“The Future of Work: Compulsory” (Murderbot #0.5) by Martha Wells
(Five Stars)
“With my governor module inert, I sometimes do things and I’m not entirely sure why. (Apparently getting free will after having 93 percent of your behavior controlled for your entire existence will do weird things to your impulse control.) Without thinking about it, I stepped off the edge of the platform.”
A very short outing into the mind of a supposedly mindless Security Unit. Humor, backstory, risk, and denouement packed into a few paragraphs. Fun.
“A blast of heat and radiation washed over us. Sekai made an ‘eep’ noise. I wanted to make an ‘eep’ noise too, but I was busy.”
Quibble: not enough.
“Nobody likes SecUnits. Even I don’t like us.”
As a Matter of Fancy 