While reading chapter 5, I stumbled across a question regarding the logic of the content. I'm still in the process of reading the book, so it might clear up itself - but I'm not sure it will.

I wonder: The corporation that produces the Nexus - 6 androids tries to trick Rick Deckard into thinking that his Voigt-Kampff scale, by which he can distinguish between androids and humans, doesn't work. They then want to bribe him into keeping quite about this alleged discovery.

But why should they undergo the trouble to do this? As far as my understanding goes, they should want him to think that the scale works fine, because so long as this is the case, there would be no reason to stop production of the new android models. Only if the exact thing that they are trying to make Deckard believe occurred - namely that androids and humans would be indistinguishable - only then, they would be forced to seize production.

So what was the point of their maneuver? The only thing that I can imagine is that they would want to film him take a bribe to keep quiet, just in case they would ever require anything from him. But that's not the notion that seems to be hinted at in this chapter and in any case, what could they ever require from him?

Hope someone can help and clear this up. Maybe I just understood something wrong...