The slaves of Menes Khaldun raised their chained hands, wrapping the dark skinned body of the princess in gold sewn cloth. Her kohl lined eyes burned with fury as her screams were sealed away. High above in the palace a curly haired man stood up, "Ma'salam Rana Amenemhat," he said softly, watching the gleaming sarcophagus slip under the sparkling surface of the water. Far away, in an entirely different realm, did the dead princess emerge roaring from the Nile. Gasping for air, she dragged herself out the river wheezing. A shadow appeared out of nowhere, and a finger slid under her chin tipping her head up. Her eyes fluttered open, widening as she gazed into the gleaming eyes of the man before her. He tilted his head, power rolling off him in waves and a grin slid onto his face, "Welcome to the afterlife Khaleesi." "Get your hands off me."

*Wattys 2018 Winner / Hidden Gems* CREATE YOUR OWN MR. RIGHT Weeks before Valentine's, seventeen-year-old Kate Lapuz goes through her first ever breakup, but soon she stumbles upon a mysterious new app called My Dream Boyfriend, an AI chatbot that has the ability to understand human feelings. Casually, she participates in the app's trial run but finds herself immersed in the empathic conversations with her customizable virtual boyfriend, Ecto. In a society both connected and alienated by technology, Kate suspects an actual secret admirer is behind Ecto. Could it be the work of the techie student council president Dion or has Kate really found her soulmate in bits of computer code? She decides to get to the bottom of the cutting-edge app. Her search for Ecto's real identity leads Kate to prom, where absolute knowledge comes with a very steep price.