The Real Thing, Part 3
- by Ronsa (as found in a newsgroup)
CHAPTER 3...
Paula hurried her lunch and went back to the workshop to relieve Tina so that she also could have a bite of food. By the time that Tina had joined, us John was excusing himself, eager to get back to work. I suppose that we are all on a high at the beginning of a new project and anxious to get on with our work. Nevertheless I was determined to enjoy my lunch. I had no further real part to play in the afternoon's work except to be present when the girls woke from their drugged sleep. It always fell to me to enlighten our guests as to their future, both immediate and long term. Maria was always at my side at these times, ready with a hypo full of sedative should it be required. It invariably was.
Maria and I waited for Tina to finish her break before we three joined the others. John was busy again at the workbench. Paula was rummaging through cupboards and drawers, gathering together various items into a wicker hamper at her feet. I joined Maria at Gita's side as she rechecked all her piercing and dental work of the morning. I hovered for a moment until she nodded to me that all was well and then I crossed to where we had secured Mahda. She was sleeping like a baby. I left Paula to watch over her.
I joined Tina who was helping John at the workbench. She was holding steady one of two six inch cubes of plaster which John was sawing into two halves. The second cube was similarly bisected and all four pieces laid on the bench with cut sides uppermost. These were John's female moulds of the casts he had made of Gita's mouth. He had some difficulty in extracting one piece of the original from within its section of mould but inversion, coupled with a gentle tap from a wooden mallet did the trick. John next used various blades and files to make adjustments to the mould sections including the drilling of various holes. He next re-erected the cubes by fitting the respective halves back together and binding with adhesive tape. I would have stayed to watch the work progress but Paula called to me and I noticed that Mahda was stirring.
Tina had finished her rummaging and was busy preparing a twin of Gita's chair to accept the waking Mahda. Quick as a flash they had released the cell door, and before Mahda could focus her eyes, the twins had carried her to the chair and strapped her in at the waist. They then stood at either side of the chair holding her now struggling form. I positioned myself in front watching the girls wide, wild eyes searching her alien surroundings for some familiar sight. I stayed silent watching her tackle the abject fear she must feel. She could not see much of the harness she wore but I knew she could feel the tight wide belt and the high collar. The chair was turned so that she could not see her sister no matter how she twisted her head in frenzy from side to side. She struggled to raise herself but she was no match for the strong hands that held her shoulders down. She kicked violently with her legs, the ankles joined as one. I was stood well clear so her struggles came to nought.
Mahda thrashed about for fully five minutes, her gaze flashing to and from the twins and myself. I watched her now sweat covered breasts heaving with the exertion of her useless battle. It was always my practice to wait for this fighting to subside before communicating with my subject. When she finally dropped back into the chair and calmed down, I began. "You are Mahda" I said softly, "You will of course have noted that we have gagged you for the moment". My words were immediately followed by more struggling but this time it subsided quickly as I continued. "You will have to learn quickly my dear that your struggling will avail you of nothing. The gag will not be removed until we can be sure that you are calm enough not to yell and scream at us." I paused and waited for what this time was only barely perceptible movement. "Good." I continued, though I was ready for my next words to be followed by a renewal of the fight. "Before I remove the gag and let you ask a few questions I have to tell you a few things. The only persons who know where you are, are in this room. You are many many miles from your home and your family, and the chances of you ever seeing then again are zero."
Now all of our previous guests on being hit with these cold facts have straightway renewed the struggle for their freedom with double their previous strength. Almost all needed to be sedated. This dark skinned beauty threw me completely. Her eyes closed tightly and the tears welled up but she made no struggle. She sank back into the chair and drew her legs up as though trying to assume a fetal position. I waited for a moment then shrugged my shoulders at Maria who was stood ready with loaded hypo behind the chair. After a few moments Mahda opened her now red eyes and looked straight at me. She seemed to be willing me to reassure her. Perhaps tell her it was all a joke. That I could not do. "OK Mahda we are going to remove your gag but be assured that any outburst will ensure its swift replacement." Tina unfastened the buckles holding the leather ball in place and drew it clear..
"Please, where is my sister? Is she all right? Is she at home?" I had guessed that her first thoughts would be for her younger sister's safety.
"Slowly now," I replied, "One question at a time. Gita is here, not too far away from you now. She is unconscious but otherwise unharmed. You may be able to see her later if you behave yourself." This served to bring back Mahda's tears, this time with her loud sobbing quite audible. Maria went over to check that Gita was indeed still unconscious. The sobbing receded as Mahda thought of more questions.
"But why have you done this to us? We have done you no harm, have we? Are you holding us to ransom? Is that it? Our family has very little." I stopped her in mid-sentence.
"I have already told you that you will never return to your family." I watched as the tears welled up again. I toyed with telling her that her sister had initially been our only prey but thought better of it. "You must put all thoughts of your previous life from your mind. From this day on you cease to have a life of your own. You will exist only to fulfil the wishes of another. You will be owned by your master who will take away your freedom and will control everything you say and do." I watched her jaw slowly drop at my words, yet still there seemed no fight in her.
"This cannot be!" she said at last. "You must kill me. I cannot live without my family. What have you done with Gita?" Her words rose to a shout as she shook her head from side to side. "You cannot do this to us, you cannot." I motioned the twins to replace the gag and for Maria to administer the sedative. Mahda could easily be handled by the twins, but it would be a long time before she was resigned to her fate. It would be better that she at least be artificially calmed for a while. It was always my intention to replace the gag after this session. It helps to keep our subjects peaceful if they believe that their co-operation will relieve them of the gagging.
"Listen carefully Mahda" I said, "The injection you have been given will not knock you out but I hope it will help calm you down. We have a great deal of work to do to get you ready for your new life. You cannot change these plans for your future. There is no going back and you will find your stay with us much easier to bear when you eventually accept that." I left her then, in the capable hands of Tina and Paula.
Gita was still dead to the world as I passed her chair, but I noticed that she had had an accident and urinated in her sleep. Maria was cleaning her up and replacing the seat panel in the chair with a sanitised spare. Before we bed these girls down for the night they would be fed, toiletted and washed. I joined John just as he was breaking open his two moulds once again. Within each now sat a smoothly shaped solid object made of clear plastic resin. John wiped away traces of plaster from these pieces and placed them one on top of the other, so that as one they formed roughly the shape (and size) of a pear. He still had much work to do and I was eager to watch. One of these resin forms was quite shallow and this was the piece that was moulded to lie on Gita's lower palette. The indentation in the shape of her tongue was clearly discernible. John pointed out that surface of that area now consisted of rows of shallow points. He taped the two sections together and then marked of four points on the lower piece. He drilled small holes right through this lower and into the upper section. I passed him four thin stainless steel pins from a tin open on the table as he again separated the two parts. After dressing the drilled cavities in the lower piece with a touch of epoxy adhesive he located the pins in the holes and pushed them home so that about three quarters of an inch of each remained to mate with the holes in the top section. One of these pins was set through the area on which Gita's tongue would lie. This pin and the serrated surface of the resin would suffice to keep her tongue held firmly within the appliance. John checked the fit of the two halves and then again separated them. His attentions now turned to the upper section alone. I helped him to secure this into a vice using pieces of wood to protect the resin finish from the metal jaws. He then marked the block and drilled a half inch diameter hole straight through it from its narrow end to the wider one. The diameter of the drilling was then increased at this wide end to a depth of about three quarters of an inch. I was watching so intently that I was startled when Maria tapped my shoulder.
She tapped her wristwatch. "Time for tea Dan?" she asked. I had lost track of time and was surprised to find that it was fast approaching 5 p.m. I turned to see how Tina and Paula were doing with Mahda. They were still busy.
"How about I bring us some coffee and we can have our meal later after we have put the girls to bed?" The question was aimed at Maria but all nodded an acceptance of the idea.
"OK, but I will get the coffee Dan." said Maria, "You know your coffee is always too weak." I nodded and conceded with a smile. I much preferred to stay and watch John work anyhow. Maria's coffee did taste better.
John was nearing the end of his construction. He held up a clear flexible tube just over a foot long, attached to one end of which was a hollow steel fitting. The tube was fed through the drilled hole from the wide end. It was a tight fit by design. It passed through much easier once I was able to help by pulling the end as it emerged at the other side of the resin block. When the steel end of the tube reached the block John coated the it with more of the epoxy and tapped it home into the resin with a mallet. From his box I handed him a small white ivory ring. He screwed it loosely into the steel tube ending and then located another stainless steel tube piece. The end of this was pushed within the first and was locked home with an audible click. A half twist freed it with a similar sound. John removed the ivory ring and looked up at me with a smile. "All ready Dan". Maria returned with the coffee as if on cue. Gita was still out cold and that was how we wanted her until the next bit was complete. I pulled a table up beside Gita's chair and placed on it the coffee and some biscuits Maria had thoughtfully brought. We all five then gathered round to enjoy a short break. Tina asked me when I expected Sheikh Ben Akran's courier to arrive. "It usually only takes him a few days to get the stuff ready and it is usually delivered within the first week. A lot can be done before he even gets the measurements. I know he starts his people working when I first give him notification of a new acquisition.
We all gathered round Gita with our drinks as John started work on her. He first removed the stud that Maria had inserted in the girl's tongue and after swabbing the tongue with antiseptic her laid the slimmer half of the device onto her lower pallet. He gently drew her tongue forward and without too much trouble located the piercing onto the steel pin and eased the tongue down until the pin had penetrated it fully. John had greater difficulty with the next task. He began by feeding the open end of the tubing down into Gita's throat but the unconscious girl gagged at his attempts and he was frightened of waking or even choking her. Maria took over and the tube quickly began to disappear from view. "You have to be quick John." Maria said. "Feed the tube down into the gullet quickly before your patient misses even one breath." John made a mock bow with a deep smile on his face.
"Thanks Doc" he joked. Maria passed the resin block to John and pulled open Gita's jaw as wide as she could to allow the insertion of this last piece of the appliance. This too was not without its difficulty, but patience paid off when at a third attempt the object and the fingers of John's right hand slid into the open mouth. He deftly located the drillings in the upper piece with the four pins in the base. A little pressure below Gita's jaw with his left hand and the two pieces mated as one. John withdrew his fingers and completed closing the jaw until the upper and lower teeth met. Protruding through the gap that Maria had cut away in Gita's teeth was just a few millimetres of the steel fixture set into the resin. John now placed some adhesive on the ivory ring and screwed it onto the steel fitting just finger tight.
Maria inserted a bit into the dental drill, started it up and passed it to John. With Maria now holding Gita's jaw firmly closed, John placed the drill into the holes bored previously through the four teeth, and drilled beyond them into the resin. From his tin he produced four small ivory shafts. He coated these in the epoxy and pushed them home, thereby fixing upper and lower teeth to the top structure of resin. This would keep Gita's jaw firmly closed, which in turn kept the two halves of the thing mated and completely filling her mouth. When the adhesive set, which would be under and hour, those pins would need to be drilled out of their seating before any attempt could be made to free Gita from her enforced silence. With her lips naturally closed there was no hint of the restriction hidden within. John parted her lips and even from a short distance the only thing out of place was the dark half inch diameter gap in the girl's teeth. The remaining piece of steelwork was now inserted through this gap and into its female counterpart. Again the audible click marked its joining to the whole device. A pull failed to unseat this tube extension but the half twist did the trick again.
This tubing was of course the route by which Gita would receive all future sustenance. It should cause her no real dietary problems but it would of course deprive her of the means of tasting her food. That might or might not be a disadvantage considering her new home. Anyway I was pleased to see this first task in Gita's reassignment completed. We had a long way yet to go before she would be physically ready for her transfer to Mr Lau's care.
Author: Ronsa
Date: 1998/06/11