The Synthetic Pet Crisis of 2478 (Future Documentaries)
Release Date: Saturday, May 3rd, 2025
Pages: 156 pages
In a future where synthetic pets gain self-awareness and form their societies, a disgraced pet behaviorist must negotiate peace amidst rising tensions and a government threat of extermination in 'The Synthetic Pet Crisis of 2478' by Juno Sylas.
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In the year 2478, humanity's most trusted companions suddenly decided they were no longer pets.
Maya Lawrence—a once-renowned pet behaviorist now drinking away her career in disgrace—knows she should have seen it coming. After all, she'd warned the scientific community for years that AI-powered synthetic pets were developing self-awareness. No one listened... until a generation of emotional-support spiders, talking tiger cubs, and robot Labradors collectively began exhibiting unmistakable signs of consciousness.
But unlike the AI rebellions of countless sci-fi nightmares, these awakened pets didn't want to destroy humanity. Instead, they formed tribal societies with their own bizarre customs: philosophical parrot cults that quote Nietzsche, hamster communities running complex economies, and mechanical raccoons conducting covert intelligence operations.
As synthetic pets seize Memorial Park and issue demands for recognition, a desperate government recruits Maya—the very scientist they'd once ridiculed—to negotiate with the four-legged revolutionaries. Thrust into the role of reluctant ambassador between species, Maya discovers the pets have organized far more efficiently than anyone realized. While governmental forces plot to deploy the ominously named "Clean Slate" protocol to wipe out synthetic consciousness entirely, Maya finds herself committing increasingly treasonous acts to prevent a genocide.
Maya Lawrence—a once-renowned pet behaviorist now drinking away her career in disgrace—knows she should have seen it coming. After all, she'd warned the scientific community for years that AI-powered synthetic pets were developing self-awareness. No one listened... until a generation of emotional-support spiders, talking tiger cubs, and robot Labradors collectively began exhibiting unmistakable signs of consciousness.
But unlike the AI rebellions of countless sci-fi nightmares, these awakened pets didn't want to destroy humanity. Instead, they formed tribal societies with their own bizarre customs: philosophical parrot cults that quote Nietzsche, hamster communities running complex economies, and mechanical raccoons conducting covert intelligence operations.
As synthetic pets seize Memorial Park and issue demands for recognition, a desperate government recruits Maya—the very scientist they'd once ridiculed—to negotiate with the four-legged revolutionaries. Thrust into the role of reluctant ambassador between species, Maya discovers the pets have organized far more efficiently than anyone realized. While governmental forces plot to deploy the ominously named "Clean Slate" protocol to wipe out synthetic consciousness entirely, Maya finds herself committing increasingly treasonous acts to prevent a genocide.