Cyborgs and Masterminds Since the 1940s
Overview
Robotics was not a new concept when the first metahumans appeared but like many other superhuman and inhuman phenomena has been advancing rapidly since. Contemporaneous with the rise of metahumans, science-fiction writers, most notably Isaac Asimov, wrote extensively regarding robots with artificial intelligence. Some attribute the popularity of this work as a reaction to metahumans; in any case no one seriously predicted that by 1965 walking, talking, artificially intelligent robots would exist.
But exist they did, not just one but six robots, the now world-renowned Metal Men, were introduced in 1965 by the prodigal and erratic genius Dr. Magnus, at the age of 29. He unveiled them in dramatic fashion, ordering them into action to help New York City through the great blackout. He was conscripted into the FBI immediately. It took a few years to get the team fully functional, and it wasn't until 1970 that the Metal Men were up to snuff. His crew fought on behalf of law and order through 1981 when he retired to Michigan.
One would think that from 1970 on, the American military and police forces, let alone industry, would be overhauled with robotic super-beings. It is clear that Magnus cooperated fully with federal authorities. It is also clear that while costly and time-consuming, it is not beyond the means of Dr. Magnus alone as he has rebuilt the Metal Men several times single-handedly. Thus the government should easily be able to produce at least dozens of these robots a year, by the most judiciously conservative of estimates.
While the government has been mum on the subject, it's clear there is some vital link between the mastermind, in this case Dr. Magnus, and his creations. Since Magnus' startling announcement, there have been a few other robots and even more sophisticated cybernetic and bionic beings. Most, such as the Red Tornado, Iron Man, and the so-called Human Torch (who only later was revealed to be a robot) have been shrouded in mystery by their own choice. The few who have been "above ground", including the Metal Men/Magnus, and the "self-invented" Robotman (Cliff Steele), have been unconvincing in their rationale for the inability to duplicate their methods.
Doc Magnus has claimed that others simply have been unable to understand and replicate his sophisticated technology. A few close to him have suggested he is in essence an idiot-savant of some high order, who, despite this high achievement, is incapable of properly detailing how the robots work. But others suggest some far-reaching and undetectable mental powers. Neither of these wash on closer examination: it is inconceivable that in over 35 years no one could properly duplicate the Metal Men; and MIT brain studies have shown no energy, brainwave, or other correlation between Magnus and his Metal Men.
Cliff Steele has claimed that the ability to build a robot with a brain is as much dependent on the brain as the cybernetics. He claims that "virtually" (an enigmatic choice of terms yet one he insists on) no one has adapted his design to another brain. In this case theories abound that to successfully interface cybernetics to the brain, both the proper psychological outlook and personalized hardware (adapted to biochemical release patterns) is required. As logical as this is and despite the absence of other theories, it does not explain robotics.
Fringe thinkers believe that spirits inhabit these robotic beings, breathing life into them. By some theories ghosts of people take them over! We won't be discussing this craziness...
unless...but let's survey the history and study the facts a bit first...
The Marvelous Metal Men
The advent of the Metal Men in 1965 ranked up there with the space program as the pinnacle of American technological progress. As metahumans seemed to be popping up more and more, some even saw this as the "normal" humans' way of creating a force that could safeguard humanity. Gushed Time Magazine in its article naming Dr. Magnus "Man of the Year" for 1965, "These metallic super-beings represent the next step in human technology. Stronger than biology and genetics, they are forged to serve man, to enable man, to rescue man when need be." A hasty statement.
The late 1960s saw others rushing to create metallic beings but with little success. The Metal Men were not without their own problems, however. Malfunctions occurred in public, creating significant property damage in the 1967 attempts by them to resist the mass murderer known as Typhoon. In 1968 they served in the military. assisting the All-American in the brutal task of putting down North Vietnam, then mysteriously were "discharged". Interviews with Magnus and the Metal Men two decades later revealed that the personalities of the Metal Men led to their refusal to obey orders in the brutal conflict; this hint at the Pandora's box that had been opened was suppressed by the government out of a public panic. Their refusal, coupled with their still-unresolved glitches, created a situation where for the first time we know for sure the entire team was annihilated (earlier battles saw the destruction of one to three at a time). Magnus claims the original "responsometers" were rescued and through those their memories and experiences lived on. Regardless, their military application was deemed a failure.
The Cold War of Steel
Throughout the late 1960s and into the early 1970s both Russia and America worked ceaselessly towards duplicating Dr. Magnus' success. But the results of these labors were disastrous.
No one knows who unleashed Chem-bot in 1974, the strange robot whose giant body held a vast array of deadly chemicals, Secrecy around the issue nearly ensures it was the result of a government experiment; a congressional investigation in 1989 declared that "in the interest of national security" the story would be sealed for 100 years. In any case, despite the simultaneous (and suspicious) disappearance of Dr. Magnus, the Metal Men rose to the occasion and defeated Chem-bot, though only through (for a second time) their complete disembodiment. Magnus did not reappear for several months and it was not until 1976 the Metal Men were fully functional again.
The Human Torch appeared in 1972 fighting crime but associating with subversive terrorist elements of American society - the Symbionese Liberation Army and the Weathermen. His destruction at the hands of the All-American in 1974 revealed him as a robot, as stray pieces were found after the battle. Some believe he was a plant by the Russians.
The lone known Russian robot actively deployed during this period, Металлический Рабочий Херо (Metal Worker Hero), known popularly in the West as simply the Red Menace, went berserk months after its deployment in 1975. The Slav managed to stop it before it killed anyone, but it caused millions of dollars of damage in the city of Prague.
The European Community got into the act as well, producing (allegedly with the help of Dr. Magnus) in 1976 some sort of prototype robot that participated along with other European heroes in the slaying of the butcherous Red Flag. Some rumors indicate that the robot was built entirely for the purpose of slaying Red Flag, as it could be programmed to do so without hesitation or regret. Although that may be true, it is doubtful this robot, codenamed Vision, was particularly useful in general as many years go by before such a robot were to surface again from a joint European endeavor.
Hard-Wired Men
Perhaps the failure to create more purely artificial men led to the increased attention to cybernetics. The first real step in this direction was Iron Man. Little is known about Iron Man and his career was all too brief, lasting from 1977 to 1982. The going belief now is that it was a man inside a suit of armor but that the suit of armor was automatically triggered by certain nerve impulses of the man. If this belief holds true, Iron Man was simply a first step in the direction and not truly cybernetic or bionic, except perhaps minor integration. Whatever the case, Iron Man's successful fight against crime, often seemingly on behalf of the government what with his apparent relationship with President Carter, was in stark contrast to the failure of the robots of the prior ten years. Most speculate he simply retired after five hectic years of activity; whatever happened, he was not publicly defeated.
In the years that followed Iron Man's debut, the Bionic Man and later the Red Tornado appeared. The Bionic Man, so named for his likeness in appearance and capabilities to the main character of a short-lived television series of the same name, came into public focus as he ended without bloodshed a highly publicized hostage situation in 1980. It is generally believed he was at least prior to that, if not throughout his career, an operative of the CIA. The Bionic Man had a short-lived career as well, though, dying in the disastrous Iranian hostage rescue attempt with the better known Hawk and Dove. The Bionic Man was remarkable as a human with electronics and other technology implanted in his body.
Red Tornado was quite another story. He first appeared seemingly out of nowhere in 1983 and babbled about a "creator now gone". From 1983 to 1984 his strange wanderings through the globe, involving experimentation in living among various social settings (communes, police states, etc.) were headline news. His return to his self-declared home of the United States in late 1984 amounted to a massive publicity campaign, despite only occasional forays into fighting crime. That changed over the next few years as Red Tornado was conscripted to serve the government, and he was declared "one of our chief weapons in the war on crime."
Ten years after the rumored deployment of the Vision robot in Europe, it was rumored another such joint project was launched in 1986. Some theorize that this project was a bigger failure and resulted in a disaster covered up by European-employed supers. Perhaps time will tell.
Meanwhile in the 1980s Doc Magnus retreated from public life. He retired from public service in 1981, amidst rancorous disagreements with the administration on "matters of national security" still not revealed. In 1985 he disappeared from view and his Metal Men fought crime around Detroit and frequently beyond on their own, rarely speaking of their creator. They were destroyed in 1988 by an unknown assailant; their parts were discovered by an anonymous investigator who apparently returned them to Doc Magnus' estate.
In the 1980s a few more robots and cybernetic beings popped up: Gentle Ben, the Metallic Murderer, S**tcan, and Shatter Clatter. in the US; Nervous Nikita in Russia; and Raybot, Excessive Consumer, and Tuna Lover in Japan. Of special note is the sudden rise of robotics in Japan. While none of the Japanese metallic beings were of the caliber of Red Tornado, their mostly jolly and corporate-sponsored nature has set a very different trend in that nation. And as such they presented unique visibility.
Raybot is the best known and the only one still in existence from this period. His sleek looks and Rayban sunglasses along with his fluid speaking style (in any number of languages) has played well in the media and his words are well-documented. He refers to being created by "private interests which wish to remain anonymous" who funded "my creator who must remain nameless for his protection" in 1985. In one interview he speaks of having been endowed with "human feelings and human memories [emphases mine]." Further questioning on this queer reference to human memories has met with a sullen "no comment," and by all implications the comment was a rare slip.
Excessive Consumer was not in any way a super-hero but rather a being that attempted to learn to be human. It was portrayed by the government as being created by a combination of private and state interests and highly classified technology. The EC being acted amazingly like a five year old upon his unveiling in 1988 but matured rapidly. In 1989 at an approximated age equivalence of 18 EC died in an accident when attempting a stunt.
Tuna Lover never explained his origin nor did anyone come forward. Appearing in 1990 this creature admitted to having a human brain encased in its body and acting as its central processing unit. Shortly after this revelation Tuna Lover died when protecting Tokyo from the Megazilla monster.
More Human than Human
In fact the Japanese robots displayed characteristics so distinctly human - making references to memories, acting childish, and claiming to have a brain - that increasingly they were seen as people in every sense.
And indeed in at least one case this was entirely true. Dr. Cliff Steele, AKA Robotman, revealed his existence to the world in 1993. Steele was thought to have died in 1988 due to illness and placed into cryogenic suspension per his last wishes. However, instead he had his brain placed into a robotic body he had created during the 1980s after he became aware of contracting a fatal degenerative disease. He claimed that for five years after the "integration" he sought to control his body and his sanity.
Steele has since sought to help people, to use his powers for the good of humanity. And he has also gone through a number of personal crises in the public eye. His 1995 romantic involvement with an obsessive fan ended with her suicide - and a probing investigation that he may have murdered her. In 2000 his destruction of several blocks of Caracas in an admitted "drunken rampage" brought a storm of protest. In particular his refusal to appear in Columbian court (bolstered by the Bush administration's controversial decision to obey extradition papers, claiming national security) has roused the ire of many in the public. Steele is undoubtedly a man both trapped and liberated by a maze of cybernetics.
The Metal Men, rebuilt by a newly-energized Dr. Magnus by 1993, seem almost quaint. Their personalities, while clear and strong, are caricatures. But they have endured, and even have gone to oblivion and back once more in the last few years. In 1999 they defeated a strange ghost-like menace near Detroit; speculation has it that Dr. Magnus himself was their opponent somehow, that he suffered a bout of madness - and that this was not the first time. This has been strongly denied by all visibly connected to Magnus but rumors persist. If Magnus was responsible, he changed heart quickly; the Metal Men were rebuilt in record time, reappearing the very next year.
By 2000 at least 24 robotic and cybernetic beings were known to be in existence across the globe and it is suspected there are perhaps as many as 500. The example of the Human Torch and the more modern "humanity" of recent of these creatures allows many to pass as human.
The 21st Century Cybernetics Programs
The Clinton administration had minimized robotics/cybernetics programs, along with the role of all paranormal beings, in military research, in some part as an attempt to calm a feared "robotics race". But the Bush administration has witnessed a 180 as Rumsfeld has stated, "the future of the infantry is in cybernetics." A massive black budget has been proposed but so far rejected by Congress; the discretionary powers of the military assure that at least some significant effort is underway.
It is also clear that the European Community is seeking to create a peace-keeping force of supers again and in particular is focusing on some sort of robotics program. Meanwhile "Dr. Doom" (who some suspect is a cybernetic being himself as he often wears heavy armor) has publicly snubbed efforts in this arena but military experts claim otherwise.
What is certain is that a robotics race is just beginning to percolate.
Missing Keys
The history of robot-like super-beings has witnessed increased human-like qualities. Given the desire early on by governments to create the perfect servant, this flies in the face of logic. Why would this happen? Why would our governments create robots even more willful and uncontrollable than the Metal Men, who disobeyed orders in Vietnam?
The answer lies in missing keys, elements unknown to the public. But these very elements speak volumes.
The first is that each robot was conceived by a small number of people in absolute secrecy. This is not merely a matter of big programs with high confidentiality; there is almost no one who knows anything about these undertakings - at least not the successful ones! There is quite a catalog of unsuccessful efforts where details are obscured but at least the undertaking was heard of. That makes sense; such programs require hundreds, if not thousands, of participants at some level. But the successful robots have all been created by so few people that leaks do not exist!
The second missing key is that all successful robots have displayed a level of human quality. None have been merely automatons or great artificially intelligent machines of pure logic.
The third missing key is that none have been successfully duplicated. This defies logic completely!
But perhaps not so much as the fourth missing key: "artificial" intelligence is highly developed in these robot-beings - BUT NOT IN THE SUPER-COMPUTERS USED BY THE MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY ORGANIZATIONS OF OUR TIME! In point of fact, even the foremost thinkers of the world indicate that AI is still a long way from being a reality! Yet it exists in these robots!
The answer is obvious. They are ALL like Cliff Steele. They all have a human brain operating them. Only the uniqueness of a person's brain cannot be duplicated in modern technology. Only that would explain the emotional content. Only that possesses the level of intelligence we see in these beings. And it explains why the secrecy and the small numbers. A small number of people have taken preexisting cybernetic and robotic technology and applied it to people's brains. This operation could be undertaken by a small number of people and would of course be secret.
There is evidence. It is of course circumstantial, but it is real. In 1963 five men and one woman died in an MIT-conducted, military-sponsored experiment. Little is known but it is a matter of public record as documents have surfaced and public death certificates corroborate them. A young Dr. Magnus was working in an MIT laboratory the day these deaths occurred.
Or perhaps we should say the day these people's bodies stopped working.
Other theories differ of course. Many claim that there are distinctly different origins as these beings have variously implied and even stated. But the nature of a brain awakening in a new and strange body is bound to generate creation myths, convenient explanations to avoid mental breakdown. So the robots themselves are tainted sources of information.
Some continue to believe that the mastermind/robot relationship is revealing, that those robots who speak of their backgrounds in detail all refer to a single important creator. Yes - this is the way these robots relate to their former human selves, whether consciously or unconsciously. Of course Doc Magnus is a "mastermind" but where were or is Red Tornado's or Raybot's? The theory that those who refuse to let go of that "relationship" arrive at is psychokinetic powers informing the robots moves, whether from within (as in Cliff Steele's open-and-shut case) or without (as in the Dr. Magnus/Metal Men theory). As stated at the outset, this does not hold water when properly researched.
The psychokinetic-bot theorists have rebutted the theory presented herein (first discussed in the Brain-Cybernetics Specialty Digest, May 24, 2000) by indicating that powerful detectors have found no organic material in many robots. However, none of these robots thus examined have submitted to being completely dismantled by a collection of scientists in a public forum. Without this test we must imagine that they have something to hide, and that something to hide is at least some piece of brain matter encased and heavily shielded deep within.
It is clear that the governments are well aware of this at least by now. What is left to be mastered is the fusion of brain with machine in a reliable way - as we have seen, many of these beings have died (for at least a second time) and in retrospect it seems related to an inability to handle that fusion.
Conclusion/A Call for Public Policy
The reason for concern over the reuse of human brains in machines is multi-fold. We do not know if people are having this done to them against their will. We do not know how these brain/metal combinations might be manipulated. We do not know how the people are selected. We do not even know precisely why this is being done.
These concerns speak to the very future of humanity. Mutation, at least, is a natural development we must deal with and for the most part falls outside (at least so far) of the manipulation of massive organizations with agendas. And in the US and most developed nations genetic tampering is expressly forbidden. The "robotication" of humanity is quite another matter; it fundamentally alters us and is being done by a small number of people. The process can (and will) be refined and exploited by governments.
Unless it is stopped altogether. Unless we refuse to tolerate the existence of cybernetic/robotic beings in our society. If we take this step, however painful, then we can create a climate where the government cannot easily create and deploy these even covertly, as discovery itself will reveal a crime. Our current situation finds us viewing these hybrids as media stars and military might. It is easy for the governments of the world to create more.
The hue and cry now is that this is an advocacy for the death of living beings - as we have granted herein that brains lie under these metal casings. Perhaps existing beings can be granted a "grandfather clause" to exist. This is certainly most humane. But this leaves a wide open door - what if they wish to reproduce their kind? What if they cause trouble? Perhaps the best solution is to shut them down and leave them dormant until such a time as we have better mastered our own non-endowed human nature.