She Smiles

When Planet Corabin was first discovered, there was a debate on whether to colonize it. The planet’s atmosphere is almost Ice-Age like and if not for the mining minerals on the planet, humans may never have set down on the ice planet.

The Outer Planets, the Lost Terran Empire

                                                            2nd Edition, Published in Year 8070

City of Beihong, Planet Corabin

Year 8072

On your knees, heads to the floor and hands beside your head. April wondered how long has she been in this position. Must have been hours already as the pins in her legs started long ago, still she ignored the discomfort as this would be what he would have wanted.

She met her husband Ho Ming on Planet Talon. She was a 20 year-old waitress while he was on vacation. A whirlwind romance later, she decided to return home with him. Protests from family and friends did not faze her at all, she was wildly in love. The Terran Empire and the Patriarch Alliance were not the best of friends but her mind was made up.

April smiled as she remembered the day she landed on Planet Corabin. Corabin is a poor mostly mountainous mining planet where the air is cold, the climate is bad and the people are poor. Even the spaceport she landed on was smaller than most spaceports in the Empire. As they walked into the arrival hall, Ho Ming was soon running up to a man and hugging him, leaving her behind carrying the bags. As April walked quietly up to the 2 men, she quickly saw the family resemblance. The older man looked crossly at her and April immediately remembered to look down at the floor. April had looked a man in the face, in his eyes even. April smiled at her stupid mistake now.

Ho Ming and his father walked off without a word. April followed. They reached the carpark of the spaceport where Ho Ming was soon hugging another man. Like Ho Ming and his father, his brother was wearing a comfortable cotton shirt with a pair of nylon jeans and boots that shone in the daylight. Behind Ho Ming’s brother was a group of women who were kneeling in a circle. Facing inwards, the women’s heads were bowed on the floor in the middle of the circle. Later, April would learn that this was the position women took to prevent themselves from having impure thoughts in public. Head on the floor and ass in the air; it was the proper position of a woman. April smiled at her initial ignorance.

The 5 women stood on the word of Ho Ming. They faced her lover and it was the first time she had a good look at the women. The women were wearing black shirts with a gray dress that reached down to their ankles. They had black gloves on their hands and were without shoes. Only a pair of black socks covered their feet. Their hair were tied in a bun and covered with a red lace hat with some flower patterns on it. The hat had a thin white veil that was pulled down in front of the face. The veil was held in place by a flowery scarf which also covered the neck area. Totally covered up with not an inch of flesh showing in public, April wasn’t totally ignorant, and knew this was how women dressed in public but it was one thing to know of something, and another to exactly see it. April smiled at the memory of her initial shock.

As one, the 5 women kneeled on the floor and bowed. Ho Ming made them hold the position for a while before giving them permission to stand. Then, he turned around and walked towards April. He opened his bag and found a black ball-gag. With word or ceremony, he put the gag on April. April was too shock to do anything but to open her mouth. Later, April would learn that this was the moment when Ho Ming announced to the family that she was his. April smiled at the memory of her initial anger.

Her smile grew bigger as she remembered her shock when the 3 men entered the hovercraft and flew off without her. The 5 women kneeled and bowed their head to the floor again as the hovercraft flew off. After it had left, the women stood up and one of them walked towards the bag Ho Ming had opened. She closed it and carried it towards the other women. Together, they walked off. April was wondering what to do when the woman who was carrying the bag looked back and saw her standing there like a statue. A wave to come on and April gladly ran towards the women. She didn’t know it then but it was another of her mistakes.

The women walked in two rows back to their house. It was a long trip but April was glad for it for she managed to see the city in full. The rectangle houses were built side by side with a pole in front of every door. Her unasked question of what the pole was for was soon answered when the women pass a house where a woman was tied to the pole. Her hands were tied high above her and a man was whipping her back with a laser whip. The woman’s screams were terrible. April was shaking in fear but she saw that people were just walking by the whipping with merely a look before moving past. April smiled at her foolishness now. Women who disobeyed their men deserved a public whipping, how else were they to learn their place in Corabin society.

The women reached the house and April saw that the hovercraft had arrived already. The women waited in front of the door in their two rows and one of them pressed the doorbell. Ho Ming came to the door and the women kneeled and bowed again. April quickly followed. A word from Ho Ming later and April followed the women onto their feet. Another word from Ho Ming and the women fell on their knees and bowed. Stand, kneeled and bowed; stand, kneeled and bowed, April remembered her shame that she was doing this in public and smiled.  

As the women were on their knees, Ho Ming finally gave a different order. This time the women raise their heads but stayed on their knees. Another order later and the woman who pressed the doorbell crawled on her hands and knees to the door. She pressed her hand on the door scanner and a small opening opened beside the door. The women’s door was tiny. It was so small that the only way to enter it was to get down on your belly and crawled through it. This was what the women did and April followed suit, last in line.

As April crawled through the opening, she saw the other women were already kneeling side-by-side inside the house. Ho Ming signaled April to fall in line. The men then lifted the women’s veil and April saw that all of them had ball-gags in their mouth. The men released the ball-gags and April was glad to finally have it gone. Ho Ming’s father gave an order and the women fell onto their bellies again. April followed the women as they crawled on their bellies to the side of the room. She saw that there was a ramp down to the cellar. April crawled down the ramp and was shocked at the condition of the room. The cellar was small; small as in very short. There was no way for the women to stand upright without hitting the ceiling. Even a tall woman could hit the ceiling if she was on her knees.

As April left the ramp, the ramp slowly lifted up and the opening to the living room was shut tight. It was this moment when April discovered why women were called moles on Corabin. One of the women then approached April and hand her a set of clothes. The woman introduced herself as Gulan of Ho and she was Ho Ming’s first wife.

April smiled at the memory. She had no idea how to react to this. She knew Ho Ming had a wife but no one had told her what to do when they met. She asked Gulan if she should bow or something. The question must have been unexpected because all the women laughed. Gulan informed her that they were all females of the Ho household and that ceremony was for men only. Gulan’s smile made the transition to the Ho household much easier than it could be and April smiled as she remember the way her elder sister helped her in those early days. 

Gulan offered to help April in changing. The clothes April was handed was exactly like what the other women wore but from the look of them, these looks like second-hand hand-me-downs. Months later, April would discover that they were indeed hand-me-downs. Upon marriage, the man was to hand over 4 sets of women clothing to his wife. These are hers to keep and there will be no replacements. If and when the man decided to take a second wife, the man will hand 4 new sets of clothing to the first wife. The new clothing is to replace the original 4 sets of clothing which the first wife will hand over to the second wife. If the man decides to have a third, fourth and fifth wife, the clothing will continue to be handed down the line. April smiled at the thought of this brilliant plan where the first wife had to encourage her husband to take new wives if she wanted new clothes.

April was glad for Gulan’s help. Have any of you tried wearing clothes without standing up? It’s not easy. Not only that, April had never worn a lace hat before or even a dress that reached her ankles. The Equality & Female Justice Laws were taken very seriously by women in the Terran Empire, and they took it to mean that women are actually like men with no differences whatsoever. Some women in the Empire have never even worn a dress in their life. Rebellious young women like April had other ideas of course.

April also learned that there were certain rules involved in the outfit. For one, she was not allowed underwear. No bra or panties. April smiled at her initial discomfort at stripping in front of the other women. It’s almost second-nature to her now.      

April also learned that women don’t run on Corabin, in fact they were not even allowed a full stride when walking. April had briefly wondered why the women were taking small steps during the walk from the spaceport, but she had chalked it up to the fact they were shorter than she was. The answer was shown to her. The knee-lock was a pair of simple kneepads with a rope between them. When April put it on, it protected her knees from all the kneeling but April discovered that she could take less than half a stride when wearing it.  

Once she changed, April took a good look around. The women slept in one corner where there were 3 mattresses. April knew that co-wives were expected to sleep together when ‘not in use’ by their husbands. There was also a series of low cupboards nearby where they could keep their clothes. An open bathroom and toilet where the women can wash and relieve themselves. All in plain view of the other women but it was there. There’s even a satellite TV where they could pick up any women’s channel in the Alliance. Compare to the horror stories April had heard in the Empire, this was much better than what she had expected.

There was then a siren. All the women went to the back of the cellar. April followed and soon she saw that the back of the cellar led to a kitchen. One where you can stand straight up without hitting your head! Gulan signal April to the back of the kitchen. Looking back to the front of the kitchen, April saw an opening where she could see into the living room. The opening wasn’t very big however and the top of the kitchen was only about 20cm above the floor of the living room.

The men had finished their dinner and the leftover food was placed before the opening. The women reached up and took the plates off the floor into the kitchen. The plan of the house was that the women could cook the food and placed it on the floor of the living room. Once the men were done, the leftovers would be taken by the women. That was what happened. The leftovers were thrown into a pot and the women sat around it. The stew wasn’t great, but it was still better than the stories of starving women April had heard of in the Empire. April smiled at the memory of the women’s laughter when she told them her fears of going hungry.

Once dinner was done, the women went to watch the satellite TV. It was then April discovered what counts as women television in the Alliance. There were no news or current affairs programs. Instead, the channels were filled with movies, soap operas and talk shows. The movies and soap operas were full of stories where the women were the damsels in distress, protected and rescued by their men. Other movies had stories where successful, powerful (unhappy) women discovered their happiness at the foot of a man and the lives they led happily as servants and slaves. April smiled at those, outside the fact she wasn’t that successful or powerful, it was practically her story with Ho Ming.

The talk shows were even more interesting. April learned of the ‘Alliance Veil Laws’ which state that any female out in public must have her face veiled. Even she knew the reason this was due to the rapid expansion of the Patriarch Alliance. The original 3-planet economic alliance rapidly became a 12 planets alliance when the Terran Empire invaded the planet of Wastien. The last leaders of Wastien even joined the Alliance in its’ dying days before its conquest by the Empire in 8057. So technically the Alliance has 13 members; or 12 if you speak to the Empire. With the great differences between each others’ culture, the planets could agree only on one thing. Men should rule! The leaders quickly thrashed out plans for better integration with each others. The veiling law was the best cultural agreement they could come up with. After 15 years, everyone agreed it was also one of their most successful, popular laws.

Females throughout the Alliance now openly, proudly wore veils. If veiling yourself is what it takes to make the Alliance stronger, females were more than happy to do their part in protecting their planets from the Empire. Of course, planets like Kadir, Madhi, Whiteside and some others all had no history of female veiling whatsoever, so they had to start from scratch. People had to come up with ways to veil in a hurry. The talk shows showed all the outfits the different planets came up with; the ‘Nighteyes’ of Wastien, the double-veil of Madhi called ‘The Blind’ (April found that to be a stupid name), and of course the classic ‘Toh-gan’ of Thordaw. April found out her outfit was called a ‘Po-gan’ as it is similar to the ‘Toh-gan’. April smiled at the memory of those talk shows. Even now, she found them to be a great source of information.

The TV watching was stopped when the siren went off again. This time the ramp came down. The women went to the ramp and crawled up the ramp on their bellies. Before they went up, Gulan told April to just stay at the entrance of the ramp. She also warned her to stay on her belly and not looked at the men. Not knowing what to expect, April quickly agreed.

The women were let out of the cellar for housework. April saw that the women were cleaning and sweeping the house, however they were only allowed to do housework on their bellies. The only time there was an exception was when a woman went on her knees. April saw that the men just ignored the women as if they were animals below notice. April would later learn that this was the only time the women were allowed out of the cellar. The only time the women were allowed to be above the feet of the men. Even then, the women were only allowed to be at the feet of the men on their belly. Later, April would also learn that the trip to the spaceport was a very rare occasion when the women were all allowed out of the house. It was to honor the arrival of a new family member. April smiled as she remembered the rare, unexpected honor.

Ho Ming’s father then gave an order and the women crawled back to the ramp. April crawled down the ramp with some difficulties. The knee-lock made crawling difficult and slow. Only when the ramp was back up did April discovered that Gulan was missing. The other women told her that Gulan would sleep with Ho Ming today and she will have her turn tomorrow. April had expected something like this but she had expected to be warned about it first. Her simmering anger soon turned to pity when the women told her any woman who slept with her husband must be beaten the following day. To prevent a woman from having thoughts that she was special, any woman who slept with her husband must be beaten with the laser cane the following morning. She was also not allowed breakfast, going hungry till dinnertime. April smiled. Guess there was some truth to the rumors of women going hungry in the Alliance.

April slept well that night even though she slept in the same clothes she was given earlier. In the morning, the siren woke her up. The women went to the kitchen and started cooking. April smiled as she remembered the laughter that greeted her pathetic attempts at helping. What can she says? Women were just not expected to do housework in the Empire, that’s a job for house-bots and cleaning droids. To people in the Empire, a robot that do household duties is not a luxury but a necessity.  

The food was placed on the floor at the opening once it was ready. The women then went and washed up. Halfway through her wash, April saw the ramp coming down. Gulan and the other two women who stayed with the men crawled down into the cellar. The grimaces on their faces told of the pain they were in. April changed into new clothes and left the dirty one in the bathroom as told by the other women. She went into the kitchen again and saw that the men had started their breakfast already.

She also saw Gulan and the women who stayed overnight going to the bathroom and starting to wash all the clothes she had left behind. As the men finished and food was left for the women, Gulan was still washing. April felt guilty as her elder sister was working when she was having breakfast. Even when she was reminded that the roles will be reversed tomorrow, the guilty feeling did not changed.

Once breakfast was done, it was more talking and television for all the women. April discovered that all the children in the house were at a boarding school. From the age of 5 to 12, all the children were sent to boys and girls boarding schools as the people of Corabin believed that young children must be taught with a hand heavier than what most parents are comfortable with. April discovered that all the children of the Ho household are between those ages and that the children returned home for a month twice a year. April smiled. There was just so much to learn in those early days.

After a while, the siren went on again. However, there was also a spotlight that shone in the middle of the cellar. The women quickly placed themselves in a circle under the spotlight, facing inwards. Much like what happened at the spaceport; they kneeled and bowed their heads to the middle of the circle. The only difference was that April was now part of the circle. Gulan quietly told her that the men are now leaving for work. While they are out, the women are expected to be in this circle in this position until they have return. Gulan told her that no one was to leave their position in the circle, and there were 4 cameras in the cellar where the men could view them at any time. April smiled at her shock then. The men in the household had probably seem her naked already, and she never knew it!

So her first day on Corabin went past. April smiled at the memory 7 years ago. She is now here under the spotlight, on her knees waiting for the men to return after a new day. The only difference now was that the circle is bigger as the men had married more women. April smiled as she waited.

Immersion (Part 3)

John

Jaya tried to watch the camp with the same cool detachment he watched everything else with. His pride has been hurt when the bandits took off with Jeanne but he had not been angry. He is now angry.

It was a cloudy night, but there was enough moonlight to show what was happening in the camp the bandits had set up. Jeanne was sitting near the fire still in her g’ao and cheche. Jaya could guess why. The ritual of disrobing was a time consuming affair with water needed for the female to wash themselves. It was a time honored ritual when the female was transformed from a beast of burden to a beast of pleasure and even outlaws had more sense than to offend the gods with an incomplete ritual.

The bandits were in a rush to get away from the scene of their crime and had no time for Jeanne to honor and the Twins with the ritual thus she was still clothed and untouched. Jaya had no illusion though. Once they had the time, they would rape Jeanne but till then she was safe.

Between the fire and the dim light of the Twins however, Jaya could see that Jeanne’s g’ao and cheche were now dirty. He guessed that a beating was the least he should have expected but anger still threaten his concentration. Jeanne was his, and only he is allowed to punish or touch her. The fact that he was unable to protect his property hurt his pride.

Slowly, he managed to control his anger. He thought back to the training he had as a child. His father had 3 sons and he was the second of the trio. If tradition had held, his oldest brother would have inherited the family fortune while the other sons would have to manage their way in life. The farm was never supposed to be his; his older brother was to have inherited it.

So when he was but a boy, his father had enrolled him and his younger brother at a nearby martial art school. Jaya thought back to that time when he was training with his follow students and the teachings of his shifu. One of his first lessons was this; Anger is a disease that cloud judgment, if you go into a fight angry, then you had lost the fight even before you began. A fatal accident suffered by his oldest brother cut short his training but Jaya remembered that much. Jaya fingered the new sword he bought at Ru’chang.

When he woke, he found the bandits gone. They had taken Jeanne and his goods with them. He rushed back to the city to report the matter but he could see that the guards were less than eager to go chasing a few bandits away from the city.

Left with little choice, he bought a sword and rented a horse from the city and rushed back to the location where he was attacked. Luck was on his side as the bandits did not bother to hide their tracks. He shadowed the group to their camp and now waited for his chance.

3 of the bandits were on the other side of the camp’s fire sleeping while the last bandit was on watch. He wasn’t doing a very good job of it. Jaya could see that he was already struggling against sleep. He could kill the bandit on watch but that would still leave him with 3 bandits to fight against. Bad odds for a farmer out of practice with his sword.

One of the sleeping bandits woke up and started to walk away from the group. He saw his chance. Jaya slowly moved forward. Keeping low to the ground so that the bushes could hide him, he crept towards the location where the bandit was going.

He could hear the sound of water flowing as the bandit relieved his bladder. When he was sure he would not go any nearer to the bandit without alerting him, Jaya released his sword from its scabbard. Standing up slowly, he ran towards the bandit from behind. The blade sliced through its target and Jaya held a hand over the bandit’s mouth. The man struggled but Jaya’s grip was too tight and when life went out of his body, Jaya slowly laid the body down on the ground. He listened for a moment and was glad that there was no activity at the campfire. One down, three more to go.

Again Jaya stayed low to the ground and crept towards the campfire. He was only a few steps in when the bandit on guard duty stood up and walked towards him. He was coming to check on the dead bandit, and Jaya knew he only had moments before he was spotted. Left with no choice, he did the only thing he could. He charged.

The darkness helped him. The bandit only saw him for a moment before his sword sliced him across the belly. The bandit screamed as he went down but Jaya ignored him and rushed to the 2 sleeping bandits. He arrived to find one man already up and the other throwing off his blankets. Jaya ran towards the one still rising.

The bandit reached for the blade lying on the ground next to him but Jaya was faster. A stroke of his sword killed him instantly. Jaya turned to see the remaining bandit charging him. He moved back, trying to gain some distance between them but this time the bandit was faster. The bandit’s sword flashed cut towards Jaya’s face as he tried to mount a defense. Jaya ducked to allow a stroke to pass overhead, stepped in…and got a kick in his midsection for his troubles.

Winded, Jaya backed away from the remaining bandit. The bandit step forward to attack and this time Jaya concentrated solely on defense. As his sword swirled around his body in the “Butterfly Pattern”, Jaya took half a step back each time the bandit attack. The pattern gave the illusion that the bandit was winning the fight, but Jaya’s defense was not breached even once. His patience paid off as the bandit got increasingly frustrated and finally lunged at him. A quick sidestep and Jaya decapitated the bandit in one flowing stroke. The bandit fell forward silently and it was over.

Tara

She had never felt more in love. Jeanne has always been a woman that accepted her fate in life. When her father has sold her to her husband, she accepted it without question.

It was the fate of a woman to be married and to serve her husband and his family till the end of her life. Her father got a good price for her and the money would be put to good use getting wives for her 2 brothers. Jeanne accepted her marriage as her lot and did her duty. Love had nothing to do with it because she was never in love.

She was in love now. When she was kidnapped by the bandits, she had accepted her fate. She would have been beaten, raped and then either sold to a brothel or, if she was lucky, killed after the bandits had their fun. That was her fate until her lord and master came to her rescue.

Even now, hours after the rescue, she was still in disbelief. She knew that Jaya had some martial training when he was younger but she never imagined that he had the skill to sneak up and kill 4 armed bandits. She also never imagined that she was so important that her lord and master would risk his life for her. He even spent money for the sword and horse. She must have been more important to him than she realized. 

Jeanne immediately scolded herself for the thought. She was but a woman, a beast born to serve men! She was only as important as a horse, a cow or a pig. No, she was not even as important as a horse, a cow or a pig. You can kill a horse, a cow or a pig for food but not a woman.

At that moment, on her knees in her lord’s bedroom, Jeanne resolved to be the perfect wife. From now on, she would not just do her duty but would take joy and pleasure in her action as well. A woman’s lot was one of pain, suffering and humiliation and Jeanne would take great joy in her pain, suffering and humiliation. Her mother had once told her that she was proud of being the wife of Jeanne’s father. Despite all the humiliation she had suffered, she would not have chosen another life for herself.

Jeanne had never understood that before today.

Her lord entered the room at that moment and Jeanne on reflex bowed her head low to the ground. As custom, her face was only inches from the ground and when her lord put his foot beneath her face, she kissed it.

As her lord withdrew his foot, Jeanne looked at her lord. Unlike her nakedness, her lord was dressed in comfortable pajamas. She felt unworthy. It was like her lord had a halo around his body, Jeanne felt as if she wasn’t worthy enough to look at him. She realized with a start that this was the way a wife in Pladir should feel.

“Bark.” At her lord’s command, Jeanne barked. It was ritual her lord enjoyed. Every night when he entered, h gave a command to Jeanne to make some animal’s noise. It was a humiliating way to remind Jeanne of her place. Jeanne never minded because a wife should always obey her master but this was the first time that she enjoyed it. She had pleased her lord and joy filled her heart at that knowledge.

“On your back.” Jeanne fell on her back and opened her legs wide. Her lord lowered his trousers and went to his knees. He entered Jeanne without a word and Jeanne found herself asking, “Do your wife need to move, my lord?”

“Yes” At the reply, Jeanne closed her legs around her lord and started to help her lord as he entered her. As usual, her lord was hard and brutal with no thought of her enjoyment. But enjoyed it she did. For the first time Jeanne understood what her mother meant when she said she was proud of a wife. Jeanne was proud of being her lord’s wife, of being the wife of this strong man who risked his life for her. She wanted nothing but a chance to serve him well for the rest of her life.

Jeanne felt her lord coming out of her and she tightened her legs around him. Her lord gave her a curious look. He would usually exit and splash his semen on her face. As was usually the case, Jeanne never minded but this time she wanted something from her lord. “Please my lord, grant me a chance to have your baby.”

Her lord thought about it and then came inside her. Jeanne came at that instant, overjoyed at the granting of her request. After a moment that lasted an eternity, her lord finished and stood up. Jeanne remembered herself and came to her knees. She began to clean the manhood of her lord. What was once her duty now became a joy for her.

Her lord then walked to the table and blew out the candle. He then proceeded to the bed and Jeanne crawled on her hands and knees behind him. As her lord lay in bed, Jeanne laid herself down on the floor beside him. As sleep took her, she prayed to    and the Twins for a son for her lord.

That night, Jeanne dreamt of serving many strong sons.  

Hal

As the door opened, Hal saw a woman dressed in the strangest attire he had ever seen. Then it hit him like a ton of brick. “Mrs. Mitchell?”

Tara Mitchell nodded her head and stepped back from the door. Hal accepted the invitation and enter the house. When John Mitchell told him to go to his house for a meeting, the last thing Hal expected was to be greeted at the door by Tara Mitchell dressed in a g’ao and cheche.

He didn’t know how he felt about seeing his designs come to life but whatever it was, it wasn’t unpleasant. Tara led him to the back of the house where he saw John. Dressed in nothing but a pair of shorts, he was sitting by the pool reading some papers. He stood up as Hal approached and had a firm handshake.

“Hi Hal, you have any problem finding the house?”

“No, your directions were fine.” Hal meant what he said. The house was located at a secluded spot and only good directions prevented him from being lost.

“Want a martini?”

“Plain water will be fine.”

John nodded at the full covered Tara and she gave a bow before running to the kitchen. Hal can’t read but say something. “Things sure have changed in your household.”

John laughed at that. “You can say that sure. And it’s all thanks to you and your company.”

“You mean our company right?”

“Oh,” John gave a condensing smile. “Your partners agreed to let me in?”

“As you knew they would.” Tara came back with the glass of water and gingerly put the glass on the table. She stepped back and folded her hands together on her chest. A wave of dismissal from John later, she bowed and left.

“If I may,” Hal asked. “Where did you get the clothes?”

“I know of a designer, struggling designer, who was a former client of mine. The clothes are one of the ideas I want to introduce to Immersion.”

Hal gave a look at him. “Clothing?”

“Marketing,” John corrected. “A further immersion for any clients who wished to go beyond their virtual world.”

“The blurring of the virtual world and reality…” Hal’s mind thought of the different programs they had and how much money they could make if made clothes of them in real life. “It could work.”

“It will work. You know how much Jeanne loved wearing those clothes? Why she…”

“Jeanne?” Hal was alarmed at this. “That’s her name in Pladir. Why…”

“She’s Jeanne at home now. Only when she’s…outside would people call her Tara.” Hal was left speechless at this. This has went far beyond anything they had imagined when they set up Immersion. “Don’t worry, she loved being Jeanne. My wife prefers me calling her Jeanne.”

“Really?”

“Yes and that’s not all. She had taken some traits from Jeanne as well.”

“What kind of traits?” Hal was intrigued by this.

“For one thing, she is much more…obedient now. Whatever I say, she’ll do. She even wants to have a baby now. You know how many years I tried to convince her to have one? It was always work, work, work for her but now…she want a football team.” John seems very pleased about the whole thing.

“She’s still working?”

“Only because I told her to. She wanted to quit, stay at home and be a desperate housewife but that’ll be too weird for a workaholic like Tara. So I told her to keep working and make sure everything seems normal.”

“That’s good,” Hal was glad at least one of them got their head on straight. “That’s what you want to show me today? The effects of the program?”

“No, I want to show you these.” John handed the papers in his hand to Hal.

“What are these?” They look like so sort of list.

“Our future clients” John took a sip of his martini and then asked, “Hal, have you heard of a group called the M.A.P?”

Immersion (Part 2)

John

          Jaya was a happy man when they got in line to enter the city. He and Jeanne had made good time on their trip to the city and the day was still young. Even the line to enter the southern gates of Ruchang was shorter than usual.

With the land of Pladir in relative peace, security was lax and the guards at the gates waved them through without much problem. Although he grew up in a rural area, Jaya had always loved the city. Take the Southern Gate District for example; upon entering the southern gate, people were bustling all around them. On his left was a stall selling dried food stuff for travelers exiting the city on long journey; to the right of him was the small tax office for merchants bringing goods into the city; and in front of him was Travelers Street.

Jaya took the street and like always immediately saw how the street got its name. On both sides of the street were stalls and shops hawking their wares to travelers either entering or leaving Ruchang. There were shops selling souvenirs, a blacksmith selling and repairing horseshoes, even a shaman selling wards and charms to travelers. Men were rushing from stall to stall and their females were running behind them covered in their g’ao and cheche. The men engaged in negotiations while their females were carrying their master’s goods on their arms, on their backs, even on their heads. Compare to the peace and quiet of the farm, Ruchang was delightful chaos.

Jaya took a side lane and soon enter into the Merchant District. Unlike the Southern Gate District where all the focus and attention were directed at the gate, the much bigger Merchant District is split into several sections. Commerce after all comes in all forms.

The money-lending business was in the north-most section of the district; finished products like cloths, tools and such were in the west section; farm products like tea, rice and such were in the east. The southern section where Jaya was at handled everything else that does not fall nicely into these categories. 

Side lanes crisscross the southern section, making it a confusing place unless you know where you are going. This was no accident. Although all the buildings were only one or two storey high, the placement of the buildings were such that there were a lot of blind spots and secret meeting places for merchants to make deals beyond the eyes of their rivals. Commerce is nothing but another form of battle.

Luckily for him, Jaya was no merchant but a farmer. However even a farmer sometimes need the skills of a merchant as a remote farm beyond the city walls needs supplies only a city can provide. With that in mind, Jaya stepped into the first store of the day. It was going to be a long day of haggling for him.

Tara

There had been days in her life when Jeanne hate being born a woman. From the moment she was born, she learned from her mother the ways of life in Pladir. For a girl, that meant a life of drudgery.

She was to sweat in the day and suffered humiliation in the night. It was a life of hard work, kneeling and bowing to men. Yes, there had been days in her life when Jeanne hated being born a woman.

Today was not one of them.

The day had started out uneventfully. As her master visited the city, all she had to do was to stand behind him as he negotiated with the various merchants of the city. As her master and the merchants engaged in endless arguments over prices of goods, she was the ornament to show that her master was a responsible man. Some of the deals required credit as her master could only pay after the harvest and a man with a family was unlikely to run away from his debts.

After the successful talks with the merchants, they left the city with Jeanne carrying a big bag of goods on her head. The talks had been relatively successful for her master and it was up to Jeanne to carry the goods back home.

As they walked towards the family homestead, her master was stopped by 4 men. Her master greeted the men with the traditional greeting between men; his right hand in a fist with the left hand open covering it. However the swords on the waist of the 4 men showed the intent of the men.  

The men “asked” her master to walk away, leaving her and the goods behind. The tradition of Pladir state that men must always protect their property and as expected, her master refused the men’s request even though he was unarmed and the 4 men were armed with swords.

The fight was mercifully short. Jaya managed to punch one of the men before being overwhelmed by sheer force of numbers. One of the men came from behind and knocked him out with his sheathed sword. The men were bandits, not killers and they did not want to risk killing her master. The guards of the city could ignore the occasional bandit gang, but not a bunch of killers.

As she was led away by the men, Jeanne looked back at her master. Yes, there had been days in her life when Jeanne hate being born a woman but seeing her master laying on the dirt road, Jeanne realized that perhaps being born a girl wasn’t such a bad deal after all.

Hal

“No”

“No?” John Mitchell said in bemusement. “Just a flat no?”

“Yes, just a flat no.” I knew that you should never say no to a customer but sometimes…“I’m not changing the program.”

“Hal, you have no problem changing it before”

“No, I never did that.” I corrected. “You said you wanted to speak to me in private. You were knocked out in the program, so I brought you out while your wife is still in session. There’s a hell of a difference between that and changing the program mid-session.”

“That’s not what I mean and you know it.” Actually I had no idea what John was implying so I let him continue. “Hal, you knew that I never told Tara I was the one who choose the Pladir program. And you never said anything to her.”

“That’s between you and her.” I carefully said. “You were the one who made the initial booking and said that you and your wife would be coming. That’s all I know. If there’s a lack of communication between you two, I and everyone here in Immersion have nothing to do with it.”

“Ha.” John actually chuckled. “As a lawyer, I must say you missed your calling Mr. Green. You would have made an excellent lawyer.”

“No, I would not. I have some morals.”

“What do say to $100,000 then?”

“A bribe? Don’t make me laugh.”

“That and a $10 million investment in Immersion.”

“An in...investment… $10 million?” I didn’t try to keep the shock from my voice.

“I did some checking and I know your company is in trouble.” John moved around the room and touched the capsule he just came out of. “You guys have a great product but it’s an expensive business with all these programs and machines. Cash flow is a huge problem for you especially.”

“We are making money”

“Not so great that your banks aren’t worried about your loans.” John must have seen the surprise on my face because he continued, “Please give me some credit. I won’t be making this pitch if I didn’t know of your troubles. If it makes you feel better, know that I am a believer in your business.”

“You are!”

“No need to be sarcastic Hal.” John actually managed to sound upset at my disbelief.  “I am a believer. I am a regular customer for the past few weeks haven’t I? I also have skills that will help your company. All I ask is for a small percentage of your company and certain…perks and benefits that comes with being an owner of the company.”

“Like changing a program halfway through an immersion”

“I was the one who choose the Pladir program and what characters Tara and I will play as. Think of it as acting on the feedback of your customer.”

“Wonderful. $10 million?” I wish I could just say no, but Immersion could use the money. “How are you going to get the money?”

“I’m rich. I’ve been a corporate lawyer for over 10 years.”

“As I recall,” pride could be a prickly thing so I had to be careful. “Your wife is the partner of the law firm you two work for. Not you.”

“Yes, but the money is not a problem for me.” John was smooth if nothing else. I could almost believe he didn’t mind working under his wife. “And I can also put you in touch with people.”
“People?”

“You and your 2 partners are thinking too small Hal. I’m thinking of offering your companies as corporate training centers.”

“Corporate training centers?”

“A place where companies can send their employees for training,” as he spoke John pointed at the control panel for the immersion machine. “You and your partners can write programs for their employees; we will market them as real-life market training.”  

“Good idea “John” but technically impossible.” As they say, reality is the place where good ideas die. “Immersion is a personal experience so the programs can only be run solo or in tandem with each other. The most number of people we can put in one session is 4. Can you imagine how long it will take if a company of 100 sent their people for training? It will…”

“That’s something we can get around…” John paused. If I didn’t know better, I swear the guy is enjoying this. “I was thinking of calling it corrective training.”

“Corrective training?”

“They only need to send employee with “issues” to us.” John explained his idea. “Immersion would offer a quick, painless but very involved scenario for these workers. A scenario that will help “correct” their issues.”

“Immersion don’t change people’s opinions. We can put in…scenarios like you said, but the programs don’t change people’s minds. The immersion machine is not a mind-control machine.”

“But if you put in a strong enough scenario, there’s no reason to think it won’t work. After all, people change with their experiences and I know from experience your machine and program are as real as anything in real-life.”

“In…intriguing,” no need to lie, it was very intriguing. “But we have no data, even secret data to back it up.”

“Then let’s get those data for our future clients.” John’s smile said it all. He thought he got me hooked. “Consider Tara your first guinea pig.”

“You want to change her…what?”

“Attitude, personality...consider this a $10 million experiment Hal. You are a scientist right?”

Oh, he really did do some research. I did think of myself as a scientist. “Okay, I’ll do it.” I started thinking the changes needed on the immersion program. “I can’t guarantee it’ll work but…she has been captured by bandits but that’s probably not a powerful enough scenario. She will be beaten, raped…”

“No rape.” John saw my look and said, “I’m her husband. I do have some morals you know.”

I don’t know if I should laugh or cry at that but okay. “No rape…a threat of rape then. Badly beaten with a rape on the cards before you come flying in to save the day. How do you want to do it?”

“Huh?” Now it was his turn to be surprised.

“You intend to save her from 4 bandits as a farmer?” I smiled at John, glad to finally got him on something. 

I could see his mind racing through all the alternatives. Then he smiled. “I want kung-fu.”

Immersion (Part 1)

Tara

Jeanne ran up the hill and with some relief saw the homestead. Both hands holding onto the front of her robe as she did not want to trip, she ran towards her home. She was glad for the knee high socks she was wearing underneath her robe when she saw her mother-in-law in the fields.

As Jeanne ran towards her, Kristina saw her and threw down her rake.

“Jeanne, what are doing here?” Kristina asked immediately.

Jeanne could tell from her voice that she was surprised to see her. Jeanne’s hand lowered her robe as she did not want to show her in-law any disrespect. “Master and I were on the road to the city when we found droppings. Master said they were from a herd of goats had stayed overnight and want me to come back to take a basket for them.”

“He told you to run back for some droppings?” Kristina sounded slightly incredulous at the action of her son.

“Yes,” Jeanne nodded. “Master says it will be great fertilizer for the farm.”

“Very well then,” Kristina sounded resigned. “Come on, let’s tell master.”

          The master in question was Soshi Chang, father of Jaya Chang, master of the House Chang. Both women ran towards the homestead and they found him sitting as expected in his rocking chair just into the living room of the house.

          Soshi Chang was dressed in an open cross-collar shirt with a pair of wide pants. His hair was long and in keeping with the tradition of men in Pladir was gathered up into a ponytail called a queue. With soft music in the background and a book in his hand, Jeanne thought his father-in-law had grown a little soft in his old age. He even had a little paunch, a sure sign of good living. However this is the land of Pladir and he is the head of the house, so it means the old man was nothing short of God to any female in the family.

          Kristina and Jeanne stood at the doorway and kneeled. When the old man turned his gaze towards them, both women lowered their head to the ground.

“What do my animals want?”

Kristina as the senior woman was the one who answered. “Master, Sir Jaya found some droppings along the road and said it would good fertilizer for the farm.”

“Where is Jaya?” Even with her head to the ground, Jeanne heard a note of surprise in the old man’s voice.

“My master was on his way to the city when he saw the droppings, Sir.” Jeanne answered. “My master told his animal to run back to take some baskets to carry the droppings back.”

“I see.” Silence followed this statement. Jeanne kept her head on the ground and waited. “Very well then, both of you take a pan and go report to Jaya immediately.”

“Yes Master” Both females answered.

          Jeanne led Kristina to the location and getting there wasn’t easy. Pladir was a hilly land which baked under a hot sun and both women had to run up and down several slopes before they reached the location. With a wicket basket tied to their backs, running under the sun in their heavy clothes and hood was an exhausting affair for the women. When they finally reached the awaiting Jaya Chang, both Jeanne and Kristina were panting and out of breath.

They were only too grateful to kneel before the man and showed him their proper respect.

John

Jaya Chang was sick of waiting. When he finally saw the two females running from the direction of the homestead, he almost wanted to jump for joy. Fortunately, he had better control than that and kept the impatient/bored look on his face.

When they kneed and bowed before him, Jaya even waited for the proper 5 seconds before acknowledging them, “You took too long.”

“Yes Master. This worm is sorry and begged for your punishment.” Jeanne groveled before her husband.

“Later. Get the dung back to the house.” Jaya just wanted it to be over with.

“Yes Master,” both women replied.

Jaya sat there as he watched the 2 females got to work. Jeanne and Kristina, his wife and mother, put their wicket baskets on the ground and using their hands, they started scooping the droppings into the baskets. Looking at the two females working, Jaya could guess why it took them so long to come back.

Both females were dressed in traditional clothing of married women, a long sleeved white robe that reached from their necks to their ankles called a g’ao. The sleeves of the robe are wide and so long that it even covered the hands of the women. Their necks and heads were also covered by a cheche. A long garment that was wrapped several times over their heads and necks, it covered the whole head with only a small area left open for their eyes. Long white gloves and knee high socks covered the women’s hands and feet. Under the gaze of Ramertusa, neither woman exposed a single piece of flesh to the sun god but the clothing was not made for long distance running.

The robe is supposed to be pure white from the collar to the frills that swept the ground but Jaya could see that the robes of both women were dirty and even from where he was sitting, he could smell the sweat of their work. Although he would never admit it, Jaya was secretly proud as both dirt and smell were signs of a good Pladir women; obedient, hardworking, and covered.

After filling the baskets, Jaya saw both women trying to tie the baskets to their back. “Stop!” Jaya had a better idea. “Carry the baskets on your head. Walking beneath smelly droppings is what you animals deserved for taking so long.”

Both women kneeled and bowed their heads to the ground. Obediently, they then lifted the baskets onto their heads and Jaya led them in the direction of the homestead. Jaya glanced back a few times and saw that both women were very careful walking with the baskets on their head as the baskets were almost as board as they were.

Tara

Jeanne was totally exhausted when they finally reached the homestead. She wanted nothing but to drop herself down on the ground and sleep. However work for the day was not done yet as her Master ordered the women to store the droppings and both she and Kristina obeyed. While they were piling up the droppings in the storehouse, Ramertusa began to set and her master called her over. Jeanne kneeled and bowed her head to the ground.

“You were slow today.” Her master said.

“Yes Master”

“I will give you a choice of punishment.”

It was a battle to keep from groaning but Jeanne managed it. “Thank you Master.”

“You can have 20 strokes of the cane or you may lick my boots clean with your mouth.”

With her face to the ground, Jeanne could not take a good look at her master’s boots but it had to be dirty with travel and it might even had droppings on it. It was an easy choice. “I will have 20 strokes of the cane Master.” Jeanne managed to sound grateful. “Thank you for your kindness, master.”

“Get back to work.” Her master sounded like he was disappointed.

“Yes Master.”

John

          The setting of Ramertusa was greeted by the daily ritual of the women kneeling and facing towards it. Both Jeanne and Kristina were kneeling in the clearing in front of the homestead and both women were looking at the setting sun.

Jaya stood far away from them by the doorway of the house as even he knew not to intervene in this ceremony. Jaya quietly waited for their ceremony to be over.

          As Ramertusa disappeared, both women began their ritual. As usual, they started with their cheche. Custom has it that Pladir women were babies who could never grew up and tradition had it that all hairs on their bodies must be shaved regularly. As the cheche was taken off, Jaya could see the shaved heads of the women for the first time today.

          Both women then stood up and started to undress. The gloves came off first, then the g’ao, and finally the socks on their feet. Both women were naked under the sky as they turned away from Ramertusa and faced The Twins.

          Jaya looked at the two moons and saw Red began slowing leading Blue on their nightly dance across the sky. Under the soft glow of The Twins, the women started their bath. Covered from the harsh gaze of Ramertusa during the day, the women were beginning their nakedness during the night. Jaya stood and enjoy the spectacle as the two women scooped water from a big barrel and poured it over themselves.

Dawn and dusk were the two times of the day when Pladir women changed themselves and Jaya always preferred the change in dusk. In the light of The Twins, it looked almost peaceful.

The bath was soon over and both women took their bundle of clothes in their arms, walked to the entrance of the house and kneeled before Jaya. Jaya spoke to his mother first, “You go in first.”

Jeanne handled over her clothes to Kristina and bowed her head to the ground. As Kristina quietly shuffled into the house, Jaya took a position behind Jeanne. He took a moment to admire the form of his wife. He always got a kick out of standing over a kneeling female. The combination of beauty and power was incredible.

“Count the strokes worm.” He raised the cane and slashed it across Jeanne’s back. The sound was deafening but he could hear the cry of “One Master” from his animal. The cane came up and down again. The count continued from Jeanne.

Up and down the cane went and cries from Jeanne soon turned to screams. Jaya felt himself rising and almost lost himself when he heard the cry of “20” from Jeanne.

The punishment was over and Jaya took a sound to get his breath under control. Jeanne was sobbing on the ground and when he finally trusted himself to speak, “Crawl to the kitchen and help prepare dinner.”

His animal crawled into the house as fast as her hands and knees could take her. Jaya watched at the beautiful sight and…

Hal

“Program cancelled.” The couple opened their eyes as the gas is slowly pumped out of their capsules.

“Door opening. Please wait.” The glass doors opened and both of them walked gingerly out. Hal Green was there waiting eagerly for their verdict.

“Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell, the hour is up. That’s the program for today, hope you both enjoyed the experience.”

The laugh that greeted Hal was music to his ears. “It sure was an experience,” John said. “Wow! That was great. It was as if I was really there!”

“Yes, the program link your brain neurons into the game and mentally transport you into a virtual world,” Hal carefully explained. “With some work, we can design any world that comes to mind and this program will make it real.”

“You sure it is safe?” Tara asked. “It’s like I could feel pain when I was inside the program. I even felt tired as I was running.”

“That’s just a reflex Mrs. Mitchell,” Hal quickly explained. “Your body is unhurt but the virtual world inside the program is so real, your body just reacted the same way it normally would in real life. You suffer no physical or mental trauma. You feel nothing the moment you came out right?”

         Hal gave a small sigh of relief when Mrs. Mitchell nodded a confirmation to her husband. He was less delighted with her follow-up question. “Why do I feel compel to do something I normally wouldn’t do? Even enjoy it?”

“The program put you “into” the minds of the characters in the program. At the start of the game, the program will put players into a character and have their traits and beliefs. It’s called “immersion” and...”

“But I don’t get to choose my character.” Tara said. “As a paying customer, don’t I get a choice in what character I am playing?”

          Hal gave a quick look at John Mitchell and saw his slightly guilty look. A bulb lighted up in his head but this was not the time for it.

“The choice is made by the program Mrs. Mitchell,” Hal lied effortlessly. “Were you two unhappy with the choices it made?”

“No, no. It was fine.” Even though John Mitchell said that, Hal saw that he was looking at his wife for her reaction. He almost gave a sigh of relief when she nodded ruefully at him and Hal guessed she enjoyed the experience more than she is letting on.

“Well if you are unhappy with the Pladir program, we have other programs in our database. There is even the Pladir expansion you can enjoy, just tell me your…” he never got to finished.

“Expansion?” both Mitchells asked.