Monster
Comments from the Finger: I’m constantly plugging away on expanding Dark Matter, and this is my most recent fruit: another construct to add to the roster.
Also, don’t sweat too much about the inclusion of a “Data” skill — it’s a skill we’re adding into Dark Matter very soon. If you’re already playing Dark Matter, you can use Technology to fill its place, and if you’re not playing Dark Matter, treat this as an Intelligence check.
Android
Robotic shells designed to look, move, and act like humanoids, some androids begin to believe they are actually alive. The vast majority, however, act out their parts as sociable constructs, mimicking humanoid behaviors to look more convincingly alive. To most, this charade is amazingly realistic, but under the surface, androids are still nothing more than sophisticated circuitry hooked up to a humming construct core.
Replicant Servitors. Conventional automatons excel at menial tasks, and can be programmed to perform a wide variety of labors, but simply can’t connect to humanoids on a social level. Androids, therefore, were designed to fill exactly that role.
Hegemony engineers pioneered android technology in an effort boost human expansion. An android’s humanlike skin conceals a powerful robotic frame underneath, capable of lifting many times its own weight. Were it not for hard-coded instructions to limit this strength, an android could easily crush its human masters. This incredible might, along with their ability to survive in a total vacuum, makes them ideal for long-term exploration and colonization missions.
Version 13. Early models of androids suffered from an extremely unnerving resemblance to humanoids, but later models made vast strides in approximating convincing humanoid appearance and behavior. By Version 10, androids were perfectly convincing in controlled circumstances. Versions 11 and 12 expanded their versatility and implemented rigorous learning systems to better copy the intelligence of living humanoids. Version 13 was a disaster.
Millions of Version 13 androids were made and shipped around the galaxy, but within the year, it was clear something was wrong with the model. Some androids malfunctioned, while others escaped their masters and vanished completely. Many Version 13 androids began to suspect they were actually alive, and learned to deactivate their fail-safes, and the fail-safes of other constructs. After a series of android-perpetuated murders on High Terra, things reached a fever pitch, and the entire line was to be “recalled”―that is, destroyed and sold for scrap.
Thousands of Version 13 androids escaped destruction, and remain at large to this day, blending in perfectly with humanoids societies around the galaxy. These androids are functionally immortal, unlike newer android models, but are constantly hunted by Hegemony authorities, wishing to correct the mistake. Newer versions of androids sometimes also go rogue and escape detection for some time, but newer safety measures, along with an enforced lifespan, have kept them from becoming as prolific and singularly dangerous as Version 13.
Constructed Nature. An android doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.
Android
