<Unknown Research Facility Micro Inc.>

“Carbon Fiber Infusion complete sir.”  Says a scientist covered in gore as the modified heat-sealing machine chirped and the smoking needles slowly pulled out of the girl in the murky dark liquid.

The machines continued to wind down until nothing but the sound of the two scientists breath filled the room. “Do we use the paddles, sir?”

“No Franklin, this one is up to her. She either comes back on her own or not at all”

<Stephanie>

I woke with a start. I was in a recovery bay back at Micro Inc., but I couldn’t move an inch. I tried to speak or move but the only thing I could do was blink.  I looked at my narrow field of vision to assess the situation. I was either in a full body cocoon or paralyzed or some combination of both. I couldn’t feel anything minus the cool breeze that was blowing onto my eyes.   I was cold all over. I knew that the operating rooms were kept at 67 so bacteria didn’t spread but I shouldn’t be this cold. The white of the ceiling shifted and I recognized the broken bits of the suit stuck to it. I knew that ass. It was mine. This was the dream that I had had for every night for the last six months, but from a different perspective. I felt myself being raised up and then cold as my ass pushed against my face and then darkness.  This isn’t happening I thought to myself. I could smell the salt of Keyla’s blood, mixed with my sweat, and arousal. I felt the world shift underneath me and weightless enveloped me as I was falling towards the stool. A guttural crunch filled my ears and blinding white pain coursed through me as my weight pulverized me. The world shifted again my ass was pushing me against the fiber of the shorts. The itchy cloth was shredding my skin and then I was being squished against my self as big me went to slam into the chair. I slammed into the chair and then my ass slammed into me. I hear the cracking from the video. But every sound sends a wave of pain through me. This isn’t how its suppose to be.

I want to pinch myself. To tell myself this is a dream, but I can’t move. The only thing that I know is real is the 161 pounds of ass above me, and the pain searing my veins. I feel myself lifting off again. My legs make the sucking mud sound as my ass disconnects from the seat. I only have to survive one more.

But everything freezes. The pressure, the pain, the smell. Suspended in animation.

I start to wonder if this is hell, to relive one your greatest highs over and over again, but from the point of the victim.

Things move in slow motion. I feel the chair come back underneath and I lie there counting the milliseconds of the video in my head compared to the minutes that this dream is moving in. My right hip connects with my legs and moving down at the rate of millimeters per hour but I can feel the weight behind it. I hear the squelch as the bottom of the suit crushes anything below my stomach into paste. And then my neck snaps to the side as my left ass cheek presses into my skull. The pain in my head is increasing ten fold as my skull crumples in on itself and I go to scream in agony…

A shrill screech pieces through the fog and I snap awake tearing through restraints and opening my eyes. I’m in the Micro Inc. Operating Room. Tubes running from I.V. stand are now spraying fluid and I’m ripping the rest of the I.V’s out of me. My throat is on fire and I feel bile rising up from my stomach. I swivel off the edge of the table expecting my legs to catch me but I crumple to knees as vomit sprays across the room. My head slams into the floor and ringing fills my ears.

I try to get my arms underneath me but the floor is slick with blood, vomit, and saline solution.

The sounds in the room come into focus. I hear the wail of the flat-lined heart monitor, the call for a gurney to O.R. 1, and then a voice.

“Stephanie? Can you hear me?” I try to turn to face the speaker but I still can’t move anything.

“Ramsi?”

“Yes, I’m here. Just relax Steph. It’s going to be alright.” Everything fades out again as anesthetics kick in again.

<Mikal>

The alarm in my room screeched and I lied there and listened to it. I hadn’t slept at all in anticipation of what today was.  Today was training day. I had been through the six months of orientation and the only thing that I had left before officially becoming an indentured servant to Micro Inc. was training day.

I silenced the alarm. It was time to start the day.  I got out of bed and gathered my thing for a shower when there was a knock at the door. I grabbed the robe hanging off the bathroom door and wrapped it around myself and answered the door.

“Awww, good you’re awake.”

Ramsi stood in front of me. She looked normal enough for a person who was permanently disabled. But I knew she had more metal in her bones than cartilage, and that what permanent damage was. Your bones stopped healing. They put metal into you and hoped you could deal with the chronic pain.

“What can I do for you, ma’am?” I asked and motioned to the bathrobe.

“Ah, yes. You don’t have time for that. Training day is going to start early. I hope you didn’t eat breakfast.”

“I wasn’t going to, but.” I started.

“Well, come on, snap snap. Get dressed, you have five minutes.” I shut the door and dropped the robed. I threw on the jumpsuit that they told me I would be most comfortable in and then washed my face.  Ramsi was pounding on the door by minute 3 and I grabbed the key to my room and opened the door. “You almost take longer than a woman. Let’s go.”

We started walking down the hall. “Why the schedule changes?”

“When they got your stats they decided that you’re testing on the morning crew instead of the evening. The morning shift starts 8 and you are required to withstand 8 hour hours. So, we have long enough to get you suited up and out onto the floor. Then you should have 15 minutes to spare.”

We ran across the campus and then caught an elevator up into the Micro Inc. backroom where they kept the suits. The suit that I had trained in was waiting for me when I got into the prep room. I climbed into the room and flipped the switch on the outside to have it seal up around me.

The interface booted up and the suit became transparent.  An icon in the corner flashed training mode at me and then I stepped the suit out of the holder. Ramsi walked into the room and disconnected the suit prep hoses and then stepped around to face me. We were the same height, which was weird because she was a petite.

“Now, no matter what, no feats of strength, okay? The active systems don’t kick in until the 2-hour make. So roughly 10 a.m., or whenever the Micro Inc. employee engages the timer. Other random things you should know, only speak when spoken to, or asked to speak, no matter what happens. If you try to show off and hold them off of you or whatever, it lengthens your test time, and they don’t hold back. They won’t cause permanent damage, but they are to go to the critical failure alarm. They have to know your limits, and testing won’t end until then. So no matter how macho you think you are, you will come out of that suit bloody. All of the settings in the suite are preset and can’t be changed until the employee says so. And for the love of god, do not ask her what she weighs, either she will tell you, or the suit will get it from her controller. We have had way to many people being cocky when they go out on their first run, thinking they can take whatever, and then the two-hour mark comes and fatigue over takes them and things start breaking and the consort loses their mind. You could be in there for six hours, in misery. You need to know that. With all of that out of the way, the critical failure alarm is your ticket out of the store. , But if it happens before the two-hour mark, you fail. Then you have to retake the test. The two-hour period is what the suit and Micro Inc. uses as a base line for going forward. Do you have any questions?”

“Can I read a book or something?” I smirked.

“Ha-ha, no. You’ll see that the entertainment feature on that is disabled. You need to be attentive the entire time. So all distractions been disabled. There is a physical torture that is your strength test, and then something else. If it becomes too much at any point in time, hit the emergency beacon and they will extract you, but that means failure. Anything else?”

“No, we ready?”

“I am, are you?” Ramsi asked.

“For the most part. What time is it?” I turned to her and asked as the elevator behind me dinged.

“7:30 they’ll be waiting for you when you get up there. Have fun, don’t die.” Ramsi said with a smile and then the door closed. Thanks, I thought to myself, I’ll try not to.