Mattie was cleaning the flat, as usual, the next morning when there was a knock at the door. Before she could wonder who was there, the AI made her answer it…

Her sister Sophie stood there. Her mouth dropped open…

“Someone said they saw you at the store, yesterday”, she said. “They also told me what you were wearing…”

To her amazement, Mattie said nothing. She couldn’t; the AI wouldn’t let her reply. All she said was, “Can I take your coat, Madam?”

Still trying to talk to her, Simone handed over her coat. Mattie neatly hooked it up in the closet.

“Can I get you a drink, Madam, Tea or Coffee? My owner is unavailable at the moment.”

“Owner?”, Simone asked, now thoroughly confused.

“Mathilda Hardwicke”, Mattie said. “She’s unavailable and left me to run things in her absence.”

“But you’re her”, Simone said. “Come on, Mattie, stop playing about. I need to talk to you.”

“You are mistaken”, answered Mattie. “My designation is Maid-01. I am a service robot.”

Mattie just stopped, then, head bowed, arms resting in front, just like any good maid should when waiting for instructions. She was waiting to get Sophie a drink.

Sophie walked up to Mattie, looking at the other girl through her visor.

“Damn it, Mattie, snap out of it! I’ve got to talk to you. Mum’s in hospital…!”

Mattie tried to scream, cry, rage. She couldn’t do anything. She was completely under the AI’s control.

Sophie lost her temper, and slapped Mattie. Mattie hardly felt it through the suit…

“If you are going to try and damage property, I am going to have to ask you to leave”, Mattie said, getting Sophie’s coat from the closet.

Sophie, tears in her eyes, put her coat on and stormed out. “I never knew you could be so heartless! Especially about mum…”

Mattie frantically tried to stop her, but she was completely helpless. All she could do was shut the door and go back to her cleaning…

Something had changed, however. She wasn’t being given so much to do, and the rest breaks were longer. Was the AI actually trying to care for her…?

The AI system had detected Mattie’s distress and registered it as a fault. It had switched her onto light duties whilst it was checking her out. It had also made a note of what Sophie had said whilst she was in the flat. How could the mistress also be the maid? This didn’t compute at all…

Whilst Mattie was on her rest break, the AI made a thorough scan of her. It then compared those readings against those from Mattie’ s last medical checkup. It came to the only possible conclusion; Mattie was the Maid! This was wrong; it had to be corrected. At the same time, the flat was definitely in need of a full-time maid…

Sophie was cheered up when she got a phone call from Mattie, apologising for her behaviour earlier and being insensitive. Could she drop back later after visiting her mother? She would need help getting out of the suit, and would like to see her, properly this time…

Saying she’d be over straight away, as she had visited her mother, Sophie hung up and went back to Mattie’s flat. If she’d had known what was in store for her, she would have run a mile…

At the flat, the AI had made Mattie make another maid collar. After all, the maid would need one, but she was still going to be wearing hers as the AI wanted her to behave ‘properly’…

Mattie tried to stop herself, but the AI’s control was total at such close range. She had just finished the collar when Sophie knocked…

Letting her in, Mattie smiled, then launched into the ‘script’ that she had been programmed with, the AI opening her visor.

“Sorry about earlier; I was stuck in character, and unable to do anything about it. You know how obsessed I get, sometimes…”, she coughed. “That’s why I need your help. I’ve lost the keys to this outfit, and I know you’re ‘handy’ with locks…”

“You idiot…!”, said Sophie, with a giggle. She bent to undo the locks, just as Mattie snapped the new collar round her neck. “What the hell…!”

Sophie’s eyes glazed over for a second; she then carried on undoing the suit and soon Mattie was free from it. She then started dressing herself in it (after replacing the nappy, of course…).

Sophie’s terrified eyes stared at Mattie as she sealed the suit closed on herself and fastened on the hood. She managed a quiet whimper as the visor slid shut…

Mattie just walked away, sat at her computer and got back to work, still under control of the AI. Sophie started cleaning up…