All Systems Red

Abstract

All Systems Red is the first novella in the Murderbot Series, narrated in the first person by the protagonist called Murderbot. Murderbot is a SecUnit (Security Unity), a bot/human construct that provides security to humans and augmented humans and is an entirely artificial being that is powered by battery but is composed of human-looking parts. SecUnits are built to endure severe damage that would incapacitate most other humans, and they are embedded with a governor module placed by the company that owns them and monitors their behavior. In All Systems Red, Murderbot has overridden its governor module and is on a contract with a scientific team from the Preservation Alliance. This team, called PreservationAux, is led by Dr. Mensah, the planetary leader of the Preservation Alliance. Their mission is to survey a planet and determine whether it is viable for its resources. This scientific research organization includes Dr. Bharadwaj and Dr. Volescu, who are tasked with gathering samples and identifying any alien remnants, which consists primarily of archeological remains left by other alien species. Dr. Arada and Dr. Ratthi are biologists, Overse is a scientist, and Gurathin is an augmented human. Augmented humans like Gurathin have received modifications to their bodies that can be implants, removable interfaces or changes written into their DNA. During the mission, the members of the PreservationAux are attacked and they discover a corporation called GrayCris is trying to secretly mine the planet’s alien remnant resources. Failing to kill the scientists in the PreservationAux and DeltFall, another survey team, they kidnap Dr. Mensah as a means of extorting Preservation Alliance. As a SecUnit, it is up to Murderbot to oversee Mensah’s rescue, who it sees as its favorite human.