Quotes from Martha Wells

Also, if I'm not in the armor then it's because I'm wounded and one of my organic parts may fall off and plop on the floor at any moment and no one wants to see that.

Pin-Lee had promised, "Don't worry, I'll preserve your right to wander off like an asshole anytime you like." (I said, "It takes one to know one.")

Now she was talking to me like I was a hysterical human. Worse, I was acting like a hysterical human.

I am going to have to stop scaring the shit out of myself.

It's very dramatic," Ratthi added. "The crew think you're a special security agent who betrayed the company to save us." It was very dramatic, like something out of a historical adventure serial. Also correct in every aspect except for all the facts, like something out of a historical adventure serial.

I don't know what I want. I said that at some point, I think. But it isn't that, it's that I don't want anyone to tell me what I want, or to make decisions for me. That's why I left you, Dr. Mensah, my favorite human. By the time you get this I'll be leaving Corporation Rim. Out of inventory and out of sight. Murderbot end message.

I hate having emotions about real humans instead of fake ones, it just leads to stupid moments like this.

Fucking up a planet, even part of a planet, for no reason was kind of a big deal, and I was surprised they had gotten away with it. Okay, no, I wasn't surprised.

And it wasn't like the company was afraid of GrayCris, but they had to teach them a lesson. (The lesson was: if you're going to fuck with something bigger and meaner than you, use a quick targeted attack and then run away really fast. (This is the way I always try to operate, too.)

I was still disoriented, and having a moment where I wondered if hey, maybe all the humans were right for once and this was a terrible idea.

I can also be kind of an asshole. ("Kind of" = in the 70 percent–80 percent range.)

We're cheaply produced and we suck.

It was the logical choice, it was the obvious choice, and I would still rather peel my human skin off than do it. I was going to have to do it.

I didn't react visibly, because I'm used to clients making bad decisions, and I was getting a lot of practice at controlling my expression.

It's usually a good idea to warn bot/human constructs who call themselves Murderbot before making grabby hands.

I know a "fuck off" when I hear one. So I fucked off.

It was starting to occur to me that Dr. Mensah might actually be an intrepid galactic explorer, even if she didn't look like the ones on the entertainment feed.

That could be a good sign, right?" "Sure," I said. It was a terrible sign.

It's one thing to poke a murderbot with a governor module; poking a rogue murderbot is a whole different proposition.

ART must be recovering because it had to butt in with, "Tell her you care about her. Use those words, don't tell her you'll eviscerate anything that tries to hurt her." "ART, fuck off.

I felt a wave of non-caring about to come over me, and I knew I couldn't let it. If I was going to follow my plan, such as it was, I needed to care. If I let myself not care, then there was no telling where I'd end up.

After spending my entire existence having to gently suggest to humans that they not do things that would probably get them killed, it was nice to be able to tell them in so many words to not be so fucking stupid. But I didn't regret doing it.)

Tlacey bought us passage on a public shuttle," Rami told me. "That could be a good sign, right?" "Sure," I said. It was a terrible sign.

At thirty-seven hours since arrival, I sat up. I said, aloud, "That was stupid." Everything was clear, sharp. Note to self, never, ever jump into a gunship with a bot pilot and fight off a construct Attacker code again. You almost deleted yourself, Murderbot.