32. Bill – October 2158 – Epsilon Eridani

Bill and Garfield successfully test a revolutionary subspace communication system that transmits signals instantaneously across interstellar distances, far outpacing conventional radio. They celebrate their breakthrough and plan to transmit the technology specifications to other Bob instances across the galaxy.

Bill monitors telemetry from Garfield, who is piloting a probe called Garfield over five light-minutes away and receding at 2000 km/s. While conventional radio signals lag predictably due to light-speed limitations, Bill detects an accompanying subspace signal with a timestamp that remains perfectly synchronized with his own transmissions—a clear violation of relativistic constraints that indicates the technology works. Garfield confirms receiving Bill's echo with the expected 11.5-minute delay on the radio signal. Bill instructs Garfield to disengage the transceiver and return. Garfield then surprises Bill by appearing in his virtual reality space, revealing he has integrated the subspace communication directly into the VR interface itself. The two discuss the implications: while the technology will eventually suffer signal dropout after approximately twenty-five light-years, space stations can serve as routers to extend galactic communication. They recognize the breakthrough will enable an interstellar internet using IPV8 addressing. Bill decides they should transmit their current specifications immediately rather than wait for refinements, reasoning that other Bob instances can build the receiving end and iterate from there. Both recognize this discovery fundamentally changes everything about interstellar communication and coordination.