A traveller’s internal clock has filed a formal complaint and is refusing to recognise local time, entering its fourth day of non-compliance.

“It is three in the afternoon,” said Neve Dorrington, 36, lying fully dressed on a made bed. “I am aware of that. I have been informed.”

Dorrington fell asleep at 6:40 p.m., woke at 11:15 p.m. convinced it was morning, and ate a biscuit she describes as breakfast.

The Institute for Circadian Diplomacy explains that the body does not adjust to a new time zone so much as negotiate with it.

“The body accepts that the sun is up,” said Dr. Emiliano Krause. “It disputes the implications.”

Institute guidance recommends daylight, hydration, and patience. Dorrington instead pursued the widely practised alternative: lying down for twenty minutes at 4 p.m., which is not a nap but a hostage situation.

She woke at 7:50 p.m. in full darkness, uncertain of the day, the country, or whether she had already had dinner.

She had. She had it twice.

Her clock is expected to align with local time approximately six hours before her return flight.