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

Chapter 2

"The newest model, LV1000, has been a sort of pipe dream of mine for years," Elijah continued speaking. "There is only one in existence and you, my lucky human, have received the chance of a lifetime."

"How did this even happen?" Sebastien whispered to himself. He was sitting on his couch with his head in his hands. He had called out of work for being sick. Honestly, he was. This whole thing made him sick to his stomach. He tried calling CyberLife's customer service but none of the androids and humans he spoke with knew what he was talking about. They did not have his name on file, they also had never heard of an LV1000 model android. Sebastien figured if this LV1000 was the first of its kind, its development and design were probably classified. It made no sense, however, how Elijah Kamski's newest model ended up in his living room.

"You have the choice of leaving the LV1000 dormant in its package and the four charming WD500s will pick it up in exactly one year," Elijah continued speaking through the video. "Or you can activate it and get an experience that no one else ever will..." Sebastien pressed pause on the tablet as his cell phone rang.

"Hello," he spoke through the receiver.

"Ew, you sound gross," the caller said.

"Love you too, Violet," Sebastien sighed.

"Is everything okay, Bash?" his best friend asked. "Do you need anything?" He assumed she learned that he called out of work when he didn't show up today.

"Vi..." Sebastien drew her nickname out.

"What is it?" she asked, concerned.

"CyberLife delivered an android to me," he said slowly.

"What?!" Violet exclaimed but also whispered because she was still at work.

"I know!" Sebastien sank further into his couch.

"I thought you were against owning androids," she said.

"I am!" Sebastien shouted. "CyberLife chose me as a guinea pig to test their new model."

"How'd they do that? Ooh! What kind of model is it? What does it look like? Is it one of those sex ones?" Violet continued firing off questions at him.

"I don't know!" Sebastien said to her. "He's been standing in the middle of my living room in his package because he's too heavy to move."

"Ooh, it's a he?" There was playfulness in Violet's tone when she asked that question. "I always said you needed a man and the CyberLife gods delivered. Literally. To your doorstep. Bash, I can't think of a better scenario than this."

"Violet, you are not helping," Sebastien groaned.

"Can't you just have them come pick it up and pick someone else?" Violet asked.

"I've tried but the customer service reps have no clue what the model is. He is the first of his kind. I even gave them my name and it doesn't appear in any of their databases."

"That is really weird," Violet said to him.

"Now, we're on the same page," Sebastien said. "What if it's a serial killer model or something?"

"I highly doubt CyberLife would ruin their already kinda rocky reputation by building a serial killer robot," Violet assured him.

"Android..." Sebastien corrected her.

"You know what I mean," He could feel Violet rolling her eyes over the phone.

"What should I do, Vi?" Sebastien was at a complete loss. He didn't want to activate the android, but he for sure didn't want it in his living room for a year.

"Wait for me to get off work and we can go from there," she told him. "I've never seen a deactivated android before. Nor have I seen one get activated for the first time. This should be fun!"

"I'm happy you're enjoying this," Sebastien told her sarcastically.

"Thanks!" She squealed. "I'll see you soon." Sebastien shook his head and hung up his phone.

He looked at the giant container that sat quietly where the WD500s placed it. It was an official CyberLife package. The android stood still inside the box with his eyes closed. There was a clear film in front of the container giving Sebastien a full view of the LV1000. The model was much taller than he was. At five foot eight inches, Sebastien could tell the model was a little over six feet tall. The android's tanned olive skin seemed smooth to the touch, but Sebastien immediately noticed the stubble beard on the android's face, lining his chiseled jaw. Sebastien never recalled seeing an android with facial hair. The dark brown hair on the android's head curled slightly past his ears. Like all other male androids, his musculature was well-defined underneath the unique uniform he wore. The uniform was completely black with gold stitching and on the left side of the android's jacket a blue triangle faintly glowed. On the right side of his jacket "LV1000" was branded. From what Sebastien could see so far, the android was remarkably handsome. It was almost criminal.