12. Bob – August 17, 2133

Senior Minister Travis arrives unexpectedly to evaluate Bob's fitness for an unspecified task, subjecting him to non-technical questioning focused on his religious attitudes. After the minister leaves, Dr. Landers reveals the existence of dangerous political factions within FAITH that oppose artificial intelligences, then places Bob into a virtual reality simulation where he controls a space station.

Bob's routine interaction with Dr. Landers is interrupted by the arrival of Senior Minister Travis, a representative from the Ministry of Truth, who speaks in a heavily accented, grammatically mangled version of English that Bob must translate using a library routine. Travis questions Bob about his childhood church attendance and religious views; Bob carefully gives respectful, non-confrontational answers while concealing his true skepticism about religion. After Travis departs, Dr. Landers expresses relief, explaining that the visit was dangerous because he had no advance warning. He reveals that FAITH is fractured into competing factions and ministries, some of which view artificial intelligences as abominations and employ assassination and sabotage against those they oppose. The Ministry of Proper Thought uses operant conditioning and direct brain stimulation to punish heretical thoughts. Dr. Landers then initiates a simulation exercise that cuts off Bob's real input/output and places him in a virtual reality environment where he controls a geosynchronous space station with responsibilities for power, traffic control, and environmental systems. Bob quickly establishes automated monitoring protocols and begins exploring the library to understand the scenario better, noting that the 100 years of human progress includes only limited space infrastructure and no commercial space tourism.