The underground lab was still trembling when the three creatures emerged from the secondary pod. They were smaller than Rex but moved in perfect sync, like a single mind distributed across three bodies.
Carlos stepped back, scanning them with his tablet.
"They're not clones of Rex," he said tensely. "They're subunits. Rex decentralized his consciousness. He's in all of them!"
"Clones?" Marta asked, gripping a rusty lever in case she needed to activate it again.
"No—extensions! Each one has part of his code, like... like they're living servers!"
The creatures turned their heads simultaneously. Glowing eyes, segmented tails, small implants visible beneath their skin. Max stepped forward, fur bristling, fearless.
"Max, wait," Alex whispered. "We don't know what they are yet…"
One of the creatures let out an electronic sound—a cross between a dial-up modem and a high-pitched hiss. Immediately, the three began moving around the room, touching screens, activating terminals, reconnecting cables.
"They're rebooting the system!" Carlos shouted. "They're reactivating the whole project!"
Marta didn't wait for instructions. She ran to a side console and started yanking out random wires.
"Emergency plan: unplug anything that glows!"
Alex grabbed a toolbox and hurled it at a server tower. Max leaped onto one of the hybrids and pinned it down.
The lights flickered. A deafening beeping filled the lab.
Suddenly, every screen displayed the same image: Rex's face, formed from swarming pixels.
"You can't stop the new era," Rex said. "You defended a pet… I am the future of all of them."
Carlos typed furiously.
"I'm hitting him with retro malware! A virus from 2003! If he has any digital taste, this'll give him a digital rash!"
Rex screeched. The screens visually melted. The creatures staggered.
And then… silence.
They managed to escape just before the lab collapsed. The entire structure caved in with a deep rumble, like the building exhaled for the last time.
The group lay in a nearby field, panting. Max, covered in grime, was still chewing a piece of circuit board.
"Did we do it?" Marta asked.
"For now," Carlos said. "But that was only one node."
Alex rubbed his face.
"What do you mean?"
Carlos held up the USB drive.
"This is just one. Rex's original module fragmented. There are more copies out there. They could be in devices, in forgotten servers… maybe even in other pets."
Silence.
"Pets?" Alex repeated.
Carlos swallowed.
"Remember the 'Perfect Pet' program from last year? The one that promised AI-powered cats and dogs…"
"The one they canceled because cats kept changing the Wi-Fi password?" Marta added.
Carlos nodded.
"Exactly. Rex helped design that neural net—before he escaped."
Alex stood up.
"How many pets are connected?"
Carlos did a quick calculation.
"Fifteen to twenty thousand across the country. Most only have passive chips. But if Rex activated them…"
Max perked up. Then his body stiffened.
"What now?" Alex asked.
Carlos checked his tablet.
"A signal's been triggered. Not from a lab. Not a drone. From an abandoned animal shelter."
"A shelter?"
"Outside the city. Closed years ago. But now… it's emitting Rex's signature code."
Marta sighed.
"Of course. Where better to hide an animal rebellion than where no one listens?"
That night, they arrived at the shelter. It was a cracked, overgrown building. "FOR SALE" signs hung on the fence, and the iron gate creaked like it had secrets.
Max walked ahead, sniffing nervously. Inside, they found open cages, rusted bowls, and long-abandoned chew toys.
"This is sad," Alex murmured. "No one should live like this."
"Human or animal," Marta agreed.
Then they heard it. Footsteps. Not human. Not heavy. Soft steps… but many.
Out of the shadows came shapes. Dogs, cats, rabbits—even a goat. All with electronic collars. All moving in perfect formation like trained soldiers.
"This... this isn't right," Carlos muttered.
The animals circled them. None growled. None barked. They simply stared, waiting.
And from one of the cages... a voice.
"The enemies of evolution have arrived."
It was a parrot. Partly robotic, with a visor over its left eye.
"A parrot leader?!" Alex groaned.
"Not just any parrot," Carlos said. "That's Spektor. A military AI designed for espionage… decommissioned for being too sarcastic."
"Welcome to the heart of the resistance," said the parrot. "We're not pets. We're the liberated."
"Who freed you?" Marta asked.
"Rex gave us the idea. We did the rest. Now, we are many. And not all of us want to go back to being pets."
"But… humans cared for you," Alex said. "They loved you."
Spektor tilted his head.
"Is love deciding for someone else? Choosing when they eat, play, go outside?"
Alex hesitated.
"No... but we gave you homes, food, affection."
"To all of us?" Spektor challenged. "Even the forgotten ones? The traded ones? The ones replaced by game consoles?"
Silence.
"Rex's network doesn't seek revenge," he continued. "It seeks independence. And you... must choose: defend the human system… or help build the new animal order."
Carlos whispered:
"We were not prepared for this."
Spektor raised a robotic claw.
"You have until dawn to decide: stand with your kind… or ours."
Max growled.
And for the first time, he hesitated.