New Labor
One step. Two steps.
Leviathan came toward her, swinging his whip. The sound of it slicing the air scraped at her ears. He closed in on her exhausted form, and a child's guilt at being scolded by an adult pressed down on her for the simple crime of having stopped moving.
Should she start walking again even now? Or simply stand there trembling, waiting for the punishment to arrive?
"Didn't think it'd be over this fast…. Hoo."
"…?"
Then Leviathan said something she had never expected. At his words she looked sideways and saw Yejin, Seoa, and Jaehee — all of them stopped atop their treadmills, gasping for breath.
"This is all because of that A691 and A688."
Grumbling as he approached, Leviathan unlocked the high heels clamped around her ankles, then unfastened the wires connected to her piercings.
"Get down and take them off."
"Mmnh…."
At his order she hurriedly stripped off the heels. Just as she had expected, the insides were packed with millet grains. The soles of her feet, studded with the tiny pellets, were torn every which way from friction and pressure. Severe blisters and wounds met the asphalt floor and lit up with a raw sting.
"Next."
Yejin, Jaehee, and Seoa were freed in turn. Every one of them wanted nothing more than to sink to the ground from the pain in their soles. Leviathan did not allow it.
"Stand up straight."
"Haa. Haa. Haa."
"Hic… uugh…."
"Hoo- haa- hoo."
"Sss. Mmh."
They locked into position at his command. Handcuffed, nipple piercings in place, standing in a neat row — Leviathan smacked his lips with something like regret as he looked them over.
"Tch. Two hours seventeen minutes. That's how long it took you to hit fifty kilometers."
"…!"
Quite early. The result of wringing every last drop of strength out of themselves until they hit the wall.
"You finished sooner than I thought. When we guards ran the simulation, three hours was cutting it close…. Anyway, you wrapped it up so early I don't even know what to do with you now."
"…."
"Not that I can just let you sit around resting. And I can't exactly punish you for finishing early either. So as a special treat, I'll give your soles some treatment for tomorrow. How's that sound? Nice, right? A522. Park Jaehee."
"…Yes. Thank you."
The satisfaction of having made the target lasted only a moment. The moment they saw Jaehee's expression freeze at Leviathan's offer of "treatment," a nameless dread settled over all of them.
What was it? What exactly was he about to do?
"All right. Everyone assume the mouth-ready position."
"…Yes."
At his order they all dropped heavily to the floor. Kneeling, chests thrust forward, heads tipped back and mouths open. Even with the gag locking her jaw she forced herself into the same shape as her cellmates, if only to avoid being scolded the way she had been earlier.
The handcuffs made sitting down awkward for everyone, but they were used to inmate life by now; it took them barely thirty seconds to get into place.
"Hips up. Wait."
Once they were set, Leviathan returned from the corner carrying something. What he brought was a round aluminum can that looked like a paint tin, and a thick brush of the sort used for oil painting.
"I'm going to apply the medicine. Hold your positions."
"…Yes."
He dipped the brush deep into the liquid inside the aluminum can. Medicine, if his words were to be believed. The brush came up dripping. Leviathan lifted it and slowly brought it to Jaehee's sole.
"Hiiik…! Nngh…!"
"Don't break position."
"Yes!"
She seemed ticklish. The instant the brush touched her sole, Jaehee shuddered hard. Her foot gleamed as if it had been oiled. Whatever was in the medicine must have been potent; her sole flushed red almost at once and tiny bubbles began to form.
"Ugh… uuhk!"
He had definitely called it medicine…. Jaehee's face twisted badly. She cycled through expressions that looked like smiling, then not, then almost like crying. It was a stark change from her usual blank composure. Next the medicine was painted across Seoa's sole as well.
"Kyaah!! Haa. Haa. Ugh… uhing… nnngh."
The stuff was definitely harsh. Seoa likewise shuddered the moment the brush touched her. Then Yejin.
"Ahk!! Nngh…! Uugh!"
The instant the medicine hit her sole she clenched her teeth and dropped her head. What kind of sensation could make them react like that?
One thing was clear: Jaehee, who had been painted first, was slowly coming apart.
"Hey! A522. Hold your position. If you don't straighten that back within ten seconds, you're getting Demeanor Penalty Points!"
"Yes!! Nngh… haahk!"
At Leviathan's bark, Jaehee — who had folded forward at the waist — snapped her posture straight again. But her thighs, her arms, her shoulders… every visible part of her was trembling. The same went for Yejin and Seoa. Seoa was even wriggling her toes, tears running down her face.
What was it? What on earth was causing this?
There was no need to wonder. Whether she wanted it or not, she was next.
"All right. A713. Soles flat."
"Mmph!"
She answered through the gag and stretched her soles out straight. The one mercy was that she was not particularly ticklish. She could feel it, of course, but she was not so sensitive that someone else's touch would set her off at once. So even if her soles itched, she had believed she could endure it. At the very least she would not react the way her cellmates had the second a brush touched skin.
…Or so she had thought.
"Khhnnngh!!"
She had been wrong. The instant the brush met her sole, a fierce heat bloomed across the bottom of her foot and she had to bite down hard on the gag.
Hot. Too hot. The sensation of her soles cooking. A raw, searing burn licked across every inch of them.
"Mmph…! Mph!! Fmmph!!"
It was unbearable. She thrashed her upper body, trying to shake it off, but—
"Hold that position. Tip over sideways or bend at the waist and you get penalty points."
—in the face of Leviathan's warning, all she could do was endure. She clamped down on the gag and clenched both hands tight inside the Special Handcuffs.
Just don't break the pose. Somehow, just hold on until this feeling fades.
"Nngh! Nnmmph!!"
But the heat soon bloomed into itch and sting. The pain rising from the blisters and wounds climbed her legs until she almost wished he had simply left her alone. Her calves shook. Her thighs quivered. Holding the position was already torment; on top of that the spores chose the worst possible moment to stir, and it was pure hell.
"Kkmmph! Fmmh…! Mph!"
Drool leaked past the gag and ran in streams down her chin. Even so, she was almost grateful for the gag. Without it she would have been screaming herself hoarse. In that sense the gag was both a torture device that tormented her and a restraint that spared her some of the pain.
"Ugh… uhhmmh…! Mph!"
She bit the gag and endured and endured. Fortunately the agony did not last forever. Jaehee, who had been painted first, gradually settled. Then Seoa. Then Yejin exhaled a long breath as she was released from the pain. And finally she herself, last to receive the medicine, rode out the lingering itch until a cool sensation spread across her soles and the pain subsided.
"Judging by the reactions, treatment's done. Everyone up."
"Yes."
The hard stretch ended and they rose. Amazingly, the medicine's effect was better than expected. Truly the technology of the megacorp Alisea Lombe. When she stood and glanced at her cellmates' soles, every wound had vanished; not so much as a blemish remained. The medicine had left those patches of skin looking freshly scrubbed clean. When she set her own feet on the floor, a pleasant, soft dryness greeted her.
"Training hour's about wrapped up. We're moving."
Training over, they began to move at Leviathan's order. Fortunately she already knew the next step in the routine, so she was not especially worried. On a normal day, once morning training ended they would gather in the guards' office for feedback based on the results, spend the rest of the afternoon on various minor duties, eat dinner, and then endure torture hour — the same cycle, over and over. She had gotten through the starting point of that cycle without incident and without taking any penalty points. A small hope had formed that she might use the feedback period to pull herself together and face torture hour a little more easily.
But—
"All right. Under the revised program, inmates will perform labor every day starting today."
—they were dragged somewhere new. The execution grounds. Same as last time; labor, it seemed, would take place there. At the entrance Leviathan held out shovels and a cart. At the same time everyone except her had their handcuffs refastened in front of them.
"All the previous death-row inmates are in our Cell 3, so it's only right that we clean up the scaffold we had to build because of you, isn't it? So until dinner today, labor means putting the execution grounds in order."
They bowed their heads at his order. The feedback period she had been counting on was gone. Even in this oppressive place she had wanted a moment — any moment — to let her body rest. That chance had just evaporated. The others must have been thinking the same thing; disappointment showed plainly on their faces.
"I'll be supervising labor myself, so don't try any tricks. Your job is trash cleanup and filling in the pit. Come on. Inside."
Under Leviathan's command they entered the execution grounds. Moments earlier their soles had been clean and pleasant; what greeted them now was the dirt floor of the scaffold yard and the gravel embedded everywhere.
"Hoo."
Yejin's small sigh led them as they trudged to the center of the grounds. The crosses had already been dismantled. But the large pit remained, and traces of that day still clung to every surface.
"All right. Start working."
"Yes!"
The place where they themselves had been sentenced. Jaehee had been there when the pit was dug, so in truth every one of them was bound to this spot. With the crosses at least gone, some of the fear had eased — but the cold brazier, the branding irons left on the ground, and the bloodstains scattered around the central pit all prodded at the nightmare of that day.
Uneasy, she looked toward Seoa.
"…."
"…."
Their eyes met for an instant. Something passed between them; they were worrying about each other. Between the two of them Yejin stepped in and gave their hips a couple of light pats. Probably meant as encouragement. Fortunately none of them suffered from anxiety disorders.
Then Jaehee approached Leviathan.
"…."
"What is it, A522? Something to say?"
"Yes. I request permission to speak."
"Fine. Go ahead."
She skillfully secured speaking permission, then asked him with a polite expression,
"During labor… would it be possible to allow conversation among the inmates?"
"…Why? I'm supervising in person today. Is that really necessary?"
"Ah… if not, then just for a few minutes right now, please. I believe assigning roles will make the work more efficient…."
No one had asked her to, but Jaehee had taken the lead. They had felt it the night before while helping Yejin as well: every one of them was ready to sacrifice herself at any moment for the others. Truly good cellmates. And Seoa, too, was working hard to melt into the group as if she had always been one of them.
They gathered around Jaehee to back her up. Every face polite, every head bowed toward Leviathan.
"Fine. Do it. You've got three minutes starting now."
"Thank you."
Apparently the sight pleased him. Leviathan gave Jaehee's cheek a couple of light pats and granted the request. Permission given, they had to hurry. Three minutes was all they had.
"All right, listen up. Nayoon can't use her hands right now. So shoveling's out for her. But to fill the pit, someone still has to load dirt into the cart and move it. I don't know where they put it, but the dirt we dug out isn't here."
Jaehee spoke first. From the moment they had entered the grounds her experienced eye had already picked out the problems, and she meant to tackle those first.
"…You're right. There was a huge pile of dirt when we dug the pit, but I don't see it anywhere."
"There are drag marks leading that way. Once this talk is over, Nayoon, you go find where the dirt's piled first."
Yejin and Seoa offered their thoughts in turn, and she — unable to speak — simply nodded. There was no need to propose alternatives; their plan was already the most efficient match for each person's situation.
"Once Nayoon finds the dirt pile, come straight back and take Yejin with you. After that Yejin loads the cart there, and Nayoon, you haul it. Luckily the cart has a ring — hook it to your cuffs and you should be able to move it. From then on Yejin works at the pile and the rest of us fill the pit. Sound good?"
"Seems fine."
"Good. Until then we'll start by knocking whatever dirt is nearby down into the pit to buy a little time."
"Good."
"Agreed."
"Mph."
Everyone agreed with Seoa's added suggestion. A few more quick notes on who would back whom up if someone got tired, and the three minutes were gone.
"I'm worried about Nayoon. After all that walking, now she has to haul di—"
"Time's up. Start working immediately."
"Yes!"
The conference Jaehee had fought so hard to win ended the instant the clock ran out. Yejin, Jaehee, and Seoa picked up shovels and walked toward the pit. And she followed the marks on the ground, tracking the dirt pile.
She walked a long way along what looked like heavy-equipment tire tracks. Deep into the execution grounds. As she neared a thickly overgrown patch of brush, the piled dirt came into view.
But the moment she found it, a dizzying wave of emotion swallowed her.
"Mmph…!"
Of all places, the dirt had been dumped… right in the middle of a soggy swamp.