I sort of remembered volunteering for the project.

I wasn’t really sure of anything anymore…

I was told not to worry; some ‘residue’ would still hang around for a while after the ‘change’.

I looked down at my hands, and my silver skin. It was so smooth…

I interlaced my fingers, fascinated in the way it felt. I held one hand up in front of my face; no lines, nothing. Totally smooth. I then turned round…

Two women in white lab coats were watching me, fascinated.

“Having fun?”, one of them asked.

“Yep”, I replied, in a husky, artificial voice. “I’m rediscovering myself. After all, that’s what this is all about, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean…?”

“Well, my body was dying, so you transplanted me into this one; at least, that’s what I thought you did.”

“Whatever gave you that idea…?”, came a familiar voice…

I turned and came face to face with myself.

“What the hell!?”

“My thoughts exactly”, the human me said. “And who are you supposed to be…?”

“I’m you!”, I cried. “At least, I thought I was…!”

“Sweetie, you’re just a copy”, the human me said. “A replica. We used my template to make the new android.”

“No, it can’t be!”, I cried. “I was dying! They had to put me in this body…!”

The human me just laughed.

“God, they programmed you well, didn’t they?”, she said. “You look like you really believe that. They only made you as ‘proof of concept’; you’re just a sales tool, not a real person.”

“No! I refuse to believe that!”, I cried. “I have a life! Family! You can’t be me; I’d never be so cruel…!”

Human me just chuckled as she walked away, shaking her head…

I just dissolved into a heap, crying.

The techs came rushing over; they thought I’d ‘crashed’…

“How on earth is it showing this much emotion?”, one of them said. “It shouldn’t be possible!”

“I’m not an it!”, I snapped back, still crying. “You’re just as bad as she is. I’m a woman, with feelings!”

I just went back to my room at the institute and got into bed, facing away from the door, ignoring everyone that tried to talk to me.

Nobody knew what to do.

Human me had just gone back to ‘her’ life; she was behaving as if nothing was wrong which, as far as she was concerned, was the truth.

Gradually, though, people noticed the vicious streak that she had. She was incredibly bitchy; she also delighted in treating people like dirt. She was really starting to piss my girlfriend, Maria, off…

One night, Maria had had enough. She told her to go to hell and dumped her there and then.

“You’d probably be better off with my twin sister”, human me said. “After all, she’s a machine. You can’t hurt her feelings, and if she annoys you, you can just turn her off.”

Realising that human me had only started being a bitch since the experiment, Maria came to find me…

The techs watched in disbelief as Maria came to visit.

She literally walked into my room, stripped off and went to bed with me.

I’d never felt so loved in my life…!

“You may be metal, not flesh and blood, but you’re a hell of a lot warmer than that tart in your body”, she said. “I love the way you feel…”

I couldn’t help it. I spun round and kissed her.

Maria then looked at the technicians.

“You’ve made a right cock up, haven’t you?”, she said. “This is the real Jessie Evans, not that tart walking round in her body. You’ve swapped them over somehow!”

“She can’t be!”, one of them cried. “Our equipment doesn’t do that! It just makes a copy…”

“I don’t give a shit what you think!”, said Maria, furious. “This is Jessie, my girlfriend!”

The techs hadn’t a clue how to proceed…

In the end, they let me go home with Maria.

I couldn’t go back to ‘my’ flat; human me was living there, now. Maria didn’t seem to mind that at all. She’d dumped human me to come back to me…

It was all getting so confusing.

Maria had a flatmate, Bridget; she worked nights as a barmaid at one of the local clubs. Her mouth dropped open when we arrived…

“Wow! Love the suit! What is it, cosplay? Whatever, you look incredible…!”

I batted my eyes at her.

“You wouldn’t want to go through what I have to get one, love…!”

Maria couldn’t have cared less that I was a silver android, now.

She was completely in love with me.

Problem was, as human me had taken all my ID, everything, I was literally no longer a person. I was categorised as a piece of equipment…

Obviously, I went into a decline and moped around Maria’s flat. I didn’t even have a job to go to…

Then Maria told me she’d effectively adopted me. She’d gone back to where I’d been built and had a blazing row with them. They’d apologised profusely, but said there was nothing they could do; the equipment that created me had blown shortly after the process was completed and wasn’t repairable.

As compensation, as the project was being closed down as a financial disaster, they’d signed over ‘ownership’ of me to her…

I didn’t need any maintenance or servicing; all I had to do was walk for at least two hours a day to charge myself. My system soon reminded me if I was running low on power; at that point I gave up sulking and went out for a jog.

I couldn’t even be bothered to put clothes on; after all, clothing was for humans, not androids…

People’s mouths dropped open as the silver android sprinted through the streets. Loads of photos were taken. I was becoming something of a minor celebrity…

Maria located me using the Facebook coverage and joined me. She then gave me the news about my transfer of ownership…

I was overjoyed.

I had somewhere to live, a friend for life, and no worries about working or paying bills anymore. As far as I was concerned, I’d got the better deal compared to human me.

Maria felt that as well…!