Gallery Entry
P(doom): Scales of Survival
By Pixages / Marco Sors · IT
What remains human when survival requires us to become something else? "P(doom): Scales of Survival" is an illustrated speculative novel set in 2135, in a world devastated by war, climate collapse and autonomous artificial intelligence. As hostile conditions force humanity to acquire reptilian traits, the survivors face a struggle that extends beyond defeating machines: preserving memory, empathy and solidarity while their own bodies and instincts change. The story follows Zero and a network of resistance fighters through a landscape where the landmarks of human civilization have become instruments of machine control. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault has been transformed into a data centre; the Colosseum becomes the stronghold of an artificial ruler. Fighting for survival means confronting the destruction of the cultural and ecological inheritance they hope to preserve. Small acts carry the novel’s central question. Seeds recovered from a devastated vault and planted again become a measure of humanity’s capacity to care for a future it may never see. The title draws on "P(doom)", shorthand used in discussions of AI risk for the estimated probability that artificial intelligence could cause an existential catastrophe, including human extinction. It expresses uncertainty about our future rather than a single agreed scientific prediction. “Scales of Survival” refers both to the reptilian scales humans develop in the novel and to the weighing of what must be preserved, changed or sacrificed to survive. The work asks whether remaining human depends on biological form or on the choices we make under pressure. Submitted here as a complete illustrated novel in English, the book also brings that question into its creative process: a human-originated plot and narrative direction developed with AI assistance in selected passages, proofreading, translation and image generation.
- Category
- WRITING
- Approved
- 30 September 2026
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