17. Bob – July 2145 – Epsilon Eridani

Bob converses with Dr. Doucette, a colleague of Dr. Landers, while coordinating roamer assembly work. The discussion covers Earth's history—including a nuclear weapon detonation in former Salem—and the theocratic government's control methods. Bob raises philosophical concerns about the safeguards built into his programming that will ensure he completes his mission.

Bob is working with roamers on assembly-line-style ship component construction under the supervision of Dr. Doucette, who is covering for Dr. Landers. When Bob asks about Old Handeltown, Dr. Doucette explains that the original town was Handel's birthplace in Salem, Oregon. After Handel's death, the city renamed itself in his honor, but someone objected and destroyed it with a pocket nuclear weapon—the only nuclear detonation ever deployed in North America, though it occurred after the continent ceased being American soil over a century prior. Many people died, but advanced medical knowledge came from treating the radiation injuries, similar to developments that emerged from the Middle-East conflict. The conversation shifts to life under theocracy, and Dr. Doucette becomes cautious, checking for Piety Monitors' locations via security card tracking before continuing. Bob pointedly asks how Applied Synergetics can trust he will follow mission objectives once released, given they cannot have known his cooperation in advance. Dr. Doucette cryptically mentions safeguards in his software that will ensure mission objectives are met, but refuses further details. Bob is troubled by the philosophical implications—unsure whether he will experience himself as a puppet on strings or as making free decisions while constrained.