"That'd be sick," Travis replies. Volk has the build of a cheap Halloween skeleton and the constitution to match, though, so comedy's doing the heavy lifting on that mental image. "I'll buy you the ski mask."

The machine makes a sound, all stepper motors and lithium lubricant on lead screws. Travis drops down to a crouch, elbows resting on his knees, hands out like he is going to accept a football hike when the doors open. He does not accept a football hike. He accepts a cat-shaped piece of foam with minimal effort to render the fur, but beautiful colouring. Jeane (foam cat) is as perfect as foam cats can be.

"Oh shit, it looks just like her," Travis says. He is charmed even if this isn't his live cat: "It even got her size right. It took me forever to get her down to this weight."