Space Ace

"the governor module will freeze you in place at your client's command and force you to do nothing as they're kidnapped then will kill you terribly and painfully when they're taken out of acceptable range"

I read a very formative article a number of years ago which said that every book a child reads, no matter what their life circumstance, improved their life outcome. The act of reading helped the child’s brain to grow, gave them more ability to imagine something better for themselves, and increased their awareness and compassion for others. This, in turn, made the entire trajectory of their life better.

I just reread Fugitive Telemetry and I think it's so interesting to see all the little moments like this with Indah and Aylen.

They both start out deeply afraid and suspicious of MB, in a way that MB doesn't want to acknowledge but is definitely very painful. But through the course of their interactions, they have enough Wendy's Lady moments that they start to change.

And I don't think Murderbot picks up on this much, if at all. I think it would be surprised to know how much both of their opinions of Murderbot have changed through the course of the events of FT. But MB just keeps dropping these little hints, little stories and anecdotes, little things about the CR that it just Knows. And they're both standing there like "what the fuck... Holy shit... That's so fucked ...." And they both soften up so much to MB. (Helped significantly by the extreme competency MB displays the whole time, but also just through its sheer... Well humanity isn't the right word. Undeniable personhood. They start to see past the scary Secunit and start to see the scared and hurt person that Mensah first saw wrapped up in a blanket in the cubicle.

The moment that drove this home most to me is the way Indah quietly supports it after What Happened with The People in That One Scene. When you know MB is devastated but not actually able to articulate why even to itself in any meaningful way. And Indah is just there, supporting it quietly and carefully and giving it space, but also affirming "you have just been violently dehumanized, and I'm sorry. For what it's worth, I do see you as a person and it sucks that this happened and I'll press charges against them if you want." (I think MB doesn't really process that concept. Imagine a SecUnit making a complaint about a human and it being taken seriously? It's definitely not ready for that yet.)

Panel 2: turn to show the computer screen that he is sitting in front of. A simplistic pixel face appears, looking unimpressed, with text on the screen reading: “? WORST CONFESSION EVER”

Panel 3: Murderbot jerks upright in shock. “You are not dead?”

Panel 4: Murderbot begins to slump to the ground, more blood pooling on the desk. “I lied.”

Surprising A-Yuan VS surprising his Eldritch Horror-gege

[character a] pushes [character b] onto his back, then straddles his prone body

Little A-Yuan