Gunnerkrigg Court 3: Mystery Solved!

[Imgran]

Methinks someone at the court was a little to paranoid about robot revolution.

...

Wait, don't the robots run their own production? Why would they make the next generation horrible at keeping secrets and with an obvious power off button?

At least to an extent, it's a "copy of a copy." Each generation of robots is a watered down version of the last BECAUSE they design themselves. I'm sure if we had to design our own children, rather than letting genetics and experience do most of the work, we'd have the same problem.

That's why Kat means what she means to them. It's a chance to undo some design drift, or at least move UPWARD as a society for a change.