Set in near future Australia, a robotic pet observes the Sharifs, a post-modern family living together in rural Australia, but separated by different aspects of digital reality.
"...each member of the family was largely ignorant of what the others did with their time.
• Jeraldic believed his mother worked in an office, that his sister studied at University, and that his father stared at the circuit diagrams for farm machinery. He was correct about his father.
• The father, Behnam, believed his son hated school, that his wife worked as a secretary in a virtual legal practice, and he prayed that his daughter was doing well at University. His father was correct about his son.
• The mother, Ellenor, didn't pretend to understand what her husband did on the farm. She did believe that her work was very important and that her children were safe. Ha! Not even close.
• As for Jeraldic's sister, Moira; she didn't know nor care what anyone did, and so was the least self-deceived."
As the catalyst for a family crisis, the marginally corrupt state government has been tricked into providing Sydney as the testing ground for the rise of the cyborg nation. The part each member of the family plays in preventing catastrophe is told by a lonely mechanical monster who is on the cusp of self awareness.
This story is guaranteed to contain no romance, or credible facts, but may contain traces of humour.
Characters from this story also appear in three other novels by the same author, but this is the one to read first.
