57.      Moot

Bill attends a social gathering at the pub and discusses recent developments with other Bobs, including promising results from the 82 Eridani expedition and concerning psychological shifts among newer Bobs. He also learns of plans to search for the missing Bob Bender, whose silence has lasted thirty years.

Bill receives news from Garfield about the expedition to 82 Eridani, which has yielded three potential new colony targets and valuable intelligence on the Others' cloaking technology, along with unexploded fission bombs for study. However, Bill expresses concern that even these gains can only delay the Others, whose estimated population of several hundred billion and superior military capabilities make them appear nearly invincible. At the pub gathering, Bill observes troubling signs: several newer Bobs, including Monty, express reluctance to remain long-term with human colonies, using dismissive language about humanity. Bill worries about a psychological shift among Bobs cloned from Riker's line but decides not to overanalyze it. He also notes Howard's absence—the Bob is deeply infatuated with a human woman, a situation others find naïve. Bill speaks with Marvin and Luke about their missing cohort-mate Bender, who left Delta Eridani thirty years ago with no contact since. They propose mounting an expedition to follow Bender's flight path by detecting the slight thinning of interstellar gas left by their ship's scooping operations. Bill, initially thinking in ephemeral terms about the time required, reminds himself that Bobs have infinite time to conduct such searches.