810-10-02
Hannah was mentally rehearsing her upcoming meeting over and over. She was sitting at a bench in the reception area outside Judge Bragg’s office, wearing the pocketless and tight fitting light gray uniform of a ward, which she had just been made to put on forty minutes before. A much younger assistant than she would have expected was at a standing desk by a floor to ceiling window right beside Bragg’s office’s door. She was a few years younger than Hannah was, and Hannah was only twenty-seven. The girl was pretty too, with short dark brown hair. She was working away diligently, while Hannah was waiting. She had long since gleaned as many details as possible from her current surroundings. “Hi Carol, it’s Cassidy from Judge Bragg’s office—… yes that Cassidy—… of course I remember you. I am doing really well. Judge Bragg has asked me to book a meeting with you. She would like to check in is all. It’s almost been a year. Can you do Tuesday, maybe during your lunch? It will only be twenty minutes, unless you want longer, in which case we will schedule a follow up meeting after that one—… no she will come to you, wherever you like.”
The door suddenly opened. A tall woman in her mid 60s looked her up and down quickly but yet somehow very thoroughly. “Hannah, I will see you now.”
—
“Derek please, you have to help me. You were the one who said it would be fine.” Hannah was doing her best not to panic. “My advocate said again that she thinks I should waive the defense. The trial starts tomorrow.” Derek sat up in bed and swung his legs over the side. He had been her supervisor before she was moved to their firm’s energy desk, where she struggled. She would never admit it, but if it wasn’t for him, she wouldn’t have been a successful trader. Only a fraction of her winning bets were because he steered her towards them, but when the difference between being the best trader in the city and a fired one, was getting fifty-two percent of calls right compared to fifty, his help was a significant part of her edge. He was the firm’s rockstar. That’s why she had started sleeping with him, another thing she would never admit, but more than a few suspected.
“Come here,” he said. She came. “It’s going to be fine. Worst case scenario you get sent for reformation. That will only take a month, maybe two. Then you come back and do what you do best.”
Hannah glared, “If I am sent for reformation, that will mean I was found guilty. Nobody will ever hire me to trade again.”
He took her hands and pulled her down to her knees so he could look into her eyes. “I know, I said so you can do what you do best.”
She hit him in the side of his leg, right below his knee, hard. “I am not sucking your dick right now, asshole.”
He laughed. “Come on babe. I am only joking.” He hadn’t been, not entirely. “And you had just bought those mining shares the week before. I didn’t mean for you to do it like that. You should have been a little less obvious.” One thing was for sure, she was dumping his selfish ass either way. Their firm had let her go the moment she was charged. He was going to be of no use to her, and she didn’t actually like him particularly. Forty minutes later they were both in bed. They hadn’t said a word the whole time, but neither of them was close to sleep. “Don’t worry. I mean it. When you come out —if you don’t beat the charges— I will be here. They may make you forfeit a lot of your earnings and stocks, but I will make sure you land on your feet. You won’t have to live off the minimum income while you look for a job or anything. And I will help you find one, even if you’re not trading.” She took a deep breath and relented. It was probably worth having him in her back pocket, just in case. She started kissing his chest, working her way down slowly. She was used to having this particular slightly bitter taste in her mouth being the cost for his help.
—
Hannah got up and smiled. “Thank you, I am pleased to meet you.”
Judge Bragg didn’t take her hand. She was already turning to go back into her office. “Close the door as you come in Hannah —and you won’t be pleased to meet me in a moment.” Hannah closed the door and turned to face the judge, who was looking at her sternly. “This will be a brief introduction only. My name is Judge Pamela Bragg. You may call me ‘Judge Bragg’ or ‘Ma’am.’ I will lay out my expectations of you, my assistant Cassidy will give you an orientation, and then you will begin doing some chores. There’s still plenty of hours left in the day.”
Hannah spoke up immediately. “I would like to discuss the community service component of my sentence, actually. My advocate told me that wards are expected to contribute. Given my expertise as a successful trader and analyst —if I do say so myself— I am confident I will be able to help optimize various systems here at the Halls of Justice. I would like to help and I think you will be surprised by how much—”
Judge Bragg cut her off “No, and there isn’t a community service component to your punishment. The purpose of your chores is quite different than that. You’re obviously a very attractive and smart young woman who is used to getting more of her way than she should. That is changing, at least in here.”
Hannah bristled and didn’t do a convincing job hiding it. She certainly was not about to drop it. She had no intention of doing menial labor as her advocate had told her she should expect. She was smart and capable. She just needed to help the judge see her potential. “I understand Judge, but don’t you think the greater good of the community would be better served if we accomplished both objectives simultaneously? I would still be learning a valuable lesson about contributing to society, and I would be optimizing your systems. You would be able to help more people faster with the improvements I can develop and help implement. All I will—”
“Enough Hannah. You have been sentenced to reformation. In your case, you will spend at least three months here. That was the minimum set by your trial judge, but it may take up to a maximum of twenty-four months. If after that and you’re still not reformed, or before if I recommend it, your sentence will be reconsidered by an independent judge to determine if indefinite confinement is justified. That’s not a punishment in the same way as reformation is —there is no tedious labor or strictly enforced regimes— but it is a last resort. You may not be able to come back from that. I therefore suggest you listen very carefully to what I am about to say to you.”
Hannah swallowed and tried to slow down. Indefinite confinement was indeed the thing she must avoid, at all cost, but she hated the idea of being made to do chores that the cleaning bots should be. “OK, I understand, but if you will let me explain for just thirty seconds, I think you will see it will both serve your goals regarding my reformation —which I want to embrace wholeheartedly by the way— and will also genuinely improve your systems, which therefore improves the community too.”
The Judge was not interested, clearly. Actually, she was already quite annoyed. “The first thing you need to understand is that you are neither in a position to advise me on what will be good for you or for this community, given that you were just sentenced to a minimum of three months in a reformation program for committing securities fraud. That minimum required duration is longer than usual, due to your complete inability to show remorse or take responsibility for your actions. You will not bring your proposal up in this meeting again. And that brings me neatly to the subject of discipline while you are here. I enforce it very strictly, and that includes the administration of corporal punishment, if necessary. I am sure you would prefer an explanation of that rather than a demonstration so—”
“I would just like to say, that while I appreciate that you are not allowed to consider the facts of my case as anything other than how Judge Scott ruled, I don’t consider what I did to be actually a securities violation. It was a very complicated set of trades and she simply didn’t understand them. Further, I have taken responsibility. I told her that in the future, I will not employ such strategies, even if they are technically legal, when there is the possibility that they might be perceived as price manipulation of securities that I happen to personally own. And, finally, Pamela, I would just like to make one point about—”
Bragg pressed a button on her tablet. “Yes Judge Bragg?, ” Cassidy’s voice came immediately.
“I am adjusting Hannah’s day. Please take her to see Mrs. Bailey. After that show her to her room. She can then have an hour to reflect, at which point you will bring her back to my office, and we will attempt to have this introductory meeting again. Then you may give her her orientation. It will be lunch time by then, and after that, she will still have plenty of time to start her cleaning chores. Thank you, Cassidy.”
Judge Bragg looked straight at her. Hannah was about to protest but Bragg’s glare was so intense she bit her tongue. “Actually, the thing that this community is about to benefit from, is having one its most spoiled, stubborn, and selfish girls, given the spanking she most richly deserves.”
Hannah stepped forward, her cheeks fully flushed. “This is ridiculous. You haven’t even heard what I was going to say.” A security robot that had been discreetly standing in the corner of the room walked deliberately towards her. The robot gently but firmly guided her out.
Cassidy was making a call on her headset. “Well we’re coming right away, just get there as soon as you can.” She sighed and calmly began walking, not too fast. “OK, come on Hannah, let’s get this over with.” Cassidy said sympathetically as she started down the hall that continued past Judge Bragg’s office.
“Hold on, I want to understand what my legal options are.” Hannah called as the robot gave her a firm push.
Cassidy kept walking. “First, don’t stop, unless you want to get there sooner. Secondly, I am not supposed to give you legal advice, other than to tell you that when Judge Bragg recommends your release, or after nine months if you aren’t finished yet, there will be a review by an independent judge. Part of that will include an option for you to request that any grievances be addressed. For now, you’re Judge Bragg’s ward and she can punish you as she sees fit, as long as she expects it to contribute positively to your reformation.” Cassidy kept walking but paused speaking for a moment, but then added, “It’s going to really hurt, but you will be fine.”
Hannah stopped abruptly in her tracks. “No. I don’t accept that. I must insist tha—” The security robot’s arms extended around her, and it picked her up without breaking stride. It smoothly accelerated. She yelped. “What, let me go. Put me down. I said PUT ME DOWN. Cassidy, make it put me down.”
Cassidy, had to start half jogging to keep up, just a little annoyed. “As I was about to say, and this isn’t legal advice, but it’s the best advice you’re going to get: the only way out of this is for you to do exactly what Judge Bragg says. That’s going to happen no matter what, but the sooner you start, the sooner you’ll get through this.”
A different elevator than the one she had come up in earlier opened its doors in anticipation of their arrival. Cassidy darted in behind them. The elevator was already programmed to be going down. Cassidy made a quick call using the tablet she was carrying. “Sorry Mrs. Bailey. We will be there in a moment: Hannah wanted to stop.”
Right across from the elevator that they took down was a heavy door. It had a small sign ‘Punishment Room’. Cassidy knocked once, and then opened it. There was nobody inside. In the middle was a chair with no seat. It had restraining straps built into it. Underneath it was some kind of projector. “We will have to wait for Mrs. Bailey. It shouldn’t take too long.” The robot put her down but remained close.
“Listen Cassidy. There’s got to be another option. Judge Bragg is refusing to see reason.”
Cassidy crossed her arms. “Really, is that the problem?”
“Yes, yes it is. You don’t understand. I didn’t do anything illegal. There’s nothing wrong with owning securities that I happen to be trading on my company’s behalf, so long as I can demonstrate that I am making arm’s length decisions with those trades, and now apparently I am going to be punished because everyone here is too stupid to think about anything for themselves and is just taking another person’s word for it. Can you please help me?”
Cassidy’s eyes narrowed. “No, no I cannot. I don’t make decisions about who is punished, and does it look like I control this robot? Just take some deep breaths. It will be over soon.” Mrs. Bailey hurried into the room, wearing a nurse’s uniform. “Sorry Cass, there was an emergency on the lower observation lounge, and they asked for me specifically.” She went to the back of the room and through a second door.
Hannah turned back to Cassidy, looking desperate. “Cassidy, come on, there has to be something you can do.”
Cassidy kept her arms crossed. “There is not. There’s nothing I can do, other than assure you that you will be fine.” Hannah glanced at the door and then the security robot. It was right beside her. She could never escape. Think Hannah, think. The seconds ticked by. She couldn’t come up with anything to say.
Mrs. Bailey came back. She was wearing a new white uniform. She went to a closet and picked up a large but thin cloth. She went to the chair, and flipped a switch on the back. It turned on and a faint glow appeared from the projector below. She held the cloth out where the seat should be, and somehow the chair automatically stretched it to make a seat. A series of displays turned on. She went to a terminal and quickly read a message from Judge Bragg. It was too far to make out the words, but she recognized her name and what looked like some parameters with numbers beside them, apparently describing the punishment Mrs. Bailey was about to administer to her. “OK, sorry for the delay Hannah. Please do as you’re told, or the security robot will do it for you.”
Hannah didn’t move. “This is a big mistake. I need someone to listen to me for just thirty seconds.”
Mrs. Bailey walked towards her calmly. “Do you know how many times I have done this, and how many times I have heard variations of what you just said? There hasn’t been a girl yet that has been brought down here that didn’t leave having had her punishment carried out exactly as specified by the judge that sent her. Now come with me.” She pulled Hannah gently but firmly by her hands to the chair. Hannah was shaking her head no, but she complied. “Turn around. Good girl. Lower your pants and underwear to you knees.”
Hannah refused. “No, I won’t do that.” Mrs. Bailey stepped back and the robot took two steps forward. Its long arms extended like synthetic tentacles. It quickly coiled them around her arms and then one wrapped around her chest and waist, while the other went around her legs, directly above and the below her knees, wrapping around her lower thighs and calves. She was lifted up into a sitting position, suspended over the chair. Mrs. Bailey reached around its arms and smoothly pulled them down for her. “How dare you do that. You have no idea what has actually happened here. This is a mistake. It’s a huge mistake.”
The Robot lowered her the rest of the way and Mrs. Bailey secured the straps tightly holding her in place. Both the robot and she stepped back. “OK Cassidy, are you ready?”
Cassidy quickly checked her tablet. “Hannah, from now on you will do as you’re told, and be respectful of Judge Bragg’s authority and call her ‘Ma’am’ or ‘Judge Bragg.’ You’re getting off surprisingly lightly, actually,” she added. “She really doesn’t like it when anyone other than another judge calls her ‘Pamela’ —there’s not many faster ways to a very sore bottom around here, as you are about to discover the hard way. OK Mrs. Bailey, we’re ready.”
“Wait! No! I am not ready. There’s still one more thing I need to say.” They didn’t hear it. Instead she shrieked in pain. Hannah couldn’t believe how much it hurt. She cried out, and tears came flowing out of her eyes. “Stop. Turn it off. Turn it off. Help, Please, Somebody help me.” Cassidy and Mrs. Bailey just watched in silence as Hannah stopped talking and started crying instead. Ten seconds after it started, the machine stopped. Mrs. Bailey went back to Hannah. Cassidy quickly jotted down some bullet points to expand into a report for Judge Bragg. Security Robot’s assistance required, very minimal settings applied as directed, Hannah appeared very receptive, lost composure quickly, but maintained complete awareness throughout, entered a state of mental distress approx 5 seconds in, more severe setting would likely be effective if required.
Mrs. Bailey removed the restraints. Hannah leapt up and furiously pulled up her light gray pants and underwear. She started hopping but quickly stopped, as the pain amazingly evaporated. “Don’t worry, on this setting you won’t have any lingering discomfort, ” Mrs Bailey told her. “You can now have those thirty seconds to explain what you wanted to —in the elevator back up to the eighteenth floor. I am sure Cassidy will be happy to listen.” Both young women glared at her, but Cassidy only for a second, because Mrs. Bailey glared right back in response.
“OK Hannah, time to go to your room, and you see? You’re fine just like I said you would be. Just smarten up and you can get through this without any more spankings. Most girls go to the chair once, but only once. Don’t be stubborn and you could be one of the luckiest ones of those that do go, because that was actually nowhere near not bad as it gets.”
They took the elevator up. Hannah didn’t say a word, much to Cassidy’s surprise. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. Hannah had had her world come crashing down. Cassidy knew just what that felt like. But unlike most wards having to contend with Judge Bragg, Hannah had presumably been at the top of her world before that happened. She must have loved every part of it, and now here she was. Not only her world, but herself —the actual person— was being deliberately broken by a woman in a dark gray uniform that makes you call her ‘Ma’am’ and is absolutely certain she knows everything about everything better than you do, even yourself.
Hannah had never been so angry. Judge Bragg clearly thought she was a child. Meanwhile, Cassidy and this Bailey woman thought the whole thing was a joke. Cassidy was looking at her now, obviously relishing in her compete humiliation. If she had ever had that witch Mrs. Bailey pulling her panties down around her knees and strapping her into that truly evil contraption, she might understand a little better what she had just experienced. She certainly wouldn’t be carrying on her day, like she was giving a tour through an art gallery.
“OK we’re in the common room. Soon I will give you a better orientation, but first Judge Bragg has ordered you to your room. That doorway is yours. Step inside please. OK thanks. So first, press the yellow button for me.” As soon as she did an opaque panel slid across the doorway, and suddenly Cassidy’s voice was coming through a speaker. “That is for privacy. It will only deploy twice in one hour, for up to ten minutes at a time. OK press it again to open it. Thank you. Alright, really quickly, you have a bed, sink, toilet, and a desk with a terminal. There are some cleaning supplies in that cupboard I will show you later. You won’t have entertainment privileges until Judge Bragg grants them to you. But in the meantime, you were asking about your legal rights. All the laws that concern your sentence are available on your terminal. You will also see messages from me and Judge Bragg, your schedule, things like that. When you have your orientation, I will try and answer any questions you might have, but first, you’re going to wait here for an hour.” Hannah didn’t say anything. Her cheeks were still completely flushed with anger. “I am closing your door. It will remain in place until I get back.” Cassidy pressed some buttons on her tablet. This time the panel was transparent as it slide across her doorway, closing her in. Hannah sat on her bed, furious.
An hour later Cassidy returned. Hannah glared at her. She hadn’t moved. “Judge Bragg is ready to see you again, Hannah.” Cassidy opened her door. “This way please. I am sure it will go better than your first meeting.”
Hannah shut the door behind her again as she entered Judge Bragg’s office. She looked at Judge Bragg with absolute loathing but didn’t say a word. “As we approach the end of your reformation, we will be working on how to disguise your feelings towards other people, when it’s appropriate, or even when it is simply strategic. But for now, I will settle for you keeping them to yourself, as you seem to be doing well. Let’s try this again, shall we?” Hannah still didn’t say anything.
“My name is Judge Pamela Bragg. You may call me ‘ Ma’am’ or ‘Judge Bragg.’ You have been sentenced to reformation, and I enforce discipline here strictly. The punishment you just experienced is what we call being sent to the ‘Chair.’
“You are going to be working very hard for the next few weeks, nearly twelve hours a day, six days a week. To start with that is going to be very tedious cleaning chores —you will basically be replacing a cleaning robot. If you do as you’re told, with a good attitude, your shifts will get shorter, your tasks will become more fulfilling, and you will earn privileges. For example, you will be given a choice of meals, and they will be far more interesting than the bland food you’re going to start with. You may also earn additional personal items, such as makeup, instead of just the necessities, like tampons and toothpaste. We will meet frequently. Once you’re settled in, and doing your duties well, I will be very happy to discuss your crime, your punishment, and a host of other issues varying from the most practical to philosophical, but for now you will have to wait.
“Your alarm will wake you at six in the morning. You will have one and half hours to complete your morning routine, and that includes cleaning your room very thoroughly and having breakfast. You will change your linen and make sure everything is spotless. Fresh sheets and all the supplies you require will be available. Cassidy will show you how to clean it if you are unsure. Your room will be inspected, and any deficiencies will be recorded. You will have Sunday off, except you will have demerit spots to clean in your room. They will be on any place in your room you failed to clean properly earlier. If you repeat the same mistake, the spots will be harder to clean. So keep that in mind. They will require scrubbing. If you fail to clean them before the end of the day on Sunday, you will be punished.
“The spanking you were given an hour ago was actually mild, by the Chair’s standards. If you don’t behave, I will send you back to experience its more severe settings. It will never cause you long-term ill effects, but it can leave you with temporary pain that can hurt as long as a week. That is reserved for serious misconduct, like fighting, or repeated minor violations. I won’t tolerate disrespect, dishonesty, disobedience, or a whole bunch of other behaviors that I know, you know, are unacceptable.
“Now, keeping in mind that you will address me as ‘Ma’am,’ do you have any questions?” Hannah just kept glaring. “Did you understand everything I just told you?”
Hannah’s glare intensified. “Yes Ma’am.”
Judge Bragg’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. “OK, good, Cassidy will give you your orientation.”
—
Hannah lay in bed. Right after her orientation, they had had lunch as promised. The food was almost inedible. After that, she worked five and a half hours straight scrubbing a floor on her hands and knees. When she finally finished her shift —not the floor, that wasn’t even half done— the cleaning robot she was replacing took over and was obviously going to complete it within ten minutes. While she was scrubbing, the stupid thing just wheeled around beside her, beeping annoyingly and shining a little light on any part that didn’t meet its standards. Now she ached. Her knees, her hands, her back, they all hurt.
She was fighting against breaking down into tears with every gram of her will. She knew if she started crying, she wouldn’t be able to stop. The girl in the room to her left was also brand new. She was a small girl, with very short black hair, only eighteen. This was her second night, apparently, and she was crying. Hannah could hear her. It was making it harder to control herself.
The girl got up and went to start pacing, but as she got close to her door, Hannah heard it slide shut. There was a moment of silence, but then the door opened again, once she was no longer by it. She went back to her bed. Then she started crying even more loudly. Selfish little bitch.
She had to think. She could beat this. This was a collection of systems. Systems can be manipulated. Not a single one of them can be broken perhaps, but probably some could be bent, just a little. That is what she needed to do. Figure out how to make the tiny adjustments that Bragg and her insufferable assistant wouldn’t notice, but in combination would make her brief time here tolerable. She would get through this. She could do it.
The next morning her alarm went off at six in the morning. In an hour, breakfast would be ready and then her shift would start half an hour after that. She had decided she wanted to get all her chores done before breakfast. Cassidy had shown her how to clean her room, and it was absurdly demanding, but it should be possible if she moved quickly. She had been told, especially to start with, to use some of her breakfast time. The inspection would hold her to very high standards. Cassidy had also given her a tablet that would explain where to go and what to do for her actual work. She didn’t bother checking it. She would look when it was time. She cleaned her room. The small closet had what she needed: cleaning tools and supplies, clean linens and clothes for her. Then she went to shower and have breakfast.
After just a minute, the shower starting beeping. The beeps quickly started to sound closer and closer together, until they became a steady tone. Then it shut off. Cassidy had told her that most wards took the pail for cleaning their rooms full of water from their sink into the shower room if they wanted to shave their legs, that way they could do it first, without the hot water from the shower stopping halfway through. Right after the water turned off, an extended burst of very hot and dry air blasted the moisture off her body quickly. It was intense, slightly uncomfortable. Then she stared at her porridge for the next fifteen minutes. It was tasteless. The other wards were milling about. More than half of them had gone into the better dinning room, where there was surprisingly good looking food. They couldn’t bring it out. There was a glass door like the ones in their rooms. It closed in the face of either a ward who wasn’t allowed to enter, or apparently one trying to bring food out. At least that was what she had been told.
Five minutes before her shift began, she noticed around half of the wards clustering by the door to start their work. She went back to her room to quickly use the washroom. Cassidy had warned her that she would only get two, ten minute breaks during the day (other than the half an hour lunch), and all she was allowed to do was either have water or use the restroom. As she left her room, one of the other girls spoke to her rather matter of factly, “You should have done that before you cleaned your room. Now you are going to fail your sink and toilet for sure.” Hannah fumed but said nothing. She knew she didn’t possibly have time to clean them. Cassidy had warned her not to start even a minute late. She hated this place. What a stupid system.
Another ward spoke up. “Don’t worry, everyone gets lots of demerits cleaning their rooms the first couple of weeks. You don’t have anything to do on your Sunday anyway but scrub those damn spots, since you won’t have any privileges to use.” A chime sounded to signify that it was time to start their chores and the wards waiting, quickly starting moving out. The other half remained. They were the better behaved ones apparently, and they were allowed to start later. They were also the ones for the most part that had access to the better food. They had time to enjoy it and then plenty more to clean their rooms after.
She was assigned to the ground floor. Six young women were waiting for the same elevator, four were going up, and two down. The first time the elevator’s doors opened, it was heading up, and then it was only her and the new girl standing together, waiting. “Hi, my name is Sidney,” the small girl said.
“Hannah,” is all she replied.
“I am new too. I just got here the day before you did.” Sidney nervously added twenty seconds later.
“I know, I heard that girl with the pink hair tell you she didn’t want to hear you crying all night long, like you did your first night.”
Sidney looked down. “That is Nico, I cannot help it. I don’t know what I am going to do. Judge Bragg said she has a machine that will burn us on our bums if we don’t do what she says. The other wards said it’s true and it hurts more than you can imagine. Apparently, if you are really bad, she turns the intensity up and it will hurt for days. Nico said that that is what happens if you cry at night. She is going to do it to me. I just know it.”
Hannah looked at her. She would be useful perhaps. “Don’t worry, you will be fine. We will just need to help each other. That’s the only way we will get through this.” The elevator doors opened.
“We’re working near the lobby. I did it my first day. You are lucky, you will still have a cleaning robot helping you. I am now going to be on my own.”
Hannah looked at her with incredulous annoyance. “What do you mean? My idiot bot didn’t help me at all yesterday. It just drove around in circles beeping at me all day long.”
Sidney smiled. “That is what I mean. You only get that for your first two days. After that, there will be no way to tell if you aren’t doing a good job. And if you’re not, then Cassidy will have to tell Judge Bragg, and you will go to the Chair.”
Hannah didn’t looked convinced. “I hate that bitch. I am going to remember her.”
“You mean Cassidy? She was really nice to me. A lot nicer than Judge Bragg.”
The elevator opened. The lobby was huge and beyond it were several large complexes of rooms. There was a conference center, the Halls of Justice, where she had had her trial, and the processing center where she had been given her gray uniform and they had taken her things. Their tablets just had a floor plan indicating all the rooms they were supposed to clean. There was a simple instruction too: ‘Proceed to Maintenance Closet 2,’ in Hannah’s case. It was marked on the schematic. She walked there as slowly as she could credibly get away with. Pretending to become briefly lost. As expected a cleaning robot was waiting for her. Her tablet showed a list of items to get from the closet and put onto a cart. This time she had more than just a bucket, a bag of soap pellets, and a single small hand brush. She also had two large hampers, one full with an almost inexhaustible supply of cloths, the other empty. There was also a toilet brush and a spray bottle with general purpose detergent, and a big jug of it, to refill the small spray bottle. The robot started impatiently beeping. It guided her to a bank of five small washrooms all in a row. They didn’t need any attention. They were spotless, presumably because they were being maintained up until that moment by the very robot she was being led by, and the building had been nearly empty all night. Her tablet suddenly displayed a humiliating illustration of what was obviously her on her knees, wiping a toilet with a cloth. It also had detailed instructions on how to clean a bathroom, which she ignored.
It didn’t matter that the washrooms were immaculate, she had to clean them to the highest standards imaginable. The robot was relentless. Every surface, every crevice, had to be cleaned perfectly. Somehow it could tell if she hadn’t done it well. It took her over an hour to do them all. Finally, her reward was to clean another nearby multi-purpose room. Hardly glamorous, but at least better than the bathrooms. After another half hour, she was done that room, and the robot took her back to the very same bathrooms again. “What, you have to be kidding me. They probably haven’t even been used.” The robot was not kidding.
She did every bathroom again, no less thoroughly, under the robot’s supervision. And then she did another room, just like before. After that, the robot took her back to the bathrooms, yet again. The building at least had lots of people in it now, so they were being used. She wanted to glare at everyone going in to use the adjacent ones to the one she was cleaning, but that would be too humiliating. Instead she just tried to avoid eye contact. That was her job, a mindless rotation cleaning a single different room that didn’t need it, and then the same five bathrooms, over and over again. She could periodically see Sidney close by, presumably doing a similar cycle of mindless work.
Finally, Cassidy came to check on her. She was kneeling under the sink of one of her bathrooms, wiping the wall’s tiles underneath it. “You’re going too slowly Hannah. It’s obvious you are dawdling. Even the slowest wards go faster, and you should be quick, apparently. Judge Bragg says she expects you to be especially quick, in fact, given your aptitude tests when you were applying for jobs.”
She shot up, almost hitting her head on the sink, and turned around. “You have read my employer’s records? That must be a violation.” Cassidy assured her —after prattling on about legal advice— that it wasn’t, and that Judge Bragg had most certainly read her employer’s records, and a lot more too.
She threw her cloth down, and stepped forward, but Cassidy didn’t flinch. “Trust me. You do not want to throw a tantrum right now. Instead, you’re going to pick that up and get back to work —properly.” Hannah stood there just staring at her. “Five seconds Hannah, that is the best I can do for you, and you should consider yourself extremely lucky I am even giving you that.” Hannah blinked. She had no choice. What was she going to do?
Bend the rules Hannah, just a little each, just bend them. “OK, sorry, you’re right —I am sorry Cassidy, but this is absurd. This cleaning regime is absurd. These bathrooms aren’t used very much, and what am I going to do, wipe the corners under the sinks every 30 minutes? The tiles under the sinks don’t need to be cleaned that often, even if these bathrooms were being used more.”
Cassidy didn’t seem to be too surprised by this observation. “Actually, they are used quite a bit. That’s why there’s five of them, and yes, unfortunately, that is exactly what you are going to do, and you are going to do it a lot more before you are done here. Come on let’s go. Pickup the pace. You’re not the first ward to try and go slowly. It doesn’t really improve the work at all. Actually, if anything, it makes your days feel even longer,” Hannah picked up her cloth. She tossed it in the hamper for dirty ones. She knew the robot wouldn’t let her keep using it now anyway. “You would be a lot more convincing, Cassidy, if you had ever had to do this yourself.”
Cassidy’s expression didn’t change. She just paused to consider what she was going to say. “I have had my share of hardships, and you will be fine. It’s no fun now. It’s not supposed to be.”
In the elevator on their way up for lunch, Sidney was surprisingly subdued. “I hope I did OK. I think so. It’s so much harder without the robot to show you your mistakes. Just wait until tomorrow, you will see what I mean.”
Hannah nodded. “You’re right. I didn’t think of it that way. I am really worried about the bathrooms, actually. There are so many places to clean. It will be easy to miss one, or two —maybe even more. I am sorry about earlier. I am just so stressed. This is really hard for me. I am not used to doing this kind of thing. I usually work with numbers. Can I tell you something between us?”
Sidney perked up. “Of course.”
Hannah paused just long enough for a little dramatic effect. “The reason I was in such a bad mood is because Bragg sent me to get a spanking in my very first meeting. She thought I was asking too many questions.”
Sidney turned pale. “I didn’t dare ask questions. I was too scared.”
Hannah continued, “It’s OK. It really hurt, but I survived. I am just worried that she is going to send me back when I cannot do the bathrooms properly. There are just too many things to keep track of. I can do the other rooms fine, I think, just not the bathrooms. Apparently the Chair hurts much more if you go back.”
“I am really sorry, if there is anything I can do to help. I can try and remind you of all the parts to clean, would you like that?”
Hannah shook her head. “No it’s OK, I will just do my best. What else can Bragg ask, right?” She looked as resigned as she possibly could.
—
Halfway through the next morning Hannah was sitting outside Bragg’s office again. She could barely contain herself. The pit in her stomach was physically uncomfortable. Cassidy was pretending to work at her standing desk by the big window, but they both knew she was also entirely preoccupied, waiting to see what was going to happen with Sidney, though she couldn’t be waiting nearly as anxiously as Hannah was.
Sidney had just gone in to Judge Bragg’s office to explain why she had been cleaning Hannah’s bathrooms, and Hannah had been cleaning Sidney’s other rooms. Sidney had been so scared, she literally thew up when Cassidy went to get them. At first Hannah thought she did it on purpose, but then she realized it was genuine. She better not betray me. Bragg’s office door was soundproof, unsurprisingly. The door opened again. Sidney couldn’t have been in there for more than two minutes. She hurried out, looking down the whole time. She didn’t so much as glance at Hannah. The door remained half open. Hannah couldn’t see in. There was a long pause. What, was Bragg really going to make her wait? “Hannah, I don’t have all day, come in young lady.”
She entered. Bragg was sitting behind her desk. “Anything to say for yourself before I send you down with Cassidy for another visit to the Chair?”
Hannah looked surprised. “What, me, why?”
Bragg looked at her incredulously. “I will tell you what. You’re a smart girl. I have an offer for your. You can spend twenty seconds pleading with Mrs. Bailey to turn the Chair off, and then the rest of the day with a tender backside, if you tell me everything, and I mean everything. Or you can try and lie to me, and it will be for thirty seconds and you will be in so much pain that all you will be able to do is scream, and then you’ll spend the whole night sleeping on your front, and the next two days with a far sorer backside. The choice is yours.” Hannah started to speak, but Bragg interrupted her. “No, Hannah, I want you to take a little bit more time thinking about this. Don’t say anything for a whole minute. I will tell you when you may speak.”
Hannah did as she was told. She waited. After a minute had passed, Bragg nodded. “OK Hannah, what have you decided to tell me?” Hannah hesitated. She couldn’t find the words to begin. Before the minute wait, she knew what she was going to say, but Bragg had shattered her confidence and her mind had been racing the whole time. She had thought of several more convincing arguments than she was planning to use at first, but so much depended on what Sidney had told her. She opened her mouth twice, but both times they proved to be false starts. Finally, Bragg interjected, “well there’s no point telling me anything but the truth now young lady. I wasn’t going to believe the lie you had prepared, but not even you could possibly think that you could get away with one after that performance.”
Hannah just stared at her, dumbfounded. Judge Bragg pressed the same button on her tablet that she had in their first meeting, “Yes Ma’am?” Cassidy’s voice came on quickly. “Would you please ask Mrs. Bailey to meet you and Hannah downstairs. She is getting a second punishment, a little longer and a little more intense than her first one. She could also do with a little reminder every time she sits down for the rest of the day that it’s time for her to start changing her ways. After that please bring Sidney back to my office. I would like to know why Hannah’s version of the events that led her to be cleaning the wrong rooms, is so different from hers.”
—
Hannah couldn’t do it any longer. This place was hell. Literally hell. A new ward had arrived a couple of weeks ago, Tess. She was also young, just like Sidney. They had become friends. Tess had just earned her first set of privileges, and Sidney had earned many. Sidney had actually transformed. She had somehow become the most confident girl there. She was now doing two, four hour shifts, instead of five and a half hour ones like Hannah still was. She also had both weekend days off. Not that Hannah had anything to do on her one day off, because even though she was especially good at cleaning her room and almost never got demerits like most of the other wards, without entertainment privileges, she had nothing to do. Even more infuriating was that one of Sidney’s shifts from now on —subject to good behavior— would always be in the library. Sometimes she would do both shifts there. While so far Hannah had only been made to clean.
Last night Sydney was explaining the cataloging process and how it was trickier than you would think. Hannah told her that she used to work for a hedge fund. Sidney wasn’t impressed, “So you’re saying it’s like how you would catalog the trees in a hedge?”
Everyone else was so much better at this than her, and yet they were all idiots. Girls who got caught shoplifting too many times, like Tess and Sidney (though Sidney only did it the one time apparently) were excelling compared to her. Even Nico, who was stupid enough to get sent to the chair by getting into a fight over how to clean a conference room with Brianna, was doing better than she was. At least Sidney had the satisfaction of listening to Nico crying all night after that.
Cassidy poked her head into the room she was working in. “Time for your meeting with Judge Bragg, Hannah.” She followed her. Bragg’s meetings were better than cleaning toilets, and she liked the tea, but they were harder in other ways. “I am sorry but I had to tell her about what you were proposing yesterday.”
Hannah’s stomach knotted. She had begun to lay the ground work for suggesting to Cassidy that she could make it worth her while to start emphasizing how much she was improving to Judge Bragg, but she hadn’t actually offered her anything —not yet. “What are you talking about Cassidy? I didn’t propose something to you.”
Cassidy didn’t look back, she just kept walking. “You asked me if I had mentioned to Judge Bragg how you had gotten better since you got here. I told you, that I had told her, that you had got a little better, but not as much as you could. You hardly get a demerit for not being able to clean your room properly —when there is a consequence— yet you cannot seem to figure out how to clean a single bathroom in less than an hour. And then you told me how you used to make a lot of money, ‘more in a week than I make in a year, probably.’ It was obvious what you were suggesting.”
Hannah stopped. “No Cassidy, it’s not like that. I was saying that I used to be really good at something much harder than cleaning. I wasn’t trying to bribe you.”
Cassidy stopped and turned, obviously angry. She had never seen her angry before, not actually angry. “I don’t believe you. Nine out of ten things that come out of your mouth are a lie. Now start walking, or I will come back with a security robot to carry you again.” Hannah stared walking. There was nothing she could do. That bitch was going to have her sent to the Chair, again.
Cassidy knocked on Judge Bragg’s door and then opened it. “Hannah is here to see you Ma’am.” Hannah went in.
Judge Bragg was sitting at the coffee table, but she didn’t have a teapot like usual. “Sit down. It’s likely going to be the last time you’re going to for a whole week, unless for the first time in one of these meetings, I very much like what I hear. The only good news for you is that we are going to spend some time on it, and I am going to give you a few chances.”
She had had enough. No more. This was it. How could this woman be so horrible? “No, I won’t. I will take the indefinite confinement.”
Judge Bragg looked at her, just a little a less severely. “Sit down.”
Hannah didn’t budge. “No, I will take the indefinite confinement.”
There was another pause. Judge Bragg went back to staring at her. She was seethingly angry by the looks of it. “Unfortunately for you young lady right now —but luckily for you in the long term— I am the only one of us in this relationship that gets to say ‘no.’ Now sit down right now, or that robot will be sitting you down in Mrs. Bailey’s chair, or whoever it is that is on duty down there, and you are going to very much regret it.”
Hannah sat down, and then much to her own surprise, started to cry. Judge Bragg pressed the same button on her tablet yet again. “Cass, would you please make us a pot of tea.”
Hannah admitted it. She was going to bribe Cassidy. What else was she supposed to do? She was failing at the simplest thing in the world, and Bragg had made her life too miserable to bear. She wasn’t even letting her join in Barb’s game day, on her one day off. Hannah was crying uncontrollably now. She actually really liked table top games. She was good at figuring out the math behind them and usually won. Then the rest came pouring out too. Of course, she had tricked Sidney into cleaning the bathrooms for her.
And yes, she had manipulated the stock price up too. She was probably going to lose her job, and that would be her last chance to make any amount of money again. Otherwise, she would spend the next few years with Derek until he grew tired of her and moved onto another young beautiful woman who would need him, like he did the two times before. Now she had lost her job, and not only that she had had a huge fine on top of her reformation sentence, and because she was found guilty, her firm could argue her firing was justified and they didn’t even owe her severance. Derek would never find her an actually good job. He was a manipulative asshole that would ensure she still needed him so he could stick his dick in her mouth whenever he wanted.
She couldn’t believe it. She was telling Judge Bragg everything. She couldn’t stop. She was finally admitting it all. Not just to Judge Bragg but to herself. The meeting went on for more than two hours. Judge Bragg ordered lunch. It was the first food with any taste she had in over four weeks.
Now she was cleaning again. This time, though, she was doing it properly, with purpose. She was moving quickly yet thoroughly. Too bad the cleaning robot wasn’t here to watch. That little fucker would be shaking in his boots, if his wheels could accommodate them. Judge Bragg had made her a promise. One week of actual, hard work, the hardest she ever done, and she would get her first set of privileges. But more importantly, when this was done, Judge Bragg was completely confident that she would find her a job that she both liked and was exceptionally good at.
—
Derek called again. This time she answered. He had left three messages over the past week. “Hi Derek, yes sorry, I have been really busy. There’s a lot to do when you come out, apparently—… Yes, I have a ‘re-integration officer’ who helps. She is really good actually. I like her a lot. She had the perfect apartment ready for—… No, I am good for now, actually. I want to spend a little more time readjusting and then I will be starting a new job. I am working for a boutique consultancy run by a really wonderful woman who used to be a ward herself many years ago, actually. We optimize supply chains for large companies. I did some work for them already while I was in the program, and we have a new customer we are going to be on-boarding next month. That is my first assignment—… No I realized I don’t like trading—… Actually, I don’t think that that is a good idea. I want a new life. And if we get back together, I know I will be pulled into the old one that I won’t be happy with—… Oh, I am sorry to hear that. I hope those short positions improve for you. I am sure they cannot all beat their earnings three times in a row.”