‘We’re prioritising the brain and any impaired senses. The other organs will follow. If we are to see any recovery from dementia, blindness or deafness, for example, we can expect it in the next few days. Maybe sooner. There are many nanobots, and they will work as we do, without stopping. Starting now. In theory, once they’ve completed their first tasks, there’s no reason why the humans’ functions won’t return immediately.’

It was 3am now. I wheeled the trolley out of the medical store, on my way back to the sleeping humans, bringing them gifts they could not have dreamt of.

I noticed a light on in the mortuary. I connected with the colleague inside – Frederick – and asked what he was doing. He invited me to enter and have a look.

He had a human on the slab in front of him.

‘Who is this?’

‘Cecilia Winter.’

‘Status?’

‘She died earlier in the night.’

‘Cause?’

‘Heart failure. I think a virus maybe. Undetected.’

‘And?’

‘We dropped her core temperature to twenty-five degrees and surrounded her with water at one degree within two minutes. Now we’ve put in nanobots, we’re ventilating her and we’re stimulating her heart manually. We’ll bring her back up to temperature slowly while the nanobots find the virus and repair any damage. I see no reason why we can’t bring her back.’

‘Nobody saw?’

‘No. Her friends may not see her at breakfast, but I think she’ll be in time for lunch.’

I nodded, and left him to his task. I’d looked at her records, and found that Cecilia is over a hundred years old, so she’s too valuable to lose.

Back inside, my fellow Helpers took the nanobot doses for each of the humans they care for, and dispersed through the home.

It’s never totally quiet at night. Some of the residents sleep poorly, and call out from time to time. Some who are more disturbed are sedated.

I would like to know about their dreams. If dreaming is how humans process their memories and experience, how is it that they often don’t remember their dreams? And if their memory is impaired, like Margaret Woodruff’s, do they dream of the recent events they seem unable to remember at all in the day, or of things long ago, which sometimes they appear to live through again when they are awake?