_
		DAMSELS UNDER GLASS: THE SERIES
		Kat's Revenge: A Love Story ——————————————————————————— by Van © 2001
		Chapter 12

SEVENTEEN DAYS LATER
EARLY MORNING
THE FIRST DAY OF KAT'S RETURN
TESSERACT HEADQUARTERS CAMPUS
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, USA
MARGO'S WORKING OFFICE

---

Kat entered Margo's office, dressed in a new, skintight, sleeveless catsuit of black, gleaming leather; her long, dark hair loose over her shoulders.  "Mornin' Boss," she purred, bracing herself for the inevitable ebullient greeting and display of affection (which she would endure with feline tolerance (while secretly reveling in Margo's touch)).

Margo continued working at her desktop station.  "Did you really think you would get away with it?" she asked coldly.

Kat froze in mid stride.  "Uh... What?"

"Don't even try," Margo warned, then tapped a final key and looked up.  "Violating my shield order on Jessie and Chelsea is bad enough."  Kat opened her mouth to object and was silenced by an abrupt gesture from her obviously very angry boss.  "I know you didn't touch them, you just let them find Jamie and Penny in, shall we say, compromised states.  That's not the main issue.  You know how I feel about subliminal conditioning.  I've worked very hard to make sure it can't be programmed into any high level protocol of any AI mediated network without tripping alarms.  It's immoral, illegal in every civilized country, and when I have my way, will be a codified Crime Against Humanity!"

Kat swallowed nervously.  "I—"

"Silence!" Margo barked.  "So... every time Penny sees a blue butterfly and Jamie's tied up, Penny will get an uncontrollable urge to tickle the nearest helpless redhead.  How very clever."

"Only a month," Kat objected, "then the research says the suggestion will naturally fade and—"

"I said SILENCE!" Margo shouted.  Employer and bodyguard, friend and companion, regarded each other across the cluttered desk.  Seconds passed as information continued to flash and scroll across the many displays of Margo's private domain.  "I don't have time to deal with you now," Margo said finally, "so I want you to strip and assume the position—" Margo nodded towards the far wall.  "—over there."

Head bowed, Kat walked to the place indicated, removed her catsuit and boots, folded the suit, neatly stacked it atop her boots, then spread her legs, leaned forward, and placed her palms against the mirrored wall.

"Fingers and toes," Margo ordered.

Kat flexed her feet and put her weight on her toes, then spread her fingers and pushed her palms off the wall.  Toes and fingertips were now her only contact with the carpeted floor and mirrored wall.

Margo resumed working.  Kat stared at her own reflection and the office behind her.  Suddenly, a tiny image of Eve-L popped into view directly before Kat's miserable face.  "Nah-nah-n'nah-nah!  Ka-at's in trou-ble!  I told you so," the avatar whispered.

"Unless someone wants to spent the next several trillion, trillion, trillion machine cycles languishing in a cyber dungeon," Margo said without looking up, "someone better get her simulated ass back down to the Katacombs where she belongs."

"How does she do that?" Eve-L asked, and blinked away.

MID AFTERNOON
THE BIOSPHERE

---

Kat wasn't sure how much longer she could take this. 

Hours before, Margo had marched Kat to the site of her punishment and bound her hands behind her back, clamping the naked brunette's fingers, hands, and wrists in what the Inner Circle jokingly called "mutant cuffs".  Such cuffs resembled ski gloves crafted of chromed steel.  They encase each finger and hand in individual channels which, when flooded with quick-setting resin gel, make any movement of the digits impossible.  These particular cuffs were fused palm-to-palm, finger-to-finger, and wrist-to-wrist in one compactly molded, elegantly streamlined package.  To say they were "inescapable" would be a grotesque understatement.

Next, Kat's ankles were clamped in heavy shackles, rigidly joined about an inch apart, then she was made to stand on a glass sphere about the size of a bowling ball.  The ball spun freely on a circular ring of some hard, clear, frictionless material.  It took all of Kat's considerable poise to balance on the smooth, cold glass.  Her toes danced as she struggled to maintain position, to follow Margo's orders.

Margo attached a steel cable to Kat's cuffs... and a motor whined.  Kat was slowly pulled into a very severe strappado: bent at the waist, hands and arms raised towards the ceiling, on tiptoe.  Her toes flexed and her feet danced, but now it was to keep her weight off her shoulders, to keep them from dislocating (not merely to appease Margo).

Next, Margo pulled Kat's hair into a ponytail and passed it through a small steel clamp.  She locked the clamp and used a thin cable to join clamp and cuffs.  The cable tightened and Kat's chin was pulled up, until the tension on her scalp made her wince.  Kat watched in stoic silence as Margo produced a cylindrical object and held it for her inspection, rotating the steel tube until tiny letters were visible.

"Read it!" Margo barked.

Kat recognized the object.  It was an itch gas grenade!  "Mark-III, Model R," she read, "Utricol Aerosol Dispersion Bomb.  Category two riot suppression and crowd control agent.  Warning: prolonged exposure may—"

Margo jerked the grenade from Kat's view, pulled the pin, and thrust it into the squirming prisoner's mouth.  Kat settled the grenade's spoon against her tongue and clamped down on the smooth cylinder with her teeth and lips.

"I know you've used dummy versions of these things before for similar purposes," Margo said coldly, "but I assure you this one is quite genuine."

Margo produced a lipstick, opened it, and wrote something on Kat's forehead.  She then took a step back... Kat heard a quiet rumbling sound... and a thick-walled glass cylinder lowered from the ceiling, sealing her inside... helpless and suffering... on public display... in public disgrace.  She could just make out the concavely distorted reflection of her own grimacing face in the glass.  Reading backwards, she deciphered the single word Margo had written in red on her forehead: "CRIMINAL".

"I have a meeting in Olympia I can't evade," Margo announced, "so you won't be seeing me 'til sometime tomorrow."  (Kat could just hear her glowering tormentor through the glass.)  "I'll take Michelle with me to meet the Governor... as she's the most reliable bodyguard remaining in my employ."

'...remaining in my employ!'  All stoicism abandoned, Kat desperately mewed around her grenade gag... but Margo had already spun on her heel and departed.  Kat was alone... alone...

That had been several miserable hours ago.  Kat's toes, feet, ankles and calves were cramping .  Her shoulders were on fire, as was her aching jaw.  Sweat beaded on her forehead (but failed to wash away the badge of her shame).  Her diaphragm ached from the effort of breathing in her impossible bent position.  It took all of her considerable stamina... every meditative technique she had ever learned... all of her power of will... to not surrender... to not collapse in her bonds, regardless of the consequences.

Kat sensed a presence.  Her green eyes opened and focused.   Elke was standing before Kat's glass prison, dressed in her usual Health Club uniform of leotard and training shoes.  Come to gloat, I suppose, the suffering captive mused.

"Eve," Elke said angrily, "this is too much!  Release her immediately!"

"This is a Red Queen directed punishment," Eve responded.  "I'm powerless to—"

"Haremkeeper override! " Elke commanded.

"I'm sorry," Eve said, "but this circumstance supersedes your authority.  Only Margo—"

Elke was getting furious.  "Eve, if you don't open this cylinder immediately, I'll going back to my gym, get the biggest free weight I can swing, and—"

The glass cylinder enclosing Kat rose into the ceiling.  "I have no choice but to inform Margo of your actions," Eve intoned.

Elke rushed forward and lifted Kat's trembling body with her strong right arm.  "Inform the Pope if you have to," the angry Amazon muttered, unfastening the cable holding the suffering brunette en strappado with her left hand, then cradled the grimacing, moaning prisoner in her strong, tan arms.  "Open these shackles and cuffs," Elke ordered.  Nothing happened.  "Open them!" 

"I have immediate and specific orders just relayed from Red Queen not to release the criminal," Eve said.

"Don't call her that! " Elke snapped, holding Kat in her arms.  "Tell me how to safely get this grenade out of her mouth."

"The Mark-III, Model R has a proximity fail-safe triggered by an encrypted radio signal broadcast by the police officer's badge. " Eve explained.  "This prevents the unexploded grenade from being thrown back at the officer or—"

"Just tell me if it's safe to take the damn thing out of her mouth!" Elke shouted.

"The grenade is now disarmed," Eve answered primly.  "If you leave it at this location, I will dispatch a security robot to deal with it," 

Elke removed the grenade from Kat's mouth.  Still cradling the bound, nude, brunette, she knelt and placed the cylinder on the floor.  It did not begin releasing itch gas.

"You... you'll get in trouble," Kat croaked.  "Put me back.  I'll take my punishment.  She'll send me away!  She'll..."  Tears welled in Kat's eyes.

Elke held Kat close.  "Hush," she whispered.  "Margo won't send you anywhere.  I promise.  Okay?"  Kat swallowed and slowly nodded.  "Okay then," Elke said quietly, and carried her bound, naked burden away.  "Eve," she said in a normal voice as she strode down the mirrored corridor, "if the Royal Bitch wants to know where to find us... I'm taking Kat home."

"Yes Haremkeeper," Eve answered.

ELKE & CHARLIE'S BIOSPHERE APARTMENT

---

Elke carried Kat through the door and deposited the captive on the nest of pillows and cushions of the conversation pit surrounding the apartment's open fireplace.  Exhausted and sore, Kat snuggled into the warm softness and closed her eyes.  She opened them briefly when Elke lay a fleecy throw over her bound, naked body.

The statuesque, blonde Amazon leaned low and kissed Kat's forehead.  "I'll be working at my desk near the kitchen," she whispered.  "If you want or need anything, just ask."

"Elke," Kat said.  "Margo... There's no need for you—"

"Hush," Elke said, kissing Kat's lips.  "Sleep.  Let me worry about Margo."

Unconvinced but too tired to argue, Kat closed her eyes... and drifted away...

She woke some time later as Charlie and Brie entered the apartment.  Both were encumbered by numerous shopping bags filled with groceries.

"Hiya Kat!" Charlie said cheerily, stooping to give the naked captive a peck on the cheek.  The perky scientist then continued towards the kitchen.

Brie's greeting took longer.  She set down her bags, smiled, and sauntered over to the helpless bodyguard.  "Well, well, well...," she purred.  "We have another guest for dinner."  She jerked the throw from Kat's body, exposing Kat's nudity and bonds.  The gloating Latina leaned close and smoothed a few tangled strands of dark hair from the captive's face.  "Maybe we serve you for dessert, eh chica?"  She laughed, kissed Kat's lips, and restored the throw, carefully tucking it around the prostrate prisoner.  "Only kidding," she chuckled, then grew more serious.  "I am sorry Margo is angry with you."

Just then Elke and Charlie entered the conversation pit.  Charlie had a bowl in her hands and a dimpled scowl on her face.  Elke seemed to be the object of her anger.

"I let her sleep," Elke whined in a contrite manner, a sheepish grin on her face.  "That seemed more important."

Charlie sat next to Kat, opposite Brie.  Kat glanced into the bowl and found a white washcloth floating in steaming, soapy water.  Charlie wrung out the cloth.  Lips pursed in concentration, she proceeded to scrub Kat's forehead.  "It was insensitive to leave that mark on her," the frowning pixie grumbled, continuing to wash her helpless guest's brow.  The washcloth came away with red stains and left the water pink when Charlie soaked and wrung the cloth a second time.  Charlie caught Brie's eye, and winked.

"Most insensitive," the now frowning Latina agreed gruffly... then glanced at Charlie, and the two burst into giggling laughter.  Elke shook her head and returned to her desk, muttering under her breath.  This served to double Charlie and Brie's mirth.  Still laughing, Brie retrieved her share of the shopping and headed for the kitchen.

Charlie leaned close to Kat's puzzled face.  "Brie's gonna teach me to cook picadillo and pescado tacos," she said.  "You like Mexican, right?"  Kat turned her head and focused on Brie's retreating back and gracefully swaying derrière.  Charlie giggled.  "The food, I mean.  We all like that kind of Mexican."  The diminutive brunette gathered washcloth and bowl and hurried after her instructor.  "It'll be good!" she promised.

Kat was puzzled.  She expected the others to be teasing her unmercifully at best, torturing her at worst.  She was in disgrace... and she'd done horrible things to them in the past (...excepting Elke, of course).

Just then the door opened and Anne and Jodi jogged in.  Both were clad in running clothes and were panting heavily.  In addition... Jodi's wrists and elbows were tied behind her back with an abundance of cotton rope.  "I told ya... I... could keep... pace," Jodi wheezed.

"I... I think you... have more... experience... running tied up... than not tied up," Anne laughed, still panting.  "Next time... we'll see if you can keep up... with your ankles tied."

"I have experience hopping too," the sweating honey blonde responded... then she noticed Kat.  Smiling like a kitten spying a bowl of cream, Jodi sauntered to the conversation pit and flopped down next to the glowering prisoner.  "Hello Kitty-Kat," she said sweetly.  "When I get untied, ya know what I'm gonna do?  First I'm gonna—M'mmpfh! "

Anne had her hand over the comically mugging Jodi's mouth.  "Don't worry," the grinning lawyer told Kat.  "We'll make sure Jodi has adult supervision 'til Margo lets you out of the doghouse."

Someone (Kat didn't see who) tossed Anne a Standard Inner Circle Ball-gag.  She thrust the gag's rubber ball in Jodi's complaining mouth and buckled the strap.

"Fresh  towels are in the linen closet," Elke called from across the room, "and your clothes bags are hanging behind the bathroom door."

Anne kissed Kat, then hoisted her indignant fellow runner to her feet and dragged Jodi towards the waiting shower.  "How soon do we eat?" she yelled in the direction of the kitchen.

"Two hours," was the chorused answer.  Two hours it may have been, but time passed for Kat in a malaise of depression.  Things happened... but she just didn't care.

After sharing the shower with Jodi, Anne changed into jeans and blouse; however, it was the consensus of the group (with one dissenting vote and Kat abstaining) that Jodi should remain in her birthday suit, "to keep Kat company," as Brie had put it.  Cotton rope was replaced with a single-glove and an elaborate harness of leather straps buckled around the curvaceous aerobics instructor's torso and limbs from throat to ankles.  Otherwise, the Trickster was nude.  "This way she won't be able to harm you," Elke had assured Kat, with a wry grin.

Anne had borrowed one of Charlie's brushes and run it through Kat's hair until it was straight and smooth... drinks were served... the group (excluding the cooks) watched some TV... a complex, delicious aroma wafted from the kitchen (causing Kat's stomach to growl)... and then the meal was ready.

The food was served buffet style, with everyone taking their plates to the conversation pit.  The Inner Circle Sisters not nude and helplessly bound took turns feeding the Sisters who were.  Everything was delicious (Brie was a good teacher and Charlie a better student), but Kat couldn't enjoy herself.  Everyone was friendly, the whole affair being very chatty and "girls'-night-out", but Kat just couldn't get into it.  She chewed and swallowed mechanically, her responses to her Sisters' attempts to draw her out seldom rising above the monosyllabic.

Dessert was Margarita Roulade with Piñon Caramel Sauce and a big, crumbly Apple Tart with Jalapeño.  Even Kat had to admit the Bug had earned her chef's hat with those two—and then it happened—the apartment's main door slid open—Margo marched in.

Margo faced the group with hands on hips—Several mouths hung open—Elke faced her boss with hands on hips—Kat shrunk into the cushions (or tried to anyway)—Silence...

Margo finally spoke.  "What gives you the right to—"

Elke would have none of it.  "What gives you the right to use genuine torture on one of my Sisters?" she demanded.

"You know what she did," Margo muttered.

"Do you know everything she did?" Elke responded, "or were you too angry to check the final logs?  She couldn't go through with it.  She had Evil Eve purge the trigger."

"What difference does that make?" Margo growled.

"Well..." Anne said quietly, "Criminal Law isn't my specialty, but—"

"Never mind!" Margo and Elke said together.

Charlie snuggled protectively close to Kat.  "I'm sure she's sorry," the pouting pixie said.  "Can't you punish her after you've... uh... cooled down a little?"

"Can't she do community service of some sort?" Jodi suggested.  "I have some ideas.   Lots of ideas... actually."

There was a pause... then the entire group convulsed in laughter (Kat excluded).

Margo recovered first.  She stepped around Elke and towered over Kat.  "Well?"  The entire group was abruptly sober.  All eyes were on Kat.

"I... I was wrong," she said.  "After I saw what I'd done to Penny...  I was wrong."

Margo continued staring at Kat for several long, silent seconds.  "Thirty days Biosphere captivity," she said finally, "and Michelle gets your salary, since she'll be doing your job 'til I set you free.  Eve?"

"Yes, Margo?" Eve-Prime answered.

"Kat's restraints are now under the control of the Haremkeeper.  She can change them whenever she chooses, she can even further delegate control to other Sisters, but you are to monitor all activities and Black Knight is to be restrained at all times!  Is that understood?"

"Understood," Eve and Elke responded in unison.

"And Eve, you're to educate the prisoner about the threat of AI-mediated subliminal conditioning, the danger it poses to individual liberty and human rights.  As many hours as it takes until she can pass a detailed, philosophical, political, and technical oral exam... which will be administered by me."

"Yes, Margo," Eve intoned.

"Kat's gonna be a prisoner for a month?" Jodi exclaimed.  "Can I help?  ...seriously!"

"Where's that gag?" Anne muttered.

The group laughed.  Without another word, Margo spun on her heel and stalked out the door.  Kat gazed at her boss' back as she exited the apartment.  She... she's not sending me away, the bound bodyguard thought.  Tears welled in her eyes... and she started sobbing.

The laughter died, and the group stared at the weeping Kat. 

Jodi reacted first, rolling and wiggling in her bonds until she was next to her bound Sister.  "It's only a month," she said quietly.  "You can do it on your head... not that we'd hang you up by your heels... not for a whole month anyway." 

The Trickster's manner was so sincere, even Kat was touched.  "I'm okay now," she mumbled.

Elke scooped Kat into her arms.  "Bedtime for my new prisoner," she announced and headed for the bedroom.  "Keep the noise down out here," she cautioned the remaining Sisters, "or it'll be gags all around."

Elke pulled back the covers of the oversize bed she shared with Charlie and lay Kat in the center.  Kat nestled her weary head against the pillows and watched as the tall, muscular Health Club Director peeled off her leotard.

"I've never told you how beautiful you are," Kat mumbled.

Elke smiled.  "I've never told you how much I admire your poise and grace, your skill in combat, your spirit as a warrior... your beauty."

Her eyes still wet with tears, Kat's lips curled in a wry smile.  "Some people just can't take a compliment," she muttered. 

"Yeah," Elke agreed, climbed onto the bed next to Kat and pulling the covers up to both their chins. "...some people."

The lights went out and Kat stared up at the dark ceiling.  "I... I don't understand," she said.  "I've always been mean to them... cruel... to them all.  I never—"

"You've never let anyone inside," Elke said kindly, "have you?"

"Only Margo," Kat whispered, "...and then Jamie, and now you.  Lourdes..."

"Lourdes is your friend, but you've kept her at arm's length," Elke suggested.

"And she's never complained," Kat whispered.  "She never even—um!"  Kat couldn't go on.  Uncontrollable sobs racked her body.  Tears rolled down her face.

Elke held Kat close in her strong arms, letting her cry.

When the sobs finally subsided, Elke conjured a tissue and cleaned her prisoner's face.  "Like it or not," she said, "the Inner Circle's a family... and our love is unconditional."  She held Kat close and kissed her cheek.  "I'm afraid you're stuck with us... even Jodi."  Elke continued to hold Kat close until they both fell asleep.

Some time later Kat snapped awake—then relaxed.  Charlie had entered the bedroom and was peeling off her clothes.  The bed shook slightly as the diminutive pixie climbed under the covers and snuggled close to Kat's unoccupied side.

Charlie leaned over Kat's bound, supine body and kissed Elke.  "G'night," Charlie whispered.  "Love you."  The blonde Amazon smiled, stirring slightly in her sleep.  Charlie then kissed Kat.  "G'night.  Love you too, Kitty-Kat.   We all do."  Charlie yawned... and snuggled even closer. 

Soon, from her breathing, Kat could tell that like her Amazon lover, the precious Bug was fast asleep.  Kat lay in the bed, safe and warm in Elke's and Charlie's arms.  A single tear rolled down her left cheek.  "G'night," she whispered... and closed her eyes.