You didn't know how much time had passed.
The only thing that you could use as indication was the 'sleep time' in a tiny room, assigned to you each day, but it was hard to keep track,
due to the horrific pain that came with every mistake or rebellious thought, and the addictive pleasure and euphoria that came after every completed task, muddeling your thoughts.
It kept you from thinking about escaping during work, while the exhaustion kept you from thinking about it when you were sent back to the tiny closet of a room where you slept.
Each day brought you closer to breaking, made you more enthusiastic about your work, more terrified of failure.
And just like that 8 months passed.
You were cleaning one of the many rooms in the massive facility, when the cold, mechanical voice called you back to the room you had arrived in, filling you with dread of what you may have done wrong. Was there a worse punishment than the 'high' setting of the collar?
If there was, then you certainly didn't want to find out.
You moved as fast as you could without running, as that, as you had found out, was also punishable.
It didn't take you long to arrive in the room, where you were promptly ordered to step into the glass tube.
The possibilities of what could happen made you shiver internally, but you moved without a moment of hesitation,
already knowing that showing any displeasure with a given task was also punishable.
You stood in the tube, upright, expressionless and staring straight ahead, as you had been conditioned to over the months.
It surprised you when the collar was removed, but you remained in the same pose, awaiting your instructions.
[INDENTURE PERIOD COMPLETED. RELEASING SUBJECT.]
The tube opened in front of you, but you still didn't move.
[PLEASE STEP OUT OF THE DEVICE.]
You finally stepped out, still with the same practiced movements.
[ONE HUNDRED FIFTY ENA HAVE BEEN ADDED TO YOUR MAGI-TECH ACCOUNT. ERROR. ACCOUNT UNNAMED. PLEASE NAME ACCOUNT.]
Were you really being asked? Was it really waiting for you to say something? What if it would punish you for speaking?
[NO RESPONSE DETECTED. GENERATING NAMES BASED ON PREVIOUS ACCOUNT ACTIVITY AND BODY SCAN.]
A nearby screen suddenly flashed to life, before starting to list words.
//8_month_indenture//currently_nude//degrading_tattoos//branded//body_modified_for_sexual_purposes//
You had just finished reading, when the screen flashed and started listing new words.
[NAMES GENERATED. PLEASE PICK FROM THE LISTED OPTIONS.]
You glanced over the names and were immediately stunned, each option was either lewd, degrading, vulgar or all three at the same time.
The least offensive options you found on the list were 'Dumpster' and 'Dishrag'.
[NO RESPONSE DETECTED. RANDOMIZING. WELCOME GUTTERSLUT. ONE HUNDRED FIFTY ENA HAVE BEEN ADDED TO YOUR ACCOUNT.]
Even after all the conditioning you had gone through, being renamed to 'Gutterslut' in such a nonchalant way still made you cringe.
Having experienced what you could expect if you continued to keep quiet finally gave you the courage to speak up.
"Uh, w-what can i do with those- those 'Ena'?" This was the first time you had heard your own voice in more than half a year,
and the only thing you could think of was how pathetic it sounded. Was that really you? Had you really fallen that far?
The robotic voice quickly snapped you out of your thoughts, allowing you to focus on something else.
[DISPLAYING AVAILABLE MAGI-TECH PRODUCTS AND SERVICES.]
A nearby screen, mounted on a robotic arm, swung over, positioning itself in front of you, displaying a plethora of options,
but it didn't take you long to notice that almost everything was out of your price range, with some meals even costing more than 800 Ena.
The options were beyond tempting, even including things that should be impossible according to your knowledge.
In fact, some of these options would allow even a random peasant to match you in terms of raw magical power,
like the procedure to transplant someone's mind and soul into the body of a adolescent golden dragon, grown in their cloning vats.
Even the few cheap items on the list that you could afford were exceptionally useful, ranging from the material used to building the tube,
to body modifications, like a pheromone gland that would make anyone of the same species irresistably attracted to you.
'How is any of this even remotely possible?! Even some of this would be enough to... dammit, if only i had more of these Ena!'
Your eyes widened. "I- is there a way for me to get more 'Ena'?" The screen moved away from you, but continued showing the options.
[CHECKING DATABASE. GALLERIA INDENTURE AND SLAVE TRADING CURRENTLY HAS THREE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED AND SEVEN EMPLOYMENT AND LABOUR VACANCIES IN THIS FACILITY. CHECKING RESUME. NO RESUME FOUND.
CHECKING EMPLOYMENT HISTORY. ONE PREVIOUS EMPLOYER FOUND. THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING TO WORK WITH GALLERIA INDENTURE AND SLAVE TRADING AGAIN. POTENTIAL EMPLOYMENTS FITTING YOUR SKILLSET WILL BE DISPLAYED.]
Another display swung out, stopping in front of you, and you quickly began to scroll through it, but quickly grew disappointed.
'I didn't expect much, considering i don't have a resume, but these are mostly just janitor jobs for different parts of the facility and jobs to test out various new, and potentially dangerous, new products. Though i guess 'new' is relative, considering how long this place has been abandoned.' You shook your head and continued scrolling, noticing a few other jobs here and there, before arriving at a new section,
labled 'Enslavement and Indenture'. There seemed to be much more variety in this section, with various sub-categories and durations.
'It seems i can get way more out of an indenture than a regular job... some of these even offer more than 8000 Ena for a few weeks!'
You thought back to what you had gone through and hesitated. Did you really want to risk this? Could you endure more without breaking?
'And those enslavement contracts are an immediate no... right?' If you did it correctly, then 'selling' yourself, without really loosing anyithing might be possible. After all, there was no one left to enforce anything aside from an automated system, which clearly wouldn't be able to know anything about what was going on outside facility.