Tenders

Much like Mom and Dad, Terran Systems has invented the perfect customer service rep for nearly every task. They are so efficient, there are virtually no Terran CSRs anymore in the Sol System or the Triptych (though some still exist in the outer colonies and the Edge). Called Tenders, these robots learn from their patrons, and can enhance a customer's experience in nearly any setting. They can make a customer laugh, appeal to their ego, or defuse an unstable situation with relative ease. Their appearance and mannerisms change from customer to customer, so that leaving one’s house becomes an altogether pleasant experience in nearly every way.
While they do learn, process, and act like Terrans in nearly every way, that this is merely a testament to the care and finesse Terran Systems engineers put into each and every unit. It is important to recognize that Tenders are not sentient. Tenders are built to serve Terrans, and as such they do not mind doing the tasks humans are uninterested in doing for one reason or another. Reports of Tenders going off-script, causing damage or injury, or seeking alternate means of work are generally the result of electronic malfunctions or attempting to process conflicting programming instructions. Such units are repaired and returned to service quickly and efficiently. In cases of extreme malfunction, Tenders may be taken offline and recycled.
Tenders were one of Systems’ first innovations when it ventured into humanoid robotics and AI, and is one of the advancements most citizens quote among their top reasons for satisfaction within Terran Systems.

Utility

As Terrans began to be assigned to work they were genetically and psychologically best suited for, it was found that menial or "robotic" tasks - things from janitorial work to bartending to prostitution - could just as easily, and in some cases, far more efficiently, be handled by a robot with a good personality.

Inventor(s)

Tremmena Robotics, CEO Robert Yuri-Swiren Sold to AIT Sold to Terran Systems

Access & Availability

The availability of Tenders varies based on which corporation is running a Colony. As a Terran Systems technology, most Systems outposts are equipped with Tenders, though their presence is in greatest number at the Triptych where they are produced, and lessens as you reach The Edge. Other corporations often purchase and implement Tenders from Systems, so seeing Systems Tenders outside Systems space is becoming more common. Still other corps are working on their own versions. These are often less-lifelike or easier to see through, though they can often be just as charming.

Discovery

Cygni-based company Tremenna Robotics created the first Tender. It grew out of an experiment to serve military personnel in barracks and in foreign cities or on Edge planets, where it could speak the language of everybody who needed a conversation or an ear. Tremenna CEO Robert Yuri-Swiren sold the company to AIT, who was bought out by Terran Systems less than a year later. Systems modified the design to perform a variety of services, though the name "Tender" stuck.