“See this crater with all the activity here?”

In the micro-world, delicate blood vessels flowed like vibrant purple streams into a huge crimson lake.

“That’s it – that’s what all the talk has been about – that’s the famous blind spot in the eye. That’s what we are covering with our implant.

“Here we go. We just slide the implant out… ”

The implant was now clearly visible on the screen, edging across the bank of the lake like a swarm of tentative swimmers. Suddenly it broke free, and began to drift across the brilliant crimson fluid, slowly enveloping it like a dense fog.

“What we are doing here is covering the optic disc…
“This is where all the nerves and blood vessels converge to form the optic nerve.

“Although it receives light just like the rest of the eye, because of all the wiring the blind spot can’t actually see. By using this area we can steal a little of his light without him even noticing.

“Now…
“Look…
“I’ve covered it perfectly!”

The gleaming eyes of the surgeon – universal gems of genius – shone brilliantly.

“Nice work Neil,” David Brown said quietly.
“Now…we just roll the eye back again.”

Max’s blue-green iris, deep and clear as a tropical ocean, rolled back into the centre of his eye, back into normality.

“Slip out our stitch…
“Apply a little healing gel…
“And… there we go.”

The surgeon smiled at David Brown with genuine relief –

“Don’t worry – he won’t have a clue.”
“You think?”
“When he wakes up he’ll have so much pain in that knee his eye won’t even register.”

“Thanks again Neil. Without you…”
“You just would have got someone else to do it.”
“But to time it with the arthroscopy – it’s perfect.”