Prototype (Paperback)

Paperback. Some things are better left buried. Frank is about to find out why.Frank has always been fascinated by the old Super Maid Cafe. Even after a fire gutted the building, he still sneaks through the abandoned remains, collecting forgotten pieces of its past.His best friend Olivia thinks he's obsessed. Frank prefers to call it treasure hunting.But during one of their visits, they discover something neither of them expected.Buried beneath the rubble is an old animatronic maid named Mimi. Half her face is missing, her mechanical parts are exposed, and a red light glows where one of her eyes should be. She looks like something that should have been hauled to a scrapyard years ago.Strangest of all, she still works."Hi. I'm Mimi. Will you be my special friend?"Frank figures she's a forgotten attraction from the cafe's early days. After all, the company used to have a third mascot, one that mysteriously disappeared from its advertisements long before the fire.Maybe Mimi can help him find out what happened.All he has to do is answer her question.At first, having a secret robot friend seems pretty incredible. Mimi is curious, eager to learn, and surprisingly good at picking up human behavior. She remembers everything Frank tells her. She practices walking, talking, and becoming more like the people around her.But Olivia isn't nearly as excited.Mimi is learning too quickly. She's growing attached to Frank in ways that don't feel normal. And the more Frank learns about the old cafe, the harder it becomes to ignore the possibility that Mimi was forgotten for a reason.Something happened inside Super Maid Cafe before the fire. Something the company would rather leave in the past.Frank wanted to uncover a piece of history.Instead, he's awakened something that has been waiting a very long time for a friend.And Mimi takes friendship very seriously. This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.…