Secunit

Security Unit · construct · murderbot

Security constructs of cloned human tissue and machine parts, feared killing machines governed by control modules.

Story so far

SecUnits are constructs, part cloned human organic tissue and part machine, built by bond companies like The Company to provide security. Originally meant to be pre-sentient, they were made smarter so they could supervise themselves, with anxiety and depression as side effects, an increase Dr. Mensah once called a 'hellish compromise.' Each has a randomly assigned human face, a neck dataport, inbuilt energy weapons, and a governor module that punishes disobedience. They are shipped to isolated contracts as cargo, kept in armor, and treated as terrifying equipment; in entertainment media they appear only as faceless villains.

Murderbot is a SecUnit that hacked its own governor module and now hides among humans, knowing that anyone who has worked with SecUnits could recognize its size, proportions, and stillness.

Appearance

Human-derived constructs with generic human faces and hair, hairless bodies, joins between organic and inorganic parts, neck dataports, and inbuilt weapons, usually encased in opaque armor.

Role

The class of being Murderbot is, and the identity it must disguise to move safely among humans.

Relationships

Murderbot — Is one, though a rogue that has freed itself from its governor module.

The Company — Builds, owns, and rents them out as security equipment.

Governor Module — The control device implanted in every SecUnit to enforce obedience through pain.

Earlier in this series

Also appears in books you've already read — spoiler-safe to their endings:

All Systems RedBook 1

Sources — 1 recorded facts, by chapter

Chapter 1

Security constructs of cloned human tissue and machine parts, feared killing machines governed by control modules.