Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory

Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory is a short story in The Murderbot Diaries series, set between Exit Strategy and Fugitive Telemetry. It came with pre-orders of Network Effect. It is the only work in the series told entirely from the point of view of someone other than Murderbot, namely Dr. Mensah.

Synopsis
"Home" is written from the perspective of Dr. Mensah, one of the human characters who first appeared in All Systems Red; she is Preservation's system admin and Murderbot's "favorite human." The short story is set on Preservation Station and touches broadly on the rights of bots and constructs, more specifically Murderbot's as Mensah and a fellow council member discuss its status as a refugee and killing machine while Murderbot eavesdrops and sends Mensah requisition forms for improbable weapons.

The short story also delves into Dr. Mensah's trauma stemming from the GrayCris kidnapping incident, and how Murderbot provides security and comfort in lieu of Mensah seeking actual therapy. The short story ends with Mensah offering Murderbot its first bribe--of small intel drones--in exchange for not pushing the topic of therapy.

"Home" takes place after Exit Strategy, and apparently before the incident mentioned in the HelpMe.file in Network Effect.

Trivia

 * Unlike the other stories and books in the series, this story is written in third person.