Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2)

by Martha Wells

I guess you can’t tell a story from the point of view of something that you don’t think has a point of view.

“There’s unrealistic that takes you away from reality and unrealistic that reminds you that everybody’s afraid of you.”

Not that a lot of them had asked for it, or had listened to me. Not that I’m bitter about that, or anything.

It would allow us to communicate once I was down on RaviHyral and let me continue to have access to ART’s knowledge bases and unsolicited opinions.

ART’s freedom to weigh in on everything I did was punishment enough.)

The collective was listed in the social feed as a group marriage, and had five children of various sizes. Once the others had left and Rami, Maro, and Tapan were alone, I came forward.

“In the creche, our moms always said that fear was an artificial condition. It’s imposed from the outside. So it’s possible to fight it. You should do the things you’re afraid of.”