#SecUnit 3

[fluister]

Ratthi and Murderbot (and ART, probably) introducing Three to Sanctuary Moon

[jadefyre]

can you imagine mb and three on one of those “experts react” type youtube vids lmao

“two rogue secunits react to the CR’s WORST security FAILS!!”

[gafurtle]

More thoughts on Secunit 3!

One thing Martha Wells does to distinguish Murderbot’s and Three’s narrations is to make Three’s present tense.

From a Doylist perspective, it’s surely because both narrations are first-person and the readers need to know who’s who immediately without getting confused. There’s ALREADY MB and MB 2.0 and a THIRD past-tense first-person narration would surely be confusing. This way the reader can immediately clock whether the Murderbot(s) or Three are talking.

But from a Watsonian perspective, I think there’s an in-character reason too? MB gets its emotional framework from fiction, like books and TV shows and movies, which tend to be narrated in the past tense if at all. Whereas Three didn’t watch thousands of hours of serials - it’s a person experiencing new weird things, and I feel like that’s reflected in the present-tense “oh shit I guess this is happening now” narrative voice.

I dunno. I just like it as a fun character touch.

[polyhexian]

Query: what is wrong with you

[hopedtheredbestars]

Basically how it went down.

[combat-secunit]

i got bored 

[lostsometime]

SecUnit 3 worrying about its first-ever retrieval mission done as a free agent like “I want to get a good grade in Rogue SecUnit retrieval, which might be normal to want but I don’t know because there’s no protocol for that”

[specialagentartemis]

Fics about SecUnit 3 to Read Before We Get All Our Headcanons Jossed

Three! SecUnit 3! System Collapse comes out in one week and it seems like Three will feature prominently!

Three has been the subject of so much speculation and fascination for the fandom. We have a lot of different ideas about who it may become and who it might want to be.

Before all of that gets debunked by the new book, here's a rec list and roundup of some of the excellent fics that center Three!

-

Ficlets About Three and Murderbot Figuring Out How To Interact With Each Other

"Feedlog" by OnlyAll0Saw. 599 words. NR, Multi.

ART is a bit of a bully on the feed. MB is having none of it.

A well-done codefic that imagines the rocky early days of Murderbot, Three, and ART all figuring out how to get along with each other.

-

"Murder Mode Modules" by FlipSpring. 948 words. G, Gen.

3 what the fuck is ‘Murder Mode Modules, Do Not Touch Except For Situations That Necessitate Lots Of Murder?'

Hilarious, great voice, and surprisingly emotional for such a short space and silly tone :') Two excellent podfics!

-

"Real Things" by ArtemisTheHuntress. 715 words. G, Gen.

Three admits that it doesn't understand the appeal of fictional media.

This one's mine :) Murderbot and Three discuss media. There's a podfic!

-

Meatier One-Shots about Three Contemplating Its Identity, Who It Is, And What It Wants Now

"pink and green" by CompletelyDifferent. 5,100 words. G, Gen.

During a diplomatic trip to the university's home system to better establish the newly-formed treaty with the Preservation Alliance, Three tries to figure out who it is. Between exploring new hobbies and its sense of fashion, it attempts to figure out what its relationship with Murderbot 1.0 is, precisely. (Murderbot 1.0 ignores this, until it doesn't).

Hot Springs Episode! CompletelyDifferent @elexuscal writes character interactions SO well.

-

"Uncatalogued and Uncategorized" by lick. 3,033 words. G, Gen.

SecUnit 3 discovers that a hot shower is a good place to work out tangled thoughts.

I loooove this one and return to it regularly. The introspectio makes it a fantastic balance of character study, past trauma, and total confusion of what to do now with itself and its life. Includes a podfic by the author!

-

"Unacceptable Topics of Conversation" by lick. 4,500 words. Teen & Up, Gen.

Murderbot gives SecUnit 3 a haircut. They discuss the governor module.

lick does it again! The feelings are so fraught, the conversation held so gingerly.

-

Long, Plot-Heavy Stories About Three Finding Itself In The Universe

"Heuristic Analysis" by thefourthvine. 11,000 words. G, Gen.

Three makes some choices.

Three travels to Mihira with ART and its crew, gets involved in an AI Rights related mystery, and, as advertised, makes some choices. Well-written with some interesting worldbuilding concepts about the Pansystem University of Mihira and New Tideland!

-

"Seeking Safety" by petwheel. 57,000 words. Teen & Up, Gen.

Three assumes a new identity on Preservation, only to discover someone wants to kill it. To figure out who and why, Three has to delve into secrets from Preservation's past.

A plotty mystery, suspenseful and extremely creative, with some bold and unique takes on Preservation's history - and how Three can fit in.

-

"Function" by FigOwl. 65,000 words. Teen & Up, Gen.

"I have worked assignments solo before, and I have gotten used to the absences of SecUnit 01 and SecUnit 02. But I have not reconciled myself to the absence of Murderbot 2.0, though I know it is not logical. 2.0 made its choices, and fulfilled its purpose perfectly, and it seemed satisfied with that. I wish that I had any amount of such certainty and resolve." The continuing adventures of SecUnit03. How does a newly freed SecUnit make sense of everything without having consumed 35,000 hours of media for context?

Three goes off on its own self-actualization adventure after Network Effect.

-

Three On Preservation

"words left behind" by torpidgilliver. 4,400 words. G, Gen.

"How do you stand it?" Dr. Gurathin's tone is slow and even when he asks, "Stand what?" - SecUnit 3 shares its feelings with someone who might understand.

Three meets Gurathin. Also, a cat. Delightfully soft and gently sad.

-

"Social Competition" by scheidswrites. 2,100 words. G. Gen.

It's been a while since the last attempted murder/kidnapping, and life is good. Everyone is gathered for a celebration on the Mensah Family Farm. The rogue SecUnits invent a new sport. Drs Mensah, Gurathin, and Overse talk about work on their day off.

SecUnit sports! Murderbot and Three bonding without being too awkward about it! I love this.

-

"The Tree That Owns Itself" by BoldlyNo. 865 words. G, Gen.

There is a tree in the FirstLanding University Botanical Gardens that Murderbot is not thrilled about.

Murderbot and Three have conflicting feelings about a tree.

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Miscellaneous But Also Worth Highlighting

"As Your Legal Counsel" by i_have_loved_the_stars_too_fondly. 1,000 words. G, Gen.

Pin-Lee informs Three of its options and legal status, should it choose to come to Preservation.

This one is so fun and sweet! Directly after Network Effect, Pin-Lee talks to Three about its options. Three is a little overwhelmed. Two podfics of this one, one by me :) Also @ilovedthestars your AO3 name is hard to type

-

"Past the Breakers" by Thylacine_Wishes. 5,300 words. G, Gen.

When Three is badly injured protecting ART's crew on a mission, Murderbot finds itself disagreeing with the safety protocols that it had written. It was supposed to be the SecUnit meat shield, not Three. It doesn't have time to figure out how it feels about that before it's diving in (literally) to rescue Three and maybe coming to terms with some things along the way.

Action! Adventure! Edge-of-your-seat drama written SO well! Almost drowning! Murderbot caring about Three!!!!

-

"Team of Three" by Lillow. 5,500 words. G, no category.

How Three of three became Three of many.

The tags say it best: the real team was the friends we made along the way. Or is it the real friends are the teammates we make?

Either way, Three finds a team, and people it belongs with.

[cooking-with-hailstones]

Observation:

At no point does murderbot ever describe secunit three.

Every other person, human or bot, is described. We get hair colour, skin colour, clothing, gender marker from their feed, approximate age (as best as MB is able to guess, anyways.)

Bots are described by their shape, sometimes by colour, number of limbs, etc. Even the ComfortUnit on Ravihyral is described. Blue hair, light brown skin.

But no sec unit is ever described. We have no idea what murderbot looks like. We have no idea what secunit3 looks like. Or any of the other units MB interacts with. And I just think that's a fascinating writing choice on Martha Wells's part.

[cat-dragron-arts]

Hands you Three and Holism and various other doodles. Notes on my design for Holism under the cut for those who are interested!

Hello nerd, welcome to my ramble zone. I love having ART be this very abstract, sharp shape and I wanted Holism to have the same feeling but to the left. So, here are my thoughts comparing Holism and ART's designs :]

Holism is more square shaped while ART is overall rounder.

Holism is much more 'rigid' in feeling, it doesn't change its shape as often as ART does.

Holism has larger, more angular eyes that always stay outside of its main 'body', ART on the other hand has smaller, more oval eyes that can be either outside or inside its 'body'.

Holism always looks disinterested about whatever it is looking at though that isn't always the case. ART's eyes are very expressive in comparison.

[goozeghost]

Private SecUnit Time (no humans allowed!)

(Theyre having an amazing time)

[lost-in-derry]

Me in any given social situation:

- The Murderbot Diaries: Network Effect

[rosewind2007]

When everything reminds you of your blorbos…

[cmdrburton]

MB: so why did the bodyguard shoot her. that's what i want to know Three: Perhaps they were paid off? 🤔 MB: i think she was a clone and they figured it out

My art entry for @aspec-tmbd, featuring Three helping MB with a resupply! while talking about their favourite show :D for the prompt bots/constructs helping each other with maintenance/upgrades c:

[fandom-space-princess]

hey so do you ever think about how Murderbot prefers to watch fiction because that was how it first taught itself to process the world beyond its prior experiences. and how Three prefers nonfiction for probably close to the exact same reason (that it taught itself to process the world beyond its prior experiences through nonfiction i.e. Murderbot's memories). do you ever think about how many of Murderbot's mannerisms Three is almost certainly picking up. and how many of them Murderbot itself probably originally picked up from reruns of Sanctuary Moon.

because I think about this. you know. the normal amount.

[art-of-a-space-duck]

Why do I keep drawing sad secunits!?