ROBOTOID dr peter beter

In Russia as well as in the West, research has been under way for many years in biological synthesis--that is, artificial life forms; and according to high intelligence, a stunning break-through took place in Russia some years ago. The Russians refer to this break-through as a "providential discovery", something they learned almost by accident. They discovered the key to creating what are known as "organic robotoids." An organic robotoid is an artificial robot-like creature, it looks and acts exactly like a human being and yet it is not human. A robotoid is alive in the biological sense but it is an artificial life form. Robotoids respond to conventional routine medical tests in the same way as humans do; they eat, they drink, they breathe, they bleed if cut; and they can be killed. Robotoids can also think, but they think only in the sense that a computer thinks. Like any other computer, the brain of a robotoid has to be programmed for each assignment it is given; but unlike many electronic computers, the biological computer brain of a robotoid possesses an enormous memory. As a result, robotoids can be programmed to communicate and think in such complex patterns that they act human. Organic robotoids are remarkable creatures, but they have many drawbacks. They don't grow or reproduce but must be manufactured one by one in the desired form. They also have a very limited life span, measured in months or even weeks, depending upon how they are utilized. This is due to the fact that their metabolism, while it resembles that of humans, is very inefficient. A robotoid can be manufactured on very short notice, a matter of hours; but after a few weeks or months it suddenly begins to degenerate physically and mentally. When that takes place, the robotoid has to be removed from service and disposed of. To extend its useful life as much as possible, a robotoid is customarily cooled down to slow its metabolism between assignments. Organic robotoids are extremely expensive, troublesome creatures to produce and utilize; and robotoid capabilities do not exceed those of human beings. All they can really do is simulate human beings; but, my friends, for Intelligence purposes that's all they have to do! To produce an organic robotoid it is necessary to have a pattern to go by. The pattern required is that of genetic coding taken from a few cells from the body of a human being. In this respect the Russian technique sounds like cloning, but the technique itself is totally unrelated to genuine cloning. A robotoid is produced within a matter of hours, and it simulates the human donor at his current age. Like any man-made copy of anything, a robotoid is never a perfect copy of the human that is to be simulated; there's always small discrepancies in appearance and behavior, but these are seldom great enough to arouse any suspicion.