“Hey doc, the boys at the pub keep talking about hearing some contraption running in the night. Think it’s that worm we built?” Franklin asked the doctor as he finished loading the stoves with coal and adjusting the boiler.

The doctor ignored Franklin’s question for the time being, the newspapers hadn’t reported anything yet, so he need not worry.

“When is the worm coming back to the lab doc?”

“They’ll not be coming back”.

“They?”

The doctor turned his chair to face to Franklin. “Yes Franklin, they. You might as well know, the machine can replicate itself”

“Replicate?”

“Yes, copy itself, so there is more than one.”

“But why does it need to copy itself, it didn’t do anything but move around.”

“The machine can do more than just the mechanical pieces you constructed. It has the ability to communicate as well.”

“You mean it can talk?”

“Talk and listen, more or less.”

“But what are you saying to it doctor”.

“It’s what I am saying to them that is the interesting part, Franklin.”