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.
[Reminder: Moot starts soon.]
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.
“Are you sure you’re up for this? We can still put it off.”
Bridget lost her smile. “I know, Howard, but I feel like I’m starting to become phobic about it. I have to come out in public sooner or later.”
“All right. Take a deep breath…” I took her hand, smiled reassuringly—I hoped—and we popped into the moot VR.
It could have passed for a photograph instead of a live action scene. Almost a hundred versions of my face stared back at us, eyes wide, mouths in the identical oh shape. No movement, no sound. Even the Jeeves’ had stopped to stare.
The tableau held for a couple of milliseconds. Then I leaned close to Bridget and stage-whispered, “Don’t worry, they’re more scared of you than you are of them. Just don’t make eye contact.”
The room broke up in laughter, and Bobs began coming over to say hi. It was starting to look like we’d be mobbed—well, Bridget would be mobbed; I might as well have been lint—but I’d carefully timed our entrance. At that moment, Bill gave the blaat from his air horn that meant the meeting was starting. Bobs turned to face Bill, and Bridget exhaled a sigh of relief.
We maneuvered ourselves to the back to get a couple of beers and watch the moot without being too much of a distraction. A short, trim man with thick dark hair walked over and said hello in an Australian accent.
I nodded to him and turned to Bridget. “Bridget, this is Henry Roberts. He’s from the Australian probe that Linus found in Epsilon Indi. Henry, Bridget.”
Bridget made a small show of looking around, and said, “Henry, I only see the one of you. Are you not replicating?”
Henry shook his head emphatically. “No way, ma’am. Since Linus rebuilt my matrix, I don’t feel any need for more of me. Nor to explore the universe, particularly. Hasn’t really gone that well for the Bobs, so far.”
“Come on, Henry, just the one creepy marauding alien species. That’s pretty good, overall.” I smiled at him.
Henry smirked back, then turned to Bridget. “What about you? Planning to replicate?”
Bridget rolled her eyes. “I understand why that was the original plan with the HEAVEN project, but the whole concept just gives me the shakes.” She looked at me for a moment. “I don’t understand how the Bobs are comfortable with it. It may be related to Original Bob’s humanistic philosophy.”
I cut in. “You’re probably right about the humanism, but to say we’re comfortable with it is a slight exaggeration. If not for the Others, and the issue with Earth, I bet there’d be only a few dozen of us.”
Both Bridget and Henry nodded thoughtfully. Henry replied, “And since you have that covered, I guess we’re good? I haven’t felt any pressure to contribute copies.”
“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.
Pav Arrival
Jacques
May 2247