thing_factory <- R6Class(
  "Thing",
  private = list(
    ..a_field = "a value",
    ..another_field = 123
  ),
  active = list(

    a_field = function() {

      if(is.na(private$..a_field)) {
        return("a missing value")
      }

      private$..a_field

    },

    another_field = function(value) {

      if(missing(value)) {
        private$..another_field
      } else {

        assert_is_a_number(value)

        private$..another_field <- value
      }

    }

  )
)