Work Text:
In The Future of Work: Compulsory, one of the humans tells another about SecUnits, "They can't talk." The other responds, "No, it talked. I heard it." Later, in ASR, we're told SecUnits give on-site briefings. It seems unrealistic to think people believe SecUnits are unable to make human voice noises. More likely, I would think, the belief is that SecUnits can only speak preprogrammed phrases, what Murderbot refers to as 'buffer statements'. In Network Effects, Overse explains, "That's how it sounds when it uses a canned response."
I think it's worth examining the sort of phrases Murderbot reports as buffer statements. Let's review the ones listed in canon (canon text in italic):
All Systems Red
Page 73: Addressed to Dr. Mensah. This one is caused by Murderbot being rescued by Mensah—it is utterly shocked that she managed to take out a SecUnit. As it says: "Dr. Mensah," I said, "this is a violation of security priority and I am contractually obligated to record this for report to the company—" It was in the buffer and the rest of my brain was empty.
Page 139: "This unit is at minimal functionality and it is recommended that you discard it." It's an automatic reaction triggered by catastrophic malfunction. Also, I didn't really want them to try to move me because it hurt bad enough the way it was. "Your contract allows—"
This is addressed to Pin-Lee (Mensah and Gurathin also present). Murderbot has taken a lot of damage when the beacon launched and has patchy "consciousness". Following this, Mensah tells it to shut up—
"Shut up," Mensah snapped. "You shut the fuck up. We're not leaving you."
Perhaps suggesting this was one of multiple buffer statements Murderbot has come out with.
Rogue Protocol
Page 113: In this scene, there is a huge amount going on (Murderbot is trying to monitor what's happening with Don Abene and Miki over the feed and has taken damage rescuing Hirune). It is trying to get an update from Miki when Hirune startles it by coming round. She [Hirune] slurred the words, "Who are you?" I was distracted, and what came out of my buffer was the standard, "I'm your contracted SecUnit." I was distracted because confused noise was coming from the connection with Miki and Abene.
Exit Strategy
Page 85: It's the scene in the hotel, again Murderbot is dealing with multiple inputs (blocking Serrat from canceling the GrayCris group from delivering Mensah, shutting down the main relay in the hotel and other subsidiary relays). I was busy, so my buffer said, Dr. Ratthi, please describe the problem.
Page 140: [Note: this was not identified in the text as a buffer statement, but the choppy delivery is markedly different from Murderbot's usual statements. I argue it should be included, or at least considered, as a buffer statement] "You should sit down," I told her. "You've been through a traumatic experience. Tell them you need the MedSystem's Retrieved Client Trauma Evaluation protocol—"
Page 147 It's just dropped out of merging with the bot pilot and has been trying to determine what GrayCris is after. It's figured out it's the Milu data. Here it's very clear that Murderbot's consciousness/self is stretched thin! "Thank you for your assistance," my buffer said, as I shut down again and went back to the bot pilot.
Page 153: This exchange happens while Murderbot it rebuilding its memory after the catastrophic failure due to Gunship merge. It has the construct equivalent of a traumatic brain injury and is not legally competent (or even entirely competent to be operating its own body – it falls off the medical bed and later forgets that it can see out its own eyes.) I didn't have an answer [to Ratthi asking 'Do you know where you are?']. My buffer said, "Please wait while I search for that information."
Network Effect
Page 23: MB stressed by Farai talking to it! (About Mensah) But I knew Farai knew all that, and I knew she was asking for an answer that was closer to objective reality. And wow, I did not have that answer. I said, "I'm her SecUnit." (Yes, that's still in the buffer.)
Page 249: It's analyzing the security video and realizes it has spotted a member of ART's crew. All its attention is on the video footage. But I was almost completely focused on the video now and my buffer said, "Please stand by, I need to verify an alert."
Page 250: Overse's comment here is the first time we have definite indication that other people hear a difference between buffer statements and natural speech. Overse had folded her arms, which was awkward in the enviro suit, so she unfolded them. Thiago asked her [Overse], "Why did it sound like that?" [Overse:] "That's how it sounds when it uses a canned response, from the time it was working for – enslaved by – the company. It means it's too busy to talk." She added, "It never means anything good."
It's also an intriguing mention of slavery – something that's been mentioned before, both in ASR and FT – there could be a whole 'nother meta about the nomenclature of 'laborer' vs 'slave'. The important thing is that this shows PresAux has had off-screen conversations about MB's buffer voice.
Page 270, from Three: But that was too much, too soon, and I [MB 2.0] knew that as soon as I said it. It [Three] gave me a stock answer from its buffer: I don't have that information.
Other works
The closest thing Artificial Condition gets to a buffer statement is Murderbot's internal observation that it's programmed to be paranoid.
The closest we get in Fugitive Telemetry is noting that it switched its feed ID to the last one in its buffer, the Kiran ID used on TranRollinHyfa. This shows us that buffer is also used in relation to data and not just a queue for verbal responses.
There were no buffer-related mentions in Home. The only one in Compulsory is the 'They can't talk' mentioned earlier.
It is my opinion that SecUnits are released into the world with a complex set of pre-programmed, company-approved responses fit for various situations they can expect to encounter in their work life. As we see in All Systems Red and Exit Strategy, the SecUnit is allowed to add client names. I would argue the page 140 not-explicitly-a-buffer-statement shows they can customize pronouns or modes of speaking, as in those lines it uses 'you'.
Clearly it sounds different in the delivery of these lines. I imagine a customer service type voice. This only seems to trigger when Murderbot is prompted to speak during times that it is too distracted to think of better words.
A lot of how I deal with the world is through complex scripts. It took me well into my 30s to get comfortable with standard greetings, responding "correctly" to news that someone had died or graduated or had a child or felt ill. I imagine the usefulness of having something like a manual to human interactions coded directly into your brain, handling the routine interactions without giving you the opportunity to screw things up by saying something "weird".
I wonder if Murderbot learned to 'talk' from the media it watches so obsessively? Four years is plenty of time to pick up a language, especially when the language module already provides translation so it understands even if it is still struggling with learning how and when to express something. Perhaps writing its logs was an early form of practicing. I love the story idea of 'finding one's voice' and learning to convey one's needs and opinions to the world outside your own head.