Perihelion

''ART’s official designation was deep space research vessel. At various points in our relationship, ART had threatened to kill me, watched my favorite shows with me, given me a body configuration change, provided excellent tactical support, talked me into pretending to be an augmented human security consultant, saved my clients’ lives, and had cleaned up after me when I had to murder some humans. (They were bad humans.) I really missed ART.'' (Rogue Protocol Chapter 1)

Perihelion is a bot-piloted wormhole-capable space research and teaching vessel registered to the Pansystem University of Mihira and New Tideland, in a system between Port FreeCommerce and RaviHyral, within the Corporation Rim (see Artificial Condition, Chapter 1).

Perihelion has what its crew calls “a very dry sense of humor.” Murderbot refers to it as “ART,” an acronym (which Murderbot mistakenly calls an anagram) for “Asshole Research Transport.” Perihelion’s crew call it “Peri.” Martha Wells explains, "its real name is a numerical feed address. All bots have one and that's what they use when they communicate with each other, and not the names that humans might give them."

Perihelion contains the following spaces:


 * Control deck (the bridge where the human flight crew would be stationed), also the location of Perihelion’s "brain" equivalent
 * Crew meeting area below the control deck
 * Private cabins for crew/teaching staff
 * Shared bunk space for students
 * Medical lab with surgical suite
 * Mess hall
 * Large recreation area with treadmill and other exercise machines
 * Teaching suites
 * Modular lab space / cargo modules, managed by transit ring’s bot-piloted tugs
 * Supply storage
 * Engineering

In addition, Perihelion has a “debris deflection system” which is a functional weapon, though it is not registered as a gunship. Perihelion also has numerous pathfinders, mobile units capable of surveying a planet from orbit or from the ground.

Perihelion is the most advanced AI encountered in the Murderbot Diaries as of Network Effect. Perihelion’s crew keep its advanced nature a secret, at least in part because it covertly gathers intelligence about the Corporation Rim while acting as a cargo vessel.

Perihelion seems to be highly unusual as an example of artificial intelligence. It is capable of highly complex processing and takes independent, fairly creative action on numerous occasions. Possibly it is an experimental AI developed by The Pansystem University of Mihira and New Tideland. Soon after meeting ART, Murderbot speculated that it acted more like a construct than a bot, but in later conversations ART makes a point of distinguishing itself from constructs.

Perihelion is very attached to its crew. It becomes very distressed while watching media with Murderbot that contain story elements of ship crews being injured or killed, and takes drastic actions to protect its own crew.

Known members of Perihelion’s crew include:


 * Iris
 * Kaede
 * Karime
 * Martyn
 * Matteo
 * Seth
 * Tarik
 * Turi