Bots of the Lost Ark
Novelette 11,056 words Recommended by 9 award/anthology sources
"I have been activated, therefore I have a purpose, Bot 9 thought. I have a purpose, therefore I serve. It recited the Mantra Upon Waking, to check that it was running at optimum physical efficiency, then the Mantra of Obedience, the Mantra of Not Improvising Without Clear Oversight and Direction, ..."
Content warnings 2
deathviolence
Quasar links out; the story lives on Clarkesworld, where the author gets the click.