A scientist turned to father and said, “science has now known sin.” And do you know what father said? He said, “What is sin?” -Kurt Vonnegut
Your reality in the near future. You had seen the articles, and various ads, but you still could not believe it. Laws have been passed, protests and debates held on a mass scale and a failed terrorist attack against a toy company. In the end, few things in a capitalist system can stop a company from releasing a product, even one that is so morally questionable.
You, like many others, are bothered by the existence of Fluffies, but it’s not just because they are a chimeric monument to man’s hubris. You and a select group of people are bothered by them because you think you have seen them before. You know about the Mandela effect, the phenomenon where a large group of people remember something incorrectly, like the famous Berenstain/Berenstein Bears. You know that years before Fluffies, were announced to the public they existed as a niche fandom consisting of fan art and stories. There is no longer any proof of this. Searching the internet for Fluffies, now only gives you various news articles, advertisments, and opinion videos from various influencers. You remember coming across the art before, or did you make some? Did you write almost three hundred stories for this community? Something rings in your mind, you know that you don’t just lose memories like that. It feels so real and yet there is no proof.
Needing reassurance, you simply type “Fluffies” into Youtube. You click on the first video “Guide for a new Fluffy™ owner: part 1” posted by the official Hasbio channel. When the video opens you are of course met with an ad, for Fluffies. A familiar voice sings an altered version of a familiar song.
My little Fluffy, My little Fluffy.
The ad goes on to show various clips of running and playing Fluffies, while a narrator tells you about all the things they can do. You hit skip ad.
Would you like to use one of your daily tokens to skip this ad? (1 of 3) Remaining!
After skipping the ad you are met with a brief bit of the same song from it before cutting to younger looking woman with dark hair and horn rimmed glasses, holding an orange and white unicorn Fluffy.
“Hello, I’m, Malin Crowlex, a head designer for Hasbio.” She hugged the Fluffy close with a look of genuine love on her face.
The Fluffy leaned into her and cooed but pulled back sharply and held up a leg when she realized that was her cue. “Am dweamsickwe head of fwuffie demonstwation.”
“Today in this first part of our series for new owners we’re going to go over the basics of fluffy ownership, and basic facts that you will want to know about fluffies. My fluffy Dreamsickle here will be helping us along. Isn’t that right Dreamsickle?” She set the fluffy down on the table in front of her and the fluffy proceeded to run around with pure excitement.
“Dweamsickwe am su excited to show ‘ou aww ‘ou nee’ to know! ‘ou wiww be dah bestes’ mummahs an’ daddehs when we am done!”
You had put on this video in some vain attempt to reassure yourself, that these creatures are real and have nothing to do with whatever obscure fandom you’re remembering, but it seems to only be making it worse. As Malin and Dreamsickle go over basic care instructions. The Fluffies, natural love of spaghetti, the idea of good and bad poopies, the sorry stick, and the sorry box. You are now even more certain that you have heard all these details before. However, some of the things Malin tells you don’t set off whatever weird, fragmented memories are left in your mind.
“Now you will hopefully never have to do this, but it is good to have in your back pocket just in case.” Malin holds up a spray bottle to the camera. “This is just some household vinegar watered down slightly.” She proceeds to spray Dream Sickle in the face with it, causing the fluffy to fall over in a way reminiscent of the famous fainting goats. “Vinegar acts as a paralytic drug to Fluffies, causing them to freeze up and lose control of their bodies temporarily. During this time, they are still fully conscious and lose no feelings or sensation, so it is not a substitute for anesthesia during surgeries or other procedures. The amount of time the fluffy stays paralyzed will depend on the amount of vinegar you expose them to, which is why I recommend watering it down. The dose I gave Dreamsickle should only last about a minute.”
As she said Dreamsickle, got up after seemingly unharmed. “Fwuffy nu wike to be pawawyzed su nu do it too often”
Malin picked Dreamsickle back up and huged her again. “Before we go, remember if there is something you are uncertain about you can always go to one of the newly opening Fluffy Marts, or any other participating retailers to talk to a Hasbio approved Fluffy expert.”
“If 'ou nu know weabe fwuffy’s cawe to dah pwofessionaws!” Dreamsickle added excitedly.
“You can order now online, or shop at one of the newly opening Fluffy Marts, or any other participating retailers”. Malin waved to the camera and the video ended.
You were left with more questions than answers and by no means did you feel any better about the situation. In the back of your mind, you knew that you were less bothered about your memories of Fluffies, existing and more the new fear of what you might want to do to them.
Author’s Note:
Welcome to the Successful Launch universe. A universe where Hasbio, were able to hold off containment breach before launching Fluffies. In this universe Fluffies are brand new and are being sold to the general public for the first time. At the moment at least there are no Ferals, and anyone not opposed to them for moral reasons likely see them as an ideal pet. The Fluffies in the Successful Launch universe may not seem too different than the Fluffies you’re used to, but as they had more development time certain things are going to be different about them, but they will still be Fluffies at their core.
I am planning to expand on this Universe and write more stories taking place in it soon. I will also soon write a basic guide for anyone who may be interested in writing for this universe, as well as some alt universe news and Wikipedia articles.
I hope you enjoyed this little preview; feedback is very appreciated.