2. Working the Options

Bob returns to Delta Eridani from Earth and begins investigating Bender's disappearance over a hundred years ago. While traveling toward Gamma Leporis A, his monitoring systems detect an anomalous infrared signature and periodic dimming around Eta Leporis—possible evidence of a megastructure—prompting him to change course and investigate this new lead.

Bob has recently returned to Delta Eridani after a pilgrimage to Earth, which he views as his last visit to his home before the ice age ends. He settles into his virtual reality environment and reviews the mystery of Bender's disappearance. Bender, a Bob-clone who left Delta Eridani in 2165 headed for Gamma Leporis A, vanished without trace despite searches by Victor, Marvin, and Luke. Bob theorizes that Bender may have detected something interesting and changed course, something the other Bobs missed. To investigate, he orders the construction of long-range scout drones to search Bender's projected path. Bob then departs Delta Eridani at 5G acceleration toward Gamma Leporis A. About two months into his voyage, Guppy alerts him to an astronomical anomaly: Eta Leporis displays an unusual infrared signature and exhibits periodic dimming consistent with a Dyson Swarm or megastructure. Luke and Marvin, present in the Bobmoot virtual reality, suggest this discovery justifies course correction, with Marvin offering to clone himself into a new vessel if needed. Bob accepts and redirects toward Eta Leporis, a 35-year journey. He discusses the changing nature of the Bobiverse with Luke and Marvin, noting increasing variation in Bob clones' appearances, clothing, and philosophies—some approaching "TNG uniform" aesthetics and discussing forming Starfleet-like monitoring organizations. Bob returns to his personal VR and plans logistics: he'll deploy a makeshift communications relay drone en route to bridge the gap until Delta Eridani can build and send a full relay station. He concludes that Bender likely investigated Eta Leporis and encountered something catastrophic, since he would otherwise have established communications long ago. Bob decides to approach cautiously, parking in the Oort cloud first and deploying heavy scout presence rather than diving directly toward the star.