2018-09-08 - spike - The New Shop 77

Author: spike
Title: The New Shop 77
Date: 08 September 2018

Chapter 77
I joined Q again the next morning. Again, we sat beside each other as he called the golds.

As M, Twelve and Beta stood before us, he tapped away on his keyboard.

“M. According to the last scans taken, the terrorist should be the slave ident I’m sending you now. Ensure that is the first dog released and sent up for its interview.”

“You’ve located him, sir?”

“After what happened last time we passed judgement prematurely, we’re making absolutely sure this time. We have no idea how many times Fourteen scrambled those cores. How many times has it been on wash duty since Eleven was dispatched?”

M’s head sagged. He nodded. “Quite a few, sir. So even the ones… Yes, sir.” He held his armband up to Beta.

Beta tapped on his, nodded and ran to the elevator.

“I will remain silent for now, Eleven. You do the talking. Most of them are familiar with your voice. If I do speak, only you and M will hear me unless something needs to be said directly.”

“Yes, sir.”

Ten minutes later, a blank emerged and sat opposite M.

It immediately started signing, but I didn’t have a good angle.

M opened the laptop and shoved it forward. “Use that.”

It shook its head and reached to move the laptop away.

“Do as you’re told, blank.”

It sighed, nodded and began to type. “Why, sir? I’m good enough now.”

I chuckled. “I can’t see your fingers from this angle, blank.”

It sat bolt upright and looked around. “Eleven, sir?”

“Yes.”

“Where were you? I’ve not seen you in weeks!” It looked from side to side and its shoulders shook. “Is this about Kyle, sir?”

Kyle? Ahhhh fuck… So, more had been scrambled. It was Chunder. Might as well play along, divert attention from the real reason.

“Yes. As for where I am… I’m currently sitting beside Master Q.”

“You’re there, sir? Already? I thought you were a hunter in the next race, sir? Oh god I can’t wait after being a dog for a day. Best character I’ve ever played.”

“We have cameras in his home, observing right now, blank. He will be joining you there soon.”

“Soon? But the blob, sir! I’ve not even managed to talk to it yet, sir. I tried, but it just pushed me out of the way and slapped the panel. It was gone before I could say anything, sir.”

I deselected the blank and glanced across at Q.

“Sir… I’ve got an idea…”

“Go on.”

“How about this? The blank can hit the elevator panel when it’s in motion and it’ll halt for five minutes. The blob’ll have no choice but to pay attention to it then. It’d be programmed to only operate when that blank and blob were in the elevator together and only then when both had touched the panel. One use, sir, then that section of code is permanently overridden and things return to normal.”

Q chuckled. “I’ll… Actually, I have no need to speak to Two… You can. You’ve not met it yet have you?”

“No sir, I admit I’d quite like to.”

“Very well. Then you shall.” He looked across at me with a grin. “There’s no reason for you to go everywhere naked just to please me, Adam.”

I sighed. “It’s… more a comfort issue, sir. When I woke up that first morning here, if it was morning… It was the roughness of the sheets, sir, that woke me.”

“Roughness? Silk sheets?”

“Exactly, sir.” I smiled. “I said the blank yesterday had been spoiled. I think I have, too. Nothing feels better than the suit, sir.”

“Of that, I will agree, but if you’re going to go outside, I do recommend clothing. The sun is very strong after all and even with that tan, you’re likely to burn.”

“I… didn’t think we could go outside, sir.”

“Anywhere green is clean. We have a barrier in place that prevents windblown dust from the contaminated areas from entering places already restored.”

“Barrier, sir? I didn’t see anything when I”
“Sir? You’ve gone quiet, is the connection flaky?”

I selected the blank again. “Sorry, blank. I was just discussing something with my master. I’ll implement a little… Easter egg for you. It will only work once and only for five minutes. Get into the elevator with the blob and hit the panel when you’re between floors.”

“Freeze it, sir?”

“Exactly, blank. I’ll inform you when it’s ready. As for Kyle’s abduction being too soon, my master had a better idea. The boxing ring idea will still happen but that will be level four. Level three… Kyle will join its friend in the game for the duration of the blob’s weight loss program.”

“But who’ll control it, sir? I doubt Vixen”

“Oh, no need for any human intervention now. Random elements, automated torment and that will last until the blob’s fighting fit and ready and more, willing to fight.”

Blank clutched its sides in laughter. “Thank you, sir. Damn, I wish I could see it.”

Q tapped away and spoke.

“You will, blank. One little rule I’ve always held is any blank that aids in the capture of a slave will be elevated. Congratulations number seventeen.”

It sat bolt upright at the new voice. Its hand slowly rose and pointed at itself.

“Yes, seventeen. You. And what’s more, once Kyle is in our custody and sealed into the suit, you will be elevated further, to gold. You’ll also stand before it during the painful part of the suiting process and tell it who you were and how you helped in its abduction.”

Its fingers dived for the keyboard. “Oh god! Thanks sir. This is amazing. So this means I’ll be here for a while?”

“Yes. You will also train other slaves who pass through just as the other golds and silvers do. M, next wash, you know what to do.”

M nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“One word of warning, Seventeen. All gold additions now come with an added feature. The ability to be blanked again. The erasure of your markings. We find it useful in getting to know the other blanks to put you down among them once in a while. Eleven and Beta have both experienced it. Eleven likes it.”

Blank immediately dropped from its chair, looked around, located the camera and performed the thanking ritual.

“Very good, blank, now take your seat again.”

It did immediately.

I couldn’t resist. “So you liked being a dog?”

“Well, I did say I liked Live Role-Playing, sir. I’ve played orcs and demons, elves and even the odd dwarf but a dog! I doubt any of them would’ve come up with that. It was fun! I can’t wait to be out there, sir.” It shifted a bit on its chair and its hands raised back to the keyboard slowly. “Sir… Master?”

“Yes, seventeen?”

“If you came up with a plug and tube free version of the dog, sir… There might be a new market for you to venture into.”

Q stared at the blank, a grin forming. “You think these live action role players might be interested?”

“Oh god, once they’ve tried one I bet they’d sell like hot cakes, sir. Costumes can be expensive and as for the other kit, weapons and such… I think a lot would be proud to own a wolf or hound in their wardrobe, sir.”

“How big is this market? I don’t believe I’ve ever even noticed it before.”

“There are groups all over the USA, sir. All over the world, sir.”

“Hmm, it may be something worth a little research. You will conduct it. Once you’ve been given your gold, you’ll be permitted access to room three. It will be regulated. Your access to the internet will pass through our servers and that is hard wired. Everything you send will be screened and I’ll create a new user profile and name for you. Understood?”

“Yes, sir. Understood, sir. I know I’m a slave now. I wasn’t expecting to see anything internet related again in my life sir.”

“Good. Don’t attempt to abuse it or you never will again. Dismissed.”

Seventeen nodded and ran back to the elevator. It looked elated. Bet it was too.

Q sighed. “Well, at least it was a productive talk. Let’s follow the breadcrumbs shall we. M, summon the blank that has Seventeen’s core and update your armband, mark seventeen’s new core ID.”

“Yes, sir.”

I glanced over at Q again… “Sir, as that wasn’t the one, which one was it? Originally?”

“Hmmm?”

“Well I did speak to them but I still don’t know which one.”

“Oh! Oh of course, bringing it up now. I’m afraid you didn’t have anything but “nothing of interest” to say about it.”

“And all the things it did say… They were all true?”

He rattled on the keyboard and turned the screen towards me. “Profession, librarian? Religion, Atheist? Really, sir? ISIS and an atheist?”

“I’m afraid religious… proclivity wasn’t something we looked into. It’s certainly never been an issue before. After all, anyone so… blinded by their religion… Well they’d hardly volunteer for this, would they?”

“Normally, I’d agree sir, but in this case… God what in hell was he thinking?” I studied the rest and I was right, nothing of interest… Even the hobbies were useless. Stamp collecting?

I turned the screen and prodded it.

He nodded. “I can confirm that. I managed to follow quite a few paper trails around from his bank accounts and many of them were the purchase of rare stamps.”

“Valuable ones?”

“Some, very.”

“On a librarian’s pay?”

“Damn! Good point, it’s such a boring subject and the money only appeared to come in from genuine wages. I suppose if he didn’t spend any of that to actually live…”

I nodded. “I suppose it’s a good way to pay off co-conspirators while keeping under the radar. Maybe how he financed his bombing campaign? Maybe some of those entries into the auctions were fronts and the moment he bought them, they sent the money for him to pay for them too? I don’t…” I sighed. “Maybe I’m just complicating matters, sir.”

“Seems to me you’ve made a few valid points. It also seems he deliberately made himself look as boring as possible to do just that, stay under the radar. It’s possible it was a genuine hobby. People can save for years to buy something they crave.”

I nodded.

The next blank appeared. And the next. And the next…

Nothing. Three of the ones I’d marked as not interesting but not the stamp collector, unless he’d decided to lie.

“Sir, do you have a pad and pen? Note down the ones we’ve already interviewed. I suppose if he’s clever he might’ve come to the conclusion by now that something’s got messed up. So we can spot a duplicate?”

A flip of a switch. “Blank. Pad and pen.” and a gold statue dashed out of the room returning five minutes later with a pad. The next blank below the store appeared at the same time and sat in front of M.

M placed the laptop before it and tapped on his armband. “Hello, blank. Just a follow up interview, see how things are going now, two weeks in. Oh, use the laptop, Master’s watching this time and wants to see your responses.”

“Oh god that first day, sir… But Eleven was right! It was just an attitude thing and I love it now.”

“What in particular do you love? And is there anything you’re still in two minds about?”

“Oh god, nothing, sir. In two minds part. I loved the dog training yesterday but… Why did you show me that news report? That was a real downer.”

“Yes, it was just a test. Of your tail. We picked the most depressing news story we could find to make sure it was responding correctly. If you’d wagged at that we knew it would’ve needed a recalibration.”

It nodded.

“Now, I’m afraid our database is in the middle of a backup at the moment so I’d like you to tell me a little about yourself, even though you already have.”

“Of course, sir. Nascar, Pro-wrestling… Although now I’ve experienced real wrestling… Oh god.” Its shoulders shook. “It’s fucking sexy, sir, writhing around on the floor with someone. I… I almost forget I’m trying to pin them when we get into that situation, sir.”

I nodded, deselected it, selected M and typed. “It’s heaven and hell. Hobby, model making. Did anything arrive for it to continue with that?” I jotted it down.

Q nodded. “Work bench in the rec room. It’s being good too, sweeping up after itself.”

“What’s it made so far, sir?”

“A couple of very impressive sculptures, both carved from a block of wood. Both of blanks in bondage.”

“When it said models… Thought it meant cars and things.”

“Apparently, anything.” M shrugged. “One did include a very accurate scale replica of our stocks downstairs, with a blank in them.”

“God, that must’ve taken days!”

“It used most of its free time in there, including all of Sunday.”

“So it really is good with the fiddly bits.” I chuckled.

The next two blanks, nothing they said was familiar. Then I realised why. They were two of the New Yorkers. I jotted them down anyway.

Another sat.

Again, M spoke. “Two weeks here, blank. How are you enjoying your new life?”

“Oh god, Eleven was right, sir. Heaven or hell. I chose heaven. Still a little… freaked out by losing my voice, though, sir, but apart from that, loving it. Especially the wrestling.”

I stared at the screen. I looked at Q and he looked at me.

“I think we’ve got it, sir. Or at least narrowed it down to two.”

Q nodded. “Scanner.”

I looked at the ceiling and thought for a moment. “We could have a little fun at its expense if it mentions models, sir.”

“Fun how?”

“Give each of them a day to produce something with the brief, something you’ll enjoy. Seems one of them, whichever one’s the real one, already knows what you’ll like by what it’s already been making. I bet the other isn’t nearly as talented.”

Q chuckled, pressed a button and the video rewound a few seconds. “One way to find out… Watch.”

M repeated the database update lie.

“Born in Alabama, moved to San Francisco, developed a passion for model making there, sir. Also love Nascar and Pro-wrestling but Eleven...” Its shoulders shook. “When he said we’d be doing it for real it wasn’t what I was expecting.”

“What do you mean?”

“Where’s the showboating? Not even a foot stomp. It’s not like wrestling at all but it’s still fun.”

I shook my head. “Well it’s certainly taken a different approach, clearly they’ve been cell mates, Maybe more than once, sir. I really hope it’s the other one, sir.”

He pressed another button and the video skipped. It still sat before M and M it seemed had just asked it another question.

“I realised I was gay but only came out after I arrived in SanFran, sir.”

Q tapped on his keyboard and spoke.

“I was impressed with your model making skills, blank.”

It froze. Its hands slowly reached for the keyboard. “Who said that, sir?”

M chuckled. “That, blank, was your owner. Master Q.”

Q nodded. “It seems we have two model makers in our midst this time. I want to see which of you is the best. You will both produce for me a model you believe I will truly love. I’ll give you a hint, the second you produced impressed me greatly. You’ll be given two days to produce a piece worthy of my trophy cabinet. The other blank will be provided with the same brief and the best will win two hours of pleasure, two days of free access and be relieved of all duties during that time.”

It looked around in surprise and typed.

“Where is he, sir?”

“Master Q isn’t here blank. He’s home. On his island. The island all blanks end up.”

Its fingers hovered for a second. “I’d be… errr… honoured, sir?”

“Good. Now return to what you were doing. You have something to think about before you begin.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

It got up and ran to the elevator.

We might have narrowed it down to two for the terrorist but there was still a lot of unscrambling to do. It was half an hour later and yet another blank sat before M.

This time when he opened the laptop, it immediately slammed the lid down and shoved it to one side.

M opened it again and it shook its head.

“Use the laptop, blank.”

It gestured… something. I didn’t have a good view.

“Use it!”

Its finger reached for the keyboard and prodded a letter experimentally. Then it shook its head again.

It pointed at its eye, swept its hands before it a couple of times and made a fingers-on-keyboard gesture… Thank god I could see the bigger gestures.

It got down to its knees and performed the thank you, tapped itself once on each shoulder, held its hand up with four fingers, made a snapping gesture and paused. Then stood and mimed digging and put its hands together and drew a circle over its head.

I got it. I wonder if M had.

I had to ask. “M, how long have they been separated?”

“What? Who? What was all that?”

“I think it said thank you, sir, for the break. Work good. Seems clear to me, M… It’s Rocky.”

M’s shoulders slumped a little. “Sorry blank. Didn’t know it was you.”

It stared at him.

“M, I think it might appreciate this so do it in mime rather than just tell it straight off.”

“What mime?”

“Stand, point at your butt, mime removing the core and put it on the table. Then mime putting some more down and whisk an egg.”

M did just that.

It clutched its sides in exaggerated laughter, drew a question mark, then something square that it put on its head and it mimed tapping a cane in the palm of its hand.

I selected it. “Don’t worry blank. We’ll find your teacher. Go and watch the race videos. When we find it, we’ll send it to you.” I deselected it again. “M, how long? Since they’ve been separated?”

“As far as I was aware they’d never been apart.”

“Oh god, so each night a pair of random blanks shared a cage? Suppose it’s one way to make friends.”

“Worse, Eleven. Seems those random blanks have been getting a lot of free time in the rec room too. That’s where those two were most of the time, near the library. Could’ve been like this for weeks.”

“I just hope it hasn’t been set back because of this. Oh well, at least we found one of them. Let’s try for the other.”