Somewhere there is a magical realm populated by an immortal race, the Wom. When they grow tired of life, they sleep for years where they dream of an existence in a world very much like our own, a life-dream. In those dreams they fight and discover and struggle and love and fret about the day that the dream ends.
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Saengdao was installed in her observation cage. Generally, no objects are attributed as being the possession of a slave, for that is what Saengdao was. This cage, however, was built specifically with Saengdao in mind. She was the only individual who had ever been inside it. And so, all considered it to be hers.
It was a small cage, flat on the bottom and rounded up top. She knelt on a comfortable cushion set into the base. There was no room to stand.
As her job required no use of her hands, they were cuffed out of the way, behind her back. Saengdao wore nothing beside her bonds.
The cage was affixed to an articulating mechanical arm which allowed a mistress to position the cage in a wide array of heights and angles, much like a device found in a dental office on Earth in the modern day. Indeed, the cage was moved about quite often to allow Saengdao to see precisely what was going on in the room. It was her job to observe and then to report step by step notes as to the procedures that occurred in the room.
She had to concentrate and memorize and then, later, chronicle the things that were done to the slaves who were brought to the room and fastened securely to the reclining chair. Saengdao was the Archivist of PermaMod.
Though her mouth was free of any sort of encumbrance, Saengdao was not permitted to speak. She knew that if she uttered any sound at all, she would quickly become an active participant of proceedings in the room - no longer an observer, but instead lashed to the chair and modified. Needless to say, Saengdao was very disciplined in her embrace of silence.
The day's victim was escorted into the room on a leash by her mistress and a nurse. She was secured to the operating chair - naked, with wrists and ankles cuffed tightly to the chair.
The mistress kissed her slave on the forehead like a child and whispered, "Love you."
"I love you too, Mistress," the slave replied. She had a debilitating lisp, so every 's' came forth as a 'th'.
Saengdao knew this slave. It was Helen. She had been strapped in the chair five months before to be pierced and measured. She did not show any signs of distress. Saengdao assumed that Helen did not know what was about to occur.
The mistress and nurse retreated from the room, leaving Helen waiting patiently - Saengdao's cage positioned above for the best view. Helen's eyes scanned the room for a moment before settling on Saengdao.
It would be hard to say for certain, but if not Helen, then certainly some other modified slave must have wondered exactly how Saengdao could possibly perform her job as official observer of the proceedings. After all, her eyes were covered by metallic shields which spanned from above her brows down to her cheekbones. Certainly, the sturdy bolts that seemed to attach the shields to Saengdao's face could have been props to create a certain sense of theater. But they were not.
"Hello," Helen said.
Saengdao remained perfectly still, watching.
"Are you gagged too?" Helen asked. "I'm getting a gag today. Mistress says that I have no restraint with my voice. I talk and talk and can never remember to keep quiet."
Helen was extremely beautiful. Strikingly beautiful. Her face was perfect. Long dark red hair framed immaculate bone structure and large wide green eyes. If one were to scan a crowd, her's would be the face that one would remember most upon reflection.
Saengdao had known women with Helen's hair and eyes during the course of her last life-dream. Often, their complexion would be freckled. In contrast, Helen's was an even pale with no mark or blemish at all. Glowing. Pure as the day she was born.
"...It's always been an issue for me..." Helen lisped. "In fact, my last owner grew so tired of my talking that she abandoned me - chained me by my wrist to a tree in the woods. I was there for over a year until Mistress found me. She had to cut off my hand to claim me from the tree. Holy Goddess! That hurt a lot! But, I'm glad she did that instead of chopping down my tree. I loved that tree. I guess you could say, after all that time, I was attached to it in more ways than one. Ha ha..."
As she spoke, Helen flexed her right wrist back and forth. Of course, her hand had grown back. The loss of a hand would be catastrophic during a life-dream. Not so, in this world where all were divine immortal.
Saengdao remembered Helen's previous visit, of course. It was her job to remember all details of the proceedings in this room. And though she always documented her observations for the organization's historical archive, that process did not remove the operating sessions from her memory.
She remembered that, on her previous visit, Helen had gotten six studs pierced through her tongue - two rows of three running back along the length of her tongue. Also, there was an array of eight studs around Helen's mouth.
Despite the sparkling jewels that tipped the lip studs, Saengdao felt that they detracted from Helen's natural beauty. Saengdao's opinion or feelings were utterly immaterial.
"Wearing the gag will help me remember to be quiet at times when, otherwise, I may accidentally and inadvertently start to speak. I hope that the gag is comfortable. Did you get your gag here?" Helen continued. It was clear to Saengdao that Helen was unaware of Madame M's reputation - of her area of magical expertise.
The art of body modification was a challenge in a world populated by divine immortals. Any brand, any scar, any hole, any cut made into the flesh would heal completely in due course leaving no indication of the violence that had occurred. That was why a powerful witch like Madame M was needed. For, with proper planning and spellcraft, modifications could be made. And depending on the witch's skill and imagination, the modifications that could be made were limitless - perhaps, even, if desired, extreme.
Madame M called her facility "PermaMod". The idea is that she created permanent body modifications. But, what does "permanent" even mean when you are Wom - a divine immortal being? For example, if one is "permanently" pinned to a boulder by an unbreakable steel staple, inevitably, over the millennia, the boulder will erode to sand and the immortal will again be free.
Even if there is the smallest fraction of a chance that something will occur, in the face of eternity that something will eventually occur. And everything has at the least a tiny possibility of occurring. So, what is "permanent"?
Saengdao had been the archivist of PermaMod for a brief two years - ever since her awakening from her life-dream. Would she be the archivist permanently? Well... no. Certainly, though, in a thousand years she may still be confined to her cages, observing and documenting operations. Maybe a million years. Regardless, even for an immortal divine being, during the passage of time a thousand years would feel like forever.
Even for a divine immortal the word "permanent" could still carry the weight of eternity.
"...I can't imagine though, how much MORE I'll speak when the gag is removed after being silenced for a period of time and so many thoughts filling my head waiting in line to be expressed..."
