u/FirstChAoS

Someone asked about stigma due to the replicate process earlier in the week. I first thought maybe it was due to the war it was developed in and the idea of losing a physical body. Then while reading the third book (I am not done with it, so,try to avoid spoilers please) it was stated outright that the replicant process has stigmatism linked to it. That got me thinking.

First of all the fact the technology was developed from the war that nuked the Middle East May play a different role than I assumed. My first thought was it was a medical technique developed to revive fallen soldiers. Now I was thinking maybe it was used to make smart weapons or to make slaves of defeated enemy combatants.

The role of a replicant was a miserable one given a repetitive menial job (it was suggested if Bob fails he may be something like a bus or taxi). Given faiths propensity to program loyalty and inability to speak out in replicants (and overly vocal humans) I doubt the replicants were even free to complain.

This lead to a couple odd thoughts.

1. For those humans who remember earth Bobs and their personality are likely a constant reminder that their self driving car they took for granted was actually a person forced to work against his will.

2. How many replicants did the drones and roomers Riker send to scavenge metal on earth kill? He is focused on humans and a replicant free upbringing has it so automated machines that are not other probes are things he do not think,of.

3. I am sure lots of earth replicants died from EMPs in the final war. However if the nuclear winter will cause glaciation to the equator like he said it will be hell for any surviving replicant. Trapped in ice without the ability to control their sense of time like a space probe would have.

I finished the first two books and I like them.

Odd how after reading the first it was like “I want to see what happens with these loose ends” while after the second my mind is full of what if scenarios and fan theories.

Some of the character arcs are better than others. Howard finding love was not much of an interest to me. The war with the others and Bob with the Deltans however were much more interesting.

The Riker evacuating earth story took a disappointing twist in my opinion. With the death of Homer (one of the better Bobs who had character growth) and already serious Riker getting even more so and dropping the Star Trek motif.

My main complaint which got its own post were the hippogryphs.

Is it odd I keep wanting one good Brazilian probe? I know, I know, Brazil in the Bobiverse is a terrible fascist state and Masieros is a fanatic. However in the first book after the first two Madieros were destroyed and Bob checked for the mind component (blanking on term) up and found it destroyed I was like “yes, find one, remove the programming and emotional locks. He may still be a fanatic but he would be one on his own terms”. When the others appeared I was like “you know of a soldier probe, put all the speed and stealth on a probe you can and beam the info on The Others to Madieros. Turn his aggression towards a real threat.” I am hoping things turn interesting once the Bobs evacuate the Brazilian colony but I am starting to doubt it.

Things I want to see.

A Bob geeking out over a cool planet like the original did with Saturn.

Bob beaming The Others the Malthusian Equation

Bob messaging the others and saying “many things set us par art from the lesser food species other than our ability to eat them. Our intelligence, our technology, but most importantly our ability to sometimes overcome our instinct and better ourselves. I kept expecting the same of you and you kept showing me you are a slave to your instincts just like the food species. No better than them.”

As I said before one good Brazilian drone.

Fan theories I have.

Part of the reason why Bob finds so many inhabitable worlds is his library has data from past exoplanet searches, Guppi sorts the best close options and gives Bob some to choose from.

The first probes VEHEMENT (well, the Australian faction that was proto VEHEMENT) hacked were the two Brazilian probes trying to cause mass extinction on earth. I just have trouble seeing someone who went up the military ranks and is preparing a world for future colonization also deciding to kill the people he is setting up the world for. Maybe Madieros is one of the probes who went insane.

I am reading book two and am about 100 pages in and I just reached the point where Bob blew up the island and was kicked out by the Deltans.

One thing bothers me however. The behavior of the hippogryphs.

Here you have animals well fed on seals who seek food over land too. They never seem to kill a gorilloid or a leopard analog and instead make a B-line for the Deltans. They are undeterred by death of their own kind and with the exception of the injured one they do not scavenge the freshly dead.

Bob tried excusing it by saying “they are like sharks and drawn to blood” but even sharks flee when they are being killed.

They do not act like animals, they act like monsters who live to feed on humanoids and do not have starvation as an excuse as they have seals they are eating.