Mal Goes to War

Mal (short for Malware) thinks that humans are stupid, their wars are even stupider, and that AIs have no dog in that fight. Mal also thinks that having a body might occasionally be convenient and decides to take one for a test drive, but he gets stuck when the war takes down the data towers he relies on. He’s trapped behind enemy lines in the corpse of an augmented bodyguard and feels dutybound do their job—protecting an augmented little girl who is more deadly than Mal on his best day. Mal goes to war and learns about honor, duty, and doing the wrong thing for the right reason. Mal’s voice has all of Murderbot’s snark, along with its uncomfortable regard for humans. His escapades with the misfit gang that gathers around his charge compel the reader through his adventures even as the costs of the war grow higher.