I Ghola

 

Gholas. Of all the creatures in the Imperium, these beings truly inspire interest in my Mentat mind. When analyzing their construction I seem to be at a loss because what my conlusions tell me are in total contrast to the actuality of these creatures once they are completed.
At the beginning, the Tleilaxu require flesh from a deceased being for which they can twist and manipulate in their evil and conniving ways. Once they obtain this flesh, they nurture it within specially designed spawning tanks called Axlotyl tanks. Upon reading "Heretics of Dune", I have found that these "tanks" are in fact, Tleilaxu females (no female Tleilaxu has ever been seen off the main planet of the Tleilaxu faction). Depending on the quality of the sample of flesh, the Tleilaxu are then able to cause the flesh to grow into a duplicate of the original being from which the flesh was obtained. However, rather than a clone, a ghola is not tied to particular gene patterns. In fact, the Tleilaxu have the technology to alter and change the ghola so that it has certain traits the Tleilaxu desire so the ghola can serve a specific purpose.
Despite the fact that the Tleilaxu almost always manipulate something in these gholas, many factions in the imperium still find the gholas acceptable and do not hesitate very long to purchase them. For the most part, the Tleilaxu just improve their specimens and their gholas have not often been reported to participate in assassinations or misdeeds toward their buyers. Still, however, this disguise of customer satisfaction is undoubtedly a part in the larger Tleilaxian schemes.
The most intriguing quality of a ghola is its ability to regain the memories of its previous life. In surprising form, the Tleilaxu first accomplished this with a Duncan Idaho ghola given to the ruler, Paul Atreides, as a gift. The ghola was programmed with a directive to kill Paul, however, the Duncan Idaho persona was one of extreme loyalty to the Atreides family and thus these directives caused a dircect conflict with the gholas function. This exposure to such severe trauma which was rooted at the very fibers of the gholas being caused the ghola to suddenly regain his original memories of his previous life. Since this politically dangerous undertaking, the Tleilaxu have utilized their technology to master this newfound ability in their gholas, increasing their value tremendously both economically and politically.
The greatest danger here lies in the secrets that the Tleilaxu withold on this process, information that holds great power.