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A review by beaconatnight
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
The end of All Systems Red saw Murderbot freed from its deterministic obligations as a SecUnit. In the given legal framework there was no way to be fully liberated, though. To avoid the uncertainty of what it would be like to live with a guardian, Murderbot went rogue.
However, it has taken an opportunity because it was there, not because it knew what it wanted (to quote the book itself). There is one nagging open question concerning the crucial moment in its past, when it went berserk and killed a number of people. I guess until now we had assumed (or had been told) that the incidence was caused by a failure of the governor module that controlled Murderbot and that this was the reason it hacked the module to free itself. But its memory was purged, how would it know it didn't hack the module and kill voluntarily? Or that it even happened?
So, mission established, it has to find the side and investigate what happened. On its journey it reluctantly accepts the help of ART (Asshole Research Transport), the bot that pilots the transport ship Murderbot travels in. The dynamics between the two is seriously funny and its certainly not friendship on first sight. Bot and construct are not quite the same thing. For instance, ART is incapable of being irrational and it needs to see things through Murderbot's eyes to comprehend the subtext. Not the best guidance, I have to say.
In All Systems Red, Murderbot pretended to be a SecUnit. Now for something even more intriguing, to reach its destination it has to convince others to be human. As before, this core premise of the plot is so wonderfully well thought-through and absolutely mesmerizing in its philosophical depth.
There are many sides to the issue. For one thing, humans have a bodily existence and certain qualities make us appear human. There are the obvious needs, like sleep, going to the toilet or the kind of wounds you shouldn't recover from. We make involuntary restless movements (like scratching our nose), we react to stimuli, we even do silly things like checking for stuff we already know is there. It's important to know (not necessarily in the propositional sense) when to sigh or when to roll our eyes. Sometimes we stare into the distance as we look inwardly.
We would subliminally notice certain things, like missing the tiny bits of hair. For this reason, physical alternations to Murderbot's organic and mechanic parts are necessary. For some reason I loved that. Imagine we were able to change some configuration file and run `murderbot-rebuild switch` and end up with a new system state (reading too much NixOS lately...).
Murderbot is very reluctant to go through with the procedure. It would make it even more difficult to pretend not to be human. SecUnits are designed so as to draw as little attention to them as possible, and Murderbot is used to disappear this way. This is no longer possible.
Mutual respect demands to treat each other as a person. For Murderbot (and perhaps for many introverts?) this is a completely new situation. Before it was treated as a tool, or even as a toy. Of immediate importance, it can now itself decide whether it takes up a contract and to incur the obligations that come with it.
Before it was responsible for the lives of its clients, now it also has the authority to decide how to best serve their needs. When they reached its destination, it could breach contract, but it decides that to stay and to protect them was the right thing to do. There is a whole landscape of rich philosophical concepts involved, if you think about it.
In its current situation it's important to care for what others think of it. After being hired as a security consultant, Murderbot is considered a real member of the group. It's asked for its opinions and others listen. It is not obliged to immediately answer and even evasive answers can be acceptable in certain situations. There are certain personal topics not appropriate to talk about ("no right to ask").
The plot itself is again simple and without any big surprises. It's good fun, but it's probably fair to say that the quest for the scientists safety and their stolen research data is not what the book is really about. It's mostly at the end that we are treated to some entertaining action. The climax incidentally explains some aspects of what happened during the massacre, but I think even Murderbot points out that big reveals only happen in its soap operas.
For me Artificial Condition was all about the classic philosophical conundrum: If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, maybe it is a duck. Or human. I more and more understand why the series resonates with people on a deeper level. I mean, there are many Murderbots among us. And I don't mean this as in serial-killers-in-the-making.
Rating: 4/5
However, it has taken an opportunity because it was there, not because it knew what it wanted (to quote the book itself). There is one nagging open question concerning the crucial moment in its past, when it went berserk and killed a number of people. I guess until now we had assumed (or had been told) that the incidence was caused by a failure of the governor module that controlled Murderbot and that this was the reason it hacked the module to free itself. But its memory was purged, how would it know it didn't hack the module and kill voluntarily? Or that it even happened?
So, mission established, it has to find the side and investigate what happened. On its journey it reluctantly accepts the help of ART (Asshole Research Transport), the bot that pilots the transport ship Murderbot travels in. The dynamics between the two is seriously funny and its certainly not friendship on first sight. Bot and construct are not quite the same thing. For instance, ART is incapable of being irrational and it needs to see things through Murderbot's eyes to comprehend the subtext. Not the best guidance, I have to say.
In All Systems Red, Murderbot pretended to be a SecUnit. Now for something even more intriguing, to reach its destination it has to convince others to be human. As before, this core premise of the plot is so wonderfully well thought-through and absolutely mesmerizing in its philosophical depth.
There are many sides to the issue. For one thing, humans have a bodily existence and certain qualities make us appear human. There are the obvious needs, like sleep, going to the toilet or the kind of wounds you shouldn't recover from. We make involuntary restless movements (like scratching our nose), we react to stimuli, we even do silly things like checking for stuff we already know is there. It's important to know (not necessarily in the propositional sense) when to sigh or when to roll our eyes. Sometimes we stare into the distance as we look inwardly.
We would subliminally notice certain things, like missing the tiny bits of hair. For this reason, physical alternations to Murderbot's organic and mechanic parts are necessary. For some reason I loved that. Imagine we were able to change some configuration file and run `murderbot-rebuild switch` and end up with a new system state (reading too much NixOS lately...).
Murderbot is very reluctant to go through with the procedure. It would make it even more difficult to pretend not to be human. SecUnits are designed so as to draw as little attention to them as possible, and Murderbot is used to disappear this way. This is no longer possible.
Mutual respect demands to treat each other as a person. For Murderbot (and perhaps for many introverts?) this is a completely new situation. Before it was treated as a tool, or even as a toy. Of immediate importance, it can now itself decide whether it takes up a contract and to incur the obligations that come with it.
Before it was responsible for the lives of its clients, now it also has the authority to decide how to best serve their needs. When they reached its destination, it could breach contract, but it decides that to stay and to protect them was the right thing to do. There is a whole landscape of rich philosophical concepts involved, if you think about it.
In its current situation it's important to care for what others think of it. After being hired as a security consultant, Murderbot is considered a real member of the group. It's asked for its opinions and others listen. It is not obliged to immediately answer and even evasive answers can be acceptable in certain situations. There are certain personal topics not appropriate to talk about ("no right to ask").
The plot itself is again simple and without any big surprises. It's good fun, but it's probably fair to say that the quest for the scientists safety and their stolen research data is not what the book is really about. It's mostly at the end that we are treated to some entertaining action. The climax incidentally explains some aspects of what happened during the massacre, but I think even Murderbot points out that big reveals only happen in its soap operas.
For me Artificial Condition was all about the classic philosophical conundrum: If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, maybe it is a duck. Or human. I more and more understand why the series resonates with people on a deeper level. I mean, there are many Murderbots among us. And I don't mean this as in serial-killers-in-the-making.
Rating: 4/5