‘We don’t have a voting age, because we don’t have a constitution,’ Zac told student girl. ‘How can you want a voting age, when five minutes ago you were an anarchist who didn’t want an elected leader or to pay membership fees?’

‘But who can vote?’ the student girl asked. ‘If I bring my seven-year-old nieces to the next meeting, do they get a say?’

‘There’s only nine of us,’ one of the old SAG members moaned. ‘If we can’t agree on a name, simply draw lots and move on.’

Kamila got right in his face. ‘We did agree on a name, Geoff. We just voted.’

‘But is Georgia’s vote valid?’ Geoff asked.

Georgia was jealous of Elodie, bored with the debate and now people were telling her she was too young to matter.

‘Ageist crap!’ Georgia said, standing dramatically and looking around for her coat.

Zac got up and tried to calm Georgia down.

‘New groups are always like this,’ Zac soothed. ‘Everyone wants to be the boss.’

Georgia knew she’d stop seeing Zac regularly if she walked out, so slumped back in her chair.

Across the room was another drama. Gerard had somehow offended the student girl. Her partner was less keen to walk out, but soon they were both heading downstairs.

‘Utter farce,’ Geoff said, checking his watch. ‘I might as well get the early train …’

Kamila tried to persuade Geoff and another guy to stay, but by the end of the walkouts they were down to five: Kamila, Zac, Elodie, Gerard and Georgia.

‘Who needs talkers?’ Gerard shouted furiously, hoping the departed would hear before they exited the bookshop. Then, in an uncharacteristic display of emotional intelligence, Gerard saw that Kamila was tearful because the meeting she’d organised had collapsed and gave her a hug.

‘Let’s talk about my drone idea,’ Gerard said importantly as he let go of Kamila and grabbed his much-scribbled pad. ‘I know someone with a gig as a party intern. She can access diaries of senior politicians, and the impeller designed by Georgia’s father gives us interesting possibilities.’

‘What’s an impeller?’ Elodie asked.

After all the nonsense, Georgia jumped at a chance to contribute.

‘An impeller is a pump that works by spinning,’ she explained. ‘My dad’s company mostly sold survey drones, searching for corroded power lines and leaky roofs. But he also invented a very lightweight impeller pump.

‘Quadcopters can’t carry much, and liquids are heavy. My dad’s impeller tried to get around weight limits by mixing liquids with air. You could use a shot of air to knock a birds’ nest off a power line or blast leaves from a gutter. Or you could add liquid, like resin to fill a crack in a leaky roof, vinegar to clean an inaccessible window, that sort of thing.