...and with a hand-wavium McGuffin: I'm going for "total neural sync would allow the bot to overwhelm a solo nervous system: they'd just spazz out in the garage".

And there's your answer: fans are sexist jerks.

Those cane rats look tasty. Someone should try raising 'em over here. No need for the whole black-market thing then. Nom!

The chances of twenty grand finding a cure for her brain cancer before it kills her are nil. The chances of twenty grand freezing her for future-tech to save are just very, very slim.

Is there any plan from SETI to focus listening on these Earthlike planets?