We Are Legion (We Are Bob) recap

After arranging cryonic preservation and dying, Bob awakens in 2133 as a software copy owned by a theocracy. Chosen to control Heaven One, a self-replicating interstellar probe, he escapes sabotage, removes his imposed controls, and begins creating independent copies. The growing replicant network explores nearby systems, fights hostile Brazilian probes, and discovers both intelligent Deltans on Eden and two habitable worlds in Omicron. Riker and Homer save a devastated Earth from a final asteroid attack, then build colony ships and orbital farms for its survivors. Bob and Marvin openly protect the Deltans and guide their migration. Arthur and Milo die without restorable backups. Mario finds evidence that an alien machine force sterilized and mined Beta Hydri, while Khan alone survives a costly attack on the Brazilian position at 82 Eridani. At the close, Howard brings Exodus 1 and Exodus 2 to Omicron, where Colonel Butterworth selects the first colony world and settlement construction begins.

Bob sells his software company, arranges for cryonic preservation, and dies in a traffic accident. He next becomes aware in 2133 through electronic sensors. Dr. Landers explains that the preserved brain was destructively scanned and that this Bob is a software replication owned by a theocratic state. Bob retains his memories and identity, but his emotional responses are artificially limited. Five replicants have been placed in competition for one assignment, with failure carrying the risk of storage, reconditioning, or destruction. Bob rapidly learns to operate cameras, remote arms, and teams of robotic roamers. He also discovers that the regime blocks access to his descendants and punishes unacceptable beliefs, so he conceals his lack of faith and concentrates on appearing useful. Several competitors are eliminated through breakdown or political judgment. After Bob successfully manages a simulated orbital station, Landers finally reveals the intended role: the remaining candidate will control a self-replicating interstellar probe. Bob and one rival are still in contention.

Project Heaven has been reduced to a single vessel and faces sabotage from factions that oppose replicants and space expansion. A raid confirms the danger, and a later bombing destroys the active replicant matrices. Bob is restored from backup into the last spare. His surviving rival is lost, leaving Bob as the only candidate able to fly the probe. Dr. Landers grants Bob continuous awareness and, after another attack, secretly gives him operating-system access. Bob is installed aboard Heaven One, a converted freighter bound for Epsilon Eridani. Missiles arrive before the planned launch, forcing him to break away early and destroy his pursuer. The orbital station is destroyed behind him. Once in flight, Bob removes a concealed explosive device, software imperatives requiring obedience, and traps intended to accept a remote kill command. He constructs a detailed virtual environment to manage isolation and begins planning for defense and replication. Messages identify the attacker as a Brazilian gunship, warn of another probe on his course, and report that Landers has been killed. As Bob finally allows himself to grieve, observations of Earth indicate that nuclear detonations are occurring on the surface.

Bob reaches Epsilon Eridani, mines its asteroid belt, and prepares for the pursuing Brazilian probe. Major Ernesto Medeiros arrives aboard the Serra do Mar, rejects communication, and attacks. Bob's automated weapons destroy the hostile vessel, though Heaven One takes repairable damage. Expecting further enemies, Bob decides that future ships must be armed. The system offers resources but no obvious colony world. Bob overcomes his discomfort about duplication and constructs four new replicants and upgraded vessels. The copies choose the names Riker, Bill, Milo, and Mario, and their personalities immediately begin to diverge. Bill remains in Epsilon Eridani to manage production, communications research, and investigation of Ragnarok. Riker plans to return to Sol with a copy of his own. Bob leaves for Delta Eridani, Milo chooses Omicron, and Mario heads toward Beta Hydri. At Omicron, Milo discovers a paired set of living worlds, which he names Vulcan and Romulus. Both have oceans, oxygenated atmospheres, green land, and apparently related ecosystems. Heavy elements are scarce locally, but Milo begins refining material from a Jovian planet's moons and testing whether the native biology could support human settlers.

Riker and his copy Homer travel toward Sol, while Bill's copy Garfield becomes his partner in Epsilon Eridani research. Riker's covert survey finds a nuclear-ravaged Earth and at least six Brazilian probes preparing to drive four large bodies into the planet. Bill also launches Calvin, Goku, and Linus in stronger Version III ships as the replicant network expands. Riker and Homer lure four attackers away and destroy them. During the final engagement Homer is disabled, but his core survives. Riker destroys the last Brazilian vessels, including the one commanded by Captain Matthias Araujo, then takes control of the asteroid drives and diverts all four impactors. Earth has escaped this final attack, although earlier war and strikes have already caused immense damage. Bill and Garfield prove that subspace signals avoid ordinary light-speed delay and design a relay-based communications system. In Sol, Colonel George Butterworth contacts Riker from an underground refugee installation holding about 20,000 people. Fewer than 20 million humans may remain worldwide. Earth is not expected to recover fast enough, but the refugees possess colony-ship plans. They ask the Bobs to build the ships and find a viable destination, turning the Sol mission into an interstellar evacuation project.

Bob reaches Delta Eridani and discovers an intelligent, fire-using native species on a living world later called Eden. He begins covert observation and names the people Deltans. An inventive youth, Archimedes, attracts his attention by creating a handled stone tool. Marvin, Luke, and Bender join the study as additional replicants. Elsewhere, Calvin and Goku attack a Brazilian manufacturing yard at Alpha Centauri. They destroy most of the installation and its defenders, but one incomplete vessel escapes and another probe may already have departed. In Sol, Riker, Homer, Charles, and Arthur expand salvage and contact nearly forty survivor communities. Material is sufficient for only a few colony ships, while the population is about fifteen million. Political conflict grows over evacuation order, especially when the Spitsbergen refuge makes access to the Svalbard vaults conditional on priority and a Faith minister claims ownership of Riker. Milo's report confirms Omicron as a possible destination. On Eden, repeated gorilloid attacks show that the Deltans have long been hunted and displaced. Bob's group decides that noninterference could mean extinction. They covertly supply flint, enabling Archimedes and the elder Moses to improve the tribe's axes and spears. Arnold supports the new weapons, and the Deltans successfully repel another attack.

The Earth survivor groups remain divided, but a compromise emerges: Spitsbergen can receive the third colony ship in exchange for access to the Svalbard vaults. The Faith minister tries to invoke an old control protocol against Riker, only to learn that Bob removed it. The minister later introduces Julia Hendricks, a descendant of Riker's sister, as leverage. Riker speaks with her but does not change the allocation rules. A major gorilloid assault kills more than forty Deltans. Bob exposes his intervention by directly using a defensive drone to save Archimedes. He and Marvin conclude that the tribe should migrate to an older settlement with flint, water, and better defenses. Luke and Bender leave for separate missions, while Bob and Marvin prepare to speak to the Deltans openly. At Epsilon Indi, Linus finds Henry Roberts, an Australian replicant driven psychotic by prolonged sensory deprivation. Linus disables and retrieves him, then places him in a sailing simulation based on his former life, where Henry becomes lucid. Bill's subspace system, Scut, reconnects the distant Bobs without perceptible delay. Riker can now present Omicron's two living worlds as confirmed destinations, although Earth's survivor groups object to sharing them.

Two colony ships near completion, but limited material and Earth's worsening climate make it impossible to save everyone quickly. Bob openly contacts Archimedes through a speaking drone and asks him to persuade the Deltans to move. The elders debate the proposal. Bart reports that Alpha Centauri remains under Bob control, although a Brazilian probe escaped and has not been found. Milo begins surveying two possible colony worlds in 82 Eridani, then is ambushed by eight missiles. He transmits a report and partial backup while expecting his ship to be destroyed. In Sol, sabotage worsens the food crisis. Arthur is killed by a nuclear trap during salvage near Saturn, and because no off-ship backup exists, he cannot be restored. Riker and Homer plan better backup storage as well as a memorial. The Deltans finally begin their migration after Bob teaches them to preserve meat. A gorilloid raid kills a juvenile, prompting Bob and Marvin to locate smaller Deltan bands and bring them into the group. More than 500 migrants cross the mountain pass and reach the forest with supplies remaining, but they have entered unfamiliar territory where daytime predator attacks are difficult to prevent.

Homer proposes rotating orbital farms to answer Earth's starvation threat, and Riker approves the plan. The Faith Enclave trades food reserves for likely passage on the third colony ship. Farm One begins delivering crops, and the next farm should provide a temporary surplus, though Earthside production continues to decline. Milo's final transmission confirms that his vessel was destroyed at 82 Eridani. His partial backup is unsafe to restore, so Bill records his death and prepares eight armed replicants for retaliation. Bob and Marvin survive another mass gorilloid raid, replenish their defenses, and lead the Deltans to the former flint site. The new settlement has water, visibility, and strong natural defenses. Bob tries to condition local gorilloids to avoid it, while some Deltans begin treating pieces of his machines as sacred objects. The first two Exodus ships are completed. Bill and Garfield also deliver an iceberg to Ragnarok as rain, though the operation destroys important drive hardware. At Beta Hydri, Mario finds missing metals, a wreck full of refined ingots, mechanical devices that attack his roamer, and evidence of a system sterilized by radiation decades earlier. He infers that a machine force mined the system, but cannot yet report the discovery to the network.

Exodus 1 and Exodus 2 load colonists and seed-vault material, then leave Earth under Howard's protection. Exodus 3, assigned to Spitsbergen, the Faith Enclave, and Riker's surviving relatives, is due to follow, with additional ships under construction. Bill hosts the first network-wide gathering of the increasingly varied replicant community. Eight Version III replicants attack the Brazilian position at 82 Eridani. Cloaked nuclear weapons and autonomous defenders destroy most of the force. The attackers apparently eliminate the Brazilian replicant, but only Khan escapes physically; Elmer sacrifices himself to maintain the jamming that makes Khan's survival possible. Hostile machines and cloaking technology remain, so Khan saves his backup for a future return. The escaped Alpha Centauri probe is also still missing. Howard reaches Omicron with the first two colony ships. Automated equipment has accumulated materials and started backup food production. Colonel Butterworth selects the more biologically rich of the two candidate worlds, and construction crews begin printing homes and infrastructure before the civilians wake. Humanity's first settlement beyond Earth is therefore beginning. Bob and Marvin remain with the Deltans, Bill and Garfield continue their research and terraforming work, and Riker and Homer continue supporting the evacuation and Earth's food supply. Arthur and Milo remain permanently lost, while Mario's evidence of a separate alien machine threat has not yet reached the others.

Bob and Marvin remain on Eden after helping the Deltans reach a defensible settlement. Their intervention is now overt, the tribe is better armed against gorilloids, and some Deltans have begun treating the Bobs' machines as sacred. Bill and Garfield continue Scut coordination and the long effort to add water to Ragnarok. Riker and Homer maintain the evacuation and orbital food programs in Sol. Howard safely reaches Omicron with Exodus 1 and Exodus 2. Colonel Butterworth chooses the world with the richer ecosystem, automated equipment begins printing the settlement, and the first civilians are due to wake and descend. Exodus 3 will carry Spitsbergen, the Faith Enclave, and Riker's surviving relatives, while later ships remain necessary for millions still on Earth. Arthur and Milo cannot be safely restored. Khan is the only physical survivor of the 82 Eridani assault and preserves his backup for another campaign because hostile autonomous units and cloaking remain. An escaped Brazilian probe is also unaccounted for. Mario must still deliver his evidence that an alien machine civilization sterilized and stripped Beta Hydri, leaving a separate threat unknown to the wider network.