All Systems Red

Murderbot’s full-body armor not only serves the practical purpose of protecting it during security missions, but it also symbolizes Murderbot’s desire to remain anonymous and avoid human contact. It loses pieces of armor during its battles, and even when its injuries are painful, it prioritizes saving its humans and completing its mission over protecting itself. This self-sacrificing behavior contradicts Murderbot’s insistence that it does not care about its job or its clients. At the beginning of the novella, Murderbot’s armor is part of its identity that helps it maintain its self-concept as frightening to humans: “I know I’m a horrifying murderbot, […]. 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” (20). Murderbot associates its organic body with unsightly wounds and feels the need to keep it covered while it is on duty. The armor plays into the artificial distinction between bots and humans, which Murderbot claims to enjoy: “Human clients usually like to pretend I’m a robot and that’s much easier in the armor” (27).

Murderbot’s opaque helmet is the most important part of the armor because it keeps Murderbot’s most vulnerable area—its face—hidden. Its face is physically vulnerable, but more importantly, Murderbot’s face shows its emotional reactions, which it wants to hide at all costs. The team is so used to seeing Murderbot with its helmet that they do not recognize Murderbot when it enters the crew area with Mensah for the first time. The only time Murderbot retracts its helmet voluntarily is in Chapter 1 when it is saving Volescu. Even though Murderbot knows the move is risky, it knows seeing its human face will calm Volescu. The decision is tactical because it facilitates the rescue, but it comes from Murderbot’s humanity rather than its programming.

Armor is part of Murderbot’s identity. When Mensah buys its contract, Murderbot asks: “Can I still have armor?” (145). It is no longer a SecUnit, but without its armor, it does not know who it is. At the end of the novella, Murderbot realizes it does not need its armor or its helmet to hide its emotions because, unlike in the serials and its mission with PreservationAux, people in public do not always engage with each other emotionally. When it escapes, it uses a surveyor’s environmental suit, work boots, and protective jacket to mask its identity. Though Murderbot relinquishes its armor, it still needs clothing to define itself externally because it does not yet have a secure sense of self.