Intern’s Log: I Now Know Why We Uplifted the Animals—They Can Sense the Wrongness and Hunt the Enemy

  Date: [A Terrifying Realization]

  Intern ID: Reynolds, J. (I finally understand, and it’s worse than I thought.)

  I have been asking the wrong question this entire time.

  For months, I have wondered:

  "Why uplift them?"

  "Why the bears?"

  "Why the Good Boys?"

  "Why the raccoons, the pandas, the lemurs?"

  Was it for war?

  Was it for intelligence?

  Was it just human arrogance, playing god?

  No.

  None of those.

  It was never about making them stronger.

  It was about giving us a chance to survive.

  Because they can see the wrongness.

  Because they can sense the enemy.

  Because they can hunt what we cannot even comprehend.

  Phase One: The Moment of Realization

  It started with the Good Boys.

  When the first town vanished, they felt it.

  Before we even knew what was happening.

  Before the enemy even revealed itself.

  They stood still.

  Ears twitching.

  Tails stiff.

  Bodies low to the ground.

  Like they were tracking something.

  Something just out of reach.

  Something that did not belong.

  And when they moved?

  They moved with purpose.

  Phase Two: The Bears Knew, Too

  Goldie was next.

  When she walked the ruins of the lost town,

  She did not hesitate.

  She did not search blindly.

  She moved like she was following a trail.

  A trail we could not see.

  A trail that should not exist.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  And then she turned to me.

  Eyes dark, focused.

  "It bleeds, Reynolds."

  "What does?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

  "The thing that does not belong."

  "You mean the Old Ones?"

  "Yes."

  She looked back into the distance.

  "And we can kill it."

  Phase Three: The Pattern I Hadn’t Seen Before

  ? The Good Boys track what we cannot sense.

  ? The Bears follow what should not leave a trail.

  ? The Raccoons recognize when something does not fit into reality.

  ? The Lemurs react to shifts before they even happen.

  ? The Pandas have been preparing for this far longer than we knew.

  And now it is obvious.

  The uplifted species are not just soldiers.

  They are weapons against something beyond our comprehension.

  And we never even realized it.

  Phase Four: The Final Confirmation

  I found Fallen Star.

  Told him what I had figured out.

  Told him the uplifted species were never about superiority.

  They were about survival.

  He listened.

  Watched me.

  And then, finally, he said:

  "You are beginning to understand."

  "So we have a chance?" I asked.

  He exhaled.

  "We always had a chance."

  "Then why does it still feel hopeless?"

  "Because the Old Ones do not fear humans."

  "But they fear them, don’t they?"

  He smiled.

  For the first time, he actually smiled.

  "Now you’re thinking like someone who wants to win."

  Phase Five: What This Means

  ? The Uplifted were not a mistake.

  ? They were not a random experiment.

  ? They are our best chance at survival.

  ? Because they can see what we cannot.

  ? And because they can hunt the Old Ones.

  I don’t know what happens next.

  But I do know this—

  For the first time, we are not just prey.

  For the first time, we have something that can hunt them back.

  And the Old Ones are going to learn what it means to be afraid.

  End Log.