“Oh,” Juan exclaimed, not having expected the conversation to go in that direction. “I usually don’t allow myself to assign motivation into things, or delve into subjects that I can’t prove. And God’s one of those unknowable things. And I’m not saying you couldn’t be right, just that… well, there are things we can believe, and there are things we can study.”

Kathy nodded. “I have another question. What about environmental influences? How can you determine centuries of evolution when evolution is often driven by external factors? Wasn’t that what Darwin’s observations were all about?”

“That’s a great question. I suppose I think of it like this: all of our lives, whether it’s humanity or the rest of the animal kingdom, we’re connected by genetics. That being said, it stands to reason that the inherent way that DNA evolves can take certain paths. For instance, my algorithm wouldn’t know if a path becomes a dead end due to environmental situations.

“Imagine the dinosaurs. If I had DNA samples, sure, I could try and predict what they’d be like nowadays, but my algorithm wouldn’t know about the asteroids—or ice ages, or any other global catastrophes. So the algorithm plots an evolutionary path in a vacuum, if you will. And in that sense, it’s a purer path than what we see in the real world.

“Really, I see the pattern like a cipher. An evolutionary puzzle that just needed someone to come along and see that it was there. Without being too modest… I think maybe that’s what I’ve done.”

“Darwin’s cipher?” Kathy said, smiling.

“Yes—I suppose so.” Juan returned her smile.

Silence settled over them, and Kathy stood. “Well, it’s getting late, and I really need to get to bed.” She rolled her eyes. “I made the mistake of signing up for an eight a.m. class.”

Juan chuckled. “I think all freshmen make that mistake once in their student career. But only once! Come on, I’ll drive you home.”

###

As Kathy walked from Juan’s car to her dorm, she forced herself not to look back. This was the first time she’d been out with anyone since Brad, and she couldn’t help but feel guilty about it. Every time she felt herself having a good time with Juan, her mind would flash back to Brad, and the guilt would wash over her yet again.

Maybe it was just too soon.

And yet… Juan was so nice. He was older, sure, but not too much older. Younger than Brad. And he didn’t talk to her like he was older, or like he was a teacher and she was his student. He put them both on the same level. Just two people talking.

And… he was interested. He never made a move of any kind, but she could tell.