2019-05-01 - spike - The New Shop 112

Author: spike
Title: The New Shop 112
Date: 01 May 2019

Chapter 112
Monday. A new week, more time on display and this time, it wasn’t long before someone I recognised arrived.

One carried a gym bag, the other had a backpack and both had a look of anticipation.

“I’ve been keeping an eye on the weather reports. Is it time? Please, tell me it’s time?”

The sarge chuckled. “Welcome back, Diablo. Wondered when we’d see you again. We’re nearly there. One week before the next bout of dog training begins in earnest.”

“A week? Please, can we join you now? I don’t mind being a blank for a week longer before I become him again. As for him…” He nodded at his friend. “Oh god, he wants to take part, now.”

His friend nodded. “He won’t shut up about it. He’s entered me. Used two of his race entries to pay for mine and some of his money for all the equipment. I was scared silly when he said he’d given himself…”

Beta joined them. “How’s the bucket list going?”

Diablo sighed. “This race is a lot later than I was expecting. I’m just about burned out, sir. I’d willingly take the permanent suit this time. I don’t think I’ll have a cent to scratch together in a week. Perfect timing if you let us join you now.”

“And you’ve both prepared yourselves?”

Diablo nodded. “I’ve been using the plug on a regular basis, sir. Still got it in now, sir.”

His friend nodded too. “And I’ve been using his old training set. The largest has been up there for the past week apart from shitting.”

“And you understand that the tubing can take some time to accustom yourself to?”

He nodded.

“We’ll suit you both up now. You” Beta nodded at his friend, “will remain frozen for a couple of days until the tubes are settled.”

He gulped. “Two? Two days?”

“If you report no pain in the plug, we can keep you entertained, sir. Then, we’ll put you into a dog suit, freeze you again and transfer both of you to our training complex. You can join the blanks then. In his case, he won’t be a blank. Your suit is awaiting you, Nineteen.”

“Nineteen? Fuck me, I’d forgotten! I start with a name!”

The sarge nodded. ”And as the sarge said, dog training commences in a week. Suppose it can’t hurt to get your friend up to speed in the dog for the first couple of days after his freeze.”

He nodded.

The sarge turned his attention to the friend. “One question needs to be asked. How willing are you to lose your hair. You’re going to be in the suit for a couple of weeks at least and as such, it does help to have it removed. It also improves the feel of the suit.”

“Fuck it. Do it.”

“Follow me. And once the suit’s on, you call me sir.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I take it you’re good with your fingers now?” There was a pause. “Good. As for you, Nineteen… You realise what else that means?”

“I’m… Oh god, I’m a hunter? I’ll be hunting with Tyson and Slasher?”

“Slasher, yes. Tyson isn’t here right now but you will have Bandit and Thor to help. We might put Twelve into a wolf as a temporary hunter. We’ve got a hell of a lot of racers this time. As a result Max and I will not be racing, we’ll be helping on two legs.” Beta sighed. “Oh well. Master said I wouldn’t be able to take part in all of them.”

It wasn’t long before Nineteen was back. Its friend took a lot longer. He tottered out of the back and onto the shop floor, clearly never having walked like that before.

Sarge pointed his fob and the dog froze. “Beta… take over for ten. I’ll just take the dog out.”

He heaved it onto his shoulder and headed for the door. Nineteen followed, its silver name glinted in the fluorescent lights.

As sarge opened the door and noticed, he shook his head. “You, wait here.”

“I thought we were going to the training complex, sir.”

“You’re in a permanent suit now so it can’t hurt to tell you. You’re already there. It’s right below us, there’s an elevator behind the mirror over there.” He nodded at the back wall.

“It’s been here all along?”

Sarge chuckled. “Yep. Only we get to know that. Not outsiders. Now you’re one of us, you need to know. You’re likely to spend a lot of time as a shop dummy. You do not tell your friend, understood?”

“Yes, sir. Of course, sir.”

And with that, the sarge was gone.

Nineteen wandered around the store studying each of us.

It wasn’t long before the sarge returned. “Nineteen. To me. Let’s get you down there. We can name your friend when we are.”

It nodded and left my field of vision.

More customers, more admiring glances but apart from that, nothing more of note happened in the store that day.

Again, I joined the blob the moment I was free.

At the end of our workout, I ushered it over to the scales. “Let’s see if you’re racing.”

It sighed and nodded. “The moment I’ve been dreading.”

“I can imagine. Can you lose that much in a week? Come on, hop up. Might as well find out. If it doesn’t look good, don’t let it stop you. At two fifty, you’re one of us and you’ll definitely be in the next one.”

It stepped up and waited for the needle to settle. The moment it had, the blob deflated. It sank into its suit. “Damn. I wanted it, too.”

I glanced down. A hundred and ninety-five pounds. “You did lose fifteen, Blank. Fifteen! For an average dieter, someone out there? They’d be jumping for joy losing that much! Let’s have a word with M, eh? Let’s see if he can do anything.”

“Better idea… Follow me.”

I did. I wondered where it was going, but it certainly wasn’t towards M. Then I saw. Alpha sat on a weights bench towelling himself down.

He looked up as the blob approached, scorn crossing his face.

“What the fuck do you want?”

The blob collapsed to it’s knees. “Please, sir. I’m sorry. I know I’ve said it before but you have no idea now how sorry I am what I did to you. You know I didn’t know it was real, but that’s no excuse, sir.”

“Apology not accepted!”

“I understand, sir. I put you through hell. I know that, sir. I went through it too, but yours was a hell of a lot worse than mine. Anything, sir. Anything you want that will help me redeem myself. I want… I need you to train me, sir. To box. If you want to stand me in the ring without training and beat the shit out of me for what I did I’ll take it willingly, you won’t even need to order it, sir.”

“You? Seriously? A coward like”

“I’m stronger now, sir. I’ve been in here since my master ordered me to lose the weight, sir. I feel good about myself for the first time in… Well… Ever, sir. More than that, sir. I’m happy I’m a slave, now. I’ve never been happier, sir.”

“You were a blubbering wreck every time I saw you, now you think you can face me in the ring?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Scared?”

“Yes, sir. Terrified, sir but I deserve it. You threatened it the first time you saw me. I want you to get it out of your system, sir. I want you to get better, sir. I know you’re still seeing the therapist. Anything that helps you, sir.”

“Let’s just see then, shall we?” Alpha got up and walked to the cupboards at the back of the room. We followed. He opened one and pulled out a couple of pairs of shorts and boots. He glanced back. “What boot size?”

“I don’t know, sir.”

He looked at the blob’s feet and grabbed a pair.

“Try these.” He tossed the shorts and boots to it. “Show me your hands.”

Blank held up its hands and Alpha opened another closet. He grabbed two pairs of gloves and tossed a pair to it too.

Blank sat and pulled up the shorts. Just as well the waist was elasticated. It was a struggle for it to get into them. It pulled a boot on and laced it up. It held its thumbs up, did the other one, put the gloves on and looked around.

“It’s OK, Blank.” I joined it. “I’ll do up your gloves. Are you sure of this.”

It looked at its gloves and nodded. I realised it couldn’t talk now. I tied them at the wrists and the moment I had, it ran to the nearest ring and clambered up into it, stood in the centre and waited.

Alpha looked up at it in amazement. “Fuck me, it really did get up there without being ordered.” He looked at me. “And you? What’s your part in this?”

“I made friends with it, sir. I saw it in the gym. It told me how much weight it’d lost so we agreed to push each other, sir. It can’t even talk to you in those gloves, now, sir. You realise that, sir?”

“Good. I don’t want to see it pleading for me to stop.”

I nodded. “I’ve got a sneaky suspicion it won’t, sir.”

“Hmph. I don’t believe that for one second. I’m” he took a deep breath, walked up to the ring and clambered up himself.

It wasn’t long before a crowd gathered. I located M and sidled over to him. “Sir, could you call on the sarge, I don’t see him here.”

“Why, Blank?”

“It won’t help either of them if Alpha kills it, sir. If he does go too far, it should be stopped. I’m still new but you don’t have the authority, do you, sir?”

“Good point. How did this happen? Did Alpha order this?”

“No, sir. Blank volunteered. It wants to help him. It said something about it putting him through hell. This must be that hacking thing, sir?”

“Yes. Yes, it is. What the hell’s got into it?”

“I think it wants to prove itself, sir. Prove that it’s worthy to join us. It didn’t lose enough last week to enter the races. It won’t reach its target of two fifty before the training starts, sir. I think it hopes it might still be allowed to.”

M tapped something onto his armband. He had a fiddle and tapped something else too. I’ve got no idea what.

Alpha walked up to the Blank and squared up to it. “Well? Put ‘em up.”

It took up a pretty poor boxing pose and Alpha threw a punch. A fucking hard one from the look of it. A hard upper cut, straight into Blank’s jaw. It didn’t attempt to block. It didn’t dodge. It took it and what’s more, it stood its ground.

Alpha’s expression… Fuck. It changed to one of pure rage in seconds. Punch after punch and Blank took them. All of them. As Alpha began to tire, tears began to stream down his cheeks.

“You tortured me! An agony I can’t even describe! An agony I relive every fucking night!” Another series of punches.

I could tell now his heart wasn’t in it anymore. “I can’t sleep! I can’t even go into the fucking warehouse!”

Left hook, another upper cut. The Blank staggered back as a few struck its stomach and it collapsed to its knees obviously in agony. I know how bad a gut punch can feel, but it forced itself back to its feet and managed to keep its position.

A few more and Alpha collapsed to his knees, sobbing openly. Blank knelt, grabbed him and held him in a tight embrace, stroking his back.

“What the hell’s happening?”

I turned to see the doctor forcing his way through the crowd of blanks that’d gathered.

M pointed. “Seems our blob…” he paused. “I don’t think it deserves to be called the blob again after tonight. It volunteered to let Alpha beat the living daylights out of it, sir. It” he glanced at me. “What did it say?”

“That it wanted to help Alpha, sir. Help him get it out of his system.” I looked at the doctor. “Do you think this’ll help him, sir? Blank took quite a beating before Alpha broke down, sir.”

“And this blank… Did it fight back at all?”

“No, sir. It just stood there and took it.”

“Looking at him now, I think it might. All the time we’ve talked he’s never broken down in tears before. It looks like this might be the first proper step in his recovery.”

I looked back at the ring. It wasn’t just the blob hugging Alpha anymore. Alpha hugged it back, still sobbing uncontrollably.

What surprised me was, Blank didn’t seem to be.

Eventually, they parted and Blank forced itself back to its feet. For the first time since I’d been back, it wobbled. It helped Alpha back to his feet and clambered down, but when its feet hit the floor, it collapsed to its knees.

I rushed over and put myself under its armpit to help it back to its feet and looked across to see another… It was Seventeen. He put himself under blanks other arm before tapping.

“Thank you, Blank. Help me get it up to the scanner. The doctors can deal with it now. See how bad it is.”

“Yes, sir.”

He looked at his friend. “What the fuck were you thinking, Blank?”

I chuckled. “It can’t talk right now, sir. Boxing gloves, sir.”

“Never mind. It’ll wait. Come on.”

Blank was certainly having trouble remaining on its feet as we rushed it to the elevator and up through the store to the stairs. We struggled too when it came to climbing them but a quick slap on the panel to room two, we helped it in.

Seventeen looked at it as it struggled, almost slumped in the cabinet. “Blank. You need to stand up straight now. Can you do that?”

It forced itself into an upright pose and I slammed the door shut as Seventeen turned on the immobilising light. It froze in place.

“Try to get some sleep while they scan you, Blank. You’ll be there all night.” He turned to me “Blank, thank you.”

“It’s a friend, sir. Least I could do.”

“Yeah, I’d heard one of you made friends with it. It fucking surprised me tonight though. I really should spend more time with it. I’ve been avoiding it myself.”

“Why, sir?”

“We knew each other. I didn’t think it was worth my time until tonight. Let’s just leave it at that, shall we.”

I nodded and followed him back down to the gym.