Marvin
Names: MarvinHIC17378-1MartinMarv
First appears in Book 1: We Are Legion, chapter 30 (Bob – April 2165 – Delta Eridani)
Appearances
What you know
Book 1: We Are Legion
- Ch 30Marvin is a new Bob booted at Delta Eridani from Bob's backup; he volunteers to look for the Deltans' flint source.
- Ch 35Marvin finds the old flint source in an abandoned village and suspects a spreading recessive gene for intelligence.
- Ch 35Marvin designs a reinforced, steel-capped drone to ram gorilloids, since drone SURGE drives can't power rail guns.
- Ch 37Marvin suggests the Deltans should move back to their old flint site, which is more defensible and has water.
- Ch 37Marvin decides to stay at Delta Eridani for a while, while Bender and Luke prefer to find their own projects.
- Ch 39Marvin theorises Bobs differ because backups are too granular to capture an analog mind.
- Ch 48Marvin finds Deltans exist only on this continent; related species don't use fire or tools.
- Ch 48Marvin starts a batch of Bobs but intends to stay at Delta Eridani for now.
- Ch 50Marvin suggests hitting gorilloids with busters at low speed to stun them, conserving the drones.
- Ch 53Marvin plans to leave Delta Eridani when Bob withdraws from the Deltans.
Book 2: For We Are Many
- Ch 1Marvin is a clone of Bob, also orbiting Delta Eridani 4, who is studying Deltan population history as a pet project.
- Ch 1Marvin has found abandoned Deltan villages but too few graves, suggesting the Deltans' original population vanished for unknown reasons.
- Ch 9Marvin finds evidence that an unknown large predator, not gorilloids, hunted the Deltans almost to extinction at their original location.
- Ch 11Marvin finds bones of a Deltan killed by the mystery predator less than a mile from Camelot.
- Ch 17One of Marvin's search drones over the Deltans' original territory is attacked from above and destroyed by a large, toothed flying creature.
- Ch 17Bite marks on the wrecked drone match bite marks on old Deltan bones, so the same airborne predator preyed on Deltans.
- Ch 22Marvin decides to leave Delta Eridani, judging the Deltans now need only a caretaker and the sky-god role was unhealthy.
- Ch 24Marvin has left Delta Eridani for Pi3 Orionis, keeping his speed low enough to stay in SCUT contact with Bob.
- Ch 33Marvin picked up the habit of waving a glass of cognac from Howard.
- Ch 47Marvin worries the new village could one day go to war with Camelot.
- Ch 52Marvin and Luke plan an expedition to follow Bender's trail of thinned interstellar gas from Eden.
Book 3: All These Worlds
Book 4: Heaven’s River
- Ch 2Marvin offers to clone himself into a new Heaven vessel at Delta Eridani if Bob's detour proves a false alarm.
Connections
Key moments
- Book 1 · Ch 30New Bobs at Delta Eridani
Bob builds AI cores ahead of vessels; Marvin, Luke and Bender come online and join the Deltan observation project.
- Book 1 · Ch 30Planet named Eden
Bender suggests naming the Deltans' planet Eden, and the other Bobs agree.
- Book 1 · Ch 35Gorilloid attack
Gorilloids attack a Deltan hearth, killing six Deltans and dragging them off to eat; the Bobs realise the Deltans are being hunted to extinction.
- Book 1 · Ch 35Flint gift to Archimedes
The Bobs drop flint near Archimedes; he trades it, learns knapping from Moses, and builds a hafted axe to produce better pointed sticks.
- Book 1 · Ch 37Great gorilloid assault
Thirty-one gorilloids attack; Arnold turns Archimedes' axe on them and Bob's buster drone kills one about to reach Archimedes, routing the rest.
- Book 1 · Ch 37Bobs choose their paths
Bender and Luke decide to leave Delta Eridani to find their own projects, while Marvin chooses to stay with the Deltans.
- Book 1 · Ch 39Bob prepares to speak to Deltans
Having analysed the Deltan language, Bob creates a Deltan voice and orders speaker drones to communicate directly if needed.
- Book 1 · Ch 44First contact with Archimedes
Bob speaks to Archimedes via a drone and persuades him to urge his people to relocate to an old village.
- Book 1 · Ch 48Deltan migration begins
After preparing preserved food, the tribe sets out for the old flint village, watched by gorilloids and guarded by Bob's drones.
- Book 1 · Ch 48Daytime gorilloid raid
Gorilloids snatch two juveniles; drones distract them and Deltans kill half, but one juvenile dies.
- Book 1 · Ch 48Crossing the mountain pass
Swelled by other groups to over five hundred, the migration crosses the pass ahead of schedule, but disaster looms two days later.
- Book 1 · Ch 50Dawn gorilloid raid on the migration
Dozens of gorilloids attack; busters and Deltan spears repel them, but almost twenty Deltans die and many abductees are lost.
- Book 1 · Ch 53Migration resumes
With busters replenished, the Deltans resume their march through jungle, enduring three more attacks before reaching the flint site.
- Book 1 · Ch 55Altar to the bawbe
Marvin shows Bob that some Deltans have built an altar from buster pieces.
- Book 2 · Ch 1Deltan migration mystery
Marvin shows Bob evidence that the Deltans originated elsewhere and their original population disappeared without enough graves to explain it.
- Book 2 · Ch 9Unknown predator discovered
Marvin reports remains showing a large unknown predator nearly wiped out the Deltans at their original home; Bob orders a kilometer-by-kilometer drone survey.
- Book 2 · Ch 11Predator victim found near Camelot
Marvin finds a predator-killed Deltan skeleton near Camelot; Bob consults Archimedes and Moses, posts perimeter drones, and Marvin expands the search.
- Book 2 · Ch 12Bob joins BobNet
Bob-1 connects to BobNet; Bill pops into his VR, meets Marvin, and learns the Bobs have made first contact with the Deltans.
- Book 2 · Ch 17Drone downed by flying predator
A survey drone over Eden is snatched from the air and bitten nearly in half; Marvin recovers the wreck and matches its bite marks to old Deltan remains.
- Book 2 · Ch 19Hippogriff identified
A Deltan forager is carried off by a near-invisible flyer; Bob and Marvin identify it as a giant color-changing hippogriff and trace them to an island rookery.
- Book 2 · Ch 19Hippogriff attack on Camelot
Fourteen hippogriffs attack Camelot; Bob and Marvin's busters kill most, Arnold and the hunters kill one, but three Deltans die.
- Book 2 · Ch 19Hippogriff island destroyed
Bob drops a ship-buster on the hippogriffs' island, wiping it out; the Deltans shelter behind the bluff from the shockwave and falling debris.
- Book 2 · Ch 19Deltans banish Bob
The Deltan council, through Hoffa, tells Bob he is no longer welcome; a devastated Bob withdraws, telling Archimedes he will talk to him later.
- Book 2 · Ch 22Marvin decides to leave
Marvin tells Bob he will leave Delta Eridani, noting SCUT will keep them in touch; Bob reluctantly accepts.
- Book 2 · Ch 24Bob visits Marvin's VR
Bob visits Marvin, now en route to Pi3 Orionis, and they agree that new clone Victor will search for the silent Luke or Bender.
- Book 2 · Ch 33Rising violence in Camelot
Bob and Marvin observe growing gang activity and violence in an overcrowded Camelot; the banished Bob chooses not to intervene.
- Book 2 · Ch 41Riot in the village
Deltans fight Deltans in a riot sparked by a dispute over food; seventeen die while Archimedes' family stands armed at the edge.
- Book 2 · Ch 44Bob baseball and pub talk
Bobs play Scrub baseball in VR, then debate androids, the word 'ephemerals', asteroid movers and the Others over drinks.
- Book 2 · Ch 47Troublemakers leave Camelot
Bob's reverse-psychology plan works: Camelot's worst troublemakers march off to resettle an old village, and Archimedes gets the credit.
- Book 2 · Ch 52Plan to search for Bender
At a moot, Marvin and Luke tell Bill they will mount an expedition to track the long-silent Bender along his trail.
- Book 3 · Ch 49Monolith plan
Bob tells Marvin his plan to leave a 2001-style monolith on the largest moon for the Deltans to discover someday.
- Book 3 · Ch 71Bob grieves with Marvin
Bob confides his grief to Marvin in a VR café, and concludes it is time to stop trying to be human.
- Book 4 · Ch 2Anomaly detected at Eta Leporis
During a Bobmoot baseball game, Guppy reports an infrared anomaly at Eta Leporis; Bob, Luke and Marvin suspect a megastructure, and Bob changes course to investigate.
- Book 4 · Ch 5Bob briefs his friends
After Bob blogs the discovery, Luke, Marvin and Bill visit; Bill warns him about Starfleet and other emerging replicant groups.