This is a short story I submitted on September 8, 2026 to a short story contest.
The contest rules require disclosure of AI assistance, and this is what I included in the contest submission form: AI assistance disclosure: Concept and first draft are organic, artisanal, and handcrafted. For editing and revisions on subsequent drafts, I used assistance from GitHub Copilot.
Many thanks to the human teammates who provided early feedback. You know who you are.