The U-87 is a prototype model of a Cylon, which Graystone Industries manufactures for the military.
Background[]
Graystone Industries is in a race for a military contract for one-hundred thousand robot soldiers. Until the present, Graystone was considered the only viable company to create such weapons. However, after running five years over schedule and one half billion cubits over budget, the Ministry of Defense considers moving the contract off-world to the Vergis Corporation on Tauron, which they believe has a fully effective Meta-cognitive processor (MCP) - a technology Graystone Industries has failed to create for a decade.
The company has already created a fully effective body for the U-87, but despite this the company has been unable to create a viable MCP. Many adjustments have been made to the U-87 to improve intelligence. However, all test results show that the U-87 models are unable to target and destroy any single target within an acceptable range of accuracy. In combat scenarios, U-87s spray fire instead of efficently targeting hostiles. ("Pilot")
Sentience[]
After Zoe Graystone was killed, Daniel Graystone discovers that she had created a sentient avatar of herself, which exists inside the Virtual World. Desperate to regain his daughter, Daniel makes a deal with Joseph Adama to have his Ha'la'tha mob connections go to Tauron to steal the Vergis Corporation's MCP. ("Pilot") ("Know Thy Enemy")
When Joseph gives Daniel the stolen MCP, Daniel puts the Zoe avatar program into it, then installs it into a U-87 body. Initally it appears to be conscious and speaks to her father, but suddenly the U-87's Artificial Intelligence crashes and the avatar program is destroyed. Daniel is devasted. After effectively destroying several targets in a demonstration for Secretary of Defense Joan Leyte, Daniel uses this U-87 and MCP to win the military contract. The U-87 is locked away. Unknown to anyone, it suddenly reactivates with Zoe's avatar program intact and operating. ("Pilot")
Robot Zoe decides to keep her existence a secret from everyone, especially her father, whom she does not trust. She obeys all orders to not betray her existence.
Despite the MCP working perfectly in one robot, when it is placed in any of the other U-87 robots it fails to create the same intelligence. Cyrus Xander says they all act like morons. Daniel believes the MCP has merged itself with the first U-87 robot in which it was originally installed. Daniel sends the original model to his personal lab at home where he will work to replicate it for the other robots. ("Rebirth") ("There Is Another Sky")
Behind the Scenes[]
- A practical animatronic Cylon U-87 robot prop was built for this series, at a cost of over one-hundred-thousand dollars. This was used in many of the scenes where the actors physically interacted with the robot while it was standing still or relatively motionless.[1]
References[]
- ↑ "Caprica" (2009-2010), Trivia on the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on August 12, 2019, edited.