Behemoth - "Telescopes"

The space was crowded by what looked like a mismatched pair of telescopes pointed down at the sea.
“Is that a weapon?” he asked.
“No. The fat one is a reconnaissance camera,” Dylan said. “And the wee one’s a sight for aerial bombs and navigation. But they’re useless at night, so it’ll be private enough” (89).

Deryn is escorting Alek to a place where he won’t be caught. Along the way, Alek notices Darwinist creatures that looked like a mismatched pair of telescopes, one of them being large, while the other one is small by comparison. Deryn explains to him their functions as a camera and a detector for aerial attacks and navigator, respectively. However, despite their functions, she eases his worries by telling him that they’re useless at night so they can sneak past their watchful eyes.

I’m not too sure on why exactly the Darwinists would choose the “fat one” to be the reconnaissance camera for the Leviathan while the “wee one” becomes the detector for navigation and aerial bombs. It feels as if the two roles should be reversed; the bulky one should be the detector for the navigation and for the aerial attacks due to its size and stature, possibly allowing it to detect enemy attacks over height obstacles. Likewise, the small creature should be the camera; its small stature allows it to remain undetected and it doesn’t need to peer over great distances to detect any suspicious behaviors or enemies onboard the Leviathan. Regardless, both seem to perform useful functions, barring the fact that they don’t have night vision, and can be applied to reality as well.

While this passage does seem to offer more of an insight into the creatures that the Darwinists created, it also begs the question of exactly what kind of creatures they are capable of creating with their technology. Throughout the books, the readers have seen flechette bats, message lizards, the Leviathan itself, and now these animals that operate as surveillance creatures. While not completely threatening, the passage seems to raise the question to the readers about potential creatures that they could see in the future from these Darwinists, maybe a creature somewhere along the lines of Godzilla or even a virus that’s tangible and has a physical presence. Looking back on the previous posts and pages, Westerfield builds up this suspicion throughout the chapters and pages by constantly referring back to these creatures and their capabilities and functions; it wouldn’t be surprising to see something threatening in the future from this group of people.

All of these creatures that are suddenly being discussed about and being worried about does bring up a moral and ethical point if these creatures are really meant to be created. In reality, we have PETA who, although doesn’t exactly make the smartest decisions when it comes to animal safety and protection, advocates for the safety of animals against immoral treatments. It brings up a good question in today’s society: is experimenting with animals to develop them truly immoral?