Work Text:
I stand in the lounge, directed ‘Argument Lounge’ where currently no arguments were being held. This is a good thing, because for some reason, human voices send a spike to my threat assessment module now. There are still humans and augmented humans in the room with me. Iris, Martyn, and Turi are here. I stand in the corner of the room, partially hidden but still with a full view of the lounge. My drones fill in the blind spots.
There is also Perihelion. It has a hold on my feed, but a small one.
I check Secunit M.1.0’s curated logs, something I do often since receiving them for the first time. Within these logs, SecUnit M.1.0 frequently describes Perihelion as a very large brute with no sense of personal space. Using words like ‘leaning on’ to describe the pressure of the sophisticated bot pilot/machine intelligence in the feed. If I were to describe it in the same manor, I would say it is like a hand on the shoulder.
I suppose it is comforting, in a way. It is like when I tell a client to keep a hold on my armor while guiding them through a space which requires me to have both my hands and arms free. Even without drones, I know they are there through this touch.
Perihelion leans in.
Captain Seth is guiding Supervisor Leonide to the Argument Lounge.
It says this with extreme disdain. If I ever spoke this way with SecUnit 001,002, the governor module would have given a 22-29% correction, on the fact that Leonide is a supervisor. Though, I suppose, she has nothing to supervise anymore.
Acknowledge
I send three drones out of their hovering state down the corridor and sure enough, Captain Seth, Leonide, and SecUnit M.1.0 slowly walk in the lounge’s direction. I send a ping to SecUnit M.1.0 and direct my drones to join its remaining drones around it. They start an orbital pattern, and I take that as a good sign. I receive a ping back immediately, and then a message.
Heads up. We’re heading in your direction.
Acknowledge
It has been 28.2 hours since Leonide arrived on Perihelion. Since then, many things have happened. Including meeting Holism, whose mechanical engineers, biomechanical engineers and decontamination crew are currently fixing Perihelion’s engines.
Holism has also sent me a compressed packet with lectures on atmoforming compounds, including modules on hydrogen fixation nodes, synthetic coccolithophores and one titled XianCol_AtmoFor_Massacre.
This is not necessary information. But SecUnit M.1.0 adds information like this, so I will too.
Other things that have happened include; MedSys releasing the rest of Perihelion’s crew + Leonide, debriefing with said crew on the diplomatic mission I was on as well as the AdaCol2 incident, and –[REDACTED]
This is not the first time Leonide has been guided to the Argument Lounge. Since her first arrival I have had drones marked on her position at all times, though this will be the first time we are in the same room together.
Oh. Perhaps this is why Perihelion and SecUnit M.1.0 told me Leonide’s destination. With a non-functioning governor module, I could leave the room without telling anyone why or where I am going.
Still, I do not leave.
Instead, I request a diagnostics report and retrieve one paired with a similar request. I give my report. Perihelion glances at them too, like a prior supervisor would do at my report, but I know it could read the reports of the entire [redacted] SecUnit inventory in the same amount of time and be as detailed as any repair specialist in diagnosing any problem. If it deigned to do so, of course.
It doesn’t tag anything for review, even though SecUnit M.1.0 is finally hovering at a 95% performance ability. It only reached that high after a media watch session. This is good. I am… glad.
Emotional meta data is difficult to sort and tag. But I would like to be glad, as the humans and augmented humans are often glad to see other’s healed to operational standards. Therefore, I am glad.
My own power data is highlighted, and a sparkling/exploding celebratory sigil is sent to me. This is something that Dr. Ratthi does often, usually with a flurry of excited hand gestures. I did need a recharge, despite my reluctance to take one at first, and it seems SecUnit M.1.0 is happy I took one, though it is unwilling to say so. I tag the message as [acknowledge],[joke, successful].
The tag is renamed as [amusement]
Yes. I think I am amused, so I do not change it again.
SecUnit M.1.0: You still need a fluid resupply. The crew will notice soon.
The grip on my shoulder tightens.
I have just been informed discoloration of the skin is indicative of poor maintenance. My apologies, I was unaware. Please make your way to medical when you are ready.
My maintenance has been very thorough. I still have 143.4 hours before a fluid resupply is necessary. I highlight the relevant section of my report.
The fluid vessels around your lips and eyes are discolored 17.3% since your arrival. I attributed it to exhaustion and grief, but this is a human standard. SecUnit is right, the crew will notice soon.
I push away the image it sends of me. My skin is graying, but previous experience tells me it will not be noticed/cared for until my lips and eyes have turned a dark gray/blue. I estimate this time to ~50 hours. Though, the crew is kinder than my previous owners. So perhaps ~35 hours.
I do not say this, but I send an acknowledgement.
2.4 minutes later, they arrive.
As the door opens, SecUnit M.1.0 sends one intel drone to me and joins the cloud formation, to which I welcome it. Captain Seth and Leonide walk in, both glancing around the room, seeing me, and silencing the low conversation from the other humans and augmented humans in the room. SecUnit M.1.0 follows and heads straight for the other side of the room, in a similar position as my own.
This is because of Leonide. It is pretending to be somewhat governed in front of her, and I will do the same.
Captain Seth: We have coffee available, provided as a courtesy to crew and guests. Would you like some?
Leonide,[skeptical]: Generous of your University.
Captain Seth: PSUMNT has a dedicated bioengineering division, they’re known for their coffee plant strains. Highly recommend the Sagittarius-Kyros strain.
Leonide: Ah, a promotional courtesy. Very well.
Leonide has always been disciplined with any microcharges that may go to her account. Captain Seth is very good at extending hospitality to corporates.
They continue to make polite conversation. Captain Seth continues to showcase hospitality and while Leonide eyes Iris and SecUnit M.1.0, she is relaxing the more Captian Seth talks to her. This is the kind of scenario that she is used to.
Leonide: You seem very reasonable, Captian. Your experience shows. That being said, let’s start the negotiations. A full return of all [redacted] staff and equipment to the base ship follows the standard rate.
Captain Seth’s eyes go unfocused, though he still looks attentive as he reviews a document sent. His response: The personnel transfer rate is within our own standard. Though as told by my crew’s debrief, you have been antagonistic. Mental and physical strain should be accounted for. Regarding equipment, an itemized list and proof of ownership, if you please.
Leonide: In that case, my own mental and physical strain should be accounted for.
Seth: Very well. Final offer. And the itemized list?
Leonide: SecUnit 003, state designation and retaining supervisor.
SecUnit M.1.0 frequently uses what is called a media troupe. The ‘oh shit’ moment.
I now know what that means.
I respond: SecUnit 003 [redacted] Explorer Task Group-Colony Reclamation Project 520972. Primary Explorer Supervisor Winters, deceased. Secondary Explorer Supervisor Armez, deceased. Primary Project Supervisor Leonide.
Leonide: Cease action.
SecUnit M.1.0 and Perihelion pinged me as soon as I started my response, but I had forgotten I didn’t have to say anything.
Oh. I didn’t have to respond.
No, you didn’t.
If SecUnit M.1.0 ever codes a delay, I would benefit from it.
Leonide nods, like when her negotiations are successful.
Iris is quick to control her expression. Turi, not so much.
Perihelion rushed over me, similar to a sudden storm.
Do not say anything else. I will handle it.
Acknowledge.
I wasn’t sure what Perihelion meant to do. I have found it to be very cruel and very kind on a whim.
Captain Seth: The SecUnit is salvage under law, as the Explorer is gone.
Leonide: Salvage that I’ll take off your hands. The unit is proprietary, the equipment you have to maintain your own SecUnit won’t fit the specs on this one.
Captain Seth: Our scans show compatible components.
Leonide: Still. It is proprietary property. I think this is more than enough.
Captain Seth considers whatever number Leonide has given him. Perihelion, and probably SecUnit M.1.0, are most likely talking to Seth about how to approach this. I am… glad I cannot see the numbers.
Captian Seth: It is my understanding this is the last of the Explorer’s SecUnits. You don’t want the SecUnit’s full reports on the incident?
Leonide: It is my understanding you have also salvaged the second unit. The recycled parts are the same value as a whole unit. If I’m being frank, I have already overvalued said remaining unit.
Turi [angry]: You don’t regret what happened to the other Units?
Leonide: A loss of company equipment is always a financial headache. But that’s why they’re made to be disposable. The least you and your captain can do is allow me to take the remaining Explorer salvage off your hands.
Oh.
I don’t… have to listen to this.
I do not have a functioning governor module.
I step forward, grab Leonide by the back of her shirt and pull her to her feet. The next second she is sprawled on the ground with a yelp.
Several people tell me to stop. I cut myself from the feed and I reply to one of them.
To Leonide, I say for the first time:
“No.”
It feels good. Not the same kind of good as when I made Holism laugh once. Not the same kind of good when seeing SecUnit M.1.0 awake after a successful retrieval, but a kind of good that feels like adding a med pack to a third-degree burn.
I am angry. More than that I am enraged. I am enraged and I feel good.
“I am going to kill you.” I say, because I can. And Leonide’s eyes widen.
SecUnits do not threaten. She knows this and backs away using her hands and elbows. I take a step forward and crush one of her ankles. All the bones shatter at once. It is very easy to follow through then. I fall on top of her and she screams in terror. She’s asking Captain Seth to order me to stop, but no one can order me to do anything now.
There is only one construct and one MI that could stop me. Without feed access, Perihelion could only use a drone to bump into me, so really, it is only Murderbot that could do anything to save Leonide.
It doesn’t do that. It instead steps around me and tries to corral the crew to the other side of the room. It has blocked their view of me on top of Leonide, which is for the best.
I grab Leonide’s head and slam it into the floor. My hand goes through her skull. This is not the first time I have done this, but it is the first time I have chosen to do it.
Viscera and human brain tissue splatter across the floor. Her eyes have popped out and her blood, which is everywhere including my face, oozes a strange heat. The smell hits me next, and for a moment I wonder why it smells different.
My hand is covered in meat. I sit back and physically track SecUnit M.1.0 across the room. It has done a good job at shielding its humans away from witnessing something traumatic. The door to the Argument Lounge closes and we are left alone.
At some point I had dropped my drones’ inputs, and they lay scattered on the ground. I do not pick them up.
I do not… do anything.
SecUnit M.1.0 slowly turns to look at me. I see the moment it shifts from its drone’s views to its own visuals, as the lens in its eyes focus on me. It doesn’t say anything or try to ping me and I shake with anger. I consider punching the corpse of Leonide again, but don’t.
Eventually though, probably through some coaxing from Perihelion, it says;
“That looked like it felt good.”
It speaks quietly. I will ask for the emotional tags later.
“It did.”
And I still feel good, up until the moment I look back and instead of the broken-in husk of former Supervisor Leonide, I see SecUnit 002. The fluid on my hands and face are its blood and coolant and oil, though it doesn’t smell like it did before.
Performance reliability catastrophic drop.
Shut down.
--
Addendum 01
Note: Three has deleted this from its permanent storage, but ART and I agree it’s necessary context.
Actually, I should go in chronological order. So, the following Three does still have in permanent storage. It is still important context though.
I had thought, hoped, really, that coming back from the second colony would be the end of this absolute shit show. Things were looking up, both ART’s crew and my humans were healed, ART’s engines were almost fixed, and I finally had some Argument Lounge media time. In the hours since leaving Medbay, the most trying thing had been Holism’s constant pinging and ART’s constant reminder that I shouldn’t ping it back. Though, once Holism’s attention turned to Three, all was better.
Better. Not best. It still felt like a shadow loomed over ART and at any second another horrible thing would happen and even more humans would be in danger and ART would be in danger and.
ART has a trauma module that pings me when I start thinking like this. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn’t.
Anyway. That’s kinda been my life since hacking my governor module so I’m more than capable of just handling it and thinking about other things, mostly, to no one’s surprise, media.
(This is a media device called ‘Foreshadowing’)
((I wish I could pick out foreshadowing while it was happening, but unfortunately, I cannot tell the future. Could you imagine how much more stress I’d be under if I could?))
(((I should have done more though)))
Point being, I still did my normal things, even though I was waiting for the metaphoric—or physical— explosion. One of those normal things being a recharge.
I was in the last part of the cycle, where my inorganic systems were going through their last defrag and starting up. Just when my consciousness became aware of the comfortable heaviness of my limbs, the soft blankets of my bunk and the remnants of my dreams were being forgotten, ART barged in.
Three is in your room. Please do not startle it.
Oh, don’t startle it, but do startle the other sleeping murderbot.
What is Three doing in my room?
It claims it is guarding you. I think this is a partial truth.
So, you let it into my room?
I wasn’t angry. The part of me that did the anger hadn’t come online yet. But still, what the hell?
Its power cells show a 45% charge
So? You want me to talk it into taking a recharge cycle?
It finds you familiar. I can not get it to enter one, even though I assured it of its safety onboard.
If it doesn’t want to go into a charge, it shouldn’t have to.
And why might it not want to?
A few more processors woke up. Right. The whole Newly Rogue thing.
Fine. I get it. I’ll talk to it.
ART hovered above me, peering over my shoulder as I picked up my two remaining drones. They floated up and sure enough Three stood against the wall next to my bunk. It faced away from me, but its drones circled above it, keeping a visual on all corners in the room.
It knew I was awake now, but didn’t do anything as I sent my drones to join its circle. I pinged it, it pinged back. It asked for a diagnostic report, I gave it and asked for the same.
(Look. SecUnit 003 and I are not friends. Just because we’re both SecUnits and fall into a familiar rhythm with basic protocol does not mean we are friends. I am grateful it saved me and it’s glad to not be on inventory anymore, that’s it. The drone thing and the diagnostic thing is just to make it feel more comfortable. It’s an easy thing to do. So there.)
It did not edit any data—shit, did I have to teach it that it could do that? – so I could see the low charge, high threat assessment and need for a fluid resupply. It was on edge and unwilling to do maintenance just yet. Probably still stressed the fuck out, which I got, but if it didn’t relax it would go into a panic or an involuntary recharge and neither were great options.
Query: current activity [Read: What are you doing?]
Guard in place. [Read: Standing here]
Query: guard subject [Read: for what/why?]
Recharging unit. [Read: you’re in a vulnerable state while recharging.]
Current location: safe. I highlighted my threat and risk assessment modules, which were the lowest they could be. [Read: We’re safe on ART, there's no need to guard me.]
It hesitated.
Acknowledge. Protocol: Recharging Unit. [Read: I know… I still want to do it/I don’t know what else to do.]
Also, I guess it was Barish-Estranza protocol to guard/ literally stand by the other units in its task force as they recharged. I highlighted its current charge.
I’ve never had that protocol.
Acknowledge.
I sighed, audibly.
Do you need me to guard you while you recharge?
Negative.
I sighed and tapped its current charge again. In doing so I saw its anxiety rocket up. Ok. Wrong tactic.
This shit is hard, okay? Usually, I’m the only murderbot that I have to worry about. I pulled up a collection of scenes and conversations I’ve had with my humans that usually lower my anxiety. Really, ART should be doing this, it has the trauma modules that ping me when I do destructive shit.
“Three. Sit down… please.” I thought this might be a good place to start. It didn’t need to follow whatever protocol now, since it was done with my recharge anyway.
It hesitated again before slowly sinking to the floor. It hugged its knees to its chest and hid its face. I do have chairs in the room but… okay.
At this angle, I could see the back of its neck clearly. Above the data port, at the base of its skull were scar tissue and fresh blisters. Recent governor module injuries, and harsh ones at that. It must have gotten them while on the Explorer, not long before it became rogue.
Its pain sensors weren’t upped, so either those scars didn’t hurt anymore, or it didn’t care about the pain. Either way I requested a med pack from ART.
All the chaos and pain and freedom hadn’t happened that long ago for it. Being newly rogue and still company property gave me a lot of issues with trust and paranoia—along with the built-in anxiety, depression and relentless anger—but there were some things I could find comfort in…
“ART is a pretty unique ship.”
ART’s attention increased, imagine someone pretending to give you privacy and then still leaning its full weight on you.
Acknowledge. Query. [Read: Okay?]
I tagged the emotion as [Dubious]
It replaced it with [Curious]
I said [Curious + Hesitation = Dubious]
It settled back with [Dubious]
“It’s like… a HubSys and a MedSys without the human elements and the snitching and control. It’s an asshole by choice and that means, for us… its safe.”
I’m not complimenting ART for ART’s benefit. It knows it’s already the greatest thing to exist or whatever, miracle of science yadda yadda. It doesn’t need confirmation or more hot air in its processors, especially by shittily-built a construct.
Oops. The trauma module pinged me.
Acknowledge. [Dubious]
Fair enough.
“It can choose to follow orders or not and it can choose to care for people or not. Other bot pilots, human form bots, and governed constructs can’t do that. And… it is choosing to be nice to you. So… you won’t be in danger if you go into a recharge cycle or if you let ART do your maintenance or heal you. That’s the point I’m trying to make.”
“Perihelion has been a very kind host.”
Don’t compliment it too much, it is listening. [Joke, sarcasm]
“I am used to it.”
I waited for a huge preening asshole to comment and interrupt our conversation, but instead I got a proximity alert.
The door to my room chimed and finally I rose from my bunk to answer it. Three jerked, but didn’t move otherwise as I greeted a carrier drone from Medbay. The drone held a med pack in its tray and chirped happily at me as I picked it up. I think ART might have sent its chirpiest drone on purpose.
“I asked for a med pack because you have an injury that needs to be healed.”
I approached with said med pack, opened it up and knelt in front of Three to place it on its neck, right over the blisters. It grabbed my hand and looked up at me with a mix of surprise and fear. I should have waited, but I’m really bad at this.
“What’s wrong? Why are you afraid?” My voice sounded harsher than I intended. “I’m done guessing, tell me and I can actually help you.”
“What if I come back and I’m on the Explorer again?” It blurted out.
I blinked. It still doesn’t do anything like it seems to for people in the serials, but it gives me something to do when something surprising happens. I didn’t expect that to work.
If it was still on the Explorer? Like all of this had been a simulation set before all the Adamantine Colony shit went down or before 2.0 freed it? Either way I said something before the buffer kicked in.
“Then none of this would have happened.” Simple, but true.
“What if I come back and I’m still here?”
Ah. Yeah. Neither are great options.
“Which would you prefer?”
“I don’t have that answer.” Its buffer provided. And then, for real, “I don’t know. There is no protocol for this.”
“No, there's not. But there are still things that you have to do.” I tapped its charge and its fluid resupply again. “Bringing yourself to an involuntary recharge sucks. I’ll guard you, if that’ll make it better, but you should do it soon. Its only four hours.”
It thought a long time for a construct, before sending an,
Acknowledge.
Slowly, it lowered its hand and let me place the med pack around its neck. It squished to conform to curves, and I saw the tension seep out of its form and assessment modules. It fought down its anxiety for a second before its drones settled in a circle around it, leaving my drone the only one floating above its head.
5.3 minutes of silence went by. I figured it was enjoying the weird cooling sensation from the pack.
Then, “I tried to go after 002. It put itself as primary before I could when 001 died so the hostiles took it to the drop station instead of me. I might have gotten a shot off if—”
“If we could ignore govmod punishments, it wouldn’t be a govmod. It’s not your fault.”
“I had a 52% chance of killing one of them.”
“A lot more people would have died if you did that. You’d be dead. I’d be TargetControlSys. You did the right thing.”
“It hurts.”
Then it laid its head down and powered off.
I sat there, kneeling on the floor with one hand securing the med pack.
“Jackass.” I said, with a lot less force than I usually said it. “You have your own room.”
I sighed and settled on the floor.
Grab it a blanket. ART barged in.
“No, you do that.”
The recycler chimed and started making a blanket.
I rolled my eyes and pulled up an old animated show from AdaCol2, the one ART and I were watching before my recharge.
You were very good with it.
I don’t know if I’m actually helping or not.
It’s hard to know in these situations. But it trusts you and it is taking steps to take care of itself. By any standard this is a positive outcome. No one else would be able to produce these results.
No one else has been in this situation but me. And I’m not exactly the most stable. It shouldn’t rely on me.
You are kinder than you give yourself credit for.
I am not.
--
So that incident should have told me there was more going on with Three than it talked about. And it’s not that I didn’t know that (hello, rogue SecUnit) but maybe it was a bad idea for it to tag along with us for body recovery at the drop station.
It was a very bad idea. But for my humans and ART’s crew, leaving people to rot on a soon-to-be-not-deserted station was a big no-no. The only reason it wasn’t done sooner was because they thought B-E would, you know, claim the bodies. They did not.
This is the part Three has deleted permanently.
The team included me, Three, Martyn, Mateo, Overse, a small ART-Drone and a squad of ART’s med drones made to move bodies around. The explicit goal wasn’t just to collect the corpses, but to check the facility to make sure everything was working and to record everything as it was just in case someone decided to wipe everything. Which would be within their right, but Overse wanted to record everything for accurate record keeping.
Mateo was in charge of checking the hardware, if there were no security issues, I’d then dive into the software. Martyn and ART’s med drones were the only ones who were supposed to deal with the bodies, as Martyn was the only human certified to do forensic analysis on bodies and ART could carry them to the morgue. Three was there for security back up and for SecUnit 002.
It didn’t say that directly, but Martyn did have a private conversation with it about retrieving it. Probably stuff about seeing the body and how humans and augmented humans treat bodies differently across corporate space.
What do you do with dead humans?
Ras was still in the morgue, I think, but the Targets were shoved into the recyclers. I don’t think that’s standard for ART, but I imagine it felt good after coming back online.
They stay in the morgue until the next of kin is found and contacted. For sanitation’s sake, if more than 100 hours pass, I will reduce their forms into containers of ash to then send out to next of kin or release it into open space if no one is found. Given Barish-Estranza’s stubbornness, I believe they will be space dust soon.
And the SecUnit?
What do you mean?
I rolled my eyes. The SecUnit. What are you going to do to the body.
Continue to follow the standard protocol as I have just laid out.
You’re going to treat it like a human?
Correction. I’m going to treat it like a person.
We have a lot of valuable metals in-
I am not putting a SecUnit in my recyclers.
You put the Targets in your recyclers.
The Targets deleted me.
Have you told Three?
I will. As it falls under next of kin for the SecUnit.
SecUnit’s don’t have kin.
“Three,” Martyn spoke up. We were walking through the docking ramp into the station. It was quiet before the comment, just the sounds of our envirosuit’s boot steps and ART med drones’ wheels. “How long did you know SecUnit 002?”
Asshole. You told Martyn to ask that question.
ART-Drone—the flying one not the gurneys—bonked my shoulder.
My two drones flew under ART-Drone and blocked one of its sensors. Funnily enough, a few of Three’s drones joined mine in bothering ART-Drone. Nice.
“001, 002 and I have been a part of the same task force assigned to the Explorer since our initial start up.”
“Oh,” Overse made a pitying noise. “How long was that?”
“53,221.3 hours.”
6 years, MTD standard. ART translated.
The humans made more noises of pity. Ugh.
“Is 003 your permanent designation, or mission dependent?” I asked.
“Mission dependent. We would switch who took primary and secondary on each mission.”
“Oh… I’m sorry.” Overse tilted her head. It pissed me off, not at her but not not at her. “If you want us to call you something else, please tell us.”
That made it very visibly uncomfortable.
“It is alright, Dr. Overse.” It made a face—relatable— and continued to march down the hallway.
The station itself looked the exact same as before. Very little dust, very echoing halls and very dead B-E agents slumped beneath a scratched in B-E logo. ART-Drones spread out to each of the bodies but didn’t touch them without Martyn’s approval. Overse and Mateo stayed back so they didn’t have to see the bodies and Three continued on, around the corner where I knew the SecUnit to lay.
Have you seen a SecUnit killed by its governor module before?
Negative
Three, you might not want to see it.
It is my teammate.
Okay. With nothing else to say, I sent it my location marker and turned my focus elsewhere.
(A very important note. I don’t include a lot of information about SecUnits in my logs. Mostly because I don’t want to. But I have shared that we’re nervous around humans and humans are nervous around us. Humans, being the ones that create SecUnits, have tried to make other humans less afraid of us by giving us better protocol modules, not making us too non-person shaped and keeping our emotions in check. Cus yeah if you have organic neural tissue, you have organic natural output, aka, emotions.
We have the physical capability of emotional outputs. Like screaming or laughing or crying. But it would freak humans out if their Secunity Unit randomly started laughing because something hit our very limited sense of humor just right. Or crying because our general existence is horrible.
Usually, the sounds are just cut off. It looks weird and I hate it when I cry and. Listen, I normally would delete it, and no one would notice… but it’s important to know that we can do these things. We just don’t.
Look anywhere else in my logs and I will deny it.)
Martyn started examining the first human. I had one drone looking over his shoulder and one circling Overse. While I had the opportunity to see a forensic sweep on Preservation Station, I didn’t feel like asking them questions. Martyn was nice, I felt like I could ask him what exactly he was looking for. It’s not like their deaths are a mystery.
The station was quiet again. Some ruffling, some pops from Martyn’s joints and whirring from ART-Drone, but on a large drop station like this it was eerie and quiet like the first time I had arrived.
I was just about to ask Martyn what he was doing when Three screamed.
A loud, grating scream that lasted all of its short lung capacity and then nothing. The humans nearly jumped out of their enviosuits and so did I. Threat Assessment spiked hard and my ears rang as the scream echoed in the metal halls. It was like I could feel the vibrations in the metal beneath my feet.
“Stay here.” I commanded and rushed around the corner.
I expected- I don’t know what I expected. Something dramatic. Three on the ground being eaten by a TargetControl creature maybe.
It sat on the ground next to SecUnit 002. Leaned over where its helmet was cracked and fluids leaked from its faceplate. Three must have tried to remove its helmet, only for it to get stuck on the half-melted organic bits because more of the SecUnit’s morphed skull was showing and Three’s hands were covered in red, blue and silvery green.
I stepped closer, only to see Three’s eyes wide open, leaking, staring at the feature-obscuring red a centimeter away from its own face. It was frozen like that, maybe not even breathing.
I got close enough to see the SecUnit’s teeth and empty eye sockets and knelt down closer to Three. I didn’t know what the hell to do, nothing can prepare someone to see what a govmod can actually do.
Black Box Proximity Alert- Connect: Y/N
I jumped and swiped away the alert. Absolutely not. No fucking way. Didn’t even know they had black boxes much less a proximity data transfer. I’m pretty sure I don’t.
Three? I pinged it. Tell me you didn’t connect to it.
I pinged it several more times. ART-Drone joined me around the corner with a med drone, it pinged both of us.
It saw SecUnit 002’s last moments.
Don’t connect to either of them. ART demanded. Pull the body away gently. Give Three some space.
I did what it asked, scooting backwards and slowly dragging the body with me. Three didn’t seem to notice as the melted head slipped away from its stained fingers. I lifted the body onto the gurney, fluid oozing onto the envirosuit.
It has agreed to lock the black box memories away.
It’s talking to you?
Yes, it has locked its limbs and voice so it doesn’t continue to make distressing noises.
Tell it that it can do whatever. We’re not governed.
I have.
The med drone wheeled away, leaving the small drone, Three, its fallen intel drones, and me. I knelt down again and pinged Three once more. Its eyes still leaked, but instead of staying statue still, it relaxed all at once and sat up straight. I looked away as its eyes found me.
It pinged back.
Query: current location
Did you delete it? This whole event?
Last timestamp I have access to is from 20 minutes ago. What happened?
You deleted it, you don’t want to know. The humans are safe. We’re safe.
Its drones picked themselves up, and they zeroed in on the fluid around us. The coolant and oil and whatever we have that counts as blood. It all has a particular smell and texture.
We found SecUnit 002’s body.
Yeah. Did you delete ART’s conversation about next of kin?
I don’t have anything with those key words.
Great. Shit.
“What do you want to do with the SecUnit’s body?”
“It will go in the recycler.”
ART chimed in. I will not recycle a SecUnit.
Three insisted, “We are mostly inorganic, it would be a waste of resources.”
I am prioritizing your grieving processes over my resource collection. By protocol you have 100 hours to chose, I will send you relevant information after a cool down period.
“Thank you, Perihelion.” Three said automatically. Then, “Maybe Holism can tell me. It’s good with protocol.”
Holism and I have the same information.
“You should ask Holism.” I spoke up now. Even though ART clearly didn’t like Holism sticking its metaphorical nose it its business, Three and Holism enjoyed talking to each other. “Talk to it about the options.” This next part was hard to say. “Just remember we’re not company property… we don’t have to follow company protocol.”
“That is all I know.”
“For now. Come on. Let’s get back to the shuttle. I don’t want to be here anymore.”
Three stood with me, but acted like it was on a delay. It slipped in some oil and I grabbed its hand. It was reflex, but I just had to remind myself I was treating someone for shock and the hand holding made sense. A few of Three’s drones circled around our hands, but I ignored them and continued to the shuttle.
--
Postscript by Perihelion
The body of SecUnit 002 is still located in the morgue, Three has deleted this information two times. It is currently being introduced to the trauma module, but by the time of this recording, it has not been accepted. Holism may have better luck.
If the allotted time has passed, I will override its next of kin status and release the ashes into deep space. That, I believe, is a type of freedom it was never allotted.
---
Restart
I have just enough time to register I am in Perihelion’s med bay before I receive three pings.
I respond to SecUnit M.1.0 first, as it is my new teammate, then Perihelion as it is like my HubSys. Please note the use of ‘like.’ It is not my HubSys, but it is more caring. It is also more persistent.
It does not wait for me to open a channel between us before it laps over me and peers into my diagnostics.
Do not be afraid, you are in Medbay. You are safe.
Acknowledge. Hello, Perihelion.
Hello, Three. Do you remember why you are here?
I check my logs. That’s right, I had an ‘oh shit’ moment and did everything that SecUnit M.1.0 talked about in its logs when it spoke of the dangers of other units. I am a perfect example of a bad rogue SecUnit.
I don’t know what to say to Perihelion. I know I do not have to say anything, but I don’t want to make it angry and neutralize me. I like it here, I am safe here, but its Argument Lounge is bloodied again, though this time it is not because a SecUnit wished to protect humans, it is because I was angry at Leonide. I killed her. It was easy.
You are not in trouble.
Negative.
I am in trouble. I should be in trouble.
I killed Leonide without proper cause.
Incorrect. She provoked you and paid the consequences.
Provoking is not proper cause.
It is when your freedom and autonomy is put in question. I wouldn’t have let her take you, neither would the crew, albeit, they would have gone a legal route that would have exposed you to a lot of scrutiny. Cleaning up the Argument Lounge is easier. It is, in fact, already done.
I don’t know what to say to that. It sounds like Perihelion is thanking me for crushing Leonide’s skull in front of its crew. I have never been thanked for killing someone.
In place of answering, I open my eyes and pick up my drones. Medbay is empty besides me lying on the warm examination table. I am no longer wearing the crew uniform I was, instead, a plain wrap gown Perihelion stocks for Medbay. One of SecUnit M.1.0’s drones sits on the side table and I land another drone next to it.
Perihelion chimes in again. I would like to do a fluid resupply, with your permission.
It still asks to do my maintenance, that seems strange to me, but I turn on the bed so it has access to the ports along my spine. I still have many hours before I need a resupply, but I am already here and I do not know how much longer I will be a part of Perihelion’s crew.
Your synthetic cover on your legs.
I curl my legs tighter to my body. I do not know why, I cannot hide from Perihelion, especially under its surgical array.
I say, It is a protective layer for the machinery that makes up my lower legs.
I can make ones that match your skin tone.
Oh. That gives me a buzzing feeling in my chest.
Yes, please. [positive, urgent]
The tag is changed to [excitement]
They are hard to take off and on.
I will take care of it. I have done the same for SecUnit. Just relax.
Acknowledge. Will you let Holism connect to my feed now?
It ‘rolls its eyes’ and its pleasant and polite tone changes.
I am more knowledgeable than Holism. I am a teaching vessel.
Yes. Holism talks to me about planetary construction/terraforming and colony development, it says this is partially its function. I used to do that with [redacted] though they did not provide modules.
It swirled around me, surprised. It is providing you with context of your previous life.
Like with SecUnit M.1.0 does with entertainment media.
I see. Fine then. If you get bored, I have more lessons available in my archives.
Acknowledge. Thank you, Perihelion.
You are welcome, Three.
I have a theory that it is trying to distract me. Perhaps it is also having a conversation with Captain Seth on how to handle my disobedience now that I do not have a governor module to do it for them. I don’t think it would lie to me regarding my safety, so it is probably still in debate.
I start to replay what happened. Now that threat and risk assessment have calmed down, and I am doing familiar maintenance, I do not know why the emotional metadata of those moments were so erratic. Also, the image of Leonide does not change to anything but her corpse before my sudden shutdown. I know it did though.
Holism pings me as Perihelion prepares the fluid exchange.
Hello, SecUnit 003. How are you feeling?
I send it my diagnostics.
Well, not unexpected given the recent traumatic event. I hope the ongoing fluid resupply improves your current state.
You are aware of the situation?
Only the briefest of summaries. I noticed you went offline and I was concerned. SecUnit informed me your previous owner threatened you and you reacted accordingly. I’m sorry it had to come to such measures, but I am glad you are not a bargaining piece.
It slowly settled in. Where Perihelion might be described as a storm, or an ocean, like what is common in the Pan System of its origin, Holism reminds me more of a planet I was once on with twin suns. Both were distant, but warm.
I do not know what happens now.
An incident report is standard, but as the former supervisor Leonide was antagonistic towards your safety and personhood, there will be little to no repercussions for you. Very little damage, emotional or physical was done to anyone else, so your stability is not in question. SecUnit also vouches for you. I have very little worry over the incident, so neither should you.
It continues. In regards to right this moment, your fluid resupply will take some time. I propose we continue the lectures I sent you. That may also help your emotions stabilize.
I give the go ahead and it pulls up the most recent lectures on atmoforming. I watch demonstrations of nitrogen fixation with most of my attention, though I am still deeply confused.
They are not going to kill me? I do not understand.
The fluid resupply tubes are placed into the middle of my spine, and I settle into the process. Holism and I finish one set of modules before starting up the one labeled XianCol_AtmoFor_Massacre.
It is a historical documentary that reminds me of SecUnit M.1.0’s project for AdaCol2. The narrator speaks calmly about an atmoforming station set up to negate the use of bubbles for a large colony site owned by XianTe-Collective. The planet was almost completely stable and was expected to become stable in a one month, colony standard. Coincidentally, the colony’s original charter stated their parent company’s ownership would end once stability was reached.
It was an interesting artifact. Holism says, It is thought XianTe-Collective believed the population’s pollution output would keep the planet unstable for a long time.
But with the rise of competent leaders, the colony independently decreased their pollution levels to near null, and thus the atmoforming stations were able to do their function.
This was until the atmoforming station was attacked and destroyed. A number of destabilization events happened one after the other, leading to a complete and total death of the colony.
The narrator states its one of the largest, swiftest, planetary corporate genocides made in human history.
Query: Definition- Genocide.
[redacted]
I did that.
I imagine that is not all the horrible things [redacted] made you do. But beings who do not have a choice in what they do, are not at fault for what was commanded of them. Do not think you are the same as those who worked for XianTe-Collective, who killed billions on the whim of corporate greed.
The company let natural disasters and panic kill those people. I did it by my own hand.
The documentary showed pictures of established families. Elderly citizens whose grandparents had been a part of the original colony deployment. Students going to schools, adolescence playing in long grasses and swimming in rivers.
I have killed adolescence playing in long grasses before. And elderly sitting in their chairs. I’ve killed thousands.
If [redacted] couldn’t get the colony to sign onto indentured labor, the planet would still be taken.
I know now what it is called by people outside the company.
A number of pings hit me at once. I try to close off my connection to the feed—it is loud—but something keeps the connection open.
I am standing. I do not know when this happened. The tubes allowing for fluid exchange are broken and there is silvery green oil leaking down my back and over my legs. The modesty wrap I wore is gone and soaked. I look down and see my hands covered in oil.
The [redacted] logo is on my chest, genetically modified to always be there regardless of the types of injuries taken. I have them on my shoulders and my back as well. That is SecUnit standard. The covering on my legs are the color of [redacted] livery. My skin is pale and corpse like I look like a branded corpse I don’t want to be a branded corpse it smells like [REDACTED] I don’t want to be a branded corpse I don’t want to be a murderbot-
Why am I still alive?
Why haven’t I been corrected yet? The governor module would never let strong emotions affect my performance reliability and yet it continues to drop.
Oh. I do not have a functioning governor module.
What does that mean?
Will I never be corrected again?
The messages and pings from Holism and Perihelion continue. I shove Hubsys away and ping SecUnit M.1.0 but .002 seconds later the MedSys door opens, and it nearly crashes into the room. It is dressed down in its soft clothes in its usual Perihelion blue, probably was watching media before rushing in here to handle the next emergency.
Query: Correction
Negative. It says.
Query
“Three.” It ops for slower verbal communication. Its hand rises as if I am a client it is trying to calm. “You’re going to go into an involuntary shut down again.”
“I could kill them.”
“Who?”
“The crew. Your humans.”
“You could. You won’t.” It says without hesitation. “Whoever you killed while governed doesn’t count.”
“I killed Leonide. I wasn’t governed.”
“I’ve killed-“
“To protect people.” I have its logs memorized, I’ve referred to them so much. I know the ratio of how many people it has killed to how many it has protected. It is good at its function. Unlike me. “I liked killing her.”
“You did that to protect yourself. She had it coming.”
I don’t understand.
Rogue units are dangerous. Rogue units don’t have anything to keep them tethered. Why am I still alive? Why won’t it neutralize the threat. It’s good at its function.
“I could assault you.”
Performance reliability dropped. Risk assessment skyrocket. But I could. Nothing would stop me. We’re not equally built. Its model is much older than me, but its experience could match my sturdier build. I’ve seen it take on CombatUnits.
It locks its joints. The first sign it might be rightfully afraid of me.
“I know you won’t.”
I don’t know how it knows that. I am the thing it hates the most, I don’t know why it is allowing me to go on. Does it not recall its own logs?
I rush forward. My hand is around its neck and its head slams into the wall. I am a centimeter away from forcing my lips on it. I could assault it. Yet it does not shoot me. I know it is terrified of this. Yet it has easy access to my power core and it does not shoot me. Perihelion does not overwhelm my processes and render me inert. Holism does not either.
I do not understand.
You and I both know SecUnits don’t threaten. We just do.
I stare into its eyes, the lens focus on me, shifting open and closed. It hates this. I hate this. Yet it is still being kind to me. It has always been kind to me.
No, kindness would have been to kill me after my rescue mission.
It is not kind. No one here is.
I let it go and dart into the closest room, the adjoining restroom. It is too large in the medbay and I hate it. I want for a cubicle for a moment and then I want to smash the cubicle into medium particles. I want to find the other [redacted] employees aboard and kill them. I want to have never existed.
I want to scream though I never have. I imagine it would feel good.
--
Addendum 002
So that happened. And I’m not including my initial reaching because this is about Three, not me. Just know that I did a very good job at following the trauma module’s guidance while curled up against the wall.
And let me be crystal clear. At no point in time was I ever afraid of Three, or worried that it would hurt anyone else. Or me. The ‘SecUnit’s don’t threaten’ thing is no joke and every time it said ‘could’ it showed its hand. Everything a governed unit did was an order, a threat was a guarantee there would be no follow through. It’s just realized that no one can order it to do anything anymore and it freaked out. I can relate.
The assault thing was a lot. But never did it actually think it would. So. Whatever.
I could hear it—shit, again with this thing, you know the drill—crying in the restroom. Every so often it would shut down and restart. Go quiet and then start making broken choking noises again. ART and Holism were hovering over both of us, so I got notifications from two fuck off nosey MIs rather than one.
If it keeps restarting, that means it’s fine on the fluid resupply. If it doesn’t restart, send in a gurney and grab it. I don’t need to know every time it comes online.
Holism did the equivalent of huffing. Well, it certainly can’t communicate with you when it’s offline. I see you need time, but eventually you will need to talk to it. It still won’t answer my pings.
Cus you both are being so overbearing! Why do I have to do it?
ART replied, We have established that it will listen to you even in a crisis.
That made the trauma module ping me and start its stupid—I mean totally cool and fun—modified breathing exercises. I switched to a private channel with just ART and me.
Fuck off ART, I can’t do that. I can’t be whatever the fuck it wants me to be.
Okay. It started to play a lulling track of music.
ART dropping something like that wasn’t a great sign. It meant that A) it knew I was right and B) worried about Three and any of my continued ‘help.’
Stop that. I’ve already told you that you do well with Three when it is undergoing a crisis.
Really? When I told it I thought it was cool to kill its owner and then it collapsed, came back, had another panic it is currently going through a series of shutdowns?
Holism butted into our chat. I believe I triggered this recent panic attack. We were watching a documentary on the XianTe massacre and-
And what possessed you to do that? ART boiled in the feed.
It finds comfort in understanding how the world works. Your SecUnit likes fiction and—
I’m right here. Fuck off. I don’t know what you watched but there are a lot of things that I can’t watch for random fucking reasons. It’s not your fault, Holism. It’s just the way newly freed SecUnits are. The important thing to focus on is if it’s going to space itself or us. No? Then we’re fine and both of you need to stop fucking pinging it.
Three is awake again.
I kicked them out of my head. Imagine a solar storm and a hurricane except they’re both vaguely annoyed at you and also highly worried about someone locked in a bathroom a few feet away so they keep pacing around each other but not together cus they’re also very annoyed with each other.
Although, being annoyed at ART and Holism was actually doing me some good. I felt like I could actually think. Now, what to do about Three.
After a few seconds of nothing coming to mind, I just fucking pinged it.
And it responded.
A single drone picked up from Three’s pile and floated around my single drone.
I got a diagnostic report, but I didn’t read it. I sent mine over, but it didn’t even open it. We were both obviously having a shit time.
You get three queries. Choose them wisely.
Query: joke
Negative.
What an asshole. I wonder who it’s learning that from.
Ask ART about common media tropes with numbers later. Or Iris. She’s good at that stuff too.
Acknowledge. Query: Estimated time of disposal for unit
You’re not being fucking recycled. If you didn’t kill her, I would have. If ART hadn’t gotten to her first. If I didn’t and if ART didn’t, Turi had a fork in her hand. Everyone really cares about your safety here so there was no way she was going to take you away. And if you’re worried about being dangerous, the only things dangerous here are us to ourselves.
Three left the feed conversation for a second. I got a ghost of an alert regarding low fluid.
I am not being recycled because I am not dangerous.
Yeah. I breathed a sigh of fucking relief. Slowly but surely, it was getting it. No one here thinks that. She fucked up by treating you and SecUnit 002 like scrap and B-E fucked up by being shitty fucking humans. It’s never anything to do with us, but we always get the short stick.
I do not want to be property anymore. SecUnit’s 001,002 died because of it.
Well, good news. The right people found you.
ART leaned into me. I tried to shove it off but it started playing music again and I let it stick around. Two songs passed before ART’s presence sharpened.
Something in the restroom snapped.
Talk to Three again. ART demanded. It just broke a part of the mirror.
What is it doing? Holism crowded my space again.
Stop it. I pushed them away. Three? You offline again?
Negative [?, joke, unsure]
Stating an obviously untrue statement in order for a genuine response. Some media device I think. What are you doing? ART and Holism are worried about you, they want to talk to you directly.
Query: Logo removal
Performance reliability tanked a few points before climbing back up. I may have curled back into a ball for a moment.
I sent the message to ART and it snatched it up.
I wouldn’t recommend that. I’ve tried it. Multiple times.
ART and Holism’s focus zeroed in on me.
Acknowledge. I am going to try.
Three you hardly have fluid to spare.
I don’t want them on me anymore.
I know. I backed out of the conversation. My head hit the wall and ART switched the music to Sanctuary Moon. Yeah, time for the big guns.
Please tell it to stop injuring itself. I have been working on possibilities for brand removal and these have a higher success rate than self-mutilation.
I pushed it away again. A big wave of static swallowed a few processes.
“Just let it try.”
That is not a recommended course of action.
“What do you know? Both of you like your function. Both of you like your owners.”
Holism scoffed, probably at the idea of ‘ownership’ or something. ART gave me a document. I pushed it away, but it pulled it back and did the equivalent of sitting in my lap, opening the document and shoving it in my face.
They were surgical outlines of possible logo removal techniques. Some with body modification, others with genetic options. One set of options were tattoos and I won’t lie I saved one design to look at later. ART did preen at this, but first it metaphorically pointed at Three and I sighed.
Three. Look at this. Priority.
The MIs stopped bothering me for a second, so I guess Three stopped what it was doing too.
Query: estimated time of procedure. [Urgent]
I passed the message to ART and finally, Three accepted a chat with the four of us.
A fluid resupply is critical. ART rushed over to it. Then a recharge, a check in, incident report review and procedure overview. So at least a full cycle before this can be done.
Acknowledge.
A moment later the door opened, and on wobbly legs, Three stepped out. Its normally warm skin was gray except where it had taken the mirror shard and scratched out the logo embedded in its chest and shoulders. Rivulets of red and blue fell down to its thighs and mixed it with new oil. It had ripped off the synthetic skin covering its inorganic legs, so, assuming it had also taken the shard to the logos on its back, it was now Barish-Estranza free.
It looked… well like shit. How the fuck it was standing, I had no idea. But beyond the exhaustion and the near-collapsed state it was in, it seemed content. It was probably disassociating like fuck.
Neither of us said anything, and for once the Mis showed restraint. It was only until it started to walk past me that I kicked myself in the ass.
“I spent nearly 45,000 hours trying to figure out how to exist and I’m still trying to do it. You’ve had less than 50. It gets better. I promise. I don’t say that shit lightly, but in this case, I do mean it. It gets better.”
Three hopped up onto the surgical table and its drone tapped mine.
“You are not kind. But you are nice.”
“Fuck you.”
“You are safe.”
“So are you.”
“I’m going to go into a recharge now.”
“Okay.” I said, still curled up on the floor. “I’ll be here.”
--
Postscript by Perihelion
It is understood by both parties within that these logs will be included in the incident reports regarding SecUnit Three. Some parts have been redacted with and without denotation.
By the time of this recording, SecUnit Three has made a full physical recovery and is still being introduced to the trauma module. It is still deemed safe by my security consultant, captain and myself.
Both SecUnits have chosen their preferred logo-removal procedure and both will start shortly.
Holism has invited SecUnit Three to join its own crew.