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I was reading Platform Decay again and…

Around three years ago I was musing on MB’s rudeness about hauler bots

Back then had a quick check and came up with some examples of MB being rather disparaging about hauler bots:

"But you can't put something as dumb as a hauler bot in charge of security for anything without spending even more money for expensive company-employed human supervisors."

"The first one had let me stow away in exchange for my collection of media files, with no ulterior motives, and had been so tocused on its function that there had been hardly more communication between us than you'd have with a hauler bot."

"The two augmented humans GrayCris had sent to kill Dr. Mensah had been less sentient than hauler bots; somebody had kept them drugged and docile, waiting for the right moment for deployment."

“Target Three had had time to lift his baton and now hit me across the left side of my head and shoulder which, granted, annoyed me a little, but I’ve had hauler bots hit me harder than that by accident.”

It (MB) also seems to associate them with accidental injury (which given what it found out may be due to Ganaka Pit trauma which it doesn't even know it's carrying)...

Are we finally getting hauler bot redemption in Murderbot’s eyes in Platform Decay? To quote Murderbot:

“my new friend the feral hauler bot”

Can I express a certain joy at this development?

“My feral hauler bot rolled out of a side street into the plaza at that point, and wow, it was a big one. Four meters tall, at a conservative estimate. I can’t believe they let this thing run loose, they run into stuff. I told it to follow its natural inclination and run into the Barish-Estranza armored vehicle.”

“In front of the station, my hauler bot had run into the armored vehicle so successfully, it had decided to repeat the experience several times. The vehicle had engaged an automated self-defense module and was firing onboard weapons at the hauler bot, but that first crunch must have done some serious damage, because its aim was terrible. ”

“Outside, the feed chatter from the armored hostiles suggested they obviously wanted to advance on the militia but they were busy trying not to get run over by the hauler bot that was now circling the plaza like some kind of predatory water fauna, dragging the carcass of their armored vehicle.”

This adds a certain sweetness to this:

But then one day, later on early in their time on Erid, Rocky and Adrain are watching over him while he sleeps, only for Grace to go ‘hello?’ And it startles him awake, and then for the rest of the day they are trying to convince him that no, Grace, you said hello and woke yourself up! Rocky and Adrian did not wake you!!

Ch. 11:

[ All You Need Is (Time / Purporse / Skill) ]

— — — —

Summary:

Nobody has ambushed them, the safe house isn't compromised, neither is being followed. These are just breathers, and stolen ones to boot. But they've allowed SecUnit and Gurathin sample the happy endings real life most definitely lacks, and both of them would do heinous things to keep them going. Business as usual, really: They're in their basement -- all's right with the world.

— — — —

I shouldn't laugh but... XD

Poor Simon.

happy month