10. Things Are Coming Together

Herschel and Neil discuss a growing grassroots movement on Romulus called Ever Onward, which has attracted fifteen thousand members interested in leaving the planet and starting a new colony. Herschel proposes an ambitious expansion of their plans: using refined materials from the Pav deal to mass-produce Heaven vessels crewed by AMIs, sending them ahead to scout systems while maintaining the option to establish colonies.

Herschel shares news with Neil about the unexpected success of their preliminary pitch for colonization: a society called Ever Onward has formed on Romulus with approximately fifteen thousand members, though many may be joining as protest rather than serious commitment. Neil expresses skepticism about the approach, questioning whether Herschel truly conceived the plan and reminding him that many members may not be serious. Herschel defends the initiative by noting that discontent with FAITH and the political climate on Romulus runs deep. When Neil presses him on his true motivations, Herschel admits that he believes the Bobs have become stagnant, absorbed in isolated projects like gaming, terraforming, and collecting rather than pursuing meaningful expansion. He argues that only a handful of Bobs—Phineas, Ferb, Icarus, and Daedalus—continue exploring outward, and they are largely fleeing rather than actively colonizing. Herschel then proposes scaling up the operation dramatically: leveraging their stockpile of refined materials from the Pav deal to construct Heaven vessels on an assembly-line basis, staffing them with AMI crews, and dispatching them ahead to scout systems and identify viable colony worlds. This would allow them to both explore continuously and establish colonies strategically as they progress. Neil initially questions whether this approach differs meaningfully from what Icarus and Daedalus are already doing but ultimately agrees it warrants discussion with the Ever Onward leadership. Herschel ends the conversation energized and begins composing outreach correspondence.