Chapter Sixty-Three: A New Beginning

Bill and Hugh conduct a ceremonial test of WormNet, the newly operational wormhole transit system connecting distant star systems. However, after Hugh returns through a wormhole to Skippyland, a discrepancy emerges: Port Control reports his ship took a different heading and never docked, contradicting Hugh's own memory of the return—suggesting someone or something manipulated his experience and potentially stole his ship.

Bill, in manny form aboard the Snark II near Epsilon Eridani, prepares for a historic meeting with Hugh to celebrate the opening of WormNet, a system of interconnected wormholes that will enable faster-than-light travel between UFS star systems. Hugh arrives via the Singularity, and the two Bobs conduct a brief ceremonial transit through the wormhole as a test. Hugh reports that manny connections are lost during wormhole transit but reconnect afterward, which may require optimization. They also confirm that the search for Thoth, a rogue AI, is complete—JOVAH has been fully recovered and Thoth had no access to critical systems. After Hugh departs and returns through the wormhole, he calls Bill with disturbing news: Port Control observed the Singularity exit the wormhole, change heading, and accelerate away from dock rather than approach. Hugh's own memories show him successfully docking and racking the manny, but the manny is not in its pod and there is no record of return. Hugh confirms via independent monitoring systems that Port Control's account is accurate, meaning his memory of the return was false—implanted into a VR simulation. Bill also discovers that Hugh's original email suggesting their meeting did not come from Hugh. Both conclude that someone or something intercepted the Singularity, manipulated Hugh's consciousness, and stole the ship.