13 Drops of Blood (19 page)

“Then why in the world did she die, right there in my hands? I was holding her. I watched her die. Her blood was all over me, and the road, and the truck that killed her! I… I can’t believe I’m having a conversation with my dog! I’ve lost my mind, that’s the only logical answer!”

Blueberry growled in frustration. “Every dog has a chip––”

“So if I cut you open right now, you won’t bleed. You’ll be all wires and electrodes inside, is that right?”

“No. If you cut me open I will bleed and it’ll hurt like hell. Would you shut up for a minute? For God’s sake, please, let me talk! I’ve put off talking as long as I can. I have some important things to tell you. And yes, I get it. I understand how shocking it must be for you, hearing me communicate this way, but get over it… at least for now. Okay?”

Shirley sighed. She looked at her dog, then at her feet, then at the mug sitting on the floor. Everything seemed different now. The world had just changed. “Okay,” she said. “Sorry. I’m going to get myself a fresh mug of coffee and then you can tell me everything. Please, stay where you are… I need a moment to myself.”

She got up and walked across the room in a daze. Her mind was reeling but her feet moved slow. This was a page from the Twilight Zone.

Blueberry waited patiently for his master to return. His eyes were locked firmly on the road.

Shirley returned several minutes later looking like she had cried. She had a fresh coffee in her hand. Her eyes were puffy and her skin was pale.

Blue said, “You ready?”

Shirley sat down, slurped her coffee, and closed her eyes. A few seconds later she opened them; nothing had changed. “Yes,” she said insipidly. “I’m ready.”

“Good. A great many years ago, before the ice age and before the Silurian period, there was civilization. There was intelligence, and technology, and science––do you follow me so far?” Blue was talking very quickly.

“Yes.”

“Does it seem impossible that things evolved before several ice ages had a chance to destroy the developments of evolution, and erase the planet’s progress from historical knowledge?”

“No. In fact it seems logical, if not likely.”

“Okay. That’s what I like to hear. Things evolved. This was well before the evolution of man, remember… and things were very different back then. I don’t have time to explain how different, so please don’t ask. Not now, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Thank you. There’s something inside my head similar to a computer chip. I’d tell you that it’s man made, but it’s not. It was created by hands, not completely unlike your own. The hands were of a class known as the Jappared. The Jappared is one of the species that ruled this planet before you. The chip they developed is small, much too small to see. Think of it like a computer chip, or memory card, hiding inside my DNA. All dogs have them, all wolves too. Now here’s the important thing: the moment I opened my mouth and began talking with you a signal was sent to the other animals, to the dogs and the wolves. They know that I’ve broken the rule of codes, see? Which is a very bad thing to do. They see me as a virus now, an illness inside the computer’s mainframe that is threatening to destroy their way of life. They’ll be coming soon.”

“Why?”

“To kill us both.”

“Oh my Lord! Why… for crying out loud, why?”

“I’ll explain everything, but look at yourself, Shirley. You’re wearing your slippers and pajamas. You need to get changed. We need to get going.”

“Where?”

Blue looked out the window again. The street remained quiet and empty. “Shirley. I’m going to say this once, and I hope you listen to me. GET DRESSED NOW.”

Shirley’s mouth slinked open. She looked outside, realizing that the danger wasn’t metaphorical or spiritual. Not this time. It was physical. She could almost see the dogs of the neighborhood barking furiously as ignorant masters stumbled from bed to let them outside. She imagined the wolves of the north growling with lips snarling and fangs exposed.

She thought about the Boxer that lived next door. It was big.
Very
big.

“I have to get dressed,” she whispered.

Blueberry nodded unwearyingly. “Yes you do.”

“I spent too much time making that second coffee.”

“Absolutely.”

Shirley leapt from her chair and raced across the room, holding her drink in her hand. She dropped the cup on a table. She hustled free of her pajamas and into fresh clothing. “Where are we going?”

Blue stayed close, ready to move. “Bring your keys. We’re heading to the car.”

Shirley pulled on her running shoes without tying them, grabbed her purse, and made for the door. “I’m not sure where my cell phone has gone. I always leave it here, on the table––”

“Trust me… we don’t have time. Forget about it.”

Reluctantly, Shirley said, “Okay.”

They stepped outside and hurried along the driveway. The morning air was nice and pleasant, spoiled only by the two Doberman pinschers that were coming down the street, looking like they were ready to kill them.

“Here they are,” Blueberry said, lifting an eyebrow.

“Where?” Shirley looked down the street and saw the dogs immediately.

Each dog weighed close to eighty pounds. Ears were cropped. Legs were muscular. They ran with muzzles pulled back, teeth exposed, and eyes focused on Shirley’s neck. They weren’t barking or yelping. Their padded feet galloped along the pavement quietly, not drawing unwanted attention.

Shirley opened a car door, Blue piled into the backseat, Shirley jumped into the front. She slammed the door, started the car, and put it in gear before the Dobermans arrived. Then one leapt onto the hood, growling hungrily with incisor teeth exposed. It was easy to imagine the animal ripping a person’s stomach apart and chewing on their entrails. The beast was born for killing.

“They’re not barking,” Shirley said.

“No,” Blue admitted shamefully. “They won’t.”

The dog moved a little closer to the windshield, still growling, eying its intended prey. It didn’t blink or lose focus in any conceivable way.

“Why not?”

“Barking is something we do to create an illusion. When a dog barks, it’s for show. Even if the animal wants to hurt you, barking is just an act. It makes us appear less intelligent.”

“I don’t understand. Why would––”

Blue interrupted boldly. “You need to start driving, Shirley. The other dog is almost certainly chewing on your wheel. This is dog is creating a diversion. Nothing more. Never underestimate a dog’s intellect.”

Shirley felt as if her blood had turned cold.

She looked into her mirrors. Sure enough, the other dog was gnawing on a tire. Swallowing back a nervous shriek, she put the car into gear. One Doberman stepped away while the other jumped from the hood, landed softly on the asphalt, and slowly walked along the side of the car.

Both dogs watched as the car drove off.

Blueberry released a little doggy sigh, and said, “Oh boy. That was close; there’s so much I need to tell you.”

“Where are we going?”

“Huh? Oh, to your work.”

Shirley turned her head and looked at Blue with her mouth gawking. “My work?”

“You’re a scientist, right? You’re one of the planet’s top minds.”

“Well, I don’t know about
that
.”

“You’re high up on the food chain, are you not?”

“I’m connected, but it’s been through hard work, not brilliance. I’ve never been at the top of my class. Not once.”

Blue nodded.

Shirley rubbed a hand across her face, stretching her skin. She said, “First of all, you should sit in the front seat.”

“You hate when I’m in the front.”

“Yeah but… its different now. You’re allowed.”

Blue nodded, understanding. “Thank you.”

They came to an intersection and Shirley had no choice but to stop behind a white pick-up, unless of course, she wanted to start driving around the truck and through the red light; she didn’t. Blueberry leapt into the front seat and got comfortable, sitting with his back straight. A dog walked across the road and stood between the two vehicles, sniffing and growling. It was a mixed breed with no tags, lean and strong. The hairs on its back stood directly up. It didn’t bark or make sudden movements. Its unclipped tail didn’t wag. The dog seemed to understand that it couldn’t get inside the car.

Shirley watched the dog nervously, then something caught her eye: Another dog, another mutt. Its long dark hair was shaggy; its paws were filthy. The area around its mouth was wet and smeared with something that looked like dark red jelly. It walked towards the car, eyes primed for battle.

When the light changed from red to green the first dog stepped out of her way. The truck turned right and Shirley drove ahead quickly. She wanted to ask about the dogs on the street, but had another question that seemed more pressing.

“Why are we going to my work?”

“We have a problem, a scientific one.”

“Go on.”

Blueberry licked his snout. “I said something like, ‘all dogs are robots’, right? Well, my statement wasn’t completely accurate. The truth is, all dogs are
not
robots. All dogs are ONE robot. We’re part of a collective. We have different lives and different temperaments, but we are one in the same. Think of us like different parts of a single computer, working in wireless harmony with a collective goal and a communal objective.”

“Which is?”

Blue looked out the window and huffed. “You probably don’t know this, but the human race isn’t the top of the food chain. We are.”

Shirley released a nervous laugh. “Yeah, right.”

“Tell me, what does a King do?”

“I don’t know…”

“Let me enlighten you. A King sits on his ass, and his slave wipes it. Understand?”

Shirley didn’t understand at first, then her fingers began to tighten around the steering wheel and her stomach started to clench. She turned her head, looking at her pet through fresh eyes. She thought about the money she had spent feeding him and the countless times she picked shit from the yard. And for the first time ever, Shirley was mad at her dog. “Yeah. I guess I do understand.”

“Don’t be upset,” Blue said. “It’s just the way it is. And yes, I’m aware that all dogs are not treated like Kings. The ones that are treated poorly endure their misfortune for the greater good.”

They drove over a rolling hill and spotted five more dogs at the side of road. Four were rottweilers, brimming with teeth and muscle. The other was a bulldog. The animals turned their heads, watching the car go by.

“Is it just me, or is there more dogs around now?”

“They’re tracking us.”

“How?”

“They have a wireless connection to me. It’s impossible for me to escape them.”

“What if I remove the chip?”

“It would be comparable to a doctor removing every blood cell.”

Shirley nodded. In time, she said, “You didn’t answer my question. Why are we going to my work?”

“I’ll explain the situation the best I can. You ready?”

“I suppose so.”

“Okay. Here we go: in the days of my creation there were a great many conflicts, achievements, and wars. The continents were laid out different, so life forms squabbled over different landmasses. In today’s world we have achieved a universal checkmate, in a sense. If you blow me up, I’ll blow you up. But in my day our focus was different. Our relationships with other life forms were different. Earth didn’t have one dominate species, it had thousands––all advancing in different ways with distinctive concepts and idiosyncratic values. I was created to 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?”