All These Worlds (Bobiverse Book 3)

by Dennis E. Taylor

  “Mmm, yeah, Bridget had words with her offspring. I don’t think Rosie will seek me out to yell at me anymore.”

  “You know you’re asking for it, don’t you? Dating a human…”

  “It’s not really dating, Will. There’s no sexual component. We enjoy each other’s company. We always have. We get each other.”

  I nodded in sympathy. “I know what you mean. But lips will flap.”

  Howard laughed. “Screw ’em. I’m happier than I’ve been since, hmm, since before Jenny, actually.”

  “Jenny’s long dead, Howard. Eventually, Bridget will be as well.” I shrugged apologetically at Howard’s sharp look. “Sorry, I think the funeral has me a little down. Just a year after we lost the colonel. Ephemerals, indeed.”

  “Yeah…” Howard reached over and gave Spike a quick pat. “Immortality sure isn’t all upside.”

  I got up and placed Spike on the chair I’d just vacated. “No argument there. I’m going to go home, activate my alcohol receptors, and drown my sorrows. Then, tomorrow, back to the salt mines.”

  I waved to Howard, then popped back to my own VR, in Sol system.

  Flying Cities

  Marcus

  February 2215

  Poseidon

  “I suppose you’re all wondering why I’ve gathered you here.” I turned to sweep my gaze across the assembled invitees. I saw several eye-rolls, some smiles, and a couple of blank faces that said, ‘please let this be over soon’.

  Philistines.

  “Sorry, I always get a kick out of saying that. In this case, though, it’s appropriate. There’s a project I’ve been actively working on for about fifteen years now. I think you’ll be interested.” I gazed around at my audience, gauging their mood. I noted that several of them were peering back at me with at least as much interest. Very few people had seen me walking around in my android body, as yet.

  I’d arranged this meeting on a remote section of the Great Northern Mat, about three miles from the population center of New Malé. Personal flyers sat, parked randomly on the thick vegetation surface. The invitees were a heterogeneous mix of security, administration, and technical people, as well as a few individuals with no credentials at all, except that I liked and trusted them. My friends, whom I’d come to think of as the inner circle, stood off to one side. They’d declared that this was my show, and they would stay out of it.

  I tried to suppress a grin, then gave up and let it come. And why not? In effect, I was about to create a new nation.

  “Okay, Marcus, this is getting old. Give.” That was Yoshi, a senior infrastructure engineer and one of Kal’s friends from work.

  “You got it, Yoshi. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you…the flying city of Helium!”

  As I said the words, I brought the city down through the clouds to hover fifty feet overhead. Well, okay, ‘city’ was a little trumped up. It would be the size of a double lot in any suburban setting. Circular, about a hundred feet in diameter, the floating platform was flat on the top side, covered with a clear fibrex dome, with a series of hemispherical protuberances arranged radially on the underside.

  “I will be dipped in shit.” Yoshi’s mouth hung open. He turned toward me, eyes goggling. “Okay, I’m impressed. How’s it work? Not like the flyers…”

  “No, of course not. No turbo-props. Or helium, ironically. Helium, the city, uses a series of SURGE coils.”

  “But that can’t be right. Gravity is always nullified in a SURGE field. This isn’t supposed to be a free-fall city, is it?”

  I laughed. “No, Yoshi. No zero-G. The field doesn’t envelop the city. The SURGE coils are set up almost like the VTOL fans on your flyers. They provide lift, nothing else. That’s those hemispheres on the underside.”

  “Damn.” Yoshi’s eyebrows were starting to come together in the signature engineer frown—a sure sign that he was starting to think things through.

  He turned to face me squarely. “So what you said before—this isn’t going to be offered to the colony?”

  “Not quite. This won’t be offered exclusively to the colony administration. I don’t want them controlling it. They’ve already got too tight a grip on things.” I shook my head slowly. “If you’d asked any Bob, we’d have guessed it would be FAITH pulling this kind of fascist crap. Not some former island nations.”

  Vinnie, despite the group’s earlier promise, muttered almost inaudibly, “They’ll try to shut it down.”

  “Short of violence, Vinnie, there’s not that much they can do. Their power is mostly in perceived authority, implied threats, and social pressure.”

  “So we ignore them.” Kal nodded.

  “What if they do start shooting?” Gina asked. “I keep hassling you about this. Are you prepared to shoot back?”

  “If it came to that,” I replied, “I still have the biggest weapons. But they know that. And they know I can take out all their space-based assets.”

  Yoshi gave me the stink-eye. “Why are you doing this, Marcus?”

  “You have to ask? This is supposed to be a fresh start for humanity. We’re supposed to start over, without all the former prehistoric bullshit. And instead, this government is just starting it up all over again. I want to pull their teeth.”

  I turned back in the direction of Helium and waved expansively. “I’m just giving people a way to vote with their feet.”

  * * *

  It took no convincing at all to get everyone up to Helium for an inspection. People walked around, gazing over the edge through the clear fibrex dome material, or just pacing the perimeter.

  “It’s a little short on buildings,” Kal said, smiling at me.

  “I’m not really sure to what extent we need them,” I replied. “With the dome, this is completely climate-controlled. No rain, no cold, no snow. Beyond basic privacy requirements, you could just live al fresco.” I stamped my foot on the bare metal surface. “We could put down a layer of soil and have grass everywhere.”

  Kal nodded. Gina cut in. “What you have here, Marcus, is a basic framework. Very nice technical proof-of-concept, but it needs a few things. Cargo bays, landing bays and garage for flyers, evacuation pods, emergency equipment, weapon emplacements, food storage, kitchens…”

  “And, she’s off.” Kal laughed and inclined his head at Gina.

  “Well, it is my job.”

  “That’s fine, guys,” I said. “And Gina’s right. A fully usable and livable city has to have the infrastructure for people to live and do their jobs. So, I’m open to suggestions. With your help, version 2 will be move-in ready. Also bigger, of course. You need enough room for a community to work as well as live.”

  Kal nodded. “And who will we invite?”

  “Ah, now, there’s a whole other conversation.” I’d been waiting for someone to bring that up. “I have some notes…”

  * * *

  Gina grabbed a couple of beers from Kal’s fridge and returned to the couch. She handed one to Vinnie, and popped hers. Bobbing it in my direction, she said, “If you just throw it wide open, Marcus, you’re effectively inviting in Council spies.”

  “Don’t care, Gina. In fact, I’m also going to file the construction plans with the appropriate government departments.”

  “Just don’t expect them to issue permits.” Kal grinned at me.

  I chuckled. “No, I wouldn’t expect them to move quickly on that. Anyway, the point is to make this as open as possible. No secrets, no espionage stuff. Completely out front. Everyone will know about it, everyone can get information. It pulls the teeth of the Council in a lot of ways.”

  “Sabotage?”

  “Wow.” I frowned at Gina. “It would have to be after the fact, when there are already citizens on board. Maybe I’m naïve, but I can’t see even the Council being willing to kill people.”

  You’re right,” Gina said.

  I smiled at her. “There you go.”

  “You are naïve.” She smiled back.

  I rolled my eyes whi
le Vinnie and Kal chuckled. “Okay, fine,” I continued. “But if it gets to that point, it’s open war.”

  “Well, here we go,” Vinnie said. “Vive la révolution.”

  I sighed yet again. I wasn’t sure just exactly what it was about this that I found so mentally tiring. “I keep saying it. I’d like to avoid that entirely. Look, it’s not like we’re doing anything negative. We’re not blowing things up, or going on strike, or burning down the Bastille, or even sailing off into the west. People will continue to do their jobs, they’ll continue to produce food, perform manufacturing, whatever. They’ll just have a different mailing address.”

  “What the hell is a mailing address?”

  I grinned at Vinnie. “Sorry. Before your time. I meant they’ll have a different residential location. The point is, there’s no downside, not materially or economically, for the Council. Sure, we’re thumbing our noses at them, and I expect them to get grumpy, but to start shooting? Killing people?” I shook my head. “I’m not saying it’s impossible, just that it would pretty much end any credibility they might have up to that point.”

  Gina, rolled her eyes. “Marcus, you’re a loner. You always have been, the way you describe it. And you’ve never sought power. But some people need power, and they need to have power over someone. Preferably lots of someones. Taking away the Council’s subjects—which is what you’d be doing—is a declaration of war.”

  I grinned at her. “Ever the optimist. I love your Pollyanna view of humanity.”

  “Kidding aside, Marcus, when I say war, I mean the first thing they’ll try to do is take you out. You’re not immune, or off-limits, or anything. And when the Bobs show up in a decade or two to investigate, they’ll be met with a fait accompli.”

  “You’re going just a little bit overboard, aren’t you?”

  She cocked her head at me. “Don’t make the common mistake of thinking your opponents are stupid just because they don’t see things your way, Marcus. They know you’re a potential threat. And they also know you’re sympathetic to the cause, if only because of…” Gina waved her hands to take in our location. “They’ll have made taking you out a priority.”

  I stared at Gina, shaken. Logic said she was correct. And I was very public about my movements, about what I was doing at the moment, and so on. I realized that would have to change.

  The Council had had administrative access to autofactories and printers for more than long enough now to be able to build things I didn’t know about. And I’d been encouraging it.

  “Okay, Gina. You win. We’ll start taking this seriously.” I looked around at the others. “So, what’s the next step?”

  “At this point, the ball is in their court,” Gina replied. “On the other hand, your end run around them with the flying cities isn’t something they can ignore. I think, as you say, the fun will come to us soon enough.”

  Friends

  Howard

  May 2218

  Vulcan

  “This is unbelievable,” I said. “How is it that, with two hundred years of progress, men still have to wear ties?”

  Bridget rolled her eyes at me as she adjusted the misbehaving article of clothing. Androids couldn’t choke—I’d checked the blueprints—but something about a suit and tie just made me feel like I was being slowly strangled.

  “You, sir, are a big baby.” Bridget gave the knot a final tweak. “And despite your best efforts, you look great.”

  I grinned in response. “And as a reward, you’ll let me skip—”

  “Howard!”

  I sighed, as theatrically as I could manage. “Yes, dear.” Humming the Volga Boatmen’s Song, I picked up my suit jacket.

  Bridget said nothing, but the glare was communication enough.

  * * *

  The maître d’ led us to the table and pulled out a chair for Bridget. I looked around the table at the two other couples, noting the same hangdog look on the men’s faces that I was pretty sure was on mine. Some things just never changed, centuries or light-years away.

  Bridget smiled and made introductions. Kumar and Reeda, Arnie and Sylvie, were friends of Bridget’s from back in her biologist days. I wondered for a moment if it was odd that I’d never met them.

  Arnie gazed at me intently, his eyes narrowed. “Honestly, Howard, if I didn’t already know you’re an android, I wouldn’t ever have suspected.”

  Sylvie turned to him, jaw hanging. “Arnie! For crying out loud!”

  “What? Are we supposed to ignore the elephant in the room? Is this a big secret?”

  I noted that Kumar was trying to suppress a grin. Reeda seemed to be unable to decide who to support. I waved a hand in dismissal and smiled at Sylvie and Arnie. “No, he’s right. I don’t think I’d be able to take an entire evening of everyone dancing around the topic. Let’s get it out of the way.”

  Arnie looked smug, and Sylvie glared at him. Before that could escalate, I continued, “And you wouldn’t have known until I opened up my abdomen to get rid of my meal.”

  Bridget snorted, Kumar laughed out loud, and Reeda finally came down on Sylvie’s side. Both women glared at me, then at Bridget.

  “You two are made for each other,” Sylvie said.

  I looked up at the ceiling. “In my case, that’s literally true.”

  I sat back in satisfaction as the entire table broke up. Where are these tough crowds I keep hearing about?

  Arnie, wiping a tear from one eye, said, “You don’t actually do that, do you? With the abdomen and…”

  “No.” I grinned back. “But I threaten it fairly often. Bridget has stopped paying attention, so It’s nice to have some new victims.”

  The comedy festival had attracted a bit of attention, but now that we were quieting down, the other tables went back to their own business.

  “So how lifelike are you?” Sylvie’s face registered shock as she heard herself. “Oh, God, that came out wrong. I mean—”

  “It’s okay, Sylvie, I’m not that easily offended. We’ve tried to design the androids to be as realistic as possible, both to us and to other people. Which means pain, emotional reactions, reflexes, and so on. It’s an ongoing project, of course.”

  “Hmm, does that include…”

  I grinned. “Ongoing project.”

  Bridget rolled her eyes. “Can we order food now?”

  I smiled at her and signaled the waiter.

  Once he’d taken our orders, I gazed around the table. “Look, I’m human. Or at least, I was, once. I grew up in Minnesota; had sisters and parents, went to school, and so on. You wouldn’t think anything of someone with a prosthetic arm, right? Just think of me as an extreme amputation case.”

  Bridget choked on her wine and went into a coughing fit. After some emergency back-patting and cleanup, I grinned at the others. “On the other hand, reflexes like that one, I can do without.”

  The rest of the meal passed without significant events. We talked, we laughed, we drank. I made sure to set my alcohol consumption below anyone else. A drinking competition would be blatantly unfair, of course.

  Still, Kumar put away perhaps one or two too many, with the inevitable loosening of lips. As we were sitting back, starting at our empty desert plates, he grinned at me, his head slightly off kilter. “So, any plans to take over the world? You guys could do it, couldn’t you? You have the high ground, all the weapons…”

  Reeda glared at him, then drew back a clenched fist.

  I held my hand up to stop her, and gave Kumar the stink eye. “Why does everyone always want to take over the world? I’ve never understood that. It sounds like a horrible job. Hell, no. We’re going to deal with the Others, but other than that you guys are on your own.”

  I’d expressed the sentiment maybe a little more forcefully than intended, because eyebrows went up around the table.

  “Look,” I said, trying to smooth things over. “It takes a certain type of person to want to rule. Bob wasn’t that type. None of us are. If anything, once
this whole ‘Others’ thing blows over, we’re more likely to just take off. So, no, not a long-term issue.”

  Kumar nodded, and the tension seemed to dissipate. But I was left with an uneasy feeling about my statement.

  * * *

  I pulled off the tie and tossed it onto the kitchen table. “Free, at last!”

  Bridget grinned at me as she set the kettle in preparation for her end-of-day tea. “It went well. They seemed to accept you, once the initial awkwardness was taken care of.”

  “Did you perhaps prime Arnie to say that?” I gave her the evil eye.

  “Not as far as you know.”

  I laughed. “Right. So, is there a bigger picture?”

  Bridget stared at the kettle for a few moments, perhaps willing it to hurry up. “Howard, you and the other Bobs, you’re kind of like bears or mountain lions—no complex society, mostly solitary animals, very little need to interact. And unlike those animals, you’re also comfortable with each other. I’m sure having very similar attitudes about most things plays into it. But when it comes to other people, it gets more complicated.”

  I had to disagree about the no complex society comment, although I had a fair idea what she actually meant by it. But how to explain moots, the rules of VR visits, and so on? I decided to let it pass.

  The kettle clicked and she was silent for a moment as she poured. “What I’d really like is for you to be old news instead of a novelty. Just an extreme amputation case, like you said. People need to see you as just another person.”

  “People in general?”

  “And some specific people.”

  “Ah.” Yeah, there’s that. “Okay, Bridget. I’ve long since learned that you’re thinking several steps ahead. I’ll go along. Just as long as I don’t have to wear the damned tie again.”

  “No promises. You have to suffer, too.”

  I chuckled, and sat with her as she settled down with her tea. While she sipped, I used the time to think about that last exchange with Kumar, and everything that it implied.