Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2)

by Martha Wells

Are all constructs so illogical? said the Asshole Research Transport with the immense processing capability whose metaphorical hand I had had to hold because it had become emotionally compromised by a fictional media serial.

But I didn’t have the armor anymore. My appearance, my ability to pass as an augmented human, had to be my new armor.

And now I knew why I hadn’t wanted to do this. It would make it harder for me to pretend not to be a person.

Yes, the giant transport bot is going to help the construct SecUnit pretend to be human. This will go well.

“Sometimes people do things to you that you can’t do anything about. You just have to survive it and go on.”

“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.”

Young humans can be impulsive. The trick is keeping them around long enough to become old humans. This is what my crew tells me and my own observations seem to confirm it.

I’m used to humans wanting to do things that can get them killed. Maybe too used to it.