This short story was written for the 2021 Ultimate SciFi Smack Down challenge:

https://www.wattpad.com/1148798297-the-ultimate-science-fiction-smack-down-round-1

Challenge details:

Thanks to @Ooorah and @ScienceFiction for organising the challenge/contest.

Copyright © 2021 R.J. Moselen

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover by RJM. Image sources: Woman: Image by Prithpal Bhatia from Pixabay. Man: Image by Brigitte [makes custom works from your photos, thanks a lot] from Pixabay. Background: Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay. Pixabay license: Free for commercial use; no attribution required.