Series: The Murderbot Diaries #0.5
Author: Martha Wells
Publisher: Tor.com
Released: December 17, 2018

You’d think that I, a massive Muderbot fan, would have been aware of this prequel short story. You’d be wrong! I only just learned about it, but I am so happy to have had the chance to read it. (Thank goodness it remains online and free to read!).

The Future of Work: Compulsory was originally published in Wired.com magazine and tells readers of a time before Murderbot was free. Well, no, that’s not right. By this point, Murderbot had already hacked their governor module. They were just continuing to do the job they were programmed for.

Personally, this is every bit of a short story I love to see. I’ve always been curious about Murderbot’s time with other clients. Back before, they were treated as anything other than a piece of property.

“My risk-assessment module predicts a 53 percent chance of human-on-human massacre before the end of the contract.”

This short story answered a lot of questions I had, including how the humans from these contracts regarded Murderbot. Yes, I know that Murderbot had been pretty clear on this point before, but there’s a difference between knowing and seeing, isn’t there? That statement probably (definitely) would have made Murderbot roll its eyes. Oh well.

Long story short: The Future of Work: Compulsory is a fantastic short story worth reading, especially for all of the Murderbot fans in the room.