The beautiful brunette of Spanish descent smiled, her white molars visible. "Do you need help, miss?"Her name tag, fake gold-plated, read 'Alicia'.
Massie Block had just gotten off of work. She pressed her black designer purse against the leg of her black designer pantsuit. Her short brown bob was glossy, her flawless skin perfumed. "What can you tell me about this one?" She reached out to stroke his cheek. The lifeless eyes were one green, one blue. They stared straight through her. His dark hair freshly combed for display.
"That's a Fisher model. Full classification Cam Fisher. He promises sensitivity and is programmed specifically for love notes." Alicia smiled again. "Candy included."
Massie didn't want to gain weight, though she really liked this Cam figurine, and she had a great body anyway. "How much?"
"Five hundred."
"A little pricey for that leather jacket."
"Yes, but he's our most empathetic model of the season."
"Can you turn the candy off?"
"Um, no, though I'm sure we can-"
"What about this one?" Massie made a beeline for a well-tanned one and then slowed her pace to circle him atop his display shelf.
"That's Dempsey. He's an updated model. Just arrived today." Alicia clasped her hands over her black blazer and jeans.
Something didn't feel right. Massie didn't want an updated version, she wanted something original. "What do you recommend?"
Alicia didn't miss a beat before pointing to an isolated few boys, standing still as statues. They were set to 'OFF', like all the other boys in the cold room. She was specifically looking at, "My favorite - the Josh Hotz. I highly recommend you give him a go. Though I may not want to let him cheat on me." She winked.
Massie half-smiled, but turned to look around some more. Those were the most expensive models in the shop. Not that it mattered, but Massie was going for something a little more… natural. She stopped on something very peculiar – one of the models was smiling. His eyes were lifeless; sure enough, he was turned off, but a mischievous smirk was clearly present. Massie approached it. "What's this one?"
"That's our Derrick Harrington beta. He still has some bugs. Technically, he shouldn't be available to the mass market, but-"
Massie whipped out her wallet. "But I have a VIP card." Alicia still looked unsure and was about to say something, but Massie also pushed her platinum and gold credit cards out. The look on Alicia's face transformed. "Tell you what. I'll charge you full price, but you can return him before your seven day session is up if he has too many bugs and get a refund. You can be our official beta tester and give us a report."
"Thank you. But I think we'll be able to work through it."
--
Massie had guided the boy model out of the store. They turned him on, but he could only be physically guided out and needed a minute to 'heat up' for his personality to come on as well. Massie took him under a streetlamp and crossed her arms, tapped her foot. All boys did this, but he was taking extra long. Must be one of the issues.
Finally, his brown eyes sprang to life. One of his eyebrows shot up. His smirk widened. His eyes showed recognition and the first thing they recognized was Massie. "Hey, what's up? I'm Derrick Harrington."
Massie smiled. There was something in his tone, his eyes, his posture. "I'm Massie Block."
"That's a cool name. Really cool last name. I'll just call you Block."
She put her hands on her hips. "Well, I'm not going to be the only one with a nickname. I'll call you Derrington. It sounds like a soap opera name. Very cute!"
"Aw, I don't want it to be cute!"
"You're going to have to deal with it," She grabbed his hand – still not totally warmed up yet - and led him off.
"Where we goin'?"
"You want to get some dinner? Pizza or something?"
"Where do you live?"
She raised her recently waxed eyebrows and let go of his hand. "Uh, penthouse apartment, right over there." She jerked her head toward her building, a block or so away.
"You want to just go there and do something?" His brown puppy dog eyes were hopeful. He grabbed her hand again.
Massie stared into his lit up eyes. Yes, a lot of bugs. "You know what? … Yeah. Let's just do that."
And with that, she walked again, still holding his hand, the synthetic skin now warmed up, this time towards her apartment. There were a lot of bugs, but that was something she and him would have to work through.