Unicorn Point

Now to throw a genuine scare into her. Because she had seen Citizens in action, she knew how few their limitations were. She would assume the worst. “Tsetse, put her on the desk, on hands and knees.”

The woman caught on. “But she’s a child, sir!” He turned a cold eye on her. “You have notions of your own, serf?”

Tsetse swallowed, then went to move the child. She took Nepe by the hand and pulled, and the child walked along as urged. Then Tsetse picked her up somewhat clumsily by the waist and heaved her to the desk. In due course Nepe was on her hands and knees, her bare posterior toward the Citizen.  “You have an idea what comes next?” he asked her.

“Molestation,” she said succinctly.

She had indeed assumed the worst—but she did not seem frightened. Citizen Purple had few scruples about the means he used to achieve his ends, but he had never had any sexual hankering for children. He would have to make this a good bluff.

“It is readily avoided,” he said, putting a hand on her little buttock. “You can have a perfectly pleasant life here, as long as you cooperate in the matter of the frames.”

“My father will kill you as soon as he learns.”

“Now how would he learn?” Purple inquired.

“Broken hymen.” But her defiance was losing its conviction. Not a moment too soon! He had already played his trump card.

“You will learn that this can be done without touching your hymen,” he said, stroking her bottom. “Nothing will show but you will know, won’t you? You won’t enjoy it, but you will know.”

“Sir—“ Tsetse said.

He cut her off with a dark glance. Why didn’t the confounded child break?

“I won’t tell,” Nepe said. “And I won’t contact Flach.”

It just wasn’t working. He would have to try another tack.

“Tsetse, orient the camera.”

Reluctantly the woman brought the portable holo camera.  “Can you guess to whom this recording will be sent?” he inquired.

The child didn’t answer.

Well, he just had to hope that the threats had more impact than they seemed to. The child was tougher than he had figured. He definitely wanted her on his team!  “This is merely a warning,” he said. “You will cooperate, or you will experience things that please neither you nor your relatives. I want you to think about this until I return.” He turned off the lethargy box and departed.

He closed the door behind him, then went to his main desk.  The image of Nepe was on the screen; she was constantly under surveillance. The portable camera was a dummy. Now he would see whether his little demonstration had been effective.

“How can you go along with this, Tsetse?” the child was asking as she climbed down off the desk.

The woman looked miserable. “I can not oppose him. I did not know he was going to use me this way, but I can’t stop him. I beg you, do as he says, so he won’t hurt you!” That was exactly what he had wanted her to say. Tsetse, fortunately, was not bright enough to see through his ploy.

“Won’t you help me escape?” the child asked, toying with the lethargy box.

“I dare not! Even if I did, everything is guarded! You can not escape this chamber without his authorization. Neither can I!”

“I thought you’d feel that way,” Nepe said. She turned on the box and changed the setting.

Tsetse sagged. Nepe had been smart enough to know that there were a number of settings, and that each person in the vicinity had a setting except the Citizen. She had retuned it to Tsetse.

Purple struck the air with one fist, jubilantly. The child was taking the bait!

Nepe walked around the desk and took Tsetse by the hand.  The woman followed where led, unresisting. “Lie down here,” she said, bringing her to the couch. “Sleep. You have no pan in this.”

Tsetse lay down and closed her eyes. Almost immediately, she was breathing in the regular cadence of sleep.  Nepe had evidently already explored the chamber, for she showed no hesitation. She pulled a light chair to the wall under an air circulation vent, and stood on it. Now she could just reach high enough to catch the grille with the fingers of one hand.

She remained there, the hand clasping the metal strips.  Slowly her body dissolved. Her legs and feet became blobs of flesh that were drawn up into the main mass. Her other hand melted into that mass. Then a bolus of flesh moved up the hanging arm and to the grille. It worked its way through.  Another bolus rose, passing similarly beyond the mesh.  In due course. Purple knew, all of the child’s body would be inside the air tube, and the single hand, left behind, would let go and disappear into the rest. Then the blob would elon gate like a snail and travel on up through the tube.  He smiled. Nepe had not disappointed him! Had she really thought he was foolish enough to forget her nature? Rape was of course meaningless to her; she could simply melt her flesh to avoid it, or re-form it intact after suffering any violation.  She had played her part perfectly, and now was doing exactly what he had hoped she would. She had responded to his threats by making an effort to escape.