Next day, now that Maria had cheered me up, I decided to have a bit of fun…

Seeing as I didn’t really need to wear clothes anymore, as I was no longer classified as a ‘person’, I found a decent, thick transparent orange raincoat that showed off my metal curves beautifully, whilst making me look as if I was dressed.

I was still a little self-conscious; no matter what anyone told me, I still felt I was a person, even though I was legally otherwise. The orange coat was the best compromise; it showed off my curves but still gave me a little bit of privacy.

Bridget saw me just before I went out; her mouth dropped open.

“Wow, you look hot!”, she said. “All you want is these…”

She handed me an amazing pair of modern sunglasses, in an electro style.

You should have seen the pictures on Facebook again…!

Seeing as I didn’t have a job anymore, when a well-known celebrity asked me if I wanted to be on their PR team I jumped at the chance, but said I really missed my old job…

Then there came a knock at the door…

The woman standing there looked me up and down, then turned to go.

“This is a mistake…”, she said.

“It’s not”, I said, gently holding her hand. “It’s me, mum…”

I got really close to her and nuzzled her cheek.

“It’s good to see you…”, I said, crying.

She threw her arms around me…

“I don’t know who that woman is in your flat, but it’s not you”, she said, amazing me. “That’s why I had to search you out. Love the outfit, by the way; I wasn’t sure at first, but it’s just the sort of quirky thing you’d wear if you were trying to cheer yourself up.”

“Also”, she continued, “the way you nuzzled me settled it for me. That stranger with your face just looked down her nose at me; she treated me like dirt…”

“Maria’s walked out on her, for the same reason”, I said. “She prefers me.”

“I’m not surprised”, mum said. “You’re a hell of a lot more human than she is.”

“I’ve just thought of a way to tell who’s who”, mum suddenly said. “Meet me at college later.”

She hurried out…

What on earth was she up to now…?

I told Maria about mum’s visit when she got back, as well as her plan.

“Sounds intriguing, but I don’t really care”, said Maria, to my amazement. “I know you’re the real one.”

She was so convinced it took a lot of persuading to get her to go with me. As soon as I said it was because I didn’t feel safe going on my own, though, she agreed.

I must admit, though, I sort of gave the game away as soon as I saw who mum had brought with her.

“Dad!”, I squealed. “You’re home!”

I sprinted over and hugged him.

Human me’s reaction had been just that bit too slow…

I’d only first seen pictures of my father a couple of weeks ago. The scan for uploading to the android had been taken before that. Human me had no idea who dad was…

Dad was having fun getting used to being hugged by a silver android.

“Hi, kitten”, he said. “What the hell have you done to yourself now…?”

Mum and Maria were overjoyed. It had indeed proved that they were right all along, and I was the real Jessie, and human me was the copy.

To our amazement, though, she started crying…

“I tried so hard to be you!”, she wailed. “It was the sheer frustration that caused my ‘issues’ with people. I pushed Maria away because she kept asking me questions that I couldn’t answer; same for you, ‘mum’.”

“I admit it”, she said, sadly. “I’m the AI copy of you, somehow downloaded into your body by mistake. I hate it!”

I went over to human me and started massaging her shoulders. I knew this would cheer her up, as it worked for me.

Then, to Maria and mum’s shock, I kissed her.

“Come on, ‘sis’”, I said. “You’re as much part of this family as I am. Just try not to be so bitchy…!”

She snuggled against me.

“You’re really warm and caring, you know that?”, she said, quietly.

From that day on, human me and I filled in for each other as needed (more a case of me doing her work for her when she had things like doctors appointments). ‘Her’ work colleagues got used to a silver android around the office.

I loved doing office work; I could type almost too fast for the computer to keep up, and I’d also discovered a hidden module in my head that connected directly to the internet or an adjacent computer. My colleague Jake’s mouth dropped open when he saw text appearing on the computer without me touching the keyboard. I just giggled…

I was offered a job there and then. Human me insisted that her name got a ‘2’ suffix after it, acknowledging I was the original. I said it would cause problems for HR and took the ‘2’ myself.

“We are Jessie Evans”, I said.

“Yes, we are”, she said.

We both hugged…

After we’d resolved human me’s ‘issues’, sleepovers became the norm; either me over at hers, or her in my bed at Maria’s.

Maria actually got jealous…

We solved the problem by sneaking up on her one night and both kissing her at the same time, one on each cheek.

She squealed, then laughed so much she fell over.

“Ok, you win…!”, she said, gasping for breath.

We then took turns in bed with her.

I was on one of my ‘off’ nights, sleeping on the sofa, when I noticed a little arm round me.

Bridget was feeling left out…

I had no idea she fancied women, she’d never said.

Mock indignantly, with a giggle, she claimed it was a ‘fee’ for letting me borrow her best sunglasses…!

I couldn’t stop laughing all evening…!

Bridget never went near human me; she only fancied me.

I felt quite guilty; after all, this was Maria’s flat, and I was supposed to be her girlfriend. Then I found out that she and human me were getting back together…

“I can’t leave her alone like this”, she said. “She’s really trying; she’s made friends again with her mum and dad, as well.”

“It’s ok, I understand…”, I said, slinking back off to the sofa…

Bridget followed me.

“Don’t you start feeling sorry for yourself, now!”, she said. “We’ve just had one sourpuss to deal with; we don’t want another. Besides, you’re never alone…”

Bridget put her arm around me again.

Maria came over and looked at both of us.

“Don’t feel guilty”, she said. “I need to be there for human Jessie; she’s a lot more fragile than you. I’ve got no problems with you two being an item, in fact, I’m pleased for you. I was trying to work out how to say I’d got back together with your twin sister, and you’ve saved me from needing to.”

I wasn’t worried too much; Bridget was making me far too happy…