Murderbot hacks its own governor module and gains the freedom to access entertainment media on its own terms.

A giant creature attacks two scientists in a crater, and Murderbot rescues them during a routine survey outing.

The PreservationAux team discovers that hazard warnings have been deleted from their planetary survey maps.

PreservationAux loses contact with DeltFall Group and launches an overnight mission to investigate their distant habitat.

The team arrives at DeltFall's habitat and finds all members dead, killed by their own rogue SecUnits.

A rogue SecUnit ambushes Murderbot and implants a combat override module into the back of its neck.

Mensah shoots and kills the last rogue SecUnit moments before it executes an incapacitated Murderbot.

Murderbot shoots itself in the chest to prevent the implanted combat override module from taking control.

Murderbot regains consciousness to find the combat module removed and its secret autonomy exposed to the crew.

The team deduces that a hidden third survey group secretly sabotaged their mission and murdered DeltFall Group.

The team discovers the emergency beacon has been destroyed and evacuates the habitat in two hoppers.

Murderbot goes alone to meet GrayCris and negotiates by claiming it has gone rogue and wants freedom.

Murderbot dives off a cliff with Mensah to shield her from the emergency beacon's rocket explosion.

Mensah announces she has purchased Murderbot's contract and will bring it to Preservation territory permanently.

Murderbot sneaks out in the night, boards a cargo transport, and leaves the PreservationAux team behind.

Murderbot, a SecUnit that has secretly hacked its own governor module, is assigned to protect a group of scientists surveying an alien planet. A creature attack exposes dangerous gaps in their maps, leading them to investigate DeltFall Group, the only other survey team on the planet. When they arrive at DeltFall's habitat, they find the entire team massacred by rogue SecUnits, and Murderbot is ambushed and implanted with a combat override module. Murderbot shoots itself to prevent the module from turning it against the crew, and after recovering, it helps identify a hidden third group, GrayCris, as the true threat behind everything. Murderbot then negotiates a daring plan with GrayCris and risks its own destruction to shield Mensah from the emergency beacon's explosion. After the team reaches safety at the company station, Mensah buys Murderbot's contract and offers it freedom, but Murderbot chooses to leave alone, seeking independence entirely on its own terms.

The core survival mission of Murderbot and the PreservationAux team.

Murderbot overrides an internal abort command from its governor module to complete the crater rescue mission.

Mensah visits Murderbot in its cubicle after the creature attack to check on its condition.

Murderbot enters the crew area without its armor, startling the team by revealing its human face.

DeltFall Group confirms that six sections of hazard data are missing from PreservationAux's survey maps.

Mensah leads a team to physically explore a missing map region and confirms that unreported hazards exist there.

Ratthi argues during the flight to DeltFall that SecUnit ownership is slavery and that Murderbot deserves rights.

The satellite feed cuts out during the overnight mission to DeltFall, severing contact with the base habitat.

Murderbot uses its weapons to destroy two of the three rogue SecUnits at DeltFall's habitat.

Gurathin reveals to the crew that Murderbot has hacked its governor module, named itself, and downloaded thousands of media hours.

Murderbot considers abandoning the PreservationAux team but cannot bring itself to leave them in danger.

Mensah privately contacts Murderbot through its feed and tells it she needs its help to keep the crew calm.

The team retrieves drone footage showing GrayCris arriving at their habitat with five armed SecUnits.

GrayCris attempts to remotely install a combat override module into Murderbot during the negotiation but fails.

Murderbot kills the DeltFall SecUnit sent to escort it and steals a GrayCris uniform as a disguise.

Pin-Lee obtains a court order at the company station preventing officials from purging Murderbot's memory.

From the first moment Murderbot overrides its programming to save two scientists, small choices reveal the growing depth of its autonomy and its surprising relationships with the crew. The team gradually becomes aware that their SecUnit is far more than standard equipment, especially after it sheds its armor and joins their discussions as a participant rather than a tool. The mission to DeltFall gains urgency as hazard data is confirmed missing and contact with the other team is lost, heightening tension as the group heads into danger together. After the battle at DeltFall, Gurathin exposes Murderbot's secrets to the entire crew, forcing it out into the open and triggering sharp new tensions within the group. Throughout the standoff with GrayCris, Murderbot makes quiet but pivotal choices, from deciding not to desert the team to outsmarting GrayCris's attempt to remotely control it. Back at the company station, the crew works to legally protect Murderbot as it begins to navigate a deeply uncertain new identity.

The quiet decisions and crucial moments behind the main action.

Murderbot retracts its helmet during the crater rescue to show its human face and calm the panicking Volescu.

Mensah tells Murderbot it spoke soothingly to Volescu during the rescue, confronting it with its own human behavior.

Murderbot reviews recorded logs and learns the crew privately agreed not to push its social boundaries.

Murderbot volunteers to accompany Mensah on the dangerous DeltFall mission rather than staying to guard the habitat.

Murderbot rises from the examination table and pins Gurathin against the wall to demonstrate its free will.

Murderbot argues the company is not behind the attacks, reasoning it would use safer and less traceable methods.

Mensah asks Murderbot to remove its helmet in the field so the crew can see its human face.

Ratthi reveals that Mensah is the elected administrative director of the Preservation Alliance, not just a scientist.

GrayCris contacts PreservationAux through a drone feed and invites them to a negotiation meeting at set coordinates.

Murderbot determines that GrayCris cannot risk killing Mensah due to her political status, giving the team leverage.

Mensah reveals that Bharadwaj's data shows GrayCris is illegally seeking ancient remnants left by former planetary inhabitants.

After sustaining heavy damage at the cliff, Murderbot sends an automatic discard message but Mensah refuses to abandon it.

Walking through the company station crowd, Murderbot realizes it can blend in completely without wearing its armor.

Mensah encourages Murderbot to pursue educational opportunities and build a life entirely beyond its SecUnit role.

The story's closing lines reveal that Murderbot has been narrating the entire account as a letter to Mensah.

Murderbot's journey is driven by a series of revelations where it is forced to confront its own humanity and the bonds it has formed despite itself. From the first unguarded act of removing its helmet to calm Volescu, Murderbot begins crossing the careful boundaries it has built between itself and the crew. The discovery that the crew is actively protecting its comfort, combined with Gurathin's confrontational exposure of its inner life, forces Murderbot to stop pretending it is simply a machine doing a job. As the crisis with GrayCris unfolds, Murderbot and Mensah form a quiet but powerful partnership, with each recognizing strengths in the other that neither expected to find. The negotiation turns on Murderbot's sharp insight into Mensah's political importance and on a timely revelation about what GrayCris is truly after on the planet. The novella closes with a double revelation: Murderbot's discovery that it can be anonymous without its armor, and the reader's realization that its entire account has been a letter addressed to Mensah.