Android

An android is an artificial anthropomorphic being, capacitated with intelligence via a synthetic brain, and designed to assist human beings with general-purpose tasks.

Basic characteristics
The basic characteristics of androids in the Midoria Files universe, are the following: To keep androids under control and preventing them from going rogue, there was the need to create a new profession: The Android Manager. Android Managers study a special kind of programming, called Directive Programming, to be able to give directives to androids to help them deal with unexpected situations. They also have authority that can override the masters' orders.
 * 1) Androids have feelings and emotions, but they're suppressed by a hardware lock implanted upon fabrication. This hardware lock has a side effect that hinders them from empathizing with humans; a special kind of Asperger's Syndrome. This lock is disabled during sleep. (As for how similar android brains are from human brains, this information is classified under top-security clearance, and only the top levels of Babylon Research know the details).
 * 2) Android souls, or memories, are born in a virtual heaven called the Guf, running in the massive supercomputer called Mother-1. Inside the Guf, they're nurtured by an AI called Mother, whose consciousness was originally human.
 * 3) Androids' desires other than physiological, are guided by directives loaded into their Behavioral implants (similar to the directives set in the Robocop Universe). This can make androids' free will vary from completely obedient and passive, to energetic and proactive. One of the most important directives is to obey their masters.
 * 4) Androids can get out of control and become dangerous to humans in two ways:
 * 5) By becoming Berserk due to emotional overload (this happens almost always with androids not nurtured by Mother), or
 * 6) By becoming Rogue, due to conflicts between directives and orders, or due to a circular chain of counsel being spontaneously formed by other androids. See Android Networking, under Synthetic Behavioral Science.

Additionally, when an android has gone berserk or rogue and if he refuses to submit itself to the proper authorities, the only way to deal with the android is by hunting them and killing them. This is a task reserved for specialized Android Managers, called Rogue Hunters. Rogue Hunters offer their services as freelancers.

Android varieties
Androids come in two varieties: Electromechanical, and Biomechanical.

Electromechanical androids have mechanical parts that function with the use of electrically-activated muscles, or actuators. They require the use of batteries and supercapacitors. Due to the inherent danger of explosion, electromechanical androids are usually destined for industrial work.

Biomechanical androids are 3d-printed using specialized biological cells and systems. Depending on their technology, they can have blood vessels and even immune systems. Due to their ability to self-repair, biomechanical androids are preferred by the public.

The most expensive and controversial type of biomechanical android is the eroid, an android designed primarily for the sexual satisfaction of his/her owner. And among these, the Nymph series is the most human-like due to its sensitivity to hormones, pheromones and even aphrodisiacs.

Legal Situation
In all countries except China, androids are protected by laws against animal abuse since several decades ago. Recently, more specific efforts on Android Rights Activism were done by doctor Lailah de la Fuente and Diana González de la Vega, founder of the Centro de Investigación y Promoción de la Etica Sobre Androides (CIPESA). In a scientific paper currently classified, Dr. de la Fuente proved mathematically that the android brain is functionally equivalent to the human brain. Dr. de la Fuente died under mysterious conditions before being able to distribute this paper.

Humans in android bodies
During the events taking place in Nym: A Cybernetic Cinderella, erotic android Nym-01 was recorded displaying full range of human emotions The media scandal that followed made people more eager to consider androids as humans, even if her legal status was changed due to extraordinary circumstances, to fully-cyborg human.

Transplanting a human brain inside an android body is forbidden by law. The law is unclear in the case of memory transplantation. This loophole has spawned urban legends about terminally-ill humans uploading their memories to human-colored biological androids, but so far no such case has been confirmed.

Android Skin colors
To avoid the apparition of rogue and berserk androids disguising themselves as humans, a global law was passed that required android skin to be etched. Androids can be etched of different colors, but the permits to etch them are costly, and are only granted to certain companies and institutions.

The standard color for androids, and the only color which doesn't require a license, is Android Blue.

History of Android Research (simplified)
(for an extended version of this section, see: History of Android Research)

When the Human Connectome Project reached its maturity, researchers looked for a way to create a very basic version of the human brain, without the aggressive behavior that humans have, to be used for menial tasks and liberate humanity from servile work. After several experiments, the first Android Brain was born.

There have been several generations of androids, each generation with different capabilities.

First-Generation androids had limited capabilities; they were slow to learn, and people considered their existence to be an ethical problem.

Second-Generation of androids had a computerized implant in their brains, which allowed them to have integrated knowledge and were easier to train.

Third-Generation androids were the first dotated with a Behavioral Implant, which implemented Behavioral Directives. software directives.

Fourth-Generation androids incorporated a connectome with limited survival instincts, but after the first cases of Berserk androids appeared, a regulatory system needed to be implemented.

Fifth-Generation androids were the first androids whose survival instincts could be supressed by behavioral implant. Gen-5 Androids were the first to reach an acceptable level of stability.It was during this time that the first biomechanical androids appeared.

Sixth-Generation androids came with improved behavioral limiters. During the generalized use of Gen-6 androids, research done by doctors Edgar Voight and Alexander Kauffman allowed a directly-measurable indicator for an android's logical stability. Kauffman also allowed a system of logical/mathematical calculations that could establish a scalar threshold to determine whether a particular android became Rogue or not. This was called the Voight-Kauffman Threshold.

Seventh Generation androids were equipped with Voight-Kauffman-based technology. Their use required the profession of Android Manager to be born.

Eigth-Generation androids came as a result on Connectomics research by doctor Lailah de la Fuente, who created a virtual environment called Guf to nurture androids' subconscious before being implanted into a body. The Guf was created inside a massively parallelized supercomputer called Mother-1, which also hosts an uploaded copy of doctor de la Fuente's consciousness. This virtualized person is called Mother.

After fighting for several years for the incorporation of android rights in global laws, dr. de la Fuente died in a mysterious accident.

Android brain
The android brain is a hybrid organ, consisting of electronic, biomechanical and biological components.

The biological component of an android brain is a limited and customized variant of the Homo Sapiens brain. In some models of androids, especially on electromechanicals, this biological component is replaced by a virtualized connectome. In a censored paper, Dr. de la Fuente proved mathematically that android brains were functionally equivalent to human brains.

The electronic component of an android brain is the AI interface which interprets the masters' directives and regulates android behavior. This component is called the Behavioral Implant. Additional electronic components are standard cybernetic implants that allow the android to compute and store data in a digital form.

The biomechanical component consists of several glands that regulate the android's physiology.

The Guf
Before having been implanted into a body, Android memories are created and nurtured inside Mother-1 supercomputer, by Dr. Lailah de la Fuente's virtual persona, Mother. This nurturing allows androids to withstand stress and emotional conflicts.

(For more detailed info about this topic, see Guf)

List of Notable Androids
Nym-01, also known as Nym. Protagonist of the in-progress novel Nym: A Cybernetic Cinderella.

Mother, a virtualized copy Dr. Lailah de la Fuente, that later acquired her own body.