All Systems Red is about a sentient robot-human hybrid, calling themselves Murderbot, a slave to a mega corporation, tasked with protecting the humans it’s told to protect.

All Systems Red is a novella written by Martha Wells, the first in her Murderbot Diaries series.

The titular Murderbot is a sentient robot-human hybrid, a slave to a mega corporation, tasked with protecting the humans it’s told to protect.

Unbeknownst to anyone, Murderbot has hacked its governor module, granting it the ability to refuse any orders given by its corporate overlords.

Once again, Murderbot finds itself protecting humans, prospectors surveying a planet, when things start going wrong.

Hijinks ensue.

What impressed me most with All Systems Red was how Martha Wells was able to make Murderbot so believable and so easy to emphasize with.

So, I’m awkward with actual humans. It’s not paranoia about my hacked governor module, and it’s not them; it’s me. I know I’m a horrifying murderbot, and they know it, and it makes us both nervous, which makes me even more nervous.

I don’t know about you but I’m not a horrifying murderbot. I am autistic though and if you replace “horrifying murderbot” with “autist” in the quote above, that’s a pretty accurate description of what it feels like at times.

Murderbot’s struggle with social anxiety throughout the novella was depicted very well and it really resonated with me.

Secondly, in a sense, we’re all Murderbot.