Mariana its Albrighton."

      "OK! I brought fresh towels, slippers and your dry cleaned soldier shorts and shirts."

"Oh! Thank you Mrs Mariana you are a darling. Hmm! Are those lemon I smell." 

                    "Yes, its our own locally made starch"

                 "Wow! I never get tired of hearing you say that"

           "Herrera, make sure you wash up  quickly, and learn from senior Al-bite-ton.       

           Some day you will save us from those big pockets who are tearing down our           heritage and calling it modern globalization."

        "Yes ma!"

      "Mrs Mariana, I would love some hot cocoa with ginger and six tea spoon of evaporated milk."

        "OK! senior Al-bite-ton, I'll make that for you."

She gently leaves the room and closes the door behind her. I looked at Herrera and said,

        "When will she learn to pronounce my name right?"

He smiled like always and nodded his head sideways. After few minutes of taking turn in the shower, my hot cocoa as ordered was on point. My day was ready to get right on track. Herrera in his own way was ready for my first speech about our classified mission that we were about to begin. With a giant loaf of bread on his right hand and a pocket knife covered with peanut butter, that awkward silence rang in my ears.

       "Now listen carefully, we have a big day ahead of us. First, we must plan on how each event must occur, and avoid unwanted  suspicion. We have a good advantage and bad a advantage.The bad news is, I don't have a personal lab. The person that I know that does, is a giant pain in the ass. Do you know what I mean?"

                    "Yes, I certainly do"

           "OK! I need a sophisticated lab to analyze the DNA of that amorphous  monstrous transparent  fluid organism."

           "That is a long name. Since this is more like a covet op... Why not AMT!"

          "No! that will surely attract suspicion. We have to cloak that abbreviation in a word of some sort. Like, uncle Sam for United states of America. It as to be close to common words used every day."

          "Why don't you take the video to the institute of zoology in London and get all the help you need?"

         "Not in these days of media apocalypse. You don't go to those guys half corked. Someone may snatch my discovery right under my nose. I need to do much more than that. Proof that it exist."

           "But, Mr Albrighton, that is a difficult task."

           "That why we are scientist. we fight till we get the result we want. If we get this right. Our names will be remembered for generations.  So, are you in or out."

             "I'm definitely in. Besides, you won't survive a day in the jungle without my help."

          "That's true, now, on the name, hmm!!! what do you think about, amtracks"

            "No! Water is a good common name for such thing. Since we know its transparent and shapeless. Pure water is transparent and sometimes look shapeless. It takes the shape of its containing vessel."

           "You see, we have just started, and you proof to be a genius already. Yes! Water it is. To the good news, of which you just did. We have our initiatives to guide on this journey. One other  thing we can observe from the video is that it was on the stem of a Cocos nicifera tree and like chameleon it can blend in with its immediate background and like the mimic octopus it possesses the ability to  impersonate. In this case, it impersonated a hole. Which can only mean that this organism is a lot more smarter than it looks."

                "We must answer the question why now? Until this moment, why haven't we as humans discovered this organism? Have this organism been right under our noses all this time. Is it a result of today activities, i.e Did it undergo evolution. Having a parent family from the group of living organism that we know or is it a complete alien (from  another planet). I'm sure much more questions will pop up as we go on.

   Your today duty is to find out all you can about the Cocos nicifera tree. Water was on it for a reason. Since it might have perceive my disturbance while I took pictures. Why didn't it hide from me. Why did it let me relax on it? Gosh... I might be undergoing some kind of change in personality as we speak. Their is about a million possibility as to what may be going on. So like I said, you take Cocos nicifera"

             "What about you Mr Albrighton, what will you do today."

             "I  will, go to the pain in the ass friend of mine that as a lab here in Brazil. And try to find out what kind of DNA sequence that organism possesses."

             "How are you going to do that. You don't have a specimen"

            "I do, my shirt, the one I put yesterday. It in a nylon in my bag pack . Thank God for forensics, I think I can salvage something from it."

        "Let the games begin..."

TO BE CONTINUED...