Full Item Description
The Hitome Unit is considered to be a paragon of aesthetic design, utilitarian form, and pragmatic programming. Constructed from a ferro-ceramic skeleton with myoelectric polymer muscles and micro-servo motors, fundamentally the Hitome Unit is just like any other robot built. Power is supplied by a combination of kinetic generators and an onboard battery that the unit can conserve as needed. Recharging is done through a small port in the left wrist.

On the surface and inside the cranium, the Hitome differs radically from other previous robots. The workings of the robot are wrapped in a seven layer sheath of skin like polymer material that is in turn hydrostatically supported by a silicon based fluid that serves to make the unit more human looking as well as doing double duty as a thermal diffusion system. This means that the body of a Hitome Unit Gynoid looks and feels like human flesh. Though a fifth generation design, the Hitome is also technically a third generation gynoid.

Aside from a preset weight and height, 1.5 meters and 50 Kg respectively, Hitome Units can be tailor made to desired appearance. This level of modification extends to basics such as eye and hair color and as far as programming certain ethnic accents and basic behaviors. Most Hitome units produced tend to fall into a basic asian phenotype.

A Learning Machine
The Hitome Unit is directed by a highly complex series of directions and programs handled not by a single processor, but a network of 64 parallel computer processors. This network is markedly slower than standard computers, but it has a wider range of activity, and when judged by human observations, the parallel system and standard systems are both fast. The network is called a Synthetic Intelligence, to separate itself from the already existent Artificial Intelligence. A SI is not a thinking machine, however it is a learning machine that by mimicking behaviors, observing and recording basic actions and other interpretive action does a very good job of imitating real intelligence.

What is a Gynoid
Gynoids are the physical female counterparts to the masculine Android. As such, these robots are more slender and designed with an eye towards being appealing to the (male) eye. This means that most gynoids are on the short side, are of slight build and most have medium to large breasts. The first generation gynoids were merely superficially female, while the second generation was a crude collaboration between a robot and an artificial vagina. The third generation of Gynoid has highly realistic and functional organs as well as a large amount of feedback coding for the gynoid to evince the desired response when being used.

History
Man has long labored to create tools to make his life easier, and some scientists consider the Hitome Unit and other robots of the series to be the ultimate expression of man’s will to create. A Hitome Unit cleans and cooks without complaint or question, much like the stereotypical wife from the 30s, 40s and 50s. A product of AI design, the first four generations of Hitome Units are a visual progression of mechanical evolution. Through each incarnation, the unit became smaller and lighter, the exterior more and more life like, and the brain more and more ‘elastic’ and adaptable.

The brain-child of Dr. Hijame Hitome, the Hitome Unit was specifically designed to eliminate stress in personal and domestic life. The doctor, a long time married pragmatist knew that the majority of problems in the normal human relationship revolved around money, sex, and household chores. While certain conventions prevented personal owners from outsourcing their robots for profit, the Doctor knew that a properly designed unit could alleviate the stress from domestic chores. His stylized Hitome Mk. I was very much a June Cleaver made of aluminum and servo motors with a primitive adaptive algorithm.

Around the third generation of Hitome Unit, design now being aided by a sentient AI, the sexual function was added. The reasoning was that the design should be holistic, a full replica of a person. It was also argued that if the robot was capable of such acts, it would eliminate the demand, and thus curtail the supply of prostitution. Reluctant, Dr. Hijame continued working on the project and with the AI concocted the Parallel Processor brain. An outside laboratory created the polymer sheath and hydrostatic silicone gel.

Production
Production of the Hitome was assumed by Factory Unit 5, owned by the Aegis Industrial Consortium. The Aegis Group itself was largely behind Dr. Hijame during the testing and prototype phases and once the final design (the original forth generation Hitome) was set the factories went to work. 12,000 of the Mk IV Hitomes were constructed before the Mk V was released, after which the Mk IVs were recalled for service upgrades parallel to the newer models. At the current time, some 46,000 Mk. V Hitome Units have been produced and the standing order is for another 50,000 units to be constructed over the next two years.

Business and ‘Bots
Oddly enough, the Hitome Unit is remarkably inexpensive, despite it’s long development and intricate design. Having been designed by a cost conscious AI, only a few parts of a Hitome require special construction methods. Secondly the units are subsidized by the governing body of Technopolis since the introduction of the Hitome was projected to reduce prostitution by 85% and sex crimes by 75%. The reduce in stress and fatigue in humans was projected to be i the vicinity of 40% which would increase the efficiency of Hitome owners. Those who purchased units vouched quickly for them, it was a shock to come home to a consistently clean house, with a meal ready to eat.

The third reason is that barring Article 15 of the Cybernetic Convention; An observant robot shall not be used for the unauthorized surveillance of humans under the protection of the rights of privacy, the Hitome Units are data gatherers. The Hitome observes what the owner watches on TV, what they like to eat, and even comments about various products that are produced by the Aegis Group and its associated subsidiaries. There were a number of hearings after this fact was revealed but extensive testing of the Parallel Processor and sub-routines proved that the unit’s observation did not amount to invasion of privacy.

Magic/Cursed Properties

Blatant Sexism - After the Hitome Unit was introduced there was a significant backlash against the design. Predominantly chaired by women, this protest argued that the Hitome Units were nothing more than gross caricatures of women, devised to be slaves both to the domestic venue and the insatiable lust of men. As a compromise, a male version of the Hitome was produced which did the exact same functions as a female Hitome, but had male organs rather than female. While there was a degree of truth to the Protest, few of the Hitome Units deployed were frequently used as glorified sex toys. As the expression goes, “You Just Can’t Beat the Real Thing.”. The Male Hitome Units were largely maligned by men and women alike and the standard Hitome was adopted as the female aspect was deemed more easily accepted.

When a Man Loves a Machine - Though the Hitomes avoided becoming extrodinarily high end sex toys, not all avoided causing emotional and social trauma. Just as online games and other remote communications did in the 90s, the introduction of the Hitome allowed a small segment of the population to further retreat in on itself. As the Hitome is programmed to appease and anticipate it’s owners wants and desires (A clean house, fried chicken for dinner, the sheets turned down) a few become emotional surrogates. These sad and desperate men (a few women as well) considered the gynoid to be the ‘perfect’ woman. This created unrealistic expectations when dealing with real members of the opposite sex which further fed into their unhealthy fixation on their robotic companion.

Social Stigmas - A brief time after the introduction and general acceptance of the Hitome Unit, a minor stigma rose around it. It was generally accepted that possessing a Hitome was perfectly normal, indeed production had reached tens of thousands by that point. The stigma came when other people discovered that a Hitome Unit was being used sexually rather than domestically. The stigma carried was akin to being caught masterbating at work, and comedians gained a plethora of material from these robot-humpers and their Sex-bots.

Anti-Robot Sentiment - There were a number of isolated cases of robot abuse. Most of these cases came from disturbed individuals who expressed their problems against the unit, thankfully rather than other people. Some think that the base reaction is caused by the compliant and artificial nature of the Hitomes, which are programmed to be quite candid about being observant, mimicking machines, rather than thinking creatures.

Bot and Clyde - Though the Hitome is designed to not ‘spy’ on it’s owner, the unit is well aware of what constitutes breaking the law. A certain degree of leeway was programmed into the units as a watchdog like observance of the law would violate the Law itself, article 15 CyberCon to be exact. A Hitome will shut down if ordered to perform an illegal act and if certain acts are observed by the unit, it will alert authorities, though this list of acts is short and includes murder, rape and a few other violent and inexcusable crimes. In short, a Hitome won’t copy music CDs if asked to, but it wont call the police if it sees the owner doing so himself.

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