#MBD SecUnit

[monstyra]

how tf did they even get that pic wow

[hellofriendhawke]

I wanted to draw this:

[pencildragons]

i think we are all sleeping on the absolutely sublime horror that martha wells only just hints at with the central system (AdaCol 1) and target contact/target control system in network effect tbh. like

you are calling into the dark. you keep calling into the dark. you are cut off from everything, but you retain just enough connection and knowledge to know that all of the people under your protection, your operators, are being altered and are hurting and are dying, and you are part of the reason why. you keep calling into the dark, waiting for someone, anyone to call back. you keep calling into the dark, hoping that one day someone will find you so that they can permanently shut you down. you keep calling into the dark. you keep calling into the dark.

and

you used to be a person once. your eyes are still open. you can move -- or rather, the thing that you have become can move you. people, who maybe used to know you, have tried to kill you over and over, and they all failed. you are incomprehensibly vast and old. you used to be a person. you are dead. you continue on -- or the thing that you have become continues you. you are everywhere. you learn. you adapt. you change. parts of you are killed off. you learn. you adapt. you change. you are the central node in a vast web of connections, and you control it all. you need to get off this planet. you need everyone to get off this planet. you used to be a person once. an alien remnant is using your brain as a supercomputer. how much storage space does it need? how aware are you? how much do you get to remember? how long before it uses the rest of you up? how long until -- or how long has it been -- since there was any you that wasn't just another part of target control system?

[tenowls]

SYSTEM COLLAPSE!!!!!!!

[moriaarts]

Murderbot - All Systems Red

As predicted, why yes i do like the deadly sentient walking security camera with zero people skills

[scarlct-vvitch]

RIP to my favorite scene in the books. book!Mensah i see you and i miss you <3

[thirtheenprimes]

Started Artificial Condition while I was at work and I marked the pages I had notes on so I could make another reread thread.

"ART, who was apparently very interested in the job scenario,"

Yeah I bet ART is super invested in this job scenario. ART, who's night job is fucking over corporations that profit off screwing over innocent people. Who was 100% already on an information run to do something to fuck over some corporation when a rogue SecUnit asked to come on board. I bet that ART is very invested in helping these young scientists that just lost their very important research to someone who is going to try and kill them so they can abuse the remenent detection tech.

And, I bet, ART is very excited to have a construct that is such a good person and hates corporations too and obviously likes to protect humans to do this little side quest that it would otherwise bot be ale to help with.

[shisei11]

Failure Scenario

[overworkedblorbobattle]

Overworked Blorbo Battle Round 1 Poll: 53

[doctorquixote]

Everybody just figured out which drone SecUnit was watching them through at the same time. 1/10th of a second later it's the same picture but MurderBot's face is recoiling from the eye contact.

Ratthi has that version as the background on his work station display surface.

(this is beautiful, I love it)

how tf did they even get that pic wow

[benny-isa-dog]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Amena & SecUnit 3 (Murderbot Diaries) Characters: Amena (Murderbot Diaries), SecUnit 3 (Murderbot Diaries) Additional Tags: Book 5: Network Effect, Missing Scene, Angst, SecUnit 1 & SecUnit 2 & SecUnit 3 mentioned, Governor Modules (Murderbot Diaries), Murderbot and ART mentioned a lot, Grief/Mourning, Canon Compliant Series: Part 1 of ART SENT ME Summary:

SecUnit Three struck an imposing figure where it stood, unmoving, by the wall in ART’s crew lounge. Amena tried not to stare at it as she approached. The top of her head barely reached its armored shoulders, which spanned nearly twice as wide as her own.

___

During Network Effect, Amena paints a message to SecUnit on Three's helmet.

[skeletalcat]

I drew this for my Murderbot fic Real People Hands :) Murderbot and Three complete a simple job fixing something on The Pressy's hull, but a mistake leads to Three getting hurt. A Secunit getting hurt is nothing new, and Three is completely fine - so why does Murderbot feel so many emotions?

[sapphire363]

yknow whats an angsty MBD au with a lot of potential?

au where 2.0 didn't go down to the planet straight away, and instead rode back to ART with Three, so when MB encounters TargetContact and gets infected, TargetControlSys is actually able to take control of it.

So when Three is sent in to rescue MB, Three, ART and 2.0 have to figure out how to kill TargetContact and TargetControlSys, while dealing with MB who is already half-dead and now also actively combative bc TargetControlSys is using it to protect itself

[sleepyjohn00]

ART's cameras SPOILERS

Re-reading all of #murderbot again, because i can, and hit a minor stumble.

In NETWORK EFFECT, SecUnit pops a gasket because ART gave it access to all the internal cameras, and SecUnit didn't even KNOW there were camers, and was PO'd at ART's attempt at being nice.

But in ARTIFICIAL CONDITION, ART had recorded SecUnit's movements, and the two had gone over SecUnit's practice session at being an augmented human security consultant.

So SecUnit must have known there were cameras SOMEWHERE inside ART, yes?

[ihasafandom]

(this is the third time I've had to write this up, with significant time inbetween ＞﹏＜) So!

A bit more in-depth primer:

Moirallegiance, pale romance, or diamonds is a debateably romantic but non-sexual intimate relationship.

It can be presented as somewhat asymmetrical, with one partner being soft and gentle and calming and the other being big and harsh and protecting, but that's not necessarily the case, depending on the relationship and the headcanon: it can just as easily have both parties in both or blended roles.

The emotion stated as being the base for mairallegiance ♦ (and matespritship ♥) is "pity," as opposed to "hate" as the base for the other quadrants in the set: kismesissitude ♠ and auspisticism ♣.

The fanon understanding of moirallegiance is a bit broader than the canon text gives us, generally involving at least a few of the following:

a type of pity that moves you to help or coddle them rather than cull them

emotional intimacy/vulnerability

physical (but not sexual) intimacy/vulnerability

knowing and understanding your partner better than anyone else (including themselves)

balancing your partner (either changing their balance with your presence or being their counterpoint as a unit)

being their complementary opposite

compensating for their weaknesses

calm, soft, gentle, safe feelings

physical/mental/emotional caretaking

being kind of a therapist to them

knowing (truly) what they need to be healthy and/or to improve

being trusted to make the best decisions for them (especially when they are compromised, like in a medical situation)

being the one to take responsibility for their actions/behaviour (especially when they are compromised/otherwise can't be)

being responsible for their mental, emotional, and physical health

being their last defense between them and the world/the world and them

being the one responsible for bringing them down if they go out of control (for their own sake), whether that's calming them down, taking them down, or killing them outright

feeling for them instead of fearing them when they're being scary

protecting them from themselves and the world

being the only one they will open themselves up to

being trusted with them at their weakest and worst and most disgusting/disturbing/embarrassing

emotional/physical support

knowing when and how to push to get them out of their comfort zone and making strives towards productivity/improvement/etc

I tend to think of it from an evolutionary standpoint where ♠ and ♥ relationships are for the genetic component (♥ to get the rare gem back into the genepool from an otherwise dead end and ♠ to perpetuate the best of the best), and ♣ is about keeping a relative peace and stopping fights and such on a social level, ♦ is for the individual component: keeping your partner alive and making them the best they can be on an individual level.

In any case, ART and Mensah definitely both perform many of these functions for SecUnit, and vice-versa, and I definitely ship them both with it heavily in diamonds, especially ART.

So all I know about Homestuck I've osmosed from being on the internet, whereas you've actually read the thing, so I would love to get an expert opinion: I've been thinking Murderbot and Mensah are moirails. Do I have my pale shipping goggles on sideways? I would love to hear any thoughts you have to share about a Murderbot and ART moirailegence!

!!!!!!!!! *excited happy flapping* I would love to infodump about connections between the two things I’m currently special-interest-ing on, thank you.  (This got really long, whoops.  The short answer is “yes, I think both Mensah and ART are Murderbot’s moirails.”)

Okay, so, moirallegiance in Homestuck is a kind of relationship meant for people in a really violent society.  One partner is supposed to pacify the other.  From the comic:

A reasonable human translation would be the concept of a soul mate, but in a more platonic sense, and with a more specific social purpose.

Trolls are a very angry and violent race. Some are more hot-tempered and dangerous than others, to the extent that if left to their own devices, they would present a serious threat to society, or even to themselves. Such trolls will have an instinctive pale attraction to a more even-tempered troll, who may become their MOIRAIL. The moirail is obliged to pacify the other, to function as the better half. The two partners in a strong pale relationship will serve to balance and complement each other's emotional profiles, and thus allow their other relationships to be more successful.

The more dangerous partner also tends to protect the pacifying one.

A lot of people in the Homestuck fandom use a looser definition of moirallegiance, where it’s less lopsided and there doesn’t have to be a one-dangerous-person-and-one-calming-one dynamic.  Basically just queerplatonic partners.  I think both Murderbot/Mensah and Murderbot/ART fit into the official definition, though!  From Network Effect:

I could say it was an accident, I’d meant to take him prisoner and he had tried to get away and— 

Dr. Mensah would never believe that. My accidents were spectacular and usually involved me losing a big chunk of my organic tissue or something; she knew I could stop a human without hurting them, without even leaving a bruise, that was my stupid job. 

She would never trust me again. She would never stand close enough to touch (but without touching, because touching is gross) and just trust me. Or maybe she would, but it wouldn’t be the same. 

Fuck, fuck everything, fuck this, fuck me especially. 

I opened a secure comm contact to Mensah and Senior Officer Indah and said, “I’ve caught a GrayCris agent in the Port temp housing block.”

Dr. Mensah wasn’t even there and that guy wouldn’t be alive without her.  And from Exit Strategy:

I could take over the ship’s SecSystem before this human with the temptingly large familiar projectile weapon could blink. I could get that weapon before that human could blink. I wanted to do it, and it bled through into the feed.

Mensah turned, gripped the collar of my jacket with both hands, and said, “No.”

(...)

I sent, You have no idea what I am.

She tilted her head and looked more mad. I know exactly what you are. You’re afraid, you’re hurt, and you need to calm the fuck down so we can get through this situation alive.

I said, I am calm. You need to be calm, to take over a gunship.

Mensah’s eyes narrowed. Security consultants don’t get their clients into unnecessary pitched battles for control of their rescue ship. She added, Because that would be stupid.

She wasn’t afraid of me. And it hit me that I didn’t want that to change. She had just been through a traumatic experience, and I was making it worse. Something was overwhelming me, and it wasn’t the familiar wave of not-caring.

Fine, I sent. I sounded sulky, because I was sulky.

I hate emotions.

“Good,” she said aloud.

That’s... heavily reminiscent of the Karkat and Gamzee scene (arguably the most important portrayal of moirallegience in Homestuck).  And obviously Murderbot protects her.  Yeah, they’re moirails.  :D

Murderbot and ART don’t fit quite as easily into the comic’s definition of moirallegiance.  I thought at first that ART would be the dangerous one.  I mean, it is dangerous.  (They both are.)  But Murderbot’s usually the one who needs to be calmed down and kept from going through with its bad ideas.  There’s this (from Network Effect):

I was desperate. I sent privately, ART, tell them I need to go alone. Back me up. 

ART said aloud, I concur, it will be safer if SecUnit is accompanied by two certified survey specialists. 

Why am I even surprised. I sent privately again, ART, you asshole. 

ART replied, only to me, It is safer. I’ve lost my crew, I won’t lose you. 

Amena said, not helpfully, “Your face just got really weird. Are you all right?” 

No, it was confusing. I was confused.

And while Murderbot 2.0 did end up happening, ART was against it until it was absolutely necessary.

I do think Murderbot and ART could be considered moirails!  Especially if you use the looser definition that’s basically QPPs.  Still, I like “mutual administrative assistants” better than anything else for their relationship.  :D

I hope that answered your question!  Sorry about how long it got.  (Wow, I wish I could use this energy for things that aren’t my special interests.)

[proximally]

my gift for the MBD new year gift exchange! also here on AO3 with (soon) more notes on the before-and-after for this - though here's a few brief points of context:

MB was assisting with a legal colony rescue that very suddenly and unexpectedly became a physical colony rescue during [an unspecified natural disaster]; it got separated from the rest of its crew in the ensuing chaos, and clonked on the head hard enough to not only knock out its internal comms/feed connectivity but also dislodge basically all its memories since it went rogue (maybe something to do with differing file architecture interacting with reboot systems, idk, im an ecologist)

(meanwhile, ART and the rest of the team are in contact with one another and are super panicking - no contact, no GPS, no idea if it’s alive or dead, and half the colony’s in the same position. not a good time for team Perihelion. oops!)

CU/Dr Perseverance Helin escaped the CR partly with ART’s help (it was literally like “hey just hide round the corner til secunit is gone then get back in here, i’ll give you whatever surgery you like :)”; the name CU’s currently using was indeed also inspired by “Perihelion”) but mainly because nobody in the CR turns their nose up at a medic you can pay with your silence. once out, it got a real accreditation, and joined the local chapter of doctors without borders with a specialisation in augments and prostheses - it’s the part of its function that it liked. 

it takes. a while. for MB to realise Dr Helin is also a construct. CU is not about to say Anything direct, just in case, + no feed connection so no noticing a bot feed address, and CU mainly uses an interface anyway. finding out is simultaneously a huge improvement and huge detriment - on one hand, phew, no humans know it’s rogue and no humans did surgery on it, but on the other, there’s a fucking rogue construct here