Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries, #5)

by Martha Wells

I just wanted to see what was after us as something other than a sensor blot. It was almost as dumb an impulse as some things I’ve seen humans do.

(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. (This is the way I always try to operate, too.)

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

It’s not aliens, 2.0 said. We knew it wasn’t aliens, I told it. It countered, We were seventy-two percent sure it wasn’t aliens. That was an outdated assessment but I didn’t need to argue with myself right now.