Chapter Twenty-Six: Building Dragons

Howard and Bridget observe progress on artificial dragon bodies for infiltration purposes on Jabberwocky, then travel to Newholme where they experience firsthand the anti-replicant sentiment and authoritarian surveillance measures spreading across colony worlds. The chapter concludes with Bridget proposing that the Bobiverse pursue life-extension research to address the root cause of anti-Bob sentiment.

Howard and Bridget monitor the construction of an artificial dragon body in an assembly pod, designed to pass inspection by actual dragons on Jabberwocky. Bridget has been observing several villages and notes that dragons identify only by village, with no collective term for their species, creating a caste-like system toward outsiders. They decide to visit Newholme, a Gamma Pavonis colony where the government has implemented mandatory facial recognition for all public transactions. The population has responded with widespread civil disobedience—holographic masks, makeup that disrupts facial recognition, and coordinated misdemeanors using masks of President Adrianne Hernandez. Xavier Charles, the local Bob operative, greets them and provides them with new mannies equipped with feature-modification circuitry, warning them not to use it carelessly as mismatched IDs are felonies. During their excursion to downtown Moncton, they encounter a restaurant displaying a "No replicants" sign and a metal detector at the entrance, which dampens their mood and cuts their visit short. Back at Xavier's place, he explains that anti-replicant sentiment is spreading across all colony worlds, driven by resentment of Bobs' effective immortality, wealth accumulation, and inability to conveniently die and pass on inheritances. Howard and Bridget return to their apartment, where Bridget proposes that despite previous arguments against immortality, the Bobiverse should pursue life-extension research—not full immortality, but greatly extended human lifespans—to undercut the fundamental source of the anti-replicant hatred. Howard agrees to fund the project.