Dan Peacock is a sci-fi and fantasy writer from the UK. His short stories have been published in F&SF, Heartlines Spec and Little Blue Marble, among others, and you can find links to all his published stories at danpeacockwriter.com. He lives with his long-suffering partner and their daughter Rachel, who co-wrote this story. Rachel Peacock is nine years old at the time of writing; she enjoys reading her Kindle and playing board games. She owns a black cat called Cocoa, who can’t purr properly but hoots like an owl instead. As far as she knows, Cocoa does not work from home. This is her first published story.