‘I think Liam’s just fainted!’ shouted Sal.

‘Never mind him,’ Maddy replied. ‘We need to get the foetus hooked up before it starts starving.’

‘OK, OK.’

She pushed the tip against the belly button again, this time pushing despite the foetus’s protests, until she felt the skin give way, as promised, with a soft pop. A small trickle of dark blood oozed out on to its belly.

‘It’s in!’

‘Right, now, put bonding tape round the pipe and its belly to hold it in place.’

Sal picked up a roll of tape and wound it round as the thing squirmed indignantly in her hand.

‘OK. What next?’

‘Just lower it into the growth tube.’

Sal stepped towards the plastic cylinder and lifted the foetus up over the open top. ‘OK, Bob Junior,’ she uttered. ‘See you again in a little while.’

Gently she lowered the foetus into the murky gunk and then let it sink. It settled down through the pink soup, like a descending globule of wax in a lava lamp, until the feed pipe drew taut and it came to a rest.

‘OK, he’s in!’

‘Now close the growth-tube lid and activate the system pump!’

Sal closed the tube’s metal lid and clamped it in place. She squatted down to inspect the panel at the bottom of the tube. There wasn’t much to see down there. A manufacturer’s name — WG Systems — and a small touch screen. She tapped the screen and it lit up.

[Filtration system active]

[Set system to GROWTH or STASIS?]

‘It’s asking me to set it to growth or stasis… shall I pick growth?’

Maddy’s answer echoed back from the archway a moment later. ‘Growth for this one.’

Sal tapped GROWTH and confirmed the instruction. Immediately she heard the soft hum of a motor whirring to life somewhere at the bottom of the tube. A light winked on inside, making the pink protein glow and lighting the foggy form of the foetus from below. She could see its struggling form settle, content now that it was getting its feed despite the earlier discomfort of having the tube pushed into its belly.