We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

Book 3: Chapter 44: Debut

Book 3: Chapter 44: Debut

Howard

December 2220

Odin

We flew effortlessly through the Odin skies, our wings beating just fast enough to maintain momentum. The manta android bodies seemed to be fooling the local wildlife—prey animals bolted, larger animals circled their young or simply ignored us. Ahead, a flock of blimps moved lazily through a krill field, grazing.

They’ll keep an eye on us, but shouldn’t otherwise alter their behavior as long as we don’t start chasing the juveniles, Bridget messaged to me.

Got it. Observe, but don’t snack.

Hah hah. Funny man.

In typical engineering fashion, I’d been content to build drones and observe from afar. Bridget, the moment she’d heard about Bob’s Charlie android that emulated a Deltan, and Marcus’ experiments with aquatic versions, had suggested we try something similar.

The mantas were a mid-level pack predator, shaped generally like the eponymous Earth fish. As with all Odin life, they contained a hydrogen sac to maintain neutral buoyancy. I had wanted to use helium instead for the androids, but the heavier construction created enough issues without using the less buoyant alternative.

We caught up to the flock of blimps. These were the huge animals that I’d spotted on my first deep dive into Odin’s atmosphere. They filled a niche similar to baleen whales, feeding on the plentiful small life that seemed to fill the air. We began to circle them, and each blimp kept a huge eye on a stalk pointed our way.

Are you recording?

Yes, dear.

Her response was a LOL and a heart emoji.

25

Whoops. I messaged Bridget, and she reluctantly agreed to pack it in for the day. We set our androids to autonomous station keeping. They would fly a slow, large circle, avoiding contact with other animals, until we needed them again.

We popped back into my VR. As usual after a manta session, Bridget’s face was flushed and she wore an ecstatic expression.

“We’re resource-constrained, Henry. We can only build so many ships per year. Whether they’re Bobs or Henrys or Bridgets doesn’t matter. Might as well stick with the current system. At least the new clones come out knowing the full story.”

Bridget smiled at me before turning back to Henry. “So what are you going to do with yourself to keep busy?”

Henry looked surprised for a moment, then grinned. “To tell the truth, Bridget, I’m on my way to Omicron2 Eridani right now. I’m going to get an android body made, land on Romulus or Vulcan, and build a sailboat. Then I’ll spend a decade or two sailing the whole planet.”

“In fact,” he added after a moment’s thought, “I think I’ll try to sail every ocean of every planet in the human sphere. Chances are I’ll never catch up.”

I laughed and nodded my head in Bridget’s direction. “And she is going to catalog every species on every planet in the human sphere.”

“Damn betcha. What’s it to ya?” Bridget glared at me in challenge.

Henry chuckled. “Well, then, I expect I’ll run into you from time to time.”

Bridget responded with her nuclear-powered laugh, and Henry’s eyes widened slightly.

Yeah, she affects people like that. I’d made sure to preserve Bridget’s mannerisms as faithfully as possible. Henry’s reaction showed that the laugh was as effective in VR as it had been in real life. I frowned for a moment. She didn’t laugh as much as she used to, though. I wondered if that was because of replicant variations, or her recent experiences.

“Er, um, have you used one of the human androids yet?” Henry was making a visible effort to get himself back on an even keel.

Bridget shook her head and looked at me. “Howard’s been trying to get me to try it. I think I’m just going to take it slow. And I’m worried about running into my children.”

“But she’s okay flying an alien predator around on a gas giant.” I winked at her, and she grinned back.

Henry chuckled, then turned to face the front as Bill finished his opening speech. First item on the agenda was always the Others, Preparation For and Status Of. No one wanted to miss anything.

Bill’s summary was short and to the point. The harvesting of Delta Pavonis continued, the Bobs still didn’t have any way of stopping it, and no one had a plan.

Outstanding.