Or maybe... future sister-in-law?

"Deci, Centi, and I all grew up in a place called The Landfill. Not the most creative name since it's exactly what the name implies: a garbage dump. Androids that are considered defective are sent to The Landfill so that they can work there managing and scavenging usable materials. Of course, that's just an excuse. Decommissioning androids without their consent goes against android rights but sending them elsewhere technically isn't."

"And you were considered defective how?"

"Do you really have to ask? I'm an entertainment model that's tone-deaf."

"But you're perfectly entertaining in other ways, aren't you? Your drunk singing may be atrocious but your drunk dancing is still professional-level."

I almost couldn't see it looking through Milli's eyes but she shrugs her shoulders.

"Doesn't matter. Entertainment models are manufactured with a specific skillset. Lacking in even one of them is enough to be seen as inferior. I mean, if the thousands of others of my model can do it and I can't, why bother with me?"

At this point, Milli has begun the final touches and is reconnecting my face module to the rest of me.

"Anyway! That's not the point of this story! This story is about identity theft!"

"You almost sound proud of your crime."

"Sort of! Since the three of us lived in a literal dump, we didn't have a lot of opportunities of learn or develop skills. Deci found this big movie camera and started recording things. Centi got into collecting car parts. I messed around with body mods."

"Even human mods?"

"Yup! I didn't have a human to practice on though, so don't ask me to work on one attached to someone. Android parts on the other hand I used on myself all the time. After a few decades, Centi managed to scrounge up enough car parts to build an actual car. We snuck out of The Landfill and drove off to the city. It's there I first saw one of Mika's concerts being aired."

"Mika? That name sounds familiar..."

"As it should! Mika's the biggest, most popular android pop star! Who hasn't heard of her?"

Milli gently pushes down on my face module's forehead and chin with a familiar click.

Disconnecting from Device QISP177736...

I open my eyes, sit straight, and turn my body towards Milli.

"Are you telling me you impersonated someone as high profile as Mika?"

"Mhm! After seeing her sing and dance and be cheered on so loudly by so many people, I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like living like her. I found a box of old RealGuise face modules in The Landfill later on and learned how to modify them. It wasn't easy, I broke the first dozen or so since face modules are one of the more fragile kinds of tech."

Milli is still maintaining her usual smile but her eyes seem to express a kind of nostalgic regret... and heavy guilt.

"I managed to make one of the modules look like Mika and..."

"And the next time we snuck out to the city, Milli walked around with a pop star's face."

Deci is slowly walking down the stairs wearing white long sleeves embroidered with English lavenders. They stand next to Milli and places a hand on her head with a gentle smile.

"By then, we already put together clothes good enough to pass off as streetwear so Milli ended up looking like Mika trying to be incognito. People mistook her for the real deal and the whole situation blew up from there. At first it was fun, we got things for free, got into certain venues... Basically all the fun things we could have dreamed of."

"...But then I got pressured into performing and I'm sure you can imagine how that went."

Deci rubs Milli's head reassuringly.

"Not much we could've done about it. At that point, the real Mika's agency was already looking into fake Mika's sudden appearance. Long story short, the police showed up and we almost got arrested."

"Almost?"

"We ran away, of course. Ran away and drove off. Nothing short of a miracle!"

Deci throws their arms in the air theatrically.

"After escaping the police we decided to risk the storms and run away to AIKA. Seriously Noa, I don't understand how you can like the ocean after a boat trip like that."

"Wait, Noa likes the ocean? Seriously?"

"I know right?"

I keep my eyes fixed on Milli's face.

"...So your face right now..."

"I had it changed once after moving here. Don't worry, I learned my lesson! No more face changing for me!"

"Yet you had no complaint changing mine."

"You're the one who asked us to protect your identity."

"Preferably legally. You know how we security droids are by nature partial towards law and order."

"...Oh yeah, whoops."

Milli gives me a big smile with a peace sign in what I assume is her attempt at brushing off her thoughtlessness by acting cute.

"...Well not much I can do about it now. I have to go to work soon so I'll be changing clothes next."

As I take the first step on the stairs, I pause and look back at the two.

"...Thank you for sharing your past with me."

"No problem! We're friends aren't we? Or maybe... future sister-in-law?"

I'm about to give a retort to the snickering Milli when I recall what their apartment looks like. I give our surroundings a once over. Clean, well-lit, quality but not luxurious furniture and appliances. By all means the very picture of high middle-class by today's standards. If we get to move in to a place like this...

I look at Milli dead in the eyes.

"Deal."