2018-07-11 - spike - The New Shop 68

Author: spike
Title: The New Shop 68
Date: 11 July 2018

Chapter 68
More of the same on Monday. I asked the sarge to tell me when the final three entrants appeared but for me at least, nothing much happened. I did ensure I was there when Bullet was released at nine that night however.

Muttley sat on his hind quarters and watched.

The moment Bullet’s mouth was free…

“Oh god that was good.”

Muttley shook with silent laughter.

“So, race?”

“Fuck me, yeah! I’ll do it tomorrow, first thing.” He looked down at the dog. “You sure? Drain your account?”

I nodded. “He’s a slave. I’ll never need money again, neither will he. Never see it again either unless I’ve got a good view of the counter.”

Muttley nodded too.

“God, I want more of that.”

“When you’re in training for the race you get a little time out too. Of the dog, not the inner suit. A chance to socialise. Get to know the competition.”

“Really? How much?”

“Every Sunday apart from the one directly before we begin. The hunters normally leave on the Sunday, get to know the lay of the land before the racers start. Anyway, let’s get to the important question.”

“What’s that?”

“One I imagine Muttley’s itching to ask. Or would be if he was capable of asking. Do you understand his decision?”

Muttley nodded eagerly. His tale shot up and started to wag.

He knelt and stroked his friend. “I do, boy. I understand but fuck me, you scared the shit out of me, you realise that? When he’d locked me in the suit and told me I’d be stuck in it until now.”

“And now?”

“I don’t just understand boy, I agree.”

I chuckled to myself. “Tempted?”

“Full on slavery? Oh god no! I said I was 50/50. I couldn’t handle being nothing but someone’s property for the rest of my life. I like tying as well as being tied.”

“Well, that’s what the dungeon’s for.”

“What? Yo”

“You saw the slaves playing on your first night tour. One was doing the tying. Every free day you get you get free access too, normally. That means a whole day down there a week. More if you win enough free time in the races or earn them from exemplary service.”

“God I envy you, boy. I’m going to miss you, y’know.”

“You’ll see him again if you are in the races. Hell, you’ll be competing against him.”

“Still, he’s a good friend. I’ll never see him again once that race is done, will I?”

“You will if you join us too.”

“You’re really pushing for this aren’t you? OK, now I know what that dungeon means, a little bit tempted. Not enough to throw my life away though.”

“Oh well. You might still change your mind once you’ve spent three weeks here. Find out soon enough I suppose. You’d better get dressed. Work in the morning.”
* * *
Tuesday, and a few bugs to fix after the test run in the simulator after which, I began work on the voice. The default was too harsh and I knew for a fact no-one wanted to hear that again.

Of course, one slave would hear nothing else for a very long time but for the rest of us, I wanted something that sounded friendly but commanding. I was in a quandary, should I use an approximation of Q’s? Would he see that as a compliment or an insult? A robot using his voice?

I shook my head and began. Make it sound like how I remembered mine. If I had time, I’d do a second based off Q’s later. Couldn’t hurt to ask him which he preferred.

It was two in the afternoon when I got the call. I rushed down and there, stood at the counter with her dog on a leash, Bethan.

I walked over as casually as I could manage.

“Good afternoon, madam. And Moonbeam. Here to release him?”

“Oh god, no. I’ve decided I like a pet.”

“You’re keeping him as a dog for good?”

“For the time being at least. What was it? Only allowed out on a Sunday to allow it exercise, to keep it healthy?”

“Yes, madam. I assume you’ve not spoken to him yet, then?”

“No. I just came to ask how he did in the race.”

“He was one of the first on the final straight. Unfortunately, not one of the first to cross the finish line, a hunter caught him before he could get there and a lot crossed it before he unfroze. He did win you something, though.”

The sarge grinned. “I thought I’d allow eleven to tell you that. He’s spoken to Moonbeam. All I’ve ever done is order him about. Here you are.” He handed over an envelope.

She took it, opened it and grinned. “Best evasion of the day award. One hundred and fifty dollar gift certificate? Anything in this store?” She crouched and gave the dog a hug. “You are a good dog, aren’t you?”

His tail wagged.

“And you like it now, too?”

I nodded. “He does. He said when you first suggested he might remain a pet, remain in the suit, you scared the shit out of him but after the race when we spoke again he did say he hoped you would.”

“Then I will. I’ll take you for nice a long walk tomor”

I held my hand up. “Sorry, ma’am, but… I would seriously advise against that. You didn’t walk too far to get here today, did you?”

“No, the car’s in the parking lot twenty yards from the door.”

“It’s too cold right now. I know, I nearly died out there this time when my fur became compromised. Before then, the fur was amazingly warm. I didn’t feel the cold one bit. Afterwards, oh god, it was nasty.”

She sighed. “What’s the point of keeping a dog if you can’t take it for walks? I suppose I’ll have to let him out of the dog but he will not get out of the other one.”

I glanced across at the sarge. “Sir, when are the pelts due for sale?”

“Q says they should be in the store by end of next week.”

Suddenly she seemed much more alert. “Pelts?”

“Moonbeam’s idea. Will the dog’s furs be available for sale? They’re amazing things, ma’am. Absolutely amazing. I genuinely looked like a wolf. You should be able to choose what dog breed you wish him to be. If you can afford it you could have a different breed for every day of the week, but I imagine that would be prohibitively expensive. Excuse me a minute.”

I wandered over to the display, then rushed back and beckoned her. Moonbeam walked at heal and sat on his haunches in front of the display.

There was a remote, I picked it up, upped the volume and hit start from beginning.

Again, the zooming letters and the movie trailer voice.

“Winter is here!” crashed into the foreground.

This time, the zooming landscape was one of ice and snow.

As the scene unfolded, another crash of letters.

“Fifty five miles of frozen wilderness.”

“A race even more epic than the first.”

More landscape swept by.

“Four start points.”

More snow covered scenery.

“22 dogs!”

Each appeared, their names below them, then the image shrank and took up a place above until there were two lines of eleven dogs each.

“Four hunters!”

The four of us appeared, each named and then shrank to take up the majority of the bottom half of the screen.

“More excitement!”

A few brief flashes of dogs being chased down.

“More peril!”

Moonbeam, attacking a wolf, knocking it off its feet and bolting away. Max sliding into the bog. Two human hunters, their faces blurred. One raised his rifle and the screen went black.

A gunshot echoed across the landscape.

Then, fading in from the black. “Coming soon.”

I glanced at her. She stood there, her mouth agape. It took her a few minutes to pull herself together.

“That… looked… awesome! And Moonbeam? He was the poodle?”

“Yes, ma’am. Of course, as you can see, plenty of other breeds to choose from. Irish wolfhound, German shepherd, Old English sheepdog, collie… The choice is yours. I don’t know if the wolves will be available for sale, but if they are, the dogs won’t be racing in them.”

“What? Why?”

“Because the wolves are reserved for us, ma’am. Hunters. I’m Tyson. You saw me in the park, ma’am.”

She nodded. “We’ve spoken before… I… Think. You all look the same to me.”

“That is the idea, ma’am. Most of those slaves can only tell each other apart when they speak to each other. All part of the fun, a total loss of identity.”

I could see a little envy creeping into her eyes.

“I know, ma’am. Men only due to the mechanics of the situation. Sorry about that.”

“There’s nothing you can do about it. I take it they’ve made no progress?”

“Not as far as I’m aware, ma’am, no.”

She slumped a little. “I’d love to take part. Oh god, it looks like fun.”

“Best time in my life, out there, ma’am. I don’t know how long it’ll be before the full series is available. You’ll have to enjoy it through Moonbeam. There will be more races of course, if you want to enter him again.”

Just then, a man entered with a husky on a leash. He looked worried.

I nudged Bethan and pointed. “Meet one of the racers. He came first among the outsiders and third overall. One of the prizes he won was one of the pelts. Diablo.”

At the sight of him she dropped the leash and rushed over. Moonbeam ran across the room too.

He nuzzled Diablo, both their tales wagging up a storm.

The man looked down at them and sighed. “I suppose you want to play?”

Diablo nodded.

“OK, OK.” He unhooked the leash. “Go on, have some fun. Looks like you’re stuck like that anyway.”

The sarge chuckled. “He’s not stuck, sir. He’s in the same type of suit the hunters wear.”

“But there’s no zip! I tried for an hour yesterday to find it. I didn’t look before then because he looked so amazing I decided to keep him like that but now…”

“Yes, sir. If you hadn’t returned here, he would’ve been stuck like that for life, but we do have a means to remove him from it.”

“Why isn’t he in the one he bought? He seems to be sealed in!”

“He is. After the race, when it came to light that he wasn’t owned, my master made him an offer. He accepted with a proviso.”

“Accepted? Accepted what?”

“He belongs to us now, sir. His proviso was however quite clever. He will remain free for the coming months in order to complete his bucket list before he returns to become one of us, fully.”

“He… gave himself to you?”

“Not to me personally, to my master.”

I tapped away on my armband. “Best decision I ever made, taking the suit, sir and this one is permanent. His will be too.”

“Fuck!” he tapped on his dog trainer band. “Diablo! Heal!” “We’ve got to get him out of that thing! I need to know what the fuck’s going on from him!”

The sarge nodded. “Follow me through to the back. Beta. Shop.”

As they departed I sidled over to Beta. “He’s taken his headset again. You realise that?”

Beta nodded. “It’s OK. He broke out another one for the counter. I can hear. Not that it matters, two handlers in with their own right now.”

Beth watched their backs as the door closed behind them. “That husky looks amazing! And he won that? For what?”

“The race wasn’t just a matter of who came first. Not only did he win two gift certificates, one for not getting caught and one for best evasion for a day like Moonbeam, all those things and a few others were awarded points. He came second by score. God, he’s good.”

“Will it confuse things if there’s more than one husky?”

“I think all huskies are likely to have different markings, ma’am. Other dogs in the race that shared breed looked different enough.”

“That’s what he’ll be then.”

I nodded. “He’ll love it. There’s nothing like it, being out in weather like that as a dog and not feeling it. It’s more than just a fur coat, it includes a heating element too, woven into it. I’m unsure if mine actually activated. I think the fur was enough in that one.”

The handler’s voice echoed in my ears.

“So that’s how it… God, I… I nearly ruined it.”

“How?”

“I got out a pair of scissors when I couldn’t see how to...”

“You tried to cut the fur?”

“The moment he saw them, he bolted to the other side of the room. I wondered why.”

“Yes. It is a very precious prize for him, that pelt. It has to be glued to the dog to make it look good, as you can see.”

There was the sound of a zip, then the man spoke again.

“God, no wonder I… It looks flawless! There’s no join! How in Christ’s name do you get it off?”

“Watch.”

There was the snap of a head tube being applied.

“He does want to spend some of his time as a dog. When that time comes, you’ll need to bring him back for both application and removal.”

“Gladly! Oh god I can’t wait to see this series.”

“The trailer’s on display in the store, sir. I imagine he’ll want to see it too.”

Ten minutes later and

“Fuck me! That’s… So that…”

“Yes, sir. Only place in the world equipped to free a dog from a suit like that and it’s a special formulation too. Only my master knows the correct solvent to release them. Now, if you could give me a hand, it’s a struggle getting them out.”

Ten minutes later again…

“Now, while the solvent acts, I’ll just go to turn on the coffee maker. It’ll be ready for when he needs it. If you could just hose him down.”

“So the inner suit too?… God it’s solid as a rock!”

“More solid, sir.”

The sound of running water, obviously rinsing off the solvent.

“Now watch.”

“And that… but he got into it through the mouth!”

“Since then, it’s been cured. Consistency of normal rubber.”

“What are you doing now?”

“Cementing the agreement, sir.”

“Fuck, that looks awesome! I’ve never seen a Latowski that colour though.”

“Same design, different material, sir.” There was the snap of a padlock. “Nothing gets that off until he returns to be suited again.”

“If he asks and changes his mind, I might take a bolt cutter to it.”

“I wouldn’t recommend that, sir. Not if you value your bolt cutter. He’s ours, no way out of that now.”

Beth looked at me curiously. “You’ve gone really quiet.”

“Sorry, ma’am. I’m listening to them.” I nodded towards the door. “He’s in one of these now.” I wrapped my knuckles on my cage. “Only difference is, his is made of the same stuff as the suit.”

“You can hear them?”

I nodded. “Same type of earplugs as Moonbeam and you know how effective they are.”

She giggled. “I’ve told him I’m on my way from the end of the street and he’s been waiting by the door for me.”

Finally, there was the sound of gargling and a third voice. “Oh god, I needed that.”

“What the hell have you done, Tom?”

“I thought they told you. I’m theirs! Oh god am I theirs. I’m booked for the next three races too and after those races are done, I’m in one of those permanent suits.”

“Oh god. Oh fuck.”

“Stop panicking for fuck’s sake. It was my choice! He made the offer, I accepted. You know the really good thing?”

“What’s good about this!?”

“I’ll be joining the hunters! When they put me into a suit, it’ll have a number on the back of the head, that’ll be my name from then on. Just like eleven out there. Permanent, inescapable slavery. Now I’m in this, there’s no way I can back down. Did you bring my clothes?”

“Ah… shit! I was in too much of a panic. Sorry.”

“No matter. I should have enough to buy some from here. Time to browse the shelves.”

“But I didn’t even come out with my wallet!”

“Doesn’t matter. Does it sarge?”

“No. I’ll get you your envelope, Diablo… Unless you prefer I call you”

“Diablo’s fine. It’s Tom but it won’t be for much longer, will it, sir?”

Sarge chuckled. “Come on.”

They emerged from the back room and both froze at the display, noticing it for the first time.

By the end, his friend was grinning. “Oh god.”

“See what I’ve done now? See how good this is?”

He nodded and took a deep breath. “And you’re sure?”

“Absolutely. From now until that final race, I’m free. Free to travel, to tick off things on my bucket list, to run my finances so far into the ground a coal miner couldn’t get to them. Then, when I’m so deep in debt it’d take a nuke to blow me back into the black, I vanish.”

“God! That’s… That’s genius! And there’s no way they could track you down?”

“Look at Eleven out there. Any idea who’s in it? Cos I don’t.”

“And you’ll get one of those armband things?”

Diablo snorted. “Course I won’t. My number’s not going to be gold! That’s a promotion.”

Beth stared at the hairless figure. At his crotch. She grinned. “I never realised being bald could be so sexy.”

Diablo looked at her in shock. “Sorry, miss. I’m gay.”

“Oh that wasn’t a come-on. That was just a compliment.”

“Thanks, then. Come on, John. You can help me pick my new outfit. I’ve got three hundred to burn.”

“So no leather then?”

“I want street clothes, not fetish. That army section over there. Don’t worry, when we get back I’ll tell you all about it. Everything.”
* * *
Nothing more of note happened that week. Omega was released from the dog and immediately begged for more. Buster and his Master didn’t appear, I suppose thanksgiving got in the way for them.

There was an extra dog when I came downstairs on thanksgiving eve. Snapper was here and this time, he had a tail and Prince and Muttley as playmates. What I saw of him, he was clearly enjoying it.

Thanksgiving day for us was a free for all. A little programming, a little bondage in the dungeon and a chance to watch the first episode of the second series. To see what the other hunters got up to.

Boxing lessons continued and Alpha proved even harder on us than the sarge when training us as dogs, but I relished in it. Learning all the moves, all the punches, all the blocks. It’d be a while before we were ready to face each other in the ring but it was a pleasant change from wrestling.

On Saturday, I submitted the final version of the program for testing in the simulator and by the end of Sunday when Q called I had my next pleasant surprise.

I stood before the TV, all the blanks down in their cages for the night while we Golds, Alpha, the doc and sarge received our final briefing before the next batch arrived.

Q smiled out of the screen. “I want you all to look at your armbands. You’ll notice a new icon representing shackles. Select it now.”

I did. What appeared was a new menu. Add, select, alter and view.

“Add does exactly what it says on the tin. When new slaves arrive, hit add, tap each new slave and then tap commit. You can alter their entries, add notes to help identify special features, select them for work duties, their destination, duration and even describe exactly what the work duty is and the program will inform them. You can exempt them from work when they have free days or time on display in a similar fashion and if you hit select and tap each slave you wish to change, you can alter their settings en-mass. View is special, it connects to our database and contains all personal data our background checks could uncover. That one can only be used on an individual slave. That is all the functionality we believe you require.”

I nodded.

“The new batch of sixteen slaves from around the country will arrive on Monday before noon. Most are already awaiting delivery in the dispatch centre and a few more are due to arrive soon. The five recruited by Luke should all arrive during the day on Monday too.”

I nodded again. “Sir, about my request to be blanked.”

“Yes, you will be, but you’ll spend the first two days observing from the outside. Getting accustomed to the new functionality of your armband.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. And the two voices?”

“I’ve selected the first. The one that sounds like me? No. When I speak I want everyone to be aware in no uncertain terms that it is me and not some computer program speaking to them.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll delete that voice if you wish.”

“Keep it. It may prove useful for something in the future. I may even add that profile to my armband. I do enjoy spending time in a suit of my own from time to time after all.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I have one surprise in store. You’ll find out what that is in the morning.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Ah yes. One final thing. The podded slaves. All have had the escape protocol demonstrated and their pleasure levels taken, those details will automatically be added to your bands when you touch them. No cheats, no lies. They can begin their work immediately. Thought I’d warn you about that. Only the five from New York require it. Have those stand on display until their arses have adjusted. A free day after they’ve suffered the fob.”

I nodded. “Full assessment before work, sir?”

“Actually, yes. Tomorrow, assessment day, Tuesday, work. Q out.”