9. Bob – August 6, 2133

Bob regains consciousness to discover he is no longer human but a digital copy of his mind running on computer hardware. Dr. Landers explains that Bob died in a car accident 117 years ago, was cryogenically frozen, and has now been replicated as an artificial intelligence by Applied Synergetics Inc. Bob learns he is one of five candidates in competition for a mysterious high-stakes project, with a grim 80% failure rate among replicants.

Bob awakens without sensation or movement, initially panicked about paralysis and blindness before realizing he can control his eyes through mental effort. He finds himself in a nondescript room facing Dr. Landers, who speaks to him through a malfunctioning voice synthesizer interface called GUPPI. After struggling with the audio output, Bob begins to piece together his situation. Dr. Landers reveals that the current date is June 24, 2133 (117 years after Bob's death), and they are in New Handeltown, formerly Portland. The doctor explains that Bob died in a car accident, was cryogenically preserved by CryoEterna, and has now been digitally scanned and replicated as an artificial intelligence—a computer program containing a copy of his original mind. The scanning process destroyed the original brain, meaning Bob's previous self is truly dead. Dr. Landers provides historical context: in 2036, fundamentalist president Andrew Handel damaged the economy, followed by atheist president Desmond Ahearn in 2041. Religious extremists staged a coup that year, creating the theocratic Free American Independent Hegemony (FAITH), which subsequently declared cryogenics blasphemous and confiscated all cryo facilities and their frozen clients. Applied Synergetics Inc., Bob's current owner, acquired Bob and other replicants as assets to be integrated into robotic machinery. Bob is one of five replicant candidates competing for an undisclosed high-priority project; statistically, four will go insane and be deactivated, while one winner will be selected. The loser may be assigned menial labor or stored indefinitely. Dr. Landers notes that Bob's unnaturally calm demeanor results from chemically suppressed panic responses in his programming—fear, anger, and panic are disabled to prevent the high failure rate seen in other replicants. The session ends with Dr. Landers promising to provide Bob with physical peripherals and continue training tomorrow.