Chronicles of the Simulation, Part Helbender

I purchased 3 books a bit ago and saved the funnest one for last, Hellbender by Frank J. Fleming. It was kind of a fake-out, in that I thought the story was some supernatural thing (and it is, kinda), but the name is from a group of 4 friends.

After I started reading the book, I saw a picture of a Hellbender, which is a kind of giant North American Salamander, which looks like this: Bear in mind, I have lived for almost 57 years and never came upon a Hellbender Salamander till now.

Photo by: David Herasimtschuk

Then, a week later in the book, one of the people who are part of Hellbender indicated that the name was from the same amphibious source:

Delgado stared at the group with confusion. "Hellbender?" "It's a type of salamander." Doug explained. Delgado raised an eybrow. "A salamander?" "That's like a lizard...but wetter," Doug said. "I know what a salamander is!" Delgado shouted. "But why would you name yourself after one?" Doug looked confused, like maybe that was a trick question. "Because it has a really cool name."

Doug is right, it is a cool name. And we live in a simulation.