The Cell
It happened in an instant.
“Ah… stop…! Ugh… haah… that… nnngh…!”
An indescribable sensation coiled around her nipples. At first it was a sharp, electric tingle, but as the moments stretched on the stimulation fractured into countless threads that made endurance impossible.
A stinging prick like needles. Then a vibration, followed by a writhing twist as if someone were rolling her nipples between their fingers. Whatever was happening inside those stiff peaks, the sensation mercilessly assaulted her erogenous zones. Invisible forces rampaged within her, far beyond anything visible on the surface.
“Nngh…! Ah… haah… uh… uuh… nngh…! Uh…!”
The kind of pleasure-drunk voice she had only ever heard in videos. She had wondered if she would ever make those sounds herself, and had even thought that maybe, after enough of the program, she might. She never imagined she would be moaning like this on the very day of her incarceration.
It was torment. Painful, yet the stimulation made her body twitch and jerk.
“Uh… uuh…! Nngh…! Gyaaah…! Nngh…!”
She thrashed against her bonds, trying desperately to pull her hands free and dig out whatever was inside her nipples. Possibility no longer mattered; the unbearable stimulation would not let her stay still.
“Don’t bother. The Stimulation Spores I put in you have already settled into your bloodstream. They’ve branched into thousands of threads so fine you can’t even see them. Even if your hands were free, you couldn’t pull them out now.”
You… what the hell did you put in me?
Stimulation Spores? There had been no explanation for that.
A foreign substance invading her body. He had inserted something that generated internal stimulation—something that was not part of her original senses—without a shred of consent, and she resented him for it. Yet his next words made even that resentment sink away.
“I put in exactly enough for your six-month sentence, so you can’t remove them until then. Don’t worry. After six months they’ll break down into protein and dissolve into your blood.”
Leviathan smiled as he watched her tremble. Her agony seemed to please him; the front of his pants had tented visibly.
“I’d love to leave them running, but I still have to clock out. All right. Stop shaking those tits.”
“Nngh…! Kuh… hiih… uhaah…!”
Fortunately the torment did not last long. Leviathan pressed a button and the spores fell still.
“Haah… haah. Haah. Haah. Haah. Haah. Haah. Haah. Haah.”
A single small button had silenced the spores. The state in which she could not even breathe properly under the savage stimulation finally ended, and only then could she drag a deep breath into her lungs. The stimulation had been so intense she had not realized until now that she had been too busy moaning to breathe.
“Every guard can activate the Stimulation Spores. Hold this switch within a two-meter radius and press the button—that’s how it works.”
“…Haah. Haah. Haah.”
“And the other switches next to this button work the same way. For example, if I press this blue one…”
“Guh…!”
Leviathan pressed one of the many buttons on the device. A jolt shot through her throat. It was only a mild electric shock, little more than a sting, yet to her already gasping lungs it felt like brutal torture.
“You can use them like that. So don’t pick fights with the guards or disobey orders and get yourself punished. We could kill you with a single button. Policy just says we don’t. Well… in the end, sexual failures like you came here precisely to be treated this way, so you should be grateful.”
The merciless denunciation stung. He was right. She was a prisoner who had paid money and thrown away her human rights just to receive that kind of treatment.
“Ah! And the Stimulation Spores are set to activate randomly for one hour every day. It might be a continuous hour, or it might be broken up. Type of stimulation, intensity, timing—all random. Keep that in mind.”
“…Th… uh….”
She almost protested the absurd, unjust treatment. But the look in Leviathan’s eyes warned her. Fear. The silent order not to speak without a guard’s permission sealed her lips; she bit them and lowered her head. The only times she was allowed to speak were when answering a guard’s direct question or when granted mercy. Even if she had complaints, right now she had to shut up and endure.
“All right. I’ll untie you now. Put on this prisoner uniform.”
“…Yes.”
Leviathan released the wires. Her bound hands and feet came free. Obeying the order, she took the uniform he held out and hurriedly put it on.
The filthy, tattered scrap of cloth she had only ever seen in videos. The prisoner uniform was a short camisole-style dress, torn in places so that bare skin showed through, and so short it barely covered half her thighs. The shame of wearing something that left her almost as exposed as if she were naked was intense. As clothing it had completely failed its purpose—it was nothing but a rag—yet she had no choice.
If they tell me to wear it, I wear it….
“Done?”
“Yes.”
“Put both arms behind your back.”
“…Yes.”
The exact same appearance as the prisoners in the videos. With the metal prisoner collar around her neck and the uniform on, she looked just like the women she had watched for so long. She had steeled herself, but now that she had come this far, fear surged up.
And then…
— Click.
Restraint. Handcuffs locked her wrists behind her back. These were different from the ones she had worn during transport. They were thick and heavy enough to make her shoulders ache, and the lock between her wrists was barely the size of a thumb, rendering her arms all but useless.
Next came ankle shackles heavier than sandbags. Unlike the handcuffs, a chain of about fifty centimeters connected them, giving her just enough slack to walk, yet the sheer weight alone settled like a burden on her heart.
“We’re running late, so you’re going straight to your cell today. Unless you’re in solitary or on death row, this is how you’ll look every time you’re locked in. Any questions?”
“…”
Just as all the restraints were finished and they were about to move, Leviathan granted her permission to ask a question. What should she ask? The sudden offer froze her in place. Still, he waited. It felt like the leisurely mercy of letting a condemned prisoner leave a last will.
A thousand thoughts raced through her mind. An opportunity like this might not come easily again. She had to choose carefully. But body and mind were already exhausted; she no longer had the mental strength to pick a good question. In the end she could only ask something primitive.
“Um… how do I… use the bathroom?”
Someone might think she was wasting a precious chance on a question like that, but to her it was important. She did not need to go right this second. Seasickness had already emptied most of the fluid from her system, and by nature she rarely needed the toilet in unfamiliar places, so it was not urgent. Still, she wanted to know. In a place where safe words did not exist, the gap between knowing what was coming and not knowing was larger than people realized.
“You’ll find out tomorrow. Do you need to go now?”
“…No.”
The answer to the question she had mustered courage for was disappointingly bland. There was probably a fixed procedure. She felt a twinge of regret at having wasted the chance.
“Fine. Then we’re heading to the cell. Follow me.”
“…Yes.”
Regret lingered, but no further permission to ask questions was given. Even if she could have asked more, the desire to rest had grown larger than any curiosity; she just wanted this moment over with. Perhaps this was better.
— Clank. Clank. Clank.
The office door opened and she followed Leviathan out. The friction of the shackle chain dragging across the floor echoed through the cavernous prison.
Come to think of it, where had A688 gone? Would she meet her again soon? After being treated so roughly alone, the time she had spent with that woman suddenly felt precious. It had been only a short while, yet she had received so much help that she found herself missing her.
— Clank. Clank. Clank.
The path to the cell was not short. She had already been walking for several minutes, yet the scenery still looked nothing like a cell block. Unlike the cave-like entrance carved into the mountain, the interior was clean. Floor, walls, and ceiling were all concrete; rooms and facilities were finished in neat metal. Occasional large open spaces held various devices of unknown purpose, and restraint frames and SM tools were properly stored in dedicated cabinets. Despite the bleak, dark atmosphere, the place was clearly under systematic management.
“Ugh… haah.”
“No moaning either. Walk quietly.”
“…Yes.”
A strange mix of excitement and exhaustion had pulled a sound from her throat. Leviathan’s command stopped it and reminded her of her place. But… it really was hard. She had barely slept, had been dragged here since dawn, and had not had a single moment of real rest. Physically drained, both hands bound, heavy shackles on her ankles—her limit arrived far too quickly. Walking was genuinely difficult. All she wanted was to be locked in a cell as soon as possible. At least there she might be able to rest a little. It was not as if she had been gaslit, yet the urge to be confined kept growing. Of course… she was already confined in every way that mattered….
“Here. This is the cell you’ll live in.”
Leviathan stopped.
“….”
They had walked a long way. In a damp, airless space that felt like the very end of the prison, a small door appeared. Leviathan unlocked it with a padlock—the largest, thickest one she had ever seen. All right. She could understand that much. When you lock people up, showing this level of severity is fine.
But…
— Clank.
“What are you waiting for? Get on the floor and crawl in.”
“….”
Was this right? She stared at the cell door in front of her. Even by rough estimate it was far too small. The height was less than a meter, the width narrow. And more than anything, the light that seeped into the dark cell revealed a sight that left her speechless. Waltz Production videos had never shown the cells, so she had imagined many versions, but the reality was nothing like any of them.
“Get in. Or else…”
“…!”
No more time for contemplation. She had to get inside quickly. While she hesitated, Leviathan’s hand already held the collar and spore control device; any further delay would mean punishment.
— Clatter. Clank. Clank.
She dropped to her knees and slowly crawled inside. Forcing her body through the dog-door-sized opening made the extreme narrowness of the interior clear at once.
“….”
“….”
She heard the breathing of other prisoners. It was too dark to see properly, but the inmates leaning against each wall wore the same clothes and the same restraints as she did.
“…Nnh.”
She carefully moved beside them. “Moved” was generous; she was really just squeezing into the only free space. The cell was too small for three people to lie down. Roughly one and a half meters on each side, she guessed. With three bodies packed into a space too narrow to stretch out properly, it felt completely full.
“All right. Don’t bully the new girl. Get along.”
— Bang! Clank.
With those words Leviathan locked the cell door. The heavy sound of the padlock announced that there was no leaving this cramped space.
“….”
Once the door closed, complete darkness settled over the cell. No light leaked through the cracks; there were no windows. It was pure black.
“….”
“….”
She held her breath under the tension. Should she greet them first? While she fretted over what to do, the prisoner sitting farthest back pressed herself tighter against the wall, making space. The other inmate shifted beside her, doing everything she could so that the newcomer could lie down more comfortably.
“…Ah….”
She wanted to express her gratitude for their consideration. More precisely, she wanted to greet them, say they did not have to go that far, and ask them to look after her. But she closed her mouth at once.
“….”
“…Hoo.”
For a moment the two women’s held breaths stopped, then lengthened into long, careful exhales. So that was it. Speaking right now… was not allowed. …Thank you, A688.
Fortunately, today’s experiences had already taught her that kind of danger once. She could read the signs. If they had been allowed to speak, they would have greeted her first. The fact that they had not meant they were in a situation where speech was forbidden. If she had spoken or they had answered, everyone might have been punished.
Understanding from their reaction, she nodded as large as she could to show she got it, then moved into the space they had made and leaned against the wall.
“….”
The interior of the prison was flat concrete on every side. There was room to lie down, but no bedding of any kind; floor and walls radiated only cold. Still, she felt relief that rest time had finally been granted.
“….”
The silent cell. After a little while she heard the two women’s breathing. The even rhythm told her they had fallen asleep. …Yeah. I should sleep too.
She closed her eyes, using the darkness itself as a blanket. Her body felt as heavy as lead. The position was uncomfortable, but she thought she might manage to drift off. She would soon learn how wrong she was.