As Stella walked to Melin’s house, bundled in Melin’s clothes, she shuddered in mirth: she hadn’t felt this warm in years! After years of being homeless, she had forgotten what it was like to walk through snow in something other than sneakers full of holes. Melin didn’t deserve these blood red boots, she didn’t deserve any of what she had, having been born into it all. Stella considered what she would do now that she had Melin’s life. She briefly considered buying heroin, but then pushed that though out of her head.
“ That’s how you got into this mess, stupid!” Stella scolded herself, “You’re clean now so don’t screw this up.”

It wasn’t the first time Stella had seen Melin’s home: she had cased the place a few times in the past, trying to learn what she could so that she could better impersonate her victim or, failing that, at least rob the home. The house was an upper middle class two story building, something that confused Stella when she first went to the address. But looks can be deceiving; it was a Smart House, run by an artificial intelligence named Tess. More than once, Stella witnessed Melin returning home only to be greeted by the house A.I.. Stella could only hope her disguise could fool the machine. With a deep breath, she approached the front door and a sort of robotic eye popped out of the wall.

“Welcome home, Melin.” Tess said in a soothing female voice, “How did you enjoy the movie?”
Stella’s stomach was a melting pot of emotion. It was so heartwarming to be welcomed somewhere and to have someone, even a robot, care about her. But the name Melin stung a bit, to Stella’s shock. It was what she wanted, to steal Melin’s life, but it was Melin that was loved and cared for, not Stella. Never Stella.
“It was… fine. Let me in and tell me what my schedule is tonight.”
“Of course. Grace is at her play date but will be home in an hour just in time for dinner. Tonight’s dinner is cottage cheese lasagna with a side of steamed broccoli. After that, the evening is yours, but remember you have work on Monday.”
Stepping inside, Stella began to strip off Melin’s winter clothes, happy to be inside a heated building for once. Since she had an hour before dinner, she figured she could enjoy herself a bit.
“Fine, fine. Hey, uh, Tess. Get my bath ready, alright? I haven’t gotten to bathe in a month.”
“But my data logs indicate you bathed just this… affirmative, preparing bath now.”

Once Stella found her way to the bathroom, she entered and was shocked to find several robotic arms waiting for her. Grabbing the thief, the arms forcibly stripped her of her remaining clothes, threw her in the tub and began to scrub her hard. She tried to fight, but the arms were too strong and rough, especially when they began to scrub her with rough scrubs like pumice stones.
“Ow! Tess, what the hell?! That hurts!”
“Your record of your bathing was different than mine, so I fixed my glitch by clearing my cache of your bathing logs. Error: no baths recorded in the last five years. Making up for lost time.”

The arms continued to scrub and scrape at Stella, who worried Tess would clean the skin right off of her. Speaking of skin, she noticed the water turning brown from her makeup washing off. A blast of water to the face snapped her back to attention.
“Tess, stop! I’ll do it on my own!” she yelled, “And if there’s a camera in here, shut it off.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Tess said, “I’ll prepare fresh clothes in your room.”
After the arms retracted into the wall, Stella could bathe in peace, even taking off her wig to wash her real hair. After that, she wrapped herself in a towel and, finding Melin’s room, let herself in and flopped onto the bed, letting her body towel drop.
“Okay, so the house is kind of dumb. Or glitchy. At least it’s fooled by the wig”
“Oh, no Melin, you’re sick!” Tess said, causing Stella to scream in shock, “I didn’t know! I’m so sorry!”
“Uh…sick?”
“Look at you. You’re so pale and skinny. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you… maximum care setting. Preparing appropriate clothes.”
More arms took away the change of clothes laid out and brought out something that made Stella recoil in shock….

“Hey, Melin, I’m home.” Said Grace, a ten year old girl of mixed race, whose hair was split down the middle: black on her left, white on her right. She took off her dark teal snowsuit (she had a burgundy dress on underneath) and wandered into the kitchen. What she saw shocked her: Melin was in a giant high chair, her hands in fingerless baby mitts, and the rest of her in a giant pink diaper with crown pattern, a white t shirt, and a bib that read “Take care of me!” Tess was trying to shove a bottle in her mouth.
“Geez, I can’t leave you alone for a second, huh?” Grace said as she began to cut her lasagna.
“Please be very careful, Grace.” Tess said, “Your cousin is sick.”
“Hey, Grace, let me out of this thing.” Stella said, “I struggled too much so she locked everything on me.”
“Another glitch, eh Tess?” Grace chuckled, “Override caretaker procedure.”
“Sorry, only adults may do that.” Tess said
“Override that thing she just said,” Stella said
“Sorry, only adults may do that.” Tess said
The girls tried a few different commands until “Tess, I’m feeling better” worked and Stella was released and allowed to change. The two ate while Stella racked her brain trying to think of anything she knew about Grace.

“So, uh…did you enjoy your playdate?”
“It was fine I guess but I think I’m getting a bit too old for dolls. They just don’t have the same appeal anymore, you know?”
“That’s nice” Stella said without much emotion. After the day she had, she really needed a night alone with some rich person scotch.
“After dinner, I want you to go to your room and finish your homework, got it?” Stella asked
“Uh…duh. I already did my homework. Remember?” Grace replied, “’Do your homework on Friday so you can play all weekend’ That’s the rule.”
“What? What kind of moron came up with that rule?”
“You.”
Stella started to sweat, hoping Grace didn’t notice anything. She was glad her makeup wasn’t running.

“Anyway, my teacher says my grades are really improving, so I’ll admit it, you were right about the tutor. Thanks.”
“No problem. That was nice of her to say.”
“My teacher’s a man”
As “Melin” babbled an excuse, Grace noticed that some make up came off when the older woman wiped her mouth, revealing skin closer to Grace’s own color underneath. So it wasn’t a trick of the light before. Wrong skin tone, not remembering things…Grace had to test something.

“So, Daryl, that guy who turned half my hair white, I hear his community service is almost up.”
“So? What are you scared or something?”
“Nah, I’m not scared of him”
That clinched it: This wasn’t Melin, for it was Melin’s own negligence that made Grace’s hair the way it was, something Grace never forgave her for. This was an imposter, and Grace needed to do something.
“Alright, faker” Grace though, “You want to be Melin, you got it…and everything that comes with it!”
Kuveko2010