We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

Book 3: Chapter 56: City In The Clouds

Book 3: Chapter 56: City In The Clouds

Howard

December 2226

Odin

Eight mover plates slowly lowered Rivendell into the Odin cloudscape. Marcus had run through the entire list of Barsoom city names, and many of the other science-fiction ones. It felt slightly cheesy resorting to LOTR names, but what choice did I have?

The city, whatever name we eventually settled on, was several times bigger than Marcus’ aerial cities. When using buoyancy for lift, bigger was better. Rivendell boasted actual buildings, too. Not that we had a huge need for them, but we wanted to do this as a proof of concept, so Bridget suggested we pretend we were live people. We’d even built kitchens, sanitary facilities, and infrastructure.

Bridget stood to one side, watching the monitor, hands balled into fists, willing the city to behave.

And well she should. This was actually Rivendell mark 2. The first iteration lay somewhere far below in the murky depths, probably melted into slag by now. Forgot to carry the two again.

“At depth,” I said. “Guppy, release the plates. Slowly.”

Guppy nodded without comment. The plates disengaged, and after a small bobble, Rivendell settled into equilibrium.

“Thanks, Guppy. We’ll take it from here.”

Guppy nodded and vanished.

“I always used to wonder, when you mentioned Guppy.” Bridget smiled at me, shaking her head. “I sometimes thought maybe you had a screw loose.”

“Confirmed!” I yelled, giving a fist pump.

“Oh, yes. And so much worse than I could have imagined.”

“I’m glad I can still surprise you,” I said, giving her a peck on the cheek. I waved a hand and the control panels for our androids appeared. “Shall we?”

Bridget took my hand, and we connected…

* * *

I undraped myself from the cradle and looked to my left where Bridget’s android was just doing the same. A quick glance around didn’t reveal any obvious problems. Bridget took a few moments to get used to the android form—walking around in circles, clenching and unclenching her hands. Then she looked at me and gave me a wide smile. Wordlessly, I grinned back and her and nodded toward the door.

We exited to a grassy field surrounded by low buildings on three sides. In front of us, the clear curve of the city dome rose from ground level, curving up and over us to cover and contain Rivendell.

Without a word, Bridget and I hurried to the edge of the dome. Placing our hands on the transparent fibrex, we gazed in awe out at Odin. Flocks of krill wafted by, blown about by atmospheric currents. Small predators chased the krill, larger predators chased the smaller. A pod of blimps floated by in the distance, shadowed by the usual mantas, hoping for an incautious juvenile to stray. For layer upon layer, above and below, different ecosystems dominated, shading from one to the next.

We watched this panorama, totally entranced, until we were startled by a thump, accompanied by a slight shaking. I looked around in surprise. About two thirds of the way up the dome, a blimp had attached itself to the city. It appeared determined to hold on, and…

“Uh, it’s…” I pointed, at a loss for words.

“I’d say it’s definitely a he,” Bridget replied, chortling.

“So he’s... It looks like he…um…”

“He likes us.” Bridget bent over and began to laugh, full belly laughs, arms wrapped around herself.

“Not a single one of my engineering courses covered this,” I said.

Bridget fell over onto the grass.

Up above, the blimp continued to prove its love.