The print size on the newest pages is too big to make that a reasonable stack size, but that could just be because the typerwriter uses TVA technology so that the more words on a page the smaller the print (though obviously there's a certain maximum size).

I've never read John Ringo and yet somehow when I read the title of this question I knew it was going to be John Ringo.

I mean if you're not accepting the comics information doesn't that pretty much make it a question about so-far unrevealed plot elements? Ellie specifically says that she, Mark, and Rendell 'found a way to remember' and it probably has something to do with the scar they all have, but otherwise adults in general don't seem to be able to remember. Why? We'll have to wait till they reveal it.

I don't think it was this particular one (I think the protagonist was a young woman) but adding to the list for future 'similar story identification'... I remember there was some episode of an anthology series called "Fear Itself" (episode "New Years Day") with a zombie apocalypse but it was revealed that the protagonist was the zombie and most of the people she interacted with were normal.

I think Little Brother is closer, For the Win certainly has stuff organized through the game, but it's more game centric and the world felt basically like OUR world and a way forward against sweatshops and such. LB specifically has a small plot element of a clockwork pirate themed game used to organize in (until it's found out) against a growing totalitarian 'anti-terrorism' panic (which granted also felt like 'our world' but anyway felt more explicitly dystopian)

Not putting it as an answer since it's just my impression, but I got the feeling that the hybridization is somewhat progressive... not in the sense that kids become more hybridy, but rather that the whatever's causing people to give birth to hybrids is getting more intense and thus, that kids born later tend to be MORE animal-like. (Though it could also be a practical matter where kids who are younger are easier to replace with animatronics than having them to sit still through extensive makeup and prosthetics)

@KevinMilner That was what I thought of too, I'd suggest adding it as an answer (unless it's a dupe and the Op comes back to confirm in comments)

@rptb1 I don't have it on hang right now but I do recall it specifically said that Trixia reached out to Underhill, after the incident involving his children's kidnapping (and he thought it was an AI at that point). At that point, the Emergents already had hooks into the developing computer networks, and so arranging a two-way communication would not be that hard assuming she had enough zipheads on her side (which it seems she did), and a more secure means through the videomancy and game helms which hid streams of data most humans couldn't visually process.