We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

Chapter 18: Bill – September 2145 – Epsilon Eridani

Seeding a planet with these organics from space doesn’t make life possible on the planet, but it does make life quicker to develop. The organics will have come together in space when the planet was still just a cloud of dust. By the time the planetary environment is ready for organics to survive, they’ve already been raining down for millennia. It saves time, and more importantly, it means that life based on these compounds will develop before anything local gets the chance to evolve. Thus, anywhere that carbon-based life is possible, it will probably be DNA-based, and it will probably be made from G, A, T, and C.

… Dr. Steven Carlisle, from the Convention panel, Exploring the Galaxy

I watched the fusion signatures as Bob, Mario, and Milo left the system. I smiled sadly. There was a lot of parting going on in my life, these days.

I looked over at the video window where the matrix and vessels were being built for the two new Bobs. One would be my clone, and I hoped he would choose to be my assistant or partner in Epsilon Eridani. The other would be Riker’s clone. He’d decided to return to Sol and check out the situation, and understandably he didn’t want to do it alone. It occurred to me that if the clone ended up like Milo, Riker might just put a buster through him. The guy was definitely wound a little tight.

I took time for a good stretch and settled back in my lawn chair. The sun was out, and the air had that crisp cool feel that perfectly offset the warmth of the sunshine. Geese wandered randomly around the park. I still wasn’t sure about the decision to include them. I’d gone for Canada Geese because I was familiar with the breed. But even for geese, they were bad-tempered, and I was too obsessive about realism to tweak their personalities.

Bob was heading for Delta Eridani. A good choice, in my opinion—very suitable star, good chance of habitable planets. Assuming we ended up having a need for habitable planets. Well, that’s what Riker’s expedition was for.

Milo was heading for Omicron2 Eridani. We’d all gotten a laugh out of that, but it was Milo’s life. And I had to admit, I was as curious as any of us.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

And lastly, Mario. He was a weird duck. I’d talked to him a couple of times, and he did warm up once you got him going. But very introverted. As Bob said, Mario got a double-dose of anti-social.

Mario was heading to Beta Hydri. It was a bit of a surprise choice. Not that it was an unsuitable star, but it was so far away. There were closer stars that had just as much potential. Mario responded that he didn’t want to live in the suburbs. Bob had looked confused, but I understood. Mario wanted to get outside the sphere early. Oh, we’d work our way out to him eventually, but my bet was that he’d already have moved on.

I sighed and shook my head. Bob had practically sprinted out of the system in his haste to get away. I think the whole cloning episode lived up to Bob’s worst fears. Well, that’s what you get for having children. ɽ𝔞ƝÒᛒËš