Oh don't mind me just posting a huge ass list of worldbuilding for an AU
Okay, so first off are the law/government thingies
The laws, for the most part, remain the same. Like the obvious ones that basically apply everywhere like no stealing and stuff
To date, there are no laws regarding the ethical/unethical treatment of robots
Robots themselves are viewed as "property," even if they're an advanced, independent AI
They're not allowed to resemble humans, like they have to have indication that they are, in fact, a robot
So by extension, pretending to be a human is illegal for robots
If a robot hurts a human, they either have to have their harddrive wiped, or be dismantled. It depends on the situation
If not in the vicinity of their human owner(s), robots have to have proof that they're registered/ID on them, and ready to show it at anytime
Every single robot, no matter how basic or advanced, has to be registered upon their creation
Legally, robots are genderless (but nobody actually cares about that, it's more of a fun fact tbh)
Cyborgs are illegal, and any cyborg that was originally a robot is confiscated from their owner and turned over to the government, while it's unsure what to do if the cyborg were originally human
People with robotic prosthetics don't count as cyborgs, as the legal definition is more about a cyborg being a merge of human and robot (especially in the neural system) to the point where one is inseparable from the other
There's a huge gap in housing between rich and poor housing, despite there being a thriving middle class
People either have to live on the crowded, chaotic outer part of town, or the mansion-like housing in the inner part
Most of the time, the middle class has to live in the poor part, but some exceptions do exist
There is no wall separating the two housing divisions, it's more like the poor part is on one side of the road while the rich is on the other
The law isn't as enforced in the poor parts, while it is in the rich parts
So people can get away with a lot more in the poorer parts of town
The upper class is extremely reserved and conservative, but otherwise it's just like a typical steampunk society
Most humans look down on robots. Some people even treat them as kind of pets, while others resent them for a variety of reasons
For example, many people in the lower class hate robots because they're slowly taking over low wage jobs, such as janitors and factory workers
Only a couple humans actually view them as people. Surprisingly though, not all mechanics see them that way. Some think of them as fancy machines that they get to disassemble and experiment/tinker around with
The really talented mechanics get to live in the rich part of the city
Hunt lives in the poor part of the city, despite him actually being one of the most talented mechanics and inventors in the city, but he doesn't have any intention on moving on up
He doesn't really have any friends, as people only go to him to get things fixed
So one day, he decided to build himself a friend out of the metal scraps. Which became Code, but Code only makes his life even harder tbh
Code never got registered, so he's basically illegal from day 1
But then they bonded, and HS started making Code more human-like bc Code's insecure as heck
HS can never get Code's eyes right, and they're really glowy and stuff, so he wears goggles to hide both the glow and everything else, but the glow still shows up in the dark
Code knows nothing about how humans work, leading to some really awkward conversations
Fanny lost her job, and then had to hide from the cops soon after, so she ended up hiding out in HS' house
She lost her job bc it got replaced with robot workers instead, and that was the last job opportunity for people in her line of work
So she's bitter to robots, which leads to a lot of Code trying to avoid her
It's all good though bc HS lets her stay at his house while she gets back on her feet, and even hires her to help clean up his shop
She probably found out about Code's robotness bc she found him in the middle of the night while going to get water
Aaaaand that's it for now! Feel free to add on your own headcanons >3>