Rogue Protocol

"Rogue Protocol" is the third entry in Martha Wells's remarkable series, The Murderbot Diaries. It stars our beloved human-like android, Murderbot, who keeps getting sucked into one adventure after another, despite its desire to be left alone, far away from humanity and small talk.

This instalment sees Murderbot investigating the supposedly abandoned Milu project, which it suspects GrayCris might be using as a front for illicit recovery operations involving alien remnants. As usual, Murderbot plans to handle this mission solo, but a group of humans in desperate need of help derails those plans, compelling our deeply introverted SecUnit to intervene.

Who knew being a heartless killing machine would present so many moral dilemmas?

I love the fast-paced plot, the endearing human side characters, and the sharp humour that permeates the series. There’s something especially entertaining about an AI making fun of how irritating humans can be. The more I read these books, the more I feel a kinship with Murderbot.

Murderbot’s interactions with the humans it encounters in this thrilling story prompt it to reevaluate its own relationships with people, especially Dr. Mensah, Murderbot’s legal owner. These introspective moments, combined with Wells’ masterful creation of a believable universe filled with advanced technology, compelling action, and Murderbot’s dryly humorous voice, make "Rogue Protocol" a science fiction novella that’s both fascinating and enjoyable.

This is a series worth diving into if you’re a fan of science fiction that blends action, humour, and thoughtful character development.

An exciting episode in the Murderbot Diaries, it has the usual mayhem and humour, but also a look at re-evaluating the relationship between humans and artificial beings like him.

A comment from Murderbot's previous client leads Murderbot to a planet that was abandoned in the past by the corporation, GrayCris. The planet was apparently abandoned due to a failed terraforming attempt, but Murderbot suspects that it was a cover by the company to retrieve alien material (that was what led GrayCris to initially try to murder its clients in "All Systems Red"). Now, he needs to go to the planet to get evidence of this.

But to do this, it will have to infiltrate the survey team sent to look at the station at the heart of the apparent failed terraforming attempt. In doing so, Murderbot gets acquainted with a bot who, to his horror and confusion, is being treated kindly and as a friend by the humans. To him, this does not compute, as he thinks all bots and constructs (like him) are less than human.

But that has to be put aside when the team is attacked by other bots keen to make sure they don't get off the station. Now he has to find the evidence, keep the team alive, and find a way to eliminate the bots who are better armed than him.

This, of course, he does, but in the process, an act of sacrifice makes him re-evaluate the relationship between humans and bots and artificial constructs, and leads him to conclude that he has to return to the clients, whom he left in the first story, to resolve matters.