Sadistic Startup

"I like that part. I have to do more work on the first forty. We've got to start lower, because I want there to be more of a dramatic difference between each set of ten. As he gets to the end of each ten, the guy should be thinking that up to now he's been getting peanuts but the next ten will be a huge jump and make it all worth it. We're going to tinker with it until the psychology works."

"You've covered the guy's motivation to take all fifty strokes," Janet said. "The gauge and red and green lights will take care of the girl's motivation to hit him as hard as she can. The guy may not be thinking because he'll be in a world of pain, but the girl knows that each time she gets a red light, it means their payment will be reduced by five hundred dollars because it will be another stroke short of fifty. So she's going to swing as hard as she can every time to make sure she reaches her gauge number."

"You're a genius!" said Frankie.

************

Two weeks later, Berry scheduled another video conference and ordered that each couple have an iced champagne bottle and glasses ready to display.

Once he was satisfied that they'd followed his orders, he announced that so far the ad had brought in over five hundred queries already and that he was sending the data to Frankie so she could begin screening applicants in her spare time.

After a few toasts, Janet announced, "I also have some good news. I came up with another invention and I just finished it yesterday, so Mr. Maso and I are going to demonstrate it for you now."

The camera moved to the floor and showed a round piece of upholstered furniture which looked like a hassock covered in glossy patent leather, except it had a wide hole in the middle, like a doughnut. In the middle of the hole was a tall, metal pole that rose more than eight feet into the air.

Janet brought the dummy into the picture and draped him over the padded doughnut. She reached into the hole and pulled up a shiny metal ring around the poll. The ring was attached to a short chain that led to two hand grips and a set of padded handcuffs. She put the cuffs on Mr. Maso's wrists and maneuvered the dummy's hands so they were holding the grips.

"This is going to make the caning much more exciting than anything else on the Internet," she announced. "The ex-boyfriend will be attached by the handcuffs, which will pull his upper body over the hassock and partly into the big hole in the middle.

"His ass will be almost horizontal. That way the ex-girlfriend can come straight down with her stroke. That's more powerful than any other stroke, especially after we show her how to make it even stronger by jumping just a little as she connects with the flesh. She'll have to do that to make her number.

"The ex-boyfriend will have complete mobility except for his hands. He can move all around the hassock or move closer to the pole. He can try to escape by standing on the hassock and flipping the ring up high and off the pole.

"As the strokes start coming down, his body is free to react. Who knows where he will go or how he will contort himself. Wherever he goes and whatever he does, his ex will follow him and keep the strokes raining down.

"It will be much more exciting than watching a man strapped down so he can barely move and all you see is his head coming up or maybe his legs jerking. What is it Dolores?"

"I think you've gone too far, Janet. You've locked him in against his will. I thought everything was going to be voluntary."

"I'm sorry. I didn't explain about the cushioned cuffs. They're not to make him helpless. They're for his protection. He'll probably want to hold on to the padded handgrips and squeeze them to help him cope with the pain. From my experience, even the most willing submissive sometimes loses control during an intense beating. What's the first thing they do without thinking?"

"What?" Dolores asked.

"They reach behind and put their hands over their butt. The handcuffs prevent him from doing that. If I was doing the caning, I wouldn't need the handcuffs because I have enough experience that I can respond to any situation instantly. But his ex-girlfriend won't react as quickly. She could easily break his wrists or the bones in his hand before she knew it.

"The restraints are only to prevent that. If he wants to stop, all he has to do is say so. He'll pick a safe word, but even if he forgets the word, it won't matter. We'll be watching and listening closely. If there's the slightest sign that he's had enough, we'll stop the girlfriend at once. We're not going to take any chances that could end up costing legal fees."

"You said something before about him escaping," said Dolores. "If he can stop whenever he wants, why would he try to escape?"

"It's another piece of drama I thought of. Go over and lift that ring, Hadley."

Hadley crawled on the doughnut until she reached the thick, shiny chrome ring.

"It's heavy."

"Ten pounds, and it's thick enough that every man I tried it on had trouble grasping it, except for one who had huge hands, like a pro basketball player. Before the strokes start, we'll show the ex-boyfriend how to crawl into the hole, grab it, climb up onto the doughnut, get close to the pole and jump up high enough to flip the ring off. We'll let him practice until he gets the hang of it and gets it off the pole three times in a row.

"We'll tell him that if he flip the ring once he's taken ten strokes, his ex-girlfriend will stop whipping him immediately, and they'll both walk away with all the money. The audience will hear everything except the part about the money.

"The boyfriend and audience will watch as the girlfriend slathers a ton of grease all over the ring and the pole. Will he be able to slide down into the hole, grab the heavily greased ring and hold onto it as he backs out of the hole? He'll be dripping grease on the shiny patent leather, so it will be slippery when he tries to stand on it, jump up and flip the ring off the pole?

"Each time it slips out of his hands, it will fall all the way down to the bottom. He'll have to get down again, stretch out over the doughnut and slide into the hole again to reach it.

"Meanwhile, strokes are coming down, and the pain makes his body jerk and twist. We'll explain to him that it will be nearly impossible to get the ring off, but we hope he tries anyway because when we had some of the crew try to get the ring off, we found out something interesting.

"In order to get enough leverage to flip the ring off, the man will have to spread his legs and squat first. When he does that, he'll expose his balls. If one of the girlfriend's strokes hits them, I doubt if he'll pick up the ring again."

"What happens when he can't take anymore?" Blossom asked. "Then it's over?"

"It depends. If he wants to stop, his ex has to stop. But she can talk to him. Maybe she can calm him down, give him some water and remind him about the money. Remember, she's doubly motivated to finish the revenge."

"It'll actually be better if the guy makes her stop for a while," Janet said.

"Yes," Berry agreed. "It'll be a lot more dramatic."

"More than that," Janet said. "Remember, the cane will be coming down so hard, she'll not only make stripes on his ass, but she's going to cause deep bruising and sometimes cuts.

"When she's trying to calm him down and talk him into continuing, we'll do a tight focus on his ass and light it up so the audience can watch the red marks change colors and expand and swell into welts that eventually turn purple. By the time they start the strokes again, if they do, his ass will look as rocky as the surface of the moon.

"The cane coming down on the previous bruises will generate even more pain and wild body reactions. The best way to get through fifty strokes with the least pain is to do them without stopping. We're deciding whether we'll tell the boy that. I don't think it will make much difference if we do.

Janet was interrupted by a loud gasp from Dolores, who jumped up and nearly knocked the champagne glasses over as she ran out of the room.

"I'm sorry, but I've got to go," said Frankie, and the conference was over.

*************

A couple of weeks later, Frankie told Dolores they thought they'd found their test couple.

"What are they like?"

"What you'd expect. Ilene isn't a saint, but she's a nice girl who wouldn't hurt a flea. She's a beautician.

"Drake, her ex, is a total jerk. He's not as bad as Nate, who's truly evil and depraved. Drake is more of a pig. He cheated on Ilene with several girls and covered it up for a long time with a string of lies. She defended him to her girlfriends and was totally humiliated when everything they told her turned out to be true.

"In addition, he's lazy and shiftless. He was fired from a security job for drinking at work and now delivers pizza. He's totally broke and really responded to the money. He thinks he's big and strong and it'll be a piece of cake because she won't be able to hurt him much.

"He asked if it was all right if they practiced before doing the video. I told him they could do anything they wanted, but there can't be a single mark on his ass when we start filming. We want the viewers to think it's the first time the boyfriend is doing this, so if they practiced, they might have to wait until he was completely clear.

"I could tell he's anxious to get the money, because he said he didn't need to practice. We'll see what he says after we tell him about how we'll train Ilene and how the gauge with the red and green lights works. I do my first in-person with them on Wednesday night. Do you want to come along?"

"No!"

***************

When Frankie came home from the interview, she seemed a little down.

"What went wrong?" Dolores asked.

"Something came up that we haven't thought of. I think it's a problem that we can solve. It's probably good that it came up before we got going so we can take care of it.

"I've emailed the others, and I've scheduled a conference with everyone tomorrow night to talk about it. Can you wait until then? I'm really exhausted."

"I'm sorry. It's like you're working two jobs now, aren't you?"

"Yes, but if this thing gets to be as big as Thorny thinks it'll be, that won't be forever."

"Please don't count on that, Frank. I'm worried because you're so excited about this, but it's strange and crazy. Something may come up, like what happened today, and shoot the whole thing down."

"All right. I won't count my chickens yet."

**************

Once the conference was connected the next night, Janet and Berry both began talking at the same time.

"There's nothing to worry about," Berry said calmly. "That's what the beta is for. We'll fix it in the next iteration."

"Problem solved!" Janet shouted over him.

"What do you mean?" Frankie asked.

"You'll give them another way to earn all the money. I'm going to --."

"Wait a minute, Janet," Frankie said. "I haven't explained everything to Dolores yet. She didn't see my email to you, so she doesn't know what we're talking about."

Blossom and Hadley chimed in that they were in the dark, too.

"Okay, let me tell you what happened yesterday. Then Janet can tell us how she's going to take care of it.

"Everything was going smoothly with Ilene and Drake until I got to the gauge with the red and green lights. I could tell that Drake was getting worked up as I explained it. I thought he might be worried that Ilene would hurt him more than he was expecting, but that wasn't what bothered him. It was the commission system.

"He asked why he should have to lose money if Ilene got tired and got a few red lights. He was holding up his end of the agreement, so it wasn't fair and he wouldn't do it. I understand his viewpoint."

"So do I," said Janet, "and that's why we're giving him another option that will satisfy both sides. We want a video of him getting fifty strong strokes. He wants to make all the money. The solution is me."

"What?" said the others, almost simultaneously.

"I'll be there in my costume with another cane. Ilene will be on his left side for the first ten strokes and then move to his right side for the next ten and so forth. Meanwhile, I'll be positioned between his legs and a couple of steps back.

"If Ilene doesn't strike hard enough, he'll see the red light. I'll see it at the same time and I'll bring down my cane from behind him. My stroke will be much harder than Ilene's, but it'll wipe out the red light for him. Only Ilene will lose the commission."

"That sounds exciting," said Berry. "The sight of you will add to the atmosphere. And if you get a chance to strike, the audience will be surprised and delighted. This is even better than the other way. We should change the plan to offer this to all the couples. Do you think Drake will agree, Frankie?"

Frankie thought a moment.

"I'm sure he will. He doesn't think this will be that hard for him. All he was concerned about was his money. I don't think a few strokes by Severa are going to spook him."

"I wish there was a way to guarantee that you got at least one stroke in," Thornton said.

"I thought about that, and I may have a plan," Janet said. "Let me work on it."

"So if he agrees, we'll go ahead?" Frankie asked.

"Yes," said Janet. "I'll look over my calendar and tell you some dates when Hadley and I can fly in for a few days. Then you co-ordinate with Ilene and Drake. Let's take our time on this first one. Five days from start to finish.

"I thought you wanted to hold it to three days," Frankie said.

"We will, once we know what we're doing. There's no reason why we can't do multiple interviews and video shootings in three days. It'll be intense and you'll have to use vacation time and skip some sleep.

"We'll do sessions every three weeks, or often enough to edit and debut a new video once a week on the site. If all goes well, we'll soon have the money to buy more time and rest."

"When you come this time, you and Hadley are staying with us," Frankie said. "We have plenty of room."

"No need for that," said Hadley. "We don't want to get in your way."

"Stop right there," said Dolores. "It's no inconvenience. You and I will have a great time while the sadist bitches are at work."

*****************

The night Hadley and Janet arrived, Dolores and Frankie cooked dinner for them. After dinner, Janet said she had something to show all three of them.

"Hadley didn't see me packing this," she said, after she went to the bedroom. "I stuck two of them in the outside pocket of the suitcase I checked. I wonder what security thought when it went through the scanner."

She held out a long thin riding crop with a short piece of braided twine at the end. Then she stepped back, lifted her arm high and brought it down fast. There was a loud sound, something like a combination of a chirping bird, a reedy whistle and a metallic hum. Janet repeated the movement a few more times and laughed.

"I played my crop on the phone for Thorny already, and he had no idea what made the sound but it sounded so scary that he could almost feel the pain. This is what we're going to use instead of a cane.

"It's made out of thin spring steel coated in plastic. If you could watch what I did in slow-motion video, you'd see it bowing in the air and then snapping like a whip. That action combined with the force of the swing, makes it bite into the flesh deeper than a cane and magnifies the pain.

"Ilene is going to use it on Drake, and I predict that before she's done, he'll break down and bawl like a baby. But I haven't even told you the best part."

"I'm afraid to ask," said Hadley.

"See the short piece attached to the end? It's called a popper. It snaps when the crop hits and adds a powerful finishing bite a fraction of a second after the pain from the crop. It leaves a scary looking mark.

"Remember, I'm going to stand between Drake's legs. I'll adjust my position so the end of my crop just reaches his ass when I bring it down. When the red light goes on, I'll immediately aim and let loose."

"The key word is aim. I'm going to aim right at Drake's butt crack, so the popper strikes his asshole and then his balls. I'm really accurate, so I think I've got a good chance of hitting the bulls eye even if Drake keeps his legs tightly together. But I'm sure he's going to help me."

"Help you?" asked Frankie. "Why would he want to help you?"

"He won't realize that he's doing it. I know from experience that once the strokes start ripping into your ass, you're going to move, unless you're tied up so tight that you can't.

"Drake will be skittering around the doughnut like a crab on burning sand. That means his legs will be apart a lot of the time. And that gives me a bigger target and makes it almost certain that I'll score both his asshole and balls.

"When I say score, I mean you'll be able to see the damage, especially where the popper lands on his balls. We've decided to let Ilene stroke his butt and present his balls to the camera for close-ups if Drake wants a break. I'm sure he'll want one after the first time I connect.

"The viewers will see the horrible marks I put on him and almost feel his pain. The ones on his balls will probably turn from red to purple and swell into welts that look like mountain ridges. Ilene will display everything in close-up when she's done, too."

"What if Ilene hits hard enough that you never get a chance to do that?" Frankie asked.

"Here's what I came up with to make that unlikely. I'm in charge of the stroke cadence. When Drake tells Ilene he's ready, she delivers the first stroke as soon as she can. As soon as the green light comes on, she delivers the next one.

"But I control the light. It records the speed instantaneously but I can delay it coming on as long as I want. At the start, there'll be a long wait between strokes. Then I'll work the light into a slow rhythm.

"What do you think will happen if I speed it way up and Ilene suddenly has to strike him as fast as she can? She might not get enough power behind one of the strokes, and the red light will go on. As soon as it does, I get my chance."

"Are you going to tell them what you just told us?" asked Dolores. "He'll never agree to that."

"I don't know," Frankie said. "He might."

"I'll tell him everything, just not in the same words I used just now," Janet said. "At the first interview, I'm going to show the crop and explain how the popper works. I'll tell them how I'm going to use it from behind him if the red light goes on. I'll remind him that I'm a professional so I'm deadly accurate and I'll be aiming for his asshole and balls if doesn't keep his legs together.

"I'll also explain that the way I use the signal light, he'll never know when to expect the next stroke from Ilene. Then I'll ask him if he thinks I can manipulate the light so Ilene messes up, loses some of her money and gives me a chance to give him something to remember me by.

"I'll keep it light as I talk about all this, but he'll understand that he'll probably feel my popper at least once. We'll see whether he backs out."

"He won't," said Frankie. "His mind can't conceive of a woman who could really hurt him. I think he and Ilene will put on a great show."

"I hope you're right," Janet said and took her crop back to the bedroom.

***************

Frankie took vacation time the rest of the week, but Dolores went to work the next day. When she came home, the other three were sipping wine and having an animated conversation in the living Room. Dolores joined them and asked what had happened.

"It was amazing," Hadley said. She had observed the interviews from behind the camera. "I should say Frankie was amazing. Nobody can hide anything from her. She finds a way to get it out of them."