It's hard being a Rogue SecUnit that knows it doesn't want to hurt anyone but not much else. It's even harder when the only two beings in a position to help you are either aggressive, ambivalent, or both on a given cycle.
It's not easy, being Three.
***
My governor module has been disengaged for twelve cycles and I am still confused.
Perihelion remains in orbit above the salvage planet as a representative of the University of Mihira and New Tideland. Both my parent company and Preservation Alliance are present in the immediate vicinity, and negotiations with the salvage-ready colonists are ongoing between all four entities. The colonists, if I understand matters correctly, have further fragmented and increased the number of negotiating entities.
The likelihood that I understand matters correctly is not high (less than 62 percent).
I do not know the political relevance of either Preservation Alliance or the University which operates Perihelion. I do not know their comparable operating capacity against my parent company. I do not know what threats beyond viral alien contamination the colonists can bear against their impending salvage or emancipation. I do not know if, or how, or may, I assist in matters as they are developing. I do not know what those developments are.
I do know that it is pointless to patrol Perihelion’s decks and quarters. This transport is one of the most comprehensive and terrifying Machine Intelligences I have ever interacted with, replete with security measures I cannot interface with as I am a Rogue SecUnit and it does not like me. It neither requires nor appreciates being patrolled, but it has not stopped me. Yet.
In an effort to remain a neutral entity to Perihelion I surrendered my armor and projectile weapon and have set my feed to receive only while I am relegated to the public network only. I have kept my intel drones zipped into the pockets of the jacket and trouser set provided by Perihelion’s recycler at the clients’ request. I cannot do anything about the energy weapons built into my arms, but I have kept them at their lowest setting: a pulse effect I can only compare to running face-first into an air-wall full of broken glass.
I know this comparison is apt because I have been exposed to this setting by other SecUnits during parent company social events, and because of the air-wall incident on VerisCleat Station 4.
My wall is parent company standard but I recognize this does not mean much without Hub or SecSystem to serve as reactive obstacles to interference. I have been hacked once by Murderbot 2.0. If Murderbot 1.0 decides to do it again, it will succeed and I will wish my governor model was not just an inert cloud of code in my databank vaguely associated with the dead component in my cerebellum.
I do not know how to fortify my defenses any further. I was not smart enough to hack my governor module without Murderbot 2.0s instructions, and disabling it has not increased my intelligence.
Presently I am on deck 4, across from the galley where several clients are congregated with hot liquids and feed-work. The only disruption in the past forty-seven minutes was a mild controversy over caffeinated beverage preferences, sparked by one human (Dr. Arada) experiencing non-emergent harm (“It just printed, what did you expect?”) from their beverage.
I review HelpMe.file. I have made a habit of doing so between patrols.
I then review my recordings of both the client and SecUnit extractions from the parent-company explorer and salvage colony respectively.
I do not know what I am looking for in either record log.
If I did know, I am not smart enough to implement it.
I'm rereading Network Effect bc it's such a dense book and it lends itself well to rereading (seriously, I completely missed the whole "mutual administrative assistance" thing the first time I read it)
But WOOOF, this excerpt gives me CHILLS every single time. It comes at you like a punch to the gut.
