Evil Nicole woke up to Vinn nudging her side.
“Oh hey. Something wrong?” she asked.
“I just needed to talk to you, can we go for a walk?” he asked.
“It’s 4AM.”
“Yea, I know. There's a security problem; we can’t talk in the house. I think there’s a spy among us.” He said. She tried not to look nervous or guilty, grabbing her purse and double checking the can of mace as she followed him. He led her out and down the road towards the house he built.
“We’re going home? Is it safe?”
“Safer than having that damn robot watching us. Do you trust me?” he asked.
“Of course I do.”
“Good.” He said leading her to the den and turning the lights on for the first time in 3 days. She sat on the couch as he held out a little box and sighed, looking like he prepared a speech.
“You proposing or what? We're already married.” she joked, sadly realizing the irony that he was married to the other her.
“Close your eyes. I want this to be a surprise for you. You said you trusted me.”
“I do.” she said closing her eyes and hearing the sound of something clicking metal to metal and then the cold feel of a handcuff on her wrist. She opened her eyes and smirked.
“Vinn, I’m… I’m not upset about this, but I can’t... yet. Can you keep that idea for next week?” she grinned. He wasn’t smiling. Her smile faded to concern as he double-checked the other side of the handcuff to be secure. And then sat next to her.
“Vinn, please uncuff me.” she said coldly.
“Yea, you really should not have trusted me. That was a bad idea, but it worked well in my favor.”
“Uncuff me now, or I’ll empty a can of mace into your eyes and snout.” She said darkly.
“No you won’t. I moved your purse when you closed your eyes. Where is my wife?” he asked.
“Vinn, I’m your wife.” She smiled with an uneasy lack of confidence in that statement.
“Found the briefcase, Where is my wife. If I have to ask again, this is going to get unpleasant”
“Wow, where was that assertive Vinn all this time?” she snipped. “What you gonna do, scare me, show your teeth, nibble my leg a little?” she said as if almost threatening. “So you knew I wasn’t her?”
“Not right away, but I started noticing things. You’re just not quite her, you’re more aggressive and weirdly more... honest, while also lying to me"
“Vinn, you can’t tell anyone we switched places.” She whispered.
“Why? Why would I help the evil Nicole when mine is up there with that monster?”
"Stop…CALLING ME EVIL.” She said, almost breaking into tears. I’m not evil just because I’m a clone. I am. Still. Nicole.”
“The clones are defective. It’s obvious with Hyde and with you.”
“You dumbass! Your Nicole is a clone too!” She blurted, immediately regretting that, like she hurt him and knew it"
“You’re still lying.” He said calmly getting out something from the small plastic case, a syringe with a green label.
“What are you doing?”
“Finding the truth. Jack has a lot of cool shit you know, guns knives, and spy shit Gizzy gives him. She never gave me a gun, but she did give men this, and now I know why. This here is a truth serum.” he sighed.
“Vinn don’t do this. There are things you may not want to know.” She warned.
“Those are exactly the things I need to know. So either you take the shot and we have a chat or I tell everyone they swapped Nicoles and you get thrown in a cell. Now what are you hiding?”
“Too much, and all of it to protect people, mostly you.” She said with a single tear. “I did it for you Vinn, to protect you. I trust you. Please trust me.”
“Shitty answer.” He said poking her in the leg. Her eyes went black and then returned to normal.
“Where is My Nicole?” He asked.
“Which one?” she strained. He blinked, pondering the answer.
“Well not you, obviously, the other one. The one they swapped with you.”
“On the ship, with Jack and Hyde.” She said, trying to stay silent.
“What is he doing with her?”
“Keeping her safe and confined.”
“Why swap Nicoles? What is your mission here, in her place?”
“To say goodbye.”
“I don’t understand to whom?” he barked angrily.
“You Vinn. And everyone here.” She sniffled, collecting her composure “I woke up alone in a cloning tank, and the Nicole up there was living my life. There’s no cloned Vinn and cloned friends for me to come back to. I wanted my computer files, my pictures, my books, my video games, but I wanted to spend a few last days with you guys before whatever happens next. Hyde hasn’t told me his full plan, he said it was in case I got caught. But we both know there’s no place for 2 living Nicoles down here, and she was here first.”
“No spying for him, no tricks, no plan to kill us?”
“We’re not evil, Vinn. We’re just homeless, The kraken you knew is gone, I’ve seen his heart, his intentions, his love. He doesn’t want to hurt any of you, and this was my idea because I wanted to see you all one last time and just…remember that I existed, because you all will forget about me and love your Nicole as if she was the first.” She said, looking like she tried to stop herself from saying that. “Fuck.” She whispered.
“AS IF she was the first? You said 'which one' earlier. Explain that to me, where is the woman I married?” he shouted.
“The woman you first met, the original Nicole from Earth, the women you fell in love with and married, is dead, and the body was confiscated for research. The Nicole on that ship is her first clone. I’m the third.” She said angrily. His eyes turned glassy and he fell silent. “The serum’s not working, you’re not supposed to be able to lie…My wife is dead? Bullshit, you said she was safe. I just saw her, we’ve built a house together. She’s been here the whole time.” He said getting frantic.
“She signed the life insurance details for the tunnel project. I remember it too. In the event of accidental death, she would be replaced and no memory of the act would remain. She didn’t know she was a clone until this week when I told her.”
“Did…did he kill her?” Vinn asked, choking up and closing his eyes.
“She drowned, Vinn. The fear project was supposed to jumpstart the aquatic DNA that had been activated by the injections. She was supposed to be able to breathe underwater and face her fears. It didn’t work. She died. They took the body, fixed the problem and added a booster to the clone. They put her back, she woke up, and she was alive, breathing. That night when Jack went off on a training mission for Gizzy was the last time you saw the original Nicole. When you and Jack found her, you found her clone. And none of you even noticed…even her”
“It can’t be true. She’s the same person.”
“Exactly, Vinn. She’s just like her, except that one percent gene that finally woke up. You didn’t notice because she has the same memory, the same feelings, the same heart, and she loves you the same as she ever did, she didn't even know she died! She loves you more now that you’ve grown and lived together, building a home.”
So if she’s the same person, why aren’t you the same? If that’s my wife up there just like she was, and there’s no difference, then why did you turn out so fucked up?”
“Because I lost you! And I knew it! I wasn’t brought back intentionally to live my life, she was already living it. I’m just an extra, with another one percent active monster in me. I thought I'd never see you again, I can’t replace her if she’s still alive. One of us has to lose all of you, and I’m just…late to the party. That does something to you. She didn’t even know she wasn’t the original, she moved on like nothing happened, and she understands that she’s the same person she always was, but I’m not supposed to be here. I was just made to be…sold for research. Sold to a buyer for medical study like a lab rat. The man you think is Kraken, he’s broken too. Delmarians don’t clone right, they’re not supposed to be copied like humans, and he came out different. He woke up first, and then he saved me. I owe him my life, whatever broken life this is.”
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“Do you love him?”
“I…don’t know. I care for him, I understand him, he’s all I have. Nobody cloned a broken Vinn for me, all I got was him. And he’s just not you. But he loves me like you do, and he protects me, and he is taking care of YOUR Nicole just the same. I just wanted to be her for a few days. One last time.”
“Does she love him?”
“No. Of course not. She hated Kraken, and she barely trusts Hyde.”
“Then what is their connection? Why does she seem to be drawn to him and why does she look at him like she’s missing something he has?”Vinn asked in tears.
“Because she wants what we have, and she wants it with you.”
“I don’t understand what that means, what do you two have?”
“Vinn when you met the first Nicole, you saw her as a human, fragile, small, and delicate, and you helped her out of a fog of loneliness. She was afraid and timid, trapped in her shell and hiding who she really is inside. But she’s still hiding it. Part of it. Scared you won't accept what she is."
“What is she?”
"Nicole is a masochist. Do you understand what that means?”
“Not really.”
“You’re so innocent, you poor, sweet pup. I remember why she fell in love with you. Nicole doesn’t just have a kink for monsters, she enjoys pain, in some forms. Humans are not all wired right, some of them…some of us, I don’t know which to say anymore. Pain and harm are not the same thing. Pain is supposed to be the body telling you something is broken, but for some people, some kinds of pain trigger the same part of the brain as pleasure. Call it a preference or a defect, it doesn’t matter. Nicole was one of them. So was Kraken. She sensed that in him and despite him chasing her and scaring her, she got that rush from escaping, the adrenaline of the fear, but part of her wanted to be caught because she wanted to know what it meant. But she loved you, and she kept running. He’s a mystery she needed to solve but was too afraid to face, and when she finally faced him, something just clicked. And before she could understand what that was, the water rose, and she died down there. He lost something too, that same question unanswered. And seeing her die left him full of regret that he didn’t save her. And when she was replaced with her copy, and Kraken was dead, she tried to suppress it.”
“She wants me to hurt her?” he asked. “Or she wants HIM to hurt her?”
“She wants YOU, she loves you, she trusts you, you are everything to us…” she slipped. "Everything to her. You are the only thing she wants, but you treat her like a piece of fragile glassware. You’re her dream monster, a gentleman, a protector, and a hero who would die for her, but you hold back everything when you touch her. Do you still wrap the blanket around your wrist at night, so you can’t roll over and crush her?”
“Every night. She sleeps on top and I anchor her in.”
“Vinn we're not some scared breakable little girl who tragically fell in love with a monster, despite what you could do to her, we fall in love with a monster because of what you could do, and the fact that you can control it. But you don’t even try, you hide it completely. Even now that we can heal and regenerate, and hop a 20 foot gap from the kitchen to the living room without getting hurt, you still touch her like she’s made of glass. And she craves something more. More than just safety sex and protecting her from your own strength. I remember that too, and I was too ashamed to explain it, and frankly you suck at hints and have the kink level of a 15 year old. You have to stop treating her like a tiny scared human and treat her like a little monster."
“And Hyde has all the power of Kraken, and none of the evil, and he understands what she wants.” He nodded. “So she loves me, but she wants him?”
“No, dumbass, she wants you to do to her...what he does to me. Showing her the video just made it clear, so she couldn’t deny it to herself. I woke her up. He doesn’t see me as breakable, he sees me as a hungry little monster, and he knows what I like and what I can handle. It’s not magic, you just have to listen and learn and talk to her, or I could just give you a damn list, and you could dial that back ten percent. THERE. Cheat code.”
And that’s why you chose him, and she sees that in you two, and it makes her sad because she can’t have that with me. Because I’m too damn soft on her. And I’m too stupid to see it, and she’s too embarrassed to spell it out. So if you’re her, why doesn’t that embarrass you?”
“It does. But I have a few days with you, and she has a lifetime to work up to never saying it. Plus you jabbed me with truth serum, I can't lie, I may as well spill everything. I still love you Vinn, don’t ever tell Hyde that, or I will deny it, FUCK I hate this serum… but I’m still alone and a little stronger than your Nicole because I have to be. I’ve already lost you to her and that kills me inside, but knowing the other me can have everything, gives me hope for the two of you. And in some way, maybe if you can learn to be a little more of a beast for her, maybe Hyde can be a little more Vinn. That’s the closest I’ll ever get to having you again, and maybe that’s enough. I wanna believe in that so much.” She said, hanging her head and sobbing. He hugged her softly.
“These few days with me must have been torture. So close, but keeping just a little space. That had to hurt like hell.” He whispered.
“Well apparently I kinda like that now, don’t I? Maybe I’m just a little bit too dark for you anyway, but she’s not. And I adapt. So please let her stay for a while, and talk to him, understand what she is, and let me stay here for a while and say goodbye to my whole life, and just take some second hand copies with me, before losing everything. My gaming life, my social life, my job, my home, and my Vinn. And if you get to know him now, this version is not as far from you as you’d like to believe. He’s just learning to fill in the gaps where the evil parts are missing, with something new. Dying changes you. The technology the Osirians made to fully copy a human perfectly, doesn’t work as perfectly if you’re not fully human. That’s the sad truth.”
“I almost pity the bastard.” Vinn sighed.
“You should. Hyde is so much more damaged than you realize. He cries at night for the things he’s done, and it wasn’t even him. But you have your perfect Nicole, and I have a broken rescue animal that can’t live without me, and he needs the kind of love and sometimes pain that only I can understand. How can I turn away that kind of poor creature, especially when he’s not afraid to be an animal when I need it too?”
“I still don’t really understand how to hurt someone I love.”
“There’s a difference between pain and harm. You can break a bone and not feel it, but the body is still damaged and harmed. But you can inflict pain without injury or with very little superficial marks. It’s just sensations, like pleasure. A little stronger, and they mix well. It’s about showing her that you’re in control and showing her you understand what she likes. Pushing limits, gradually, making her just a little afraid of you and using that to excite her. It’s about being assertive and doing something a little scary, the illusion of risk, the idea of danger, and the more pleasure there is, the more pain we can handle with it, ask her what she likes, what she doesn’t like, and have fun with the “maybe” experiments. And you need a safeword because sometimes the intensity can make you react in a way that seems like a no, when you wanna say yes, but with the added safety of a solid no, just in case.”
“Should have kept the restraints I got for our first night. I got it to make her feel safe if she needed to keep me held back, turns out I should have been using them differently. What if I go too far?”
“Vinn, she would much rather you go a tiny bit too far once in a while, then never venture out of that nice safe vanilla zone. Scratches and rope marks heal fast, especially with us." She said, flashing a little thigh.
“What am I looking at?” he shrugged, “Looks like Nicole’s thigh, I’m very familiar with it.” he smirked.
“Yea, but you didn’t see the oopse marks from the other day, and you never will. You’d be amazed what it took to make it, and how quickly it mended. Stimulate her Vinn, in the strange ways she wants, even if you don’t understand it yourself. Trust her and her limits, not what you think she can handle, or what little she can, and all that tender petting and sweet stuff you do…”
“Cut it out, and man up?”
“No, start with that, get her a little in the mood. Then, when she’s reached her limit, go back to that sweet shit. That’s when she needs it. Let her know she’s yours, make her a little scared, be the monster she craves, and then be the gentleman and softie that takes care of her after. It’s a whole different game.”
“Well, Nicole does love playing her games.”
“Honey, this is a 2 player only game. When you give her what she wants most, and feel the power you have, send her to the edge and back and just when you wonder if you went too far she whispers “thank you.” you’re gonna understand the point too, trust me. And maybe you’ll even wanna switch roles once in a while. Ever worn a Delmarian prison shock collar?” she smirked.
“Yea, I’m gonna just pass on that part, and maybe do the HER thing. That one sounds more fun.”
“Hmm…well maybe I did get the fun one after all, and she got the sweet one, but apparently when they cloned me, I got a little touch of sadist in the mix. Or maybe deep down I just kinda feel like getting even with Kraken, and Hyde doesn’t mind.”
“Yea good for him, I uh, I definitely got the right Nicole. Thanks for making that clear. No offense. You’re 1 percent too much.”
“Maybe both of us got the right one. Maybe she was too divided and weak to be whole, but she made 2 very interesting variants. And maybe some day, if you two get bored and maybe you and Hyde can stop being so competitive and start being friends…”
“Nope. Fuck that, he’s got his Nicole, I got mine. That’s perfectly cool the way it is. No swinging.” He put his hoof down.
“Just planting the idea.” She winked.
“That’s fine, I’ll dig that up later. You do realize it makes me very sad and uncomfortable to just pretend you’re MY Nicole for a few days, knowing she’s up there with him alone. Knowing what I wanna do with you because you remind me of her.”
“You trust Nicole, you can trust me, and I trust him. Plus, Jack is up there. You were tough enough to kill Kraken and didn’t Jack kick your ass once?”
“Yea, how does he do that? He IS actually human, right? Does he have bionic shit or super drugs or is he just actually that damn good?”
“You know, I’ve asked that myself, and I can’t really get a good answer. I think he’s just...good, and he HATES Hyde.”
“That does make me feel a lot better. So if we’re pretending to be…us as usual, obviously we gotta draw the line somewhere, but we can’t sit 3 feet apart and not have people asking questions.”
“I’m still Nicole; you don’t think I know what line to cross that would piss me off if I were me with you?” she asked.
“I’m just gonna shut up let you do lead the show.”
“For once in our lives, good. You’re a pro at it. Enjoy that till you get yours back, because you got a lot of training to learn about leading.”
“This is gonna be so much better than the last time someone gave me crash course training on how to handle a monster. Then again I won that fight.” he shrugged. "It’s just hard to know where to even start.”
“Well, you lured me into the sex room and cuffed me to the couch. Kinda seems like you already got step 1 figured out on your own. I am still cuffed, though, so you CAN uncuff me now.”
“Shit, sorry. Forgot you were still cuffed. My bad.”