ANDROIDS IN FICTION

What makes the Hatfield Type Android, and thus this Android Makers Encyclopedia and the Android Makers Handbook (and the special, newer series), so much different than others' android works? Other than that these are not merely a "How to" or assembly manual with a "theory and practices" encyclopedia.

A "difference" question implies a "compare and contrast" analysis for an answer. Therefore, a look at other androids which are only presented in fiction is in order.

Although not an android in the common sense, " Lisa" from the movie (and 1994 television series) Weird Science deserves some mention. The reason for her inclusion into this topic is that she is a created being from human desires. Once she was created in the movie and/or premier episode, the producers sought to tell a tale about her experiences. This is usually true of other android stories-those that tell a tale about the android's experiences after activation. Examples of these accounts are in the series Mann and Machine and in the premier episode of Otherworld; in a way.

Classical movie androids have been depicted more like bipedal mechanical contrivances. Fritz Lang's Metropolis comes to mind, but more or better examples are needed. " Robby" of the cult classic movie Forbidden Planet is clearly made from robotic technology.

Current time-frame (at least of initial broadcasts) accounts of androids are few. However, Steve Austin of the Six Million Dollar Man, a television series from the 1970s, is a good illustration of androtic technology that could be used for prosthetics. RoboCop of the early 1990s also capitalized on robotic man-machine interface.

Amanda WyssSee footnote 1 played the part of Nova, a feminine member of a society of androids in the debut episode of a short-lived mid-1980s series Otherworld (previously alluded). Nova proved that she had the capability of loving and yet that she was aware of her android being. Her civilization was aware of their natural rights also (and ignored by the totalitarian humans). (Presumably, this series was cancelled because the main characters were having too much difficulty getting on their way home.) Those androids were depicted as being "plasmoid;" a very sophisticated technology; and yet were assembled in a mannequin-like fashion.

The most recent known to be applicable depiction of androids aired in the Fall (22 Sept. on KCPQ Tacoma,WA) of 1995. An Outer Limits episode, "Valerie 23", showed an "inorganic human companion" of great strength and human likeness. This must be because the producers had no androids to study in order to accurately portray their true capabilities. Likewise, that program did not show much of her construction details in spite of film production "Animatronic" support.

However, that story did show something about her skin; "dermasyn;" which was inorganic and flesh colored. She was designed to be able to process food for fuel energy and use fats and oils as lubricants. All of this in a size 6 package! And to feel the emotions of happiness, sadness, jealousy, and love.

The story also shown a little bit of Valerie's maintenance situation. During "tune ups," it showed how Valerie's head was opened up for service: Her skull assembly was separated about and within the scalp line and hinged about a line low at the posterior occipital.

Once her skull was opened, it became apparent that optical cables could be connected to the inner-workings like an umbilical. That may suggest a maintenance support design criteria for Hatfield Type Androids.

Valerie 23 was not afraid to die when she proved dangerous, but she became very fearful when "death" was eminent. The question raised by this episode, which may apply to consciousness, is about our souls when technology provides too much for our needs and wants.

A movie (USA network, 3 Jan.`96), The Companion, hints at android production capabilities near the start of the story. An attractive young woman, Gillian Tanner, discovered her lover seducing a younger woman in their bed. Gillian's best friend, Sharlene, talked her into visiting Odessey-Tronics for a G-45 series android.

The initial interview suggested strongly that Gillian was not prepared as it was obvious that she "winged" the answers to the questions. She selected a male " Jeffery" which was imprinted with his name and her voice during the interview.

The interviewer had an interesting assistant: She was an android of striking human-likeness. She was in particular very easy on the eyes and very obliging.

At the end of the interview, the story shown awkward moments getting acquainted. The product, Jeffery, was ready for immediate delivery. There was no fabrication lead time required because Gillian selected one of six predefined models so the system only needed to write the android's name and owners voice printed address.

The future has more to offer. At least as a time frame for androids.

Cherry 2000 is a movie about the trials and tribulations of an android owner who must find parts to repair his android. The title is a make and model of an android that is an artificial lover. The male character abandons his parts quest when he finds a human partner.

" Eve" (portrayed by Yancy Butler) from the twenty-first century placed series Mann and Machine (aired circa 1992 and also previously cited) was clearly a created android. Eve is a very fine example of androtics at its best because of her human likeness and her naivete versus her super-human prowess and capabilities. It is regrettable that the series, even during its short run, did not depict more of her construction other than a few allusions which was very tantalizing.

Gene Roddenberry's (19__ - 1991) creation in the 1960s, and the related movies and derivative series and their films, was fertile with example androids. The producers have perhaps better than any others that come to mind as of March 20, 1994, portrayed some androtic construction in their accounts.

Roddenberry's original, Star Trek twenty-second century series (airing 1965-66 and in perpetual syndication), had many episodes involving androids although none were a regular. Rayna Kapec of the episode "A Requiem for a Methusala" (?) was a legal ward of a very old man named Flint. Another episode, "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" constructed androids like magic from some putty-like material. Also, the second humorous episode ("I, Mudd") with Harcourt (Harry) Fenton Mudd deals with a planet of androids where some are a "bevy of beauties" led by the one central Norman.

The series spun off seven movies, with a rumor that the seventh was to have been the last. The first one, accused of being a "motionless picture," is where Ileah was reconstructed as a cellular based android using her memory for programming after VeeGer's (Voyager) probe apparently inadvertently destroys the humanoid Ileah. Of course, the seventh movie and the second series, Generations, has Commander Data (becoming more human-like with the inclusion of a humor chip that had a defect) because the captains of both the original and its descendant interacted.

Star Trek's descendent (by allusion to Captain Kirk and the inclusion of an aged Dr. McCoy in their debut episodeSee footnote 2, "Mystery at Far Point Station"), Star Trek: The Next Generation, from the beginning in the twenty-third century has an android character as part of the crew. The producers may flash-back to a scene of Commander Data's assembly occasionally so this is perhaps the best example of portraying android construction in contemporary fiction even though it may seem a bit robotic or mannequin-like.

Commander Data, a Soong Type Android, is in so many ways very advanced from the Hatfield Type Android. Perhaps Dr. Noonien Soong built upon my work in descendants of the Android Makers Handbook and this encyclopedia.

In one episode, "Inheritance," Commander Data meets his "mother;" Mrs. Juliana O'Donnell Soong Taynor. However, who he met was not a flesh-and-blood mother, but another, albeit more sophisticated, android. The original Mrs. Soong died prematurely, but not before Dr. Soong got a synaptic image of his wife's memories. Post mortem, he put a copy of her memories into an android; a "femdroid;" so far advanced and human-like in every way, including aging and the infirmities thereof, that she was not aware that she was not born a human being!

Data's synthetic mother was actually a younger android than he. However, since Dr. Soong did not make for himself a "Stepford wife;" he experienced the same interpersonal relationship problems that he experienced with the "real" Juliana.

In a previous episode, "Offspring,", Data perceived the need to reproduce himself by making his child, Lal. She started her existence androgynous, but then she elected to have a female form and finish. Sadly, she could not continue her existence and meet her "Grandmother."

Several episodes dealt with the evil Lohr. Dr. Soong made Data as a younger brother, but the neighbors demanded Lohr be switched off and any other androids be not quite so human.

Star Trek: The Next Generation's spinoff, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9), is contemporary and they even interact for some stories; even more than the debut episode. Both of the original Star Trek's descendants are produced by the same company, Rick Berman and Michael Pillar, so they have the same "look and feel." Even as DS9 copes with many variations of sapient life, no android character other than Commander Data's guest appearance comes to mind as of this, June 29, 1995, writing. There has been more infusion of Next Generation's characters now that their series has ended.

DS9's spinoff, Voyager, was launched from DS9. However, it does not have an android character but the ship has biological neural circuits and an occasional run-in with an artificial or mechanical life-form. This series is the third series produced by Berman and Pillar and can be seen via the UPN network.

Of course, there are better resources than this encyclopedia for information about science fiction. "Surfing" the internet has supplied some minor details and corrections within this entry. It also revealed someone else invented a character-android with a near human-like juvenile female features.

For more potential information about androids in fiction (this topic), check the following sites or internet Uniform Resource Locators (URLs which may or may not be suitable for entry into the "Sources" topic):

     http://sundry.hsc.usc.edu/hazel/www/sfrg/

http://www4.onestep.com/scifi/

http://weber.u.washington.edu/~ataraxus/sfmenu.html"

http://www.scifi.com/

There may be better pointers found by a search engine or a web worm, but these where what I had in my browser's resource file March 21, 1996.

The conclusion of other androids in fiction is that the characters they are is more important than how they came to be. Any allusions to other android's creation is incorporated only when it is part and parcel of the story line.

This seems unusual. Film makers have plastics, electronics, robotics, puppeteers and other "imagineers," and "animatronic" technology as a resource. In fact, some of the tools of their trade could contribute to creating a Hatfield Type Android.

Therefore, the contrast portion of the answer to the question posed a few pages back is that the purpose of this work is to support by collating the knowledge of the design and construction or fabrication of an android. There will be very little, if any, of the traditional "story" line in an encyclopedia.