A virby is clearly a gateway drug to a baby. But, the best pleasures are guilty ones, after all.
I've read stories, usually Science Fiction, where a virtual baby or even a robot baby was used to discourage prospective parents. After only a short exposure to the augmented world of parenting having a baby became something to avoid!
There was a Star Trek: Voyager episode in which the holographic doctor had a virtual family. He thought he was doing very well until the human crew found out about it and reprogrammed the simulation to be more realistic.
It sounds like these "Virbies" do not have actual human problems like getting sick, or poor grades, or any of the innumerable problems that real kids have. I suspect that making parenting effortless would reduce people's involvement - hence, perhaps, the competitiveness with other virtual parents.
"Virby" is a terrible name. I love it *so* much!
Psst! In the final panel the woman's face is missing the linework.
This may be part of the reason why, when they had real children (the Betas), they did some gene-tweaking, (see HERE "...all us Betas are")
I don't think it was stated explicitly, but I got the impression that the gravity is greater here than on Earth. Thus some degree of genetic engineering would be appropriate.
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