Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries, #5)

by Martha Wells

(Basically ART was going to need help from its University’s decontam team before it could go into a wormhole again, which was not good news.

I said, “I’m back online.”

She smiled. “I’ll warn everybody.”

Kind of like asking someone to come stay with your family for the break between the work seasons, to see if they all like each other before you get serious?”

“Oh sorry, I used the f word there.”

Amena didn’t look happy about the idea of me going back to the Corporation Rim. I wasn’t wildly excited about it, either.

“I don’t think it would invite you to come with it if it didn’t think it would be good for you, you know.”

The one big problem was that because of the alien remnant contamination, Karime said the legal case prepared by the university no longer applied, so they needed help before they could contest Barish-Estranza’s claim.

I’d hacked my governor module and kept doing my job because I didn’t know what

else to do

“Because change is terrifying. Choices are terrifying. But having a thing in your head that kills you if you make a mistake is more terrifying.”

My files were a how-to manual for fugitive SecUnits. I said, “I’ll excerpt the relevant portions and send them to you.”

“Thank you for that information.”

ART said, They may have. Before I was deleted, I prepared a message buoy, explaining what had happened and asking for assistance, and concealed its existence from targetControlSystem. I set it to jettison automatically when the wormhole drive engaged.

“Coldstone, song, harvest.”

It was actually stand down, clear, and no casualties.

Pin-Lee had come with Mensah. Since ART’s crew needed someone who was good with Corporation Rim contract negotiation, the idea of an alliance with Preservation was looking better and better.

the idea of Dr. Mensah coming aboard made it weirdly excited and it had its drones clean its whole interior again and was doing things like yelling at Turi to put their laundry in the recycler.

Seth, as the captain, formally introduced them both to ART. He told them, “We normally aren’t able to do this, since Perihelion’s existence as anything other than a bot pilot has to be kept secret in the Corporation Rim.”

“Preservation was the first place I was a part of and I don’t want to not be a part of it. But I like being with ART. I want to keep being with it.”

“Working for them temporarily could take care of that problem. If you decide to do that.” She smiled a little. “The good thing is, you do know what you want.”

“If I do the mission with you, we’ll need more media.” We went through it pretty fast, and that was an understatement.

“Maybe we should give some to 3.” ART

That’s not why 3 wanted your files, or not the only reason. I asked it why it wanted to help retrieve you, and it said, “stories in the HelpMe.file.” I think your memories are providing it with the sort of context you obtained from human media.

3 had actually seemed to like the other two SecUnits on the explorer, as if they had been friends, at least to the extent that they had been allowed to communicate with each other. I’d never thought that was possible.