The 1968 novel by Philip K Dick, "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?" is not, as the movies "Blade Runner" and "Blade Runner: 2049" would suggest, primarily concerned with the hunting down of a fugitive android. Rather, the novel seems to be more concerned with asking the philosophical question about what kind of emotions a machine can have, given that they are merely designed to follow their programming instructions.
The two tests which are used to see whether or not someone is an android are a physical bone test (because androids are built inventions which do not have the random impurities in bone structure that humans do), and a specific empathy test to see whether or not the person in question is capable of feeling empathy for the theoretical person in the test. That's all fine and good but there is a massive plot hole which is papered over in that in theory the test would never be able to tell the difference between an android and a sociopath, and the fact that if the androids whom they are doing the testing on have already escaped from Mars to Earth because they fear their own destruction, then they have already exhibited emotion. Okay, there is a whole entire other argument to be had about whether or not fear and anger are genuine emotions or reactions to things but considering that they are things to be felt, I tend to think that they are emotions.
Not that this is a particularly novel idea in literature, as this kind of question is played with again and again. From "Frankenstein", to "I, Robot", to "2001: A Space Odyssey" and even into modern cinema with the aforementioned "Blade Runner" and even "Millennium Man"; so this is well trod ground. It should be of no surprise then, that on a very recent re-watching of the 1991 anime "Kyatto Ninden Teyandee" or in English the Samurai Pizza Cats, that I come up against this question again. Thanks to this most dubious of dubs and the many decisions that were made in writing the English gag dub, I have this persistent question; especially about Lucille.
Edoropolis/Little Tokyo is set in a semi-future-past-present-eka-Edo Period. The world is populated by, as described by the show itself, animaloids. From here, the internal continuity exists only as far as the current gag calls for, and so very much of the time there is a Thirty Xanatos Pileup of discontinuities and dialogue disasters and triumphs. As far as the internal logic of the show is concerned, we honestly don't know if the characters are animals with armor, mecha-enhanced animals, androids with animal components, or just out and out robots. Who knows? Nobody knows. Not even the writers know. They don't even care.
On top of this, the internal logic about how species work, is also nonsensical. Unlike say Bluey, where the primary person template is a dog and only a dog, in Samurai Pizza Cats, everyone is everything; so don't think too hard about it. Here's where it gets weird. It is canon that the different kinds of animals can have children; the most visible example of this is that Emperor Fred who is a panda and Empress Frieda who is a rabbit, have a daughter who is also a rabbit. Also, when Francine who is a cat tries to go on a date with her beau, he turns out to be a terrifying horse looking man thing. Knowing all of this, I still have this persistent question about Lucille.
Apart from being the object of Speedy's and Guido's affection (for reasons that seem mostly nonsensical to me), Lucille doesn't seem to exhibit any kind of sensible emotion. Not even when her brother is kidnapped does she seem to perturbed. Admittedly this is because she is trying to maintain a level of stoicism but she doesn't seem to concerned that he is kidnapped. Lucille's emotions both in the Japanese and English dubs range from apathy to ambivalence when all about her friends are being blown up in explosions. I do not know if this is a lack of empathy or sociopathy or just played for comedic effect. However, she is frequently upset; which always results with a trap door opening in the top of her head and a spray of missiles in a crazy Itano Circus fashion, but again that is usually because something bad has happened to her and not necessarily because she feels bad for anyone else.
So here is my persistent question about Lucille. Lucille is a sheep. Is she a mecha-enhanced animal? Is she an android with animal components? Is Lucille actually a full robot? Is Lucille an electric sheep? Is she actually the textbook case study of whether or not androids dream of electric sheep? Is Lucille an android, in which case she might dream of electric sheep? Is Lucille an android but a sociopath, in which case she would not dream of electric sheep? Is Lucille an electric sheep but a sociopath, in which case she would not dream of electric sheep? Is Lucille an electric sheep and she dreams of androids? Are Speedy and Guido androids, and do they dream of Lucille who is an electric sheep? Is Lucille both an android and a sociopath but a narcissist; in which case does Lucille dream about herself; who is an electric sheep?
I know that works like "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?" are supposed to make us ponder about things like sentience and the ethics of killing machines if they actually gain self-awareness but I do not think that we will even get close to such things in my lifetime. That question seems to be a bit useless for that reason. However, the internal logic of the question itself, does in fact give you the answer.
An 'android' is a humanoid robot. When machines switch off, they are not on. Robots do not dream. As an 'android' is a subset of robots, androids do not dream. Period. If androids do not dream, then they do not dream about electric sheep, or in fact anything else for that matter. Dreaming is the domain of a thing which does not switch off, lest it dies. The question of "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?" follows Betteridge's Law Of Headlines which states that: any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word 'no'.
With a small amount of manipulation, we can turn Betteridge's Law Of Headlines into a paradox by asking: Is Betteridge's Law Of Headlines True? Paradoxes are fun but my persistent question about Lucille, "Do Electric Sheep Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?", is so utterly mind bending that it makes my head want to explode.
Who knows? Nobody knows. Not even the writers know. They don't even care.
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