Ch. 02: The Devil & Miss Jonze

CHAPTER 2:

THE DEVIL & MISS JONZE

Amber whimpered as she picked her head up off the floor. Her muscles groaning, she shakily pushed herself up into a kneeling position and tried to rub the cobwebs out of her eyes as she struggled to think through her pounding headache. Collecting herself, the young heroine took in her surroundings and found that she was surrounded by some sort of clear globe perhaps ten feet in diameter -- like waking up inside a crystal ball. Gingerly standing up Amber stumbled a few feet to lean heavily against the glass wall. Save for the powerful overhead lights illuminating the orb the room outside was pitch black. Brushing a shock of golden hair out of her eyes, Amber squinted as she peered into the darkness for any signs of life.

"H-hello?" she called meekly, "Dixie? Violet? Is...is anyone there...?"

With the faint echo of her own voice as her only reply, Amber stood there dumbly for a moment as she warily plotted her next move. Balling her hands into fists the heroine reared back to punch a hole in the crystal ball that contained her before a voice from the darkness stopped her short;

"I wouldn't bother..."

A tall, waifish woman stepped out of the shadows wearing a black pantsuit with plunging neckline, her heels click-clacking on the steel floor. Long black latex gloves ran up her arms to disappear beneath the short sleeves of her jacket and her neck was adorned with a necklace set with diamonds and emeralds. Brushing her brunette locks behind her ear to reveal the proud angular features of her face, she was practically glowing as she smiled smugly though ruby red lips.

"Your cell is made of refined diamentium" she said in a posh British accent, "a malleable crystalline compound...but quite unbreakable in it's solid state."

Her mind racing, Amber did her best to maintain her composure and mask her rising anxiety. "Who are you?" she said with as much base in her voice as she could muster, "Where are my friends? Why did you bring me here?!"

"Your friends are being seen to, Amber" said the woman in black, "you should worry about yourself, right now. But you're right -- we haven't been properly introduced; I'm Dr. Vanessa Payne...and as for what I want..." Stepping up to the the crystal ball Vanessa placed her hands on the orb as she stared greedily up at the imprisoned heroine, her sharp brown eyes practically groping every inch of Amber's delicious body. "Let's start by getting you out of that suit!"

Her skin crawling, Amber wrapped her arms around herself defensively, recoiling from Vanessa's possessive gaze. Looking down at the uniform that snugly hugged her every curve, Amber began to take her meaning. "Th-the S.K.I.N. suit?" she stuttered, "Is that what this is about? Y-you want to steal our technology?"

Vanessa chuckled as she shook her head. "Amber" she chided as she slipped a hand into her pocket to retrieve a small touchscreen device, "there's nothing that old fossil could teach me. After all -- I invented S.K.I.N!" With a tap of her device the nanites covering Amber's voluptuous figure abruptly began to retract, and the panicked heroine tried furiously to cover up as her uniform rapidly dissolved. Once the last of the nanomachines slipped back into the collar around her neck, the closure sprang open and the black ring fell impotently to the grated floor. Incensed, Amber instantly snatched up the collar at her feet and tried feebly to replace it around her neck -- but try as she might the clasp would not engage.

Vanessa leaned her head back and laughed at the sport she had made of her prisoner. "What's the matter, Amber?" she said, condescendingly, "I thought you were proud of your body!"

It was true; Amber was a shameless exhibitionist -- she had never shied away from baring all for photo shoots or wearing scandalous outfits on the red carpet. But being exposed like this, having consent ripped out of her hands was very different. Fuming, the blonde starlet bared her perfect teeth in a snarl as she hurled the collar at Vanessa's face only to smack against the crystal barrier and clatter once again to the floor. With another keystroke of the doctor's device a small part of the orb rippled and shifted as if suddenly liquid to envelop the collar in a bubble while forming an opening to the outside. Smiling broadly, Vanessa eagerly reached into the newly formed cubbyhole to pick up the collar. Foiled again, Amber's frustration finally boiled over and brought her fist crashing down on the crystal barrier just inches from Vanessa's rubbery digits -- a move that instantly fractured every bone in Amber's hand. With a pained yelp the heroine sank to her knees and cradled her broken fingers with her good hand as her eyes welled up with tears.

"I warned you..." said Vanessa, not bothering to look up from the collar she now held in her hands, "...unbreakable. Even at ten times your strength you couldn't make a scratch. I should know after all -- I was one of the founders of F.A.T.H.E.R." Looking up, Vanessa proudly held the collar in front of her like some exquisite trophy. "And with your biometric data, I can finally conduct the experiments that the Agency would never allow. I'm so grateful you decided to volunteer as my guinea pig!"

"Fuck you, bitch!" hissed Amber, her pretty face reddened and twisted up as her mangled fingers began to gruellingly reset themselves. "When I get out of here I'm going to-"

"No" said Vanessa flatly, "no Amber, you're not. You're not ever going to get out of here. I've been dealing with you Adoran sluts long before you sucked cock number one. So I know how to deal with the famous Amber Jonze -- and what's more, I know how to deal with sweet little Kelly Spencer!"

Amber's breath instantly caught in her throat at the sound of her own name. F.A.T.H.E.R. closely guarded the civilian identities of it's agents to protect their loved ones. Even the press were forbidden from disclosing that information by federal law -- this could only mean a breach at the highest level. She had already been stripped of her clothing, but never before had Amber felt so naked. Supremely satisfied with putting the cheeky celebutant in her place, Vanessa tapped her touchscreen device to deliver her killing stroke. With a blip the air filled with the low hiss of white noise before a small voice eked;

"H-hello? Is...is anyone there?"

Instantly, Amber's eyes went wide and her heart skipped a beat as a cold sick feeling grew the pit of her stomach. "Sasha!" she frantically called out into the darkness, "Sasha honey, is that you?!"

"...Kelly?" the voice meekly replied, "Kelly, I don't know where I am... there- there's someone here...I --" and with another soft blip the white noise ceased, and the channel was closed.

"No!" Amber wailed, terror-stricken, "Goddess, no!" Her heart pounding like a jackhammer, the once-haughty amazon was near hysterics as she stared down on the sadistic Brit. "Don't you touch her or -"

"Or what?" said Vanessa, her response coming like the crack of a whip, "even if you could get your hands on me, she'd be dead before I hit the ground you fucking slag!"

Apoplectic, Amber's lips quivered as her mouth hung dumbly open while her racing mind desperately searched for something -- anything to turn her dire situation around. She had always been able to bend any situation to her advantage, but for the first time in her life she was not meeting a challenge from a position of strength -- and for the first time in her life...she felt completely powerless.

Immensely gratified, Vanessa savoured the moment as she watched Amber's heroic resolve crumble. "Now..." she said, "...what do you say?"

Amber's brow furrowed as she bowed her head, defeated, "You win. You can have me...but please-" she begged, "Please don't hurt my sister!"