The time is coming soon when robots and computers will be doing most of the work. What will 90% of us do when we have no jobs? How do we cope with all that free time? Will video games, online shopping and pornography stave off boredom forever? Can you imagine everyone being perpetually free to seek their Inner Artist, and the whole country turning into a perpetual open audition for TV talent shows? The horror! The horror!

And anyway, if 90% of us are of no use to the System, how long before the System starts quietly “phasing us out”?   

Nick Revell started thinking about these things when the gadgets and appliances in his intelligent house began taking their own decisions, explaining he was obstructing the smooth functioning of the house and ending up freezing him out.

Were they reaching singularity, or were they being hacked? On top of that, his pet cat, Lily, (a stray who appeared one day out of his 3D bio-printer) gets injected with nanobots which expand her brain power by growing a neural lace. Then, combining her ruthless predatory instincts and feline charm with an IQ of 200, she threatens to run for World President.

Can the world be saved? Can Nick persuade his house to let him back in? He left a pan cooking on the stove…