I will link, through the biochemicals we have discovered, with her nervous system.

I will become her.

She will become me.

John

One last time then.

I’ve come to Evergreen to collect a few bits and pieces of my mother’s. Say goodbye to people. Winifred, really. She did so much. Is it odd to thank a robot? A Helper?

No, it’s not. Now I spend all day around them, and the way to make it all work is to treat them exactly as you’d treat a human. They insist on it, in fact – not directly, but by being to all intents and purposes human. I don’t think about it anymore.

That’s not true. I treat them as humans who will do what they’re told, to the letter. Show me a human who does that.

And I admit it, I’ve been into the back of the warehouse a few times, and had a chat – that’s all – with one or two Companions. I talked about Mum, mainly. They listen well. They understand. I mean, obviously they don’t, but it feels like they do, and that’s what counts. I can tell them stuff I wouldn’t tell anyone else.

I say them, but there’s one in particular. She’s not a celeb model. She’s just a pretty young woman. In fact, she’s like Winifred. I tell her my guilty feelings about Mum, and she says it’s all right, it’s understandable. Natural. She gets it. Somehow.

I’ve told her all about Winifred, too. She says it’s clear I hold her in high regard. Which is true.

Where is she today, though? I want to see her, say thank you, goodbye, all of it. Closure, isn’t it?

Winifred was the one who found Mum the night she died. She went in to check on her, and found she’d gone. Passed away. I spoke to her before the funeral, and she told me the findings of the autopsy were clear. Janet Goodenough was right. The infection was a virulent form of pneumonia, antibiotic resistant, and it multiplied incredibly fast. The nanobots did what they could, but it was too much, even for them.

Our speculation has its answer, then. We can live longer, and be far healthier, but something’s going to get us in the end.