System Collapse (The Murderbot Diaries, #7)

by Martha Wells

You’re stalling, ART-drone said. I am not. I can stand here and be useless without any ulterior motives, thanks.

humans have a bad habit of assuming that if they know a thing, all the other humans in the vicinity know it, too. Either that or they believe none of the other humans know anything that they don’t know. It’s either one or the other and both are potentially catastrophic and really fucking annoying.

humans didn’t understand back then how careful they needed to be with alien remnants. (Or maybe they did and they just didn’t care. I mean, let’s be honest, which one is more likely? I’m just making an observation here.)

if I were a human hiding up here in isolation and a stranger walked in suddenly in an unfamiliar brand of environmental suit, I’d shoot at me.) (Okay I wouldn’t, but then I’m not a human who was panicking about getting murdered or whatever.) (I’m a SecUnit who was panicking about getting murdered or whatever by panicking humans.)

there was only so much I could take and I thought I’d hit my limit about, I don’t know, four years ago.

Yeah, I’ll just code a patch to stop feeling anxiety, wow, why didn’t I think of that earlier. (That was sarcasm, I have too much organic neural tissue for that to work.) (Of course I’ve already tried it.)

It wasn’t dead, it was just catastrophically damaged. (I know, who isn’t?)