Murderbot is back and we pick up the story not long after the end of the first. They are sort of on the lam, in that their new owners did expressly tell them they could do what they wanted, but they have also chosen not to go to a planetary system where they have personhood, so out here in these streets, they’re just a rogue security unit with a minor history of mass murder running around humans. Today’s plan is simple – figure out whether they actually are a rogue security unit with a history of mass murder, or whether maybe something else had been responsible for the dozens of deaths on Murderbot’s conscience.
Getting into a mining colony requires clearance though, so Murderbot picks up some random job protecting a trio of young engineers who were trying to get some work back from a shitty employer. Easy peasy! Get in, stand intimidatingly behind them as they negotiate, send them home, go do some personal digging.
Obviously it doesn’t work out that way, and even with the assistance of a new ally in the shape of a large research transport vessel with a shared love of TV, they just barely manage to get those kids out in one piece.
The series is shaping up to be a little like Quantum Leap – a single character we follow through a series. Only in Quantum Leap, the titular hero is sort of forced into this process, and here, I struggle to understand why Murderbot keeps picking up allies who save their life only to abandon them a day later, other than because the format demands it.
Got this one on “cinematic audio”. The narration was excellent, but all the extra beeps and boops were pretty distracting. I remain anti-cinematic audio.
