A Surprise Visit

One week had passed and no results worth reporting had materialised. But Ellen felt confident that something would turn up soon. As she sat in the kitchen drinking her morning tea the tannoy announced itself.

"Could Miss Wright please come to the reception."

Without a word, Ellen got up and headed to the reception area, still holding her cup. "What could this be about?" When she got there she had the biggest surprise she had ever had. "Prime minister."

The Prime minister smiled and shook Ellen's hand. "Good morning Miss Wright. I apologise for the unannounced visit, but I have been hearing good things about you and your work and would like to know more of what you are doing here."

"Certainly Prime minister. Please, come this way." Ellen proceeded to take the Prime minister on a tour of the facility. Meeting the staff under her charge and taking a great interest in the work that they were undertaking. After an hour or so of the tour they entered the old C.E.O.'s office and Ellen offered the Prime minister a seat.

"So there you have it sir. Our lab is small, but functional. We have everything we need and hoping that something positive turns up soon."

"So, Miss Wright. What is your ultimate goal out of this. I can see that you have staff under you that trust you completely and willing to try and do the best they can. But you've only shown me the work and the abilities of the staff, and, very little of the intention behind it."

"No. I suppose I haven't. Sorry. It's pretty simple really. We are trying to make things easier for certain aspects of human life. Most of our research and development is based on making nanorobots that can enter the human body without the body being hurt. The rest is based in military possibilities."

Intrigued by the first section the Prime minister leaned forward. "Enter the human body you say. What purpose could that serve. The human immune system is fine at fighting infections and when they cannot, we have antibiotics and plenty of other **** to help fight on the bodies behalf. So please elaborate further."

Ellen smiled, knowing exactly how to win the Prime minister over. "It's quite simple really sir. Lets take someone in a coma. Cerebral haemorrhage for example. With our current medical technology, we have to cut into and perform invasive and potentially paralysing surgery. Now imagine a swarm of microscopic robots instead. Being programmed to enter the brain and repair the damage without the need to even so much as pick up a scalpel. Not only could you save that persons life, but potentially save their independence too."

The Prime minister was sold. "That is a worth while cause indeed. Lets hope that you make a breakthrough soon. So many lives could very well depend on it. And should you succeed, your name will go down in history as the woman that saved thousands of people from dependence on others." Just as he finished his sentence, the door burst open.

"Ellen, come. I think we got somewhere." Ellen's lab assistant was acting like a kid that got his ultimate dream toy. Quickly both the Prime minister and Ellen rushed back to the lab. Upon arriving they saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"Errr. Well?" Ellen was puzzled at the joy in the room. But hopeful. Ellen's assistant pointed at the mainframe.

"Look at the screen." Ellen sat next to the main terminal and looked in astonishment. On the screen the word "ONLINE" flashed before her.

"You got to be kidding me. I wasn't expecting results this quick." Clearly overjoyed she jumped up and congratulated everyone on a job well done. The Prime minister, clearly impressed then spoke.

"You have all done a remarkable job here and deserve a lot more than a pat on the back." He then turned to Ellen. "I'll leave you to celebrate your good fortune here and, I will also make sure that any finances you need to carry on with this are secure."

"Thank you sir. I'm honoured you approve of our research. But we still have some way to go before we can call it a complete success."

"I am confident you will achieve your goals here Miss Wright. I will inform the minister in charge, of your progress. Again, well done on your breakthrough. I will see myself out." With that he turned and headed to the exit.

"So, what have we got so far then Bill." Turning to her assistant.

"Two online. Both seem to be able to maintain a charge in their batteries." All the staff still seemed to be overjoyed at the success. Ellen however, still had her reservations that they could achieve their goals. "They can move on their own too. Just need to enter in a command and they carry it out."

"What have you commanded them to do so far?" Ellen wanted to know everything she had missed.

"Nothing too difficult. Just walk forward, walk backward, that sort of thing. Then we tried to ramp it up a bit."

"What did you do Bill?" Nerves now setting in. Ellen wasn't sure if she was going to like what she was about to be told.

"The second is a replicant. They can practically reproduce." Bill's smile was as wide as she had ever seen it. But before she could ask further another staff member called out.

"They're building again. Both working on another bot."

"What? Did you command it or..." The employee simply nodded with a broad smile himself. Putting Ellen's mind at ease.

"Ok. Leave them be for now. Leave the replication command in place and let their numbers build. Then we can see what we have to deal with later. Well done guys.