"I see you received my warning," the goose said to him after Robert had let it into the room.

"The dream I had...that was you?""

"Yes, that was me, and the fact that you acted on it means that I was right about you."

"How did you do that?"

"There are lots of things that I can do, but that's not important right now, you need to go to the bathroom, right?"

"Yes."

"That'll be the egg, go and use the bathroom and we'll speak more after; oh, and before you go, would it be okay if I ordered some room service?"

"Sure, order whatever you want."

The egg that Robert expelled in the bathroom that afternoon was larger than the ones he had previously expelled. He had to nurse it out slowly, like he was giving birth. The egg was twice as large as the others, and more than twice as heavy. He rinsed it under the bathtub taps and took it out into the room to show the goose, who was enjoying a glass of Bordeaux having finished its meal.

"What did you order?" Robert asked, intrigued by the empty plate.

"I ordered the Salisbury steak, they do it excellently here. Is that the egg?"

"Yes."

"Let me have a look at it."

Robert put the egg down in front of the goose.

"Yes, this is it, this is the one!"

"What's so special about this egg, aside from the fact that it's bigger than the others?"

"Hold it up to the light and you'll see."

Robert did so, and saw a blue sheen shimmering on the surface that hadn't been there on the other eggs.

"What's this blue shine?"

"That's proof that it's inside."

"What's inside?"

"I can't tell you that yet, first we have to go to see the oracle. It's a long drive from here, we'll go in the morning. I'll spend the night here with you if that's okay."

"Sure, that's fine."

The goose slept in the bed next to Robert. Robert wasn't concerned about any hygiene issues, the goose smelled wonderfully clean and fresh.

"What do we do about the egg?" Robert asked the goose in the morning before they were due to set off.

"Leave it in the room safe."

"Are you sure it'll be okay here?"

"The security at this hotel is very good, it'll be here waiting for us when we return, I can promise that."

Robert locked the egg in the safe and they left. The drive, the goose said to him, was going to be a long one. He wouldn't tell Robert what their final destination was, he would just give him directions. The long drive was an opportunity for Robert to ask the goose all of the questions that he wanted answers to.

"Do you have a name?"

"It's not necessary for me to have a name, when you're talking to me it's not possible that you could be talking anyone else, and besides, I forgot it a long time ago."

"Just how old are you?"

"I can't be certain, I just know that I'm over ten thousand years old."

"Ten thousand years! Just what in the world are you?"

"The simple term would be that I am a guardian, it's my job to ensure that the blue egg finds its way to someone worthy and that it's well taken care of until it hatches."

"Do the other eggs not hatch?"

"No, they're just waste that's expelled while the blue egg is getting ready to come into the world."

"Why do you keep calling it the blue egg? That egg was also gold it just had a little blue shine to it."

"It's going to get bluer as it gets closer to hatching."

"Do I need to sit on it to keep it warm so it hatches?"

"No, the egg will take care of everything by itself."

"What's going to hatch from the egg?"

"That I can't tell you."

"If the first eggs were just waste and they were worth $100 000, what's this egg worth?"

"It is impossible to put a value on the blue egg, there is no amount of money in the world that could accurately measure its worth."

"Everything has a price."

"This egg doesn't; kingdoms have gone to war over this egg, rulers have sent millions of their people to their deaths in pursuit of this egg."

"This egg is that powerful?"

"They thought it was."

"You mean they didn't know?"

"They knew as much as you do."

"Why did they want it so badly if they knew nothing about it?"

"They believed certain things about it that weren't entirely accurate."

"Things like what?"

"Like if they were to capture what hatched from the egg they could use it to control the world."

"Could they?"

"No, what hatches from the egg can't be captured, it's too powerful."

"If it's as powerful as you say it is then why does it need a guardian?"

"It's not my job to protect the egg from the world, my job is to protect the world from the egg. If the circumstances under which it comes into the world are less than ideal there's no telling what it might do, it's up to you and me to make sure that doesn't happen."