In 1992, owning a live animal—or the finest imitation thereof—is an emblem of status among those too gene-damaged to flee Earth’s prosperous off-world colonies, where every citizen gets an android slave. The earthbound spend their time empathizing with Wilbur Mercer to prove their humanity while escaped androids attempt to hide among the refuse of humanity, evading bounty hunters like Rick Deckard.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) by Philip K. Dick, relates to the movie Blade Runner (1982) as Dick’s The Man in the High Castle (1962) relates to world history—recognizably the same place populated by similar characters, but seen from an entirely different perspective, informed by different parade of facts.