>>105741
>I'd say that the narrative presents dolls as misunderstood (and sometimes mistreated) people.
Sorta kinda. Aphelion did anything but present them that way. In fact, the way it presented 404 showed those preconceptions weren't wholly unjustified in regards to 2nd gen dolls. They don't fear death, they can communicate telepathically, they can learn any skillset in minutes, they can turn off nearly all annoying sensory features, they can make calculations humans can't, they're susceptible to hacking, mind wipes, and the list goes on - That makes their way of thinking rigid compared to humans. Also, dolls look very much like artificial people, we just don't get the uncanny effect because we see that world through an anime-style lens. You can fall in love with a doll but you'll be seen as weird for actually being in a relationship all things considered.
Once the GF world moves on to third gen dolls (actual third-gen dolls, not knockoffs like Bluesphere who is more robotic than lots of second-gen dolls), perspective should shift a little? I've no clue how RC treats them there, I've yet to actually play it.