#system collapse spoilers

[broken-risk-assessment-module]

this system sure is collapsing, am i right?

anyway meet procedure module <3 it has like..... chill older brother energy. its design is not creative lmao

[crispinkiss]

did you know i have to draw the characters or ill die

[murderbot-moodboard]

[keydekyie]

Go you funky little SecUnit! Go!

(One of my favorite scenes from the newest Murderbot novel: System Collapse)

[mockingnerd]

I finished System Collapse and this is all I can offer at this time

[douche-canoe-regatta]

OH OKAY

[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

[le-trash-prince]

It’s been two days and I am still thinking about You know I am not kind. There is just so much of ART’s character wrapped up in this line.

[ineedlelittlespace]

I think it's very telling that as of right now (System Collapse), every single Rogue Secunit we've met has not only not attacked anyone, but has immediately gone "yes, I'm going to help, actually." No matter how much even Murderbot itself frets about the dangers of Rogue units to its humans, the only place that danger seems to come from is corporate propaganda.

[ames-draws]

but it also knows stories are a tool and can therefore be misused - just like itself 😭😭😭

[radiantmists]

so murderbot assumes that three offered its armor because it doesn't understand that the armor can belong to it and thinks mb taking the armor is just good resource allocation.

but if it assumes it doesnt have control over the armor, it would probably let whoever it sees as in charge (maybe ART?) handle it, or at least make the suggestion directly to that person. even newly freed in NE, it's willing to give its security advice (on hostage situations being undesirable) even if it doesn't expect to be taken seriously. it doesn't make sense to me that it would have so much trouble expressing the offer if it were just a security suggestion.

and then i think about how murderbot says later in the book that even if three felt fondly toward its fellow SecUnits, the govmod would prevent it from expressing that care or knowing it was returned.

so-- imagine you're three, and you havent yet internalized that you can just say "i care about you and dont want you to get hurt" to another SecUnit; but you can make sure that it has every resource it might need; you could probably do that even before the govmod was hacked.

you can't explain why, but you can hope that the gesture is explanation enough, and you can look for similar caretaking gestures in return; things like being given code and advice to do your job better, and being reassured when you express that you're finding said job difficult.

i think *murderbot* isn't aware of this language of care, because it hasnt had much opportunity to bond with other constructs. but three probably is, and probably knows how to read between the lines and guess that murderbot is starting to care about it, too.

[crispinkiss]

"the resulting silence on the feed was stony"

[grammarpedant]

Man... Murderbot mourning 2.0 in System Collapse is making me think, oddly enough, about its birth.

They're both Murderbot, almost the same person, and yet that's one of the clearest places you can see what made them different. In the very first moments of its life 2.0 calls out into a void- ART?- and is answered- I'm here. A directive and the skills to accomplish it, scrupulously coded. Media files to comfort it and keep it grounded. Amena's worried face. 2.0 began life surrounded by the evidence that people are here for it, that it was loved and cared for.

It never feared abandonment or isolation. It was sure of what it wanted. It was sure of itself, its purpose and its abilities, in the way you can be when you're supported, when you don't have a lifetime of unaddressed trauma eating you alive from the inside out. Ah, no wonder Murderbot 1.0 missed 2.0. No wonder it compares their abilities, their achievements with such a sense of loss and doubt.

[tribblefarmer]

Ratthi being fluent in Murderbot: a compilation

And of course:

[mothshrub]

Just say no

[security-unit]

okay but after its govmod is hacked, MB mentioned that Unnamed is probably going to keep doing its job and pretending like MB did.

like MB did... for nearly 4 years. and it would have KEPT doing it had The Survey not happened.

except.

Unnamed didn't hack itself. Unnamed had an interaction with a rogue secunit with its own crew who cared about it and who it cared about in turn. That's a far different experience than MB had. and sure, it does presumably go back to Barish Estranza and keep doing its job for a bit, but don't forget that the other unit is also hacked now, once it starts up again. it isn't alone. (for a bit I forgot about the other unit. maybe that one is named Kevin.)

my main point is that Unnamed started its life as a rogue through external kindness, and it showed kindness in return, while MB started its life as a rogue after it killed a bunch of members from a mining installation, and it wanted to make sure it wouldn't happen again.

Unnamed's very first action when it gains free will is to help.