Chapter Text
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 Pansystem 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 means beyond viral alien contamination the colonists can bring to 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 on the unsecured crew feed. I have kept my intel drones zipped into the pockets of the jacket and trouser set provided by Perihelion’s recycler at its crew’s 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 is accurate because I have been hit with energy weapons at this setting by other SecUnits, and because of the air-wall incident on VerisClout Station 4.
My wall is parent company standard but I recognize this does not mean much without Hub or SecSystem to buffer me against 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 processor, 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/crew 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’m not smart enough to implement it.
I go back on patrol.
I am aware that Murderbot 1.0, or SecUnit according to the feed tag, (or SecPrime as I have retagged it), devotes a small percentage of its processing to entertainment media review. When I have attempted to do the same it has exceeded 50 percent of my processing, and this is unacceptably high even with risk and threat assessments running at sub-7 percent. (Sub 3 after SecPrime’s initial recovery from retrieval, 12 percent peak in immediate aftermath of its shutdown incident)
I am too stupid for soap operas.
This is not surprising as I have run several scans of SecPrime when it is not looking at or paying attention to me beyond the estimated point-1 percent of its feed load it reserves for me. It does not bear any logos or embellishments which indicate its company of origin, and its design parameters do not meet any parent company standards for height, weight, or build. While not believably an augmented human, it is a custom SecUnit, which I have never heard of.
Combat SecUnits may be customized, and ComfortUnits are rarely sold without some level of alteration, but SecUnits are unanimously catalogued as a security company’s standard product with various tiers offered in their line-up.
SecPrime may be a refurbish of a top-of-the-line SecUnit vs a fully redesigned custom order, but considering how little relative combat data is included in HelpMe.file I cannot accurately assess its abilities, and it was critically damaged during its retrieval. I could request recordings from Perihelion but it would refuse and also frightens me. I could request recordings or mundane diagnostics data from SecPrime itself but it would refuse and distrusts me.
I would also distrust me if I was a rogue SecUnit being asked to trust another, less-intelligent, rogue SecUnit. SecPrime is much smarter than I am.
And now it pings me.
If I were not already standing at attention-ready, I would feel my governor module spike and bring me to form. As I am ready, I ping back.
It doesn’t go through.
I fumble to unlock my receive-only setting, which takes point-5 seconds and is tantamount to a human audibly tripping over themselves to reach a manual hatch. I ping successfully this time.
I am not wearing my visor or armor and am aware that SecPrime has complete integrated access to Perihelion’s security features. They both know I am in engineering and embarrassed.
SecPrime: query = task?
(What are you doing? [tag: casual, bored])
SecUnit003: task = routine pat.ob 2:04:31
(Patrol and observation for the last two hours. [tag: intimidated and not hiding it well])
It doesn’t respond right away. I don’t know where it is on the ship because Perihelion has scrubbed it from the unsecure feed. It doesn’t matter if I know or not because SecPrime knows and it is the only superior system I trust to deal with me fairly.
I do not know what fairness implies in these circumstances, but I have not felt mistreated by SecPrime.
SecUnit003: query = assistance?
(Do you need something? [tag: hopeful])
SecPrime: response = null. Request transfer, SecProtocol 554320p44-2. Conditional application, accept y/n.
(No. Take this and review it with the decontamination protocol first, then verify and apply it how you like. It’ll make your life easier but I’m not holding your hand through it. [tag: someone is making me do this [subtag: nonhostile [subsubtag: I hate humans]])
It offers a download and I prep a run box before accepting, isolating the file and running the alien decontamination sequence from Perihelion. SecPrime ends our connection and vanishes back under the static feed presence of the larger MI.
The sequence finishes and I unpack LikeAHuman.file. I review it through parent company filters before making a final manual sweep of my own. It is a catalogue of behavioural packets including walk-cycles, stimulant responses, a tweaked vocalization mod, and several other minor programs which even on my junk processing specs will see cap out at roughly 2.5-3 percent of my capacity. It has the processing weight of another swarm of standard intel drones.
I apply the packet and Client Designation Matteo looks up from their feed to me and asks, “You good?”
SecUnit003: Yes.
I immediately regret using the feed as Perihelion’s momentous attention builds around me like an extremely territorial Machine Intelligence trying to intimidate a much smaller and stupider unit and succeeding.
I switch my feed back to receive-only.
“Hey, hey! It’s alright.” Matteo puts down the tool they were using and approaches me. They have been running diagnostics on Perihelion’s nearly repaired wormhole drive. “You don’t have to stand at attention all the time, it’s okay.”
Applying the packet made my shoulders drop, and my hand is fiddling with the zipper tag on my pocket. It fiddles more because my stress is rising, and it is rising because the motion is involuntary. Because I installed an involuntary movement packet. In front of a client.
I’ve been instructed to stop referring to Perihelion’s crew as “clients”.
Matteo’s eyes droop and their mouth is stretched downward and I brace for the governor module to restrict my vocalizations as my trauma response module is installed but not updated, and frequently (9.3 percent) malfunctions with inappropriate condolences.
I am so worried about the punishment that will not come for misspeaking that I stare straight at their face instead of past it. I do not have my helmet to protect my face. The governor module doesn’t respond to where SecUnits focus visual attention but parent company humans do and I have not been with the parent company for twelve cycles.
Matteo is smiling. They are not happy. “I won’t tell anyone you need a break if you just want to take a break, alright? Peri’s got us covered and SecUnit’s up and around. Why don’t you head back to your room and recharge?”
I have privately retagged SecUnit to SecPrime because the only unit the clients/humans/associates mean when they say “SecUnit” is SecPrime. The two of us are not interchangeable to the humans. SecPrime rebuffed the suggestion of mutual retags to SecUnit001 (it) and SecUnit002 (me), stating I would confuse them.
I say, “I will do that.”
I do not need a recharge cycle and have no intention of performing one, but the governor module would only punish me if I discard the order later, not from thinking about it now.
On the way back to my room, I don’t have any of my drones out and my focus is on rapidly uninstalling the various processes from the behaviour packets. I know what each one does but I will uninstall them now, re-read them in my assigned quarters, and apply them one at a time instead of all at once this time.
I come around a corner at the same time as Dr. Ratthi of Preservation. He jumps with a yelp and I, under the influence of the Stimulant Response package, also jump with a half-applied vocalization protocol yelp, but mine sounds like a distorted audio clip.
SecUnits are not supposed to startle under any circumstances.
My performance reliability drops so sharply that SecPrime pings me. Perihelion’s attention makes the corridor lights brighten on a wavelength non-augmented humans like Ratthi cannot perceive.
I am not going to reinstall the stimulant response packet. I abandon the voice modification uninstall and rip that one out first. My threat assessment is now running SecPrime for exposing me to jumpscare malware until I stop it because I, a SecUnit, scanned and personally reviewed the jumpscare malware and installed it, with SecPrime’s own annotation stating “tweak the parameters so you don’t impair your response times.”
I did not do that.
Ratthi has spilled hot liquid on his uniform and dropped several starchy nutrition nodules on the floor from the package in his hand. He is laughing very, very loudly, and a rapid bioscan with my limited permissions shows his heart-rate is already decelerating. He is fine.
“Damn, I needed that more than the stimulants,” Rattthi laughs, brushing uselessly at the liquid stains and then crouching to pick up the nodules before one of Perihelion’s drones can perform that task for him. I am aware of said drone’s approach.
Ratthi eats one of the nodules from the floor.
The drone and I both pause. Perihelion recovers first with the equivalent of rolling eyes. I say, “It is ill-advised to consume potential planetary contaminants, Dr. Ratthi.”
“Peri keeps these halls spick-and-span, Three, I wouldn’t worry about it.” He is still chewing, and smiling. Unlike Matteo he is very happy. “Did I see you jump right there? Can’t all be fearlessly brave all the time, I suppose. Good on you.”
He winks, pats the back of his hand on my shoulder, and walks away still happily munching his contaminated starch nodules. I have never seen Dr. Ratthi consume any nutrition that is not either highly caffeinated or made of dense concentrations of simple carbohydrates.
I do not know if this is a standardized diet for male humans of his age and occupation. More importantly I do not know if consuming non-sterile nutrition falls under the bracket of client self-harm. Even more importantly, I do not know the likelihood of planetary contamination on board a research transport whether operated by a standard non-verbal bot-pilot or a highly advanced machine intelligence like Perihelion. I do not know how the airlocks and decontam protocols work. I do not know much of anything beyond my own specifications.
I reach my room and the door closes behind me. SecPrime pings me again but I go to the corner, face the wall, and initiate a recharge cycle I do not need but suddenly want.
I have been a rogue SecUnit for twelve cycles.
I still do not know what that means.