Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries, #5)

by Martha Wells

“Do you need a medic?” I thought she might be sick. If I was a human and I’d had to be in the pavilion with all those other humans for the past two and a half hours, I’d be sick.

But the EVAC suits I’d used since then had such good instruction modules that it was almost like having an onboard bot pilot. This one was no exception, plus being new enough to not smell like dirty socks.

The dirty socks jokes never get old

“You had better have the weapon we were told of, or I’ll take your ribs out one by one and break them in front of your little face.” I saved that for future reference.

Me too

(Impulse control; I should try to write a code patch for that.)

I could use that , but would take fun out of life

“Angry, then afraid, then dead. Is that the right order?”

Amena made a derisive huff. “It doesn’t even like me.” Admittedly I am tired of the whole concept of humans at the moment, but that was unfair because she didn’t like me first.

Even murderbot is childish

The good thing about being a construct is that you can’t reproduce and create children to argue with you.

I can also be kind of an asshole. (“Kind of” = in the 70 percent–80 percent range.) I

What’s the 80-90 percent range called that’s what I am

Overconfident humans who don’t listen to anybody else scare the hell out of me.)

And they are ruining our country

(The lesson was: if you’re going to fuck with something bigger and meaner than you, use a quick targeted attack and then run away really fast.

Humans and constructs were full of overwrought emotions like depression, anxiety, and anger (was anxiety an emotion? It sure felt like one)

It is

(Foolproof is another weird word. Shouldn’t it be smartproof?

I agree 100% we need a smart proof governance system . It would be much better

Overse added, “Just remember you’re not alone here.” I never know what to say to that. I am actually alone in my head, and that’s where 90 plus percent of my problems are.

trail of evidence to follow, and right now it was hard to cling to the comfort of bitterness and pessimism.

(Agricultural bots have the statistically lowest chance of accidental injuries but are physically the most terrifying. It’s weird how something designed to take care of delicate lifeforms looks the most like it wants to tear you apart and eat your humans.)

(Confession time: that moment, when the humans or augmented humans realize you’re really here to help them. I don’t hate that moment.)