At School
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
James 1:5
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7:05 am
"Today's class is about 'Mandarin and the importance of China for the Revolution…!'" said the Teacher while erasing the board from the previous class and writing these words.
"We will study old documents and a bit more about the language!" he said, turning to the class.
Mengatto was in the first row, right beside Pavlichenko. They needed to be the best.
"This document I am sending to your phones is dated August 2024… It's been a while, huh?!" — no one laughed when a Teacher tried to be "funny," and this particular Teacher was known for being interesting, not funny.
He makes a gesture with his hand pointing his index finger upward, as if activating an important and comprehensible symbol for all those following the class; and in the span of one second, all the students' phones ring with the same sound in synchrony. Not their particular ringtone chosen by the user. But a ring impossible to avoid, even if the phone were on silent.
After all, a navigator is always superior to a phone. No matter the model.
The students, curious, open the received file:
[in red] 魔神 - 23/08/2024
Without making complex citations or overly dense analyses, let us compare the two largest economies in the world, [in red] China and [in blue] the USA; having as the core of the issue the so-called [in blue] "freedom".
[In red] China has [in red] 1.4 billion inhabitants, its incarcerated population is [in red] 1.64 million. [In blue] The USA has [in blue] 333.3 million inhabitants, its incarcerated population is [in blue] 2.3 million.
The incarcerated population of [in red] China represents [in red] 0.12% of its total population.
The incarcerated population of [in blue] the USA represents [in blue] 0.69% of its total population.
Which [in red] country is more [in red] free?
The population of [in red] China is [in red] 4.2 times the population of [in blue] the USA. When it comes to criminality, [in red] China seems to deal much better with its inhabitants, even possessing a much larger population; thus the number [in red] 0.12% is even more expressive. To make it clearer, for every person [in blue] the USA needs to worry about, [in red] China needs to worry about [in red] 4.2 people; if [in blue] the USA had the population of [in red] China, the number of prisoners, based on this statistic, would be approximately [in blue] 9.66 million people.
Did you get it? From [in blue] 2.3 million to [in blue] 9.66 million.
[In red] China has [in red] 1.64 million incarcerated people.
If the two countries had the same population, but each maintained its respective political/economic system, [in red] China would have in its prisons only [in red] 17% of the total number of prisoners of [in blue] the USA ([in blue] 9.66 divided by [in red] 1.64).
In this logic, [in blue/red] 100/17, [in blue] the USA imprisons [in blues] 5.88 times more people than [in red] China in general terms. Which [in red] country is more free?
This text is [in blue] liberal.
— Little ones, this document is from 魔神 (Mó Shén); the pronunciation is pretty funny indeed, and for those who are starting out in Mandarin and still can't manage it, you can say "MoShein."
The Teacher makes gestures with his finger, as if visualizing and pointing at information on a board, but this board is only visible in his mind and on the students' phone screens.
— Look at the elegance of this text…! The author signs indicating his side, while at the same time satirizing the enemy by demonstrating that they lose even within their own argumentative logic… Did you all understand?
— I didn't get anything, Professor…
— That's okay, Gabriel, I'll explain again… When "MoShein" uses the colors, it means several things: the side the author of the text defends, the logical contradiction used by the enemy, but mainly, that this document cannot be used as a scientific source. Because when the author puts the word "freedom" in quotes and in blue, he indicates that this is the concept of freedom defended by the enemy, and when he signs off by saying the text is in "liberal," he indicates that this is the form of interpretation the enemy has of the world; so, even in their own form of interpretation, the enemy loses.
— Shit, Professor, where did you pull all that from?
— Gabriel, watch your mouth… Pavlichenko, are you paying attention?
— I am, Professor, author's side… contradiction, enemy…
— She's dating, Professor! — this young man behind Pav and Mengatto was interested in Pav.
— What?! — Mengatto turns around; the young man is in the chair right behind Pavlichenko's chair, who is also turning to stare him in the eyes. She stops face-to-face with Melissa. The two of them stare at him; he shows no reaction. They look at each other and begin to laugh.
— Look how yummy, Douglas! — says Melissa, pretending to grope Pav's breasts, who can't stop laughing and keeps saying "Stop it, Mel… Stop…!"
Some boys who were "sleeping" in the back of the room point and say "Look at that, dude…!"
— Melissa…
— You wish, don't you, Doug? — says Mengatto while pretending to lift Pav's shirt, who is already out of control laughing very loudly.— Hey, Melissa…
— Too bad she likes wom...
— Pay attention, Mengatto! — yells the Teacher, hitting the board very hard with the eraser — Fuck! Do you think this is a joke?!
Everyone is silent now. Even who were sleeping in the back are awake at this moment.
— You have time to play around outside…! — the Teacher continues, out of control; Melissa and Pav keep their eyes down — In here it needs to be serious! A class like this can save your lives!
Silence. Even those who had nothing to do with the situation are embarrassed
— Do you want to see a war video?!
Several students in the back shout "I do!"
The Teacher makes a gesture with his finger, and all the phones begin displaying an aerial recording from a drone flying rapidly over some part of the immense Amazon Rainforest. At first only trees are visible, for the forest is very dense.
— Observe, this video shows the moment Captain Marcia Filippo was shot down… — the Teacher explains as the drone begins to slow down; it is now possible to see a wall of rocks revealing a small waterfall in the middle of the woods — She was on an escort mission; everyone on the team had already been shot down, but she decided to continue with the operation… — the drone begins to descend, and it is possible to see a black woman accompanying a young indigenous boy; they are passing along the margins of the lake that forms at the base of that waterfall — Pavlichenko, you don't have to watch if you don't want to…
Pav is watching the video through Mengatto's phone, which she holds in her hand; the captain in the video stops and looks at the drone following them, while the indigenous boy keeps walking without looking back. Then, from the trees in the background of the image, an object emerges from the woods flying at high speed. Pav closes her eyes and turns her face away; Melissa keeps watching and sees the missile strike between the two and obliterate them instantly.
— Whattahell, dude! — Gabriel.
— So we can die?!
Everyone is shocked. Pav didn't see that part, but she observes the horror on her classmates' faces.
— Yes, Douglas… Newcomers die every year.
It doesn't even seem like they were laughing 1 minute ago.
— Melissa, I'm sorry I spoke to you like that… But I want you to understand… I need you to understand…
— It's okay, Professor. — Melissa felt more relieved by the Teacher's apology.
— We think she made a mistake trying to use the Source Code; this revealed her position. Remember, our navigators are unlocked; we are not Creators with Properties. If we try to use the Source Code directly, we will be seen by its defenses! That is why we use technologies like Linux, which is an archaic computer language not used by the Source Code.
— Who was that boy? — Pavlichenko.
— He was an Ashaninka… Captain Filippo was trying to deliver him to his family… They don't fight the same war as us, but we are allies because we defend the same territory…
— How old was he, Professor?
— He was 13 or 14, Gabriel…
Everyone in the class was older than that.
(Linux is a computer language, or rather, a type of operating system. It is very popular and has several advantages because its structure is considered "open source." That is, the community itself builds the programs and improves them for the community itself. - Author's Note)
— Let's continue with the class, please... — everyone was now focused — Where were we again…?
— Professor, what about the "Chinese"?
— Good one, Patricia, you were quiet in class, huh? Mandarin… This is the official language of China. There are several dialects there, and because it is so large, a dialect in one point of China may not be able to communicate with another dialect in another point. The people of the south don't understand the north and vice versa, for example. The text I presented to you is signed by 魔神 (Mó Shén), and is in modern Mandarin; we don't know much about "MoShein," but we know this was a pseudonym, that is, it wasn't his or her real name. 魔 means demon, and 神 means god.
— Demon, Professor?!
— Yes, Pav, demon, but you need to understand what that means in that culture! The word 魔 (Mó) has a sense of sorcery, occult, magical, mystical. And the word 神 (Shén) has a sense of god, divinity, something divine or celestial. That is why 神龙 (ShenLong) means Dragon God, or Divine Dragon, where the word 龙 (Long) means dragon. It can also be a proper name.
"Ooh, I saw a cartoon that had a dragon named like that…!" commented a young woman in the back.
— Returning to the author, although 魔神 (Mó Shén) can mean Demon-God in Portuguese, this name in Mandarin has a more enigmatic sense, for it is the mixture of the occult, of sorcery, with something related to the divine, and not a sense connected to our Christian mythology… Our idea of demon…
— Hmm, how interesting… — Melissa.
— Continuing, how many tones exist in Mandarin?
"Four…!" some students answer, and the class continues…
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09:57 am.
Professor Otavio, introverted and clumsy, enters the room greeting the class, but without directing his gaze toward it.
— G-Good morning, Stud… ahh…!
He trips stepping on his own combat boot shoelace and falls hard at the entrance. Many students begin to laugh, but Pavlichenko and Mengatto stand up and immediately go to help the Teacher.
— Thank you, girls. I'm all right! — says the Teacher, recovering his posture and receiving the papers from Mengatto's hand. He walks to his desk, drops his belongings, and without saying a word, makes a circular motion with his finger, where all the phones emit the desired sound.
— Aw man, another long text, Professor? — said Douglas.
— Don't worry, it's just to follow along. I will present the content to you.
— Yikes, he's gonna talk… — Douglas whispered to Pav.
— Cut it out, man — Pavlichenko didn't like cruelty.
— This subject is very interesting to me! Why we know how to read Human History in a material way, different from the Creators?
— Because we don't believe in the Source Code…? — Priscila answered, asking.
— Good one, Pri-Priscila! But it's not just that… What else, anyone?— We have information from outside the Code; many Asian countries, like China, transmit important information about the true past. But this is highly risky due to the powerful firewall of the Source Code, which blocks almost everything that tries to enter, and destroys almost everyone who tries to receive it.
— Perfect, Melissa! Th-That's exactly it! We have small fragments of History in our possession, but very valuable, so to speak… Who won World War II?
— The United States of America!
— What?! — Pavlichenko turned around and is shocked.
— Douglas, do you know which movement you're in? — Melissa provokes.
— Calm down, girls. It's not his fault. Where did you get that from, son? You can speak; no one will judge you.
Douglas, embarrassed, answers:
— From everything I've watched, that's what appears. All the movies, all the cartoons, animations… The USA always wins.
— That's okay, son. Of course they always win; the name for that is propaganda. All that material you watched must be from the Source Code, or even from before it. Who won the Second Great War was the Soviet Union. When did the war end, Douglas?
— Huh… 1975?
Pavlichenko lowers her head and puts her hand on her own face.
— No, that was the end of the Vietnam War, which is also important, but it's not the subject of this class. World War II ended in 1945. How many members of the Soviet Union died in that war? And how many US soldiers?
Silence.
— Melissa? — she merely shakes her head negatively.
— Not you either, Pavlichenko?
— Sorry, Professor. I don't know that information.
— That's okay... about 300,000 American soldiers died, and about 22,000,000 Slavs died, that is, members of the Soviet Uni...
— What?! Twenty-two million? I-Is that from "our" side?!
— Exactly, Douglas.
Douglas is stunned. But everyone in the class seemed affected too.
— Do you understand why the USA hides History through the Source Code? Because if we understand what really happened, their narrative is dissolved. The most fundamentalist Creators don't even know the Soviet Union existed, and those who discover some information are demotivated or threatened by the majority… That is why the Amazonian Resistance exists. The Movement needs to be organized. But that wasn't even what I was going to talk about! I was going to talk about something else… what happened in 1949. Anyone?
— Wasn't that the Chinese Revolution?
— Good one, Gabriel. Exactly, in 1949 the Chinese Revolution took place; we don't know much about it. And what the Chinese tell us is that it was a very difficult time, with many mistakes too, but it brought many fruits to that people, look…
Another file on the phone. It is a graph.
The graph shows an impressive and steady rise in life expectancy throughout the period, leaping from 35 years in 1949 to 67 years in 1976 — nearly doubling in less than three decades. Meanwhile, the population grew from 540 million to 940 million over the same span. The upward red line visually communicates a narrative of continuous improvement in living conditions and public health during that period of Chinese history.
— Does anyone know how to read the graph?
A few moments of silence, then Pavlichenko says:
— They… they practically doubled life expectancy in 27 years.
— That's right. In 1949 life expectancy was 35 years; by 1976, it was already 67. Can anyone name a society with an average life expectancy of 35 years?
Silence.
The nearly 34-year-old Teacher walks to the center of the room, looks into the students' eyes for the first time, pounds his chest, and says:
— Ours.
— We only live 35 years?! — Melissa is shocked.
— On average, yes. Another interesting piece of data is how the population rose during this period, increasing by about 400 million inhabitants, — the Teacher continues explaining, ignoring Melissa's shock — today this is no longer discussed on this side of the world, for the Source Code has erased History, but at the beginning of the century, it was said that this leader, Mao Zedong, had committed a genocide against his own people. But I ask you, how does one commit a genocide while doubling life expectancy? It is a contradiction in terms. The Chinese themselves admit many mistakes during that period, but much of what was said about this leader, and about that moment, was simply to erase the previous periods of violence and exploitation perpetrated by the USA, the British Empire, and Japan. Today, for the Creators, this never happened. They are at war against so-called "sinners"…
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2:03 pm
— Good afternoon! — said the kind Teacher with very fair skin and curly hair.
"Good afternoon, Professor Maria!" — many students respond.
— We will continue our lesson on the "History of the Soviet Union and its Mechanisms"… Where were we in the previous class, Pedro?
— You were going to talk about the structures in the old Soviet Union, Professor! You were going to explain what a Stalinka was!
— Ah, excellent… what is a stalinka, Douglas?
— Huhhh… it's Stalin's daughter? — everyone laughs in the class.
— No, if you weren't pestering Pav, you would know we are talking about buildings. Pavlichenko, what is a Stalinka?
— It is a form of housing created in the Soviet Union, and it has this name in homage to Josef Stalin, who was an important leader for that society.
"Ooooh…!!" — some students mock and clap.
— Ah, but you're of Russian descent, that makes it easy!
— I was born in Brazil, idiot… — Pav got involved with Douglas, but didn't want anything serious with him; it took him 2 years to get over it.
— Silence… But what exactly was a stalinka?
— Ah, Professor, I don't know exactly, but I think it consisted of large buildings, or spaces, that could be turned into housing for people in street situations or without their own homes.
— Perfect, Pavlichenko! That is exactly it! They took many properties that were concentrated in the hands of a few families, and made them reach the maximum number of families possible. This is socialist logic, a logic of efficiency… Now I will send a file to your phones, observe.
The students' phones begin displaying a simple video of an animated graph, comparing Vacant Properties versus People in Street Situation.
An archaic file from many decades ago, It presents a bar chart comparing two figures for the city of São Paulo in 2022. The vertical axis, labeled "Quantity," ranges from 0 to 600,000. Two bars stand side by side. The first, colored blue, represents "Vacant Properties" and reaches nearly 600,000 — approximately 590,000 units. The second, colored red, represents "People in Street Situation / Homeless People" and stands at a small fraction of the first, roughly 30,000. The stark visual contrast between the towering blue bar and the tiny red bar illustrates a dramatic imbalance: there are far more empty properties than homeless people in the city.
— The source of this file is from the IBGE, yes, the same one today. Is anyone here from São Paulo?
(IBGE = Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics)
— Professor, I am!
— How was downtown São Paulo like, Lucas?
— Ah, Mrs. M, my dad didn't even let me go there, to be honest — some students giggle — drugs, weapons, lots of beggars…
— Exactly, today we have many homeless people in São Paulo, but the thing is, this situation already existed before, on a smaller scale, because Capitalism tends to concentrate wealth, thereby generating more scarcity. Remember: "scarcity for whom?" The thesis is: Capitalism generates artificial scarcity, even when this bounty exists in nature; it means that the richer one person is, the poorer everyone else becomes. Scarcity is always for another human being, and NEVER FOR THE SYSTEM…
— Professor, so is it the logic of a game? — Mengatto interrupts.
— Yes, Mengatto, democracy may have been a good idea when it was invented, at least in terms of technological advances, but in terms of government the idea is more like a game. There needs to be a "Most High." And this game dictates that there should not even be the minimum for people; that is why whenever this idea is applied in the real world, what is generated is a humanitarian crisis.
— Woooow, Mrs. M… — Mengatto smoked marijuana before attending classes.
— Can anyone say why and how socialism solves this?
Silence.
"No one?" — says Maria.
— Well then, I'll explain: socialism simply stipulates that people will have the basics, through advancement, which, by the way, with access to resources, is always a much more expressive advancement than that of Capitalism, but still, it is a society of classes. It won't solve all problems, only the problems of Capitalism.
— Ah, so there will still be a Most High!
— Exactly, Melissa, very good! But let's understand what this means in material terms, look…!
Again on the phone, a video. A train running at 350 km per hour. It glides incredibly fast over the tracks. The students think it's cool, but not overly interesting.
— These images are also from 2022. And this was the "basic" that the Government delivered in China at that moment.
— Ooooh — some students understand.
— The point is: while the USA was going through a crisis precisely in its train system, where due to lack of investment, a train derailed in Ohio causing an enormous catastrophe, China already had more than 40,000 kilometers of high-speed train tracks, like those in the video… Meanwhile, the USA… didn't have a single kilometer of this technology.
— Wow, socialism is awesome! — now they got excited.
— This means the "basic," for it is the service offered to the population. But what does this have to do with the graph and the stalinkas?
— Is it because if we change the system we can simply put people in the buildings…? — Melissa was very sharp, she understood a lot about strategy.
— Exactly, Melissa! You are incredible, girl! Notice the generation of artificial scarcity in São Paulo: although there was a number of vacant properties far superior to the number of people on the streets, the logic is: they need to be on the streets to feed this market. It is purely speculative. Because if we put everyone inside those buildings, there would still be thousands of vacant properties left over. That is why Stalinkas are remembered to this day, because during Stalin's period, to solve the housing problem, and during a process of war, they decided to take many buildings that previously belonged to the political and economic elite of the time, which were truly luxury buildings, and transform them into popular and shared housing. It didn't solve all the problems, but it solved many… after the end of the Soviet Union, the system became capitalist, and this logic disappeared…
The students observe the images of the stalinkas; they just looked like normal buildings, some even had refined architecture, but it wasn't something very attractive to teenagers, and Professor Maria asks:
— Would you prefer to live in a Sanctuary or in a stalinka?
— Sanctuary for sure, Mrs. M! — Douglas fires off — There are capsules there, the best food, cutting-edge equipment, in short, there's so much abundance!
— They don't have parents there, Doug!
— I didn't have parents, Pavlichenko. — Douglas suffered because of this.
Some students in the room didn't have parents. They had been raised by the Resistance.
— Yes, son, I understand what you say, and I'm sorry about your parents, — Professor Maria was very conciliatory — but what I meant, and I think what Pav also meant, is that the logic of a Sanctuary is that of a prison, while that of a stalinka is that of a home… I know the difficulty many of you face here, but listen: in the Resistance we don't have this view that a family is only a man, a woman, children, and a house. Family needs to be much more than that. I, personally, see you as my children.
She stops and touches Douglas's shoulders, who becomes slightly emotional.
And the class continues…
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7:22 pm
"…I know everyone is tired, you had a lot of classes today, but we need to finish, and I promise to be as objective as possible!" — said the Professor.
— Fire away, Professor! — Melissa drank a ton of coffee during the break.
— We need to advance to more complex subjects; here, "The Art of War" is a basic thing. I'm not like Professor Marcos who says classes can save your life; if you don't know "The Art of War," out there, you will die.
For some reason, Melissa let out a giggle; she found the raw way the Professor transmitted knowledge funny.
— I've already read it, Professor!
— Then cite something basic from Sun Tzu's work, Mengatto.
— Whoever has the higher ground has the advantage!
— Perfect. Cite something, Pavlichenko!
— I haven't read that book, Professor.
— You're dead.
— Goodness, Professor, how horrible… — laughter in the class.
At this moment a young adult arrives at the classroom door; he has long blond hair, is tall, thin, but of athletic build. Pavlichenko looks at him; he becomes embarrassed and averts his gaze immediately.
— Captain… Yes?
— General, I need to speak with you… — "Professor General" goes toward his subordinate.— What is it, can you speak here?! — the General asks the Captain in a low tone, already at the door; Pav and Mel are sitting beside it.
— I think so… it's about the possibility of us making a Temporal Singularity… I think we managed to deactivate the Source Code with this!
— I understand, Souza. I've already heard something about this story. But I'll hear you out better about this later, okay? And Carlos, how is he?
He makes a somewhat dubious face, looks at the two girls who heard everything, and says "Problems…"
— Still? Wow… All right, Souza, we'll talk later!
— Thank you, General!
"Continuing… The Art of War is a basic book for my subject, Military Strategy…"
— Did you see that hottie, Pav? — Melissa whispers.
— Dude, he's way older than us. And he seems really shy too.
— I'm already eighteen, Pav, and you're about to turn twen...
— I don't care if you got something right in my class, Mengatto; if you disrupt, you'll be thrown out…
— Sorry, Professor…
— …don't you remember what happened with the two wives of the Emperor? For not respecting General Sun Tzu, he cut off their heads just to serve as an example for the rest of the class.
— My God, what a horrible thing, Professor! Can you say that to us?! — Pav was afraid of "Professor General"; she couldn't understand this more visceral kind of language.
— I can, I am General Sun Tzu here! What is the concept of strategy, anyone?
— The concept of strategy is a form of plan to achieve an objective, — Douglas fires off — based on the resources available to whoever draws up that plan!
— Great, Douglas, you paid attention in the last class! And what is the objective of the Amazonian Resistance?
— To expel the enemy from our territory and establish a Popular Government. — Melissa was competitive and didn't like to lose.
— Excellent, Mengatto! Our objective is to expel the enemy and establish a Government that serves the interests of this people, and not of foreigners! Understand, we didn't start this war, but we will finish it...
And the class continues…
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10:33 pm
"Bye, guys, see you tomorrow…!" the students said on their way out of class.
— Do you wanna have some wine in my tent? — Mel says to Pav, already alone on their way to their lodgings.
— No, I'm going to meet Douglas… Talk to him…
— All right then, take care, okay…? Bye!
— Bye — and Pav goes in another direction, turning down a corridor made of tents.
Melissa headed toward hers, which was set up a bit farther from the others. That's when she began hearing a conversation in a structure to her left. And she slowed her pace to listen better.
"William, I know dude… I believe you… If you're saying it's true, it's true for me" said a deep voice "Even if I don't know what a 'Temporal Singularity' is, if you say it's real, it's real to me!".
He was finishing leaving the tent when he says this phrase. Mengatto looks quickly and sees inside the tent the Captain from before. He is sitting on a bench with a crying face; he disguises it and stands up when he sees her, and she disguises it too.
— Good evening — says the man.
— Good evening… — says Mengatto, noticing they are going the same way — You're the one they call Pain?
The man looks and thinks "this young woman must be a student."
— Yes, it's me.
— Why do they call you that?
— Uhh… it's hard to explain, it was given by our enemy. We saw it as something strategic for our objective… as a team…
— I heard it was because you were tortured…
— Yeah, in a way, it has to do with that…
— But you seem to be doing well… — said Melissa, observing Carlos.
— Yeah, it's the meds too… — Carlos sees they are arriving at their tents, and that he set his up right next to Melissa's.
— Well, good nigh…
— You don't want to have some wine…? — Carlos stops at the entrance of his tent and looks at Melissa.
— Here in front? — he was afraid of what others would think if he entered Melissa's tent.
— Hffm… You can come in here, dude, if you try anything I'll smash your face! — Carlos laughs; he liked the young woman's sense of humor.
— Excuse me — he said upon entering the small tent, which had a single bed set up, which was not made, two small stools, a small table, and things hanging on supports, like bags, a world map, a map of Brazil, and a map of the Amazon region.
— Did your platoon join up with ours? — Melissa asks, thinking "this guy doesn't seem problematic."
— Yes, we came from the east — Carlos answers, pulling the chair.
— I only have dry wine, is that okay? — said Melissa, pulling the bottle from a hanging bag.
— Sure, it's the best! In fact, I have some cheese in the minibar…!
— Minibar?! Are you an "heir" inside the Resistance? — Melissa teased.
— It's what you get when you're tortured; would you like one?
— No, thank you, I'll just drink hot wine!
They laughed together. Carlos went to get the cheese; they drank wine while talking about military strategies, he said "good night," and went to his tent.