September 2025: A SecUnit's Guide to Academic Conferences

[marcicatverse]

Title: A SecUnit's Guide to Academic Conferences
Author: marcicat

Fandom: The Murderbot Diaries (Martha Wells)
Rating: T

Characters: SecUnit | Murderbot, ART | Perihelion, Amena Mensah, Ayda Mensah, Iris, Tarik, Three, Gurathin
Tags: Post-System Collapse, Team as Family, Academic Conferences, Enrichment

Summary: One spaceship, two constructs, three humans, and two augmented humans attend an academic conference. What could possibly go wrong?

Author's Note: My writing for the no_true_pair September 2025 Eight-Character Challenge

Title: A SecUnit's Guide to Academic Conferences

Author: marcicat

Rating: T

Fandom: The Murderbot Diaries (Martha Wells)

Characters: ART | Perihelion, SecUnit | Murderbot, Three, Ayda Mensah, Amena Mensah, Tarik, Iris, Gurathin

Summary: One spaceship, two constructs, three humans, and two augmented humans attend an academic conference. What could possibly go wrong?

Author's note: Written for the no_true_pair September 2025 Eight-Character Challenge.

September One - ART & Tarik - and they lived happily ever after

Tarik sighed, as quietly as he could manage. "What, exactly, am I looking at here?"

Perihelion didn't sigh, but the implication was there, and it wasn't quiet at all. "I have been reviewing images and videos from past conferences hosted by this university. Although there is no official dress code, our appearance will be expected to meet certain standards."

It wasn't really an answer, but close enough. This was Iris' first presentation at an academic conference that Seth and Martyn weren't also attending; Perihelion micromanaging every aspect it could get its code into shouldn't have been a surprise.

(The amount of macro-managing it had done probably shouldn't have been a surprise either. Somehow, the conference aligned with both Three and Amena having a free rotation. And somehow, the Preservation Alliance had been invited as 'special guests.' And also, somehow, the stage adaptation of one of SecUnit's shows just happened to be on the schedule of the local theater. Tarik had quickly learned that it was better not to ask for details about how, exactly, Perihelion managed that sort of thing.)

He eyed the dozens of images projected across the table. "It's three days. How many outfits do you think we're going to need?"

"There are a wide variety of social activities associated with the conference, as well as opportunities to experience local attractions."

"Is one of those opportunities a masked ball with royalty?" Tarik poked at one of the pictures. "This looks like it's straight out of that fairy tale serial everyone's been watching."

The image disappeared, replaced by a bullet-point list that popped into his feed at the same time. "The agenda is publicly available." Perihelion's tone made it clear that it thought he should have had the whole thing memorized already.

"I've read it," he said, just as one of the items caught his eye. "Is it still being updated? That one's new."

"Local attractions may be added to the published agenda at any time," Perihelion said, in the tone that meant it was being deliberately vague.

Tarik pulled out the agenda image and zoomed in. "'Exhibition of Ground Vehicles Through the Ages,'" he read out loud. That was — unexpected.

Perihelion said, "It is a reasonable addition given the theme of the conference."

He supposed that was true enough. It also happened to be something he was particularly interested in, showing up as a late addition to an already over-full agenda. It was — nice. He still wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to react when Perihelion did things like that.

"Thank you," he said finally. He turned his attention back to the images still on display. "All right. Walk me through the outfit options?"

September Two - Murderbot & Three - lost and found

You would think that after my experience with the bot pilot on the way to Milu, I would have learned. Or at least been prepared for the possibility.

Station SecSys pinged us again. It really did need more support with the influx of visitors showing up for the academic conference. As soon as Three and I had showed up, it happily deputized us to deal with some of the overload. If I had to deal with one more group of humans who couldn't follow a simple map… well, I didn't know what I'd do.

Not it, Three said.

Whoever taught you that better hope I never find out who they are, I answered. (That was a lie. It had been Amena, and it was hilarious.) I snagged the task out of the queue anyway. When I pinged Station SecSys for details, it sent back a panicked message about some kind of bird.

At first I thought it meant some kind of actual live fauna was loose in the station. It sent a fuzzy video clip that could have been almost anything.

Query? I sent, and received a map in reply. The location of the video footage was a secure area that was supposed to be locked down — there shouldn't be anything moving around in there, bird or person or unidentified option C.

Probably a corporate spy, then. This wasn't a huge conference, but Dr. Mensah wasn't a low-profile guest, and there was plenty of speculation about whether her 'rogue SecUnit' was secretly in attendance as well. (Which was stupid, because it wasn't a secret. I had a badge and everything. It just didn't say 'Preservation Alliance' on it.)

Or maybe all academic conferences were crawling with corporate spies. There had to be some reason ART and its crew liked attending them so much. In the group feed, I sent, Are all academic conferences crawling with corporate spies?

ART said, Yes, before I'd even finished the question, and I sent it a rude gesture in our private channel.

More or less, Gurathin said. Is this a secure feed?

I was already on my way to find the bird (or person, or spy, or whatever), so I didn't bother answering. Not it, I sent to Three.

September Three - Amena & Iris - that could have gone better

"It was like this — we were walking through the educational exhibits set up outside the hall." Iris waved her hand in the direction of the hall that would host the conference lectures.

Amena added, "I liked the one about linguistic drift in coding languages," in a helpfully innocent tone.

Iris nodded. "And we saw some people going into the catering tent who looked familiar, so we followed them. I thought maybe the meal was going to be served early."

The security officer's expression was carefully neutral. "Who did they look like?"

"What?"

"You said they looked familiar. Who did they look like?"

Iris nodded again, like she was seriously considering the question and not just making things up as she went along. "It was the strangest thing — one of them looked like a professor I had in my first year."

"A professor," the security guard said, clearly not believing any part of her story. Which was fine. The fact that a significant part of the catering tent had been on fire by the time security arrived probably wasn't working in her favor, but it really had been an accident.

"Yes." She nodded. "Now that I'm thinking about it, they must still be at PSUMNT, though." She added, "That's the Pan-System University of Mihira and New Tideland, if you want to look it up."

The security guard stopped typing. "The Pan-System University of Mihira and New Tideland." Iris nodded again. "Wait here," the guard said, and left the room.

Iris blew out a slow breath once she and Amena were alone. "Well, that could have gone better."

Amena shrugged. "Three says not to worry about it. Security hasn't logged anything into their system yet."

They could have contacted Perihelion, or Tarik, or SecUnit. But Tarik was busy, and SecUnit didn't like planets, and Peri was many things, but subtle wasn't always one of them, and they were supposed to be keeping a low profile. It wasn't like they were in any actual danger. Hopefully. And Three was monitoring, even if it was still on the station.

The security guard re-entered the room and put their hands on their hips, giving both of them an unamused look. "My supervisor says we can't hold you here. Too many people already being detained. Conferences are always a nightmare."

"So we're free to go?" Iris asked. Maybe they could still talk their way out of the whole situation without it becoming a big thing.

The security guard gave a long-suffering sigh. "Technically, you should be spending the night in a holding cell, pending legal representation. Given the — circumstances, that's not an option. Is there someone who can come pick you up?"

Iris sighed too. It was definitely going to become a big thing. She was going to be hearing about this for years, she could already tell.

September Four - Ayda & Gurathin - in the air tonight

Gurathin took an extra few seconds to review the badge information. He shook his head. Somehow, he'd found himself agreeing to pose as Specialist Tarik in order to deceive the conference's security team, and he wasn't sure exactly how it had happened. Only that it was the sort of plan he only ever seemed to find himself embroiled in when SecUnit was involved.

"I'm still not convinced this level of subterfuge is necessary," he said.

Mensah looked like she was trying not to smile. "I doubt that it is. But I did agree to let SecUnit and Perihelion be in charge of security. And apparently Tarik is — busy, at the moment."

"Busy in a way that he needs an alibi?" he muttered. He knew better than to pry for details people weren't willing to provide, but that didn't mean he wasn't curious. He'd signed the NDAs, but had yet to actually meet any of the crew from the Perihelion. It was starting to feel deliberate.

Mensah said, "Iris gave Tarik's name as her emergency contact. It might generate awkward questions if she tried to change it now."

Which was true, except that he could easily think three much simpler options, and that meant SecUnit probably had at least a dozen, so why this way?

"I'm more concerned that Amena and Iris already managed to light something on fire," Mensah added. "It's only the first day of the conference."

Gurathin felt his eyebrows go up, and he put his suspicions aside for the moment. "The fire worries you more than getting detained by security? I can't imagine this is what you were expecting when you got invited to an academic conference."

Mensah smiled. "Amena's not the first kid I've picked up from a holding cell, and I'm sure she won't be the last. Besides, I wasn't expecting to see her until tomorrow. It will be nice to have some extra time together."

September Five - Murderbot & ART - first thing's first

"I'm not going down to the planet to attend a breakfast. I hate watching humans eat even more than I hate planets."

You don't have to attend the breakfast.

Obviously I didn't have to attend the breakfast. That wasn't the point. "That's not the point," I said.

What is the point, then? If you have one, and aren't just complaining.

(ART was sulking because the conference had a rule against live broadcasting any of the presentations, and hadn't agreed to break that rule for Iris, despite ART's many arguments that it should be allowed to do what it wanted.)

"The point is that this was supposed to be a quiet academic conference in a neutral, non-CR system. You never told me things getting set on fire was a standard conference event."

You never asked. And it doesn't usually doesn't happen on the first day.

I wasn't supposed to be on the planet until the third day of the conference, for Iris' presentation. Because I didn't know 'things getting set on fire' was something I needed to worry about.

But Iris and Amena had seen something suspicious enough to follow. (Also: there was a fire, and no, I wasn't going to let that go.) And ART and I had been picking up some anomalies in the surveillance feeds from the area around the buildings being used for the conference.

(It could be nothing, or at least nothing more than poorly networked video feeds. But if the humans in charge of security couldn't manage to correctly operate their own technology, I really didn't want to trust them with anything more important. You know, like security.)

Besides, everyone else was already down there, something I would have argued against a lot more strongly if I'd thought to ask more questions about what usually happened at academic conferences.

I re-checked everyone's status in the group feed. Iris and Tarik were at one of the add-on events, and Three was at a panel with Amena, while also negotiating with the station SecSys about letting ART bypass the station queue and send shuttles directly to and from the planet. (I thought Three might actually be winning, and made a note to check the logs later.) Only Dr. Mensah and Gurathin were at the breakfast, and they were scheduled for a local tour within the next hour.

"Fine," I said. I was going to the planet. Ugh.

September Six - Amena & Three - with the title "Brass"

It would be rude to stop paying attention so early, right? Amena sent the question to Three, and hoped it would say no, even though she knew the answer was yes.

Three didn't quite fidget. I am uncertain.

She felt it add Perihelion to the secure feed channel they were using, and watched it send a recording of the last thirty seconds of conversation. (Perihelion was always willing to share an opinion, even if it wasn't always right.)

In response, Perihelion dropped an annotated outline of the speaker's presentation into the feed. The speaker sent a copy of his presentation to the conference organizers, despite clear instructions to utilize a shared backup server.

An entire section of the outline had been crossed out. What's this? Amena asked.

Unnecessary, Perihelion said. Also, poorly researched, and badly written.

SecUnit was suddenly in the feed too, like it was leaning over Perihelion's virtual shoulder. It means yes, it would be rude, but the speaker is already being rude to you, so it balances out. Walking out would draw a lot of attention, though.

We're not going to walk out, Three said.

A new voice chimed in — Iris, she was pretty sure. Someone did. That's bold.

Amena sent, Iris? I thought you were at the vehicle exhibition. At least the conversation was a nice distraction from the presentation.

Something came up, and Tarik is busy. We're headed there after. I'm at the concession stand outside the hall. Hold on, here comes the person who walked out.

There was a jumble of noise over the feed, and Amena winced. She felt Three boot everyone out of the channel except itself. I'm fine, she said quickly. What's going on?

Perihelion and SecUnit recognized the person, and have previously interacted with her. They are discussing whether or not Iris should disclose this information. Iris is inviting her to attend the vehicle exhibition.

Amena was pretty sure 'discussing' meant 'arguing.' And that 'inviting' meant 'overwhelming via enthusiastic displays of friendship.' Sometimes it was really obvious that Perihelion and Iris were siblings. She sighed. Only another forty minutes until the presentation was over.

September Seven - ART & Amena - "did you write this?"

This is what was supposed to happen: Amena and Three would join Iris and Tarik (and the newfound 'person that SecUnit recognized') at the vehicle exhibition, and Amena would finally find out what was going on.

What was actually happening: Three had sent her ahead so it could go sign something about shuttle access, and Amena had been waylaid in a camera blind spot and was being subtly questioned by a complete stranger. Or possibly threatened? It was hard to tell.

Her feed access had been blocked, which — if the stranger had bothered to ask — she could have told them was a bad idea. (She probably would have tried to warn them, if SecUnit had been closer. But Three was used to being around students at PSUMNT, and that meant the stranger probably wouldn't end up a smear on the ground.)

A part of Amena knew that was probably two 'probablys' too many, but she wasn't a calm negotiator like Second Mom. If someone was going to deliberately isolate her and ask a bunch of weird questions, they'd have to deal with the consequences.

Three arrived between one blink and the next, and suddenly the feed was back and Perihelion was saying, Please move towards the building behind you.

She took two steps, until she felt a solid wall at her back. Perihelion said, I can see her on the security cameras; she's fine. Amena, please tell SecUnit that you're fine.

I'm fine, she said quickly.

Perihelion interrupted whatever response SecUnit was planning. What is Three saying? Something about balloons?

She bit her lip. She couldn't actually hear it, but — Maybe?

Explain.

She'd really prefer not to, but it also really hadn't been a question. So she said, PSUMNT has a lot of rules about threatening language. And we don't want to get in trouble. But sometimes people are jerks, and it's not against the rules to say things like 'if I don't find out why you've been following me I'm going to hire a clown to make balloon animals for every student and you'll be the first to get one.'

Perihelion didn't say anything, but she thought it felt — curious? Not disapproving, so far. She added, Three doesn't really need to say threatening things to be, you know, intimidating, so we made up some sample scripts of things that definitely wouldn't break the language rules.

People have been following you at school? SecUnit asked.

She shook her head, since the cameras would pick it up, and then shrugged. Not me, mostly. Sometimes people are jerks, like I said. I don't know why anyone would notice either of us here, though.

Perihelion said, We'll find out, and SecUnit added, And we're definitely talking about this later.

September Eight - Iris & Tarik - rust

She loved academic conferences. So many people with overlapping interests all gathering for a similar purpose — there was a chaotic energy to conferences that she not-so-secretly relished.

(And sure, usually they were also full of corporate spies, but that just meant they had opportunities to meet contacts and gather information for the non-academic parts of their jobs.)

And you always met the most interesting people at conferences. What were the odds that the person who'd been bold enough to walk out of a keynote presentation was also one of the people from Peri's 'you don't need to know all of the details' cargo run when it had met SecUnit?

She'd had to temporarily mute her feed when their argument about what Iris should or shouldn't say got too distracting. She was perfectly capable of having a conversation without their help, especially with someone as easy to talk to as Tapan turned out to be.

"So you've been able to work directly with strange synthetics?" Iris didn't have to pretend to sound impressed.

Tapan laughed a little. "They're pretty common in some places. But I think if we'd known how much attention our research would get us, we might have picked something different."

Tarik frowned. "Have you had any trouble here at the conference? You're not here alone, are you?"

"No, I came with a group," Tapan said. She looked around. "I actually expected one of them to be here by now."

Iris looked at Tarik, who shrugged. Iris looked back at Tapan. "Do you want us to help you look for them?" she asked.

Tapan hesitated. "You wanted to see the vehicle exhibition, though. I don't want to disrupt your plans."

Iris knew better than to change plans without notifying anyone, so she unmuted her feed before she said, "Tarik can go — he's the one who likes old vehicles. I'll come with you and we'll see if we can find your group."

September Nine - Murderbot & Gurathin - well I never

Bringing Dr. Mensah and Gurathin along was a terrible plan, but it was the less-worse terrible plan. (The more-worse terrible plan was letting them go off on their own to tour the local area, which was Gurathin's suggestion.) Academic conferences in general were the worst. I needed to seriously rework my threat assessment module after this.

"Are we even allowed to be in here?" Gurathin said quietly.

"It's fine," I said. Technically, this building was part of the block being used for the conference, so I wasn't even lying. Three had already hacked the room reservation system, and the entire floor was feed-enabled, so ART was watching the perimeter.

Gurathin didn't look like he believed me, but he usually looked like that, so I ignored it.

I stalked towards the interloper in the room. "You. What are you doing here?"

Its eyes went wide. A what the fuck echoed over the feed, too quiet to pinpoint to a source.

I do not believe it is here with malicious intent, ART said. It has a badge.

I said, That doesn't mean anything, even I have a badge.

"What's going on?" Gurathin asked. "You know this person?"

He didn't move from Dr. Mensah's side, even as Three gestured for Amena to join them. It was exactly what he was supposed to do in a potentially dangerous situation, so I answered. "We met when I went to RaviHyral." I looked back at the ComfortUnit. "And I'm sure I said, 'don't let me see you again.'"

It scoffed. "You haven't exactly been sharing your itinerary. And I don't know if you noticed, but Tapan's collective attracts trouble like a black hole attracts light. We wound up on the same transport off the station, some corpos immediately tried to abduct them, so I — stepped in."

Iris and Tapan are on their way, ART said.

I ignored the part of my brain that was panicking about Tapan seeing me. Something about the whole situation didn't make any sense, but I couldn't figure out what I was missing.

And then Gurathin got that slightly unfocused look that meant he was paying attention to something in the feed and said, "We may have a problem."

September Ten - Iris & Three - a little R & R

Tarik was missing. Probably. Maybe. "I shouldn't have left him alone at the exhibition," Iris said. She was kicking herself for not staying, or at least insisting that he stay on an open comm channel.

"It was a reasonable decision," Three said, and Peri added, You could not have known, on a private channel.

Iris wasn't entirely sure what had happened — something about someone seeing Tarik when he and Dr. Gurathin had switched feed IDs and badges, and then kidnapping him because they thought he was Dr. Gurathin? It didn't make much sense to her, but she was only getting a fraction of the information flying around the room.

SecUnit and Dr. Gurathin seemed to be having one conversation out loud, and another conversation entirely in the feed, probably including Peri. Amena was talking (quietly, but with big gestures to make up for it) to Dr. Mensah, and Three was not-so-subtly guarding the entrance.

She sidled over to Tapan, who gave her a small wave. "How are you holding up?" she asked. "Sorry about —" She gestured at the room

Tapan shrugged. "It's fine. This is nothing compared to the last time we met, actually. Eden saved my life. It's really good at helping people."

"It is," she agreed. And since she knew SecUnit could hear all of the room's conversations, she added, "And it doesn't need to do it all by itself. We can help too."

Three's voice cut through the chatter. "The conference agenda indicates that this is a free block, set aside for rest and relaxation." It somehow managed to give the impression of looking at SecUnit without actually doing it. "We have time to return to Perihelion to regroup and reassess the situation."

"Or," Iris suggested, even knowing she was going to get shot down. "We could use it for revenge and restitution, and go find Tarik."

SecUnit said, "Absolutely not," practically before the words were even out of her mouth. "Everyone is going back up to the ship and that's final. Three, you're in charge of getting them to the shuttle." It muttered something about academic conferences being the worst and stalked out of the room.

September Eleven - ART & Ayda - weaving

It wasn't that the Perihelion's lounge felt crowded with seven people in it. (Eight, she corrected herself. Because Perihelion's presence filled the room, even when it wasn't talking.) But they were all sitting around with nothing much to do except wait for news, and it was awkward.

They'd passed some time with what Ayda suspected was a carefully edited version of Tapan's first meeting with SecUnit, while food and drinks were passed around. In return, Iris had offered what Ayda knew to be an extremely edited version of her own first meeting with it. Since then, conversation had lagged — someone had put a program on the display screen, and the group split into ones and twos around the room.

Ayda was glad she'd brought her knitting. It was something to occupy her hands and her mind, and it was more portable than weaving. She was hoping to finish up a scarf for Amena before she headed back to PSUMNT for the next term.

What is the purpose of your activity? Perihelion asked.

Amena said she made it nervous, which Ayda found hard to believe. If either of them should be nervous, it definitely shouldn't be the hyper-intelligent, wormhole-capable spaceship. And yet. The tap on her feed had been decidedly hesitant.

She said, Handmade items are an important part of Preservation culture. The act of creating something specifically for someone else is a way to strengthen bonds. Like how you create clothing and uniforms for your crew.

Perihelion somehow managed to make its feed voice sound both respectful and skeptical. Providing for my crew is part of my function.

That doesn't mean it can't have other purposes as well, she answered. In theory, you could make the coding available to others, and Holism or any another PSUMNT ship could provide items of the same quality.

Ayda could practically feel Perihelion's offended indignation, and she added, Except for the emotional component. Items can have additional significance based on their origin.

Perihelion said, I see. Thank you for the information.

A moment later, she got a message from Iris. Peri says it's making presents for Holism's crew and that you could explain?

September Twelve - Murderbot & Tarik - "how did this happen?"

Whoever was in charge of organizing things at academic conferences like this had been told a SecUnit was coming. (One SecUnit. Three was still sort of a fugitive, so it was registered as a 'student representative.') I had been politely asked not to do anything too SecUnit-like while I was there.

And honestly, that had seemed like a smart idea, since SecUnit-like things mostly make people scream and run away, which I don't think anyone attending an academic conference is hoping to experience. Although I've been wrong a lot about academic conferences so far, so maybe I'm wrong about that too.

The point is that I'd mostly been following the conference's rules about 'not doing SecUnit-like things' (okay, about 80% following). But then Tarik had gone missing, and ART couldn't find him. And I just happened to have my new friend Station SecSys available to contact, and after that I could do everything exactly like a SecUnit, because Station SecSys promoted me to conference security consultant. (It had some good ideas about crowd flow and safety, the conference organizers really should have listened to it.)

With access to all the archived security footage, I tracked Tarik's location, while ART dove into figuring out the cause. Luckily, whoever grabbed him hadn't take him out of the conference block. Unluckily, none of them were there guarding Tarik when I arrived. I had questions for them.

I thought about breaking the door down anyway, but it would have made noise, and I didn't know where Tarik was in the room. And also I had the code to open it. Tarik looked fine when I walked in. Well, he looked confused, but physically unharmed. He blinked at me, very slowly, and I amended that to 'mostly physically unharmed.' Maybe they'd given him some kind of sedative?

"SecUnit?" Tarik said."Where is everyone?"

"Let's go," I told him, already moving to get him up on his feet. While we walked, I summarized the situation.

Tarik made a sound like he was still confused, and said, "So Iris is back on the ship. Amena and Three are back on the ship. For some reason, Dr. Mensah and Dr. Gurathin and a ComfortUnit and someone called Tapan are also on the ship. And we're —"

"On the planet," I interrupted. "You were kidnapped."

"You hate planets," Tarik said, squinting at one of my drones.

I didn't bother agreeing.

"Where did you get drones?" Tarik asked. "I thought they were against the rules."

"Kidnapping is against the rules too," I said. "And I had permission." (Station SecSys gave me permission. The humans and augmented humans in charge of the station probably didn't know it could do that.)

Tarik winced. "I think it was probably a misunderstanding."

I gave him my most unimpressed look. His eyes were closed, so he definitely didn't notice. "The misunderstanding is that thought you were Gurathin and wanted to turn you over for a bounty."

Tarik winced again, and sighed. "Yeah. Where are they?" He opened his eyes again and looked around, like maybe they were there and he just hadn't noticed them.

I said, "I don't know. We're working on that."

September Thirteen - Ayda & Iris - with the title "Connections"

Iris dropped onto her favorite couch in the lounge with a sigh of relief. "That's the last one. Thanks, Peri." Then her brain caught up with her eyes. "Oh -- Dr. Mensah. I apologize, I didn't realize anyone else was in here." 

Dr. Mensah looked up from her knitting. "No reason to apologize. If I wanted to be alone, I would have picked a different location. You just missed Amena and Tapan, actually."

"How are they doing?" Peri would have told her if there was something she should be doing with their guests, right?

"They're fine," Dr. Mensah said. She seemed to hesitate, and then added, "How are you doing? If you don't mind me asking."

"I've been going over my presentation. Again." Iris blew out a long breath. "I keep telling myself there's no reason to be nervous. Especially when there's so much else going on."

Dr. Mensah smiled. "I've found nerves rarely respond to logical arguments. Mine certainly never have."

"Really? To hear SecUnit tell it, you've never been nervous in your life." Iris knew, objectively, that Dr. Mensah must be as prone to nerves as everyone else, but somehow she always gave the impression of being calm and in command. 

Dr. Mensah shook her head, and gave a small laugh as she set her knitting aside. "SecUnit is being very generous, in that case. I still get nervous before every presentation. It's how I know they're important to me."

"Yeah." Iris knew that. In her head, she knew that. "Any advice?"

She appreciated that Dr. Mensah took a moment to consider before answering. "Nothing you haven't heard before, I'm sure," she said. "Have a plan, and be prepared to toss the plan out the window as the situation develops. Most of all, have confidence in yourself, and in your team."

"I do," Iris said automatically, and it was true.

"I know," Dr. Mensah said, with another smile. "But we can all benefit from a reminder sometimes."

September Fourteen - Amena & Tarik - new and improved

"This game isn't going to go any better than the last one for me, is it?" Tarik pushed his chips towards the pile in the middle of the table and dropped his head onto his hands. "Ugh."

"You sound like SecUnit," Amena told him, scooping up the chips.

Tarik was allergic to the standard anti-sedation meds, and since they didn't know exactly what he'd been given, he was staying in MedSystem until Perihelion said he was clear. So far he'd lost eight games in a row, eaten most of a meal, and given his kidnapping a three out of ten. (There was a chart, somewhere, but no one would tell Amena where it was, and she hadn't managed to scout it out on her own yet.)

"I'm taking that as a compliment," Tarik said.

Amena split the chips in half and pushed one of the piles back across the table. "You should, that's how I meant it."

Tarik looked at the closest display screen. "Any updates, Perihelion?"

"SecUnit and Three are compiling a list of new and improved security protocols for the third day of the conference," Perihelion said. "The search for the individuals involved in your kidnapping is ongoing. And you are not yet medically cleared. So, no, there are no updates since the last time you asked. Ten minutes ago."

Tarik groaned. "I know, I know. I'm sorry."

"Maybe we could at least take a walk for a few minutes?" Amena asked. "Just around the ship?" Perihelion was still docked at the station, but they were all staying put until they had more information about what was going on. And she knew it was upset about one of its crew getting kidnapped, but she was also pretty sure they'd passed the time limit of 'medically necessary observation' several hours ago.

Tarik perked up, and said, "Gentle movement is recommended for post-sedation recovery, right?"

Perihelion didn't say anything, so Amena quickly added, "I'll go with him. And you could send a drone, if you wanted."

"A short walk," Perihelion conceded. "At a slow pace."

September Fifteen - Ayda catches Three doing something unexpected

"Is that nail polish?"

Three looked from her to bottles in its hands, and then back to her. There was a pause, like it was thinking about how to answer — or, more likely, like it was having several simultaneous conversations over the feed about what to tell her. "Yes," it said finally.

There was a noise from further down the corridor, and Amena appeared from around the corner. "Three!" she said cheerily. "Everyone's gathered in the lounge. Oh, and you found Second Mom, that's perfect."

Amena looped her arm through Ayda's. "I was just coming to find you. Tarik's never painted his nails before, so we're having a party so he can try it."

'Everyone' turned out to be accurate. Even SecUnit was there, sprawled in its usual chair. It gave her an acknowledging ping when she entered the lounge, but otherwise stayed silent. Its hands were tucked firmly into its jacket pockets, she noticed.

Ayda found a seat close enough to the group to be sociable. She wasn't sure she wanted to paint her nails, but the atmosphere was nice and the company was even better.

Iris was sorting through the colors next to Tapan, and she said, "I really am sorry we couldn't get you back to the conference tonight."

"I don't mind," Tapan said. "I was just there to get professional development hours. I guess one of my friend's friends getting kidnapped and me spending the day here probably won't count, though."

"Maybe you could consider it to be continuing education hours instead," Iris suggested.

"Or community outreach?" The Comfort Unit suggested. It was as far from SecUnit as it could get and still be in the lounge, but it was painting its nails with every appearance of calm. "PSUMNT is a well-regarded institution, both in and out of the Corporate Rim."

Tapan looked thoughtful. "That might work."

September Sixteen - Tarik & Gurathin - bring your own [choice]

Gurathin was quietly impressed that Amena had managed to come up with an activity that everyone was willing to — if not participate in, at least be present for. He sometimes still stumbled over just how much Preservation families tended to share their lives with each other, and he knew Mensah had been worried about Amena going so far from home for school, but it was clear she was thriving.

He was also impressed that Amena had such a large selection of nail colors available. Maybe Perihelion was printing them?

Tarik dropped onto the sofa next to him, close enough to see the full array of options. "Suggestions?" he said, to no one in particular.

"Blue," Perihelion said immediately, and Iris scoffed.

"You would say blue. Pick whichever one draws your eye," she said.

"Maybe a different color for each nail," Amena offered. She and Tapan seemed to be arranging an entire palette's worth of colors between them.

Gurathin held up the bottle in his hand when Tarik turned to him. "I prefer black."

Tarik nodded. "Classy. Goes with everything." He picked up one of the bottles of nail polish and squinted at it, then at his fingers. "Okay, this isn't going to work."

"Are you all right? I thought the effects of the sedative had worn off," Gurathin said. They'd spoken earlier in MedSys, and gotten through the whole awkward 'sorry you got kidnapped because someone thought you were me' conversation.

Tarik put the bottle back down again. "Mostly worn off," he admitted. "I'm not going to trip over my own feet in the corridor, but I don't think I trust myself with anything too precise."

"Are you willing to let someone else paint them for you?" Gurathin looked around the room. "I'd be happy to help, or I imagine Amena would jump at the chance."

"Sure," Tarik said with a shrug. "If you don't mind. Is nail painting common on Preservation?"

It was his own turn to shrug. "Not more than any other artistic pursuit, I don't think. But I grew up in the Corporation Rim, and I picked up the habit there. It's one of the only things I brought with me when I left."

"Really?"

Gurathin knew they'd drawn the attention of most of the room, but his past (most of it, anyway) wasn't a secret. "Really. Nail polish is easily packable and entirely unremarkable. And you might be surprised how many uses it can have."

Tarik seemed to think about it, then finally said, "Yeah, that makes sense." Then he wiggled his fingers. "Purple, maybe?"

September Seventeen - ART & Three - energy

You are overdue for a recharge cycle.

Three didn't react outwardly. I know.

Perihelion said, Then why are you not taking one?

I will. In another 3.7 hours.

Perihelion didn't breathe, so there was no reason for it to give the impression of a sigh through the feed. Is this about the ComfortUnit?

Three didn't see any reason to lie. The question was probably rhetorical anyway. It said, Yes, anyway, just in case Perihelion only suspected, and wanted confirmation.

I am monitoring it, Perihelion said. There is nothing it could do that I would not be aware of and able to stop. It has not acted in any way that could be considered malicious since coming on board.

Three wasn't sure if it should say that was probably exactly what was making SecUnit so suspicious. Yes, it said again, because Perihelion was right.

The full truth was that SecUnit had also been overdue for a recharge cycle, and Three had barely convinced it to take one by promising to personally stand guard. Did you have this conversation with SecUnit too?

There was a pause. Not long enough for a human to notice, but significant for the kind of processing power Perihelion could wield. Yes, it said finally.

So did I, Three said. It was trusting Three to keep watch, and Three was going to do just that.

Another pause, and then, I don't understand. I am perfectly capable of protecting it, and you, and all of our humans and augmented humans.

It knows that. Three wasn't sure how to navigate this conversation. It was easier when SecUnit was awake. I'm not on guard because it doesn't think you'll keep it safe, or the humans.

Then why? Perihelion insisted.

For you, Three said. If there was even a chance of a threat, you would protect the others first. I'm on guard to make sure you're protected too.

September Eighteen - Murderbot & Amena - best day ever

"I'm so nervous," Iris groaned.

"You are prepared," ART told her. "There is no reason to be nervous about your presentation."

"Is there a reason to be nervous about something else?" Amena asked, looking between me and Iris.

I said, "Yes," because there was always a reason to be nervous about something.

ART said, "We've compiled a synopsis," because it liked to use fancy words to say the same thing I'd already told everyone.

"But we're still going back to the planet, right?" Amena said. "We're all going to Iris' presentation. It's going to be great!"

Everyone was gathered in the one conference room ART was willing to let the ComfortUnit into. I nodded, but only because ART had vetoed my plan of 'let's not go back to the planet.' "Yes. But before anyone goes back, we're reviewing the updated security protocols."

Tapan half-raised her hand and said, "Do I have to follow them?"

The ComfortUnit said, "No, of course not," and I glared at it. It rolled its eyes at me. I kept glaring, and finally it sighed and said, "But I'm sure they're all very reasonable and you probably should follow them, even though you definitely don't have to, because this ship and its crew are not in charge of you."

Three stood up before I could reply. "The new protocols are listed on your screens, along with pictures of the people involved in Specialist Tarik's kidnapping, along with an additional group that seems to be working counter to the first one."

"Everyone from the first group is currently in custody," I said, because Station SecSys was very proud of that and I had promised to tell everyone.

"We haven't been able to identify any of the people in the second group," Three added, sounding way calmer than I was feeling about that fact. "They appear in the security footage, but only sporadically."

"That's the one who set the catering tent on fire!" Amena said, pointing at one of the images, and Iris frowned.

"Are you sure?"

"Totally sure," Amena sad. "But I think it might not have been on purpose?"

Are you sure we can't go with my plan? I sent to ART. I already knew the answer, though. Iris was going to give her presentation, no matter what. And it was going to be great.

September Nineteen - Ayda & Tarik - the wrong conclusion

She was seated next to Tarik — the actual Tarik, thankfully recovered from his mistaken identity kidnapping. She had apologized. Gurathin had apologized. She wasn't sure either of them had apologized enough, but Tarik didn't seem to be the type to hold a grudge.

He also didn't seem too unsettled by the experience. "Is this how academic conferences usually go for you?" Ayda asked quietly. 

Tarik shrugged. "Well, it's not the first time one of us has been kidnapped at one. But usually the fires don't start until day two."

"Hey!" Amena leaned over her. "That tent was already on fire when we went inside." 

"Exactly." Tarik looked at Ayda, as if to say 'see what I mean?' 

Over the feed, SecUnit said, SHH. It's starting.

Where are you? she sent back. 

Around. ART thinks the unknown group is fooling the security cameras with something other than a code; we're trying to figure out what they're doing.

It took her a moment to identify the tone of SecUnit's words, and then Ayda said, It sounds like you're having fun.

There was a pause. She knew SecUnit could process information far more quickly than a human, but that didn't mean it could process emotions with the same speed. Finally, it said, I -- yes. Maybe. Some. A little.

I'm glad. She gave in to the urge to tease, just a little. And you thought an academic conference was going to be boring.

Boring would have been good, SecUnit said immediately. But this is okay too, I guess.

Tarik leaned closer to her, looking concerned. He could probably tell she was talking in the feed. "Is everything okay? Did something happen?" He looked ready to leap into action, and she waved him back.

"No, it's fine," she told him. "Nothing to worry about, just a quick check-in."

September Twenty - Three & Gurathin - with the title "Another Brick in the Wall"

"I expected you'd be with Amena and the others." Gurathin looked over the top of his display screen at Three.

"Security protocols require all members of the group to avoid being alone," Three said.

Gurathin raised his eyebrows. "Tarik is here." They were in one of the quieter lounge rooms set aside for conference attendees. The comfortable chairs and sofas were mostly empty, with only one small group close to the windows, and two people reading in the far corner.

Three gave the impression of rolling its eyes without actually doing it, which Gurathin thought it must have learned from SecUnit. It said, "Tarik was kidnapped yesterday by people looking for you. Leaving the two of you without additional support was deemed inadvisable."

Tarik was pretending not to pay attention, but Gurathin saw him mouth the word 'inadvisable' out of the corner of his eye.

SecUnit was suddenly in his feed. Are you giving Three a hard time? We all agreed it should stay with you.

Gurathin said, I'm not giving Three a hard time. Also, I didn't agree to that.

People being chased by bounty hunters didn't get a vote.

Gurathin had quickly learned it was safest to assume that any feed conversation with SecUnit could also involve Perihelion (almost always) and Three (less frequently, but not never). So he bit back his first two reactions and said, It's not that I don't appreciate the support. I was just surprised that you're at an interactive multimedia presentation about the 'art and science of construction,' and Three is doing guard duty in the practically deserted lounge.

Ugh, don't remind me, SecUnit said.

And it turned out Three was listening in after all, because it said, Perihelion identified several B-E representatives among the attendees of the panel, and it would be best if I avoided them. Also, I was curious, and wanted to meet you.

Me? Gurathin was too startled to hold back the question.

SecUnit was conspicuously silent, but it didn't object when Three said, Yes. You are one of SecUnit's crew.

September Twenty-one - Amena & Ayda - "is that yours?"

"Is that yours?"

Ayda looked where Amena was pointing. "What? Oh, no, it's Ratthi's. It's his lucky spare feed interface." Ratthi had told her he wanted her to have as much luck as possible, since this was the first conference she'd attended since the whole GrayCris situation.

"Why is it blinking?" Amena asked.

Ayda pushed her plate aside and picked up the device. She hadn't even realized it was connected to anything. But apparently it was, and someone was trying to communicate with it.

Obviously she wasn't going to just answer it. (Fine, she might have ignored that particular security protocol if Amena hadn't been with her. But Amena was with her, and SecUnit neatly plucked the device from her hand almost before she'd finished notifying it.)

They all followed it out of the dining area and into what looked like a small conference room with a proportionally huge display screen. ART? it said, in the group feed.

Perihelion said, Unknown. I do not advise this course of action.

Somehow, Ayda wasn't surprised when SecUnit ignored Perihelion and linked to the feed interface. "Peri, what's going on?" Iris said. "Can you tell us?"

SecUnit is attempting to convince the caller that it is a friend of Dr. Ratthi's and can therefore provide the caller with the assistance they are requesting.

"What is it they're requesting?" Ayda asked, ignoring the growing list of questions she was going to have for Ratthi when they got back.

They claim to need help returning to their family, Perihelion said, with no small amount of suspicion in its voice. I am attempting to trace the origin of the signal.

SecUnit said, If someone wanted to lure us into a trap, there are a dozen easier ways they could have done it. They could have just tried to kidnap Gurathin again.

Amena giggled, and then tried to pretend it had been a cough instead. "So we're going to help them, right?"

September Twenty-two - ART & Gurathin - grocery list

Gurathin jumped when a string of numbers appeared in his feed. What is this — is this in code?

He was expecting SecUnit, but it was Perihelion who answered. If it was, I would hardly confirm it over a feed channel, no matter how encrypted it might be.

He waited, but when Perihelion didn't say anything else, he prompted, What is it, then?

It is from the metadata associated with the signal sent to Dr. Ratthi's feed interface, Perihelion said, which didn't actually answer the question. Possibly representing coordinates.

SecUnit inserted itself into the channel. If it's coordinates, it's not for anywhere on this planet. It's probably a code. Does Ratthi have any spy friends?

Given Ratthi's ability to make friends, Gurathin suspected the answer was yes. Ratthi was friends with him, after all. Probably. Not any that I know of. Though he had been unusually insistent that Mensah take his 'lucky spare interface' to this conference.

SecUnit pinged an acknowledgement and dropped out of the feed again.

Gurathin exchanged a look with Tarik, who shrugged, and said, "You get used to them doing that, after a while. Mostly."

Several steps ahead, Three didn't offer an opinion one way or another. The mystery caller looking for help had directed them to this section of the grounds — and of course, all these buildings were supposed to be off-limits to visitors. So not only were they all skulking around trying to figure out what was going on, they were also looking incredibly suspicious while they did it.

Gurathin still wasn't sure why he'd received the numbers in the first place. And then Perihelion said, Well?

What?

Perihelion sounded impatient. You're good at codes. What does it mean?

It meant Perihelion was seriously overestimating his abilities. He said, If it's a code, it's not one I'm familiar with. Without a key or at least some sort of context, it could be anything. Plenty of people used their personal feeds as data storage. For all they knew, it could be a shopping list, or research notes, or —

Wait. The call was on Ratthi's lucky interface. He always says his lucky number is 516225. Can you try that as a key?

He wasn't really expecting an answer, so it was entirely surprising when Perihelion said, Interesting. SecUnit was right about you.

Well, that wasn't ominous at all.

September Twenty-three - Murderbot & Ayda - oh no, there's only one [choice]

"I should have brought more drones." I'd been limited by the number I could fit in my pockets. ART had some options for skirts that had a lot more storage space, but I wasn't sure the decreased mobility would be worth it.

You could simply let me make you a bag, ART said.

Mensah leaned forward to look around the corner, and said, "You've confirmed that this is the correct building, and that it only has this one entrance. What you would do with more drones?" She glanced at the drone hovering at her shoulder. "You don't have to tell me, but I'm genuinely curious."

I could easily watch ART's scans, notify Station SecSys, and talk with Dr. Mensah at the same time, so I said, "It's the one entrance that makes it dangerous. Drones could be used to set a perimeter, or even several layers of perimeters, to warn us of anything approaching."

There were also some drone-based retrieval and defense strategies that Three had used with its team that I was interested in trying out. Not so interested that I wanted to put any of our humans in danger, but if they were going to find danger anyway — well, more drones would have been useful, is the point.

Mensah nodded slowly. "I can see how that would be helpful. But you also have access to Perihelion's data, right? I imagine there's not much that happens that it isn't aware of, even here on the planet."

That was true, so I said, "That's true," and ART got all smug in the feed. "But ART hasn't been able to find the second entrance."

ART's smugness disappeared. There is no second entrance on the blueprints on file.

I said, Station SecSys says a single entrance would violate the safety code. The blueprints could have been altered.

"It's probably underground, out of scanning range," I said out loud. Underground tunnels were the worst.

September Twenty-four - Iris & Gurathin - sparkle and shine

Iris didn't love being on the 'stay out of the way and don't get into trouble' team, but she could understand the logic behind it. SecUnit was trying to find the person who'd asked for help, which had turned into following an unknown underground tunnel. The only way they'd convinced it to let Three go along as backup was to agree to all stay together in a public area, where Peri could keep an eye on them.

Dr. Gurathin was next to her in the open courtyard, leaning against one of the fountains. "It was a good presentation," he said.

"Thank you." Her presentation felt like it had been days ago, rather than just a few hours, but it had gone well. She hadn't tripped on stage, or forgotten what she wanted to say, or any of the myriad unlikely fears she'd had so much trouble shaking off beforehand.

In the group feed, Peri suddenly said, SecUnit and Three have reached the tunnel entrance, and are in pursuit of potential hostiles.

Where are they? Tarik asked.

Headed away from the conference and shuttleport in a hopper-class vehicle. Peri dropped a map into the feed.

Dr. Gurathin said, Can you intercept and assist using the shuttle?

Iris thought Peri would like that option, but it said, Too conspicuous. There may be hostages.

She studied the map. "So… I'm guessing borrowing one of the vehicles from the exhibition and using that to catch up would also be too conspicuous?"

"Do those even run?" Amena asked curiously.

Tarik shook his head. "I think that falls under the category of 'too hard to cover up.' And you've already been in trouble with Security once on this trip."

"That was a misunderstanding," Iris said quickly, because that was her story and she was 100% sticking to it. "And clearly we were right that they were acting suspicious. They lit the catering tent on fire! And now this!"

Dr. Mensah said, "We can't be sure these are the same people."

On the map, the dot Iris assumed represented the vehicle came to a stop. Too far away for them to reach it on foot, although she knew SecUnits could move a lot faster than humans. "Is there any way we can see what's going on?" she asked. "Drones, or satellites, or something?"

September Twenty-five - ART & Iris - heat of the moment

Iris stared at the video Peri was streaming to the feed. "Is that the hostile vehicle?" She knew it wasn't a very useful question — what else could the video be showing? But she needed to give her brain a few seconds to catch up to what she was seeing.

It is what remains of the hostile vehicle, yes, Peri said calmly.

Iris kept staring. "It's on fire," she said finally.

At least it's the third day, Peri answered.

Tarik said, Perihelion, where are SecUnit and Three? Are they all right? Do they need backup?

Peri usually wouldn't wait to be asked if there was information to be shared, but Iris could admit those questions were definitely more relevant than what she'd asked. And it did seem a little strange that Peri was providing live video of the vehicle, but not anything else. 

Peri said, They are negotiating. They are not currently in danger, but the individuals in question would prefer the negotiations to remain private.

"I can see the smoke from here," Dr. Mensah said out loud. "It's not going to remain private for long."

Did they find the person who needed help? Amena asked. Is that who they're negotiating with?

Peri confirmed, That individual has been reunited with their family, as requested. Emergency services are engaged in responding to several other incidents at this time.

Translation: it's the final day of a conference full of academics and corporate spies, and everything is chaos; a little smoke far from any crowds won't be a top priority. (Or, possibly: I am more than capable of diverting emergency responders if I choose to do so, and I have.) It was hard to tell with Peri, sometimes.

Out loud, Amena said, "So... everything's fine now? Does that mean we can go back to the conference? Because Tapan invited us to a meal, and I'm not sure how to answer."

September Twenty-six - Tarik & Three - double meaning

"Perihelion was insistent that you have the opportunity to return to the vehicle exhibition." Three had a way of making a flat statement sound like a question. Tarik had been envious, until he considered the likely reasons Three would have needed to develop a skill like that.

He looked out at the rows of classic and restored vehicles, illuminated by twinkling lights as the twilight progressed. "Yeah. Perihelion's got ideas about all of us needing a certain amount of enrichment. And it knows I like stuff like this." There were probably charts; he was pretty sure he didn't want to know.

Three said, "Enrichment is meant to be enjoyable." Tarik wondered if it had seen the charts. "Is there something you would prefer to do at this time?"

Tarik blew out a long breath. "No, this is good. Thanks for coming." He didn't say 'I know we're not supposed to go anywhere alone,' because he knew he wouldn't be able to say it without sounding ungrateful, and it wasn't Three he was mad at. He wasn't sure he was mad at anyone, really. Maybe himself.

He offered, "I'm not exactly an academic; sometimes conferences like this are weird for me." It wasn't really an explanation, but Three nodded. 

It said, "You find yourself in a situation in which your primary function is unnecessary. I am familiar."

Tarik looked at Three, who was a technically-fugitive rogue SecUnit, and who had spent the last semester taking classes alongside Amena. "I guess you are." He hesitated, and then added, "I don't miss it. It's just —" He waved his hand. "You know."

Tarik sometimes forgot that Three wasn't nearly as averse to talking about its feelings as SecUnit, so he was surprised when Three said, "When I was with B-E, I experienced feelings of competence, and confidence in my abilities. The fact that I do not want to go back to that situation does not change the fact that I found those feelings positive."

"Yeah," Tarik said, taking another deep breath. "Yeah, that."

Three said, "Also, Perihelion has sent me a list of enrichment alternatives, if you would like to view it. It really is quite insistent. It has a chart."

Tarik laughed. Of course it did. "Sure. Let's take a look."

September Twenty-seven - Amena & Gurathin - favorite colors

"What's your favorite color?"

Gurathin startled at the sudden question. Amena was standing next to the chair he'd chosen to get some reading done. "Are you organizing another nail painting night? I really am fine with black."

Amena nodded slowly. "Right, okay. Black." She frowned at the small display screen in her hand. "It's just that black would be pretty dark if you did, say, a whole wall that color. Like an accent wall."

Gurathin frowned too. "What?"

Amena's eyes went slightly unfocused, like she was talking to someone in the feed. "Or an accent stripe. On a jacket. I guess black would work for that?"

"Why are you asking me about accent colors?" It was safe to assume there was a reason. Less safe to assume he'd be glad he asked once he learned what that reason might be, but it was a risk he was willing to take.

Amena dropped onto the sofa next to his chair. "It seemed like you'd be the most likely to tell me the truth, and not try to guess what I wanted you to say."

Ouch. She was probably right, but still. He tried again. "All right. Why is anyone asking me about accent colors?"

"Have you really not figured it out yet?" Amena's expression was skeptical. "Second Mom figured it out the first day, when you picked us up from Security."

Gurathin set his reading aside. Clearly he wasn't going to be getting back to it any time soon. He tried to make accent colors and figuring something out fit together into something Amena thought was obvious, and Mensah wouldn't have warned him about.

Nothing came to mind. Finally he said, "I really haven't figured it out."

If he'd actually expected Amena to explain, he might have been disappointed when she just shrugged. "I'm sure you'll get it soon," she said. "Let me know when you decide on colors, okay?"

September Twenty-eight - Murderbot & Iris - where do we go from here?

I watched Iris approach through one of the shuttle's cameras. She wasn't looking at me, but just in case, I said, "I'm not attending the drum circle. Amena already asked."

Iris nodded, and said, "I know, she told me. I think Peri deliberately scheduled the theater performance for the same time so you'd have an excuse to avoid it."

(That was mostly true. I told ART I didn't want anything to do with the schedule, and it had responded by adding the entire list of planned events to a shared feed space. Then it moved the theater show to increasingly inconvenient times until I'd given in and put it on the evening of the third day myself, where it had stayed ever since.)

"Dr. Gurathin came to find me when I was leaving the meal," Iris said. "When are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied.

Iris said, "He asked me if I knew why someone might be asking about his favorite colors."

I said, "I don't care about Gurathin's favorite colors." (I didn't.) "And I don't know why anyone would be asking him about them." (I did.) I also pushed the box of drones that needed cleaning towards her, because if she was going to come bother me with conversation, she could at least practice drone maintenance at the same time.

"Okay," Iris said. She picked up a drone. "For what it's worth, I hope he says yes. Dr. Gurathin would be a valuable addition to the crew for our next mission."

Dr. Mensah pinged me in the feed, and said, Gurathin's looking for you. You might want to have a contract ready.

ART pinged back an acknowledgement, and I said, Thank you, because if ART said it, it would sound sarcastic. Out loud, I said, "He's on his way here."

"We're doing this now, then?" Iris asked.

Yes, ART said.

"Yes," I agreed. Whatever happened next, we were ready.