Here’s a beetle I drew in the notebook where I was scribbling...

Here’s a beetle I drew in the notebook where I was scribbling the first (ish) draft of this novel. At one point, in the original draft, Patricia’s parents have locked her in her bedroom because she is grounded. And Laurence sends a swarm of tiny robot beetles to visit her, and they can create a screen that conveys messages from him. He offers to have his robot beetles bring her some nuggets from the fast-food restaurant a few miles away, but she says no thanks. One of the beetles stays behind in case she needs anything. They didn’t make it into the final book, but I still love Laurence’s brass-and-aluminum robot bugs.