‘Well now, technically, that’s our data,’ said Saul, ‘because of a certain form you signed before we did the scan, and without which we would not have done the scan, but we’re hoping for a big endorsement from His Holiness – we don’t want you guys saying we stole one of your relics, right? – so we could certainly look into profit sharing on that basis. I’ll get our legal team on to it on Monday, but I can tell you we’d be totally open to a collaborative approach.’

‘Oh, wonderful! God be praised!’ cried Father Guido. ‘It is a great weight off my mind.’

‘Don’t sweat it,’ said Saul. ‘Just keep on enjoying the party.’

‘Yes!’ said Father Guido. ‘Thank you. I am enjoying this party more than I can say.’

On the screen, there were now vertical blocks of brilliant colour. The synthesisers were playing a gentle meandering melody.

Neon lights

Shimmering neon lights

This city’s made of light

Father Guido felt the radiance of each colour filling his body. Stained-glass windows had been designed to make cathedrals into images of Paradise, but here he was, in the open air, flooded with light, in the cathedral of nature: the whole world was Paradise, these musicians were angels masquerading as robots to camouflage themselves in the contemporary world; his heart, in fact every cell in his body, was a rose window through which the light of eternity was streaming, but also from which it was streaming at the same time. It seemed to be everywhere, not just beamed down like a spotlight from a remote location beyond the sky.

‘This is the city of light,’ he whispered to himself. ‘This is what I was looking for through the kaleidoscope.’