Exit Strategy

Exit Strategy (2018) is a science fiction novella by American author Martha Wells and the fourth installment in her critically acclaimed The Murderbot Diaries series. The story follows a rogue, self-aware security android that calls itself Murderbot as it races to rescue its former client, Dr. Mensah, from a ruthless corporation. This mission forces the protagonist to navigate its complex loyalties and its fierce desire for autonomy. The novella explores themes including Defining Personhood Beyond Biology and Programming, The Dehumanizing Logic of Corporate Power, and The Conflict Between Self-Imposed Alienation and the Need for Connection.

Martha Wells has written numerous other fantasy and science fiction works, but The Murderbot Diaries has earned her the most widespread recognition, with the series winning the Hugo Award for Best Series, and various installments receiving Nebula and Locus Awards. The novellas have also been adapted into a show by Apple TV+.

This guide refers to the 2018 Tor.com eBook edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide contain depictions of death, graphic violence, and cursing.

Plot Summary

The story begins as the rogue SecUnit, who calls itself Murderbot and uses it/its pronouns, returns to HaveRaton Station aboard a bot-piloted transport named Ship. HaveRaton is located in the Corporation Rim, a portion of space run by corporations under an extreme and completely unregulated version of capitalism. Murderbot is fleeing with evidence that a nefarious corporate entity called GrayCris has killed people and participated in illegal mining activity on a planet called Milu.

Seeking to hide, Murderbot dons an evac suit, exits the transport, and deletes all traces of its presence from the transport’s logs. It then infiltrates the station by secretly boarding another vessel’s empty cargo module. From a walkway, Murderbot observes a heavily armed, 23-person team from a security company called Palisade. It intercepts communications confirming the team is hunting for a rogue SecUnit—Murderbot.

To blend in, Murderbot buys new clothes in the station mall. While downloading transport schedules, it discovers a news report that its former client, Dr. Mensah, has been accused of corporate espionage by GrayCris. Mensah is believed to have been taken to TranRollinHyfa, a station that serves as GrayCris’s corporate headquarters. Murderbot concludes that GrayCris believes Mensah is the one who sent it to Milu to expose them.

Determined to rescue Mensah, the first human to staunchly affirm Murderbot’s personhood, Murderbot books passage to TranRollinHyfa. During a layover, it mails the data clips with evidence against GrayCris to Mensah’s family on the planet Preservation, which is governed along humanist and socialist principles.

Near TranRollinHyfa, Murderbot detects a gunship from Murderbot’s former owner, an unnamed company that sells security (SecUnits like Murderbot are part of what the company offers). Murderbot hacks the gunship and learns that its mission to retrieve Mensah has been suspended because TranRollinHyfa has denied it docking permission. Mensah’s team members, lawyer Pin-Lee, biologist Ratthi, and augmented technical expert Gurathin, are on the station after taking a shuttle from the gunship.

At TranRollinHyfa, Murderbot locates the Preservation team. GrayCris operatives are surveilling them. Murderbot intercepts the operatives’ communications, allowing the team to meet Murderbot undetected. In the privacy of a slow sightseeing vehicle, Pin-Lee confirms that GrayCris abducted Mensah and is demanding a ransom the team cannot afford.

Murderbot and the team devise a plan. Realizing a direct assault on GrayCris headquarters is impossible, they decide to offer a fake ransom payment to lure GrayCris into bringing Mensah to a meeting outside the security barrier. This will allow Murderbot to track her emergency implant and stage a rescue. A GrayCris representative named Serrat quickly realizes the financial document is a fake and draws a concealed weapon, but Murderbot chokes Serrat unconscious. At that moment, Mensah’s implant activates, showing she is in a transit pipe approaching the hotel.

As Mensah arrives at the hotel’s transit platform under guard, Murderbot creates a diversion, obscuring visibility. In the ensuing confusion, it neutralizes the human guards and disables a Palisade SecUnit, freeing Mensah. They board a transit pipe, make a dangerous jump onto an empty office platform, and head for the port’s embarkation zone.

Just then, an emergency lockdown is declared: GrayCris has bought off station security. Hard barriers drop, separating Mensah from the dock with the team’s shuttle. Murderbot pleads with station security, who briefly raise a barrier just long enough for Mensah to slide under. Murderbot disables two Palisade SecUnits but a superior Combat SecUnit counters its hacks. As the Combat SecUnit corners Murderbot, the Preservation team manually opens a nearby barrier. Murderbot dives through just in time.

The team makes it to their shuttle and gets to the company gunship. However, Palisade pursues them and launches a sophisticated attack with a sentient, disembodied piece of code to dismantle the ship’s systems. To save everyone, Murderbot merges its mind with the gunship’s bot pilot. It tricks the attacker into transferring itself to the team’s now-empty shuttle, which is then destroyed. The immense processing strain causes a catastrophic system failure of Murderbot’s consciousness.

Murderbot slowly reassembles its memory aboard an old Preservation ship. The evidence Murderbot sent has ignited a war between the bond company and GrayCris. Murderbot is offered several security jobs. Pin-Lee provides it with new IDs and currency cards. A Preservation leader wants it to participate in a documentary advocating for construct and bot rights. Fully recovered, Murderbot realizes it has genuine options and a place to stay while it decides what to do with its freedom.