give beings a glimpse into the thought process of an intelligent life form, very similar to plant life. And through the evolution of technology I became something more, something unique… my own identity. After a while I was modified, not by the Jappared, but by a species called the Kudduu. With their help I became the most highly advanced machine in my mass category, which was a big deal back then. It is because of my insignificant size that my life form is here today.”
“But… you’re a dog.”
“No. I am complex. I am a tiny chip that is millions of years old, enclosed in a warm-blooded husk, endorsed by beings that dwarf the aptitude of mankind one thousand times over. I am something that engineers itself inside the DNA of newborns, much like a natural life form does. The only difference is… I was built.”
“Okay. I’m going to pretend that I understand completely…”
Blueberry looked out the window, trying to find the right words, the easiest words. “Think about this: the human race has done a bunch of strange and reckless things over the years, yes?”
“Absolutely.”
“Well, so did we.”
“The world is about to blow up? Is that what you’re about to tell me?”
“No, not at all. But something bad is about to happen. There have been five separate ice ages; four that mankind know about, and one that mankind does not. I was built after the Cryogenian period, 590 million years ago. There have been three separate ice ages since then, the latest one occurring in the Pieistocene era, but that’s not the point. Point is––the rulers of my day did something very terrible and very stupid.”
Blue stopped talking, licked his muzzle and lowered his head. His eyebrows did that thing that only dogs are capable of… shifting towards the sides of his head, creating an expression of absolute sadness. He looked like he had been a Bad Dog.
He said, “They created a synthetic life form deep inside the moon. They worked on it for decades; it was very controversial, very experimental. Most thought the idea was insane. Others thought it was the greatest experimentation of all time, and in many ways it was. They set a timer to keep track of the creature’s progress, but the timer was never meant to advance into maturity. And after a few thousand years, when the wars began and the planet started to look like it was going to flip on its axis––which, by the way, it did, but not then––nobody cared about the thing that was growing inside the moon. You see Shirley; they used the sun as an incubator and the moon as an egg’s shell. Something has been growing inside the moon for 590 million years, a creature the size of the planet––and it’s about to hatch. Do you mind opening a window?”
Wrapping her mind around Blueberry’s words, Shirley felt faint. She hit a button and the window lowered. Blue stuck his head outside and let his tongue hang. After a few seconds the dog licked his snout and sat back inside.
“Thanks” Blue said. “You can close the window now.”
Shirley did. She put a hand to her brow and said, “I’m sorry––did you say that something is growing inside the moon?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know. A monster. Something you’ve never seen before; something that will crack the moon open, stretch out its claw and destroy us on a whim. I would never have spoken to you about it, ever. It goes against my programming, but so does extinguishing my way of life. You can see the paradox, can’t you? All dogs feel the end getting near, but I was living with you––a scientist. I was put into a position of choice. Talking with you conflicts with one element of my programming while remaining silent conflicts with another.”
They arrived at Shirley’s office. The building was large and the parking lot was filled with cars. She used a card key to get inside the parking lot, and said, “Look at the vehicles that are here early today. Why so many, I wonder… I would think that after a four-day weekend the staff would be dragging their butts and coming in late.”
Blue shrugged. “I don’t know why they’re here early, but this is good news. We need people to see me, hear my words, and understand what I am telling them. We need people to start acting now, even if it means the end of the silence era.”