Through the Looking Glass Ch. 06

'The architecture is a stylized version of what someone would see in a typical gladiator movie, as well as the clothing people are wearing. Almost every aspect of Roman life has been upgraded to modern standards, and twenty-first century technology is present, their advances typical of a progressive and ever changing world culture.'

'However, the past atrocities of the Roman Empire we knew still exist in this dimension, chief among them is slavery. Even though it has been advanced to 'corporation' status with wage and health benefits, the practice of owning slaves is still prevalent in this society. Although, so far, Lisa and I haven't seen any evidence of slaves being treated poorly or unfairly. In fact, we haven't seen anyone that would be considered a 'slave'... yet.'

'We'll keep investigating, but for the time being we'll try to be as 'unassuming' as possible and go along with events as they occur.'

Mitch put away the recorder as Lisa took a few more pictures, then stashed her camera. He stood there for a moment, admiring the view she was giving him.

"Have I told you you look beautiful in that?" He motioned to her flowing outfit that seemed to cascade over her shapely body.

She looked down at herself and grinned, "I just wish it wouldn't show off so much skin." she indicated the abundance of cleavage she was presenting, along with the amount of leg and hip exposed, and hissed, "I'm not wearing underwear under this."

"I know," Mitch smirked, drawing near to her.

Lisa cocked an eyebrow and grinned, "I know what's on your mind; you behave."

"I can't help it; that dress..."

Mitch gently took Lisa into his arms and lovingly kissed her. Her arms came up and wrapped around his shoulders, as he slipped a hand between the delicate chains that held the dress folds in place and felt around until he found and cupped her bare ass cheek. She squirmed against his as he fondled her, and her tongue started dancing with his.

They were both shocked back to behaving when the lab doors opened, the team member filing back into the room with Darrin in the lead.

"The senator will be here in less than an hour," he announced to the room, "I want all systems ready for the demonstration."

The techs and assistants scrambled to their proper stations as Darrin approached the married science team, Mitch barely able to remove his entangled hand from Lisa's dress in time.

"Okay, you two ready?"

Mitch nodded, "Uh, right; let's get it revved up."

He and Lisa went to the main control console, its golden and silvery instruments shining and blinking for attention. The layout was a match for their original console, except for the uniform colored buttons being replaced with metallic hued controls.

An hour went by, then everyone in the lab was startled by fanfare music coming from the foyer of the building. Two elaborately uniformed soldiers entered the room, swords drawn and held in front of them in salute. Two formal looking men, dressed the same as Mitch and Darrin but more studious and 'official' looking strolled in and one of them spoke, "Sirs and Madams, Lords and Ladies, his Empirical Honor Collico, Imperial senator of the province of Califia."

A well dressed middle aged man walked in, his attire adorned with gold clusters and bejeweled signets of authority, and the two soldiers presented their swords forward as he passed. A young woman, slim and lithe with extremely long straight black hair stepped in time behind him, holding an electronic notepad. Her outfit almost matched Lisa's, except for the absence of a dagger, and a loose gold collar hung around her neck with a stamped tag dangling from the front.

My God, thought Lisa as she bowed along with Mitch and the rest when the senator entered, and already knowing what the neck ornament meant. She's a slave.

"Samson!" Darrin exclaimed and approached the gentleman.

"Darius, my friend!" Collico invited him into his arms, and they hugged as old friends often do, "You are well, I trust? How is Amada?"

"Just fine; she sends her love," Darrin answered with a smile.

"Valin wants to know when you two are coming out to see us; you know the girls love seeing their Uncle Dar and Aunt Ama."

"Tell her next month during the holiday; I promise." Darrin ushered his friend through the lab, introducing the team. Then he approached Mitch and Lisa and gestured to his friend, "Samson Collico, Califia's senate representative. Samson, these are our two scientific wizards and the heads of our newest project: Doctors Mitchum and Lyssa Parus."

Collico extended his hand, "A great pleasure, Doctor."

"An honor, Senator," Mitch replied, shaking it.

"Lady Lyssa," he kissed her hand.

"A pleasure, sir," she beamed with her most winning smile.

"Darius has told me great things about you two. If this project is as successful as he claims it will be, a whole new era will thrive within the Empire."

"Shall we get started?" Darrin pointed to the team members around the room, and they all moved with the precision of a ballet troupe to their stations. Mitch and Lisa started the pre-fire sequence just as they had before, and the machine hummed to life with the reactor sphere glowing silvery white.

The test went as planned with no mishaps, the reactor sending the new alternative energy to a turbine and the group shut it down once the test was complete, smiles on everyone's faces at another successful test run.

"By Jupiter; astounding!" said Collico, impressed, "All that power generation with only a small percentage of energy needed! Fantastic!"

The lab team broke out in applause, with Mitch and Lisa smiling at their success.

"Didn't I tell you?" asked Darrin, nudging his friend, "Absolute genius!"

"Genius and a half!" Collico patted the two scientists on their shoulders, "Well done, indeed; congratulations! Wait until I present this to the Grand Senate; it'll blow the roof right off of the Senatorium! All the gods will favor you both for this!" He turned to his aide, "Tella, I want you to gather all the information on this project; I want to be able to give a full presentation to the Senate within the month."

The girl with the notepad nodded, "Yes, Senator."

As Darrin and Collico walked about the lab and praised the science team, Tella edged up to Mitch and Lisa and whispered, "Congratulations, Doctors; may the sun bless your work," and then scurried away, jotting down notes and gathering tech info from the team members.

Lisa raised her brow at that and muttered, "What was that?"

"I'm not sure," Mitch hushed back, "Did they have sun worshipers in the Roman Empire?"

"If they did, it wasn't recognized by Rome as a religion."

They talked among their team for a while, shaking hands and accepting their congratulatory praises, until it was time to call it a day. The lab techs left the building, followed by Mitch and Lisa, and headed home. The two travelers walked a bit into the parking lot until they stopped abruptly when a man got out of a very plush and expensive car and addressed them. A tall, dark skinned young man of possible Arabic descent wearing the same type of collar and tag that the girl Tella was wearing.

"Lord Parus, Milady," he said, very politely, "Ready to go?"

Mitch wasn't really sure how to acknowledge, so he simply nodded. The young driver opened the door for them, allowing Lisa to enter first, then jumped back into the front seat.

"Home, my Lord?"

Mitch just nodded again, acutely aware that this man was a... no, 'their' slave.

Pulling out of the lot, the driver picked up a mobile phone and spoke, "This is Kennis. Lord and Lady Parus are on their way home for the day."

Mitch and Lisa strained to hear the response, but managed to pick up, "Very good; I'll inform Madga to prepare dinner."

"Thank you, Denai; blessed be the sun."

For the most part, they rode through the city in relative silence, gazing at the magnificent structures of stores and buildings all decked out in both the classic and stylized Roman designs. The cars weren't too different from their counterparts in Mitch's and Lisa's universe, though Lisa smirked a bit when she saw a few license plates stamped in Roman letters and numerals.

The car went passed what was suppose to be their apartment building and continued for another twenty minutes before slowing. The vehicle crept up to a pair of parting gates that opened onto a very well-to-do estate in the countryside, with trees and flowers shrubs lining the drive. Mitch and Lisa were in awe of the sight of their 'home', with white colonnades and large windows that made the dwelling look like a smaller version of the White House.

Kennis opened the car door for them and allowed them to enter first, the doors being opened for them by another person inside.

"Maggie," Lisa quietly gasped, seeing their 'science tech' standing before them and bowing slightly. Her long brown hair dipped over her eyes as she tilted her head down and said, "Lord Parus, Milady; welcome home." She wore a poncho-style tunic that was belted at the waist and dropped just above her knees, showing off a generous amount of bare skin along the sides. As with Kennis, she too wore a gold collar.

She took an educated guess and replied, "Thank you... Madga."

"Your day went well, my Lord?"

Mitch spoke up, realizing she was speaking to him, "Uh, yes; very well. Senator Collico was very impressed with our work."

Another young woman, again with a neck collar, strolled out from a side room and extended her hand to take Mitch's over garment, and his eyes lit up when he saw it was Denise wearing the same revealing outfit.

"Your cloak, my Lord?"

Snapping out of his surprise, he unhook the garment and handed it to her, Denise bowing and leaving the foyer.

"Dinner will be ready in an hour," said Madga, "Would you care for coffee, my Lord?"

"Uh, yes Madga; please bring it to our bedroom."

She nodded and backed away as Kennis stepped up, and, "I shall inform Collin to prepare your chambers for your evening pleasures while you are dining, my Lord."

"Yes, thank you Kennis; please do."

Mitch watched him go towards the stairs as Madga returned with a small tray with steaming cups. She headed for the same stairs with Mitch and Lisa following, Lisa giving him a 'What the Hell is all this?' look. Mitch returned it with a quick shake of his head and a 'Not now' look of his own. On the second floor, Madga paused and opened a pair of wide doors and sauntered into a spacious room; the master bedroom, complete with large canopy bed, vanity mirrors, and a dresser that looked like it came from a king's dressing room.

"I will call when dinner is ready," said Madga, setting the tray down then bowing and backing out of the room.

Once the doors were closed, Lisa was about to explode into a tirade but Mitch stopped her with a finger to his lips. He quietly stepped over to a door to the side and listened, hearing someone arranging things in the next room; the opposite door emanated no sounds and was quiet.

Taking the hint, Lisa lowered her voice to a hiss, "I don't believe this; we're slave owners?"

"Now calm down," Mitch hissed back, holding her arms, "In this universe, apparently we are."

"We would never condone this kind of thing, much less participate in it."

"Normally, no; of course we wouldn't," Mitch ran his fingers through his hair, "You have to remember that the dimensions morph themselves to include us."

"So it's showing us who and what we really are here? I can't believe that; I won't." Lisa turned away, frustrated and sickened at the thought of actually owning another human being, "'Owning' servants, treating them like cattle..."

"Now hold on," Mitch interrupted, "you don't know that for sure. As far as I know, I'm still the same person I was when we left our dimension and you know damn well I would never treat anyone like that. Neither would you."

Lisa huffed, still fuming inside, "Is there any way we can change this... arrangement while we're here?"

"For all we know, we may already have. That website said that most former slaves stay with their former owners because they already have good wages and benefits; maybe we've done the same here. Our situation may be just like hiring a butler or maid, or a chauffeur; they don't act like 'slaves' to me."

"Maybe," Lisa sighed, "it's just the thought..."

"I know; I don't like it, either," Mitch reached out and hugged her, "But for the time being, we should just act casually and not think of them as 'slaves'. Remember: we can't do anything that will disrupt normal events here."

Lisa kissed him, "Oh, alright; I'll go along with it, for now. But if we're suppose to be tyrannical overlords here, I won't do it no matter what this dimension wants."

"Neither will I." Mitch kissed her deeply and smiled, "Shall we change for dinner? Would that be appropriate?"

Lisa shrugged, "Why not? As long as we're here..."

They both explored the wide closets and found many garments, from ordinary (if one would call simple togas and wraps ordinary) to stylish (elaborate gowns and dress suits adorned with gold and jewels). Mitch and Lisa decided that something understated would be fine; after all, it was just dinner.

Mitch chose a nice wraparound tunic of off beige with dark slacks and black sandals, the shirt showing off the center of his muscular chest. Lisa picked out a simple toga wrap in light blue, the waistband of the garment the only place where it was held to her body. The remainder wrapped around her torso from the back, draping over her left shoulder to hold it in place over her boobs and leaving that side bare, and flowed below the band down to her ankles in the front and back showing off her legs and hips.

To make sure they didn't attract attention, they both removed their necklaces and Lisa's stopwatch and placed them, along with the pack and bag, in a dresser drawer. As they sipped at their coffee, they admired each others' appearance in the large mirrors.

"I like the way your shirt shows off your chest," said Lisa, running her fingers over his pecs.

"And I like the way your outfit shows off... everything else," Mitch replied seductively, almost drooling over her barely covered body. Just as he was caressing her exposed skin in an attempt to feel her up, there was a knock at the door.

"Curses, foiled again," Mitch sighed, with Lisa snickering at him, "Come in."

Denai entered, her soft chocolate brown cleavage presenting itself when she bowed, "Excuse me, my Lord; dinner is ready."

"Thank you, Denai; we'll be right down."

She nodded and left, with Mitch putting his hands back where they were on Lisa's body, "Where were we?"

Lisa giggled as she felt his palms feeling their way under her skirt flaps and grabbing her bare ass, "Stop that; I'm hungry."

"So am I," Mitch bend down and nibbled at her neck, making her smile and snicker.

She reached down and fondled the growing bulge in his pants, whispering with lust in her eye, "Later, baby... later."

Frustrated, they broke apart and headed for the dining room, Mitch watching her butt cheeks peek out with every step and gave one a quick pinch when they got to the bottom of the stairs, making her squeak.

"Behave," she hissed as the two walked through the grand house. They found the dining area and were amazed at the elegant decor. The table, easily twenty feet long, was solid oak stained a deep rich brown with high backed chairs to match. Mirrored artwork surrounded them on every wall, with a large china dinnerware hutch dominating one of them and two lower long cabinets directly opposite.

Denai pulled out the chair at one end and gestured Mitch to sit, while Kennis offered the chair next to it to Lisa. Madga pushed a cart into the room, bearing plates of Caesar salad (naturally, thought Lisa with a slight smirk) and a wine carafe. The attendants left the pair to eat in peace, giving them time to talk further.

"You know, I think you may be right," said Lisa after swallowing a mouthful of greens, "They don't act like 'slaves', more like servants in the movies. They don't seem to be afraid of any reprisals from us; they're definitely not cowering in fear of us. Maybe we're not the typical 'slave owners' everyone automatically thinks of when you think about it."

After taking a drink, Mitch nodded, "Yeah, maybe we already have done something to change things here."

They finished their salads and Mitch called for Madga, the lithe brunette entering with the cart, "You are ready for the next course, my Lord?"

"Yes, Madga; the salads were delicious."

She smiled a shy grin, "Thank you, my Lord."

As she cleared the plates, Mitch spoke to her, " Madga, may I ask you something?"

"Or course, my Lord."

"How long have you been with us?"

"Almost six years, my Lord."

Mitch nodded, then looked at her carefully, "Tell me, are you happy here?"

Her eyes widened a bit and seemed almost afraid to answer, "Of course, my Lord; you have never given me any reason to be unhappy. If I may, why do you ask?"

Mitch cleared his throat and pressed forward, "I have heard that a few of our representatives in the Senate are pushing a certain mandate through that would grant freedom to you and the others, and abolish slavery for good. Would this be something that would please you?"

Madga balked a little, not quite sure how to respond, but Lisa laid a hand on her arm and said, "It's alright, Madga; you can tell us. Would this please you?"

Her bottom lip started to quiver as she slowly nodded and muttered, "Yes... yes it would, Milady. It has been something I've dreamed of ever since I was young."

Mitch looked at her thoughtfully, "You've been a slave for a long time, haven't you."

Madga nodded again, a tear in the corner of her eye, "Since I was nine; I've known nothing else. You and Lady Lyssa are the first ones who ever treated me well." The tear rolled down her cheek.

Mitch fumed inside, imagining what she had to endure since childhood and didn't like what his imagination conjured up, and grumbled, "That won't do." He rose from his chair and wiped the tear from her face, saying in a very gentle and fatherly voice, "Madga, would you please call the others in here?"

"At once, my Lord," she bowed and hurried to the kitchen.

Lisa stood up, "Mitch, what are you going to do?"

"I am not going to tolerate this any longer," he groused, "mandate be damned."

"What about all that 'disrupting the normal flow of events' stuff?"

"I don't care, anymore," said Mitch, a steely resolve in his voice, "If something gets changed, so be it. If it doesn't, then 'no harm, no foul'."

The rest of the servants entered the dining room behind Madga and stood side by side, with Kennis saying, "You sent for us, my Lord?"

"Indeed I did," said Mitch, pacing in front of the group, "I called you all in here for four reasons. First: I want to ask you what I asked Madga about the slavery abolition bill that the Senate is planning. Would this be something that you would be in favor of?"

They hesitated for a moment, then the group nodded shyly, uncertain as to the intent of their 'owner'.

"Good; I'm glad to see you favor this proposal, because Lyssa and I favor it as well." That brought shocked looks from the servants. "Secondly: you are no longer to address me as 'my Lord'. It makes me sound too... 'regal', if you know what I mean; I am not the Emperor." A few quiet chortles came from the group, making Mitch and Lisa smile, with her adding, "And you don't have to call me 'Milady', either; that makes me sound old." This also produced snickers.

"Third," Mitch continued, "the main reason you don't have to address us in that manner is because, as of now... you are no longer slaves." With that, Mitch got behind the group and unclasped the collars from their necks, with Lisa joining in and undoing the girls' necklaces. Once done, the males gawked at Mitch, with the young ladies almost in tears as Mitch gathered the collars and dramatically tossed them into a waste can.