Artificial Condition is the second book in The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells. It begins where its predecessor All Systems Red ends, with Murderbot – a cyborg or robot/human construct designed as a security unit (“SecUnit”) – embarking on a journey to discover what happened in its past.
The cyborg calls itself “Murderbot” as it believes it once malfunctioned and caused the deaths of multiple humans. Having gained autonomy by hacking its “governor module”, it’s now a free agent capable of choosing its own future. Rather than working with humans – which makes it uncomfortable due to the emotions involved – it returns to RaviHyral, the mining station where it was supposed to have gone rogue.
This is the “go back to the source” trope where a character “must return to the place where they or an important plot device originated from”. What makes the story interesting is when that character happens to be a cyborg trying to survive in the human world. On top of its considerable and varied experiences of working for and with humans, it has to learn the intricacies of how to act like a human (or at least an augmented one).
It’s quite amusing seeing how Murderbot goes through this process with the help of ART, the powerful but meddlesome AI piloting the transport to RaviHyral. Though theirs is a reluctant friendship, they become a nice team, some sort of “partners in crime” as they hack all types of security, medical and data systems to facilitate the cyborg’s quest.
And it’s hilarious finding ART watching soap operas with Murderbot, learning from the shows, and eventually becoming “emotionally compromised”. As Murderbot describes it: “After it was over, it just sat there…for a full ten minutes, which is a lot of processing time for a bot that sophisticated. Then it said, Again, please. So I started the first episode again.”
With the truth about its past finally revealed, Murderbot gains a better understanding about itself and other constructs, especially the ComfortUnits (“SexBots”). One cannot help but recall the cyborg’s words: “I guess you can’t tell a story from the point of view of something that you don’t think has a point of view.”
Indeed, as Murderbot gets accustomed to the idea(l) of freedom, it also becomes aware of the corresponding responsibilities and risks. More importantly, it learns to take the opportunity and use its own authority to help others. Instead of obeying orders to “override the humans’ suicidal stupidity and homicidal impulses”, Murderbot now has a choice and is willing to do so.
At some stage, one of the characters in the book says: “Fear is an artificial condition. It’s imposed from the outside. So it’s possible to fight it. You should do the things you’re afraid of.” When Murderbot argues “that isn’t the purpose of fear”, the character responds: “I know, it’s supposed to be inspirational.” It’s wonderful to know that Murderbot is inspired and ready to take on the next phase of its journey.
Voices under the Sun 陽光下的聲音 