The Process

"YOU ARE FUCKING INSANE!"

Dr Farris just sits back, looking coolly at the previous handler, and says nothing.

"Electroshock therapy? WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"

"It's working remarkably well," points out Dr Farris. "It was the only thing that enabled us to get past the mental block displayed by the subject. Drugs, conditioning, hypnosis - nothing did the trick. Then one ECT session, and its mind was as soft and pliable as butter."

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE. There's no scientific basis to ECT, you fucking sadist. THIS WASN'T APPROVED. I SHOULD HAVE BEEN INFORMED. What the fuck are you doing, getting your jollies by frying her brains???"

"I'd be grateful if you lowered your voice and refrained from insulting me."

"Insult you? You are a bloody torturer!! Christ! You have been torturing her for how long?"

"Three sessions every week. For three weeks now."

"YOU BLOODY SADIST." He is clenching the report so hard it looks as if he is about to tear it. "Christ! The memory loss, the fuzziness, the sheer DAMAGE. You do realise that electroshock is a form of torture???"

Dr Farris glances at him sharply. "And has it occurred to you that torture might be just what the subject requires?"

A shocked silence. "What?"

"Yes, there is memory loss, impairment of cognitive functions, and a general feeling of loss of control over one's mind. Which is exactly what was required. Moreover, the way in which the treatment is applied - with no anaesthesia, being forcibly, humiliatingly restrained, feeling the discharge into one's brain, the convulsing body, the sheer pain and agony of it... Of course I'm aware that ECT is essentially a form of punishment. A form of torture, as you put it. And this is a subject that needs to be punished and tortured."

"Nonsense,, mutters the former handler. "She's no masochist."

"The subject is not a physical masochist in particular, true. However, there is a tremendous deep-seated emotional masochism. Although we were only able to get to it after the subject underwent ECT. That's when the resistances were removed - after the punishment - and the subject started to really talk."

"Talk about what?"

"It's all in the report. The subject's history."

"Her history? There was no indication of any enduring trauma."

"Aha. That's where you went wrong." Dr Farris smiles, a smug smile. "You do know the basic facts at least, don't you?"

"Yes," the former handler grinds his teeth, seriously wanting to kill Dr Farris. "Her parents died in a car accident when she was about seven. It was a blow which no doubt cemented her submissive tendencies, but it doesn't seem to have led to any serious mental damage."

"The subject displayed strong submissive tendencies from a very young age, true - possibly linked to its relationship with its father. However, the death of the subject's parents in an accident had more traumatic consequences than you realised. The subject experienced extremely strong survivor's guilt. After the accident, it was placed in a Catholic boarding school, where it experienced serious bullying from its fellow students as well as the usual religious indoctrination. At this time, the idea of God became extremely intense and important for the subject - God who had taken its parents away, God with whom its parents were now, God as both a cruel master and the provider of peace and rest. And God as the punisher of sin - including the sin of surviving. There was also no doubt an amalgamation of God the Father and the figure of the subject's father, who had been the subject of very intense adoration by his daughter."

The former handler is staring at Dr Farris, astounded. "She told you all this after...?"

"Yes. As I said, the punishment of being subjected to electroshock therapy has removed the obstacles to accessing this traumatic part of the subject's history - mostly because the subject believes on some level that it deserves it, that it needs it. There is an extremely potent mix of guilt, sexual arousal, love, and self-hatred there. Which has led to a need to disappear. To be annihilated."

"She's not suicidal!"

"Not in the strict meaning of the word, no. The subject is not someone who would ever jump out of a window or hang itself. But during its stay in boarding school, it acquired the habit of entering what can only be described as fugue states: dissociative states in which its mind became blank and empty. These states were always accompanied by a strong arousal - and in turn, when the subject started to develop sexually, sexual arousal would often lead to the onset of a fugue state. Which became of course linked to its submissiveness."

"Fugue states?"

"It makes sense. The subject felt intense guilt about surviving the death of its parents. It had turned God the father, the punisher and the dispenser of salvation into a central figure in its mental life. The subject actually fantasised half-consciously about dying and rejoining its parents in heaven, with God. These fugue states were a rather elegant way of accomplishing all this - escaping reality by losing its mind to an all-powerful figure, obtaining the punishment it thought it deserved, reaching sexual climax through the masochistic diminishment of its self. In a way, the fugue states were a way of dying. The death that the subject felt - and feels - it deserves."

The former handler is thinking furiously. "Not real death, though. Not literal, physical death."

Dr Farris shrugs. "Where do you draw the line between fantasy and reality? The mind wants what it wants. After all, death is the only logical conclusion to all masochistic fantasies. It's the ultimate form of mastery, the ultimate form of control. No, the subject is not a genuine suicide. And that's why it has resisted so fiercely - because it caught glimpses of the depth of its desires and needs, and the way they pointed, and was horrified. It was horrified by itself."

The former handler stares at the report pages. "So how would you recommend proceeding now, then?"

"Well. The process so far has been successful. We have managed to break down the subject's resistances and find what ultimately drives it. The question is how to leverage that in order to turn the subject into a marketable product. It depends, of course, on what kind of product you want."

"How so?"

"We produce a fairly standard type of slave here - devoted slaves, basically for sexual and domestic use, which retain most of their cognitive capacities, albeit under the owners' control. For most slaves, their libido is already based on their submissive tendencies, so it's basically a matter of intensifying this and removing inhibitions, conditioning subjects to obey automatically and respond to triggers, and so on. In this case, however, you have the submissive nature, but aligned with a deep masochistic drive towards annihilation of the self. That can be problematic, as this slave will have needs that other, more usual slaves, don't."

"What kind of needs?"

"The subject can function perfectly well as a regular slave, with full cognitive capacities. But it also needs to be punished into oblivion on a regular basis. It will feel deep devotion for its master - much deeper than most slaves, actually - and will love and hope to be loved by its master. But for this subject love is inextricably linked to punishment and non-existence and death. This subject's master must be able to turn it into nothing. He must be both its lover and its torturer."

The former handler purses his mouth. "Her torturer."

"Yes. But not in a merely physical sadistic way. This subject's master must seek to destroy its very existence, the core of its being, not just harm it physically. And then bring it back from the abyss. Again and again and again. It's a very complex proposition, as you can see."

"So, my question stands. How do you suggest proceeding, then?"

"Well, the subject has, so to speak, two personas now. One is anna, an intelligent, devoted slave, with many skills and capabilities which would make it a very valuable asset on the market. But there is also what I call the it-persona - the slave that seeks to disappear, to have no mind, to become blank, to be punished into non-existence, to cease to be. The slave that seeks its own destruction. Both personas are quite incompatible, in my view. Someone interested in the anna slave would no doubt find the it-persona rather demanding and tiresome, and if ignored, it would lead to the bursts of resistance which you have witnessed, making anna useless as a sellable slave. The it-persona, however, would make a sellable asset for a... more specialised market."

"What kind of market?"

"Serious sadists, basically. If we erased the anna persona altogether and left the it-persona, we would have a more marketable asset for this segment. With some intense conditioning, we could even make the subject focus more on physical masochism, turning it into a pain slut. Then there are snuff movies, of course." He sees the former handler's horrified reaction and goes on smoothly. "And then there's the third option, which I think would be best. Removing the anna-persona entirely and turning the it-persona into a drone. A mindless, unthinking drone, with entirely programmed behaviour, basically undistinguishable from a zombie. That would satisfy the subject's need for self-annihilation, leading to its mental balance - if only because its mind would have been completely flattened. And it would suffice with a more intensive course of electroshocks, stronger drugs, and programming. The subject is halfway there already, anyway."

The former handler is staring at the table. "So you don't think the anna persona is salvageable?"

"In economic terms, it makes no sense. Owners don't want complex slaves that require constant upkeep. They want sweet girls who will comply with their every whim, or pain sluts, or drones that are essentially human appliances. But this kind of depth? All this complication? No. No-one would buy this subject as it is."

"I see," says the former handler. "Well, the auction will be next week. I suppose we'll have to see who buys her and what their preferences are, and then we will let you know which option is chosen so you can make the necessary tweaks." He stands up. "Thank you. I'll see myself out."

He walks down the corridor towards the stairs, deep in thought, and turns around a corner just as the creature is being wheeled out of the display room in its cage. He stops for a second, looks down at it. Its shaven head, the thick collar, the new face. Its vacant eyes. His arousal is immediate, sharp as a blow.

The creature looks up and sees him. It stares into his eyes. And then, still holding his gaze, slowly and painfully, as if dragging a huge beast from an unthinkable sea depth, it raises its hand to its mouth and sucks on its thumb.