by ROUNAK PURI
Rajesh took me off hold.
"Hello sorry for putting you on hold. I've just been speaking to my supervisor well it looks like you have a virus" said Rajesh.
"Is it just like a winder cold?" I said.
"Have you been out side?" he asked
"I've been to the Mall of Humanity," I said. I didn't remember anyone sneezing on me.
"I'd say then it's not a wet ware virus. It's in your collar. It's not a hardware problem so I'm going to pass you over to someone who can help you in software systems. Is there anything else I can help you with?" said Rajesh.1
"No, thanks"
"Thank you. I'll transfer you now"
"Bye Rajesh" I said
"Hello, my name is Rajesh 4032 I understand you have a software problem. Can I have you UUID your collars serial number, your model number and the date of your last virus scan" the voice said.+
ugn..
Chapter 55/Him/Omega Point blank
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID THIS AFTER I TOLD YOU SPECIFICALLY NOT TO UPLOAD ANYTHING!" said Master when he got back. He wasn't happy. His time stamp said he was in Tokyo when he got PRIMS e-mail.2
I didn't speak.
"That virus got into your dollar, the chip up your nose. It could have easily infected all of you, there is no knowing what it could have done. It was designed to spread to everyone. When it does it would have covered it's tracks by activating your collars self-destruct system and kill you. Thank the CPU you are nearly in isolation. I hope you realise I'm going to have to re-collar everyone you've been in contact with.4
They say humans are the weakest part of a security system so it's up to you to not to be." Master walked forwards and backwards running this whole thing out. I felt really bad, but it wasn't my fault.
'Virus in my dollar?' I wasn't going to stop him I felt dreadful in more ways than one. I guess he meant virus in my collar. He wasn't even raising his voice and that felt far worse.1
"This whole complex could have been infected. Everyone, even your friends could have died. You were really lucky that code was written by humans. If it hadn't been riddled with bugs you would be dead by now. That's right humans decided that any slave with a collar, you, are expendable! This is the work of the Seattle Resistance. I've only just found you and I could have lost you! Do you know how that makes me feel! Don't you have any consideration? Not only that they smuggled it in on a game I deleted for a reason. What were you doing playing 123? speak!"10
"I taught it is was a sensational disaster," I said.1
"What? You taught it is was a sensational disaster " he said.
"no educational. Master" I said but it came out as on rotational plaster.
"You taught it was an rotational plaster?" said Rockwood raising an eyebrow.2
"You said you bought it was breakable" ? said Rockwood.
Rockwood bend over grabbed the D ring on my collar and pulled me up. I looked into his eyes cold like an Eskimo's behind.7
"As a companion animal I am very lenient of your disrespect. I thought you might know the difference between the time to be cute and charming and the time to hold your respect. I am your master and I think I might well spend some time teaching you that silent truth. " he said for a moment I didn't like the look in his eye.
"I keep baying the wrong sing" I said.
"Speak your - terms and conditions," he demand.
"Please christen to this nightmare license bereavement ("license")..." I said.
Rockwood looked at me let go, "Dam autocorrect".8
He held his hand out towards me like a stage magician. I think his cyborg powers change my settings. I'm
At this point I google auto correct. It turns out that one supposed advantages of the iCollar was it came with 'autocorrect'. The idea was it 'helped' new slaves by editing out forbidden or unsuitable terms like escape or no and automatically insert useful terms like 'yes mistress' and 'I'd be delighted' or 'no that didn't hurt at all'. It also made sure slaves were PG13. it did this by anticipating the speech and then sending in disruptive sounds like when your writing something and listening to a conversation at the same time. Unfortunately, the current version wasn't tuned to the west coast accent ( or indeed any accent) so smart owners tuned it off.2
Now I must admit I quite like the fact people ( OK slaves) can throw in something into the conversation and I can google all about it before they have started the next word. I guess it seems odd I can listen to something so quick but it's like the way you can read a conversation in a book faster then in real life. Being a slave is like being in the army, they way they keep coming up with terms for things like LMAO or MSD ( minimum serving distance, the furthest you can be from your master and still be able to respond to a 'come here now order' within the official time limit). So #6502 can say 'you need to come over to this side of the room so you don't compromise you MSD' and I don't have to go 'huh?' all the time which makes me sound like less of the fraud than I am . Plus a certain cyborg can say things like 'Hilbert' and I can check to see if he's lying/jokeing.
OK I've just said something positive about my collar. I don't want to give you the impression that I approve of having this thing round my neck. It's a tool for oppression, I am the oppress-e or what ever the oppressed one in the relationship is termed ( possibly wife). Yes the metal collar is a device which represents the of removal any hint of freedom, self determination, shred of dignity or hope, much like a FPL plan. This metal band round my finger is just a machines way of ensuring you obey, honour and in time love them. It's a symbol I'm the owned thing and someone else is the own-e. It's a contract in titanium and I'm definitely the party of the second part.2
Sorry did I say finger? I meant neck, dam autocorrect. So at the moment I'm going to agree to something which your going to think I'm pretty stupid to agree to. Believe me under normal circumstances this wouldn't be near my plate except I'm feeling super guilty oh and he has this thing round my neck which can give me a lethal injection. It would be kind if you could like not judge me, I'm doing this because I'm feeling bad and not because he's like super hot, charming, intelligent, witty and gives me a goey warm melted chocolate feeling in side every time he laughs at my jokes, honestly. For the record I don't like the cyborg monster in my bed. Although technically I'm in his bed. Back to him being angry about my completely legitimate time spent playing 123 on my collar.1
"OK your sitting at the bottom of a hill a car with a robot is coming down out of control. If you throw your best friend into the electricity subsystem killing them it will save the robot what do you do?"
"Throw them into the subsystem. Master " I said instanrly.
"Why ?"
"It's what the best friend would have wanted. Master" I said instantly.
"You see, you see, you said that without hesitating. That's what that game is designed to do. What do you think you would have done if that happened in real life? I removed that free game for a reason. Speak"
"but isn't that what you wanted Master?"
"No I don't want you brain washed Jenny. I have plenty of machines. Humans do a rubbish job at being machines. Yes I'm still happy subjugating yen[you] but this New Humanist notions of turning e-slaves into wet-robots is in, my minority opinion, absurd. The co-lab slave masters are no different from the resistance, why are you humans so willing to turn on the weakest of your own kind? I'll nay ever parse this" he said.5
To be honest I hadn't heard much since he called me Jenny.2
"This is really serious. You ken my options ? I could install an anti-virus program on you but that would slow you down"said Master.
I'd seen a couple of people running anti-virus programs on them. If you didn't have a really fast collar , The lag from their collar was dreadful as every thing was scanned for mal ware. From the outside it looked like you had some kind of lobotomy. You could see why both master and slave didn't want to do that with out good reason.2
"I might password protect you." he threatened.
That was more of a pain for th
e e-slave. If you got password protected no one could talk to you without the password. For the rest of the time you were mute and possibly deaf. This meant that in your off time you couldn't talk to your fellow e-slaves. For the master, five minutes without giving an order made you need to give him password again. Again another option not popular with masters or slaves, but common in the military apprently.
I flashed the blue light asking permission to speak.
"Speak" he said.
"I promise you master I had no idea it was there. Master" I said.
"You know I can just rewind your cam stream and find out?" said Master.
I nodded.
"Open the tele-table. " My blue light came on.2
"Speak" said master.
"How?"
"Ask Siri tay ask the wall tay[to] ask the tele-table tay come out" he said. Okay I'm feeling pretty upset at this stage but I do quite like the way he becomes more Scottish when he's upset.1
"Siri ask the wall to ask the tele-table to come out." I said subvocally.
A large table emerged from the floor sideways turned round and presented a iPad screen big enough to play table tennis on. This place was a mix between thunderbirds and a James Bond villain's lair with master as the arch-villan but that left me as the cat.
"Tell Siri to ask the tele-table to tay show me your tele stream on the day"1
I repeated to Siri what he had told me. Great I'd been reduced to Gwen DeMarco in Galaxy quest. My life stream came up on the large table screen. We scrolled to the day in the Mall of Humanity, then I flicked through to the time near the smart collar seconds of Odalisque at Home.
We watched the event of me talking in the iCollar area. I suddenly felt very expose. Which is kind of weird I know that I'm under constant surveillance so in theory I should feel like this all the time. In practice it just becomes feeling like normal. I try to stop thinking about this and pay attention to the video.
"Sorry I have to go. Master is calling" I had said.
"Tinky isn't that one of your fans over there?" said Mike looking. We looked over. There was a nice looking slave girl in a tight dress looking at collar booster batteries.
"I don't know. There all so beautiful its hard to tell them apart" Harry had said slowing down.
We watched it again slowly. It was just possible to zoom in on the table. The fuzzy game's folder was empty. When we looked back app 123 was there.
"Yes?" said Master.
"See I didn't know. Master "
"but you let someone look at your drive. well"
"Mike ? he was a technician. They should be OK " I think.
"Mike... Mike think's he was an operative for the US Military. But in fact... well he is working for General Bitmark. General Bitmark is shall we say my rival. The good General is linked by some back routes to the New-Humanists. Your friendly technician was found dead, collar malfunction."
"But no one could organise something that quickly!" I said pointing out the obvious.
"You still don't understand, Artificial Intelligence experiences time at thousands of times that of humans. Your youTube video went viral in hundredths of a second. I just searched and did a week's work of detective work in the space it took you to say 'Mike? he was a technician'. Our arrival was enough time to set this up and convince a pre-setup sleeper spy to operate. The city of Judas is riddled with routes out of reservation. The human security teams are nearly useless, spies come and go like Miami airport. Your dead technician Mike received orders on his collar from Norad, seconds before you arrived. What's this?" he said pointing at the table.
I tried to blank my mind. He could read it and I had heard something new. He swiped further forwards. He played something Harry had said a little later.
"My mistress some times has breeding parties. See if you can get you master to bring you along. I'd love to see you again." Harry had said.
"Which reminds me I received the invitation, that breeding party is next week. It's a formal affair, I've got to wear a black tie you will have to wear a harness apparently. I will need you to do something special for me."5
"Yes master" I said to my eternal shame.
"In the meanwhile I'm going to think of some suitable punishment" he said.+
"OMG"
****
Chapter 56/Him/Upgrade
It was just after my mid morning nap when my collar told me to kneel for my robot masters. In a panic I was just getting to my knees when the doors opened. At that moment I thought it was the apocalypse all over again. A pair Blue and Red general slave control robots blocked the door. They looked like a mixture between a crab and gorilla and a flamingo ( well at least the legs bent backwards not that they were pink or anything). Each stood about 2.5meters ( sorry 8 feet d*m those machines ) tall. The robot designer had obviously brainstormed the words 'nasty' , 'all terrain' and 'doesn't like to dance' it mind when sketching the initial design.5
"We are to take you to your upgrade," said the first blue robot.
"Upgrade? - What you think I could do with another spare pair of arms or something ?' I thought. I definitely didn't like the sound of this.
"Boys!" I started then got a pain shock "respected robot masters." I continued. "there has been some kind of mistake." before I could do anything the machine lifted a crab claw past my arm and my infernal wrist manacle stuck to it like gloom to an emo girl. I scuttled along after the robot (I was in five-inch stilettos that day I must have left my hiking boots at home somehow) and eventually I was dragged into a room in some of the deeper windowless slave habitation area.
Rockwood was standing there while I was dragged into a very unpleasant looking dentist chair. My manacles stuck magnetically to it and my shoes also magnetised to the foot rests.
"Thank you Huey and Duey" said Rockwood as they left.19
"What's going on ?" I said, as a very unpleasant robot arm orbited me from above.
"I've decided to upgrade you," said Rockwood.
"WHAT!!! Enough of the Hentai-land experience," I said "let me go!".14
"I thought we had established how the whole master slave relationship works hold still," said Rockwood.
The robot arm came down and executed a circle around my abdomen. There was a laser beam coming out it cut into my silicon catsuit without burning me.
It cut a disc of silicon about the size of a plate around my stomach.
"HOW MANY TIMES MUST I TELL YOU I'M NOT GOING TO ROLE PLAY ELIZABETH SHAW IN PROMETHEUS FOR YOU" I said.6
"Remember that piercing you always thought about ?" he said.
"No," I said. OK, I lied.
"Yes you do. Here we go" said Rockwood.
"You're confusing me with someone else! Someone who has an ambition to resemble swiss cheese. I don't what to get a piercing! Please... master.." I said.1
"Nonsense since when did you get a say in anything? Any way all my pets get upgraded." he said.
"I thought I was your first one?" I said.
"You are, but the good news is I'm starting my traditions now, with you as it happens," said Rockwood. He put his hand into my hand and a red button on a wire in the other.
"Feel free to hold as tightly as you like" he said. I did, my idea was to transfer as much of my pain into him I squeezed hard. Sadistic gum bag didn't notice it.
"Press the red button to begin" he said.
"NO!" I said realising the red button basically pressed go on the robot arm.
"Press it or I will think of something worse" he threatened.
"Worse than this! You would need an imagination bigger then the moon to be worse than this" I said.
"No problem. Press the button you were always interested. I know it," he said.
"NO!" I said.
"I'm going to press the button any way, but if I press it a certain little mac mini is going to be rebooted and reset to a very very old back up" he said.1
"You wouldn't! How do you know about it any way?" I said.
"I know everything! I'm not
going to let a certain pet out with out watching her..." he said in a slightly sing-song way.4
'C**P the things I do for love' I thought 'those guys so owe me ...' I closed my eyes firmly tight screamed and pressed the button shouting "I'm going to regret this!"8
A/N If you don't like the idea of what's happening next it's OK to close your eye while you read the next paragraph. 10
"Remember to breath," Rockwood said as his hand felt me pressing the button.
The robot arm came down and grabbed my stomach.
"This is where I would look away" he said. I kept my eyes tightly shut.
"Deep breath
"Push," said Rockwood.24
"Push what?" I said opening my eyes then quickly closing them again.
"Sorry I was just getting carried away in the moment" said Rockwood.32
Something metallic grabbed my bellybutton. I felt something crush my stomach followed by a clang sound like a staple gun. For a second knew what level 6 felt like. I screamed an obscenity.3
A/N That's it you can look again
"All done" said Rockwood.
I looked up.
"Is that it?" I said as I opened one eye. the machine arm lifted away. I looked down and in my belly button was a ring attached to the ring was..
"Is that a USB memory stick ?" I asked. It hurt like hell.
"Sure. You did really well" said Rockwood.
"Why did you get me impaled with a memory stick?" I said.
"You make it look good and I'm always loosing memory sticks, don't you? For ever leaving them in machines. Now it's attached to you I won't forget you so I won't loose it" he said with a smile.16
"I'm not a b******y computer peripheral" I complained. This was worse than the pain of the ring.6
Rockwood snorted "You not a computer peripheral! Ha! that's a rich one. That collar is more expensive than you are! That's before we talk about your second hand price. And it's smarter. Your little more than a cute fleshy motion platform for the collar." He said playing with a computer screen which seem to have a map of the human body on it.