The Possessed

"I think she is going to have her baby," said Lisa somewhat bored and looking up from the video counsel she was toying with.

Phoebe and Candy looked at each other with a mixture of surprise, concern, and excitement on their faces. "Of course!" said Phoebe. "She's going to have her baby!"

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Alex and Laura led Dianna to a room not far from the recreation area. The room looked like the infirmary, except it was larger and in the center stood a 'changing' table surrounded by equipment and instruments. Manuela and Anne stood besides the table dressed in white jumpsuits working and adjusting instruments. Anne looked up as they entered the room and said, "Remove her diaper and place her on the delivery table."

Ushering Dianna to the table, Laura quickly removed her diaper, and with Alex's assistance, helped Dianna on to the table. The surface of the table was comfortably padded and one side was tilted up at forty-five degrees, so that Dianna sat reclined instead of flat. At the other end stirrups extended down wards from the corners of the table and Dianna instinctively placed her feet in them. Anne motioned to Laura and she secured Dianna's feet with leather straps. When she was done, Dianna found herself sitting almost upright on the table, her legs spread wide and firmly secured in the stirrups. Looking down at her belly she noticed a ripple pass over its surface as another 'cramp' swept through her stomach.

Dianna had not figured out what was happening to her yet and she was concerned what Laura and medtechs were going to do to her. In addition, she was embarrassed at being completely naked in front of four other women, especially in her current shameful condition. As another set of cramps swept through her body, the muscles in her belly rippling again, Dianna's concern turned to worry. She had never experienced such severe cramping before and it was getting worse, not better as time went on. In desperation she said, "Mistress I feel sick, what's wrong with me?"

"Nothing child," said Manuela, "everything is as it should be. You are about to deliver your baby. Now lean back and relax and do exactly what I tell you."

Dianna leaned back against the padded surface of the delivery table simultaneously relieved and frightened. Although Dianna knew about childbirth from school, she was unfamiliar with the details. In school she had been taught that in pre-modern times women had conceived and carried the developing fetus inside their bodies and then had expelled a fully developed child through the vaginal canal. Dianna had seen life-like recreations or simulations of the entire process. However most of the details had been omitted, and like most girls, Dianna had not paid must attention to the lesson since she never expected to become pregnant, little lone give birth. She was therefore surprised by the painful cramping and found it difficult to accept that something was not wrong, even after the medtech's reassurance. "Mistress, I feel awful. I must have eaten something. The cramps..."

"Shush, child. It's not cramps, but contractions, and they are going to get worse. You're body is going to expel the child. Everything is as it should be. Now relax and be quiet and do as you're told," said Manuela.

Contractions? Dianna thought. Then she thought back to what she had been taught in school. Childbirth was a painful process, she remembered. The baby was expelled from the body by a series of powerful muscle contractions. Although Dianna was relieved that what was happening to her was 'normal', she was frightened by the painful reality. The medtech had said the contractions were going to get worse. How much worse? As it was they were becoming painful. But Dianna did not have time to continue reflecting on her current situation; another set of contractions swept through her body and she you see stomach muscles tightening through her skin.

The latest set left no room for doubt. The cramps were more like those she had occasionally experienced in a leg or arm after over exertion. They no longer resembled the discomfort she associated with an upset stomach. These were intense and painful, and Dianna felt sore after they subsided. After about half an hour, the contractions began to occur more frequently and last longer. Soon Dianna began to perspire with the pain and her breathing became rapid. Anne, who was monitoring a bank of instruments to Dianna's left said, "Temperature up slightly, respiration increased by twenty percent."

"Good," replied Manuela. "She is progressing well. At this rate, another thirty minutes, at most."

The next set of contractions left Dianna moaning in pain and perspiring profusely. "Please Mistress, help me! It hurts! It hurts!" cried Dianna as the contractions subsided.

Glancing at the instruments, Manuela said, "Breathe deeply and push when you feel the next set. Your baby is almost out. I can see her head."

When the set of contractions swept through Dianna's body, she heard Manuela shout, "Push! Push!" Dianna did her best to comply, but the pain was intense and her efforts felt feeble, at best. However, when the contractions subsided again she heard Manuela say, "Good, the head is almost out. The next time, try and push harder."

Dianna found that she had no time to respond because just as Manuela finished speaking, yet another set of intense contractions began. Summing all her strength, Dianna pushed as hard as she could. Her body, wracked with pain felt as if it were being split in two starting at the area between her legs. Suddenly Manuela said excitedly, "The head is out!" Grabbing the baby, she pulled the baby girl out of Dianna's body and placed her on her mother's stomach.

"She looks perfect!" said Anne, also excited. Within moments the medtechs had suctioned the baby's mouth and cut the umbilical cord. The baby let out a few cries, but quickly settled down. Wiping her off, and wrapping her in a blanket, Anne placed the newborn in an incubator and wheeled her out of the delivery room.

Manuela pulled the afterbirth from Dianna and began cleaning her off. Dianna had started to cry as soon as her daughter had been placed on her stomach. When Anne removed her and started to take her out of the room she cried out, "Please let me have my daughter! Where are you taking her?"

Manuela said, "Shush! She is fine and is being well taken care of."

Too weak to protest, even if she had been so bold, Dianna lay back and cried silently. Alex and Laura who had never witnessed an actual birth stood transfixed, not hearing what Dianna had said. Both women hardened as they were, had not been prepared for what they had just witnessed. Manuela broke their trance by saying, "She's finished. Diaper her and take her to her cell. Monitor her closely she needs to rest for at least three days."

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Lisa, Candy, and Phoebe had just finished eating lunch when Laura strode into the recreation room. The three slaves looked up, their faces betraying the questions they dare not ask. Looking at Phoebe, Laura said, "Follow me." Phoebe hurriedly got up from the table where she was sitting and followed Laura out of the recreation room.

Laura silently led Phoebe to her cell and opened the door. Stepping inside and nodding in Dianna's direction Laura said, "She is to rest for the next three days. Watch her and if there are any problems let me know immediately." With that, Laura turned and exited the cell, locking the door behind her.

Inside, Phoebe saw that Dianna was sleeping on her bed. She was diapered as usual but Phoebe could see that her belly was deflated. She must have delivered the baby, Phoebe thought. Although Phoebe was anxious to know what had happened, she decided to let Dianna rest. The time seemed to drag by slowly as she waited. Looking at Dianna however reassured her; her cellmate seemed physically well. In fact, Dianna seemed to be sleeping soundly for the first time in over a month now that she was no longer carrying the baby. After several hours Laura returned with food for both slaves.

Looking at Dianna Laura said, "Has she been asleep the entire time you've been here?"

"Yes Mistress," answered Phoebe. "Is she OK?"

"Yes. Keep an eye on her. It's OK if she doesn't wake-up to eat. Let her rest." With these instructions, Laura left leaving Phoebe alone with Dianna once again. Phoebe ate her dinner in silence, watching Dianna. For her part, Dianna continued to sleep and after several more hours, Phoebe decided to retire herself. That night, Phoebe tossed and turned in her bed, concerned about Dianna and wondering what had happened to her baby. It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that she finally fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning Phoebe woke to find Dianna still asleep. Laura arrived with breakfast, and after inquiring about Dianna left. About half an hour later, Dianna finally woke up. Sitting up slowly and looking at Phoebe she said, "How long have I been asleep?"

"Almost an entire day," said Phoebe. "I was beginning to get worried. Are you OK?"

"Yes, I think," answered Dianna, feeling her stomach with her hands.

"What happened?" asked Phoebe.

"I had my baby," said Dianna. "It was painful. I didn't think it would hurt so much. I was so tired afterwards...I must have fallen asleep. I don't even remember coming back to the cell."

Phoebe looked at her cellmate with a mixture of concern and sympathy. "What about the baby?"

"I don't know. They took her away as soon as she was born," said Dianna sadly.

Phoebe's sympathy turned completely to concern as the two women looked at each other, each thinking what neither dared to say. After awhile Phoebe said, "Are you hungry?"

Dianna thought for a minute and said, "Starved."

"Then, let's eat," said Phoebe motioning to the trays of food Laura had brought.

"Great!" Dianna said swinging her feet off the bed. However when she tried to stand, Dianna found that her stomach muscles were sore. Phoebe seeing that she was having trouble helped her to stand.

"Are you OK?"

"Yes, just sore," replied Dianna.

Phoebe helped Dianna to one of the two chairs in their cell and sat down in the other, and the two women ate their breakfast. Phoebe noted that Dianna was hungry and ate well. When she finished, Phoebe had Dianna give her the details of what had happened. Afterwards they discussed the baby. Both women had somehow grown attached to the developing child as it grew inside Dianna and both were anxious about what had happened to it. Dianna, of course was especially concerned. "Do you think they will let me see her?" she finally asked.

"I don't know," said Phoebe.

Dianna was upset by Phoebe's response and began to cry. "Oh God! My life has been so miserable since coming here. If they don't let me see my daughter, I'll die!"

Phoebe tried to comfort her, but it took some time before Dianna calmed down. By then it was lunchtime and Laura entered the cell with their afternoon meal. "Ah, good!" she said upon entering and seeing Dianna awake. Handing Dianna a bottle with a funnel-like opening she said, "Place the opening over the nipples on your breasts and hold it in place until the bottle is full."

Dianna took the bottle, but held it not understanding Laura's strange instructions. Seeing her confusion Laura said, "Your breasts will start to produce milk now. You are to milk yourself every two hours. A supply of bottles will be left at each meal and collected at the next." Looking at Phoebe she said, "Assist her, if necessary."

Turning Laura started to leave, but Dianna said, "Mistress, when can I see my baby?"

Laura turned, visibly irritated, "Your baby? You don't have a baby; you are a slave! The baby belongs to Zax, as do you. The sooner you accept that the better." With that she turned again and left the cell, locking the door behind her.

Dianna was stunned by Laura's harsh words and began to cry immediately. "Oh God! I'll never get to see my daughter!" Phoebe was also surprised by Laura's harshness and by seeing Dianna's sorrow, she also began to cry, tears silently welling up from her eyes and running down her cheeks. Going over and sitting besides Dianna, she held the young mother and both women wept together in the tiny cell.

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Katrina, Camille, and Prudence sat in front of the fireplace in Prudence's private chamber in the Castle. Raising her glass, Katrina said, "Success!" The other two women raised and touched their glasses to Katrina's and drank.

"Nice," said Camille looking at the bubbles in her champagne.

"Yes," agreed Katrina.

"It's from the Castle's wine cellar," said Prudence. "I thought something special was called for."

"Quite, right," said Katrina. "The baby is doing well then, I take it?"

"Yes Mistress," answered Prudence "Very healthy and strong. The slave Dianna is also doing well, although she is having a difficult time at not being able to see the baby."

"Really?" Camille said, surprised.

"Yes. I talked to the professor and the psychtech, Echo Pierce, we hired. Both agree that her behavior is normal and that she will soon adjust."

"Good," said Katrina. "How is the psychtech working out?"

"Fine, so far, Mistress. She has started to develop a program for the offspring of the slaves. Something that will guarantee maximum humiliation, when the time comes," said Prudence.

"And the remaining two slaves, Mari and April?"

"Alex and Laura will be impregnating them tonight Mistress. They will be transferred along with the slave Larissa to the area where Lisa and Candy are now. Phoebe and Dianna will remain separated, at least for now," said Prudence.

"And how long before Dianna is re-impregnated?"

"At least six months Mistress" said Prudence. "The professor thinks we can reduce this to three later on, but for now she wants to make sure the slaves are fully recovered."

"OK," said Katrina. Turing to Camille she said, "What's going on with Varinia?"

"They seem to have taken the bait Mistress," said Camille. "They have disguised their interest in Zax by randomizing their inquiries. However they continue to pull information about cloning off the net, including the papers of Professor Fritz that we 'published'".

"Do you think they will take the bait?" asked Prudence.

"I don't know," shrugged Camille.

"I'm still worried Mistress," said Prudence, looking at Katrina.

"Yes," said Katrina. "But it's a calculated risk. We've left our Trojan-Horse at their gate; we must be patient."

"And if they don't take it inside?" asked Prudence.

"Then we will have to employ other means," said Katrina.

The three women looked at each other, their mood of celebration, diminished. Katrina sensing this said, "No need to worry now. Enjoy your success! Whatever happens, Zax is more than capable of handling it." With that she raised her glass again and said, "To success!"

"Yes, quite so," said Camille, raising her glass.

"Success," said Prudence. And the three women toasted the fruition of their plans, again.

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April was a broken woman. After her fall from power as Zax's Headmistress she had been in shock. Her quick trial and sentencing were but a blur in her memory and her public humiliation a nightmare that seemed surreal. April's state of shock was so complete that she had submitted almost instantaneously to her fate once she had reached the Castle dungeon. When the shock wore off, April had found herself a slave, wearing diapers and forced to wet and mess herself daily under the most humiliating and embarrassing of circumstances. Instead of regaining some of her former spirit, April had sunk into a state of functional depression and continuous self-pity, absent mindedly performing the tasks that her Mistress's demanded of her.

Her current cellmate, Mari, had fared no better. Mari had been the technical author of the scheme that had landed them all in their current situation. An employee of Blue Onyx, the world's treasury, Mari had been among the elite senior technical staff responsible for developing and maintaining the virtual personas used for almost every financial transaction that occurred across the globe. Using virtual computing techniques, scientists and engineers had developed a method for insuring the absolute security of electronic transactions. Mari had found a way of circumventing this system from within and used her knowledge to help frame Erin and Jan of financial fraud. Katrina had, of course been the facilitator between Mari and April, putting the two women together and encouraging them both to proceed with the dubious scheme. When they had been caught, Katrina was more than happy to let Erin and three other slaves go free and to let April, Mari, Lisa, and Candy take the blame, and punishment.

In her past life Mari had been both introverted and shy. Although extremely smart, she was a reclusive workaholic with few acquaintances and no personal friends. A petite thirty-two year old woman, with medium breasts and brown hair, Mari had been a virgin when she came to Zax Castle as a diapered slave. The ordeal of public humiliation had left the shy introvert permanently scarred and ill equipped to deal with life as a diapered slave. Having to wet and mess herself as well as masturbate in front of other women, often completely naked, had left Mari in a constant state of total embarrassment. Unable to escape externally, she had retreated internally, sitting by herself, rarely talking, and avoiding contact with others as much as possible.

The paring of Mari and April did nothing to help either; rather it reinforced their mutual self-isolation. This proved especially difficult on Larissa, the slave assigned as their caretaker. Larissa was young auburn-haired woman in her early twenties with an athletic figure. She was also very outgoing and found confinement with April and Mari a tedious and lonely assignment. Neither woman would engage in more than minimal conversation, and then only when necessary. Larissa had tried to engage her companions on numerous occasions, but to no avail; any conversation she initiated quickly degenerated into a question and answer session, in which she asked all the questions and received short terse answers in return. After about a week of this, Larissa had given up, occupying her free time with exercise and video entertainment.

April, Mari, and Larissa had originally been isolated together with Candy, Lisa, and Rachel in the part of the dungeon where they now resided. However about four months ago, the latter three women had suddenly stopped appearing in the recreation room after their nightly sequestering. About three months later, Larissa had been shocked to find out that both April and Mari had resumed their menstrual cycles. The reaction of both women had been predictable: April's depression and self-pity had increased while Mari's sense of humiliation had become even more heightened (something that Larissa had not thought possible given its already extreme state).

A few days after their periods stopped, Laura had confined them to their cells earlier than usual. For Larissa this made little difference; all it meant was that she would be physically alone while entertaining herself. For April and Mari, it meant a longer than usual night to indulge further in unhealthy self- introspection. This was made worse by the fact that Laura had chained them sitting upright on the beds of their cells. It took both women until well after midnight to fall asleep in this uncomfortable position, and both were confused and startled when Laura and Alex burst into their cell in the dead of night wearing black facemasks and leather bras, gloves, and boots as well as dildos.