Note: You can change font size, font face, and turn on dark mode by clicking the "A" icon tab in the Story Info Box.
You can temporarily switch back to a Classic Literotica® experience during our ongoing public Beta testing. Please consider leaving feedback on issues you experience or suggest improvements.
Click here"Master..." I can't say anything. I can't find any excuse. I am silent, only crying.
He touches me on the head. "Sit up, and say what was on your mind."
Slowly I rise up. I'm not looking at all sexy now, red faced and red eyed, trying to control my shaking. My Owner is asking me to account for my words. I barely know the reason myself, but I must try some explanation. "Master, I was so happy yesterday, being outside and being on the water. And I — I felt so free, like my former life had returned. It went to my head — and my tongue. Master, I'm not making excuses. I accept my punishment."
"Not punishment," he says, "correction." He takes the collar from the bedside table. "Lift up your hair, while I replace your collar."
The collar clicks shut and I sense it come to life as he locks it with his remote control.
Master produces a ball gag and says, "You will do two days of cleaning duty and you will wear this gag at all times, except when you eat or drink."
He presents it to my mouth and I open to let it in. This will keep my tongue under control for two whole days. Needless to say, I will not be allowed to speak while eating or drinking. When he has buckled it behind my neck, I bow down in obeisance position.
"Go now," he says, "your collar will direct you. I'll see you again in two days' time."
The collar tingles. I pull myself up and, naked, I leave, feeling very sorry for myself. The collar leads me to the lift which sinks me down to the lowest level. Back at the Intake Unit. The Security Chief is waiting for me. No doubt he knows all about my disgrace.
"Slave, you know the protocols."
I nod. He leads me to a cell and I commence my Morning Rituals. There is one new item in the process: cleaning my ball gag. Naturally, I'm not allowed to speak while doing so. When I am finished, I realise my collar has gone quiet. For the next two days, I will be back to basic training, saying nothing, and going nowhere without an escort. Morning Nourishments follow, so the gag stays out for a bit longer, but we were never allowed to talk at meal times. A Guard waits to take me in Transport Mode to my new duties. The Tee Shirt and Trainer Pants he proffers are familiar, a reminder of earlier times. At least, I think, the sentence is limited this time, though I have moments when I feel despair, believing I have ruined my chances for a better life.
There is not a lot I want to relate about the next forty-eight hours. There is no making beds or polishing tables or vacuuming dining rooms. It is all scrubbing toilets and floors and carrying trash: hard and heavy work. Though I am almost constantly doing something, I do have plenty of time to think as I am sure I will be quizzed on the lessons I have learned.
One of the things I think about, but don't really want to raise, is whether Master tested me, by deliberately dropping off the dinghy. After all, it was not far to shore, easily swimmable, and he would soon have retrieved me if I had absconded. I also realise that the ball gag is not locked on. I could surreptitiously remove it from time to time. Another test? But he has ordered me to wear it, so I am determined that I will pass this test. At the end of each day I am exhausted. I can get through this, because I trust my Master to be meticulous in setting the duration of his correction.
On the third morning, after I have eaten and my gag is re-inserted, I feel my collar come back to life. The tingle at my throat is a sign that my correction is nearly over. The Security Chief comes with a message.
"Slave, your correction here is finished. Return to your Master. I hope we won't see you here again."
I can only nod enthusiastically and, so far as possible, show him a smile.
A tingle at my throat tells me to get going, and I'm certainly not going to linger. I walk quickly to the lifts and press the very top button.
Anne is waiting for me. She ushers me into the Master's presence, where I go down to Position One.
Master comes up to me and lifts my head. He undoes the ball gag and takes it out. "My dear, I am happy to see you again. Your correction is over and your slate is clean." There's a lump in my throat and I'm almost tearing up.
"I want you to tell me what lessons you have learned from this correction." Just as expected.
"Please, Master, I have been thinking of little else for the last two days. I think there are three lessons. First, I thought that my change of position was due to my own merit, but now I know that everything I have is due to you. Work in a responsible position is a privilege, and I am doing it because you find it useful to have me in this position. Secondly, your correction is symmetrical: because I spoke out of place, I have been silenced for two long days — well, long for me at least, longer than I have been quiet for many years. Thirdly, Master, I learned that I really hate cleaning!"
He laughs at this final sally. "Stand up now." He takes me into his arms and gives me a hug, then holds me at arm's length.
"When you first arrived here, I was slightly annoyed with my Acquisition Team: I had ordered not more than two new slaves. But now I think I will have to give them belated congratulations, and at least one Attaboy, maybe two.
"There is more. Before your correction, I said there would be additional rewards for a favoured slave. I have decided that you should be housed up here on the executive floor." My mouth drops open. "And I have decided that it is time you had a name."
I can't help myself. I jump up and throw my arms around his neck and bury my face in his shoulder. I'm laughing and crying at the same time and still hopping up and down. After a time, when I must have just about smothered him with my hair, he grips me tight to stop my agitated wriggling. I relax, and sink down until I am kneeling, my arms around his hips.
"You can take some time to decide what name you want."
"Oh, no, Master! If you agree, I want my own birth name."
He looks thoughtful. "I believe we got your details wrong when you were first brought here. What is your real name?"
"Niamh!"
He smiles, "I think you're going to have to spell that for me, Neev."
What relief! Master has accepted it. "N. I. A. M. H."
From my Master's smile, I know he's enjoying dispensing this perk. "Right, I'll make sure it is recorded correctly, including the pronunciation.
I am feeling so overwhelmed with emotion that I find I can say nothing, but, still kneeling, I look up at him. "Thank you, Master."
"Now," Master continues, "I have a new assignment for you. While you were developing your mastery of your tongue, Julie was working on her Opera Project. However, some slaver gang we've never heard of has grabbed her off the streets of Hong Kong. They've taken her to their lair and made the usual ransom call to The Enterprises. Edward says it was filled with all the usual platitudes, which leads us to believe this gang is not all that professional."
Julie captured? She was my guide from the first moments I entered the Intake Unit slave corridor. For the three "newbies," as they called us, she was the only thing that appeared "normal."
"We've done a bit of sleuthing, with the help of the Empress — a formidable lady you'll probably meet soon — and we think we have a reasonably viable plan to rescue our slave. Your part, should you agree to take it, will have some dangerous bits, but we think we can control most of that."
What is Master saying? "Should" I agree? Does a General give his troops optional orders? Maybe this mission is so dangerous, he is asking for volunteers.
I can feel adrenalin rushing through my body. I stammer out, "Please, Master, I'll do anything you ask to help rescue Julie. She's been my friend since I arrived." I slow down and stop about here. I'm sure Master has no need for emotional outbursts right now. Let's get the Army out of barracks and start marching!
"Thank you, my dear. Edward and Igor predicted you'd say just about that, and we all appreciate your presence on the team. Now, I see Anne lurking in the background; go with her, my dear, and she'll show you your new room. And get you some clothes. And then, we go to War!"
*********
Author's Note.
The story of Three has now come to an end, but only because she has regained her real name. It's not quite the end of Niamh's story at The Enterprises. Next time, she embarks on a new adventure. Dear Readers, your ideas about the next stage of Niamh's life will be most welcome.
—Taliesin1
- COMMENTS
Anonymousalmost 2 years agoI don't understand the high praise for this chapter. Everything was so out of character. Julie had all these down rules and corrections and speaking to her master had weight.
This was like "yo 3, wanna go on a date? You can definitely drive my boat with no one else here to make sure you don't escape or just suck at sailing. Oh you do suck at sailing but I guess it's cool because you came back for me? No corrections for thar, let's just go to a restaurant in public and let you talk to strangers. Oh and that "no booze" rule? Fuck that, have some whiskey, get on the couch and do whatever you want without prompt because????"
Jpmaggersalmost 7 years agoThank you both for your time and effort in replying to my points and your kind comments in regards to my points, I've been an anon on this site for years commenting on stories trying to be politely constructive (thought at times I feel it can come off as blunt) and I'd just like to commend you both on your thorough and engaging replies, they truely are a testement to how well thought out your writing and worldbuilding is :)
To address the first point out of the gate, knowing that a happy ending is on the horizon (though maybe not too soon because the stories are very enjoyable) is very pleasing to hear :)
As to the comments/rebuttal of my treatise on slave economics I think you make a lot of good points a number of which I have to admit I'd not properly thought through for example mitigating headhunting costs which do when dealing with high skilled workers become somewhat extensive. When i wrote my original statment on economics I made it more in light of risk management analysis rather than necessarily the steely gaze of an accountant (I joke but I'm impressed especially with the financial run down on Julie). Another area that I'd not truely thought about was your stance on retention which again is very well thought out and in particular I found your comment on Asian cultures surrounding employment as very interesting, I didn't know about provision of food and health services which does help your arguement significantly, though I did know somewhat about the cultural working issues such as the job for life guarantees most Asian buisnesses work under.
I still do hold that health care would be a significant concern in comparison to standard workers as health care plans would need to be significantly more "robust" plus again the issues of damage/injury arrise whether inflicted by an over eager employee (in particular regarding meanial working, easily accessible slave girls). The mean manager shown in this and the last Three chapter would be a prime example of the type of employee who it seems could overzealously cause injury to a slave girl, however low level employees looking to make a name for themselves seem another likely candidate. Even in the instance of no physical damage such interactions if compacted with poor living conditions and a difficult meanial job aren't going to leave the girls in a good state of mind (though somewhat pampered girls like Julie and Three when they're behaving are less at risk to this).
On the security issue the only real things I'd like to add are that security costs for research and development do have high initial cost sinks which would need to be factored in spread out across the girls if we were being pedantic, and that security would still be needed to stop them from engaging in outside communication (such as using an unattended computer to email for help) or attack an employee (maybe in self defense as it might be). Though the arguement on cost reduction due to the collars is a good and well thought out one.
Though as you point out it does all become somewhat moot as Martin does make that statement (I'd had the niggling memory of that when writing my original point). Though from that I'd like to argue that if he's more interested in having a hareem of pretty hardworking slave girls at his disposal and that the economics issue is more so a motivating technique (or at least not the major concern), then I'd like to argue in favour of the mid level slave girls (those not in training) getting a nicer accomodation / rights package, slave girls need pampering too ^_^
Just to join you in the final point, again I write all this and the previous in regards to fantasy slave girl stories and whilst talking about real world risks, etc. do not endorse the horrid practice of real world slavery.
Happy writing and thanks for a lovely discussion :)
p.s. as to my own outline of a slave girl story, well I do have one lieing around (though sadly not the time to deal with it) however I'd want to give it greater consideration before handing it off to someone else, it still feels somewhat incomplete for the narrative flow I'm trying to gather. Thank you very much for the offer though, I'll seriously consider it :D
Carole99almost 7 years agoAuthorfrom Taliesin1
JP, if I may call you that, you are obviously very engaged in the story and you have raised a number of very interesting questions, so I would like to respond in the spirit of friendly debate.
Corrections. Because, as you point out, slavery is illegal, for the sake of the story, any attempt or even thought of escape, or public reference to slavery, as in Niamh's case would endanger the whole society of slave owners, it is treated as the most serious offence. The question of the ultimate fate of the slaves has been raised, at least mentally by Julie, but that is for my co-author, J Spe, to comment on (Carole99 wrote the first chapters but is not currently active in this story). Niamh/Three has only just reached a level where the question would even be relevant. I would like to assure you that we both intend happy endings for our respective "girls".
The economics of slavery has, from my reading, been fiercely debated for quite some time, and of course each historical case is different. I don't propose to debate it in Literotica comments, (or offer any accounting moves, sorry Carole) but if you're really keen, contact me through my account - Taliesin1. As for The Enterprises, the way I see it, the problems of slavery are very like that of any employee; recruitment, retention and retirement.
So, initial cost of purchasing the slave, as opposed to Employment Agency search fees and commission, plus maybe an inducement payment, yes probably quite a bit more. As I mentioned, from clues in the early chapters, I reckon Julie probably cost $90 to $95,000 USD while the asking annual salary for a top flight PA in Hong Kong, at that time just under half that figure. But the slaves don't get paid, so there's a big saving. NB, I have no idea what the average price of slavegirls might be. All employees require training, Julie's and Niamh's are a bit different but lets call it evens.
Retention. For most employees, providing a career path, regular salary increases, bonuses and other benefits are the main means of retention. These are not required for slaves, apart from maybe a career path. As a huge multi-national corporation, The Enterprises, will have security staff in any case, and require employee identification, swipe cards and control access to various parts of the building. Looking after the slaves is just a minor add on. The electronic collars recently introduced will cut security costs. Large Asia based businesses are often rather "patriarchal" providing food and health services for employees, not usually accommodation though, so in this respect the slaves are not much different.
Retirement. Well you've certainly got me there. I haven't really considered that aspect, though as I mentioned above we are looking at Happy Endings, so that is sort of retirement. Perhaps they become like Pat and Anne, slaves/not slaves, who stay because they want to and probably don't have any other close connections. As for damage or death, The Enterprises emphasises that the slaves may be hurt but not harmed, and generally they are all treated respectfully when carrying out their jobs.
Of course, the real reason for having slaves, as Martin says in one of his interviews with Julie, is the ownership. "It isn't for the talents or the bodies that we prefer slaves. The point is the owning of a slave. The fun comes from selecting the slave, trying to see if they have the emotional structure we want, training them to do what we want, rather than what they might like. For each slave, can we create the person we want? " - 48 Hours on Blue Bayou, Part 26.
Finally, I would like to thank you for the stimulus you have provided me to think more profoundly about the rationale and story arc for my character. You have inspired some ideas which I think will be developed in future episodes. Remember, this is a story, a fantasy. In real life, I am utterly opposed to slavery in any form.
Cindy1001almost 7 years agoAgain a five (stars) for Three (not that I ever gave Julie any less). I welcome her new name, a humane gesture from her Master. And that's perhaps another sign of the Enterprises' hypocrisy. Another aspect of this tale: slavery does not seem legal, although it is tolerated by governments if slavers don't abduct elite persons. But ordinary employees, at least within the enterprises seem to accept Three's slavery with ease. And at the same time, it's forbidden to talk about it in public. Curious if you can explain such seemingly inconsistencies or even cause these to appear logical.
Nevertheless or perhaps even more so, I love this well-wrought story with characters that have real and very convincing feelings and - through the esteemed authors - are able to phrase these so eloquently.
Carole99about 7 years agoAuthorMy coauthors were quite impressed with your treatise on slave economics. I will tell you that Taliesin1 has an accounting background, so you might be in for a stimulating discussion on "401S" accounts and "LIFO/FIFO" for slave inventory. ;-)
He says he will try to incorporate your ideas in future stories. Of course, we have to leave a lot of the details to the reader's imagination.
Watch for a response from Taliesin1 soon. (or perhaps a spreadsheet!)
Feel free to send a pm on my page. I will pass it on.
And--- since you said, "the 'slave girl fantasy' ( which I love and could probably write essays on."--- You might consider writing a brief outline of a slave story, which I know you already have in your head, and letting one of us 'flesh' it out. Fun!
