Panopticon

Panopticon

T. C. Vega

The Panopticon is a prison concept by 18th century philosopher Jeremy Bentham, based on the constant surveillance of inmates. This story takes the concept to a dystopian future where Cassidy serves her sentence at a prison like no other.

Warning: This story is intended for adult audiences. All characters depicted in the story are at least 18 years of age. If you are not comfortable with adult content or are not of legal age to view such material in your jurisdiction, please exit this site.

Transfer

It was a beautiful day on Altrania -- sunny and warm with a pleasant breeze coming from the sea. Not a single cloud was in the sky obscuring the planet's two moons, which could often be seen this time of day in the northern hemisphere.

Too bad I was stuck in the back of a prison van that was making its way through the light afternoon traffic to my new home. The van was on autopilot, its only two passengers were me and Loreena, the guard tasked with transferring me. She had stripped and chained me up right there in the courtroom after sentencing, as it was common practice in this part of the galaxy, and we were now sitting next to each other on the back bench.

Loreena was a chatty nineteen-year-old brunette who looked closer to seventeen than she did to twenty. She had been on the job for two months, had joined Justice because she "loved working with people," had three older brothers, an absent father, and a mother who was an accountant. She had a boyfriend twelve years her senior, which her mother didn't approve of, and she liked the neighbor's cat, Spot, even though he was a pervert who liked to watch when she and the boyfriend were having sex. I assumed it was the cat who liked to watch, but she was a bit hard to follow.

I had learned all of that in the first five minutes of our trip, before we had even left the city and without me asking any questions. In fact, up to this point I hadn't said a single word.

While Loreena was rambling on, I was looking out of the window, admiring the countryside and playing with the chain that connected my cuffs and belly chain to the leg irons. It made a small "pling" every time it touched my labia piercings.

"Hey, any chance you could unlock these cuffs? Just until we're there?"

It wasn't like I was trying to escape. Getting off this planet would require careful planning and a fair amount of outside help that I didn't have.

"So sorry," she said, nervously twirling her hair between her fingers. "I can't, they don't give me the keys. I couldn't even open the door, it's for security reasons."

Figures.

"So what's your job exactly?"

"Oh, I have this alarm button that I need to press if there's a problem. And I clean the van if someone makes a mess in it. That's not my favorite part of this job, so please don't pee in the van, okay?"

"I hadn't planned on it."

"Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise," I said, trying to keep a straight face.

"We'll be there soon and they'll take your cuffs off when you're in your ... room, and then you can use the toilet. I'm so glad we're getting along well. I know I talk too much when I'm nervous. Honestly, I was really worried when they told me that I have to escort a pirate. I couldn't sleep all night, and when I did sleep, Spot woke me up and wanted to be let in and-"

"I'm not a pirate," I said, which was more or less true, but she didn't listen.

"It must be such an interesting life, traveling the galaxy. Can't you tell me about it, what is it like? All the adventures out there, the planets, the people. Back here, nothing ever happens, I swear, it's the most boring place in the universe."

Loreena was a sweet girl, but I had other things on my mind than making small talk. My team probably thought that I was dead -- between the shuttle crashing and the explosion shortly after, it was a reasonable assumption. It sure explained why nobody had come to get me.

"No, I can't tell you anything," I said, looking for a way to end this conversation. "I don't want to incriminate myself. I'm sure you understand."

"Of course, of course, I understand."

We sat there in silence for about ten seconds.

"Gods," she sighed, "I would kill for your boobs. They are so amazing and I'm totally into piercings myself, but my mom never gave me permission. She says only sluts and whores-"

She interrupted herself, eyes wide open. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to imply-"

I laughed. "Who gives a shit? Life is too short, do what makes you happy."

She nodded and continued staring at my bare breasts. She reached out with a shaking hand but stopped at the very last moment.

"Nipple and pussy piercings, that's so wild. You're such a badass. Did it hurt? Is it true that it makes you so much more sensitive during sex?"

"More sensitive sounds about right," I said, but in my case it wasn't the entire story.

"May I ask a question? It's kind of indiscreet?"

I rolled my eyes. "What is it?"

"Your boobs, are they real? Or, like, implants, or bio mods? I definitely want to get some work done, but with my salary at Justice, you know. I'm not sure I really love Todd, but maybe when we get married-"

"The boobs are real," I interrupted her. "The only good thing I ever got from my mom. But why don't you tell me where we're going?"

"Oh, yes, of course. It's the Rayman Hayes prison complex."

"So what is that, medium security? High security?"

"We don't have different levels. Prisons are for serious criminals, everyone else gets home confinement or community service. Like my friend Vicky, she has to work every Saturday because she took some nail polish at the mall. Purple, really pretty. And now she's banned from the shop, but please don't tell anyone, she's a bit embarrassed. Gods, I talk too much. I'm sorry."

Clearly, Vicky was still at the beginning of her criminal career.

"Look," she said, pointing out the window to our right, towards a valley. "We're almost there."

It was a weird place, unlike any prison I had ever been to. Where were the walls? The razor wire? The guard towers? I didn't even see a whipping post, not that I was particularly fond of those.

The whole complex looked peaceful and more like a park, with pathways and lanterns, trees, a small stream, and maybe a dozen buildings strewn across the landscape. There were no fences or walls of any kind, no infrastructure, just on the far side I could see tracks and a small railway station.

The buildings were all constructed the same way. They were single-story, circular, had glass facades, and roofs covered with red tiles, and each had a large open courtyard inside and a small building with dark windows at the center.

"And that's a prison?"

She nodded eagerly. "They call it the zoo, but that's just people being mean. It's an awesome place, very modern."

Well, it was definitely something else.

"Take a look, Cassidy. The inmates' rooms are on the outside and the small building in the middle, that's the guard station. All the walls are made of dura glass, like, indestructible. The guards can see into every corner of the rooms. It's super secure, nobody ever escaped from it."

"The courtyard is for rec time?"

"Nooo, nobody is allowed to leave their room, ever. It's for security. But," and her face lit up, "you can have visitors any time you like."

Visitors? The only person I knew on this planet had been the target person, and by now he was probably light-years away on George's cruiser, answering some very uncomfortable questions.

As we got closer, I was able to make out some inmates. Every one of them was stark naked, wearing a steel collar that was tethered to the floor using a sturdy-looking chain. That seemed to be a big part of the secret why nobody had ever escaped.

Holy shit, I thought. Even the walls between cells are transparent. So much for privacy in this place.

"Wait a minute, they house men and women in the same building? Seriously?"

Loreena looked a bit uncomfortable. "Err, yes. It's randomly assigned. But you'll be perfectly safe, it's all single-person rooms."

Now that's a relief.

I was lost in thought and didn't realize that the van had stopped. Loreena gave my nipple ring a gentle tug. A jolt of electricity shot through my nipple, making me jump. I was wide awake in an instant.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said, surprised by my reaction. "I just can't keep my fingers to myself, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. We're here."

She helped me outside, grabbing my arm to make sure I didn't trip.

Moving In

A man in a guard's uniform was already waiting at the entrance of the building, a data pad in one hand and a steel collar in the other. He was a bear of a man, mid-fifties maybe, but in good shape -- tall, muscular, and with a certain weathered charm.

"So that's the pirate," he said, looking me over from head to toe.

"Hey Earl," said Loreena. "Yes, that's Cassidy."

"What's with the jewelry?" asked Earl, pointing at the rings through my nipples, clit, and labia. "You guys are supposed to take that stuff out."

He looked at my papers on his pad. "They granted her a religious exemption? What the heck? What kind of religion is that?"

"I told them it was a symbol of my faith," I said. "I didn't think they'd fall for it."

"My sarge said they couldn't take it off at booking," said Loreena. "It's all welded shut and cutting it would have been too much of a hassle."

Earl scratched his head. "Now that's a first. And this?" He pointed at the numbers tattooed on my pubic mound, "You were a penal slave?"

"Yes."

"That is horrible," said Loreena, looking genuinely sad. "I'm so, so sorry!"

"Ancient history," I said and shrugged. "But if everything goes to shit and whoring is outlawed across the galaxy, I can always fall back on digging up Segaya roots."

"Alright, wiseass," said Earl. "What's coming next should feel familiar to you."

Loreena pushed my hair out of the way while Earl placed the collar around my neck. It was made of steel, one centimeter strong, five centimeters high, with a small box at the back of the neck. It was one of the heaviest collars I had ever worn, and it closed with a metallic snap and a beep. It fit me perfectly and despite its weight it wasn't uncomfortable to wear.

Loreena cleared her throat. "I guess this is goodbye. I wish you all the best for your future, Cassidy."

"Thanks," I said. "You do you, okay? Live a little. And now get outta here."

For a second it looked like she was about to give me a hug, but then she turned around abruptly and walked back to the van.

"Alright then," said Earl and grabbed me by my upper arm. "Let's get you locked up."

We walked towards the entrance, under the gaze of several guys and a few women, watching us from their cells.

Earl touched the radio on his collar. "I got the new one for seventeen, open up."

The outer door unlocked with a buzzing sound and we entered a small area between the security doors. There was something that looked like a vending machine on the left, but I didn't get a closer look. As soon as the outer door was closed, the inner door opened and we entered the courtyard.

I stopped walking and looked around.

The yard was spacious and circular. Right at the center was a guard station, with dark, tinted windows that made it impossible to see inside. Along the outer side of the yard were two dozen cells, one next to the other, sharing a common, transparent wall. The only thing that broke the ring of cells was the security gate we had just come through. And it really looked like a zoo, the glass walls put all inhabitants on direct view from every direction.

"Hey, quit daydreaming," said Earl. "We're not there yet. I'd like to get your intro done before shift change."

"Look," I said. "I don't mind a good fuck, but can I please go pee first? I haven't been able to since this morning, and I had to promise Loreena that I wouldn't go in the van."

Taking the new girl for a test drive was a time-honored tradition in many prisons across the galaxy. I'd probably spend the better part of the evening bent over a table in the break room, even though I couldn't see such a room anywhere.

"That's not how we handle things around here," said Earl.

"No? I'm a good sport," I said and made my boobs jiggle a bit. "I'm happy to work for my privileges."

He said nothing and grabbed my arm again.

"So what's the induction then?" I asked. "You guys don't even have a whipping post."

"I don't know what prisons you've been to, but there's no whipping and no sex. Not with guards and not with other prisoners. And no privileges. I'll take you to your cell, explain a few things, and the nurse will come by to check you out. That's it. Next time you'll be out of your cell is in four years when your sentence is up."

What a weird place, I thought. But if anything I was flexible, I'd get the hang of this place.

He led me to the left across the yard where a cell door was already open. I could have found it myself, all cells had their numbers printed above the door.

"Seventeen, this is you. In you go."

He gave me a gentle push when I didn't move immediately.

"It's ... sparse," I said. "But at least it's got a view."

The cell was about two meters long and one and a half meters wide at the entrance, but two meters wide at the back. It wasn't big, but at least there was a lot of window space. In fact, every single wall was made of dura glass, including the door.

All the cell had in terms of furniture was a narrow plastic mattress on the floor to the right and a hole with footrests in the far left corner. And of course the chain, my chain, embedded in the floor.

Earl picked up the free end and pushed it into the little box at the back of my collar. A metallic click, an electronic beep, and that was that -- I had moved in.

"I feel at home already."

He sighed. "There's no need to comment on every little thing, you know."

He let me test my range of motion for a few seconds. Standing up I was able to reach all parts of the room and I could make a small step out the door, but nothing more. The chain would have stopped an Azurran elephant in its tracks, I felt some serious weight on my neck.

He pointed towards the corner where two pipes and two buttons were embedded in the glass. "These two buttons, the big one's for water, the small one's for soap."

"That's drinking water?"

"Yes."

"Oh, and I can't believe that I have to say this, but when you pee or take a dump you use that hole in the corner. That's the toilet. No matter how bored or frustrated you get, you don't throw things around or create works of art or anything. You can do whatever you want in your cell, we're pretty easy-going, but this is where we draw the line. Understood?"

It was a reasonable policy, so I nodded, trying my best to look serious. "No painting the walls with shit, copy."

"We also don't tolerate self-harm. There's very serious punishments for that. Clear?"

"Clear."

He pointed to a slot in the ceiling. "Food rations will fall from there. You get two rations per day and you will eat them. They don't taste like much, but they are personalized and have all the nutrients you need. We also have high-pressure water from the ceiling that we can activate if you make a mess. I suggest you don't do that, the water is not heated."

Pretty convenient, I thought. In other places they just hosed you down from the outside. Here they could keep sitting on their asses and didn't have to drag a fire hose around.

"When you get visitors in the yard, the system will announce them and you will present yourself and keep your mouth shut until they release you from that pose or leave the court. You'll get a chance to practice later when the nurse comes around. Any citizen may come to this courtyard, for a fee, and purchase tokens that they can use on you. They come in different types, but the most popular ones are punishment tokens of varying severity."

"Punishment tokens ...?"

"Yes. I take it this isn't the first time you're wearing a neural control collar?"

I gulped. Fuck. That wasn't good.

"I see you understand," said Earl. "Now, you have two registered victims on file. They receive a budget of free tokens per week that they can use should they choose to do so. You can ask your fellow inmates or figure out the details yourself. You got time. And now kneel and I'll unlock you."

I knelt down on the mattress and let him remove the cuffs, the shackles, and the belly chain.

"I'll check back later with the nurse."

Examination

I didn't have to wait long. After I had relieved myself on the toilet -- in plain sight of everyone -- I heard a robotic female voice from a loudspeaker.

"Visitor for seventeen."

Four red circles started flashing -- two inside the glass of my cell door at the height of my head and two on the floor. The top and bottom circles were one meter apart from each other. It wasn't hard to guess what they meant.

I walked towards the door and placed my hands and feet on their designated circles. As soon as I stood there, arms and legs spread in my presentation pose, the flashing turned into a solid red. A green circle appeared to my left.

"Good afternoon," said a middle-aged woman in a white lab coat, carrying a medical bag. Earl followed two steps behind with his own set of equipment.

"Good-"

I had barely opened my mouth when searing pain shot through my body. It wasn't too bad, just a level one shock, but enough that I left my pose. The red circles started to flash again.

"Back into position," warned Earl. "Or it'll get worse."

I quickly re-assumed my position.

"What did I tell you? You keep your mouth shut until you're released. Understood?"

I almost said yes, but then I nodded. That's what you get for trying to be polite, I thought.

"Good," said Earl. "I'm glad you're a quick learner."

He tapped the green circle on the cell door, which turned yellow, and the red circles disappeared. I was released.

"A proper warning would have been nice," I complained.

"I did warn you and I set it to level one for practice. Starting now it's back on the default, level three. You've had neural discipline before? You're familiar with the five standard levels?"

I nodded. Level one was just a warning, two was really bad, and from three on up I usually pissed myself.

"Good. So in the future make sure to maintain your pose. Legs spread, mouth shut. And now we will do an inspection, we do these once in a while. Get on your knees on the mattress, butt towards me, hands behind your back."

I did exactly as I was told.

The cell door opened and I felt handcuffs close around my wrists, pulled up, and hooked to the chain, uncomfortably high on my back. My legs were secured using a telescope bar that left my private parts exposed.

"There's no need for this," I said and blew him a mock kiss. "I'm happy to spread my legs for you, big guy. All you gotta do is ask."

"Because you are so great at following instructions," said Earl.

It was a fair point.

"I'm Chatham," said the nurse, donning latex gloves. "Do you have any medical conditions? Or anything else I should be aware of that you haven't mentioned during intake?"

"No. The R9 implant maybe? It's for birth control, to regulate hair growth and stuff like that. Probably showed up on the scan."

"That's on the approved list, everyone here got one. As for health checks, the collar monitors your vital signs, if there's anything off, we will know and act accordingly. All that's left is checking you for contraband. Open your mouth."

She pulled a dental gag from her bag and pushed it into my mouth. After it was cranked up and locked, she checked me with a small flashlight and removed the gag.

"Excellent teeth. By the way, you look a lot younger than the thirty-four years I have on file. Did you have any work done?"

"I had rejuvenation a year ago. My bio age got bumped down to twenty-three."

"Ah, that would explain it. Must have cost a pretty penny. Now, head down and butt up."

That wasn't easy to do without the use of my hands, so Earl helped me get into position. I felt a cool liquid and fingers entering my pussy for a very thorough examination.

"You're quite loose there. Are you in the business?"

"Not full-time. It's been more like a hobby these last few years."

She chuckled. "You're the first prostitute I've seen who could afford rejuvenation. You got the looks, but I wouldn't have pegged you as that expensive. No offense."

"None taken. I got rejuvenated for other services."

I had never been a high-priced whore. Cocktail dresses and fancy restaurants weren't my thing, but put a few dozen horny cargo haulers in front of me and I'll feel right at home.

"Nothing there, Earl. Now for the final check."

She pushed a lubed finger into my asshole. There wasn't a lot of resistance, so she added more fingers until her whole hand had disappeared.

"Gods! Look at that, Earl."

Without much effort, she moved her hand in and out of my ass. Truth be told, with some warmup I could have taken Earl's massive paw without too much discomfort. I was definitely due for another tightening.

"Did they forget your bottom at rejuvenation?"

"What do you want me to say? I usually work the lower decks, I get a lot of traffic."

"That gape, with no preparation at all! Girl, that is not normal."

"What? I really like it in the ass."

"I can tell. But since you're here and don't have anything else to do, clench your sphincter muscles as often as you can, a thousand times a day. You should get some muscle tone back."

"Alright, alright. Is there a chance you're gonna eat me out or are we done here? I'm starting to feel like a sock puppet."

She pulled her hand out. "Okay, all good. Earl, you can take the cuffs off."

They left the cell and pushed the door shut. I was just about to head to the toilet to squeeze the excess lube out of my bottom holes, when I saw Chatham tap the yellow circle on the door.

I cursed. The red circles were flashing again and I rushed to assume my position.

"I'm going to make my rounds. While you're standing there with nothing else to do, squeeze those sphincter muscles. You need it."

Then she left me there in my spread-open pose, fuming. What a bitch.

When the red circles went out after what felt like half an hour, I knew that Nurse Chatham had left the courtyard. I collapsed on my mattress and fell asleep a few minutes later.

I hadn't squeezed any muscles.

Neighbors

When I came to, it was already morning and a ration bar was lying on the floor. I took a cautious bite and it didn't taste like anything, which was actually an improvement over the military field rations I remembered from way back.

After washing up, I decided it was time to introduce myself. So far, everyone had left me in peace -- which was good, nobody likes nosy neighbors -- especially when all the walls are made of glass. The only ones who were constantly staring were the visitors on the outside -- no wonder that this place was called the zoo.

My neighbor on the left was a woman in her forties. She had her hands cuffed behind her back, the cuffs attached to the collar chain, high enough so that her fingertips couldn't touch her buttocks.

"Hey, I'm Cassidy," I said, but she didn't acknowledge me.

"What happened there, why the cuffs?"

"Mind your own business. I don't talk to filth like you."

Now that went well.

"Filth, huh. At least I can wipe my own ass."

My right-hand neighbor from cell sixteen laughed out loud. "That's Zephyra. Her husband left her for a working girl a couple years ago. While she was already locked up here."

"I see. And now she doesn't want whores in the neighborhood. Sorry, sister! I'll move out as soon as I find a better place."

She grunted and turned away.

"I'm Owen, by the way. Pleased to meet you."

"Hello, Owen. I'm Cassidy."

He was in his late thirties, tall, with brown hair that was already receding and a boyish smile that made me like him instantly.

"So, Cassidy, how are you adjusting to life in the zoo?"

I shrugged. "It's as good a place as any to do my time."

"Not your first rodeo, I take it?"

"First one on this planet," I said. "You?"

"First time. Three years down, nine to go. How long will you be joining us?"

"Just passing through. Four years."

"Shit, I'm jealous."

I pointed at my cranky neighbor and whispered, "Why the cuffs? Is she the ... shitty artist that Earl talked about?"

Owen chuckled. "No, that was the sophisticated lady in number eight. A realtor or lawyer, as far as I know. Acted all high and mighty when she joined us, everyone had to turn around when she was taking a dump."

"Don't worry, I'm not sophisticated."

"Me neither, I'm a simple farm boy."

"Oh? I had a brief brush with farming," I said and pointed at my slave tattoo. "Did a two-year stint digging up Segaya roots."

"Gods, that sucks. We don't grow it here, it's back-breaking work, you can't really automate it. Only works with cheap labor."

"Penal slavery, it doesn't get any cheaper. The only one who's getting paid is the asshole with the whip."

He grimaced. "I heard about it, conditions must be horrible."

"You're little more than an animal. After a few weeks you're so numb to everything that you piss and shit where you stand. So no, you don't have to turn around for me."

"Then this place is basically a spa for you."

"It could be worse, I guess. I've got food, water, and a clean place to sleep. But you still haven't told me why she's wearing the cuffs? What did she do, piss off the guards? Anything I need to be careful about?"

"No, no, it's medical, the number one skin condition here. She rubbed herself raw wanking, and now she's on a timeout for a few days to let it heal. It's kind of like those dog cones when you think about it."

I laughed.

"Speaking of lady bits, nice jewelry you got there."

"Thanks," I said and ran my fingers over my labia rings. "Courtesy of my boss, he's really into that stuff. Especially the permanent kind. For every year of my contract I get a new ring."

I stood still to let him count.

"Twelve years?"

"Nine. Only the labia ones count the years. Clit and nipples have nothing to do with it. Those are for stimulation."

He scratched his head. "And that feels nice? Sorry to ask, I'm a farm boy and piercings aren't very common around here."

I laughed. "Hell no. There's a bit of electronics inside, when you pull on them, it triggers a shock."

He looked at me with a blank face.

"They're for attaching a leash," I said and turned the clit ring to make it point up. "I got them because I didn't follow orders and screwed up a mission. The ones in the nipples are harmless, but it's a bad idea to tug on the clit leash when I have a full bladder. He paraded me around for a couple of weeks until he grew tired of it."

It was amusing to watch how he tried and failed to avoid a very typical male reaction.

"Now you're imagining me on a leash?" I asked with my sweetest smile. "Leading me around and showing me off to your friends? Making me get down on my knees ..."

"Dammit, girl. You sure know how to get a guy hot and bothered."

"Just making conversation," I said, innocently. "By the way, that's a nice dick you got there, a real shame I can't sit on it."

He kept standing there to let me admire it.

"Are you always such a tease? You get off on giving us blue balls?"

"No, I'm not like that, quite the contrary. I'm happy to help a neighbor out. Do what you gotta do."

"You're sure you don't mind?" he asked, his hand around his dick. "Even here it's considered rude jacking off to a girl. But since you gave permission ..."

"I'm not sophisticated, remember. And I could use some relief myself, so let's get there together, okay? You just have to choose how you want me. Against the glass? On the floor? Bent over?"

After three years in this place without a real fuck I figured he deserved a treat.

"The glass, please. Oh god, you're so fucking hot."

I pressed my boobs flat against the wall that separated our cells and spread my legs wide. While he was beating his dick, I frantically fucked myself with two fingers.

It didn't take long for either of us.

"I really needed a good squirt," I said, licking the juice from my fingers. "Let's do that again sometime. You know where to find me."

He sat back down, breathing heavily. "Wanna marry me, Cassidy?"

"Would it have to be an exclusive thing? I'm not ready to settle down just yet."

"Of course not. You could keep your own place."

I laughed. "Ask me again tomorrow."

Family Affairs

Especially on a Saturday, the park was full of visitors, many of them sitting outside the cells on the grass. There were lots of hiked up skirts and pulled down tops as girlfriends and wives came to see their guys in prison. More guards than on weekdays were patrolling the park to make sure things didn't get out of control.

"Visitor for seventeen," announced the robotic voice.

Who could that be, I thought, and rushed to take my position at the cell door.

It was a man, early thirties, with a red coin in his hand. I had seen his picture in the operation's file, it was Tristan, the son of my target person and one of my registered victims. He looked around the courtyard and seemed uneasy -- which made two of us. I had no qualms with snatching his criminal father, but things that affected innocent people were always weighing on my conscience.

I wasn't hard to find, he walked in front of my cell and immediately tapped the green circle to release me.

"Hello," he said, staring into the distance through my cell windows without making eye contact. "Do you know who I am?"

"I do."

"Are you willing to talk to me?"

"Yes."

Half a minute passed without either of us saying a word.

"Could you ... could you please cover yourself. I want to have a conversation and this," he waved his hand, "is making me uncomfortable."

"That's a bit difficult," I said.

After pondering for a moment, I sat down on the floor and pulled my legs to my chin.

"I think this is as good as it gets," I said.

He sat down in front of me. "Thank you."

Another long pause.

"You're not going to use that token?" I asked, because he had been staring at it these last few minutes.

"That's why you agreed to talk to me, because I have this stupid thing?"

"No," I said, "but anyone who says it doesn't scare them is lying. If you're going to use it, use it now. I'll talk to you afterwards, I promise."

"It seems barbaric to me. There's people who actually do this?"

"Yes."

"Honestly, I don't even know how it works. I read that I had to tap the green circle so that you're allowed to speak and that's it."

"You hold it against the glass. It's easy."

"They did that to you? Is it bad?"

"Not here, but I've experienced it before. It's neural discipline, it feels like being burned alive. If you want to see someone screaming on the floor, pissing all over themselves, now's your chance."

"Gods."

"I'll live," I said and smiled at him. "I think the idea is that it'll make you feel better."

"I doubt it would. That's revenge rather than justice."

He put the token in his back pocket. "You're not what I expected."

"What did you expect?"

"I don't know," he said and bit his lower lip. "A hardened criminal."

"Looks can be deceiving. Maybe if you saw me in my work outfit. Blaster on the hip, blade in my boot ..."

"So when you're out of here, you will get back to it?"

"I'm part of an organization, I have commitments. Like your father, by the way. And don't think that I'm a victim somehow, my decisions are my own."

He stared into the void again.

"Look, I have no illusions about my father. He's been a crook all his life and he probably caused this whole ... situation. We haven't talked in years, but I'm still his son and I don't want him dead. Do you know where he is? Is he alive?"

I took a deep breath. "No idea. My job was to retrieve some of what he owed including the shuttle that I crashed with. There was another team that was supposed to get him and take him off-planet. I assume that part of the plan worked."

It was the truth, just not the full story. I had been the one in charge of the operation and most of it went down without a hitch. If Martinez hadn't been called away at the last minute, I never would have had to pilot that shuttle.

"So they didn't kill him? What are they going to do to him then?"

"That's anyone's guess, I don't know. He made a deal with the devil, that's for sure. And he didn't respect the deal he made. Honestly, I wouldn't expect him to survive, but stranger things have happened."

He nodded and closed his eyes for a moment.

"What about my mother? She's got nothing to do with his business, all she ever did was spend the money. And now she'll have to sell the company and the house and it won't even be enough for the other creditors."

"Your mother was never a target."

"She didn't take it well, she wanted to come here. But there were ... people at her house last week. They warned her to leave you alone. Is she safe?"

Finally some good news, I thought. My guys must have found out that I was alive and now they were setting up protection so I could do my time in peace.

"Don't worry about it," I said. "If those people were from my organization -- and I'm not saying they were -- then they know that I wouldn't appreciate violence on my behalf. So how is she doing?"

"Her entire life collapsed overnight, she didn't take it well. Three weeks ago she was wealthy and now she's destitute."

"You know that it was all built on dirty money."

He scratched his head and cleared his throat. "That's what I assumed."

"What about you, will you be okay?" I asked. "You had a job, right? I forgot what it was."

"I'm a teacher. I've got my own family, I'll be fine."

He stared into the distance again, then he got up from the floor.

"Thank you for talking to me," he said. "I gotta go, best of luck to you."

With that he turned around and left the courtyard. I got up and watched him walk through the park until he disappeared in the distance.

"So you were the one who crashed that shuttle?" asked Owen while I was squatting over the toilet, still lost in thought. There were groups of people outside on the grass watching, but I ignored them -- it wasn't my fault that the walls were transparent and some things were just too urgent to put off.

"Yes, that was me," I said and soaped up my hands to wipe my butt. "First time I ever crashed anything. But what am I supposed to do if two fuel injectors fail at the same time? I dropped six thousand meters before I got one of them back online."

"Both injectors? Failing at once? Shit, how likely is that?"

"It gets more likely if you don't do proper maintenance," I said and turned around, spreading my butt cheeks. "Clean?"

"On the left."

I scrubbed the left side with some more soap and let him take another look.

"All clean," he said. "I hope that didn't get you in trouble, losing that transport. Must have been a lot of cargo from what I heard."

"The big guy couldn't care less about that old bucket, the whole op was about making a statement. He's probably not happy that I got caught though."

"You're talking about Big George, right? The bogeyman? Don't tell me you know him personally."

It was amazing how fast information spread in a prison.

I sat down on my mattress. "I'm a small fish, but our paths have crossed from time to time. One of his ex-wives is a good friend of mine."

"Wow," he said. "And there's nothing he can do for you?"

"Not really. This isn't some Outer Rim planet where you could spring someone from prison, so I'll have to sit tight and serve my time. Which is fine, I'm still being paid. The only thing that really sucks is this token bullshit."

"I wouldn't worry too much about it. Victims usually lose interest after a while, and it's very rare that someone from the general public spends money on you."

"No sadistic bastards who get off on it?"

"There are some, sure, but these tokens are way too expensive for playing around."

Visitors

It was a Sunday afternoon and I was taking a little nap when Owen knocked on our shared wall.

"Cassie, I think you've got visitors."

"Sorry to wake you," said Loreena. She was standing at the outer wall with two other girls. They seemed a little shy and stared at the floor, probably on account of all the naked people in glass cages.

I sat up and pulled my knees to my chin. "Don't worry, there's plenty of time to sleep."

"How are you holding up, Cassidy? Are you settling in okay?"

"I'm fine, it's not a bad place as far as prisons go. Still getting used to that stupid chain. I swear, when I stand up it feels like there's ten kilos pulling on my neck."

"It's for security. Nobody ever-"

"... escaped from here, I know. It's heavier than what I'm used to, but I get why it's done, all good."

She smiled. "Then I'm glad. This place can be a bit ... much for some."

"So, I can see you brought friends."

"Yes. Cassidy, meet Lisa and Vicky, they are my best friends from school."

Lisa was a cute, curvy blonde in a white and blue summer dress, while Vicky wore shorts and a T-shirt. She was taller, had short black hair and a white cap on her head.

"Are you really a pirate?" asked Vicky after a few seconds of silence.

"That's what they pinched me for at least. Most of the time I work as a pilot, but I've been a soldier, cook, whore, mercenary, and a few other things."

The girls stood there and seemed impressed. This planet was not exactly the center of the universe -- seeing a jailed pirate was probably the most interesting thing you could do on a Sunday afternoon.

"So what brings you here, girls?"

"We thought Loreena was shitting us, we wanted to see for ourselves," said Vicky. "Nothing exciting ever happens around here, so we thought she made it up."

"No, it's true, I said."Convicted for piracy, four years in prison. I guess that makes me a pirate, at least on paper."

"And she put you here? All by herself?"

I laughed. "Yes, she took me here from court. All by herself. Chained me up pretty good for the transfer, it was very professional. Tight enough so that I couldn't get out, but not so tight that it hurt. I definitely recommend the service."

Loreena blushed while the two others giggled.

"I was super nervous," she said. "It was my first time with the high security cuffs since training."

"High security cuffs?" asked Lisa. She looked a little flushed.

"Yeah," said Loreena. "That's not like the cuffs they used on Vicky at the mall. It's a chain with special handcuffs attached. The chain goes around your waist and it's locked in the back so you can't reach it. There's leg irons of course and another chain that runs from the leg irons to the belly chain."

"Whoa." Lisa seemed especially interested. "And you're completely helpless? You can only take tiny steps?"

I was amused. While Vicky was looking around, checking out the guys, cute little Lisa was into this. Big time.

"Completely helpless," I confirmed. "You can take small steps, but you won't get anywhere fast. It's more shuffling than walking. Steal a ship and you'll get to try it."

"We also have gags and masks if someone misbehaves," said Loreena. "but I never had to use them on anyone. My sergeant handles those cases."

"Ohhh, she's creaming her panties," said Vicky and grinned. "Can you smell it, Lori?"

Lisa buried her beet red face in her hands. "Gods, this is so embarrassing. My ex and I used to play with rope, but it's not the same. The chains and the cuffs ... Gods ... I'm sorry, Cassidy, I know for you it's not a game."

"Hey, it's nothing to feel embarrassed about," I said while Loreena gave her a reassuring hug. "Never apologize for the things that turn you on."

"And that collar," Lisa asked, too curious to stop now, "that's special, too?"

"No," Loreena said. "There's different sizes but it's the same model for all inmates. It's a punishment and control collar. They had us wear them for a full day in training to see what it's like. Trust me, they are super heavy."

"What does it do?"

"It's connected to your nervous system somehow. It can do a lot of things, like give you shocks. We only tried level one shocks and it was bad. I almost peed my pants."

"You don't want to end up wearing that one," I said. "So be good, girls."

"But," whispered Loreena, "it can also make you cum. Like, super hard. But we were not allowed."

Interesting, I thought. Too bad nobody had made me cum yet.

"Can we see those badass piercings of yours?" blurted Lisa out while Loreena looked a bit uncomfortable. "The ones on the pussy?"

At that moment I felt a bit like an animal in the zoo, but having some company was nice, the days were pretty long sitting in your cell without anything to do. The girls seemed friendly enough and at their age I would have been curious, too.

I scooted forward to the glass and spread my legs to let them take a look.

"That's so awesome," said Lisa. Her nose was almost touching the glass. "They look heavy, too."

"That's just through the outer lips?" asked Vicky.

I folded my outer labia over to show them. The rings were roughly a centimeter in diameter, with a rather large gauge. As far as piercings went, they were on the heavy side. More so than the ones through my clit and nipples.

"And the clit," asked Lisa, "the piercing goes through the clit itself or just the hood?"

I spread myself open with my fingers to let her take a closer look. "That's through the clit. But I don't recommend it, if it's not done professionally, it could go numb or cause other issues. Understood?"

The girls nodded eagerly. This whole thing was getting a sleepover vibe.

"Do you have other jewelry, or do you always wear the rings?" asked Lisa, still glued to the glass, thirty centimeters from my open pussy.

"It's always the rings, they are permanent," I said, rotating one of the labia rings. "Look, welded shut. Very precise work, you can't even see the seam."

"Badass," said Vicky and Lisa in unison.

Loreena seemed a little bit uncomfortable. "Hey, could you please stop staring like that? It's not polite. Sorry, Cassidy."

The girls sat back down on the grass and I closed my legs. "It's fine. You came all the way from the city, ask your questions."

"You said you were a prostitute," whispered Vicky. "Do you do ... anal?"

"Sure. That's part of the job."

"And you do, like, all sizes?"

"All sizes if the price is right," I confirmed, wondering where this was going.

"My boyfriend keeps asking me ..."

I shrugged. "So what? You really shouldn't judge a guy's fantasies. Buy a good-sized strap-on and some lube and let him have it."

The girls laughed.

"If only," said Vicky, grinning. "But maybe I'll make him a deal. I do him and he does me."

"Ewww," said Lisa. "What if it gets dirty? And I heard it hurts a lot."

Vicky shrugged. "If it gets dirty, that's his problem. I worry that he'll split me open."

"He's big alright," said Loreena. "You got that thing on video, show her."

Vicky tapped something on her comlink bracelet, then she took it off and held the screen to the glass. It was a close-up of her face, flushed and with ruined makeup, eagerly working on a massive dick. It almost didn't fit her mouth -- any bigger and she would have had to dislocate her jaw. I hadn't had anything of that size in a while, and it was suddenly getting quite hot in my cell.

"That's my boyfriend," said Vicky. "What do you say?"

"That's one hell of a dick. Sucks that you're showing me that while I'm in here."

I opened my legs for a moment to let her see the white juice that I was leaking. I caught it with a finger and licked it off.

"Sorry! I mean, I always wanted to try it, but it'll never fit right? None of his previous girlfriends could."

"Look," I said, "in my experience any dick will fit any ass, it's just a matter of practice. Get yourself some butt plugs or dildos, start small and work your way up. Always use plenty of lube and don't lose patience. In a few months time you'll be able to take a fist or a soda can and there won't be a dick in the universe to worry about."

The girls looked at me wide-eyed.

"Really," said Vicky.

"Really. Do it right and it won't hurt. If it hurts, you stop immediately. And you'll see, most of the time it'll come out clean. Just don't obsess over it and, pro tip, when it's been in your ass, always look before you suck it."

Fight

I had just woken up from my usual afternoon nap and I was standing at the outer wall, looking at the park. It wasn't too crowded, there were people walking along the pathways or standing outside cells, visiting friends or family. A few girls from community service were cleaning windows a bit further up the hill without making too much of an effort.

To my right was a young couple sitting on a bench five meters from my cell. She was reading something on her comlink while he was taking in the scenery, which included the cells of our building and especially its female occupants. From time to time he looked in my direction and adjusted something in his pants.

Guys, I thought. I yawned and took a bite out of my ration bar.

I was about to turn around when the girl looked up from her screen. She jumped up and pointed her finger in my direction.

"Hey, you!" she shouted.

I looked left and right, not sure what that was about. "Me?"

As fast as her ridiculously tight dress allowed, she rushed to the outer wall and slapped her flat hand against the glass. "Stop messing with my boyfriend, you slut!"

"Relax, I'm not interested in your boyfriend. It's not my fault that he checks out every pair of boobs on the compound."

"Fucking slut! How about you stop shoving your fake tits in people's faces?"

I felt my temperature rising. "At least mine don't sag," I said and cupped them with both hands.

"Let it go, Cassie," said Owen and got up from his mattress. "These things never end well."

"Let it go?!" I was feeling my face turn red. "It's not like I made a move! He was checking me out, for fuck's sake. And you know what, I can't blame him if he wants to trade up!"

She slapped the glass again and rushed towards the entry of our building.

"And my tits are fucking real," I shouted after her.

I didn't know what she did or said, but she actually got Earl off his lazy ass. He opened the security gate and followed her as she was stomping towards my cell.

"You're lucky the door is closed," she screamed, "or I swear I'd break your fucking face."

"You think you can take me? Open the door, Earl! I'll show that bitch!"

"The hell I will," said Earl and took a deep breath. "Days like these I think I should have stayed in construction."

"That slut here," she pointed at me, "was harassing me and my boyfriend."

"What?!" I slapped against the cell door. "I did absolutely nothing!"

Earl touched his radio. "Hey, I need you to have a look at the last five minutes, cell seventeen."

The argument went back and forth with neither of us calming down. I genuinely felt sorry for her boyfriend, and it probably didn't help that I told her -- plus some other observations. It wasn't my finest hour.

After a few minutes Earl delivered the verdict. "There was nothing. She's got a big mouth, but what do you expect, she's a criminal. And now listen, Miss. If you don't want your boyfriend to check out titties, maybe you should take your walks in a different park."

"I pay my fucking taxes, so do your job and keep your animals in line."

"I make sure they don't escape. That's my job. And look," he pointed at me, "still here, in her cell, chained to the darn floor. Not going anywhere."

"Unbelievable! You're letting that slut get away with it?"

"If you think she deserves to be punished, the vending machine is over there. You have a nice day, Miss."

With that he marched off to his guard station and slammed the door behind him.

I grinned and wiggled my boobs at her in triumph, but that was quickly replaced by a very bad feeling in my gut when she rushed over to the security gate, pulling the wallet out of her purse.

"Told you," said Owen. "Bad idea getting into it with the crazies."

When she returned, she had a yellow coin in her hand. Level two. I felt a pang of fear in my stomach, but rage kept me going. It was too late to back down anyway -- there were no refunds as far as I knew.

"And that's supposed to scare me? Bring it, bitch!"

She pressed the coin against the glass and within moments, liquid hellfire washed over my body. The pain almost knocked me off my feet, but I managed to keep standing, supporting myself by leaning against the wall. It went on for what felt like an eternity and when I was just about to scream, it suddenly stopped.

Still shaky on my feet I saw that stupid smirk. Gods, how I wanted to wipe it off her face.

"That's all you got, bitch?" I shouted.

We were standing nose to nose, only separated by dura glass.

"Oh, that was just a little taste. I can do this all day, slut!"

"Yeah, right. If you had money you wouldn't be wearing that ridiculous Messani knockoff! But I'll wait until you've sucked a few dicks to make some cash."

"You're calling me a whore?"

"You're sure dressed like one!"

Suddenly, I heard a groan from the neighboring cell. Owen was standing bent over, holding his stomach, grimacing. "Damn. Must be something I ate. My stomach is killing me, I think I'm gonna take a dump. Big one."

My opponent was staring in disgust and disbelief as Owen dragged himself to his toilet in the corner. She dropped the spent coin and stormed out of the courtyard.

I looked over to Owen, whose stomach issues seemed to have resolved themselves instantly. "I'm a real class act, I know," he said, sitting down on his mattress and looking out at the park. "But in here that was pretty much the only move I had."

I took a deep breath. "That bitch would have probably maxed out her credit on me. I've never been good at de-escalation."

"Me neither. And that's why I'll enjoy the view from here for nine more years."

I pressed my breasts against our common wall, the way he liked it. "Here's a view for you to enjoy, my friend. I owe you one."

No-tell Hotel

It was a Thursday night, a couple hours before sunset. The park was quiet and almost empty, which was typical for this time of the week.

"Visitor for seventeen," announced the system.

Who could that be, I thought, jumping up to take my presentation pose. I stood there, spread open and exposed when I saw them. I was relieved -- it was Vicky and Lisa heading my way.

"Hey Cassie," said Vicky while Lisa smiled and waved. "Why are you standing like that? And what's with those circles?"

I shrugged and nodded my head into the direction of the green circle. It was a funny situation -- they didn't know what to do and I couldn't tell them.

Owen was nice enough to help us out. "She's not allowed to move or speak, you have to release her. Tap the green circle."

Lisa tapped the glass. The green circle turned yellow and the red ones disappeared. I sat down on the mattress.

"Hey! What are you guys doing here inside the yard? And where's Loreena?"

They beamed with excitement.

"We have news," said Lisa. "Lori will be here any minute. She's buying tokens."

Tokens? Normally, these girls were flat out broke. I definitely didn't need more tokens in my life.

"What's with those circles," asked Vicky and tapped the yellow circle before I could open my mouth.

The red circles started flashing again and I jumped up, taking my position. The girls looked surprised and when I gave Vicky an annoyed look, she tapped the green circle immediately.

"Hey! That's not a toy, the system gives me neural shocks if I don't take that stupid pose."

"Oops," said Vicky, grimacing. "Sorry, Cassidy."

We made a bit of small talk until Loreena arrived. When she saw the yellow circle on the glass, she got excited like a six-year old. "Ohhh, exposition mode! I heard about it, but I never got to use it. May I? Please, please, please?"

"Don't you dare," said Lisa, with a look that rivaled old Ms. Ingersoll's, the first-grade teacher that was still haunting my nightmares. "That is not a toy."

I could see how excited Loreena was and didn't want to be a spoilsport, after all they had come from the city to see me. With a sigh I got up from my mattress once again.

"One time," I said. "And that's it. I've had enough gymnastics for one day."

Loreena gave the yellow circle a tap and the whole show started again.

"That is so, so cool! It's been designed so that even victims can visit without being cussed out or anything. The system detects your hands and feet and-"

"You can tell us that after you release her," said Lisa strictly, as if she were talking to a sassy first-grader.

"Sorry," said Loreena sheepishly and pressed the button.

"So what brings you here, girls?" I asked. "Why pay if you can see me from the outside for free?"

"We got this for you," said Loreena and showed me a pink token. Pink tokens were a bit of a myth here at the prison and this was the first one I had seen. I hadn't even been sure they existed.

"Oh girls, that's sweet but you shouldn't have! Why don't you go to a nice restaurant or something."

"Lori earned some money on the side," said Vicky, innocently.

"At the Oakwood Arms," whispered Lisa.

I didn't understand. "The Oakwood Arms?"

"It's like a hotel," Vicky explained and looked around to make sure no one else was listening. "You rent a room for twenty credits a night and they take photos of you for the menu -- you know, the list of things you're up for. And if a guy likes you, you do the thing, and he pays you for the, err, service."

Loreena blushed. "I never took any risks in my life. I wanted to do something that is scary ... and exciting."

"Cassie, she fucked seven guys in one evening," whispered Lisa, almost breathless. "And two did her in the butt, seriously! That is so slutty! I fucked, like, two guys in my entire life. And no butt sex, ever!"

Vicky laughed. "Two? And what about that other guy you sucked off behind the gym?"

"Blowjobs don't count, Vicks," said Lisa, in her matter-of-fact voice. "That's no real sex."

I didn't know what to say. I obviously had a very bad influence on the local youth.

"That's ... a big step," I said. "Definitely a, err, useful skill to have. And you're absolutely sure that it's something you want to keep doing? Some can no longer enjoy sex in their private life when they're doing it professionally. It can take an emotional toll as well."

"A while ago the thought would have scared me. It's a big label, you know, being a prostitute. But it's not like I'm committing to anything, if I don't like it anymore I can stop. In any case it makes me more self-confident."

"What does the boyfriend think about it?" I asked.

"Oh, Todd is history. I kicked him out a few days ago. I can't have people in my life that hold me back."

"We're proud of you," said Lisa. "The guy was boring and a creep. Good riddance!"

"So how was the first day?" I asked.

"Oh, it was good! A couple guys were a bit sleazy and it was scary at first, but super, super exciting. If I do this once or twice a week maybe I can afford that cruise to Helios one day and a few other things. Minus the hotel fee I made fifty-six credits that evening, that's more than in a week at Justice."

"Fifty-six?" said Vicky. "Mind blown! That's a lot of tables to wait."

"And a lot of shoes to sell," said Lisa. "I don't think it's for me though."

Loreena smiled. "I'm not trying to recruit anyone. But Cassidy, what did you charge, if I may ask?"

"Oh, I'm cheap."

"But you're so pretty," said Lisa, unbelieving.

I laughed. "Thanks, but looks have nothing to do with it. I found that if I charge ten credits for my standard, I get picky clients that take me twenty minutes each, which includes soliciting the client, making some small talk, time for cleanup, getting dressed again, and so on. Best case, that's thirty credits an hour and usually it's much less."

"You're a lot more experienced," said Loreena. "Took me longer."

"On the other hand, let's say I offer ass fucks for a fiver, then I don't even need a sign outside. Word will spread and I get enough guys to do overtime. I undress once, spend five to ten minutes on each one, including cleanup. And no complaints, because it's super cheap."

"Up to sixty credits an hour," said Vicky, who calculated the fastest. "Wow."

"It depends on the location, of course, I usually work in busy places. And it's rough and sweaty, the way I like it."

"I'd charge five thousand for my precious little butt," said Lisa with a devious grin. "But you can tie me up and spank me any time."

"Anal took me some getting used to," said Loreena. "Sometimes I want to be treated like a princess and then there's times I need it rough. But now let's try that pink token that we got you, Cassie. Better sit down."

There are no words to describe the sensation that followed when she pressed that token against the glass. I loved sex in all its forms -- sucking a dick would get me wet, and with a little bit of effort, even a mediocre lover could get me to cum multiple times. But when it came to pleasure, that neural transmitter at the back of my collar, the same thing that had brought me excruciating pain just the other day, was in a league of its own. Chained to the floor I felt like I was floating among the stars, and just moments later, my whole universe exploded in ecstasy.

Community Service

"Hey," said Owen. "Isn't that one of your girls over there?"

I looked out of the window and at the neighboring building I could see two naked girls in leg irons and collars, washing windows. One of them waved when she saw me and sure enough, it was Vicky. Apparently she and her group of petty criminals were working this part of the park today. When I waved back she bent over and spread her ass cheeks to let me see the base of a butt plug. She grinned and went back to work.

"The community service folks must have run out of uniforms," I said. Normally, the convicts wore orange jumpsuits when they picked up trash or did maintenance tasks across the compound.

"They only strip and shackle them if they don't take the job seriously," said Owen. "Doesn't look like it worked on those two though."

Vicky was grinding her butt against the glass while the other one was sucking the handle of her window wiper, probably illustrating something to the guy behind the glass.

"At that speed it'll take all day," I said. "But at least they're having fun."

I could hear a shriek as both girls stopped in their tracks and Vicky almost dropped the plug that she had just pushed out and shown around. She quickly shoved it back in and both returned to washing the windows with newfound motivation.

"Don't worry," said Gary from two cells over. "They're not allowed to go higher than level one and the shackles they make them wear are padded. It's not exactly slave labor."

"You like the girls, huh?" I asked.

Gary laughed. "I guess it's obvious. Could I trouble you for some help? If you're not busy?"

"You know me, always happy to help with a hard-on." I pinched and rolled my nipples a little. "Any requests?"

Gary was about to take me up on my neighborly offer when Zephyra gave me dirty looks.

"Why do you keep doing that?" she asked and smacked her chain on the floor. "Even in here you can't stop with the whoring."

"What's it to you?" I asked. "I literally have nothing else to do, what does it matter if I help the guys get off? You flick your clit ten times a day, so stop judging other people. Maybe if you tried to be nice for a change, people might start to like you."

"Cassie, let's not do this," said Gary. "You know she's got history with ... ladies of the trade."

"Because her husband left her? If the marriage had been that great, I guess they'd still be together."

"Here we go," said Gary and sat down.

"Someone like you," Zephyra made a face as if she had accidentally swallowed a spider, "could probably never imagine the life I had. We were respected in the community, we had a beautiful house and a business. We took cruises to Helios, went skiing on Glacion, we had a cabin in the woods of Arcerios. Life was good, like someone of your ... profession will never achieve."

"And yet ..." I said, hoping she would get to the point.

"That bitch showed up and I ended up here. Took my husband and my life."

"Now that's rich," said Gary. "Nobody said you should try to kill her, that's why you're here. And didn't you yourself admit that you only married him because he was loaded?"

She threw her hands in the air. "That whore destroyed my marriage."

Gary took a deep breath. "As someone who's been living next to you for, what was it, eleven years, I know you're not easy. So he meets some poor girl on a business trip, she gives him the attention that he doesn't get at home, and he falls for her."

"Some poor girl? A cheap whore from Vinkara. Lower deck trash."

"Don't talk about her like that," said Gary. "She never used a token on you when they came to visit, and the Gods know you would have deserved it."

"Vinkara is a hellhole," I said. "Working there is as tough as it gets. You gotta be really desperate, most would rather walk out of an airlock."

"Oh please," said Zephyra. "How is that tough, lying on your back all day?"

"For starters, Vinkara is one of the main distribution hubs for slaves, so that's what they use in the brothels. If you wanna work there as a free woman, you basically have to sign your rights away, and that's how they treat you. I've worked in places like that a couple times, I'll never do it again."

"I heard they have really long hours," said Gary. "Fourteen to sixteen hours a day, and they can't refuse anything or they get a beating."

"They beat them?" asked Zephyra. "Even the ones who aren't slaves? Nonsense."

"Every single contract I signed had a discipline clause," I said. "Shifts are long and when you start to goof off, you get a few with the leather strap to help you focus, that's how these businesses are run. A few hard ones on the open snatch, after that you're swollen for a few days."

Zephyra instinctively closed her legs.

"But that's nothing," I continued, becoming more agitated. "Slave brothels are an entirely different story, they work you way beyond your breaking point. When you're exhausted, everything hurts, and even a shock prod to your snatch doesn't help anymore, they tie you to the breeding bench, gagged and with a hood over your head. No pleading and no crying will get you out of that. So consider yourself lucky that you never went through anything like it and show some fucking respect, okay?"

I had no illusions that this would change her mind. She was just turning away to ignore me when I heard a knock on the outer wall. It was Vicky, still naked and in shackles, eating an apple. It looked like her work detail was on its lunch break.

"Hey Cassie. What are you guys arguing about?"

I sighed. "The stereotypes some people have, but I think we're done. So, how's your day going?"

"Great," she said and sat down on the grass. "Feeling really productive today. I washed, like, a thousand windows, and I only got zapped five or six times."

"Do you think they have a different definition of productivity, maybe?"

She shrugged. "What they don't understand is that you can't rush art."

"Art, huh," I said, trying not to laugh out loud. "Whatever you wanna call it, you left quite an impression on the male population."

Vicky laughed. "Yes, that was super fun. But we didn't wanna torture them, we gave them permission to jerk off. It's cool that they have this code of honor."

"You forgot poor old Gary. He was very invested in your show."

"Oops! So sorry, Gary! Friends of Cassie's always have permission, okay?"

"Don't worry about it," said Gary, "and thank you!"

She turned back to me. "I'll do something special for him next time we work here, something really sexy. Maybe we'll cum together."

"So this," I waved my hand in her direction, "is your new work outfit?"

"Yeah. I collected so many demerits, I think my days in uniform are over."

"I guess it could be worse. Only six Saturdays more and you're done, if I remember correctly."

"Including this one. In any case, I think Lisa would be so jealous about this setup." She spread her legs as wide as the connecting chain permitted. "Look, the cuffs and the collar are padded, how cool is that?"

Robot Army

The first couple of weeks had actually been quite relaxing and a nice change of pace from the stress at work. On a typical day, I'd sleep in late, masturbate a little, and nibble on my ration bar before joining the workout routine led by the pretty con artist from cell seven. Then I'd wash up, maybe take another nap or talk to my neighbors, then masturbate some more or help out the guys doing the same.

With time, boredom was starting to creep in like it usually did in lockup. Sometimes though, interesting things happened that people talked about for days or even weeks. This being a prison, the bar for "interesting" was pretty low.

"The bots are here," announced the guy from cell eleven.

The arrival of the bots was always a highlight of the week. There was something soothing about how the small fleet of autonomous lawnmowers was going about its business. They reminded me of eager, oversized beetles, with a body that was just about fifty centimeters long and an antigrav unit instead of legs. It didn't look particularly well-coordinated, but they did get their job done and always left the lawn in decent condition -- even though they often mowed the same spot several times.

"Look," shouted Gary, more excited than I thought he should be, given the gravity of the news. "The red one's back. It's gonna happen today, folks, I swear."

There was a jingle of chains as everyone on our side of the building rushed towards the windows. And sure enough, there was one red bot among six gray ones.

"What's gonna happen today?" I asked, still not fully infected by the excitement around me.

"That red bot," said Gary, conviction in his voice, "is going to take a dive in the stream."

I wasn't buying it. "I've been here almost three weeks and there was never a lawnmower in the stream. And why would it, those things have sensors. Detecting water isn't hard."

"It's not that unlikely," said Owen. "I know farm equipment and weirder things can happen if you don't clean the sensors once in a while."

"Come on, if the sensors were dirty, there would be an alert and the thing would shut itself down."

"It's a lawnmower, not a spaceship, Cassie. And a few weeks before you came here they had to pull a mower out of the water. A red one."

"Could have been a different red one."

"Maybe, but I've never seen more than one red mower at the same time. Look, the others are all gray."

"Wanna make a bet if you're so sure?" asked Gary. "Let's do this the old fashioned way. If that bot doesn't take a dive today, I'll jerk off on my ration bar and eat it."

"So how's that a wager? Girls eat cum all the time, there's nothing to it."

"I don't," said Zephyra. "It's disgusting."

"And your husband ran away with a hooker," said Gary. "Anyway, we're straight guys, for us that's serious."

"Fine," I said. "I'll accept it. And what would I do?"

"Let us jerk off to you? That's the traditional wager for females."

"There's no point, I'm already doing that for free. Half an hour ago, if you remember."

He shrugged. "Then you come up with something. But make it quick, they're getting closer."

"Okay. If that bot falls into the water today, and I mean today, not tomorrow, not some time in the future, I'll shove that ration bar up my ass and eat it."

"And you won't be mad at us when it happens? Because that bot is taking a dive, I got a really good feeling about it."

"I will smile eating it, I won't be mad, and you can keep jerking off to me like before."

"Okay, then it's on!"

It took a bit longer than anticipated, but eventually the red bot headed towards the stream and started mowing the riverbank. Everyone, including me, was at the edge of their seats.

Suddenly, it made a left turn, directly at the water. And then it stopped.

"Told you," I said, very pleased with myself. "Let me know if you need help jerking off."

"No, no, no, wait for it," said Gary. "The day's not over yet."

He sounded less certain than just minutes ago. As if the horse he had bet on had broken its leg but there was still a chance because nobody had shot it yet.

A few minutes later, one of the community service landscapers came by. He pulled the bot back from the water's edge and cleaned the front side with a rag. A press of a button and the bot started up again.

When the guy turned around, that stupid piece of robotic trash made a full 360 degree turn and accelerated. Right into the stream.

I couldn't believe it. "What the actual fuck?!"

I heard jeers and laughter all around, while I just stood there and still couldn't believe it. Thousands of years of tech research and that was the result?

Gary was grinning. "I told you! I told you all!"

"Alright," I said and picked up my ration bar. "Let's do this."

"Leave it," said Gary. "Just acknowledge that I won and that's it."

"You won, and a bet's a bet, I'm not gonna weasel out of it."

I got on all fours, my butt turned towards Gary. Then I licked my right hand, spit on it for good measure, and pushed three fingers into my ass to warm myself up a little. The ration bar wasn't that big, but relatively dry.

The preparation made it easy, I pushed it in until just two centimeters were sticking out.

"How long do I have to leave it in for?" I asked. "Is there a five second rule or something?"

"As long as you like," said Gary. "I think it's fine."

I pushed the bar out and when I was just about to take a bite, I heard a knock on the door and turned around.

It was Earl with a pair of handcuffs.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh come on! How am I supposed to know that's not allowed?"

"Common sense?" asked Earl. "I warned you about doing disgusting stuff. Your ration's going in the toilet and that's that. The only choice you have is whether you want the cuffs or the shocks. So what's it gonna be?"

"Any chance we can resolve this with a blowjob?" I asked, but Earl didn't even answer.

On the job I had done a lot more than eating a slightly grimy ration bar, but if he was already grossed out by that, it wasn't in my best interest to mention it now.

"Fine," I sighed. "I'll take the cuffs."

"Put them on me," said Gary. "The whole thing was my idea, I talked her into it."

"Leave it, Gary. I'm an adult, I make my own decisions. But seriously, how am I supposed to know that's not allowed?"

"It's true," said Owen, "This wasn't mentioned."

Earl sighed. "So you're all lawyers now? Do I have to spell out every little thing?"

"I would appreciate it," I said with my sweetest smile. "Can I at least use the toilet and wash up before you cuff me?"

"Hurry up, my crosswords won't solve themselves."

I used the toilet, then I knelt down on the mattress, hands on my head.

For the next three days I ate my ration bars off the floor.

Homework

The rest of the week went by without any robot-related incidents or anything else noteworthy, and I was hoping the girls would pay me a visit on Sunday afternoon. I wasn't disappointed.

"Lisa moved in with me the other day," said Loreena as she was filling me in on the latest. "I don't need two bedrooms, and with Todd gone I'd have to pay the rent alone."

"I love it," said Lisa. "Got my own room, and it's cheaper than my old place. And the, err, benefits are great."

"Oh? You're a couple?" I asked. "Or do you mean friends with benefits?"

"No, no," said Loreena. "It's not like that, we're no lesbians. We did have a little playtime though, Lisa kept begging me."

Vicky grinned. "Lori asked her sergeant if she could take some stuff home to practice. I can't believe they fell for that."

"Come on, she didn't believe a word. But I was allowed to sign out some high sec chains and a head harness with a gag."

"Really?" I said. "You girls are shitting me."

"It's true," said Lisa, blushing a little. "And they talked me into recording it. Show it to her, Vicks."

Vicky pressed the screen of her comlink bracelet to the glass so I could see it, and the proof was irrefutable. It was Loreena in her uniform, minus the name tag. She had the top buttons open to show some cleavage, and she was supervising Lisa who was taking off her clothes.

"I had to film it from behind," said Vicky, "she didn't want her face on camera. I kept Lori's face out of the frame, too."

By now, Lisa was fully undressed and in a position very familiar to me -- kneeling on the floor, hands on her head, legs spread at shoulder width. Loreena wrapped the chain with the attached handcuffs twice around her waist, secured it in the back with a padlock, and cuffed her hands at the front, one by one. Then she threaded the connecting chain between Lisa's legs and cuffed the ankles as well.

"I'll fast forward," said Vicky. "The next ten minutes is just Lori figuring out that gag contraption and me laughing my ass off."

The scene continued with a frontal shot of Lisa. Her face was no longer recognizable with that black panel over her mouth and the web of leather straps running to the sides, over her head, and everywhere.

"I'm glad Lori spared me that thing when she transferred me," I said. "So how was the gag? Were you able to breathe okay?"

"Yes, breathing works fine. Talking not so much, with that rubber thingy pressing down my tongue. The good thing is that you can almost close your mouth, it's actually a lot more comfortable than it looks, you can wear it for hours, no problem."

The video continued with Loreena helping her up and Lisa shuffling around the apartment, always followed by Vicky and her camera and motivated by the occasional slap on the butt.

"Look, she's sopping wet and we haven't even done anything," said Vicky while Lisa was hiding her face behind her hands.

"Wait for the next part," said Loreena. "She almost came from the cavity search. I don't do searches at work, but she wanted the full experience and Vicks refused."

Lisa was on the floor again, face down, butt raised. It was the least realistic part, with Lisa grunting from pleasure when her bottom holes were probed and her breasts fondled, all recorded from various angles. Throughout the entire examination, the poor girl got chided a lot for being a criminal and a slut. Loreena informed her that as part of her sentence for aggravated sluttiness she would spend the rest of her life chained up in prison.

"We didn't have a script," said Vicky. "Lori had to improvise on the dialogue."

After she had been sufficiently poked and prodded, she was led into the shower to pee, which Vicky covered in a merciless close-up.

The rest of the home video had Lisa on a bed, a vibrator in her cuffed hands. The video changed perspective multiple times, covering everything from her sweaty face down to her quivering legs.

"The rest is half an hour of the same," said Vicky. "Did you guys continue after I left?"

"It went on for hours," said Loreena, "with some water breaks in between. In the end I fed her and locked her in the bathroom for the night. Chained but ungagged, of course. She slept like a baby."

"Gods," said Lisa and sighed. "I've never cum so hard before in my life. It's a shame you had to return that gear, I will forever keep watching that video."

"See?" said Vicky. "Told you so! I'll send you the final cut, I didn't have time to edit it yet."

"So you're a video artist?" I asked.

"In a way," said Loreena. "She lives in constant fear that one day she'll have the best sex of her life and doesn't have it on tape."

Vicky laughed. "It's true. I always wanted to study film, but there's not enough money in it. These days I mostly shoot home porn. I don't publish it anywhere, it's just for my own collection."

"By the way," said Loreena. "Vicks is turning into a regular butt slut. She started her training."

"Cassie has already seen me with the smallest one," said Vicky. "I bought a bunch of bigger ones, and it's the best feeling, they stretch me out so good! I've been wearing them all the time, it's kind of addicting. Wanna see?"

Without waiting for a response, she reached under her skirt and pulled something out. It was a black butt plug, medium size, with a red jewel at its base. Not bad for someone who had started just recently, I thought.

"The next larger one fits already, but it makes me waddle, so I'm not wearing it outside for now. But it looks like I'll have to buy bigger ones soon."

"Vicky is a butt slut," said Lisa and stuck out her tongue.

"Damn right I am," said Vicky and held the plug under Lisa's nose. "I dare you to lick it."

"Yuck! Lick it yourself."

"Coward."

"What do I get if I lick it?" asked Loreena.

That was the exact same question young Cassidy would have asked.

"One credit," said Vicky. "Two if you suck it, and three if you wear it home."

"Deal."

She licked the tip, then took the plug into her mouth and sucked it for a few seconds without looking too queasy.

Vicky and Lisa grimaced. "Eww!!"

"Tastes like ass," said Loreena and slowly pushed the plug into her own butt.

"Lori, it's you who's the real butt slut around here," said Vicky. "No lube, just with spit, seriously!"

Loreena shrugged. "You should have known that my butt is open for business. It's been getting quite the workout lately."

"How's your extracurricular activities going?" I asked. "You went back to that place? The hotel?"

"Yes. I worked eight nights in two weeks."

"You're really turning pro," I said. "Welcome to the sisterhood of whores."

Loreena chuckled. "Thanks, sister. I think I'll do three nights a week, I've got a day job after all."

"Did you figure out your prices?"

"I'm still experimenting, I guess it'll take a while. I learned that Wednesday is a slow night, so I ran an anal special for seven credits and boom, there was a line outside. Turned that into the most profitable night of all."

"Must have had quite the sore ass," said Vicky and gave Loreena a slap on her behind.

"Speaking of butts and cash," said Loreena, "where's my six credits, Vicks? Pay up!"

"Yeah," said Lisa. "Pay up, Vicks!"

Vicky rummaged through her purse. "I can give you, like, two credits and sixty cents. But then you'll have to lend me something for the train."

Loreena laughed. "You're unbelievable. I should have done it like at work, show me the money up front. No pay, no play."

"Sorry! Can I get my plug back, please? I feel kinda empty without it."

Cupcake

It was a neatly planned operation. I recognized the raider gunboats immediately, they were from George's special ops unit -- fast, heavily armed, and a pleasure to fly for any pilot. For a typical op you'd get one, at most two, but tonight they had three of them providing close air support while another one landed on the lawn just twenty meters away from my cell. Eight people in black tactical gear and face masks streamed out, carrying blaster assault rifles.

"Hello, Cassie. Sorry it took us a minute. You might wanna step back."

I recognized his voice immediately. It was Terras, my sometimes lover and good friend.

He placed a breaching charge while I quickly moved towards the inner wall, eyes averted and ears covered. The explosives detonated and the glass shattered without a single shard of glass reaching me.

"Surveillance is still down. Two minutes," announced Terras. He and a technician stepped into the cell where I was still chained to the floor.

"Don't move, boss," said the technician. "I'll have you out in forty seconds, tops."

"Didn't you say you were done running ops?" I asked Terras and pushed my hair to the front while the tech started cutting into the collar's lock with a plasma torch.

"I'm making an exception, I wouldn't miss this for the world. The big guy tried to negotiate, but they didn't take his calls. You know how he gets, now he brought the fleet."

"The fleet? You're shitting me. If anyone gets killed over this I'll be seriously pissed."

"Don't worry, it's gonna be a clean op. We've got two destroyers running interference on the other side of the system and their navy moved to intercept. The rest of the fleet will jump in shortly and cover our retreat."

The lock opened and I felt a lot lighter as the heavy collar and chain clattered to the ground. Now there was just one thing left to do. I placed my hand on the wall to the left.

"Owen, my friend, I gotta go. Hang in there and best of luck with whatever's next for you."

"Thank you, Cassie. It was short, but sweet. And now run, girl, and don't you ever come back. Safe travels."

"Bye, everyone! Tell my girls I'm sorry for leaving without saying goodbye."

Terras carried me over the glass shards of the busted wall, and we made it to the ship without meeting any resistance. Fortunately, none of the guards had tried to be a hero.

I strapped myself into the third cockpit seat and Martinez pulled the thrust lever forward, making the ship roar as it climbed at maximum speed.

"Gods," I said, "I hope you planned this through. I could have stayed there, four years in that place is nothing."

"Relax, we got a good plan," said Terras, completely calm like always. "Raptor One to Control, we got the package."

"Copy, Raptor One, well done. Proceed to jump coordinates. Battle Group Alpha has arrived and is deploying fighters."

I looked over to him. "The package, huh."

"Unwrapped, but in pretty good condition," he said and stroked a strand of hair out of my face. "Don't worry, we brought clothes for you."

"For the record," said Martinez, "I suggested `cupcake' as your code name, boss."

"Because I'm sweet or because I'm short?" I asked and wiggled my breasts. "Think about what you're gonna say next, my friend."

He coughed. "Excuse me, I should really focus on flying this thing."

The ship kept climbing and I watched how a number of green symbols appeared on the tactical display. It looked like George's cruiser, flanked by some destroyers and corvettes. The smaller dots were three fighter squadrons.

I had no doubt that they would be able to handle the handful Republican Navy ships, should any of them have suicidal tendencies. What worried me more was the large number of red dots on our flight path.

"Guys, I know I'm just the package, but you're aware that we're flying right into the defense grid? Just saying."

"You mean the Mark Four gun batteries?" asked Martinez. "Now that you mention it, aren't that the ones that can make confetti out of a corvette?"

"Yeah, those. Exactly those."

Terras shrugged. "I have a good feeling about this. We got our shields up, we'll be fine."

"Our shields?! That'll help precisely nothi- ... you're messing with me, right?"

"Yes."

I took a deep breath. No backseat driving, Cassidy. Let them do their job.

We passed the perimeter close enough to see one of the batteries from the window -- a massive gun, much larger than our ship, but nothing happened. They didn't even track us with their sensors.

"That's really the worst possible moment to take their guns offline for maintenance," said Martinez.

"Indeed," said Terras. "Someone should lose their job over this."

What a bunch of comedians, I thought and leaned back onto my seat.

"Raptor One to Control, we have passed the grid, jump drive is ready to go."

"Copy, Raptor One. Control to all task force elements, mission accomplished, proceed to rendezvous points."

"See," said Terras, "all good. Nobody got hurt and not a single shot fired. I believe last time I picked you up from prison you cooked me dinner."

"And afterwards we almost didn't make it to the bedroom," I said as the ship was entering hyperspace. "Gods, I lived like a nun in that place. How about we ask the guys to clear a bunk and I'll cook another time?"

Epilogue

Two months had passed since my escape from prison, and I had another couple of months of free time until my next assignment. It hadn't been a bad experience, but George insisted that I take some downtime, and I wasn't going to refuse.

Sure enough, George's boat on Helios was the perfect place to reunite with some friends. Spa treatments, relaxing on the quarterdeck, two suns in the sky and a spectacular view of the waterfalls -- life couldn't get much better.

"Someone should probably go and unlock Lisa," said Loreena. "If she wants to spend her nights chained up in a cell that's one thing, but missing this view would be unforgivable."

"I asked one of the guys to get her," I said. "She should be here any minute. Apparently she talked one of the security staff into giving her a spanking."

And indeed, there she was, wearing a dreamy smile, a skimpy bikini, and numerous red welts on her butt and back thighs.

"Bernard sure knows what to do with a belt," she sighed. "I think I'm in love."

"Girl, we're on a private yacht," said Vicky while spreading sunscreen on Loreena's newly enhanced breasts. "I'll say nothing about the welts, but do you really wanna come home from Helios with tan lines?"

"Alright, alright," said Lisa and took off her bikini. "By the way, that bio mod turned out great, Lori. Your new boobs are amazing."

"Yes. I'm super happy with them. Did I tell you that I've got a lifelong warranty against sagging? I won't even need a bra. Thank you so much, Cassie!"

"My pleasure," I said. "If anyone needs anything, the doc's still here. I already had myself tightened, I'm basically back to being a virgin in both places."

Loreena laughed. "I wonder how long that'll last."

"Well, I'm making up for lost time. But what about you, Vicks?"

"No way," she said, lying back in her deck chair. "I stretched my ass for months, I'm not going back to zero. But thank you so much for inviting us, being here is like a dream."

"I'm glad you came," I said and raised my glass. "To making friends in strange places."

How did you like my story? Please send me an email and let me know! If you are interested, you can find a lot more of my stories at farbeyondourstars.com.