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VOOMERs
Meaning of "VOOMER"
The word VOOMER is an acronym that stands for:
V O o d o o
O r g a n i c
M e t a l
E x t e n s i o n
R e s o u r c e
Meaning of "Boomer"
According to ADV Films, "Boomer" is a slang term used to describe rogue VOOMERs. This is incorrect, however, and should be ignored. See the "Boomer" or "VOOMER"? The Truth article for more information.
What are VOOMERs?
VOOMERs are autonomous androids created by the Genom Corporation. Their human-like design makes it possible for them to perform jobs anywhere a human can go. It is believed that VOOMERs have replaced much of the work force dealing with menial and heavy labour. Since VOOMERs are also capable of advanced decision-making (AI), jobs as chauffeurs, convenience store clerks, and fast food workers are sometimes given to VOOMERs as well. Some VOOMERs moulded for specialised uses are not shaped like humans but they are uncommon.
VOOMERs have muscular tissue and a metal or plastic skeleton. Though called "muscles", they are actually composed of a macromolecular chemical compound that is not made up of proteins. The actual substance is kept secret due to the Genom Corporation's patent rights. One of these muscles is capable of exerting a force up to ten times that of a human muscle of the same thickness. However, since this muscular tissue is expensive, the cheaper VOOMERs use motors for most basic functions - but even in these cases, they use nerve tissues to control the motors or use muscle tissue to control valves. In other words, even though they may look almost the same externally, there is a great difference between expensive and cheap VOOMERs. In both cases, they all have a biocomputer as their "core".
VOOMER Core
The core is the biotechnological analogue for the "heart" of a VOOMER. It runs an artificial intelligence (AI) program that makes it possible to have thoughts similar to those of the human brain. The size of the core is no bigger than a fist. It controls the countless nano-machines inside the VOOMER. The nano-machines flow throughout the VOOMER in a circulatory system that mimics the human body. In essence, a VOOMER’s core is its heart and its brain all in one. The OS software that makes such extensive control possible is far beyond human comprehension. It is a specialised program written by the biocomputer core, and there is much that is not clear to humans. However, under normal conditions, there are no problems in running the program loaded into every VOOMER.
Rogue VOOMERs
If you try to introduce changes to a VOOMER’s core that fall outside of the Genom Corporation’s prescribed boundaries, the stability of the biocomputer will immediately crash. It would not be a problem if it only caused such things as miscalculations, but when a core's stability crumbles, the VOOMER’s "self-image" can become confused. This is how VOOMERs go out of control, leading to what are known as "rogue VOOMER incidents". If a core becomes confused about its self-image, the countless nano-machines within the VOOMER try to restore the body accordingly to its altered self image by merging with nearby mecha. This is what is known as a "nano-stampede." The VOOMER’s nano-machines act immediately to resynchronise the VOOMER’s self-image, and the result in most cases is a totally new and warped form of what the VOOMER was originally. While it is not known exactly why this loss of self-image occurs, the risks of a nano-stampede are minimal, as long as the VOOMER is not tampered with, according to the Genom Corporation.
Social Impact of VOOMERs
The introduction of VOOMERs has changed not just Japan, but the world, forever. The introduction of machines that could potentially replace a human based work force has had both positive and negative effects upon the social structure. Because of the demand for VOOMERs, unemployment levels have risen dramatically. A wide variety of people with jobs including part timers are out of work because it is cheaper and more efficient to replace them with VOOMERs. On the other hand, jobs in bioengineering and fields relating to the development of VOOMERs and so on are all on the rise. With menial jobs going to VOOMERs, some now find themselves on the wrong side of the law or part of anti-VOOMER groups.