A few weeks ago, Detroit: Become Human was released for the PS4. The game was developed by the French studio Quantic Dream, known for their dark, story-based titles. I’ve always been a big fan, and my desire to play games like Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls was one of the main reasons I wanted a PS4 in the first place.

A long time before I was even interested in gaming, their short Kara, which was a spiritual intro to Detroit, gave me appreciation for android-themed stories, in the likeness of Ex Machina, Blade Runner or The Stepford Wives. What fascinated me was the idea of creating something with a human likeness, but more obedient, and the idea of those creations rebelling. Machine against the creator, man against God. Winning.

Sex robots are becoming reality, and AI is becoming smarter and smarter each day. But those two things are not connected yet in a way that is predicted by cyberpunk-esque stories, with lustful stripper robots taking the place of humans in shady bars and brothels. The writing and visuals in those stories take heavily from the male gaze: the camera panning over the synthetic skin of robot sex workers, casual mentions of pleasure functionalities in certain android models. Everything being seen in very mechanical ways: here’s a hole. Stick something in it. Here’s a plastic prick. Use it.

But what happens when you have an intelligent, feeling being, whose function wasn’t meant to be sexual? A maid? A detective? A caretaker?

Interested in this topic, after finishing Detroit, I took to popular fanfiction sites such as AO3. Fanfiction is known to be heavily saturated with feelings, context and homoeroticism blooming as a natural response to strongly developed relationships between main male characters.

One of the main characters in Detroit is Connor, a state-of-the-art machine designed to hunt down deviants, much like Rick Decard in Blade Runner. Connor is a sweet-faced, polite, intelligent and sometimes painfully oblivious protagonist, who develops relationships — based entirely on the player’s choices — with several other male characters. And, judging by AO3, he’s not only mine but everyone’s favourite.

At the time of writing this, literally every single one of the 18+ Detroit fics I’ve found stars Connor, either as an attractive twink in a relationship with another man or as a sexual fantasy for the presumed-female writer and reader.

And therefore, one of the main questions in Detroit erotica seems to be: to penis or not to penis? Connor has no reason to have a dick – he’s designed to be a hunter, a detective, and providing him with a penis or an asshole seems like a total waste of resources. An even bigger waste of resources would be giving him the proper software to feel pleasure himself. It’s hard to tell if even android sex workers in the game are capable of having orgasms, as the whole point of their existence is making customers happy, not themselves. During the course of the game, we see androids falling in love, but all the footage we get is innocent and doesn’t go further than a hand-hold or a kiss.

The hetero fanfiction seems to be in quite a comfortable position – vibrators have been a thing for a very long time, so either installing one for Connor or providing him with a strap-on isn’t much of a controversy.

Providing him with a butt or prostate seems to be a little more tricky when he’s being adapted (ha) to a role of a passive partner. Some authors suggest special sex gadgets for Androids. Some leave it at blowjobs, because Connor does have a mouth. Others go full on with the wonders of technology, including self-lubrication.

All of these require a slight suspension of disbelief.1

I, for one thing, wonder how sex and intimacy would actually feel for androids who haven’t been provided with the proper hardware, but would have software capable of loving and forming meaningful relationships. Would they be happy with hand holding? Would they want to please their partner, especially if it was a human? Would they feel a little odd about the fact that they can make their loved one feel in a ways that they can’t feel themselves? Would they feel like something was missing from the relationship, considering their lack of genitals? Would they want to have a dick? Could there be trans* androids? While we’re at it, isn’t it interesting how their gender would be 100% performative?

Why aren’t we asking all those questions in our fiction?

1. Personally, I like the idea that interacting with an Android’s hardware, such as cables or receptors, could cause electric impulses that would feel good.