Book 4: Chapter 12: Expedition Prep
Bob
November 2333
Outskirts, Eta Leporis
The spy drones had multiple duties, so they’d be busy for a while. In addition to finding a way to eavesdrop on the Snarks and learn their language, the drones would be doing biological surveys and surveys of the towns and infrastructure. The drones had been given a search algorithm by the Skippies, which according to them would help to gather the required raw data in a more efficient manner. I didn’t necessarily distrust them, but I’d nevertheless rigged a hardware monitor into the drones. It would be completely undetectable unless you knew the access protocols and keys. Bill’s paranoia seemed to have colored my experiences with the Bobiverse in general.
There was plenty to do, meanwhile. We had enough basic info to start on fabbing an alpha version of the Snark mannies. Details could be filled in once the Skippies finished their biological survey. And there was still the question of getting Bridget involved, at least for consulting on the Snark biology.
I was working on the manny design when I got a ping from Bridget. She and I didn’t hang around together, so this was unlikely to be just out of the blue. I suspected someone might have said something to someone. I sent an accept, and a moment later she popped in.
Bridget spent a few mils looking around at my library. “I very much approve. Howard had a library motif for a while, but never this many books. Are they real?”
“All of them, right down to content,” I said. “I’ve raided every human database I can find. BobNet contains the sum of human and Pav written knowledge.”
“Well, it’s great to have a hobby.” Bridget hesitated, then launched right into what she was really here for. “Bob, I’d like a position on the Snark exploration op when it’s ready.”