One of the things that I think is probably the most interesting part about Bedman is his whole persona that he presents to the world of being a logically driven person largely ungoverned by emotion, and what really makes that interesting is that he's *terrible* at that.
I don't mean that he's not logical or not intelligent but he hides the fact that basically every decision he makes is motivated purely by emotion, mostly his love for Delilah.
Most of his win quotes involve him saying something smart about IQ or statistics or the skilled and unskilled, being that overly cold and logical "mask", but in the story, he only chooses to help Ariels because it would give him a way for him and Delilah to live like normal people. He's so driven by this idea that he doesn't ever seem to question if Ariels can actually be trusted, which eventually leads to his death.
This is further shown with his attempt at rational detachment from the killing of people, he justifies it to himself by remembering their names so he can bring them back - he isn't really killing them. Contrasting that with Ramlethal, however, one of the first if not the only person he was going to truly consciously decide to end the life of, the instant she's even slightly humanized in his eyes he flies into a rage, deciding to teach her about uniqueness and then going back and yelling at Ariels.
In his last moments, the first thing he thinks of when he learns Ariels was lying to him is "How could you betray me...? Do you have any idea how many people I've killed!?" before beginning to cry. It's not anything logical in the slightest, that moment from him (as well as his subsequent creation of a small Absolute World and using the last of his power on a hail mary attempt to bring Delilah back) is purely being overcome with emotion at the realization that he has done *horrible* things.
I think that, really, the most interesting part is that he treats that supposed logically driven mind as though it's a superpower, as though he's better than everyone else because his choices are derived from tangible evidence.
"You would challenge me...? Trying to become a hero? But, you see, humans have idolized heroes as those who can turn the odds when all is against them. Well, I say the ideal scenario is to prepare and execute, so one never finds themselves against such odds. An ideal world would need no such thing as "heroes," I would not place too much faith in heroes, who've outlived their... heroism."
"Humans have created words as a means of communications, and have proven their supremacy as a species. Nevertheless, I believe truly intelligent creatures have at least some degree of mastery over nonverbal communication, which, I would argue, allows them to minimize miscommunication. To put it another way- -because with you, I have to- -I don't think you've evolved. In fact, it seems as though you're moving backwards down the chain of evolution. Lining up your words, pretending that they mean something, when in fact you're spouting meaningless gibberish. Yes, hah, I'm talking to you."
"I do not understand humans who are motivated by love. a person is born, lives for a number of years, and interacts with up to eight billion people. What proof is there of something they can't even define?"
"An intriguing concept, innocence. In many ways it seems to be used to define an "acceptable" level of harm—in the sense that some of a child's behavior can be protected by an "innocence" defense, but eventually a threshold is reached after which they are judged as harshly as any other. Oh, I don't expect you to understand. The only way to avoid harm is to remove the thing that creates it, after all." (this is insane btw romeo you are a child too have you reached that threshold holy FUCK)
I think it's interesting to compare him to Ramlethal in that sense. While they don't interact much in the story, their plotlines are connected and he does push Ram over into accepting herself as a person. I think it's interesting that they both perceive themselves as higher beings of a sort (Ramlethal calling humans redundancies, Bedman just generally thinks he's better than everyone) but also that Bedman's response to being emotionless is to treat it like an ability that gives him strength and makes him fundamentally different from the average person, while Ramlethal views it as something that makes her fundamentally different and incapable of being a person.
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