diff --git a/src/emmy/abstract/function.cljc b/src/emmy/abstract/function.cljc
index cd87ea1f..3faeed46 100644
--- a/src/emmy/abstract/function.cljc
+++ b/src/emmy/abstract/function.cljc
@@ -257,12 +257,24 @@
     ([acc] acc)
     ([acc [x path _]]
      (let [dx (d/tangent-part x tag)]
-       (if (g/zero? dx)
+       (if (g/numeric-zero? dx)
          acc
          (let [partial (literal-partial f path)]
            (d/d:+ acc (d/d:* (literal-apply partial primal-s)
                              dx))))))))
 
+(defn- dual-forward-mode-fold [f primal-s tag]
+  (fn
+    ([] 0)
+    ([tangent] (tape/->Dual tag (apply f primal-s) tangent))
+    ([tangent [x path _]]
+     (let [dx (tape/dual-tangent x tag)]
+       (if (g/numeric-zero? dx)
+         tangent
+         (let [partial (literal-partial f path)]
+           (g/+ tangent (g/* (literal-apply partial primal-s)
+                             dx))))))))
+
 (defn- reverse-mode-fold [f primal-s tag]
   (fn
     ([] [])
@@ -282,6 +294,7 @@
   derivatives for each differential argument in the input structure."
   [f s tag dx]
   (let [fold-fn  (cond (tape/tape? dx)      reverse-mode-fold
+                       (tape/dual? dx)      dual-forward-mode-fold
                        (d/differential? dx) forward-mode-fold
                        :else                (u/illegal "No tape or differential inputs."))
         primal-s (s/mapr (fn [x] (tape/primal-of x tag)) s)]
diff --git a/src/emmy/calculus/derivative.cljc b/src/emmy/calculus/derivative.cljc
index 8d7f957d..f3a507dc 100644
--- a/src/emmy/calculus/derivative.cljc
+++ b/src/emmy/calculus/derivative.cljc
@@ -255,9 +255,14 @@
   [f]
   (fn [x]
     (let [tag    (d/fresh-tag)
-          lifted (d/bundle-element x 1 tag)]
+          lifted
+          (d/bundle-element x 1 tag)
+
+          ;; TODO this is the only change we need to get this working. Also implement comparable.
+          #_(emmy.tape/->Dual tag x 1)]
       (-> (d/with-active-tag tag f [lifted])
-          (d/extract-tangent tag)))))
+          (d/extract-tangent tag))
+      )))
 
 ;; The result of applying the derivative `(D f)` of a multivariable function `f`
 ;; to a sequence of `args` is a structure of the same shape as `args` with all
diff --git a/src/emmy/differential.cljc b/src/emmy/differential.cljc
index 809f0650..e4e1988d 100644
--- a/src/emmy/differential.cljc
+++ b/src/emmy/differential.cljc
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 ;; derivatives of entire programs in a similar way by building them out of the
 ;; derivatives of the smaller pieces of those programs.
 ;;
+
 ;; ### Forward-Mode Automatic Differentiation
 ;;
 ;; For many scientific computing applications, it's valuable be able to generate
diff --git a/src/emmy/tape.cljc b/src/emmy/tape.cljc
index e1a0a1d7..cf077481 100644
--- a/src/emmy/tape.cljc
+++ b/src/emmy/tape.cljc
@@ -121,13 +121,44 @@
 ;; allow [[TapeCell]] instances to work in any place that real numbers or
 ;; symbolic argument work, make `::tape` derive from `::v/scalar`:
 
+(derive ::dual ::v/scalar)
 (derive ::tape ::v/scalar)
 
 ;; Here's the [[TapeCell]] type with the fields described above.
 
 (declare compare)
 
-(deftype TapeCell [tag id primal dual in->partial]
+(deftype Dual [tag primal tangent]
+  v/IKind
+  (kind [_] ::dual)
+
+  d/IPerturbed
+  ;; NOTE the reason we need this is for the arguments to literal function.
+  ;; Those need to tell if there is some tape coming in.
+  (perturbed? [_] true)
+  (replace-tag [_ old new]
+    (Dual. (if (= old tag) new tag)
+           (d/replace-tag primal old new)
+           (d/replace-tag tangent old new)))
+  (extract-tangent [_ t]
+    (if (= t tag)
+      tangent
+      0))
+
+  Object
+  ;; TODO revisit all of this
+  #?(:cljs (valueOf [_] (.valueOf primal)))
+  (toString [_]
+    (str "#emmy.tape.Dual"
+         {:tag tag
+          :primal primal
+          :tangent tangent}))
+
+  ;; TODO add comparable block from below
+  )
+
+
+(deftype TapeCell [tag id primal in->partial]
   v/IKind
   (kind [_] ::tape)
 
@@ -147,15 +178,13 @@
     (TapeCell. (if (= old tag) new tag)
                id
                (d/replace-tag primal old new)
-               (d/replace-tag dual old new)
                (mapv (fn [[node partial]]
                        [(d/replace-tag node old new)
                         (d/replace-tag partial old new)])
                      in->partial)))
 
   ;; This implementation is called if a tape ever makes it out of
-  ;; forward-mode-differentiated function. TODO if we like the dual number thing
-  ;; this should return `dual`.
+  ;; forward-mode-differentiated function.
   (extract-tangent [_ _] 0)
 
   Object
@@ -207,6 +236,12 @@
 
 ;; ## Non-generic API
 
+(defn dual?
+  "Returns true if the supplied object is an instance of [[Dual]], false
+  otherwise."
+  [x]
+  (instance? Dual x))
+
 (defn tape?
   "Returns true if the supplied object is an instance of [[TapeCell]], false
   otherwise."
@@ -230,11 +265,9 @@
   where `<partial>` is the partial derivative of the output with respect to each
   input (defaults to `[]`)."
   ([tag primal]
-   (->TapeCell tag (fresh-id) primal 1 []))
+   (->TapeCell tag (fresh-id) primal []))
   ([tag primal partials]
-   (->TapeCell tag (fresh-id) primal 1 partials))
-  ([tag primal dual partials]
-   (->TapeCell tag (fresh-id) primal dual partials)))
+   (->TapeCell tag (fresh-id) primal partials)))
 
 ;; TODO making [[tapify]] extensible is the key to differentiating things like
 ;; quaternion-valued functions. Forward-mode handles this differently, since we
@@ -264,6 +297,10 @@
   [^TapeCell tape]
   (.-tag tape))
 
+(defn dual-tag
+  [^Dual dual]
+  (.-tag dual))
+
 (defn tape-primal
   "Given a [[TapeCell]], returns the `primal` field of the supplied [[TapeCell]]
   object. For all other types, acts as identity.
@@ -279,6 +316,26 @@
      (.-primal ^TapeCell x)
      x)))
 
+(defn dual-primal
+  ([x]
+   (if (dual? x)
+     (.-primal ^Dual x)
+     x))
+  ([x tag]
+   (if (and (dual? x) (= tag (dual-tag x)))
+     (.-primal ^Dual x)
+     x)))
+
+(defn dual-tangent
+  ([x]
+   (if (dual? x)
+     (.-tangent ^Dual x)
+     0))
+  ([x tag]
+   (if (and (dual? x) (= tag (dual-tag x)))
+     (.-tangent ^Dual x)
+     0)))
+
 (defn tape-id
   "Returns the `-id` field of the supplied [[TapeCell]] object. Errors if any
   other type is supplied.
@@ -314,7 +371,6 @@
   {:tag         (.-tag t)
    :id          (.-id t)
    :primal      (.-primal t)
-   :dual        (.-dual t)
    :in->partial (.-in->partial t)})
 
 ;; More permissive accessors...
@@ -324,6 +380,7 @@
   non-[[TapeCell]] instance."
   [x]
   (cond (tape? x)           (tape-tag x)
+        (dual? x)           (dual-tag x)
         (d/differential? x) (d/max-order-tag x)
         :else nil))
 
@@ -334,6 +391,7 @@
    (primal-of v (tag-of v)))
   ([v tag]
    (cond (tape? v)           (tape-primal v tag)
+         (dual? v)           (dual-primal v tag)
          (d/differential? v) (d/primal-part v tag)
          :else               v)))
 
@@ -344,6 +402,7 @@
   Given a non-[[TapeCell]], acts as identity."
   ([v]
    (cond (tape? v)           (recur (tape-primal v))
+         (dual? v)           (recur (dual-primal v))
          (d/differential? v) (recur (d/primal-part v))
          :else               v)))
 
@@ -417,6 +476,7 @@
      false)))
 
 (defn compare
+  ;; TODO bad docstring
   "Comparator that compares [[Differential]] instances with each other or
   non-differentials using only the [[finite-part]] of each instance. Matches the
   response of [[equiv]].
@@ -741,6 +801,20 @@
                  selectors)
        (matrix/seq-> (cons x more)))))))
 
+(defn fwd
+  ([f]
+   (fn
+     ([] 0)
+     ([x]
+      (let [tag       (d/fresh-tag)
+            inputs    (->Dual tag x 1)
+            output    (d/with-active-tag tag f [inputs])]
+        (d/extract-tangent output tag)))
+     ([x & more]
+      ((fwd (fn [args]
+              (apply f args)))
+       (matrix/seq-> (cons x more)))))))
+
 ;; starting to work on the one that returns a pair of primal and fn.
 
 #_
@@ -831,15 +905,22 @@
    (fn call [x]
      (cond (tape? x)
            (let [primal  (tape-primal x)
-                 dual    (.-dual ^TapeCell x)
                  partial (df:dx primal)]
              (make (tape-tag x)
                    (call primal)
-                   (if (g/numeric-zero? dual)
-                     dual
-                     (g/* partial dual))
                    [[x partial]]))
 
+           (dual? x)
+           (let [px (dual-primal x)
+                 tx (dual-tangent x)
+                 partial (df:dx px)]
+             (->Dual (dual-tag x)
+                     (call px)
+                     (if (g/numeric-zero? tx)
+                       tx
+                       (g/* partial tx))))
+
+
            (d/differential? x)
            (let [[px tx] (d/primal-tangent-pair x)
                  fx      (call px)]
@@ -884,28 +965,35 @@
                    b
                    (d/d:+* b (df:dy xe ye) dy))))
 
+             (operate-dual [tag]
+               (let [xe (dual-primal x tag)
+                     ye (dual-primal y tag)
+                     dx (dual-tangent x tag)
+                     dy (dual-tangent y tag)]
+                 (->Dual tag
+                         (call xe ye)
+                         (g/+ (if (g/numeric-zero? dx)
+                                dx
+                                (g/* (df:dx xe ye) dx))
+                              (if (g/numeric-zero? dy)
+                                dy
+                                (g/* (df:dy xe ye) dy))))))
+
              (operate-reverse [tag]
                (let [primal-x  (tape-primal x tag)
                      primal-y  (tape-primal y tag)
-                     dx        (delay (df:dx primal-x primal-y))
-                     dy        (delay (df:dy primal-x primal-y))
                      partial-x (if (and (tape? x) (= tag (tape-tag x)))
-                                 [[x @dx]]
+                                 [[x (df:dx primal-x primal-y)]]
                                  [])
                      partial-y (if (and (tape? y) (= tag (tape-tag y)))
-                                 [[y @dy]]
+                                 [[y (df:dy primal-x primal-y)]]
                                  [])]
                  (make tag
                        (call primal-x primal-y)
-                       (g/+ (if (and (tape? x) (= tag (tape-tag x)))
-                              (g/* @dx (.-dual ^TapeCell x))
-                              0)
-                            (if (and (tape? y) (= tag (tape-tag y)))
-                              (g/* @dy (.-dual ^TapeCell y))
-                              0))
                        (into partial-x partial-y))))]
        (if-let [[tag dx] (tag+perturbation x y)]
          (cond (tape? dx)           (operate-reverse tag)
+               (dual? dx)           (operate-dual tag)
                (d/differential? dx) (operate-forward tag)
                :else
                (u/illegal "Non-tape or differential perturbation!"))
@@ -958,7 +1046,8 @@
   ([generic-op]
    (defunary generic-op (lift-1 generic-op)))
   ([generic-op differential-op]
-   (defmethod generic-op [::tape] [a] (differential-op a))))
+   (defmethod generic-op [::tape] [a] (differential-op a))
+   (defmethod generic-op [::dual] [a] (differential-op a))))
 
 (defn- defbinary
   "Given:
@@ -977,6 +1066,13 @@
                       [::d/differential ::tape]
                       [::tape ::v/scalar]
                       [::v/scalar ::tape]
+
+
+                      [::dual ::dual]
+                      [::tape ::dual]
+                      [::dual ::tape]
+                      [::dual ::v/scalar]
+                      [::v/scalar ::dual]
                       #_#_#_
                       [::d/differential ::d/differential]
                       [::d/differential ::v/scalar]
@@ -1108,8 +1204,23 @@
   (TapeCell. (.-tag t)
              (.-id t)
              (g/simplify (.-primal t))
-             (.-dual t)
              (mapv (fn [[node partial]]
                      [(g/simplify node)
                       (g/simplify partial)])
                    (.-in->partial t))))
+
+;; DUAL:
+
+(defmethod g/zero-like [::dual] [_] 0)
+(defmethod g/one-like [::dual] [_] 1)
+(defmethod g/identity-like [::dual] [_] 1)
+(defmethod g/freeze [::dual] [t]
+  `[~'Dual
+    ~(dual-tag t)
+    ~(g/freeze (dual-primal t))
+    ~(g/freeze (dual-tangent t))])
+
+(defmethod g/simplify [::dual] [^Dual t]
+  (Dual. (.-tag t)
+         (g/simplify (.-primal t))
+         (g/simplify (.-tangent t))))