A Year

She had to believe there was some other explanation.

When she arrived at his home she worked up the courage to knock on the door, she couldn't just enter unannounced when she had been forbidden to return until she had stopped bleeding.

Silence answered her knock. She tried the bell and still no response. Obedience and jealousy were at war inside her. As time slipped by with no movement or sound from the house Tia admitted to herself that she needed to know if her Master had marked her and her friends.

Using her key she entered. The first thing she did was call out to him to ensure she was alone. Then she searched for him in all the rooms, saving the dungeon for last.

There she began to search through the desk he used to work on the videos they made together. His computer had a password, but she had seen him type it time and time again and was able to get in after two tries.

Searching through his computer files she found all the videos they had done together. Then going back into folders with older dates she found other girls. There was a long gap between the dates he started filming her and the latest other girl, and no other girl was in more than three videos, sometime only one.

Tia knew there had been others before her so that didn't bother her. She was relieved to find no videos of any men, and none of her friends.

She then looked for any other files that might put her mind at rest. Nothing on the computer told her anything she didn't already know, or suspect about her Master.

Next she opened his web browser. The history was full of porn sites, and many of them had links to her videos. Tia actually felt pride seeing how much time her Master put into giving people a chance to see her please him.

As one last final confirmation that nothing was going on with her friends Tia clicked on his e-mail account. The computer prompted her for a password, but the browser had remembered it so she just pressed enter and was in.

All the most recent e-mails were mundane and normal looking. Lower down she saw older ones, and bit by bit she read through the subject lines looking for anything that caught her eye. There were some that looked odd at a glance but made sense when she opened them.

Then back six months she started to find some from a company name that caught her eye. As she read the e-mails she was very confused at first, then slowly comprehension dawned on her. Before long she felt ill, and began to panic.

Just when she thought she might scream she heard footsteps above her. Terror of discovery shot adrenaline into her bloodstream and as fast as she could she closed the browser and began to shut down the computer.

Someone, and it sounded like her Master, was walking around upstairs moving from the door to the kitchen over and over.

The computer was just going dark when the door to the basement opened and footsteps descended.

Looking frantically for a place to hide Tia scrambled as quietly as she could into a corner behind the furnace.

Peeking through a gap in the ducts she saw her Master appear and move over to the computer. She saw him hesitate as he stood in front of it, his heavy face puzzled looking. What had she done to arouse suspicion?

The hirsute man put on hand on the chair and swiveled it back and forth a bit. She had left it pulled out from the desk, was that wrong?

Then he pulled the chair further back and sat in it and began to boot things up. As the computer powered back on her Master stood and went back upstairs. Tia wondered if this was her opportunity to leave, but she was paralyzed with fear of discovery.

When his steps returned she was glad she had stayed.

The man came back with a plate of food and a drink which he placed beside the computer and he waited for the last of the boot up process while eating and drinking.

Tia watched him as he worked, her mind drifting to what she had read and seen. She needed to talk to her friends, but it seemed as though her Master was settled in for a long haul. Trying to make herself relax, and find a comfortable spot she moved carefully and finally eased herself down into a sitting position.

This could take a while.

It felt like a violation to Anja to be snooping through Bill's things, but last night had been very traumatic. Never in all the times she and he had been naked together had he ever asked about the tattoo on her neck. That just seemed wrong to her.

Didn't he care? Didn't he want to know all about her?

Having gone through all his books and helped him unpack most of his apartment she was both surprised that she hadn't already found any odd, or incriminating items, and hopeful that she hadn't.

The only way she could think of to get him out of the apartment for any length of time was to offer to cook him a nice meal with the condition that he leave her alone to do it.

"Get outside and get some fresh air. I worry about you cooped up in here all the time."

"You really are the sweetest my love. But I'm fine, I don't need any air."

"Well then find something else to do. Go visit one of your colleagues. You never see anyone else. You must be getting bored of spending all your time with me."

"Far from it my sweet. You are all a man could ask for." He looked like he might actually cry as he said that. His gratitude for her being in his life was a constant theme in their conversations and she loved that.

"I love you Bill. But this in non-negotiable. You always distract me when I cook and this is a new recipe for me. I'm not going to ruin it because you can't keep your hands to yourself."

"Look who's talking! When was the last time you let me write for over an hour without pulling my pants off?"

"You only prove my point. I need solitude to work my magic. Get out and don't come back until I call you!"

"Oy vey! Women!" He fussed but she could tell he was delighted in her behavior. He loved it when she was feisty and exerted her personality, and then yielded to his desires. Knowing she was going to cook for him meant he was going to be treated to a night of indulgence, and the Professor was nothing if not a man of indulgences.

"I shall go wander the streets. Homeless and abandoned." He lamented as he put on his overcoat.

"Take your phone."

"Yes dear." Her heart twisted as he called her that. Their domesticity was ideal, their love pure, it was so very difficult to focus on her fears of last night in the face of his cherishing her so.

Yet as soon as he left she began her search.

Working out her timing and setting her phone alarm Anja gave herself half an hour for the first search, then she needed to begin cooking. She would alternate cooking and searching until the meal was done. If she found nothing by then she would know she was safe in her love and her man blameless.

Starting in his office she went through file cabinets she had helped fill. There was nothing unexpected there.

She began to cook, chopping the various vegetables she would need.

When that was done she went back to the office. Searching his desk she found a locked drawer. That surprised her. Bill never had guests aside from her. Why was this locked? Was it to keep her out? Was it a habit from his years at the lab where many people had access to his work and might in fact steal it?

Searching for the key her phone warned her it was time to get back to the kitchen.

When the next stage of the meal was done she went back to the desk having had a chance to think about where a key might be.

Bill had an old beer stein on his office bookshelf that he kept odd bits and bobs in. Things that he might need one day, but had no perfect place for. She dumped out the contents onto the desk top and fished through the bric-a-brack displayed. There was a tiny suitcase lock, with key, a small bottle of ink for a quill pen, some coins from an Arabic speaking country, a pestle, an ink stick, a box of wooden matches, old aviator goggles, stamps from Papua New Guinea, a brass lighter, a Chess piece, and under a pocket compass she found a key that looked just right.

Trying it in the drawer she found it fit, and when she turned it she heard the lock open.

Suddenly her confidence faltered. Did she want to know what was in here? This life she led was ideal, happiness surrounded her. Did she want to potentially end that?

Once more her hand lifted to touch the place where she was tattooed. Why hadn't the Professor ever asked about it?

Anja pulled open the drawer.

On top of the pile of papers she found a small book detailing some of the experiments Bill had been working on when he stopped working. They ended rather abruptly.

Under that were print outs of some of those experiments. Digging through them she found only science until at the very bottom she found a file folder labeled Anja.

Using the file Anja swept all the clutter to the side an opened the folder. On top was a picture of her she didn't remember ever having taken. She stood with a group of four other young people and in the middle of the cluster was Bill Dysart. Everyone was smiling proudly. Bill had his hand around her waist and on the shoulder of a handsome young man on his other side.

Under that were a series of newspaper clippings. They had headlines like "Genius's Fall From Grace." "Teacher Accused." "Harassment in the Lab." "Top Scientist Sexual Predator." And finally "Jury Finds Mad Scientist Guilty." Reading the articles she discovered why Bill no longer taught. A young assistant had accused him of sexual harassment. She said he had often tried to come on to her, and touched her inappropriately, and that finally he had been found outside her window masturbating while she changed.

There were no pictures of the woman, but under the newspaper clippings Anja found more pictures from the lab and each of them showed her. Sometimes she stood alone smiling awkwardly, others showed the first group she had seen, and a few had her and the Professor together. In each of these he had a hand on her in some way, and she looked uncomfortable.

The only time Anja felt she looked happy was when the handsome man the Professor had his arm around in the first picture was next to her. Then she looked adoringly at him or beamed for the camera.

The next thing in the file was a brochure for a company she had never heard of. Clonall was the name on the front and the picture was of a group of beautiful people gazing off into the bright future. There were six people on the front. Three of them the other people who lived on her floor, but that she rarely spoke to. One of these was Tia. Paul and Anja were not there.

Inside the brochure spoke of cloning and how far it had advanced and how precise the implanted personalities could be. It rhapsodized about ending loneliness, and finding the perfect companion.

The last page made her run for the toilet and vomit all she had eaten that day.

Looking at herself in the mirror Anja cried silent tears as she looked at the face that was not her own.

Resolved to finish her search she went back to the desk. Under the brochure the file then disgorged a series of receipts for services by Clonall. The list included a detective, a consultation, a group of lab tests, and psychological evaluations, something call Incubation Chamber Rental, a lease for her apartment, a bank account in her name, Grocery delivery, numerous clothing receipts and more and more things all dated from the months leading up to her meeting Bill Dysart.

And over and over on all the Clonall receipts the number 4239670041.A. The number Paul had read to her last night from her tattoo.

Anja sat with her head slumped resting on both hands. Tears seeped out of her eyes as she tried to comprehend what she was.

She didn't turn, or jump when he spoke from the doorway to his office.

"I forgot my reading glasses. I got all the way to the library before I realized it." He moved closer to her. "I suppose all that puts a damper on dinner plans doesn't it."

"I suppose so." Her mind was too numb with shock to be angry at the moment. Her rage was on the horizon though. Looming like a storm, not to be ignored or forgotten, just prepared for.

"They told me I shouldn't keep any of that, but it felt wrong to throw it away. Are you terribly angry?"

At last she could look at him, his voice so usual, so kind and loving... so familiar, forced her to look at him and try and see him differently if he didn't sound different.

"Why?" was all she could say.

"What other answer is there, but love. Not a love that people approved of, not one that is quote unquote normal, but love to me. A love I understand." He sat on a bench full of books, not bothering to move more than a few.

"Anja, the other Anja, was so intelligent, so compelling and so unreachable. She loved Sebastian. I knew that but couldn't stop myself from wanting her. How does one choose to stop loving, stop desiring. These are not choices, this is not free will. It is biology, and genetics, and smaller and bigger things that we can ever comprehend."

"What am I? How do I exist?"

"Ah, well, erm... the details are not pretty. You see, um... they- well they help gather some, erm... DNA from the-the original version of the... um clone as it were and build from there."

"So someone stole DNA from this girl and made me?"

"Yes, um-yes they did."

"You paid them to do that?"

"Yes."

"Then what? They clone me and make me love you?"

"Well it took months of work to... implant the... erm, desired specifics of , um, personality. Yes. "

"What about my memories? What about my childhood and family."

"Programmed. Some of it comes from what I knew of Anja, and the rest we either made up or filled in from base personalities they have on file. Quite fascinating I must say."

"Oh no doubt. "

"I cannot pretend to know what you are feeling right now, but please understand... I love you. I love you in a way that I could never love her, or anyone else. You are special-"

"I'm a monster!"

"No! Do not say that! I love you! You are the most precious person in the world to me."

"I'm not a person. I am a creature you cooked in a lab. An experiment."

"No. Never that. They have been doing this for decades. Since the Eighties. It just isn't spoken of in most circles."

Picking up the brochure she pointed to the last page. "What about this?"

"Ah, yes... that would be distressing to you wouldn't it. I'm told there are procedures to help."

"Help me live? Help me survive a few more days, weeks, maybe a month?"

"No. You will die in a year. All the clones do. They just haven't been able to stabilize them, and really have no need now with the brain mapping they have come up with. You see even though this particular body will die, the original specimen of DNA has been stabilized and frozen. They can remake you as many times as I am willing to pay. And they can save your memories. Your personality and memories will carry on. To you it will be like you get sick, go to sleep and wake up perfect again. The same person with real memories you have lived. Just in a different body."

"Is that supposed to be reassuring?"

"Yes. Yes Anja it is. You have a better chance of survival than I do. If I get hit by a bus tomorrow who will pay for me to come back? You? No. All you r money is my money. I cannot legally bequeath it to you, you are not a legal entity."

"So I am just a piece of property?"

"Well... erm...yes. I hadn't meant to say that part. I'm emotional right now, not speaking clearly."

"You mean you didn't mean for me to find out about it. You are still trying to protect yourself from this. I am not happy to know that I am not a real person. That fucking sucks!"

"Yes, you're right. I apologize. This must be so difficult. I can't really comprehend what you are feeling. Let me talk to Mr. Handy."

"Why?"

"Ah, yes. He works for Clonall. It is his job to oversee you. To make sure nothing goes wrong, to avoid you finding out about this. Let me call him and I'm sure he will have more answers for you."

Tia had to suppress her giggles as the Master pulled out his penis and started masturbating. He had been watching the videos they had done together and it had aroused him.

Pleased that even in her supposed absence she could still provide pleasure for her Master, Tia watched rapt as he tugged on his member.

This was a fascinating experiment seeing how he satisfied himself. The speed he jacked off, the grip and what he did with his other hand all informed her of his likes.

Then she felt a sadness grow once more.

She didn't need to study these things. Seeing this reminded her of all the times they had been together and how perfect he said she was. Tia thought of the e-mails and watched him. His stroke length, his grip, all of it reminded her of how she would do it, which was how he wanted her to do it. She had been programmed to do it that way.

She was a clone. Not even a real person. Everything she knew about herself she had read in those e-mails. Her family history, her desires, her look right down to the colour of her eyes had all been designed by a company and chosen by her Master.

And her Master hadn't even been particularly original. Tia's face had been all over the website link she had followed. She was the S&M model. Apparently she had great healing capabilities, bred from tougher stock.

The desire to please was programmed into her. She could feel it even now. As her Master jerked off she wanted to rush over and help him. As sad as she was to learn what she was, still the need to serve challenged her need to escape. As he approached an obvious climax she had to bite her lip against crying out to him to wait for her to put her mouth over him and swallow his cum. Not because she liked the taste, she didn't really, but because he loved to finish there.

Tears trickled down cheeks still wearing bruises from the back of his hand days ago. Smiling at her torment, Tia shook her head at her fate.

What kind of sex slave was she when she also considered freedom?

"Okay Anja I believe I understand what you are feeling right now. We have had this happen before, and no matter how much we encourage our clients to be careful, something often happens to our clones to tell them what they are."

Mr. Handy had arrived and they all sat on separate chairs in Bill's living room as he spoke.

"You have a lot of questions no doubt, and I will do my best to answer them and give you a measure of peace about your discovery."

"What happens to me now that I know?"

"That mostly lies with Mr. Dysart. He owns you after all. The options are to carry on and deal with this. You can grow into it and accept it. Some have. Your programming won't change, you will still love him no matter what you, or he does. You cannot fall out of love with your owner. We can erase your memories of the last few weeks and replace them with some other memory. A vacation or something of that sort. That is the most popular choice, but it has a cost naturally. There are numerous packages..." He turned to Bill as he said this last. When Bill said nothing, just sitting looking at his hands, Handy turned back to Anja. "In extreme cases we could start over with a new model, but that also costs, seeing as how it was his own violation of the rules that lead to this."

"Actually it wasn't. It was the bastard that is beating Tia to death that started this. When she showed me her body I saw the tattoo." Leaning forward almost standing Anja became very agitated as she spoke. "Do you know what he is doing to her? He is burning her, whipping her biting her and god knows what else! It is horrifying."

"And all perfectly legal. She is our Sadomasochist Model. Tia was designed for that. It is what she was programmed to like and she is more than capable of enduring it."