(THE LIVING PLANET, EARTH BET) CHAPTER FOUR

Earth Bet focused on the animals gathered around the tree, following their movements across the bark and through the surrounding undergrowth. It sensed their heartbeats, the contractions of their muscles, and the countless signals passing through their nervous systems as they explored their surroundings. It could even follow the impulses directing their attention, watching as curiosity drew one creature toward the ring while another lost interest and wandered off in search of something more appealing.

Understanding these creatures came naturally to Earth Bet. It had been aware of the living things upon its surface since the moment it awakened, and the ring hadn’t changed that. What it wanted to learn, however, was whether it could do something with that knowledge.

One of the animals perched on the branch caught its attention. The creature was small, quick, and apparently determined to investigate the strange green object hanging in front of it. It reached out with a paw and nudged the ring, only to recoil when the object swung against the branch.

Earth Bet wanted the animal to move in a particular direction, preferably one that would eventually lead it somewhere useful. If it could influence the animals living upon its surface, perhaps it could use them to carry warnings to its humans. But how was it supposed to turn that intention into an action?

There was no convenient point of contact or obvious mechanism it could manipulate. The animal’s behaviour emerged from a complicated interaction between its instincts, its experiences, and the information it received from its surroundings. Earth Bet could sense all those things, but sensing them didn’t automatically grant it the ability to change them.

Still, it had the ring.

That had to count for something.

Earth Bet turned its attention inward, toward the strange presence it had come to associate with the green band. The ring seemed connected to something beyond the ordinary limits of its awareness, a source of power that responded to its intentions in ways it still didn’t understand.

It had seen that power at work during Leviathan’s attack on Brockton Bay. The ring had somehow extended its influence across the world, and a strange green symbol had appeared in the sky. Earth Bet still had no idea how it had managed any of that, but it knew the ring had responded when it wanted to fight.

Could it do something similar here?

Earth Bet focused on the animal, trying to direct its attention away from the ring and toward the forest, but nothing happened.

It tried again, concentrating on the intention itself and attempting to give it shape and direction through the ring.

The animal paused.

For a moment, Earth Bet thought it had succeeded. Then the creature’s body stiffened, and a sudden burst of alarm spread through it. Its head snapped toward the surrounding foliage before it scrambled down the tree and disappeared into the undergrowth.

Earth Bet let the connection go.

It had expected setbacks, but frightening the animal hadn’t been what it intended. It followed the creature through the forest as it settled on a low branch some distance away, where its alarm gradually subsided and its attention returned to finding food and watching for danger.

Earth Bet had no intention of experimenting on the creature’s nervous system until something worked. It had spent enough time feeling the suffering of its inhabitants to understand that careless interference could have consequences, even when the intentions behind it were good.

There had to be another way. Maybe the answer lay in the animal’s own behaviour.

Earth Bet returned its attention to the tree, where another creature had taken an interest in the ring. This one was smaller than the first and considerably less persistent. It approached the object, sniffed at it, and retreated whenever the ring moved.

Curiosity was already there, along with caution. The animal wanted to investigate the strange object, but it also wanted to avoid anything that might pose a threat. Earth Bet didn’t need to invent an entirely new desire; it only needed to discover whether it could influence one that already existed.

The planet focused on the animal’s curiosity, following the impulse as it drew the creature’s attention back toward the ring. Then it tried to reinforce that interest, using the strange power associated with the green band to give the existing impulse a slight nudge.

The creature paused, looked at the ring for a moment, then took a cautious step toward it. Earth Bet maintained its concentration as the animal approached, sniffed at the green band, and began pawing at it.

Then it lost interest and wandered away.

Earth Bet tried to determine whether it had actually influenced the creature or simply witnessed a coincidence. The animal had already been interested in the ring and might have approached it regardless of what Earth Bet had done, so there was no way to know for certain without repeating the experiment.

Still, the attempt had felt different. Earth Bet hadn’t tried to force a movement or interfere directly with the animal’s nervous system. Instead, it had concentrated on an impulse that was already present and tried to make it more influential in determining what the creature did next.

If that was what the ring allowed it to do, then maybe it had found something worth pursuing.

The next several attempts were less encouraging. Sometimes the animals ignored the ring entirely, while others approached it only to lose interest a few moments later. On one occasion, Earth Bet managed to hold a creature’s attention for several seconds longer than it otherwise might have, but the animal soon became distracted by an insect crawling along the branch.

Earth Bet tried to encourage it to return to the ring, but the animal followed the insect instead.

It was a small failure, although it illustrated another difficulty. Even when Earth Bet could influence an animal’s attention, it couldn’t assume that a particular impulse would remain dominant long enough to accomplish anything useful.

After several more attempts, Earth Bet decided to try something different.

One of the animals had settled on a branch a short distance from the ring, where it was occupied with grooming itself. The creature seemed content enough, occasionally pausing to inspect its surroundings before returning to the task.

Earth Bet focused on the animal’s curiosity, trying to draw its attention toward the ring. The creature glanced at it, then stopped grooming and began making its way along the branch. Encouraged, Earth Bet strengthened the impulse slightly, and the animal picked up its pace.

For a moment, Earth Bet thought it had found the right approach. The creature was heading straight for the ring, apparently responding to the nudge Earth Bet had given its curiosity.

Then it reached the end of the branch.

It hesitated, looking down at the gap separating it from the next tree. The distance was manageable, but the creature clearly wasn’t inclined to attempt the jump, and its body shifted backward as it prepared to turn around.

Earth Bet, still focused on encouraging it toward the ring, strengthened the impulse again.

The animal jumped.

Earth Bet felt the sudden contraction of its muscles, the brief loss of contact with the branch, and the frantic movement of its limbs as it realized the leap had carried it farther than expected. It struck the neighbouring tree awkwardly, claws scraping against the bark before it managed to secure a hold.

Earth Bet withdrew its influence immediately.

The creature clung to the trunk, its heart racing as it recovered from the near fall. After several moments, it scrambled upward and disappeared into the foliage.

Earth Bet watched it go, thoroughly displeased with itself.

That had been close.

The creature hadn’t been injured, thankfully, but Earth Bet couldn’t shake the feeling that it had made a serious mistake. It had wanted the animal to approach the ring, and in its eagerness to make that happen, it had ignored the creature’s reluctance to cross the gap.

It hadn’t intended to make the animal take a risk. Yet by strengthening its curiosity without accounting for its caution, that was exactly what it had done.

Earth Bet spent some time considering the implications. It couldn’t simply strengthen an impulse until the animal did what it wanted. Curiosity might encourage exploration, but caution prevented an animal from wandering into danger. Hunger drove it to seek food, while fear kept it away from potential predators. These instincts existed together for a reason, and Earth Bet would have to account for them if it wanted to influence a creature without endangering it.

That was going to make things considerably more complicated.

For a while, Earth Bet observed the animals without interfering, paying closer attention to the moments when they hesitated, changed direction, or abandoned something that had previously captured their interest.

Their behaviour was constantly shaped by their surroundings. A sound might draw their attention away from the ring, a sudden movement might send them scrambling for cover, and an interesting smell might lead them toward a particular patch of vegetation.

Earth Bet could sense most of those influences already. Maybe it could learn to become one of them.

Rather than attempting to make an animal perform a specific action, Earth Bet could try to influence the circumstances that led to that action. It could encourage a creature to pay attention to something, strengthen an existing inclination, or make a particular course of action seem slightly more appealing than its alternatives.

It wasn’t entirely sure how to put that into practice yet, but it had a better idea of what to look for. The next time it tried to influence an animal, it would have to pay attention to what the creature was already inclined to do, as well as whatever might make it hesitate.

The planet returned its attention to the tree where the ring hung. One of the smaller animals had settled on a branch nearby, apparently considering whether the strange object was worth another investigation.

Earth Bet studied the creature’s impulses, taking care to distinguish its curiosity from the caution that accompanied it. There was no immediate danger, and the branch leading toward the ring was broad enough for the animal to cross without difficulty.

This time, Earth Bet concentrated on making the ring a little more interesting.

The creature turned its head, and Earth Bet held the influence steady, resisting the temptation to strengthen it further. The animal made its way along the branch, pausing occasionally to inspect its surroundings. When something rustled in the foliage, its attention shifted toward the sound, so Earth Bet let it investigate before gently encouraging its curiosity again.

Eventually, the creature reached the ring. It sniffed at the green band, touched it with one paw, and began batting it against the branch.

Earth Bet waited until the animal lost interest and started moving away. Once it had travelled a short distance along the branch, the planet tried again, and the creature stopped, turned around, and returned to the ring.

Earth Bet felt a surge of satisfaction. That was considerably more convincing. The animal had already finished investigating the object, and nothing in its immediate surroundings seemed to have drawn its attention back. Yet when Earth Bet encouraged its curiosity, the creature returned.

It repeated the experiment once more. This time, the animal wandered off to investigate a patch of bark, sniffing at something hidden in a crack. Earth Bet waited until it had finished before nudging its curiosity toward the ring again.

The animal returned.

Well, then. That was something.

Earth Bet still couldn’t claim to have mastered the ability, and it had no idea whether the same approach would work on every animal living upon its surface. But it had managed to influence a creature’s behaviour repeatedly without frightening it or pushing it into danger.

More importantly, it was beginning to recognize the sensation that accompanied a successful attempt. There was a difference between observing an impulse and influencing it, a subtle change in the connection between Earth Bet, the ring, and the creature’s awareness. The planet couldn’t have explained it in any meaningful terms, but it was becoming familiar enough to recognize when its intentions were taking effect.

The process demanded an absurd amount of concentration, especially considering how little Earth Bet had accomplished. It had spent the better part of several days learning how to persuade a small animal to walk back and forth along a branch.

Its humans would probably have found that rather unimpressive. Then again, Earth Bet doubted any of them had ever attempted to manipulate an animal’s behaviour while simultaneously being an entire planet, so it was willing to give itself some credit.

The creature eventually wandered away for good, disappearing into the surrounding forest in search of something more interesting than a green ring hanging from a tree. Earth Bet let it go, knowing there were other animals nearby and that it could continue experimenting when they returned.

Directing an animal toward a particular location was still beyond it, as was communicating anything resembling a complicated instruction. But influencing curiosity and attention offered possibilities Earth Bet hadn’t possessed before, and it wanted to discover how far those possibilities extended.

Preferably, without sending any more of its inhabitants jumping between trees.

For now, Earth Bet was satisfied with its progress.