Central Processing Unit

In computer terminology, a Central Processing Unit or CPU is a device which carries out the instructed tasks of a computer program by initiating the basic logical, arithmetic, control and input/output operations. The CPU of a computer, as the name indicates, is typically the central processing component for that computer, with other functions like system memory frequently managed by separate components.

In the context of fembot fiction, the CPU operates as the brain in a rough anthropomorphic analogue to a human brain. Here, every core computer function, especially those concerning control programming and personality, are contained within. Depending on the writer, this could take the form of any number of devices with an equally numerous amount of variations. For instance, a CPU in one work could be a device no larger than a flash drive with the same level of "plug-and-play" modularity, a combination of inorganic computer components and "wet" organic neurons and everything in between, limited only by the writer's imagination. A particularly common variety of central processor is the "positronic brain" concept made popular by Isaac Asimov, although the exact details and functionality of such a device often varies between story writers.

As an analogue to the human brain, a fembot's CPU is frequently placed in their heads, but not always. A frequent alternate location is the torso, though in some types of fiction the control processing of a fembot may even be an external source, with the fembot operating remotely.

In fiction

• In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Soong-type androids, such as Lt. Commander Data and his "daughter" Lal have positronic brains, located in their heads. These devices can be accessed through panels located on various locations on their heads.
• In Bicentennial Man, the robots and androids also utilize a positronic brain located in their heads. These devices give them immortality, even if they elect to convert their mechanical bodies into more humanlike ones.
• In many of [Mirage's] stories, he places the CPU in the torso of his fembots.
• In the film Surrogates, humans remotely control androids through a wireless link, with the android bodies having no independent processing system.
• In [Saya's] stories, the location of the CPU varies between stories. In ["Crazy in the Heat"], the fembot's core processing is in her torso, whereas in ["The Time With My Stepsister"], they're located in the cranium.
• In The Big-O, Dorothy Wayneright's CPU has its personality and memory components separated from the core operating systems by a hard drive-like device disguised as a hairband. It can be ejected without interrupting her functionality, but its complete removal shuts her down completely.

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