What a Dystopian Life (Hamadryad & Rakki)

[Hamadryad]

Su looked about the dim room around her. It had fallen into disrepair, the metal walls were lined with rust and the tube-light above flickered annoyingly. Along the wall were men, women and children all sitting on dirty wooden benches, and their eyes were all upon her. Her heart thudded in her chest, heat filled her body. Not right here, surely.

"Come on, hurry it up or we'll throw you back into the wasteland," the commanding voice of the border guard boomed as he gave the girl before him a shove. He did mean it, she thought to herself. She whimpered softly as she grasped at the lower hem of her shirt, sliding it up and over her head. She heard whispers from the crowd and knew all their eyes would be basking in the sight of her naked torso. While she was only sixteen her body had developed well, though her breasts will still small and not much to look at, though that didn't stop the men on the benches from licking their lips and molesting her with their eyes. The guard seemed indifferent, as though this happened a hundred times a day, it probably did. The cold air swept along her skin, a trail of goosebumps being left in its wake. Her dark little nipples stiffened, too. Next dragged her skirt down along her thin legs, stepping out of it and handing that too to the guard, who began to fold it and hold it neatly in his arms. Then her panties, dirtied from weeks of use without washing. Her butt was small and cute, and her groin unshaven and untamed. With all dignity lost she bent over before the guard, the crowd on the bench feasting their eyes on her tight little pucker and her soft nether lips as she unlaced her shoes and kicked them off, then slid off her socks. She placed them atop the pile in the guard's arms.

"Finally," he uttered as he motioned to a doorway with his head, "through there. You'll get your clothes back at the end of the process". He disapeared into the sideroom, and Su proceeded along the floor in her walk of shame, clutching at her breasts with one arm and cupping her spare hand over her sex. As she walked through the doorway a sliding door slammed shut inside of the frame, she noticed the doorway at the other end of the odd orange stained room was also shut. With a sudden hissing sound, from all angles she was assailed by a cold highly pressurised orange liquid, which tickled at and coated her naked body. This must have been the famous bug killing liquid she heard the other immigrants talking about. After about thirty seconds of soaking, the jets ceased and the far door opened. Dripping wet, her hair soaked and clutching to her skin stickily she proceeded on.

The room beyond was white and oddly well maintained, with two new guards standing in it. She didn't see her clothes anywhere. "Alright," one of them said "Almost at the end, just gotta search you and you can go in". They slipped on latex gloves with a loud slapping noise and directed her to stand in the centre of the room. She dreaded what the search would imply.

 

[Rakki]

The two guards watched the young girl as the para-cide sprayed her down, the seniour officer, with the stars on the sleeves of his uniform licked his thick lips.

He was a rotund, pig of a man who could have moved on up in mega city security, but had chosen to remain on the immigration staff, for moments like this.

The junior officer, marked by stripes on his uniform, was a thin, lanky teen with harsh buck teeth and a greasy complexion. He was sitting at a desk, he had Su's clothing and was pouring through the scraps of cloth... weather he was looking for something or merely doing it for the perverse enjoyment, it was unclear.

Stars slipped on his gloves, revelling in the skinny bodied girl, it was these young runaways that made up for the aged, the ugly and the mutilated that flooded through this gate, hoping for a new life within the sprawl.

The fat one slithered towards her, the blue gloves on his hands the only clean part of his outfit, "At the end of this inspection, you will be issued with a mega city ident card, it is your responsibility to keep it on you at all times... Do you have any contraband on your person?" he asked, in the droll tone of someone who recited the same words countless times per day, "Including but not limited to, weapons, drugs, illegal genetic coding, or any food on the banned import list?" he asked, one blue gloved hand gripping her shoulder and moving her to the left where worn paint marked two footprints and hand prints on the floor. The footprints where quite far apart, but the hand prints where so close that someone would need to almost fold in half presenting their most private regions for examination.

"Hands and feet." Stars commanded flatly.

 

[Hamadryad]

Su shook her head to each question. She had nothing on her, truly, the last of her money had went to paying the immigration fee to the city. Yet she still complied as the horrid looking man guided her over to the faded prints. Spreading her legs and bending forward, she turned her rear skyward. Cold wind brushed against her privates, and her body ached from the position. Her heard thudded in her chest and her legs quivered nervously as she anticipated the man's touch.

 

[Rakki]

Star's hands cupped under her armpits, pinching for swollen glands that would indicate one of several plague like viruses that would exclude this girl from entrance into the mega city, then tracing the blue latex gloves up the slim sides of her waist, over the boney slim hips. He slid two fingers between her legs, pressing two fat fingers into her pussy.

"Oooh," he said, his voice dripping with the greasy smile he wore, "You're tight... Not a little wasteland whore then?" he asked, but his tone almost made the question rhetorical. He withdrew his fingers, but the assault didn't stop there, he soon had a meaty finger in her ass, searching her every hole for anything that she was carrying. There was a scanner booth in the side of the room that could have made the whole process non invasive, but judging by the wires hanging from it, it didn’t look like it was in working order.

Stripes made an "Ah ha!" sound, he was holding a single pill in one hand and her rag of a dress in the other. "This was sewn into her dress..." he said, accusatory.

Stripes stood with a self satisfied grunt. "Well well little lady..." He said with a smile that would have looked more at home on a roasted pig carcass than any human, "It looks like we've got reason to keep you from entering our fine city." he said, his hand cracking across her ass in a painful slap. He gave a chuckle, and waddled over to a worn chair, its imitation leather surface cracked with age and abuse, and flopped into it. "Unless you've got some way to convince us." he added, rubbing finger and thumb together in a signal for credits that dated all the way back to paper money....

 

[Hamadryad]

Su groaned as the man probed about her insides, her body was hot with embarrassment and her cheeks flushed red. She thought it was all over when he pulled his gloved fingers free, smelling of her insides. However, she was far from correct. Stripes held up the pill, and immediately Su was furious, he'd obviously planted it there, either that or the man she'd bought the clothes off of had slapped it in to try and smuggle the clothes into the city. Though she knew there was no use in denying it, especially when Stars rubbed his fingers together. The young girl sighed.

"My credit chip should be in my panties, the passkey is four-oh-nine," she said in a tired, defeated tone. Standing back up, she kept her eyes trained on the floor as she once again covered her privates from the guards.

 

[Rakki]

Stripe gave a smirk, dropping the pill into a container, the container he'd pulled the off the shelf painkiller from. He scooped up the Cred chip from where he'd extracted during his rummaging and silently, entered the passkey.

Tapping it against his terminal he frowned. "Twenty five creds?" he spat, glancing at her, then at Stars, who was scowling too. "She's got nothing else worth takin Boss." he muttered, sounding disappointed.

Stars groaned, flicking one rubber glove off and then another into an burner unit. "Poor little bitch." the fat man spat. One greasy hand grabbed the bundle of clothing and threw it into the burner with the gloves, and stomped on the pedal.

The unit's insides began to glow, and the lid slammed shut, the small pipe off the back making a noise like an extractor as it sucked the smoke away.

Star would have thrown her back into the wasteland, but last week one of his 'returns' had managed to reach another gate and enter the city. The reports she'd made ment anyone he rejected was now checked, and without a legitimate reason, he'd have to let this one go. He snatched up the Imprinter. He walked towards her.

"I need to give you your ID chip." he said with a flat tone, "This will allow you to be identified by law enforcement or..." and here he gave a snort of distaste, "legitimate employers. Hold out your hand."

The Imprinter looked like the offspring of a construction tool and a medical device, almost gun looking with dirty stainless steel and one end that was clearly marked as hazardous.

 

[Hamadryad]

Su's eyes widened and her mouth fell agape as the guard incinerated her clothes, she went to cry out in outrage but quickly stopped herself. She grumbled to herself and clenched her fists, before stepping up to stand in front of Stars. Her arm fell away from her breasts and stretched itself out to Stars, a disgruntled and obviously angry look on her face.

 

[Rakki]

Stars chuckled as he saw the rage in the little girl and stepped in close, letting his gut press against her naked chest.

"Aww, did we sterilise your soiled clothing?" he asked, with mock sympathy, "You cant wear clothes that are covered in shit, little miss. You'll make people sick." he gave a greasy grin. If she struck him, he'd be within his rights to throw her back out of the city.

He grabbed her arm, yanking on it and pulling her wrist towards where his right hand held the imprinter, pressing the end with "Caution Active Implant Device" written on it against her skin, there was a snapping noise as it drove her ident chip into her arm. It would be painful, there was a numbing setting on the imprinter, and Stars might well have used it, if he'd been able to squeeze enough creds from her.

 

[Hamadryad]

Su grunted as he took her by the arm, she had already suffered too much shame today to take most of his words to heart. She just wanted to get into the city, find some hovel to lie down in and sleep it off, seemingly she would be naked, though. She eyed the device as it's cold metallic flesh pressed against her skin, she was not prepared for what would come next. The girl screeched in pain as the implanter embedded the ID chip into her, the world around her turning a bright red as the pain rocked through her body, and then there was only blackness. The poor girl had passed out, right before the two guardsmen.

 

[Rakki]

Stars gave a disgusted grunt as the girl collapsed. He turned and waddled back to his chair, flopping into it. He pressed a key on the desk, leaning towards the battered intercom.

"Got an inbound passed out. Send up a grip."

Within minutes, the poor girl's body was being lugged out through the door and into the city on the shoulder of a thug. The brute worked security for the immigration building, but he knew how to make some creds on the side, and a grin spread across his slow witted face as he stumbled down the road, taking the young girl towards the Bodyblock.

He dumped her through the door, pocketing his 30 credit finders fee. The Mistress of Bodyblock had a pitiful look as the girl was carried inside to the cleanest 'cell'. Normally used for prostitutes, these small rooms where little more than a floor that doubled as a bed, with just enough room to stand. A plate of re-synthed food and water that tasted of too much chlorine, but was otherwise clean where left awaiting the girl.

 

[Hamadryad]

Su woke up with a start, the cold air lashing at her skin harshly. She cuddled herself, looking herself over for any sign of molestation. She'd seen what some of the boys did to the other girls in the migration when they slept. As far as she could see though, she was clean of interference. The food before her didn't look too appealing and she eyed it suspiciously, though soon her rumbling stomach made her cave in and divulge in the chlorine tasting meal. The girl gagged multiple times as she ate it, but she soldiered through and washed it down with the water.

She looked about the room before weakly standing, stepping over to the door as she rubbed at her wrist where the ID had been implanted. Fist balled, she dropped it upon the door several times in loud knocks to try and gain someone's attention, "Is there anyone out there?!"

 

[Rakki]

At the sound of her call, the door cracked open. A masculine shape moved into the shadowed room. Its eyes had irises of yellow that glowed in the half light.

"Hard start in the city?" the figure asked, moving to sit cross legged on the semi soft sleeping surface that doubled as a floor. "They had you listed for an indent, but we got you first." the eyes seemed to trace over her, like the figure was seeing below her skin.

"You've got no implanted cred chit?" It said, surprised, allot of those who came through immigration knew to hide their money from the guards, they couldn't take what they cant find, and there was a black market for hidden chits that could fool the basic scanners. The shadow figure gave a sigh. "Do you, by chance have any skills of value? Or information from the outside that we might be able to use to pay the cost of recovering you?" it asked, its voice low, as if considering options.

 

[Hamadryad]

Su covered herself as best she could as the man entered, backpedalling over into the corner. She immediately had a sour feeling about the man, and definitely had no reason to trust him. The young girl looked at the ground as he spoke to her. Implanted credit chit? Hiding things from the guards? Blackmarket? An indent? She had thought this city would be a new start, something fresh, not just like the vast wasteland that surrounded it. And now she seemed to owe some sort of debt, but how could she pay it? She really had no skills apart from riding the beat up old motorbike she had back in the wastes, but she had sold that long ago to afford getting into the city. She'd helped with the general duties around her village, but that was no real skill.

So when the time came to give her answer, she just kept her mouth shut and shook her head.

 

[Rakki]

The shaddowed figure gave a sigh. Its eyes flicking towards the floor before tracing back up to the naked girl who sat before it, attempting to preserve some modesty.

"So..." it said, "What was your plan when you came into the city? Where you planning on joining one of the guilds, we can provide you with transport to their training halls, and if you pass they will pay your debt? Or where you simply going to line up on the algie bar lines?" the figure gave a smile that tried to be comforting, but it was hard when the teeth ending in jagged points. "I don't want to force you into working as a body doll if we can find you something less... Damaging." It folded its hands, fingers tapping together with the light hum of servos with each move.

 

[Hamadryad]

Su looked to the figure before her warily, she had already learned that authority was not always to be trusted in this city. But this figure was different, she suspected it was some sort of machine, but she could scarecely tell as her eyes were obscured by the shadows which draped over the curious creature. On the other hand, it could be a cyborg, metal transfused with flesh, all driven by a man's mind. A mind easily corrupted.

Still, she saw no benefit in resistance. "I-I don't know," she admitted. Initially she intended to just find a job whereever she could, but now, after such a horrid introduction to the city she was down and depressed, and about ready to give up.

 

[Rakki]

The thing clicked its fingers together again. "That is... A shame." Its voice was flat. In its lap a shape lit up. The face was human, but parts had clearly been exchanged and the cyborg tapped at the screen before offering it to the girl.

On display was a contract, stating that Su had, by way of a nights room and board, run up a debt to body block. The contract was a simple agreement stating that the former outsider would take employment with the block until that debt was paid, that as long as she was an employee of body block her wage would be deducted for food, shelter and any medical care she should need.

At the bottom there where a series of options, listed with a weekly wage, and an estimated term of service to repay the debt.

They ranged from working in the cleaning services for the block, that would take her four years to pay off the debt, there where lists of different grade of waitress, from bartender right up to 'sushi girl' and 'naked waitress, and something codenamed entertainer, that all seemed to have excessively large weekly wages, bringing her length of time in the block's contract down to weeks, the top one however...

A night's escort to something labelled as "The Festival" A small asterisk warned that taking the job would require the use of some drugs and possibly even some time being "adjusted" to fit the theme.

 

[Hamadryad]

Su stood up and reached out to take the screen, beyond caring as her tiny breasts and their dark little nipples fell free of her arm. Her eyes flitted over the words, she was never particularly good at reading but the text was large and well lit. She considered the lower wage jobs for a moment, thinking on how they would be easy enough, but her debt to bodyblock kept her from choosing them. A debt was not what she was after, not so early on in her immigration to the city. The higher jobs looked more appealing, though they'd include doing dirty things. But what did it matter anymore? She had already been shamed and humiliated, put on display for all kinds of people.

"Whats the festival? What does it mean by modifications?", Su asked quietly as she stared at the screen, averting her eyes from the cyborg.

 

[Rakki]

The cyborg smiled showing chromed teeth.

"The Festival is Bodyblock's biggest party." He said, almost as if it was most common knowledge. "The top level of Bodyblock is an endless pleasure party. Those who can afford entrance are given ultimate rights over those who choose to go there for... other reasons. We'd need to make sure that you're capable of enduring a shift up there. You're undernourished and weak, that would need to be fixed. We would also reach out for a sponsor who would be there when you are, and if we find one, they may have requests for you too."

The Cyborg's eyes traced over her face. "It might be worth it. Even if you choose to take a shift in the festival, you'll have nothing to your name when you've repaid the debt, but," he tapped his fingers again, "Those modifications will be yours. One of the basic ones that they do is a more efficient digestive system, alot less waste and makes survival easier out there..."

He stood up, walking to the door. "Take your time to choose. Press your Ident chip into the bottom when you pick." And with that, he was gone.

 

[Hamadryad]

The young girl sat in her cell for a long time, pondering over the next decision she was to make. She could slave away for years, but still maintain whatever degree of innocence she had left, or she could knuckle down and smash out this debt with this 'festival'. Su was afraid, truly, of what modifications they might do to her, especially after she had seen the cyborg that attended her who seemed to be more machine than human. I want to keep my humanity, she had thought to herself as she stared wordlessly at the datapad.

After a long sigh she sent a thin finger to the screen, then pressed her Ident chip against a scanner on the thin piece of technology in her hand. The screen beeped, and she closed her eyes. She was festival-bound.