A Mirror in the Dark Ch. 01

"Hello, my name is Alice Turner, and I'm here for my appointment," I introduced myself.

The clerk at Clone Unlimited Corp gave me a puzzled look and then glanced down at her monitor.

"Oh, yes, right... Ms. Turner? I see you in our schedule, but Dr. Stevenson is not in his office at the moment, and I'm afraid you'll need to wait for a few minutes. Fifteen at most. I apologize for the inconvenience," the clerk replied.

"No problem, I don't mind waiting."

It was clear that she was still processing the situation, which was understandable. My petite stature and youthful appearance didn't reveal my 28 years of age, and my attire--a simple white skirt paired with a light blue sweater--didn't exactly convey a typical affluent appearance. After all, clones were quite costly.

The clerk escorted me to a seating area.

"If you don't mind me asking, what type of clone are you interested in? I can provide you with relevant materials to look at while you wait."

"My appointment is regarding embryos, but I'm also considering acquiring a domestic helper. If you have any literature on both topics, I would greatly appreciate it," I replied.

The brochures provided information about the two types of clones that could be legally manufactured and purchased. The first type was embryos, a modern and reliable alternative to natural childbirth or artificial insemination. You could even choose to carry the embryo to term or have one grown in an incubator. The only downside was that they couldn't yet combine the genes of two parents.

The second type was a fully grown adult clone with heavily restricted mental capabilities, made to be completely obedient and docile through brain alterations during manufacturing, as well as specialized digital implants. These clones were intended to be used as servants or for manual labor and were the far more expensive option.

Hello, Alice! Please come this way," a familiar voice called from across the lobby. Dr. Stevenson turned and marched away before I could respond to his greeting. I followed him to his office, which was on the far side of a short hallway.

"Hello Dr. Stevenson, Thank you for seeing me," I finally greeted him. His charming smile and piercing eyes didn't betray the fact that he suspected what I was going to ask wouldn't be easy. Not that he had any choice.

"Please, take a seat. Sorry about your father. Please accept my condolences, he was a good man and a friend," he gestured towards a chair and sat behind his desk. "So, what can I do for you?"

"Thank you for your kind words, but I'm here to make a request. As you might know, with no other living relatives, my father has left me a large inheritance. I don't need this much money, I make enough on my own, but I would like to order a clone." Dr. Stevenson shifted in his chair, clearly curious about what I had in mind. "What kind of clone are we talking about? Are you looking for an artificial baby? Surely there are plenty of fine guys out there who would be happy to share their life with you... unless you're not into that kind of thing, of course! The law does require a partner even for a clone baby. If you have someone special in your life, I would love to meet them!"

"No, I am single, not that it matters. I'm not looking for a baby, and not even for a housework clone," I continued. Dr. Stevenson's smile slipped for just a second, and his confusion was obvious, but I didn't let him interject. "I'm here for something special, something only you can help me with. I know it's a big ask, but I would like a perfect clone..."

Now, the smile was truly gone, and he looked at me in confusion. "You do realize that what you're asking for is illegal, right? How would you even register such a thing?"

"It will be registered as a home assistant clone. It will have a chip and Neuralock. I just want it to have my level of intelligence and the full scope of memories. It will know not to do anything stupid... it will literally be me. I just don't want it to be an animal." I did my best puppy-eyed face at the doctor. He was visibly uncomfortable; what I was asking for was very illegal.

"I will compensate you very well, of course, and if it's ever discovered, I will bear full responsibility. You will claim that it was a process error, that brain functions were not adjusted properly, and I will say that it was my decision not to inform you about it as soon as it became evident."

This was a mistake, Dr. Stevenson's cheeks flushed red, and he stood up from his chair. "You would have me betray your father like this? Take his money and lie, leaving his daughter to face the consequences?"

"No, no, nothing like that. It will not come to that. I have already arranged for a lot of preventive measures. I have prepared geofence markers around my property, as well as cameras to warn about any visitors. The clone will never leave and will never be seen without triggering Neuralock and reducing its brain function to an appropriate level or rendering the clone unconscious. You have nothing to worry about. And about the money... You can consider it my father's final investment in your business. Name any price! I will do it. But please make it the way I want. If not for my sake, then for its own. In its place I wouldn't want to be a dumb animal, even if I were merely someone's servant."

Despite his outrage, I knew that he could not resist the money I was offering. He wasn't greedy, but he has been too complacent with his business for a while now. His only competitor in the city managed to take a big portion of the pie by being more agile and now more technologically advanced. New regulations made it mandatory to limit clones more reliably, and if he did not invest in the latest neural manipulation equipment today, he would be out of business tomorrow.

"All right, I'll do it," he sighed. "But I will make myself a second remote for the Neuralock. If I catch any wind of it being compromised, I will disable it and take it back for adjustment." Sweat on his brow and shifting eyes betrayed his discomfort, but he reached into a drawer and pulled out some paperwork. "Shall we begin?"

A few months had passed since my visit to the Clone Unlimited Corp office, but it was finally here! My long-awaited package had arrived at the house I inherited from my father. A large unmarked box was delivered by an unremarkable truck, clones were still a sensitive topic, after all. When I signed for it, the delivery person left the box in the middle of my living room.

I carefully laid the box down and removed the lid to reveal another box with a code-protected door and a small closed compartment on the front of the door with big clear writing that read, "OPEN FIRST." Inside the compartment was a manual, a smartphone-like remote, and a charger for the remote. Once again, the manual had "READ ME FIRST" in large, bold, red letters on it.

I popped the manual open. It contained a lot of information regarding regulations and proper clone treatment, a startup guide that informed me that my clone was currently in an artificial coma-like state, and which steps I needed to take before waking it. Finally, there was the code for the big door.

The startup guide instructed me to place my clone in a quiet, dark place for the wake-up process as it would be very sensitive and confused after coming out of a coma. A mixture of drugs would be delivered to put it in deep sleep for another eight hours to get it fully lucid and functional upon waking up.

I initially planned to place it in the basement for the process. Unfortunately, the box was way too big and heavy for me to safely carry down the stairs, so I wheeled it to the bathroom. I punched in the code, and as the door opened, there she was, my perfect copy.

Before me lay a woman in her late twenties, slightly below average height, with a slender, well-proportioned figure, perhaps a little chubby in the hips. Her hair was a soft ashen blond, reaching a bit below her shoulders. She had firm but naturally proportioned breasts--not too large, but definitely not flat. Her delicate facial features, dark lashes and arched eyebrows looked serene in her deep slumber.

She looked both familiar and slightly strange. I was used to seeing myself in the mirror, but reflections are always inverted, so my clone being the right way around was a bit disconcerting. Nevertheless, I turned on the remote, punched in the passcode, and initiated the wake-up sequence. As indicators on the box lit up, confirming that everything was as it should be, I turned off the lights and closed the bathroom door.

In the meantime, I decided to go downstairs to check if everything was ready for tomorrow. I had moved to this house after inheriting it from my father. It was a large two-story building about 15 minutes away from the nearest town, surrounded by woods with its own fenced-off grounds. Initially, I had considered selling the house as it was a bit too large and remote for my taste. I had been accustomed to living in a small apartment in the city center. However, the house turned out to be perfect for what I had planned to do with my clone. My job as a software developer also allowed me to work from home, so the relative remoteness was not going to be an issue. In fact, I was working on the exact software that would control my clone."

Neuralock was an advanced yet relatively simple computer brain interface designed to manipulate brain impulses as fully as technologically possible. To make it future-proof, it handled no logic on its own, instead relying on the software installed into the remote to make it functional. I was part of the team responsible for behavior mapping and had access to the latest experimental builds. However, it took a lot of effort and cunning on my part to bypass our company's security policies and get a working experimental copy that I could install in my own remote.

I've descended the stairs down to the basement which over the last few months as I was waiting for my clone, I have turned into a sex dungeon. It featured a big central room full of various types of equipment, from an assortment of toys to a full wardrobe of bondage gear and even a few cages and racks of various sizes. It made me giddy just to think that soon all of this was going to be put to good use.

A few hours later, as the initial stages of the wake-up process were completed, and my clone was soundly asleep, I took the remote upstairs to update it to my experimental version. Now, I don't claim to know it all in this massive project with so many people involved, but I wanted the ability to make minor behavioral adjustments, fine-tuning my clone to better fulfill my deepest desires and fantasies. It would be a delicate process, but I was confident that if I did not push it too far I could make it work.

Behavioral adjustments were incredibly complex. While we had identified ways to correct fundamental character traits, the changes we could make were only subtle, and they often affected other traits and behaviors to some degree. It was a delicate balancing act, one that I wasn't willing to tamper with until I had experienced the real thing for myself.

The remote beeped, it was a warning that her brain activity patterns indicated she was about to wake up, and I didn't want to miss it.

"Good morning, Alice! How are you feeling?" It felt so strange to talk to my exact copy, and to call it by my own name. She stirred slowly, opening her eyes.

"Morning... It feels strange... Last thing I remember is getting a memory scan at Dr. Stevenson's office. And then I woke up panicked and just as I realized what I was exactly, I was knocked out again. I do, however, feel wonderfully rested, like I... or more likely you have not felt in years..."

Her bright green eyes were fixed on me, studying my every detail. She was fully conscious, but it was evident that she was still coming to terms with the reality of being a clone. Neuralock was designed to ease this transition, but with such a highly functioning clone, it would still take some time.

"Can you get out of the box?" I asked.

"Not unless you release me, there are still straps holding me down for transport." My clone replied, testing the bonds that held her inside the box.

"Oh, right, sorry, let me get those loose for you..."

"Aren't you supposed to ask me some questions first to determine if I am functioning as expected?" This made me pause only for a brief moment before I hit the release button on the box.

"No, you seem alright. Those questions are designed for low-functioning clones anyway, and we both know that you are not one of them." That made her smile as she slowly started to rise from her containment.

"So... did you manage to make the basement as you planned?" Of course, she did not have any of my memories since the last appointment, which was fine since it afforded me additional safety.

"Oh yes, you are going to love it! But first, we need to have some breakfast, also you might want to get changed into something a bit more... us."

She smiled and turned around, showing off her simple gray patient's garments. "Alright, you mind if I go grab something from your wardrobe?"

"Go ahead, I'll get breakfast started." As she ran upstairs, I found myself surprisingly nervous. Everything was going as expected, and yet I couldn't help but wonder if she was still okay with what I had planned for her. She should be, I reasoned, since it's what I myself wanted, but what if she changed her mind? After waking up today, she was effectively her own being, and she would inevitably drift away from me personality-wise eventually.

My train of thought was broken when she came back to the kitchen. "Pancakes! This is the best first birthday I could have wished for!" She said playfully. "I will make us some coffee."

We ate in silence, as I was still feeling nervous, and she was too busy munching down the pancakes. Finally, I found enough composure to speak.

"So... Do you remember what I've made you for?"

She wolfed down the last pancake, being recently made apparently left her very hungry. "Yes, of course, and I am looking forward to it. I hope the basement turned out as we imagined!"

"It sure did, maybe not exactly, but in some ways, I would say even better." Suddenly she put her hand on mine and looked me in the eyes.

"Relax, I can tell that you are nervous, but remember, I am you. In fact, I should be the nervous one all things considered, but I guess Neuralock is doing its job. Did you get the experimental software installed?"

Before I could help it, my eyes glanced over to my pocket where the remote was, which, judging by her smirk, my clone found amusing. "Yes, last night while you were sleeping, I have not played with any settings yet though."

"I don't suppose you will be telling me the password for it?" She asked.

"No, of course not, besides it being all sorts of illegal, not that I haven't broken countless laws already, still, I cannot throw all caution out the door." She kept smiling, my answer seemingly having done nothing to sour her mood. She stood up from the table and gestured toward the basement door. "Shall we get started?"

"No, not yet, I didn't expect you to be ready so soon, and I have some work planned for today. You can explore the basement if you want." I passed her the key.

"Alright, I will get myself familiar with it and will join you later. I know I probably won't be of much help since the project would be a few months ahead of where I've last worked on it, but at least I could try to catch up."

The rest of the day was uneventful. I took the next week off and had a lot to do. After a few hours scouring the basement, my clone did join me, and since it took her a lot less time to catch up than we thought, we were able to finish the remainder of my work in record time.