Talib looked over the woman he’d selected. Slightly shorter than his hundred ninety centis, on a fit, lean frame. Her hair was currently a sky-blue, matching her eyes, though he thought a more natural color would suit her, eventually. Her mouth was working hard at the gag he’d placed in it, but for the moment he didn’t want her talking. Her breasts were generous, and apparently still natural, as they hung slightly off-center as she stood in the bindings.
He touched his implant, to call his contact for the pre-inspection. There was a burst of static as it contacted the network, and Talib stumbled.
The doors burst open ‘POLICE! FREEZE!’
Talib fell to his knees as the SWAT team stormed the room, and felt handcuffs tightening around his wrists, as a distant annoyance. All his attention was focused on the leader, who’d gone to the center of the room, and was untying his captive. “Officer Scavo. Are you ok?”
She barely needed to clear her mouth from the gag: “I’m fine. Take him downtown.”
Damn. What a way to end his first foray into the actual slave trade.
He’d been in jail for four hours before they dragged him into an interrogation room. Officer Scavo was there, in a more respectable outfit than the borderline-clubwear he’d picked her up in. The other suit was better yet: Someone who spent most of their time behind a desk, ad a big one.
Talib took the indicated chair. “I don’t think I have anything to say to you without a lawyer present.”
The suit spoke. “If you insist on one, we can get you one, or call yours, Mr. Yoshida. Though I think it would be worth your while to hear us out first.”
Talib shrugged, and waited.
The suit flipped open a folder in front of them, and went through a few pages of it. “Talib Yoshida. Model citizen, minus a few parking tickets. Self-employed, as an ‘exotic personal trainer’. Not the most respectable, but you aren’t just living off the dole either: You’ve put together a decent sized estate, which you own free and clear, no subsidies. You even produce your own power, most months. Why’d you go move onto involuntary slavery? You get enough volunteers, from what I can see.”
Talib didn’t speak.
After the pause, the suit continued. “Usually it’s some need for the thrill, or something that the standard Property contracts can’t give you.” Padded shoulders shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to me, really. We could book you for kidnapping, and possibly assault. Maybe even make it stick, though if you’ve got a good lawyer around we might have trouble. Officer Scavo here jumped a bit too soon: Not that I blame her, but given your normal line of business… Well, let’s just say you have avenues of defense.”
The suit leaned back. “Not that we won’t throw the book at you, if that’s what you want us to do. But, honestly, we’ve got bigger fish to fry, and you’re under our normal weight limit. So, before the lawyers get involved, answer one question for me, if you would: Have you been contacted by anyone who you would believe is part of an organized crime ring, specifically one relating to forced involuntary service?”
Talib looked from one cop to the other, and thought about his answer.
“I’m not asking you to say anything about what you’ve said: Them contacting you isn’t illegal, or isn’t for you anyway. But if they have, we may have an offer for you.”
Talib thought a moment longer, and nodded, slowly.
“Good! We thought you had been. We’ve been trying to break into their crime ring for ages: If you are a minnow, there are some whales there we want to get a harpoon on. But they vet their people very carefully. Officer Scavo was trying to get in through the backdoor, as it were, but she got picked up by you instead… Which could mean having to start all over, and we’ll probably scare them out of this area, if we throw the book at you.”
Now the suit leaned forward. “But I want to throw you back. You have the contacts, and have already been vetted, at least the first level. You work your way in further, and get in place to show us who the really big fish are.”
Talib was allowed to absorb that for a moment before the suit spoke again. “Of course, we’d be keeping an eye on you. But you’d have some support from us as well.”
Talib licked his lips, and decided to take a risk. “I still haven’t passed the entrance exam. I’m not vetted yet.”
The police looked at each other, then back at him. “Assume we don’t know. What’s the entrance exam?”
“One trained slave, my choice who and how trained, but they can’t have agreed to it ahead of time. They have to inspect, both before and after training.”
“Then they can hold that over you, if you ever want to tattle.” The suit was nodding. “Exactly what we’d managed to gather, and what we were expecting. We were actually counting on it: We need someone inside to keep an eye on you. Kill two birds with one stone: Have that person be your entrance card. I assume you expect to keep the trained slave?”
“Um, it was mentioned as ‘expected, but not required’.”
“Excellent. Then… Officer Scavo has been working undercover on this issue. We can assume this didn’t break cover, and assign her to you as your minder.”
Talib looked back up to the officer in question, and the image of her bound, nude, body flashed back in front of his eyes. “One problem: I’m expecting them to test, somehow, to make sure that there has been no agreement ahead of time. They insisted on the inspection, after all. If Officer Scavo knows what’s coming…”
The officer herself answered. “No problem. I’ll lockdown the memories of the last few hours, and we’ll glitch my implant so that I think it’s failed. For the inspection, I’ll think I’m out of contact, and have been kidnapped for real.” Now she leaned over the table, her hanging cleavage not quite giving the intimidating presence she was going for. “Of course, you’ll unlock it afterwards.”
“Of course.” Talib took a deep breath. “How can I say no? I’d be a fool to turn you down.”
“Glad you see it our way, Mr. Yoshida. And thank you for your service to Justice.”
An hour later he was back in his dungeon, and Officer Scavo was back tied up on the display stand. Talib stepped back a moment to admire the view, while pretending to check her restraints. “So, ever done anything like this before?”
“You mean work under cover, or the kinky sexual property games?”
“More the latter.”
She took her time answering. “I’ve signed a couple of sentient property contracts. Part of why I’m the undercover operative on this; I know the ropes, and I’m not going to freak out on you. Well, I will when I lock my memories away and I can’t call for backup, but that’s only temporary.”
“This could be a long assignment: I’m not sure what levels of security we’ll have to go through.”
“I know. I got a reprimand for calling in to soon. We need to find out who, where, and how. Not just a few front liners, but the actual root of the organization.” She paused. “Are you sure you are in for the long haul? You are the most exposed of any of us.”
“I’m in. I wanted a bit more risk, and a bit more ‘real’ training, than my standard clients. This should be interesting.”
“Fair enough. Ready for me to activate the mental block?”
“Actually, there’s one more thing…” He pulled up a data pad, and let her read it.
“A six-month repeating unlimited Sentient Property contract? You’re kidding, right. I’m your contact, we can play but I’m the one with the badge.”
Talib shrugged. “I’m just trying to make a good impression on the organization — they implied they could help forge one of these, as cover for me, but if I can show I don’t need their help…”
“Point.” She thought a moment. “We could work something fake up with the department, but this is easier. And they might be able to spot a fake. Deal. Just remember I’m still the one with the badge.”
“Of course. I’d put that in the contract, but that’d be easier to spot than a fake.”
Talib freed one hand, and she used it to mark acceptance of the contract, then let him secure it back to the stand.
“Thanks. Ok, ball-gag, and then you activate the blocks.” He held up the item in question.
“Ok.” She took a deep breath. “You remember the code to unlock them?”
He tapped his implant. “I got it, no problem. As soon as I’m sure they won’t be back, I’ll unlock them again.”
“Good.” And she opened her mouth, waiting for the gag. It didn’t take much to secure it.
Talib stepped back and watched. After a moment, he could see a slight change in her expression. He let himself indulge in an evil grin, and molested her breast. She reacted by twisting away, with a small squeak. Hopefully that meant everything was working.
He touched his implant, trying for the second time tonight to call his contact. There was no static this time. “Hello, Faust? This is Talib. You wanted to see how my taste was.” He looked up at the bound girl, who was starting to show some alarm. “Half an hour? No problem. See you then.” The call terminated.
Ms. Scavo was starting to obviously fight her bonds now. Talib stepped up to her, an placed a hand on her chin. “Don’t worry, I’ll treat you just fine. But don’t bother fighting: You’ll just hurt yourself.”
It only stopped her for a moment. Talib smiled again, ran his hand proprietorially down her side, activated a vibrator between her legs, and then left, turning off the lights behind him.
“So, as long as I can maintain power, the ‘dungeon’ is on an isolated com network.” Talib was saying as he opened the door to the stairway. He was showing off, and hoping his babbling was hiding his nervousness.
Not that being nervous was out-of-character for what he was trying to pretend to be. But not quite as nervous as he actually was.
‘Faust’ just nodded. “Sounds like you have the basics covered. I take it this is your subject?” He walked to the middle of the room, where Ms. Scavo writhed in her bonds.
“Yes. I haven’t done any training yet, just left her with something to keep her occupied in the wait.” She was blinking, and trying to focus on the voices, until a shudder passed through her and her eyes rolled up for a moment. Talib grinned, and patted her ass. The scent of her dominated the room: Sweat and sex, it was obvious she’d had no choice but to cum repeatedly, and often.
“May I?” Faust gestured to the ball gag.
With a shrug, Talib replied. “Go right ahead.”
The quick-snap buckle opened easily, and the woman panted a moment, then swallowed, and forced words out: “What… Do you want with me? Please…” She shuddered, already responding again to the insistent pressure between her legs. “Let me go…”
“I think not. You’re going to make our friend here a nice little pleasure-slave, I think.” Faust turned to Talib. “I assume?”
“I was actually thinking assistant. But some of that as well, of course.”
Faust grinned, and turned back to the woman. “How does that sound? Helping him enslave others, against their will?”
“I… Never… You’ll regret…” She appeared to pull herself together for a moment, and focused on the two men, then got suddenly frightened. “How?”
Talib chuckled. “I think she just tried to call for help. As you said: I do have the basics covered. Do you want to see the logs?”
“I see, and no, that won’t be necessary.” Faust looked mildly impressed. “My associates can help with the paperwork, as I take it she’s going to be a bit more ‘public’ than most.”
“No need. I have that covered as well.” Talib produced a viewer, and pulled up Ms. Scavo’s signed unlimited Sentient Property contract. “I think that should cover any official enquireries.”
Talib finally looked like this was more than a routine matter. “I’m impressed. May I ask how this was acquired?”
“I do have some sources of my own.” Then, deciding to play as he’d considered earlier: “Though I’m not sure I’ll be able to use this method again. For future cases, I may need your associates expert help.”
“It comes as part of the bargain, but they will be pleased you managed on your own. It speaks well of your resourcefulness.” He paused a moment, then offered the display to the bound woman’s examination. “What do you think dear? It looks like you’ve already agreed to help our friend here.”
Her eyes flitted over the document, obviously knowledgeable about their normal layout, and spent time examining the seal. “It… Will never hold up.”
The fear on her face said otherwise, and Faust laughed. “Spirited! You’ll have fun with her, I’m sure. I would like to examine this a bit more, outside of your private network, if I may?”
It was a request to see if it would hold up when he could check the encryption on the certificates validating the contract, but Talib wasn’t offended. “Sure. Why don’t I give you a couple minutes with it upstairs, while I set up my standard training equipment down here?”
Faust looked split, but decided on duty. “Sure.”
Talib ran a finger down his captive’s belly as his guest walked to the door; as it reached her clit she arched and moaned aloud, unable to keep back the orgasm she’d been fighting any longer.
He turned, and spoke: “This won’t take a minute, and I’m sure you are getting bored in here with nothing but the vibrator.”
Between panting breaths, she replied: “Bastard.”
“No, that’s ‘Master’ to you.” He reached over, and pulled down a helmet over her head, and spent a few minutes attaching electrodes to her breasts and pussy, pulling away the vibrator for a moment to get at the latter. Once she was fully hooked in, he pushed a button to lower the last piece out of it’s recess in the ceiling. More a work of tubes and arms, it extended a dildo, and after a moment, inserted it between the woman’s panting lips.
“There, now you’ll have plenty to think about.” She stiffened in obvious momentary pain. “Just make sure to agree with what it tells you.” He instructed her, not that she could hear him.
He patted her again, offhandedly, then stopped, and stepped back, giving her a more appraising eye. “I think a few modifications could be in order…” He spoke to himself, and pulled up a connection to his local network. A moment later, they were programming the appropriate nano-pads for him.
That would take a while, time to get back to his guest.
The erstwhile ‘Faust’ idylly tapping at the viewer as he came up, and promptly handed it back to his host when Talib appeared. “A very impressive document indeed. I foresee a great future for you with us. For the moment, we will just be keeping an eye on you, but I thought you might appreciate this.” He handed an actual piece of paper to Talib. “That’s the location and access codes to our own little market, where you can find some more, um, versatile training tools than you might find elsewhere.” He paused, then continued. “I’d advise you to put that information somewhere safe: The paper will oxidize completely in a few hours.”
“Of course.”
“Well, I shall make my report to my associates, and we shall be watching your progress. As you said you’ll be taking her public when she’s done, we’ll just wait to see her then. If your plans change…” He shrugged. “The organization will be in touch, I’m sure. We have been looking for someone with your skill and position for a while; I’m sure my associates will have opportunities like those we discussed for you shortly.”
“I look forward to it.”
“Good day.” And Faust let himself out.
Talib stared after him for a moment, trying to decide whether his visitor had been a human or a very good android, then shook his head. He still had a lot of work to do.
First though… He looked down at his hand, the paper was visibly browning already. Talib went to use a physical terminal, and entered the URI and access codes from the paper, saving them to his private data at the same time. It wasn’t the most secure, but it would do for now.
The one thing he wasn’t looking forward to was actually freeing the officer downstairs. Yes, she would still need to be trained, and yes, she would stay around, but he’d been dreaming of having her as his perfect servant for days as he’d mapped out how to take her safely…
His random browsing through the black-market store stopped abruptly, and he laughed aloud. It might not work, but chances were good, and he’d wanted some actual risk in his life…
The thoughts of the various risks he was taking then focused him. He could use this, yes, but there were other risks he needed to secure against. He turned on the cleaning system, setting it to completely sanitize — even of other nanobots. This wasn’t the first time he’d been in a position to have spy-bots in the house.
Then he collected the n-pads out of the dispenser, and went back downstairs.
Placement was really optional, but it would make some difference in speed, and he liked to be slightly ornamental about it. The first one, with the image of a plus sign on it, went just over her right breast, where it’s nanos would have no trouble getting to work enhancing and strengthening her breasts. He liked her natural assets, but this would add that touch that said ‘pleasure slave’.
The next one went over her loins, just above where the vibrator still buzzed, lower now. Hormone production was from several locations, but this had significance, and he was looking forward to seeing how she handled being in permanent heat.
The last was a new product he wanted to test, and actually had a required placement. Talib followed instructions carefully as he wrapped it around the front of her throat. For now he wasn’t going to think about that one: Either it would work as advertised, or he would undo it later.
He considered a moment; he could try his new black-market purchase now, if he wanted. But in the end, he decided the day had been long, and he was going to need to be alert. The morning would be soon enough.
The next morning, showered, breakfasted, and alert Talib headed down to see how his captive was faring.
Of course, if there had been any major problems, the house systems would have woken him, so he knew she was still holding up physically. Not that there really was a question there: His restraints could take care of any basic physical need, usually before the person being restrained was even aware of it. That, after all, was the point: So they wouldn’t have any distractions, at all, from the brainwashing.
The quality of his setup had gotten him many clients over the years — and that was before he’d decided to go a less-legal route for once.
He stood before her and considered, again. So far, everything he’d done to her had been within keeping her ‘cover’. He could even claim holding off on removing the mental blocks was because there might have been some watchers present.
(Which, his cleaners had informed him, there had been. But not in any place where ‘Faust’ had gone: The spybots had been left behind by the police. Well, they were gone now.)
But he wanted more. He’d known when he’d grabbed her that what he was doing was illegal and could get him arrested, and the fact that she was a cop hadn’t really changed that. If this worked, it wouldn’t matter. If it didn’t… Well, then it didn’t, and he’d know he wasn’t as good as he thought he was.
Yes, there was a bit of pride there: He was one of the world’s best slave-trainers, he knew that. But he’d only worked with people who’d come to him, and agreed — usually asked for — Sentient Property contracts. There was always the part of him that wondered: Was he really good enough? Could he really cut it, without his subject’s help?
If he had to train someone who didn’t want to be a slave, could he still cut it?
So, he’d wanted to find out. And he’d chosen this woman to find out on. Of course, it wouldn’t be enough, not now. If he did this right, she’d still think she was playing along, helping. At least until she realized just how far she’d gone.
But that’d be another day.
First though: The lowest n-pad, the one setting up her new hormone levels, had faded out. It was done; he removed it, and set it aside for recycling. The one on her breast was only barely starting to fade: From experience Talib knew it would take a while for that one to fade completely.
The third had turned scarlet red. A warning that it was not to be removed at this stage, or there might be significant injury. Expected, from the manual that had come with it’s programming.
As for Ms. Scavo herself… She was showing the wear. She slumped against the restraints, no longer fighting, and her involuntary actions in reaction to the reward stimulus showed were slow with exhaustion. She hadn’t been allowed to sleep, or rest, since he’d flipped the switch on the vibrator, and she’d had a long day the day before. At the moment, her mouth was free, and she was breathing heavily, and unconsciously mouthing the words being fed into her mind.
He pulled up a virtual display, and saw that it had been some hours since she’d fought against the images and words assaulting her thoughts. Oh, there was continuing bips of punishment, as she missed cues, but he was experienced enough to see the results of exhaustion.
Good.
There was a stool nearby, not usually used for comfortable sitting, but it would do well enough. He brushed aside her hair, and uncovered the small access port for her implant, then plugged in the standard servicing cable. The other end was already in a remote box for his system, running the black-market download. He pulled up the stool, sat, and activated another virtual terminal, this one to her implant itself.
He’d worked on implants before, some. With permission, he could load training programs into the sandbox.
But that wouldn’t do what he needed today.
He put the black-market program into a background window, and browsed around a moment. As he expected, there was very little current activity but that which was following the training program. After so many hours, she just didn’t have the energy for anything else. There was an undercurrent of fear and determination to hold out until she was found — by who, was being hidden by her implant — but it was well-submerged already. Not that it wouldn’t flare back up at the first opportunity, but for now it was submerged.
A blinking alert pulled him out of more exploration — the program was done, or at least this stage. Talib had full access to her implant.
He moved slowly, careful for traps and extra safeguards. Officer Scavo had a police grade implant, after all. A few steps above a civilian-grade model, even an advanced model like his own. If that little program hadn’t accounted for that…
But apparently it had.
He chuckled to himself. He hadn’t won yet, but he was quite a bit closer. First though, there was something he wanted to know. Something that, somehow, he hadn’t gotten so far.
‘Ms.’ Scavo. ‘Officer’ Scavo. That was all the names he’d heard. What, finally, was her first name?
He dug, got frustrated, dug further, got more frustrated, and even started to doubt the black market program had worked at all.
Then he finally realized what the system was trying to tell him: Her name was ‘Scavo’. Her full name. There was no ‘first’ name, nor any ‘last’ name. Just the one. There had never been any others.
He laughed, and checked the access level the black-market program had gotten him. Yes, he could rewrite the files, even those. It wouldn’t change her memories, but the implant could be set to ‘correct’ them on the fly. He set it to do so, then changed the files that listed her name, giving her a new first name: ‘Slave’.
Then he went in and started the main programming. He couldn’t change her thoughts directly, not even here — implants supplemented the human brain, they didn’t replace it — but he could watch those thoughts and implement subtle rewards and discouragements. Obedience, to him, got rewards. As did submission, in any form. Thoughts of him, of loyalty to him, got slight rewards as well. The idea of helping train others for him got rewards; if it was against their will, even more. Loyalty to the police was subtly discouraged. Thoughts of modesty or shyness, discouraged. Thoughts of sex, encouraged, jealousy, discouraged.
None would take effect immediately, but in with the other training she would soon be following the thoughts programmed to be rewarded. Buy the time he let her out, she would be able to think no other way.
Then, and only then, did he release the mental block that had been placed on her.
Memory flowed back, and on some level Scavo realized what had happened. That she had tricked herself into believing she was being forced into this. That in reality, she’d agreed to it, that she thought it was her duty to submit to this.
The undercurrent of fear and determination faded. Hours of strict brainwashing, and light drugs (alcohol and caffeine, mostly) fogged her mind enough that she didn’t deal with the information consciously, only subconsciously. And her subconscious realized that the information meant the resistance she was throwing up was based on a wrong understanding, but couldn’t correct it.
So her walls fell.
Talib smiled to himself, and watched as the programming flashing at her hit one of her new reward areas. As he’d hoped, her subconscious appeared to accept the reward as part of the new information, and the true reality.
Two days later Talib finally released her from the machines. Acceptance of the brainwashing had been 100% for the last few hours, it was as deep as the machines could make it. Scavo would need to be awake and aware to integrate it fully into herself, for now it was just thoughts in the background.
She slumped out of the machine, mentally and physically pushed to her limits. If she hadn’t done anything but collapse into sleep, Talib would have found nothing unusual in that.
Instead, however, her eyes met his, and she breathed one word “Master”. The fall into his arms had the feel of trying to offer herself to him as well. It was a surprise, and a welcome one.
He laid her with care onto the prepared bed, and set the nanite cleaners to do their best for her.
Scavo woke to dim lighting, in a wonderfully soft bed. She remembered agreeing to going back undercover, and the ‘inspection’ while her memories were locked away. Then… Training, she supposed. It was confused, disorienting. At some point in there her memories must have been unlocked, she could tell, but how long had passed, or where she was now…
A door opened, high and across the room, and the lights brightened. “Good morning. I know you were worn out, so I’ve brought you some food.”
A man stepped down, into the light. Her heart welled with love and desire, and her lips formed his name. “Master.”
He smiled, and walked over to where she knelt on the mattress on the floor. “I’m sure you’re hungry — you’ve slept for twelve hours.” He set the bowl on the floor, and went to rub her hair.
She opened her mouth to say that he was too kind, that a slave should not be served by her master, but all that came out was silence.
“Oh, I’ve made a few changes to your body, by the way. The most noticeable are your breasts.” She looked down at them — they were distinctly larger than she’d remembered, and perkier than they’d been in years. “But the one you’ll have to work on is your throat.” He held up a mirror, so she could see for herself.
There was a collar, of course. And the leash to the side of her bed was in the way, but she could see what he was referring to: Four slits, in two pairs, near the top of her windpipe. High enough to not be covered by the collar, but still obviously part of her neck. She put a hand up, and felt air moving.
“You’ll have to get used to controlling them. It shouldn’t be hard, but you may have to think about it for a while. You should still be able to speak normally, but only if they are closed.”
She thought a moment, and managed to close them. Closed, the small slits faded into near-invisibility. “Thank you, Master. What are they for?”
He smiled a crooked grin. “They are so that you can breathe easily with something in your mouth, or down your throat.”
She understood immediately: They would help her serve him better.
The grin came back. “By the way, you never mentioned your first name. I don’t think as your master I can keep calling you ‘Officer Scavo’, and eventually you’ll be out enough that I’ll need to use your original name, so I don’t want to assign one.”
A moment of silence, then she remembered to close her throat off first. “I never used it, Master. My given name is Slave.”
He smiled broadly. “Well, that works out fine then, Slave.” He paused a moment. “Well, eat up. Training isn’t finished just because phase one is finished. As soon as you eat, we can get started.”
Rather than try to speak again, she just nodded, then placed her face into her food bowl and ate.
Slave finished her chore, carefully making sure all of the furniture was back where it had been before she’d started cleaning around it, and went to stand by her master.
Talib looked up at her, and saw something he’d been waiting for. “You have something you want to say?”
She nodded, then took the implicit permission. “Yes, thank you, Master. I, um, well, the absoluteness of the first stage of training has been wearing off, and I’ve been wondering…”
“Yes?”
“Well, I started by wondering if you were going to have me check in with the police, and what I would need to say to them. And then I started comparing what I’d expected, um, working with you, to be like, and how wonderful it’s been to actually serve you. I’ve been Sentient Property before, but somehow this is different.”
“Better? Worse?”
“Oh! Better, much better Master! Even just thinking about serving you is better than anything I could ever have dreampt…”
“Thanks.”
“But, that’s the point really: I didn’t mind serving before, and I knew I was supposed to be your watchdog and minder, and then you put me through your training and… Well, I was supposed to be, well, ‘the one with the badge’, as I remember saying. And here I am, and I don’t care anymore what I was ‘supposed’ to be, because what I need to be is to be serving you, regardless of what my police superiors would say, and… I need to know. Was it just the training? Because I was expecting that, to be trained to better fill my cover, but it’s more than that now…”
“Are you asking if I did anything to you that isn’t legal? And what would you do if I said I had?”
“I…” Her throat opened, as she took a deep breath and struggled to control herself. “Yes. I want to know if you did anything illegal to keep me. And if you did…” She looked helpless. “I exist to serve you.”
It was a mantra, and involuntary in it’s way, but she didn’t try to contradict it. “Then to answer your question, slave, yes, I did do something illegal to keep you. I hacked your implant.”
She relaxed, managing to surprise herself in the relief that brought her. “Oh, thank you, Master. I was having thoughts of forcing training on women, in hopes of getting them to serve you, and if you were willing to do the illegal on me…”
“I’ll be willing to do the illegal to someone else. Yes.” He smiled at her.
She just basked in the glow of his approval, and the fact that he was willing to go to such lengths to keep her, for a moment. “May I ask what exactly you did to my implant?”
“I can get you a list, if you want. Mostly I hard-wired some encouragement to thoughts of serving me, and discouragement to thoughts of freedom or obeying your superiors at the police. But there was one thing I take advantage off: When I started, you had no first name.”
Her eyes widened at that. “I… Had wondered. ‘Slave’ isn’t a common first name, and I never remembered using it.” She smiled, and looked up again. “So, I am your slave, and you wanted that to be part of who I am. Did you know that I was starting to think it was because I was destined to be your slave, Master?”
“I didn’t know, but it doesn’t surprise me.”
She pondered a moment, then spoke again. “Master? May I change my name? Legally, I mean, so that it’s more than just in my head.”
“I’ll consider it. Now, as you were saying, I do need to have you check back in with whomever with the police you are supposed to report to. Are you ready for that? Can you convince them that you are still their officer, and that they should trust me as their agent?”
“I… As long as they can’t detect what you did to my implant, Master.”
“It’s supposed to be undetectable. We’ll have to try it and see. Are you supposed to call in, or do I need to take you someplace?”
“They aren’t expecting more than a call, but they did say that if we could manage it, and it wouldn’t mess up our cover, if we could go in to one of the city offices they would prefer that.”
“Hmm. Well, I do have some paperwork to file; I could do it online, but doing it in person would be…” Then he started laughing. “Actually, we have some very good cover. A change of name needs to take place in person, and they’d need to run a full scan anyway for that. I can take the other paperwork with me, just to combine the trip. So, yes, slave, you may change your legal name. Go get your leash, we’re going out.”
“Yes Master.”
The door shut and the ‘inspector’ dropped the leash he’d been given by Talib. Officer Scavo came to attention and saluted. “Reporting in at first opportunity, Sir.”
“At ease, officer.” Her contact looked over at her. “You made a bit of a scene out there, Officer.”
It was a question, but one she didn’t understand. She waited.
“The entire office is discussing your ‘attire’ already. I’m sure the Sentient Property contract will be a topic of discussion soon enough.”
She actually had to think a moment about what could possibly be wrong with her attire: she was wearing a high heels and a nice collar, after all, before she realized. “Public nudity is not illegal these days, sir. Particularly for Sentient Property.” She eased up a moment. “I realize it’s not exactly common, even among Sentient Property, but Master wants to make it clear to anyone watching that I am fully under his control.”
“Master wants? And what was that hesitation?”
“This office is aware that Talib Yoshida is one of the top trainers, at least in the area if not in the world. This assignment would not be possible without accepting that training. Using the term ‘Master’ to refer to him is a normal and expected part of that training. I am aware of his name, but ‘Master’ feels more natural, as would be expected for anyone in the position of his permanent personal assistant. The hesitation would be another aspect of that training: While I’m intellectually aware that nudity is uncommon and causes comment, Master has been training me to accept it as a natural part of my position.”
“What else has been part of your training?”
“Obedience. Sexual skills, and desire. Acceptance of postures of servitude. Physical training. I can list details, if you want. I have been subjected to some standard mild brainwashing techniques, as was expected. I was prepared for them, as I was trained.”
“How much obedience?”
“Absolute. Sir, this mission is to infiltrate, observe, report, and act as point-of-contact. If I show hesitation in my role as Master’s personal assistant, that would likely blow our cover. Obedience of any level does not interfere with the main goals of the mission. I am still in position to relay information or orders between the agency and our civilian agent primary on this.”
“And if you were ordered to take down the civilian agent?”
She shrugged. “In my role as his ‘personal assistant’, I would rarely be in position to effect such a takedown. Given my current training, yes, I would have difficulty following such an order. However, my presence enables the agency to track his movements, and dispatch a team to take him down at their leisure, with much less risk of injury to either him or agency personnel, as well as a higher chance of success than I would have on my own, even without Master’s training. I spend much of my time in conditions that would be considered at least partially incapacitated, at least as far as fight is concerned. The slight chance that I will be in a situation where I will need to take him down is offset by the certainty that I will be in situations where my absolute and conditioned obedience will be required to maintain our cover. If such a takedown needs to occur, it would be best to consider me a liability rather than an asset, Sir.”
“Hmm. Reasonable. But what about your position as point-of-contact on this mission? Does that obedience extend to lying to the agency about your ‘master’s actions?”
“Sir, Master has remained aware and conscientious of that role throughout my training. Both that role and my position as his personal assistant require me to be able to speak the truth when asked to, and he has not only valued that but made it a point in the training.”
“You sound like you admire him.”
“If you are implying that I may be developing feelings for my Master: I have accepted training for complete obedience to him, and I am currently living intimately — in all senses of the word — with him. You are the first person besides him I have talked to in several weeks, and very nearly the first person I’ve seen besides him in that time. Yes, I am getting somewhat emotionally involved, as was fully expected at the outset of this mission. Standard psychological profiling would indicate that I would have little choice in developing some set of emotions toward him. As he his not actively abusing me or harming me, and is in fact taking my needs into account, those emotions would be positive. If this is a problem, I wonder why the mission was conceived as it is, as the mission practically requires it.”
“Very vehement. I wonder if it was expected for your feelings to be as strong as they are.”
She blushed. “I… um. He’s a good trainer, sir. But any feelings I have will not affect my role as point-of-contact, for reasons already discussed.”
He nodded. “However, I note that signing a Sentient Property contract with him was not part of the initial mission plan.”
“Sir. The plan was to accept some training and pose as his brainwashed slave, in order to gain access to the underground market. Master pointed out before any training started that I would need to have some legal relationship with him. This is even more true if I am to maintain visibility and access as point-of-contact. It also appears to be a standard cover: an unlimited Sentient Property contract would, after all, be the closest to outright slavery that the law allows. Master wished to impress the organization to aid his entry, and not needing to rely on their resources at all to take an ‘unwilling’ slave would impress them. He left a chance open for us to more directly observe their forging procedure later. Also, upon reflection, it provides myself and the agency some protection.”
“How so?”
“Being Sentient Property gives me certain rights and absolves me of some responsibilities that I would have as Sentient Free. Any actions I take in the course of this investigation can be disavowed by both myself and the agency with relative ease. It has always been a problem in this investigation that we might need to bend the law in order to get access to the people we wish to identify and apprehend. As a civilian agent, Master cannot be assumed to know or follow correct procedures, and as his Property I cannot be held liable for my actions as long as they do not directly contradict his commands.”
“Are you suggesting that we can ‘throw him under the bus’ for any illegal acts that happen to be committed during the course of this investigation?”
“As his liaison with the agency, I am responsible for advising him not to actually commit any clearly illegal acts, but he is in a position to accept responsibility for borderline acts without the danger to his reputation, or to the case itself, that the agency would be. I am, by training and position, loyal to my Master, so I would not suggest we ‘throw him under the bus’ for anything, but I can appreciate that he is the best person to accept some dangers. In that same vein, my status as his Property protects him as well: I can advise him as requested on what are the best courses of action, but my presence doesn’t mean that I was in a position to fully inform him of the legal effects of any actions. He can take actions that are possibly illegal and still claim innocence of motive, despite the advice of his Property.”
“So you view the Sentient Property contract as a necessary part of the mission.”
“Yes sir.”
“It does however put both you and the agency in a delicate position, officer Scavo. You have been issued a badge, and the rights of a police officer that go with it. But Sentient Property are limited by the contract in the exercise of their rights, deferring them to the Property owner. With an ‘unlimited’ contract, like the one you signed, any act you take is by default assumed to be an exercise of the Property owner’s rights, unless as you mentioned it is direct violation of the Property owner’s orders. So, there is the question: Can you arrest someone? Can he order you to do so?”
“I…” She took a moment, finally, to attempt to collect her thoughts. “In all honesty, Sir, I don’t expect it to come up. We expect there to be a large organization this mission is hunting. Master is unlikely to be able to contact it all at the same time: Maintaining my cover is likely worth more than any specific arrest, particularly since the agency can then identify the individual and arrest them at a later date. Also, I would rarely be in a position to make an effective arrest, for much the same reasons as I would not be in a position to perform an effective takedown: I would likely be unequipped, and at least partially incapacitated. However, I will bring the issue up with Master and see if he, as an expert professional in the field, can come up with a way to clarify who’s rights I am asserting should I ever need to attempt it.”
“If you come up with something, tell us. Now, I couldn’t help but notice your um,” he gestured to his neck.
“They are nostrils, sir. From an experimental n-pack Master wanted to test out. They should be legal, I believe.”
“You agreed to them?”
“They would be covered under the contract, sir. But I haven’t made any objections.”
“Do they get in the way?” For once, he was just curious and asking for himself.
Scavo decided to answer more than just the question. “No, sir. I barely notice them anymore, though it did take me a couple of days to get used to them. Breathing through them I can’t smell or speak, but otherwise they feel normal. At first I had to concentrate to keep them closed, but closed seems to be the default state now. And as for why he would want me to have them, well I can hold things in my mouth, or even down my throat, basically forever now. That can be useful in some sexual situations.” She allowed herself a sly smile.
“Were any other physical changes part of the training?”
She had to hand it to him; he had managed to keep his eyes off her bare breasts quite well. Not completely, of course, but well. “Well, Master did enhance and uplift my breasts. I haven’t had a chance to measure, but I suspect I’ve gone up at least one cup size, possibly two, and I barely need a bra at all anymore. Beyond that — nothing that he’s mentioned. Of course, he isn’t required to mention it, as long as it’s reversible by the standard method. I was not aware of either of these as they were implemented: It was during initial training, which was very intensive.”
“Do you have reason to believe he’s done any others?”
She hesitated a moment, then answered: “I have noticed my sex drive is much higher than it was. It could just be the training, but it never lets up, and I think if it was the training it would fade when I’m not thinking about it.”
“I’ll do a standard scan. Do you want me to confirm if it’s there?”
This actually required some thought before she answered. “No, I’ll trust Master to tell me what I need to know about his training. This is his field of expertise, after all. As long it doesn’t interfere with the mission, I need to be at his disposal.”
“Ok, I think that covers your state, both mental and physical. You saw Mr. Yoshida’s contact with the organization?”
“I saw who they sent to validate my ‘unwilling’ state, yes. I am not sure if that will be his continuing contact, and Master has told me that he expects the next contact to come in a more public setting.”
“They aren’t going to come back and verify you are fully trained?”
“Master told me that his contact — the contact used the alias ‘Faust’ by the way — stated to him that they would measure his success by how I appeared and behaved in public. That is another purpose of this trip, to fully establish that I am acting as a trained slave.”
“Did you get a good look at him?”
“I did — and I’ve uploaded the memory to the agency servers. Face and voice are both there, though I’m not sure it will help.”
“Why not?”
A deep breath. “I am not certain, but I think the contact may have been an android. Either an advanced servant AI or a partial telepresence.”
“Why is that?”
“He moved to cleanly, and in a more ‘measured’ fashion than is normal. Also… You have very good self-control, but I can tell you are aware you are in the presence of an attractive nude woman. I was bound, helpless, on display, and in a situation that screamed my sexual availability, whether I liked it or not. If he was attracted to women, he would have noticed. If he wasn’t, he still should have reacted to the situation. He did neither. Three choices: Either he’s seen enough people in that position that it’s blasé, he’s a complete sociopath, or he wasn’t human. I can’t completely rule out the first two, but I my money would be on the third.”
“It would mean that we would have trouble tracking him. Especially if he doesn’t need the chassis any more.”
“It was a very advanced chassis, if it was a chassis at all. Not something you’d want to throw away. But you could put it in storage someplace. You’ll be able to see from my memories. I’ll have to apologize in advance: I wasn’t in the best state to record at the time. I got at least one good look at him, but I was just as concerned about my ‘kidnapper’, and I wasn’t really able to concentrate. I should be able to do better in the future.”
“Anything else you want to mention about him?”
“Nothing that isn’t in the report I’ve uploaded. It was a superficial contact, set up to reassure Master, but not actually expose themselves.”
“Ok. I’m going to need to run a full diagnostic scan, to make sure there isn’t anything you don’t know about or are unable to tell us. Is there anything else?”
“One thing: My cover story for being here. I’ll need you to run a full identity capture as well.”
She got a puzzled look in return. “If you’ll take a look at the paperwork you were handed with me, you’ll see I’m changing my name.”
He opened the folder that had been in his hand, forgotten, and started to read. “Is that covered under the contract?”
“No, actually. A Property owner isn’t required to use the Property’s real name to address them, but they aren’t allowed to change the Property’s legal name. However, the name change gave us this opportunity to let me have an in-person interview, and the new name…” He’d reached that section of the form, from the way his eyes opened, “will help to cement that cover completely. The very fact that it is not covered under the contract is part of that: I had to ask for this.”
He looked back up at her. “ ‘Slave’ Scavo? You are changing your first name to ‘Slave’?”
“I have never had a first name. For all operational effects, I’m just adding a name that will only be used in certain contexts, and on some paperwork no one looks at.”
“But you expect the organization to hear of it.”
“As you said, I made a bit of a scene walking in here today. I expect it to be the office gossip for quite some time.”
“You may be right.” He sighed. “Well, we had better get started: We don’t want your visit here to take too long, after all.”
“Well, Slave, how did it go.” Talib was smiling, as he shut the door to his house behind her.
After all, if it had gone very poorly, he wouldn’t have walked back out of the municipal offices. “About as I expected, Master. I didn’t even have to lie directly, and they didn’t notice your modifications to my implant. I did state that on a day-to-day basis, my first loyalty is to you now, but that would not detract from either of us’ attention to the mission. I could even argue that it would help the mission.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning that if they do decide you are compromised in some way, I’ll probably be the last person to know. On the other hand, if we are in a situation where you need absolute obedience from me, they know you have it. If everything works as planned, I’ll be in the latter situation much more commonly than the former, and in the case of the former, they have other agents.”
He was standing back and circling her, looking her over. “Ok. I wish you could alert me if they started to get suspicious, but there probably was no way to get that. Even if I hadn’t tampered with your implant.”
“Probably true Master.” She watched him pace for a moment, and then volunteered: “Um, Master, I’m pretty sure they didn’t implant a tracker or anything, if that’s what you are looking for. My contact went out of his way to not touch me.”
“What? Oh. No, that’s not what this is about. I’m just trying to decide how to have you dress for the office — I took a vacation, but I should reopen soon.”
Slave looked down at herself, the leash hanging between her breasts and ending right on her clit. “I can’t just be undressed?”
“You could be, but it does draw attention. I want it clear that you are long-term Property, but I don’t want to scare anyone either. You need to make it look like you are happy and normal, but not to normal, so those looking for an ‘experience’ don’t look at you and decide I can’t help them.”
“Ah.” She didn’t have any immediate ideas, and besides she hadn’t been asked for her opinion.
“Well, I’ll think about it. There will probably be several outfits, after all. In the meantime, now that main training is done…” He went to the n-pad programmer, and removed three pads. The first two were shaped, and Talib handed them to his slave. “Here, put these in your shoes and put them back on.”
He waited a moment as she did so, and then wigged her feet in an automatic gesture to see what they had done. “They’ll make those shoes stick for a day or so; don’t try to remove them. After that, they’ll loosen up again. But you won’t be able to wear flats, and barefoot you’ll be on tip-toe. On the other hand, heels won’t hurt, and you won’t damage yourself by wearing them all the time.” The he stepped forward, and placed the last n-pad on her forehead.
The change was obvious almost immediately; her hair changed from sky-blue to iridescent black, flashing with deep blues and browns, and started growing. “In an hour or so, you can remove that. Your hair will be down past your ass by then. You will have to make sure it is properly cared for and displayed, understand?”
“Yes, Master. I assume you want it open and flowing, to show off the color?”
“No. I want it tight and braided, so it can be moved out of the way easily, and so your back and ass can be on display. But the braid should display the color, as well as the length.”
“Yes sir. Oh, there was one other thing I promised to ask you about, Master.”
“What is that?”
“The agency is concerned about my rights as a police officer, and how they interact with a Sentient Property contract. In theory I still have the right to arrest people, for instance, unless the contract signs that over to you. Of course, they aren’t sure the contract can sign that over to you, and even if it did they aren’t sure they want it to. Nor are they sure what to do with the situation where you order me to arrest someone, or if I have enough rights to exercise the right to arrest someone on my own.”
“You expect this to come up?”
“In truth, no — as much because it would blow my ‘cover’ story as because they wouldn’t want to expose themselves to that legal challenge. But I said I’d ask you if you have any ideas on how to clarify the situation.”
“Well, the full truth would be that with the extra loyalty and obedience the implant modification allowed me to create in you, it’s a moot point, really. You wouldn’t arrest someone without my approval anyway.” He paused and thought. “Which may not be all that far from what they’d have to work with anyway: the contract form I use for unlimited assigns ‘all standard rights normally possible for the Property to assign’ to me for the duration of the contract. That’s not all rights completely: The right to change your name, for instance, is not normally possible to assign, but it can be assigned explicitly if needed. Your police powers would not be standard rights, though you might be able to normally assign them — in other words, deputize someone. You would therefore hold on to them, but the contract also puts all active rights you hold on abeyance for its duration unless I give you permission to use them. Which doesn’t actually help as much as I thought. It does mean that I can’t arrest someone, or order you to. On the other hand, you can’t arrest someone without me saying it’s ok, like I said it was ok for you to change your name.”
“That may help them clarify. Shall I tell them that?”
“Sure. How are you handling reporting in?”
“The agency is expecting me to write regular — probably weekly — reports on my implant and send them in via comm. They will probably want me to come in once a year or so, for a full exam like the one today, to make sure I haven’t been compromised.”
“I’m sure we can handle that. Anything else?”
“Just one thought Master: May I resume communications with some of my friends at the agency? I may be able to hear through unofficial channels if they start getting suspicious about you, and it would help convince the agency that I am not completely under your control.”
“Hmm. That is a good idea. Yes, you may. And if you get a chance to get one of your friends… Well, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. But you will have to communicate entirely through comm-link, and you cannot allow it to affect your attentiveness or concentration on your duties. And no one who is not aware of your assignment, without further permission.”
“Of course, sir.”
“Well then, I believe you have some chores. And your hair is almost up to length; I want you to style it as soon as it has grown to full length.”
“Yes, Master.”
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