Repo'd Ch. 01-06

"What did the Bank say?" I asked Nicky as she returned from the bank.

"The money's not there," Nicky said as we walked into her office and shut the door. "I had them look up, down, and sideways, and they don't have our money. It never made it to the bank."

"Uhh," I groaned.

"How much money did you raise from our friends?"

"A little over $7,600.00. If we could give them another week, they could double it."

"We don't have the time." Nicky lamented. "Did you thank them?"

"Profusely."

"We should have asked for some donations from our better customers. Many of them seem to really like us and we could offer them half priced coupons. I just never dreamed it would come to this." Nicky shook her head in disgust. "Did you check to see if any of our invoices came in?"

"Only a couple of small ones, less than a thousand dollars."

"That's not enough. We're still $2,500.00 short."

"What now?"

Nicky looked at the time and grimaced. It was noon. We were now officially out of time.

"Now we wait for the courier and hope for the extension. If we get it, I'll do a full audit of the books tomorrow, call every customer, check every credit card transaction, go over every invoice and bank statement until I figure this out."

"And if we don't?"

"Then we need to get Attila off their ass quickly and give us a loan or . . ." Nicky shook her head.

"Or what?"

"Or we consider our options."

"What options?" I asked. "We're out of time."

Nicky started to say something but was interrupted by Lori on the intercom.

"Two men from Ultra are here to see you," Lori said.

Nicky flinched at Lori's announcement and looked troubled, really troubled.

"Don't worry," I said. "It's the special courier Mr. Brooks promised."

"Not likely," Nicky said, looking downright frightened.

"Why not? It's noon and Mr. Brooks said the courier would come at noon."

"Lori said there were two men to see us. Couriers don't work in pairs, they come alone. Slavers work in pairs."

Slavers were bounty hunters who specialized in the repossession and capture of slaves.

"Shit!" Panic griped me. "What do you think they want?"

"Let's hope it's not us."

"I thought we had at least another 24 hours."

Nicky steadied herself, glanced in a mirror, adjusted her hair, and took a deep breath.

"So did I. Let's hope we're right."

"What else could they want?"

"I don't know but Ultra didn't send slavers over here to tell us that we got the loan extension." Nicky said. "Whatever it is, it's not good news."

"You don't think they're going to repo us right now do you?"

"We're about to find out," Nicky said as she steadied herself before heading out her office to meet the Ultra representatives. Nearly catatonic in fear, I followed.

Two men were standing at Lori's desk, one Hispanic, one Caucasian. Nicky was right, they looked like slavers. Tall, burly, and intense, they were dressed in really cheap, ill-fitted, nylon suits, truly hideous ensembles. If it weren't for the fact that they were probably here to repo us, I'd have given them my card and insisted they come and see me.

Slavers always carried either a briefcase or a bag; it's where they carried the shackles and slave collars. And, sure enough, the Hispanic man carried a large briefcase which he dramatically plopped on Lori's desk. When the briefcase hit the desk, it gave off a distinctive metallic "chunk" sound like it was full of chains. I swallowed hard.

"My name is Charlie Davis and this is John Rodriguez. We're here on behalf of Ultra Venture Credit."

"You're here to talk about our loan?" Nicky asked nervously.

Caught off guard by the naiveté and optimism of Nicky's comment, both of the men fought back laughing.

"No ma'am. We're not here to talk," Mr. Davis said. "It's past that."

"Then, what do you want?" I asked in a quivering voice.

Mr. Rodriguez popped open the briefcase and, as the chains and slave collars spilled onto the desk, I yelped in terror and clapped my hand over my mouth while Nicky clinched her teeth.

"Pursuant to paragraph 48 of your loan agreement, when a default of the loan is declared, Ultra has the right to install a tracking device on its collateral and quarantine its movements," Mr. Davis said as Mr. Rodriguez handed him a collar.

Nicky looked horrified, "You're going to collar us?"

I knew all too well what that meant. Once a lender declared a loan in default, they had the right to place a slave tracking collar on their collateral just before the repossession. Everyone knew that to be collared meant that you were about to be repro'd.

"Turn around," Mr. Davis said as he took Nicky by the shoulders, firmly turned her around, moved her hair aside, slid the slave collar on her neck and, with a metallic click, snapped the ends together locking the slave collar around Nicky's neck. Stunned, Nicky glanced at herself in the mirror and pulled at her collar as Mr. Rodriguez handed Mr. Davis another slave collar.

"Your turn," Mr. Rodriguez said to me as he put his hands on her shoulder and twisted my torso until my back was to Mr. Davis. Too shocked to resist, I stood still as I was fitted with a slave collar, letting out a faint squeal as it clicked around my neck.

Mr. Davis tossed an envelope on Lori's desk and said, "As of right now, you're both confined to the city limits. If either of you try to hide, run, or damage your collars, Ultra will have the right to immediately repossess both of you."

"I'll see you girls tomorrow," Mr. Rodriguez said as he dangled a set of leg chains before us. The slavers found their own way out.

"This can't be happening," I said.

"Looks like your pussies are about to go on parade," Lori giggled. "I sure wouldn't want to be in your shoes right now. You girls are going to get yourselves stripped and shipped tomorrow."

Shocked at her lack of empathy as well as her abhorrently offensive behavior, I glared at Lori, "That's a really ugly thing to say."

Although Nicky tolerated Lori because of her skills, Lori and I never quite found a way to like each other and our relationship had soured to the point that we were only barely cordial. I wanted to fire her but Nicky nixed it claiming we needed her. Although occasionally Lori and I traded vailed insults disguised as faint praise, Lori's celebration of our collaring was a new low.

"It serves you right for missing my paycheck," Lori said. "Now you can find out what it's like to work without pay."

"You know we're both as sorry as we can be about that and I promise you that we'll pay you just as soon as we get some money," Nicky said.

"It's alright, don't worry about it," Lori said dismissively. "I'll put my claim for wages in after your auction. Once they sell you off, I'm sure they'll be plenty of money to cover my missing paychecks."

"I'm sure it won't come to that," I said.

Lori laughed, "You dream. Girl, they don't collar you unless they're serious and you just got collared. You're three months behind on your loan and you can't even make payroll. Face it, by this time tomorrow, you're going to be repo'd."

"We've still got that loan with Attila Finance. If we can get that approved, we'll be alright."

"I wouldn't bet on it, you're out of time," Lori said as she looked at me. "Ultra's going to auction off your pretty little twat in a couple of days and I'm going to come and watch just to see the expression on your face."

Furious, I simmered in anger and started to say something before Nicky cut in front of me and held up her hand in a stop gesture to silence me. Nicky was on much better terms with Lori and she was generally much better behaved and more polite to Nicky.

"Do me a favor," Nicky said to Lori calmly. "Call your contact at Attila and find out what we need to do to get that loan approved right now. Tell them it's absolutely imperative that we have the money by noon tomorrow."

"What if I can't get anyone?"

"Call every five minutes until you do. As of right now, that's your only job. Understand?"

"I'll do what I can do."

"Thanks. I know we haven't been the best of employers lately, but I'll make that up to you just as soon as the Attila money comes in. They'll even be a bonus. You've been a great employee and we really appreciate you."

"Thanks, but I'd appreciate it a lot more if you paid me."

"You made sure to send the photos with the loan package?"

When using yourself as collateral for a loan, the sexier you look, the more money they'll lend you. So Nicky had us both pose for photos in scandalously skimpy lingerie as well as some implied nudes and had Lori send the photos along with a video of the photoshoot with the loan package. After all, when you're trying to save yourself from slavery, it's no time to be shy. At the time I thought the Attila loan was unnecessary and that the photos were humiliatingly misogynist, an embarrassing overkill; now I wished we'd made loan applications with six companies and posed fully nude.

"Yeah, I sent your pornography."

"Good. Talk to me just as soon as you know something."

Picking up the envelope left by Mr. Davis, Nicky walked back into her office. Furious, I followed her back and shut the door.

"That went great," Nicky grumbled as she plopped down into her chair and adjusted her collar. "We should've seen this coming."

"Why don't we fire that bitch," I asked.

"Because right now we need her. I agree she's way out of line and I know she's downright psycho at times but she really knows accounting, taxation, banking, and she's a master of all of our accounting and our billing software. It's really hard to find people that are so talented that are willing to work at the wages we can afford."

I had to admit that Lori was a wizard with our banking and billing software and she was the only one of the three of us that understood the employment, income, and sales tax accounting. Of all the people we interviewed, she was the lone applicant who really was qualified for the job.

"Add to that, she's the one working on getting our invoices paid." Nicky said. "Even more importantly she's been the one handling our loan with Attila. Besides, at this point, we don't have either the time or the money to hire anyone else."

Since the cash crisis, Nicky and I threw ourselves into selling as a way out of our financial hole and left recovery of the back invoices, as well as pursuing the Attila loan, with Lori believing that we could dig our way out by increased sales and that the invoice situation would correct itself within a few weeks. Despite our surprising success in sales, we had almost another $70,000.00 in work in progress, Lori's success at both collection of the slow invoices and at obtaining the Attila loan had been disappointing and I wished that either Nicky or I had spent a little more time on the projects.

Not only were the past invoices not collected, even the invoices from our recent sales didn't come in and suddenly, and most unexpectedly, we found ourselves out of time. With all the invoices outstanding, I'd never have dreamed that we wouldn't be able to come up with the money to pay Ultra in time but we didn't. Now that Lori seemed elated at our demise, I wanted to fire her ungrateful ass immediately.

"That was one of the rudest things I've ever seen."

"Do you blame her? She's hasn't been paid in two months."

"She's actually enjoying this," I fumed.

"I know the two of you have had your differences but get over it. We've literally bet our ass on this company and, in case you're not keeping up with current events, we're in a really tight spot at the moment. Right now, we need all the help we can get. Whatever the problems between the two of you, they end now, OK? If her behavior doesn't get a lot better, I'll fire her after we get out of this mess but right now I need her."

I mumbled something that could charitably been mistaken as an affirmation before looking at the slave collar around my neck in the mirror in dismay, and groaning, "This is terrible."

"It's about to get a lot worse. Lori's right. If we don't come up with the money by noon tomorrow, we'll be repo'd."

"You don't think they'd really sell us naked?" I'd heard that sometimes slaves were auctioned off undressed and I'd even seen photos but I still had a hard time believing that the practice as common as rumored.

"Sure they will," Nicky said. "They always sell the best looking men and women naked. They make more money that way."

"It's barbaric."

"Ultra didn't loan us all that money because they liked us; they did it because they thought we looked hot and they could sell us for a lot more money than they loaned us. If they think we'll sell better naked, then they'll strip us for sure."

"Christ. That's dreadful."

"Have you ever seen a slave auction?"

"No, I think they're vulgar."

"You got that right. They're pretty graphic. The better looking men and women are always sold nude and they make sure the buyers get a real good look at the goods," Nicky said as she opened the letter form Ultra.

"What does it say?" I asked.

"Exactly what you think it says," Nicky said dejectedly as she tossed the letter on her desk and adjusted her slave collar. "Ultra's denied our request for another extension, it's declaring us in default, and it's calling our note."

"What does this mean?"

"It means that unless we come up with $627,285.26 before noon tomorrow, we'll be repo'd."

"Jesus, what can we do?"

"Either we come up with a truckload of money or we'll be slaves," Nicky said. Looking frightened, Nicky stood up, nervously ran her fingers though her hair, and started pacing.

Shocked, I began anxiously tugging at the coat of my tailored, navy, skirt suit with matching designer heels. A true fashionista, I couldn't possibly imagine spending the next five and a half years naked and in chains. Although I'd seen slaves, both men and women, forced to work in public wearing nothing more than a slave collar and manacles, I never thought that such an inhuman fate could ever happen to me.

"This is insane. How in the hell are we going to come up with $600,000.00 by tomorrow? Rob a few banks?"

"Can't do it," Nicky sighed dejectedly. "We don't even have enough time to pull that off."

"Do we even have a plan?"

"Pray Attila approves our loan in the next 24 hours."

"Why would they do that? We're broke."

"I promised them six years servitude instead of five and offered another point per annum in interest."

"That's crazy," I protested. "We can't pay Ultra's loan, how are we going to be able to afford more.

"It's the only way," Nicky said.

"It's obscene," I protested.

"Would you rather be standing on the auction block in a couple of days?"

Just as I shuddered at the thought of standing naked on the auction block while people bid on enslaving me, Lori burst into the room.

"Attila says they'll make you an offer on your loan by early tomorrow afternoon and, if you accept, they can get you the money before the end of the business day."

"Thank God," I exclaimed.

Nicky still looked worried.

"That's a little late," Nicky said. "We'll be repo'd by then."

Lori shrugged, "It's the best they can do. Their loan committee doesn't meet until 1:30 and they can't make a loan of that size without committee approval. I'm assured it's just a formality but they've got to do it."

"Shit," I exclaimed.

"What do you want me to tell them?" Lori asked.

"Tell Attila we greatly appreciate all they've done for us and that we're very eager to receive their offer," Nicky said.

"Will do," Lori said as she started to leave, paused, and then turned back to us. She looked downright frightened and regretful. "Look, I know that I what I said a few minutes ago was pretty shitty and I'm really sorry. I like you guys, I really do. You're great to work for. I know I've got a really bad attitude at times but I don't mean anything by it."

"We're all a little frazzled today," Nicky said.

"Trust me, I'll get it done. I'll get you that loan with Attila."

As Lori left, I stared at Nicky incredulously.

"A fat lot of good that'll do us," I said. "We'll be chained up in the back of a slaver's van by the time the money gets here."

"It leaves us with options."

"Options?"

"We can either take the safe route, turn ourselves in, and spend the next five and a half years in relatively agreeable positions as models, mailgirls or store mannequins, or something, or . . ." Nicky took a deep breath.

"Or what?"

"Or we risk everything, cut these damn things off," Nicky tugged at her slave collar, "go renegade, and lay low until Attila's money comes in."

Just the mention of the word renegade had me worried. Renegade was the term used for collateral who tried to escape her slavery commitment. A renegade was considered any collateral who failed to turn herself in, cut off her collar, ran, resisted, or hid. As renegades we'd be outlaws with a price on our heads. A $20,000.00 reward apiece would be put up for information leading to our capture.

If we ran, we'd have few friends we could count on. Assisting a renegade carried a minimum sentence of two year category II enslavement for each slave. Anyone who helped us could be enslaved and exported. It was too much of a risk to impose on people.

Our photos would be placed in the national facial recognition software grid so that hundreds of street cameras in the city and tens of thousands nationwide, would be examining every face they video to determine if it was us. Our driver's licenses would be flagged; our credit cards and bank accounts would be monitored, our phones would be bugged; our email accounts would be hacked; our home and office would be searched and placed under surveillance, and a BOLO (be on the lookout) notice would be sent to every police department in the nation.

Slavers would pursue us day and night. We'd be on the street and on the run with little money, no credit, and no place to go. And yet, despite everything, even before I asked the question, I knew Nicky would want to go renegade before she'd turn herself in.

"What do you want to do?" I asked.

"I don't want to be a slave," Nicky said as she looked out the window as if she were searching for something. "There they are."

"Huh?"

"There's the slavers. Over there in the gray van," Nicky said as she pointed out the window to the street below.

As I looked out of our second floor window, I could see a gray van with the slavers in the front seat. Mr. Davis was in the driver's seat eating a sandwich while Mr. Rodriguez was examining a laptop. Frightened, I squealed in fear and quickly stepped back from the window least they saw me.

"What are they doing," I asked.

"Keeping track of us. Once slavers collar you, they don't sleep until after they repo you. They'll be out there in that van tracking us all night long."

"That's awful."

"It's going to get worse. At first, they keep their distance but In the last few hours before the repossession, the slavers will get out of their van, come inside, and stick within ten feet of us at all times. After that, they'll never let us leave their eyesight. At that point we'll lose all privacy. They don't care if we're still in bed, in the shower, making love, or whatever, they'll be right there watching us. We won't even be able to take a piss without them looking at some part of our body when we do so. In the last hour, they'll even handcuff themselves to us. So, if we don't run by eight or nine o'clock in the morning, we won't have the chance."

"How do we lose them?"

"I won't be easy. We'll need a plan."

"Have we got a plan?" I asked.

"I think so."