Tarik is a member of the Perihelion crew, which gathers information for anti-corporate activities and strikes out against corporations. When he and his crewmates are kidnapped in Network Effect and separated, he's in the group that escapes being implanted and reaches the planet. He is a major character in System Collapse, as part of the group that investigates the second colony site.
Biography[]
Before his affiliation with the Pansystem University of Mihira and New Tideland, Tarik served as part of a corporate combat squad, an experience that left him with a hatred of corporations. He is Perihelion's security specialist. He was one of the newest members of the crew, having been with them for 387 cycles as of System Collapse.[1]
At the start of Network Effect, the Perihelion's crew had received word that Barish-Estranza was turning its attention towards the Lost Colony, so the crew 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 by lost colonists who'd hijacked a Barish-Estranza shuttle and were looking for a ship that could travel further. Three of the Perihelion's crew are given implants made of Pre-Corporation-Rim technology and alien code, much like the ones already implanted on the Lost Colonists. Tarik and the other unaffected crewmates are approached by a sympathetic colonist, who smuggles them to the Lost Colony's surface in an attempted rescue. The colonist dies in the attempt, and Tarik, Seth, Iris, Matteo, and Kaede continue on to the surface alone, where they're immediately stranded: they have nowhere safe in the colony to go, and no way to return to their ship.
They're struggling to reactivate the lift pod when fighting breaks out among the colonists, triggered by the arrival of Murderbot's drop box. Murderbot, Thiago and Overse reach out, coordinating their rescue. Seth and the others recognize everyone by the Perihelion enviro-suits they're wearing, and Murderbot by the pictures ART showed them previously.
They make it back to the Perihelion, but Murderbot is captured in the process. Once they regroup they immediately coordinate a rescue, and soon Murderbot is safe as well.
They're stranded in the system, since Perihelion's warp capability is damaged, until an armed ship from the Preservation Alliance arrives some days later. It is recruited for the Perihelion's side and helps them in the aftermath. At the end, Tarik joins a group that is going through the Perihelion's programming to help search for lingering effects from the Lost Colony.
At some point between the events of Network Effect and System Collapse, Tarik entered a sexual relationship with Ratthi, which has since ended due to an apparent miscommunication involving Tarik's relationship with Matteo.
While investigating the Lost Colony at the beginning of System Collapse, Tarik and Iris are attacked by a contaminated agricultural bot. When Barish-Estranza reinforcements arrive in system, he is one of the first to meet them. The combined University-Preservation crew send out a party to follow leads of a potential second colony site. Tarik is among this group. Upon arriving, he joins Iris and SecUnit in investigating the underground structures. He drives the vehicle to the entrance of the settlement. When SecUnit attempts to proceed alone, Tarik objects, and Iris reveals his past as a corporate killer and his hatred of the corporate systems to defuse a potential argument.
Shortly afterward, he returns to the shuttle along with Iris to look for a closer landing site. He then joins the rest of the crew inside the colony when they make contact with its residents.
In the making of Murderbot's documentary to inform the colonists about the Corporation Rim's dystopian state, Tarik is interviewed on his experiences in the corporate combat squad. During the second meeting with Barish-Estranza, he joins Ratthi at the shuttle and waits for the others to return. He immediately runs toward the action when the corporation's lower-level employees betray their senior staff and fighting starts. He warns the colonists before moving to join Iris and SecUnit. However, he is held up first by passing Barish-Estranza security forces, which he helps two frightened colonists hide from, and then by orders from SecUnit to hold his position, which he does despite protest. He and the group, now including the rescued Leonide, finally meet up near the powered-down entrance they had previously used to get into the colony.
While they make their way through the lightless area, Tarik holds the light. He deactivates it instantly when SecUnit instructs. He comes up with the idea to climb so that Perihelion's shuttle can more easily reach them, and he goes with Iris and Leonide up the landing platform of the pseudohopper while Murderbot holds off the incoming hostile SecUnits. He then pilots the pseudohopper out, which works well despite the vehicle's age. During the ride, he takes the fall for Murderbot and ART's media-watching habits when Leonide notices.
After escaping the Lost Colony, Tarik presumably continues as a member of Perihelion's crew.
Personality[]
Tarik is generally straightforward, skeptical, and mission-minded. In Network Effect, Tarik insists twice that some of the stranger things happening on the Lost Colony can't be true, contrasting with Matteo. He doesn't complain about his injuries. In System Collapse he is shown to be cautious, often raising potential problems with various plans. According to ART, he has trust issues.[2] He is also shown to occasionally clash - playfully and otherwise - with the rest of his crew, especially Perihelion itself, as not only is his personality different from the scientifically-minded others, he is also one of their newest members.
More is revealed of his history in System Collapse. He is uneasy about his past as a corporate agent, deeply regretting that they made him kill, and is concerned with protecting the colonists from Barish-Estranza.
Physical Appearance[]
Tarik's physical appearance is mostly unknown.
When Murderbot first meets him, he's noted as having bruises and torn, blood-stained clothes (like everyone else in his group). More specifically, he also has signs of a worrying internal injury.[3]
References[]
- ↑ "The thing about Tarik was that he was new and had only been with the crew for the previous three hundred and eighty-seven corporate standard day cycles." Chapter Three, System Collapse
- ↑ System Collapse, Chapter Six
- ↑ They all had bruises, blood-stained and torn clothes, [...] Tarik kept pressing his hand to his lower abdomen and trying not to wince in a way that made me want to call a nonexistent MedSystem.” Chapter Fifteen, Network Effect