Shock Treatment

Sadistic Abuse in the Name of Science

Liberty gets transferred from the "fair trial" - straight into the Black Dungeons of the Zone, for "treatment" and investigation. They can't wait to find out what went wrong, that caused her Gland to stop functioning.

In the Zone she will get the Shock Treatment that awaits anyone that "goes wild" when he's dragged in there (and who doesn't? How would you feel if you were dragged into the Black Dungeons???) The "treatment" includes cocktail alcohol strong enough to kill a healthy sheep, and Resonance Sticks.

Say someone from the pyramid tribes wants to escape the harsh everyday reality, he could do it with one Resonance Stick, often old and not fully charged. Joshua Gadgets, before joining the rebels, used to fix the charging machines the best he could, but the equipment was mostly old and worn out. The Sticks held 40%, maybe 50% charge at best, and were active only when you almost touched the Gland with them.

But here in the Zone they had brand new Sticks, fully charged by automatic chargers. Two or three crazy-head "nurses" in black robes get ahold of the victim, and using one Resonance Stick in each hand, sometimes two, they dance around him or her in a circle while moving the Sticks nearer and further from the victim's neck to the rhythm of high-volume metallic music.

The victim is strapped to a chair, first to hold him down and then to prevent him from falling off. To his head they attach sensors that lead to the chair and from there to some monitors. The weary, indifferent Treatment Supervisor observes the monitors only to warn the nurses in case the victim is about to die in mid "treatment."

It often happens that by the time he starts shouting at them to get out of their sadistic dance ecstasy, the victim dies or is about to die in a day or two, as if unrelated to this treatment. In any case the victim comes out squashed and if he's still alive - he's going to be quite for a long while.

The Psychographs are not allowed to express compassion. Or else they risk being sent to re-education. Some young trainees dared to express their opinion that Shock Treatment with Resonance Sticks does nothing beneficial for anybody interested in enslaving any given species.

"You must not get involved in heavy scientific considerations only discussed at the highest academic levels of Professors and Policy Makers," says Gay Trenzich and adds her usual threats: "Whoever interferes with scientific considerations will earn himself a cautionary remark in his dossier. The significance of it is that once you get two more remarks the trainee is declared Enemy of Science and sent to re-education."

Behind the scenes, Poison and Trenzich agreed, the "treatment" is totally necessary to relieve the dark passions of staff. It will stay as a Standing Order in force till the end of the experiment, and re-examined later. "There's nothing later, you stupid idiots! Ksssssssss..." grins Snakes to himself, "Y'all become a big cloud of dust... he... he... he... Ksssssssss..."

When they bring Liberty to the Zone, on her first day she's submitted to Shock Treatment. Even though she raged and resisted, it has nothing to do with that in particular. Orders have been given beforehand to make her quiet first of all, until they can figure her out and make further decisions. She's not afraid when they strap her to the chair. Only thinks how to shred them to pieces.

A group of savage lunatics in black robes gathers around her in a circle. She recognizes the Resonance Sticks in their hands, and knows from her book studies what effects are expected of a single stick. What will half a dozen such sticks, dreadful music, a place with black walls and such threatening circumstances do to a tired, beat-up person, she can only guess; she'll have to improvise here.

The alcohol they made her drink she spit, for the most part, back in their faces. At the same time she kicked them hard and fiercely bit their fingers. One of the "nurses," a short muscular guy, screamed in pain when it seemed like he was going to lose his pinky to her teeth. With his free hand he punched her face with great force. Her jaw would have gone out of place if it wasn't locked strongly on his finger. She let it go and he violently dragged her to the chair.

"Leave the freaking alcohol and strap her to the freaking chair!!!" He yelled, "In a minute we'll see what she can do to a bunch of sticks," he hissed through his clenched teeth.

They start dancing around her waving eight or nine shiny Resonance Sticks at her neck. Liberty improvises an assortment of physical reactions, while monitoring their reactions and peeping through her nearly shut eye lids. When she makes her entire body tremble and rock to the metallic music rhythm, she hears them groan and moan: "Yea...yea!!" and she understands that this is what they've been waiting for. After a couple blinks she improvises bubbling saliva to come out of her mouth [she learned this trick as part of the strange spitting sport, years back as I told; it wasn't very useful for spitting and nothing but a childish experiment, but now she found use for it.]

Their groaning and moaning increased to loud screams and shouts that almost out-noise the music. They are in ecstasy, she knows. This is more or less the time when the victim falls unconscious, guesses Liberty and plans to end the show.

Her chin is by now covered with saliva that also dripped down to her dress. After a couple more blinks of intense trembling, she makes a snorting sound and makes her head fall forward. Her body is fully relaxed and would have fallen to the floor if it wasn't strapped to the chair. Inside she feels squeezed out but smiling, as if she just completed her virtuous dancing and awaits applause, on a Saturday night by the bonfires.

They untie the straps from the chair and roughly drag her to a small cart, kind of like a wheelbarrel. Liberty notices the size of the cart and guesses they expect her to squeeze into the fetal position. She does so. She feels like using her teeth to tear up one of those fingers that now treat her so violently. But such act would spoil the show. She restrains her rage and throws herself into the cart.

She's wheel-barreled to a small black cell lit by a single half-blinding light. In its door there's a metal mesh with a narrow opening for sliding food in. Her body pours out of the cart and onto the cell's floor. Someone with a black robe orders in authoritative woman's voice:

"Stand aside y'all !!!"

Liberty peeps through her eye lids on the woman's feet. Red lacquer shoes??! Is this part of a scientist outfit?? Liberty doesn't think so.

"The reports I have received were false and whoever needs to pay for this will pay the price! Her squashed Gland is still very active! She will play a vital role in the ultimate success of our scientific experiment! Lock the room tight, no need to tie her down!"

Liberty hears the woman address someone standing by the doorway:

"You, Trainee 165, will give her an assessment with Diag-Nose Cards every morning at 7 a.m.! You never enter the cell, you hear me? You do the assessment through the mesh, you hear? I want a full daily report on my desk, every morning at eight!"

The sound of her shoes tapping along can be heard along the corridor as she goes away, and after everybody's out the door is slammed shut.

Liberty listens to everything from the floor without a shred of motion. Once she's sure everybody's gone and only a distant squeal of wheels is heard from the corridor, she opens her eyes to observe the room. The cell is black and nearly empty, with only a miserable looking mattress in the corner. Toilet door in the inner wall. Actually, only a half door made of black cardboard or tin.

Not good that the toilet door is so crappy. It will make it hard on her to transfer messages by knocking on the pipes. She will have to totally avoid it during the day and send messages only at night between one patrol and the next. Never mind, boredom will not reside here! Her free time she will use to rest and further plan the rebellion. She already sees this place smashing to smithereens.

I'll show them how's torturing my brothers and sisters in the name of science!!! My first message tonight or tomorrow will be something like: TELL HORIZON THAT I AM OK PERIOD GATHERING INFORMATION AND PLANNING WHEN TO ESCAPE COMMA I WILL LET YOU KNOW WHERE AND WHEN PERIOD HERE THEY ARE TORTURING PEOPLE WHOLESALE AND LAUGH ABOUT IT PERIOD PREPARE FOR UNWAVERING WAR COMMA FOR LIFE OR DEATH PERIOD LOVE YOU ALL VERY MUCH END OF TRANSMISSION

In the Black Dungeons there's no sign to tell you when the night falls and when the day returns. At least five hours have passed before the blinding light at the center of the ceiling went off. The corridor looked dark and silent. But some inner voice told Liberty: "You'd be safer to wait a little while longer." And indeed it was right because a blinking light appeared somewhere outside in the corridor and after a wee while a strong flashlight flooded the cell, scanning her and the corners of the cell. As soon as the guard went away she crawled to the stinking mattress.

The mattress was teeming with life.

Got no choice but to ignore all these pesky little life forms and go to sleep as it is. When they put the light back on it will be "morning" again regardless of the desert above them. And then she'll have to be alert to absorb any piece of vital information.

For a moment there, she wanted to cry.

But no, no, the future of all good people is in her hands right now and depends on her calmness and dedication. She used her hands to wipe clean the upper side of the mattress and went to sleep with a light smile on her lips, forcing herself to dream of Shiri and Lafifa dancing to the light of a bonfire, their little hands holding each other. Their heads up toward the Big Sun high up in the sky, their faces gleaming with happiness.
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