History Literature / TheMurderbotDiaries

* HiddenDepths: After Miki shows that it is capable of shading the truth (something that bots shoukdn't be capable of), Murderbot explicitly states that it thinks Miki may have them.

* HiddenDepths: Murderbot explicitly states that it thinks Miki may have them.

%%* HiddenDepths: Murderbot explicitly states that Miki has them.

* ShrinkingViolet: Yes, Murderbot has guns built into its arms. No, it does not want to make eye contact with you during a conversation. At one point, it is so overwhelmed by all the attention being focused on it that it goes and stands in the corner.

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Miki]] faces down a combat bot to protect [[spoiler:its]] loved ones. Also, in the second book, [[spoiler: the [=ComfortUnits=] in the mining station put themselves between their idiot humans and the corrupted [=SecUnits=],]] which hits Murderbot pretty hard once it realizes what happened.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Mensah apparently took legal action [[spoiler:to get the company to sell her Murderbot without a memory purge, and the court case ended up famous enough that there’s reporters waiting for it, Pin-Lee, and Ratthi when they leave the company.]] We see absolutely none of this except the very end, because the story is told from Murderbot’s point of view and Murderbot is unconscious in a cubicle the whole time.
* HiddenDepths: Murderbot explicitly states that Miki has them.
* ItIsDehumanizing: Murderbot is pretty [[InsistentTerminology insistent]] on using the "it" pronoun for itself and other bots, even though it's clear that bots are sentient and capable of feeling emotion.

* ItIsDehumanizing: Murderbot is pretty insistant on using the "it" pronoun for itself and other bots, even though it's clear that bots are sentient and capable of feeling emotion.

-->'''[[spoiler:Dr. Mensah]]: We tend to think that because a bot or construct looks human, its ultimate goal would be to become human.\\
Murderbot: ...That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

A prequel short story titled [[https://www.wired.com/story/future-of-work-compulsory-martha-wells/ "Compulsory"]] was released online in December 2018.

* AIIsACrapshoot: Thoroughly averted. The series opens with Murderbot musing that it ''could'' go on a murderous rampage, but it would rather just watch its serials. Instead, [=AI=]s seem shaped by how they're treated. ART finds depicts of a human crew dying very distressing. Miki is treated well and [[sacrifices itself to save its human friends - defying an order to protect itself first]]. Tlacey's [=ComfortUnit=] is the only [=AI=] to suggest killing humans, but it mostly just wants to escape its abusive, murderous owner. The trope does exist in InUniverse fiction, though - much to Murderbot's annoyance.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: Mensah apparently took legal action [[spoiler: to get the company to sell her Murderbot without a memory purge, and the court case ended up famous enough that there’s reporters waiting for it, Pin-Lee, and Ratthi when they leave the company.]] We see absolutely none of this except the very end, because the story is told from Murderbot’s point of view and Murderbot is unconscious in a cubicle the whole time.

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: [[spoiler: Tlacey]] tries to kill several people [[spoiler: by destroying a shuttle AI just at the critical time to cause a crash]].

* NGOSuperpower: Many and varied, such that there are some complicated interplanetary treaties governing the interactions between corporate and non-corporate entities. The Company itself is the type that will send a full gunship to escort a difficult client rather than contest the client's LoopholeAbuse.

* OddFriendship: Murderbot and Miki in the third book.

** [[spoiler: Also, the humans in the mining station. An unofficial patch came in for the [=ComfortUnits=], which needed manual approval; the humans ordered them to apply the patches without checking more closely. The patches then deployed a virus which jumped from the [=ComfortUnits=], overrode the security computers, and forced the [=SecUnits=] to murder all the miners.]]
* TrueCompanions: The survey team, eventually including Murderbot.

* JustAMachine: Even after everything Murderbot’s done for the team, the company tries to argue that it’s just a machine, to be returned, memory-purged, and rented out again. Similarly, [[ThereAreNoTherapists there was no consideration given to getting it some sort of psychological help]] after [[spoiler: the incident with the miners]]; they just fixed the glitches, tried to wipe its memory, and then rented it out again.

* PaperThinDisguise: {{Justified|Trope}} when Murderbot goes undercover and modifies itself with an {{Autodoc}}. The "disguise" makes it a centimetre shorter with slightly longer hair and a bit of body hair on its arms, plus a software update to imitate human gait and tics -- not enough to fool anyone familiar with [=SecUnits=], but enough that the [[SurveillanceAsThePlotDemands ubiquitous automated surveillance feeds]] are alerted.

* SoapWithinAShow: ''Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon'', which Murderbot likes to watch in its downtime.

* TooDumbToLive: Tapan, and (to a lesser extent) Maro and Rami in the second story. [[spoiler: Also, the humans in the mining station. An unofficial patch came in for the [=ComfortUnits=], which needed manual approval; the humans ordered them to apply the patches without checking more closely. The patches then deployed a virus which jumped from the [=ComfortUnits=], overrode the security computers, and forced the [=SecUnits=] to murder all the miners.]]

* YouGetWhatYouPayFor: The company buys everything as cheaply as they possibly can. This is why Murderbot considers it a reasonably credible theory that [[spoiler: a glitch in Murderbot’s governor module led it to kill fifty-seven people]].

* AllLovingHero: Miki the bot is so congenial that she considers Murderbot a friend after one brief conversation in which [[spoiler:Murderbot is hiding from it and actually asks it to withhold information from its owner, another friend]].

** {{Downplayed|Trope}} with Murderbot, who doesn't come across an exceptional genius but does have the cognitive ability to manage six or seven separate trains of thought at once. She does occasionally grump about how limited humans are for only being able to think about one thing at a time.

* GeniusDitz: Miki definitely isn't running a high-wattage IdeaBulb, but it is ''exceptionally'' perceptive. It notices Murderbot watching it via remote surveillance and even [[spoiler:picks up on Murderbot's emotional state through a communication channel when Murderbot isn't actively communicating anything]], feats that nobody else in the series can manage.

* AllLovingHero: Miki

* ArtificialHuman: Murderbot has organic parts - enough to bleed when injured, and to pass as an augmented human when wearing the right clothes - but was manufactured, not born. The organic bits are apparently cloned tissue.

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Miki]]. Also, in the second book, [[spoiler: the [=ComfortUnits=] in the mining station put themselves between their idiot humans and the corrupted [=SecUnits=],]] which hits Murderbot pretty hard once it realizes what happened.

* NoSocialSkills: Murderbot is used to being treated like equipment, not a human. As such, it has a hard time being included in conversation. It also appears to suffer from social anxiety--often the mere thought of being in a crowd or having to interact with people stresses it out.

* TooDumbToLive: Tapan, and (to a lesser extent) Maro and Rami in the second story. [[spoiler: Also, the humans in the mining station. An unofficial patch came in for the [=ComfortUnits=], which needed manual approval; the humans ordered them to apply the patches. The patches overrode the security computers and forced the [=SecUnits=] to murder all the miners.]]

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Miki]]

* NoSocialSkills: Murderbot is used to being treated like equipment, not a human. As such, it has a hard time being included in conversation.

''The Murderbot Diaries'' is a series of science fiction novellas by Creator/MarthaWells. The first one, ''All Systems Red'', came out in May 2017; the second, ''Artificial Condition'', is due out in May 2018. "Murderbot" is the self-chosen name of a particular [=SecUnit=], an intelligent robot rented out by the company that owns it for security purposes. Murderbot has secretly hacked its [[RestrainingBolt governor module]], but none of the members of the planetary survey team it’s working with have any idea.

* DeadpanSnarker: Murderbot, and how!
* ExoticExtendedMarriage: Every marriage mentioned in the story involves at least three people; it’s apparently normal for the setting.
* FictionalDocument: At least part of the story, possibly all of it, is left as a note for Dr. Mensah [[spoiler: after Murderbot leaves after she buys its contract.]]

* FriendshipMoment: Towards the end, Murderbot is critically injured. An automated response tells the survey team they should discard it because it’s too badly damaged. Mensah tells it to "shut the [[PrecisionFStrike fuck]] up, we’re not leaving you", even though this means they have to actually move it to the hopper that’s going to get them off-planet.

* NoBiologicalSex: Murderbot wasn’t made with those parts. It’s also asexual, although it does find soap operas interesting except for the sex scenes.

* RestrainingBolt: Murderbot’s governor module. We never actually see Murderbot affected by it, [[spoiler: but apparently a malfunction in the original one was responsible for the "mining accident" in which Murderbot killed fifty-seven people.]]

''The Murderbot Diaries'' is a series of science fiction novellas by ''Creator/MarthaWells''. The first one, ''All Systems Red'', came out in May 2017; the second, ''Artificial Condition'', is due out in January 2018. "Murderbot" is the self-chosen name of a particular [=SecUnit=], an intelligent robot rented out by the company that owns it for security purposes. Murderbot has secretly hacked its [[RestrainingBolt governor module]], but none of the members of the planetary survey team it’s working with have any idea.