The human identified as Karime is still conscious and uses the shuttle’s comm to say, “Peri, don’t scan us! We think that’s how they infect each other!”” (Chapter Seventeen, Network Effect)
Karime is a member of Perihelion's crew, a teaching and research vessel, and occasional cargo hauler. The crew's goals are also a cover for their anti-corporate activities, which are to gather information and strike out against corporations.
Karime is the primary negotiator in ART's crew[1].
Biography[]
Not much is known of Karime's past. As of Network Effect she's affiliated with the Pansystem University of Mihira and New Tideland. She and the rest of the crew had received word that Barish-Estranza was turning its attention towards the Lost Colony, so they set out to reach it first. They intend to block Barish-Estranza from re-enslaving the colony and, if possible, to make new allies.
Before they can reach the colony, they're intercepted and captured (ironically) by lost colonists who'd hijacked a Barish-Estranza shuttle and were looking for a ship that could travel further. Karime and two other crewmates are given implants made of Pre-Corporation-Rim technology and alien code, much like the ones already implanted on the Lost Colonists. The unaffected members of her crew are approached by a sympathetic colonist, who smuggles them to the Lost Colony's surface in an attempted rescue.
Karime and the others are saved when Murderbot 2.0 and SecUnit 3 disable their implants and bring them back to the Perihelion. When they arrive Karime warns Perihelion that it might become infected with malicious technology from the Lost Colony if it scans them. The crew then receive news of the other crewmates (soon to be rescued), and about Murderbot's capture. Once they regroup they immediately coordinate a rescue, and soon Murderbot is safe as well.
An armed ship from the Preservation Alliance arrives some days later, expecting to need to rescue the PreservationAux team. Murderbot reaches out and diffuses the situation, and Seth and Iris tell Mensah about their group's true mission, recruiting her (and her people's) help. Karime and Iris work with Pin-Lee at the end to look for ways to keep the Lost Colony legally free from Barish-Estranza.
During System Collapse, Karime's work to keep the Lost Colony legally free becomes more obvious. At the beginning of the book, Karime has gone down to the planet with Three to discuss with the colonists what they wanted to do.
Personality[]
Karime spends most of Network Effect offscreen. The few moments where she's onscreen, she is pushing her fellow hostages towards safety, warning Perihelion about possible last-minute risks, and taking an active role in trying to keep the Lost Colony legally protected.
In System Collapse, Murderbot notes that ART was not happy with the idea of Karime going back to the planet. This is a strong indicator that Karime is someone worth protecting for ART.
Karime seems also to be understanding and empathetic, and seem to use that at her advantage in negotiations. She explains that the colonists had gone through a lot, and that they would need time in order to trust eachother again.[2]
Physical Appearance[]
Karime is noted as wearing exercise clothes, specifically loose pants and a T-shirt. She's also described as looking like "the crew of a ship that did deep space mapping and teaching with the occasional cargo run and/or corporate colony liberation on the side, like they hadn’t expected to leave their ship and had been caught by surprise."[3]
In System Collapse, Murderbot notes that Karime is older than Mensah, and that she "didn't look like an intrepid space explorer."[4]
- ↑ Karime, who was the primary negotiator on ART's crew,[etc.] Chapter Two, System Collapse.
- ↑ "They’ve done things to each other that can’t be easily forgiven. We know—and they know—it was caused by the alien contamination, but I think it’s going to take time for them to come to terms with that.” -Karime. Chapter Two, System Collapse.
- ↑ The other two were in casual clothing, one in the loose pants and T-shirt humans wore to exercise. They didn’t look like corporate employees on the job. They looked like the crew of a ship that did deep space mapping and teaching with the occasional cargo run and/or corporate colony liberation on the side, like they hadn’t expected to leave their ship and had been caught by surprise. Chapter 14, Network effect.
- ↑ From ART’s personnel file, she was older than Mensah and she didn’t look like an intrepid space explorer, either, even in the protective environmental suit. Chapter Two, System Collapse.