Under the Screen // One Shot
description: You have been waiting for the game Detroit: Become Human to release, and the day has finally come that it's released to the public. You’re so excited, you buy a copy and head straight home to play it. When the screen loads, you're met with a kind looking woman, with blonde hair tied into a neat ponytail, bright blue eyes that radiate familiarity, pale skin with contrasting freckles that make her look soft and sweet. She introduces herself as Chloe.
This is the beginning of your DETROIT experience.
triggers: mentions of being overworked, mentions of breakdowns (tell me if i miss any!!)
notes: whoo!! my first one shot!! i never do these, oof. sorry it’s so short. if people like this i might make a part 2, who knows? not me
“Hello! Welcome to the DETROIT experience. I’m Chloe, an android, and I'll be your hostess for today,” the woman on the screen chimed, introducing herself as Chloe.
You’ve been anticipating Detroit: Become Human’s release ever since you saw the first official trailer for it, and now is finally the time you’ll be able to play it. You’re so excited you just want to skip through all the instructions and get to playing, but you know this is important. You need to get the settings right before doing much of anything. The girl on the screen continues talking.
“Before we begin, let’s make some adjustments to optimize your experience,” she explains. Her voice is high and melodic, a pitch that can easily be used for persuasion. It’s something you wouldn't suspect from an android like her.
“These language settings were detected on your console, are they correct?” she asks as a menu pops up. You look at her in amazement. How did she do that? Does this game have access to all your console’s files? No, that's impossible. This game is like any other, built with the same features as any basis of a game would.
You hit the X button to confirm your setting.
“Please adjust your screen settings.”
You comply, reading the little text boxes that tell you how to adjust your brightness. You're getting impatient now, wishing that she would just do this all for you so you can get to play the game.
A swirling circle on the top right catches your attention. The android takes notice, and tilts her head towards the icon. On her right temple, a near identical object flickers in its place. It changes from blue to grey in split seconds. “When this symbol appears, please do not turn off your console,” she tells you.
“You are now ready to begin DETROIT. Remember: this is not just a story. This is our future.”
The cryptic statement she says gives you an eerie feeling, but your excitement to play quickly suppresses it. 5 options manifest into your view at the bottom of the screen. Your eyes drift across them until you see the ‘NEW STORY’ option, and immediately start a new save file.
You play for 2 hours before you’re forced off the game to make dinner. You exit to the main screen where Chloe resides as you stand up to walk to the kitchen. She smiles contently at you, like you’ve known each other for a few months rather than a few hours.
You make a simple dish, instant ramen, for dinner, as you want to get as far as possible into the game tonight. There is always the weekend too, as it is Friday night. When you sit back down in the chair, Chloe suddenly starts to speak.
“Did you know Detroit was on the Underground Railroad, a route for slaves escaping into Canada during the American Civil War?”
You roll your eyes at the information. Of course you already knew, it’s basic fourth grade history in America to know about the Underground Railroad and all the big cities that contributed to it. You set your bowl of soup down and pick up the controller, eager to play more into the fictional world.
You didn’t have as much time as you would’ve hoped that weekend, only getting through a chapter a day, and suddenly it was Monday again. You debated if you should take time off so you can play the game all day, but figured you needed to earn what you spent on Friday back and taking PTO from work was not what you needed currently.
When you got back from work that day, you felt tired and drained. This month is always busy for you anyway. You always used to fight over yourself if the job was really worth it, but you never actually gathered the courage to quit. Sure, it drains you emotionally and you’ve had a few breakdowns here and there during busy months, but the pay is too good to pass up and you don’t even have a back up.
You change into more comfortable clothing and take a granola bar from the kitchen as your meal for that night. You had made fair progress into the game, but the whole thing is around ten hours long, so you still have a ways to go. You sit down and turn on all the electronics, seeing the familiar site of Chloe on your screen. She smiles at you, but the positive expression quickly turns into a concerned one.
“You look a little tired,” she observes. “I hope you’re doing okay.”
You shrug as you munch on your bar, not even acknowledging how creepy it is that she can tell you’re tired. Your exhaustion doesn’t even leak into your appearance; it’s all just you being mentally tired. You should really go to sleep instead of playing this game, but you don’t want to be spoiled since other people have completed the game already. You sigh as you put down your granola bar and pick up the controller, selecting ‘CONTINUE’ and watching Chloe fade into darkness.
The week passes by slowly, but you’ve finally made it to the weekend. You've been playing a chapter per day, and you really just want to finish this up and know the ending you get by now. You've already cleared anything you had going on that weekend so you could just relax and play, so there should be no distractions for you this time. You can almost taste the ending in sight.
When the screen loads, Chloe is there, but she looks.. sad. Like she just learned that someone close to her died. You shrug it off as you go to choose the 'CONTINUE’ option. She seems to hesitate about something before you do so. Noticing the movement, you wait a few more seconds to see if she does anything, but all she does is resort to her normal, smiling expression. You furrow your brow and select the 'CONTINUE’ button, watching the loading screen fade into the swirling LED you've grown accustomed to.
You play for another hour before your eyelids grow heavy with exhaustion. You finish the chapter you're currently on and turn off the console, sluggishly standing up and walking towards your bedroom. You didn't even have anything to eat that day.
The next day, you're absolutely positive you are going to finish the game today. You can tell by the chapter you’re on and how close it all is to wrapping itself up. You don't even pause to brush your teeth when you dash over to your console and turn it on, seeing a worried Chloe appear on your screen. She seems anxious and nervous about something, but you don't know what. She hasn't acted like this before and you're wondering if the game is starting to become aware. But no, that can’t happen. It's impossible, right? Right?
You pick up your controller and excitedly scroll to choose the 'CONTINUE’ button, but Chloe interrupts you.
“Wait!” She exclaims with an urgent tone. You raise an eyebrow in confusion. “Are you sure you should continue?” She sounds worried, panicked, scared. The breathing she never had picks up as if she’s hyperventilating. “Maybe… maybe we should leave things as they are. Keep everyone in a good place, yeah?”
You're perplexed as to why she doesn't want you to play. It's your game, after all, not her’s. She outright told you you're the one that decides everything that happens in DETROIT, why would she try and stop you?
A message on screen is displayed with two options:
Are you sure you should continue?
You select the obvious answer, [Yes], but you don't continue with the game. Chloe stands there with a frightened yet determined expression on her face. You’re genuinely confused as to why. What is up with her?
“No! I won't let you. I won't let you put them through any more harm than you've already done!” She yells with defensive undertones to her voice. The once soft and persuasive voice now sounds upset and adamant, a pitch you thought you'd never hear from a girl like her.
You mash the X button but nothing good happens. Yeah, you heard that, nothing good.
The screen starts to glitch, Chloe’s once beautiful and pure face becoming a distorted mess of colors. The background behind her flashes in various neon greens and blues. The controller vibrates in your hand, and you start to feel… odd. Like you're being sucked into some sort of vortex and there's no escape. Your vision begins to dim. You desperately try to claw out of it, attempting to stand but finding it no use, as you just fall back in your chair. Your body feels heavy and slack, like you're made out of led. You want to scream but nothing escapes your lips except for small breathes, and those start to slow down too. Your vision fades to a solid black. You hear the muffled sound of that same urgent voice from earlier.
“If you don't care about what happens to your characters, I’ll show you why you should.”
