"The entire universe of intelligent life revolves around a MacGuffin in William Sleator's Interstellar Pig, and then inverts it"
Throw in that the darn thing seems to want to gain knowledge, but can't move around on its own, and the implications it tells people that having it means survival and not having it means destruction, so they'll keep trying to grab it/pass it around/run away with it. It was hidden in an old book for a little while, and starts reciting the contents when it wants to ignore the protagonist.
Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving. -Terry Pratchett
"The entire universe of intelligent life revolves around a MacGuffin in William Sleator's Interstellar Pig, and then inverts it"
Throw in that the darn thing seems to want to gain knowledge, but can't move around on its own, and the implications it tells people that having it means survival and not having it means destruction, so they'll keep trying to grab it/pass it around/run away with it. It was hidden in an old book for a little while, and starts reciting the contents when it wants to ignore the protagonist.
Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving. -Terry Pratchett