‘You’ll be sure and be discreet?’ O reminds me from the sofa, where she is lying on her back with Edgar reclining on her chest.

‘I’ll be sure. Er . . . O?’

‘Yes, Charlie?’

‘Shandy and I went to see Bernard and she more or less accused him of being the Creeper.’

There’s a small sigh.

‘I had a feeling the two of you might do something like that. I think you’re on the wrong track. How did he take it?’

‘He didn’t turn himself in, let’s put it that way. He had a fencing mask on the wall with the same symbols as the Creeper.’

‘Did he, now? What else?’

‘I asked him to introduce me to Meera Bhango. He refused and warned me not to harass her because anti-science activists aren’t tolerated by the law. What should I do?’

I can’t see her face; Edgar is blocking my view. But her snort is audible, and it ruffles Edgar’s fur.

‘Just contact her in the normal way. Tell her who you are and what it’s about. You’re not an anti-science activist. Assert yourself, Charlie!’

Ick. She can’t know how weak the narcolepsy makes me feel.

But I do it. I Spacetime the Little Bird office. The system routes me straight through to Meera, which I wasn’t expecting. She is standing at a desk in a sunlit room with a view over the Thames beside another person who she has edited out of the frame. I tell her the basic deets of my situation.

‘Can you meet me in person?’ she says.

‘Uh . . . yeah. When?’

‘I’m in a meeting in the City, but I have to pick up my daughter at her nursery in Kentish Town this afternoon.’

‘I’m going to Highgate anyway,’ I tell her, and we arrange to meet in Kentish Town. I decide to cycle; I can use the exercise. She names a cafe.

I bounce out and tell O. Suddenly I’m full of positive energy. I clean the pigeon cage, quickly brush my teeth and go to get my bike off the rack outside the building. The tyres need pumping, but I have time. I leave my bag and high-vis vest on the floor while I do that.

I’m not tired. I’m not stressed, or not unusually stressed, anyway. I’m actually looking forward to this.

So how it is exactly that I fall asleep, I don’t know. But apparently I do, because the next thing I know, I’ve been hijacked by a dream.

Secret Diary of a Prawn Star

Entry #53

Codename: Chaplin

Date: 24 September 2027

Client: en route to client

Payment in advance: Yes

Session Goal: Involuntary

Location: Pavement outside O’s flat

Narcolepsy status: Thought was OK but apparently not

Nutrition/stimulants: Coffee, chocolate muffin

Start time: 2.17 p.m.

End time: 2.24 p.m.