“Among the countless homing pigeons released into the sky every year—their return to the coop all but certain—a few always go missing. They might take an unanticipated left and drift off, flying into the unknown or maybe even the imagined, somewhere far away from the sureties of home and destiny. Soon enough, some evolutionary biologist will pinpoint the gene responsible for this sort of errant behaviour and eliminate the mutation; their individual genetic makeup now aligned with their species’ purpose, no more homing pigeons will wander or get lost. In a goal-oriented world, wandering and getting lost are considered malfunctions.”
