Stacy had a unique ability. Every since a chance encounter with a strange old man at the antique store, she could clone herself. It sounded crazy, even to herself years after being granted the ability, but she was definitely able to do it with a bit of concentration, and then concentrating again to reabsorb her clone - along with its experiences and memories. There was just one rule, not to touch your cloned selves. The man was very particular about that.

Stacy used her newfound power to ace college, being able to devoutly study every night, while going partying at the same time. Sometimes she’d even be on a date with two different guys at the same time, though Stacy felt conflicted about using her powers in such a negative way.

Once college was done, Stacy needed money, and it wasn’t like the job market was looking great. She turned to taking lewd photographs of herself, using her clones as the models. She even started to take pictures of multiple clones at a time, claiming she had a twin sister.

The old man’s rules always rang through her head, and after getting herselves dressed up, she found out why it was important. Her devil-self had apparently been inspired by her costume, and laid her hand slyly on her angel-self’s. The angel clone didn’t even see it coming, freezing into a solidified mannequin posed on display. The devil only had a moment to grin before finding herself succumbing to the same fate.

Stacey snapped the picture and studying them without touching. She found them completely inanimate, drained of color and appearance. If she didn’t know better, she was taking pictures of ordinary plastic, not her clones!

She wasn’t able to reabsorb them, and had to leave them sitting there. As the days passed, Stacey swore she felt herself getting stiffer, or saw plastic hands in place of her own. The temptation to touch the clones slowly grew, and she couldn’t help but wonder if that would be the solution to her issues...