The lock of the door clicked as the key was turned around. "Yes I'm gonna be late today", the woman that opened the door said into the cell phone she was holding against her ear. A large golden pendant hung from her earlobe, while a silver ring decorated he hand holding the phone. "I know the experiment is in a critical phase", she spoke calmly into the receiver as she entered her house, her slim lipstick-garnished red mouth moving gracefully with each of her words. "But I'm sure you can handle one morning without me. Yes, it is urgent. Yes, it is about her. Thank you, Tai! I owe you something! I'll see you later at work. Bye!" She pressed the hang-up button with her thumb, the nail of it and all her fingers shining in a glaring red. The black pearls on the wristlet of her left hand rattled slightly as she put the cell phone into the pocket of her skirt. Despite lying relatively tight on her the sides of her long-sleeved red cotton jacket were bouncing slightly as she walked quickly through her living room. The jacket was agitated by the pair of breasts shown generously in the neck of woman's blouse, rubbing gently against the fabric and the inside of her black bra as they made a leap with each of her steps. The last button of the blue blouse that stretched over her full bosom was resting roughly on the center of her chest, the rim of the fabric going in wide curves up to the woman shoulders and exposing a wide V-shaped cleavage. Their bounces then calmed down as the woman stopped in front of a door. Leaning a little forward she pressed her ear against it. In the room behind it she could hear the low sounds of wood knocking against wood. A slight smile hushed over the lips of the woman. With her left her hand she grabbed the door knob, and slowly turned it around.
The door opened ajar. Her wavy black hair graced her shoulders as the 35-year old woman peeked into the room, scanning it with her dark Asian eyes. The fine features of her make-up adorned face shined in the sunlight that streamed through the large window opposite to the door. Under it a little girl in a short-sleeved pink pyjama dress was sitting on the colourful carpet. Around her little toy bricks in all forms and colours were scattered. She picked them up one by one, sometimes two, and put them on a structure in front of her. Unnoticed by her the woman entered the room, slowly walking towards her. On the way her black high-heels stepped over various toys, from trains and cars to more bricks and some electronic game devices. With her tight dark grey skirt it was a bit troublesome to move over all the obstacles. Sneaking up on the little girl she kneeled down as she stood behind her, and leaned over her shoulder. Both her skirt and her blouse groaned slightly as she stuck out her butt to the back while her bosom hung down from her body. Curiously the woman looked at what the girl was building. In front of her stood a construction made out of two towers that were going upwards in a spiral around each other. The order of the bricks was following a strict pattern that constantly repeated itself: A yellow rectangular block, then a blue cylinder, an orange brick like the first and then another blue cylinder. The only difference between the two towers was the order of the orange and yellow blocks were switched. Each yellow brick of one tower was connected with the orange block of the other on the same height by long pillar-like bricks in various colours. The whole construction looked very instable, but the little girl seemed to have no trouble adding another level to it. "What are you building there, sweety?", the woman asked the girl.
The girl placed another blue brick on top of a yellow one, a bit shifted so the spiral would continue. "I'm rebuilding the TATA-box of a prokaryote promoter", she replied. Without looking at the woman she searched for another orange block.
The woman chuckled. "Can you really construct a piece of DNA with a few toy blocks?", she asked amused.
The little girl eventually found the block she searched. "I had to grind them a little so the hydrogen bridges would connect the corresponding bases and give the molecule stability", she calmly stated as she put the brick in its place.
The woman shook her head, but still smiled. "Now sweetie, you know you aren't allowed to use tools without surveillance of an adult", she told her. It was not in a consulting tone though, more a kind reminder than a command. Looking over her shoulder the woman quietly watched as the little girl added another level to her DNA tower. Even with the adjustments she had made it looked like a miracle to the woman the complex didn't fall apart. "Your teacher called me", she eventually said to her daughter. "Why didn't you go to school today?"
"School's boring", the little girl bluntly answered while taking the next brick. "I'm always done with the teachers' tasks way before everyone else, and then I sit around for most of the lesson and play with my pens. So I thought I could also stay here and play with my bricks. That's more fun."
The woman leaned a little closer to her daughter. "And that is all?", she asked.
The little girl picked up another brick, but hesitated to put it in its place. Instead she put it on her lap. "Well, that and…" Her fingers tapped on the wooden block while she bit her lip. "I don't like the other kids", she finally admitted. "They always tease me."
The woman leaned even further forward. Her bosom stretched her top further, slightly spilling over the hem of its neckline. "Why are they teasing you?", she inquired. "Is it because you are so smart?"
The little girl put down the brick in her hand. She turned around, sitting on her knees as she looked up into the eyes of her mother. Their faces looked almost identical, except for the apparent difference in age. "Mommy, why don't I have a father?" the little girl asked.
Silently the woman cast her glance downwards at the colourful carpet, a strained smile on her lips. Holding out her arms she then wrapped them around the body of her daughter. The little girl could smell the perfume of her mother as her head was pressed against her bosom, engulfing her face in its comfortable warmth. "I'm sorry, sweetie", the woman apologized to her child. With her right hand she softly stoke over her back. "I've tried to get along with some men from work, searched dating sites, tried blind dates, but… it never worked out." She took in a deep breath, the girl feeling the ample chest blowing up slightly and squeezing a bit more against her face until her mother let out a sigh. "I guess most men are just scared to be in a relationship with the world's leading geneticist."
Inside her arms the woman could feel the little girl shivering a little. She pushed her head out from its soft cushion, looking with big worried eyes up into the face of her mother. "Are they scared because of me?", she asked. "Because… because I'm a clone of you?"
The stressed smile of the woman grew softer. Leaving one hand on the back of her daughter she put the other one on her chin, lowering her head so their dark eyes were almost on the same height. "My sweet beloved Mi, it has absolutely nothing to do with you", she said with the most kind and warm voice. "And even if, I would never want to live with a man who can't love my precious sweetheart as much as I do." She put her arms back around her daughter, and pressed her cheek against hers. "I'm sorry", she whispered into her ear. A lone tear flowed down from her right eye, running down her face until the drop of saltwater dried out. "When you were born eight years ago… when I cloned myself and gave birth to you I didn't do it to test out my hypothesis and gain fame. I just wanted a child – from the bottom of my heart, I wanted a child so I had someone I could pour all my love into, so that once I'm old I'll have more than just academic reputation and a few prices for messing with bio-molecules and cells to look back to and be proud of. But I didn't want to bind myself to a man. I thought I had to keep my independence. I wanted to prove I was able to raise a child and be a successful scientist at the same time." Pulling her head back the woman put both her hands on the cheeks of her daughter, softly stroking them while looking at her with wet eyes. "I'm really ashamed now for thinking like that back then. I only thought of myself, never about how you would feel without a father. I'm sorry."
The little girl wrapped her arms around the back of her mother, pressing her head back into her warm bosom again. "It's okay, Mom", she assured her. "It's just so… lonely sometimes. You're at work all day, and no other kids ever want to play with me. Most of them are scared when they read on Wikipedia that I'm the only clone child in the world, or hear about me from their parents. Everyone avoids me in school, and when I'm home, I usually have nobody to play with but my bricks too."
With a smile the woman put one hand on the back of her daughter and the other one on her head. Gently she stroked her daughter's short black hair, pressing her head deeper against her ample chest. "Maybe we can do something about that", she mumbled to herself.
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The first thing she heard was a rhythmic beat. It was a very steady rhythm, a constant throbbing with a few longer breaks in between. Closely she listened to it, trying to identify the source of the sound. At the same time she felt like something was pounding against her chest from the inside. My heart, it suddenly struck her, my heart is making that beat. It was her heart-beat. She then noticed another sound, also very rhythmic, but slower. After listening to it for a while she also found it was coming from her, but not her chest. Eventually she realised that it was her breathe blowing out of her nose. Chest. Nose. That's right, she thought, those were parts of her body. What else was her body made of? Words came to her mind, though she didn't understand their meaning at first: Arms, legs, belly, head… and on her head, there was her nose, and also her mouth, her ears, and her eyes. Her eyes she could use to see. See, that was something like hearing, which she did with her ears. But to see, she had to open her eyes.
Her eye-lids twitched slightly. It took a while until she had a real feeling for them, slowly opening them. Once her eyes were open however she still couldn't see much. Dark, she thought, it was dark around her. The only thing she saw was a rough surface beneath her and two things lying in front of her. They were long and reaching away from her body, with a weird clump at the end. It took a while until she realised that those were her arms As if to prove herself these were really parts of her body she tried to move them. At first her left elbow jittered a little. Slowly then she dragged her entire arm over the rough surface. The word "floor" then struck her, and immediately she knew it was the rough surface. She was lying, she thought, lying on the floor. The floor… Carefully she turned her arm so that her – hand, that was the name of the clump at the end of her arms, so that her hand was lying flat on the floor. It felt somehow inconvenient to touch it. Unpleasant. It was rough, scratching her hand, and it felt… cold. The word suddenly had popped up in her mind, and she knew it was corresponding to the feeling of the floor. Her understanding of the word then quickly grew beyond the floor. "Opposite to hot and warm", it came into her mind, "snow", "freeze", and all kind of other words. Those words then quickly dragged more terms after them: Winter, snowman, weather, rain, lightning, electricity, toaster – soon she had trouble to distinguish them. Her head was spinning from the overload of words, being almost unable to keep track of them. And constantly more words popped up, words like "sheep", "transcendent", "puppet" and "seven". At the same time she began to see images in her mind, pictures of all kinds of objects, animals, numbers and hundreds of other things.
At first the sheer flood of information was overwhelming, even scaring her. Her limbs grew stiff, and a slight shiver went through her body. It took a while until she could sort everything out and connect all the words with the right pictures. As she opened her eyes again she had a better understanding of her environment. Slowly she raised her head, her black hair hanging down to the floor as she was still lying on the side. She moved her arms under her body, her motions a bit awkward at first. Bit by bit she began to learn how to move them properly, getting a better feeling for all of her body. One arm she moved behind her back, the other one next to her face, and put her hands on the floor. Her arms trembled as she slowly pushed her body into an upright position, the weak muscles in them being put under stress. Eventually she sat with her knees on the ground, leaning against her arms, hair falling into her face as her head she was looking downwards. She noticed her breathing was faster than before, and going through her mouth instead of her nose. One word suddenly popped up in her mind, one that she immediately associated with her current situation: Birth. She had just been born.
A clicking sound then cut into her thoughts. A few feet in front of her something was appearing in the darkness appearing, and it was steadily growing larger. The words "door", "being opened" and "light" were coming to her, but it took a while until she bound it together into "a door opened and light was shining into the room". She narrowed her sensitive eyes as the bright light blinded her, her shoulders stiffening slightly as she looked to the door. There was a huge black figure – a silhouette – standing inside it. The shape of the shadow reminded her of something, before she realised it was the shade of another person. That was right – she was a person, but aside from her there were many more in the world. And one was standing in the door. As she got used to the light she tried to get a better look at the person in the door. She was tall, far taller than her, though her hair was roughly the same length as it fell down her shoulders. There was something different about this person, she thought, something that distinguished the two of them. Maybe it was because of the objects that covered her body? Clothes, it struck her, the things on her body were clothes. In the same moment she realised the person wore clothes she also realised that she was naked. Upon seeing the clothes the person wore the term for each came to her mind, as well as its colour. Around her torso she wore a red jacket. Over her legs she wore a dark grey skirt ending at her knees. On her feet was a pair of white socks and black pointy shoes. Beneath her jacket she wore a blue top that was closed with a series of buttons. At the top it left something of her body uncovered, a pair of round things that hugged each other inside the top. The term she associated with it was "breast", but something was strange about that. Looking down on herself she found she didn't have those balls, although she called that region of her body the same. Looking at the person's breast again she could see them something pressing against the blue fabric of her top, something dark. It was also a piece of cloth, she was sure, but she found no word for it. As she looked at the tall person in the door the words "adult" and "woman" eventually came to her mind. That person was an adult, a woman. At the same time she realised she herself was a child, a little girl, the exact opposite. Through the much brighter room she then saw the mouth of the woman moving. "Can you hear me?", she could hear at the same time she saw her mouth move. There was a connection, she thought. As she had moved her mouth, she had made those sounds. She had "spoken", she had "talked" to her. Slowly the little girl began to understand the meaning behind the concepts of speech and of words like "speak" and "talk", while at the same time the knowledge of how to do it herself flowed into her mind.
"Y…Y…Y…" Her lips quivered as she tried to form them so she could produce different vocals. "Ye…Ye… Yes", she eventually brought out.
The woman walked into the room, the little girl hearing a clapping sound whenever she made a step with her high pointy shoes. Standing in front of the little girl the woman bent forward. As she leaned down towards the little girl the balls in her top began to pull a little tighter against the fabric, the little girl watching them hang down and sway slightly in front of her. "How are you feeling?", the woman asked further.
"Co...cold", the little girl replied, still having some trouble to form words with her lips.
The woman sat down in front of her, the fabric relaxing around the balls in her top. With a quick motion she stripped out of her jacket, revealing her blouse was short-sleeved beneath it, and put it around the little girl's shoulders. Pleasant warmth engulfed her as the fabric hugged her body, the cold feeling quickly decreasing. She closed her eyes, pulling the jacket closer around her. "Better?", the woman asked. The little girl nodded. A gesture to show approval, she thought in the same moment she did it. "Your name is Ailin", the woman told her.
Slowly the little girl "remembered" the concept of what a name was. "Ai…lin", she repeated.
The woman nodded. "My name is Juna", she explained. With the back of her hand she softly stroked the cheek of the little girl. "But you know what you can call me instead, right?", she asked with a smile.
Indeed, as she looked at the woman in front of her, another word popped up inside Ailin's mind. It wasn't like any of the other words she had just "learned" however. There was a deeper meaning behind it. A strong emotional bond was attached to this word, some kind of comforting warmth that went along with it. Instinctively Ailin pulled her arms around the woman, pressing her head against her chest. "Mommy", she murmured, hugging the soft chest of her mother.
Smiling her mother put her own arms around Ailin. She leaned her head forward, her cheek cuddling the hair on top of her daughter's head. "I'm so glad", she whispered. The tone in her voice made Ailin memorise what "relief" meant. "They all say I'm a genius and that it would definitely work, but I was still worried sick about you. This method has never been used on a human before. You are the first clone child in the world that was artificially aged and enhanced with memories of its parent." Ailin didn't completely understand what her mother had said, but after a while the definition of "clone" came to her mind. Her mother then pointed her hand away from her body. A gesture to show her something, Ailin thought and turned her head into the direction her mother was pointing at. In the corner of the room a large object was standing. Ailin didn't know what it was, but its shape reminded her of a "cylinder", and its material of the word "glass". At first she thought it was empty, but looking closely at it she found it was filled with something that she thought of as "clear liquid". "For the past twelve weeks you have been swimming inside this glass tank, darling", her mother explained. "Do you remember to have climbed out?" Remembering what the opposite of nodding was the girl shook her head. "I see. So your consciousness wasn't fully developed when your nervous system became active." Already engulfed in the warmth of her mother's chest Ailin's head face was pushed deeper against the soft balls as her mother wrapped her arms tighter around her. "Poor thing!", she said. "You must have managed to climb out of the tank, but then became unconscious again and collapsed on the floor. I hope you didn't lie around here for too long."
Ailin didn't say anything, but simply let herself be hugged by her mother. Another word popped up in her mind. She didn't quite know what it meant though. The only thing she knew about that word was she felt warm when thinking about it. "Love", Ailin whispered, so low her mother didn't hear it.
After a while her mother pulled her body back. Holding Ailin's shoulders she looked her in the eyes. "Listen, this is the first time this method has been used on a human", she told her. "The tests with lizards, sheep and monkeys have all been positive, so there should be no risks or side-effects. But if you fell any kind of discomfort, please let me know immediately. Okay?" Ailin nodded, though she didn't quite understand everything her mother had just said. "Good." Again her mother pressed her against her chest. "Darling, you have no idea how scared I was when I saw you lying on the floor just now." Keeping her hands on her daughter's back she began to stand up. As her chest left her face Ailin saw the balls in her mother's shirt hanging in front her. "Can you walk?", she asked. Walk. Some rough memories had popped up in her mind when she had seen her mother walk over to her, and after hearing the word they were sharpening. Quietly Ailin nodded. I have to stand up first, she thought. For the first time she tried to move her legs. Her feet twitched slightly, Ailin needing some time to get used to using her muscles in them. Dragging one leg over the floor she brought it into a position in which the sole of her foot was lying on the floor like her hands earlier when she had sat up. Sitting on the ground with one knee and one foot on the floor she felt the arms of her mother moving over her back down to her arms until reaching her hands. "Careful there", she said as she took her daughter's hands. Very cautious and slowly she pulled on Ailin's arms, moving them above her head. With the help of her mother the little girl managed to put her other foot on the ground as well, and in little steps the two brought her whole body into an upright position. Her legs trembled as they had to hold her weight for the first time. Feeling insecure in her standing Ailin held the hands of her mother even tighter. "It's okay", she comforted her daughter. "You'll get used to it quickly."
After a few moments in which her legs felt incredibly soft and weak their shaking slowly came to a halt. Though she was a little nervous Ailin let go of her mother's hands. Her body tilted a little to the side, but quickly she managed to regain her balance. Carefully then Ailin raised her leg to make a step forward. In the moment when she stood on just one leg her foot shook so strongly she thought to fall over, and immediately put her other foot back on the ground. Both legs shook a little as she put it down, but she didn't feel like she would fall over anymore. Staring on her legs that were still slightly trembling she suddenly felt her mother taking her by the hand again.
"Come", she said with a smile. With the guidance of her mother the two of them step by step walked towards the door. "There is someone who can't wait to meet you."
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A little sceptical Ailin looked down on herself. Her slim child body was dressed in a pyjama dress with short sleeves that only barely went past her shoulders. The hole for her head was rather wide, ending below her collarbone in a circular line. Ailin tugged at the skirt of her pyjama dress that went down to her knees, leaving her lower legs and cute little feet bare. The baby pink fabric was conveniently slack, ruffling slightly everytime she turned her body. Still, despite the comfortable feeling the loose fabric provided her the young girl felt uncomfortable inside it. "Why do we have to wear clothes?", she mumbled to herself. "Being naked was cold, but somehow felt more... more…" Ailin pondered for a moment, searching the right word. Her little fingers scratched her head, rubbing over the little red butterfly ribbon that was tucked into her hair. "Free", she said after a while. She couldn't really say though that the dress constricted her, as loose at it was. Her main concern wasn't the pyjama anyway, but the white underpants she wore beneath. It was also far away from being taught, lying relatively relaxed around her small flat cheeks. Still, wearing something over her butt felt somehow weird to her.
While looking down her plain dress she could hear footsteps behind her, alongside a childish giggle. "Don't be so whiny, Ai", she could hear her sister say. "Or I'll have to cheer you up with force!" A pair of hands quickly slipped through under Ailin's shoulders. Placed on her chest the fingers began to hastily move over it, like wildly dancing worms. Feeling the tips of her sister's fingers on her chest a weird feeling spread through her, not painful, but inconvenient. Even before the word "tickle" popped up in her mind Ailin was already laughing loudly, trying to shake off her sister that had sneaked up from behind.
"Hey, stop it, sis!", she screamed between laughs. As she softly punched backwards with her elbows her sister eventually let go off her and pulled back. Still laughing Ailing turned around on the spot, looking her sister in her face that was dominated by a cheerful smile. She wore the same ribbon as Ailin on her head, only hers was blue. As the two of them stood opposite to each other it looked like a mirror had been placed between them. Face, body, height, clothes – the only things separating them were the colour of their ribbons and the length of their hair, Mi's being cut short while Ailin's reached to her shoulders. As the two of them stood there and smiled at each other the door to the children's room opened, and the sisters turned their heads to see someone entering. Before she could step with both feet onto the colourful carpet their mother was already assaulted by her happily screaming daughters, hugging her closely around her waist. Laughing the woman put a hand on each of their heads, stroking them as they pressed their faces against her body.
"All right my little sweethearts, it's time to go to bed", she kindly told them. Almost at the same time her two little girls let go of her. They ran over to their beds, followed by their mother who walked in a little more reserved way, partly because she still wore the tight skirt. Climbing onto their beds that stood a few feet apart from each other the little girls crawled under their blankets. Since she did it for the first time it took a while until Ailin fought a little with hers. In the meantime their mother sat down on the bed next to Mi. The little girl was lying peacefully under her blanket, grinning up at her mother's face. "So how was the first the day with your sister?", she asked while pulling the blanket up to her daughter's neck.
"It was so fun!", Mi chirped. "She's like already my best friend in the world! And I can't wait to play more with her for tomorrow!"
Her mother smoothed the blanket. "Now, sweety, don't forgot tomorrow is Monday and you have to go school", she reminded her. Immediately Mi frowned.
"Aw, do I have to?", she asked, sounding more than a bit disappointed. "I wanna play more with Ai! Besides, a big sister must take care of her younger sister!"
Her mother chuckled. "Physically, Ailin is actually a few months older than you", she informed her daughter. She put a hand on the side of her face, softly stroking her cheek. "But, since you have skipped school so many times already, I guess one more day to get to know your sister better may really not hurt." Mi's face immediately brightened up, shining with a bright smile. Smiling back her mother stood up from the mattress. Turning around she saw Ailin still had trouble with her blanket. She sat down next to her and took it in her hands. "And how was the day for you?", she asked while she covered her daughter. "The first day of your life?"
Ailin felt as the blanket was put over her entire body, only leaving the head free. She smiled up to her mother. "It was great!", she exclaimed, her voice beaming with excitement and her eyes gleaming with joy. "Sis and I played the whole day! We played with balls! And bricks! And blankets! And we played hide-and-seek! I hid in a closet and almost won, but then I had to sneeze and sis found me! And then we played tag, and then with sis' toy cars! And we played mother and child! And…" Ailin wanted to tell her mother so much more about how much fun she had that day and about all the games Mi had shown her. But instead a loud yawn left her mouth.
Her mother giggled. "Sleep a little, my dear", she told her. "You need the energy for tomorrow." She evened the folds on the blanket, but kept looking Ailin into the face, looking a little more serious. "Ailin, you'll have to stay in the house with your sister for the time being. I don't want anyone to find out about you yet. They'll just make a ruckus out of you like they did with Mi." Finished with the blanket she put her hand on the face of her daughter. "But don't worry. I won't imprison you in the house for the rest of your life. In a few days a colleague of me will use the same method of cloning on himself, and then all the reporters' eyes will be on him. After the commotion about it has calmed down I will announce that I also have cloned myself a second daughter. It'll be like someone reported a bag of rice has fallen down somewhere in China." She leaned a little closer towards Ailin, looking her deeply in the eyes. "In a few weeks you can leave the house and go freely around, darling. I'll also register you for the same school as Mi then."
As she heard the word "school" and all of the memories her mother had related to it when she had been eight years old were coming to her mind, Ailin kind of wished she could stay in the house.
Her mother stood up. "I'll also go to bed now", she told both of her daughters. "It was a long day, and I have to get up early tomorrow." She turned toward Mi, leaning over her face. "Good night, sweety", she said and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Turning around she bent over Ailin. Once more that day the balls in her top hung in the little girl's sight as she as she gave her a soft kiss on the forehead as well. Ailin felt comfortable warmth as the lips touched her forehead. She had to think of the word "love" again. Pulling her head back her mother looked her in the eyes. Her face radiated with the happiest smile Ailin had ever seen in her short life. "Good night, darling."
Ailin watched her mother walk to the half-open door, her butt swaying slightly, almost unnoticeably with each of her steps inside her formfitting skirt. The little girl wondered if her mother did this on purpose or if everyone was moving their butt this way when walking. As she stood at the door their mother turned one more time towards her daughters, blowing a kiss into their direction. It got suddenly dark in the room as she turned off the lights. A ray of light was still shining through the door, steadily shrinking as their mother closed it. As it was completely shut it was almost completely dark in the room, only the pale light of the moon shining through the large window.
As their mother was gone Mi turned under blanket. Lying on her shoulder she looked at her sister. "So, how does it feel?", she asked her.
Ailin also turned her head to the side. "What do you mean?", she asked back.
"Mom told me you would be getting some of her memories from time to time", Mi said. "How does it feel like when you get one?"
Ailin had to ponder for a moment. "Well, it's hard to explain", she slowly began, trying to find the right words to describe it. "When I see or hear something it's like words suddenly pop up in my head. I first don't get what they mean, but then it slowly becomes clear to me."
"Like remembering the flavour of an ice cream you didn't eat for a long time?", her sister asked.
"Maybe", Ailin responded. She made a thoughtful face. "What's ice cream?... No wait, I just remembered." The two of them giggled like the little girls they were. Suddenly Ailin's expression got more serious. "Sis, I wanna ask you something."
"Anything you want, Ai!", Mi chirped. "I'm your big sister, you can ask me everything!"
Ailin took in a deep breath. "You… are also a clone of mom, right?"
"Yeah, but I'm not like you", she told her. She turned back on her back, looking up at the ceiling that looked like the starry night sky. "Eight years ago Mom didn't know how to transfer memories or raise people in a tank. So even though I'm a clone, I grew up pretty much like any other kid. I lived for a few months in Mom's belly, was born as a baby, and got older like a normal child."
"But you're also a clone?", Ailin inquired. Her sister nodded. "So if we both are Mom's clones then… then are we both Mom?"
Mi shook her head. "I also asked her that while you were in the tank", she explained her. "She said that while we are both clones, we are completely different persons. I for example am not like her when she was our age, because I wasn't raised like she was back then, and grew up in a different time and environment."
"But what about me?", Ailin asked, sitting up slightly. "You were born as a baby, but I'm already eight years old. And I have Mom's memories from when she was eight. Am I just a copy of her?"
Mi scratched her head. "I asked her that too", she replied. "She said something like even though you have some of her memories, it is up to you how you read them since you haven't got her personality or any private memories, only definitions of words and stuff. And that from the day you were born, you would start to make your own memories." Mi pushed off the blanket from her body. Ailin watched as she stood up from her bed and walked over to hers. "I didn't really understand everything she said to me, actually. But I understand one thing." Her sister took Ailin's hand, holding it tightly with both of hers. "That you are my sister, and thanks to you, I'll never be alone again", she smiled at her. "You have no idea how happy I am you are here, Ai."
Ailin put her second hand around her sister's. The word "love" struck her again, and slowly, she began to understand what it meant. "I'm also happy I have you, sis." The two of them stood there for a while, smiling at each other. Ailin almost didn't want to let got as her sister went back to her bed, crawling under her blanket again. Once more she looked at her sister, still bearing that warm smile on her face.
"Night, Ai", she said, closing her eyes.
Ailin lay her head down on her pillow. "Night, sis", she murmured, already starting to fall asleep.
The two little girls peacefully slept inside their beds, softly breathing. It was around midnight when Ailin began to move under her blanket, her arms and legs twitching slightly. Her peaceful face took on a stressed grimace. "Ngh…" Growling she turned around, again and again, rolling her head on the pillow while wrapping the blanket tighter and tighter around her. "Ungh…" Slowly Ailin opened her eyes. Her sight was a little blurry at first. She sat up on her bed, leaning herself against the pillow behind her while putting one hand on her forehead. There was a strange feeling inside her head, a pounding, but it wasn't like her heart-beat. This one was… was… painful. The word "dizzy" came to her mind. Pulling off the blanket from her she sat down on the edge of the mattress. Some of her hair fell into her face as she leaned forward. Rubbing her temples with both hands more words popped up in Ailin's head, but she didn't like any of them: Sickness, headache, disease, illness – even worse than the meaning of the words was they all seemed to describe how she felt in that moment pretty well.
In the other bed the blanket of her sister also moved slightly. Having woken up from her sister's turmoil Mi slowly sat up as well, pushing off the blanket from her upper-body. "What's wrong, Ai?", she asked, rubbing her eyes.
Ailin looked up to her sister's tired face. "I'm feeling a little dizzy", she told her. Listening to herself she found to sound weak, slack, and her throat was hurting slightly as she spoke.
Her sister suddenly looked a lot more awake. She pushed off the blanket from her legs and sat down like Ailin on the edge of her bed. Ailin felt a slight vibration in the floor as Mi jumped off from the mattress, walking with her bare feet over to her sister's bed. "Mommy said to tell her if something's wrong with you, Ai", her sister reminded her. Softly she took one of Ailin's hands that was rubbing her head and embraced it. As she tightly held it Ailin felt the weight and meaning of this gesture: Mi was trying to comfort both of them with it.
Despite feeling bad Ailin smiled at her sister. "Could you go and wake her up please?", she asked her.
Quietly her sister smiled back, putting both her hands around Ailin's. "Wait right here", she said. She let go of her as she turned towards the door, Ailin's hand suddenly feeling empty. Quickly Mi ran to the door, opening it with her tiny hands. Before she left she glanced one more time at her sister, smiling at her. Ailin could then hear her running down the hallway, calling "Mom!" on the way to their mother's bedroom.
Still feeling sick Ailin was sitting alone on her bed in the dark room, waiting for Mi to return with their mother. The house was rather large, so it would probably take one or two minutes until they were back. "I'll switch on the lights", she told herself. Carefully she pushed herself off from the edge of the mattress, her small feet silently landing on the floor. As she stood on her feet her legs began to tremble. Her upper-body was leaning in different directions by itself as she had trouble to maintain her balance. She flailed her arms, feeling each move was strengthening the pounding in her head. She took a clumsy step forward, her body tilting so far to the side she almost fell over. Quickly she reached out her arm towards the wall next to her, but it was too short to reach it. Turning her head she staggered towards it, almost tripling over her own feet in the process. As her hand almost touched the colourful wallpaper with the flower pattern however she suddenly froze on the spot. Her legs were crossed, and her body was tilting slightly to the side. She didn't care about that though. Even the sick feeling she forgot for a short moment, for her whole concentration was lying on her outstretched arm.
It was growing.
Unbelievingly Ailin stared at her hand getting further away from her body. It was only by a few millimeters per second, but she could clearly see it reaching out from her as her arm lengthened. Even more she could feel the muscles and bones in her arm stretch, slowly extending towards the wall. As she looked at her other arm she found it was growing as well, also in a low pace, but still noticeably. Looking down on her hand she noticed her small chubby fingers were getting longer as well, and though the change was too subtle to see felt her palm becoming bigger as well. A sensation of fear and shock overcame the young girl. Staring in confusion at her arms she suddenly had a feeling as if the room was sinking. Her whole body was still trembling, making it hard for her to tell if she just hallucinated as her head constantly shifted its position. Slowly Ailin stumbled towards the wall, making one unsure step after the other. Walking over the carpet she had a weird feeling in her feet, as if her soles were rubbing over it, and a weird sensation in her legs made it even harder to walk. She leaned herself against the wallpaper with her upper arm, feeling it swell slightly against its rough surface. The shaking in her body subsided, making it easier for her to take a look around the dark room. The bed next to her appeared to steadily sink lower while the wall was also gliding downwards, Ailin seeing as the flowers above her were moving into her direction. It really seemed like the room was shrinking.
"No" she whispered to herself. She had a feeling that wasn't true, and glanced down her body. Below the hem of her skirt she saw her knees bit by bit coming into sight, sliding over the fabric. The feeling of her feet pressing against the carpet steadily increased, while it seemed like the distance between them and her knees slowly extended. Her belly, chest, it all seemed to be rising upwards, all of her body parts gradually becoming longer, and, as she could see, a little wider as well. Staring at herself she could feel the swelling sensation she had noticed in her arms everywhere in her, from her face down her torso into the tips of her toes. Around her body Ailin felt her pink pyjama dress slowly growing tighter, the loose fabric steadily losing its comfortable slack. Her sleeves rose up towards her shoulders while the hem of her skirt continued to rise over her knees, soon uncovering her gradually swelling thighs. Underneath her still fluttery skirt they were not only getting longer like her lower legs, but their circumference increased as well, growing steadily meatier. At the same time Ailin could feel her butt arching behind her against the confines of her skirt, making itself more apparent. Rising like bread in an oven their roundings steadily became more pronounced, more voluminous and rounder. Though it was slowly Ailin could feel her butt-covering panties stretching over her cheeks, uncovering their edges as they slowly slid over their arching curves. As the sides of her butt were also swelling to the sides the hips of the slender girl were flaring along, increasing the difference to her waist. Feeling her butt and thighs getting thicker confused her even more than the general growth of the rest of her body. Unlike the parts of her lower half her middle section was almost only growing in length, the position of her belly button getting steadily higher while her waist remained rather slim.
As her body stretched towards the ceiling Ailin's field of vision was slowly expanding, giving her a gradually better view on her surroundings. With her eyes going up she could see the flowers on the wallpaper from a higher perspective while the surface of her bed came more and more into sight, Ailin seeing the ruffled blanket that covered half of the mattress. The more she looked around the more her whole perspective on the room was changing, looking smaller by the second. Meanwhile Ailin felt a weird itching in her face, and saw something move in between her eyes. Closing her right eye she saw her nose was growing a little as well, getting slightly bigger. Not only that though, but her whole face was changing its appearance: Ailin could feel her puffy cheeks deflating a bit, making the contours of her face more defined while her chin was getting more pointier. Her mouth seemed to be shrinking slightly, while at the same time her lips became fuller. She twitched uncomfortably with her eyes as their lashes were extending, and her hair was brushing against her shoulders as it was getting longer as well, only so slightly it looked like it stayed the same length on her growing body. Totally shocked and confused with the situation Ailin's steadily longer legs were starting to grow numb. The young girl felt her knees giving in, her arm sliding off the wallpaper as she fell forward. Landing on her knees Ailin felt a small pain in them, but it was quickly drowned by the sensations of growth. Her lower legs pressed against the carpet while her thighs pressed against her lower legs, both becoming bit by bit bigger. Feeling each part of her body grow Ailin put a hand on her head and groaned slightly. As her fingers extended and rubbed over her forehead they were mainly growing in length, making it look like they were getting thinner. She could also feel her head press back against her hand as it blew up like a balloon, and her arms extending millimeter after millimeter, her skin-tight sleeves sliding slowly up her shoulders. Most of her in the meantime rather thick thighs were uncovered, while her skirt hugged a cute, roughly heart-shaped bubble butt.
Bubble butt? The word had suddenly popped up in Ailin's head, but she didn't understand it. When she and Mi had bathed together earlier and their mother had poured this "lotion" into the water she had remembered what a bubble was. Taking a look down her back Ailin found as she saw her cheeks reaching out, their curves steadily bulging behind her it somehow resembled the little bubbles in the bathtub that had also grown steadily bigger until they popped. An uneasy feeling overcame her as she wondered if her butt would pop as well. Worried she looked as the fabric of her skirt continued to vault, creating a steadily greater contrast to her back. She didn't even understand why it was getting thicker anyway while most other parts of her body remained their proportions. The young girl had already become a good foot taller, reaching her mother up to her belly. While Ailin watched her butt expand, looking down a steadily stretching back she noticed something in her chest. A tingle similar to when Mi had tickled her earlier, but coming from the inside. She turned her head to her front, and looked at her breast. Slowly it was bulging out from her growing torso, the fabric over it arching like her skirt. Moving out from her a small puff formed on her torso, the young girl feeling her pyjama getting dented by the skin and flesh of her chest that was pushing out.
Ailin stared at her bloating chest in confusion, watching as a gradually bigger bump formed on her upper body. Only slowly the growing girl realised her chest was not reaching out as a whole, but two separate swells were starting to stand out from it. From around the places where she had seen two small knobs when she had been naked earlier the meat of her chest was going up in a circular shape. Soon a pair of small hemi-spheres had formed on her chest, standing a rough centimeter out from her. They were rising faster in the middle than at the sides, giving them a dome-like shape. The area at which they moved out from her expanded evenly into all directions, their curves bending and giving the little bulges more volume. Moving out from her body their steadily rounding edges were reaching to the sides of her body as well as up- and downwards. The distance between the swells shrunk as well, the valley that separated them steadily narrowing. Again Ailin was reminded of bubbles as she watched the small mounds bulging out the previously plain fabric, smoothing it around their arching curves. Seeing them also brought the balls in her mother's dress back to her memory. The term "breasts" then popped up in her mind. At first Ailin didn't understand why she suddenly thought of the plural for "breast", but as she watched her bulges becoming bit by bit bigger, their sides vaulting and their front reaching forward, she slowly realized the word could be used to describe these balls. For a moment she wondered if the cheeks of her rounding rear could be called "butts" in that logic. She then realised to have used the word "rear" in her thoughts, but she didn't really knowing what it meant. As she was about to comprehend it as a synonym for "butt" the word "booty" struck her. Before she could even think about it "buttocks", "posterior" and another word followed. For the last one she somehow felt an inner barrier to use it, as if something was wrong with it. Dirty, she thought, the word was dirty. In that moment more words that she would describe as dirty (without really knowing what that meant) popped up in her head. She couldn't really understand most of these words either. What was a "boob"? Or a "tit"? Why did she have the urge to only use them in plural? And was it a coincidence both words were still spelled the same when reversed?
It wasn't good for her that while she thought about all this her body relentlessly continued to grow. The top of her head steadily ascended, Ailin already able to look over her bed at the ground behind it. Still sitting on her knees she felt them rubbing over the ground as her lower legs got longer, while at the same time her arms continued to extend, her hands and feet growing along. The ribbon on her head was shifting a little in its position as her hair overgrew it, becoming fuller and more voluminous by the moment. Other parts of her body were also becoming fuller and more voluminous, Ailin feeling as her pyjama steadily grew tighter around her chest. Her breasts were becoming hard not to notice, expanding from a subtle bump to a pair of apparent little mounds. As her dress stretched around them she could feel the fabric over her belly getting pulled upwards a little faster. At the same time her skirt was going up with a bit more speed as well, getting closer to the end of her legs. Without her doing her legs pressed above her knees with growing force against each other, swelling to a modestly lush pair of thighs. Above them things weren't much better with her butt still swelling behind her, although at an a little slower pace than before. Her backside had become much more prominent, sticking noticeably, but not exaggeratedly much out from the rest of her body. While sliding over her billowing cheeks she felt her underwear gliding a little down her hips, and noticed the top of her butt gap was revealed under her dress. The pyjama was growing so tight around her she was starting to see through it, especially around the puffy curves of her butt and bosom. Bosom, she suddenly thought, bosom was another word for chest or her breasts. She then felt as those breasts were starting to press slightly against each other inside her dress. At first it was only at one point, then the area steadily expanded as more of their inner sides were squeezed together, flattening the round curves a little. Feeling her breasts touch each other under the fabric was even weirder for her than wearing underpants. Which hadn't really become any better since it started to stretch around her bum.
The formerly eight year old girl could reach her mother up to her chest by then. Once lying comfortably on her the fabric of her pyjama had grown rather taut around her body, making her shift uncomfortably inside her stretched clothes. Above the upper end of her dress she saw a small gap appearing as the fabric glided down over the tops of her breasts. At first she couldn't see much of the gap, but the deeper her dress slid the more of it was revealed, also showing that the gap steadily became narrower. The words "cleavage", V-neck" and a complicated one she needed a while to comprehend – "décolleté", she thought after a while – came to her mind. Despite the other words that still hung in her head without a real meaning she understood they described the gap between her breasts and the part of them that could be seen by others. From her thoughts she was thrown back into reality by a weird unpleasant sound coming from her dress. "Rip", it struck her. "Rip", "tear", "breaking apart" – her dress was ripping. Staring downwards she saw the top of her pyjama tearing under the pressure of her breasts. The tip of her cleavage wandered a centimeter deeper, turning from a curved line into a jagged wedge. The fine tooth-like frills on the sides of the tear stroke slightly over the skin of her swelling breasts as the fabric was pulled over them. Her chest continued to rip her dress apart while pushing it lower, Ailin watching as her décolleté – now that she knew what the word meant she found it kind of funny – got bit by bit deeper. Every millimeter the fabric ripped she felt the fabric gliding over the curves of her bosom, widening in little steps the amount of skin that was shown.
Hearing her dress tear over her protruding chest made the young girl even more nervous. It was just a small breeze though in the storm of thoughts that was raging through her head: Stiff from the growth sensations she helplessly watched her body becoming bigger, pressing against the floor and her dress. Her underpants were lying in a triangle form over her butt, uncovering the lower thirds of its cheeks while lying tightly over (most of) her butt gap. Through the tight skirt and panties one could clearly see the firm shape of her bubble bum, which as she looked at it hadn't quite become as large as she thought, her hips being only slightly wider than in the beginning. Still, the way it stuck out behind from her, with its round shape and the firmness of her flesh made it quite an attracting sight on the young girl, just like the pair of similarly attracting thighs below and the slim waist that was hugged by a form-fitting dress above her skirt. Looking down on her bosom she saw it getting steadily revealed while getting steadily more to be revealed. She put her hands on the sides of them, but instead of placing them on their flanks she stuck out her hands straight from her body. In relation to them her bosom reached out as much from her until the beginning of her fingers, bit by bit moving further despite her hands growing as well. She felt the flesh slightly pressing against her palms as it vaulted, the widest parts of her breasts moving out from her body. Removing her hands from her chest she then could feel her cheeks were getting a bit warmer. She couldn't see it, but her face that looked a lot more mature was gaining a slight blush, the skin of her cheeks changing slightly into the pink. Ailin shook her head, trying to shake off the feeling. She put her hands back on her head, pressing them against her ears. It wasn't just because of the feeling in her cheeks: More and more words had kept popping up as she continued to grow, the flood of information distracting her a little from the concern of the growth itself as she tried to keep track. It wasn't nearly as much as when she had been born, maybe a dozen words. What puzzled her was that like the "dirty" words the clear definition of them stayed a mystery to her. Sexy, hot, bootyliscious, curvaceous – Ailin shook her head as the words overwhelmed her, the whole situation being too much for the little girl.
The term "little girl" though was becoming rather inappropriate to describe her: Ailin looked almost ten years older from before a minute ago. She had grown nearly tall enough to look her mother into the eyes, at least reaching up to her nose. In her appearance she also resembled her in pretty much every possible way: Her hair was roughly at the same length and of the same volume, falling in full black waves down to her shoulders. The expression on their faces was very similar, except Ailin lacked the slight signs of age that were showing in her mother's face. Her hands were as delicate and fine as hers, her legs as long and smooth as hers, her thighs had the same subtly thick appeal, and her butt was firm and full, but not fat, complimented by matching hips and a rather slender waist. Her breasts, having been non-existent a few moments ago were standing out proudly from her body, still swelling out from her. They had grown to a size Ailin compared to some fruits she and Mi had eaten earlier – grapefruits, if she remembered correctly. As her dress had torn down half her bosom she felt the feeling of growth slowly decreasing. No muscle moved inside her. Ailin sat quietly on the floor as her growth came to an end, her arms and legs growing a little bit further, her curves gaining a bit more bulk, her height increasing by few millimeters. It all was becoming less and less noticeable, both visibly and in feeling. After a while Ailin couldn't feel any more parts of her body growing, extending, expanding or swelling, even her chest and butt settling at their size.
Once she was sure it was over Ailin felt a huge relief in her swollen chest. However, she was still confused, and on top of that very startled. Nervously she looked at her hands, seeing the chubby little fingers had become long and filigree, then up her arms that were almost completely bare, save for the small parts around her shoulders the sleeves had glided up to. Looking straight down she was greeted by the sight of her generous décolleté hugging her pyjama, and looking down her back saw her butt pressing against her skirt, its hem lying just below it. That way everything of her meaty thighs was uncovered as well as the rest of her legs that were still kneeling on the ground. If she stood up one could have seen their skin shining in the moonlight that streamed through the window, Ailin sporting a pair of beautiful long legs ending in cute little feet that had only grown slightly during the process, but enough they didn't look awkward on her taller body. While her limbs, neck and a considerable part of her chest every part of her body still covered by her pyjama felt compressed and constricted, the fabric lying skin-tight on her waist, belly and back. Still in disbelief she put her hands on her face, sensing every contour that had changed, and then on top of her much more voluminous hair. Aside from the words she still searched meaning for Ailin only pondered about what had just happened to her, and if it was supposed to happen. But there were no memories about this being normal. Nothing in her mind told her that her mother had once grown like this as well. No, something deep inside told her this had to do with her being an… an… an artificial child. Yes, she thought, that was what she was: Artificial. Created. Not natural. She felt a heavy feeling in her chest, as if her pyjama was suddenly pulled even tighter around it. Without even thinking about it she knew what it was: Sadness. She was feeling sad.
"Oh my god!"
The eighteen-year old girl looked over to the door, seeing her mother standing in it. No jewellery or make-up decorated her anymore, and her hair wasn't as clean as in the morning either, looking a bit messy. Like she and her sister she was wearing a baby pink night dress, except the skirt was shorter in relation, similar to how hers looked after growing, and the dress had a deep cut over chest that generously exposed her firm breasts like the one in Ailin's pyjama, only the edges were smooth and not ripped up. Aside from the cleaner cut in the dress the two of them were almost like mirror images, only a few things separating them from each other. Her mother was probably an inch taller and generally a bit fuller on all parts of her body, and the features of her face were more adult. Despite the darkness in the room Ailin could see the shocked expression it was making.
Immediately she ran over to Ailin. Before the girl could even say a word her face was already inside her mother's cleavage as she tightly embraced her daughter. "I… I must have messed up on the perimeters for age… put in too much hormones…", Ailin could hear her mother murmur. "I should have let the other's in the lab check my data… I shouldn't have done it alone… I'm sorry." After hugging her for a while her mother released her grip. Taking her by the shoulders she pushed Ailin out of her bosom, looking her straight into the face. "Your memories", she said "Did any more memories flow into your mind?"
Ailin shook her head. "N-no", she stuttered, swallowed, then quickly added: "I mean, not much. Just a few, but… I don't really understand them…"
Her mother sighed. "So it looks like it's just physically", she murmured. Held by her mother Ailin was shaking slightly, still overwhelmed with everything. Unable to control it she began to sob. Gently her mother embraced her again, this time hugging her in a way that her cleavage pressed again Ailin's neck. "Shh, it's okay", the young girl could hear her mother's soft, comforting voice say, and felt her hand stroking over her hair. "There's no need to be scared. Mommy's here now."
Ailin gulped a few more times, holding back some tears. "Mommy… what… what will you do with me now?", she asked, her voice quivering between sobs. "I mean… I'm your experiment, and this wasn't supposed to happen." She swallowed again, her body shaking even heavier. "W-will you dispose of me now? Y- you wanted an eight-year old girl, and I'm not eight years old anymore, and-"
Before she could speak any further her mother put a hand over Ailin's mouth. The teenager could then feel her lips on her forehead as she gave her a soft kiss. "You aren't my experiment, silly." She took her daughter's chin, raising her head so she was looking her into the eyes. There was still a spark of worry in her face, but it also showed a wonderful smile again. "You are my beloved daughter. I gave birth to you so Mi wouldn't be alone anymore. It doesn't matter how old you are. I'd still love you when you had turned ninety years old. And I definitely won't replace you." Once more she put her arms around her daughter, pressing her against her body. As her head was placed on her mother's shoulder Ailin could feel their bosoms squeezing together, the fabric of their clothes getting cramped between them. It created a comfortable warmth for Ailin, both literally and metaphorically. The warmth then rose a bit as someone else pushed her head into the sides of their bosoms while wrapping her tiny arms around the two. Over their breasts Mi looked up at her suddenly much bigger sister, smiling at her as if nothing had happened.
"That's right, Ai!", the little girl chirped. "You're my sister! I don't care if you're bigger than me – it'll only make you easier to find in hide-and-seek." Leaning a little towards Ailin she whispered: "But I'm still the big sister, 'kay?"
Ailin remained silent for a while. Her mother stroked her hair while Mi cuddled their bosoms, Ailin feeling as she rubbed her cheek over her breast. She then leaned a little forward, pressing her own face a little against the top of her mother's chest. "What will we do now?", she asked quietly.
Her mother put one of her arms around Mi, smiling even brighter. "Whatever we'll do, we'll do it together", she said while closely hugging her two daughters. "As a family."
In that moment, as she felt the warmth of her sister's and mother's bodies and words, Ailin finally understood what "love" meant.
I didn't expect for this story to be written at all
It is amazing!!
Thank you so much for this!!
Also, did you use names that sounded like "I" and "Me" on purpose? Because that's awesome. And fitting!
...don't take the fact that I had little to say the wrong way; it was really good, probably one of my favorites of yours.
...don't take the fact I had little to say the wrong way, I feel really flattered.
(and of course I'm grateful for the high praise, too^^)