Short Story of the Week #3-They’re Made Out of Meat
Name _____________________________________
READ CLOSELY AND SHOW EVIDENCE OF THINKING BY ANNOTATING. Annotate
all readings by highlighting the main idea in yellow; the best evidence
supporting in blue, and any interesting phrases in green.
THEY'RE MADE OUT OF MEAT
by Terry Bisson 1990
“They’re made out of meat.”
“Meat?”
“Meat. They’re made out of meat.”
“Meat?”
“There’s no doubt about it. We picked up several from different parts of the planet, took them aboard
our recon vessels,1 and probed them all the way through. They’re completely meat.”
“That’s impossible. What about the radio signals? The messages to the stars?”
“They use the radio waves to talk, but the signals don’t come from them. The signals come from
machines.”
“So who made the machines? That’s who we want to contact.”
“They made the machines. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Meat made the machines.”
“That’s ridiculous. How can meat make a machine? You’re asking me to believe in sentient2meat.”
“I’m not asking you, I’m telling you. These creatures are the only sentient race in that sector and
they’re made out of meat.”
“Maybe they’re like the orfolei. You know, a carbon-based intelligence that goes through a meat
stage.”
“Nope. They’re born meat and they die meat. We studied them for several of their life spans, which
didn’t take long. Do you have any idea what’s the life span of meat?”
