2019-03-08 - spike - The New Shop 103

Author: spike
Title: The New Shop 103
Date: 08 March 2019

Chapter 103
It was a while before Eight returned, not that I knew it until I got a nudge from one of the others.

I turned and stepped back in surprise to see it standing there.

“Now you’re all finally paying attention, line up!”

It even drew the exclamation point.

It held a black glass rectangle. A tablet of some kind?

It walked down the line, looking us up and down again. Then I noticed. It was still in metal chastity. Come to think of it, the slaves returning to the compound had too… God, how long had they been out here?

It pointed at mine. “What is that?”

“Chastity, sir.”

“I can see that, idiot. Where did you get it? What is it?”

“Update, sir. All the slaves on the island have graphene chastity now, sir. Or I thought they did.”

“Why?”

“It barely weighs anything, sir. And it’s permanent. Just as the suits are. It’ll never come off, you even freeze in it, sir.”

It shook its head and held up the tablet.

I looked at it.

It waited.

So did I.

“Well?”

“Sir?”

“Put your hand on the fucking thing. What are you, an idiot?”

I did so and instantly, it lit up.

Eight turned it to read what appeared.

“You? You claim to know all about handling boats, jetskis and SCUBA?”

“Yes, sir.”

“A thicko like you?”

“I’m not an idiot, sir. You told us do nothing. I did until you told me otherwise. I don’t want to be shocked like you did with… one of them.” Might as well divert the shocking to one of the others.

Its shoulders sagged. “Well, looks like you might actually be useful. Makes a change from the crap I’m usually sent.”

It moved down the line and held it up to the next one. Again, it waited. I chuckled to myself. You reap what you sew.

“Put your hand on the bloody panel. All of you, if I hold it up, just do it from now on!”

It went down the line, studying each as their profiles appeared.

“So one useful one and four piles of crap!” It walked to stand in front of me again. “You, I’ll have taking samples from the sea bed. You can also take a jetski back to the compound to deliver them.”

“Yes, sir.”

“The rest of you, you’ll just have to sample the soil on the island itself. Any questions?”

I braced myself. “Why are you treating us like robots, sir? We’re still men in these suits and if we’re capable of thinking and doing things by ourselves, why treat us like blank slates? We’d be more useful”

It batted my hands out of the way.

“You do what I say. This is my home. Apart from a visit once a month for a flush, I don’t go to the fucking compound and that’s the way I like it and you are blanks! Blanks are bottom feeders, the lowest of the low and I treat you like that because that’s all you’re worth!”

I sagged. “Yes, sir.”

But if you want it like that, we’ll bloody well give it you. Hang on… Once a… a month?

“Once a month, sir? But a week’s when it starts hurting. A month”

Again, it batted my hand out of the way. “This isn’t the compound. The food you get here’s a concentrate. Nothing makes it to your bowels. Well, not much. You can live here three months without a flush, arse wise at least. The only reason I need one a month is to keep my skin healthy.”

I shuddered. I wondered if that was why it was such, as one of the blanks had described One, a bad tempered miserable bastard. Because it was missing out. I decided not to push.

It prodded me. “That bed is yours. Go to bed now.”

“Yes, sir.”

I lay on the bed it pointed at and it continued down the line. Each blank moved to the bed indicated and lay down.

The moment the last was on the bed, Eight left the room and slammed the door again.

The one on the bed next to me signed.

“What the hell’s wrong with it?”

I shrugged. “Which one are you? I lost track again.”

It chuckled. “Chell. You?”

“Herc. I think it’s got so deep into a rut being here it’s forgotten about the good stuff in the compound. I wonder if it likes it, being stuck out here. Or if it’s just trying to make us suffer cos it’s frustrated? Bet it gets uncomfortable in there without a wash every day too. Especially after a month.”

“You could always ask it.”

“Fuck me, no. And get another shock like that last one?”
* * *
I can’t believe it, but, lying there with nothing to do for hours on end… I must’ve fallen asleep eventually because the next thing I knew, I was being kicked.

I jerked awake to find three blanks already in the line-up and only me and one across the way, Dragon, still in bed.

I scrambled off it and stood in line. Eight kicked the last and it leapt to its feet and did the same.

“About time!”

A tentative hand rose, three down.

Eight looked at it. “Yes?”

“Sir, if you turned our ears on, we could hear you, sir. Slamming the door. At the moment we don’t even know if you’ve come in with our backs turned.”

Eight stiffened, held its hand up and pressed its fob. That slave’s turn to collapse into agony.

“I warned you. Well, now you pay the price. You haven’t got a mind. You’re a blank. You only do what I tell you and I don’t want any more ideas. Nothing from you, understood? Nothing but what I tell you to do!”

I immediately signed, “Yes, sir.” as did the other three.

“The one who knows SCUBA. Forward one step.”

I stepped forward.

It held up a package of some kind.

Remembering its last instruction, I took it.

“Open it. Study it. Those are the sample sites for the sea bed you will be collecting from. It’s in a simple grid, so even you can handle it.”

It was a waterproof pouch with a heavy zip along one edge. I pulled out the contents. Nautical charts, detailed maps of the shore and the bed up to one mile out. Every reef, every sand bank in exquisite detail and three grids, twenty by twenty in size with each cell about a hundred meters square.

“The sample areas are marked by buoys.”

It moved down the line and handed each a similar pouch. “Maps, your area for taking samples. You study them too.”

And again, it left and slammed the door.

“At least we’ve got something to do now.” I sighed. I lay out the charts on the bed and began studying them.
* * *
When Eight returned we were finally allowed out of the slum.

It called me forward and handed me a weight belt and an air tank sealed in plastic.

“Put those on. The belt has a clip for a sample container.” It picked one up from a pile by the door. A box with a lid about a foot long, six inches wide and three deep. “This is it. In your case, you take three samples for each grid square. One of air.” It opened it and pulled out a pipette. “Take off the cap at the bottom, squeeze, release, replace the cap and put it back in its place in the container. With these, sample earth and water. Take it out, shove into earth, twist, withdraw, replace in its slot. Or in the case of water, just get half way down, twist and replace. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“For the rest of you, just earth and air samples. Did you understand how from my demonstration?”

All of them twiddled at the same time. “Yes, sir.”

“Good. And do you know where to go?”

They all twiddled again. “Yes, sir.”

“Then go.” It returned to me. “This air tank is hermetically sealed in the compound so no contaminants get in. The air hose fits into your filter.” It prodded me just under the nose. “There. Once it’s in place, it will auto-lock and don’t worry about the plastic, it’s designed to break before the hose connects. Have you been instructed on the operation of the tank?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then follow.” It looked at the others. “Well, go on then!”

They looked around in confusion, shrugged and trudged off in different directions.

It was a couple of minutes before Eight looked down at the pile, then at the backs of the blanks carrying nothing. It twiddled “Oh for fuck’s sake.” and ran after them. I ran after him.

I chuckled. Well, you didn’t tell them to pick them up. You just told them to go. Fucker.

It was ahead of each and signing again in no time. Each of them jumped a foot in the air and bolted back to the bunker to collect their sample containers. I nodded. I would’ve winked too if it’d made any difference.

Finally, with all the samplers collected, it turned back towards the compound and almost knocked me off my feet.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“You told me to follow, sir.”

“Look, I’m getting sick of this!”

“We do nothing, sir. If you tell us to do something, we do it. We have no minds, sir. What the fuck did you expect? SIR?”

I braced myself and it wasn’t long in coming. Another I don’t know how long writhing in agony on the ground.

The pain ended and I opened my eyes to see it walking away. It took me a few minutes to pull myself together enough to stand. I staggered after it, slowly increasing my pace as I recovered.

Oh my god I’m going to get it back for this when I’m me again.

Down the steps, onto the beach and around a headland. Sitting there, a jetski.

It turned to me and twiddled. “One more word out of you that isn’t yes sir and my god I’ll make you suffer. That wasn’t the highest setting I have access to. Now take those off.” it pointed at my boots. “And put those on.” It nodded at a pair of flippers.

I did as I was told.

“Did you understand those charts?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And you know where you’re going?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then go. Take those samples and I expect you back in four hours. And tether the jetski to the buoys!” And with that, it turned and walked back the way it came.

I hopped onto the jetski and before it’d even made it back to the steps, I was away. And even better, well away from that… that thing.

I reached the first buoy ten minutes later. I tethered it and jumped in.

Oh god it’s good to be underwater again. I love SCUBA, not something I expected to have much opportunity to do here on the island and this time it was part of a job. I followed its instructions explicitly.

Each grid square, sample the water half way down, the sea bed, then the air when I’d reached the surface again. I was relishing in it. The freedom you have down there.

It didn’t even get monotonous, even though it was repetitive.

I noticed the sun was touching the horizon when I finished the final sampling. I swam back to the buoy, clambered aboard the jetski, untied it and made my way back to the cove it was stored in. I didn’t take my flippers off.

By the time I got back to the steps, the sun had set but there was still enough light to see by. I ran up as best I could before it got too dark and made it back to the bunker just as it became more difficult to see the ground.

Eight was outside. I was the only one back.

It looked at me. “Hand me the samples.”

I did so.

Then it looked at my feet.

“Where are your boots?”

I looked at it. Looked back towards the steps.

“Well?”

I just stood there.

“I asked you where your boots are, blank!”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well? Where are they?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’m getting fucking sick to death of you, blank!”

“Yes, sir.” That was the whole fucking point you moron.

“Go and get your fucking boots!”

I turned and much more carefully than when I’d ascended, I went down, careful to grip the handrail this time. I located them, picked them up and headed back still in the flippers.

There was still no sign of the others when I got back. I chuckled. I wasn’t the only one. Good.

Again it looked at my feet.

“I told you to get your boots!”

I held them up.

“Well fucking get those flippers off and put them on then. God!”

Finally, back in my boots I stood to attention again and looked at it.

“Where are they?”

I continued to look at it. Hands to my side.

“I asked you a question.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, answer it!”

I shrugged. The idiot had given me an order. Now it was giving me a conflicting one.

“I’m warning you…”

I pointed at my mouth.

“What?”

Maybe miming wouldn’t count as speaking. I pointed at it, crab claws, hands sweeping before me, patted my ass… I paused and signed “Yes, sir.”

Its shoulders slumped. “You’re really starting to take the fucking piss! I rescind that order, now where the fuck are they?”

“You didn’t tell them to come back, sir.”

“What kind of an idiot…”

“They’re not idiots. You gave us specific instructions and caused a few of us absolute agony for nothing. We are human beings not robots and I don’t give a fucking shit what your opinions of us are. You’ll just have to go and fetch them, won’t you?”

“In! Bed now!”

I’d expected another rolling on the floor session. Clearly now, it was getting the idea. I hoped it was anyway. I went in and the door slammed shut as usual.

I lay on the bed with my hands behind my head oozing smugness.

It was a while before the others arrived, they rushed in, the door slammed and they all lay on their beds too.

I was just about to sign to Chell when something stirred. I shifted uncomfortably and looked at it.

“Oh fuck…”

“What? What is it? I feel it too!”

It started as a tingle, almost like the test for pleasure levels but this time, it… It had a sharpness to it.

“I think it’s set a punishment program running! The fucking…”

It swept over me so quickly it caught me by surprise. I curled into a ball before I could complete the sentence. Ow!

It was like a pleasure program but definitely designed for pain. It’d started slow but now it swept in and out leaving me curled into the foetal position. Just as the pleasure ones did, it toyed, it pounced and this one didn’t end with just intensity. The pain shifted in ways I couldn’t describe. It even swung towards pleasure, but a pleasure that was way off the charts and even that was agony. It was a strange combination.

I’d experienced pleasure beyond my level before but that was nothing compared to this. During one of the lulls I looked at the others. All were in a similar state.

Much as the pleasure program felt like an eternity of ecstasy, this felt like an eternity in hell. It even felt worse than the escape protocol when I’d been stolen as Tyson.

I squirmed, I writhed… Oh fuck make it… I can’t…

But it didn’t end. It kept on going. I… Oh…

I gasped for breath, I tried to stand to walk it off but my knees buckled as a huge shock hit and fell flat on the floor and still more.

I’ve got no idea how long the program lasted. Suddenly, it was gone. I crawled back onto my bed and collapsed onto it, still gasping for breath. I looked across at the others. Chell sobbed uncontrollably, a couple of them, it hadn’t even ended yet.

I rushed over to Dragon and cuddled it, stroked it. Tried to comfort it until it suddenly slumped onto the bed too.

I rocked back and forth with it for a while before it shoved me away so it could talk.

“Fucking… what the hell was that?”

“I’ve heard tales.”

“What… What… tales?”

“There’s a program in the fob. M told me it was designed for a real pain pig as a reward. Once it starts, nothing can stop it and it lasts an hour. I think that fucker just used that on us!”

“What the hell for?”

“We all did things exactly as we were told, I could tell it was getting annoyed at me by the end of the day. Not the first writhing session I’ve had today, but that was the worst thing I’ve ever felt… Oh my god when I get named, I’m going to punch its fucking lights out!”

I looked at the others. It’d stopped for all of them now. It took a while for them to recover enough to sit on the edges of their beds.

Beany was the first to muster up the energy to speak. “What”

I explained my suspicions again.

“Oh my god, I’m… going to kill the fucker!”

“No. Not kill. I… As I said to Dragon, once I’m named I’m going to beat the shit out of it though. How about a pact?”

“What?”

“First one to be named?”

Chell shook its head. “Not the first. Every one of us to be named. Fuck me, I’m going to try for that. I was content to just being Blank before but now… I’m gonna work my bollocks off to get a name.”

Bucky crawled off its bed, forced itself to its feet and stumbled to the middle of the room. “A pact.” It held its hand up. I helped Dragon off its bed we all met in the middle and put our hands on top of each other.

I nodded. “Agreed. Make that fucker suffer once we have a name. And all of us try to earn one!”

I knew I’d have mine back before them. My god I was going to leave it writhing.