It's an old canard that science fiction is best when it mirrors reality. As is done here, and done beautifully. But more than the story and just as important is the formatting.

It can be very hard to paint with words, but if it's at all possible, it's done here. From the multiple levels of story-inside-story to the begin and end Unicode marks to the use of Courier to indicate the robotic nature of the future setting, all of it adds to the story that could be seen as just another sci-fi allegory.

I do feel like a layer is missing, though. The first layer is anti-Artificial, showing them to be as needy and demanding as humans. Then it goes pro, with a wonderful bedtime story. Then anti, with language we've seen used against several groups before... and then anti-again? Unless the last layer is meant to be a twist, I would've liked a fifth. Oh well, word count strikes again.

Incredible stuff, and I hope the rest of campfire enjoys it as much as I did!