Notes From The Underground

"Well, I did marry Alex" said Kathryn, "but we clearly never left on our honeymoon."

"And you believe that you had to be a virgin to get married?"

Kathryn blushed and looked down at her empty tray, "yes" she whispered, blushing.

"Who told you this?"

"Why Headmistress Echo."

"Incredible" said Phoebe, astounded by the naiveté of the young woman before her. It was clear, that Prudence, with Echo's assistance, had raised Kathryn and her fellow schoolmates, with an obviously distorted view of society and its mores and common customs.

"Is there something wrong?" asked Kathryn after a few minutes of watching a clearly perplexed Phoebe mulling over her story.

"Incredibly wrong" answered Phoebe, "but it's not anything to do with you. Let me ask you are all the other girls at the Schoolhouse about your age?"

"Yes, within a few months to a year" said Kathryn. "Why, is it important?"

"It might be" answered Phoebe, "I'm not sure yet." The names and especially the closeness in age of the five girls troubled Phoebe. Memories of events that had occurred almost 20 years ago within these very walls of the dungeon came back to Phoebe. Pregnant diapered slaves, the raid by Erin and her group, the arrival of Echo and the sudden loss of the infants…

Kathryn sensing that Phoebe knew something said "Can you tell be what's going on?"

"I don't know" answered Phoebe.

"Please" Kathryn said looking into the older woman's eyes, pleading.

Phoebe looked at Kathryn for a few moments, her mind whirling with the events from Kathryn's story and from the past. Finally she said, "I need to talk with some of the other slaves first. There are some things that happened long ago that might have a bearing on your story and potentially explain, at least parts of it."

"What kind of things?" Kathryn asked.

"Strange things, almost as strange as your story" said Phoebe. " About 20 years ago, the dungeon was raided by a small group of women attempting to expose one of Zax's plan's involving its diapered slaves. It was about that time that Mistress Echo arrived at Zax."

"So what could that possibly have to do with me?" asked Kathryn.

"I don't know" said Phoebe, "but you have to admit, there are at least a few coincidences here including the appearance of Echo on the scene as well as you and the other four girls in the Schoolhouse. It might all be a coincidence or…or something else."

"Like what?"

"I don't know that's why I want to ask some of the others."

Even Kathryn, young and innocent as she was, could see some of the possible connections. "You don't think that…"

"Again, I don't know, but let's not be hasty and jump to conclusions. I've seen a lot of strange things in my time here, and I can tell you one thing: things are often not what they appear to be."

"Who are these other slaves?" asked Kathryn.

"Well, for starters there are five other diapered slaves just like yourself here. And there are, of course, many more slaves like myself; a whole network. Like I told you earlier, we are a family of sorts. Many of us have been here for decades and longer. Tomorrow, you can tell your story to some of them and we can put our heads together and see what we can figure out."

The thought of meeting other slaves both excited and worried Kathryn. It would be nice to get to the bottom of this mystery, but the thought of appearing half-naked in front of them greatly troubled Kathryn. "Do I have to meet them?" she asked.

Phoebe laughed and patted her hand. "Why of course. Don't worry, we have all seen each other partially or fully undressed before. Sooner or later you will see every one naked, and vise versa."

The thought of seeing other woman naked made Kathryn anxious and excited. She had never seen another women naked, and the thought sent little shivers of pleasure through her pisshonie, just like when she thought of Alex seeing her naked on their wedding night. However the idea of even more women seeing her naked made Kathryn anxious and embarrassed. Even sitting here in front of Phoebe with her breasts exposed made Kathryn extremely uncomfortable, and she tried to hide her nakedness by crossing her arms over her chest. Phoebe's casual attitude, about the entire thing fascinated her. Were all the other slaves like this? Even more intriguing was her mention of five other diapered slaves. "You said there were others like myself here?"

"Yes five others to be exact."

"Where are they?"

"I'm not sure exactly. They are kept in a different part of the dungeon, but you'll eventually meet them. In the mean time, you'll have to satisfy yourself with the company of us ordinary slaves" said Phoebe smiling.

"I still don't understand this whole slave thing" said Kathryn, clearly confused.

"Well there is not much to understand" said Phoebe. "It's just like what you leaned in your civics class."

Kathryn looked at her sheepishly. "Well…well Headmistress Echo didn't spend too much time on that" she said blushing.

Phoebe looked at her, shaking her head. "Well surely you know about the criminal justice system and how it works?"

"Yes" said Kathryn. "Headmistress Echo said, there was very little crime in the world, but when a woman did commit a crime she was sentenced to servitude. The length of her sentence depended on the seriousness of the crime. Sentences ranged from a few weeks to several years and in the worst cases to life."

"That's correct" said Phoebe. "And did she take you to a public humiliation?"

Kathryn blushed and said "No she never took us to one. She said good girls don't go to such events. But she did show us a vid of a woman being humiliated. It was…" Kathryn stopped and looked down, her blush deepening.

"I see" said Phoebe. "Did she explain what happened after the humiliation?"

"No, not really" said Kathryn. "She just said that the woman was taken away and served as a slave, perhaps for the rest of her life."

"Hmm" said Phoebe. "And how about diapered slaves, did she mention them?"

"Yes, she said that was the worst punishment and reserved for the most serious of crimes."

"Did she give you any of the details?"

"No…" Kathryn said blushing again. "Headmistress Echo said good girls did not speak of such things."

"Yes, well it appears that although Mistress Echo told you the essential facts, she left out some important details."

"Like what?" Kathryn asked.

"Well for starters, there are essentially three classes of slavery. The first is for minor offenses. In these cases, the women may be humiliated publicly, but her sentence, although possibly long, is not for life. The second class is slavery for life. I am an example of a slave in this class. The third and last class, are diapered slaves, such as yourself."

The full implications of Phoebe being a slave struck Kathryn for the first time. If this kind woman was a slave, then she must have committed a crime. That made her a bad-girl, the kind one should never talk to or associate with. But how could this be? Phoebe seemed so normal, and above all sympathetic. "So you committed a serious crime?" asked Kathryn, wide eyed.

Phoebe looked at her expression and laughed. "Yes, stilly, of course. Why do you think I'm here, sitting half naked like yourself in Zax's dungeon?"

Kathryn was astonished at her casual attitude again. "I thought all criminals were…were bad" said Kathryn blushing. "But you're so…so, so nice!"

"Well, thank you!" said Phoebe amused by Kathryn's naiveté and innocent school girl charm. "But I afraid to say, that I'm one of those 'bad girls' Mistress Echo warned you about."

"No! I can't believe it, you're too nice! How can that be?"

"Well, it's a long, but rather ordinary story I'm afraid. Let's just say that when I was younger, I did something very foolish that I knew was wrong, got caught, and wound up here."

Kathryn could still not believe that Phoebe was a bad person, but she was too embarrassed to pry into the other woman's past. "So what about me? I still don't understand the difference between the classes of slaves you mentioned."

"Well is all a mater of degree" explained Phoebe. "For the fist class of slave, those whose crimes are minor, they retain most of their rights. They remain essentially free and continue to live and work, for the most part, on their own. The condition being that they perform their servitude and stay out of further trouble. For slaves in the second class, like myself, we loose our freedom. After the public humiliation we are sold at auction to the highest bidder, and must serve our owner for the rest of our lives. For diapered slaves, its pretty must the same thing, a life of servitude with no freedom."

"I still don't under stand the difference between the diapered and non-diapered slaves, like me and you. I mean if we were both sold and have lost all our freedom, what more is there?"

"Again, it's a matter of degree. Although I am a slave like you I still retain some basic rights under the law. Legally I have no legal rights, per se, just like you. However, there are more restrictions on what my Mistress can do to me."

"Like what?"

"Well, in both our cases, a Mistress can use our bodies in any way she pleases as long as she does not permanently physically harm us. However, in my case, I retain more rights to my personal physical integrity, meaning that I must be granted the right to handle my own bodily needs and to not be unduly humiliated in public."

"OK" said Kathryn, "I think I understand, but what about me?"

"In your case, you have no rights over your personal physical integrity, other than physical safety of course."

"I still don't understand."

"Well basically, the difference is characterized by your diapers."

"What?"

Phoebe looked at her and continued, "What are diapers for?"

"I don't know" said Kathryn, her mind refusing to focus on the obvious.

"Come, come. What are diapers used for?"

"Well they are used for babies."

"Right, why?"

Kathryn blushed, "well, you know, because they can't use the bathroom." Phoebe stared at her, eyes unblinking. Kathryn turned pale and said "you don't mean…no!"

Phoebe resisted the urge to smile, since she knew this was not funny. It was just that Kathryn was so child-like and innocent. In many ways she was a baby. "There you have it."

"You mean that…that I have to…to…to use them" said Kathryn blushing furiously. Secretly she was appalled at the idea of messing the diaper she wore, however at the same time, a shudder of excitement went though her pisshonie, and this was perhaps the most troubling thing of all she had seen, heard, and undergone up to this point. How can I be excited by the thought of doing that? Kathryn asked herself, deeply ashamed by her excitement.

Phoebe nodded her head, "Yes, I afraid so."

Kathryn looked a Phoebe and could see that the other woman was serious. "Oh god, no!" she lamented as she began crying again. Would this awful nightmare ever end? It just seemed to keep getting worse.

Phoebe got up and moving to the other side of the table, sat down next to Kathryn and put her arms around the sobbing young woman. "Don't' worry, it will be all right, don't worry" she said trying to comfort her. After awhile, Kathryn stopped crying and the two women sat there in somber silence. Phoebe's started to go over Kathryn's strange story in her mind, noting the coincidences that were becoming harder to believe the longer she thought about them. For Kathryn's part, she struggled with her emotions and the shock from the drastic change in her life. How could this be happening to her? Worse, why was she excited by being treated this way?

After what seemed like just a few moments, but was actually well over an hour, Laura walked into the room and said, "Its time for lock-down". Phoebe had jumped to her feet the instant Laura walked into the room, and gabbed Kathryn's arm, forcing her to her feet. Before Kathryn could say anything, Laura had turned around and was walking towards the door. Phoebe pulled Kathryn's arm and hurried along after Laura. For Kathryn, it was an effort to keep pace with Phoebe and Laura. She was still not use to walking with the awkward and bulky diaper on. As they marched through the stone corridors, Kathryn waddled as quickly as she could, her enormous breasts swaying back and forth, the chain with the weight between them bobbing up and down, tugging mercilessly on her sore nipples.

It did not take long for Kathryn to become hopelessly lost. For unlike their previous trips which had been straight and relatively short, Laura led them on a long, winding, and twisted route though the neither regions of dungeon. By the time Laura finally stopped, Kathryn was sweating with the effort of keeping up and her breasts and nipples were aching. The only good thing was that Laura had not stopped or paused to look back at her, which Kathryn was sure, would have resulted in further chastisement from the nasty creature Laura had become.

Laura stopped before yet another heavy wooden door, which creaked as she pushed it open. Phoebe quickly entered the cell, and Kathryn followed her, trying her best to avoid looking at Laura. The cell was much like the one Kathryn had left earlier that day, with stone floors, walls, and ceilings, and no windows. There were a few differences however, and these were notable. Instead of being completely bare, this cell contained a small bed, fastened to one wall with a toilet and sink next to it. It was also a little larger, and the floor along the wall opposite the bed was padded.

Laura stood in the open door and pointing at the bed said to Phoebe, "Put the gloves on her." Phoebe went to the bed, where a pair of what looked like boxing gloves rested on the padding that served as a mattress. Taking the gloves she went over the Kathryn and started putting them on her hands. The gloves had no fingers or thumbs and where essentially just thick round spherical balls, heavily padded so that the wearer's hands were completely encased in their padding. "So you won't be tempted to play with yourself" said Laura sarcastically. Kathryn blushed at Laura's remark and looked at her gloved hands. Although she could move her fingers freely inside, no movement was apparent on the outside. The gloves completely encased her hands, rending them useless. Kathryn realized that she would not be able to remove the gloves herself, that Phoebe's (or someone else's) help would be required to take them off.

While she was still pondering this, Laura pointed to the padded floor and said to Kathryn "get over there slut and sit down." Kathryn, who was somewhat better informed after the events of the day and her conversation with Phoebe did as she was told without saying a word. No sooner had she sat down on the padded floor than bars descended from the ceiling dividing the small cell in half. Another set of bars then emerged from the walls, about three feet off and parallel to the floor, sealing off the upper part of the cell and making it impossible for Kathryn to stand up. After the bars were in place, Laura turned and left the room, locking the heavy wooden and iron studded door behind her.

Phoebe sat down on the bed and sighed. She had been through this before, and she knew the night would be an unpleasant one, especially for Kathryn. The young woman was so incredibly innocent and ignorant of almost everything. She was still having trouble believing what Kathryn had told her; the only ameliorating fact was that Zax was clearly behind this entire affair, and Phoebe had learned through bitter experience, where Zax was involved, nothing was too bizarre to be true.

Across the room, Kathryn sat on the padded floor and looked at Phoebe between the bars. It was clear that her mentor was going to be sleeping on the bed, while she would be forced to sleep on the floor. At first, Kathryn was perplexed by this. Why do this to her? What was the point? The Castle was clearly large enough that they could have each had their own cell and bed. Was this some sort of punishment for something she had said or done earlier? As Kathryn pondered this, she continued to examine the cell they were in. When her eyes landed on the toilet she stopped breathing in horror as she noted that the toilet was on Phoebe's side of the cell. Pushing on the bars with her padded gloves she noted that they were solid and unyielding; it was instantly apparent that they were immovable and worst of all they cut off her access to the toilet. Looking around on her side of the cell, Kathryn also noted that there was no hole in the floor to serve as a toilet, like in the previous cell where she was earlier that morning.

Phoebe, who sat watching Kathryn, frowned sadly at the poor girl, noting from the direction of Kathryn's gaze and her horrified expression, that she had realized the implications concerning the layout of the cell. The two women looked at each other exchanging knowing glances, and Kathryn said hopefully "I guess I'll have to hold it till morning. I hope Laura remembers to come and get us early."

Phoebe stared at Kathryn and smiled at her sadly. The poor innocent thing! Her optimism was as touching as it was naïve. Even after their long conversation that afternoon, she still had not grasped in full implications of her situation. Although Phoebe felt truly sorry for her, she also realized that as a slave, she was powerless to help the unfortunate young woman. It was going to be a rough night, but there was no point in upsetting Kathryn any sooner than necessary. "Yes, let's hope so" she finally said. "I think we should turn in and try and get some sleep. Laura said your training will start tomorrow and you are going to need your rest."

Kathryn wanted to ask what the training would entail, but Phoebe had already laid-down on her bed and was clearly preparing to go to sleep. Well, thought Kathryn, her mentor had been very kind to her and Phoebe's seemed to be giving her good advice. At least Laura had not hit her since this morning. Better follow her example and get some sleep. It was hard moving around in the diapers, and if Laura had some arduous exercise program in store for her, she would need her rest for sure. Plus the fact, Kathryn was emotionally exhausted by the events of day, and sleep would be a welcome relief from her troubles. Lying down, she curled up on the padded floor near the bars, and making herself as comfortable as she could, went to sleep.

When Kathryn awoke, the cell was dark, with only a dim red glow providing limited visibility of the room. Across the room, Phoebe lay on her bed, breathing softly, and obviously asleep. Kathryn did not know what time it was, but it was clearly still night time and everything was quiet. What had awakened her? She wondered. Sitting up Kathryn found that she was sweating lightly and her diaper felt humid and sticky. Looking around she surveyed the cell, but everything was the same as it had been when she went to sleep. Had there been some noise in the cell or in the corridor just outside the door? Then it hit her, a sudden wave of cramps, swept across her abdomen and deep into her stomach. Oh god! She thought. I need to use the bathroom. Moving to stand up, she hit her head on the bars overhead and fell down onto the padded floor. Across the room, Phoebe stirred and turned over on the bed, but remained asleep.

Kathryn moved to rub her head, remembering the bars above her and across the cell. When she touched her sore head, she was also reminded of her glove encased hands, and would have started crying again, except for the arrival of another set of cramps in her stomach. Looking through the bars and across the room she eyed the toilet sitting quietly in the semi-darkness of the cell, a mere few feet away, but existing in another world, a world she was cut off from. Taking stock of her situation, Kathryn lay back down on the floor, curling up in a fetal position. I'll just have to tough it out she thought. With any luck it was almost morning, and Laura would be along before too long to let them out.