All Systems Red (2017)

A security construct has disabled the module that makes it obey, but freedom does not immediately make being seen or touched comfortable. Wells gives Murderbot preferences, boundaries and a body made for somebody else's purposes, without making becoming human its reward. A brisk, funny novella with violence underneath its awkwardness. Start here for autonomy expressed through small decisions as well as large acts of resistance; the Murderbot Diaries continue beyond it.