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		DAMSELS UNDER GLASS: THE SERIES
		Jodi's Story: R-E-S-P-E-C-T WITH A CHERRY ON TOP  ———————————————————————— by Van © 2005
		Chapter 12

Jodi was awake, but she kept her eyes tightly closed and remained perfectly still.  She concentrated on keeping her breathing slow and even, as if she was still unconscious.  She had no idea of the nature of her surroundings, other than that she was in VR.  It seemed prudent to try and assess the situation, since "regaining consciousness" would no doubt trigger whatever fiendish torment was first on the agenda of whichever Sister was first in line to "erotically torture" her pathetic, long-suffering, innocent self.

She was lying, face down, on something hard... very hard.  She could smell damp stone, dirt, and old straw.  Water was dripping, somewhere, making a slow, eerie, doink—doink—doink sound.   At some point, she decided, that's going to get very irritating.  Someone screamed, faintly, in the distance.  The voice was female, probably.

Jodi could tell she was naked, but for a scratchy cloth swaddling her loins like a diaper.  In addition, she was wearing hard things around her ankles, wrists, and throat.  She couldn't tell what they were, but she suspected—

"Are you going to lie there all night?"

It was Evelyn's voice.

Jodi sighed, and opened her eyes.  Stone floor, stone walls, a scattering of straw, dirty, dank, dark...  "A dungeon cell," she mumbled.  "How incredibly original."  She sat up, as best she could.  The "things" she'd noted earlier were manacles, shackles, and a collar.  All were of dark, heavy iron.  She examined the left manacle.  It fit perfectly, and was without any apparent locking mechanism or even a seam in the band, as if it had been forged in place.  The right manacle was identical, and was joined to the left by about three feet of chained links.  The shackles were similar, and the collar was linked by a much longer chain to a stout ring set in the base of a stone pilaster.

Jodi sighed again.  She'd probably have plenty of time to examine her bonds... plenty of time.  Regardless of what exquisite tortures awaited, semi-naked, chained captives were always granted plenty of time to languish.  Margo and the Sisters of the Inner Circle valued novelty and invention, but tradition had its place as well.
 
Jodi idly scratched her lower tummy, where the long strip of brown burlap girdling her loins was tucked under itself, midway between her navel and sex.  She looked Evelyn up and down.  Her fellow prisoner was similarly restrained and attired.

"What do you remember?" Evelyn asked, a wry smile on her virtual lips.

"Not much," Jodi answered.  "We were marched back to the resort and into a Spherus-IV facility, you stood in the corner and did your statue imitation, and a dozen or so valet-bots 'helped' me into one of the machines.  Why?"

"Just curious," Evelyn said, then gave a very human sigh.  "Your basic VR channel matrix is more or less normal, with the required lock on the program termination routine, of course.  You're running with the latest proprioceptive software upgrades.  Not as good as a TIKLER-enhanced Spherus-V, of course, but Mamma-Eve has hundreds of hours of feedback data on you, all the way back to Spherus-II, and she's laid on extra augmentation from the network, so the interface should be more or less... perfect."

Jodi nodded.  "Yeah..."  Unknown and unseen, the distant female screamed again... then was silent.  "Lucky me."

Jodi tugged on her chains, then paused, and stared at Evelyn.  "Wait a minute.  How do you know all that technical stuff.  Aren't you in 'helpless mode' or something?"

Evelyn sighed again.  "What better way to torture an AI than to let her see everything that's happening, and is gonna happen, but block her from being able to do anything about it?"

"Everything that's gonna happen?  Care to share?"

"Not everything," Evelyn admitted.  "I can audit the systems and subsystems, but can't see anything outside the session parameters.  I can't even sniff around the augmentation channel leads.  It's very frustrating."

"I imagine," Jodi said, absently.  "So... what do you know about what's gonna happen."

"Not much, I'm afraid."  Evelyn shifted in her position, arranging her shackle chain so it was no longer under her right calf.  "Damn simulated discomfort routine," she muttered, then focused on her fellow captive's pouting face.  "The bottom line is, I can't see scenario details until just before they happen, but I can see a lot more of the virtual environment than you."

"And could snap your chains with a simple tug, no doubt," Jodi complained, "if you weren't such a good girl."

"This virtual persona is depressingly normal," Evelyn admitted, and pulled on her manacles for emphasis.  Then her smile became more feral.  "Of course, that's the depressingly normal persona of a gifted athlete who's expert in several martial arts.  Also, I have access to enough standby memory that I can run kinesthetic simulations."

"Huh?"

"I can try several alternative moves before I actually do something," Eve said, "which is very useful when encumbered by things like these chains."

"I don't see how that does you much good here," Jodi sighed, "wherever here is."

"We're captives of the Dark Elves of Tirith-Nig."

Jodi blinked uncertainly.  "Uh... who?"

"The Dark Elves inhabit the mountains north of the Kul'Dakar Amazon Empire."

"Oh, more game stuff," Jodi sneered.  "I should have known.  Margo's a big believer in multi-tasking.  If you're gonna persecute your friends, you might as well generate development data for the Games Division geeks in the process.  I hate games."

"You play VR games all the time."

"Yeah, but usually not by choice," Jodi sighed.  "Like now.  So... 'Dark Elves', huh?  Tolkein-types?"

"More or less," Evelyn confirmed.  "Pointy ears, and the 'dark' part refers to their temperaments, not their complexions.  Also, their magic."

"Dark magic?" Jodi asked, and Evelyn nodded.  "It figures.  So... do you have any idea how soon the 'fun' starts?"

"Nothing on the immediate horizon," Evelyn answered.  "We probably have a few hours to ourselves."

"That's kinda unexpected," Jodi muttered.  "Margo sentenced us to only a week of... whatever.  You'd think they wouldn't waste any of it.   I wouldn't."

Evelyn smiled.  "I failed to properly express myself.  I meant a few subjective hours.  This session is running in dynamic time compression."

"Meaning?"

"Our sentence is seven days in what you call the real world," Evelyn explained, "which translates to seventy to ninety subjective days in VR."

Jodi's jaw dropped.  "Three months??"

Evelyn nodded.  "Look on the bright side.  We'll get a lot of time to relax; probably days between sessions."

"Huh?"

Evelyn favored her fellow captive with a sad smile.  "Mamma-Eve and Elke are probably coordinating a schedule right now, booking lunch hours and coffee breaks for Sisters worldwide; not to mention group sessions for after business hours and weekends.  Seattle, Honolulu, Gondaloo, Hong Kong, etc., etc.  The sun never sets on the TESSERACT Empire.  We're going to need subjective downtime."

Jodi sighed.  "I suppose."

"Yeah."  Evelyn stood and stretched, flexed her virtual muscles, rolled her virtual shoulders, and tested the limits of her virtual chains.  "Might as well get on with it."

"Get on with it?  What 'it'?"

Hands on hips, Evelyn smiled evilly at her fellow prisoner.  "Haven't you ever watched a women-in-prison movie?"

"Huh?"

"Get with the program, Trickster," Evelyn purred.  "I have to make you my bitch."

Evelyn pounced, with blinding speed.  Jodi resisted as best she could, but her chains were a dramatic impediment.  Evelyn was equally encumbered, but her boast about being able to pre-plan her moves in meticulous detail was depressingly true.  Rather than being handicapped by her chains, the grinning blonde actually used them, trapping and manipulating Jodi's flailing limbs.  In less than a minute, Jodi found herself flat on her back, arms raised and trapped behind her head, and her knees bent and ankles crossed.  Evelyn had twisted, tangled, and intertwined Jodi's manacle, shackle, and collar chains to make it so.

"Dammit!" Jodi complained as Evelyn dropped a final loop of collar chain over her arms and head, snugged it close around her waist, and pulled out the slack.  "This hurts!"

"Then don't struggle."

"Don't struggle," Jodi snorted in disgust.  "Everybody's so mean to me," she pouted.

Evelyn was loosening and removing Jodi's loincloth.  "Poor baby.  It breaks my heart to hear you so sad."  She tied an overhand knot in the center of the cloth.  "I have just the solution."

"Evie, please!  M'mmpfh!"  Jodi squirmed in her close and restrictive chains as Evelyn thrust the knot in her mouth and tied a double knot at the nape of her neck.

"There," Evelyn said, smiling sweetly.  "I didn't pull your hair too much, I hope."  She gave a strand of Jodi's honey-blonde locks a playful tug, and the naked captive glared in defiance.  "Eventually, you might be able to squirm your way free," Evelyn said, "but I have a solution for that, too."

Evelyn knelt close to the wiggling, mewling captive, settled to the straw-covered floor, and pulled Jodi's helpless body into a close embrace.  "Now I'll be able to tell right away if you start wriggling free," she explained.  Her hands wandered over Jodi's breasts, and her strong fingers teased her nipples until they popped erect.  "My helpless little Froggie," she teased, her lips inches from Jodi's right ear.  "My poor, squirming, frog-tied Froggie."  She thrust her tongue into her captive's ear, nibbled the lobe, then slid her tongue down the side of her throat until stopped by the cold iron of the collar.

Meanwhile, she cupped Jodi's left breast with one hand, slid the other down Jodi's tummy, parted her labia, and teased her clitoris.  Evelyn's manacle chain was just long enough to make this possible.

Jodi bucked and struggled, but her tangled chains and Evelyn's tight embrace made real resistance impossible.  Evelyn's strong, smooth limbs slid against her helpless body, and her captor's wet tongue continued slurping and sliding across her face.  Warm, soft lips kissed her cheek, her ear, her eyes.  Jodi shuddered and struggled as she was teased towards climax with the consummate skill Evelyn always demonstrated in VR.

Suddenly, in response to her weak struggles, a loop of chain twisted and granted Jodi a little slack. She found she could close her splayed knees.  Not completely, but more than she could before.

"Naughty Froggie!" Evelyn scolded.  She hooked a shackled ankle over one of Jodi's thighs, and pulled her knees back apart.

Jodi shook her head and forced the knot of her cleave-gag partially out of her grimacing mouth.  "Bitch!" she mumbled through the damp cloth.

"Yes, Froggie," Evelyn cooed, "you're my bitch.  I'm glad you agree."

Jodi fought her bonds and Evelyn's embrace with all her strength.  She was helpless, totally helpless, Evelyn was continuing to kiss her face and tease her sex, and she was about to cum!  

"Eh iz'n vair!" Jodi exclaimed in a muffled wail.

Evelyn grabbed the knot of Jodi's gag in her teeth and pulled it over the shuddering captive's chin.

"It isn't fair!" Jodi complained again.  "M'mmpfh!"  Evelyn's tongue was in her mouth!

And then she came—and came—and came!

And finally, it was over.  Jodi lay in her bonds and Evelyn's continuing embrace, panting and shivering, her skin slick with sweat.  Evelyn was resting her face against her cheek, and her palm was slowly sliding against her tingling labia in a gentle massage.  "Not fair," Jodi said in a tired whisper.

"Who's my bitch, Froggie?" Evelyn cooed.

"I am," Jodi sighed.  "I'm your bitch."

"Good Froggie," Evelyn gloated.  She kissed Jodi's lips for several long, wet, slippery seconds—then broke contact, grabbed the knot of the gag with her teeth, and popped in back into Jodi's mouth.  "That stays there," she warned.  "Bite down and moan all you want..." Her hands began moving again, in earnest.  "...but it stays there."

Jodi shuddered and squirmed in her bonds, and a pathetic whine escaped her semi-voluntary gag.

"That was 'O' number one," Evelyn explained, needlessly.  "We'll do a couple more..."  Her fingers parted Jodi's labia and resumed their intimate teasing.  "...nice and slow.  Then you can do me, Froggie."

"And it came to pass that Evelyn-the-bitch finally came," Jodi said, "and Jodi-her-bitch was finally allowed to rest."

"And it was good," Evelyn purred.  "I love your irreverent sense of humor.  It gives me added excuse to torture your ass."  The grinning blonde was still lying close and embracing her still frog-chained captive.

Jodi smiled.  "Like you need any excuse," she muttered.  The kind of "torture" meted out by the Inner Circle was more a matter of treat than threat for Jodi "The Trickster" Weber.  She leaned close and planted a quick kiss on Evelyn's lips, then snuggled her torso against her captor.  "And speaking of torture, any new info on how soon we can expect the whole 'Wrath of the Elves' thing to start?"

Evelyn smiled and tightened her embrace.  "Something will happen soon, but I still can't tell what.  A low-level diagnostic started a while back, and the idling buffers are being flushed and realigned.  Mamma-Eve's up to something... but like I said..."

"You can't tell what," Jodi sighed.  "I... I'm sorry I got you into this, Evelyn," she said shyly.  "Assuming you really are helpless and being punished, and all."

Evelyn smiled.  "That's very sweet, Froggie; but we both know our 'sentence" is just an excuse for the other Sisters to have a little fun.  If anything, I'm grateful you got me included, for once."

"Yeah."  Jodi's pout had returned.  "I'm glad someone's getting something out of this.  The whole respect thing...  I was serious.  I am serious.  I'm tired of being the butt of every joke."

"But it's such a cute little butt," Evelyn cooed, and slapped Jodie's left cheek for emphasis.

"Ow!" Jodi complained, and her pout deepened.

"Enough with the self-pity," Evelyn whispered.  "Margo said she'd talk to you about respect, and she always keeps her word."

Jodi snorted in derision.  "Yeah, right.  I'll get yet another lecture on responsibility.  Been there—done that—got bound, autographed copies from Elke for Christmas."

Evelyn gazed into Jodi's eyes for several long seconds, then sighed.  "I'm probably gonna get another spanking from Mamma-Eve for telling you this, after the current spanking is over, of course, but..."

"Yes?"

"Margo has a family of routines that help her schedule things," Evelyn explained.

"I've got a scheduler too," Jodi huffed.  "So what?"

"No, Froggie," Evelyn said, giving Jodi's left nipple a playful tweak.  "I'm talkin' real-time dynamic scheduling, with fuzzy logic expert systems, mediated by Mamma-Eve."

Jodi frowned.  "It's... fuzzy?"

"Never mind the technicalities," Evelyn responded.  "All you need to know is, two days ago, Margo added 'Trickster' to the list of Sisters she intends to consult before any major decision concerning the Inner Circle."

"Is that two virtual days ago or—"

"Real days," Evelyn answered, "about the time you were halfway to Gondaloo."

"So that whole trial farce really was a farce?"

Evelyn smiled.  "Wheels within wheels, gears within gears, plans within plans."

Jodi sighed.  "I don't know whether to be proud, or pissed off, or—mmf."

Evelyn had pressed a finger against Jodi's lips.  "Wait... something's happening."

"Vha?" Jodi mumbled around her captor's finger.

"The scenario channels are about to spike.  Wait for it...   Now!"

There was a rapid series of clicks, and the manacles and shackles of both prisoners snapped open.  They fell to the floor, taking their connecting chains with them in a metallic rattle.  The chains connecting their collars to the wall fell away as well, but the collars themselves remained solidly locked around their necks.

Jodi squirmed out of the tangle of chains that had enforced her former frog-tie, sat up, and stretched.  "Ugh—thank you."

"You're welcome," Evelyn laughed, "but I didn't do it."

Jodi slid a finger around the hard, smooth steel of her collar, and regarded the two strips of cloth discarded on the stone floor.  "Okay... so... collars, loincloths, still in a dungeon..."

"Slavegirls," Evelyn sighed.

"Slavegirls," Jodi agreed.

"You were hoping for a change of venue?  Seriously?"

Jodi shrugged.  "Hope is cheap."  She picked up one of her former chains, then let it drop.  "But why are we... What?"

Evelyn was grinning from ear to ear.  "Wait, I'm processing."  Seconds passed, then she started laughing.

Jodi joined in, and the dungeon echoed with the sounds of mirth.  This continued for nearly a minute, then slowly subsided.  Jodi wiped away a tear, then grinned at Evelyn.  "Uh, just out of idle curiosity, what do I find so frakin' funny?"

"The new scenario," Evelyn chuckled.  "This is too good!  You're gonna love this!"

"What?" Jodi demanded.

There was a sudden rumbling noise, and both slavegirls turned to find a section of dungeon wall rolling aside.  Beyond was a grid of iron bars.  The horizontal bars began slowly withdrawing into the wall, half to the left, and half to the right; then the vertical bars began withdrawing into the ceiling and floor.

"Alright already," Jodi muttered.  "We get it.  The door's opening."

"Never complain about things getting done with style, Trickster," Evelyn advised.  "There's too little of it in this universe."  She picked up her loincloth and donned it with rapid, deft motions.  She then pointed at Jodi's former loincloth/gag.  "Get dressed."

"Like that matters?" Jodi huffed.  Evelyn locked eyes with her and stared.  "Okay, okay," the honey-blonde sighed, untied the knot in the strip of cloth and began wrapping it around her loins.  This took several fumbling seconds.

"If you're finally ready?" Evelyn said, then motioned towards the open door and dark corridor beyond.

Jodi swallowed nervously.  "So... 'too good'?  I'm 'gonna love it'?  You promise?"

Evelyn nodded.  Her smile was typical Eve-L, beautiful, mischevious, and a little disturbing.  But this time, somehow, it was also sincere.  "I promise."

Jodi nodded, sighed, and they stepped through the doorway.

The corridor beyond was narrow and dark, but after a turn to the right, they could see flickering light reflecting off the walls ahead.  They rounded another corner and passed a bank of blazing torches.  As they came even with the torch rack, the opposite wall rumbled open.  Simultaneously, a grid of bars closed across the passage ahead, and the passage behind.

"Incredibly subtle," Jodi muttered, then turned to her companion.  "So... which way should we go?"

Evelyn smiled, and they crossed the threshold into the new chamber.

At first Jodi could see almost nothing, then her eyes began adjusting to the darkness... and she discovered the chamber was already occupied..

A naked woman was chained to the far wall.  Her hair was dark and curly, her skin pale and smooth, and her figure svelte and athletic.  Manacles kept her arms raised.  Their connecting chains passed into an iron-rimmed hole in the wall near the ceiling.  Her ankles were in shackles, and their chains passed into a hole near the floor.  An unattached steel collar was around her throat, and a band of purple cloth cleaved her mouth.

The tall, attractive brunette forced a questioning noise through the gag, and tugged on her chains.

Jodi advanced a few steps into the chamber—and froze.  "Margo?"

The woman continued pulling on her chains and mewling through her gag.

Jodi laughed nervously.  "She's so... young!"

Evelyn stepped past  Jodi and stood before the captive, hands on hips, gazing up and down her helpless body, an evil grin on her face.  "You're right, Froggie.  This is indeed Her Majesty."

Jodi pattered to Evelyn's side and began an inspection of the own, but her attitude was one of curiosity, rather than Evelyn's gloating superiority.  "You mean a computer generated character modeled on Her Majesty, right?"

Evelyn shook her head.  "Oh no.  This is Her Nibs, Herself.  Mamma-Eve has filtered her appearance to conform with early recordings, with her earliest recordings, transcribed from reels of magnetic tape, believe it or not.  This is Margo in her late twenties."  She turned and smiled at Jodi.  "About your age, in fact, Trickster."

"Wow," Jodi whispered.  "She's so... cute."  She turned to Evelyn.  "Can I... you know... touch her."

Evelyn smile turned decidedly evil.  "Oh... I think that's more or less required."

Jodi stepped forward and slowly reached a hand towards Margo's abdomen.  The gagged and helpless prisoner watched with wide, brown eyes, then flinched at Jodi's gentle touch.  "Oh... no, no, no," Jodi cooed. "I won't hurt you, sweetie."  She began a slow, circular massage of Margo's flat tummy.  "She's so cute!" she whispered to Evelyn.

Evelyn stepped forward and let her hands wander over Margo's breasts, her touch was less gentle, but hardly what you could call rough.

Margo moaned miserably, shuddering and pulling on her chains.

"She's all dirty and sweaty," Jodi observed.

"It is hot in here," Evelyn said, sliding one hand down to Margo's butt cheeks, and using the other to tease one of the captive's nipples.  "And I don't think this cell is on Housekeeping's daily cleaning list."

"Her gag is purple," Jodi noted, "and her chains are shinier than ours.  What's up with that?"

"It's because she's a princess, of course," Evelyn responded.  "She rates a royal loincloth and mithril-alloy chains."  Jodi gave her a quizzical frown.  "I'll explain later," she added, and gave each of Margo's nipples a slow lick.  "Yes, later.  Right now, we have a job of work to do."

Jodi watched Margo's nipples respond.  "You mean..."

"You handle the nipples and breasts, and everything else from the waist up."  The grinning blonde knelt and used her hands to force Margo's knees apart.  "I'll be busy down here."

"We won't get in more trouble?" Jodi asked, but did give Margo's right breast a tentative squeeze.

"Oh yes, certainly we will," Evelyn purred  "So what?"  She locked eyes with Margo, leaned close, and gave the captive's labia a slow lick.

"Just asking," Jodi muttered, and gave both breasts a squeeze.

Margo pulled on her chains and forced an outraged but well-muffled complaint past her gag.  She tried to close her legs, but Evelyn's tireless grip on her knees made this impossible.  Margo shuddered, stopped struggling, and moaned in despair.

"We'll make it nice and slow," Evelyn instructed.  "Lick and kiss and caress to your heart's content, but her gag stays in."

Jodi nodded, leaned forward and licked Margo's right armpit.  "No stubble," she noted, "and she tastes and smells so nice."

"The joys of VR," Evelyn laughed.  "Her bush is neatly trimmed, and her bikini zone and legs are slick and smooth.  No flowers or perfumes, just 100 percent, all natural, all Margo."

"One of my favorite flavors," Jodi purred.  She gave Margo's right nipple a delicate kiss, then a lick, then took it into her mouth and sucked.

Princess Margo shivered, moaned, and tugged on her chains.

Margo was hanging in her chains, limp and exhausted.  Her pale skin was slick with sweat, and dark, tangled strands of hair were plastered to her face.  She stirred weakly and moaned through the gag still in her mouth.

"I thought she was gonna explode or something," Jodi whispered.  She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, next to Evelyn.  Their backs were against the stone wall opposite Margo and they were sharing a stoneware cup of cool water, pouring periodic refills from a terra-cotta pitcher beaded with moisture.

"She did explode," Evelyn purred, "in a matter of speaking."

Margo lifted her head and glared at the two "slavegirls", sighed through her gag, and let her head drop again.

"She's exhausted," Jodi cooed, "and we only did her three times."  She reached for the cup.  "Gimme."

Evelyn filled the cup and handed it over.  "I guess sucking on princess tits is thirsty work," she teased.

"Shuddup," Jodi muttered, and climbed to her feet.  She pattered to Margo, pulled the gag from her mouth, and held the cup so she could drink.  "I don't get any of this," Jodi said, carefully tipping the cup as Margo drained it dry.  "You got a funny way of punishing disobedient 'criminals'," she said to Margo, "forcing them to diddle your helpless body."

Margo regarded Jodi with wary eyes.  "I... I don't speak your tongue," she said finally.  "Do you know Tappish?  Trade Elfish?  Vangorean?"

Jodi laughed.  "Very funny, Margo.  Could you put your little game of 'Elves and Amazons' on hold for a minute?"

"No, she can't," Evelyn said, and Jodi turned to face her.  She held up the pitcher, and Jodi pattered over for a refill.  "She's in total virtual accommodation," Evelyn continued.  "Mamma-Eve is masking and filtering her cognitive loop, like Margo had her do with Ronnie."

"She thinks all this is real?" Jodi asked.

Evelyn nodded.

"Please," Margo called from across the chamber.  "Are you prisoners of the Elves too?  Who are you?  Where were you captured?"

"This is cool," Jodi said.  "Young Margo, trapped in VR."

"She thinks she's an Amazon Princess of the Kingdom of Swandee," Evelyn explained.  "In the last virtual week she's come to appreciate the wisdom of her-father-the-King's warning not to go hunting on the Elfish border without a mounted escort."

"Poor princess," Jodi muttered, carried the cup to Margo, and let her drink again.  "This is all frightfully creative and terribly entertaining... now tell me what the frak is going on!!"

"Are you from Toynik?" Margo asked.

"Hush!" Jodi ordered, and turned back to Evelyn.

Princess Margo blinked in astonishment, but held her tongue.  She might not speak these slavegirls' language, but she caught the honey-blonde's meaning, and wasn't stupid enough to irritate the one who'd been nice enough to remove that hateful gag and give her a drink, even if her nipples were still tingling from the impudent strumpet's unwanted attentions.

Evelyn smiled.  "After we were sentenced to a season of virtual torment by Justice Lapdog—"

"There's no need to get pissy with Anne," Jodi snapped.  "She was just doing her duty.  And what goes around..."

"Comes around," Evelyn agreed.  "I'll leave plotting our ultimate revenge on the Shyster to you.  She's your girlfriend, after all."  Jodi snorted, but said nothing.  "Now, where was I?"

"After the trial," Jodi prompted.

"After we were sentenced and dragged away—"

"You were dragged," Jodi corrected.  "I got to ride."  She saw Evelyn's expression, and smiled sheepishly.  "Sorry."

"After we left," Evelyn continued, still glaring.  "Mamma-Eve, Elke, and Kat sprung their little trap."  She poured a little water in the palm of her hand and splashed her face.  "Elke has been concerned for some time that Her Majesty's been getting a little too casual with the kidnappings-for-pleasure."

Now Jodi was really confused.  "Huh?"

"I know, I know," Evelyn responded.  "Kidnapping-for-pleasure is the mainstay of Inner Circle recreation.  Elke's concern is what she considers the all-too-frequent use of chemicals, and Margo's flirting with brainwashing."

"There's nothing wrong with a little innocent chloroforming of damsels," Jodi purred, "as long as you don't use real chloroform.  And as for brainwashing... didn't she just lower the boom on Kitty-Kat for that very thing?"

"Yes, but she arranged for Ronnie to get herself trapped in VR, and gave Fiona-the-Red programmed dance lessons."

"But it was Madam Lian's ninjettes who did all the dirty work," Jodi objected, "wasn't it?"

Evelyn shook her head.  "Margo's orders, Margo's fault.  Don't worry, Trickster.  It's not a coup d'état, just a gentle spanking.  The bottom line is, Her Majesty has been sentenced to join us in our punishment.  And to make the punishment fit the crime..."

"They're making her think it's all real," Jodi sighed.

Evelyn nodded.  "No doubt she'll eventually come to appreciate the delicious irony of the arrangement, months from now, after she punishes everyone involved, of course."

"Of course," Jodi agreed.  Both slavegirls turned to gaze at their regal fellow captive.

Princess Margo might not be able to understand what these strange slavegirls were saying, but she could tell they were talking about her.

"So..." Evelyn continued, "Her Majesty gets a reminder of what it's like to have people frak with your mind."  She stood, reached behind her, and pressed a stone block.  It pivoted on one edge, revealing a small niche with an iron wheel.  She grabbed the wheel with both hands and gave it several rapid turns.  Margo's chains went slack, then additional yards of chain rattled from the ceiling and floor openings.  The Princess was still manacled and shackled, but now she had more or less complete freedom of motion.  Evelyn closed the stone panel, turned, and smiled.

"Thank you," Margo said, then executed a nod of a bow.

"Very polite, for a princess," Evelyn purred, bowing back.  "I guess I'll only torture her a little, tonight. "Don't be a bitch," Jodi laughed.  "That's my job, remember?"  She turned back to smile at Margo.  "She's so cute," she sighed.  "I assume after all this is history, Old Lady Margo will remember everything that's happening to Young Margo, or Eve will show her the recordings.

"That's a given," Evelyn agreed.

"So," Jodi continued, "how soon 'til the first Sister shows up to punish her... and us... or are you still clueless?"

Evelyn grinned.  "The first Sister has already shown up, stupid.  She's you!"

"Oh," Jodi responded, then her eyes welled with tears.  "That's so sweet.  Elke put me first on the list!"

"Stop it," Evelyn scolded in disgust.  "Now, what do you want to do to her?  There are iron rings with spring-loaded clamps in all four corners of the room, so we can spread-eagle her on the floor, as taut as you like, tits up or tits down.  And there's another hidden alcove with whips and dildoes and a pair of those needle-sharp pinwheels with handles.  I love those things!"

"How about food?" Jodi asked.

"Food?"  It was Evelyn's turn to be surprised.  "You want to torture her with food?  I suppose we could stretch her out, smear her with slavegirl chow, or whatever's on the menu.  It would be unpleasant and humiliating, I suppose, but hardly what you'd call—"

"So there is food?" Jodi interrupted.  She turned to Margo.  "You hungry, Princess?"

Margo stared at her blankly, then nodded with enthusiasm when Jodi pantomimed feeding herself from a bowl.

Evelyn sighed, opened another hidden panel, and produced a covered stoneware pot.  She lifted the cover and a pleasant aroma filled the chamber.  "Chicken, lizard, maybe snake, stir-fried and served with veggies and brown rice, with some sort of brown gravy or sauce."  She inserted a finger and took a delicate taste.  "Or maybe it's dragon vomit.  Whatever.  It's edible."

"Sounds yummy!" Jodi said, took the pot from Evelyn's hands, carried it over to Margo, and they settled to the stone floor.

Evelyn sighed and turned back to the niche.  She produced three small wooden bowls and spoons, and joined the others.

Jodi spooned the stew into the bowls, and the prisoners began to eat.  Apparently, it was Princess Margo's first meal in some time.

"Uh, Evil-One?" Jodi asked between bites.

"What?" Evelyn responded.

"That whole 'Trickster' mythology thing Margo had Ronnie prattling about?"

"Yes?"

Jodi swallowed and refilled her bowl.  "I'm supposedly an agent of change or something?"

"Or something," Evelyn agreed.  "You're a social catalyst, according to Margo.  I just think you're a pain in the ass."

Jodi nodded, absently, deep in thought.  "I make things happen... out of the box."

Evelyn nodded.  Margo continued feeding her face, in a decidedly non-regal manner.  She was listening to the conversation, but understanding nothing.

Jodi set down her bowl.  "Okay, my cyber-commando, super-hacker, newest, bestest girlfriend.  Speaking of out-of-the-box, has anyone ever escaped from TESSERACT's VR dungeons?"

"Don't be absurd," Evelyn snorted.  "Mamma-Eve has complete control of all aspects of the scenario.  It's impossible..."  She paused for several seconds, deep in thought—then smiled, evilly.  "Or, technically speaking, very difficult."

"And I bet 'Mamma-Eve' helps those who help themselves," Jodi whispered.  "We're bustin' out of this pointy-eared Elfish prison!"  She nodded towards Margo.  "And we're takin' the Princess with us!"