Lea got her first computer when she was three. Her dad thought it was a good thing to spoil a kid with because unlike almost any other expensive toy a three year old might want, it might just spark something that would lead to good jobs in the future. The mass automation of human labor was just starting to make itself felt by the time Lea was born and it was making it harder and harder for people around the world to find jobs even as the world produced more goods and services than it ever had. He figured his daughter might as well have a shot at programing some of the software and machines that would make it harder for her to find work when she gets out into the world.
He would be right about that, but it also meant that in the mean time whenever Lea was having trouble making friends or ever feeling down, she had her computers to lean on. The characters in her games wouldn't reject the digital version of herself, or make fun of her glasses, or call her a pale ghost or nerd. It didn't matter to her computer friends that she didn't like boys or that she hadn't heard of that one band and they would never exclude her from things because they just weren't programmed to do any of that.
And right now she felt she could really use that kind of simple companionship. She was no longer on speaking terms with the three people she'd called her best friends since she moved to Tullburg when she was 9. Truthfully they were her only real friends. For days after she kicked them out of her house, she sat and inconsolably sulked. She barely wanted to eat, she hardly was able to sleep, and she spent days recovering before finally sending for a cab to take her back to her parent's house.
She had missed a few days of school, of course it was into the last few months of senior year and everyone was checking out at least a little. She was avoiding her former friends and ignoring their occasional messages. She could barely even handle passing them in the hallways, especially Andrea. She had fallen in love with her, and while she had always been reasonably sure it was one sided, it still hurt her they way it fell apart. Every time she saw Andrea she heard those word echoing around "I don't love her, we're just friends." She didn't know how to handle that with someone she'd developed such feelings for. She still couldn't look at Sophia without getting a bit pensive or even queasy, and Megan just reminded her way too much of all the excesses that had brought the whole thing crashing down.
She told her parents a little lie, that the computer company she worked for last summer needed her again, and that she couldn't pass up the opportunity even if it meant missing some school and occasionally going to their Philidelphia head office, where she'd crash with her brother David. David said he'd cover for her, he asked why but she didn't respond just made him promise to keep up the lie. It sounded important to her and so he agreed. Her dad all but insisted she take the job. It all gave her a better excuse when she decided to spend the night in her cabin rather than go back to her parent's house or where she was if the school called to say she didn't make it in to class.
It gave her a chance to have the seclusion she felt she needed, but even still it that was hard to handle. All three tried contacting her, but she couldn't even bring herself to open the messages. She felt trapped, everything was changing so quickly and she felt so out of control about all of it.
She rarely remembered dreams, but one morning Lea woke with one clear as day in her mind. She was in a classroom, she was sitting alone like class had yet to start or perhaps ended minutes ago. She stood up to leave but found it harder and harder to walk towards the door, a fear began to build. She eventually stopped, hunching over with her hands on her knees staring down at the floor, that was now the hardwood floor of her cabin. "I'm trapped, it's too much," she exhaled as her glasses dropped to the floor.
"I'm not," came the voice of Megan from behind her. Lea turned quickly to see Megan clad head to toe in latex, tied in a strict hogtie with bright white rope. Lea watched as Megan opened her mouth and a red ballgag materialized in place, silencing her from saying anything more.
"No you're not, you're trapped too!" shouted the confused dream version of Lea. She turned to reach for her glasses but they weren't there any more. She dropped down to her knees to look for them and was tackled the rest of the way to the floor from behind. She felt handcuffs at her wrists and elbows. "What are you doing?!?" Lea shouted as she was helpless to stop. She felt the tackler get off and saw Sophia also clad in black latex get off her and lay down next to her. She already wore a red ballgag and as she lay down white ropes materialized around her, forcing her hands into a reverse prayer and her legs into a tight frogtie. "What's going on?" Lea screamed looking around the fuzzy room.
"Shh," came a gentle whisper. "We're only doing what you taught us," came a softer incarnation of Andrea's voice. "We're escaping," she said as she walked into sight of Lea where she finally became clear. Andrea bent down and put on Lea's glasses and helped her to her feet. "Come with me," said the naked Andrea as she lead a very willing, but now also naked, Lea out into the hallway.
The lights were mostly off like it was long after hours. The only lights that were still fully on was by the double door exit at the end of the hall. Lea felt her cuffs dematerialize much like Megan's gag had simply materialized.
Andrea turned to face Lea but kept a few feet distance. "You have a choice. That room behind you is locked now, you can not return. If you are feeling trapped take this," Andrea said as a black latex outfit materialized in her outstretched hands. "With that on, you don't have to leave. You still can't get through that classroom door, but you can be free to not leave."
"But how would being hogtied make me free?"
