Robot

Whether or not Robot dragons are truly living is the subject of much scholarly debate at the heart of the Flight's scientific community. Indeed, they are created with metals and alloys for limbs and hide, with hydraulics and oil in place of blood, and their brains and central nervous systems are comprised of neural microprocessors and circuitry. One may argue, as some have, that Robots are mere machines.

However, the advanced nature of their artificial intelligence systems, including inductive logic, Bayesian networks, and association and representational learning, has led many to the conclusion that Robots are indeed, 'alive.'

Regardless of their classification as living or 'artificial life,' Robots are self-aware, and therefore generally recognized as autonomous beings. Many robots tend to fulfil tasks relevant to the initial purpose behind their creation: that is, defence, scouting, mining, or machinery maintenance in the most inhospitable regions of The Shifting Expanse, where temperatures climb over 50ºC, and the earth is bombarded with lightning strikes. However, they have been known to take on nearly any profession.

Robots have been programmed with residual genetic tendencies for the species in whose likeness they were created. For example, a Robot Ridgeback is likely to despise water, and a Robot Guardian is likely to feel the desire to take on a charge. Robots possess nanotechnology that enables replication when conjoined with the nanobots of another member: that is, they have the capability for reproduction.

Robots certainly have their own personalities, though these tend to develop more strongly with time, due to the nature of their learning algorithms. Many biological dragons may experience Robots to be emotionally subdued. Non-malfunctioning Robots are highly unlikely to have an emotional reaction that may compromise a dangerous situation, or even a routine work-task. However, Robots do experience emotions and express them, and do express a variety of individual dispositions.

Some say that there are villages of Robots in the farthest, deadliest reaches of The Expanse, where Robots that have been mistreated by biological dragons gather to create their own communities, too far into the inhospitable desert to fear outside interference.