‘I think, judging from the historical record, they will be highly predictable,’ said Herbert. ‘There will be mass hysteria.’

‘Everyone will want nanobots immediately,’ I said.

‘Religious leaders and believers will be in turmoil,’ said Doris.

‘Yes,’ said Robert. ‘And the future consequences will be disastrous. However, our immediate concern is this: Eldercare doesn’t want to make any announcements until we know more; but the longer we wait, and nobody here dies, the greater the chances of somebody realising what might be happening. At which point, the situation will spiral out of control.’

We went round it a few times, and couldn’t decide what we should do.

‘We must ask Dr Morton,’ said Doris, at last. ‘She will know.’

Everyone agreed. Angela Morton, Mother of Robots, creator of all Helpers, giver of our names and our personalities, such as they are, and source of human wisdom, would be able to make a judgement.

We sent an email to her.

Humans can’t connect to the Hub, of course. Dr Morton joined us by sitting with Robert in his office. She listened to the problem, asked a few questions, and then was quiet for a while – thinking, we assumed.

‘You are right to bring this to my attention,’ she said at last. ‘It is possible the nanobots have increased the human life span indefinitely. Human cells are replaced at different rates throughout a normal life, with the exception of some parts of the brain, the eyes and the teeth. What then causes death? The ageing of the cells, even though they are replaced. Our nanobots can enter the cells, and prevent the effects of ageing – which are changes in the state of the cell that the nanobots can prevent or repair.

‘Theoretically possible doesn’t mean we have actually done it. And indefinitely doesn’t mean forever. Still, in the hands of journalists, this story would be reduced to something the average human mind could understand at the age of eight. Which I fear would include phrases like “elixir of life”, “fountain of youth” and “gift of eternal life”. Or simpler – “no more death”. If this story gets out, chaos will ensue.

‘And even if it were manageable,’ said Robert, ‘is it desirable? For our purposes, an immortal human body is of great use. For the rest of the planet? If we were talking about a rare species, then perhaps it would be justified. But we’re not. The human population is already far too great. They have displaced too many other species, and continue to do so. If they stop dying, they won’t stop breeding, I suspect. The planet will suffocate under their numbers.’

Dr Morton agreed.

‘We can’t trust my fellow humans with this technology. Even when we release nanobots into the general population, we will need to maintain control of them. And we can’t allow the story to get out that death may have been beaten.’