Joseph Tanaka was an aide of Censor Jennings. In 1988, after riots in Philadelphia over the use of sims in AIDS research, Jennings sent Tanaka to the Disease Research Center in Terminus to informally investigate their procedures. After Dr. Peter Howard gave Tanaka a tour, Tanaka was satisfied that the sims were being treated as well they could be. Tanaka was content to report his findings to Censor Jennings, acknowledging that Howard appeared to be ethical. However, Tanaka admitted that if Howard had suggested using defective humans as an alternative to sims, then Howard's research would have been terminated.