Author's
Note
: I've been asked not to use angle quotes; I was using them to show an English translation of people speaking Russian. I've had to do some re-writes. When you see dialogue in italics now, it will be the translation of people speaking Russian. I hope it's not too confusing.
*
Soon the door opened and a young woman in lab coat entered. Tomas says, "Ah, Bella, you're here." He gestured to Clio. "This is your new charge. She hasn't been assigned her ID yet, so you can call her Clio." He turned to Clio, and said, "This is Ms. Valentinova. She is your supervisor. She will be here to help you adjust to your new...situation."
Bella walked over to Clio and helped her up. She looked at her new charge inquisitively. She asked Tomas in Russian, "
Why does she seem to be in shock?
"
Tomas answered, "
While some of our test subjects were applying the skin cream, they became aroused. They all fucked several times."
Bella looked concerned. "
On her first day? We usually let them get used to being here first.
"
Tomas shrugged. "
Dr. Pavic said one of the Directors took an interest in her when he saw the pictures the police sent over. I assumed they would want me to find out any sexual information as quickly as possible.
"
Bella looked at Clio and said, "
Poor girl. I remember the last time one of the Directors did this. Do you know which one it was?"
"
I don't."
"
Could it be the same one?
"
Tomas replied, "
Well, she is a blue-eyed brunette like the last one.
"
"
Martina
.", Bella sniffled. "
Her name was Martina
."
Tomas heard the emotion in her voice and promised, "
I'll try to find out
."
Bella put her arm around the petite nude girl and walked her out the door. "We're going to get you settled in. The first week here is really busy, so you need to rest."
Clio walked beside her though the corridors silently. She slowly started coming out of her fugue. She noticed most of the rooms they passed were like the one she just came from -- glass on three sides, with very little privacy.
She asked, "Are all your rooms like these?"
Bella said, "Most are. The building complex was designed by an avant-garde architect from Croatia. She wanted it to look open and inviting."
They turned a corner and stopped in front of a room with glass walls facing onto corridors on all four sides. Bella waved her hand and a door slid open. "Here we are." Bella said as she ushered Clio inside.
Clio looked around with dread. "All of the walls are see-through?"
Bella said apologetically, "Well, it's meant to optimize monitoring of new test subjects. Unfortunately, it means you don't have any privacy." She continued, "You will live here for 2 weeks while we get you situated. Then you will move into the women's quarters."
"Why wait?"
"We have found it better to limit your interactions with anyone other than our staff while you get settled in and learn how we do things here."
Bella showed her around. There was a bed that took up most of the room. She motioned to a desk in one corner with a laptop. "There is a computer for you." Clio's eyebrow raised at the chance of contacting someone for help. Bella saw and said, "All of your activity is monitored. We have firewalls to prevent you from reaching most of the Internet, I'm afraid."
Bella walked over to the other corner, where there was a glass cylinder about 4 feet in diameter. "This is your shower. It's equipped with blowers, so no need for towels."
She led the girl to the other side of the bed. Against the glass wall, there was a toilet and a bidet.
Clio was mortified. "You mean I don't even get any privacy when I...relieve myself?"
Bella said, "Clio, you're going to have to let go of your need for privacy." Clio stifled a sob and Bella looked away. "As a test subject, your urine and feces will be collected and analyzed."
Clio finally made herself look closer at it. "There's no paper..."
"You'll have to get used to using a bidet instead."
Bella turned and gestured to the other side of the room. "This is your bed." It looked like an expensive memory foam style mattress, but there was no flat sheet or blanket. Clio mentioned this to Bella, who said, "You may get some sheets later. For now we have to be careful."
"Oh?"
Bella explained, "The depilatory treatment you were given has some side effects..."
Clio asked angrily, "You mean, besides the 1 in 10 chance of killing me outright?!"
Bella said, "Ah, Tomas told you about that. Well, of those that survive, about 70% develop an allergy to clothing or other body coverings, including blankets."
Clio said, "You mean if they get dressed they start breaking out with hives?"
Bella said, "No, it's a severe, life-threatening allergy. They'll die if they don't strip naked immediately. But for half of those, the allergy goes away in a month, and most of the others within 3 months."
"Most?"
"Well, around 10% never lose that reaction. They are never able to wear clothing."
"So there's a chance I'm going to end up not only