The Secret Life of Bots

"The Secret Life of Bots" is a 2017 science fiction story by Suzanne Palmer. It was first published in Clarkesworld.

Synopsis
Autonomous maintenance robots take on a much larger role in saving a spaceship from aliens than the ship's human crew could have ever suspected.

Reception
"The Secret Life of Bots" won the 2018 Hugo Award for Best Novelette Tangent Online considered it to be "charming", with "vivid, interesting characters", and noted the robots have "individuality and multitudes of personalities".