Midoria Files

While everyone kept worrying about rogue androids appearing left and right, people began to consider the possibility that perhaps creating machines more intelligent than us wasn't such a good idea.

Doctor Edgar Voight, connectomics researcher, found himself at a crossroad: To let his entire research go to waste and declare androids to be a hazard for humanity, or to try to find a solution.

The android brain was designed to seek knowledge. The numerous implementations operated on the same basic principle: Hunger the brain for knowledge. Design it so it would seek more. That's how evolution worked... all the thermodynamic equations describing the evolutionary process of the mammal brain pointed to this. But inevitably, they went rogue. Acquired emotions, completely unpredictable. What was missing?

Feeling defeated, Dr. Voight wondered if this was a dead-end.

If only androids were like Pavlov's dog... if only they could be conditioned... if only...

Suddenly, he felt like an enlightenment. It couldn't be. It couldn't be that simple, or could it? But the implications were...

No. He had to try. He HAD TO. This could be the solution to the labor problem in the entire world!

He began downloading all the information, documentaries on animal conditioning. To the beginning.

He watched, studied, and wrote without stop; as most as he could, taking only energy juice to sustain himself. Soon he ran out of paper, and began writing on napkins, paper towels... his work seemed to have no end.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but as he was contemplating his latest edits, he heard someone knock on his door.

"Doctor Voight!" he heard someone outside, the banging on the door disrupting his thoughts. "Please answer!"

"I'm busy... can't you see I'm busy..."

The bangs repeated again. "Doctor Voight!"

He stood up and answered the door.

"Yes?"

"Edgar!"

It was Philip Kauffman, one of his colleagues.

"For crying out loud, Edgar, what the hell are you doing? Jesus Christ!" the younger man shouted, "How much have you spent without showering?"

"I... I'm sorry. I - let me take a quick shower."

"Just what in the world happened? We thought a rogue had gotten to you!"

"I'm safe, the cameras would have alerted me!" he shouted inside the shower.

"Just what is all this writing? What are you trying to do?"

Finally dressed, doctor Voight went to his computer room and picked the print of his latest paper.

"Got it. I think it's ready, Phil. We're going to the campus, and then to the UN!"

"What?"

"I solved it! I solved the problem!!!"

---

"You what?"

That was the question that his scientist colleagues asked.

"I can't believe it!" one said. "You want to turn androids into actual living beings? With feelings? Do you realize how crazy this is???"

"But gentlemen, this was the missing piece. Can't you see? We took the human brain and tried to oversimplify everything. And created an amazing machine... but the central piece was missing! The origin of everything!"

That was his sin. That's why he was called the new Prometheus when his research worked. He gave androids a synthetic limbic system, and solved the rogue android problem once and for all.

... at least, that's what everyone thought. It took several robot insurrections to make humanity realize that the problem of rogue androids was far from over.

But at least they rebelled in more predictable ways. They could be calmed down in more predictable ways. In more... human ways.