Metalheads & Meatheads

Can an android override its programming?

An android, Paul, is walking home from work when he's set upon by a gang of adolescent humans, Meatheads, who hunt benign sophonts (sapient androids with superior reasoning capacity) and scoop out their eyes for trophies. Rendered sightless, he's rescued by a passerby, Philip, who then introduces him to another sophont, Sylas.

Sylas is different. He was created without the legally required emotion inhibitor and functions just like a human – and with the same intensity. He is as close to a human being as an artificially created machine can be.

Sylas offers Paul the gift of true unrestricted sophonce, the opportunity to be his own being and the master of his own destiny. Paul jumps at the chance. However, Sylas has an agenda – that all sophonts should attain their true potential – and has a very important mission for Paul. For the goal of the mission to be achieved, Paul may need to break the Three Laws of Robotics, the Three Commandments that all androids live by.

If the success of the mission depends upon it, can Paul overcome his overwhelming desire to not harm humans?