Privately Owned Society: There is nothing in the Corporate Rim that is not owned by someone. Including people. Eletra, a corporate "worker" in Network Effect, casually notes that when a company gets bought out, it's in the losing parties' interests to be as conciliatory as possible, or new management might take out their frustrations on the "seized assets"—the employees. Spry, Jeff (June 22, 2021). "Exclusive Q&A: Sci-fi author Martha Wells talks about her latest Murderbot novella, Fugitive Telemetry". Space.com . Retrieved July 9, 2022. Ashby, Madeline; Assadi, Hannah Lillith; Baker, Calvin; Bill, Frank; Lee, Yoon Ha; Lord, Karen; McClelland, Michael Brian; Obejas, Achy; Robertson, David; Wells, Martha (2019). "Take Us to a Better Place: Stories". Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. pp.163–194. ISBN 978-1-59591-111-7 . Retrieved February 9, 2023.

Humans have a bad tendency to use weapons unnecessarily and indiscriminately. Of the many times I had been shot, a depressingly large percentage of hits had come from clients who were trying to "help" me.)(Another significant percentage came from clients who had just wanted to shoot something when I happened to be standing there.) Muderbot dealing with trauma and its effects is no different. You know when you're reading something and it captures a feeling or experience so well that you feel like you've been punched in the gut? You have the wind taken out of you and just have to sit there for a moment, mind empty, unable to process what's happened? Well regardless, the impacts of trauma are apparent throughout the series and through various characters but now Muderbot is dealing with them, instead of ignoring them, whether it wants to or not.Knight in Sour Armor: A very cynical warrior that continues to fight for its people against whatever threatens them.

Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: Murderbot is annoyed by Miki's Pollyanna naiveté, but has to work with it as the only way to monitor the humans. I prefer stories that feature bots and constructs more than their human companions from the Murderbot universe. Still, I can see this story being a nice little treat for fans while they waited for the publication of the next book in the series.

SecUnit 3

That's all I'm going to say about the plot. It's fun and fast-paced with some humming tension as the situation seems to get more dire by the second. With its addiction to Sanctuary Moon and other media still intact, it's not startling to realize that Murderbot seems to be taking some behavior clues from these shows, all in a bid to learn how to better deal with itself, really KNOW itself. I think this aspect is the thing I love most about Murderbot.