Willing Slave, Unwilling Master Ch. 11

"Are you okay?" I ask softly.

She jumps and nods quickly. "Yes, Sir, It's just..."

"Just what?" I say, raising an eyebrow, my curiosity getting the better of me. Most Lower Vil are obedient to the point of being robotic. But this girl - I feel a shiver run up my spine - this girl acts almost like Rose.

"Rose says you like it when she's disobedient," she blurts, looking at me with big green eyes. I look over my shoulder, wondering what the guards make of their boss's slave's sudden forthrightness.

"Well," I say, a little lost for words. "I mean, I think I and Rose have different opinions on what constitutes disobedience, but no, I don't mind when she expresses herself or behaves as an individual."

She nods, "My Master, he doesn't think those things are disobedient either."

"Well, I suppose he had to have some redeeming qualities," I allow.

"Master has lots of redeeming qualities!" she snaps, before throwing her hands over her mouth and shaking her head.

I laugh softly, "I hope Rose is as complimentary about me."

"She is, Sir," Lucy replies, "She says you are kind and wonderful."

I laugh again, watching as Mr X's slave places her hand on a panel beside a pair of lift doors, which slide open with a swish of compressed air.

"What did Rose do to earn her collar?" Lucy asks quietly, as the five of us pile into the lift.

"Hmm," I say, eyeing her bare neck. "Well, nothing really. It was more a case that I wanted her to know she was wanted," I say, "I didn't want her thinking I didn't care about her, and, well, a collar seemed the best way to show her I do."

Lucy nods, running her fingertips over her bare neck.

I shake my head, watching her as the lift rises. It's gut-wrenching to see a symbol of slavery treated with such reverence, even amongst slaves like Rose and Lucy who are far closer to, but still far away from liberation.

The lift stops and the doors open with another hiss. I am surprised, yet happy to see the sun drenched corridor in front of us. It reminds me much more of a hospital than a prison.

"Rose will be very pleased to see you, Sir." Lucy says, once again leading the way.

"Not half as pleased as I will be to see her," I reply, nodding at the white suited medical staff who stop and stare open mouthed at us as we pass. "I take it the patients here don't normally have visitors?"

Lucy shakes her head. "This is where Lower Vil come when they have been abused by their Masters or Mistresses." She frowns slightly, "Some humans are very cruel, Sir."

I stare at her, startled. The level of abuse that is perfectly acceptable to put a Lower Vil through paints a soul-destroying picture of just how horrific the torture must be to be deemed Illegal. Stories about crimes against slaves are rare, but when they are reported, the focus is nearly always on the perpetrator.

"What happens to the Lower Vil after they come here?" I ask softly, looking at the rows of doors and trying to work out just how many patients there must be.

"The department helps them find new owners; kind ones," Lucy replies, fidgeting with her dress again. "Sometimes, when they come here they are too afraid of humans to go back," she pauses, "so they go and live with the Vil."

The implications of what was just said are obliterated as we reach an open door, and laying on the hospital bed, a drip trailing into her arm is...

"Rose!" I shout, feeling something burst in my chest as I see her alive and well, as perfect as the day I met her.

"Master!" she makes to get out of bed, her eyes wide with obvious delight.

Lucy pushes past me, snapping at Rose to stay in bed.

Scolding myself for not stopping her first, I hurry over and sit on the edge of the bed pulling Rose into my arms. She trembles, laying kiss upon kiss on my cheek and neck.

"Hey there, beautiful," I whisper to her, between kisses, "I missed you."

"I missed you too, Master," she says softly, her voice shaking. "Did the enforcers hurt you, Master?"

I shake my head, "No, sweetie, they just don't have the best manners in the universe."

"I need to go and fetch my Master," Lucy says, watching us with what is undoubtedly jealously. "Please excuse me, Sir, Rose," I spare her a wave as she leaves the room, Rose taking up the entirety of my focus.

"Are you okay?" I ask, holding my slave girl at arm's length and looking her over; she has been dressed in a simple hospital gown, yet she looks healthy, at least physically. "Have they been treating you well?"

She nods slowly, "Yes, Master." She bites her lips. "Master, do you like how I look?"

"Of course I do, sweetie," I say, raising an eyebrow.

"So, you would be happy if..." she pauses, "if I stayed looking like this forever?"

"Ah," I say, realization hitting me. "Mr X told you about, well, everything?"

"Yes, Master," she nods, watching me closely, presumably for a sign of disappointment.

"How do you feel about it?" I ask, for a human finding out that you are essentially a guinea pig for a type of genetic manipulation with the sole purpose of making more valuable slaves of your people would stir up feelings of betrayal, confusion, anger. But Rose isn't human.

"Lucy's Master says I will need to take a pill every day or I will become sick again, but as long as I do that, I will be able to perform my duties without a problem, Master."

I sigh and kicking off my shoes climb into the bed, my back against the headboard, opening my arms to Rose who happily snuggles up against me. "No, sweetie," I say softly, pulling the covers over her legs and making sure her drip doesn't get tangled. "How do you feel about this?"

"I don't know, Master," she whispers, looking away. "I just want to go home with you. I want things to go back to normal, Master."

"I know, sweetie," I say, frowning. Clearly Mr X hasn't told her the real purpose for her being here. Was he waiting for me to arrive before telling her? Why? So he could claim the idea was mine? Or because he thinks she might be more receptive now that I'm present?

We fall into a comfortable silence, broken only by Rose's gentle purring as I stroke her hair. Unfortunately, our quiet moment of reunion is only temporary, interrupted by Mr X walking into the room.

"Ah, Mr Fallow, I see you've made yourself at home," he says, straightening his pinstriped suit.

Lucy follows close behind her Master with a silver tray laden with drinks, which she places on the bedside table before moving obediently to her Master's side.

"You've told Rose about what's been done to her?" I ask, watching him cross the room and grab a chair.

"She knows some of it, but not everything," Mr X says, taking a seat beside the bed, "Would you like a drink, Mr Fallow? We have much to discuss."

I request drinks for me and Rose, watching with interest the skill and dexterity Lucy puts into preparing our beverages. My admiration of her skills is brought to a sudden disturbing halt as I notice a crosshatch of pale scars on her hands whenever she grips something. Letting my eyes wander, I spot more faded wounds on her arms. What the hell happened to her? For all his faults, I don't think Mr X would hurt his slave. Part of what she was saying earlier hits me; this is where Lower Vil come when they have been abused. Was she a patient here?

"I hear you made some new friends this morning, Mr Fallow," Mr X says, taking his drink from Lucy before allowing her space to sit on his lap and snuggle against his chest.

"I didn't tell them anything," I say quickly, feeling the need to hold Rose a little tighter, as if she might be snatched away at any moment.

"Ah Mr Fallow, do you truly believe you would be here, had you divulged anything?" he chuckles, shaking his head. "Although we do believe their threats are quite credible."

"How do you know about their threats?" I ask, raising any eyebrow.

"We installed a subdermal microphone just under your right ear on your last visit."

"The hell?" I say, feeling my right ear, where I can feel a tiny bump under the skin, smaller than a pimple. "You motherfucker," I snarl, glaring at him.

Rose looks up at me with a confused frown, before looking over at Mr X with what is unmistakably a glower. I smile at her approvingly. "See, even Rose thinks it was a dick move."

"A necessary evil," Mr X shrugs, "Regardless, these threats have accelerated our plans."

"Right. Well, I said I would let Rose make her own choice and I will," I say, stroking my slave girl's hair. "But if she says no, we leave, tonight and damn the consequences."

"Master?" Rose says, looking between me and Mr X.

"Always so dramatic, Mr Fallow, but very well," Mr X says, before I can speak. "Rose, do you know what the term genetic means?"

Rose turns her attention from me to our former kidnapper, frowning as she considers the question. I stroke her back in what I hope is a reassuring way while she shakes her head. "No, Sir."

"Well, in layman's terms it means a trait, or series of traits that have been passed down to you from your parents," he pauses to take a sip of tea, before continuing. "There are some exceptions to this, but for now the important part for you to understand is that the anti-aging modifications that have been made to you, also affect your sisters."

Rose nods slowly, apparently having worked that out for herself. She sits up straight, pulling her knees to her chest. "Are you going to arrest my sisters' Masters?" she asks, "Will I be able to see my Sisters again?" She's using what I have come to consider her polite slave voice, but there is no mistaking the undercurrent of excitement there.

"Rose, your sisters never left the compound," Mr X says calmly, "If you hadn't we wouldn't even know any of you existed."

"But my sisters are good girls," Rose protests, "Why haven't they been sold?"

It's not a bad question, surely the point of making someone like Rose is to sell her, the girls are hardly making a profit locked away underground.

"I have no doubt of their obedience," Mr X says, "But the compound has found what they believe to be a legal loophole around the genetic engineering laws regarding the Lower Vil. They want, obviously, for this loophole to stay open, and the only way they can do that is to prove that their method of giving a human gene mods and having him breed with a Lower Vil is safe," he gestures to the drip, "and no one, Vil or human is going to believe that, when the slave needs to be constantly medicated."

"If that's the case, why are the girls still alive?" I ask, moving to sit cross-legged beside Rose, who leans against me.

"Breeding," Mr X replies darkly, "I doubt they were expecting to wait this long, but as soon as the girls' reproductive organs catch up with their bodies, they will be impregnated with more gene-modified human sperm." He shakes his head. "This will presumably continue, every seven months, until either they have the perfect product or the girls are dead."

"And there's really nothing this stupid department can do?" I snap back angrily, feeling Rose hide her face against my arm. "I mean, it's not like you don't have enough enforcers at your disposal," I gesture to the three armed guards standing around the door.

"I told you already," Mr X replies, just as angrily. "Our interference could escalate into war. You are asking me to put the lives of three lower Vil before every human on this planet. This is your problem, Mr Fallow; you're an idealist, and in this universe that's a death warrant."

"Master," Rose whispers as Mr X finishes his tirade. I look down at her, and am surprised to see her crying. "I don't want that to happen to my sisters. Can't we buy them? I could get a job, like Zack and..." she trails off looking hopeless.

"I know, sweetie," I say softly, wiping away her tears. Something has happened to Rose since she came here; a kind of determination that I always suspected she had bottle up inside her, but now, somehow, has been uncorked.

"There is one way," Mr X says, and I tense, knowing what he is about to say. "We want you to go back to the compound, Rose. We want you to alert the inspection team that will be arriving in," he looks at his watch, "seven days."

--- --- ---

Rose

I look up at my Master, hoping what Lucy's owner said was a joke. Humans like to make jokes, and I don't always understand them; that must be what's happening here. It has to be.

But Master isn't laughing, he's not even smiling. Panic grips my chest; I can't be going back there! I have my collar and my wonderful Master. He won't let me be sent back to the sunless cell, so far away from the world that even time doesn't exist. Would he?

This is too much, much too much. I shake my head. "Go back to the compound, Master?" I ask, my voice shaking, still desperately holding out for his infectious laughter.

He nods forlornly, "I don't like it either, but, it might be the only way to help your sisters."

My sisters! I had hoped that they had found kind Masters like mine; it never occurred to me that they were still at the compound, still locked underground. But how can I help them? Even when I lived with them I was never the one to help the other girls, that was always Leilani's role. She's the strong one, the brave one, I'm just... Rose; I can't even claim to be a good girl, not any more.

I don't know what I am. I'm not who I was, but I'm not who Master wants me to be either. I know for sure I'm not a hero like in my owner's movies.

Seeming to sense the turmoil bouncing around inside my head, Master places a hand on my arm, before turning to Lucy and her Master. "Could we get some privacy while Rose decides?"

Lucy's owner nods, and she climbs out of his lap, giving me a sympathetic nod. Despite the fact we started off by having an argument, something that's never happened with any other Lower Vil I've met, we have a lot in common. I watch her and her Master leave before falling against my owner's chest, just wanting him to take control, to tell me what to do.

"I can't even begin to understand how hard this must be for you," Master says gently, stroking my hair.

"I'll do as my Master decides," I say, keeping my eyes down, telling myself to be a good girl, nothing bad can happen to me if I'm a good girl.

How can he expect me to make a choice like this? To choose between my Master and my sisters; how will I ever be able to live with myself if I make the wrong choice?

"I can't make this choice for you, Rose." Master says, cupping my cheek, "All I can do is help you decide for yourself."

"What if this choice is too big?" I whisper, pausing before continuing with a lump in my throat. "Lower Vil can't be free to choose for ourselves, we lose our minds."

Since the day Master introduced me to the idea of freedom, I've been subconsciously preparing myself for my mind to shatter, to crumble into a million pieces leaving me an empty shell. Back when I and my sisters lived with the other Lower Vil, the wardens showed us a video of a girl who, according to them, had tried to live independently of an owner. I remember being shocked at the disturbing images of her, naked, sat with her knees against her chest in the shadows of a cell, rocking back and forth, her eyes wide yet unseeing.

I've made each decision, no matter how seemingly minor a choice it was to my Master, knowing that I was slowly crawling my way towards a dark cell and lifeless eyes. Yet even so, so far the choices I've made have had no real consequences, not really, not like this. If I decide to return to my wonderful life with my Master and my friends, I will be forever haunted by the fact that I had a chance to save my sisters, but didn't.

I still remember the strange alien feelings I felt when I thought I was pregnant, the overpowering compulsion to protect the burgeoning life inside me. How would that affect someone like Leilani, a natural caregiver, forced to hand over her children. We are bred and trained to obey, without question, yet Master is right, if nothing else, this should be our choice. Shocked that a thought like that could even occur to me I miss what Master is saying.

"Huh?" I say dazedly, blinking up at him.

"I said, who told you that Lower Vil go insane if they have to make their own choices," he asks, gently pushing me away and taking my hand so we end up sitting cross-legged, facing each other.

"The wardens, Master," I reply, "and Doctor Walker."

"I don't think that's true," my owner says, watching me intently, "they lied to you Rose."

"Why would they lie?" I ask, trying to realign my mental image of the wardens to match with Master's accusations. For my entire life I've thought of the wardens as guardians, readying us for the wonderful moment we would be sold to owners, who would then assume their strict care.

"To control you, so that you would be too afraid to act as anything other than a slave," he smiles softly. "But look how far you've come in only a few weeks, you're not losing your mind, Rose; you're growing into a strong, beautiful, independent person."

I shake my head, "Being who you want me to be is so hard, Master." I admit, not wanting to believe his words.

"Life is hard, sweetie, to live is to struggle," he cups my cheek, "But you keep fighting, and I'm so proud of you."

I feel wetness on my cheeks as I shift forward, kissing his lips.

He brushes my hair behind my ear as he returns the kiss with slow sensual care, seeming to want to stretch out this moment forever. I don't blame him. At last he breaks the kiss, resting his forehead against mine.

"I love you Rose," he whispers.

I nod rubbing my wet cheek against his, knowing I should reply, knowing I should tell him I love him too. But I just can't make my voice work. Is this what it feels like to lose your mind? It's wonderful, like floating on warm fragrant air, knowing there is a soft safety net beneath you, ready to catch you and keep you safe if you should fall.

We sit together in silence for a long time, before the door opens and Lucy's Master walks back into the room, his face set.

"We need a decision," he says with finality. His whole persona feels colder and harsher without Lucy around. I don't think I would have spoken to this man the way I did when his slave was present.

"For stars' sake!" Master snaps, "She needs more time."

"We don't have more time, Mr Fallow; things have to be se-"

"Yes," I say, interrupting him.

"Pardon me?" Mr X says, looking at me with a confused frown.

"Rose?" Master says, looking down at me.

"I want to help my sisters," I say, looking into my owners blue eyes and hoping he understands why I have to do this, especially when I'm not sure I fully understand myself. I just know it's the right choice.

"I will go back to the compound," I whisper.

Master nods, smiling sadly. "You're going to save your sisters," he says, "Then you're going to come straight back to me, okay?"

I nod quickly, "Yes Master!" I say, his confidence in me banishing some of my doubts, before continuing softly. "I love you too, Master."

He smiles, his face a complex web of emotions.

"This is excellent," Lucy's master says from the door, "You begin training in the morning."

Training? What kind of training?

"Until then, Rose, the doctors want you to spend another night here. Your owner is more than welcome to stay. We have provided a suitable excuse for his absence."

"If there is nothing further?" he says, backing out of the room.

"There is something," Master says with a glower, "Who do I see about getting this fucking microphone out of my neck?"