It is an advanced humanoid robot with learning and analytical abilities, developed by a team led by irascible Nobel laureate Dr. Carl Forrester.
The pacifistic Forrester and Pressman believe that the military may intend to use expendable robots like Michael as soldiers or even political assassins.
Michael interacts with other people on campus as he learns about self-determination, including reading the fate of the creature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein novel after having watched most of the 1931 film on TV.
Aware that Pressman could not have withdrawn $2000 after business hours, Forrester accuses him of leading the government to him in exchange for a fully-funded research grant that he had long sought.
Forrester is aghast at the idea but finally agrees that it’s the only way to keep Michael out of the government’s hands until he can incorporate appropriate safeguards in the next prototype.
They say their farewells and Pressman, Jarrett and Keating watch Forrester stumble numb and grief-stricken into the coffee shop to meet them as fire engines respond to the blaze at the garage.
[2] Exteriors and most interiors of the research facility were filmed in the Hillside Campus "bridge building" of the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California.