Fanfic Short Stories

Murderbot: Shakespeare for SecUnits

Description: Mensah convinces Murderbot to participate in an updated production of Hamlet. ART helps.

Shakespeare for SecUnits

When I first worked with the PreservationAux Survey Team, Gurathin asked if they could punish me simply by looking at me.

The answer was yes.

So here I was, about to be stared at by hundreds of people at once. Not like walking into a space station where hundreds of people are vaguely looking around, trying not to run into one another.

No, I mean staring at me, and only me. LISTENING to me. Ugh.

I sent into the feed: This is all your fault.

ART responded, I take full credit. This is a growth experience.

I don't want to grow, I said.

ART ignored me. That was your cue. Stop procrastinating.

I'd been watching an episode of Sanctuary Moon and trying not to think about what I was going to do next.

I paused the episode and walked onstage.

127 cycles ago...

It started with ART directing our attention to a newsfeed article about Cho Rhunnar.

See, I told you it's ART's fault.

"Who is Cho Rhunnar?" I asked, not recognizing the name. I was in an entertainment suite with ART's crew, where we had just reached the end of an episode of The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon. ART had decided that we should each select a sample of media we enjoyed, explain to the group why we chose that particular sample, and then watch them together. It was yet another "growth experience." ART had decided I needed these, and for reasons I'll get into later, I had to participate.

"This is your favorite episode, in your favorite season, of your favorite show," ART said, as if I hadn't already mentioned this before we started watching it. "The human featured in the newsfeed created the show and set the overall story arcs in this season."

Okay. That did sound potentially interesting.

"Don't you watch the season extras?" asked Iris.

"No," I said. I had discovered that extras were mostly boring stuff, like details about filming and costuming and behind-the-scenes pranks that I didn't give a damn about.

"Sometimes they interview the writers," Iris explained.

I created a reminder to filter extras by that criteria in the future. Then ART sent the newsfeed to the display screen so we could all watch it.

Excerpt from Interview with Cho Rhunnar

Media Entertainment interviewer: Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon was such a big hit. Any chance of a revival?

Cho Rhunnar: Not in its original form, but I have something related in mind. The story arc for the most popular season was loosely based on an ancient play — Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. That art form — the theatrical play in front of a live audience — is something I want to try my hand at, and I know Sanctuary Moon fans already have a history of reenacting their favorite scenes of the show. My next project is to write a play featuring the Sanctuary Moon characters. It will allow fans to truly immerse themselves in the story.

Media Entertainment interviewer: A true merging of canon and fandom?

Cho Rhunnar: In a nutshell, yes.