(22):
Level one restricted
As daylight hours gave way to early
evening I began to grow concerned at the lack of texts from Adam. I
should have had some sort of reply by now I thought as I gazed at my
blank phone screen. My texts to him had grown more worried in tone
until finally I had texted: ‘just let me know you’re okay, okay?’
I had tried phoning Mark but it seemed
his phone was not responding. Normally that just meant it was in an
area without a signal, but in conjunction with text silence from Adam
I was beginning to feel justifiable levels of paranoia setting in. I
sat on my sofa with my knees drawn up as I pondered what to do. Kassa
was clattering around in the kitchen cooking some Polish recipe that
we were going to have for dinner, but anxiety meant I had no
appetite. A bottle of wine was open on the coffee table and I reached
for the glass as I considered all manner of worst case scenarios.
Supposing Adam had been found out?
Supposing he had made some mistake and even now he was in a basement
of the house being beaten black and blue with a wooden baton until he
talked? Supposing the men had found out about Mark, and now he was
dead, face down in some woodland area as a shallow grave was being
dug to conceal his body?
No this was just paranoia talking. Adam
was busy somewhere and Mark was simply out of signal range. It was
far too early to start worrying. I gnawed at one of my fingernails
and drank some more of the wine. The other nagging concern I had was
what would happen to me if Adam and Mark were gone. I was supposed to
be Adam’s kajira. If the men found out the truth what would they do
with me? I touched the steel ring locked around my ankle and I
shuddered at the possibilities. They wouldn't exactly let me go would
they.
I heard the doorbell ring and as per
usual Kassa went to the front door to see who it was. I heard the low
level of words being exchanged down the hallway followed by footsteps
and Kassa calling through to me: “Caitlin, handsome man to see
you.”
“Adam!” I was up off the sofa in an
instant and I ran straight through the door and into the hallway,
ready to hug him with relief. Only it wasn’t Adam. I skidded to a
halt and stared at the presence of Andromedus from the House of Three
Moons standing in my hallway. He wore a suit with an open necked
shirt that had to be bespoke tailoring due to his enormous size.
“Kajira,” he said with a smile that
lacked any trace of human warmth.
I saw Kassa hovering by the open
doorway into the kitchen. Out of sight of Andromedus she gave me a
subtle thumbs up as if to suggest I had done well with this latest
boyfriend.
“What are you doing here…” I
began.
Andromedus did not seem happy by the
question. “Have you forgotten the correct form of greeting,
kajira?” He took a step towards me and flexed the fingers of his
broad powerful right hand. I heard knuckles crack from this monster.
“Tower, now!”
“Please… we’re not alone,” I
said as I glanced towards a very curious Kassa who made no attempt to
remove herself.
“You think I care? Greet me as a
kajira is supposed to greet. Tut vahsi!”
There was no way out of the flat except
past Andromedus. And even then how far could I get before he pressed
a button and did something to my ankle ring? I knew he was dangerous
and I knew he was protected. Slowly, with no other option to hand, I
lowered myself down onto the carpet and knelt before him in tower
with my hands resting on my thighs. “Master…” I whispered
feeling humiliated, knowing Kassa was seeing this.
Andromedus nodded and turned to regard
Kassa.
“What is this?” she asked of me.
“Why you kneeling and call him master?”
“Because she is a kajira, a slave,”
said Andromedus as he regarded my flat mate. “Do you not know?”
“No, I have no idea,” said Kassa in
amazement. “Caitlin never mentioned she is into this.” Kassa
seemed pleased, as if this was a secret that she wished I’d shared
with her. “Oh, Caitlin, you such bad girl - such dark horse with
slutty secrets! So this is what you do on dates with men? I had no
idea you were into sexy kink.”
Run, Kassa, I thought to myself. Get
out of here now! Can’t you see how dangerous this man looks?
But Kassa had no intention of leaving
now. She watched in amazement as Andromedus lifted my head by my chin
and then regarded my jeans and cotton top. “Remove your outer
garments, kajira. Show this free woman how submissive you are.
Har-ta!”
I must have gone beetroot red by now.
Kassa’s eyes were literally popping out of their sockets as I
reluctantly pulled the top from my body and then unzipped and
struggled out of my tight fitting jeans. I knelt again in tower
wearing just the black silk underwear I had recently bought on Adam's
instructions.
“See,” said Andromedus to Kassa.
“She is kajira. She obeys men, and free women such as yourself.”
Kassa walked into the hallway. “You
could have told me, Caitlin. If this is what you like. Is not my bag,
but understand English girls enjoy being submissive. I would not
object you want this.”
“You are East European?” asked
Andromedus.
“Yes, Polish.” She smiled at
Andromedus, sensing power, money, and brute strength – three things
that appealed to her. “Polish girls not submissive. This not my
thing, but have been to clubs where rich men enjoy being spanked by
Polish girls. I do spanking if they want.”
Andromedus chuckled. “Earthmen are
weak. I would pity them if they weren't so pathetic.”
“I think you not type of man want to
be spanked,” said Kassa as she moved closer to Andromedus. “I
think you very different.” She seemed pleased with our guest. “I
approve. And you not wear shitty Tesco denim. I like you.”
“Caitlin should have told you,” he
said. He looked angry with me. “You live with a free woman, kajira
and you dare to live as her equal?” Andromedus turned back to
Kassa. “This slave is not your equal, Kassa. You may command her
from this moment on. She will obey you or I will know the reason
why.”
I screwed my eyes shut in
embarrassment. This couldn’t be happening to me.
“Does this mean I do not need pay
rent?” asked Kassa as she regarded me with one hand on her hip.
“You pay rent to a slave?” said
Andromedus.
“Yes. Every week. But I not know she
is slave until now.”
“The flat is yours now. Caitlin may
live here on your terms until you decide otherwise,” said
Andromedus to Kassa. “Show me the bedrooms, kajira.”
I did. And I knew what he was going to
say next as I showed him the larger of the two bedrooms which was
mine.
“It is not right that a slave should
have the largest room. Move your things out into the living room,
kajira. This free woman has your room from now on. You will live in
the smaller room, or perhaps the free woman will simply chain you in
the kitchen at night. The choice is hers.” And yes, he made me go
into my room and empty it of all my things. As I carried my laptop
out he took it from me.
“Master, I need that.”
Andromedus handed it to Kassa. “You
decide when she is permitted use of such devices, if at all.”
Kassa seemed lost for words as she was
simply given my laptop, but she wasn’t exactly objecting to the
upgrade in the living arrangements or her new rent free status.
“I think is good to share flat with
slave,” said Kassa as she regarded the five year old laptop. Kassa
couldn't afford one of her own of course. “This is not joke? I
really have bigger room and no rent now?”
“That is correct,” said Andromedus.
“And you have the services of a kajira.” He motioned towards me.
“Caitlin, on all fours before the free woman and kiss her feet.
Har-ta!”
I just wanted the ground to open up and
swallow me whole, but I dared not anger Andromedus while Adam wasn't
here to protect me. I could imagine he might beat me almost to death
just on principle. I crawled to where Kassa stood and I lowered my
lips to her pumps.
“You know what to say, kajira.”
“Cas
kajira por aspin servall, domina,” I said in misery. My
pronunciation was pretty good by now.
“She just said
'how may a slave be of service, Mistress', in Gorean. She has had a
little training, as you can see, but not nearly enough.”
“You very
interesting man,” said Kassa as she left us to move her things into
her new bedroom.
“Why did you do
that?” I asked as I knelt before him again. “That was cruel.
Cruel and humiliating.”
“I
did it because your master is too soft with you. You lack training
and you lack discipline. It is strange, in many ways Adam is very
Gorean, far more so than I would expect from an Earth man, but when
it comes to you...”
“Where is Adam? He hasn't answered my
texts?”
“He doesn't have to. You are simply
his slave. He is not accountable to you, kajira. You lack respect and
humility. If you were not in a private collar I would whip you now.”
I shrank back in fear. I had no doubt
he meant that.
“Your master will be away for a few
days. He seemed concerned that you might be worried so he recorded a
message for you.” Andromedus produced his phone again and displayed
the screen where I could see it. It was a video recording of Adam
speaking directly to camera. He was smiling and looked relaxed, which
didn’t mean anything to be honest. If someone put a gun to my head
and told me I’d be shot if I didn’t look relaxed and smiling, I’d
probably beam away like a Cheshire cat.
“Caitlin, I have some business
matters to attend to, so you won’t see me for a few days. I’ve
asked for you to be shown this recording so you won’t be concerned
by my absence. When I’m back I look forward to you serving me in a
slip of white silk with silver bangles on your left wrist.”
The last bit was a direct message to
me. 'White silk' was another of our code phrases and it meant ‘I’m
not being forced or coerced into saying any of this'. And 'silver
bangles' meant he wanted me to know that he wasn't certain that
everything was okay, so I should watch my back. I knew he had
standing procedures in place with Mark, procedures that I wasn’t
privy to, and that Mark would no doubt be aware of what was going on.
“You’ll be a masterless kajira for
a few days,” said Andromedus as he pocketed his phone. “I did
suggest that we house you in the slave pens in our basement, but he
said you were to be left in your flat. I think he is too soft with
you, kajira. He allows you a long leash.”
“If you say so, Master,” I replied
meekly.
“And I think there is a streak of
passive aggressiveness in your demeanour at times, Caitlin. I do not
think Adam has actually broken you. A few day and nights in the House
of Three Moons would resolve that.”
“Yes Master.” Fuck you, I thought,
because I’m not going back there for any of your precious slave
training ever again.
“Your flat is a shit hole,” he said
as he gazed round at the interior of the run down tower block. “I
had considered making use of you while I was here but looking at the
state of this place...”
“I’m not available for use,” I
said quickly and saw the narrowing of his eyes. He obviously didn't
know. I suppose he wasn’t used to a kajira telling him he couldn’t
have her. “My master has restricted me,” I quickly added. “I am
not to be touched or used.”
“Has he? I do not approve of such
things so early in a girl’s slavery,” said Andromedus. “Your
master seems too protective of you. He does not bring you to the
house for training. He does not offer your use to other men. If I was
a suspicious man I would be suspicious.”
I said nothing. I didn’t think it was
a good idea to antagonise him in any way.
I kept my gaze lowered as I heard him
checking his phone app. He would see there that I was level one
restricted by Adam.
“You will never learn your true slave
belly while your master restricts you like this,” said Andromedus
as he tapped at the phone. He then held it for me to see. “Look up,
girl.” I did and to my dismay I saw my profile with the words
‘Caitlin is available for use’ displayed in place of the message
‘level one restricted’. He had changed the setting Adam had
selected for me! He obviously had some override authority!
“My master wouldn’t want that! He
wants me to be restricted!”
“Your master isn't here.” He tapped
a few more times and then smiled that animal like smile. “I suggest
you set your alarm early tomorrow morning. You will need to be in
central London by ten.” He showed me the screen now and I saw a
circle radiating out from Covent Garden. The circled space delineated
an area of London away from this flat. “Between the hours of ten
and six you will be confined to this area. You will not hide in this
tower block and watch TV. I take it you are aware of the game we call
‘kajira catch’?”
I gave a mute nod as I felt my chest
constrict in terror.
“You will have eight hours to try and
evade capture. Any man who finds you during that time can make use of
you. By the end of the day I think you will fully understand what it
is to be a kajira serving men.”
Tal,
ReplyDeleteWell Kassa will enjoy herself, although I have suspicions that she might not realise how real this is, and go back to normal after a few days.
So Andromedus has had his suspicions raised even further about Adam, this is not good. Cat will enjoy Friday in central London, no doubt she will be very glad to see Adam in a few days time.
Donna of Dover
Andromedus has good reason to be suspicious, Mistress. Adam really hasn't been visibly treating Caitlin as a kajira as far as the House of Three Moons is concerned.
DeleteSo, Cat's sanctuary, her apartment has become her prison under the domination of a greedy Free Woman. I suspect Kassa will enjoy this. The loss of Cat's laptop, with all her emails back and forth to Adam and all her researches has disaster written all over it.
ReplyDeleteAt first I was puzzled that Cat retained her underwear, but then I remembered that Kassa's dignity as a free woman needed to be respected. In any case, whether sensuous black silk or utilitarian white cotton, Cat's underwear wearing days are prety much at an end. It is dresses with no panties now for kajira cat, not skinny jeans for the former Cat Ambroise.
Cat may have dreamed of being taken by Adam, but she will be chain meat for any master who catches her now.
I wonder how much of this Adam is complicit in?
Well, tomorrow should be exciting. Unless Kassa extracts some slave service, or worse makes Cat perform domestic cleaning labour.
Kassa's comment that Englisheomen are natural submissives is a lovely echo of the Gorean statement that Earth women are natural slaves.
Lots of time between now and when Cat is due to report for slave catch for more unexpected things to happen
regards, Northern Tracker
Yes, Master, Cat retained her underwear and was told to kneel in tower rather than nadu because there was a free woman present (Kassa). Well spotted. :)
DeleteI am guessing that Kassa is going to have lots of questions.
ReplyDeleteMatt Harris
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI hopefully find the rights words to say my comments about today's parts. When praising something it is easy, when having some critics I struggle with words.
You might have realized before that I have special interest of the ankle ring features. Already yesterday I wanted to say some more about it but then thought it might be better to just see what comes from you. One thing I already considered yesterday had been a warning about Deux Ex Machina twists in the story. Today I saw more then one.
But lets explain slowly
One reason for why I am so interest in the ankle ring is that in a world as big as this one you are hardly ever the first one that comes out with a brand new idea. I on my own tried writing stories also. So in a story I wrote 12 years ago I invented an almost similar device (same features, just included in a normal collar and not in an ankle ring). (Since I did not really share my stories I am sure you never read them and you just had the same ideas as me so you still earn the credits for inventing them)
So I had a few ideas what can be done with such a device. Or questions that could be asked about its features. Does that device is capable of this or that or not. I also realized problems for story lines coming from it. The biggest one is that the device is much too powerful and you hardly can fight against all its features. And with all the many things it can do the author of the story can always use it as easy way to give the story a twist, a deux ex machina is often more easy to go into the direction you want then finding another solutions so things turn like you want them.
Okay I am not writing down all the ideas and questions I had about the ankle ring way back then. I assume some of them are far beyond of what you already considered on your own. But drop me a note and I will tell them. If not its okay too. Then I will let myself surprise how often you came out with same ideas. Yust like today when the story revealed that the council/leadership of the gorean community is able to overwrite what the owner set for the app. When next Adam is able to hack into the server for the app and secretly overwrites the leadership settings again I will start to believe that you are reading my thoughts. Or in other words are there hackers around that can steal slaves via reprogramming the app?
Back to your story and why I disliked today
a) I have no problems that Andromedus got skeptically and checked out her rooms. The problem is that he openly treated her like a slave even when non-goreans are around. That does not fit into the story because so far they took great care to stay secret. And since he seems to be one of the bosses he should know that its important that not too many people do know about their existence. So why he is so careless and reveals it?
b) On the fly a new feature of the app and ring was revealed: "The leaders can overwrite the slave owners settings". It came more or less out of nothing, other than that the reader already might had ideas that the app and ring can do more. That what I call Deux ex Machina. Easy for the author to use. Totally unexpected for the reader. And in my mind not really good for stories.
c) Follows in next comment. Seems I hit some google limits about the lenght of a comment
Kind Regards
Imke
c) Overwriting the level one restrictions of Cat that way also has a few problems for me. (Not that someone starts to think I would mind seeing her as a true slave, after all she showed she belongs into a collar)
ReplyDeleteBasically the level one restrictions via app are like a chastity belt. Just that for a real chastity belt you have to work hard to break it open when you still wanna use the slave. With the app the limits are only useful if their are strong social norms, norms that everybody follows and nobody easily oversteps. Otherwise such limits would be useless. Why should I not simple ignore what the app tells and use the slave anyway? So it can only work if the social conventions tell you that it must be respected under any circumstances. And that would also include the leaders of the community. They would not simple ignore owners instructions/orders/wishes. They would have other ways, like for a example a council and judge and punish Adam and Cat publicly. No matter how much Andromedus dislikes how Cat is treated he should have acted different.
Oooops, too many words already. I hope they still make some sense.
Kind Regards
Imke
Imke, I am not sure that Adam didn't change the settings himself. It is only Cat's assumption that the restriction was overwritten by Andromedus. I dont trust Adam at all, he might have changed the setting himself to prove his bona fides with The House of Three Moons. You are likely right, but changing thevsetting is not something I would put past Adam.
DeleteBest regards,
Northern Tracker.
I think that back doors and Administrator override are features of most software technology. Like Gorean chains, collars, and binding fibre there is not supposed to be any way out for the slave
DeleteBest regards
Northern Tracker
Of course there are Admin overrides in most software. That was not my point. My problem with that in the story is something else. For me it was too much "it happened out of nothing". Cat was simple presented the app with the new text. From my point of view there should had been more words about such things before.
DeleteYou might be correct that it was Adam ordering it secretly. But what we have seen from his actions before it would not really fit for his characters. So far he did only very small steps into bondage directions with Cat. Leading her slowly deeper and deeper. So a sudden big step would not really fit.
And if he does it just so nobody gets suspicious it also would not really fit for me. All the time before he had talked with Cat about the risks and dangers. So why should he suddenly just dig her in?
And like said above overriding owners settings in the app is possible from the Admins of the app. But there must be strict social conventions to use that only very carefully. Because otherwise all restrictions set via the app can be ignored from anybody anyway and so setting them is pointless.
So for me getting Cat unrestricted and fully serving men should had been done differently. Of course that are just my 2cent
Kind Regard
Imke
People tend to be complex and not easily understood at times. One can't always anticipate their moves and reactions. Power and authority can be abused. Not everyone has the capacity or the nature to do so, however.
DeleteMaking characters in a story too one dimensional would be a source of complaint for me. Allowing the readers to make suppositions and supply some of the details in their mind makes for a more engaging experience, in my opinion.
Best regards
Mick of Milford
Yes I know that people are very complex and not easy to understand
DeleteAnd I agree that characters in a story should be complex and not flat. But also you should be careful with your gods powers as authors and so their actions are comprehensible (when looking back and add all the hints you got before).
Trust me as an author on my own (in the past) I know very well that it's a very fine line you have too keep there. Neither too one dimensional nor too sudden 180 degree changes, and its always so tempting to speed things up because its more easy. Emma does in general a good job with it. But this chapter was too much Deux Ex Machina for me (others might see that different)
Kind Regards
Imke
Hello Mistress, and thank you for some more insightful comments. I certainly can't claim that the ankle ring is an original concept (except I suppose in the context of a Gor story) as it's a common trope of BDSM erotic fiction in various forms.
DeleteIt hadn't occurred to me that the suggestion of an implied admin override function (you don't know for sure remember that there is an override function – all you know for sure is that Cat is not restricted when she sees a phone screen other than Adam's) would need highlighting in advance as I sort of assumed everyone would expect something like that to be in place. Maybe I was wrong there. Where I work, for example, anyone with an administrator account login can take over my computer, read all my e-mails and documents and so forth. One thing to bear in mind is that the ankle ring/phone app system is for the benefit of Earth 'masters' – the actual Goreans don't bother with things like that. And of course the Goreans themselves have a highly critical view of earth men. They expect them to be weak. The Goreans aren't actually offering any of this as some sort of service to earth men, rather they're 'fishing' to find the very few earth men who meet Gorean standards of dominance so that they can then be recruited on planet to the serve the Kurii. You can assume that so called Earth masters who don't impress the Goreans are quietly done away with. Even then they will be suspicious of the Earth men until they prove themselves. On that basis the phone apps probably do have Gorean overrides for all manner of things and it's quite possible that the apps also act as spyware/malware within the phones once installed to keep an eye on the so called Earth men 'masters'. Adam of course isn't stupid and will have taken that possibility into account. None of this is explicitly stated and that's mostly due to the first person narrative style by which you the reader can only know what Caitlin knows. If this was third person narrative I would be able to switch view points and use the author's neutral voice to explain things, but the limitation of the first person narrative is that you see events through the eyes of an unreliable narrator. For you to know all the functions of the phone app, Cat would have to know them, and that would involve a contrived scene where a Gorean man explains everything to her for no apparent reason. Bearing in mind they view her as a slave that wouldn't really happen. This is why some things happen without explanation and the reader is left to make his/her mind up. I'm reminded of a scene in the film Blue Velvet where the main character walks into a room and sees the aftermath of a shoot out. No explanation for the preceding events is given because the main character doesn't know what happened and we view the film through his experiences. Ctd...
ctd... The Goreans don't feel they owe Earth men any degree of privacy, as on the whole they hold earth men in contempt.
DeleteThe other point is easier to explain – re: why Andromedus makes little to no attempt to be subtle. I've been building a long running backstory about the Kur infiltration of Earth which is leading up to some ideas I have. Part of that backstory (see the Rachel novella, 'Glad Tidings of Comfort and Joy' in particular) is the idea that while the Kurii worked secretly in the original Gor books they're now so well entrenched and in control of Earth that they mostly dispense with subtlety. In many ways they're like the IRA were in Northern Ireland in the 1980s. In the novella there is a scene where Udumi and two men are in an apartment and they get disturbed by the nice old Lady next door. Without any concern for keeping things quiet, Udumi has one of her men simply shoot the old lady in the face and leave her body dumped on the landing. Shortly after that you have the following dialogue scene from Udumi:
“The Priest Kings do not have the resources any more to guard and protect two planets properly. Guess which one has been left to its own devices? We control the police, we control big business, we even control the most important governments. I mean, we don’t even have to be subtle any more.” She indicated the slumped figure of Mrs Mulligan and the spray of blood and brain tissue that was slowly sliding down the far wall on the landing. “We don’t even need to cover things like that up any more.”
Think of the Kur being so confident and entrenched now that they act like the IRA – ordering people to attend IRA trials to received kneecap punishments and if they don't turn up of their own volitions, they and their family will be killed and they're told there's no point going to the police because the police won't be able to protect any of you.
Andromedus and his Gorean men see the earth men as sheep and themselves as wolves, and the wolves do not fear being exposed by the sheep now that all the biggest sheep dogs work for the wolves. :)
Now it gets complicated to reply so its understandable what I am referring too.
Deleteokay, might be seen as common knowledge that all such apps have admin overrides function. one idea of how it could be explained had been at the lunch with Adam. Cat might just had asked what if an admin of the app overrides your settings and Adam only shrug and said "No idea if that is possible"
about acting openly: I see your point still I am not fully getting it. it was well known that the IRA existed they did no hide that. But as much as I got for now is that the goreans on earth are still hiding but at the same time they act like wolves and don't care if someone is spotting them?
Kind Regards
Imke
Tal Emma,
DeleteChapter 22 has spawned another great discussion!
"Deux Ex Machina" has reminded me of another one of my favourite sci-fi/fantasy films, Ex Machina with Alicia Vikander (2014). At this point, I am really speculating where "The Slave World" is going to take us in the end...
Mick of Milford
Pretty much, Mistress. I'm not sure if you're aware, but the current year for my stories is approximately 2023ish. The Kurii are drastically changing American society (see the Glad Tidings novella) in particular where it is moving towards a 'Handmaid's Tale' culture and they are growing very bold. Soon they will be even more open with what they do, but that's still a few years away. We're at the inbetween moment right now.
DeleteThis is an extension from the canon John Norman stories as I'm building on from the implications in his stories that the Priest Kings have reduced resources now because of the Nest War and they're conserving their power and influence on Gor itself.
Tal,
ReplyDeleteWe have an unexpected and amusing development involving Kassa. Andromedus seems to have taken a liking to her. Well, so have I. Can Cat trust Kassa enough to confide in her? Perhaps Kassa will find training and disciplining slave girls at The House of the Three Moons more to her liking than spanking rich men in Polish clubs?
I wonder if Cat will be clever enough to evade capture in the game? There is the outside chance Adam might return in the nick of time and save her. If not, Cat could be drawn deeper into the life of a Kajira and may have a Mistress controlling her as well. Tomorrow will be an interesting and exciting day for Cat, to say the least.
Mick of Milford
Probably one of the biggest surprises in this chapter is that Andromedus and Kassa sort of liked one another... ;)
DeleteThis is an amazing scene. I love the interaction between the master and Kassa who seems to adopt to the situation easily enjoying the new position of hers. Can't wait to read how all will continue.
ReplyDeleteKassa is just happy she's got the big room now and doesn't have to pay any rent... ;)
DeleteOh I almost forgot to ask about that.
DeleteAndromedus is acting like a wolve again?
Slaves do not own anything, so everything that once belonged to Cat now belongs to Adam. That includes all her money and income. So when Kassa doesn't have to pay rent anylonger Adam is not getting that money. So Andromedus is stealing money from Adam with that action? Same with the laptop.
Or are there some so far hidden plots in the background? Kassa didn't seemed surprised a few chapters ago about the ankle ring. Kassa was not really surprised about the slavery thing. Only that Cat was one. But when she is so far not part of the gorean community she lastest should be shocked about how Andromedus acted. That is not common even when up into BDSM
Kind Regards
Imke
Yes, Mistress, all that is correct – Adam technically owns Cat's resources now in the eyes of Andromedus. This is trumped however by the fact that Andromeus expects Adam to enforce kajira discipline on Caitlin and he was not happy to find that Adam had been permitting Cat to live like a free woman and that her flat mate was oblivious she was a kajira. Andromedus as far more concerned about that than any affront to Adam he might cause.
DeleteKassa likes Andromedus and vica-versa, but he is a Gorean male, so it is possible that he sees her as a potential slave. She has the big room and does not have to pay rent, but at what price.
ReplyDeleteDonna of Dover
A few comments here and there:
ReplyDeleteI don't really see having an override/admin level be unusual for an application. I am guessing that the only real Kur part of the anklet and anklet controls in the actual hardware for tracking & pain induction. Maybe some low-level firmware. I would guess that the phone application et. al. and control software is of human design(1). Probably goes through a central server and might piggyback on the cell networks and wireless controls. Since the control app runs on regular phones (as far as we know) it almost certainly uses regular cell phone hardware. So if you don't have connectivity, you can't change the anklet settings, as you can't communicate with the central server.
I can't really see Kur designing full-feature software for lesser creatures.
While Kassa seemed interested in Andromedus, I figured a lot of that might be "big, scary man is in my flat claiming my roommate is a slave and she is scared of him. Best to humor crazy man."
Gorean men might think Earthmen are weak. A lot of that can easily be explained by tribal cultures seeing the unwillingness of civilized people to be needlessly cruel as weakness though. Also, Gorean culture hasn't been shaped by firearms.
Andromendus commenting that Adam hasn't broken Caitlin. Adam doesn't want her broken. He just wants *her*.
It also might be why Andromendus decided to go for Kajira Catch (*cough* Checkov's Gun *cough*). He wants Caitlin. Just using her, like he suggested, would actually violate that pesky honor thing, even if he claims it is disciplinary as his motives can be in question. By doing the Kajira Catch thing as discipline, his motives are less suspect, as, in theory, anyone could have her. A side note - if someone does rape Caitlin, if I am Adam I would certainly make sure that man is a walking dead man.
Of course, if Adam does return in the nick of time and capture her, I am pretty sure that he is going have to use her, just to keep up his Gorean street cred.
Re: comment about not offering the use of Caitlin to other men. This is one of my biggest peeves with Norman's work. Sexual jealousy and possessiveness are very, very human. If man sees a woman as "his", sharing ain't on his mind. Culture may say it is ok, but blood feuds have been started for less.
Emma - you certainly got a reaction out of this chapter. Keep up the good work. Have a virtual piece of chocolate as a reward. -:)
Matt Harris
(1) Hopefully better designed than Blogger's commenting software.
Blogger's commenting software is indeed rubbish, Master. :)
DeleteSomething to stress from the background set up of all this (which again isn't explicitly stated) is that Andromedus and the Goreans feel no obligation of honour towards Earth men. The honour they feel is to one another. Should an Earth man prove himself as being a virtual Gorean, then and only then would honour and respect be extended to him. Also, bear in mind that Andrmedus and co are essentially violent and amoral men – virtually criminals – and so their actions should be viewed in the same way you'd view the actions of East End gangsters in the late sixties.
In other words, normal rules of respecting boundaries etc don't apply to Earth men, as Andromedus sees them as pitiful and not worthy of his respect. In his mind therefore there is no violation of honour in doing what he wants in respect of them. He wouldn't do the same thing to a Gorean. And yes, you're correct when you say that 'kajira catch' allows Andromedus to take Caitlin without being obvious about it, not so much because of any requirement for honourable treatment of Adam (Andromedus has suspicions re: that man) but rather because Andromedus doesn't want his colleagues to think he is infatuated with any single slave girl. Goreans often mock masters who have a 'love slave' or are particularly obsessed with a single girl. While Caitlin certainly isn't a 'love slave' to Andromedus, he obviously wants her (he offered to buy her remember), but doesn't want that to be too obvious. He likes to be thought of as a man who simply uses and discards girls randomly as and when they interest him. Hence a game of kajira catch that an be passed off as an exercise in discipline for a kajira who is badly in need of it.
One last thing – Kassa is loosely based on an East European girl I know and she's quite funny in that she isn't fazed by anything. Her reaction to walking into a room and seeing her flat mate tied up and being whipped by her BDSM master would probably be “sorry to interrupt but where is sugar for tea? It not in usual cupboard.”