2019-02-02 - spike - The New Shop 98

Author: spike
Title: The New Shop 98
Date: 02 February 2019

Chapter 98
The wait to unfreeze after my wash and flush the next morning seemed to take an age.

I stood, facing the wall of the cubicle wondering what the hell the wait was all about and when the immobilising light finally did turn off, it didn’t take long for me to find out.

The wet room had a hell of a lot more cubicles than the one in the store and as well as me, forty-three blanks stepped out of them. Many of them paused, looked around in confusion and then looked down at themselves. At the white marks of ownership now decorating their chests.

There was a flurry of hand waving as each asked another to check the back of its head for a name. All of course remained blank. One seemed to be in more of a daze than the rest. It rushed up to me to ask me the same question.

“They’re… They’re blanks, but they’ve got marks. Tell me, quick! What’s my name?”

“Your head’s as blank as everyone else’s, blank.”

It collapsed into fits, I thought something was wrong at first but it held up its hand and clutched its sides in an exaggerated laughing mime.

“He did it! I thought something was up when they kept me frozen while they carried me down here with my goggles blackened. What the fuck though, what does that mean?” it prodded its chest and pointed to some of the others.

“Seems obvious to me, blank. He’s deemed you worthy of his ownership, even if you’re unworthy to be silver.”

“Oh, I was worthy. I asked for it.”

I stepped back. Looked at it more closely. “One? You were One?”

“How did you know?”

“Well, I did say gold could get you blanked but I never expected what happened next! And you’re happy? Permanently blank? No hope of ever rising back to silver?”

“Eleven!?”

“No, my name’s blank. And it will be for quite a while. A few months.”

“Months!? God you weren’t kidding were you? But I’m happy. Oh god am I happy? Never to give an order again. It’s a dream come true!”

“I wonder who the next number one might be… I’ve got a sneaky suspicion it might be me.”

“Why?”

“Well, he did mention possibly renaming me. No idea what to, but it stands to reason. The suit was blank when I put it on though. Flick of a switch to be gold again.”

It shuddered. “No thanks. More than enough of that bollocks. I’m a slave and that’s all I ever wanted to be.”

“I know, blank. I know. Just… Tell you what, you don’t mention who I am to any of the named slaves and I won’t mention who you were to any of the blanks.”

“Deal! Why though?”

“I don’t want preferential treatment. What’s the point of being a blank if you’re treated differently to the rest. I want to lose myself among them. Be one of them. Not a special case.”

It chuckled. “Definitely a deal then.”

I grabbed its hand and shook it. “Welcome home, blank.”

Ten’s voice then. “All blanks report to the gym.”

I nodded. “Good. I could do with a workout.”
* * *
God, that workout. I pushed myself hard and amazed myself at how well I did. I didn’t just exceed my original baseline, I exceeded what I’d been capable of before my injuries by a staggering amount. More of the doctor’s miracles.

The moment it was done, we were arranged in ranks like an army platoon.

Four strode before us, riding crop in hand, tapping it into his other.

He put it under his arm to type. “We’ve decided to have a little fun with work today. Eight blanks, step forward if you’ve always wanted to work on a chain gang. Overseers with whips included.”

I looked about… Oh god that was tempting but, it was still only my first day as a blank and I wanted to experience the life… Well… Normally first. I remained where I was. Let the experienced ones have their fun.

Fifteen stepped forward.

Four tapped eight. Tapped something into his armband and those eight stepped to one side.

He walked up and down the ranks tapping blanks to build up a list, including me and once he was done, he typed into his armband again.

“Step forward, form a line here and face the rest.”

I did so without hesitation as did seven others and the moment I was there, I froze solid.

The freeze only lasted ten minutes but when I unfroze this time, heavy metal shackles and chains. A heavy metal collar, again chained to the slaves at either side, obviously placed from behind to keep out of my line of sight.

“Congratulations. The ones who volunteered… No. We wanted to have a little fun but we didn’t want someone who wanted it, we wanted those less keen. The eight at the side will be your overseers. You eight, go down to the dungeon and select a whip each. For the rest of you, you’re a chain gang for seven days. Those shackles will remain for the full duration, only the chain connecting you together will be removed so you can climb into your cage or pass through decon. Left turn, quick march. It might be a tight squeeze but into the lift.”

I chuckled. The cunning bastard. I approved though. Damned good way to do it. I just hoped the blank that had been One hadn’t been chosen as an overseer. They all had that white Property of Master Q on their chests.

He wasn’t wrong about it being a tight squeeze but the elevator doors closed, we emerged on ground level to find Six awaiting us, he led us to exit station one and out into the badlands.

It took a while to get into the rhythm of the shuffle. With only two feet of chain between our legs, that’s all we could do but timing it with everyone else… Quite a few tripped or stumbled that first day, including me.

Each of us was handed a spade. The job, dig up the earth down to the bedrock and shovel it into trash can sized containers.

Another eight blanks stood nearby, ready to take the full containers and replace them with empty ones. Those were tipped into a heavy metal hopper that fed a machine. On the other side, sealed off from the toxic environment, the machine fed larger containers with the decontaminated earth.

I put my all into it at first but as the heat began to build, I decided to test my overseer. See how good he was with a whip and paused pretending to catch my breath.

The whip was soon to follow and god did it feel good. I took a few and then continued with my work. I glanced down the line and noticed a few doing the same.

I’m not sure how long we were out there before Six moved down the line to unhook us. He led us back to decon, through the process and at the other side, a blank tipped a litre of water down each of our mouth tubes.

Then, straight back out there again, reconnected to the chain and back to work.

So, they’d said they could only work five hours at a time and it wasn’t safe to drink while outside. I’d thought that meant five hour shifts but clearly I was wrong. Even I began to tire by the end of it and we continued like that until the sun kissed the horizon.

And it seemed this was my fate for the coming week.

The odd thing is, I hadn’t expected I’d like it quite so much as I did. What surprised me most of all was just how much stamina I had now.
* * *
I didn’t sit at a table, play games or read a book that night. The moment we made it down into our common room, I crawled into my cage and slammed the door behind me. Quite a few had the same idea.

It wasn’t long before the cage opposite gained its occupant. I looked across. Signed.

“God, that was good.”

“What were you doing?”

“Chain gang.”

“Oh my god… I was too. I don’t think I can handle that for the rest of the week, it was hell!”

“How many lashes did you take?”

“Hell of a lot, I hate being whipped. My evaluation in the shop confirmed that.”

“How long have you been here? You must’ve done work like that before.”

It shrugged. “A few months? A year? No idea. First thing you learn as a slave here is time is irrelevant. You do as you’re told when you’re told to do it. When that Christmas week surprise came up, God that was a shock.”

“Why?”

“I… think by that point I’d forgotten about Christmas. Maybe this was the first Christmas we got and I’ve been here longer. Doesn’t matter.”

“But if you’ve been here that long you must be used to the work.”

“As I said, never had overseers with whips before. We could take a breather. Have a rest when it got too much. Not with one of those behind you, y’can’t.”

I chuckled. “I stopped a few times just so I could take them. I loved that. I never knew I had it in me.”

“I’m going to have to put everything I’ve got into it from now on just to avoid more.”

I nodded. “Tell you what, ask your overseer to whip me if you slow.”

Its shoulders shook with laughter. “I’ll do that. You’ll need some way to indicate you’re you though. Thanks blank.”

“Try to stick by me. If we’re next to each other he’ll be able to.”

I lay back and… I think I must’ve fallen asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
* * *
I’m not sure if it managed to stick by me. At first it did but after the wash and flush, the transfer to the surface and the reapplication of the chains, I’d totally lost track of which one it was. If I had, it probably had too.

My day went pretty much the same as the previous one, pausing occasionally to take a few lashes but that night, I realised something.

I shouldn’t do that. I was a slave and my sole purpose in life was to do what my master demanded and do it to the best of my ability. Pausing for my own enjoyment… I decided then and there I’d do what the blank in the cage opposite that first night had said…

I’d put every ounce of effort in. I wouldn’t pause. I wouldn’t slow. I wouldn’t stop. I’d just keep going and the next day, while I was doing that, I think I must’ve put myself into an almost doglike trance again. I was semi-aware, aware of the work but nothing else. I lost myself in it and it took a yank on my chains to realise it was time for the five-hourly decon so we could take on water.

I continued in the same vein for the rest of my sentence and even though I was wrecked at the end of each day, I knew this was how I wanted to spend a hell of a lot of the rest my life. I’d never worked hard outside of the gym and I found it incredibly satisfying. Especially when I knew what the end result would be.

At the end of the final day of it, as the shackles and collars were removed, Six pulled me to one side.

“I’ve been watching you, blank.”

“Sir?”

“You were amazing out there. I swear you worked harder than the rest put together. Two days free, full access.”

“Please, sir.” My shoulders sagged. “I don’t deserve it.”

“Of course you do!”

“I don’t, sir. I’m sorry, sir. I wasn’t doing my best those first two days.”

“What do you mean? Even then you were”

I held my hand up. “One day. Just give me one day to make up for the missed Sunday, sir. I know the only purpose in my life now is to do my best but those first two days, I wasn’t. I didn’t pause because I was tiring. I paused because I wanted to be whipped, sir. I realised after that second day that I was wrong and for that, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t screw up just to get what I want.”

Six’s shoulders shook with laughter. “Understandable. I wouldn’t let it worry you. If you’d been crap it might’ve been different. Alright, one day."

“And could you wipe any notes off that…” I pointed at his armband. “relating to me about how I worked?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m a blank. I don’t want special treatment from anyone, sir. No matter how well I do.”

“OK! God. You really are one in a million.” He tapped away for a few minutes. “OK. Only thing on there now is skill set.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Have anything planned for your day off?”

“I… Who do I see and where do I go to windsurf, sir? Or maybe jetski.”

“Ahhh…”

“Sir?”

“It’s OK Eleven, I won’t tell anyone. I know what it’s like being a blank.”

I took a step back in shock. “How did”

“When you admitted you didn’t know that, it was a dead giveaway. All blanks have that induction on their first day.”

I sagged. “Oh god. No preferential treatment. Not a word, sir, please. I’m here for a month and I want to experience this life as fully as possible. Just as any other”

“I said I wouldn’t tell. I’ve been blanked dozens of times. I never want them to know who I am either. Don’t worry.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“As for the water sports… There’s a building outside the compound. Turn right out of the beach exit and walk around the first headland. All the equipment’s stored there. In fact… I’ll come for you in the morning. Which cell block?”

“Three, sir.”

“I’ll show you where and how to protect yourself. Different things require more or less protection after all. It’s not just filters. There’s a port in that filter for an independent air supply too and that needs special instruction on its application. Again, all the blanks had that months ago.”

I sagged with relief. “Thank you, sir. I’ll see you in the morning, then.”