voigt-kampff-test

Rick Deckard prepares to take over the bounty hunting assignment from Dave Holden, who was killed by a Nexus-6 android named Max Polokov. Inspector Bryant advises Rick to test a sample of Nexus-6 androids from the Rosen Association in Seattle using the Voigt-Kampff test, while cautioning about the test's limitations, especially regarding certain humans with diminished affect who might fail the test. At the Rosen Association, Rick encounters Rachael Rosen and observes their collection of rare, living animals, which contrasts with his own electric animal and prompts reflection on the nature of artificial life and authenticity.

In this chapter, Rick Deckard administers the Voigt-Kampff empathy test to Rachael Rosen to determine if she is an android. Despite her calm demeanor and verbal responses, the physiological readings suggest conflicting results, leading to a tense confrontation with Eldon Rosen, who explains Rachael's atypical responses due to her upbringing off Earth. The chapter highlights the complexities and moral ambiguities in distinguishing humans from advanced androids, revealing corporate manipulation and the limitations of the empathy test.

Rick Deckard returns early from Seattle and prepares to hunt the Nexus-6 android Polokov, who has disguised himself as a scavenger but has disappeared from his apartment. Deckard is instructed to work with a Soviet observer, Sandor Kadalyi, who arrives to assist with the hunt. Meanwhile, Rachel Rosen from the Rosen Association offers Deckard help, suggesting a Nexus-6 android could better approach the escaped models, but Deckard declines.

Rick Deckard is unexpectedly arrested by a previously unknown police force and subjected to interrogation and investigation regarding his identity and actions as a bounty hunter. The chapter reveals a parallel police agency unfamiliar with Deckard's own organization and introduces Phil Resch, another bounty hunter, while raising questions about the nature of androids and humans, the reliability of detection tests, and the ambiguity of identity. The discovery that Polokov was an android and the discussion of different methods for identifying androids deepen the novel's exploration of empathy and authenticity.