_
			DAMSELS UNDER GLASS: THE SERIES
			Anne's Story —  by Van Chapter 7

Anne stumbled after Elke, increasingly frazzled and fatigued.  She was in good shape, a gifted athlete in fact, but the events of the last day... How long has it been? Anne wondered.  She didn't think it was all that long since she had decided to end the previous workday and take a swim... twelve hours maybe?  More like a previous lifetime, she mused.  She knew it was the psychological strain that was getting to her, not the rigors of her captivity.  Anne resumed watching Elke's back as they continued their seemingly endless trek.  It could be worse, Anne mused, a lot worse.  Anne realized she was being carefully handled by her amazonian captor, and to her infinite surprise, she found that she wasn't angry, was feeling, in fact, genuine affection for her tall, strong... Mistress ?  'Mistress' didn't fit.  As a role, maybe, Anne thought, but Elke was more friend and playmate, not Mistress.  She just happened to be in charge... for the moment?   Of course, Anne couldn't imagine any way she'd ever gain the upper hand over Elke.  I have about as much chance of capturing Elke, as I have of overpowering Wonder Woman and Supergirl.  But if brute force is out of the question, what about more subtle means?

Anne's musings were interrupted when they approached the end of a long corridor, paused, and the end wall opened to reveal another corridor.  It was actually three sets of doors which opened, like a hi-tech bank vault... or the blast doors on the Death Star, Anne thought.  Elke tugged on her leash, and they started forward.  The corridor ahead was... different.  They were in a straight glass tube, perhaps five yards wide and at least 100 yards long.  Outside the tube was a huge, irregular, vaulted space.  Anne looked up.  The space had a faceted, glass ceiling, high overhead, seven stories or more.  Anne could see entire groves of full-grown evergreens to either side, hanging gardens of flowering vines clinging to various walls and structures, a thick carpet of needles and ground cover.  Other glass tube corridors could be seen as well, most of them far overhead.  Anne felt like an ant in a colossal terrarium, an exquisite terrarium.  It was beautiful, nature and modern architecture in a fractal harmony Anne hadn't thought possible.

They came to the end of the corridor.  Through the glass Anne could see that they were facing a sort of half-dome structure of mirrored glass that grew from the far side of the "terrarium" like a house-sized mushroom.  The broken, moss-covered stump of a forest giant leaned against the end of the tube—tube junction, actually.  A second glass corridor joined the tube down which Anne and Elke had just come.  Stretching off at an angle, Anne could see nothing but what she surmised was a distant set of closed doors.  Before them, leading into the hemisphere, was the unmistakable outline of another door, and the stump to her left could now be seen to be camouflage for an elevator.

Elke turned, and with a ring tap, detached Anne's leash from her choker.  Anne watched as, with a flurry of turns and tugs, Elke tied a series of tight coils in the center of the smart rope.  She tapped her ring to the knot and it contracted with an metallic snap, making the former leash a short cylinder of rigid coils, with about two inches of still flexible rope dangling from either end.  Elke knelt down, and two ring taps later, Anne found that her sometime anklets, sometime shackles, had become hobbles.

Anne shuffled her feet slightly.  The rope ends were still flexible, but the spring-like coil prevented her from standing with her ankles closer than about a foot apart.  She thought she could probably still walk, in an awkward shuffle, but she wouldn't be setting any land speed records.

Anne looked up at Elke, and found the Amazon favoring her with what Anne was beginning to think of as a trademark smile: friendly, open, and knowing.  "Margo and I have a few things to talk about in private," Elke explained, "so I'm afraid you'll have to cool your heels out here for a few minutes."  Anne looked around, then nodded.  Anne's smile broadened.  "Good girl," she said with a chuckle and kissed Anne's forehead.  Anne felt a momentary thrill at the warm, gentle kiss. 

I better watch myself, Anne thought ruefully, or I'm going to start pining for Elke to ask me to the next Inner Circle Prom.

Elke idly straightened Anne's hair with her right hand.  "Now. normally," she explained, "an Inner Circle Member in your present position would be expected to do her best to escape, even if escape is impossible."

'Impossible,' Anne mused, twisting her wrists in their tight, custom built cuffs.

"But in this case," Elke continued, "we'll just suspend that part of the festivities, if you don't mind."  Anne swallowed behind her gag and nodded again.  "You're still in orientation, shall we say, and I wouldn't want you, going astray, or running into the wrong people."

Anne gulped behind her gag, again, and looked back down the passageway.  'The wrong people?'   She heard a humming sound, and turned back to find Elke waving boodbye behind the far side of a set of closing doors.

Anne shuffled a few feet back down the corridor so she could take a closer look at the huge, enclosed garden around her.  It has to be at least five acres in there, she thought, that I can see.  She could see something flying among the flowering vines hanging from a distant balcony—then the object dropped and shot overhead—and hovered among more flowers near Anne's tube.   A hummingbird!  It was beautiful, and Anne was close enough to see the blur of wings and the surprisingly long, flailing tongue as the tiny dynamo visited blossom after blossom.  It landed on a small branch, and Anne watched amazed as the hummer wiped its bill on the branch, like a duelist cleaning its rapier... then it buzzed away and out of sight.  Cool, Anne mused.

Anne shuffled to the other side of the tube and looked out.  Trees, more flowers... and something else.  Near the edge of a small grove of cedars about fifty yards distant a woman in an olive green coverall with blue accent stripes was spreading what looked like compost under the trees, shoveling it with a manure fork from a large, wheeled cart.  The front end of the cart was half-obscured by cedar boughs... but someone or something was there.  Anne couldn't really tell what exactly she was seeing at the head of the cart.  In fact, at this distance it was difficult to make out much of anything.

The woman pitching the compost, the gardener, was tall and tan, with long, straight, pale blond hair swinging in a tight ponytail.  Her coverall was tight and open at the neck.  She was slim, but very well endowed, and had prominent cheekbones that gave her a Nordic beauty, evident even at this distance.  She tossed her fork into the back of the cart, in the process giving Anne a look at the TESSERACT logo, stitched in blue across the back of her coverall.  Hardly surprising, Margo thought.  Somebody has to care for all this... although you'd half expect there to be automated systems to haul around—Ulp!

The gardener had walked to the head of the cart, grabbed hold of something, spun the cart to the right, and—Anne's eyes went wide and she gulped behind her gag—two women were hitched to the cart, like ponies!  They were nude—but for thigh boots, corsets—arms folded and apparently bound behind their backs, heads hooded with reins trailing back to the cart—all the tack in brown, glistening leather...

The blond gardener hopped onto a low seat at the front of the cart, grabbed the reins and a buggy whip, snapped the whip—Anne assumed it snapped.  No sound penetrated the glass wall—the leather-bound women began to pull, and the cart lurched forward.  It picked up speed, the gardener tugged on the reins and flicked the whip, and the cart turned towards Anne.  As it came closer, Anne could make out more detail of the human ponies, and their predicament.  She could see that what she had taken for hoods were actually more half hoods, with elaborate head harnesses, large blinders, and bit gags with attached reins.  Both women were clearly very healthy and fit.  The one on the left was blond, with a rich, golden tan.  Anne could just see the woman's short hair peeking from under her head gear... and her prominent, blond, pubic bush.  The one on the right had smooth, coffee-colored skin, with black hair bobbing behind her head tack in a loose ponytail.

The cart swerved to the right, following a very faint path in the carpet of fallen needles.  Anne had a quick glimpse of the captives' arm-bondage (some sort of binder-sheath with multiple straps around the upper arms), then the "ponies," gardener, and cart disappeared into a neighboring grove of firs.  Anne shook her head.  What's that about?  Are they being punished for something?  ...or are they just playing?  Anne turned her back to the tube wall and closed her eyes.  She idly twisted her wrists, testing her cuffs.  They were still smooth and tight and inescapable, and Anne was still a prisoner, and...  This is... surreal, she thought.  What's going to happen to me?  Am I Margo's prisoner... forever?  Will I be pulling a cart like that in the near future?  What's going to happen?

Anne became aware of a humming noise, the sound of the tube doors opening in the distance.  She looked... but the doors of her tube were still closed, as were the much closer doors behind which Elke had disappeared.  Then, Anne remembered the adjacent tubeway and shuffled forward 'til she could peer around the side of the tube.  Approaching down the passageway were two women.

Even at this distance, Anne could see that the first woman was strikingly attractive, with long, dark hair.  She moved with a natural, fluid grace that could only be described as... feline... and was clad from head to toe in black leather: a catsuit, spike heel boots, and gloves.

The second woman was nude... but her head was encased in a helmet of chromed metal, or possibly plastic.  The helmet was close fitting, and a full set of female features were sculpted into the front—beautiful female features, like a Venetian carnival masque, only without feathers, plumes, or other decoration.  The woman herself was slim and fit, with small, but well formed breasts, and a flat, toned stomach.  She had fair, freckled skin, and, judging from the color of her pubic bush, dark hair.  Her hands were behind her back, bound, no doubt, Anne surmised, and... she was walking on her toes, as if she were wearing... invisible heels?  No, of course not, Anne decided , she's doing it... by choice?  More likely 'cause she's been ordered to... and she's afraid to disobey.

Anne was unsure of what she should do.  Flight was impossible and there was no place to hide.  Elke had told her she was safe, and Anne believed her.  She stepped into full view and watched as the pair grew near.

The woman in black inspected Anne as she approached.  She was indeed very beautiful, but as she drew close, Anne could see a hardness in the woman's green eyes which sent a shuddering chill down her spine.  The woman's lips curled in a feral smile as she came even and stopped.  Without looking back at the following nude, she raised her gloved right hand, extended her index finger, and pointed at the floor.  The nude woman immediately dropped to her knees and bowed her head.  The helmet tapped the floor with a dull ping.  She must be able to see out of that thing , Anne surmised.  She could now see that the helmeted nude's hands were indeed bound, in fact, they were joined and encased by the same sort of material that covered her head.  Wide cuffs and rigid, joined mittens, sculpted hands with interlaced fingers, the nude was as helpless as... as Anne.

Anne looked into the eyes of the woman-in-black, and froze.  Time seemed to stand still.  Anne could feel her heart racing.  Reason told her to stand her ground, but the urge to flee was almost overpowering.  Anne was afraid of this leather-clad woman, afraid.  The woman looked Anne up and down, then, with a casual gesture, directed her to turn.  She wants to see my bonds , Anne thought miserably.  What choice do I have?   She slowly shuffled in a full spin, concentrating on not tripping on her hobble.  As Anne completed her turn, the woman's gloved right hand darted out and closed tightly on Anne's chin.  Anne started ... then stood perfectly still, her nostrils flaring above her gag.  The woman slowly turned Anne's head, first to the left, the to the right.  She then released Anne's chin, and produced a PADD from a hidden pocket in her catsuit.  She tapped the screen and frowned at the result, slowly shaking her head.  She then tapped the PADD's screen again several times in quick succession, locked eyes with Anne, and tapped the PADD again.

The strap of Anne's gag tightened, pulling the ball back into her mouth.  Simultaneously, the ball deflated, and instantly expanded back and into her mouth, until it seemed to completely fill her entire oral cavity.  Anne yelped (or tried to yelp) and her eyes went wide.

The woman-in-black smiled evilly, and nodded in approval.  Eyes still locked with Anne, she returned her PADD to its hidden pocket, then tapped the flank of her prostrate, helmeted captive with the side of one booted foot.  The prisoner scrambled to her feet (and up onto her toes again, Anne noted) and followed the woman-in-black to the nearby elevator.  The door opened as they approached.  The woman and her prisoner entered the dark elevator car and turned.  As the doors closed, the last thing Anne saw was the catsuited woman's angelic face... and cold, green eyes.

Anne gazed at the now closed doors... and shuddered.  She felt like a deer that had been passed over by a satiated tigress. Who was that? Anne wondered.  She shook her head and tried to work her jaw around her gag.  Anne screamed through the enlarged plug, and was surprised by the greatly reduced volume of the plaintive sound that emerged.  Apparently cleverly shaped to avoid triggering her convulsive gag reflex, the new configuration was nonetheless much more effective.  I guess I should feel lucky she approved of the rest of my outfit, Anne mused, twisting in her bonds, or who knows what else that Leather Bitch would have done.  (No longer in the presence of the 'Leather Bitch," Anne was feeling a little braver... and more than a little peeved.)

Anne felt tears welling in her eyes.  Tied up, helpless, gagged, dragged around this endless, mirrored madhouse... it was too much, just too much.  She turned to the wall, and rested her face against the cool glass.  Anne closed her eyes, and felt a tear roll down her left cheek... then became aware of a presence.  She opened her eyes, and Elke's frowning face was before her.

"Anne, what's wrong?" Elke asked with quiet concern.  "Why are you...?"  Elke's hand darted to Anne's gag, and her frown flashed from concern to anger... then back to concern.  She tapped her ring to the gag, and Anne felt the ball shrink and the strap slacken.  Elke pulled the gag from Anne's mouth.

Anne swallowed and licked her lips.  "I'm... I'm sorry Elke," she stammered with a brave smile.  "Nothing's wrong.  I'm just sort of... It's just... a lot.  You know?"

Elke smiled and held Anne close.  Anne leaned  her head against Elke's strong, firm shoulder, and closed her still wet eyes.

"I think I know what happened, Annie," Elke whispered.  "Eve," Elke called, "please tell me why Anne's gag was adjusted."

"I'm sorry, Elke," Eve announced, "but you do not have the security clearance required for me to..."

"Cancel!" Elke barked.  "Now I know what happened," Elke whispered.  "A Kat got your tongue."

"A cat?" Anne asked.

"Never mind," Elke said, then, with a final hug, released Anne, took a step back, stooped, and detached Anne's hobble.  "Let's go," she said.  "Margo's waiting."

Elke walked through the now open door at the junction of the tubes and elevator.  Anne swallowed again... and followed.

The doorway led to a huge, exquisitely decorated, Modern office.  The door closed behind as Anne entered, and she found Margo standing directly before her.  Anne was struck, again, by her boss' presence, her aura of power, her command of the room, her mature beauty.  Elke stood behind and to the right, with her usual smile.

"How are you doing, Anne?" Margo asked.

"Uh, a little tired... uh, I mean fine.  I'm fine."  Margo's lip quivered in mirth, and Elke coughed, politely hiding her smile.  "Really, I'm fine," Anne insisted.

"Oh, I believe you," Margo answered.  "Please, come in, come in."  She draped her arm over Anne's yoke bound shoulders and led her into the office.

Anne allowed herself to be led.  As if I have a choice, she mused.  Margo was dressed in a smart, medium-blue, business suit, a sharp contrast to Anne's nude, captive condition.

"Elke has convinced me to handle your indoctrination into the Inner Circle a little differently than I had originally planned," Margo explained.  "I'll tell you more later, but first, I think there's someone who's ready to have a few words with you."

"More than ready," Elke said with a grin.

"I'm sure," Margo agreed.  Anne looked from Margo to Elke in confusion.  Elke gave her an encouraging smile and Margo gave her shoulder a friendly hug.  "Now... I don't believe you've been involved in our SPHERUS project, have you?"

"Uh, I've read the summaries," Anne said, "but my group has never had anything to do with VR, no."

"Well," Margo continued, "just so you'll have some idea of what you're about to see, we've developed the means to communicate with a person involved in a full VR session.  Interaction is severely limited, of course, but the SPHERUS environmental server can be quite successful in melding outsiders into the VR milieu.  Understand?"

"Uh...," Anne mumbled.

"Never mind," Margo said with a chuckle.  "You're bright, and you'll figure things out."

Anne looked at Elke, who grinned and winked.

"There's one other technical detail you'll find helpful," Margo lectured.  "We improve our VR games by augmenting feedback channels with recorded data streams that complement whatever is happening to a player in the game."

"May I?" Elke asked, as they came to a halt in the middle of the huge office.

"Of course," said Margo.

Elke smiled at Anne and took up the explanation.  "We can't expect a VR player to really experience what it's like to run a marathon," she said, "but we can take data gathered from an actual runner running an actual marathon and add it to their feedback data stream.  You see?"

Anne nodded.

"Your friend Jodi is engaged in such an endeavor as we speak," Margo said.

"A marathon?" Anne asked.

Margo and Elke laughed.

"You might say," Margo said with a chuckle.  "Jodi's contributing sensory data for a scene in one of our new games, Love Slavers From Beyond, a Space Opera... for mature audiences."

"'Love Slavers...?'" Anne whispered.

"Jodi's helping with an extended... interrogation scene," Elke said.

"Yes... 'helping'," Margo purred.  "We'll watch for a minute or so, then interrupt.  Eve?"

A large silver panel lowered across one wall of the office.  Colors swirled across the panel as the office lighting dimmed.  The colors resolved into a coherent image—and Anne gasped.