Aren't all androids in the franchise (especially in the movies) a slave to their programming? That programming can just be more or less creative and focused on problem solving which looks like free will. It basically functions the same as our "free" will if you have complex enough programming, but the illusion is destroyed when they receive a direct order to achieve a short term goal by extreme means, like capturing the alien and letting everyone else die.
Ain't it like that?