We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

Book 3: Chapter 72: Recovery

Book 3: Chapter 72: Recovery

Bob

June 2233

Delta Eridani

It had been a hard month. I’d occasionally tried to activate the village VR and observe, but couldn’t stand it for more than a few moments at a time. I hadn’t had much experience with death when I was alive—none of my close relatives had died, and the few distant cousins who passed away were little more than names on annual Christmas cards. Archimedes had been a friend, had been family. This would be what it was like to lose a parent or sibling. I wept a couple of times for what I must have put my parents and sisters through.

The insult to the injury, though, was how little of a ripple it made in Camelot. Life went on. Even Buster and his family, after a day or two, went back to life as a routine.

Archimedes had mattered. He’d made a huge difference to the lives of the people there, and I found it offensive somehow that he was so completely and so soon relegated to the past.

In my more rational moments, I wondered what exactly I expected. Parades? A monument?

Hmm, a monument. Interesting idea.

I’d long since taken a genetic sample from Archimedes, of course. The question of his DNA differences from the Deltan archetype was an ongoing topic of research. It took a few days to stabilize the sample, using the techniques developed on Earth—and incidentally used on my human brain. One more day, and the monolith on Eden’s largest moon had an additional entry.

I had a vague worry that I was going over the edge into some kind of obsession. Being an immortal, insane computer would be a Very Bad Thing, with capital letters. Hoping to get some perspective, I pinged Marvin, and received an invitation.

I popped into his VR and looked around. Marvin was continuing his self-imposed task of replicating every environment in every book and movie we’d ever read or seen. It had become a contest between us, where I’d try to identify the scene with as few hints as possible.

This one had me flummoxed, though. As near as I could tell, it was just a small town. I stood outside a small café, and I could see Marvin inside, grinning at me through the display window. I turned to survey the scene. Normal people, doing normal things, normal businesses for the early 21st century. But horses and carriages instead of cars. Hmm.

I shrugged and walked into the café. I sat across from Marvin, and Jeeves placed a coffee in front of me.

“Jeeves is a waiter in a beanery now?” I raised an eyebrow at him.

Marvin grinned and shrugged. “It’s not relevant, in case you’re wondering.”

I nodded, and let a few milliseconds of silence pass. Then, leaning forward, I began to talk.

Marvin, bless his cloned heart, listened without commenting, even when tears started to course down my cheeks. When I was done, I leaned back and wiped my face with a napkin.

“Jeez, Bob. A friend that you’ve known for almost seventy years just died. What were you expecting? To just shrug and move on? This is life, dude. The sucky part, anyway.”

“We’re not alive.”

“Yeah, we are. We’re not biological any more, but we’re still alive. We make friends, we grieve, we apparently still fall in love… Let it happen. Mourn. And don’t get all bent out of shape when other people don’t mourn as deeply. They have their own lives.”

I sat back and nodded. Marvin was right, of course. But something about this still bugged me. Suddenly, I had it.

“Y’know, Marvin, we kid Howard about his lifestyle choices, but at least he’s evolving. I think my problem is I stuck myself back into a rut first chance I got, and I’ve been there for seventy years. Still trying to be human, still trying to deny reality.”

Marvin grinned at me. “Say, you’re pretty perceptive today.”

“Nyuk, nyuk. Anyway, Archimedes’ death provides a clean break—and the emotional jolt to take advantage of it. I’m a post-human computerized starship, and maybe it’s about time I started acting like it.”

I finished my coffee and stood up. “Thanks for the talk, Marv. I’ll be in touch. By the way, the town—Nantucket, right? Stirling?”

Marvin grinned and nodded. We still couldn’t fool one another.

* * *

I walked slowly through Camelot. More of an amble, really. I had no particular destination or goal in mind.

I’d modified Charlie the android, changing the fur pattern, head shape, and height. Robert was gone, and this nondescript Deltan wouldn’t be around long enough to make friends or engage in more than casual conversation. ???ÖBË?

I wanted to have one last opportunity to experience Archimedes’ world, to feel the life that he’d lived. This was my goodbye to Eden. I spent time touching things, watching children at play, listening to the give and take of village life. I walked past Buster’s tent, careful not to loiter, enjoying the sight, sound, and odor of family.

And when I had had my fill, I walked out of the village for the last time.