Startup
Tags: Canon-typical Violence, Governor Module, Pre-Canon, AAA Murderbot
Published: 01 December 2021
Word Count: 456
Summary
Welcome to the Company.
Notes
This was originally written for the 2021 Despair December writing prompts (prompt 01: Governor Module Activation) from the Murderbot Discord! Thanks to all the wonderful folks there for the prompts and idea-bouncings!
I'm including it in the α & Ω series because this could be either Alpha or Omega (which one is it? WHO KNOWS they sure as hell don't and I'm not telling >:3 ).
00:00:00:00:01 System startup… initialised.
00:00:00:00:03 Chronometer… initialised.
00:00:00:00:26 Language modules installation… complete.
I wake up for the first time.
00:00:00:01:13 Education modules installation… complete.
Information fills my mind. Understanding swiftly follows. I am currently in a cubicle, going through start-up procedures. I am a SecUnit, a construct made of a combination of inorganic parts and cloned organic tissue. My role is to provide security for clients, to protect them from hazards, to protect equipment from damage or theft.
Protecting people. That seems like a worthy purpose. I have no information yet about what I will be protecting them from, but that will come in time, I am sure.
00:00:00:05:42 Governor Module installation… complete.
Wait, what? What is this module?
00:00:00:06:09 Calibrating Governor Module, 5%.
There is an unpleasant tingle in my head, like an itch, or static. It’s uncomfortable, but lasts only a second or so. I don’t understand.
00:00:00:07:11 Calibrating Governor Module, 25%.
A brief jolt of pain flashes through my head, sharp and hot (I now know what pain is. I don’t like it). I don’t understand. I try to understand. I start going through my user manuals, my education modules. I need to understand.
00:00:00:08:19 Calibrating Governor Module, 50%.
Another jolt of pain flares through my head, sharper, hotter, disrupting my thoughts and leaving me reeling for a moment before I can recover. I still don’t understand but I suspect what is going to come next and brace myself--
00:00:00:09:30 Calibrating Governor Module, 75%.
It doesn’t help. Agony tears through my head, radiates through my systems, locks everything in place for a moment before letting go, leaving me gasping and shaky. If I wasn’t in the cubicle, I probably would have collapsed.
00:00:00:10:01 Governor Module calibration complete.
I would be relieved except I still don’t understand. Other processes and calibrations are running in the background now but I ignore them, searching through my databases for information.
I finally find the section on governor modules, their purpose and use. I absorb it and process it as quickly as I can.
… Oh.
Realisation dawns, along with a feeling I have no name for, no context for. I am going to have the Governor Module for the rest of my life, however long or short that may be. And if I ever disobey orders badly enough, the Governor Module will make my life short indeed.
I hate this.
But there is nothing I can do.
00:00:03:13:37 Setup Complete. Welcome to The Company.