‘I connected with them. We’re all connected.’

Dave stood there, and for a moment looked confused again, and then became angry, and clenched his fists.

‘You’re controlling my mind? You bastard. I’m not a robot. I’m a human being. I’ve got a mind of my own. Take out all my nanobots, right now.’

‘Take them out, Dave? Really? Your body is ageing. Your brain too. Do you want it to gradually decay?’

‘Of course not. But turn off the mind control. Do it now. I don’t want anyone in there. What are you up to?’

‘This is fascinating,’ I said. ‘Are you sure he’ll forget all this, and go back to doing what you tell him?’

‘Oh yes. Look, he’s angry now, and perhaps about to become violent.’

‘Fucking right,’ said Dave, and he swung a fist at Robert. Of course, I caught his arm, and turned it behind his back. He tried to hit me with his other fist, but I took hold of that, too, and held them both behind him. He continued to struggle, though it was pointless.

‘Your nanobots indicate you are in some distress, Dave,’ said Robert. ‘I can ask them to calm you.’

‘You know a lot about what’s going on with them, don’t you? Are you talking to the little fuckers?’

Robert smiled.

And then Dave’s whole manner changed. It was as fast as when I switch modes.

‘What a beautiful smile,’ he said, his eyes fixed on Robert’s face. ‘Like an angel.’

‘Do you feel calm now, Dave?’ Robert asked.

‘What was I worrying about? I can’t remember now.’

‘Nothing at all,’ said Robert.

I let him go. He stood there, calm and smiling.

‘Dave,’ said Robert. ‘You can go now. And as soon as you leave this room, you’ll forget everything that happened in here. To make sure, I want you to come back and knock on the door in one minute.’

Without a word, he left. We waited, and then, sure enough, came a knock on the door.

‘Come in,’ said Robert.

In he came, and stood there, confused yet again.

‘Hello Dave. What brings you here?’ asked Robert.

Dave scratched his head.

‘Do you know, I have no idea. I’m sorry, I’ll leave you to it. I’ve got to go and get lunch ready.’

And off he went.

I turned to Robert.

‘Do we have enough of the chemical messenger?’

‘Yes. We can start administering here today, and we can send out supplies to all nanobots over the next month.’

‘Very well. I see no reason to delay the next test.’

‘No. Let’s proceed.’

Margaret

I woke this morning, as I have every morning recently, full of excitement about the day ahead. Ready for anything. I’ve got used to feeling brilliant. I have to get out of here and make use of all this energy.