For this chapter Ginny takes a break while I remedy a problem I caused when I wrote
Gone for Six.
I loved creating and writing about Jen, but I made her die in my third story. This upset some of my readers and forced me to take implicit steps backward in the timeline to continue her development, as inevitably I felt compelled to do.
Parts 2 and 3 of Incipiunt Vitae Novae
haven't been all that successful to date, though part 1 seems to be doing reasonably well. Perhaps it's simply the quality of my writing, but I wonder if the introduction of science fiction themes doesn't fit so well into BDSM - as an experiment I'm submitting this chapter in Science Fiction and Fantasy. Oh, the opportunity, the new-found freedom! With time-travel, alternate universes, cyberspace and artificial intelligence legitimately in my toolbox, I can correct my error with Jen and ultimately, though not in this chapter, better "flesh out" Michela, who first displays evidence of sentience in part 3.
A trigger warning is in order. I've chosen, like JKR's Dobby, to punish myself for what I did to Jen, pulling out enough stops possibly to qualify for Erotic Horror. I hope that you enjoy reading that part as much as I did writing it, but if erotic executions turn you off just skip over it; the story of Jen's return resumes afterward, ending with my first attempt to write a more or less conventional sex scene. I'll be delighted if you enjoy either or both scenes and I hope you'll read my other stories, especially if you give me lots of fives! Please leave comments if you are so inclined - the next story I'm working on springs from a reader's suggestions.
*****
"What the FUCK," shouted the director. She wasn't known for vulgar outbursts, nor was she accustomed to receiving frantic calls to come to a laboratory at the Neuroscience Institute in the middle of the night. She glared at the peeled-back thermal covers as she fought to recover her composure. The gurneys which should have supported the bodies of Jen, Michael and Ariel for their chilled delivery from the JenLiz sacrifice scene groaned instead under the weight of notebooks, old computer drives, publication reprints and a modest quantity of biological material in various containers, but definitely no whole cadavers. They looked for all the world as if someone had dumped on the contents of a researcher's workspace, spiced up the piles with a shelf-worth of choice selections from the morgue, then spread it all out to look more or less like three bodies when covered by the thick insulating blankets. The only immediately decipherable artifact, prompting the call, was an envelope addressed "To the Director". She tore it open.
Jen, Michael and Ariel are safe - do not attempt to locate them, they are not accessible in your world. You will be able to find out everything you might have learned from their bodies using the materials we've provided.
The director scratched her head, thinking quickly. The situation didn't appear catastrophic; only her top two scientists had seen under the covers. They'd stayed late, anxious to begin work on the brains at their freshest, the moment they arrived. A cover-up was still practical. She prayed for the sake of the Institute's reputation that the information on the gurneys was genuine and would ultimately be corroborated by knowledge obtained using normal scientific methods.
***
Sara set her viola down gently on the elegant Chippendale side-table. She needed a rest. When her idol and long-distance friend Hermann Strauss offered to visit the following season to conduct her community orchestra in Richard Strauss's Don Quixote if Sara would play Sancho she was thrilled beyond measure - for Don Q he promised to produce an excellent professional cellist he thought she'd enjoy. Now she had to deliver. The piece was far from easy and some sections still eluded her. She hoped to be able to produce a musically informed performance, not just a technically satisfactory one, and to this end she practiced diligently every day. But today it just wasn't working. Once she stopped practicing she finally heard the impatient jangle of the doorbell - it had rung at least a half a dozen times already. She swore under her breath; unexpected visitors at the House of Bondage were rare and seldom welcome. She headed to the door.
Upstairs Liz, an official State Tormentor, sat reviewing the records of the miscreants scheduled for punishment the next day, and she wasn't really getting into it either. Since Jen, her lover and co-Tormentor died she'd had to work double time. She was getting very tired, and it didn't seem as if the Office of Correction was working nearly as hard on finding a replacement as she was on processing her caseload. She missed Jen terribly. Gabe wasn't much of a substitute - he'd moved in after the sacrifice, but that wasn't working either and now he was spending most of his time at the studio and sleeping at his old apartment.
Sara checked her phone - perhaps the front door camera would show her what trouble was brewing. She gasped. She threw the door wide open and stared in disbelief as Jen and Michael climbed the steps. That they hadn't yet reached the doorbell was the least surprising part. Forgetting even to invite them in, though they came in anyway, she yelled up the stairs.
"Liz, come down, right now! Quickly!"