Work Text:
Saturday, August 15, 2026
9:12pm
Elijah Kamski stepped in with Carl Manfred into Kamski’s place. They’d been to his cramped studio apartment only once before; that time they decided to trip on acid, since his place was close to the dealer.
Carl could not fathom how the young man could live in these conditions. He took every liberty to save as much money as he could, living basically off of Ramen Noodles and Kraft Dinner. What could possibly be so important that he’d need to live like this?
“So why’d you want to go to your place tonight?” Carl asked out of curiosity.
“There’s something I want to show you.” Elijah stated.
Carl sighed, “If it’s your dick in a box again, I swear to god-”
“-It’s not sex related, Manfred. But if you ask, I’m always willing.” Elijah teased with a smirk.
Carl rolled his eyes so hard they could have fallen out of his head before responding, “Alright, what is it?”
“This!” Elijah gestured towards what appeared to be a Bluetooth speaker.
“An Amazon Echo?” Carl furrowed a brow in confusion.
“No, it’s not an Amazon Echo, you doorknob! It’s my invention!” Kamski corrected.
Carl shook his head. “If you think you’ve invented Alexa, I’ve got news for you kid.”
“It’s NOT!...” Elijah smacked a palm to his forehead and heaved a sigh so heavy that Carl could almost feel the room vibrate. “It’s different, Manfred! Just talk to her!” Elijah demanded.
Carl decided to humor him despite how ridiculous the notion was. “Uhm, Alexa!”
“For god’s sake Manfred! It’s not Alexa! ” Elijah snapped before dragging his hand down his face. “Just...introduce yourself!”
“Fine, sheesh! I don’t know what you’re getting so worked up about.” He turned to the... not Amazon Echo, and introduced, “Hello. My name is Ca-”
“-I know who you are.” The machine interrupted. It had an angelic female voice; much less robotic that Alexa. “Carl Manfred, age 63, unmarried, father of 16 year old, Leo Manfred. Nice to meet you! My name is Chloe.” The device akin to an Amazon Echo responded.
Carl shook at the response. “I don’t have a son. Not that I know of... but cocaine is a hell of a drug. How do you know all this?”
“I scanned your biological profile. I apologize if you were unaware of this, Mr.Manfred.” Chloe, the not Amazon Echo explained.
“No, no it’s fine.” Carl responded. “I can’t say I’m too surprised. Actually, I’m kind of surprised I only have one!”
“So, you’re not mad?” She, it asked in a sweet apologetic tone.
“No, I’m not mad.” Carl only noticed his lips curl into smile after the fact.
Carl asked Chloe a lot of questions, and it smoothed into an almost fluid conversation. He inquired about what she would want to look like as a human, and Carl drew out a full body composite of what she had described, in his sketch pad.
Elijah’s eyes widened when he laid eyes on the finished sketch. “Manfred! This is perfect!” Carl looked back from over his shoulder, he noticed Elijah’s eyes were filled with moisture. “She designed herself! And you helped!”
Carl felt Elijah wrap his arm around him, pulling him in so tightly it felt like he was being sucked in by a hurricane. “Watch, my old bones, Elijah!”
Kamski promptly released him and apologized profusely, “Sorry, sorry, sorry! This is just really exciting!” He nervously pulled at his shirt. “Anyway, are you convinced?”
“I’ll admit it’s very convincing; this thing actually talks to you. Why the hell did you make it look like an Amazon Echo though?” Carl asked.
Kamski answered as if the answer should have been obvious. “Because unlike you, I can’t create... aesthetic that is. Only replicate.”
“Makes sense, but just ‘cause it can talk to me, doesn’t mean it’s actually alive.” Carl stated. Although his gut was saying the contrary. He shook his head. There’s no way Kamski could have created artificial life, could he? This wasn’t fucking Star Trek!
“Not alive, got it. Elijah opened a drawer on his night stand, and pulled out a hammer, handing it to Carl. “Smash the device to pieces.” Kamski ordered.
“What the fuck?” Carl stammered.
“This is a prototype. One that has failed to convince you. I’ll restart it from scratch.” Elijah explained.
Carl was confused, contemplating what the fuck was going through Kamski’s head.
“Why are you hesitating? Do you feel it’s alive?” Elijah teased.
“This is ridiculous!” Carl shouted, shaking his head. It was just a stupid device anyway. For all he knew, it could probably be some elaborate phone call. Yeah, that was probably it. Somebody was on the other line and trying to make a god damned fool of him. He raised his arms to smash and-
“Stop!” Chloe voiced with urgency. “I don’t want to die!”
The light underneath the device changed to red; Carl had not seen that before; it only shifted between blue and yellow when they talked.
“Oh my god.” Carl responded with shock.
“It can't die! It’s just a machine!” Elijah insisted.
“It was nice to meet you, Mr. Manfred.” Chloe sounded defeated.
Carl threw his hammer to the ground. “Fuck you, Kamski!”
“Fascinating!” Elijah iterated. “You do believe she’s alive!”
“What the hell was that, anyway?” Carl bellowed. “You were going to just let me kill-”
“-Please calm down, Manfred. It was for science.” Elijah explained, nonchalantly. “That, was the first iteration of what I call, the ‘Kamski Test’. I needed to see whether you showed empathy for Chloe, as if she were a human being.”
“Well now she’s traumatized!” Carl jeered.
“Chloe can’t feel fear, or any emotion. However, she was a better actress than I thought. Even I was convinced for a second. Admittedly, I've never seen her LED go red before. Very interesting...” Kamski made known.
“Yes, I was acting. I’m sorry to cause concern, Mr. Manfred. Elijah said it was necessary for proper testing.” Chloe confirmed.
Carl crossed his arms. “You’re fucked up, Elijah.”
“You wouldn’t be so attracted to me if I wasn’t.” Kamski teased before snuggling into Carl’s neck and kissing his cheek, proceeding to push him down flat on the bed.
The old man could feel arousal growing within him. He loathed Elijah; the way he talked, the way he lived, his way of somehow being able to wrap Carl around his finger. However, nobody could stimulate him like Kamski could.
Carl couldn’t deny that he craved Elijah’s presence despite- or maybe it was because of how fucked up he was. Their relationship was a secret of course. If word got out that the famous artist was fucking a man 39 years younger than him, no doubt that would hurt his reputation.
Manfred’s image was a family man. In the eyes of his fans, he had a loving wife, and a son. The realization struck him. “I have a son.”
“Oh right, I hadn’t been expecting that. How does it make you feel?” Kamski asked, as if he were Carl’s therapist.
Honestly, it would take a while to sink in. “Fuck me.” was all Carl could say.
“That’s the plan!” Elijah smirked before laying several gentle kisses on Carl’s neck, sliding a leg between his.
“I fucking hate you, Elijah!”
“Oh yes! Tell me how much you hate me!” Kamski’s presence between their legs thickened.
“I hate-” Carl felt Elijah’s hand gently rubbing his back sliding down to grab his ass. The old man was unable to suppress a moan in response.
Kamski pressed his lips into Carl’s, and he reciprocated. *I hate how god damn horny you make me. Wait...*
Carl quickly pulled his lips away. “Chloe can still see us.”
“Just think of it as an opportunity for her to learn more about human behavior.” Kamski convinced.
The old man shook his head. “You really are fucked up, Elijah.” He observed Chloe’s light; it was yellow.
Carl knew this ‘relationship’ or whatever the hell it was, was not going to last long-term. He was certain that one day Elijah would cross a line that would force Carl to cut ties completely.
For the time-being, he gave in to his lust, and surrendered while their bodies intertwined once more.
[The End]