Bailey likes to cut people—in a purely consensual way—which makes his work as a surgical technician with cosmetic enhancement corporation SirenCare his dream job. His recreational pursuits, however, would displease his employer, so he lives his personal life on the margins of Sydney, away from SirenCare’s corporate enclave, taking his chances in a city without water or power. Quint is one of his chances, an illegal resident who pulls beer and breaks up fights. Quint’s not used to corporate men with the means to buy water, but he could get accustomed to being with Bailey and Bailey’s friend, Flynn, who engineers new and addictive body mods for SirenCare. When Immigration incarcerates Quint as an illegal resident, only intervention by a corporation can free him. Can Bailey, with Flynn, persuade SirenCare that a disreputable bar tender is carrying experimental body mods, and should be rescued from detention? Originally published in the Spiked anthology.
Author
Laney lives in a queer commune with three of her favourite people and two of her favourite dogs. When not writing, she teaches university students about apostrophes, scientific methodology and visual culture. In her spare time she photographs fjords and works on being kinder. In her previous professional incarnations she has been a masseuse, owned a genre bookshop and dipped her toes in the civil service. In her long distant past Laney has undertaken nude modelling, been a fairy-for-hire, run murder mystery nights and been a breastfeeding educator; but not all at the same time. Laney likes to tell stories about people who could be real, imagined into the future or an alternate reality. Laney would rather curl up with a pot of tea and her laptop than speak to a group of people. Laney’s favourite word is ‘utterly’ and her long-suffering editor often has the task of restricting her to one per story. If you find an extra one she’d be utterly, utterly delighted to hear from you at laney [at] laneycairo [dot] com.
