It was a simple plan. All I had to do was make skin contact with my target, then my little gadget would transfer my personality and memories into their body and theirs into mine. Outwardly we would have been the same person, but inside we would have been completely different. Nobody would be any the wiser, except for myself and my victim. I wasn't going to give the game away, and who would believe the obviously delusional rantings of a madman?

I made my choice carefully. My new self would have to be somebody wealthy, but not enough that they would attract undue attention from the media. They would have to be without any close, personal ties. I didn't want to arouse the suspicions of anybody who knew them well: family, lovers, those sorts of people. Finally, my victim had to be somebody who could uproot themselves quickly and with the minimum of fuss. At some point I would have to break away from their old life completely and move on. It would be awkward if anybody decided to come looking for me.

So, I contacted my victim and set up a meeting. I activated my device and shook hands with him. There was a brief moment of dizziness as the machine exchanged my mind with his. I was prepared for this, and so I recovered first. I quickly pulled my device from my - his, now! - hand and left, ready to set forth on my new life. Unfortunately, my optimism didn't last.

A week had passed since I had successfully taken over my victim's body. I was relaxing in 'my' flat, enjoying the undeserved fruits of my labour, when there was a knock at the door. There were two policeman waiting for me.

"Can I help you, officers?" I asked. There was nothing for me to worry about. After all, nobody could even have suspected what I had done.

"Sir," one of the policemen began. "We are placing you under arrest." He started to recite a litany of criminality, but I wasn't listening. Instead my mind was reeling. Why hadn't I discovered my victim's wrongdoing? How could I have made such an awful mistake? What was I going to do about this?

The only question I could answer was the last one. I surreptitiously activated my gadget and raised my hands. "Guilty as charged, officers," I said. "Put the cuffs on and take me away."