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iviarellereads · 6 months

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Network Effect, Chapter 8

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Murderbot Diaries, read this one!)

In which someone returns from the dead, with science.

Murderbot doesn't have a lot of time to plan, as TCS collapses under its hack, and Art's systems start coming online. This is the time to breach the bridge, even if the targets are still there. The targetDrones, at least, are acting erratically as TCS's failure is flooding them with junk commands.

Through one of its own drones, MB sees Amena and the others going to Medical, having taken out the final targetDrone.

In the control room entry, MB's Scout Two has lost track of Target Four, and MB rewinds the video just before it gets hit in the back with an energy-heat blast. Performance drops to 80% immediately, and it falls to the deck.(1)

Amena yells that MB's been hit, and runs out of Medical, telling the rest to stay.

MB is used to being hit with weapons, making the giant smear of blood from its fall a surprise. It takes T4 out, and uses the energy weapon to blast the hatch. This convinces the ship there's an emergency, so it enables manual controls, and MB hits the manual release to open it. MB enters, and seals it again.

Amena, Arada, and Thiago are still running toward the control area, so MB sends Scout Two's feed to Amena, so she can see the targets and, hopefully, the danger.

MB climbs over the dead Targets One and Three, and into the bridge proper to look for an interface to the ship's data storage. It wants to find some data storage that wasn't likely to be corrupted by TCS or other intruders. Somewhere Art might have saved a backup of its kernel. As it searches, a chunk slides off its back and into the station chair, and MB finds it harder to sit upright.

Amena is outside, just around the corner from the remaining Targets. MB tells her to get back to Medical, but she ignores it and asks if it's alright. It says it just has to do one thing.

Another search points MB to food production storage, which seems odd. TCS goes fully down, but MB keeps up its hack, in case it's a trick. It plunges into the food production data, and reaches a request for a passcode.

In the corridor, Amena says to Arada that she thinks MB is dying.(2)

After trying all the names from World Hoppers, it thinks how Art never called it by its personal name, but it might be worth a shot, since there's not much time for guessing left. MB enters one of its own, private names for a passcode, and it's accepted.(3)

The instructions in the newly unzipped data storage amount to "In case of emergency, run." So, it does. The lights go out, then come back on, and the screens show reboot graphics. Art's feed comes back online, and an auto-message plays that reload is in progress.

The hatch to the control room opens. A short action sequence ensues, ending with MB on the floor, T6 apparently dead from MB's shot, and T5 swaying as it points its weapon at Arada.

Then ART’s voice, ART’s real voice, filled the feed. It said, Drop the weapon.(4) Arada dropped her energy weapon and Thiago dropped the fire suppressant. Both held up empty hands. I told it, Don’t hurt my humans.

T5 shouts something, drops his weapon, and lurches sideways, leading MB to believe Art is accessing their helmet. Shortly, they fall over and go limp. Thiago says they mean no harm, and were attacked by the ones who just fell. Arada asks who's speaking. Art responds with a formal declaration of its name and title, Perihelion, etc etc. It adds, publicly, that it's not going to hurt MB's humans, and calls it a "little idiot."(5)

Arada's eyebrows rise, and Thiago looks boggled. MB says Art's using the public feed, Art counters that so is MB, as well as leaking on its deck.

Amena finally runs in, sees MB, and falls to her knees next to it, calling for help. Art says it can hear her, she doesn't need to yell, and it's getting an emergency gurney. MB can't help remarking internally how everything Art says sounds sarcastic, but it would probably sound pretty menacing to a human.

Thiago asks if Art is a crew member, or something else. Nobody answers him.

Arada reassures MB that they'll get it to Medical, though MB thinks Arada's very upset about something as simple as losing twenty percent of its flesh mass off its back.(6)

I was losing all my inputs but there was one thing I had to say before the gurney got here. “ART,” I said aloud, because ART could silence my feed if it wanted to. “You did this. You sent those assholes to kidnap my humans.” Of course not, ART said. I sent them to kidnap you. Then my performance reliability bottomed out and— Shutdown. Delayed restart.(7)

MB makes a halfhearted joke about catastrophic failures as it starts to wake up. It overhears Art reassuring Amena that MB will be alright. MB tells Art to stop talking to its human. Art suggests MB make it.(8) MB loses input again, and the next thing we know, it's at 34% reliability and rising.(9) It's sticky, naked to the waist, and despite its status, doesn't feel nearly as bad as when Art altered its limb length last time.

That doesn't stop it feeling furious, though.

It checks inputs, when a few minutes of Sanctuary Moon doesn't help. The drones are still following Amena, so it runs back the video to catch up on events.

Amena tried to follow it to Medical on the gurney, but Arada held her back and asked if the ship's name is Art.(10) Art ignored the question, and identified all the humans aboard to confirm who's on Team MB and who's not. As Amena pulled away to follow MB anyway, Arada followed her, and asked who Art was. Amena said it's the ship, MB's friend. Thiago was startled, but Art confirmed it. Thiago said it's too complex to be a bot. Arada ignored him and asked why Art attacked the survey facility. Art deferred, saying it's just reinitializing after deletion. Arada and Thiago exchanged a look indicating they knew that wasn't a good sign.

MB skips through a lot of the boring bits, since Amena's drone swarm mostly just caught what she was doing, which was sitting watching the surgical suite repair MB. It does catch that the safepod latched onto Art because of automated systems after taking damage in the exodus. It also caught another comm conversation, between Amena and Thiago with Ratthi adjacent to the former in Medical, about MB's defence of Amena. This turns to the alien remnant on the drive, but when the humans start to ask about it, Art says interference is not advisable, and the thing deactivated after it exited the wormhole.

On a private channel in the present, MB accuses Art of setting it up. Art, knowing that MB is still behind on its review of the situation, ignores it. MB goes into a slightly unhinged explanation for the reader of why it feels entirely justified in the accusation.

Back in the review, Art's voice made the humans tense, and this startled Eletra into consciousness. A video link is established from Medical to the control room, from a perspective that feeds MB's conspiracy theories about Art holding out on it with regard to security coverage, as well as its jealousy of the fancy high res images.

MB has recovered to 60%, enough to say aloud, "Fuck you, ART." Amena hears it and asks how MB is doing. It says it's fine, except for being held prisoner by an asshole research transport. Ratthi asks if MB needs anything.(11) MB sits up and says it needs its jacket. Art offers that it's being repaired in the recycler. MB says it's not speaking to Art.

Ratthi asks how well MB and Art know each other,(12) but Arada suggests they hold on to that question for later and asks Art if it will answer their questions now.(13) Art says that depends on the questions.

I said, “The humans think I’m an asshole, wait till they get to know you.” I thought you weren’t speaking to me.

Ratthi mutters that he's a little worried, and Amena says MB told her bot pilots can kill people. Art says that's an exaggeration.

Arada, trying to keep things on subject, asks where they are, as there's no indication of a local hub station. Art says it's an abandoned colony, with more detail, then waits 8.3 seconds to make the humans think it's done, before continuing that it has evidence it is inhabited. Arada puts together that it's inhabited by the hostiles, and asks Art's operational status.

Art says it's still reinitializing, its space maneuvering functions aren't up yet, and there may have been damage from the alien device installation on its wormhole drive. It can self-repair when it's done reinitialization, but it's not leaving the system until it gets what it wants.

All the humans try to cover their shock. Arada finally asks what it wants, to which it says, its crew back. The hostiles abducted them, and overtook Art. MB, for its part, is still angry, but it can't help a little (a lot) involuntary response at Art losing its crew so.

Thiago asks how Art can be talking if it was deleted, and Art says, it hid a backup where only a particular, trusted friend could find it. MB, staring at the wall and watching the humans through the drones and cameras, tells Art to fuck off again. Art, with no emotive description, says that's still talking to it.(14)

Arada asks if it intended to attack their facility. Art says that wasn't its plan. Overse says, it was its idea though. MB suggests they don't humour Art. Arada says, it wasn't the plan, but Art still sent those hostile people after MB. Art admits, it did. Ratthi asks how Art knew where they were. Art says as soon as it emerged in the Preservation wormhole, it sent messages inquiring after MB's location. One of the science institutions was very helpful and gave a full info packet and itinerary for the team. Ratthi groans, and Arada and Overse exchange a look, before Overse says they need to have a talk about that when they get back.

Rubbing her head like it hurts, Arada asks why Art wanted to kidnap MB. Art says, to kill the hostiles.

Everyone looks at MB, who says Art told the hostiles it was a weapon they could use. Art says it built a trap, they entered it on their own. Amena asks who the hostiles are, where they came from, what happened to them, but Art doesn't have those answers. Thiago starts, and Ratthi finishes, a thought that they could be genetically modified, but the alien remnant suggests contamination instead.

MB points out privately, to the reader, that this is why even the corporations don't generally like to mess around with alien remnants. Thiago complains that if one of them were still alive, they could be questioned. Art doesn't take this well.(15)

Amena asks how the grey people stole the crew. Art says it's still reconstructing its memory archive to find out. MB snarks about the comm as a vector, but Art says it wasn't attacked by a comm virus. Amena gets both their attention and asks if the grey people are from the same lost colony Eletra's ship was looking for. Art says that would be a logical assumption, but it has no proof either way. It got a distress call, its humans agreed to respond, it suffered a systems catastrophe after arrival, and found the intruders aboard, its crew missing. The hostiles demanded weapons, Art offered MB.

Arada says Art offered MB, because it knew MB could handle the hostiles. Art confirms. Thiago is upset that the attack on the facility could have killed everyone. Ratthi seems to want to try to shush him, but Art says that's a chance it was willing to take.(16)

Oh, okay. I was either having a processing error, or something that the shows I watch call a “rage blackout,” or another emotional collapse. So I pushed off the med platform, walked out of the sterile field and into the restroom, and slammed my hand on the hatch close control.(17)

=====

(1) Must be something other than the energy weapons they've been using that just pissed it off, I guess, given the rest of the chapter and all. (2) Not so far off the mark, Amena, very good observational skills. (3) Part of this is conjecture on my part, but I think the name it enters is Murderbot. The passage indicates it might be talking about Eden, but then says that's a name Art never called it. Then MB gets real vague about a name nobody uses for it, its local feed address, which humans can't access, but somehow Art does? Feed address implies IP address to me, something very public. It doesn't track to me. In my opinion and my heart, the password that makes sense can only be "Murderbot". (4) I love how clear this is about being intended ONLY for the remaining Target, but the Pres crew obey, even Thiago with the fire suppressant which is blatantly NOT a weapon at all. Even MB doesn't quite grok what Art really said, or how, or what it means, but that's understandable given it's about to crash anyway. (5) I feel like there's an unspoken (affectionate) tag on the end of this one, even if MB doesn't interpret it that way. (6) Yeah, MB, even if you can technically survive that sort of thing, it's not generally expected of any other being that possesses flesh. (7) Delayed restart sounds extra bad, to me. (8) How do you even begin to unpack this little exchange. Like, Art probably started that emergency gurney the picosecond it detected that MB was injured, and having worked on MB before through its MedSystem, it's well equipped to know how serious any damage is. It's taking Amena's concerns seriously. MB gets defensive of its humans, as it is wont to do, and Art gets snarky with it, because their love language for each other is snark. It's just. So beautiful. REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOOOOOD! (9) I love how this implies it was much lower, and pure spite caused it to try and swing for Art verbally about talking to Amena. (10) I don't think I remember MB using that name for it with any of the humans, but I'll accept it. (11) He's not the best but he tries which makes him the best, okay? Okay. (12) They DO bicker like an old married couple sometimes, don't they? (13) There are a lot of things this implies, but they all boil down to… why would Arada suggest that Art was waiting for MB to awaken? Art cares about MB, it might be the first friend Art's made on its own terms, and Art knows MB wouldn't want the important shit to go down without it fully conscious. So, Art insisted they wait, out of compassion for MB's grumpy protectiveness. I love them so much. (14) I vote that this would be tagged "smug" by most of us. What do you think Art's tone is? (15) Understandably. These alien-humans kidnapped its crew, held them hostage, and deleted Art. Then, as soon as it had any control again, they were threatening its bestie and the bestie's crew. What, was it supposed to hesitate? (16) How very Lord Farquaad of you. (17) And how mature of you.

#the murderbot diaries #murderbot diaries #network effect #murderbot #secunit #amena #eletra (murderbot)#ratthi #arada #overse #thiago #art (murderbot)

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