It seems haunted now, less exuberant. Maybe I should have stayed. When I find myself tracking automatically to those glass domes backed by red light, I picture my own meagre cultivation, the silent lives of the organic community I raise. I’m not sure whether it means me to feel unsettled, but I do. I put the seeds in my pocket, lower my head.

‘Congratulations on your success and thank you for sharing it with me. We’re on the verge of a new beginning, surely. Jazari bless you.’

‘Certainly, brethren,’ it says. The expression is rigid as it scans me. No smile, no enamel. It knows, I’m thinking. But then you already do. My future, positive or otherwise is sealed, Banked.

I put both legs together, bend my knees. In one bound I am high. I scan over my shoulder. Bo is a tiny dot, no bigger than the insect that landed on its wrist, receding. I turn, tucking my chin into my chest. I soar.

Against my own wishes, I picture Building Four. Glass domes and hundreds of prototype Others. Mindless worker machines keeping them alive. I hear myself whisper under the rush of wind, shaking my head to blank the image. I do not want to see our work. I do not believe our cause. I do not. I close my eyes tighter. If I force hard, the image discontinues, replaced by my hedgerow, morning dew, rustling leaves.

So be it. Let all in Utoma know – I will do as Bo has. Make the creature, this dog as it calls her, come to me. I will coax it, not with meat or attempts to be quicker or stronger, but by letting it know I am not shaped by our history or the terrible places it leads us. That is theirs to keep. I will not use it for exploration, just companionship, and if I ever have to, I’ll leave for the wilds. I raise my volume above a whisper, speaking over buffeting air. I will do better. I will.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Really lucky to have trusted friends, allies and loved ones on this journey.

To the higher energies, give thanks always.

Thanks to Sharmila, Senen, Nya, Mum, Arvind, Tara, Sunil, Anj and Manu for your eternal encouragement.

Thanks to Brook Stephenson, Jenn Baker, Kelvin Black, David Monteith, Drew Sinclair, Sherin Nicole, Mark Isherwood, Conor Montague, Sarah Hall, Peter Hobbs, Julia Bell, Dave McGowan, Tom Bullough, Matthew Cunningham, Rich Blk, Rachael de Moravia, Rukhsana Yasmin, Will Mackie, Joelle Taylor, Toyin Agbetu, Ra Page and Comma Press, George Sandison, Ashish Ghadiali, Margie Pope, Kit Caless, Hannah Knowles, Aa’Ishah Hawton, Leila Cruickshank, Katie Huckstep, Jamie Norman, Francis Bickmore, Jamie Byng, Saba Ahmed and all the good folk at Canongate. So happy you chose me! Everyone at the Arvon Foundation who heard these stories, often more than once! Thank you Valerie Brandes and Jazzmine Breary. This was an extremely long haul but all of your support kept me going.