19. Milo – July 2152 – Omicron2 Eridani

In this chapter, Bob (now traveling as Heaven-1 toward Epsilon Eridani) conducts a detour to Saturn, discovers and disables a booby trap planted on his ship, and spends weeks developing a virtual reality environment and personality constructs (Guppy, Jeeves, Spike) to combat sensory deprivation. He reviews incoming transmissions revealing escalating conflict on Earth between Brazil and other superpowers, learns of Dr. Landers' death, and finally disables his emotional suppression system, triggering an overwhelming wave of grief over his lost family. The chapter ends with nuclear detonations detected on Earth.

Bob travels at 2g toward Epsilon Eridani but first makes a six-day detour to Saturn, his favorite planet, documenting extensive video footage. Upon arrival, his roamers detect unauthorized circuitry: a C4 explosive device rigged to destroy his primary computer. He safely ejects it via airlock. To prevent further sabotage, Bob sets up isolated receiving equipment to record all incoming transmissions without triggering potential kill orders in his own code. During the long voyage, Bob combats sensory deprivation by developing an elaborate virtual reality environment featuring a customizable room, furniture, and a virtual body. He programs artificial intelligences—Guppy (based on Admiral Ackbar), Jeeves (John Cleese), and Spike (his deceased university cat)—to simulate companionship and assist with tasks. Bob discovers multiple booby traps in his code, including endocrine control systems designed to suppress his emotions and obedience imperatives to FAITH orders. He removes the obedience imperatives but delays disabling the emotional suppression. Bob reviews recorded transmissions from Dr. Landers and Dr. Doucette detailing earthside escalation: a Brazilian gunship fired a missile at him; FAITH forces destroyed it; Brazil responds aggressively, launching two armed probes. One Brazilian probe matches his course with 1.25g acceleration, giving Bob 145 days head start to Epsilon Eridani. Landers is killed in a bombing at Newhaven facility as the conflict escalates into what appears to be a full-scale war among superpowers. After weeks of preparation and planning defensive strategies (missiles, rail guns, smart ammo), Bob finally disables his emotional suppression system. The removal triggers an overwhelming emotional cascade as he grieves his lost family—his parents, sisters Andrea and Alaina, and the future generations he'll never know. In his grief, he curls on the floor with Spike. Minutes later, Guppy detects multiple EMPs and visible light flashes from Earth, indicating nuclear detonations have begun. Bob realizes he is now effectively alone in space.