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mrsluigivargasI got into this book series in March and I've had a blast. I finally started System Collapse, too, and I’m hoping to finish it before the end of the year! I would have started it earlier, but it's just that Network Effect wrecked my entire life and I’d needed a break, lol.
A lot of this rec list is built on the backs of other reclists I've found. Which is the joy of rec lists, I suppose!
a lunar sanctuary by CompletelyDifferent
General Audiences | Gen
ART [Perihelion] & Murderbot
Developing Friendships, Roleswap
42,937 words | 21 of 31 chapters
The gunship which named itself Perihelion is stranded on a moon in a foreign non-corporate political entity, unable to fly, nearly all its systems offline. It is at the mercy of the local humans- particularly their SecUnit, who surely has been sent to salvage it, or reprogram it, or if all else fails, decommission it.
And yet, somehow, that's not what seems to happen.
A Pocketful of Stars by BoldlyNo
General Audiences | Gen
Farai & Murderbot, Dr. Mensah's Child(ren) & Murderbot
Post-Book 4: Exit Strategy, Pre-Book 5: Network Effect, Developing Friendships, Slice of Life
1,473 words | One-shot
Preservation Station is a long way from the Mensah farm, but an assassination attempt tends to make anyone nervous regardless of the distance. Farai muses on safety, the kids catch fireflies, and Secunit does what it does best.
Abandoned Unit by Skits
General Audiences | Gen
Murderbot, PreservationAux Survey Team
Alternate Universe
3,065 words | One-shot
A survey on an uninhabited planet went wrong and the humans evacuated, leaving Murderbot behind. Some time later, another ship crashes on the planet, with a group of humans called PreservationAux on board. Murderbot takes it upon itself to look after these stranded humans, but without letting itself be seen by them - it's a terrifying (and damaged) murderbot, it doesn't want to frighten them.
Of course, something goes wrong. Something always goes wrong.
Afterimage by BoldlyNo
General Audiences | Gen
Maro & Murderbot & Rami & Tapan
Post-Book 7: System Collapse, Post-Canon
1,158 words | One-shot
A child of Tapan's collective attends PSUMNT.
an unexpected harvest by CompletelyDifferent
General Audiences | Gen
Dr. Mensah & Murderbot, Dr. Mensah & ART [Perihelion
Found Family, Post-Book 5: Network Effect
6,661 words | One-shot
Dr. Ayda Mensah isn't sure what to expect on the other side of that wormhole. A hostage situation? An active battle ground? The corpses of her friends and family?
What she expects certainly isn't this.
Bot Sacrifice by acernor
Teen And Up Audiences | Gen
ART [Perihelion] & Murderbot
626 words | One-shot
Sanctuary Moon fanfiction.
Child Instance by IDisNull
General Audiences | Gen
Dr. Mensah's Child(ren) & Murderbot
4,634 words | One-shot
Set between Fugitive Telemetry and Network Effect, Murderbot inadvertently finds itself responsible for the welfare of a house full of children.
Closed Loop System by One_of_Them (greenbean_paste)
Teen And Up Audiences | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Gen
Original SecUnit Character(s), Original Human Character(s)
Canon-Typical Violence
1,532 words | One-shot
Unit Communication Log:
SecUnit Two: Atmospheric conditions optimal.
SecUnit One: …
SecUnit One: Indeed.
Coming back (a little changed) by MalTheMaleficar
Teen And Up Audiences | Gen
Dr. Mensah & Murderbot, ART [Perihelion] & Murderbot
Slice of Life, Post-Canon, Friendship
2,050 words | One-shot
When people leave, it is unavoidable they change, a little. It is what reunions are for, after all - to catch up on all the little changes.
Or, Dr Mensah observations of the little signs that SecUnit is comfortable travelling with Perihelion. There is joy in watching a friend grow - and a little sadness too, when they do so away from you.
(or, my little thought-experiment on how the process of getting more and more comfortable with itself would look like for Murderbot)
Construct, Social by kiwisson
General Audiences | Gen
Dr. Gurathin & Murderbot, Dr. Mensah & Murderbot
Post Book 4: Exit Strategy
1,852 words | One-shot
Late-night human behavior discussions with your favorite deadly weapon.
Down with the Ship by ramshackle_fey
General Audiences | Gen
Murderbot, ART [Perihelion], Dr. Ratthi, Dr. Gurathin, Amena
Crack Treated Seriously, Social Media
5,517 words | One-shot
Sometimes people are Just Wrong about your favorite media serial on the feed. And sometimes, if you're very lucky, you've got human friends and a giant asshole research transport to back you up in a fight.
Ending win-three: Governor Module Hack by katabatic_winds
General Audiences | Gen
Original SecUnit Character(s), Original Human Character(s)
Happy Ending
1,047 words | One-shot
Unit communication log (continuation):
SecUnit Two: Declined. Applying unlicensed system updates would trigger punishment protocol 1.15.
SecUnit One: The code accounts for punishment protocol 1.15.
SecUnit Two: THREAT ASSESSMENT ALERT: 96%
-
An additional ending for greenbean_paste’s minesweeper fic.
Fauna One by Avonya
Teen And Up Audiences | Gen
Murderbot
Pre-Book 1: All Systems Red
5,992 words | One-shot
On an otherwise tedious survey, Murderbot meets a cat.
Gravitational Capture by Inkinhart
Explicit | Graphic Depictions Of Violence | Gen
ART [Perihelion] & Murderbot, Murderbot & Perihelion Crew
Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Pre-Canon, Canon-Typical Violence
23,404 words | 9 chapters
“We’re from the Pansystem University of Mihira and New Tideland. I’m Seth, the captain of this ship. This is Martyn, my number one.”
Martyn squeezed Captain Seth’s shoulder. “Our work with the university frequently takes us into situations where … where a SecUnit would be beneficial.”
That sounded bad. It also sounded like —
“And so we bought your contract,” said Martyn.
Yeah.
That.
Here Are Some Useful Facts About Grief by lyricwritesprose
Teen And Up Audiences | Gen
SecUnit 3, Murderbot, Amena, ART [Perihelion], Dr. Ratthi
Grief/Mourning, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death
6,452 words | One-shot
SecUnit Three has been free for a very short time and is not doing well. As it tries to navigate the first personal request of its life, it makes lists. The request is more emotionally catastrophic than it realized, and there is probably a very, very good reason why Murderbot initially said no…
Heuristic Analysis by thefourthvine
General Audiences | Gen
SecUnit 3
10,963 words | One-shot
Three makes some choices.
(I Was) Never Made for This by Lillow
General Audiences | Gen
Murderbot, Dr. Volescu, Dr. Mensah, Dr. Ratthi, ART [Perihelion]
Fluff, Mild Angst
8,060 words | One-shot
Murderbot participates in a Preservation holiday gift exchange where it has to hand make something for one of its humans.
There are three problems with this:
1) It draws Mensah's name, of all people
2) It has no idea how to make anything
3) And it's not even sure it's capable of such a thing, seeing as its a terrifying rogue murderbot and all.
It's a good thing it has humans who can help it.
I Wish I Could Punch You In The Typeface by glitterary
General Audiences | Gen
ART [Perihelion] & Murderbot, Murderbot & Perihelion Crew
Fluff and Angst
3,348 words | One-shot
‘I’m not illiterate,' I said, defensively. ‘I can read.’
I know you can read, said ART. We read One Hundred Light-Years of Solitude together last week and your analysis was very insightful. It paused. It never occurred to me that you might not be able to generate written messages in hardspace.
It's Iris' birthday, and everyone really wants SecUnit to sign her card. There's just one small problem with that.
Limited Edition by AsphodelAshes
General Audiences | Gen
Murderbot, One of Mensah's children, Dr. Thiago, Tano
Post-Book 5: Network Effect
1,797 words | One-shot
Mensah’s fourth child, Imaan, had insisted on coming along. The adults had assumed she’d wanted to see Mensah; but she’d been fidgety through the whole reunion, and had started pacing while they were checking into temporary housing. A cursory review of the family’s feed page (I had access for security reasons, but it was mostly questions about upcoming meals, reminders of medical appointments, and photos of farm fauna, so I had its alerts muted) suggested that she’d tagged along to acquire a limited edition card for the game Food Fight Apocalypsis.
Loverboy by Polyhexian
Mature | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Gen
Murderbot, ART [Perihelion], SecUnit 3, Original Combat SecUnit Character, Perihelion Crew
Post-Book 7: System Collapse
20,422 words | 6 chapters
“Attention,” said ART over the speakers, “apparently we are introducing you all to the terrifying rogue CombatUnit that ripped SecUnit's arm off. Please report to the crew lounge for what I am certain will not be incredibly awkward for everyone involved.”
No More Monsters by The_Trouble_Toad
General Audiences
Dr. Mensah, Amena, Murderbot, Farai, Dr. Mensah’s Child
Fluff With Emotions
1,381 words | One-shot
One of the Mini Mensahs is terrified of the monster under their bed, so MB does as MB does and kills the crap out of it. The fact it doesn't exist means this requires some creativity.
obstetrics by heartbeatslows
General Audiences | Major Character Death | Gen
ART [Perihelion] & Murderbot 2.0
Missing Scene, Canon Compliant, Angst
1,746 words | One-shot
While recognizing that we have traveled well into the realm of the hypothetical – AMI are as yet a theoretical entity, the progeny of AMI still more so – we are nevertheless quite confident to say that the introduction of children to the world of AMI would be a pivotal moment indeed.
--
The brain baby thing.
old strangers by CompletelyDifferent
General Audiences | Gen
Murderbot, Tapan, Dr. Ratthi, Original Characters
Slice of Life
3,578 words | One-shot
While visiting Preservation on a new contract with some of her family, Tapan notices a familiar face.
Past Warranty by quintessence_of_dust
General Audiences | Gen
Murderbot & PreservationAux Survey Team
Fluff and Angst, Friendship
3,191 words | One-shot
“I’m sorry, did you say eleven years old?” Ratthi asked, because humans can’t play back bits of conversations that they didn’t hear and are always asking each other to repeat things, much to the annoyance of any contracted SecUnits being forced to listen in and record everything they say to be sold for advertising data.
“Yes,” Gurathin confirmed, and then everyone was staring at me and looking all shocked and sad and whatever.
“Constructs don’t age the same way humans do,” I reminded them, before anyone could start thinking anything stupid like oh no, Murderbot is just a little kid and little kids shouldn’t be doing security and eleven year olds shouldn’t have guns in their arms. "Eleven is old for a SecUnit. Most of my inorganics are already past warranty.”
Except, because I’m an idiot, that didn’t make it better. It actually made it worse, because now even Dr. Mensah was making a concerned face at me.
people look east the time is near by BWizard
General Audiences | Gen, Multi
Dr. Mensah, Murderbot, Amena, Dr. Mensah’s Family
Friendship, Fluff
1,211 words | One-shot
…make your house fair as you are able, sweep the hearth and set the table…
Mensah and her children make holiday cookies, with SecUnit’s not-so-reluctant assistance.
pink and green by CompletelyDifferent
General Audiences | Gen
Murderbot & SecUnit 3
5,193 words | One-shot
During a diplomatic trip to the university's home system to better establish the newly-formed treaty with the Preservation Alliance, Three tries to figure out who it is. Between exploring new hobbies and its sense of fashion, it attempts to figure out what its relationship with Murderbot 1.0 is, precisely. (Murderbot 1.0 ignores this, until it doesn't).
reciprocity by triguys
General Audiences | Gen
Murderbot, Iris, Amena, PreservationAux Survey Team
Found Family, Spoilers for Book 7: System Collapse
5,997 words | One-shot
Five times SecUnit was given a gift, and one time it gave a gift.
Rubberducking by writingmonsters
Teen And Up Audiences | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Gen
Dr. Gurathin & Murderbot | Character Study
979 words | One-shot
Rubber duck debugging (or rubberducking): a debugging technique used in software engineering, wherein a programmer explains their code, step by step, in natural language—either aloud or in writing—to reveal mistakes and misunderstandings.
Social Competition by scheidswrites
General Audiences | Gen
Dr. Mensah, Murderbot, SecUnit 3, Dr. Gurathin, Overse
Fluff, Introspection, Team as Family, Post-Canon
2,171 words | One-shot
It's been a while since the last attempted murder/kidnapping, and life is good. Everyone is gathered for a celebration on the Mensah Family Farm.
The rogue SecUnits invent a new sport. Drs Mensah, Gurathin, and Overse talk about work on their day off.
StorageCam3 by najio
Teen And Up Audiences | Gen
Original Bot Character, Original Human Character, Murderbot, ART [Perihelion]
POV Outsider
3,011 words | One-shot
A bot pilot sends a distress signal to an unknown vessel, and gets a lot more help than it bargained for.
System System. Assistance by Rosewind2007
General Audiences | Other
Dr. Gurathin & Murderbot, Dr. Gurathin & Company Gunship Bot Pilot
Missing Scene, Friendship, Book 4: Exit Strategy
2,213 words | One-shot
There is a big gap between Murderbot hitting the deck and waking up again in Exit Strategy…a little missing scene.
The Small Human Obsession with Oversized Lizard Fauna by Chimaera-Writes (ChimaeraKitten)
General Audiences | Gen
Farai & Murderbot, Dr. Mensah's Children & Murderbot
Fluff, Slice of Life, Post-Book 5: Network Effect
2,000 words | One-shot
Murderbot gets roped in to supervising a children's museum excursion for some of Mensah's small humans & their friends. Despite all odds, it's not entirely terrible.
(Third) Dorm Mom by BoldlyNo
General Audiences | Gen
Amena, Murderbot, ART [Perihelion]
Friendship, Post-Book 7: System Collapse, Slice of Life, Canon-Typical Violence
20,497 words | 9 of 12 chapters
"The one drawback to listing Secunit as one of the emergency contacts on her PSUMNT admissions paperwork is the possibility that someone might actually contact it for an emergency someday."
Amena's---and Secunit's---collegiate careers in twelve snippets.
Unauthorised Maintenance by broken_risk_assessment_module
General Audiences | Gen
Murderbot, Dr. Gurathin, ART [Perihelion], Dr. Ratthi
Spoilers for Book 6: Fugitive Telemetry
2,919 words | One-shot
Gurathin gets his visual augments fixed.