A Model Dog
June 27, 2025 11:23 AM   Subscribe

A short story from 2019, by our own jscalzi on The Verge, A Model Dog. Programmer working for a startup owned by a billionaire is given with a new task: build a robot replica of the billionaire's father's dog, so when the dog passes away there will be a substitute. Events unfold, and an unplanned-for contingency occurs. (CW: thinking about death, the dog is fine by the end)
posted by JHarris (6 comments total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
I found this story linked a while back on Bluesky. I was reminded of this story just now, telling someone else about it, and figured, if it made an impact on me that I remembered it months later, it might be worth posting here.
posted by JHarris at 11:25 AM on June 27 [1 favorite]


Scalzi always reminds me, in the best way, of old school science fiction without all the baggage those older writers bring.

Plus, dogs. Never can go wrong with dogs.
posted by drewbage1847 at 12:10 PM on June 27 [2 favorites]


Great story, fun animation too. I think I want more short stories turned into vector-pixel-art with staccato voice-acted dialog.
posted by Reverend John at 2:50 PM on June 27 [1 favorite]


Reverend John, and anyone else: If you like Scalzi animated, check out his contributions to the Netflix series Love, Death + Robots
posted by indexy at 5:08 PM on June 27


If you like Scalzi animated, check out his contributions to the Netflix series Love, Death + Robots

But be warned, this season's contribution is all about a cat.
posted by dannyboybell at 6:58 PM on June 27 [1 favorite]


Another Scalzi story, which is set in sort of the same universe.

The Other Large Thing: A short story.

(I assumed this would have previously been linked in a metafilter post, but I didn't find any mentions.)
posted by jjj606 at 7:36 PM on June 27 [1 favorite]


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