2019-01-01 - spike - The New Shop 93

Author: spike
Title: The New Shop 93
Date: 01 January 2019

Chapter 93
“Ten… How much access has Q granted you on that throne?”

He looked down at me and I could imagine him grinning.

“A fair bit, why?”

“Any internet included? It’s been a few weeks since a sighting of the bomber. We don’t want them losing their interest in it. Keep them angry and at the same time, poke them a little. Get them to see how fucking moronic they were the first time.”

“How do you intend to do that?”

“Twitter.”

Ten rattled away on the keyboard and nodded. “I’m up. What handle?”

“Best to create a disposable one. Single use. Post. Wait a while to see responses, reply and delete.”

He nodded. “What did you have in mind, handle-wise?”

“Something… Justice or punishment related. I have an idea what to post. Might as well ask your opinion. Maybe get Five up too. He was a cop.”

“Five, come to the throne room… He’s on his way.”

The moment Five arrived I explained again.

He nodded. “And the message?”

“#lynchmob. We’ve recaptured the bomber. You idiots nearly killed him! We’ve treated his wounds. Currently in solitary confinement and not going to see anyone for months. We’ll send him back but stop being retards! Keep him alive!”

He chuckled. “That’s way more than a hundred and forty characters.”

“They extended the character count years ago. It’s well over two hundred now.”

“Calling them idiots is certainly one way to get them angry.”

“That’s the idea. When they say he deserves death, I give them the better idea.”

“And that is?”

“One of M’s favourite phrases.”

“Death’s too good for him? He’s still saying that?”

“He is, and it’s true in this case. In every case he’s used it since I met him apart from when he was telling his tale.”

“When did he use it about anything else?”

“When he told me about the slug. Well, told me about what it did to Four. He didn’t know about its transformation until quite recently.”

Five’s shoulders sagged. He nodded. “Still gives me the heebie-jeebies, seeing that thing though. God, it’s a horror film in real life, what that thing’s going through.”

“Yes, and it deserves it, Five. You know it does. It’s been well over five years and Four still hasn’t recovered. He knows he never will. He can’t even try being a dog cos he’d never sense how we can. Well, not until Q comes up with an alternative.”

“OK, enough of that… What about when they start responding?”

“Then I go into more detail?”

“So” Ten looked down at us. “Twitter handle?”

“Justice4all? Punishment4ever? Something like that?”

Ten tapped away again. “I like the punishment one… Let’s see… It’s in use. Trying a little numerical substitution… Replacing the i for a one and the e’s for threes did the trick. Posting your suggestion now.” He turned the screen.

It wasn’t long before the thing had been retweeted and the responses began to appear.

- “Give him back! We still have a rope waiting! He needs to die for what he’s done! #lynchmob”

“I expect there’ll be a lot of them. Head them off at the pass, Ten.”

“What with?”

“We know what he did! You really want to give him what he wants? He wants to be a martyr. He wants those seventy-two virgins but he’s a moron. He should’ve stood next to one of his bombs. #lynchmob”

- “That monster needs to die! #lynchmob”

“No. That monster needs to suffer even more than he has. The gunshot lost him a kidney. The hit and run shattered his leg and broke his arm. The suit he’s in can only be removed with specialist equipment. #lynchmob.”

- “But they slit his throat! #lynchmob”

“The suit can’t be cut. Nothing can penetrate it. It’s on him for life! The bullet still caused massive internal injuries. When you get him again, he needs to go to the police, not get strung up. #lynchmob”

- “He killed my daughter! He needs to die! #lynchmob”
I
“End his suffering? So soon? Better idea. Suffering that only ends when he’s died of old age. Deny him what he wants and have him writhing in agony for decades! That was our intention. #lynchmob.”

- “Make him suffer? Agony for decades? How? #lynchmob”

“The cops have everything needed to keep him alive in that suit. They also have a keyfob. Something that can trigger the plug up his ass. It’s electric. Agony you can’t imagine at the push of a button. #lynchmob.”

A few more messages appeared, different people.

- “Fuck me, he’s right. #lynchmod.”
- “Makes more sense than killing the fucker. A lifetime of agony! I love it. #lynchmob.”
- “When do we get him back? #lynchmob.”

“When we’re sure he’s recovered from his injuries. Could be months. Keep him alive. Hand him to the cops. He can’t shit now so he’ll be dead in a month if they don’t remove the plug’s core and flush him out. #lynchmob.”

- “God that’s devious. Who the hell are you? #lynchmob.”

“Someone with a better sense of justice than you. Let’s just leave it at that. Expect to see him in a few months, same message on his suit. #lynchmob.”

A lot more all echoing the same sentiments. All agreed that what we’d suggested was a much more suitable punishment.

I nodded. “You can delete that twitter handle now, Ten. Don’t want it to exist for too long. It might be trackable.”

Ten shrugged. “According to Q, everything sent from here goes through a hundred different encrypted servers.”

“Better to be safe than sorry.”

“Right then…” He rattled on the keyboard. “And, it’s gone.”

“While I’m here, how’s that master getting along as a dog?”

“Want me to call them up?”

“Might as well.”

“All golds, rec room, usual screen and bring the amputee.”

Ten minutes later, a blank, the dog, M, Beta, Twelve and Seventeen stood before the TV.

I selected the golds. “I don’t have the ident for the other two, can you… Oh, and what’s his dog name?”

M read out the numbers. “and his dog name’s Baron.”

I tapped them into my armband and selected them too.

“So, how do you like it, Baron?”

His tail wagged. He nodded.

“Have you found your inner dog?”

He looked around and tapped. “2,6. W.h.e.r.e.s . Q”

“My master’s currently unavailable. He decided to spend a couple of weeks as a dog himself and we’re organising a race event to top off his experience.” I glanced at Ten. “Can we send them the footage, like the shop did to here?”

“Yes. Bloody good idea, Eleven.”

“A.n.o.t.h.e.r. . r.a.c.e . t.h.e.r.e.”

“Yes, but nothing as epic as the ones in America. Too dangerous and hot for long races. One night. Should be good though. Have you started on the other thing yet?”

“N.o.t. . y.e.t. . . I . l.i.k.e . t.h.i.s . t.h.o.u.g.h . . I . l.o.v.e . b.e.i.n.g . a.b.l.e . t.o . r.u.n . . I.d . l.i.k.e . t.h.i.s . s.u.i.t . t.o . b.e . r.e.m.o.v.e.d . a.n.d . r.e.p.l.a.c.e.d w.i.t.h . a . p.e.r.m.a.n.e.n.t . o.n.e . . M.o.r.e . C.o.u.l.d . y.o.u . b.l.a.c.k.e.n . m.y . b.o.y.s . e.y.e.s”

I deselected the blank and did as requested. “It can’t see now. Why?”

“I.d . l.i.k.e . t.o . g.i.v.e . m.y . b.o.y . a.n.d . m.y.s.e.l.f . t.o . Q . . I . s.e.e . n.o . p.o.i.n.t . i.n . r.e.t.u.r.n.i.n.g . t.o . m y . o.l.d . l.i.f.e . . . I . l.o.v.e . t.h.i.s.”

“Even before we’ve begun on the experiments? Before you know if communication’s even possible beyond tapping? The rest of your life as a dog? As a pet?”

“W.o.r.t.h . i.t . . t.r.u.s.t . m.e . P.e.r.m.a.n.e.n.c.e . J.u.s.t . a.s . M . i.s . p.e.r.m.a.n.e.n.t”

“I’d suggest you repeat the request to Q when he’s out of the dog. He can’t do anything now, he even blanked himself before the dog went on. Did you find your inner dog?”

“N.o.t . s.u.r.e . w.h.a.t . y.o.u . m.e.a.n”

“Lose all your cares. In extreme cases, lose yourself completely. That happened here.”

“L.o.s.e . c.o.m.p.l.e.t.e.l.y . . Q . f.o.r.g.o.t . w.h.o”

“Not Q, but one of his slaves joined him. I asked him how he liked it this afternoon and he didn’t understand. He’s immersed himself in his dog persona so deeply he only understands the trained commands now. Lose yourself in the dog, Baron. Try to be the dog. I managed it, but nowhere near as much as Brutus has. God, I envy him.”

“T.h.a.t.s . e.v.e.n . p.o.s.s.i.b.l.e”

“Must be. It seems that’s what’s happened. He’ll snap out of it once he’s back on two feet. I do go quite deep into the dog but never that far. Something to aim for next time I’m Tyson for more than a few days.”

“T.h.a.t . s.o.u.n.d.s . f.u.c.k.i.n . a.m.a.z.i.n.g . I . t.r.y . T.r.y . h.a.r.d”

“Good. In fact…” I switched armbands and entered his number in the other one. “Very good dog.”

As he recovered, I unblackened blank’s eyes and reselected it on my armband.

“And how are you enjoying life as a blank?”

“I love it, sir. I knew that before but now to actually be one fully. It’s amazing, sir. Why did you blacken my eyes, then?”

“Your master wanted to say something behind your back, blank.”

It nodded. “Good way to do it too. I’ve not seen him for a week, it’s amazing now, watching him run, frolic with the other dogs. It’s almost like a different person’s in there. I’ve never seen him so happy.”

“Other dogs? I would’ve thought Prince and Muttley would’ve been out of them by now?”

blank shrugged.

M tapped on his. “They’re out. We put another couple in for a week. Little bit of training. Get them all used to it before proper training commences for the race. Any idea when yet?”

“Weather’s still too bad according to Q. I did suggest maybe the longer furs might be enough, but being a dog he’s not had the opportunity to do much with the tail data yet to determine if it’s safe enough. No-one can die out there, M.”

M nodded. “We’ve got another five slaves since Christmas. We could really do with you back for the races, Eleven. I don’t think we’ve got enough hunters for this many.”

“Best bet, assign Diablo that task. He’s set to be a hunter anyway once his bucket list’s done. You’ll have Bandit, Thor, Diablo, Slasher and Duke… I suppose if things get really busy, you could assign Twelve as a hunter too.”

“Fourteen? You’d willingly suggest it still hunt after the fuck up it made?”

“Oh, don’t think I’ve forgiven it. I gave it my orders and when I get back I will carry them out. I’m not nearly as angry as I was before Christmas, though. Besides, it was chosen to be a hunter. This place… And Q… I would’ve never experienced any of this without that fuckup. Well, not for years at least.” I took a deep breath. “I love him, M. I never expected that. I love my master and what’s more, those were the last words that passed my lips before the tubes were sealed back in. The last words I’ll ever speak.”

M’s hand froze over his armband. He shook his head and typed. “You love him? I’ve heard of a few slaves say that to their Masters in the past, Eleven.”

“I know. Some slaves almost see it as an expectation. To tell their masters they love them. Worship them. Even if it’s only been a week. I don’t worship him, but my god… It feels different to Beth but every time it feels different. I know it’s genuine, believe me.”


“Are you sure you’re Eleven? You’re not some imposter?”

“You saw me before the first suit went on, M. You were on display.”

“What was the first thing I ever said to you? How did you react and what happened next?”

I chuckled. “You asked how are you. My reaction, scared shitless. I shrank into the bars of the cage thinking that’s the most stupid question anyone’s ever asked. Before I could mime anything back the lights went out and you forced me into a cuddle. God I needed that. I sobbed myself to sleep in your arms.”

“Bloody hell you’ve come a long way.”

“You’re telling me! Why do you think I gave myself back to him the moment he told me I was free? I am Eleven, but I’m not the same person you cuddled in that cage. I’ve changed too much. I wouldn’t want anything but a lifetime of slavery as Q’s property now and that’s exactly what I’ve got. I’m permanently and irreversibly mute for life even when this suit comes off and when it does, the next will be permanent. Quite frankly, I can’t wait for next week.”

“I’m not sure how I’d react to that. Offered my freedom on a platter. I think now, I would do what you’ve done, but back then, six months in? I would’ve run like the clappers, mate!”

I nodded. “We’d better let you get on with whatever you were doing.”
* * *
The dog training continued, the sensors moving further and further out into the badlands, placed each day by Four while I was enduring that itch in the scanner.

It was three days later. We ran along the beach, me carrying a bag, the dogs collecting balls to put into it when Caesar skidded to a halt in the sand.

His tail sank between his legs and he bolted at right angles, back towards land. I looked around in shock and then I saw what he’d seen.

There was a boat a couple of hundred yards from the shore.

Shit! I did the same, tapping on the training band as I ran. “Brutus, heel.”

I caught up with Caesar hiding behind a boulder. He peered around it looking at the boat.

“Are they safe out there, boy?”

He shook his head.

“Ahhh fuck. We’d better get back. Warn the rest. Get you out so you can deal”

He shook his head, picked up a stone and again, wrote in the sand. “I stay dog. Golds and doctor, deal.”

“What if they make landfall? They’ll die won’t they?”

“Die soon. Suit them. Medicine. They live. Never leave.”

I nodded. “Let’s get a closer look.” I selected all golds on the island and the doctor. “We have a problem.”

It was the doctor who replied. “A problem? Don’t tell me one of the dogs”

“No, sir. Intruders. There’s a boat moored near the island. Going for a closer look, see who they are and if any have landed.”

“I’ll order a few blanks to man the jet skis. Board the boat. Where is it?”

“About two hundred yards off shore five miles from exit point two. Don’t know about directions.” I glanced at the sun. I… “Thinking about it, I’d say, north, sir. Five miles north.”

“Ahhh shit… We can’t let them in the compound! They’ll be contaminated! Especially if they make landfall and the decontamination you go through’s fatal to an unprotected person. The red one’s caustic enough to strip the flesh from your bones!”

“Caesar said suit them. Medicine. Never leave, sir.”

“God he’s clever. It’s the only way. The suits will protect us from them, just as they protect you from the outside! I’ll speak to one of our technicians to reverse the nose filters.”

“Will the suits still offer the same protection before they’re cured?”

“They will. Need to be tubed, plugged and sealed though. I’ll tell Ten to get the equipment together. They’ll need a more powerful glue. That can be replaced with the permanent one once they’re inside. It’ll be enough to prevent leaks during decon.”

“I’m moving a little further, parallel to the beach, see if any of them have taken a boat to shore, sir.”

“Good. Just be aware. They might be armed!”

“Armed!? What, there are pirates here?”

“Dunno. Most are sensible enough to avoid the place. There are warning buoys twenty miles out surrounding the island. Quarantine zone.”

“So… They might be here on purpose? I’ll be careful, sir, thanks for the warning. At least the dogs have protection. Anyone points a weapon at them, bite, freeze… Ahhh, shit… I’d better send Brutus home.”

“Why?”

“He’s found his dog and he’s in deep, sir. He might not understand.” I selected Brutus. “Brutus, home.”

The dog sprang to his feet and bolted back the way we’d come.

We’d walked for another ten minutes when Caesar’s head cocked to one side.

“What is it, boy?”

He sank down and crawled on his belly. I ducked too, then, remembering army movies, got down on mine and crawled beside him, as low to the ground as I could.

It was at the top of a sand dune overlooking the beach when we saw them. Three of them on an inflatable dinghy, one with an outboard motor. Each of them was armed with what I could only describe as an assault rifle and all wore desert cammo.

They were here intentionally alright, but they weren’t even wearing gas masks. Whoever their commanding officer was, he was a fucking lunatic. I muted my band.

“Doc, we’ve got three, heavily armed, full desert cammo on the beach. No protection, sir.”

“Can you see any flag? Any markings to indicate name, rank or nationality?”

I peered down at them. A month ago I wouldn’t’ve stood a chance. Now…

“I can’t read their names. Some of the letters look familiar but… Greek? Russian? Not too big on flags but they’ve got one sewn to their upper sleeves, white blue red?”

Caesar tapped twice.

“Russian, boy?”

He nodded.

“How can you tell? You’ve not had the same upgrade I have, have you?”

He shook his head and nuzzled my ear.

“You can hear them? Damn, that never even occurred to me. I could always hear as a dog outside. Caesar says they’re Ruskies, sir. He can hear, I can’t.”

“I got all that… Hang on a minute. Keep yourself hidden, just watch.”

They were unloading crates onto the beach. That much was all I could get from the situation. Then, a crowbar, one crate opened. Lots of packing material and… What was that? A radio? The second contained packs. Why unpack them here rather… I shrugged as I watched them put on their webbing and backpacks. Hang on… There were

A click in my ears. I could hear voices, unfortunately nothing in English.

Then a much closer voice behind me. “Vstan'te! Ruki nad golovoy! Kto ty? Kakogo cherta ty nadel? I chto, chert voz'mi, eto?”

I could tell it was a question and from the look of shock and disgust at the sight of my rubber and Caesar, I could guess what at least part of it was.

Springing to my feet and turning to him, I reached for my armband.

He cocked his weapon in alarm and aimed it at me. “YA skazal, chto ruki nad tvoyey golovoy!”

I pointed at my throat. Placed my hand in front of my mouth and made a crab-claws gesture, then pointed at my wrist. Mime, if done right it should get past any language barrier.

His eyes widened. He nodded.

I typed. “I don’t know Russian. Do you speak English?”

I glanced behind me to see the rest of them rushing up the dune. Oh great. That’s all I need.

He looked behind me and called out. “Kto-nibud' govorit po-angliyski?”

There was a chorus of Nyets. That word, I did understand.

I made a sweeping gesture. Pointed at them, then gripped my throat and sank to my knees. I pointed at them all again.

His expression changed to one of anger. He tensed. Yelled. “Ne ugrozhay mne!”

I’ve got no idea what that meant but the anger in the voice meant he hadn’t understood. It should’ve been fear. I glanced around. Within reach, a shrub, or what was left of it. Desiccated, long dead, I broke off a branch and pointed at it. Then made the slit throat gesture. Then I pointed at them and repeated it. I pointed at myself, swept my hand across my suit and place my hand over my heart making a beating gesture. I pointed at them again and walked my fingers, then pointed at myself again. Then just for good measure, I used the branch to draw into the sand.

I drew a skull and crossbones, hoping against hope it was a universal symbol for poison rather than just one used in the west.

By now, the other three surrounded us.

One to the left of me spoke. “YA dumayu, on skazal, chto zemli otravleny, on zashchishchen, no my umrem, yesli my ne budem sledovat' za nim, kapral.”

That got his attention. His eyes widened in alarm. He prodded the skull and crossbones with his foot.

I nodded, pointed towards the compound and made a finger walking gesture again.

He nodded back and shifted his rifle to the side a couple of times. I’d seen that gesture often enough in the movies. Move.

I pointed at it, mimed holding one, pressed something, removed the imaginary clip and placed it on the floor along with the rifle. Then held my hands up to indicate they were empty. I pointed at his weapon and held my hands up again.

Hope he got that. Drop you’re weapons, we’re unarmed.

My shoulders sagged as he repeated the move gesture.

I nodded, tapped “Caesar, heel.” and began the slow walk back to the compound and when I say slow, god… It felt like an eternity, walking with a gun to your back. I glanced back a few times and could see something was happening. It began with a heavy sweat which I suppose could be down to the heat. A couple of them began to cough, the other two to squint as if their eyesights were becoming blurred. The first collapsed into fits one mile from the compound.

I rushed over to the body, grabbed the rifle, threw it into some undergrowth and hauled him up over my shoulder. I pointed at the weapons again and mimed dropping them. Then mimed a run. If there was any indication they were running out of time, this was it.

Again, he shook his head, and shifted his weapon forward. The effort of doing that made him stumble a couple of steps.

I tapped onto my band. “There’s four on land, doc, four suits, four filters, we’re a mile from the compound and one’s collapsed already. The others aren’t looking too good.”

“Be careful, Eleven. We’ve got no idea what effects the environment will have on them. It’s a cocktail of toxins and the combinations they’ve been exposed to are pretty much infinite. They could just collapse, become violent, hallucinate, delusional…”

“Should blood samples be taken before they put the suits on?”

“I wouldn’t worry, it’s always possible to take blood samples. Same way we administered muscle relaxant to number four’s arse. They need to be suited, tubed and sealed in quick. Ten and five are waiting for you with all the equipment.”

I nodded. “Get onto M, sir.”

“M? What good can he do?”

“He has a slave there fluent in Russian. Tell him to get the model maker up to the rec room.”

“Damn, good point. I was going to suggest a software translator but those have never been very good. I’ll get on to Two also. Maybe he can reconfigure the laptop or at least bring up an on-screen Cyrillic alphabet.”

“Chto vy delayete s etim? S kem ty razgovarivayesh'? YA prikazyvayu vam ostanovit'sya!”

I glanced back at him, the fear now plain on his face. I shrugged. Pointed at my head and made a sweeping gesture and thumbs down.

He pointed at my armband.

It was a struggle with one over my shoulder but I mimed as best I could. Both ears, curved metal leading down. Picked something from my chest and placed it over my heart. I traced a cross on his arm.

“Vrach?”

I shrugged and continued to walk.

In the distance as I approached the entrance, just as the doctor said, Ten and Five stood with two sealed bags.

The doctor’s voice sprang into my ears. “We’ve got the model maker on the laptop, Eleven. Explained to it. It’s selected a Cyrillic keyboard itself so it can do this properly. Two’s on hand as well, it’s redirecting the laptop’s output to your armband. It should even have the correct accent if it does it right.”

I sighed. “Finally. Tell blank the following. They need protection. The suits we wear are the only safe way to pass through the decontamination process but they need to strip naked for the suits. Allow us to do everything or they will die.”

“Alright, passing it on to him now. The filters Ten has are normal ones. Those will be exchanged on the other side for filters reversed for our protection.”

I stopped and held up my hand to them, then held my armband up so the three conscious ones could hear. Especially this idiotic corporal, judging by the rank on his arm. A few seconds later “Vam nuzhna zashchita. Kostyumy, kotoryye my nosite, yavlyayutsya yedinstvennym bezopasnym sposobom proyti protsess dezaktivatsii, no vam nuzhno razdet' golyye dlya kostyumov. Pozvol'te nam sdelat' vse, inache vy umrete.” came from my armband.

The corporal stepped back looking from side to side. He pointed at me, his hand swept over my body and then pointed at himself.

“Another one for blank. Yes, you need to dress just like us. It’s the only thing that’ll save your lives now. And for the last time, drop your fucking weapons. We’re unarmed here! You can’t carry them through to the compound anyway! The longer we’re out here, the more you delay, the less likely you are to survive this! Look at him!”

Again the armband spoke. “Da, tebe nuzhno odevat'sya tochno tak zhe, kak my. Eto yedinstvennoye, chto spaset vashu zhizn'. I v posledniy raz bros' svoye grebanoye oruzhiye. My bezoruzhny zdes'! Tak ili inache, vy ne mozhete donesti ikh do soyedineniya! Chem dol'she my zdes', tem bol'she vy zaderzhivayetes', tem men'she veroyatnost' togo, chto vy perezhivete eto! Vzglyani na nego!”

As that came out, I pointed at the one over my shoulder.

“Kak vy govorite po-russki seychas, kogda vy skazali, chto ne mozhete chas nazad?”

I looked up at the sky in exasperation. “Another for blank, sir. I don’t understand so stop talking! I’ve got someone off the island to translate what I need to tell you.”

Again, I held up the armband. “YA ne ponimayu, tak perestan'te govorit'! U menya yest' kto-tos ostrova, chtoby perevesti to, chto mne nuzhno, chtoby rasskazat' vam.”

Finally, his eyes widened in understanding and he nodded. He looked at the other two. “Bros' oruzhiye i polosu. Delayte, kak on govorit. Chert by menya pobral, oni vyglyadyat kak urody.”

One of them looked me in horror. “Vy ozhidayete, chto my odenemsya, kak oni? Eto samaya izvrashchennaya veshch', kotoruyu ya kogda-libo videl!”

“Neuzheli on men'she vsego postradal ot etogo mesta? Ponyatno, chto eti kostyumy obespechivayut zashchitu. Posmotrite na Kuznetsova! Eto libo to, libo smert'. YA vybirayu eto! Bros' oruzhiye i polosu! Eto poryadok!”

He dropped his weapon and began to strip.

At the sight of this, Ten and Five approached.

Ten tapped on his armband. “Bloody good call, Eleven, getting the blank in on this. I wasn’t happy getting anywhere near them until they dropped those things.”

I nodded and turned to look. The other two had dropped theirs and were stripping too.

I chuckled. “Ten, will those uniforms survive the decon process?”

“They will, just as those trainers do. Why?”

“Looks like we’ve got some new army gear to add to our wardrobe.”

There was a scream from behind us. I looked back. God that looked nasty. One of the soldiers looked down at himself in horror. A rash? Hives? Boils or blisters? I didn’t know but his chest was covered in them.

“Another one for blank. I told you the island was deadly. Get out of everything, nothing left, all that clothing will have to be destroyed, it’s even more contaminated than you are. The sooner you’re in our compound the sooner our doctors can treat you. I just hope we’re in time, now hurry!”

“YA skazal tebe, chto ostrov smertelen. Vykhodite iz vsego, nichego ne ostalos', vsya eta odezhda dolzhna byt' unichtozhena, ona yeshche boleye zagryaznena, chem vy. Chem skoreye vy okazhetes' v nashem komplekse, tem skoreye nashi vrachi smogut lechit' vas. YA prosto nadeyus', chto my uspeyem, teper' potoropites'!”

At the sight of their comrade the other two stripped all the quicker, then helped strip mine and the one with the boils. They stood before us, all of them showing different signs of contamination. One looked incredibly pale and seemed to have difficulty remaining upright, the other was looking at his hand as if he’d seen it for the first time and the corporal… He scratched his head and a handful of hair came away. He stared at it in horror.

Ten unpacked the suits and helped me put the unconscious one into it. The other three, seeing how it was put on, stretched the mouths wide and thrust their legs in the moment the suits were passed to them.

“Another for blank, doc. Watch. And don’t resist. This is what we do to each of you. It’s the only way.”

Ten placed the mouth brace and threaded the nose tubes through, hooked them out, connected them to the tube for his windpipe and fed it down. He did the same with the stomach tube and threaded the gag along, pumping the bulbs up with the perm solution. He used a metal calliper type… thing to grip the tongue and with an expertise I couldn’t believe, he wormed the tongue into its new permanent home. Into the gag.

He certainly had more of a knack to it than M had when we did the same with the burglars and blob. Gag in place, pumped up, ear plugs fitted, nose tubes, gag and goggles sealed to the suit, he was done… Or so they thought.

All three watched the process with a growing horror.

“A little reassurance from blank, doc. Trust me. This is the only way. The breathing tubes and stomach tube prevent any toxins from entering your body. The earplugs. A convenience. It’s useful being able to talk to the compound from miles away. The goggles? They’re needed too. They seal the suit perfectly. Nothing gets in, nothing gets out and some of the chemicals used in that building over there would strip the flesh from your bones without this suit. It’s also the most amazing thing you’ll ever feel against your skin.”

Again the armband repeated as a translation.

The corporal swept his arm in a wide arc and pointed at the green, vibrant foliage beyond the barrier.

“That’s why we’re here. To bring this island back to life. In a suit like this we’re free to move around outside. A barrier keeps the toxins out. Inside, unsuited individuals are free to move about.”

He pointed at Caesar.

I chuckled. “Well, we do like our fun. I love being a dog. It’s amazing, that suit.”

He pointed at himself and the dog, he shook his head.

“We’ve got a lot of people here. A lot with… unusual tastes. Why shouldn’t they have some fun too? No, we won’t force you into one of those. Welcome to try it once you’re recovered of course.”

Every time I spoke, the translation came through.

Again, he shook his head but at the same time, he completed the suiting up as did the other two. Ten picked up the unconscious one and hauled him into the first room. He tapped.

“I’ll fit and seal the plug in there. I’ll be out in a few minutes. The final part of this… They’ll need to be restrained. Don’t worry about curing… This time, the sun should do the job. Their suits aren’t coated in SPF 50.”

I nodded and typed. “We need to get you tubed up. This is just as much for our protection as yours now. You’re badly contaminated and we can’t allow you in there until the tubes are in place. One, they’ll stop you from breathing in any of the decontaminants. After you’ve been through that, we’ll add a filter to stop anything you’ve inhaled from entering our clean environment.”

Five had already fitted their earplugs and sealed on the goggles. I reached into the bag and pulled out the first set of tubes.

The corporal’s shoulders sagged. I could no longer read his expression but it was clearly one of resignation. He nodded and opened his mouth wide.

The other two watched as their corporal lost his voice permanently. One needed to be restrained in order to take his and the whole process took a lot longer than with willing slaves. This worked in our favour however. Half an hour in the sun…

I gave its suit a pinch, careful not to pinch any skin as I held it for its tubing and it didn’t have much give. They’d cured in the sunlight, just as Ten had predicted.

Ten and Five beckoned the ex-corporal into the building. I knew what was going to go on in there the moment the door closed.