The Sarcophagus
Chapter 3
"Thank you Warden for providing us with this prisoner." The more senior of
the two said while the other closed the suitcases.
"You're welcome Captain. Perhaps you'll be able to notify me when you begin
your procedures with her?"
"Certainly. We'll keep you advised of her testing schedule. She'll be placed
in her Sarcophagus, then be disposed of in the usual manner."
"Oh? Very interesting. What will occur, if I can ask?"
"Well, basically, for I'm not aware of all the details, she will first be
fitted her with the specialized restraints we use at ICESG, then be tested to
establish her tolerances. From that point, she will be subjected to quite stringent
isolation techniques. Behaviour modification, not unlike Aversion Therapy processes
in use elsewhere will then be applied to the prisoner for a prolonged period."
"Ah. Very interesting. I'm sure that this one will be an ideal subject."
Throughout the conversation Christine's eyes flicked back and forth inside
their frames with growing terror as her fate was revealed in more and more detail,
even while she struggled to accept her bizarre new restrictions.
"Yes. We think that these techniques are quite useful in curing much of the
trauma that's associated with female criminals. We'd best be off. Thank you
again for your help."
One of the two wardresses reached up to Christine's forehead and flipped a
set of blank, steel, black rubber lined shields down over her eyes, blinding
her utterly. A wail of despair slipped up her throat and out through her deeply
penetrated nose and she whined with fear at this even more strict control of
her senses.
"Not a problem. Have a good day. Come along 130146!" she heard faintly.
With that, the Prosecutor came around the desk and opened the door. The wardress
holding her leashes jerked firmly on them, pulling her from the office and out
into the prison proper. Christine's high heels, together with the fact that
the fit of the shoes was imperfect, made her teeter along precariously, the
short hobble chain snapping taunt between her tightly cuffed ankles with every
step. She'd never worn such limiting footwear before and found it almost impossible
to master the art of walking in the shoes. She had to follow them blindly, twitching
her head from side to side against the controlling influences of the collar
and all of the other metal locked into her, eyes rolling wildly under the blinding
panels fastened over them. The shoes forced her to strut with a street hooker's
arrogance, and the short chain between her collar and waist band only served
to emphasize her stance and movements. She hated being forced to display herself
in the manner her fastenings enforced; but there wasn't any way to prevent it.
The trip out of the grim prison took nearly ten minutes of door-banging eternity
as she was gradually extracted from its core and taken to a waiting paddy wagon
parked in the sealed delivery bay. Her wardresses had to show her documentation
and their own ID cards to prison personnel at every locked gate and then again
before she was placed in the transfer vehicle. The back of the boxy truck was
already opened and waiting to receive her. Inside, the steel-walled prison compartment
was fitted with simple hard and unpadded steel benches along each side. On the
walls, sets of equally spaced rings with short dangling chains were welded in
place, each one equipped with an opened lock on its free end. These sets had
a high central ring, then some twelve inches above the bench were two others,
three feet apart. Finally, under the bench, there was another ring with a short,
lock-equipped chain, waiting.
Christine's captors led her to the mobile prison, jerking demandingly on her
leashes to speed her progress. She stepped hesitantly into the van, then was
pushed down onto the right side bench. Her shoulders still shook with cruelly
suppressed sobs while they fastened her in place; joining the top chain to the
back ring of her collar then tightening it until her bent elbows touched the
steel wall. She closed her eyes under her blinders when the lower chains were
locked to each side of her steel waist band, surging against their obdurate
links while one of the escorting wardresses bent down and locked the lowest
one to the central link of her hobble. A sharp jerk and rattle of chain through
a ring drew her ankles and lower legs in under the bench, then it was locked.
The two women stood and surveyed their helpless, partially deafened and blinded
prisoner.
"You might as well relax as much as you can. This is going to be a long trip
and you won't like it very much."
Christine hated it already! The door of the paddy wagon crashed closed and
locked and she was left alone with her trepidation-filled thoughts. A moment
later the engine of the vehicle started, then it pulled jerkily away with a
gear grinding growl. She was thrown unceremoniously to the lengths of her too
short tethers and stifled wails of pain and distress welled in her throat, only
to be still-born at the blockade of her awful gag pad. The roads that were travelled
during the ensuing hours were nowhere near the smooth black-top of North America.
She was continually tossed about in the back of the poorly sprung vehicle, halted
only from leaving her hard bench by the firmly secured chains. Her self-pitying,
gag-strangled cries were lost in the continual unmuffled labouring of the diesel
engine, and for the entire time Christine wondered what she had done to herself.
Finally, the journey ended and she heard the door to her mobile prison and
chamber of horrors opened.
"Remove her to the Holding Block at the Hospital." a bored man's voice ordered.
"She's not scheduled for full in-processing until tomorrow morning, so you may
as well strip her once she's in her cell."
"Very good, sir." replied one of the wardresses.
Christine stood when one of them freed her of the paddy wagon's chains then
grasped her arm . She teetered in blackness on her high heels.
"Come along 130146!"
She was led by a harsh jerk on her leashes, out of the van then deep into
the Research Establishment, suddenly recalling that the man had said hospital!
"What are they going to do to me?? Please God!" She prayed, "Don't let them
hurt me!" The tapping of her high heels and the swishing of the long skirt against
her legs distracted her from the jingling of her chains while she was taken
to her cell.
For Christine Frank, now prisoner 130146, another door to her past closed
firmly behind as she was marched into a new and horrifying reality. It was to
become immeasurably more distressing than had been her previous fate. She had
yet to realize the full enormity of having become nothing more than a human
female research animal.
At last their group of three reached the Holding Block and she was pulled
into a stark, small, white-walled cell. The wardresses immediately connected
her back-of-the-collar ring to a chain dangling from the centre of the ceiling,
then her hobble leash was likewise attached to another chain emerging from the
centre of the tiled floor. A moment later, something snapped into a socket on
the front of the metal gag-strap over her mouth.
"You'll be able to get water if you suck on your gag pad." she heard faintly.
The shields covering her staring eyes were flipped open and clipped into their
mounts on the head cage. For long moments Christine blinked her tear-brimming
eyes against the glaring illumination of the cell, then stared around in fear.
Her eyes swivelled to the taller of the two wardresses when she spoke again.
"This cell will be your home for the next couple of weeks while the doctors
prepare you and fit your personalized restraints. You'll not be fed anything
but water and liquidized food while you're here. We've fitted you with those
tubes to take care of your nutrition requirements, and there's a toilet there
in the corner. One of us will be back later tonight to prepare you for sleep.
You'll stay here until tomorrow morning, then things that you won't like at
all will be done to you." she said with an evil smirk. "Now hold still while
we get you out of that dress."
They quickly and easily divested her of her long dress, thanks to its many
Velcro closures, leaving her to stand naked before them but for her restraints.
She watched helplessly when they turned then strode from the cell in a flurry
of long skirts; sliding its barred door across the narrow entrance and locking
the gleaming portal behind them. She stared silently out through the tightly-spaced
gleaming rods of her cage at their retreating backs, moving closer to it with
dainty, chain-hobbled steps, until jerked to a halt by her collar leash. Only
a small arc of barren, white painted wall opposite was visible to her beyond
the bars and she soon lost sight of her captors then turned slowly to inspect
her new home. Other than the narrow, rubber-covered steel bench bolted securely
to the wall opposite the door and the utilitarian toilet in the corner, the
cell was completely featureless. In the ceiling above, two long, armoured glass
panels illuminated everything with a harsh, brilliant white light that hurt
to look at and so she averted her eyes as best she could, then pranced across
to the bench that was to serve as her bed. The presence of her chains was an
humiliation all on its's own and their noises only served to reinforce the state
of her captivity to her.
Christine sat down slowly on the narrow shelf and struggled frenziedly for
a moment, jerking her arms against their fastenings and kicking her legs against
her their short ankle chain, then, feeling the discomfort of her footwear, she
tried to kick off the shoes. They wouldn't budge. Their ankle straps were far
too tight and locked on, so there was no possibility of freeing herself of their
punishing presence on her feet. The metal rods in her ears were a source of
constant irritation and the ones inserted in her nose were also very uncomfortable
to have to wear; but twitch and shake as she tried, she couldn't escape them.
Why had they fitted them to her?
She sank back against the wall as much as her pinioned arms permitted and
sobbed brokenly at the terrible hand that fate had dealt her. Occasionally,
she sucked at the horror in her mouth and was rewarded with a thin trickle of
moisture down her parched throat. The hours that followed passed in boring succession,
until she thought she'd go crazy from the lack of anything to do other than
concentrate on her predicament. At intervals she stood awkwardly and paced back
and forth across the ten foot length of the white-painted concrete floor, listening
to the rattle and clink of her hobble and leashes. She ignored the discomfort
and then pain of her shoes for as long as she could each time, then had to return
to her bench and sit staring forlornly at the looping chains and the watering/feeding
hoses. Tears of resignation continued to trickle down her face until at last
she flung herself down on the hard surface and wept with shoulder-shaking sobs
of despair, naked, chained, and alone in the stark cell.
Eventually, one of the wardresses returned. Christine was so starved for human
contact that she stood and welcomed the appearance of the stern-looking still
veiled woman, even though she knew that she was only there to bind her for the
coming night.
"Time for you to get some sleep." the wardress said not unkindly, slowly approaching
the quivering young woman. "Sit on your bed."
Christine was so defeated by her isolation and bonds that she clattered over
and sat down without hesitation.
"Very good. Now, I want you to be quiet while I prepare you." the wardress
ordered, moving to where Christine sat staring fearfully and silently up at
her. "Hold still."
She reached to her prisoner's face and released the eye covering shields then
flipped them closed over Christine's tear-filled eyes. They eách locked in place
with a solid click.
"Now," she stated, "you must get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be very traumatic."
The wardress's strong hand pressed firmly on Christine's shoulder, forcing
her to lay on the so- called bed, then came a rattle of chain. A couple of metallic
snaps sounded at her waist and others at the back of her neck and between her
ankles ensured that she was fastened into a prone position on the bed, her arms
and hands still uncomfortably fastened behind her back. She felt a tug at her
face as the Wardress ensured that her water and feeding hoses were still firmly
connected.
"I don't envy you at all, 130146." she murmured to herself as she drew a thin
sheet over the, chained, shivering female body laying vulnerably before her,
then walked to the door and closed it firmly. A last glance through the bars
into the barren cell confirmed that the young woman within was utterly helpless
and firmly restrained for the night.
On her bed, Christine struggled to sit up, jerking against the firm limiting
of her bed chains, then she subsided and lay twitching. Her thoughts whirled
in chaotic obsession with her frightening new existence while she tried to come
to terms with what had happened to her in the space of only 48 hours. The enormity
of her imprisonment and unknown future was overwhelmingly terrifying; but despite
her circumstances, the events of the past day faded away when sleep eventually
overtook her exhausted mind.
