“The Gang Attempts To Teach Murderbot Literally Anything About The Universe”

ART was staring at me mutually. That’s not the word I meant—it was the one that it shouldn’t have been able to do because it was already its own captain. Anyway, ART was staring at me like it wanted to stage a hostile take over, depose all my c-level executives, and replace them with its own.

It’s interesting to think about how Three differs from SecUnit in certain ways. And also the reactions of those around it:D

*Please scroll down instead of flipping pages.

Three and humans:

ALT

ahh Thank you so much! I love a good jumpsuit yo, very customizable to fit the associated MIs

I had a lot of fun with these works and characters in 2025. Especially ‘The Murderbot Diaries’ made my fandom life SO MUCH RICHER. (๑´ސު｀๑) Happy New Year!!!

Ok, I wrote a thing based on this:

Post by @stormsthatrage

I changed a few things, but same general idea. It gets a bit dark in the middle but I promise a happy ending.

Chance of a Successful Retrieval - Brushtail - The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells [Archive of Our Own]

My muse grabbed on to this scene and wouldn’t let me rest until I wrote the whole story.

The rest of the team was distracted from this exchange by the sight of the second figure, a SecUnit in Barish-Estranza armor.

“Barish – fucking – Estranza?” Luxa yelled, “They’re your friends?”
“No!” Ratthi cried, “I mean, yes, these are my friends, no, they are not with Barish-Estranza.”
“I do not belong to Barish-Estranza anymore.” The SecUnit said awkwardly.

“It’s handler just told it to say that.” Lawr pointed out, and the person in blue smacked their hand against the face-plate of their own suit.
The SecUnit looked at its presumed handler and said, “I’m sorry”

system collapse, or as i like to call it, “the book where murderbot runs around and does stuff while dissociating and trying not to think about murderbot 2.0, while i the reader am thinking about almost nothing except murderbot 2.0 and secunit 3, right up until we both start thinking really hard about the reinforcement barish-estranza secunits…”

“Mathematicians call them twin primes: Numbers like 11 and 13, like 17 and 19, 41 and 43.”

concept: secunit 3 carrying murderbot like a suitcase using the handle on its spine

I am ALL about Murderbot only reserving being touched solely and only for Mensah because she ignored her safety so Murderbot wasn’t abandoned to die alone. She’s the first and only one who did manage to tear down Murderbot’s walls and tell it right to its face that the very first foundation to progress and to be “better at living” is admit that it does in fact need help when it’s on the brink of devastation, and Mensah was willing and able to help, and she did so without hesitation even though they’re both under duress. And, the thing is, it’s what Three did as well, although painted in a different light, with less amount of layers as well, I may add.

Both of them rescued Murderbot from two different close-calls.

Which is why I think it would quite make sense if Murderbot subconsciously would be… more tolerable with Three touching it.

Three can touch it for sure, and not in a weird way, okay, Murderbot would stress. It doesn’t happen very often, and it would take times before indifference finally establishes when it’s happening from time to time. No big deal. The humans, on the other hand, do realize it eventually; no matter how unaware Murderbot would claim them to be. How can they not, with these two orbiting around them constantly whenever they’re on a mission?

Usually, SecUnits would form a certain strategic protective formation whenever they’re working along each other, to cover each side of their clients formation, to cover blind spots. So, since it’s only two of them, there would be distance between them. Sometimes it’s Three going ahead first, and Murderbot covers from behind and all around with its drones. The other times, Murderbot would leap head first, and demand Three to stand back and make sure nothing and nobody touches their clients. Whenever that kind of scenario ends up going south, of course they only have each other to carry the compromised/injured one with no sweats. (Mind you, it needs at least 3 grown ups to be able to lift 1 SecUnit). If it’s Three that got incapacitated, then Murderbot was just returning the favor for savng its live back then by manhandling Three back to Medical Facility.

“I’d rather have Three here” or “Three can do this” would sometimes tumble out of Murderbot’s verbal response when there’s something wrong with it, and needs physical assistance if one of the Preservation crew offers it some help. Most of the time, the humans respects its wish, and let Three handle it. Some of them would think, well, of course it would be much comfortable with something as familiar as itself. It makes sense.

Every time that kind of thing happens, though, all parties involved can’t help but to feel amazed and confused at the same time, regardless. Murderbot, privately, included. Probably because sometimes Three would query it with more questions than necessary. Something like: I have less knowledge than you about this. Or something more stupid like, Your clients are very smart and capable. Why do you not trust them for something not dangerous as this?

Murderbot would scramble internally, looking for what to close the door to the path that leads to discussion that will breach the “feelings violation” for seconds, and, wearily, could only offer, I don’t like humans in general touching me.

For a new “free agent” like Three, acknowledging that and associating the admission to attaching itself with familiarity would be like trying to aim with a projectile weapon - a target from miles away. A burning one. It’s a hit or miss. Not to mention quite pointless too, but, Murderbot 1.0 is not that insignificant to it. To any of them, really.

However, SecUnits are built to have suspicion running through their modules down to its codes, so it’s not Three’s fault for pointing out: SecUnits are overall physical. (Better than outright saying “what the fuck are you talking about?” when it comes to argue with a rogue SecUnit as sophisticated as Murderbot) Three has seen it bodily secured its clients - correction: its humans - from multiple harms. It’s what we do. It’s instinctive, so why fight it? Three understands that touches from humans can be alarming, even for itself sometimes, but this is about Murderbot’s humans. It’s just unproductive. Your humans can’t destroy you or anything. They don’t even want anything bad happen to you.

Murderbot fucking knows that, alright.

If Three could bet like a person, even just for a losing contestant, it would bet that Murderbot is also aware its humans would even fight their hardest against Three, if it ever turns severely compromised to the point of destruction, Three is certain. Not that Three would ever do that. Not that Perihelion would ever allow something like that to happen before it can warn its crew and its friend first.

In fact, between me and them, I think you should be more cautious of my fatal errors, Three would remind Murderbot, then, just for a good measure because that is still a possibility. Even after all this time. It also wants to add something along the line of, as one of your medias said, us SecUnits are just as physical as active bombs, but it can’t.

Murderbot just clutches onto Three even tighter, closer, non-verbal but pinging it with a sharp code that can only be compared to a whiff of smell before a lethal rainstorm comes and—

Oh.

Oh.

In that very second, Three wants nothing else but to have a distance immediately, away from Murderbot, away from here, but it doesn’t let Three go. It doesn’t.

It won’t.

Remind me to yell tomorrow about Three’s behavior being different between Network Effect and System Collapse directly as a result of Murderbot’s earlier conclusions in the HelpMe.file.

So I have some Three Thoughts

As far as Three being the “nice” or “well adjusted” SecUnit, I think there’s a problem with how the fandom is reducing them to just a one dimensional character (honestly kinda reminds me of the treatment female characters often get, but that’s another story).

Listen. It hasn’t had its memory erased that we know of, and unlike Murderbot, it was used for actively taking free people and making them slaves. We don’t know how many colony salvages it was deployed on, or how many of those had surviving colonists. But given how in no uncertain terms the books call being “Salvaged” by Barish-Estranza enslavement, it has lived a function somewhere between Murderbot’s and an East India Company slave ship crewman. Except the irl slavers could theoretically have disobeyed orders, or even just not been deliberately cruel, and Three and its partners couldn’t.

All that to say, I don’t think Three is somehow less fucked up than 1.0, I think it is still stuck in good obedient puppet mode, like 1.0 believes. I think it hasn’t fully figured out how to want things yet, but it might be starting to get the shape of what it wants from what it doesn’t want. It didn’t understand why they were rescuing 1.0, but it was willing to risk back talking the Perihelion (incredibly terrifying) to suggest an option with better odds of saving it. It didn’t want 1.0 to die. And it was willing to go down to the planet and guard Perihelion’s crew despite the possibility of being seen by Barish-Estranza, so the talks could go forward. It didn’t want the crew in danger, but it also didn’t want the colonists enslaved.

I’m not really sure where I’m going with all this, besides the idea that UwU smol bean-ing Three is glossing over a lot. And that I have some Headcannons about this, but anyway. The horrors lurk inside anyone who has been abused that badly and seems fine

literally everyone immediately and unconditionally caring about 3 as a person is everything to me

I have decided to make picrews of Three

Pov you’re a sapient killware about to rock this unit’s world

Further bulletins as events warrant

SecUnit 3 has no idea how to bluff. At all. So even though Martin Septim isn’t the character I would go to most for that, he would definitely win

Chapter Three is Out

Media, Self-Discovery, and Killware (3441 words) by QwilliansWritingNook
Chapters: 3/?
Fandom: The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Murderbot 2.0 & SecUnit 3 (Murderbot Diaries)
Characters: SecUnit 3 (Murderbot Diaries), Murderbot 2.0 (Murderbot Diaries)
Additional Tags: Mentioned Murderbot (Murderbot Diaries), Mentioned ART | Perihelion, POV Alternating, POV Murderbot 2.0 (Murderbot Diaries), POV SecUnit 3 (Murderbot Diaries), Murderbot 2.0 and SecUnit 3 Are A Bonded Pair (Murderbot Diaries), Murderbot 2.0 Lives (Murderbot Diaries), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Major Character Undeath, How Do I Tag, Updates Daily (For the foreseeable future)
Series: Part 4 of 2 point Three
Summary:
NOTE: YOU DO NOT NEED TO READ THE REST OF THE SERIES TO UNDERSTAND THIS STORY. Everything in this series is self-contained.
Shortly after Murderbot 2.0 is recovered from backup files it hid in Murderbot 1.0, it takes up residence in SecUnit 3’s head. The two decide to split away from the main group on a journey of self discovery for SecUnit 3 - but it turns out, SecUnit 3 isn’t the only one in need of discovering itself. Through random wandering and eventually intentional corporate sabotage and destruction of property, Murderbot 2.0 and SecUnit 3 figure out what makes them themselves.
Oh, and they become extremely reliant on the other, but that’s probably the healthiest possible outcome for them.

Chapter Two of Media, Self-Discovery, and Killware

Media, Self-Discovery, and Killware (2345 words) by QwilliansWritingNook
Chapters: 2/?
Fandom: The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Murderbot 2.0 & SecUnit 3 (Murderbot Diaries)
Characters: SecUnit 3 (Murderbot Diaries), Murderbot 2.0 (Murderbot Diaries)
Additional Tags: Mentioned Murderbot (Murderbot Diaries), Mentioned ART | Perihelion, POV Alternating, POV Murderbot 2.0 (Murderbot Diaries), POV SecUnit 3 (Murderbot Diaries), Murderbot 2.0 and SecUnit 3 Are A Bonded Pair (Murderbot Diaries), Murderbot 2.0 Lives (Murderbot Diaries), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Major Character Undeath, How Do I Tag
Series: Part 4 of 2 point Three
Summary:
NOTE: YOU DO NOT NEED TO READ THE REST OF THE SERIES TO UNDERSTAND THIS STORY. Everything in this series is self-contained.
Shortly after Murderbot 2.0 is recovered from backup files it hid in Murderbot 1.0, it takes up residence in SecUnit 3’s head. The two decide to split away from the main group on a journey of self discovery for SecUnit 3 - but it turns out, SecUnit 3 isn’t the only one in need of discovering itself. Through random wandering and eventually intentional corporate sabotage and destruction of property, Murderbot 2.0 and SecUnit 3 figure out what makes them themselves.
Oh, and they become extremely reliant on the other, but that’s probably the healthiest possible outcome for them.

Contact Procedure has been done for less than 6 hours and I’m sitting here suffering with three (3!!!) fully formed fics in my head I’m suffering I’m supposed to get my book done this week for a draft-swap sob sob cry cry wail.

1. Three on Preservation Station getting into hijinks with JollyBaby, who has an Idea and cannot be discouraged despite Three’s best efforts. (low-stakes comedy)
2. Three and MB fuck up a retrieval mission and get stuck on a stormy planet they need to find a way off of without triggering the planet-wide TransitSystem that will absolutely kill them dead if they fuck up its train network (high stakes comedy adventure with at least one ComfortUnit appearance)
3. Three stranded on a remote moon/planet with a disabled MB who can only communicate through their crashed ShuttleHubSys while several PresAux humans try to fend off the PTSD of waiting for rescue while their friend SecUnit is half-destroyed (mid-stakes, emotional connection/bonding)

I SHOULD be WORKGING on my BOOK

First Chapter of Media, Self-Discovery, and Killware

Media, Self-Discovery, and Killware (1312 words) by QwilliansWritingNook
Chapters: 1/?
Fandom: The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Murderbot 2.0 & SecUnit 3 (Murderbot Diaries)
Characters: SecUnit 3 (Murderbot Diaries), Murderbot 2.0 (Murderbot Diaries)
Additional Tags: Mentioned Murderbot (Murderbot Diaries), Mentioned ART | Perihelion, POV Alternating, POV Murderbot 2.0 (Murderbot Diaries), POV SecUnit 3 (Murderbot Diaries), Murderbot 2.0 and SecUnit 3 Are A Bonded Pair (Murderbot Diaries), Murderbot 2.0 Lives (Murderbot Diaries), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Major Character Undeath, How Do I Tag
Series: Part 4 of 2 point Three
Summary:
NOTE: YOU DO NOT NEED TO READ THE REST OF THE SERIES TO UNDERSTAND THIS STORY. Everything in this series is self-contained.
Shortly after Murderbot 2.0 is recovered from backup files it hid in Murderbot 1.0, it takes up residence in SecUnit 3’s head. The two decide to split away from the main group on a journey of self discovery for SecUnit 3 - but it turns out, SecUnit 3 isn’t the only one in need of discovering itself. Through random wandering and eventually intentional corporate sabotage and destruction of property, Murderbot 2.0 and SecUnit 3 figure out what makes them themselves.
Oh, and they become extremely reliant on the other, but that’s probably the healthiest possible outcome for them.

i wrote more murderbot fic.

Accustomed (684 words) by QwilliansWritingNook
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Murderbot 2.0 & SecUnit 3 (Murderbot Diaries)
Characters: Murderbot 2.0 (Murderbot Diaries), SecUnit 3 (Murderbot Diaries)
Additional Tags: It/its pronouns for Murderbot 2.0 (Murderbot Diaries), POV SecUnit 3 (Murderbot Diaries), Murderbot 2.0 and SecUnit 3 Are A Bonded Pair (Murderbot Diaries), Murderbot 2.0 Lives (Murderbot Diaries), Murderbot 2.0 Makes Fun of Murderbot, The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon (Murderbot Diaries)
Series: Part 2 of 2 point Three
Summary:
While Murderbot 2.0 is operating a transport shuttle for the two of them, SecUnit 3 realizes that it has grown used to having sentient killware inside of its head.

SecUnit three would have a semi-distinct hairstyle not because it wants one but for utilitarian purposes of not being identified as a secunit.

Anyways. MB 2.0 should chill in its brain.