2017-08-29 - spike - The New Shop 6

Author: spike
Title: Re: The New Shop 6
Date: 29 August 2017

Another big thanks to submdj for helping keep the thing from sounding too English English rather than American English.

Chapter 6
“Eleven, wake up. It’s time.”

I jerked awake with a start and panicked. I couldn’t move! I… Then the memories of the past few days came flooding back. I was standing in a display case facing the counter in that fucking shop and…

Oh…

Oh yeah…

The fun bit.

A man in a balaclava walked past, glanced at me and opened the case.

He reached in as if he intended to steal the entire dummy and everything I was wearing. His arms wrapped around my waist. He heaved, obviously expecting something light weight made of plastic when suddenly, movement.

My clenched fist concealing one of those syringes swept up and stuck into his neck. I pressed the plunger fully and he recoiled in shock.

“What the fuck!”

I stepped out and lunged for him, grabbed him by the jacket and swung him around, gripped his neck and tried to get him into a choke hold. Oh god did he struggle.

Suddenly, someone leapt on me from behind.

“Let him go! Everyone, back off! Or this… This thing gets it!”

I felt something long pressed against my throat.

Then M’s voice. “Eleven. Ignore the blade, let him slit your throat.”

What the fuck? Was he insane?

“Trust me eleven. The suit’ll protect you from any slash attack. I’d avoid stabs but let him slash you, it’ll only blunt his knife!”

I liked M. I trusted him so I didn’t let go. If anything, I increased the pressure on the choke hold and the first one collapsed onto the floor unconscious within a minute.

I felt the knife slide across my throat but he was right. No pain! Nothing but a slight pressure but I didn’t want my assailant to know that. I sank to my knees the moment the knife was gone, then swung around and punched him square in the nuts!

He collapsed to his knees with a grunt of pain and I took the other syringe out of my pocket and plunged it into his neck too.

I stood and looked around for another but there wasn’t one.

Five bodies lay on the shop floor, all utterly helpless.

Joel rushed over to the exit, yanked the inner door open and sighed.

“We’ll need a carpenter or a security door specialist tomorrow. They’ve broken the frame, the door’s on the ground outside. You guys, grab a display case and shove it behind the inner door. It’ll block it until something more can be done.”

We all pitched in, sliding the nearest one over to the door making sure it was as close to it as possible… Then I looked around… Something… There… Down by the side of some shelving, some left over metal shelving components about ten feet long.

I grabbed a couple, wedged them against the base of a unit and under the lip at the top of the case. Perfect. No matter how much they tried, the door wouldn’t budge an inch now.

Joel looked at me impressed. “Good thought, eleven. Let’s get these searched, stripped and prepped.”

I nodded and returned to my two, yanking the balaclavas off the moment I got there.

The first was unconscious but the second had terror in his eyes. I knelt beside him and stared him square in them as he flopped, trying to gain any use of his limbs.

First off, sneakers. Pants next, I searched the pockets but they were empty apart from a few nickels. Socks and boxers, then I moved to the top half.

Jacket… Again nothing to identify him. Shirt and vest off. I yanked the chain from his neck and looked at it more closely. It had initials, J.M. but nothing more. He had tattoos, they might aid in the ID but apart from that, nothing.

I moved onto the unconscious one and did the same. Ah! A wallet. I held it up.

“Well done, eleven. Keep that. Hold the other in front of the camera. There’s one behind the counter.” M pulled the balaclava off his. “This one’s the one who stole the trousers the other day! I suppose he must’ve sent the addict.”

I nodded, looked, spotted the camera and hauled him to his feet, holding his head face on, then turned it sideways both ways so the camera got his full profiles too.
* * * * *
It was a struggle, getting them all into the back for their suiting up. Manhandling that lot. I tried alone at first but we ended up pairing up, carrying them one at the ankles, one at the armpits.

Now I got to see a suiting up from the outside. That was a struggle too, unconscious or otherwise helpless bodies being forced into the suits.

M’s shoulders shook yet again. “Oh god this brings back memories. This is how they caught me, same drug too.”

I think he saw me staring at him again.

“I do love this life now, eleven. Yes, it was forced on me. Yes, I hated every minute of the first month or so. It took a lot to like it but it’s been a long time since then. If I can adjust, you will.”

I sighed and nodded.

It was interesting watching the process. Inserting the earplugs, the tubing up, inflating the bulbs and gag. Getting their tongue into the gag was a real skill requiring expert manipulation using some form of gripping tool. It was clear this one wasn’t the first for M, then sealing the tubes, gag and goggles to the suit, then the plug and the sealing of that too.

Curing was the most difficult part, holding them upright in the wet room and making sure their suits got a good exposure all over. Constantly shifting our grips. It took over and hour for each pair. Two of us on each one.

The moment the last one was complete, we dragged them to the elevator and down to the cells.

Four locked metal doors with panels by them. I touched the first and the door opened to reveal a corridor with six more similar heavy metal prison doors with observation hatches and a set of double doors at the end.

“One to each cell. Let them be alone when they come back to themselves. Even if they can’t make a sound now or hear anything they might sense the others presences if we put them in the same one. We want them helpless, vulnerable, utterly terrified and alone.”

M was spot on as far as I was concerned.

The one I’d knocked unconscious, I dumped onto the bunk in the solitary confinement cell. It was different to the others. No cages in that one, just a featureless room with a bed. Not even a toilet, like a normal jail cell would have. No need for one considering who it was designed for.

We returned to the shop floor and then the back room.

Joel sat by the computer, manipulated the mouse and Skype made the outgoing call sound.

“Yes?”

“We’ll need a new door, sir. We got them.”

“Excellent. How many? I haven’t had a chance to review the video footage yet.”

“Five, sir. One of them tried threatening us by grabbing eleven from behind and holding a knife to its throat.”

“I… see… Are you OK, eleven?”

Joel shifted the laptop so I could type.

“I’m fine sir. Bit of a fright but I trusted M when he said he couldn’t hurt me. I thought he was insane at first, let him slit your throat… Why didn’t you tell me we’re superheroes? We could be out there fighting crime, being invulnerable!”

Q chuckled. “No, you’re not invulnerable. The material’s far too flexible for that unless it’s in freeze mode and you’d not be much use as a crime fighter frozen. A slash can’t hurt you, but a stab? It’d stop the blade from penetrating the suit itself but it wouldn’t stop the suit from penetrating your flesh. A bullet might turn to dust striking the suit but the impact, all that kinetic energy… It’d still cause massive internal injuries and inside that suit there’d be no way to operate to repair the damage.”

I would’ve gulped if I were capable. I nodded.

“Identities?”

“Two had wallets with drivers licences, sir. ” Joel held one up. “One had a necklace with initials. Him and the others, we held in front of the camera behind the counter as instructed.”

“Jolly good. I’ll see to those myself. My technicians have backdoors into several crime databases so it shouldn’t take too long to find a match. I suppose I should’ve had you take fingerprints too. I take it it’s too late for that now?”

“Yes sir. They’re suited and cured.”

“Oh well. Live and learn. It looks like you’re going to have a little fun tonight, eleven. And I recommend you wear that outfit when you present yourself to them… A very imposing figure, it’ll scare them silly.”

I nodded.

“How bad is the door, Joel?”

“I couldn’t assess the damage fully, sir, not being able to approach it but the door is off the frame lying on the sidewalk outside. We wedged a display case against the inner door for now.”

There was a series of taps on a keyboard. “So I see. Good job. I’ll see to it a new door is in place. Get some sleep, opening time today is fourteen hundred hours. It’ll give them time to complete the work. Your cages will unlock at oh nine hundred this morning.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Oh. You may want to go upstairs. You’ll be able to see their reactions then. Q out.”

M was the first to air the question forming in my mind. “Upstairs? There’s an upstairs too?”

I reached for the keyboard. “I suppose we could always ask blank to show us.”

I looked at him, still in his rubber maid outfit. I sniggered internally. “Oh god, I feel for the one you took down dressed like that, blank. We’ll have to rip the shit out of him about that from now on.”

He looked at me and I presume started laughing. He beckoned and led us to another hidden door, third mirror along and this one, the mirror itself was locked. He touched the panel and jumped, a red light flashed.

M tried and it lit up green, the mirror swung open and a normal wooden door was behind it. He reached for the handle, gave it a twist, stairs leading up.

Another corridor. Doors lined it on each side with a pair of double doors at the end. None of the panels responded to our touch until the double ones.

What we were presented with was a video wall that would’ve put NASA to shame. Each and every room in the place from multiple angles. Even the cells.

M wandered up to a monitor, reached for the mouse and began selecting images. Five large screens replaced the multitude, cages, each with a figure lying motionless in their brand new rubber prison.

There were other controls nearby including one large red button labelled “Total lockdown”.

There was another label beside that with more information.

“On activation, all UV lights in basement facilities activated, all doors locked. Elevator sent to 1st and locked until overridden by authorised personnel. ”

You had to admire Q for his attention to detail. Any slaves try to start a riot, the entire lot would freeze to the spot.

I gestured to M. “Looks like one of us should be in here when dealing with that scum.”

He nodded. “And make sure you’re wearing something so you’re not frozen down there. Q said wear what you’re wearing, I’ll do the same when dealing with them. Mesh suits off though, they’ll only get in the way. Let’s get to bed, they’ll be paralysed for at least the next six hours.”