Tecnos number 53 and 54 were the first created by Von Richter to be specifically paired together; while others had been made at the similar times, never before had they been made with the intention that they would have to co-exist both in normal society and while alone. They were also made at a critical time in Von Richter’s research, when his abilities were not perfected but pass success had made him overconfident in those abilities. This window of opportunity resulted in two major flaws in the Tecnos: they had a particular connection to each other, a friendship bordering on love that existed before Von Richter’s brainwashing; and a laxness in the brainwashing itself. Either alone would probably have posed no problems to Von Richter’s plans, but the two together worked against him and everything he had created.
   In the lab, both Tecnos demonstrated a deep loyalty to their master, a loyalty ingrained in each of their personalities that was directed at the only thing available. They also had above average reasoning skills, and were able to expand upon Von Richter’s instructions most favorably. Because of this, he foresaw no problems with either of them, and through his connections in Meridiana sent them out to the positions he had created for them, as they had been created for the positions: as Cyprus and Serena Trodden, respectively, a wealthy couple in the wealthy Upper Society of Meridiana.
   At first, everything went according to plan. They fit into the society they were designed for perfectly; where other Tecnos would have been lost in the illogical human world, Tecno 53 and Tecno 54 were able to adapt and pass themselves off as human to their highly critical audience. They took a house - equally staffed with Fixed Ideas and human servants - attended essential functions, and donated to charities to increase their popularity. And for Von Richter, they researched the people in Upper Society, finding those that would benefit him to be replaced with other Tecnos, while at the same time building funds for him to be used for his experiments.
   However, something began to happen to the Tecnos, something no one could have predicted. They began to experience emotions. While they had been adept at acting the necessary emotions, they had researched into psychology to prefect their performances, and while doing so began to find things that struck a painful note. They ignored it for as long as possible, but on the night when Serena openly and honestly cried at the end of the opera Carmen, they knew that something was wrong. Afraid of failing their master, they did not tell him any more than he asked, and Von Richter never thought to ask if they were becoming more human. Gradually, they came to accept these new emotions, and tried to use them to further their work. But the more they felt, the more they began to see that the world did not match the prescribed notion of reality that Von Richter had given them. There was beauty, caring, and other things totally foreign to him. And the more they saw, the more they liked what they saw. By the time that the Tecnos accepted that they loved the world, and each other, they knew that they could no longer help Von Richter destroy everything. Their loyalties, once given a choice, readily shifted to what they knew was right.
   They knew what had happened to the Cybers, however, and realized that they could never openly disobey him without being terminated. So they began to work in secret, sabotaging in little ways his plans while further securing their places in the real world. Because they had begun as such loyal servants, Von Richter never dreamed that they of all his creations would turn against him. He depended upon their reports of Upper Society above all others, and unintentionally gave them the freedom they needed to grow. When they fired almost all of their Fixed Ideas, he accepted that they were beginning to scare their guests, and were thus a threat to their position in society. When Serena and Cyprus furthered their research into psychology and sociology, he believed them when they said it was only to act more human to the highly judgmental upper class.
   And when they would finally turn against him, he would never expect it.