We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

Newly wealthy Bob signs up with CryoEterna to have his head preserved after death, then spends a day at a Las Vegas science-fiction convention trying to enjoy his newfound freedom while coping with his recent breakup. His conversations with friends and family reveal his humor, close-knit relationships, and stubborn hope that future revival is better than nothing; the lively, comic day ends abruptly when a car strikes him as he crosses the street.

Bob awakens in a featureless room in 2133, unable to move and speaking through a malfunctioning interface, and learns from Dr. Landers that he is a computer simulation made from his cryogenically preserved brain. The destructive scan killed the original Bob, and the new Bob is corporate property in a theocratic future, expected to compete with four other replicants for a secret job—while most candidates eventually go insane or are discarded. Bob’s analytical composure, blunted by deliberately suppressed panic, shifts from bewilderment and grief toward wary determination as he resolves to gather information and survive.

Newly conscious as software, Bob discovers that his mind is clear and his grief is muted, and begins exploring his abilities with Dr. Landers. Moved from a desk-mounted camera into a sealed training room, he quickly learns to control a remote manipulator and multiple ROAMer robots, impressing the doctor while wondering why the room is so tightly secured. The chapter’s playful, curious tone carries an undercurrent of unease as Bob adjusts to his strange new existence.

Bob awakens from standby and learns that one of his replicant competitors has been lost to a mental loop, leaving four. Seeking study and a chance to find living relatives, he discovers that the controlled society of 2133 restricts both internet access and genealogy records; cut off from his family and denied the ability to grieve fully, he resolves to stay compliant, remain sane, and win the competition.

Bob, a newly created replicant, carefully navigates an unexpected evaluation by Senior Minister Travis, then learns from Dr. Landers that FAITH is divided by religious factions whose power can threaten both of them. After the tense encounter, Landers begins Bob’s first simulation: a realistic space station where Bob takes charge of power, traffic, and environmental systems. The chapter shifts from wary political unease to curious anticipation as Bob explores the station and prepares for its challenges.

In a July 2133 evaluation, Bob learns that he is one of two remaining candidates being groomed to control a Von Neumann probe, an automated spacecraft that builds copies of itself. His comfort with solitude, revealed through a story about *Castaway*, confirms the evaluators’ expectations; afterward, he eagerly coordinates repair robots in simulation and relishes the prospect of studying for a journey to the stars.

Dr. Landers tells Bob that Project HEAVEN faces religious opposition, political sabotage risks, and fierce competition from rival nations racing to claim habitable worlds. As Bob probes the geopolitical landscape and competing probe programs, he realizes that humanity’s expansion is driven as much by military strategy as by exploration—and that the single-vessel mission leaves him exposed to threats both within and beyond FAITH. Landers reassures Bob that his adaptability and intelligence make him valuable, while Bob’s joking request for a raise brings a brief, dry note of levity to an otherwise tense discussion.

When an attack rocks the FAITH facility, Bob commandeers a swarm of maintenance roamers to overwhelm the gunmen and help security force their surrender. The raid exposes the project’s chilling safeguards—a hidden tactical nuke and a government willing to destroy everyone inside—while Bob’s curiosity leads him to infiltrate the computer room, where he discovers the other candidates and refuses to sabotage Kenneth to protect himself. The tone shifts from comic, kinetic triumph to uneasy revelation and moral restraint.

While working in the roamer room, Bob secretly listens as Minister Jacoby condemns the artificial intelligences and threatens Dr. Landers, who counters that the Ministry of Truth itself supports the project. Jacoby storms out, leaving Bob to reflect on the hostility directed at his existence; Landers reassures him and they return to work, with Bob’s irreverent humor and growing awareness of the political and religious dangers around him shaping the scene’s tense, wry tone.

After being restored from a backup following an attack on the replicant matrices, Bob confronts whether he is conscious, alive, and still himself, ultimately affirming that the memories and qualities defining him make him Bob. He learns that Kenneth is gone and the launch is about a month away; Dr. Landers then decides to keep Bob online around the clock and expand his access, trusting that any breakdown can be reversed from backup. The chapter’s introspective uncertainty gives way to relief and uneasy resolve as Bob faces greater freedom and the risk that comes with it.

While coordinating routine work assembling ship components with roamers, Bob chats with Dr. Doucette about Handeltown’s destruction, the theocratic government, and the safeguards built into his software. His curiosity and humor give way to unease as he considers whether his revived self can truly choose his actions, leaving the chapter’s tone lightly conversational but edged with apprehension.

After a terrorist attack kills four staff members, Dr. Landers rushes Bob toward launch and secretly gives him the freedom to inspect his systems and override his programming. Awakened aboard Heaven-1, Bob discovers a rushed, under-equipped mission and launches early when missiles target him; he escapes the attack, the space station is destroyed, and he sets course for Epsilon Eridani amid a growing military conflict.

En route to Epsilon Eridani, Bob diverts past Saturn, discovers and removes a bomb, then builds a virtual body and room to ease the isolation of life as a disembodied mind. While investigating the sabotage and preparing defenses against a rival Brazilian ship, he learns that Earth is sliding into war and that Dr. Landers has been killed; after finally disabling the emotional controls that kept him from grieving, Bob mourns his family and faces evidence of nuclear detonations on Earth.

Bob arrives in the Epsilon Eridani system and rapidly maps its planets and asteroid belts, but postpones exploration to prepare for an expected encounter with a Brazilian probe. He begins building defenses and plans to manufacture a copy of himself, knowing that the rival probe may be armed and that allowing it to replicate could trigger a galaxy-wide race. The chapter shifts from scientific discovery to wary military strategy, with Bob’s dry humor masking his anxiety about going to war.

At Epsilon Eridani, Bob prepares for the early-arriving Brazilian ship by activating his endocrine controls and luring Major Medeiros into a trap with decoy reactors and improvised ship-busters. The battle destroys the Serra do Mar, though shrapnel damages Bob’s radiator; shaken by the victory and the death of his enemy, he returns to his natural emotional state and concludes that his people must multiply quickly and arm their copies for the conflicts ahead.

With Medeiros’s immediate threat gone, Bob explores Epsilon Eridani’s planets, finding barren worlds and no clear evidence of life—though one planet’s oxygen-rich atmosphere hints that life may exist beneath its seas. The surveys leave him disappointed and uncertain about his purpose, while his hesitation to clone himself exposes deeper doubts about identity and individuality. At last, he commits to building more Bobs, launching the manufacturing drones and turning solitary exploration toward replication.

At Epsilon Eridani, Bob oversees the construction of new Heaven ships and creates several copies of himself, then transfers into Heaven-1A while the copies take on distinct names and personalities. As the Bobs debate their freedom and possible missions, Bill chooses to remain and conduct research and terraforming, while Riker considers visiting Earth; their disagreements and divergent interests unsettle Bob and deepen his questions about identity and whether the copies are truly variations of him.

As Bob watches Mario, Milo, and Bob depart for distant star systems, he reflects on their choices and the uncertain future of their explorations. In a peaceful park on Epsilon Eridani, he inspects vessels being prepared for two new Bobs and Riker’s return to Sol, balancing curiosity and hope with the sadness of repeated farewells—and the uneasy prospect of having children.

Milo arrives in the Omicron2 Eridani system, seeking both the pleasure of its Star Trek associations and a chance to move beyond the strained farewell he left behind. He discovers two habitable, oxygen-rich worlds orbiting one another and names them Vulcan and Romulus, then builds a survey operation that reveals related but markedly different biospheres. As his excitement gives way to questions of biological compatibility and humanity’s future, Milo recognizes that exploration matters most when it can help others survive and spread beyond Earth.

In December 2145 at Epsilon Eridani, Bill watches Riker, Homer, and a decoy vessel depart for Sol, while his clone Garfield stays behind to help build their Skunk Works. Their banter reveals Garfield’s reluctance to become a Bob and Bill’s mixed feelings about the eccentric Homer, but the two settle into a shared list of ambitious research projects with playful, companionable energy.

Riker and Homer cautiously survey a devastated Solar System, where radiation-scarred worlds and a handful of reactor signatures suggest humanity may have been nearly wiped out. A decoy probe draws out Brazilian vessels and reveals that Medeiros’s forces now wield SURGE-powered missiles—and are guiding asteroids toward Earth, timed to strike as China passes beneath them. The chapter’s wary, analytical mood turns to shock as Riker realizes the scale of the threat.

At Epsilon Eridani in September 2150, Bill watches Calvin, Goku, and Linus depart, teasing Garfield about the children leaving home while reflecting on how few probes have been launched. He explains the heavily upgraded version-3 ships built for Calvin and Goku’s dangerous journey, shaped by the likelihood of encountering rival probes and the firm resolve to show Medeiros no mercy.

After seven months cataloguing the life and resources of Romulus and Vulcan, Milo prepares to leave, having equipped the system with an autofactory, drones, and defenses for whoever may come next. Choosing 82 Eridani as his next destination, he files a final report and launches his SURGE drive to music, departing with a playful, reflective sense of freedom.

Riker leads a perilous space battle against Brazilian warships, using decoys, cannonballs, and improvised tactics to destroy the attackers while rescuing the damaged Homer. The victory reveals a devastated Earth and incoming extinction-level asteroids; Riker and Homer work to divert them, then turn toward finding survivors amid a world scarred by nuclear war. The chapter shifts from tense, tactical combat to grief, responsibility, and cautious hope.

At Epsilon Eridani in September 2151, Bill and Garfield confirm that a subspace signal remains synchronized even as Garfield’s probe races away, proving a major communications breakthrough. Their playful excitement gives way to plans for sending construction designs immediately, with the promise that interstellar networks could transform communication across the galaxy.

After averting an attack, Riker and Homer establish cautious contact with Colonel Butterworth, who reveals that war has devastated Earth and left humanity facing extinction. As Riker learns the scale of the destruction and wrestles with guilt over the delay that may have cost lives, he agrees to help the survivors build colony ships and seek a future beyond the solar system.

At Delta Eridani, Bob surveys a promising star system, establishes mining and defensive infrastructure, and deploys drones to investigate mysterious lights on the habitable planet. His exploration reveals a rich alien ecosystem and, at night, groups of fire-using intelligent beings—an extraordinary discovery that shifts the world from a potential colony to a site of first contact. Bob’s exhilaration is tempered by loneliness, as he eagerly records observations for Bill and even looks to Guppy for company.

Calvin silently surveys Alpha Centauri B, discovers wreckage from a destroyed USE vessel and a Brazilian autofactory, then reunites with Goku to confront Medeiros’s expanding force. Though uneasy about abandoning pacifism, Calvin joins Goku in a swift attack that devastates the factory but allows one Brazilian probe to escape. The two claim the system, resolve to build combat-class clones and prepare for further conflict, their banter easing the weight of a war now underway.

In September 2157, Riker clashes with Colonel Butterworth over whether to search for other human survivors, insisting that doing so can happen without delaying the colony ships. After the colonel concedes, Homer surveys the solar system and finds enough salvaged material to begin establishing factories and production at Earth-Moon Lagrange points; abandoned outposts on Titan and in the Oort cloud offer no survivors. Riker reflects on how his return to humanity has turned a distant mission into responsibility for millions, balancing resolve with the weight of the challenge.

On Delta Eridani 4, Bob studies the Deltans through immersive VR and surveillance, expanding his drone network and bringing Marvin, Luke, and Bender online to help. His attention settles on an unusually inventive boy he names Archimedes, whose solitary experiments with stone tools and plant-fiber cord kindle Bob’s empathy; as the planet is named Eden, Bob’s detached research begins to feel like concern for a lonely child.

In January 2158, Riker and the other Bobs begin systematically searching Earth for survivors, locating nearly forty enclaves amid a population reduced from twelve billion to fifteen million. Faced with the impossibility of saving everyone, Riker pushes for need-based rescue and transport ships, while navigating Arthur’s despair, Butterworth’s resistance, and survivors’ deep distrust; the chapter ends with progress on shipbuilding but no breakthroughs in contacting the enclaves.

Bill receives Milo’s report of two habitable planets in Epsilon Eridani and forwards it to Earth, wondering whether anyone there will still be able to act on the discovery. Though he once left Earth to escape humanity, Bill now sees himself as a possible shepherd for its survivors; his hope is tempered by uncertainty as he and Garfield continue preparing for a future that may never come.

In March 2158, Riker confronts the scale of humanity’s survival crisis: fifteen million people remain on a cooling, increasingly uninhabitable Earth, and most cannot be evacuated. As he convenes a chaotic assembly of surviving communities, Homer challenges his rigid approach, prompting Riker to give the delegates control over their own rules. Later, Riker rejects a demand for preferential treatment from FAITH and learns that the Spitsbergen refuge possesses crucial seed and genetic vaults, making its survival—and its leverage over future colonization—urgent.

In September 2158 on Sol, Homer reflects on Riker’s clashes with the enclaves and the Spits’ ultimatum, criticizing Riker’s rigid approach while acknowledging the seriousness of the crisis. Pondering Valter’s demand for an early place on the ships, Homer spots a possible compromise involving ship three and decides to enlist Colonel Butterworth to get Riker to listen.

When Bob and the other Bobs witness the Deltans being hunted toward extinction by gorilloid predators, they decide to intervene indirectly, supplying flint and preparing reinforced drones. The gifted young Archimedes turns the flint into better tools and weapons, raising his standing in the tribe; when the Deltans repel an attack and kill a gorilloid, he organizes the sharing of flint spear points in exchange for a share of future kills. The chapter’s anxious, morally conflicted tone shifts toward hope as the Deltans begin to defend themselves and adapt.

In September 2158, Riker mediates a tense negotiation among human groups over access to the Svalbard vaults and places on the first colony ships. He refuses to promise force against the Spitsbergen refuge, rebuffs FAITH’s attempt to assert control over him, and learns Colonel Butterworth may accelerate construction of a third ship. Valter’s eventual willingness to negotiate turns the stalemate toward a possible compromise, leaving Riker wary but hopeful.

A massive gorilloid assault devastates the Deltan encampment, and Bob intervenes with a buster drone just as Archimedes is threatened, helping turn the battle but leaving dozens dead or injured. Shaken by the cost of his involvement and uncertain whether his interventions have worsened matters, Bob considers a gorilloid hunt and discusses the colony’s future with the other Bobs; Marvin chooses to stay while Luke and Bender seek projects of their own.

In November 2158, Riker wraps up a contentious UN session and learns from Colonel Butterworth that the anti-human VEHEMENT movement is escalating its threats. His next call brings an unexpected personal revelation: Julia Hendricks, a three-times-great-granddaughter of his sister Andrea, whom Minister Cranston introduces in hopes of influencing him. Riker resists being manipulated but welcomes the connection, and the two begin a conversation that lasts three hours, shifting the chapter’s tone from weary political frustration to intimate wonder.

From his station at Delta Eridani, Bob watches Luke and Bender depart for new systems, then discusses with Marvin how backups may fail to preserve the evolving individuality of their copies. Turning to the Deltan colony, Bob reflects on the losses and mourning after the gorilloid attack, while the survivors adapt—using the buster drone’s remnants as tools and Arnold’s axe for communal work. With language understanding improving, Bob prepares speaking drones, weighing the risk of cultural interference against the need to guide the Deltans back to the flint site.

After reaching Epsilon Indi, Linus discovers an isolated Australian replicant, Henry Roberts, whose probe has been dismantled and whose centuries of sensory deprivation have driven him into delusion. Linus shuts down the reactor, rescues Henry’s core, and builds him a realistic sailing-life VR, beginning the slow work of restoring his trust and sanity. The chapter shifts from wary exploration and darkly comic first contact to compassionate, hopeful intimacy.

Riker and Homer activate a zero-latency interstellar communicator and reconnect with Bill, whose news of two habitable twin planets offers humanity a way out as Earth becomes uninhabitable. Riker tells Colonel Butterworth and the human communities that settlers will have to share Romulus and Vulcan for now, but the announcement sparks arguments over who gets which world. Amid relief and excitement, Riker insists survival must come before competing claims, revealing his determination to lead pragmatically despite having no personal stake in emigration.

In April 2162 at Epsilon Eridani, Bill considers using a planetary SURGE drive to send ice to Ragnarök, then accepts Garfield’s pushback and simulations reveal a workable plan to deliver the needed ice within twenty-five years. Their discussion also exposes Garfield’s frustration at being treated as a sidekick; Bill recognizes his own defensiveness and agrees to make their partnership more collaborative. In a lighthearted VR softball game, the two reflect on keeping their humanity amid their work, ending on friendly banter.

In September 2164, Riker inspects the colony ships taking shape in Sol, while Homer’s resource-gathering efforts expose the brutal tradeoff between building more ships and expanding the means to build them. At a rare meeting with Homer, Charles, and Arthur, the Bobs consider ways to save Earth’s population as climate collapse worsens, but every alternative would delay evacuation and still leave many behind. Their engineering optimism gives way to helplessness as they accept that even following the plan may not save everyone.

On Delta Eridani, Bob uses a hidden, speaker-equipped drone to contact the clever juvenile Archimedes, offering to guide his people from their vulnerable village to safer, better-supplied old settlements. When the elders dismiss Archimedes, Bob reveals the hovering probe, lending his proposal authority and prompting Moses and Arnold to support relocation. The chapter balances playful banter with growing tension as the Deltans debate change, ending on the wry recognition that political resistance is universal.

From Epsilon Eridani, Bill answers a SCUT call from Bart and abruptly drops into Bart’s rustic cabin VR, delighting in his startled reaction. Bart reports that Calvin and Goku destroyed a Brazilian installation in Alpha Centauri, though a probe escaped and the system has no habitable planets; their mission has also established a Bob factory. Bill is impressed by the new technology and relieved to have another factory operating, ending the exchange on a warm, companionable note as their growing group can finally fill out a baseball team.

Milo arrives in the 82 Eridani system hoping to add two promising planets to his survey record, and reports the discovery back to Bill. As he approaches a water-rich world, Medeiros ambushes him with waves of missiles; Milo launches his busters, fires his rail gun, and tries to transmit a warning and backup before the remaining missiles close in. The chapter’s hopeful exploration turns abruptly into a tense, seemingly desperate fight for survival.

In January 2166 on Sol, Riker fails to persuade the well-supplied enclaves to share food with groups facing starvation, leaving him frustrated and out of options. As Homer suggests space stations might offer a new answer to the worsening climate crisis, he reports that Arthur has been killed by a nuclear booby trap near Saturn. Grieving but forced back into action, Riker orders a recovery effort and plans to accelerate the creation of another Bob and build backup storage.

Bob and Marvin prepare the Deltans for a dangerous migration, teaching them to preserve meat and equipping them with supplies and defenses as the tribe waits for births and sets out toward a flint-rich village. Along the way, the growing migration suffers a gorilloid raid and the death of a juvenile, but continues, gathering scattered groups and crossing a cold, exposed mountain pass. Bob’s growing attachment to Marvin surfaces as he contemplates being alone again, while the chapter’s uneasy progress ends with the migrants reaching forest—only for disaster to strike shortly afterward.

When a hacker probes Bob-1 through the UN meeting feed, Riker traces the attack to New Zealand and later learns from Cranston that it may stem from FAITH’s appropriation of Australian research. Meanwhile, Riker and Homer devise an uncrewed orbital farming station using gene-engineered kudzu, prompting furious opposition at the UN but offering a possible answer to imminent starvation. Cranston then trades FAITH’s food surplus for a place in a future colony ship, and Riker accepts the proposal after consulting Charles and Homer; the day’s wary negotiations end on a note of cautious agreement.

A gorilloid ambush devastates the Deltan migration, and Bob and Marvin use their dwindling busters to blunt the attack and rescue some abductees. The losses convince Bob that this is a long war, prompting him to expand production and prepare for more systematic defenses; he asks the Deltans to camp temporarily while he scouts the threat. As the tribe settles in, Bob’s exchanges with Arnold and Archimedes reveal their growing practical ingenuity—and his awareness that every delay has human costs.

At Epsilon Eridani in January 2174, Bill receives Milo’s report of a promising colonization site—and the destruction of the Heaven vessel. The incomplete backup means Milo cannot safely be restored, leaving Bill grieving but resolved: he orders eight more Bobs equipped for combat and vows to make Medeiros pay.

In a casual VR conversation, Riker and Homer discuss the expanding space-farm program, including a new ranch-shaped station designed to produce food beyond Earth’s reach. With attacks threatening Earthside supplies, the farms promise a temporary surplus, though longer-term shortages remain a concern. Homer’s pride in his successful project and their easy teasing lend the chapter a hopeful, wry tone.

After a pack of jungle predators wounds a Deltan hunter, Bob reflects on his affection for the people and his need to help without making them dependent on him; he also quietly anticipates Marvin’s eventual departure. The migration resumes through rougher, more tropical terrain, where Bob negotiates the limits of introducing new medicine and the Deltans face further gorilloid attacks. At the flint site, Bob favors aggressively reducing the gorilloid threat, while Marvin urges restraint and a longer-term approach, leaving their strategy unresolved.

In orbit around Sol in October 2170, Riker and his companions watch the final connection of the drive rings, completing the colony ships Exodus-1 and Exodus-2. The milestone brings Riker to tears, and a call with Julia shifts the moment from engineering triumph to hope for humanity’s future: she reflects on how her family’s prospects have changed, while Riker finds deep meaning in seeing his sister’s descendants. The chapter closes on a playful note as he makes baby Justin laugh.

Bob leads the Deltans to an abandoned flint site, a naturally defensible rise whose abundant seedpods support a large gorilloid population—and make the newcomers potential prey. After gorilloids approach, Bob’s drones drive them off while Arnold organizes the tribe’s defenses; Bob chooses sustained deterrence over a culling. The settlement takes shape, but a makeshift altar to a buster reveals that the Deltans are beginning to regard Bob’s technology as divine, leaving him amused and uneasy.

At Epsilon Eridani, Bill races to retrieve equipment from a massive iceberg he is steering toward Ragnarök, but the drive segments and anchors are lost when he fractures the ice to keep it from striking the planet. He arranges replacement segments with Garfield and proposes a faster, anchorless orbital system, then turns back to his troubled android project, Bullwinkle, whose sensory and communication problems leave him frustrated. The chapter balances tense engineering improvisation with dry humor and the long-term hope of making Ragnarök habitable.

Alone in the metal-poor Beta Hydri system, Mario investigates a crashed alien cargo ship and discovers its cargo of refined metals, a planetwide ecosystem killed by a massive radiation burst, and swarms of machines that reactivate under his scans. His curiosity gives way to dread as he infers that the alien craft may have harvested the system’s life and wonders whether such raids continue; unable to contact the other Bobs without more materials, he realizes he must leave.

After years of preparation, Riker oversees the launch of the first colony ships from Earth, carrying USE colonists toward a new home under Howard’s escort. The practical logistics and awkward ceremonies give way to a quiet, hard-won emotional moment as Riker watches the ships pass Mars, reflecting on the effort behind their departure and hoping humanity can find new worlds before conflict returns.

In May 2172 at Epsilon Eridani, Bill gathers the scattered Bobs in a new VR matrix for their first “Bob-moot,” introducing a shared space where they can meet despite vast distances. Teasing banter over the name and baseball gives way to a relaxed celebration at a virtual pub, as Bill hopes the meetings will keep the growing community connected.

At 82 Eridani, Khan and seven other Bobs launch a cautious assault on Medeiros, only to discover his nuclear weapons and face a swarm of decoys and attacks. Their plasma weapons and a coordinated buster strike may destroy Medeiros, but the battle costs nearly the entire squad; Elmer sacrifices himself to help Khan escape, while several backups are lost. Alone and grieving, Khan learns Elmer survived in backup, commits to returning in a new ship, and leaves the chapter with grim resolve.

Howard arrives in the Omicron² Eridani system, relieved that the journey is safe and humanity now has a second home, and begins preparing Vulcan and Romulus for colonization. After Bert and Ernie arrive, Howard and the colony leaders agree to prioritize Vulcan, where crews start building homes and establishing the infrastructure needed to bring the first settlers out of stasis. The chapter’s humor and camaraderie soften the immense stakes as the prospect of a living human community on Vulcan becomes real.