We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

Book 3: Chapter 62: Life in the Clouds

Book 3: Chapter 62: Life in the Clouds

Howard

February 2244

Epsilon Eridani

 

“Honey, I’m home!”

Bridget turned to me as I closed the apartment door. “And that never gets old.”

“Nope. Never will.” I grinned and gave her a hug and a kiss. “Where’s my martini?”

“It’s in the liquor bottles. Some assembly required. Make me one, too.” She smiled at me and turned back to the computer’s Canvas.

I sighed with contentment and went over to put together some actual drinks. Sadly, in real life, you couldn’t just materialize a martini. On the other hand, no matter how much I tweaked the VR, they still tasted better in Real than in Virt.

I handed Bridget her drink. She barely looked up from the Canvas but grunted thanks. I peeked over her shoulder. It looked like a species tree for some segment of native life on Quilt. Something with wings and a stinger. Which, some to think of it, didn’t narrow it down much.

The diagram took up the entire Canvas, except for the inset in the corner showing a picture of Howie, Angeline, and their three children. Bridget was a grandmother, and her complaints about how old it made her feel didn’t fool anyone. We visited regularly, using the Vulcan androids, and nana was a huge favorite.

I wandered over to the picture window and looked down on the city of Tantor. Yes, that’s right. Tantor. Some twit wanted a literary reference when naming the city and left out a letter. So now we lived in an elephant. Amateurs.

I snorted in derision and turned away. Bridget said, “Are you grousing about the city’s name again?”

“You read minds now?”

“There’s a tone in your snort that says morons. You were looking out the window. It’s not much of a stretch.”

I laughed and raised my glass in salute. We’d grown together over the years, and we knew each other as well as any married couple with decades under their belt. Bridget spared a moment to smile at me, then went back to grumbling and poking at the Canvas in the air before her.

In the distance, the city dome separated us from the atmosphere of Big Top. KKP had finally gotten officially changed to Quilt, but the Jovian primary had kept its original moniker. No one seemed to mind.

Blimps, or the local equivalent, floated past outside the dome, with the inevitable retinue of predators. We were beginning to realize that life on gas giants was as ubiquitous, plentiful, and thematically consistent as that on terrestrial planets. There was a mounting chorus of demands that we check out other types of environments as well. Good time to be a biologist.

Tantor’s population—I gritted my teeth as I had the thought—was up around a million, now. We’d expected some reluctance from the population of Quilt when we started building cities in the clouds of Big Top; but it turned out most people were quite happy to leave behind the overwhelming ecological maelstrom of the planet.

I sidled around to get in Bridget’s peripheral vision. “Any new nasties?”

“Hah!” She turned to me. “Honestly, Howard, I think the planet actually evolves new species as fast as we get rid of the old ones. Humans are an unexploited niche, I guess. I’m sure some of these beasties didn’t exist at all ten years ago.”

I grunted. So far, nothing had evolved a taste for android, so I was good.

I raised my martini to my lips, and Bridget said, “Howard, have you ever considered adopting?”

* * *

Alcohol is surprisingly difficult to get out of clothing and carpets. You’d think it would evaporate quickly, but the odor remains. It took several minutes of cleaning before discussion could continue. ???????

“What?” Not my best response ever.

“There was that shuttle disaster a while ago. A lot of children left parentless. Things happen. People die. More so than in a truly settled, tamed society, in fact. There are similar issues on Vulcan, Romulus, and the other colonies. Adults have risky jobs. Governments are actually having to create departments to deal with it.”

“Bridget, we’re, uh, well, to put it indelicately, we’re machines.”

“This from the man who lectures me regularly about how I’m Original Me? Who once spent a half hour going on about Chinese Rooms? Grrrr. We’re officially citizens. We have friends. We belong to clubs. Hell, Howard, we pay taxes.”

I stared at her for several moments. “I actually do not have a coherent objection. Which is weird, because my immediate reaction is oh, hell, no.”

Bridget cocked her head and smiled. “You don’t have to decide right away. We have forever, right?”

I knew Bridget. This could have only one outcome. I was going to be a daddy.