Sentience

Designed as advanced weapons of war, anthropomorphic tigers succeeded far beyond the plans of their creators when they hunted humanity to extinction. Purposeless-for they had been designed to kill-the tigers were left to question the meaning of their existence. Over the years, they developed sophisticated technologies, growing in knowledge until the question arose; what of redemption?

Sentience is a science fantasy, written for young adults. It explores the concept of artificial intelligence (A.I), and provides a hopeful twist to a rather dystopian future, wherein biological machines had driven humanity to extinction (or "terminated" them).

Inspired by the writing styles of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, as well as influenced by the work of Neil Gaiman, this short story raises philosophical and moral questions regarding consciousness, evolution, and the nature of existence.