An Imitation of Love (A Detroit: Become Human Story)

Chapter 1

Sebastien's alarm triggered in the early hours of the morning waking the sleepless man. He groaned as his hand fumbled in the darkness, attempting to find his cell phone on his nightstand. Finally reaching it, he shut the alarm off as his eyes glanced at the "breaking news" articles written about deviant androids.

He paid the article no mind since deviants had nothing to do with him. He didn't even own an android. The thought made his skin crawl though. How could one possibly own an android as if they were an air fryer or a television? From what the media stated, deviants were androids who gained self-awareness and were prone to violence. Sebastien honestly felt that they got sick and tired of being mistreated, and he could relate to that in more ways than one.

Sebastien had more to fear from humans than he did androids anyway. Androids weren't built for hatred, biases, racism, or homophobia. They only saw the human in front of them. Growing up Black and gay in the heart of the south, Sebastien carried quite a few scars with him. Some showed more than others. It was part of the reason why he moved to Detroit. There was a heavy population of androids here and he preferred interacting with them more. They were always so kind to him. He knew they were only designed that way, but he didn't have to worry about pissing them off for simply existing.

Sebastien yawned as he began his morning routine. He washed his face, cleaned out his ears, brushed his teeth, flossed, and swished around mouth wash. He already wanted the day to be over as he looked at himself in the mirror. His russet brown skin hid the dark bags under his eyes. His coarse black beard was getting thicker so he needed to trim it soon. He also needed to cut his hair before he began sporting a miniature afro. He preferred a buzzcut as it made his hair easier to manage.

He was always exhausted and even when he got enough sleep, he still woke up tired. He knew that there was medication for that, but he felt like it wasn't worth the hassle of dealing with the side effects. He got dressed and began to pack his lunch. He was supposed to be at work in exactly five minutes so he didn't rush since he was going to be late anyway. It was a perk of being a salaried employee.

There were sudden, firm knocks on Sebastien's front door. Sebastien stared at the door to his modest one-bedroom apartment and couldn't fathom who would be out there at this time of day. He also wasn't expecting company and assumed it was either Mormons or a Jehovah's Witness. There were more knocks on the door, still firm like the first set.

"Delivery!" a man's voice called out. That was even more worrying for Sebastien because he knows he didn't order anything recently. Unfortunately for him, he also needed to head to work very soon and that door was the only way out of his apartment. Unless he jumped three stories off of his balcony, but he figured that wouldn't be a good idea.

Sebastien walked towards the door and looked out the peephole. There were two men dressed in delivery uniforms with matching hats. From what he could see, one held a tablet in his hand. Sebastien braced himself and opened the door. He was met with two warm smiles from the two identical delivery men, standing side by side, and Sebastien knew immediately that they were CyberLife androids. The blue LED circles on their right temples also gave it away. "WD500" was stitched on the right side of their uniforms.

"Sebastien Parker?" the android on the left asked.

"Yes?" Sebastien answered. For some reason, he felt completely out of his element.

"Sign here, please," the android with the tablet on the right held it out for Sebastien to look it over.

"What am I signing for?" Sebastien's voice raised a bit due to his confusion.

"Your delivery," the android with the tablet answered.

"Yes, but what is it?" Sebastien enunciated.

"I'm afraid we don't know, sir," the android on the left spoke. "CyberLife upholds client confidentiality."

"CyberLife?" Sebastien asked. "The package is from CyberLife?" Sebastien could hear a large dolly being wheeled towards his apartment door. A massive package wrapped in brown paper sat gently on the dolly as two more identical WD500 androids waited patiently for Sebastien.

Feeling overwhelmed, Sebastien moved out of the doorway as the two androids continued to wheel in this mysterious package. Sebastien looked over the digital documents on the tablet but they showed no details of what he was signing for. The CyberLife logo appeared at the top of the documents and he found his own name and address. He signed at the bottom of the tablet using his left index finger and handed it back to the android.

"This is also yours," the android gave Sebastian another tablet except it was brand new and sleeker than the one he previously held.

"All of the information you need is on that tablet," the android on the left spoke. "Simply hit 'play'." As Sebastien shifted the tablet in his hands the androids with the dolly finished unloading the package in the middle of his living room and made a beeline for the door.

"Have a good day, sir," the last android spoke before shutting Sebastien's door for him.

"This better not be what I think it is," Sebastien said to himself as he finally hit play on the tablet. The CyberLife logo and theme began to play on the tablet before a man sitting in a chair began to speak. Sebastien recognized him immediately. It was Elijah Kamski, founder and former CEO of CyberLife. The all white room that Elijah was sitting in made Sebastien uncomfortable.

"Congratulations, Sebastien," Elijah began. "You have been chosen out of billions in the world to test my new product."

"No. Way." Sebastien gasped. "This really better not be what I think it is." Sebastien immediately sat the tablet down and began tearing off the brown paper on the large package. In it was exactly what Sebastien forbid himself from ever having.

An android.