This is so cool!

I love it! A very creative way to use your leisure time.

Keep up the good work.

Do these toys actually talk to you? I assume you have to train them somehow.

I mean it would be really interesting to read HOW that company created these toy pets in your fictional world. :)

It's cool, Simona. I knew what you meant.

I've built this story more on WHY they were built than HOW they were built, because I think the WHY says something about our society.

I love dogs and I feel very strongly about taking care of them properly, but there are a lot of people who want the companionship of a dog and don't realize how much work it is to train and care for them properly. They also don't realize how much the dog needs their companionship, which leads to canine behavior problems when the dog is left alone too much.

The way I see it, someone is bound to try to make synthetic pets eventually, and when they do, they'll create pets that give you all the fun with minimal work.

The biggest hassles for pet owners are training the animal, cleaning up its poop, and taking care of its health. In my story, a company has created synthetic pets that are purely social. They don't eat, poop, cause allergies, or have health problems. They're sold in pairs so they won't be lonely when you're away. They come out of the box with the basic knowledge and language skills of a pre-teen, and you take it from there. There's no "puppy" phase for the customers to go through.

The whole idea is that they sell you these little friends that don't have the usual pet hassles. I think it's the sort of thing that a lot of people crave from pet ownership, at least subconsciously. I also think it would also have some interesting impacts on society and how we define "family."

Thanks for reading, and for taking the time to write.

Alex's superhero fantasy (#7) was meant to be a stand-alone strip, but after I posted it, I started thinking about how Jane would react to seeing him act like that.

I decided that she would complain to the other characters about it, and that those conversations would help us get to know each of the characters a little better.

This is my first appearance since strip #2 and the first time I tried to show a one-on-one conversation between a human and an action figure.

The "3 solutions to every problem" bit is part of my personal philosophy and this seemed like a good place to weave it in.