We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

Book 3: Chapter 35: Cities Victorious

Book 3: Chapter 35: Cities Victorious

Marcus

October 2215

Poseidon

A month after the uprising, things were finally settling down. But despite all my attempts to dodge, bob and weave, and otherwise avoid taking on a position of responsibility, I’d still somehow ended up as the Chairman Pro Tem. Of course, there was some logic to having the reins held by someone who was available twenty-four seven, never forgot anything, and couldn’t be bought or blackmailed.

Still, I was going to arrange elections as soon as possible.

 

The drone settled into New Thark’s docking bay and floated into a parking spot. The cargo bay doors opened and I stepped out. I took a moment to look around—most of the spots were taken, as people continued to move into the city.

I walked to the elevators at the end of the bay and got in with a half dozen random strangers. Interestingly, two hundred years later and twenty light years away, people still behaved the same in elevators as they did in Original Bob’s day. Everyone turned to face the doors, and ignored each other.

As the elevator rose to ground level, I surreptitiously examined the other passengers. No one paid me any particular attention. I was just another anonymous, random individual. It amazed me how good that felt.

I stepped out of the elevator and found myself outdoors, with a transport station to my left and a park to my right. I let the other passengers hurry to grab taxis first, while I took the time to look around. This was my first time in the new version-3 floating city. This model boasted two square kilometers of usable surface, divided about evenly between residences, businesses, and parkland.

The fibrex dome stretched over the city, ensuring a warm, dry environment, no matter the weather outside. Residents were scattered around, sitting on benches or on the grass, working away on their tablets or remote-controlling some piece of equipment, VR headset and gloves firmly in place.

Why the Council would have wanted to prevent this was beyond me. Some people just seemed to want to display their power by defining what others could or couldn’t do.

I shook my head, then turned and headed for the transport station. I grabbed the next available pod, spoke Kal’s address, and sat back as the pod accelerated into the underground track.

In less than two minutes, I exited the pod, followed the directions it had given me, and was standing at Kal’s front door.

* * *

We sat around the table, Kal, Denu, Gina, Vinnie, and myself, drinking beer and comparing war stories. The new government of Poseidon, such as it was.

Gina put up a list of names. “Here’s the Council members we’ve captured. Five out of seven. Based on comments from a couple of them, you might be right about the last two having escaped in subs.”

“So they might be hiding out on any of a hundred mats.” I smiled at her. “Or they might already be in the belly of the leviathan.”

Gina shrugged. “Yeah, no way to know. But they’re not like royalty. They won’t command a following of fanatically loyal subjects.”

“Right. We’ll keep an eye out, do patrols, but it’s not top of the priority list. What are you doing with the five you captured?”

“Four of them will go to trial for the hundred and fifty deaths of Thark citizens. The consensus seems to be a lifetime posting to the fish plant, or something equally smelly.”

“And Brennan?”

Gina sighed. “Honestly, Marcus, we don’t really have anything. We played with the idea of incarcerating him for life, or deporting him to another colony, or even back to Earth. All of those alternatives are a ton of effort and cost, and make no sense except as some form of retribution. And he’s not worth it. We’re considering just sticking him with the other four and being done with it.”

There were nods around the table. Fish plant labor was easy to automate, but the Council had used it as a punishment for dissidents and miscreants. The irony of hoisting them on their own petard was so overt that it needed no further words. Brennan deserved worse, but I agreed that he didn’t deserve the effort required to arrange something.

“And meanwhile,” I looked to one of my monitor windows in my heads-up, which showed the orbital autofactories in full swing. “Another dozen or so cities and we’ll have the entire population of Poseidon in the air.”

Gina grinned at me. “And then we’re gonna vote you out on your ear.”

“Can’t wait.”