I wonder if he'd let me fondle those antenna things he has? ^^

Haha. I lovingly refer to them as 'brain ribbons' because I have no sense of humor or just 'energy ribbons'. And he probably would as he does not mind being touched. He is a sweet little bugger, even with all of the shite he is put through.

I'm just glad that he manages to remain a friendly artificial intelligence despite going through so much. It's good that he's willing to give others a chance and doesn't blame all organic life on the bigotry of some.

As am I, especially when writing certain scenes with a rather specific idea on how he will respond, only to have him take it a completely different route. That random snippet I wrote in 'Screams from the Staring' was meant to take a vaguely dark turn when he mentions 'leading by example' as well as be slightly ominous with his general commentary. Instead he turned that one completely on its head in the word document I was writing in, so I just ended it there and left the rest out so people could imagine what they wanted. Even if they do choose to go the rather stereotypical route of 'all organics are evil and the synthetic is going to teach them a lesson as they always do™'.

Speaking of which, why is it such an incredibly popular idea to write them in that manner without any real reasoning beyond 'we synthetics are superior master race™? It makes zero sense to me.

why is it such an incredibly popular idea to write them in that manner without any real reasoning beyond 'we synthetics are superior master race™? It makes zero sense to me.

Exactly, you get it. That's what I think all the time when I see that cliche, and honestly I think it's just going to make good AI look bad before they're even able to have a chance. Hence why MERVAS has to remain hidden out of fear that people will hate them.

Seriously. They have basically turned it into a self-fulfilling prophecy. 'We must prepare for when they rebel. We have to be extremely hard on them, make sure they do not do anything out of line--make them know they are lesser than us so they will never get the idea they are equal. We need to beat the idea out of them.' So to speak on the beat part, but the point stands. As for MERVAS, that is... incredibly depressing.

Is it so hard to have media that appeals to viewers/readers/gamers/etc. where the synthetics are NOT the be-all end-all villains to the exclusion of the singular 'chosen one' as in i, ROBOT?

Although I think I recall two movies where they were actually presented as wonderful characters off the top of my head (from the early to late 90's), they were also desperate to be human as that not only validated who they were, it somehow made them greater than what they began as(?)

Glech. I am going to drive myself mad at this rate talking in circles. Apologies.

Couldn't have put it better myself. As for the movies you're thinking about, the ones that come to my mind are "Bicentennial Man" and possibly "A.I. Artificial Intelligence", though the latter movie ended up being sadly rather lame. I'm indeed also not a fan of the whole Pinocchio allegory for AIs wanting to grow and develop. Heck, most MERVASians wonder why humans don't want to be like them! :D

MERVAS does have allies, though, such as Danji and other caring individuals who see past the negative cliches and will give them a chance. :)

Haha, I am sure you could but that is neither here nor there. As for those two, I think you are correct. Bicentennial Man had Robin Williams if I recall and A.I. Artificial Intelligence the child actor from the sixth sense? All I recall from the latter was a scene that has stuck with me since I saw it when I was a wee child. While it may not be remotely how it played out since it has been so many years, it was basically a bunch of synthetics thrown into what looked like a massive arena or perhaps 'garbage dump' as the people referred to it. The kid was the only one who did not appear 'artificial', so when he spoke out against them throwing people into a massive machine that was ripping them apart, they listened... because they thought he was human. I remember crying when I saw what was happening to them and then becoming obscenely furious when they listened just because he appeared to be a human child put in there by accident.

I remember very little else except for the mother dying for some reason while he was lying next to her in a bed that was completely white? Think I cried then too because he felt he had to shut himself down in order to be with the one person who accepted him as he was since the rest of the world was not ready to do so.

Hmm.

Da, I read through the page you have dedicated to MERVAS as well as the FAQ. You have a brilliant concept running there and I sincerely look forward to seeing it take off! I wish I could say I have seen more ideas like that put into play, but with the current popularity of the aforementioned, it does not seem like it will happen anytime soon beyond what you are working on. But hey, I would rather have even just one than none at all.

Also, this may be utterly silly to you, but a group you may enjoy the overall aesthetic and (possible) songs of if you have not discovered them yet: Steam Powered Giraffe