Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy (The Murderbot Diaries, #2.5)

by Martha Wells

But Peri had been in a strange mood since it had come back from its last solo cargo run, so there was no telling.

I am capable of taking in new information. Before anyone else could ask, it added, I had recent contact with a source who demonstrated a number of useful techniques.

Peri added, It has given me a better understanding of trauma. Trauma? Iris thought, taken aback. A machine intelligence with trauma? I’m not saying I think you’d run off and fall in … have an understanding and rapport with a corporate transport. But … Iris gave in and covered her face. Peri, please, it’s not a corporate transport, is it? It’s a rogue SecUnit. “Oh shit.” Iris sat bolt upright. She realized the rest of the group was frozen, staring at her in open concern. She told them, “It’s fine, it’s fine.”