Tabula Rasa

She was born Ava Thorpe. Unremarkable in every way. Middle child, middle class, middle of the suburbs. Decent grades up until high school. Then she started making bad choices, and it all went downhill fast. Within two years she was on the streets, and by twenty she was on death row for murder. Did she do it? That doesn't really matter now, does it? The only important thing is that she was willing to sign away her memories in a ten year contract in return for freedom, getting clean, and more money than she can possibly ever spend. Not that she will actually ever see that money. No, it's in a trust for her expenses and care. And once her contract is up... Well, freedom is a relative concept, isn't it? Having your memories and personality reset on a regular basis takes a toll on you. Even if she were let go and given her orignal memories - if that was even possible - then what? It's not like we can just release a dangerous criminal back onto the streets, now can we? No, we make sure what faculties she has left are put to good use. Remember, she owes us her life. They all do. They are nothing without the Dollhouse Program. They are playthings. So do yourself a favor and don't get attached, got it?

Now, you're probably asking yourself why right about now. Why do we do it? Why does the Dollhouse Program exist? The answer is simple. People have this basic need to be accepted and feel safe. I mean, yes, in this case we are mainly talking about rich, powerful people. But everybody has needs. If those needs are to let off a little steam, take out some unresolved issues, or fulfill some weird fantasy, who are we ro judge? Dolls don't judge, or lie to, or cheat on, or spy on, or hurt their clients in any way. Unless the client wants them to. They do only what they are programmed to do. They fill a hole left by any kind of normal human interaction. And it's not just wish fulfillment. They serve important roles in the community as well. Anything from law enforcement to scientific research to mentoring. Even military applications. Anything that requires total focus and dedication, secrecy, or just someone who's expendable, we can program a Doll to fit the bill.

Yeah, there are incidents now and then. But we can easily resolve them. Sometimes - it's rare, but it does happen - they try to escape by themselves. The older ones mostly, the ones that are too screwed up in the head to know who or where they are supposed to be. That's why we have the Attic. There we can give them whatever they want, in their head, without risk of exposure. Think of it like... a mental working retirement.

Oh, and on that note, don't be messing around in the Attic unless you have authorization. If you get a wild hair and want to borrow a Doll, that's perfectly understandable, just use one of the more stable ones in the House instead, ok? The retired dolls can be unpredictable, and even dangerous depending on what they've been used for in the past. If you work here, it's because we know you better than YOU know you, so we already know what you like. Don't worry. And just know it'll be coming out if your paycheck. We've got great payment plans for employees, though. We have had people from the outside try to steal them in the past, usually clients or extremist groups, but we have redundant tracking methods now so they never get far. We take good care of our Dolls.

It can be a little unsettling at first. Especially watching after them when they are dormant. You'll get used to the sleepwalking and blank stares and stupid questions. Just give them an order though and they'll follow. Reassure them that they are safe and everything is normal. Don't think about it too much, and don't engage in conversation. Trust me, they have nothing to say in that state anyway. And the last thing you want to do is fire the wrong neuron and wake them up. It can get really weird...

Once they're programmed, just follow protocol and get them to the client. You really can't tell that they aren't a real person when they're active, but most importantly THEY think they are real. That's what makes Dolls so convincing, and valuable. They know things. They remember things. They've lived whole lifetimes in their heads. If they don't want to come back or act combative due to their personality settings, just remind them that they are late for their "treatment", and they won't argue. If the client doesn't want to bring them back, that's a whole different story. Call security, and get the hell out of there. Trust me, you don't want to see what happens. Like I said, we take GOOD care of our dolls.