When they reached the doors of the front building, the guard uncuffed the three nude prisoners and led them inside. They were met by two men in lab coats. One of the men approached the others and spoke to the guard in Russian. He walked toward a door on the far wall and they followed.
Clio covered her breasts with one arm and put her other hand over her bush as the other older, heavy-set man approached. He said in English, "American, yes?"
Clio was so overjoyed to find someone who spoke English that she almost cried. She hurriedly said, "You have to help me contact the the American Embassy!"
The man said loudly, "Be quiet!"
Clio couldn't help herself though, and said, "Please, there's been a terrible mistake. At least let me call my parents in America."
The man slapped her. All the blood drained from her face as she looked at him in shock.
"Speak only when I ask you a question, or I will have you gagged." He continued, "We have no diplomatic relations with your country. " He scowled and said, "They say we have a bad record on human rights. We have no American Embassy."
He looked down at his clipboard and said, "Cliod-- How do you pronounce your first name?"
"Clee-uh-nah. It's Irish. I go by Clio."
"
Cliodhna Davies
. 19 years old. American. Guilty of drug possession. It says here you narrowly escaped the death penalty. A few more grams of your illicit drugs and you would have been hanged at dawn tomorrow."
He turned and said, "Follow me." He led her to an office that had three walls made of glass, with the rear wall covered in an off-white fabric. The double doors on the front wall slid open as they approached.
They were met by a young man in a lab coat. The older man said, "Tomas, please prep Clio here and let Ms. Valentinova know when she is done."
Tomas approached her as the older man left. He smiled at her and said in slightly accented English. "Hello, Miss Davies. I am Tomas. I need to give you your intake exam." He gestured to a door in the rear wall. "Right through there."
He followed her into a medical exam room to a scale. "Okay, height 1.55 meters. Weight 45.5 kilos."
He sat her on the exam table and got her blood pressure. He smiled at her and said, "I am much less formal than Dr. Pavic. You may ask me questions if you'd like."
She said, "So I'm going to be a lab assistant here?"
Tomas looked at her quizzically. "Who told you that?"
"My advocate back at the station."
Tomas said, "I'm afraid his English is not very good. You are actually going to be a test subject."
"Test subject?" Clio was starting to get alarmed. "What do you mean?"
"When companies in your country want to start human trials of their products, they contract with the Institute. We have much more relaxed laws about what is allowed."
"Allowed?! So I have to let you do what to me?"
"Test makeup products and pharmaceuticals, mostly."
Clio's stomach was in knots. '
What have I got myself into?
'
After she calmed down, she asked, "When do I get some clothes?"
Tomas said, "Oh, you don't. Our test subjects are always nude. It's much more efficient than having you dress and undress again and again. It also allows us to monitor your skin for allergic reactions or other changes."
Clio was stunned, her eyes watering. "You mean, I have to stay naked? For how long?"
"As long as you're here." Tomas glanced at her papers. "Which for now is the next 3 years."
Clio started to cry again. '
They
'
re going to
force
me to be naked? For
3 years
?
'
Once she got her wits about her, she asked, "What did you mean '
for now
'?"
Tomas said, "Your service here can be extended if you cause problems."
He asked her to stand on a raised dais and spread her arms out to her sides level with the ground. He said, "Because you're a drug user, I have to inspect you closely for needle marks."
Clio protested, "The pot they found wasn't mine. My '
friend
' Jamie slipped it into my bag."
Tomas said, "Well, I am not allowed to take your word for it. I have to examine you."
He proceeded to run his fingers through her hair and look closely at her scalp, then moved on to her face, behind her ears and in her mouth. After running his fingers over her neck and peering closely at it, he examined each arm. Then he had her clasp her hands behind her head as he did the same all the way down her body, lifting each breast to look underneath. He worked his way in a spiral around her belly and lower back. Next, he placed his hands on her ass.
She exclaimed, "I've already had a cavity search by the police."
Tomas said, "It's not a cavity search. I have to check between your buttocks for needle marks. " As he parted her ass cheeks, Clio blushed and thought, '
I'm going to be naked for the next three years? How am I going to deal with that? And what did he mean by monitor me for allergic reactions and stuff?
'
Eventually he finished. He handed her a rubber hair cap with wires coming out of it and said, "Put your hair up under this." As she did, he walked over to a corner and drew back a hospital privacy curtain. He went to the back wall, to a box of thick see-through plastic that looked like a cabinet, which had rows of hoses attached to it.
He opened the doors on the front and said, "Please step inside and face forward." After she did, he used Velcro straps to attach her feet to the small platform she stood on, and then closed the front doors.
He then turned a crank on the wall and the sides of the box started moving in toward Clio. On each side there was an oval opening at shoulder level with a short rubber sleeve. Just outside these were handles. He said, "Stick your hands through the ovals and grab the handles, please."
After she did, he used Velcro straps to tighten the sleeves and to affix her hands to the handles. He tapped a button on the front of the box that caused the platform Clio was standing on to split into two pieces and slide to each side, until her legs were spread as wide as they could go. Next he lowered the top of the box down in two sections, with an opening in the middle for her neck. He closed it and sealed a rubber sleeve around her neck with Velcro.
After that, he stepped back and stepped over to a small table next to the cabinet and hooked the cap's wires up to a console with electrical jacks. He swabbed down her left hand with alcohol and inserted an IV needle. Finally he held up what looked like a gas mask hooked to some oxygen tanks and said, "You'll have to wear this."
Clio looked alarmed. "Why?"
He explained, "I'm going to administer a treatment in two parts. One through your IV and the other is sprayed on your body. The spray is harmful to inhale."
As he put the mask over her face, she asked, "What treatment?"
He took a syringe from the table and connected it to her IV and said, "A permanent depilatory."
He pushed down the plunger. Clio said through the mask, "Wait,
permanent
? Meaning--" She stopped talking and started gasping as her hand and forearm start to sting. As it spread throughout her body, it changed to a strong itch. She yelled, "It's making my whole body itch! It feels like it's itching under my skin!"