Thira stood near the fridge, pouring herself a glass of orange juice. It was quite late into the night, about some minutes past 11 p.m., and her kids were already fast asleep in their room. Tomorrow was a work day, yet she still could not bring herself to fall asleep. Her laptop lay half shut on the sitting room center table, flashing a glimpse of her Polar Bear screensaver.

She had been working for about four hours since Carter left and had even made considerable progress on the project she ...