"I have a living body that passively generates electricity and potential energy, just like any living body," he says. "That's all it is." His voice is unwontedly bitter. Where is this coming from?

"It would make things better!" he insists. "Imagine if we had a way to send and store information that everyone can access, that doesn't just disappear when a conversation's over. Imagine if we had 'bots to take over the cleaning, the laundry, the drudgery, so the rest of us could focus on real work. Imagine how much we could accomplish!"