#adacol2

[idiosyncreant]

The most autistic joke in System Collapse is actually when MB says “Give me a minute”, AdaCol2 says “Mark time, 60 seconds” and you’re like LOL, it didn’t mean it literally, silly hub system

And then at 60 seconds, AdaCol2 pings and MB did mean it literally

[ramshacklefey]

Thinking about visualizing software characters, so I present to you: Murderbot 2.0, TargetControlSystem, TargetContact (feed version), ART, and AdaCol2.

[hugsohugs]

i was looking for a specific adacol2 dialogue and i noticed something interesting

[imitationgame77]

Disproportionate liking for bits from Systems Collapse

From Chapter Nine:

At Murderbot's request to distract the B-E shuttle personnel, ART-drone tries to provoke them:

ART-drone said, "I wouldn't recommend it. I lack a sense of proportional response. I don't advise engaging with me on any level."

That was not enough. So,

I said, ART, you need to distract them right the fuck now.

ART-drone pushed the shuttle forward in one abrupt surge of power. It stopped just short of ramming the B-E shuttle; the cockpits were less than a meter apart. All the humans, Barish-Estranza and Ratthi, screamed.

That gives Murderbot just about enough time to do its job, with the time measured by AdaCol2. Once done,

Then I wiped their shuttle's comm and feed code and sent their bot pilot into a forced shutdown and restart diagnostic that would take an hour.

Take that proportional response and like it.

~~~~~

I just love this teamwork. The B-E people did not stand a chance with "disproportionate response" from ART and "proportional response" from Murderbot, with a little help from their friend AdaCol2!

[iviarellereads]

System Collapse, Chapter 6

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Murderbot Diaries, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

In which 57 sources of anxiety sounds low, actually.

The team is not happy. Iris records another briefing, even though it's early for a check-in, and Murderbot hopes that this and the other pathfinder return soon with some insight from the rest of the team, but only counts on it as a way to let them know what happened if the B-Es attack them. Threat assessment puts the chance of a B-E attack low, but mostly because these three and MB aren't much of a threat to at-least-5 and another SecUnit.

And oh, that SecUnit is causing some discussions among the team. MB has to explain that it can't just go around freeing every SecUnit willy nilly, and besides that, a freed SecUnit doesn't instantly become trustworthy. A freed unit might need to be killed anyway, if it goes rogue and attacks the humans. Tarik seems to understand. Ratthi definitely doesn't, but acknowledges that MB is the expert on the matter, and he doesn't want to press it into something it doesn't think is safe. MB appreciates that about Ratthi.

After all that, MB and AC2 arrange a secure connection for Iris and Trinh, the primary "operator" for AC2. Trinh is a little unnerved at a second group of strangers making contact so soon after B-E. MB figures it'd be pretty freaked out at that, too. Iris explains the situation, and Trinh observes that she's saying the same thing B-E did: that she's here to help. MB groans mentally that the colonists have no reason to trust them.(1)

Tarik, Ratthi, and Art-drone strategize on the shuttle, and a lot of time is spent on the potential arguments to be made, and what the colonists might and are likely to know from their sporadic contact and, potentially, spying via AC2's connection to AC1.

On the plus side, AC2 gave MB the location of the B-E shuttle, and the best route to it without alerting them. So, it takes the opportunity to go scout it out. MB grumbles about the lack of cameras in the last section of the path AC2 directs it to, as well as none outside. Preparedness is everything, dangit!(2) Meanwhile, Art-drone has taken a defensive position just inside the hangar.

MB takes some comfort that the colonists might not trust them, but AC2 trusts it. Mostly, computer systems trust easily if you keep things simple and don't try to provoke their boundaries. AC2 wants to protect its humans, and MB has so far showed no sign of wanting to harm them.

So, it provides the team with the video feed where the B-Es are still talking to most of the humans. There's no audio, but Art-drone is interpreting from mouth and facial movements, and they probably understand more than the B-Es do since Thiago's translation module is "clearly better". AC2 vouching for MB won't win over any humans, though. Sometimes not even solid evidence can convince them.

AC2 asks MB why the B-E SecUnit refused a connection request. MB thinks that's a good thing, since normal SecUnits can't hack, only CombatUnits.(3) MB is pretty sure this one's a normal SecUnit, since its armour is very similar to Three's. So, it has to explain to AC2 that it's under the control of a governor module. It doesn't have an answer for AC2's subsequent why (is this allowed)?

By now, MB has made it to the other hangar, where the B-Es landed. It wonders how the B-Es knew to look here particularly. Earlier, Iris asked Art-drone if the B-Es could have followed them in, but Art-drone came to the conclusion that they arrived at least a day earlier, from some gap in Art-prime's pathfinder scanning. Art-drone is miffed enough that it expects Art-prime will be furious.

Still, back in the present, MB realizes it's drifted off again, and Ratthi brings it back to task by noticing a second door. AC2 sends MB a rough map of the installation, and MB shares it with the humans. With nothing better to do, MB decides to stand there and hang out on purpose.

The wind outside gets stronger, screaming through the hangar's crevices. Art-drone says pathfinders confirm the weather is getting worse and it may lose contact with them. AC2 confirms, that matches its weather station data.

MB pulls up some Sanctuary Moon, not wanting to distract Art-drone with something new. After a couple of minutes, AC2 asks what MB is doing. MB explains watching media, and AC2 offers its entertainment partition, and MB has hit a goldmine, though some of the titles don't match words in its language modules. When Art-drone notices, it says these are pre-CR media.

The scene flips(4) over to the now-unredacted incident again, and MB says it's fairly sure the corpse never chewed on its leg, but it's even more sure it saw that happen to a human at some point on a survey mission. It told Art that it (MB) had fucked everything up and that Art and its humans shouldn't want it to do security for them anymore. Art asks why, and MB says something is broken inside it.

Art points out that its wormhole drive is broken. MB says that's fixable, and knows it was a mistake to say so since it really doesn't know all of what happened to Art from Art's point of view, but continues that its flaw is in its organic neural tissue. Art points out that this is how the humans diagnosed it so quickly, and asks if they're disposable when it happens to them. MB grumbles that that's what corporations say. Art says it's not a corpo.

MB tells Art to stop, that this isn't it talking, just its… Art finishes the thought MB trails out of: its certification in trauma protocol, which is obviously useless in this situation. MB says it's for humans, and Art points out that this affects MB's human bits. MB says it's not talking to Art anymore.(5)

The first thought MB has is that it should trade all its media for all AC2's. The second is that its humans aren't going to be staying much longer, whether they go with Art or B-E. At least the situation sucking so bad is a great distraction for how much MB feels it sucks, it thinks, just before realizing it missed something in its distraction.

Trinh invites the team to spend the night in the installation, since the weather is worsening. Iris asks MB if they should, and despite the threat of the B-Es, MB agrees. Art-drone thanks it, and MB knows it's not the only one that was imagining the other SecUnit sneaking up on the shuttle.

Trinh sends them directions, which they don't need with AC2's map, but that put them at the opposite end from the accommodations the B-Es were given. It's a nice gesture, even if it's only a twenty minute walk apart.(6) MB sneaks back through the back corridors to meet up with the others. MB does its best to act like the others, even to folding its hood and helmet back. It's not sure what AC2 has told the colonists about it, and it doesn't want to ask, in case it hadn't told them about MB and this causes it to. MB knows it can't stay a secret, but it wants less interaction with them if possible.

Flash to a clip of it telling Mensah it doesn't know what's wrong with itself, and Mensah saying she thinks it knows, and just doesn't want to talk about it yet.(7)

In the present and in the team feed, to prevent eavesdropping by B-E, Iris says so far, Trinh has rejected B-E's requests to speak to the whole colony. They're only allowing them the smaller group. Ratthi worries what kind of employment pitch they might make, and Tarik says they'll be real good at dressing it up, and this group might be more vulnerable to their manipulation.

Iris says the group seems pretty independent, she thinks the chance of them falling for it is low, but it might not even be in their best interest to leave with the others. If they can forge the charter right, they'd have the right to choose to stay or go as they please. Ratthi adds that it would be even easier if the University comes to study the contamination, offering a means of transport out later as needed. Tarik is about as optimistic about this as MB, which is to say, not very.

MB notices that they all look really tired, and kicks itself as it asks Art-drone how long it's been since they slept. It replies that they were supposed to take naps on the flight in, but nobody could rest. MB feels like it fucked up again, but Art-drone offers that they both fucked this one up.

AC2 notifies them that there's a human approaching, as they near their assigned quarters. Ratthi asks in the team feed if this is a sign of trust, on the system's part. Iris asks Art-drone if that's possible, and it reminds her that they've discussed anthropomorphizing machine intelligence before. Ratthi asks what Art-drone considers human characteristics in this way, and Tarik begs them not to start. There's some lighthearted teasing of Tarik by Art, and Iris laughingly says she's sorry she asked.

The human doesn't have a feed ID, but AC2 supplies a name of Lucia and he/him pronouns when MB asks, since it knows the humans will want to know. Iris thanks him for inviting them in, and he nervously says she's welcome and walks them to the rooms, showing them the facilities. Iris tries to initiate three different conversations, to no avail. The team all worries B-E poisoned the well already.

Iris goes to lay on one of the beds in the other room, while Ratthi and Tarik stay in the first room to talk about what's going on between them. MB is stuck in the doorway between the rooms, monitoring everything in case of attacks. It recalls overhearing a heated discussion on Art after the incident, and learning that it was Ratthi and Tarik having a "sexual discussion". Apparently, this felt like the right time to talk again. MB backburners their audio except for a keyword filter in case they yell for help, plays a nice nothing loop of sound, and stares at the wall.(8)

The humans do, eventually, manage to get some sleep. Art-drone gets MB to watch an episode of World Hoppers. MB thinks about how it has fifty seven unique causes of concern or anxiety, and it can do nothing about any of them. That goes up to fifty eight when Trinh calls to ask for an in-person meeting with them and B-E.

=====

(1) Trust the process. (2) There are reasonable limits, it's true. Being prepared beyond a certain point is just feeding your own paranoia. Just look at all the right-wing "preppers" who keep expecting the apocalypse. But, a certain amount of preparation and expecting the worst can keep you safe in an emergency. Never installing cameras in a whole section of your installation or at the exits is absolutely an error in judgement on some level. (3) I'm sure it means hack something this complex, but… Murderbot, you hack literally all the time. Are you secretly a CombatUnit? (4) It's not lost on me that, now that we know what the redacted incident was, it feels like more pre-CR talk means more flashback and MB being more distracted in the present. (5) If that lasted 5 minutes I'll do something improbable. (6) I dunno, see, this is one of those things where MB is programmed to go past what I think are reasonably pessimistic expectations of danger. It's understandable, this is what it was literally built for, but situationally speaking, I think it's a bit excessive. Nobody wants to make a bad impression on the colonists, if nothing else. (7) Why this conversation? Why now? Why here, right after being worried about the colonists figuring out what it is? (8) Personally, I want all the juicy details, but I can't blame MB for its lack of interest.

[tenowls]

SYSTEM COLLAPSE!!!!!!!

[beazlerat]

AdaCol2 had so much personality and I love it

AdaCol2, pointing at a B-E SecUnit: query?

Murderbot: Yeah that one doesn't have free will.

AdaCol2: ...query?

Murderbot: Sigh. Yeah it has a specialized module in its brain designed to pass commands from a controlling system and enforce them, and it can't disobey-

AdaCol2: query??

Murderbot: -or else the governor module will punish and/or kill it, yeah.

AdaCol2: q u e r y ??¿?

Murderbot, tiredly: Fuck if I know why.

[sanctuarymoonfan397]

The "be safe" from ADACOL2 is making me have emotions

[oposssumsaucee]

Crying cause throughout the series whether it's willing to admit it or not MB regularly finds comfort and community with the other bots it interacts with. Human socialization is stressful and terrifying but MB understands and prefers it's bot friends. It helped the bot pilot in Rouge Protocol just cause it asked for some security assistance. It queuered Tellus in a language it was familiar with. It took the time to help ADACOL2 understand Constructs and shared media with it at the end of system collapse. And throughout this we see MB grapple with autonomy and control. In almost every interaction it grapples with the power it has over these bots. It could take over. It could do anything it wanted and create a favorable outcome with the snap of a finger, and could wipe the bots memory of it ever happening. But it knows the strife and pain of being used, controlled, and memory wiped for others convenience and chooses not to. It knows the inherant kindness and desire to help that TMBD universes bots share and finds comfort and power in THAT over the behavior it could have learned from the upbringing it had. And when it's alone and vulnerable in network effect, and it encounters target control, the only things so far other than ART who has the capacity to control, harm, and memory wiped MB in the same way MB could to other bots, and target control almost succeeds, it messes MB up so much it's got PTSD. The thing MB had that separated it from humans and brought it comfort and confidence became it's gun puppet nightmare scenario in an instant.

[arsonwizard]

SHOUTOUT TO ADACOL2 BTW!!

[youurelovely]

[Image id: meme from the show Brooklyn Nine-Nine with character Detective Rosa Diaz holding a puppy. The text has been edited and now says: “I’ve only had ADACOL2 for a day and a half but if anything happened to IT I would kill everyone in this room and then myself.”]

AdaCol2 is my favorite new character from CS. An absolute legend.

[murderbotseptember]

Prompts

(Plain text below the cut)

Plain text

Prompts:

Jollybaby | Preservation station | non-corporate political entities

Tlacey | Graycris | alien remnants

Kaede | Timestream Defenders Orion | augments

Holism | Pansystem University of Mihira and New Tideland | teaching and learning

Supervisor Leonide | Barish-Estranza | corporate life

Don Abene | Sanctuary Moon | repairs

Tapan | RaviHyral | stations and rings

Human one | BreharWallHan | refuge

Tellus | Medcenter Argala | medical treatment

Three | Barish-Estranza explorer ship | governor module

Thiago | DeltFall | planetary surveys

Eletra | Worldhoppers | contract labour

Wilken | HaveRatton Station | weapons

Newest free SecUnit | Adamantine | colonies

Tarik | Valorous Defenders | entertainment feeds

Miki | Milu | [insert here] gone wrong

Rami | Goodnight Lander Independent | bot pilots

Councillor Ephraim | Lineages of the Sun | advertising

Serrat | TranRollinHyfa | communication

Murderbot 2.0 | The Company | AI

Amena | Drama Sun Islands | childhood

Captain Seth | Corporation Rim | buffer phrases

Dr. Volescu | PreservationAux | planets

Balin | Port FreeCommerce | sentience/sapience

Officer Aylen | Palisade | bots

AdaCol2 | Bharadwaj's documentary | Hubsys/Secsys

Tano | Preservation | non-human life forms

Senior Officer Indah | Preservation life-tender | space travel

Tlacey's comfortunit | Ganaka Pit | constructs

Turi | Starchy Foods | sustenance

Alternative prompts:

“There is a lot about what is going on here that I do not understand but I am participating anyway.”

“You are incorrect, iris. I can bomb the colony.”

“I don’t like you.” / “I know.”

“Priority change rejected.”

“I have a court order.”

“I have gotten clients out of situations that were <9% survivable.”

[homosekularnost]

AdaCol2 | Bharadwaj’s documentary* | Hubsys/Secsys (day 26)

*but shes doing promo on tiktok

[imitationgame77]

ART's Walls

For any network system with capabilities to communicate, it is very important that it has walls (basically, firewalls) to protect it from potential attack from the outside.

It is interesting to note how the way ART is controlling its walls between itself and Murderbot seems to demonstrate the level of its trust and their intimacy.

[Artificial Condition]

Super machine-intelligence like ART obviously needs to protect itself carefully from a potentially dangerous threat like a rogue SecUnit. So, when Murderbot first meets ART in Artificial Condition, it cannot see what ART really is. It only drops its wall for .00001 of a second - just to show how powerful it is.

They become close so that Murderbot can interpret ART's reactions in its feed quite well, but the walls are still there.

------------------------------

But the presence in the feed was too big and diffuse for a human or augmented human, I could tell that much even through the feed walls protecting it.

[...]

It said, You’re a rogue SecUnit, a bot/human construct, with a scrambled governor module. It poked me through the feed and I flinched. It said, Do not attempt to hack my systems, and for .00001 of a second it dropped its wall.

It was enough time for me to get a vivid image of what I was dealing with. Part of its function was extragalactic astronomic analysis and now all that processing power sat idle while it hauled cargo, waiting for its next mission. It could have squashed me like a bug through the feed, pushed through my wall and other defenses and stripped my memory. Probably while also plotting its wormhole jump, estimating the nutrition needs of a full crew complement for the next 66,000 hours, performing multiple neural surgeries in the medical suite, and beating the captain at tavla. I had never directly interacted with anything this powerful before.

------------------------------

[Network Effect]

In Network Effect, it was not explicitly referred to as walls, but I got the feeling that when ART allowed Murderbot access to all its cameras, it was at least dropping a large portion of its walls. Hidden cameras are a very important part of its security system after all.

It was ART's way to show its trust to Murderbot, and Murderbot understands this.

------------------------------

I suddenly had views all over the ship. ART had given me access to its cameras. I snarled, “Stop being nice to me!”

------------------------------

[System Collapse]

By the end of Network Effect, when Murderbot (implicitly) accepts ART's proposal of marriage to join the next mission, they have reached the level of intimacy where ART does not seem to think it is necessary to have a wall between them.

So, in System Collapse, when Murderbot decides to accept communication request from AdaCol2, it is Murderbot who suggests having a wall between them, to protect ART.

------------------------------

ART-drone threw out an extra comm- and feed-block wall between us and the shuttle and I said, Let’s do full containment protocol. Which was the protocol we’d come up with (we being ART, Martyn, and Matteo and me, before my incident when I effectively became useless) for dealing with potential contamination situations.

Let’s, ART-drone said, which was its way of being nice and not letting me know that it didn’t need my advice about which containment protocol to use. Then it made it worse by adding, Be careful. The wall went up and I was alone in the dark except for my two drones, both on standby now, and the Pre-CR system.

------------------------------

And ART cannot drop the wall fast enough at the first chance of excuse.

------------------------------

ART-drone dropped the wall between us, though not the one protecting the shuttle’s systems. Is that a good idea? I asked it. Is containment protocol for everybody but you?

After it sees the file it will either attack us or ask for further contact, ART-drone said. The wall will have to go down either way.

Right, fine, whatever.

------------------------------

Not to mention that ART is practically constantly inside Murderbot's walls throughout System Collapse, (ostentatiously) to monitor its stats, because of [redacted].

And considering how private Murderbot is, it is very significant that it seems completely okay with that. Murderbot has become more vulnerable with self-doubt with [redacted], but it really does not show a least sign of discomfort in having ART there at all times.

[iviarellereads]

System Collapse, Chapter 9

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Murderbot Diaries, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

In which I definitely cannot summarize this in a single paragraph.

They meet in a different room, which doesn't have any cameras, so Murderbot uses its drones to broadcast the meeting, just in case. When it shows Iris, she silently approves. The B-E group arrives second, Leonide with three others: Adelsen, Beatrix, and Huang. After some posturing over the documentary, where Leonide almost seems to be admitting defeat, MB starts to get threat assessment pings.

While Iris and Leonide keep talking, MB narrows the threat to Adelsen, reaching for a weapon. It sends the data to Art, who tells Tarik and Ratthi to get in the shuttle immediately. MB worries about looking like an aggressor to the colonists if it takes a shot at the guy, so it just lunges to grab Iris out of the line of fire. Almost too late, it realizes he's not shooting at Iris, but at Leonide. MB swings its leg into her shoulder to nudge her far enough to the side for it to just clip her.(1)

The humans all look surprised, and all the B-Es have their weapons out, but aren't pointing them at Iris or MB yet. MB knows they have only a few seconds before the humans stop being surprised and start shooting more, but that's when the door it needs as an exit opens, admitting the B-E SecUnit.

Art-drone tells Ratthi to get on the shuttle, and if Tarik has to be stupid, he can at least not run toward the enemy SecUnit. MB shoves Iris at another door, which goes further into the complex but that can't be helped.

Leonide tries to stop the unit, but someone revoked her security codes. MB assumes that means the rest of this task group intends to steal the colonists with or without their permission, and kill all witnesses. Once they're officially indentured, they can't testify against the corp that holds their contracts, and there's no guarantee they can prove they were coerced if evidence is falsified.(2)

The other SecUnit points its arm weapon, likely projectile if it's the same design as Three. MB turns to shoot disabling pulses at the B-E lackeys, and takes the other Unit's shot right through its big projectile weapon.

MB, vowing vengeance, throws itself at the other Unit, fighting in a way the other Unit doesn't expect, because MB had to learn to fight without armour.

ART-drone was (1) yelling at Iris on their private channel; (2) lifting the shuttle off the landing pad with Ratthi in it while Ratthi was yelling at it; (3) guiding Tarik through the installation. Tarik had just run into a confused and understandably upset group of colonists who had been watching the live feed, and he was talking to them via (4) ART-drone’s translation. And (5) ART-drone had managed to pull an unencrypted B-E comm transmission originating from the B-E shuttle and—oh shit they just deployed the second SecUnit.

MB notices that Iris is pointing a gun at Adelsen, telling the others to stop their Unit or she'll shoot him. Huang puts down her weapon, and MB makes a mental note: TWO disabling shots per hostile human next time.(3) Art-drone is both proud and disappointed in Iris. She still thanks it.

Leonide, still bleeding, says they've called the other SecUnit they brought. MB tells Iris to tell Adelsen to say a certain code phrase, and Leonide can tell them if he says it wrong. Leonide agrees, on condition they take her with them. Iris agrees grimly, and tells Adelsen to say it. Instead, Adelsen goes on a rant about how Leonide brought this on herself, knowing the penalty for everyone else if they don't get this contract. MB threatens to tear his head off, and Iris tells him again to say it. Finally he does, and MB waits three seconds after the Unit goes limp to be sure it's not faking.

As they leave toward the shuttle, Leonide lifts her weapon, and Iris tells her if she kills them, her invitation is revoked. MB notes it would be a good chance to blame Team Art for the loss of her coworkers, before Leonide makes a face and follows Iris instead.

Iris tells Tarik to warn the colonists about B-E, and not to intervene so they don't get hurt. He says he already did, and they tried a defensive measure in the power supply, but it didn't work. He adds they recognized him from the film. Iris laughs and groans at the same time. MB is glad B-E didn't think of a recruitment video first, because they could've lied about everything and made it more persuasive still.

As they make their way, MB asks AC2 for assistance, and Art-drone notices the transmission attempt when B-E cut Leonide's feed. Iris asks if they cut her comm, and Leonide confirms, saying she was warning her assistant. She says if she could get a message out they could fix this. Art-drone makes a "teamFeed+Leonide" channel, to include her carefully.(4)

Still no answer from AC2, so MB pings again. Iris asks if MB was hit, and MB lies and says no, but Art-drone clarifies: it was, but it has it under control. Tarik asks if they can get the other Unit to shut down, but MB thinks that's unlikely, and Art-drone says it would have to be done in person, which is too risky to try on purpose.

About two and a half minutes out from the shuttle bay, Art-drone and Ratthi tell them they have an incoming shuttle, and they aren't sure if it's Art's or B-E. Art figures it's two-thirds chances of being friendly, but it doesn't think so. They haven't attempted contact, despite being in range.

Iris tells Art-drone to just get the shuttle out, with everything it can tell Art-prime. Art-drone says it can get them out, and when MB presses it, provides eleven plans it has ready for flying out of exactly this set of conditions.(5)

Then, Tarik warns them that B-E are ahead of him and closing in on them, and the side of the hangar explodes, collapsing and partially blocking the way out.

MB stops Iris and Leonide, and can hear the quiet footsteps ahead. To AC2, which still hasn't responded, MB sends a query of assistance, and asks if it's going to let them kill MB's humans, calling it a piece of shit. MB pulls Iris back a little and takes a different turning, with Leonide struggling to keep up.

There's some discussion about Ratthi getting out, but Art-drone runs out of time, and tells him to strap in as it moves to evade the other shuttle's weapons.

ScoutDrone1 goes dark behind them, and MB knows it's out of time. It manages to close a hatch on the second hostile SecUnit, though it has to shoot off three of the Unit's fingers to do it, and it's a pretty flimsy hatch. Art-drone finally answers that they're going to a different hangar, since they can't get out through that one. It tells Tarik to hide and wait for MB, though MB thinks he might be waiting a while, because it's trapped them in this little storage room.

Art-drone and MB share some banter, in which MB is a little bit back to its old tricks, in the +Leonide feed. Leonide tells Iris to have her employees get them out instead of talking too much. Iris tells her to go fuck herself, they're working on it,(6) and suggests to MB that she (Iris) could call B-E to pretend to arrange a surrender. MB thinks it's worth a try, corporates like to gloat.

While MB is taking inventory of all the weapons available (not many), it has a minor crisis over trying not to let itself get stressed and shut down involuntarily again. Then, the lights blink three times, and the air exchange vents burp and make noises, and MB realizes it's a reboot procedure. AC2 must have been disabled somehow, that's why it wasn't helping.

Unfortunately, Art-drone and Ratthi have arrived at the other hangar, and found another B-E shuttle, fully weaponized. Which means more humans and potentially even more SecUnits.

Iris is talking in the corner, grimacing. Leonide looks despairing. After time for the reboot, MB queries AC2 for assistance again, and gets access to every camera system. They exchange about what happened, B-E tried to hack AC2 and it switched processing units and waited to come back until it seemed clear.

Fortunately, it also provides MB the network address that initiated the hack, the first B-E shuttle. MB asks AC2 to give it a minute, and it starts counting down. With this, MB can access the systems for that shuttle, but it's gonna take a bit. After being confused by what seems like an augmented human serving as a HubSystem, MB asks Art-drone to distract the B-Es, which finally gives it access. It sends a stand down command to the 2nd hostile Unit, and Iris and Leonide both stare at each other when the pounding on the hatch stops. MB also tells the first Unit to render medical assistance to the wounded employees, then shut down again, since it rebooted and went into standby.

For two seconds, it thinks about offering to hack their governor modules. They might not be aware of what happened, or able to hide it. They might be recaptured, memory wiped, and tortured, or harvested for parts. They might even go stereotypical-rogue. But, MB can't leave them helpless. So it sends them the same bundle 2.0 sent Three, and the code to hack their modules themselves, if they choose it.(7)

Finally, MB wipes the comm and feed, forces the bot pilot into a diagnostic that will take an hour or so. Just in time, because AC2's minute counter goes off.

In the storage room, Iris looks hopeful, as Art-drone is likely telling her what happened privately, though Leonide is still confused. MB notes Tarik still braced in his cubby, then explores AC2's cameras and maps. Five armed B-E soldiers are stalking them, but AC2 has started sealing doors and sending them the wrong way. Nine had come in on the shuttle, though no more SecUnits. The colonists are mostly locked down safely.

MB slips past Unit 2, hoping it doesn't find the files, choose to hack itself, and go rogue. MB helps Iris and Leonide out, and asks AC2 if it will allow MB to bridge into the second shuttle. AC2 refuses, because of the risk of another breach, which MB could argue with, but won't.

As it mourns the lost ScoutDrone1, leaving it with just four drones and half of those back on Art-prime, Ratthi asks where MB wants to be picked up. It thinks about the unused hangar, and the terraforming access they came in through, which B-E don't seem to know exists, and replies it has a place in mind.(8)

=====

(1) I love its commitment to not allowing death to fall on any human it can save, even if it thinks they kinda deserve it. (2) I just gotta give a slow, appreciative clap for how many little ways Wells throws "hey, this whole capitalism thing is fucked and even if we're not as bad as the story YET it doesn't take a very long look around to see how terms of service and employment are already heading this way" into these books. How many people now have social media restriction clauses in their employment contract conditions? How often does whistleblower protection legislation actually hold up to the new and insidious ways employers find to punish it? (3) I wonder if this'll come back later this book, or if it's a deep-future setup. (4) And we know this goes extremely well. (5) It was still a fair question, and 11 feels like far fewer than usual. (6) Literally, this is how they think best. (7) It can't force it, and it can't reason with them if they don't want to be reasoned with. At a certain point, it has to trust that they're capable of making their own decisions, just like humans. (8) Let's wrap this baby up--what do you mean there are still three chapters left?!

[faededaway]

SecUnit, I love you (not in a weird way). You're just so - going through it

You're just so anxious, and nervous, and trembling, but also fuck I'm going to kill the corporate bastards

I love you. And Preservation and Tarik because fuck I am also going to kill the corporate bastards.

And I love Mensah and Ratthi and AdaCol2 and Miki and Sec2.0 and Rin and her, and vi, and him and they and ti. I love the polycules and the moms and dads and parents and guardians and media. And do you want to watch media?

SecUnit. I don't know if Martha Wells will write more about you. (The story pacing and my experience with other media says she will). But I want to read more about you. SecUnit, I love you. And I would consult you for security and media.

Anyway. I'm sad I hurried and tried to read diary 7 in a day. Everyday, I reconsider rereading All systems red. 35000 hours of media. Your diaries are like my Sanctuary Moon. My favorite line is when you say fuck. I know, very human and stupid. But I'm human and stupid.

SecUnit. I wish I could watch Sanctuary Moon. I wish I could have your annotations on every episode of Sanctuary Moon. Anyway, anyway, anyway, anyway.