Willing Slave, Unwilling Master Ch. 13

Suit-man nods sagely. "Could this speed up production?"

"I don't know," Dr. Walker says, twisting her fingers together nervously. "I would need to run more tests."

"Very well," he says, "let's keep the subject off of the medication."

"We can't!" Dr. Walker exclaims.

"Excuse me?" Suit-man asks, his voice dangerously quiet.

"Sorry, Sir," Dr. Walker says timidly. "It's just that we don't really know what prolonged deprivation from the balancing agent might do. She could develop symptoms incredibly quickly, she could..." She swallows hard. "She could die Sir."

"The subject's demise would be unfortunate, but ultimately educational," he sighs, placing his hand on Dr. Walker's shoulder. "We've spoken about becoming too attached to the subjects, haven't we Linda?"

Dr. Walker's first name is Linda? She looks up at her boss and nods slowly. "I'm sorry Sir, it's just," she gestures to me, "this is my life's work."

"And no one is prouder of you and what you have achieved than the board of directors." He forces a smile onto his face, which if anything makes him look even less friendly. "We're all relying on you to act professionally. It would be a terrible shame to come so far only to lose your nerve at the last minute, don't you think?" The threat is clear even to me, and I notice the shiver that rattles Dr. Walker.

"Yes, Sir," she says, composing herself, "I understand."

"Excellent!" he says, clapping his hands together. "Now have you been able to ascertain were the subject has been? Are there are any threats we should be aware of?"

"I have only checked her medically so far, Sir." Now it's Dr. Walker who's lying. "But, I will find out."

Why doesn't Suit-man ask me himself? I wonder trying my best to watch the exchange without either of the humans noticing.

"Well, you have a bound with the subject. So the board is willing to adhere to your methods," he says, checking his watch. "We will see what results you can produce."

"Yes, Sir," Dr. walker says, sounding like a Lower Vil responding to her Master. "I'll file my report as soon as possible."

Without another word, Suit-man leaves the room. Doctor Walker watches the door for a long time, before turning back to me. She frowns, and I quickly bow my head.

"I'm not a bad person," she says at last.

"No Miss," I reply quickly. What in the stars is she talking about? Why does she think she's a bad person? Is it because she's not giving me the medicine? But, she's just following her Master's orders. You can't be a bad person if you doing what you're told, everyone knows that.

"Just... Remember that, okay?" The composure she had in Suit-man's presence seems to evaporate, as she places a hand on my upper arm and leads me to the shower cubicle in the corner of the room.

"It looks like you've been playing in the mud," she says softly, faking a smile.

"I'm sorry Miss," I reply, looking down at the mud caking my legs.

She shakes her head. Turning on the water and placing her hand in the stream. There's a long moment of silence between us, and I wonder just what she's thinking.

"Right sweetheart, hop in."

I do so, bracing myself for the cold, but instead find the water to be pleasantly warm. I look up at Dr. Walker wondering if I should tell her of her mistake.

"I care about you, you know that, don't you?" she asks, not making eye contact with me.

"Yes, Miss," I say at once, "you are always very kind to my sisters and me."

She bites her bottom lip. "Is there something you want to tell me Rose?"

"No Miss," I say, grateful for an excuse to look at the floor.

There's a long pause, before Dr. Walker nods. "I need to update my report. I will be back shortly." Without waiting for an answer she turns on her heel, and disappears into the small office attached to the lab.

My heart aches as I watch her go. Would it really be so bad to tell her? Perhaps she can help? Maybe she can give me the medicine Suit-man doesn't want me to have?

She did lie to Suit-man about finding out were I have been after-all. What does that mean?

No, if I ask her for help I put everything at risk. I need to do this on my own. I have to act like a spy in one of Master's movies. Not like a slave who relies on humans to care for her!

Lost in my thoughts, I grab a handful of washing gel form the dispenser, and start to work it into my messy hair.

... ... ...

I'm patting myself dry with a towel by the time that Dr. Walker returns. She seems to have regained some of her old-self at least, and quickly leads me from the room.

She seems to be caught up in her thoughts, as we walk down the corridor. Which gives me a chance to take a good look at each door in turn. Unfortunately none of them say 'Exit', or 'freedom this way'.

"Rose," she says suddenly, "if you remember anything else about what happened to you, any tests or medicines someone might have given you. I want you to call for a warden, and ask to see me, okay?"

"Yes, Miss," I reply politely, wondering what the green and red lights above each door mean.

Dr. Walker is silent until arrive outside a white door. Identical to all the others, except, behind this door are my sisters. The phased window isn't active, so I can't see inside, but something deep in my chest tells me this is the door I stepped out of a mouth ago.

"Well, I guess your sisters will be happy to see you," Dr. Walker says with a forced smile. She withdraws a plastic card hanging from a cord around her neck, and places it on a black panel beside the door. There's a beep, and the door clicks open.

"Welcome home sweetie," she says with a genuine smile, pushing open the door, and gesturing for me to step inside. Head still bowed, I practically dash into the cell. Not an obedient thing to do, but I don't want to risk not seeing my sisters. Though, the sound of the door locking behind me causes me to wince.

I only just have time to notice how much smaller the room seems now, before i'm enveloped in a tight hug, and get a face full of black hair. The sudden embrace nearly causes me to lose my balance, but I right myself quickly, a giggle rising unbidden from my chest.

"Dahlia!" I cry happily.

"You're back!" Dahlia says excitedly, nuzzling my neck. Dahlia's enthusiasm hasn't shrunk, not one little bit. With a purr rumbling in my throat, I look up at my other two sisters, who are both a bit more restrained.

"Welcome back Rose," Thistle says softly, her hands held obediently behind her back.

I do my best to keep my face passive as I greet my brown haired sister. She would not approve of smiles, or grins, or anything else that could be seen as an infringement of the rules.

I wonder how she would react if she knew even half of what my owner has taught me. She thought I was disobedient before I was sold to Master!

My heart flutters as my gaze shifts to Leilani, who stands beside Thistle with a strange look invading her otherwise neutral face.

"We thought you had been sold," Leilani says levelly, absentmindedly tracing a path through the maze like markings on her bare hip. A sudden horrible thought strikes me as I watch her. What if I free my sisters, only for Master to decide he likes their markings more than mine!

I shake my head trying to rid myself of that unpleasant—not to mention distinctly disobedient—chain of thought. Instead, I try and imagine what my sisters would look like wearing clothes. It's such an alien concept that I nearly burst out laughing.

"She still doesn't pay attention," Dahlia observes from somewhere near my throat, her words distorted by her happy purring.

"I was," I say quickly, "I mean, I am." Clearing my throat I continue, "I mean I was sold-" I stop myself as a crushing realisation falls around my shoulders: I can't tell them the truth.

I've known them my entire life—excluding the past month of course—but I can't trust them to keep my secret. They wouldn't tell a Warden to hurt me, but they would tell. Because that's what they are trained to do. It's hard to believe now, but before I met Master I might have done the same thing.

"Who brought you?" Thistle asks, the tiniest hint of excitement in her normally perfectly controlled voice.

"No one brought me," I say, trying my best to sound unhappy. "Some men came and looked at me, but no-one wished to buy me." My mind races as I try and spot any plot holes in my made-up story. Being honest is nowhere near this difficult.

"But," I add quickly, "it was like being sold! The man who took me was my Master. Until he brought me back."

I wish I could tell them about my real master.

"Can we snuggle in bed?" Dahlia asks, apparently not all that interested in where I've been, but I know better. She's curious, but she'll wait until after lights out to speak. My sister feels safer in the darkness.

"It will be lights off soon," Leilani says smoothly.

Thistle nods heading off to the doorless bathroom. With a pang, I realise I can see her ribs poking through her skin as she turns. The same condition is evident with my other two sisters. Leilani gives me a lingering look, before turning and heading to what I recognise as her bed. Though given how much we all share sleeping space, the boundaries of who's bed is who's isn't all that clearly defined. Not like in Master's house.

"Is it really nearly lights off?" I ask Dahlia as I follow her to 'her' bed. I realise I don't have any pyjamas' in this place, and the thought makes me feel momentarily more naked, as if such a thing were possible.

She nods, her silky black hair swishing as she moves. "Everyone has been acting strangely since you left," she says quietly, pulling back the neatly made covers, and climbing into bed. Which is really just a metal frame with a mattress on top. Not even half as wide as Master's bed.

Sitting down beside Dahlia's prone from, I look over at Leilani, who is sitting on her own bed looking fixedly at the wall. I'm not sure in what order we were born, but to me, and I suspect my other sisters, Leilani has always been the oldest. I don't know what I expected coming back here, but it wasn't this. It's almost as if she's angry with me.

For as long as I can remember Leilani has been our leader. Ever since I was little I've looked up to her, literally, she's taller than any of us, and more beautiful. I shake my head wondering if Master would prefer her breasts to mine.

"Strange how?" I reply, gently stroking Dahlia's arm enjoying the contact. It's strange, I love cuddling with my owner, but it's not the same as with my sisters. With Master I feel excited, and nervous at the same time. But with Dahlia, I just feel a deep sense of contentment, Like finding the most comfortable spot in bed when you wake up early in the morning.

"It's hard to explain," my sister says distractedly, purring as I move my fingertips to her neck, and begin to follow a path through her markings at random. "It's like," she pauses, "like they are not themselves anymore. Since you left things have been getting worse and worse."

"But," she says, her purrs nearly drowning out her words, "you're back now! So everything will return to normal!"

There's a series of loud beeps, before the room is plunged into total darkness. I sigh, rubbing my face with my hands. It really isn't that late! Why are we kept out of sync like this? What's the purpose?

"Rose?" Dahlia asks, placing a hand on my back. "Are you going to lie down?"

"I guess—" I just about manage to say, before the rustle of movement beside me causes me to jump. There's a shuffle of cautious feet—the result of a lifetime of stubbed toes—and I hold perfectly still not wanting to become a tripping hazard. Suddenly a weight falls on the bed beside me, and I feel a hand touch my arm as my sister explores in the darkness.

"Hello Thistle," I say softly, as my sister's hand finds my cheek, and she wraps her arms around me.

Her only reply is a happy purr. Which I return as she nuzzles my neck.

"We all missed you," Dahlia says, a touch sadly. "Even Doctor Walker, I think."

I doubt it was me she missed, but the things she changed inside of me. We are her life's work, like she said, losing a quarter of all that work must have been horrible for her.

Slowly, as if working from a single shared thought the three of us lay down, cuddling together in a tangled confusion of limbs. I wonder if Leilani will join us, but she remains on the other side of the room.

My sisters contented purrs soon turn to the gentle breathing of sleep, but I don't feel the least bit tired. Caught in the cage of their arms and legs, I have no choice but to stare at the black ceiling. I sigh, before my Master this would have been the most wonderful thing in the world, but now I just feel trapped. I wish the inspection team were outside the door right now, so I could yell and scream and be back in my owner's arms.

Dahlia shifts beside me wrapping her leg a little tighter around mine. Her cheek pressed against my shoulder. I hope four weeks was long enough for her to learn not to drool in her sleep!

Time ticks on slowly. Like it does when I'm waiting for Master to return form school, but in this dark room it feels even more monotonous.

Beside me Thistle shifts, and I feel her breath against my cheek.

"Rose?" she whispers.

I jump, but manage to avoid yelping. "Yes?" I reply quietly.

"What's it like outside?" my sister asks, deathly quiet.

Instantly forgetting about Dahlia, I roll over imagining I can see the outline of Thistle's familiar face next to me in the darkness. Her small mouth and nose, offset by her large brown eyes, speckled with gold and alive with interest. True, she normally only looks interested like I'm imagining during lessons, but it's how I enjoy picturing her.

"Asking questions is disobedient," I say quietly mimicking her scolding tone of voice. Which each of us—but especially me—has experienced for one infraction or another.

"I'm sorry," she says guiltily, her voice barely audible even in the still room.

My heart twinges in my chest. "You don't have to be sorry," I say quickly, reaching down and taking her hand in mine. I wish I could tell her that despite all the wardens dire warnings not all Masters mind if you ask questions. Some even enjoy it!

I want to tell her that talking to my Master is nearly as easy as talking to her, Instead I answer her question, "It's amazing outside, Thistle. The sky goes on forever, and there's so much to see."

I feel Thistle shiver as she holds my hand a little tighter. "I can't wait until I'm sold," she says excitedly. "You think the man who took you will take me next?"

Not unless Mr. X has a way to bring people back from the dead, which, I suppose, I shouldn't rule out completely. I tell her it's a possibility. I don't like getting her hopes up, it seems cruel, but I don't want to hurt her either. Anyway, if I succeed she won't need someone like Ernie to steal her away. We'll all be free of this place.

We continue to talk in the darkness, and I'm glad I'm so awake as I fabricate a story of dark hover car rides, blindfolds, and gloomy warehouses. An idea stolen straight from one of the movies Master and I watched.

My sister listens quietly as I speak until her purr's fade away, and sleep takes her. The silence settles over me once again, and I snuggle up to Thistle finding comfort against her smooth, warm skin.

Despite being surrounded by people, I suddenly feel very alone. Letting go of Thistle's hand, I reach for the spot just below my ear that will activate the communication chip. I press gently on my jawbone, as Marvin showed me, hoping I can speak quietly enough not to wake my sisters.

I feel my breath catch in my throat as a low single tone plays in my head, no reception. I need to find higher ground! At least that's what Marvin said. But how am I supposed to find higher ground in a windowless cell?

Carefully I wiggle my way out from Dahlia's death grip. Thanking the stars that Thistle doesn't hold on quite so tight, I start to shimmy to the end of the bed.

"R... Rose?" Dahlia mumbles in her sleep, her hand probing my recently vacated patch of mattress. Worried she's going to poke Thistle in the eye I reach out and just about manage to grab her hand.

"Shhh," I say softly, "I need to use the bathroom." Which is only half a lie.

"Are you coming back?" she asks dreamily.

"Of course. Where else would I go?"

"I didn't like it when you went away," she whispers softly.

"Well, we will all be away for each other when we're sold, won't we?" I reply. I always assumed that when I was sold I would somehow end up forgetting my sisters, but even with the most wonderful Master in the world that didn't happen. I missed them, and I'm so happy to see them again. Even if only two-thirds of them are currently speaking to me.

"But that will be okay," Dahlia says with a confidence she has no right to. "Our Master's will tell us not to miss each other, and we won't."

"That's right," I lie soothingly, feeling her hand return to the folds of her stolen blanket.

"Sweet dreams Dahlia," I say softly, patting her thigh.

"Rose you say strange things now," she grumbles, as I hop down off the end of the bed shivering as my feet touch the icy floor.

I cautiously make my way down between the rows of beds heading for the faintly illuminated bathroom. Thinking over what my sister just said. I suppose I must now use words and phrases that I learned from my owner without thinking about it. I need to be more careful in the future. Though, I don't know how I can be careful about something I don't even realise i'm doing!

My toes intact, and my sisters still thankfully asleep, I reach the entrance of the bathroom. There's no door, like there is out in the real world, but it never occurred to me before that there would be one. We grew up together sharing everything. So the idea that this room would be any different never crossed my mind.

Like the rest of our cell, the bathroom is smaller than I remember. In the corner, farthest from the door, is a toilet and sink. Lit so dimly by a green night-light that you can only just see where to sit. The rest of the room is bare, save for a pair of shower heads that protrude from the wall, and their matching drainage grates in the floor. There are no controls for the showers. They get turned on a little after lights on, and it's a very sore bottom indeed for the girl who doesn't manage to wash herself before they get turned off—a lesson I learned more than once.

Looking back over my shoulder, as if expecting to see my sisters watching me in the darkness, I slip into the room heading straight for the metal toilet built into the wall. Find higher ground, I think to myself as I place a foot tentatively on the rim of the toilet. Biting my lip, I push myself up, so that I am balancing between either a sprained ankle or a very wet foot—or maybe both. If Master were here he would be laughing at me.

Standing up as tall as I can, I press gently on the spot just under my ear. My eyes fixed to the bathroom entrance, I wait for someone to respond, but I hear nothing but the low no-connection tone.

I try again. Pushing on the side of my face so hard it hurts.

Nothing.

"Please, please!" I whisper to myself, feeling hot tears start to slide down my cheeks.

My pleas are met with a low soul-crushing tone: No connection.

--- --- ---

Dan

"She should have contacted us by now," I say for what must be the tenth time this hour. I look away from the window and the spectacular sunset beyond. Which, for all its majesty, seems rather hollow without Rose here.

"Give her time," Mr. X says from behind his lavish office desk. Not bothering to look up at me as he guides his engrossed slave through her newly obtained junior electronics kit.