Notes From The Underground

"Yes but there are several noteworthy points: first, it's highly unlikely that any of these girls is physically unfit. They have been well cared for. Second, the same is true for their mental state, but I'll say more on this later. Finally, you can bet that Zax has followed the terms of the conservatorship to the letter. So I think it unlikely you'll find a problem there."

The women looked at each other grimly. Cassandra's news was not promising. However, Erin was not ready to give up so easily. "Exactly what are the rules and regulations Zax was supposed to follow?"

"I looked into this. Basically they were supposed to raise the girls just like any other children. The intent here is to make sure they were not mistreated in any way, especially sexually, before becoming adults. However, within these constraints there is a fair amount of latitude. In my opinion you would have to show some grave misconduct on their part. Sexual abuse is a good example, but you can probably safely rule that out also."

Even Erin had to agree on this point. "What else might be considered serious enough to constitute misconduct?" asked Erin.

"Lots of things, but they would have to be pretty extreme or bizarre. Physical or psychological experimentation might be another example."

Erin sat silent thinking. Finally she said, "You also motioned you had something more to say about the mental aspect."

"Yes. I looked into the case of the girl that was examined and converted" said Cassandra. "Kathryn Weiss, I believe is her name. Anyways, her physical examination showed that she was perfectly normal and healthy in every way. Again, this is what one would expect. The mental examine however was, well interesting."

Erin sat up straight in her chair, concentrating on Cassandra words. The other women in the room were equally captivated, even Del. "How so?" asked Erin.

"Well mentally she was completely healthy and normal. There were however a few curious findings. The first was that she was extremely naïve sexually for a woman her age. In addition, she had stronger inhibitions than usual with regards to her body and sex, in general. Also she seemed completely unaware…well misinformed might be a better term…about modern life."

"What?" said Erin "can you explain this better or provide more detail?"

"I sent a copy of the report to Del. It's fairly technical so perhaps it would be better for her to explain this part since after all it's her field of expertise."

All eyes in the room turned to Del who shifted nervously in her seat. "I reviewed the report last night" she began "and what Cassandra says is true. Kathryn is mentally healthy but has a lot of inhibitions regarding her body and sex, and she lacks the basic knowledge a typical girl her age would normally have about these matters. However, I wouldn't get too exited over this. Although it's odd, I would be hard pressed to justify that it in anyway makes her mentally unfit or even in classifying it as abuse on Zax's part. More curious is her lack of a basic understanding of modern life, especially with regards to adult relationships. It appears she is under the impression that there are two kinds of women: ultra-feminine and well, uber-feminine, for want of a better term. She views herself as the former. The up-shot is that she believes that her role in life is to marry an uber-female and raise children. It's almost as if she were living in the remote past, when women were forced into such subservient social positions."

"Curious" muttered Erin deep in thought. Finally looking at Del she said, "And you don't think this could be considered abnormal?"

"Well it's certainly odd, possibly abusive, maybe even cruel, but the girl is essentially mentally sound, just grossly misinformed."

But Erin barely heard her, as she was still deep in thought. Finally she asked "How could someone be so misinformed?"

"Probably the way she was raised. From what I understand she's been on that Island all her life. She only knows what she been told."

"Exactly; But why do this?"

Everyone one was silent. Finally Kelly said, "It probably has something to do with her becoming a slave. What I don't know."

"Well she's in for one hell of a shock and soon" said Pam.

"But to get this way, would require a lot of work. I mean with the Net she has access to all the information in the world" said June "even on Zax Island."

"Yes" agreed Stacy. "It would take an enormous effort to filter out that amount of information."

"For sure" said Erin, "but again why?"

"I don't know" said Del.

"It's like…well like some sort of weird experiment" said Kelly.

Erin looked up and said, "Wait. What was it that Cassandra said about experimentation?"

"She said that that was one of the types of misconduct" said Kelly.

"I said possible misconduct" corrected Cassandra.

"Well suppose for a moment that Zax decided to get additional value for all the expenses involved in raising these girls. Using them as guinea pigs in a once in a lifetime psychological experiment could prove both useful and rewarding" said Erin.

"In which way?" asked Del.

"I am not sure exactly, but perhaps it might help them with managing and controlling their other slaves. I would think that their results might even have impact on child-psychology and its impact on adult females. Who knows?" said Erin.

Del considered this. Having the freedom to raise these girls in a controlled environment of one's choosing in order to assess the impact of various stimuli on their mental development would, ethical considerations aside, be a psychtech's dream. After all, these girls had no real future. In a cruel sense they were like the laboratory rats of old, to be used for a specific experiment, then destroyed or cast aside. This line of reasoning was both repugnant and intriguing at the same time. "I see your point Erin, but even in this case there are some real and serious ethical considerations here. Plus the fact, wouldn't this put Zax at risk for exactly what we are talking about, loosing these girls?"

Erin had to concede she had a good point here. Given the expense and multi-decade investment, why take chances. To her surprise Cassandra came to her rescue.

"Only if you could prove it legally; this would be extremely difficult, at best."

"How so?" asked Kelly and Erin simultaneously.

"Well first you would need to get the legal decision makers to decide exactly what constituted misconduct under the terms of the conservatorship. What might be considered as unethical, abusive, or even cruel according to our everyday social norms, might not prove to be a violation of the conservatorship legally. Second, even if you could get a favorable decision in this regards, you still have to prove an intentional violation. This would require hard evidence: records, witnesses, etc."

"Why all the evidence?" asked Kelly.

"Because" said Cassandra "Zax is not going to admit to intentionally conducting cruel and unusual experimentation. If pressed, they will probably claim they were doing their best to prepare the girls for their lives as diapered slaves; that they were acting with the best of intentions, if you will. They are going to portray themselves as innocent and altruistic."

"Hypocrites" said Pam.

"Yes, but you need to prove it."

"Well if they are conducting an experiment, wouldn't there be records? They would be presented at the review, wouldn't they?" asked Erin.

Cassandra shook her head. "No. Zax is not voluntarily going to provide any proprietary information."

"But it's a review" insisted Erin. "A search for the facts as you once told me long ago. Why wouldn't they be compelled to provide these records?"

The women around the table were nodding their heads in agreement. But Cassandra continued to shake hers. "You're missing the point here. Zax is going to claim there was no experimentation and that as such, there are no 'records' per se. In order to get their records you're going to have to prove there was experimentation. But to do that, you're going to need the records. This is a well known Catch-22 situation."

"But that's not fair!" exclaimed Kelly.

"Maybe so, but that's what's legal. And for good reason: no one wants their private records dragged before the public for inspection if they have no bearing on the case at hand."

"But wouldn't any records about the Children have bearing at the review?" asked June. "After all, doesn't Zax have to show they complied with the terms of the conservatorship?"

Again, the women around the table nodded their heads, but Cassandra said "Not necessarily. The burden is on the state, as usual. Zax is presumed to have acted correctly unless there is evidence to the contrary. Since the girls are physically healthy and for the most part mentally sound, and Zax has already publicly shown the physical environment and other factors under which they lived during their conservatorship, there is no such evidence. In short, the answer is no."

There was silence in the room for several minutes as the women contemplated what Cassandra had said. Erin sat with her head bowed and fingers on her chin, deep in thought. Finally she said, "Then we have to get the records."

The women around the table nodded their heads in reluctant agreement, except for Cassandra, Cathy, and Del. The later had surprised looks on their faces as they contemplated the implications of Erin's statement. But Cassandra was angry. Turning to Erin she said, "This is exactly what I was concerned about from the beginning. How exactly to you propose getting Zax's private records, supposing that they even exist?"

"I don't know yet" said Erin.

Cassandra turned red in exasperation and exploded at Erin "We all know the only way for you to get those records is to steal them! That is illegal under any circumstances Even if you should somehow mange to be successful, and then have Zax removed as the conservator and/or loose their ownership interest, you would still be subject to prosecution and if found guilty punished. You don't think Zax is going to let you get away with something that, especially if they end up loosing these girls. They are a going to come after you with everything they've got. And believe me that's considerable, more than considerable as you well know."

"Well first they have to catch us" responded Erin glibly as Cassandra threw up her hands in exasperation.

Cathy who had been silent up to now spoke to Erin, "Erin what about us?" Her eyes filled with tears but she continued, wiping her face "I love you and I want to be with you. I'm scared by this whole thing and I am afraid it won't matter anyways. Please be reasonable, these girls are lost, don't lose us also."

Erin looked at Cathy sympathetically and said "Cathy please. This is what Varinia is all about. We have to do this or at least try."

It was Cathy's turn to be angry now. Still crying she stood up and said "You and your cause! You're going to get yourself and everyone else in trouble! Don't you see that? Don't you remember what happened last time?"

But Erin just shook her head silently. Cathy clearly frustrated and still crying ran from the room. "Cathy brings up a good point" said Cassandra regaining some of her calm, but still angry at Erin. "It was mere good fortune that saved you last time you tangled with Zax. As it was, Cathy spent a year as a guest in their dungeon…"

"A guest in the Castle" corrected Erin.

Cassandra pointed her finger at Erin and shook it saying "Let's not quibble over words. I'm sure that was not the happiest year in Cathy's life. In any event the real point is that you were all lucky not to end up as permanent 'guests' at the Castle, especially in its lower regions. You were misled then into doing something you shouldn't have done, and was only because Zax was trying to hide its breeding program that you are here today and not there."

Cassandra paused and continued "and that brings me to my final point. Zax has already thought all this out. That damn Katrina won't put on her slippers and get out of bed in the morning unless her entire decade is planned out. You can bet she thought of all this before these children were even born. She's so many steps ahead of you that you need to look back to see her."

Erin sighed and said, "You are correct. Katrina is a formidable opponent, but that doesn't make her right. We have got to try and help these girls no matter what happens. That's our mission and our reason for existing."

Del noted that the other women around the table were nodding their heads in grim agreement. She had discovered long ago, that without this purpose they would all probably self destruct, even Erin. During the time Del had known them, their victories as well as the risks they took had been relatively modest. But this was enough to keep them going. "Erin please reconsider what Cassandra is saying. You have enormous responsibility not just to these girls but to the women of Varinia. You don't need to do this; you have made considerable progress and can continue to do so; if you destroy yourself and these women all that will be lost."

Del was trying to give Erin a face-saving way out of this situation, but Erin was adamant and continued to shake her head. Finally she said, "Look we are not going to do anything rash. For now we need more information. For all we know there are no records. There is much to do before any course of action can be decided upon."

Del and Cassandra looked at her skeptically but Erin continued "Stacy we need to do the usual things on the Net. Get the others and let's start doing our homework. After we gather more facts and details we'll meet again and discuss our action plan."

Stacy said "I'm on it" and the other women nodded their heads in acknowledgement. The raid on Zax Island and the Castle had taken months to prepare and this would be no different. Time consuming research was needed at that required an effort from everyone at the Ranch. Stacy as their technical expect usually led the effort.

"OK then" said Erin "let's get going." With that the meeting broke-up; Cassandra and Del however remained to talk with Erin.

"I meant what I said about your responsibility" said Del. "I have noticed how casual you treat your leadership role here, but it's not exaggerating to say that these women look up to you, perhaps even idolize you. You have a responsibility towards them whether you realize it or not. Please don't get them into trouble Erin."

"I do realize this" said Erin "but it's our purpose to do something."

"That's fine" said Del "but you don't need to go beyond what is legal and reasonable. Also you have a responsibility to Cathy and yourself. Cathy loves you deeply and you need her whether you like it or not."

"I know" said Erin "I'll talk to her."

"Good" said Del.

Cassandra said "Del is right Erin and you know it. But beyond this, you need to recognize that you can't possibly succeed against Zax. As I told Cathy on the way over, it's not going to be enough just to present hard evidence. Zax has way too much influence. They can exert substantial control over the media as well as the legal system. In order to succeed you will need to win over public opinion. For that any evidence is going to have to be sensational. I just don't realistically see how you can hope to win against such odds. Moreover I was not exaggerating about Katrina. She has this well planned out; she's literally hundreds of moves ahead of you. I am afraid if you do anything foolish it will be your undoing this time. I won't be able to rescue you again."

"I know" said Erin. "You are both good friends and I truly appreciate your concern and help. But I need to know if there is anything we can do."

"Alright" said Cassandra "but promise me you won't do anything rash."

"I promise" said Erin "at lest I'll talk to you first."

"Fair enough" said Cassandra, "fair enough."

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Later that evening when Erin returned to her quarters Cathy had calmed down and the two women talked. "Erin I love you" began Cathy "and I don't want to loose you. Please don't do anything crazy."

"I won't" said Erin. "I had a long talk with Del and Cassandra after the meeting and I promised to talk with them before doing anything. That goes for you too, of course."

Cathy seemed relieved to hear this. Erin could be very stubborn and single minded when it came to the 'Cause'. "Thanks" she said.

"I've been thinking too" continued Erin. "After this is over, I'm going to see Del professionally. I want to marry you and have children. It's time to pass-the-torch here to someone else, perhaps to Kelly."

Cathy was pleased to hear this but was still concerned and looking at Erin expectantly said "Erin why not pass-the-torch now? You've done enough, more than enough. We can go away and get married now."

Erin looked at her surprised but said "I can't Cathy, not till this is over. I have got to see this one through, especially after all these years."

Cathy was disappointed but said nothing. The two women extending their arms held each other. It was quite late before they fell asleep, still in each others arms. Afterwards Cathy woke, her head moving slightly on Erin's full breasts as she breathed softly, still sleeping. Deep down she knew Erin would not give-up, no matter what the cost, and paradoxically she loved her all the more for her persistence. Silently tears rolled down her cheeks, wetting the soft full mounds of Erin's voluptuous chest. She knew that the time had come for her to make a decision; that it could not be put off any longer. That night, in the arms of her lover she realized finally where her allegiances lay, and she made her decision.

Chapter 3: The Life of a Schoolhouse Governess

Echo Pierce sat at her desk in her office mulling over her report. Tomorrow she would need to present it to Prudence and together they would decide on the final course of action. She looked up and out the large window at the turquoise blue sea. Echo's office was on the top floor of a large three story grey stone building set on a bluff over looking the ocean at the north end of Zax Island. The weather was perfect and Echo had a pang or remorse for not accompanying the girls to the beach today. Work before pleasure as always, she reminded herself. Echo was a petite woman with light brown hair, green eyes, large full beasts, and narrow hips. As befitting her present occupation as the governess of a schoolhouse responsible for the upbringing of five young women, her demeanor was serious but understanding, with a no-nonsense air of formality. In character with her role as the head school Mistress she wore a light grey suit consisting of an ankle length skirt, a short collarless jacket buttoned to her neck, and a white long shelved blouse buttoned at her throat. Her hair was tied back in a bun and she wore no makeup except a little lip-coloring.

But things were not exactly what they seemed. In reality Echo was a psychtech, not a governess (although she did relish the archaic role) and her five changes were not just any young women seeking a quality education. In fact, they were probably the most unique and valuable five young women on the planet. Slightly over 18 years ago Zax had found a 'loophole' in the servitude laws concerning diapered slaves. These laws were old and went back to the New Social Contract. All modern punishment consisted of performing public servitude to compensate for any crime committed; the more serious the crime the longer the period of servitude. For very serious offenses, the servitude became slavery: a lifetime of punishment and complete loss of all rights and status with no hope of appeal. The very worst of offenses resulted in the worst punishment possible: diapered slavery. A women so sentenced was forced to spend her life wearing diapers (and using them) in addition to being a slave. If this was not bad enough, Zax had found that the natural offspring of a diapered slave was also condemned to the same fate upon reaching adulthood. In actuality, the law was more of a warning that an actual threat since, even at the time of its authoring, virtually all reproduction happened ex-utero. Still the law had remained on the books, so to speak, and more importantly in effect, at least until about two decades ago.