Jacks Wage Slavery Pt 02

Author's Notes:

'Jack's Wage Slavery Part 1 & 2' is the fourth story in the saga of Jack Danner. Minimal effort is made in this tale to explain the backstory so it is highly recommended you read the first three stories in the following order:

Jack's New Job

Jack's New Position

Jack's Daily Grind

All characters engaging in sexual relationships or activities are 18 years old or older.

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Jack's Wage Slavery - Part 2

Chapter 12

Jack slowly surfaced from the depths of his mind and groaned from the pounding in his head.

He tried to move his arms but they seemed to be locked down to a platform he was lying on. His neck, waist, and legs were also clamped to the surface. He couldn't see anything in the inky darkness of the chamber he was being held captive in. Oppressive heat bathed his body and sweat covered his limbs. The air was too stale and breathing was difficult. He felt like he was suffocating.

A deep rumbling droned on and on in his ears.

He tried to call out but he couldn't get a breath and his voice was drowned out by the rumbling.

He suddenly realized he was going to die in this pit of darkness and heat.

Alone.

His mind flashed back to the nightmare he'd had not so long ago and how he'd woken up then with two lovely women sleeping on him. He desperately wanted that to happen again but his body was telling him this time he was awake.

There was a sharp creak sound and a light went on above his face, the brightness stabbing into his eyes and making his head throb badly.

"Open your eyes... worm thing."

Great, an Allsa Komanae. One with a poor grasp of human insults. Still, company was company. Jack slowly opened his eyes and saw the usual trio of cowl wearing figures standing next to the platform. The one in the center would be the speaker of course. An almost giddy desperation swept over Jack so he looked into the hood of the one on the left. "What can I do for you this fine day?" he croaked.

The center wasn't happy with being ignored. Not one bit. Jack received a jab in the side with some kind of nerve prod and he had to bite down hard to keep from screaming. When his vision cleared he saw the center disciplining the fellow on the left. Jack was pissed. He stared into the right cowl and grit his teeth. "And what the FUCK do

you

want?"

Once more the prod jabbed Jack and he growled his rage as he pulled at the bindings. As quickly as it surged his strength left him and he fainted.

When Jack woke he felt a straw being pressed between his lips. His first instinct was to clamp his lips tight as it could be poison. Then his situation returned to him. He sucked at the straw and was rewarded with stale, warm water. No poison. He drank his fill before the straw was pulled back, spilling drops across his mouth and chin.

Soft fingers wiped the moisture away.

He opened his eyes again and saw... an Altarian? No... similar but not quite the same. His eyesight was still blurry from fatigue. Jack looked at the hand hovering above his mouth. Three fingers, one thumb. Wiry strength in that hand. Lean muscles in the arm, covered with a fine grey fur. Small scars here and there where the fur didn't grow. Some looked like burns. The being was wearing some kind of baggy tunic over its torso and the fabric had seen better days. His eyes could focus now so he looked up to its... no, her face. He could be wrong as he'd never seen this race before but his radar was telling him this was a female. Regardless of the presence of horns.

Unlike his which grew up from his forehead and swept back over his head, hers projected from the sides of her head and curved down and forward. The tips were covered by rounded metal caps. Most likely to blunt the points. Grey with irregular bands of black, he thought they were lovely.

Jack looked left and right and couldn't hear anything over the droning sound that continued to dominate the sound in the room. He was still strapped down and he had no idea how long he'd been there.

He looked up at the woman once more. Large, shockingly pale grey eyes, small black leathery nose, again with a small scar crossing it, black lips in a wide mouth with one major difference from the Altarians. The points of two fangs could be seen resting on her thick lower lip. He'd have to see her other teeth to tell if she was a true carnivore or an omnivore like him. Her ears though, they were broad, furred triangles with white tufts. Definitely mobile, they were constantly moving, twitching, twisting and focusing the sounds around her.

From the little he could see she looked like she'd missed a few too many meals and been worked a little too hard. Still, she had a soft touch. Her fingers were back on his lips again, just the lightest of touches, and after all the abuse he'd experienced it was very soothing to feel a gentle caress.

"What... what are you?" she whispered.

"Human and Altarian," he replied as quietly.

Her face showed her confusion. "I don't know either of those names but how can you be both?"

"I was Human and... well, it's a complicated story. I've never met anyone who looks like you either. What are you?" Jack asked.

She pulled her hand away and her expression closed up. "I am nothing."

"Not to me you're not. Your touch was the first expression of kindness I've experienced since I was abducted. Thank you," Jack said sincerely.

She shook her head angrily and left the room.

He didn't know what he'd said to offend her but he was upset with himself for driving her away. He lay there on his back wishing she'd come back. When the door suddenly opened again he almost called out in his excitement. He throttled down his emotions brutally as they were clearly getting out of control.

Three cloaked figures again. He remembered the pain stick from the previous meeting so he held his tongue and watched carefully.

"Your discipline collar is ready. It will be placed on your neck and from that time on you will be punished for any and all insubordination with overwhelming pain. Our scientists have determined the boundaries of human resistance to pain through careful study and experimentation. Humans are no different from any other inferior race when it comes to the aversion to pain. It is a very effective means of control."

"Great, a pain collar," Jack thought. He wondered how his hybrid nature would affect his resistance to it.

As if reading his mind the Allsa Komanae went on. "This one is calibrated to inflict 50% stronger pain than a normal human collar would output. If unconsciousness is requested it will increase beyond that until the goal is reached. The collars are tamper proof. Charges will detonate if the collar is breached or if death is requested."

"If death is requested?" Jack thought. This sales pitch needed work.

"Collars are linked to our networks so your location will be known at all times. It can be activated at any time. If you were to somehow leave the area of the network the collar will render you unconscious and after a period of time it will detonate if it is not reset by your master. Is all of this understood?"

Jack saw no benefit in antagonizing them. "Yes," he sighed.

The one on the left stepped forward and touched something on the table Jack was strapped to. The sides of the headrest came up and clamped his head painfully tight until he couldn't budge. The table's neck restraint released and sunk into the table. Then the surface under his neck pulled away leaving the back of his neck exposed. The Allsa Komanae on the right then stepped forward and opened a long narrow black container. It reached inside and carefully lifted out a stiff band of small interlocking silver rectangles, two inches high by one inch wide and lined up along their wide side. How this... bar of metal was supposed to wrap around his neck Jack had no idea. The center of the metal band had a larger silver section that curved down to a point like a deep 'V'. It almost made him think of the expanding metal watch band on his father's watch but much larger. If he didn't know the evil intent of the device he would have been impressed with its beauty. Even in the dim light of the room the silver surface gleamed. The pattern on its surface was intricate and ornately detailed. He didn't understand why someone would go to the effort of making such a terrible device attractive. It made no sense.

The Allsa Komanae meticulously positioned the 'V' center of the band just below his Adam's apple and over the notch of his collarbone. It slowly lowered the device until Jack felt the cool metal on his skin. Then he felt the skin under the metal begin to prickle and crawl like a thousand tiny needles were pricking him. The ornate center link on the collar began to grip his skin and the area suddenly felt cold. The next two links settled against his skin and the prickling sensation continued. Once they settled and shocked him with their numbing cold the next two segments unlocked and lowered. Jack's discomfort was increasing and he had the oddest sensation of being slowly strangled. His breathing wasn't being impacted but he felt himself sucking in breaths in gulps. This caused the links already bonded to him to shift and adjust their positions with an odd high pitched hiss and chime sound.

The sensation began to become unbearable but there was nothing he could do as the ends of the collar slowly made their way around his extra wide neck. The cold got worse and worse and he had to grit his teeth together to keep from crying out. Then through the cold he felt fine metallic tendrils digging into the flesh and bones of his neck and this pain wasn't at all reduced by the cold. The collar was digging in. When the ends met and snapped together above his spine the pain spiked and it was all he could feel.

He screamed until he passed out.

Jack felt the soft touch on his lips once more. It was such a contrast to the last sensation he recalled he gasped involuntarily. The hand pulled back abruptly. His eyes cracked open and he was no longer in the dark chamber. He felt the softness of a mattress under him and the room was brightly lit from sunlight pouring in the windows. He looked around in confusion.

"Wh-" he began then coughed as his dry throat cracked. He felt hands holding a cup in front of his lips so he sipped at the water. It was cool and refreshing this time.

He laid back on the pillow and blinked his eyes until his sight cleared. The grey furred being was back, sitting on the mattress next to him. Jack resolved not to say anything that might frighten her off like last time.

She'd received an upgrade in her tunic. The new one still exposed her arms and seemed to reach her knees but it was white and clean. He looked down at himself and he was wearing the same kind of white tunic as she was. White really wasn't his color.

She was looking at his neck with a wary expression. He looked at hers and was horrified to see terrible scarring. The fur was gone in strips of scar tissue encircling her neck. There had to have been at least four of them around her neck just above a thin silver band much like his but without the ornate design on its surface. It had a small 'V' positioned at the base of her neck like his.

The scar just above the silver band looked fresh. The ones above were older and had all healed in the past. The oldest looking ones were wider and each seemed to be a little narrower until the current band which was barely as wide as Jack's pinkie finger.

"Is there something wrong with my neck?" he asked quietly.

She shook her head but she didn't take her eyes from the band. Jack slowly pushed himself to a seated position. The collar felt odd. The skin under it was still a little tender so he was aware it was there from little barbs of pain when he moved. However, it didn't tug as he'd expected it to considering how it was embedded in his skin.

With a glance at his companion he put his feet on the floor noticing the white slippers he was wearing. His nerves buzzed a little from the memory of the pain but he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. When he was ready he stood and walked over to the window. The sunlight struck his collar and splashed reflections over the walls. He was dazzled and staggered back... into her arms. He felt her strength as she steadied him. She was thin and small, the top of her head barely reaching his shoulder, but she had considerable strength in her hands and arms. The two broad toes on her cloven hoofs gave her excellent stability.

He got his balance again and looked at her. He needed to know what to call her. "Thanks."

She frowned like he'd insulted her.

"What's wrong?"

"Do not thank me. Do not acknowledge me. I am nothing. It is my role," she said slowly like it was a lesson he needed to learn.

"I won't do that. That's not who I am. I won't pretend you're nothing because that's not who or what you are!"

"You will be disciplined if you do not follow the roles we are assigned," she scowled at his stubbornness.

He shrugged. "Then I'll be punished. I'm not going to change who I am for them."

"Who you are isn't more important than survival!" she growled quietly in frustration.

"If I survive but I'm no longer a person I can respect, what have I survived for?" he asked.

She looked at him in fury. He took that as a good sign. She still had spirit.

"What do I call you?" he asked.

She looked at him like he was mentally challenged. "You don't call me anything!" she hissed quietly.

"Eve it is then." The name just popped into his head. Maybe because she was the 'first woman' he'd met in this awful place. He looked around. There was nothing out the 'window'. It was a light well, piping sunlight in from above. They were probably deep underground. This particular place wasn't too awful but the dark place where he'd met her had been. "Eve, is there a mirror around here where I can see myself and this collar?"

She was looking at him a little strangely then she shook her head and frowned again. She set off purposefully towards a doorway so he followed. He was relieved to see standard human compatible hygienic facilities for waste and cleaning. At least it looked something like a toilet and shower. But no way to see his reflection.

Eve touched the wall and it became a mirror. There they stood side by side. At least he wasn't dressed in that ridiculous leather and rhinestone outfit with the cape! He saw the same rounded metal caps Eve was wearing on her horns had been added to the points of his too. He stepped closer and inspected the collar. It really was a finely crafted and beautifully ornate piece of torture hardware.

"Any idea why my pain collar is so fancy?" he asked quietly.

"Discipline collar," she corrected with a sigh. "I was told we belong to the Prime. This symbol at the center represents the Prime, but... I have never seen a collar like yours." Eve said equally quiet.

"I wonder if that's a good thing or a bad thing." Jack mumbled.

A chime sounded and Eve rushed from the bathroom then darted back and pulled Jack's arm with her surprising strength to follow her into the middle of the room where they stood side by side. Jack looked at her in confusion and she scowled at him. "Eyes forward and down," she hissed quietly.

The door opened and in walked a single Allsa Komanae. Jack was momentarily confused. He'd never seen one on its own before. They always traveled in threes.

"So this is Jack Danner," the cloaked being before him said thoughtfully as it stopped a few feet away. "I expected... more."

Jack was too surprised to be insulted. The Allsa Komanae's voice was deep and rich, a far cry from the rough flat tones which typically emanated from the dark cowls. Its clothing seemed like it was made of finer materials as well.

"And you are?" Jack asked. He saw Eve twitch when he spoke.

"Ah, you have so much to learn about your new role," the deep voice sighed regretfully.

Jack's brain lit up and he found himself gasping on the floor as his body spasmed painfully.

"That was just a mild lesson in how not to speak to your superiors," the Allsa Komanae said in a conversational tone.

Jack got his arms under himself and painfully pushed himself up. Onto his knees. That was as far as he could get as his muscles were trembling in memory of the pain.

He felt Eve's hands on his arm and she helped him to his feet then immediately let go and went back to staring at the floor. Jack wanted to thank her but the cloaked figure would likely punish her. It was safer for her if he followed her wishes... while in the presence of Allsa Komanae.

"When I ask you to speak you may address me as 'First'. Is that clear?"

Jack almost replied but nodded his head instead. He heard First make a little sound of disappointment.

"You will also avert your eyes from any and all citizens. You are not worthy of looking upon your masters so you will not."

Once more Jack found himself on the floor, this time on his back. The remnants of the pain from his last visit to the floor hadn't left his muscles so now he had some serious cramping. He wasn't able to move his legs as the muscles just trembled. He wondered if the asshole was really using a mild setting or was playing at the top end of the scale. The latter seemed likely. Anything higher and he might not survive.

"Are you beginning to understand your new role? You may speak," First asked.

"I understand these lessons are likely going to kill me. I can't move my legs," he croaked.

First made an annoyed sound and left the room. When it returned it was followed by another Allsa Komanae who immediately knelt down beside Jack and ran some kind of device up and down Jack's legs. It froze then looked up at First and made a quiet hissing sound.

First hissed back much louder and the kneeling figure cowered.

"You are neither Human nor Altarian. You appear to be some kind of freakish hybrid. The collar was calibrated incorrectly. This will be rectified. Killing you before the Prime arrives would... displease her."

"So you aren't the Prime?" Jack groaned.

"I am First."

"That's not confusing at all," he sighed.

First was silent. Jack got the impression the self-important jerk was itching to push the pain button again.

"Take care of his legs," it barked at Eve and left. The other Allsa Komanae hustled after it and the door closed.

Eve bent down and got her arms under Jack's shoulders and dragged him backwards over to the bed platform. The bed dropped down into the floor and she pulled him right up onto it. Once she stepped off the bed lifted back up. Jack realized this likely meant they were under observation. Maybe by the Allsa Komanae who checked his legs earlier?

Once the bed was back to its original height Eve moved to the end of the bed and pushed his tunic up to expose his legs.

Jack grabbed the hem and pushed it back down to cover his privates. "Hey!"

Eve gave him an exasperated look. "I need to massage the knots out of your leg muscles."

"That doesn't mean you get permission for a free show."

"A free show?" she asked with a puzzled expression.

"You know, of my privates."

"There is no privacy. You need to accept this as your new reality. Our masters see all and know all. There can be no secrets from them," Eve explained slowly as she tried to tug the hem of his tunic up again.

Jack tugged it back down. "That wasn't what I meant by privates! I meant my... sex organs," he said uncomfortably. "Besides, there are all kinds of ways secrets can be kept. I'm not buying into this crap about their all seeing all knowing abilities. They aren't gods. They bleed and they die just like we do. I've personally seen it."

Eve's eyes were wide. She looked nervously towards the ceiling. Then she turned her eyes to him and scowled. "Let me do my job. I have been ordered to take care of your legs. I must do this."