Mutt

Subject Trotter is what most people would call a monster. In the underground depths of a top secret government facility in Utah, Arthur Holmes is forced to comply in an interbreeding experiment with other mammals of different species, to produce a first-generation species of hybridized automatons, with the intention of being used for their animalistic instincts and human intellect, as slaves in the crashing farming industry. With the growing hazards brought to the world's wildlife by pesticides, this method of going about the problem is controversial, but it is the only somewhat feasible way to prevent the world's soil from becoming useless due to mankind's several mistakes. Project Trotter is a third-generation product of man breeding with fox, and with his sly instinct and sharp wit, he is more quick to learn of his surroundings than his humanoid companions. With the government's attempts to make their subjects more functional, by teaching them to speak English, immunizing them to common diseases, formalizing their appetites, and preparing them to become used to hard labor, Trotter finds himself realizing his surroundings, and shortly after, he plots and executes his escape. From there, he runs. He runs as fast as he can go, and as long as he can manage, until he finds himself lost in the neighboring state of Wyoming. As his hunger grows, he finds his intellect and instinct at war as he ponders killing and eating a cow on a family ranch, as it is against his nature, but inexplicably desired for his survival. From here, he encounters Liam Williams, the 16-year-old son in a family of cattle farmers. With time, the Williams family decides to bring him in and nurture him for however long his life ends up being, and as Trotter and Liam share their ambitions, dreams, interests, and lives with each other, as if by destiny, they form an unbreakable bond.