2018-09-26 - spike - The New Shop 80

Author: spike
Title: Re: The New Shop 80
Date: 26 September 2018

Chapter 80
The moment I was wheeled outside the scent hit me full force. God, if I thought it’d smelt good wafting into my room that first morning, it was exquisite at ground level.

Blank wheeled me into a garden. Well maintained paths led in several directions. Flower beds and immaculate lawns.

I spotted something beyond a hedge that looked odd, pointed and the blank wheeled me towards it.

It was an archway made of privet and the thing I’d spotted… A slave, standing at ease on a plinth with a plaque at its feet. “Blank. 2019 to 2021. RIP.”

I looked back at my blank in shock. “Cemetery?”

It’s shoulders sank a little as it signed. “Yes, sir. Some of the work we do is dangerous.”

“And you’ve no idea who that was?”

“I didn’t meet it, too late for that, sir. It died four months ago. I know it was its name. A name it’d accepted. That one actually got offered silver. It turned it down, sir. Maybe it would’ve still been alive if it’d taken it but it liked the anonymity, sir. Q respected that when it died.”

“How did it die?”

“Work dismantling the factory, sir. That’s the most heavily contaminated area on the island. A section of wall fell on it and severed its breathing tubes. It was dead before they could get to it, sir.”

I glanced around this section to see four more, all standing at ease.

“Who carved these? They’re good, I’ll say that.”

“Carved sir? No, sir. That’s actually them, sir.”

“It… Their bodies are still in there?”

“Yes, sir. What better way to remember them? Their suits were permanently hardened after their deaths, so they could stand there. They’ll last a long time with no need for maintenance. A grave stone or statue would weather, sir. They won’t.”

I sniffed and still only smelled the heady scent of flowers. “But I don’t smell anything! Surely a rotting corpse”

“All tubes were sealed during the hardening process, sir. Nothing can get in or out of there now.”

He wheeled me around to the next. This one had a silver number three on its head.

On that plaque. “Born 1983 as Daniel Furrows, Enslaved 2014, Died 2021 as a valued slave. You’ll be remembered forever number three.”

“And him?”

“Still it, sir. That never changes. Similar. Crushed under a falling ceiling in the same accident. It only died a month ago, sir. From its injuries. We’ve heard all their stories a few times, sir.” It paused for a minute. “How are they, sir?”

“Who?”

“My friends, sir. Blank and blank. And that douche of a storekeep?”

I chuckled. “They’re all named, Blank. Your claustrophobic friend Bandit’s Thirteen now. Fifteen is that douchebag you mentioned, Duke. Slasher’s Sixteen.”

“Fuck! Really? So the fat turd’s out of the dog now?”

“Oh, it’s not fat anymore. Lots of healthy exercise. It won the boon in the last race and requested all hunters be named from then on… So, it was. And a side effect of the boon, Slasher was too. They love it there. We’re all hunters. When we’re wolves, we’re pretty much brothers. Even came up with a chant, brothers of the hunt.”

“But you called it Slasher cos it tries to slit your throat!”

“Yes. But I do like it. It was only trying to protect its brother after all. They love their life, probably just as much as you love it here.” I chuckled. “There’s nothing like it, being a hunter.”

It nodded and wheeled me around the rest. Three more blanks, two with just Blank and two years on the plaque. Obviously the capture and death of the slave rather than the birth in those cases. The earliest capture apart from Number Three? 2017. The last had been a slave for only a year when it died.

I wasn’t sure if I liked that idea at first, but, as I thought about it, I had been given a new identity the moment the suit was sealed. If they’d accepted blank to such an extent they were willing to be thought of as just that, their old selves completely forgotten, who was I to argue?

It was certainly more efficient than burning or burying them. They themselves being their own memorials. As we wheeled out of the memorial garden, I smiled grimly.

Yes. When I was put up in that garden, I’d request my name be just Eleven and year of capture and death too. I was a different person to the old me. Then it occurred to me that might not be for thousands of years and my smile grew wider.

The rest of the tour… Some of the trees closest to the compound were tall, considering, but the further we moved out, the shorter they became. The outer section was unevenly planted saplings. Flowers and smaller shrubs still lined the paths.

Then, up ahead, bare lifeless earth. It wheeled me right up to it.

I reached out and… there. It was almost like brushing air until you pushed a little harder. Then it became apparent there was something blocking the way. It didn’t even have a glisten to it like cellophane or Saran wrap. It truly was an invisible barrier of incredibly thin Graphene.

“So how do you get in and out?”

“Decontamination stations at three points on the perimeter, sir. Very solidly build concrete and brick shower blocks, sir. You go through multiple stages just to make sure nothing gets carried back inside.”

“Does that mean the whole thing needs to be demolished and then rebuilt when the clearance extends?”

“No, sir. We have some machinery here, sir. They disconnect the water, lift it up between two fork lifts and move it to its new place. I’ve seen it happen. Quite impressive, sir.”

It continued to wheel me around the green area. Then, an oddity I’d only just noticed. Sprinkled about the place, wooden poles, almost like telegraph poles and closer to the centre, these were replaced by taller metal pylons. There were no wires connecting them though. They were clearly there to hold up this invisible graphene tent.

They had multiple uses as well. I saw a blank hanging by its arms from one.

A little further, and two taller poles held a blank stretched out between them, three feet off the ground in a spread eagle. “So. Plenty of opportunity for a bit of outdoor fun too?”

The chair halted and it spoke again. “Yes, sir. I’ve been mummified to one of those poles a couple of times.”

“Why are so many slaves playing today? It’s not a Sunday is it?”

“No, sir. That was yesterday, sir. We’re all getting time off a few times this week, sir. Half of us work, half play, then tomorrow, The players’ll be back in work and the workers will be off, sir. It’ll be like that for the rest of the week, sir.”

“Why?”

“They told me it’s Christmas Day, Saturday, sir.”

“God, time gets away from you when you spend most of two weeks unconscious doesn’t it?”

“Two, sir?”

I nodded. “I’ve been in a pod twice now and still not experienced it.”

“Oh god! Sir! Why?!”

“They knocked me out when they sent me away, thinking I was the terrorist, blank. When I blacked out after getting back I woke up here and I’d been out over a week then, too.”

It nodded. It actually looked sad. I can’t put my finger on it, how, but it did. Posture maybe.

It paused again and pointed at a circle of trees. They were young, only a little taller than me and in the centre of a circle of bare earth, a couple of pipes? One with a cap, one bent over on itself and pointing back at the ground it came out of. Could that…

I looked at the blank, then the pipes, then at the blank again.

“Buried alive?”

It nodded. “I’ve not plucked up the courage to try that one yet, sir. I’ve heard they stay down there for as long as the gold they ask permissions from wants. I even heard Ten rolls a dice, sir.”

“So, they go down with no idea how long and it could be almost a week?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Fuck, that’s hot.” I glanced down at the bulge growing in my jeans. My cock agreed with me. I sniggered. “And the tubes? Feeding and air?”

“Yes, sir. That’s all you need. Six days is the maximum before it starts to hurt down… well…” it pointed at its ass.

“I’d worked something similar out myself when I tried to figure out how long I had to get back to the store from Georgia. I might actually be tempted by that. I’d definitely want to experience it once at least, before I decided how long I was comfortable putting someone else down there. Is anyone down there now?”

“I… don’t know, sir. I think there might be only one way to find out without asking whoever buried it, sir.”

I nodded. “Wheel me to the tubes.”

The moment I was within reach I put my hand under the air one. Warm air, regular puffs. Someone or something was down there. I wondered how long they had left.

“Can you take me to the beach, blank?”

“I’m afraid not, sir. It’s one of the places beyond the barrier.”

“God, why? It looks so fucking good from the balcony!”

“Sea, sir. It doesn’t respect boundaries. It can sweep contamination in, sir.”

“So that’s why the human slaves don’t get to enjoy any water sports.”

“Oh, they do, sir.”

“You know what I meant, blank.”

“Yes, sir. Still funny though, sir.”

I nodded with a grin. “OK, take me to I.T. I think it’s time I met Number Two.”

“I… I can’t go there, sir. I don’t have authorisation.”

“Well, I can’t get there. For one thing I don’t know where everything is yet. I’d be lost in no time without a guide. I’ll… Just a second.”

I scrolled through the idents… Most were just blank with little if any additional information but the named slaves… Seemed everyone here was on my armband. I selected Two.”

“Two… I need you to grant access to a blank.”

I waited a while before I sighed… Who… Well, I’d spoken to Four now… Why not. A quick adjustment.

“Four, I need access to I.T. for one of the blanks. Tried telling Two to grant it access but didn’t get a reply.”

“Well, Two is silver, y’know.”

“Yes, but it does have access to a keyboard. Thought it’d be able to answer back.”

“Did you tell it who you were, Eleven?”

I chuckled to myself. “I’m so used to everyone recognising my voice. Didn’t even occur to me. Thanks, Four.”

“Don’t count on blank gaining access. Best bet, get Two to meet you outside.”

“Thanks… again. I’ll see you later. Has it stopped squirming yet?”

“Curled into a ball the moment it was let down. Took three kicks to get it moving again. I think you worked wonders on it.”

I selected Two again. “Sorry, Two. Everyone knows my voice back in the store. It’s Eleven.”

Definite hints of the store laptop in the voice that came next. It was better, more refined but still lacked certain qualities the armbands possessed. “Eleven! I heard you were here. Sorry, most blanks are denied access to anywhere with a computer. That’s a standing order by Q that goes back to the first blank. Took a long time before even I was allowed near one. He eventually assigned a few of his most trusted blanks that were a little bit computer literate, but still… Only my team.”

“I’ll take Four’s advice then. Meet me outside, you can take me there. I’ll dismiss the blank when you take over.”

“Where are you now, sir?”

“Errr…” I turned to the blank. “Where are we right now?”

“Near burial pit five, sir.”

“Five? How many of them are there?”

“Twenty, sir. Usually not all in use at once though. Not all the same either.”

“Not the same? How are they different?”

“Different things to bury you in. Sand, soil, gravel, quicksand, tar. For the pain pigs, there’s one where they’re buried in glass. Painful, but in the suit, it can’t cut you.”

“Glass? Fucking hell!”

“Not something for everyone, sir, but a couple love as much pain as they can get.”

I nodded. “It said burial pit five. Don’t know how far that is.”

“I’ll be down by the entrance in ten minutes. You should get back to the compound by then, sir.”

“Take me to I.T. blank. You’ll be relieved when Two meets me there.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Thank you for everything, sir.”

I smiled back at the blank. “My pleasure. It was actually fun capturing you lot.”

It nodded and wheeled me down a path to the right and the trees began to increase in size again as we moved towards the centre.

We passed a few more blanks in bondage positions as we continued. One staked out on a lawn, Another hanging upside down in a leather sleep sack, its head brushed the ground as it swung slightly, then a human slave, this one tied to a tree naked. Even its chastity was off, its cock and balls tied off and attached to a tree opposite. A heavy tire hung on that tree, swinging slightly and as it did so, the tree swayed and tugged. The tire was close to coming to rest and the slave had a look of relief on his face.

I glanced at the slave’s tattoo as we passed him. Bartholomew? So, Q favoured the longer names for the human slaves at least. For the human animals, well, I knew a few of those names from tales M had told me and that painting signed Rover in the gallery was probably by another one.

I wonder what name he’ll give the sarge if he ever joins the island… Assuming he doesn’t take a suit to do so.

I held up my hand and Blank stopped.

I pointed. “What’s that one like?”

It glanced at the tree. “I’ve not had any trouble with him, sir. A few of the blanks I’ve spoken to hate him though, sir.”

“Used to be one of the bullies, did he?”

“Yes, sir. A lot of blanks received punishment for delivering things late or broken after he tripped them, sir. Among other things.”

“Go and give that tire a push, get a nice swing going.”

Blank’s shoulders shook with laughter. “Thank you, sir.”

As the blank walked across the lawn to the tree, I noted the look of fear, the sweat begin to bead on the slave’s brow.

“Blank! Don’t you fucking dare!” This slave had an English accent too.

I wheeled myself a little closer to him. “It can’t hear you.”

“Blank! Stop! Oh fuck! If you push that tire I’ll… I forbid it! I’ll make your life a living hell, Blank!”

“It still can’t hear you. Besides, how will you know which blank it is because I for one am not going to tell you.”

“Please, sir! Please!”

“You were a menace, consider this a little sweet, sweet revenge. And don’t even think of treating the blanks harshly because of this. You’ve heard of master’s decree?”

“What decree?”

“Have you heard what happened to Dominic?”

“No! I haven’t even seen him in a few days!”

“And you won’t. That is Dominic. Well it was. It’s just a blank now and it’s following my orders!”

“How can that be Dominic?”

“Q punished it for its attitude towards the blanks, of course.”

“Oh fuck! Please sir! Please, make it”

Blank got to the tire, pulled it back and let go. It immediately started the tree swaying much more violently. It was then I noticed the rope attached had an elasticity to it, obviously enough to prevent serious damage but still cause intense pain when it pulled.

“Make it stop! Please, sir!”

“It’ll stop. In its own time. Now, that is for all the hell you put the blanks through. Dominic’s a blank because he believed himself better than them. Little hint for you. You are nothing compared to the blanks, slave. Nothing. Learn and understand that or you’ll end up in a suit yourself.”

All I got as a reply was a yelp, then a howl. Tears streamed down his face.

The blank returned, looked at Bartholomew and nodded. “Thank you, sir. Oh god that was good.”

“Tell every blank you meet where he is. If they get some free time, they know what to do.”

Again, its shoulders shook. “Yes, sir. I will, sir.” It resumed its pushing.

The building appeared through the trees and hedgerows the moment we entered the garden and blank wheeled me around to another place I’d not been. Around the side, through a few doors and another slave stood before a door. It had a mark of ownership on its chest.

It signed. “Eleven, sir?”

I nodded. “Dismissed blank. I take it you’re Number Two?”

It turned and yes, back of the head as usual.

I turned and reached out my hand. Blank shook it and jogged away.