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Listen to Your Dog

You'll be Glad You Did

By Doug CaldwellPublished 3 years ago 151 min read
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Listen To Your Dog

By Doug Caldwell

Chapter One

“I guess the most surprising thing we’ve found to date, is how much some dogs swear. When they are excited or upset with something they begin with a river of cussing that becomes more animated the angrier they get. We can now filter that cussing out once the dog’s basic vocabulary and emotional triggers are captured in memory, but it takes a few hours of use for the software to learn these patterns for that to happen, and the higher the cuss filter is set, the longer it takes the software to learn. So at first we recommend the filter be as low as possible to make it easier.”

The close up shot of the intelligent looking young dark-haired inventor drew back to include the host looking thoughtful sitting behind the sprawling desk and the strategically placed prop microphone displaying the network logo.

The affable host looked into the camera as it came in tighter and said, “Understanding what our dogs are saying and thinking. Are you ready? When we come back, my own dog Barney will hopefully have a chat with me. Stay with us.”

“We’re clear!” Came the voice of the floor director, allowing the make-up artist to come in and touch up Jack’s hot spots with a bit of powder.

During the short break, the guest informed how Jack’s dog would be fitted with the new collar that synced with a smart phone equipped with the new app that translated the communications from the dog to be displayed as text on the smart phone.

Looking for more of the off-the-cuff edginess his new talk show was becoming known for, Jack Ballantine was most enthusiastic to book this guest and his somewhat dubious invention for the broadcast. Real or not, it would draw the numbers of viewers that could help carry his new show into the fabled high ratings territory. The show’s daily Twitter promo received good feedback on this scheduled guest anticipating strong viewer numbers at show time. The studio tickets had all been claimed before 4 p.m. as normal. There should be a strong audience tonight Jack thought. No sporting events scheduled for broadcast tonight so the audience share should be larger. The director could be heard counting down to On Air once again.

On cue he lifted his flippant gaze to the camera, smiled gently and said, “Hi, thanks for sticking with us. I’m Jack Ballantine and my first guest tonight is Dan Gilbert, who has invented a way for our dogs to communicate with us,” he turned to look at his guest, “Dan did you steal this idea from that movie Up?” The applause light came on to cue and the audience responded as requested.

Dan smiled and replied, “Man, we hear that a lot. No, when Up came out a couple years back we were already at the de-bugging and refinement stage with the Lassie unit. We spoke with the movie producers about it and everything is fine. In fact the talking dog idea actually goes back to Aesop’s time around 500 BC.”

“Lassie?” queried Jack.

“Yeah, like: What is it Lassie? Is Timmy in trouble?” Dan said straight-faced.

Jack took the opportunity to demonstrate his comedic virtuosity; camera two came in tight on the host, “A long time ago boys and girls when the world was still in black and white, lived a small boy on a farm who was always getting into trouble. His name was Timmy,” Jack adjusted his vocal range to sound more like a children’s show narrator.

“He had a beautiful collie dog named Lassie who would always run back home to tell Timmy’s mom or dad that Timmy was in trouble and needed help.” He turned dramatically and looked at Dan, raised his left eyebrow and asked, “THAT Lassie?”

Dan smiled and nodded, “Yes that Lassie. We could not think of a better name, so it kind of stuck with the project. It’s our corporate name now too.”

“Well let’s see how it works!” Jack said enthusiastically. “Joining us is my own real-life, for gosh and true dog, Barney.” A stage assistant was leading Barney out on the floor to the oohs and ahs of the applauding studio audience. The handsome four-year old black lab trotted easily until he saw his man Jack, whereby his tail began to wag heartily and he pulled on the leash a bit harder. The assistant handed the leash to Jack who had walked around his desk to sit next to his guest on the couch allowing the dog to sit on the floor between them.

Barney stretched to make nose contact with Jack’s hand, his thick tail slapping noisily on the hard polished floor as Jack petted him vigorously.

Dan put the collar around Barney’s neck and pressed the button that turned it on, the small green LED confirmed success. Barney wanted to touch noses with this new guy- so he did.

Dan next removed a smart phone from his jacket pocket, pressed the screen a few times, raised his head to look at Jack and explained, “The Lassie Communicator is an app that lives on the dog owner’s smart phone. The other part is in the dog’s collar which is connected to the mobile via Bluetooth. Only one dog can be heard at a time so far, but we’re working on a version for people with two or more dogs.

“The collar picks up the sounds the dog makes plus some other sensory data that includes excitement levels, heart rate and other neural indicators that get interpreted in the mobile software which then translates all this input data into text on the phone. So it’s not just the vocalizations the dog makes, but also what it is thinking and feeling too. It takes some time for the software to fully understand each dog and how they think and communicate, so results will not be great at the beginning, but they will get better with practice and use. What you are reading is really what the software interprets the dog to be feeling or vocalizing. The majority of dogs don’t possess the linear thinking ability to form sentences, so the software sort of fills in the blanks so it makes sense to we humans.” he turned to the studio audience and smiled.

“Even so, a dog’s message may only be three or four words long. “But we have found there are some common….thoughts, feelings, emotions, phrases and, it’s hard to put into words but dogs have communication abilities that include much more than just a vocal language. They also possess an ability to understand body language of – Well, all species it would appear. We also suspect there is a mild form of telepathic ability they have between themselves which we are studying now, but it could just be how keenly they read eye and facial micro movements.”

Dan deflated noticeably before the camera and said, “I must stress, this devise will not work all the time for all dogs. We have found there needs to be a solid foundation of trust and friendship between the dog and handler before the dog is willing to communicate. It can be equally frustrating if the dog has no interest in communicating any better.

“Like people, some dogs are apathetic and have a limited imagination or desire to participate. Some others are far too easily distracted and become frustrated in learning how to respond. You see, dogs don’t know languages other than how dogs normally communicate. In their language I guess you can call it, they have a few rudimentary words or phrases which can have rather complex meanings, but they do not communicate as we do. So it can be quite confusing for a dog and handler the first few times they use the communicator. But noticeable improvement can be made with regular use and I can’t stress this enough: Patience will be the key to success.”

He held up the sleek smartphone to the camera which showed a pale green background with the word WAITING on the screen.

Dan looked at his host and said, “He’s ready to go, ask him something.”

Jack looked coy and said, “At the risk of losing a sponsor for the show, the same one who makes the food we feed Barney,” He paused and rubbed his hand over the top of Barney’s head and asked, “So Barn – do you like the food we feed you?” The dog’s tail slapped the floor.

Dan held up the phone to the camera to see: IT OK, CAT’S FOOD BETTER. EAT NOW? The audience in studio erupted in laughter and applause.

Jack petted his dog heartily and told him he was a good boy, “NO SHIT” appeared on the phone screen. The audience did not need to be prompted to react.

Feeling encouraged Jack looked into Barney’s face and asked, “Are you getting enough exercise? Would you like more Frisbee or more tennis ball? Do you like the beach or the park better?”

“PARK, SQUIRRELS, CATCH THEM--SHAKE THEM –SHIT--MORE BALL, GREEN BALL, SHIT, SQUIRRELS, BEACH…” was displayed on the screen hidden from the camera’s view.

Dan spoke up, “Ask one question at a time and keep them simple. Barney is thinking about too many things at once and the translator can’t keep up. “It’s also a good way to improve your communications by knowing what frustrates your dog. We have done studies using many different dogs and the number one thing that annoys most dogs is repetitive questions like Who’s a good boy?, or Where’s your toy? Who’s here? And similar questions asked over and over again. They get it the first time and do not like to be talked down to.” Dan placed the phone on the desk propped-up by the faux microphone for the camera to see.

Barney’s tail began to slap loudly on the highly polished studio floor and he looked pleased. “Does that piss you off Barney? Does it? Piss you off? Hmm? Tell me what pisses you off…”

The camera trained on the screen of the phone, STOP ASSHOLE—-JERK-- YOU PISS ME OFF

Jack laughed aloud and asked, “Did you get that?” to the floor director. A sad nod was given in reply.

He turned again to Dan, “So Dan, tell us about the testing you have done so far, I understand you have been working with the police and military for a while now?”

“Yes, and the Institute for the Blind as well,” Dan began, “We needed real life situations in order to fine tune the software for the wide range of applications dog owners would use it for, so we started with the professional dog people - it saved a huge amount of work because these people are already tuned into their dog’s emotions and body language much more than say an average pet owner. And yes I know some people have a much closer bond to their dogs than others, so I am looking forward to having more of these out in the world so it can be fine-tuned even further as we get more dog-owner pairings with excellent communicating abilities. We will be learning from this for quite a while into the future.”

Jack looked thoughtful and asked in as serious a tone as he could, “Where do you see this in a few years Dan?”

“I think we’ll see more dogs being employed in many new areas that exploit their remarkable abilities. In medicine for example, such as for patients who suffer from seizures and fits, in some cases dogs can detect these a few moments before they happen and could alert caregivers to a pending episode.

“There is existing data to suggest that some dogs can smell or sense some forms of cancers and other infections, so we’re testing for those also. Search and rescue, police and military dogs will be able to do their jobs much more effectively with a better understanding between the dog and the handler. And I mentioned the Institute for the Blind; we’re really excited about what we can accomplish with this organization.”

Dan shifted his position to look directly into the large TV camera before him. “With text reading software enabled, whatever the dog communicates will be converted into speech for the blind handler to hear in real time on their mobile phone. Already it has added a heightened level of safety as we discovered during the first series of trials, and we are now building the speech engine into every unit for all users--blind or not.”

“Very cool!” Jack emphasized, “So people will be able to hear what their dogs are telling them. When will the Lassie collar be on the market?”

“We still have a lot of work to complete, but we are aiming at within the next two years if all goes as planned.” Dan finished with a smile.

“Amazing and all because we will be better able to understand our dogs and what they want us to know. Thank you Dan Gilbert inventor of the Lassie Communicator,” Jack began his wrap up. He turned to look at his happy dog and asked “Any final thoughts Barn? Anything you think I should know?”

The camera panned from the shiny black lab to the smartphone before the translator had finished compiling the message. Then a second later, Jack saw the message on the studio monitors at the same time the studio audience and all the viewers at home did, JASON IS FUCKING AMY

Jack grabbed for the phone ending the display which caused the studio audience to react as most knew Jack’s wife to be the television star Amy Winslow, none were too sure who Jason might be, but Jack knew. “We’ll be right back.” He said curtly.

Dan did his best to keep his smile from blooming in its fullness.

Chapter Two

Not that the Lassie Communicator was a secret, as a large number of people, agencies and organizations had supported getting the devise to its present stage of development over the past four years.

The sensation caused by the appearance on the Jack Ballantine Show the other evening had launched the science fiction product into the popular social trending chatter nearly as much as the speculation on whom this Jason character may be. All the Tinsel-Town gossips were feeding well on Mr. Ballantine’s sad turn of events.

Public awareness of the Lassie product was now better than they had planned as determined by following the social network tweets, likes and the YouTube sharing volume. Belinda Sparks, Director of Marketing, had bet Dan a bottle of wine that knowledge of the Lassie device and a spike in dog jokes would be witnessed within the week- it took only three days until the jokes about bribing the dog were common on the talk shows.

The six partners that formed Lassie Communications Company were gathered to review their plan to begin manufacturing for market. All were still committed not to borrow any capital to get the ball rolling and relied on invited industry investors only. Mostly, these were research partners who contributed to the financial operations as well. As ground floor investors, they saw the potential for such a product and did not need to have their arms twisted to participate.

Five additional staff formed their modest manufacturing plant which produced only ten units per day with the production of the computer chips and sensors contracted to a firm in California. All of the collar units manufactured were destined for the medical/scientific studies and contractors working with the military and law enforcement community. The next five hundred units were pre-sold to a mix of industrial-strength customers with research contracts with Lassie Co. so the R&D was on-going with reports from their existing customer base of professionals and other scientists.

All of these organisations shared their data into a common pool which proved to be very helpful in eliminating research redundancy and duplication, it also helped to advance progress as the research teams were encouraged to discuss their projects within the broader research groups. Amazingly they had all developed a sense of team building in their research and often a scientist with a particular set of skills or theory would be invited to sit-in with another group for a test or study that may be of interest to others. There was a lot of cross-pollination taking place and everybody benefitted from it. Still there were some secrets each organization had specific to their path of research, hoping to hit on a product with mass consumer appeal.

Expectations were Lassie Co. would not be able to meet public consumer demand even if they expanded their plant operations significantly, so they hired a firm to evaluate off-shore mass production options in South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Ireland and Brazil. They would have to make a decision within the next ninety days, but for now, they could coast for a bit and enjoy the popular exposure the late night talk show had provided.

All was going to plan. Over the last four years as their small group of technicians and scientists became a company and worked to fully develop Dan’s breakthrough idea, they had grown to a force of six primary directors and another four trusted consultants who were brought in time to time for their expertise in certain subjects and coupled with the manufacturing arm of the company, it made for a small, agile and efficient organization. It was time to grow again now that all the international patent requirements were met and behind them thanks to one of their professional cohort. They were working with some new consultants to determine options in mass production, quality control, distribution, licensing and a few handfuls of related topics.

They had been careful not to make any legal obligations to any of the parties they had conducted the research with beyond the sharing of the research data. The sharing of data and participation concept appealed to many who had since signed on and this cooperation is often credited as a key to Lassie Co.’s success. Intellectual Rights were the boilerplate property of Lassie Co. and there was some latitude to negotiate new terms at the request of a proponent depending on their proposal. Detailed agreements were used to grant authority to conduct research and share intellectual rights as programs advanced. Their research library was growing quickly and some less-sensitive data was happily shared with a multitude of approved downstream user groups for free. Many universities and think tanks had plugged in and proposed some exciting new experiments and studies utilizing the Lassie Communicator or its constituent parts. It proved to be a winning aspect of promoting their products and generating financial support.

The medical community was on board and had contributed a few millions for research, helping to keep the fledgling company afloat and the bills paid. Other funding was provided in the name of foundations and similar money laundering organizations. The military and three-lettered agencies got lots of research data, but there was not an audit trail to identify their fiscal contributions to help gather this information.

The Lassie group had worked their asses off during the past four years when Dan first gathered them together over a few pitchers of margaritas and a Mexican dinner at a local eatery. He only had to make his pitch once and all the talented people he had assembled immediately understood the opportunity they were being offered and signed on within a couple days. Now it was near time to take the final steps that would bring their efforts to reality and reward them for their innovation and commitment.

Dan had made the other five equal partners in the firm over the years together. None had to dig into their pockets to invest - their sweat and knowledge equity was sufficient because as Dan often told others: “I only had an idea, some outlines and a few lines of amateur coding, these smart people helped me to make it a real functioning product – they own it as much as I do.”

Dan had searched the universities and tech shops up and down the Pacific coast looking for the right people. He had read reams of papers and research work from those who he considered to short list and propose his crazy idea to. He had no money to offer them as competitive tech firms worked equally hard to recruit the brilliant new minds coming up through the new age scientific ranks.

Patent credits for the Lassie device in toto, as well as for a number of individual component parts, like the various sensors and the Artificial Intelligence software they had created were shared co-op fashion among the six working directors of the young company. There were serious opportunities in licencing some of these to the many laboratories proposing new studies. Some proposals were quite main stream, while some others were pure fantasy in their expectations, or so they thought. The patent process however, had revealed a number of new market options to pursue in time. One was to produce a communicator version for humans who had lost the ability to speak due to diseases like cancer or from physical trauma as in car accidents.

The future looked very bright. An early offspring of one of the sensor patents came from a Canadian university just across town, Dan’s alma mater - Simon Fraser University, SFU where they had developed a simple Lie-Detector. It was a large box similar to a desktop printer, and when the sensors were applied to the skin of someone, it could detect very accurately when that person was lying. Tell a lie and the bright red light came on. Research on the box continued.

TMZ, other celebrity news programs and gossip magazines had made Barney the black Labrador a household name and his image was found wearing his wonderful new collar on many of the celebrity sleaze magazines adorning the checkout isles in most supermarkets. Everybody knew the story and the technology that would soon allow them to converse with their dogs. It was not difficult to raise the operating capital they needed, but they didn’t need it.

Chapter Three

At twenty-eight years of age, Dan Gilbert had spent the past five years working on an idea that had stimulated his thinking to find a solution to enhance the abilities of seeing-eye dogs utilizing modern technology.

An introvert - some would say nerd - the micro technologist spent most of his free time studying and building on the education he had amassed at Simon Fraser University and from his own experiments in the small lab he had built in his basement.

He had been fortunate to have a girlfriend who molded the young geek into a popular and good looking guy on campus. Sherri and he had met in lab studies and hit it off based on a purely physical relationship. During their association she had taught him the basics of fashion and helped him to be more confident and up-front with people he had to deal with.

While he was aware of how profoundly Sherri had advanced his awkward self into the man he now was, he was still considering what he wanted his future to be, and did not share her desire to become a formal couple at this young age. Sherri and he split on good terms and he attended to celebrate her wedding a few years later.

Following a rigorous analysis of the report the consultants had produced and presented with their recommendations for manufacturing the Lassie product line, it was time for the Lassie board members to make a decision. The meeting was to be held at Dan’s place out in Surrey, one of Vancouver’s bedroom communities, in his kitchen with pizza and beer later that day.

During their two hour presentation earlier that afternoon from the expert consultants: Bach, Dobbin, and Willis who recommended that Lassie Co. contract out the manufacturing to a well-respected electronics plant in Seoul. They demonstrated the deal and benefits in terms of: long-term cost, corporate inflation with such vast holdings and assets required to produce and distribute the one product, plus the O&M. It was clearly in Lassie Co.’s best interests to hire out the manufacturing rather than build a debt empire with its additional management challenges right off the start. A number of pain-in-the-ass issues would be avoided by contracting. No capital start-up, no work force to make it go, no maintenance staff to keep it running, no supply chain issues, just a final product built to spec for a five-year term contract.

The only thing they had to be on the watch for was product piracy, but Dale Murphy, the firm’s micro-technology and software guru, had developed a solution where the application software would be automatically reauthorized each month via the cellphone. It was transparent to the end user and only approved and registered units would be authorized. So knock offs of the real McCoy could be prevented, but the ability to reverse engineer and produce a pirated version was still possible, which kept Dale staring at the ceiling some nights.

He had applied the most rigorous protection available to his Integrated Circuit design. In nine out of ten cases where he asked trusted people to try and hack it, the circuit had self-destructed as it was designed to do. As far as he was concerned, nine out of ten was still miles away from being one hundred percent secure.

The Seoul firm offered a realistic warranty, outstanding quality control and would package each unit rack-ready for merchandizing in the languages of choice. The kit was basically a collar with a USB stick containing the software for the mobile phone; the digital user tutorial and manual was included in either Windows & Android or IO operating systems. A card sized operator’s quick reference completed the contents welded into the heavy duty clear plastic, theft-deterrent-coded blister pack. Boxed in cartons of three hundred, the FOB Vancouver price per unit was eighty-five dollars US funds, batteries not included.

The introduction of lithium batteries had made this requirement vitally important with the various tariffs and transport restrictions and dangerous goods taxes established to prevent shippers from blowing up due to temperamental high technology batteries.

Lassie Co. had developed the product with the goal of a retail price of around $250, with special pricing for end users such as the blind, or those with service assistance dogs, medical applications and other social benefit application categories.

As they arrived at Dan’s one by one that early evening, the directors had individually made up their minds that afternoon on the direction they wished to go based on their risk profile, funding limitations, growth expectations and debt management acumen and the wonderful advice the consultants had provided in their very thorough report and presentation.

Kevin Hoath, the money guy in the firm asked a number of financial related questions during the afternoon presentation and was very pleased with the recommendation from Bach, Dobbin, and Willis. For him it was a no-brainer. Kevin had studied to follow in his family business of high international finance and was deeply involved in writing forecasting software, which in a short time had become the fascination that seduced him away from the family business and to join up when Dan offered him a role to help make dogs talk. Being single with no dependents other than Princess, his energetic Welsh Terrier, Kevin could see no downside and enthusiastically joined on.

They sat to eat while the pizza was hot and the beer was cold. Once all were seated around the circular wooden kitchen table with food in hand, Dan said, “Spencer Bach called me. He tracked down the answers to those last questions from this afternoon and he says to Dale’s question on delivery from point of order.”

Dan read from a pad of yellow legal paper and recited the pertinent information. He looked around the table and asked Dale, “Does this answer what you wanted to know?” Dale nodded his head in the affirmative while hot cheese burned the roof of his mouth.

Gareth Thompson was the Sales Director. He swallowed a mouthful of beer and said, “Great, now that we have these numbers I can rework our pricing strategy and start to put together the distributor package, they are getting impatient. I imagine we will soon need to make an announcement when we will be going to market – Belinda, Sandor can we get together later this week to work on that?” He looked at each of them as he said their names. “Based on what we learned today, we could have product on the shelves in only fourteen weeks.” He dialed up the calendar on his mobile and said, “June, early June we can launch the retail market during the peak of summer. Perfect!” Heads were nodding in agreement all around the table.

Sandor Kosma had just been granted his Canadian Citizenship the week prior and was in very good spirits. Two years earlier Dan had recruited Sandor from Prague to head up the international sales at a time when there was no product - just an over-sized working prototype. Sandor had met and married Emily, a vivacious Canadian woman who shared his love of soccer and they both played on recreational leagues in their home community of Delta. They were always busy with some community event or volunteer activity. Sandor was not a dog person as the rest of his partners were, and considered the talking collar just another electronic black box and set about his work planning to make it available in every corner of the planet. But he understood the significance of what this devise would mean for anybody on commissioned sales.

Belinda and Gareth were in support due to Sandor’s experience over the past fifteen years in building the Porsche brand around the world. He had the experience, the skills and an iPad full of contacts on nearly all the continents. He could do the job, but he could also educate his partners in dealing at the global level. They were lucky Sandor wanted to change his life in some ways and came to work with them.

Dan stood and held up his glass of beer. “I move we accept the recommendation from the consultants as presented with the goal of being in the market in early June this year…. All in favour?”

It was unanimous. The die had been cast. “Okay then, thank you everyone, I’ll call the lawyers in the morning and get things moving with the deposit so the re-tooling can begin. What else?”

Belinda said, ”The promotional spot previews should be ready to watch on Monday. The director made the changes I asked for and said they turned out better than we had hoped - he’s real excited and says the spot is worthy for the Super Bowl audience. I’ll send it to you all via email,” She hesitated and continued more seriously in tone, “I will remind you not to let anybody else see or hear the spot when you are playing it. We are aiming for a tsunami announcement so any leakage will take away from that impact.”

“Did they update the print media campaign materials yet?” Kevin asked Belinda who nodded, “Yes, I’ll attach that info and the two-D slicks and digital updates in the email to you with the video“

Dan spoke up once again, “Thanks everyone for all your hard work--I’d say we are ahead of schedule on the major issues, all that remains is to finalise the distribution and retailers beyond the sector dealers and big box stores. The mom & pops will contact us directly I imagine and we can point them to the distributors in their particular area and make some other considerations for dealer support. I haven’t heard anything from the lawyers about any concerns so I assume we are on track there as well.”

He smiled and looked around at his partners, “This morning I got a call from Lana Taylor, the production assistant on the Ballantine show. She just wanted an email address for all the viewer mail she wanted to send us. She also heard through the grapevine that the much maligned and sinister Jason named by the black lab is Jason Patrick--whoever that may be. She made it sound like he is important somehow.”

Young and beautiful, Mr. Patrick was a brash and self-promoting newcomer to the entertainment industry. Desperate to be discovered, he was frequently seen at restaurants and clubs on the arm of an aging starlet trying to remain relevant or at least seen, and he was good bait for that. He was an attention gigolo. Past-their-prime actresses yearned to see their names in the On the Scene Celebrity column in the leisure section of the Sunday paper. It was like a hit from an Epi-Pen for these aging ingénues from yesteryear. Jason Patrick was also indulging heartily at a number of salacious levels.

One of the gossip columnists referred to it as Jason’s Errol Flynn phase due to an excess of hormones and alcoholic bravado. By all recent indicators, it was apparent that Jason Patrick had at last been discovered. The paparazzi were grateful for his bold behaviour and antics which filled the gossip magazines that paid well for helping with their circulation.

During the past four nights comedian Dennis Thorn was the guest host sitting in for Jack Ballantine, who was reportedly suffering from the flu.

Chapter Four

“Good afternoon, this is Belinda.” She spoke in warm friendly tones.

“You are going to win every advertising award there is. That was beyond amazing, tears are still flowing out of me.” Dan said in a serious mood. “Outstanding work Belinda!”

“Thanks Dan, it is powerful isn’t it?” she felt warm from his sincere praise.

“I watched it four times and I’d be watching it now if we weren’t talking.” Dan enthused, “But I will again as soon as I hang up.”

“Dylan, the director - he says we should recalculate our ad buy because this will be on YouTube going viral for free--and I think he’s right.” She changed screens on her computer. “You were cc’d on everyone else’s comments, and they are all pretty much the same as yours, but I still want to run a few more focus groups in a couple specific demographic types after the most recent tweaks we made to the final version, which is not what you just watched. I’ll share that once the final tweak is done in a couple days.”

Anyway, we can go two ways: Stick to the original budget but start running them sooner, or reduce our buy and air schedule. I’d like to start sooner to get the market pumped up and I think I have an interesting way to do that which should also save a ton of money.”

“Do we need to meet over this or can we all connect via computer?” Dan asked.

“We’ll need a face to face board meeting to give the final OK following the updated campaign plan - much has changed and will yet, so I want to look at the bigger picture and update the campaign incorporating the new options, the focus group results and the strength of this spot. I mentioned I have an idea to discuss with the rest of the board, this I want to do face to face with everyone at once and no written records on what I want to talk about.” She paused.

“Who are we going to kill?” Dan chuckled.

“I want no traces of any planning related to what I want to discuss with the board,” she offered, “complete deniability of premeditation, you’ll understand why when I tell you. Anyway - Dylan and I talked about making some ten second teasers we could drop in between commercial islands or use them as station ID bumpers, or just buy banner space in prime markets - Gareth has the recommended regions for those. The overnight time is cheap and reaches an audience segment that does a lot of social media posting. A week is all I should need. I’ll give you a firm time after we run the next focus group review. I’m in Toronto Monday and Tuesday for the focus tests remember?”

“Yes I remember, and you’ll be back late, late Tuesday night. Pace yourself m’dear, I can’t have you burning out on us.”

“I’m going to be sitting in the office for the rest of the week after I get back, but thanks for the head’s up Dan.” She chided. She then began to outline for him her plans for the next two days without an um or ah in her confident delivery.

Dan smiled widely listening to the excitement and absolute dedication Belinda had for her work. Beyond her impressive formal education and training, she had a rare talent to drill into the essence of a message, rendering it to a feeling, an emotion or some other memory that rang clear and bright with the target audiences. She had a gift for composing ad copy, her voice a rich warm tone that was comfortable in the lower vocal register for females. She knew what got to people emotionally and at all ages. She used emotions like painters used their brushes and color pallets. Dan had enjoyed reviewing her digital CV containing her past projects when he had asked her to join his team. She was the last of the five board members he had pursued, and while she was not a technologist or engineer of any description, she was an integral part of the success ahead.

At a young 27 Belinda had stood out from her peer group due to her unique and inclusive perspective of whom and what a target audience is and what makes them the way they are. She was from the Drucker old school that believed marketing was about creating promotions that resulted in sales. It was not a platform for creative statements or art projects to stroke the egos of the producers. No, it is about results measured in product sales and ultimately money. Her diminutive five foot five stature and her blonde pony-tail accented the first glance appearance of a pretty young student more so than that of a shrewd and calculating promotional professional who has a firm grasp on how to influence people and their purchasing decisions.

“That would be fine Belinda. Again, you are wonderful. This spot is a new benchmark in television advertising I promise you. Now I’ve got to hang up so I can watch it again. Thank you a million times - thank you. Have a safe trip and you don’t have to hurry back, take a couple days there and do something- See a show, go shopping. Have some fun! Bye.” he pleaded artificially and hung up.

He looked out the window of his home office into the back alley in a Surrey subdivision and wrote on his scheduling calendar for the following day: Determine office needs for next five years & get it done by month end, he scrolled the screen three weeks forward to the 30th and typed in ‘Office deadline’ and set the daily reminder prompt with the annoying acknowledgment request.

They would need the appropriate corporate persona for a revolutionary new space age product the world would soon be beating the door down for, so let’s make it a nice door. He called up Kijiji Vancouver in his favourite’s folder and then entered commercial office & warehouse space and waited for the voluminous entries to load.

Chapter Five

Following a brief snooze on the plane, Belinda and Dylan, her favourite video producer/director walked into the control room of the recently opened Marshall McLuhan Multi-Media Focus Testing Theatre, it still smelled new with carpets and furnishings nearly completed their off-gassing period. This venue was built to watch people watching movies or television programs. The theatre was located in Toronto’s Harbour Front Centre and was the state of the art for the work undertaken here. The multi-million dollar facility was built to watch the audience as they watched the programs displayed on the large high resolution cinema screen. Their eye tracking, mouth shapes, body comfort and movements, tics and reflex reactions to what they were watching on screen were all recorded; even the seats had devices to measure fidgeting and other body movements. Each camera was clocked to ten-thousands of a second and all camera feeds were synced to a central control computer where each viewer could be studied individually or as an adjustable mosaic group to measure when all reacted in a similar way or when their attention began to wane. Psychologists could review the recording of the audience and point to specific reactions and identify the emotion being experienced and the degree of the sensation for most of the focus group participants depending on age, gender, education and social hierarchy–-their culture.

This data was instrumental in fine tuning a production to achieve the maximum emotional connection the viewer could expect. However not all people are alike and what scored well for one demographic group may not for another. A thousand minute influences come together in a viewer’s mind to allow them to create an emotional register of what they are watching, and it changes person by person, day by day. Repeated viewings over time would establish a default mental association whenever it was seen. That default emotion was the primary target area that Belinda wanted to influence. Are they sympathetic, agreeable or contrary, confused or not able to understand the intent of the production? Do they get it?

Sometimes aiming for the mid-stream or Goldilocks position: Not too this - and not too that, but in the middle and just right for the majority of the audience, would be the easy way to produce most TV commercials and many do take this compromise approach. Then there was always the ability to produce a different spot for each or similar demographic groups depending on their importance in the campaign and the budget available.

Are they the group who will buy what we are selling? Are they worth the investment of a dedicated spot? Would it make any measureable difference? Should we consider other buying groups? Which group is the most likely to purchase the product? The front-end research is where the real critical thinking is best applied. In its essence, it comes down to: Who wants your product? Why? Why your product and not a competitor’s? Do you have an advantage to exploit? How long before your competitors do the same or better? Know your customer is the popular mantra.

The alternative is to shotgun at all demographic audiences with a broad appeal commercial hoping you hit enough consumers to pay the bills. Or drill in on a theme that reaches across a variety of groups and their biases at some specific emotional contact point. In this case, it was only about dogs and curiosity. Cause let’s admit it, we’d all like to know what our dogs are thinking.

The forty people selected for today’s viewing represented what Belinda had determined would be their core group of mainstream private consumers as dog owners. The criteria she established was based on the similar views and values of other dog people who had a strong connection to their pets, be they dogs or cats. There were also the very enthusiastic category types who were breeders or trainers, dog show participants who put their dog’s needs ahead of their own in some cases. These demographic groups, while large and profitable, are already hooked and greater than eighty-five percent of them would buy a Lassie Communicator within the first year - so why waste advertising money on a sure thing?

The marginal consumer groups were primarily motivated by price point as they could get by without the product as they had done thus far, so how do you make the product something they had to have at any price? This is where the magic of advertising is aimed: Consumers sitting on the fence. What will it take to push them to the buy side? Most times it has nothing to do with price or affordability.

Belinda had determined the target audience has a good to excellent relationship with their dog or dogs. They love them and care for their needs and happiness and are most often treated as a member of the family. How do we exploit that personal connection a person has with their dog? Curiosity will motivate some, but not enough to shift that purchase decision from buying new school clothes for the middle kid, to getting that dog communicator thingy today!

Belinda’s script for the spot took seven weeks to complete after numerous rewrites and arguments with herself based on the data she had gathered from a variety of sources. She was confident the copy was right, now to merge the narrative with the images, and the two combined with the right music would create the emotional connection she wanted the spot to emote to the viewing audience. She had fifty-six seconds to tell a compelling story with a beginning, a middle and an end, a story that had to connect with viewers of all ages, economic classes and educational levels. A story that took hold of the viewer’s attention and did not let go while carving a powerful emotion into their memory. It could not be rude or offensive, frightening or turn the audience off in any way. It had to be so good you couldn’t wait to see it again. The kind of spot viewers told their friends about; Did you see it? It’s amazing, if we’re lucky maybe they’ll show it again. It’s on YouTube so share it around…

The focus group test today would provide her with the feedback to let her know if she had got it right.

Dylan Timmers, was the producer she had selected because of his soft, warm production style and the visual emotion he could embed into his work. The version to be viewed today was the 9th he had created following a series of refinements from the original composition. The music had been changed ever so slightly; the order of the appearance of the subjects in the spot had been reorganized to pluck the audience strings in the right order. The order was critical for success. The spot first has to be interesting enough to get the viewer to pay attention, like stop what they’re doing and watch, then to listen closer and finally to be drawn in completely. Then comes the hit - the part you want them to remember later, so you put the most dramatic piece as the conclusion or kicker before the tag line was read: Listen to your Dog - You’ll be glad you did.

Once the audience group had been admitted to the theatre and all were sitting comfortably, Belinda walked up to the front of the room and began, “Good afternoon everyone, Thank you for coming today. My name is Belinda Sparks and I am the promotional manager for the Lassie Communicator Company.

“Today we are asking you to watch and then advise us on a TV commercial we have created for our new product. This commercial will run on regular TV programs at specific times of the day and night within a range of programming types. We’ll insert the new commercial with others you are already familiar with on TV today. You’ll see it in a few different program types presently running which include: Big Bang Theory, a couple of programs on the Animal Channel and Discovery Networks; Ellen and a few others I’m sure you’re all familiar with. When we are all done, we’ll have a group Q&A where we’ll ask you some questions about the commercial - What you may have liked or didn’t like and how you felt after watching it and why. Are there any questions now before we begin? Hearing none she said, “Good let’s get started. You all know where the washrooms are? Down the hall through that door,” she pointed to her left. “We’ll watch for about forty minutes and take a break, have a snack, and do another forty following another break, and so on. We’ll be all finished by 6 o’clock.

As she walked to the back of the theatre the house lights dimmed and the television program began with an episode of Jeopardy. Five hours later they were all done and the focus group participants were provided a grab bag of swag as a thankyou gift in addition to the ten dollars per hour they were paid.

After the focus group interviews had concluded, she and Dylan took time for a bite to eat at their hotel a few blocks from the theatre. The food was hotel quality and involved more presentation than talent from the chef and cooking crew. Their hunger helped the meal to be more acceptable. They discussed an idea that Belinda had for launching the spot in less than traditional methods to maximize social media exposure and to create some controversy at the same time.

Traditional advertising media such as TV, radio and printed products like magazines and newspapers were losing value as social media began to occupy the field more due to user control and ability to block what they didn’t want to see, and that which they did want to see - they could watch over and over. The audience was finally in control of the content. The ultimate goal for many social media users was to be the first to post something amazing that will capture the attention of all their on-line friends and create the viral distribution throughout the digital world.

She sat up straight, took a long sip of her house red wine and said in all sincerity, “You can’t tell anybody what I’m going to tell you--alright?”

Dylan said nothing, his expression agreeing to her terms.

“I want this spot to be leaked to social media.” Belinda whispered to Dylan, “Not just the spot but the final group interview too, the whole works.”

“It’s certain to go viral within a couple days,” the young producer agreed, “But why include the focus group stuff? That’s pretty boring and it’s eighteen something minutes long.”

“So people will better understand how they are supposed to feel, and it smells right,” she replied, “I don’t want people to laugh or even snicker after seeing this spot. I want them to wipe tears from their eyes and say WOW, I must have one of those--even if they don’t yet own a dog.” She said in absolute sincerity. “If we include those focus group people crying their eyes out - we can cut it down to just the emotional parts - it will have much more impact and it broadens the story for when we get interviewed by media on the pilfering and subsequent sharing of it on the Internet. I have all the media Q&A drafted that way. I’ll give you a copy to read on the plane home so you can see where I want to go.”

“All right- what do you want me to do?”

“Do you know some way this could fall into the wrong hands?” she asked quietly, “The kind of hands that would post it to Facebook and YouTube, and Tweet it so that it will get seen everywhere?”

“Sure, there are few of my night school students who are always competing with each other for the dubious honour of posting up the strange, unique and newsworthy; I can make that happen easily, I’ll show them some of the focus test interviews--some of them are great and are useful for the class I’m teaching right now. I’ll leave it lying around while I leave the room. When do you want it to be posted?” Dylan asked with a smirk on his face.

“I’m not exactly sure yet, but within the next ten days I expect,” she smiled broadly, “I must talk with the rest of the partners on this and some related matters before we’re ready to move on it, but go ahead and trim the interview section down to say, three or four minutes.”

In the cab to the airport Belinda was excited with the results of the focus group which told her in so many words the same as her fellow Lassie Co. directors had shared, the spot was very powerful and played on the emotions of the viewers better than she had hoped. She pondered on how such a small amount of tweaking could produce such profound improvements in how people related to the spot. The scheme she had discussed with Dylan would create additional sensation by developing some side-bar drama with the theft of the spot footage and focus group comments which would provide some other directions to go if needed to keep the story alive a bit longer, her knowing that the company would not press charges and the thieves would be spared any penalty for their helpful bad deeds.

“You’ve got it on TMZ, I’m Valerie Sloan with a TMZ exclusive. Actor Jason Patrick was displaying bruises and a black eye while playing a round of golf yesterday afternoon. When asked, Mr. Patrick did not reveal how he came to suffer these injuries, but insiders say Jack Ballantine was seen leaving Jason Patrick’s apartment Friday evening… Stay tuned to TMZ for updates as they happen, - back to you Bruce.” She smiled at Bruce who knowingly smiled back at her. “Woof” was all he said in reply.

Belinda emailed her fellow directors while waiting at the airport for her flight back to Vancouver. She noted all her tasks had been completed and she was ready to launch the campaign and she would like the board to meet within the next three days so that she could explain it and get everyone’s approval. She attached the final version of the spot and the interview material.

Chapter Six

The board meeting went as Belinda had expected and hoped for. A thumbs-up all around the table for the scheme she had developed for the unauthorized release of the spot and focus groups interview was given and Belinda shared speaking points for how to respond with all the directors of the firm in case they were questioned about the material once it was out in the public domain.

“As everybody is in agreement, I would like to get this rolling tomorrow or the day after. That should give us a solid five weeks of promotion before product is on the shelves.” She smiled widely and continued, “We’ll schedule the authorized media buy to commence two weeks before launch day; I’ll get to work on the contracting stuff in the next few days. I’m not exactly sure how fast the media will follow up on the leak of the spot, but I assume it will be fairly quick, so everybody on their toes and be ready to say your lines. If you get stuck or are too busy- punt them to me on my mobile – I’ll talk to them. And one final thing….as we plan to launch on Saturday June 6, it is also the anniversary of D Day. As you will see in your speaking points I would like you refer to the launch as D for Dog Day. The day that mankind will at long last be able to understand our greatest animal companion.”

Dan, Gareth and Belinda went out for a few cocktails following the meeting to discuss some fine points of the spot’s premature release. Belinda was visibly excited and anxious to hear the public reaction to her campaign. She had agonized over it for so long and now she felt like she was waiting for a teacher to grade her paper. A few drinks and a satisfying meal would hopefully allow her to sleep instead of overthinking the days to come.

She tossed and turned until 2 a.m. when sleep finally captured her over-active mind and allowed her to fully relax and recharge.

She awoke, realised it and turned her head to look at the green digital numbers on the Sony clock radio on the bedside table. 5:49 and she did feel somewhat rested but her mind started racing to the day’s tasks almost immediately removing any chance for an additional ten minute snooze. Instead she reached for the iPad on her nightstand. A few presses with her index finger and she saw Dylan had sent an urgent note informing that a thumb drive with the spot and focus group interviews had gone missing, and he could not find it, but would keep looking.

A second note from him said that he had found the missing spot on You Tube and does not know who posted it under an alias name and will look deeper into the matter.

She then dialed up the YouTube website and found the pilfered video on the home page in the recommended section. She resisted the urge to watch it but was pleased to see it had been viewed 2,675,973 times, over the past three hours, it had been shared, that would be something she knew she would be doing for much of the day, so she first shared it with her partners in the firm with the appropriate amount of anger and bluster included for the record. She got out of bed and headed for the shower to begin a most remarkable day she was about to have.

Dressed and forcing down a cinnamon and raisin bagel and coffee in her small kitchen she admonished herself for being in too much of a hurry. She had nowhere to go, no place to be, nobody to meet with and she was frustrated. She wanted to be busy, but all she needed to do could be done at home on the phone or on the laptop computer sitting on her desk next to the window with the picturesque view of English Bay off in the distance.

It was a typical late winter day in Vancouver, with a slate-grey sky overhead, steady drizzle and a light breeze blowing the clouds to the tops of the mountains of the north shore. Freighter ships from distant lands could be seen in the bay swinging on their anchors waiting for their turn at the docks to disgorge their cargo or take on new freight for passage.

She again went to the YouTube site and clicked on the icon for the pilfered video. Despite knowing it by heart, she watched it again. At 8 a.m. it had been viewed 7,754,322 times. This caused her to smile. Dylan had given her a software app that would allow her to track the history of the video with an hourly measure and total number of viewers and where they were located. She could drill further into the data captured for where the majority of views were being made and if they were shared by Facebook, Twitter or other social media platforms. They expected the first 24 hour period to be the initial wave which would be made greater in subsequent days as the popularity of the video grew. So far it was going better than she had planned for. The estimated peak would occur in four days’ time with views in the low billions.

Shortly before eight Dan called her. “I just got a media call about the video,” He explained. “It was the Toronto Star asking for the press kit they assumed we had issued when the video was launched.” He snickered and continued, “As you asked me to, I feigned some anger and said that it was not supposed to be out yet and it was three weeks premature. I then asked him if he knew who had posted it, and I said we are not in a position to speak to this right now as we have to find out who got it and leaked it.” He concluded with a snort. “He took the bait and began asking questions such as: Was there anybody that would want to sabotage us, who would be working to prevent the release of the product and similar questions. Then he asked if all the testimonials in the commercial were real. I said they were and are excerpts from field trials we conducted when running our development testing. He was impressed by this and began asking about our release plans and so forth. Just as you said would happen Belinda.

“I am running out this afternoon to go look at some potential office locations, so do you mind if I forward my phone to you in case others phone about this most heinous crime?” He snorted a suppressed chortle.

By end of business that day Belinda had issued a corporate media release stating the company’s disappointment that the spot had been prematurely issued by an as yet unknown actor. Legal advice will be considered by Lassie Co. In follow up, Belinda had spoken with twenty-eight different news agencies who all now believed the very emotional spot had been stolen and posted to YouTube for some yet unknown reason. The news directors had all but said they would be running the spot and excerpts from the focus group interview during their news packages later that night and in days to come.

Some of them asked if they could speak with the emotional young mother at the end of the commercial. They wanted to know more about her dog Boomer and details about the interview she provided. Belinda told them it was not possible due to the terms of the contract with those who appeared in the commercial, and she also asked them to please limit showing the focus group interviews because they didn’t have model release forms from the people in the focus group and we want to respect their privacy. Most news programs pixelated the faces of the focus group members in the footage that was shown on TV, and it was shown a lot.

At 6 p.m. the YouTube video had been viewed more than 12 million times and was the hot property on Facebook and Twitter where it was still being shared far and wide. She made a note on her iPad to contact all the people in the commercial to let them know the spot was out in the public and they may be recognized. It was the proper thing to do she thought.

She turned on her TV to the local nightly Six o’clock News to see the spot being shown. It was about 10 seconds into it, at the part where NYPD officer Len Cohen and his gorgeous German Shepard Kelly are following a suspect down a dark New York ally when the message on the mobile display showed: - THREE OF THEM – TWO ARE THERE, the dog’s head looked to the left – ONE IS THERE - Kelly looked straight ahead. The scene cut to elderly Jennifer Tombs playing catch with her spritely Jack Russell Terrier named Cooper, who dropped the ball in her lap and laid his muzzle on her knee and she saw the words on her cellphone - LOVE YOU - when the phone rang again.

It was Gareth who was gushing his enthusiasm for the very positive chatter he was hearing from his friends who knew his involvement with the project.” And it’s all free!” he exclaimed. “Belinda- I am in awe, this is remarkable and it’s only day one!”

“I’ve always believed that editorial copy was better than paid promotion,” she chuckled, “I’m watching it on the local news now,” she explained and followed up with, “I want to hear how they cast this, so hang on a moment will you? I’m going to put the phone down-hang on,” She put the phone down and turned up the volume on her TV.

“…the video is confirmed as being an unauthorized release which the Lassie Company says was to be made public mid-May,” The blonde co-anchor wiped a tear from her eye and said with a warble in her voice, “How about that Boomer? Amazing! The company also says it will conduct an investigation and apologized that the Lassie Communicator is not yet available to purchase, but it will be in early June this year. I know I’ll be buying one. Steve?”

The screen changed to the middle-aged male anchor sitting behind the desk who began with, “In other news--”

“Gareth? Still there?” She asked holding the phone to her ear.

“Yeah I am--that was perfect. I wonder how many sales will be made tonight just on the strength of this? Terrific work Belinda--just amazing!”

After hanging up from speaking with her knowledgeable and savvy business partner, Belinda selected a bottle of wine she had saved for this occasion. She poured a glass, toasted her smiling image in the hall mirror and sat down at her computer to review her carefully planned campaign. She updated a few places in the document on her computer and made some notes based on what she had learned that day. She took Oliver out for a pee and a pre-bedtime walk around the block. Before bed, hours later, she checked the YouTube count once again, 15,684,995 views completed within one rotation of the Earth. She smiled to herself.

Chapter Seven

KTVQ 2, the CBS affiliate in Billings Montana had been a wonderful place to get into television broadcasting, as young Monica Stiles had done three years earlier following her high school graduation. She began as the minimum wage go-fer in the studio and started working in the editing rooms and production studios and had advanced up the ladder as she learned how to perform the many tasks needed to mount a television news program each weekday evening at six and eleven.

She was watching the daily filler bundle of novelty news stories and the BN Syndicated story came up on the purloined spot for the talking dog collar, when she recognized the woman in tears embracing her dog at the end of the commercial. That woman and her family lived at the end of the same street Monica lived on.

Recognizing she just had an opportunity dropped into her lap, Monica went to the equipment crib and signed out one of the Sony HD camcorders with a spare charged battery, memory card and tripod.

She told the news editor she was going out to shoot some B-roll with the sun being out because all the background shots they had on file were old winter and fall and they needed to update for backgrounds--on and on she babbled until she was out the door and gone. She opted to take her personal car rather than the van adorned in large station call sign ID.

A ten minute drive put her in front of her own home. She continued down two blocks to stop in front of the house she remembered seeing the woman from the stolen commercial in.

She walked up the porch, pulled back the screen door and knocked on a glass pane. She heard a dog bark once in reply.

In short order she could see a shadowy image of a person coming towards the front door. It opened and the pretty tanned face of the lady in the commercial said, “Hello?” The nose of the dog could be seen getting a sniff from beyond the door next to her knee.

“Hello, I’m Monica Stiles, I live just down the street and I have to ask you: Are you the lady in the TV commercial about the talking dog collar?”

“Yes, Oh--I am--Is it playing now? They said it would be on in May.” she explained innocently.

“Apparently the video got stolen and posted on social media, it’s gone viral in absolutely no time and now and you and your dog are the talk of the Internet.” Monica said enthusiastically.

I work for Q2 News, and would you mind if I asked you a few questions with my camera?”

“Like what?” Samantha asked cautiously.

“Well, you say in the commercial that your dog saved your baby. Saved him from what?”

“It’s a she and it was about choking.” Sam said with a warble in her voice.

“Can I please go get my camera for this? I’ll just be a moment,” Monica asked with as much persuasion as she could muster.

“All right, but I have pies in the oven-I have to go back in.” She waited at the door holding the screen open for Monica who was running back camera and tripod in hand.

Monica entered the house and could smell the warm friendly aroma of home baking filling her senses. The dog greeted her as dogs do-with a nose in her crotch. “That’s Boomer,” Samantha introduced, “He won’t bother you, he’s just nosey.” The large and well-groomed golden retriever sat down and watched.

“We can go in here” Samantha said indicating a sitting room to her right, “I’ll be right back,” she said and headed for the kitchen to check her oven.

Returning with her daughter held on her hip she saw that Monica had set up the camera on the tripod and it was pointed at her wing back chair with an old knitted throw over it. Boomer was lying between the chair and the door.

Monica smiled at her entry and said,” Is this alright like this? I’d like you to sit in that green chair. Hellooo,” she cooed to the baby girl of about 18 months.

“This is Ashely--our youngest.” Sam said as she removed the dingy throw from the chair and hid it in a place behind it; she also moved a toy truck from the end table to the floor. “Yes this will be fine.” She sat with Ashely on her knee and waited, obviously a bit nervous. She reached into a pocket of her apron and brought out a sleek shiny smart phone and placed it on the coffee table. She pressed a few buttons and the screen displayed –WAITING- “I always make sure it’s turned on now,” Sam said sincerely.

Monica took a breath, confirmed the camera was recording and said, “To begin can you please tell me your full name?”

“I’m Samantha Richardson and this is my daughter Ashely,” she made a small smile.

“Samantha you are in a television commercial that was recently stolen and posted on social media without authorization from the company that owns it, Lassie Co., do you know anything about that?” she asked nicely keeping the mood light.

“No, like I told you before, they said it was coming out in May--the commercial I mean. Nobody told me any different.”

“Have you seen the commercial Samantha?”

“No, is there something wrong with it?”

“No, nothing is wrong with it. It is a very captivating collection of stories about people and their dogs using the Lassie Communicator. Your story is the last one in the commercial and its shows you hugging your dog and saying he saved your baby. Could you explain what happened for us please?”

Sam’s face had developed a pink blush and she was fidgeting with holding her daughter in her lap.

“About a year ago we were asked by Boomer’s vet if we would like to participate in a test of this collar and an app they put on our phones--my husband’s and mine--so that we could understand whatever Boomer wanted to tell us. So we said sure--why not? Not really thinking it would work, BUT IT DID, as soon as we put it on him! We could understand what he was saying, but it is more like what he is thinking.” Her enthusiasm was growing as she told her story.

“It took some getting used to Boomer talking to us, but it has been wonderful. We’ve had this collar for about ten months now, they changed the first one they gave us with this new one which works even better, I press this button and the phone will speak what Boomer thinks--right Boomer?”

He raised his head at the sound of his name. Sam pointed to the mobile on the coffee table, and they heard as the screen displayed the text:

I LIKE TO TALK. HAPPY YOU HEAR. LADY HAS CATS

Monica laughed out loud, “Yes Boomer, I have two cats.”

NICE CATS MEAN CATS

“They don’t like dogs, especially big ones like you.”

MEAN CATS - LIKE NICE CATS NICE

“This is unreal!” gushed Monica “I’m talking with a dog!” She looked up at Sam and asked, “Tell me how he saved your daughter please.”

“Alright” Sam’s pretty face glowed rosy again and she began, “I had just gotten the two older ones onto the school bus and was in the basement putting in a load of laundry when I hear Boomer bark loudly a few times, so I looked at my phone and it says BABY SICK NOW--NOW COME NOW

“So I run upstairs and find Ashely is laying on her back in her crib purple from choking on something,” Sam supressed an involuntary cry and continued, “I picked her up and turned her upside down and slapped her on the back, I had to do it two more times before she spit out a button. I then called 911 and the paramedics said if I had taken any longer, Ashely would not have survived. So Boomer saved her by letting me know she was in trouble.” Sam concluded, tears were gathering in her eyes as her right hand absently petted Boomer’s head and she held her daughter closer.

“That’s an amazing story Mrs. Richardson, how did the Lassie people find out about it?” said Monica, her eyes wet with her own tears.

“They asked us about any special situations that might have happened since we started using the collar and talking with it on our phones. So we told them about that one, but I didn’t think they would use the interview they made with me. I was a wreck. I think I cried through the whole thing.”

“I’ll show you the commercial,” Monica said extracting her corporate iPhone from her pocket. She found the YouTube file, activated it and handed it to Samantha who held it high to keep her curious daughter from grabbing it away.

The TV News camera continued to roll while focused on the pretty young mother. Tears were streaming down her cheeks at the conclusion when she handed the phone back. “That’s how I remember it, I cried through the whole thing, I didn’t even say that line they wanted me to at the end, I just couldn’t. Yet they still used it.” She shrugged and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue that had magically appeared in her hand.

The timer in the kitchen began to sing causing Sam to stand and say, “Excuse me, I’ll be right back.” and headed for the kitchen.

An hour later after a slice of hot raspberry pie and ice cream, Monica was driving back to the studio with a story she knew would top anything else in the newsroom that week. It would go national she knew, perhaps even international….and it was hers alone.

Chapter Eight

The next five days were spent responding to media enquiries, via email, over the phone and in on-camera interviews. They became routine after the first couple of days. Belinda had produced a two minute overview promotion of the Lassie communicator in use, much of the footage was used in the TV commercial, so it gave the TV news programs the opportunity to save Lassie Co. even more advertising budget. It also gave them something to use when they requested talking to the people who were featured in the commercial. The refusal to grant this contact was supported by contractual terms that said, there would be no further role for the subjects or their dogs to play after the footage for the commercial was confirmed--unless they wished to be more public with their dogs and the Lassie Communicator, and then new terms would be determined. So far nobody had requested this option. Mrs. Richardson’s interview in Montana was her own choice and was no business of the Lassie Co.

There was a renewed call to be guests on a variety of programs in all media streams that ranged from weekly news magazines and TV Science programs to variety programs and morning shows designed to get you up, informed and out the door to work each weekday morning with Matt, Cindy and Bob with all the news, traffic and weather info you need to know.

Dan found a suitable facility in an industrial park in Richmond, a Vancouver suburb. The lease included the use of two new Komatsu forklifts. The south wall of the warehouse had adjustable steel shelving which would be little use to Lassie Co. as they planned to move via pallets only, so they believed. Eight 12 x 12 offices were located at the front of the building with a reception area, adjacent board room and small kitchen off the main entrance. Their existing in-house communicator manufacturing remained in an un-signed, secure building in a nondescript industrial park a few miles away.

After product arrived, a few cartons would be opened to satisfy stocking local promoters and some research clients and the universities who had been promised some stock from the first order. These previous customers would also provide feedback on the build excellence, the software and similar quality control concerns regarding the new products made by the Seoul plant. They got to acid-test the new mass-produced product.

Lassie Co. received proof of manufacture advance units some weeks ago after the plant had been retooled and was ready to begin building. These sample units operated within spec, as they should, with no evident defects or other issues, so the request to proceed with the preliminary order was given followed by the transfer of the agreed upon funds. Director of Finance Kevin Hoath, knew the payment would drain their capital down to the red ink area, but he also knew he would have better than eighty percent of that back within the next twenty-five days, as long as everything went as planned. He had designed their distribution and initial dealer inventory costing to ensure dealers bought sufficient product for the launch event, but also so that funds would cycle adequately allowing Lassie Co. to manufacture enough units to satisfy a global market following a prestige launch event – it would take some time and lots of money.

“Sad news from Hollywood today,” the stylish dark-haired women promised into the camera, “ Late night talk show host Jack Ballantine and his wife, television actress Amy Winslow filed for divorce in state court today,” the video insert showed the Ballantines exiting the court building separately about 30 feet apart. “Stay with us for updates as they happen.” The screen faded to black and the pink rabbit and his drum appeared.

Belinda was working on the D-Day campaign for the product launch and had just booked with City Parks the area known as Lumberman’s Arch in the northern portion of Vancouver’s picturesque Stanley Park so they could conduct demonstrations on the expansive grassed area. The D-Day launch media kit was as good as the dramatic spot to capture broadcaster attention. Reporters and film crews had called and asked about confirming camera locations, audio feeds, power, platforms, timing and related concerns.

The international strategy called for print and TV teaser ads to begin first in local market radio in metropolitan centers around the globe, triple A radio time was bought to pump the millions of commuters trapped in their cars each day. Newsprint media for major markets and an international Google ad and Facebook/Twitter campaign were also in the mix. In cities where they were located, billboards would display dogs of various breeds looking directly full faced, with the words, “What do you want to ask your dog?” Two of the leading dog food companies included information flyers about the launch in their bags of dog meal and boxes of dog biscuits. Belinda and Gareth created an international co-op ad plan for the dealer network and ninety percent of the dealers and distributors bought into the plan with an option of reduced price on more product or joint funding of media ad space and time purchased for the launch. Most went for the more product option. In week two, small, cute dogs including beagles, terriers and dachshunds wearing miniature military helmets and flack vests were featured with the copy Dog-Day is coming, Listen to your dog; you’ll be glad you did.

Belinda had also planned for various veterans affairs groups to be involved by recognizing the soldiers who perished on June 6th 1944. Lassie Co. would pay each Canadian regional distributor to lay a wreath at city cenotaphs or graveyards. Veterans with dogs identified through local Legions were each gifted with a Lassie communicator in thanks for their service.

“So Dan, I’m buying you a black turtleneck for your on-stage presentation on D-Day, I know you already have the jeans. I just have to work the script for you and Lucy.”

“You’re still going to make me do that Steve Jobs shtick? I thought we had grown past that Belinda.” Dan hated public speaking--like most people--but unlike most people, he was pretty good at it.

He has an easy relaxed style and a good speaking voice and he also has good diction. Belinda had coached him on occasion and knew how to bring out the best in him. He has a natural ah-shucks kind of personality, he is medium attractive, of average height and seemed to always have a gentle smile on his face. He would be remembered as the guy who was easy to trust and he loved dogs so he was just about in saint territory right there, and the way he and his dog Lucy got along, she knew it would be gold.

She knew his natural people connection ability even if he didn’t. She remembered the first time they had met face to face following an employment courtship that lasted about three months. She was a hot new creative director making a name for herself in the visual multi-media market as a free-lancer. Her work produced measureable results, the black ink kind. Her ambitions were to continue as she was--a free-lancer being requested by clients for her special talents, maybe even open her own studio. Then via an email note routed from one of her past clients, Dan Gilbert asked her if she liked dogs, and what would she like to know if her dog could talk to her? After that he sent her an email every day asking her what-if questions that she began to ponder on and finally talked herself into the project. She took the matter up with her own rescue dog Olly or Oliver one evening and found she really would like to know what he had to say. What if? It was her Achilles heel, the challenge that she took up when contemplating a new promotional campaign, What if?

The launch video production that would be displayed on the stage’s large backdrop screen during the product release was another masterpiece by Dylan Timmers. No audio was included, but if you were to watch it from beginning to end, it told a story of the evolution of mankind’s relationship with dogs from rudimentary domestication, when mankind still wore what he killed, to what the Lassie Communicator was now making possible. It was subtle and very inspiring for those who paid attention to it.

Dog-Day was going to be a new benchmark in world history: The day mankind could communicate with our best friend - our canine companions. Dog Day. Belinda already had plans to have the day celebrated in a number of unique ways, but was careful not to detract away from or disrespect the importance of the 1944 anniversary. In retrospect, many people say the Lassie Co. D-Day campaign introduced a whole new generation to the courageous wartime exploits of their forefathers.

Inventory had been delivered through the dealer network as planned without any glitches and retailers were ready to stock their shelves with the Lassie products in two days. Collars had been made in a huge assortment of colors and sizes. The number of each was based on calculations gleaned from existing dog products from marketing data they had purchased from a statistics shop, but in the main it was a WAG (Wild-Assed Guess). They were over on some sizes and low on others, it would settle out in the next few orders as stock became more available, plus consumers could buy direct via the Lassie Co. interactive website, collars were happily exchanged if not damaged in any way.

Two days of waiting. The Board of Lassie Co. were torn between nervous anticipation and a strong desire to have it all behind them. Sandor had been very influential in coordinating with the global distributors and the timing of the international launch of Dog Day. He smoothed a number of wrinkles that developed just because of culture, distance, time and people new to a process, and plans made far away. They also expressed how they thought things should be done, and who was this Belinda woman anyway? They would teach her a thing or two about marketing by God!

Everything was to commence June 6th at noon, Pacific Standard Time against the backdrop of Vancouver’s clean green natural appeal as made famous during the 2010 Winter Olympics. The Lumberman’s Arch area is in the northern portion of Stanley Park with the Sea Wall holding back the south shore of the Burrard Inlet. The shocking bright yellow piles of sulfur visible under the Lions’ Gate Bridge across the narrows as they waited to be loaded on the visiting freight ships.

The final day before the launch, Belinda knew she was being a nag to the many suppliers and workers she had contracted with. 34 different firms or individuals had been hired to play some role in this large promotional orchestration and as the conductor; Belinda was ensuring it would be note perfect.

She awoke to a pleasant Saturday morning with blue skies above and the promise of a warm summer afternoon. Just as she had hoped and prayed for, it was Dog-Day at long last. Belinda had her day planned to the hour with some wiggle room built in just because things go haywire that you can’t plan for--so she at least planned the time to deal with them as they may appear.

Arriving on site in the park she was smiling in approval as she stepped on to the lush green grass from the parking lot filled with satellite up-link trucks and other technical vans there to share the launch around the world.

It was warm and sunny; the overnight dew had evaporated off, the petrichor of the ground combined with the light perfume from the flower beds riding the gentle breeze from the south. The grounds had been mowed the day before and the smell of fresh-cut grass amplified the underlying sense of a clean healthy atmosphere and the faint smell of low tide heralding from the edge of the park.

It was intoxicating and she hoped that everyone here was experiencing the same feelings. Already the audience was gathering in front of the large well-dressed stage. It was modern and had a technical flavour about it. Much different from the rudimentary black plywood concert stage she used to view during the Easter Be-Ins she attended here as a child with her parents many years earlier. It was like a trip back in time in some ways.

Much of the audience were families with children of all ages and a good number of dogs attending with their families and buddies. Frisbees, tennis balls and other toys were used to keep the dogs occupied and allowed their humans some opportunity to show their dogs’ skills off a bit. It was wholesome, fresh, friendly and demographically broadband and the kind of setting you’d expect for a Pepsi commercial, the occasional scent of BC bud floated by on the breeze. She opened her iPad and made a note to follow up on this venue sharing idea for future events. She also entered Lassie swag: Frisbees and other dog toys for promotional handouts.

She pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed the party rental shop she had used for the event. She asked for Curtis her account manager. ”Hi Curtis, it all looks wonderful- thanks for doing such a great job. But I am here now and I see something I forgot to ask for--dog water. There are lots of dogs here and there is no water for them, Can I ask you to deal with this for me please? We’ll make this a separate transaction and not within the original contract.”

Curtis understood this was a request he could make some money on and remembered who he was dealing with, “Thanks Belinda, we’ll get right on it. I’ll call you with details soon.”

She found her way to the stage manager Debbie Chan who confirmed all was in readiness. “It’s all your show now Deb,” Belinda informed happily, “I’m going to be sitting out front on this blanket eating ice cream. See ya.” And she left the stage to find a place to sit and watch the show. Looking around her she felt warm and happy, this was precisely the setting she had planned for months ago. She chastised herself for not bringing Olly with her, But she had anticipated being involved with the production and did not want to ignore him here. Instead he was at her neighbour Jessica’s apartment with her dog Strider, Olly’s best pal, an energetic golden lab.

Belinda watched as the stage crew began to make ready for show time, the PA system came alive with an electronic hiss, the leader images of various dog breeds appeared in sequence on the backdrop – it was time to begin.

The audience watched intently, all superfluous noise halted except the floatplane taking off from Burrard Inlet some distance away.

The beautiful, perfectly groomed blue merle Australian Shepard trotted out to the center of the outdoor stage, climbed the small riser, faced the happy audience and then sat down. The large screen behind her came alive with the words: HI I’M LUCY. I WILL BE YOUR FRIEND WITH MY BUDDY DAN.

Dan walked to his spot next to Lucy as the crowd applauded. The PA system shared: “Hello everyone- I’m Dan Gilbert, President of Lassie Co. Thanks for coming today to the Lassie Communications product launch--what we are calling Dog Day. The official day mankind will be able to understand perhaps our greatest companions in our long history--our dogs.”

“For starters, let’s switch Lucy from text to spoken mode--okay?” The crowd roared their approval as Dan manipulated the smartphone on the podium. “How’s that Lucy?” he asked inches from her nose. She licked his chin quickly.

IT WILL BE GOOD FOR PEOPLE TO HEAR YES was the robotic voice heard through the PA system. The crowd went silent and hung on every word.

Lassie Co. had upgraded the speech engine from the basic monotonic computer robot voice used at the beginning of the project to the more modern and soothing animated voice similar to the latest state of the art mobile computer assistants. They were still working on this version that offered switchable feminine/ masculine modes and included some adjustment options which the handler could change to suit as desired.

Dan and Lucy’s playful dialog lasted only twelve minutes but demonstrated the recommended way to conduct a conversation with your dog using the Lassie Com. All the way through the patter Dan would give hints on how to make it easier for both the dog and the handler. “Because most times, it’s we humans who are difficult to understand.” To which Lucy responded with AND YOU CALL US THE DUMB ANIMALS.

It was hokey, simple, family friendly and the kids in the audience loved it. At the same time the presentation was informative for older viewers and answered questions about how it worked at the basic level. Human language translators did their best to keep up as the broadcast feed went out to the world live via satellite. Nine languages in total were translated in real time, they cheated a bit and people voiced the statements of Lucy as well. The computer lag was too great with the limitations of satellite delay and related technical realities.

Curtis took only a half hour to have a crew of his staff arrive with large yellow plastic water bowls which were distributed around the park area and filled with clean fresh water from wheel barrows holding blue potable water jugs. Belinda watched as the dogs found the water and began to drink heartily. She made a mental note to reward Curtis and his crew with a bonus for their quick and effective work.

Dan further explained the training package that came with each unit and the resources available on their corporate website to help people and their dogs to better understand each other. He was absolutely candid when he informed the viewing audience not to expect miracles right away. It would take time and patience for both the handler and the dog to learn how to use this new devise, but the results would be worth the effort for all. A message he repeated three times was “Don’t push your dog to learn too quickly, take your time and make it fun. If YOU think this is an amazing development - think how amazed your dogs are now that you can now understand what they are saying.” He also advised against using it with dogs under six months of age as research has found it to be quite frustrating for young puppies.

The show included demonstrations from the Canadian Institute for the Blind, the RCMP and the Canadian Military as well as individual dog owners including Mr. Ed Cogger a cattleman from Ponoka Alberta. He and his dog Shiner, a seven-year old Border Collie with a black patch of fur surrounding his right eye, demonstrated the advantages the Lassie Com added for working dogs. It was impressive how the two worked together amid the large audience to get the twenty sheep wandering among the people into the small pen located at the right side of the stage. Shiner did a remarkable job and has since become a corporate spokesdog for Lassie Co. It must also be pointed out that Mr. Cogger and Shiner share a very rare connection and the Lassie-communicator only allows other humans to better understand it. If you ever needed an example of the ultimate in dog-human association, you could not find one more illustrative one than Ed Cogger and Shiner.

The three-hour presentation lingered on as the audience was reluctant to leave. The various demo groups began to mingle in the crowd with their dogs encouraging much spontaneous laughter and provided some time for dog owners to ask the questions they wanted an expert’s opinion about the product and what talking with your dog was really like. Media cameras broadcast many of these discussions in the news reports in following days. The questions gathered at this event are the same ones still on the FAQ section of the LASSIE.com website.

It took two days to tally up international sales figures from the launch; as best as they could calculate, day one saw better than nine hundred and twenty-five thousand units sold. Many stores were sold out in the first day and were issuing rain checks for the product currently in sea-can containers stacked on a Panamax ship that was estimated to be in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Chapter Nine

Earth had made two trips around the sun since the D-Day launch of the ‘dog-com’ as it had been reduced to in the popular vernacular. Sales had been phenomenal with over sixteen million units now in use around the world. There was a river of proposals, licensing requests and similar invitations to create new partnerships involving the huckster whose name was at the bottom of the letter.

Lassie Co.’s email server was filled with submitted stories and many amateur movies of dogs performing amazing feats of every description.

Dog owner pride swelled as the communications bond between they and their canine pals intensified and allowed mankind to better understand different perspectives and learn how to experience the world in a much different way: Through the eyes of a dog. Some remarkable achievements had been accomplished through this enhanced partnership and more are being discovered each day.

A landslide in Chile was the setting for a major breakthrough in human-canine relations that came quite by accident. Search and Rescue dogs equipped with the dog-com were brought in to find persons buried in the building and slide rubble. Search parameters and techniques are somewhat standardized around the world to ensure an effective search protocol is followed. So these routines were the only way searches were conducted. Protocol, so the courts and insurance industries had some standard of conduct with which to measure and rule in case things went bad and lawsuits were filed.

A dog named Oscar, a large handsome black and white pit bull cross told his handler that they (the dogs), could do much better on their own without having to follow the orders of the slow human search directors. WE FIND (smell) THEM, YOU SEE PAPERS (maps), WE KNOW WHAT TO DO. So basically screw off, was the message.

The rescue effort was much more successful as a result and 19 victims had been safely recovered in record time.

Giving dogs more encouragement to problem solve provided a number of instant benefits, with clinical testing still on-going in the various study projects involving the Lassie Communicator.

The Lassie Catalogue of Behavioural Studies and Practices was growing in size, substance and value at a number of academic levels. Apparently dogs were quite frustrated with some things humans do, such as treating them like they forget everything each time they fall asleep, when in reality many had excellent memories and could make plans and problem solve in a linear thought stream. The Continental Toy Spaniel or Papillon breed was leading the smarts race in a number of categories and was demonstrably adept at problem solving.

A Pittsburgh police dog untrained in bomb detection discovered an explosive device in a bag left in the subway station and told his officer handler who called it in and saved hundreds of lives.

Maddison Avenue got in on the action and began to use dogs as spokesdogs - narrators for a multitude of dog food and other product advertising on TV and the Internet. Each week a new dog star was discovered and vaulted to instant stardom until it was bumped off by the next dog discovered. A small industry was developing as agents, pet accessory makers and distributors began to breed and train new dog stars like thoroughbred race horses.

Hollywood movies featured more dogs in starring and supporting roles and Rin-Tin-Tin and the original Lassie television show were enjoying renewed popularity on some nostalgia channels. Disney’s Old Yeller was still the leader in making audiences cry. Talking dogs were becoming familiar in network sitcoms and many of the situations were difficult to separate from real life experiences.

Puppies still proved to be a challenge to talk with as they needed time to learn to be dogs before they could be expected to converse intelligently. They are kids and have even less attention span than a human child possesses. It could be very frustrating for impatient dog owners and the puppies who did not know what their people were anxious about.

Jack Ballantine and the divorce from his wife Amy created a whole new chapter in common law. Similar to the Kramer vs Kramer storyline, both Jack and Amy wanted to keep Barney, the infamous truth-telling black lab.

An animal rights group was already lobbying to have dogs recognized as persons because they could now speak their wishes and demonstrated they possessed the intelligence to make important decisions about their own lives. Barney still didn’t understand why he needed to choose between his two owners and became very frustrated as a result. His ability to cuss was demonstrated during an interview as somebody forgot to turn on the app’s cuss filter and left if off for the entire interview--accidently. It went viral quickly.

As you know, the case is still before the courts with little hope for a final outcome soon. Sad as it is, Dan asked the Ballentines that Lassie Co. be permitted to care for Barney during this stressful time, as he frequently displayed protracted moments of anxiety, a dog behaviour Lassie Co. wanted to know more about.

Grace Smithton was a plump, greying 55 year old dog trainer who has the empathy connection with most creatures she encountered. She would be the oasis of sanity for Barney during the divorce circus. Somebody to go walking with, play ball, cuddle and other activities to sooth Barney and learn more about dog psychology during stressful family situations - Through the eyes of a dog. Lassie Co. never forgot they are a science shop first.

Another group from the fringe lobbied for dogs to be legally recognized as persons for purposes of adoption/ownership debates. They maintained that dogs cannot be owned, but cannot be solely responsible for themselves either, so what are they in the legal sense? Wards? Estate law was equally punished as some took to including dogs in the settlement of their wills and estate property disbursements. Lawyers got rich and the judicial system got stupid in trying to influence the return to common sense and practicality.

Both the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod Dog Sled Races struggled with dog-com use during the races. They were a positive boon to reducing dog injuries as dogs could accurately inform what hurt and how bad. Dog care was greatly enhanced and the devise is now a common part of recreational mushing because of the many benefits understanding dogs on the trail means for their care and general safety.

But there were the drawbacks too. Besides swearing, most dogs like to win and will sometimes cheat in order to do so. An example is how they will ignore commands in order to get the ball or toy during play. There were stories of dog teams communicating among themselves as team to team where one team would create fear and uncertainty about the trail ahead slowing some of the rookie teams and impacting on the competition between them. There was speculation that dogs would do this even without the dog-com and the ability to converse with their mushers and handlers.

Mushers had many such anecdotes they would love to share during the start or finish banquets, and while some stories were unvarnished, crude and embellished tall tales, some were legitimate and further amazed people to how smart and conniving our four footed companions can be.

It took only six months for most municipal governments to adopt new bylaws requiring cuss filters on all smartphones equipped with the dog-com. They were to be set at a minimum level four within specific municipal boundaries. Dogs left in vehicles were especially abusive while protecting their mobile property and when their owners’ phone began cussing in the checkout line at Zellers, some rules were clearly needed.

One of the most shocking displays of dog swearing is a YouTube video recording of two miniature toy dogs, an English Toy Spaniel and a mini-mutt of mixed ancestry; both would normally be called yappy breeds. These two were barking at each other in a dog-park in Toronto. The dog-com translation of their continual yapping was a stream of virtuosic vulgarities and animated threats as the two accosted each other over a fifteen minute exchange while sitting at the feet of their indifferent but proud owners.

Military dogs demonstrated their value in many ways, and tales of heroic deeds and lives saved graced military publications and some network news stories. Military funerals could now be particularly emotional as service dogs could share their feelings about fallen partners and friends. For a short time there was some talk about prohibiting dogs from participating because of the added emotional angst and the time involved for them to speak.

The medical community was perhaps the most promotional for the benefits of the dog-com, again measured in the number of lives saved and improved. The Lancet and the JAMA publications and websites would often carry an article extolling the benefits of dogs participating in medicine in some diverse new way. Besides their uncanny sensory abilities, as we all know, dogs can emote feelings of affection and humour, which have unmeasured therapeutic benefits.

Bella, an eight year old beagle was a familiar sight in Johns Hopkins University Hospital and could claim the detection of no less than sixteen patients with leukemia. The joy and happiness she gave to patients as she visited with them on their beds was beyond measure. She is only one such dog being employed to detect a variety of cancers, and the ability to converse has advanced the science a great deal in a short period of time.

The vision-impaired community was perhaps the most grateful for the ability to converse with their service dogs. Those who had used seeing-eye dogs for years became quite emotional when they began to describe how the Lassie Communicator had improved their lives together and made the connection with their most trusted companion even richer.

They explained in no uncertain terms how their dog was a part of themselves. The dog had become an extension of their eyes, ears and the hypersensitive nose that could now tell them in clear, sharp terms what the situation was all around them better than restored sight alone could provide. It appeared that the dogs became part of their hearts too as extremely strong bonds that existed already became even stronger when somebody could conduct an intimate conversation with a very much loved and trusted partner.

It became especially difficult when an aging service dog had to be euthanized due to the ravages of age, illness or disease. Some of those final conversations between dog and human have been recorded and are heart-breaking to hear.

The much publicised story of young Libby Warner who wandered off and got lost in the Waterton Lakes National Park while camping with her family highlighted the value of the dog-com when the youngster was found safe after two days alone in the wilderness. Darren Schmidt was the handler for SAR dog Dexter, a Labrador retriever. Working alone they went off in a different direction from the main search group trying to scout the trail of the lost girl.

Dexter told Darren he detected a faint scent in the air and wanted to go look on his own quickly. Darren knew he slowed the process down and told his partner to go find the child. Forty-five minutes later, Libby was drinking a bottle of water and eating an energy bar while petting a very happy Dexter.

By volume the largest amount of feedback was from ordinary everyday people who wanted to thank Lassie Co. for allowing their dogs the opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings with those who loved them.

It was not about feats of heroism or amazing breakthroughs; it was about becoming closer to a member of the family. Inter-species relationships improved dramatically and as a result fewer dogs were found roaming alone, fewer fights occurred in the dog parks or on the sidewalks. Lost dogs were seldom reported and fewer people reported being bitten by dogs. Puppy mills were still a problem but that situation was getting better as the SPCA groups now employed dogs to help shut them down.

There are still reports of dogs being abused because they have revealed something best left unknown, but these are much easier to track down because the dogs can now talk.

Dogs can also confirm Break and Enter suspects by their scent with 100% accuracy, however the law does not allow for such testimony or evidence. The courts couldn’t decide which it should be - testimony or evidence, so this is still a work in progress in the legal community.

The Board of Directors for Lassie Co. were still getting used to their new fame and fortune created by their fantastic new product. Dan was often requested to speak at some conference for the advancement of the sciences or similar event. Other board members would also ‘take the duty’ to speak and share in the on-going promotion of the company.

Kevin Hoath, as the financial guy on the board, was captured in a few of the financial and technology magazines to stand as one of the brilliant innovators who changed the world as we know it - and made a boatload of money along the way.

A few days following the launch two years previous, Sandor and his wife Emily adopted a German Shepard puppy- his first dog ever. After two months of growing together, Sandor and Samson became best friends. When at six months they began to converse, their bond became even stronger. They went just about everywhere together, Belinda would sometimes take Samson whenever Sandor and Em had to travel out of the country and they enjoyed the time they had together as Olly and Samson enjoyed each other and Samson was an excellent dog and he was fun to talk with. Samson’s favourite topic was when Sandor and Em were coming home and when they would next play.

Chapter Ten

Dan called a Board meeting for the coming Friday to discuss some new business that had come up. They had not met as a group for two months, but this meeting was not to be about progress reports. He outlined a brief agenda and attached it to the email requesting the meeting. The meeting had two items listed, one was Going Public and the other was only identified as New Business.

Despite phone calls asking what the new business topic would involve, Dan did not provide any additional details and said that all would be revealed at the meeting Friday morning at 10 am in their newly decorated board room.

Per normal, each director would give an update for their section at these meetings to keep all aware of what was happening. They each got busy updating their section reports based on new data from the past 60 days.

The discussion about taking Lassie Co. public had popped up a few times over the past year and advice they had received from their cadre of professional experts was to wait a while and let the business develop.

All were seated around the large boardroom table at 9:45, coffee cups filled and an air of eagerness filled the room.

Dan began, “This is going to be a little bit mixed up and you’ll soon understand why. So please let me get this out and we can talk openly about it.” He sat down and took a sip of his coffee.

“We have talked about going public before and we all agreed that then was not the right time. This new business item may change that, but I wanted to hear from all of you before we get too excited about what our IPO share price is valued at.”

He looked around the table at his team of brilliant partners and could see they wanted to ask questions.

“As you know I met with the military group last week for our regular quarterly meeting. At this meeting they raised a new issue--If we would be willing to begin research on developing a com product for use with dolphins and some apes.” He saw the eyebrows go up in surprise.

“Dale, I know we spoke about developing for other creatures some time ago--do you think we are now ready to undertake this?”

“I’ll need to speak with some of our larger research group first.” Dale said quickly as he flipped through a small leather-bound book he took from his jacket pocket. His mind was already planning what he had to do and who he would need to speak with.

Meredith Robbi at UVic is a stellar marine biologist who had a team of young eager students who did remarkable work with the orcas and other small whales that lived in the Pacific Northwest region. “I’ll have to make some calls to identify who would be best for the simian research, but it should not be too onerous. When do we need to provide an answer?”

“I didn’t commit to a time frame- these are uncharted waters and I have no idea what we can expect going forward.” Dan admitted. “There is no pressure, but I am intrigued and would like to know more myself. But as far as this firm is concerned, I want to go slow and not be pulled along by somebody else’s agenda--especially the government’s. We can always say not now, knowing they will ask again later. but like I say, I want to find out how all of you feel and I need to think this through more myself, and it could be a very cool project too.”

Belinda giggled loudly, “We will transform from Lassie Co. to Dr. Doolittle Co. That should be fun to promote.”

Kevin spoke up, “Going public would provide us with huge capital to grow and this new research request would indeed grow us significantly, it might be a good idea at this time to confirm what we want our company to be and what we want to do. Like Belinda joked--Do we want to be Dr. Doolittle Co. and focus on new species communications research? The market would not be as broad as it is with dogs, and we have all heard the many requests to develop a feline version which would be huge in the market–-which way do we go and why?

“It’s certainly not about the money, the company is very healthy at the bottom line and issuing an IPO will take us to the stratosphere financially, so what is our motive? To talk with the animals for greater understanding and world peace among the species, or convert Flipper and his pals into wartime spies and for underwater bomb delivery? I have no idea why apes are important as we still destroy their habitat and don’t give a damn, so what do they hope to learn from them? Jane Goodall has volumes of valuable research on every aspect of their lives, what’s so important that they need to converse with us?”

Dale interjected with, “Don’t forget going public means new management--it won’t be just us calling the shots. Hell, we may not even be around as management. Anybody think they could do this same work strictly in a research capacity? I sure as hell don’t. If I’m building the bomb, I want a say in how it’s used. God – I’m channeling Oppenheimer.”

The partners had previously wrestled with the morality of what their new product would provide to people who sought to create more effective weapons or tools to spy with and each of them had to decide if the many positive benefits outweighed the possibility of the dog-com being used for violent or unsavory purposes.

“Ya know…” said Belinda coyly. “We could ask all our customers what they would like us to do.” All turned to look at her.

She continued, “We live in their homes. That’s an installed base of twenty million plus, we are now as familiar as a telephone – no wait, they’re not common anymore – A sink, a bathtub, a kitchen table, vacuum cleaner; Lassie com is right there with them. We made it possible for them to understand their best friends. We are part of their lives now. They are a part of ours. I bet we’ll hear some great ideas if we ask them.”

Silence filled the room for a few large moments until Gareth spoke up, “How do you come up with these ideas? It’s brilliant!”

“Samson, Oliver and I were talking the last time Sandor needed a sitter and I was trying to explain possessions and ownership and it got confusing for all of us. Anyway, at one point we were discussing who decides things. We used going for a walk as the context. Samson said both he and Sandor liked some trail routes better than others and he liked it much better when Sandor asked Samson which way he wanted to go, and it just popped into my head when you mentioned which way the company should go.” She made her innocent little girl smile as her agile grown up mind began to imagine the many delightful ways she could engage the public to participate.

The next two hours were spent blue-skying the idea of inviting consumer input on the future direction of Lassie Co. They also agreed to examine the results from such a venture before moving on the IPO option.

As with all board meetings, the review of action items and deadlines was the final boilerplate item on the agenda. Each had a number of items to deal with. Email was the method of updating the other partners until the next board meeting 45 days on, lunch and coffee meetings were also encouraged as were group dog walks. Now that they all had a dog, all of the dogs at work became more common as the dogs all got along well and a group walk became routine as some of the partners worked late. The exercise and fresh salt air along the Fraser River was welcomed by men and beasts.

Chapter Eleven

“I like the profit sharing and it’s a cool place to work,” was the quick reply from Denny Roxas one of the warehouse staff enjoying his third year in Canada after moving his young family from the Philippines.

Lassie Co. had grown to twenty-eight employees over the past two years and it was decided to ask them first where the future direction of the firm should be aimed.

So far, there had been no breakthrough suggestions heard, but the loyalty and dedication of the staff was confirmed solid as a rock.

Belinda had outlined her ideas for mounting the campaign inviting public suggestions for their corporate future. Now she was looking for somebody to argue about it with. And she wanted her counterpart to be brutal in their criticism. “If it makes it easier by yelling at me--do that,” she would encourage.

She found responding to criticism forced her to see things from other perspectives and helped to remove the blind spots caused by too much self-confidence and pride. Ego, that darkest of sins we all have to some degree. Belinda had learned to recognize hers and how to get it back in line so it was not an impediment to her work.

Gareth knew he was in line to wrestle the concepts with Belinda because she usually came to him first and last. The first time to carve off the superfluous elements and frills Belinda tended to include in some promotions, “It’s easier to take it out than think it in.” was her reply to being overly verbose and features and benefits oriented. She saved last to hear Gareth’s modified response following all the other changes that had been made since his first review.

She was not under a deadline and had the luxury of time to plan a bold new marketing concept, which to her knowledge, had never been attempted before. Also she was in competition with herself because this new promotion would have to be as good as or even more spectacular than the purloined TV spot and the Dog-Day product launch.

The one clear advantage she had now was a whole new audience of dogs living in the same homes as the consumers. How to engage them was what filled her mind. She smiled as she thought of the movie Scrooged and Robert Mitchum’s character saying pets are a viable market for television advertising.

On Friday, the Nova film crew wrapped up filming for their in-depth expose’ on Lassie Co. They had been underfoot for the past few days as they dug deep to tell the story of the small Canadian company that created the revolutionary technology that provided unparalleled understanding between dogs and humans. They were fixated on the research work being done with cats towards producing a communicator for that species, luckily most of the research was performed by a variety of labs and science shops scattered around the globe so their work was not greatly disturbed by these interview interruptions.

Six months earlier, Belinda had been featured in Advertising Age highlighting her remarkable talents in product marketing and video media commercial production. She had been offered a few positions with agencies and she was solicited to work on some additional product launches for other companies as a result of the article identifying her as the brains behind the Lassie Co. promotional success. She was in the running for CLIO awards later that month in New York and ADDYs too later in the year. She was especially proud of the Purloined Spot campaign and how it vaulted the product awareness to stratospheric levels, but she was unable to take credit for it lest the deception of the false theft be revealed.

Quarterly performance data showed a steady sales momentum and after-sales analysis and product warranty registrations confirmed they were targeting the right demographic groups. All was good.

The university that developed the lie-detector using one of the Lassie Co. neural sensors had made tremendous strides in reducing the size of the device so that it now was about the size of a kitchen toaster, about two thirds less the size of the original prototype. They had completed an exhaustive series of tests to fine tune the capability of the unit to detect lies from truth. They bragged they now had ninety-eight percent accuracy and had the data to back up their claim. One of the developers, Eric Parsons a former colleague of Dan’s, contacted him seeking permission to start demonstrating the lie-detector product outside the university proper to the public and corporate interests. Belinda was called in to work with the project members before things got too far down the track.

She first had to sit in when the legal people met to deal with the whole patent, intellectual property rights and ownership issues with the university who was hopeful that they could reap some financial benefit of the amazing new lie-detector developed in their facilities. They came to a mutually beneficial licencing agreement that encouraged further research pursuits and provided some generous fiscal reward for the university. New terms would be considered once a fully functioning version had been perfected and product and market development objectives had been met.

Lassie Co. was happy to stay in the background, but wanted to influence how the product was launched and promoted. Who would buy it? For what purpose? The court system was the first thought most had when asked about it. However the judicial system at this time did not require verification of the truth, they relied on their own processes to determine judicial outcomes and the truth does not always play a critical role. Some suggested the House of Commons and other Legislatures would be best place to employ them, so too law enforcement agencies.

Following some legal advice from their corporate retained lawyers and a few days of options planning, Belinda drafted a proposal that achieved three primary objectives at the early stages. One: They had to demonstrate that the product worked as claimed, Two: They had to capture the attention of the marketplace, and Three: People had to remember it afterwards.

Belinda proposed they blend the three issues together and announce a contest. A substantial cash prize would be awarded to the first person to speak a lie without triggering the detector.

She now needed to find an appropriate co-sponsor for the university to partner with to present the contest without biasing the integrity of the school and its faculty. Who is the bastion of the truth? The justice system? The Bar? The Church? She was at a loss, as all of these had a rich history and recent reputation of deception and untruths.

Then she thought who wants to be known as the mainstay of truth? And the same bodies ran quickly through her thought process. Used Car dealers, lawyers, politicians and similar ne’er-do-wells were well known as being benders of the truth.

The TRUTH, it had been kicked around quite a bit what with the recent political landscape changing as a result of political promotions using fake, or more properly, manufactured and deceptive news stories and out and out biased reporting and lies from a number of media outlets and their sources. It all contributed to the increasing grey area of information distribution and not knowing which reports were accurate and which were slanted to result in a specifically planned audience reaction.

On reflection of the present global media state Belinda could see some real value for being able to discern truth from falsehoods. Perhaps there was a market for this lie-detector after all? It would be much more effective if a person could aim the Lie Detector at a speaker and determine if they were speaking the truth or not. However, the physically-placed sensors necessitated the permission of the speaker to participate.

Belinda imagined that the political and media landscape would change dramatically if and when the lie-detector was employed in coverage of government and corporate announcements. “The public,” she said to her computer screen, “The great unwashed, the silent majority, Joe Lunch box or Six-pack--Them.” They wanted the truth more than any others. A smile formed on her face as she mentally included herself as a manipulator of public opinion and emotions.

Still, who would buy a lie–detector? Only law enforcement used them now supposedly. How many would satisfy the market? It would not be a cheap device to purchase either.

After some further consideration she resolved to approach the announcement as a fantastic invention for our future similar to how Popular Mechanics would cover emerging developments in think-tanks and laboratories. Perhaps the marketplace had some problems this solution could help with?

She Google-searched foundations that pursued data validation and fact-finding as their missions. Of the few dozen that appeared, she short-listed four of these after reading their mandates. She composed an email to each of the four outlining her corporate background, the project/product the university had developed and her scheme to make a public announcement about it. She did not ask for anything other than their interest in being a co-sponsor with the university, for the announcement.

Over lunch with Dan and Gareth the next day she told them of her plan and asked how close to this project Lassie Co. wanted to be.

“Well, Dale created that sensor, so I think we have some corporate connection to it that I would like to see included.” Gareth spoke first.

Dan nodded his head in agreement. “Where do you think this will end up Belinda?”

“I’m not really sure. I worked it backwards like most projects I do, to try and understand who the market would be and for what particular purpose. I didn’t come up with much other than the public who is becoming more and more cynical and untrusting of government, industry and other hucksters like me.” she quipped.

“I suspect we will get more licensing requests once it is known how it can be applied.” Dan offered. “Could be some applications we have not thought about that will come along. So best to keep our future options open I guess, so that means putting our name on it for all to see and admire.”

By the end of their luncheon they had agreed, pending board approval, that a demonstration announcement would be best without tying their hands.

The next day Belinda found replies from three of the groups she contacted. They were all willing to participate pending approval from their boards and other management bodies. Two asked if there was any financial reward for participating, and the third, The International Foundation for Measures and Documentation indicated they would like to conduct a study of the invention towards publishing a paper on it. Belinda picked up the phone and called Adar Tahir, the author of the email.

At the conclusion of the conversation, a new partnership had been agreed to, where the foundation would be provided a beta -version lie-detector for their study and examination so they could write their paper. In turn they would participate in the public demonstration/announcement and backstop the university’s involvement as the developer. Details to be worked out between the Foundation, Lassie Co and the university and paperwork to follow in a week or two.

A month later Belinda was seated at the table with the rest of the Lassie Co. board, and stood when her item appeared on the agenda. She took a breath and said, “I want to say right off the top, this is a completely different project for me because it is not about selling a product--yet. It is being called a demonstration announcement to inform the public about its abilities and prove that it works as indicated.” She paused to look around the table; all were waiting for her to continue. “Looking past the goalposts here, I see an opportunity to influence public opinion where it may be possible to create a lobby effort for the lie-detector to be used in law-enforcement or even the judicial process or politics.”

She waited for any questions, hearing none she continued, “It may not be as onerous a task as I first imagined. Consider, here in Canada each province administers its own justice responsibilities, with the federal justice department administering their national Criminal Code responsibilities, The US is the same, so we don’t have to sell the concept to all of them at once, but just into a few states or provinces to get the ball rolling. And over time as the benefits become better known, other jurisdictions hopefully will adapt to using it.”

“I know it sounds ambitious and a bit blue-skyish but I think we can do it. The next step I think is to consult with the expensive lawyer types about Constitutional Law and procedural amendment. I have a number of options I want to polish up some more, but I wanted your approval before I spent any more time on this. So whaddya say?”

On the drive home that day Belinda was excited. The board had approved her to draft up a campaign and were very supportive of her ideas. They had learned some time back that she had a talent for developing robust results from obscure concepts, and their record of success was perhaps the best example of this. Gareth often joked he was going to find a bronze chicken-salad sandwich trophy in recognition of her abilities to turn something unsavory into something of value.

Chapter Twelve

Belinda needed to stop by a local production studio to sign a contract related to web-based productions centered on training children to use the dog-com well and not to abuse it, and or frustrate the dogs.

She was waiting for the receptionist at the front desk to announce to the account executive responsible that she had arrived. She noticed movement to her right and turned to look. A good looking guy in his mid-thirties well dressed and smiling was walking towards her extending his right hand to shake hers. “Hi I’m Blair Porter. Congratulations on winning all those CLIO’s - that was amazing to watch.” He said as his hand found hers and he squeezed it gently. “They should have had your seat moved to the stage instead of making you walk up there so many times.”

“Did you see it?” she asked, a generous smile forming on her face. “I didn’t think they were televised.”

“No, I was there in the audience; I was seated two table rows behind you off to the left. I received an award for a soundtrack I wrote, that’s why I was there.”

“Congratulations to you too then Blair,” she said sincerely still holding his warm hand. “What was the production?”

“It was a documentary about global warming up north. We’re working on a sequel, that’s why I’m in here now.” He checked his watch and continued, “I just stopped for lunch. Would you care to join me? There’s a nice little mom & pop place across the street, they have the best borscht.”

“Borscht?” she asked incredulously, “There’s a pick-up line I have never heard before.” She flirted, “Let me finish up here and you’ve got a deal. Show me where it is,” she told him walking towards the glass front door.

Walking behind her, he bumped into her back when she stopped short. “Sorry--It’s that place there.” He said pointing through the door to the white and green trimmed store front with the matching awning over the window.

“You go get us a table and I’ll be over in no more than five minutes, I just have to sign a contract and I’m done,” she promised.

“Sounds good, see you in a few,” he said looking into her pale blue eyes. He turned to open the door and left.

Belinda watched him walk a short distance and turned back to the reception desk. “The papers are here now.” said the young women at the desk.

The contract signed and her copy in her bag, Belinda headed to the ladies room for a systems check. The basic needs completed, she was washing her hands and looked into the mirror and smiled. She did not begin the self-administered Q&A about What the Hell are You Thinking and all that is associated with it. But rather she thought: Let’s just take our time and see where this goes.

She dried her hands, checked her eyes and hair, touched up the lips with a bit of gloss and walked across the street to have lunch with a complete stranger with a nice walk in a pair of jeans.

The borscht was very good, as were the perogies and sausage that followed the soup. They talked about cooking, what their favourite meals were and family life as children, how many siblings each had and what growing up was like for them. They didn’t talk about their jobs once and found it to be quite a pleasant experience. Two hours went by quickly and without notice from either of them until Blair’s phone rang breaking the spell. He was late and people were waiting for his return.

“In tonight’s news, Lassie Co. developer of the famous dog-com is calling on all liars, fibbers, benders of the truth and deceivers to come forward to test a new device invented by the Simon Fraser University under license from Lassie Co.

The invention is a lie-detector that apparently has one hundred percent accuracy in determining the truth from a falsehood, and they are putting up one million dollars for the first person who can tell a lie and not be detected by the devise. Details are available on the Lassie Co. website and on our website News 4 Vancouver as well. Only one thousand contestants will be selected at random to compete from the entries, so get registered today.”

For days the phones continued to ring at Lassie Co. these were the people who had not called the number advertised to register for the contest. Dan was insistent that Lassie staff would not register anybody who could not follow instructions which led to some rather angry callers who thought they had found some inside track to getting confirmed as a contestant. “Play by the rules or sit it out,” was his mantra.

Belinda’s plan had called for the contest to be a two-day affair to accommodate the one thousand people she estimated they would have time for in 12 hours over two days, allowing two minutes per contestant in rough terms. 49,732 people had registered to compete. A random lottery was conducted to determine who the lucky one thousand would be. In these numbers were people from all walks of life, with a large portion of these being people in the entertainment industry and/or sales in some capacity.

Belinda had chosen the Pacific Coliseum as the venue to accommodate the huge crowd of contestants and the equally large audience she anticipated. To generate some revenue to pay for the room and all the equipment and personal needed to conduct the event, she also rented out display space on the floor of the hockey arena as the ice was not yet in place.

A variety of exhibitors signed up to display their products and services and many of these were related to dogs in some fashion. Lassie Co.’s following had become enormous worldwide and people were more than eager to demonstrate what their dogs had accomplished since being able to communicate effectively with people, some of these were promoting their own training plan for teaching dogs to converse well.

Trying to demonstrate some arm’s length between Lassie Co. and the University, Dan was not to be the Master of Ceremonies for this event, so Belinda hired Mike Deloss a talented up and coming local comedian to perform the MC duties.

The building was abuzz with excitement and people all talking quite loudly, dogs could be heard barking from the floor area, small sound systems in the booths could be hear occasionally hyping a new jingle or some prepared video presentations as people milled about the booths as the occasional scent of BC bud floated on the breeze.

Media had taken their positions and were already providing cut-ins to local radio and television stations. ”LIVE from the Pacific Coliseum, where some lucky person could tell a whopper well enough to claim One Million Dollars! One thousand lucky contestants get to try, We’ll be here Live - so stay tuned…”

At 13:00 the house lights dimmed, the three mezzanine spots found their centre point mark and Mike Deloss took the stage bathed in brilliant chrome white light.

“Good afternoon everyone!” An enthusiastic cheer was heard from the gathered mass. “As you know we are all here today to find somebody who can tell a lie, a falsehood, a fib, or a whopper and not make the lie-detector go off. The first person who can do this will win ONE MILLION DOLLARS!” Again the crowd roared its approval.

“Like every contest, there are rules. So listen closely to these rules please: This is a sudden death event. There will be only one winner--the first to tell an undetected lie. There will be no second attempts or second or third place finishers. No bronze or silver medals, no ribbons for participating--just one prize of one million dollars. There are no judges or umpires. There are two scientists here from Simon Fraser University, who developed the Lie-detector, they will monitor that it is working correctly for each contestant to maintain fairness for all. The only judge is this devise--the Lassie Lie Detector.” Mike walked to stage right and pointed to the small black box sitting on the table.

He continued, “Each contestant will have two small sensors stuck to their skin--one on their left wrist and the other on the left temporal area of their forehead. After speaking their statement a light on the box–and on the screen behind me, so those way in the back can see too. The red light will come on when a lie is detected. If a lie is not detected the light will turn green. A list of prepared false statements will be used for everyone to keep things fair. The speaker gets to pick which lie they wish to speak. Is everybody ready? We have a lot of people to get through, so let’s get started. Our first contestant drawn at random is Mr. Gary McKenzie…”

Mr. McKenzie took his place centre stage and a pretty young woman dressed in a white lab smock applied the sensors to him. The microphone boom stand was adjusted to fit and Mike Deloss told him “Whenever you’re ready,”

The light turned red for the first time that day. By 20:00 it had turned red each and every time and the excitement began to wane as it became clear the lie-detector was up to its task. The same held true the following day and after all one thousand contestants had their chance, the prize remained unclaimed.

At the conclusion of the contest Dan Gilbert stood at centre stage in his Steve Jobs uniform of black turtle-neck and blue jeans. “Hello everyone, I’m Dan Gilbert President of Lassie Co.” He waited for the voluminous applause and cheering to subside before he continued.

“Thank you to all of the contestants for giving it a try, and thanks to all of you for attending and helping us to prove the detector works. Thanks also to our two scrutineers from SFU overseeing each statement to ensure there was no manipulation of the results”. He exhausted his short list of people and organizations to acknowledge in his closing remarks.

“As nobody was successful in winning the prize, the million dollars will be divided up equally and donated among the homeless and animal shelters in the greater Vancouver area.”

The crowd went wild and Dan had to wait for them to settle down once again. He continued with thanks to the various participants and members of the university who made the event possible.

“It’s not often I get to do this, but I’m happy that I can today. I would like to introduce to you the people who are the heart and soul of Lassie Co. The people who made it possible to hear what our dogs have to say.”

One by one Dan called his partners by name as they walked from backstage holding a leash as their dogs trotted beside them, Dan also introduced their dogs by name and when all five had been introduced, he whistled loudly and his own Lucy sprinted from backstage to stand next to him, “and this is my baby-girl Lucy,” he said proudly as she displayed her excitement and happiness in animated body language for all to appreciate.

“I have one more thing I must do before we conclude today, Belinda, could you step over here please?”

She hesitated for only a moment wondering what was in store because this was not in the script she had prepared. Her cross bred rescue dog Oliver trotting happily beside her to the microphone where Dan was standing.

Dan reached over to the table at the side and fetched a small white box sitting there. “Ladies and Gentlemen, Belinda is an enormous part of Lassie Co.’s success. She creates our promotional materials and she created the TV commercial that so many of you congratulated us for. She created the Dog Day launch and all of this as well.” He spread his arms wide. The audience erupted in loud applause and cheers once again.

Dan stood next to Belinda who was wiping tears from her eyes, and as he handed her the white box he said, “Belinda, all of us are in your debt for your remarkable creativity, your honesty and your outstanding work ethic. We are successful because of your dedication and your love of dogs,” Dan reached over and scratched between Oliver’s ears, then looked into her eyes and said, “On behalf of the board and dogs and their owners around the world - Thank you.”

That’s when she lost it, tears flowed harder as she wrapped her arms around Dan and the rest of the partners all came in for a group hug. Dan handed her the microphone. She just shook her head no as she was still deep in her emotional reaction. But ever the crowd-pleaser she pressed her iPhone a few times and said to Oliver, “Say thanks for me please?”

“THANK YOU - A REAL BIG THANK YOU. YOU MAKE ME FEEL VERY HAPPY,” came the synthesized voice from the smart phone. The audience reaction carried on for a very long time.

Chapter Thirteen

Shielding himself from the sudden rain squall, he temporarily lost his balance and scraped his shin on the unyielding large rock step of the stairs to his small apartment. His footing unsure due to the hurry he was in, the wet rock surface and the copious amount of whiskey and beer in his belly.

Susumu Takaki was stumbling home following the Friday tradition of after work drinks with his colleagues from the university. He was thinking he should have had more to eat as his addled mind began to argue the benefit would be more to slake his hunger than the sobering benefits more food would have provided.

After three attempts with the key to his door, he proved successful and was enthusiastically greeted by Yuudai, his handsome Shiba Inu dog. Noise was coming from Susumu’s jacket pocket; it took him a couple moments in his stupor to realise his dog was talking to him.

He fished the champagne gold Samsung phone from his pocket and pressed the repeat button to hear, YOU SMELL BAD. He leaned over and vigorously rubbed his dog’s head and slapped him on his flanks a couple times as he kicked off his wet shoes and headed for the kitchen area at the north end of the tiny apartment. “You hungry Yuudai, want some supper?” He mumbled, while going through the regular routine of feeding his four-footed companion and refreshing the bowl of drinking water on the kitchen floor next to the small refrigerator.

Susumu found some leftover dumplings in the fridge and in his drunken state decided to eat them cold. He only managed to get two of them down before he felt the effects of the many Nikka single malts he had consumed working to shut his thinking process down and close his eyes for the night. No stranger to what he would wake up to in the morning, he took two ASA tablets and drank a large glass of water.

He managed to hastily complete his regular end of day tasks, but Yuudai still needed to go out for his evening trip outdoors and sniff around. He knew he was in no shape to walk the dog so he asked. ”If I let you outside will you stay here and not wander away?”

Yuudai knew this request and would normally be obedient and stay close as asked, unless a rat or other night-time creature was dumb enough to be detected wandering by. YES, WILL STAY CLOSE AND PEE

After opening the door for his dog to exit, Susumu dialed into his lab to check for any new data from the university, there was none, but interests had been piqued in the past thirty-six hours as seismic activity was detected north of a distant known pressure ridge twenty-seven kilometers down on the floor of the north Pacific Ocean. A faint blip three days ago, and nothing more since.

He was a geologist by training and trade, but had been seduced into the shifting earth science of plate tectonics following a three year project to document the various geophysical strata beneath the Japanese Archipelago. It was an exciting and engaging topic and had numerous related tangent studies that ran from modern quake-proof building engineering to community design and construction to better withstand tsunami damages and harden infrastructure such as electricity and natural gas networks.

Susumu’s lab at the Tokyo University, Kashiwa Campus was equipped with all the modern measurement gear to perform their work. The Japanese government was adamant to be better prepared to detect and react to pending seismic dangers. In addition to his regular duties of monitoring advance seismic indicators, Susumu was running his own private and personal experiment for detection by employing Yuudai who was being introduced to earthquakes to determine if dogs can detect seismic activity naturally and if so, how soon before the ground starts to shake?

Yuudai had caught on to the tests right away. Being playful by nature, Susumu made it a game for him to detect an earth rumble before the high tech machinery in the lab could. Yuudai lost the first couple hits to the technology and was much encouraged after he beat the machines the first time by a good margin. A few weeks following, Yuudai had consistently beat the computers with his natural senses and the gap between the two methods increased as Yuudai perfected his art of sensing the deep abrasive sensations as the Earth’s plates moved against each other. He was happy to play the game even when not at the lab under study. All he had to do was tell Susumu when he felt the strange feelings in the ground as soon as he noticed them, if he did it before the machines did, he was rewarded with a Marukan brand beef chew, his favourite doggie-treat that came in the red bag, not the green one, those were not as good as the red ones.

COME IN NOW. Susumu raised himself up from the voluminous easy chair with much difficulty; slumber had all but won pending this last task of the day. He opened the door for the stocky little dog who trotted in and wiped his feet on the mat provided for the purpose and shook any rain drops that remained on his coat. THANK YOU said the polite dog as he had a final drink of water before bedtime.

They both settled into an easy sleep shortly after 11p.m. Japan Standard Time. Outdoors the unheard breeze was clearing the cloudy sky and removing the source of the light rain that had fallen for the past two days.

WAKE UP NOW! WAKE UP! EARTHQUAKE COMES! WAKE UP NOW! The very excited dog was telling his tomodachi (friend) snoring loudly on his bed.

Susumu awoke and the words EARTHQUAKE COMES resonated in his recent memory. He reached to his dog and hugged his neck praising him for sounding the alarm.

Susumu called into the University lab with his smartphone and accessed the Japan Early Warning System from the campus’ designated portal.

In 2007 the Japan Meteorological Agency launched a system which provides residents in Japan with Earthquake Early Warnings. This is a system that issues prompt alerts just before an earthquake starts, providing valuable seconds for people to protect themselves before strong tremors arrive. There were a number of access points throughout the islands to activate an alert and it could also be remote accessed as Susumu was doing.

He checked the monitoring equipment at the university via his phone connection and noted the current time. It was 5:38 a.m. and the expensive detection equipment had not yet felt anything to be concerned about - all readings were nominal. Susumu did not hesitate and pressed the access code and activated the national alerting system to advise all citizens of a pending earthquake. He would also need to make a verbal report to the JMA head office as soon as possible.

Almost immediately he heard the alert siren a few blocks away and he knew each of the other sirens were bellowing their news to the populace all over the islands. He then gathered his emergency kit and hastily dressed in the clothes he had selected for his emergency turn-out protection. Calling Yuudai near, he pulled the protective dog booties from his pack and put them on Yuudai’s feet, strapped on his protective vest and attached his walking leash. He took one last look around his apartment as if to say farewell to it and all his personal possessions. He took a blue Nalgene litre bottle of water from the fridge and headed out the door with Yuudai beside him on a slack leash.

His first stop was three doors down the street to an elderly couple he had befriended. His knock on the door was answered almost immediately as the two seniors were ready to leave their home equipped with their emergency materials and clothing. Susumu greeted them and confirmed they were good to travel to the designated emergency shelter up the hill about a kilometer. He offered to help carry their luggage, but was told by the very proud elderly gentlemen that he was capable to care for the needs of his wife and himself, “But thank you all the same Takaki.”

Susumu, was overcome by the need to urinate and found a small apartment garden that would shield him from view. He was aware that another minute had ticked by and still no quake had appeared.

The rest of the neighbourhood residents were now spilling into the streets making their way to the designated safe spot. Not much chatter could be heard as they focused on their tasks and responsibilities. There were few calls of despair or crying as they all moved in an orderly fashion up the middle of the road, well away from the buildings to avoid any glass or materials that may fall off when the buildings began to shake.

The emergency response system was now fully engaged and the many plans and protocols were activated to lessen injury, loss of life and damage to property and infrastructure as best as they could. First responders were moving. Sirens of various types were wailing, alarm bells were also contributing to the calamity as the quiet masses responded as they had been trained to do.

The crowd of people moved a bit smoother now helping each other to their feet again if they stumbled and fell. It was self-preservation, by getting people up and walking again, congestion is minimized and the domino tripping is avoided preventing many serious injuries. They were taught to slow down and help each other, and your odds of survival increased dramatically, it was working.

Street lights were still operating providing some visibility for the people during their slow walk up the hill to sanctuary and sunrise was still an hour away.

Turning to restart his trek to the shelter, Susumu assisted a young mother who was struggling to carry two infant children, a well-stuffed backpack and a small suitcase. He took the more physically active of the two wiggling children and the suitcase and walked with her to the already busy emergency shelter. Yuudai walked alongside, his leash dragging on the ground behind him.

At the emergency shelter entrance Susumu checked his watch. It had been five minutes and twenty-five seconds since he activated the alert system, but it seemed much longer, he wondered if he had done the right thing. He could not recall this much time passing after an alert from the monitoring equipment back in his lab before a quake was experienced. Yuudai had never yet predicted an event this far in advance. What if Yuudai was mistaken and there would be no quake? Hundreds of thousands of people all over the island nation awoken in the early hours of a Saturday morning for a false alarm would not be taken lightly. A wave of profound guilt swept over him.

He resolved to accept his fate, and now phoned in to the JMA control centre to claim responsibility for the deed. The phone had only rung once when the first ground wave was felt as it silently rippled from the distant southeast causing the buildings to wave with the force of the earth’s shifting mantle. Its intensity grew quickly as did the cacophony of noise and confusion that came like a solid wall of sound as fast as a cannon shot. The mass of people walking up the roadway struggled to keep their balance as the road pitched and rolled beneath them. Street lights went dark as the electrical network ceased to function.

The JMA answering machine activated on the third ring and Susumu delivered a hasty, clear and authorative report that explained he had activated the Early Warning System on the advice of his dog who has some rudimentary training in earthquake detection. He provided his complete name, employee number at the university and hung up.

Susumu began to mentally calculate the time span from Yuudai’s warning to the time he activated the alarm, which would be automatically recorded in a number of ways. It could not have been more than forty or fifty seconds? He wondered. His thinking process still impaired from the effects of grain alcohol consumed in generous amounts.

Japan’s long history of earthquakes had been the motive for a very resilient attitude and understanding of self-preservation among the Japanese populace. Citizens attended the earthquake survival training courses and workshops the government and responder agencies provide on a regular schedule in addition to the school system programs. Training exercises were normally well-attended, and in the main, the population of Japan is well prepared to survive the results of earthquakes and the tsunamis that accompany them.

The addition of the Early Warning System is still being evaluated and Susumu knew his activation of the system would be scrutinized in a variety of ways. Between aftershocks, he found a place to pour some water into a small bowl for his alert little dog. “You’re a very good boy Yuudai!” he said down on one knee while petting the dog’s head appreciatively. “You did a very good thing by waking me and telling me an earthquake was coming.” Yuudai understood he had done his job very well and was happy that his tomodachi was pleased as a result. MEAT TREAT NOW

Susumu dug into his pack for the red foil bag that contained the hero dog’s reward, strips of processed beef jerky...he received two large ones.

As you have since seen in the news, the eastern portion of Tokyo’s Chiba district up the coast to Ibaraki, was the hardest hit and the 8.7 magnitude quake destroyed many older buildings and the tsunami devastated the shoreline 1.6 kilometers inland taking out numerous bridges and overpasses impacting mass transportation systems; the electrical grid was greatly damaged and remained down for five days, and the cell network was almost immediately made useless due to subscriber traffic overloading the system.

Only 159 lives were lost, most from drowning, and many, many more would have been killed had not Yuudai and Susumu sounded the alert. They are credited with saving many thousands of lives that early Saturday morning. The advance notice of close to five minutes was a huge advantage to performing the effective public response.

Following the required post-earthquake investigation, Susumu was reassigned due to his activation of the public alert system. He is now leading a nationally sponsored program to train more dogs in seismic detection. Yuudai is working in the lab every day now with Susumu, both had become instant celebrities and are greatly admired by the people of Japan.

Chapter Fourteen

His heart swelled with pride as he put the courier-delivered letter down on his desk. Dan Gilbert looked out his office window to the changing colors of the ornamental maple leaves in the industrial park and his mind quickly recalled highlights of the past seven years and the development of the Lassie Communicator.

We have come so far, so fast, and so many wonderful things have happened as a result. It was never about the money nor was it the best way to measure their success. He thought about the many lives saved in Japan a couple months ago, which were being credited to a remarkably-trained Shiba and his humble seismologist owner who in turn, credits his Lassie-com for making it all possible.

The many families who now enjoyed a much closer relationship with their dogs filled his mind. All the rescued children helped by a dog in some bizarre manner. He also thought about the many blind and mobility-limited people whose lives were enriched because of an added bond with their service dogs, made possible through better communications and understanding. Police officers and military personnel who were taking canine partnerships to new heights and the numerous advantages they created. The medical community was still finding new uses for well-trained dogs to assist in disease detection and to provide therapeutic benefits to ailing patients.

So many positive things had happened as a result of the high-tech dog collar and the software app. There were now more than 24 million registered customers in the database and some of these had since become involved with on-going research with universities and dog clubs in their local areas. It just kept getting better and better, and now this. He pondered on how to inform his partners about their next corporate event in the spotlight.

Being a Thursday morning all the Lassie Co. partners were in their offices attending to their duties. Dan got up and visited each of their offices to inform, “Emergency meeting, Boardroom in twenty minutes.” He didn’t stick around to explain anything further. Ten minutes later all were in their places in the corporate boardroom.

“I got some mail this morning you may be interested in,” he began. “It is from Stockholm.” He pulled the couriered envelope containing the flattering letter from his inner jacket pocket and put it on the table in front of Gareth to his right.

“Lassie Co. has been selected for two Nobel prizes. One for Science, and the other for Peace.” He felt a wave of emotion capture him and paused before he continued,

“Before this goes any further, I just want to express my absolute and complete admiration for each of you and provide my unending gratitude for sticking with this crazy project, and thanks for all you have contributed to make it work. None of this would have been possible without the contributions from each of you. I am so proud of this team and what we have accomplished.” He had to blink a few times to clear his vision.

The letter was passed around the table for each of them to read. It informed them that the Science prize was being given to Dan--the originator of the dog-com as it is normally awarded to an individual rather than to a team effort. The Peace prize is often awarded to a team and this one would be bestowed on the Lassie Co. partners in Oslo in the coming December, date to be confirmed, because the Science prize is also handed out in Stockholm on December 10th the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. The letter said the public announcement of the selections was to be made within the next few days.

Each of the six seated around the table smiled as they let the significance of the announcement sink in.

“Okay dinner Sunday at six. Do you want me to bring anything?”

“No, I got everything covered already, just need you.”

“Can I bring Olly too mom?”

“Of course--Baron would be disappointed if you didn’t. Gotta run hon, see you on Sunday!” and she hung up.

Belinda made a note on her iPad to pick up the birthday gift she had ordered for her dad some weeks ago. Her father’s seventieth birthday was only a few days away and she took a moment to ponder her schedule and how infrequently she visited with them over the past while.

They would not be around forever and she really should make an effort to get closer to her family. She didn’t need to work as hard as she used to, as business had been very good to her, she could take some time off and relax a bit. Blair’s face filled her mind as it had done a few times since their impromptu lunch. They had exchanged business cards and said “See ya later,” like they would in the regular habit of daily life.

Sunday afternoon, Olly listened to the routine of Belinda getting ready to go out, he knew the tell-tale signs by heart, the washing, the dressing, the different smells applied--different ones for different places, and then came the shoes. There were so many to choose from and Olly could have a good idea of what was in store by the shoes that got put on. The running shoes and hiking boots were the best of course and often meant he was going along too. Today it was the running shoes.

“Come on Olly--Lets’ go see Baron,” she said picking the wrapped gift from the hall shelf.

NOW SEE BARON

“Yup right now, let’s go.”

Olly’s tail was displaying his excitement, he and Baron, an aged yellow-eyed Chesapeake of Belinda’s parents would enjoy playing whenever they visited. The large back yard out in the Langley countryside had mice, squirrels, possums, frogs, racoons and many other wonderful things to smell and track and Olly loved it there. Baron liked to have the company but was not as spry as he once was and was glad for Olly’s youthful energy to be spent hunting the pastures rather than wrestling with him.

It was a lovely warm autumn day so Olly sat in the passenger side back seat of the Forrester with his head out the window during the drive out to Belinda’s parents. He would often ask to do this and he explained why after Belinda asked one day in curiosity. “Why do dogs like to hang their heads out the window?”

SMELL MORE FASTER BIGGER was the answer, which has been supported by many, many other dogs asked the same question. If traffic exhaust is not too overwhelming, dogs can enjoy a fast-paced stream of scents from a diversity of sources and they enjoy trying to identify what they are as a game, similar to how people determine words in crossword puzzles.

Arriving at her parents included meeting the rest of the family members unseen since the last organized family gathering, Easter if memory served. Hugs, kisses and congratulations for the recently announced Nobel prizes were shared by all. Baron and Olly wandered through the group making sure they had confirmed everyone present, and then they went to explore the pasture beyond the three wire fence.

Belinda’s older sister Nancy and husband Richard were not doing well due to a business venture that failed a few years earlier and they were just recently getting back on their feet.

Younger brother Martin looked up to his sister and was her biggest supporter. He was part of her inspiration to join Lassie Co. when Dan was recruiting. Martin and Baron were inseparable when Marty still lived with her parents, and she often used them as the inspiration for her work as the perfect boy and his dog as she remembered when Baron was a puppy and Marty was an adolescent.

In the two or so years since Marty set off on his own, home just hasn’t felt the same whenever she visited and he was not there, Baron has gotten noticeably older too. It was nice when all family members were together again and could reflect on family life as in days gone by, but it also highlights how fast time passes.

Smoke from burning meat fats on the grill wafted through the house open to the warm autumn breeze, making all anxious to eat. The outside table was laden with salads, side dishes, cobs of corn and platters of breads and rolls.

It was a glorious feast with much laughing and celebration. Belinda’s dad was entranced by the love and affection from his family, his thank you speech interrupted by spontaneous tears and choking up as he acknowledged how fortunate he was and how proud he was of all of them.

After coffee and birthday cake, dad began to snore in his chair, his belly and heart both full of what is good for them. Standing next to her mom at the kitchen sink drying while her mom washed, mom asked, “So are you tired of the jet-set life yet?”

Belinda knew where this was going to end up, and dad’s seventieth birthday is a perfect reminder that they were still waiting for grandchildren to dote on. Nancy and Richard were trying but something was wrong and they had not been successful to date. Stress was the favoured culprit within the family circle.

“Actually mom, I was talking to Dan the other day telling him that I wanted to slow down a bit and enjoy some things besides work all the time.”

“Oh good, you have been working so hard honey, but look at what you have achieved!” she boasted. Mom would be known to brag about little Belinda to her wide network of friends as the Lassie Co. phenomenon developed and their fame became world-wide. She truly was very proud of her daughter and the success she had made of herself, she was perhaps even a bit envious of her too.

“I met a boy too mom,” she teased, “I think you and dad will like him.”

Her hands came out of the sink and grabbed at the dish towel from Belinda to dry off. Mom walked over to the kitchen table and pulled out a chair for her daughter and said “Sit” pointing at it.

Belinda reached for her wine goblet and sat down. She knew she had opened her mouth and now had to fill in the many blanks mom would need to know.

She took a large mouthful of wine, swallowed it and began with a laugh.

‘His name is Blair Porter, he’s a musician songwriter and he writes scores for TV documentaries. His favourite food is lobster mac and cheese his mother makes, but he loves to cook himself. He was born in Thunder Bay and moved out west five years ago. He has three brothers: Jerry, Donny and Michael, all older than his thirty-three years. And that’s all I know, we’ve only had one date - just a lunch really,” and she went on to explain how they met.

Mom was smiling brightly. “Oh honey I’m so glad. You should have brought him out with you today.”

“Meet the parents on the first real date?” she scoffed, “I don’t think so! You’d drag him into a corner and end up knowing more about him than I would.”

“Well next time you bring him with you okay?”

Time passed as it normally does, one day folding into the next one and soon another month gets flipped over on the calendar. Plans for the Nobel trip had been made and they would be departing for Sweden the next Wednesday to be in Stockholm for the Science prize on the 10th, then over to Oslo on the 14th for the Peace prize presentation. All in the Lassie Co. were excited, especially after talking about it in media for weeks after the selections had been made public.

In the lead-up to Christmas, the Vancouver business community would hold fund-raising events for a variety of causes. It was at one of these events to raise money for the homeless, where Belinda turned after having her shoulder tapped on to see the smiling face of Blair once again.

“It seems every time I see you, congratulations on your latest prize are in order.” he smiled.

Her face must have revealed her happiness at seeing him, because his smile beamed brighter as a result, “Thank you Blair, thank you very much,” she blushed deeply and did not know why.

“How have you been? Did you get your sequel finished? Let’s sit down and catch up.” she encouraged.

“We can do that while dancing too.” He suggested innocently, as he led her to a table where she could put her wine glass down and her sweater on a chair. He placed his drink next to hers and escorted her to the small dance floor in a corner of the banquet hall of the regal Four Seasons Hotel where an acoustic jazz quartet was playing.”

Belinda felt comfortable dancing with him, they moved well together and she said so.

“Dancing well is high praise for any musician,” he explained, “ We are usually playing the music rather than dancing to it, so most of us are terrible dancers, Klutz - it means dancing musician.”

They joked and laughed as the band played on, lost in each other’s company. Blair got the tap on the shoulder from Dan who asserted, “I owe this lovely lady so much, could I please have one dance with her? I promise I won’t step on her toes--hard.”

Blair was introduced to the Lassie partners and they all appeared happy that Belinda had found someone on a social level. They would sometimes tease her about becoming a spinster and corporate power bitch in the advertising world. Her sole purpose to sell widgets to the vast ocean of ignorant consumers that she could manipulate at will. These taunts had not been lost on her and she felt good to show off a relationship to them.

This night, like all others came to an end, and the room began to clear. Both Blair and Belinda were entranced and did not want to go their separate ways.

“Hungry?” he asked hopefully “There’s a Denny’s a few blocks from here.”

“You know what I’d really like?” she taunted him, “Ice cream.”

Blair pulled the phone from his pocket and asked Siri where ice cream could be found in the local area. Fifteen minutes later they were seated in a gelato café booth waiting for their order.

“I hope this doesn’t sound desperate,” she confessed. “But I told my mom about our lunch date.” There I’ve done it, she thought--I called it a date.

“Does she like Ukrainian food too?” he quipped, a smile under his lively green eyes.

“It was just girl talk while we were doing the dishes and I was trying to avert the grandchildren discussion, so I tried to pre-empt her questions by saying I had met a boy--You,” she said touching the end of his nose.

“Jeez we’ve only had lunch and already we’re talking about having children, you advertising people work kinda fast eh?” he mocked. Another hour and a half slipped past them as they got to know each other better, now they were talking about their careers and future plans. Belinda’s focus for the short-term was the Nobel events and all that would add to her planning calendar, which Blair took as an opportunity to book some time in when she returned back to Vancouver.

He mentioned that his brother Mike and his wife would be visiting soon and he would really like Belinda to meet them over the Christmas season. Perhaps they could get together for dinner which he would cook for them.

“Christmas already!” she vented, “I am not ready for this at all.” She ran her list of Things To Do silently in her mind--so much to do and time racing away from her in all directions. She wished it was slower so that she and Blair could spend more time together. Blair promised he would contact her and set up a date when she returned on the 18th, a week or so away.

It was time to call it a night, and they began the walk to where Belinda had parked her car earlier that evening. She took a hold of his arm as they navigated the sidewalks and snuggled side by side waiting at the intersection for the little white man in the sign to tell them it was safe to cross.

She was leaning with her back on the passenger side of her car between the streetlights on Robson St. There was a steady stream of pedestrians walking by when he came in slow and easy for the kiss. Expecting it and with a lot of hoping for it, encouraged her to kiss back, arms gently flailing at her sides, not sure of how best to use them, his hands had found her hips and were holding them gently.

Twenty minutes later she was driving in traffic to her apartment with much happiness filling her heart, her mind going in a million different directions--she felt creative all of a sudden and wanted to describe how she was feeling in some way. Her mind began to outline a sequence similar to directing a dance, she was eager to imagine the beginning. She was getting to one of the really good parts when she finally fell asleep.

The two Nobel ceremonies were lavish, a bit ostentatious, and had that old-world flavour of opulence and snootiness. It was wonderful to participate in and rub elbows with the other prize winners and hear how they had come to be noticed for their contributions to improve things on Earth. These conversations impressed on the Lassie Co. partners just how significant an achievement their invention was in comparison, and many of the other recipients told them so, some with a bit of envy. A couple of these scholars spoke as pleased customers of the wonderful and historic product the Lassie group had created and commented how wonderful it was to converse with their dogs, so thank you.

On the flight home, Belinda thought about Blair quite a lot while arranging her future thoughts and what her next steps could be. She had to determine what it was she was wanting. She had success and rock star status in her chosen business field, she had more money than she knew what to do with, and more was coming in each month. Dad had helped her set-up an investment portfolio to manage her growing wealth. She wasn’t lonely, but she knew she was curious what a relationship would bring into her life, maybe anxious was a better word? Of course, mom’s almost rabid desire for grandchildren yelled at her conscience causing her to smile in reflex when she realized it. Was she ready to settle down and become a mother? Was Blair the right guy to do it with? Had she achieved all she wanted to for now? She recalled looking into the mirror and denying these questions just before their lunch together, yet here she was sometime later, doing it anyway.

Walking down the airport concourse to the YVR Arrival area the Lassie Co. party were recognized by a number of people due to their celebrity status. Strangers were often seen giving thumbs up or even asking them for autographs since the dog-com had become so popular. They were often portrayed in articles and news stories as business celebrities who could also travel in the science and technology sectors, as well as in medical research and for taking service dogs to the next level. But in the dog circles--the principal members of Lassie Co. were near equal to Gods. Vets, trainers, groomers and kennel operators all would sing their praises.

Walking past the idle luggage carousels she could see the rest of the Lassie Co. staff who had remained behind in Vancouver to attend to corporate business, and some others in another group applauding their return home.

Marty, mom and dad were there too to share in the celebration.

She collided into the small crowd of well-wishers; all were hugging, kissing and greeting everybody all at once in a jumbled mass. Then from out of nowhere, Blair stepped in front of her offering a bouquet of flowers wrapped in green cellophane. She embraced him vigorously and kissed him long and passionately for all to see. They broke for a breath and she asked, “What are you doing here? Did somebody at the office organize this?”

He blushed deeply and explained, “No, I just thought it would be nice to meet you when you arrived back- Maybe give you a ride home. When I got here just a minute or two ago, this all happened.”

Belinda realized that it had been a kismet moment and nobody except her business partners knew who Blair was. She looked for her parents who were not too far away. “Mom - dad?” she reached out to touch them to capture their attention. “This is Blair!” she said proudly standing next to him.

End

science fiction
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About the Creator

Doug Caldwell

I hope to learn from all of you members on this site and share in some tale-telling. I am looking forward to the different styles used to tell these stories. I look forward to reading yours.

Be Well

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