What's the nicest part about the tank?

Perhaps it's how it cradles you, holds you snug and secure. Nestled into the one place in the world you know you're supposed to be.

It might be the liminality of it. When you're in the tank, you aren't anywhere. You can't say for sure that you truly exist. You're simply in between. Julia bids you goodbye on one side, and Julia waits for you to return on the other. In the interim, there's just the purity of the tank.

The nicest thing is probably Julia's voice, though. That's the only remnant of the outside world that enters into the world of the tank, which is perfect. You get to be sealed off from everything but her whispers, filling the place where you half-exist for whatever shadow of time you're there for. There's nothing else you'd want in here with you.

You think about that, wishing you could stay submerged forever in those half-heard words. Alas, the tank releases its grip on you, and consciousness takes form. It's time to rouse and rise and return to the world. Such as it as, at least. Your world is smaller now, smaller than ever. The tank. Julia. Your clone, destroyed and dispatched and replaced every time. Nothing more.

What more do you need, though?

Julia's waiting when you emerge. She's pacing. The energy coming off of her isn't quite manic, but it's close. She looks at you with such relief as you approach. You can see it hit her body, physically relaxing her posture. Her face breaks into a smile that's so loving and genuine that your chest feels like it's cracking. You're too tank-sluggish to speak yet, so you just go to her. She opens her arms and embraces you, wrapping you up. Her body is cool against yours - the tank leaves you feeling so warm sometimes. She's a balm against your body, regulating you, keeping you right where you should be.

"Hi, baby," she murmurs into your ear. "It's so fucking nice to see you." She smells wonderful, like rich vanilla and spices. A perfume you've never known her to wear before. You inhale deep, trying to imprint it forever into your memory. Every new experience of Julia needs to be etched into your mind, like ancient humankind carving petroglyphs of things they wanted to pass on.

Julia squeezes you tighter for a moment, then releases you, holding you at arm's length by your shoulders. "I went on a date today," she says without preamble, laughing at herself. It's a crazed little giggle, and she blushes like she can't believe herself. "I hope - I was going to say 'I hope that's okay'." She shakes her head. "Which... I know you're okay with it. I thought it might be something I need. You know?" You nod, trying to unstick your vocabulary from your torpid brain. You want to enthuse about how very okay it is. You want to wax poetic on the topic of her freedom to do what she needs. You want to express with stirring oratory just how completely you're devoted to her getting what she needs. But you're too fresh to the world for that right now, so you just nod again. Julia smiles at you, indulgent and loving.

"They were... I mean, they were great," she says, taking your hand as she talks. "Sweet, cute, funny. A little awkward and nervous, which was endearing. I feel like they were really into me, which... well. You know I love that." She grins at you, mischievous. 

"I kept thinking about you the whole time, though."

Your breath catches. She squeezes your fingers in hers, then lets them fall. 

"Obviously nobody's ever going to be you. Not even you, not anymore. Which was part of the point, right? Destroying something I love. Giving yourself away that fully." She looks at you, seeing the lack of comprehension on your face. She smiles, partially frustrated and partially sad. "I know you don't remember what I mean. It's OK. My point is... fuck. I'm not sure what my point is. Just that..."

There's another long pause. You've loosened up your tongue enough now that you could speak. You don't, though. You stay quiet, letting Julia hold all the air in the room.

"We were trying to process some urges. Exorcise them. That's where the game came from. And it's helped, I think. Right? I don't know. Maybe it's just dug them in deeper."

Desperately you want to understand. You need to find a way to support her, give her the answers she's reaching for. You can't, though. You're not capable of it. It's devastating to accept but that's the truth: you're failing Julia in this moment. You're not enough, not right for the task.

She must see the despair on your face, because she leans in and kisses the corner of your mouth. "It's alright. I'm not being fair. I know you can't help me with this. Not by talking about it, at least. Why don't you help me in the way only you can?" Her eyes sparkle. "Shall we play a game?"

Of course you say yes. You were born for this.

It's a quick one. Her hands are tender at first, caressing you. Exploring you. It's a funny thing, Julia exploring your body. She must know it by now better than anyone in the world knows anything. Still, sometimes it's like this. Like it's new to her each time. It makes you feel special, wanted, loved.

Then she grabs the back of your head and slams your face into the glass of the tank.

Your brain rattles. She presses down hard, grinding you into the glass. Your vision is blurred but you can see your clone there, waking from tank-state. They don't seem to react much yet. When Julia pulls back and slams you in again, you feel your nose break, and a tooth carves through your lip. The clone is blinking dumbly as it watches. The tank's keeping them dull and docile. You know how that goes. For your part, the blows to the head are dulling you just as badly.

Julia's cock enters you from behind at some point, but you can't really focus on that feeling as she cracks your skull again. A third time - or a fourth? You've lost track. Blood and spittle and sweat mar the glass and she smears them with your face. Another blow, and another, and then you can't really think or see in any meaningful way. She keeps thrusting, though, and smashing, and you take it all, you take every bit of it, and you surrender everything you can for Julia to get what she needs.

THE END.