this is an Assistimal. it is a mass-produced personal assistant robot, with a cute critter shape to avoid the uncanny valley. they come in a variety of colorways and can be customized with accessories. they're very well programmed, but they are not sentient. every so often an Assistimal starts exhibiting strange behavior, in which case it must be returned to a qualified retailer to be repaired. this usually requires formatting. it's easy and fast. the rare few that fail the formatting process must be returned to the manufacturer immediately.
