‘No. I mean C of E is a kind of bland, sanitised Christianity. Like English vegetables. Boiled to mush. It won’t hurt you, it might do you some good, but it will never excite you and you certainly won’t look forward to getting more of it. I gave it all up long ago. I couldn’t believe in a supernatural being looking after us. On all the evidence, if He ever existed, He’s given up on us as a bad job. I can find explanations for most things in life without invoking God. And the stuff I can’t explain I expect some clever scientist will, when they get around to it.’

‘Yet Cecilia says she went to heaven. Briefly.’

‘I expect it was a dream, don’t you think?’

‘I suppose so. Humans report many similar visions when they are – when they have near-death experiences. It’s impossible to verify.’

‘Did Cecilia have a near-death experience? I thought she was asleep.’

‘Sometimes people her age have a little death or two before the big one. She may have, in her sleep.’

‘I see.’

I don’t know. I’ve always dismissed the whole idea of heaven as ridiculous, and Cecilia’s version of it, as a grand hotel with immaculate service, seems more ridiculous than most. But these days anything seems possible. My faith in science has been rewarded with such things as Winifred and nanobots, and my body is in better condition than it has been for years. My brain, too. But my mind? My soul? Can we even talk about such things?

I once accused Winifred of not having a soul, and of course she can’t, can she? Then again, if I have one, and it exists independently of my physical body, why can’t a soul also inhabit a machine?

Humans used to keep the soul for themselves, and decided animals couldn’t have one. Anyone who’s owned a dog would disagree, or even a cat.

I heard a scientist once, discussing what Winifred and I were talking about – visions experienced by people who have technically died in the operating theatre, or some such – and he said we need to change our idea of consciousness. It isn’t something produced in the brain, but something the brain receives – like a radio receives programmes, for example. Our brains are receivers and consciousness is out there, ready to be tuned in to. Perhaps each living thing tunes in, and the quality of consciousness is related to the quality of the receiving equipment.

I think he was talking about souls. He was also talking about living things, and although Winifred’s receiving equipment seems to be perfect, she’s not a living thing, and therefore she’s missing something vital you must have before you can tune in to a soul.

She’s very like a living thing, though. So much so that I’m getting quite fond of her.

John