We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

Protagonist and first-person narrator of the novel, Robert “Bob” Johansson undergoes a profound transformation. A successful and recently wealthy software engineer, Bob is a quintessential nerd with a passion for science fiction, a dry sense of humor, and a pragmatic worldview. His decision to purchase a cryopreservation contract is portrayed as a logical, if slightly eccentric, extension of his belief system: “I’m a humanist, Karen. You know that. No afterlife. If I die, my choices are revival or nothing. I’ll take my chances with whatever I wake up to” (9). This intellectual curiosity to see “whatever I wake up to” becomes essential for his survival after his sudden death and reawakening as a disembodied AI consciousness, or “replicant” (16), 117 years in the future. His engineering experience allows him to approach his new existence not with existential despair, but as a complex problem to be analyzed and solved. With this mindset, he adapts quickly to becoming the guiding intelligence of a Von Neumann probe.

Bob’s journey directly engages with the theme of Redefining Humanity Beyond the Physical Form. Stripped of his body and subjected to the control of the theocratic state of FAITH, he must forge a new sense of self.