Marianne Dyson - The Shape of Things to Come

Illustration by Arthur George

It was hot on the beach, so Suetork spread herself nearly flat, her transparent sphere becoming a ring of what appeared to be damp sand. She scattered her black eyes around like pebbles, on the watch for predators who might recognize her kind despite the careful camouflage.

“Alert! Movement—possible predators,” Enupten, the leader, relayed. She was sunbathing farthest from the blue deep, but not far enough for Suetork. Just because she managed to evade the keen eyes of an elaw by superb blending of shadow shades, Enupten thought she was better than the rest of them.

Suetork rearranged her eyes into the warning cluster. One of her sisters, in the mundane shape and color of sea slime, got the message and rolled her “tarball” eyes into the same configuration. The message was thus transmitted all down the beach.

As Suetork readjusted her eyes, her sensor hairs detected sound waves from the direction of the predators. She formed a shell shape to better receive the message, but it was not an elaw code she recognized. Firming her surface by squeezing out bubbles, she watched the predators move closer, hoping her new form would protect her. She took a great deal of satisfaction in trying out new shapes, but if it were too different, the elaw might be suspicious and attack. She noticed Enupten was quick to copy her, though the imitation was a bit sloppy around the edges.

The strange code did not prepare her for the even stranger shape of the two predators. What kind of weather would cause a being to bunch itself vertically and move by alternating two long, skinny appendages? A shape like that could be seen against any background! Had the elaw gone mad?

The two tall beings carried a long white thing and a large black rock between them. She watched as they dropped these things on the sand, wondering if they were food. If so, they were unlike any base shape she had ever seen a creature take upon death. It took a tremendous amount of energy to maintain sharp features, and most things were dull, not shiny, once the life no longer pulsed within. Yet the rock-thing maintained many sharp corners.

While one being did something to the rock, the other removed a trap sack from its back and dumped a small version of itself onto the sand. Suetork quivered in relief. These beings were not an immediate threat—they had brought their food. Perhaps they needed that weird shape to catch the food and had not changed yet? Suetork knew small beings like her kind had an advantage in the speed with which they could change shape. The massive predators, like elaw, sometimes took hours to change.

Yes, that must be it. These were some new extra large size elaw that had just returned from hunting in the odd lands beyond the dunes. Suetork imagined the challenge and excitement of surviving in a land with so many strange shapes! She doubted Enupten had enough creativity to last a day in such a place.

The beings were either stupid or not hungry, because they let their food crawl away. The food must have been injured during capture because it did not change shape, even when it reached the wet blue deep. Suetork began to suspect the food was not food after all, but a young one of the larger beings. It needed its leaders to change shape first so it could copy them.

She communicated this idea to Enupten, but she rudely displayed her opinion by allowing a gas bubble to pop in Suetork’s direction. The young ones in the group happily imitated this gesture. Though Enupten chided them, it was obvious to Suetork the leader enjoyed teaching the young these bad manners.

But when a wave broke over the “food” and it didn’t change shape, even Enupten had to admit Suetork was most likely right. It was stubbornly maintaining its leaders’ current shape to show how strong it was, even though it nearly drowned for its efforts. Suetork felt sorry for it.

One of the adults moved the little one away from the waves to a spot near Enupten. What they needed to do was show the offspring a new shape, but Suetork guessed they were too stupid to realize this. She could not fathom why they would take that awkward vertical shape in the first place. Every living thing must change to suit the environment or die. Surely they had been trying for something else and failed.

The sand and sun were hot, very hot, and the stupid beings did not spread out or turn white to reflect the heat. Even the brainless dipputs could do that! The poor small one sat there drying out and making bubbling-blue noises which the leaders ignored.

Suetork’s many delicate surface sensors, straining for sounds of approaching elaw, were suddenly overwhelmed into flatness against her skin by a thundering roar generated, at least it seemed, from the dead rock thing.

Luckily, the roar was of short duration, subsiding into a low, but rather familiar sound. If she didn’t know better, she would swear the tall beings had somehow gotten the dead rock to suck the wet blue like a sand thog, using the white thing for a hollow reed! Why the tall ones would do this made no sense at all to Suetork. Dead things do not need to drink! Her opinion of the beings’ intelligence dropped to dumber than dipputs. Maybe intelligence decreased with addition of mass?

As the day progressed, it got hotter and hotter, but the beings still did not alter their shape. The wind changed from still to blow-away force and back to still and the beings looked the same. Suetork got shinier in the heat and opened holes for the wind to pass through. Enupten allowed her surface to bubble, producing rainbows to impress the young ones. Suetork hated showoffs. A good leader saved her energy for danger. Though these weird beings appeared not to be a threat, there could be an elaw hidden in the dunes this very moment.

Enupten continued her display, and understandably, built up quite an appetite. She boldly announced she intended to trap and eat the small being. Suetork objected, shaking her eyes at Enupten. Taking advantage of a helplessly stupid creature was not appropriate behavior for a leader. She stopped just short of accusing Enupten of being too lazy to find more challenging prey. She would not risk the safety of the entire group by arousing her to fight where there might be elaw.

Suetork monitored as Enupten slid across the sands and wiggled underneath the small one. The poor thing must have sensed the danger it was in because it smeared sand over its pink outer skin. Such a pitiful attempt to blend in with its surroundings! Enupten easily captured the being in a clear bubble.

The being thrashed about inside the skin of the trap. Its shape stayed the same, and it turned, not yellow like the sand or clear like the trap, but red! Suetork’s anger with Enupten grew as she refused to quickly end the poor thing’s miserable existence. A proper leader would not play with her food!

While the large beings were out of sight behind their rock-thing, their trapped young one changed color from red to blue. Suetork hoped that meant it would turn to liquid and escape, depriving Enupten of an easy meal. But it stubbornly maintained its shape. Suetork admitted to a certain curiosity as to what its base shape might be. If it were some kind of mutant elaw, it would turn to a gray log as it died.

Before the thing reverted, though, Enupten formed little teeth to bite it. “Mmm, salty!” she signaled. Suetork quivered in angry disgust. She could not remain in a group where a leader spread so low as to eat live prey! Enupten must be scattered immediately. Cautiously, so as not to attract attention from hidden elaw, Suetork slid next to Enupten.