In a world where people are followed by animals that reflect their personality, Taylor is devastated when she starts being followed by companions of the creepy crawly variety. As her passionate science teacher's annual companion showcase rapidly approaches, Taylor's mind is abuzz with anxiety about what her newfound companions mean about who she is.

This is where we showcase the winning entries of High Fantasy's short contests.

A billion-dollar clone, bought and raised as an extremely dangerous weapon, strikes out against those who manufacture and harvest clones for spare parts. ***** Duplicates are used for one thing: spare parts. Kept in Emulation Facilities, brain-dead and hooked to machines, duplicates never open their eyes. As a transplant nurse, Evette Ashford knows this better than anyone -- until a living, breathing duplicate shatters her life. Merely knowing he exists drags Evette into a deep, dark world of manipulation, danger, and control. Evette knows he just wants to find himself, but the corporation that created him are furious he's broken their control. So Evette must decide who to trust: the monster who forced her into this chaos or the monster who created him. [[IC Universe People's Choice]] [[1st Place, Writers' Olympics Dystopian Award]] [[1st Place, Oscar Sci-fi Award]] Content and/or Trigger Warning: This story is rated PG-13 for violence, language, and sexual content. This story will become free on January 31st!