Editing Tiffany 16 (section)

==General Automaton Technology==
"Motivating essence' is a biological computer made of a variety of engineered micro-organisms, including a few extremevores that gain power from heat and/or agitation.  Thus, essential fluid is a tailored zoon - a biological colonial orgamism like portugese man-of-war, biofilms, and certain slime molds.  It functions as both a processor and as a hydraulic fluid. That is, like a slime mold Motivating Fluid "moves" albeit minutely, and can apply minute pressure to turn one and off various microvalves and gears to direct and activate more powerful steam, hydraulic or pneumatic systems. So the network of hoses and rubber "veins" are part of the automaton's nervous system. It also functions as memory storage. The nutrient soup includes memory RNA which defines the automatons role and duties. This is why automaton memories are not perfect. (However, certain models have a carbon matrix for additional greater memory and processing requirements.)


The automaton thought processes are modeled on the human brain but with one major difference. When a automaton comes out a factory, it is the exact opposite of a human baby. A human baby knows little aside from emotion, but an automation has a great deal of built practical knowledge, but nothing else.
So automations are not programmed, as such, but conditioned, to be subservient and have no free will. 
For example, think about your favorite things. Most of the time there are pleasurable because pleasurable memories associated with them.
 
Tramatic events or a major in changing memory handling can cause an automaton to "awaken."
(Granted the core book says all automations are self aware but hide it. My explanation is that they do not realize they are self aware and conditioned not to know or care.)
 
Part of standard automaton maintenance is to fluish the motivating essence to cleanse any problem causing memories.