Giant, technologically superior aliens have conquered Earth, but humankind survives - even flourishes in a way. Men and women live, like mice, in burrows in the massive walls of the huge homes of the aliens and scurry about under their feet, stealing from them.

A complex social and religious order has evolved, with women preserving knowledge and working as healers and men serving as warriors and thieves.

For the aliens, men and women are just a nuisance, nothing more than vermin. Which, ironically, may just be humankind's strength and point the way forward.