We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

Howard

March 2344

Trantor Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs noᴠelfire.net

Sooooo, marketing campaigns. Not worth their weight in bird droppings, apparently.

I sat on the couch in our Trantor apartment and read the report from the Hawking Institute. The hueys had been rolled out across all civilized worlds, too much hoopla in all available media. A huge blitz, extolling the advantages combined with some well-applied FOMO for those who might resist. Piece of cake, right?

Yeah, no. The Luddies went ballistic, FAITH went absolutely apeshit, talking heads everywhere expressed skepticism, and about half the governments of the UFS expressed guarded concern (the half, I noted silently, that were on the more authoritarian end of the political spectrum). I wasn’t quite sure how hueys threatened them, but it was obvious they did.

Of more immediate concern was the rush of proposed bills, restraining orders, and lawsuit filings intended to delay or block the sale and support of hueys. Huey LLC (yes, we picked that name) was already the subject of no fewer than fifty-two restraining orders, sixteen class-action suits, and four threatened government audits.

Sighing, I called Hector. Not bothering to sit in front of a screen, I used my internal comms service and generated an avatar for my video image. He came up on a virtual window in my head’s-up.

I opened the conversation. “I suppose you’re wondering why I’ve gathered you here.”