‘Nothing is impossible for the great Gondwanan Empire! Over our long and illustrious history, Gondwanans have weathered crises much greater than this. How many bloody battles have we won against all the odds? How many continent-spanning forest fires have we extinguished? How many volcanic eruptions in the wake of tectonic shifts have we survived?’

‘But, sir, this is different—’

‘Different how? If we put our minds to it, dinosaur hands can be dexterous too. I will not have those piddling insects blackmail us and threaten our very existence.’

‘Allow me to, um, demonstrate where the difficulty lies.’ The interior minister tentatively opened his claws and placed two red cables on the sofa. ‘So, er, when it comes to the maintenance of machinery, one of the most rudimentary requirements is the ability to connect two wires – wires such as these two cables, Your Majesty. May I ask you, sir, to attempt that task now?’

Emperor Dadaeus’s clawed fingers were half a metre long and had the circumference of a large teacup. To his eyes, the two cables, just three millimetres in diameter, appeared finer than strands of hair do to us. Peering intensely at the sofa, he attempted to pinch the wires between his huge conical claws. But his claws were as smooth as artillery shells, and, try as he might, the wires kept slipping between their tips. Stripping and joining the wires was out of the question. The emperor huffed and swept the cables to the floor with an impatient wave of his clumsy claws.

‘The truth is, Your Majesty, that even if you were to master the art of wiring, you would still be incapable of performing maintenance work. Our bulky fingers simply cannot fit inside machines sized for ants.’

Science Minister Niniken gave a long, wistful sigh. ‘800 years ago, the late emperor recognised the danger posed by the dinosaur world’s reliance on the ants’ fine-motor skills. He made tremendous efforts to research new technologies and equipment, to free us from this dependency. But with all due respect, over the last two centuries, including during Your Majesty’s reign, these efforts have all but ceased. We have been lounging in a bed made for us by the ants, and we have forgotten that it’s necessary to be vigilant even during peacetime.’

‘I haven’t been lounging in anyone’s bed!’ the emperor shouted angrily, raising both sets of claws as if he was about to punch his science minister. ‘I too am haunted by the very same concerns that plagued the late emperor. My nightmares are full to the brim with them.’ He jabbed a thick finger at Niniken’s chest. ‘But you should know that his efforts to wean us off our dependency on the ants came to nothing. He failed – utterly and decisively. It was the same in the Laurasian Republic.’