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“Puplift: A Dog's Guide to Space, Chapter 5” by Tempe O'Kun
Welcome back to space! I am a dog. If you are ready, we will talk about what happens during daytime and nighttime.
Today’s story is “Puplift: A Dog's Guide to Space, Chapter 5 by Tempe O'Kun, who is the staff writer at Culturally F'd, and the writer of the Windfall and Sixes Wild series by FurPlanet Productions, and you can find more of his stories on his FurAffinity or his SoFurry account.
Accompanied by a video from Culturally F'd, with art by Sam Pipes and music by Bearywell/Jinpa.
Read by the Author.
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https://thevoice.dog/episode/puplift-a-dogs-guide-to-space-chapter-5-by-tempe-okun
Transcript
You’re listening to The Voice of Dog.
Speaker:This is Rob MacWolf, your fellow traveler,
Speaker:and Today’s story is
Speaker:“Puplift: A Dog's Guide to Space,
Speaker:Chapter 5 by Tempe O'Kun,
Speaker:who is the staff writer at Culturally F'd,
Speaker:and the writer of the Windfall and Sixes Wild series by FurPlanet Productions,
Speaker:and you can find more of his stories on his FurAffinity or his SoFurry account.
Speaker:Accompanied by a companion video from Culturally F'd,
Speaker:with art by Sam Pipes and
Speaker:music by Bearywell/Jinpa
Speaker:Read by the Author.
Speaker:Please enjoy“Puplift:
Speaker:A Dog's Guide to Space, Chapter 5”
Speaker:by Tempe O'Kun
Speaker:CHAPTER FIVE A DAY
Speaker:Because our species grew up on a planet that spins,
Speaker:our brains like to have days and nights. Even in space, we break up time into awake and asleep.
Speaker:You should do both every twenty-four hours.
Speaker:We will talk about
Speaker:them. AWAKE Most of the day, you are awake.
Speaker:This means you are conscious and notice stimuli,
Speaker:like friends petting you or talking to you.
Speaker:Most people like to be awake during the day.
Speaker:If you are an AI,
Speaker:you are awake all the time.
Speaker:Home A home is the place you live.
Speaker:Most dogs have at least one human living in their home.
Speaker:We sleep near each other.
Speaker:This used to be so we could warn them about tigers,
Speaker:but now we just do it because it is nice to be around our friends.
Speaker:Most dolphins live in the
Speaker:oceans of planets,
Speaker:but some live in big pools that go all the way around a space station or on spaceships. They have houses that are halfway in the water. If you visit them, you will probably get very wet.
Speaker:AI homes are computers. That means they can live
Speaker:anywhere, even in space. If you visit them, you might not be able to fit inside, because you are not code.
Speaker:Coffee We have a special tool to wake us up called a coffee machine.
Speaker:It releases a nice smell by cooking the seeds of a coffee plant.
Speaker:Your helper app turns it on while you are still asleep to remind you to wake up.
Speaker:The helper app also makes the lights brighter to remind you of a sunrise.
Speaker:A coffee machine captures the water it cooks the seeds in.
Speaker:Humans like to drink it.
Speaker:Coffee tells their brains to forget to be sleepy.
Speaker:They put things like cow milk and sugar in it.
Speaker:Dogs do not drink coffee.
Speaker:It is too bitter.
Speaker:Most dogs are smaller than humans too,
Speaker:so we could get sick if we drank a lot of it.
Speaker:If you are a dog and you drank a lot of coffee, please tell someone so they can call a doctor.
Speaker:You can have the cow milk and sugar, though.
Speaker:Dolphins also like coffee,
Speaker:but they are bad at drinking from cups and bowls.
Speaker:To give a dolphin coffee,
Speaker:you have to put it in a ball of algae gel.
Speaker:Then you drop it in the water and they eat the coffee ball.
Speaker:We try not to give the humans or dolphins too much coffee.
Speaker:It makes them too excitable
Speaker:and fidgety and they break things.
Speaker:Some of our friends drink tea instead of coffee.
Speaker:It is made with leaves of a tea plant instead of seeds of a coffee plant, but otherwise it is the same.
Speaker:They are both very important to humans.
Speaker:It is a little silly to base your society on plant water, but it makes them happy so we want them to do it.
Speaker:Breakfast You do not eat while you are sleeping, so when you wake up you will be hungry.
Speaker:A breakfast is important because it powers you up for the day.
Speaker:You can tell the kitchen to print you some breakfast.
Speaker:It uses heat and grains and fruits and eggs to make
Speaker:omelettes or donuts or waffles or porridge.
Speaker:It makes what you want and puts it in a bowl for you.
Speaker:Then you eat it.
Speaker:Humans are too tall to eat off the floor,
Speaker:so they usually eat while sitting on a chair.
Speaker:Mostly, humans can eat the same foods as dogs.
Speaker:This is part of why we domesticated them.
Speaker:It means we can share!
Speaker:Dolphins mostly eat fish and squids.
Speaker:Dolphins do not usually cook, but sometimes they like what we cook.
Speaker:If you make a pancake out of fish and float it on the ocean, a dolphin might eat that pancake.
Speaker:Being Nice The most important thing you do in a day is being nice. That means being a good friend to people.
Speaker:If you run into a problem and you are not sure how to be nice during it, you can ask a dog.
Speaker:Dogs have very advanced friend science and will help solve the problem.
Speaker:Fun When you play a game with your friends or read a book or hear a song,
Speaker:that is fun. Fun feels nice and helps your brain grow.
Speaker:We are exploring The Universe to discover new kinds of fun.
Speaker:You should have fun so you stay healthy.
Speaker:Meditation and Cuddles
Speaker:Sometimes, you feel upset.
Speaker:Or a friend feels upset.
Speaker:If that happens, the person can sit and think about things to calm down. That is meditation. Another important way to feel better if you are upset is to have a friend next to you so you touch.
Speaker:This is called a cuddle.
Speaker:Many kinds of cuddles have been developed,
Speaker:like a hug, where you wrap your arms around someone.
Speaker:If you do not have arms,
Speaker:you can hug someone with a grabber belt. It is also good to just lay by a friend.
Speaker:You should make sure it is okay before you do it, so they know what is going on.
Speaker:Otherwise, you might tip them over or make them drop things.
Speaker:Another important way to cuddle is to have someone pet you or to pet them.
Speaker:Petting is when you touch them gently for no reason except to be nice.
Speaker:You can pet just about anyone on the back.
Speaker:Just make sure they know you are there first, so you do not startle them.
Speaker:You can pet dogs and dolphins and young humans on the head or back or shoulders.
Speaker:Adult humans are often too shy to pet each other, except on the shoulders or back. It is okay to be shy.
Speaker:The important thing is that the person knows you like them.
Speaker:You can also cuddle when you are happy! That is good too.
Speaker:It reminds people you are their friend and helps
Speaker:keep everyone from getting sad. And it is good practice for when someone is sad.
Speaker:Job Most days, you do your job for part of the day.
Speaker:Other people probably do your job with you.
Speaker:Together, you are a team!
Speaker:You do not have to do your job all the time,
Speaker:but you should tell your team if you are on a vacation.
Speaker:Otherwise, they will think you are lost and go look for you.
Speaker:We do jobs because people can do more working together than we could by ourselves.
Speaker:That means it is good you are here. We can do even more because you are here to help and to think of ideas.
Speaker:Manners When you are awake and with people, you follow rules called
Speaker:manners. Manners are when you are nice to people, even though you are an animal
Speaker:or a computer. It can be difficult to be nice, if you are hungry or tired or upset. But it is important. You have to be nice to have friends. That is what it means to be friends. Manners are an important trick.
Speaker:Society has lots of manners. Some are obvious. Some are almost secrets.
Speaker:You will learn them as you live.
Speaker:Sometimes, we do science to manners.
Speaker:That is how we make better manners. Before people were cyborgs, we did not know how to be nice to cyborgs.
Speaker:Now we do. We used science to make cyborg manners.
Speaker:When lots of people work together to be nice to each other, it is called civilization.
Speaker:It is nice to live in civilization.
Speaker:The food is extra delicious and you can explore space.
Speaker:Lunch and Dinner
Speaker:Lunch is when you eat in the middle of the day. Dinner is when you eat later on.
Speaker:If you want a food you and your kitchen cannot cook, you can go to a restaurant. A restaurant is a place where cooks make food.
Speaker:Most restaurants are buildings. Some restaurants are ships, so you can only go to them when they visit.
Speaker:It is nice to go to a restaurant with your friends.
Speaker:Most restaurants have dogs sit on human chairs or benches.
Speaker:Dolphins, though, just stand by the table because their robot legs do not get tired. We have special rules for when you eat with other people at a table.
Speaker:They are called the table manners. Mostly, they are about getting your own food in your mouth and not anywhere else.
Speaker:Humans have very advanced table manners.
Speaker:They have tools like
Speaker:forks and napkins. Forks are small
Speaker:spears for putting food in your mouth.
Speaker:Napkins are rectangles of dried plant matter.
Speaker:You use napkins to clean up a small mess.
Speaker:Humans will understand if dolphins and dogs do not use forks.
Speaker:If you get food on your face
Speaker:or on the rest of you
Speaker:or on someone else, though,
Speaker:you should wipe it off with a napkin using your grabber belt.
Speaker:Shower One of our best technologies is a room to help your brain think. Every house has one.
Speaker:It also cleans you if you are dirty.
Speaker:It is called a shower
Speaker:and sprays warm water on you. It is about the temperature of your body.
Speaker:Some showers can catch a pool of water for you to lay in.
Speaker:This is called a bathtub.
Speaker:It is basically the same technology.
Speaker:Dolphins do not need to shower if they are in the
Speaker:ocean. That is like a permanent bath!
Speaker:But sometimes they do anyway because it feels nice. If someone is in the shower, you should usually let them be alone.
Speaker:They might be thinking important thoughts
Speaker:or practicing their singing
Speaker:or practicing a speech.
Speaker:A shower helps you do those things. When you are done in the shower,
Speaker:you dry off with a towel,
Speaker:which is a big napkin,
Speaker:or with a hair dryer,
Speaker:which is a loud machine that blasts
Speaker:you with hot air.
Speaker:ASLEEP Biological people from The Earth do a thing called sleeping.
Speaker:It is a deep rest when you notice less of what is going on around you.
Speaker:It helps us heal and grow and keep from getting sick. Dogs need about ten hours of sleep every day.
Speaker:Humans and dolphins sleep a little less,
Speaker:but they still need about
Speaker:eight hours. If you do not sleep enough, you will be tired
Speaker:and upset. Humans and dogs like to sleep on soft devices,
Speaker:like beds or sofas or carpets.
Speaker:We use blankets to keep us warm and pillows to stay in a comfy position.
Speaker:Dolphins sleep in hammocks in the water. It keeps them from sleep-swimming into things or people. Some dolphins like to sleep in the bathtub. We try to get the humans and dolphins to sleep enough. They like to stay up late. Sometimes, dolphins will stay up for a whole month.
Speaker:That makes them grumpy.
Speaker:When dolphins are piloting ships, they only sleep with half their brain at a time.
Speaker:Then they can get sleep and watch out for space rocks with the
Speaker:eye that is still open.
Speaker:That is very talented!
Speaker:They do get bored when they do this, so you should talk to them and keep them company and maybe bring them a fish.
Speaker:They do not dream this way, though. That is good.
Speaker:You should not dream when you are steering a ship.
Speaker:They save up their dreams for when they do normal sleep with both halves of their brain.
Speaker:Dream When you sleep, you sometimes dream.
Speaker:A dream is a hallucination,
Speaker:but it is normal.
Speaker:You smell smells that are not there and even see, hear, feel, and taste those things.
Speaker:Dreams can be good or bad, but do not worry about them.
Speaker:They are just how your brain rests.
Speaker:Nap Most sleep happens all at once.
Speaker:Sometimes, though, we get
Speaker:extra sleep a little at a time.
Speaker:Naps are good if you feel tired,
Speaker:but not so tired that you could sleep for hours and hours.
Speaker:AIs take naps sometimes.
Speaker:They are called updates. They turn off and then on again with new code.
Speaker:It helps them learn new tricks.
Speaker:You can tell this is happening because their screen will show you a loading bar that slowly fills up.
Speaker:If you see an AI taking an update nap,
Speaker:you will have to wait until they are awake again to talk to them.
Speaker:END OF CHAPTER FIVE
Speaker:We talked about some things that probably happen in a day.
Speaker:Lots more things can happen, though.
Speaker:Some things will happen that have never happened before!
Speaker:If you have questions about something that might happen,
Speaker:now is a good time to ask a dog about that thing.
Speaker:This was “Puplift,
Speaker:Chapter 5” written and read for you by Tempo,a
Speaker:fluffy dog in a cowboy hat,
Speaker:with music by Bearywell.
Speaker:As always, you can find more stories on the web
Speaker:at thevoice.dog, or find the show wherever you get
Speaker:your podcasts.
Speaker:Thank you for listening
Speaker:to The Voice of Dog
