64.      Moot

Bill learns the Others have launched another expedition toward NN 4285 and becomes convinced that Gamma and Delta Pavonis are likely next targets. He begins mobilizing resources and planning a defensive strategy, including recruiting Claude to prepare Gamma Pavonis for potential conflict and arranging to send a backup copy of himself to Alpha Centauri to establish a manufacturing base.

Bill receives reports of the Others launching an expedition from GL 877 toward NN 4285, a small M star. Concerned about follow-up attacks on the Pavonis systems, he consults with Mario about available resources and response options. The closest significant Bob presence is at Sol, which is occupied with colony ship construction, and other nearby systems lack sufficient resources. Bill explains to Mario that his concern about Gamma and Delta Pavonis stems from their distance from existing Bob installations, their suitability for habitable planets, and the Others' pattern of targeting promising systems. Mario suggests Bill could establish a group at Epsilon Eridani to respond, but Bill decides instead to conduct a resource inventory. Bill then contacts Claude, who is heading to Gamma Pavonis, and pressures him to prepare for war, arguing they must establish a defensive line somewhere and the timing is now. Claude protests that this puts him in danger, but Bill justifies it as necessary. Back in his VR, Bill discovers most manufacturing centers are understaffed or unstaffed. He determines that Alpha Centauri's space station, which has a full-power AMI and no current Bob inhabitants, can serve as a bootstrap point. He plans to load a backup of himself there remotely to establish a new replicant and expand manufacturing capacity. Bill concludes that war is unavoidable.