It lay on its back on the gently resonating fabric, its mandibles clicking rapidly. She leant in over the metal framework, smiling coyly as she removed her outer garment.

Swinging her leg up onto the fabric in a lithe motion, she pulled her body after her. She crawled up the sheet towards it, gently running her fingers over its hard carapace – scratching her nails down its shell like a blackboard. It turned its antennae towards her, chittering rapidly – bursts of warm, wet air pulsing out of its trachea. She straddled it and began to slowly writhe up and down, running her hands up its abdomen, feeling for the gaps between its armoured shell.

Suddenly she thrust her hand deep into its chest, grabbing at the hard inner stone, pulling it loose. It thrashed and screamed for a few seconds, then fell silent. Climbing off the fabric she dropped the stone into a small metal chute to her side. As the mechanical arm swung in to replace the carcass, she washed in preparation for the next extraction.