Chapter 1

It wasn’t like any courtroom that Lisa had ever seen before, not that she had ever been in a real courtroom, but she had seen many on the holo and this just wasn’t like that at all. No high bench for the Judge, no jury chairs, no banister separating the audience from the participants, in fact no seating for an audience at all, for that at least she could be grateful. Just another rather nondescript room with beige carpeting and off-white walls and a long conference table with chairs scattered around it with a few more set back against the wall. The only thing that could be viewed as even remotely court-like were the four uniformed bailiffs casually posted next to the room entryways.

Three men were already seated at the table as she walked through the door she had been led to by her courthouse guide. She recognized only one of them, her court-appointed attorney. He at least stood when she entered and pulled back a chair for her next to where he was sitting. Taking her seat, she looked over at the others who were regarding her with what could only be considered coolly professional detachment.

“Gentlemen,” her own attorney said to the others, “Mrs. Johnson is here. I believe we may proceed.”

“Yes,” the man sitting at the head of the table began, “it all seems to be fairly straightforward. This shouldn’t take very long.” Focusing on Lisa, he continued, “Mrs. Johnston, we have a few formalities to take care of before we can get down to the meat of the matter.”

“You are Mrs. Lisa Johnson?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Your husband was the late Jeffory Johnson, past president of J&J Enterprises?”

“Ah, yes, Jeff was my husband.”

“You have been made aware of the, shall we say, difficult situation his estate is in since his passing?”

Difficult situation? Total freaking disaster is what he really meant! The numbness that had enveloped her mind since being informed of her husband’s suicide five months previous intensified, giving a fuzzy, unreal feeling to the world around her.

Jeffory Johnson, President and CEO of J&J Enterprises, had been a real high flyer. He was hot property in the universe of commercial real estate and development; a real doer, so they said. For the twenty-two years they had been married, they had lived not only the good life but also the high life. The money seemed endless. The parties and clothes, vacations on the French Riviera, cars and townhomes, nothing was too good or too expensive. Jeff always said you couldn’t scrimp on the flash; you had to look good to be good. Nobody would do business with someone who looked second rate. And she had done her part, oh yes!

She was the epitome of the corporate wife, the classic arm fob. Endless hours in the various spas and even more hours with personnel trainers, cosmetic surgeons, and orthodontists; nothing was too small a detail to be overlooked. At forty, she could have passed for a mid-twenties starlet, right down to the stylishly short blond hair, large firm breasts, narrow waist, and perfect ass tapering down her long, elegant legs to her dainty, pedicured feet. Nobody would really know how many of Jeffory’s deals had been sealed because some high roller had wanted to get into her panties, but it was more than just a few. Of course, a few of them were known since she had gone to bed with them. Strictly on Jeff’s orders, naturally, anything to get the deal done! It’s not like she really cared; sex with some old man, sex with Jeff, no real difference. At least a few of them had bigger dicks than dear old Jeffory’s little five inches. Not that it mattered; she didn’t get off by having some sweating brute crushing her while banging his cock in her. She got off on the lifestyle; sex was just exercise, and not a very strenuous one at that.

It wouldn’t be that big a stretch to say she was a corporate whore, but she didn’t care about that either. What the hell, she’d caught Jeff by getting pregnant her freshman year in college. Nine months gestating her lifestyle is how she looked at it. After that, it was nannies and boarding schools for darling little Bradley; she hardly had to spend any time with him for the past twenty years. A real bargain since children can crimp your style something fierce if you let them.

That was all before the phone call. The call informing her that Jeff had been found in his office with the barrel of a pistol in his mouth and his brains splattered over the wall behind him.

The cowardly shit! What he couldn’t face was the inevitable result of living on borrowed time and money. Just as the house of cards was about to crash down around them, he cashed in his chips and took a dive. The business was not only worthless but in substantial debt, well beyond any reasonable means of paying it off.

“You realize that you were a full partner in J&J Enterprises? That you are obligated for the full and complete restitution of its debt?”

“I, I guess so,” she stammered. “I never was really involved in any of the business dealings. Jeff took care of all that. I just signed papers when he told me to.”

“You did indeed sign papers, Mrs. Johnson,” the other man seated at the table finally spoke up. “In fact, you co-signed all these debt instruments and collateral agreements. Are these your signature and thumbprint?” He showed her a large stack of papers with her very obvious signature on them. Not that it could be seriously questioned; the practice of affixing thumbprints to legal documents had long ago eliminated any plausible deniability.

“I suppose there isn’t any doubt about that, is there?” she sighed.

“No, there isn’t,” he stated flatly. “The debt incurred by J&J Enterprises is well into the tens of millions, and thankfully, since the elimination of that silly bankruptcy law after the last economic crash, we, the consortium I represent, intend to collateralize the entire estate for compensation. That means we intend to take everything Mrs. Johnson, the house, the cars, even your clothes.”

“Oh yes,” he smiled for the first time, “even you.”

“What? What do you mean, me?”

“Why, this Mrs. Johnson,” he said, pushing another paper across the table toward her. “The two of you not only put up everything you owned as collateral, you also used yourselves to guarantee the loans. In fact, your son was also listed, but since he turned twenty-one this year, that became null and void.”

“If it was ever valid,” piped in the administrative judge. “I’m not happy about finding that, let me tell you. That comes very close to crossing the line from involuntary servitude to outright slavery. I can’t believe your principals signed that agreement!”

“Yes, well, your Honor, it’s really a moot point, but I agree it wasn’t well done by either side. In fact, it would be best if we could get this whole matter concluded as quickly and quietly as possible.” Turning back to Lisa, he continued, “The fact is, Mrs. Johnson, you and your husband used yourselves as collateral, and although we were able to harvest a few organs from his body, the only thing left is you!”

“But you can’t mean that!” she stammered. “You can’t tell me I don’t even own me!”

“That is exactly what we mean,” the judge said placidly, not even looking up as he signed a document in front of him. “In fact, this court order I have just executed confirms your status as an Indentured Servant until such time as your service pays all outstanding debts of the estate. Of course, the annual interest alone on the unpaid amount far exceeds the mandatory service pay of any IS. This being the case, your status has been classified as permanent.” Speaking to the room in general, he said, “I assume the state brothels have placed a bid; they usually do in the case of a decent-looking one. If they have, I suppose you are going to accept it, if for no other reason than to get this over with.”

“Yes, they have,” answered the consortium’s representative, “and yes, we will.”

Lisa’s head was pounding, the room swimming before her eyes. She was being sold to a whorehouse right in front of her!

“Pardon my interruption, but there was another bid.” It was her attorney; turning towards him, Lisa had the faintest flash of hope.

“Here it is,” he continued, pushing another paper towards the judge. “As you can see, it outbids the state, and the monies have already been placed in escrow. If you would take a look at the bidder, please; I might recommend that you accept it. To open the bid for counteroffers might be, well, let’s just say it might bring out into the open things that are better left out of view of the public.”

“Yes,” the judge responded slowly, “I can see where that might be for the best. Do you agree?” He pushed the paper to the representative. Although couched as a question, it was clear from his tone that the matter had already been settled.

“Ah, yes, I see your point, your Honor,” the rep replied. “Well, I don’t see how we can argue; it’s not much more, but every little bit helps.” Quickly, he signed the bid form, signifying acceptance, and handed it back to the judge.

“Well, let’s finish this up.” Looking directly at Lisa, he began speaking, “Mrs. Lisa Bennet Johnson, having found you unable to satisfy the agreed terms of these debt instruments and having placed your person in the position of collateral for these loans, I find you in default. As such, your status as a citizen is hereby revoked, and you are declared in a state of perpetual involuntary servitude in accordance with the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2022 and subject to all laws and regulations implied by that categorization until such time as the aforementioned debts have been satisfied, including any interest and penalties associated with them. Henceforth, your legal designation is LISA-ISP-0375-22-2044. Bailiff, take this ISP down to receiving and have her processing started; the note here says her new patron will pick her up this afternoon.”

“But you can’t just...” However, before she could protest further, two of the guards grabbed her by the arms and yanked her upright. She felt the cold metal of a stun rod shoved against her back, and just that quickly, any further resistance stopped. She had seen Jeff use just such a weapon on their own IS’s, and the screams of pain and pure terror were even now burned into her memory. The three men didn’t even glance in her direction as they returned to their paperwork.

Instead of leaving by the door they entered, they hauled her through a smaller, more nondescript one at the rear of the room. Arms still firmly in their grasp, they moved quickly through a maze of smaller hallways and finally into an elevator where one of the guards punched a number near the bottom of the panel.

“Where are you taking me?” she finally gasped, her body shaking as her body’s reaction to her new status finally started to sink in.

“Shut up, bitch,” one guard said amiably. Then, looking over to his fellow, he said, “Maybe we can have some fun with this one before we turn her over; she’s a looker.”

“Nah,” his buddy replied, “if she was heading for one of the state houses, we could probably get away with it. The state doesn’t really give a shit, but you heard up there, same as me. This one’s private property now. I don’t know who it is, but if he’s got enough pull to buy a contract out from under the state, I don’t want to take a chance he might get upset with being delivered damaged goods. Besides, I’ll bet this is one fridge bitch. Might as well be jacking off from all the action you’d get from her.”

“I don’t need no action from her. All I want is a warm pussy. I guess you’re right, though. Best not to piss off some fat cat. There’s plenty more downstairs if I really get hard up.”

“Better watch it, Ben,” the other chuckled. “You might be showing some smarts there. Sergeant hears that he may put you on patrol, maybe even put you in for Corporal.”

“God forbid!”

Their conversation barely made it through Lisa’s shock-induced stupor. Somehow, she did realize they had been casually discussing raping her without any concern for her hearing them! They were treating her like she was some kind of animal! Fury began to build inside her, pushing away the fuzz of shock. Finally, the elevator door opened into a brightly lit and sterile hallway.

“Let’s go, meat,” the one called Ben said as they pushed her out. It was a short walk to a small vestibule where a female guard was sitting behind a desk.

“Hi, Gracie. Got one here for ya. Standard processing. The owner will be picking it up sometime this afternoon.”

“Fine. Give her disk.” Ben handed Gracie a small plastic disk, which she took and placed in a reader on the top of her desk. “LISA-ISP-0375-22-2044?”

“Yeah, that sounds right.”

“Alright. OK, meat forearm in the reader.”

“What?” Lisa had barely been paying attention.

“I said forearm in the reader, bitch! This is your one and only warning. Do what you’re told when you’re told, or you get zapped.” She pointed to a hole in the wall next to the desk. Tentatively, Lisa stuck her left arm in the hole until it couldn’t go in any farther. Feeling a slight tingle in her arm, she understood that the machine was reading the chip that was inserted in every citizen, not only being read but reprogrammed with her new ID number. From now on, anyone reading her ID chip would instantly know her new status as property.

“Alright, meat, let’s go through that door.”

“Hey, Gracie, you need help with this one?”

“Get real, boys,” she rolled her eyes at the two guards. “Get your cheap thrills somewhere else.”

“Ah, come on, Gracie, what’s a guy to do?”

“Well, you could buy a girl a drink for a start, and then maybe see what happens.”

“OK, well, how about tonight after work?”

“Call me later. We’ll see. Now, shoo, go away.”

The two men grinned and left. Gracie pointed with her stun rod toward an open door. Through the door was a large room with tables; open boxes were on the tables.

“OK, meat, strip and place everything in one of the boxes.”

“I...” The stun rod flicked out and barely touched the bare skin of her arm. Pain such as she had never imagined dropped Lisa to the floor where she began to sob uncontrollably.

“That was the low setting, meat. I’m resetting it for medium-rare now. When I want you to talk, I’ll ask you a question. This is not a question. Strip and put everything in the box.”

Still sobbing, Lisa slowly stood up and began to remove her clothing. Every item was inventoried and placed in the box: blouse, skirt, and shoes, even her pantyhose. Next came the incredibly expensive watch Jeff had given her for clinching one of their bigger deals. She was really sorry to see that go; he had been a fat, ugly bastard who hadn’t washed, and he wanted her to suck him off but had settled for fucking her doggy style. She had really earned that watch. Then her earrings and wedding bands went into the box until at last she stood completely naked in the middle of the room.

“Alright, meat, into the chute.” Gracie, the guard, pointed to what looked like a cargo container up against the wall, some twenty feet in length. One end was open and was obviously where she was intended to go. Looking back at the guard, she quickly moved toward the ‘chute’ when the rod started towards her.

“Good meat, you learn quickly. That will make life easier for you.” Then she laughed in a kind of barking yip, “or at least as easy as you’re ever going to have.”

Once in the chute, as the plastic door closed behind her, and a mechanical voice came out of speakers in the ceiling.

“Keep moving forward, do not stop.” It kept repeating itself over and over. She moved.

As she slowly walked through the apparatus, she was sprayed with warm, soapy water, brushes extended to scrub her down, and at the end, high-velocity air blew her dry; it was very much like an old-fashioned car wash. When she exited, Gracie pointed to another door with the rod. Quickly, Lisa moved as ordered.

In the next room were another two guards: one male, one female. In the center was a table with foot stirrups, and off to the side, a small desk.

“On the table, meat, feet in the stirrups.”

“Why...” This time, the pain from the touch of the rod not only knocked her to the floor but left her body shaking and convulsing; it felt like someone had jabbed a knife in her back and twisted it a couple of times.

“Here I thought you were a quick learner, meat. Guess it takes longer with some than others. Sal, why don’t you help the pretty lady onto the table, strap her down?”

Grinning, the man bent over the shaking woman and roughly grabbed her arms. Lifting her up, he frog-walked her to the table where he slammed her down. While he forced her arm into one cuff attached to the side of the table, the other guard did the same on the other side. Next, he lifted her still-shaking leg up and clamped it into one of the stirrups while his partner mirrored his actions with the other leg. As she returned to consciousness, Lisa found herself flat on her back, her pelvis slightly elevated with her legs spread wide apart, her vagina gapping open and in full view.

“Now, usually I don’t answer questions from meat, but since I’m sure you’re going to love this part, I think I’ll let you in on what we do now. This is where we do the body cavity search. Wouldn’t want you to be smuggling any contraband in that high-priced cunt of yours, or that tight little ass for that matter. Just wouldn’t do.” Turning to the female guard, she said, “Bev, you got the scope?”

“Sure, Gracie,” Bev held up a two-foot-long tube about an inch in diameter; one end had a clear, rounded lens, the other an eyepiece. “You want to do it or you want me to?”

“You go ahead, I just want to get done soonest; it’s almost time for lunch.” Turning back to Lisa, she grinned and said, “Now listen, meat, I’d recommend you relax and let the ol’ tube in just like it was your long-lost lover because it’s going in no matter what, easy or hard, and if it’s hard, it’s going to hurt, real bad. Start with her cunt, Bev.”

Lisa felt a presence between her legs, and shortly thereafter, she felt something cold and hard touching the entrance of her vagina. Involuntarily, she gasped as the intruder forced its way into her genital canal. It was uncomfortable but not really painful; the total humiliation of being treated like a, well, like a piece of ‘meat,’ stung much worse than the probe. Finally, after bumping against her cervix, the probe began to withdraw.

“Hey, meat,” it was Gracie again, “you take your boyfriends up your shitter much?” When Lisa shook her head no, Gracie began to make a small tisking sound. “Too bad, meat, if you ain’t used to it, then this is going to hurt. Well, quicker done quicker over. Go on, Bev.”

Suddenly, she felt the probe pushing at the entrance of her anus. Although she tried not to, she clenched, resisting the cold, hard invader. It was futile; the cold metal pressed up against her until finally it popped through her abused sphincter. Lisa felt like she was being torn apart; the pain was incredible!

“Scream if you want to, meat,” said Gracie, “it might help a little, and nobody can hear you down here anyway.” Scream, she did, thrashing her head back and forth, tears streaming down her face. Ever inward, the invader plunged until she was sure it was going to come out of her mouth. After what seemed an eternity, the vile thing stopped and withdrew, leaving her bowels with a soft plop.

“Well, I won’t say you’re the bravest thing we ever had, but it’s over now. Bev, Sal, sit her up, and let’s get the collar on her.”

The two guards quickly released the crying woman and hauled her up to sit on the edge of the table. Gracie moved over to the desk and picked up a smallish box. Opening the top, she pulled out a gold-colored metallic band about one inch wide and about ten inches long. It shimmered in the light; golden in hue, there were highlights of reds, blues, greens, and violets dancing over it as Gracie brought it over to the dazed woman.

“Well, meat, your new owner, I’m sorry, your new patron, sure seems to do things right. This is one of the new models. Beautiful little thing, isn’t it? Slimmer and lighter than the older ones, or the cheap ones the state uses. You should feel darned proud to wear it. I don’t own anything this pretty. Must be he’s going to want to show you off. Now, ain’t that special?”

Without saying anything else, Gracie moved behind Lisa and wrapped the band around her neck. She did something, and it tightened to fit snugly against her throat. It reminded her of one of the chokers she used to wear. Lisa always thought a choker accentuated her slim neck and made her look somewhat exotic and sexy. Even given the circumstances, she secretly wondered how that beautiful band looked around her neck. Her hand went up to feel its smooth coolness. In front, on the bottom, was a small ring dangling down from the band about a half-inch. It didn’t feel particularly large or sturdy. She wondered what its purpose was.

“There you go, meat, tagged, bagged, and ready to go. Now we’re going to put you in the holding pen until your owner comes to pick you up. On the holo will be the introduction to the features of your new toy. The state thinks it’s a good idea for your ISP’s to know just what can happen with your control band. It might save some problems in the future.”

“Now I’m supposed to brief you on your rights as an ISP. You know, how much they can work you, how often they have to feed you, all that shit. Well, here’s your rights briefing, you ain’t got any. None. No matter what it says in the law, it doesn’t mean a thing. There hasn’t been a prosecution for abuse of an ISP for the past thirty years. Even that crazy bastard they found cooking his and eating them. All’s he got was a stiffly worded letter. The fact is, your new owner, yeah, we’re supposed to call them patrons, but no two ways about it, meat, he owns your ass and everything else that goes with it. If he took you outside the door here and cut your throat, he might get a ticket for littering, but that would be about it. My advice to you, meat, is you do your best to make your new owner as happy as possible because your life depends on it. End of speech. Any questions, meat?”

“What about my clothes?”

“Meat, everything you owned went to pay off your debts. If you’re lucky, your owner will bring you something; otherwise, you walk out of here naked. Any more questions? No? Good. Stick her in the pen and let’s get some lunch.”

The ‘pen’ was a small room with hard plastic benches in place of chairs. In one corner, a holo was running, demonstrating the various features of the control band Lisa was now wearing. Guard Gracie was right; it was top of the line. Not only was it a locater, with one call, she could be found anywhere in the world within seconds, it also acted as a stun rod permanently affixed to her body. It could be set to a multitude of levels from mild discomfort to instantly lethal. It could be activated by her patron’s voice command, remote activator, or automatically, such as if she left her owner’s property without permission. Add to that, it was practically indestructible; there were no clasps or binders, the metal welded together upon installation. It was somewhat flexible, but the briefing recommended against any large weight gain as expensive factory adjustment would be required. And above all that, it could be set to administer a lethal charge if connected to a medical monitor, and the owner dies. So the wearer better not kill their owner, and they better hope to god he or she doesn’t get killed in an aircar accident away from them!

All in all, it was an incredibly sophisticated and deadly little device designed to ensure the complete obedience of the collared IS. Many times, Lisa gasped and reached up to touch her beautiful piece of jewelry, understanding now why there had never been a successful IS uprising. Her thoughts kept coming back to this mysterious person who ‘saved’ her from the bordello and just what he was going to demand from her in return. She may have been vain and cold-hearted at times, but she wasn’t stupid; she already knew she was going to give him whatever he wanted, she simply had no other choice.

“LISA-ISP-0375-22-2044,” a guard, one she wasn’t familiar with, entered the room and read her name off a flimsie. It seemed kind of silly since she was the only one in the room, but procedure is procedure. Without looking up, he continued, “Follow me, your patron is here to pick you up.” Turning around, he walked back out the door. With one arm trying to cover her bobbing breasts and the other covering her crotch, Lisa followed.

It was a short walk to another room where a number of men were standing around. Most looked at her appraisingly. Even with her hair blown up in a wild configuration, no makeup, and hunched over trying to cover herself, she was still worth the look. Although she was being studied very carefully, none had yet approached her. In the corner of the room, she noticed a younger man talking with one of the guards, his back to her. He was of medium height, not slim but not notably overweight, although it was difficult to tell as he was wearing a full-length leather coat that covered him to the knees. His hair was neither very short nor very long but styled perfectly in the day’s fashion. She couldn’t see his face, but he seemed to be a fairly attractive young man. The guard was handing him something, not very big, maybe a small key fob. As he did, the guard looked over at Lisa, pointed to her, and the young man turned around.

“Hello, mother, it’s good to see you.”

Chapter 2

“Bradley!” Lisa’s shout caused every eye not already focused on her to do so immediately. She ran, well, not really run, she couldn’t while still trying to cover herself, so she scurried as quickly as she could over to her son, finally throwing her arms around him, holding on as tightly as possible while sobbing.

“There, there, mother, everything will be alright,” he said while patting her bare back.

“Sir, is this ISP bothering you?” asked the guard he had been talking to.

“No, she’s fine. Here, mother, put this on,” he handed her a small dress box.

Quickly releasing him, she grabbed the box and tore it open. Inside was a plain light blue dress with a pair of flat sandals. Still turned into her son, Lisa shook out the dress and pulled it over her head. It wasn’t much of a dress, just a plain shift, little more than a sack with holes for her head and arms, but at least she wasn’t naked anymore! Dropping the sandals to the floor, she held onto Bradley’s arm while slipping them on her feet. God, she felt almost human! This was the first decent thing that had happened to her all day.

“Sir,” it was that guard again, “If you’ve taken custody of your client, would you please sign and print the receipt? After that, unless you have further questions, you are free to go.”

Reaching over with his right hand, his left having been taken again by his mother, he quickly scribbled his name and pressed his thumb in the proper block. Thanking the guard, he turned and walked toward the exit. There was no need to steer Lisa along; she had a death grip on his arm, and it would be problematic whether or not a crowbar would have been enough to get her to release it. Walking quickly with her scampering alongside, he made his way out of the building to his waiting aircar.

Once there, he unlocked it, opened the passenger door, and helped Lisa in. Walking around to the driver’s side, he entered, punched in the destination, and watched the manual control column disappear into the dashboard. As the vehicle hummed to life and gently rose above the parking area, Brad turned towards his mother, studying her as she huddled in the seat, arms crossed over her chest, eyes staring down at the floor.

“How are you doing, mother?” he said quietly, breaking the silence.

Raising her head like emerging from a dream, Lisa turned her head toward him and focused her eyes. Suddenly, she leaned over, grabbing the front of his shirt with one hand while resting her head on his chest. Her body shook as she began sobbing; tears ran down her cheeks to be quickly absorbed in his syn-sa-silk shirt. After a while, she was able to breathe regularly. Leaving her head flattened against his chest, she released her hold on his shirt and gently smoothed the wrinkles she had created. She could hear his heartbeat as she pressed against him and marveled at how big he had grown in just the past few years.

“It was awful, Bradley, just awful!” she simpered. “They treated me like I was some kind of criminal, like a nobody! You wouldn’t believe what they did to me! I-I can’t even talk about it. Thank god you saved me! Can you believe it? They actually talked about sending me to one of those houses; you know which ones I mean, where women sell themselves. I was terrified!”

“Well, thank god that’s over,” she sniffed, pushing herself back away from her son and sitting upright. After doing so, she sort of wished she hadn’t. He had definitely been nice to lean against, so warm and safe.

“Oh, Bradley! I’ve missed you so much! I haven’t seen you since the funeral. I thought about calling, but with the lawyers and accountants and everything, it just never seemed to be the right time.” Trying to smile as she looked up at him, she rubbed tears off her cheeks. “What have you been doing? Before coming to my rescue, that is.”

“Well, to be honest, mostly I was defending myself from those same lawyers and accountants.” His eyebrows moved up just a fraction along with the corners of his mouth in just the hint of a smile. “For some reason, they seemed to think I was part of the J&J package. Even tried to insist I had put myself up as collateral. Wasn’t till I pointed out a minor couldn’t collateralize, and of course, nobody can do it for someone else, adult or minor. I wonder where they got that crazy idea? Mother, do you know where they got it?”

“

“Ah, no, of course not!” Lisa felt a bit flustered and turned to look out the window.

“Humm, they thought you might. Even had a paper with your signature on it using me as collateral for one of the loans.”

Refusing to meet his eyes, she stubbornly kept looking out of her window at the passing cityscape.

“I really don’t know, dear. Your dad had me sign so many papers. I really didn’t know what I was signing. Look at me! I didn’t know I was using myself to guarantee a loan! I would never have done it if I had! For either of us.”

“Well, that’s good to hear, Mom,” just a hint of sarcasm could be heard in his tone. The car began to slow and descended. “Ah, here we are, home sweet home.”

The car slowly settled into a car park just outside a row of townhouses. Although not very large, they were obviously fairly upscale. Given Lisa’s skewed sense of proportion, she thought it was just the kind of place one of the free servants would live, or maybe some minor public official. The fact was, even these ‘modest’ digs would have been far above such plebeian pocketbooks.

“This is very nice, dear,” she remarked as the car door opened, allowing her to step down to the walkway. Overhead, the car-park roof slid silently closed, leaving them in a dim coolness. It was only a step or two up to the front door that opened with Brad’s handprint on the lock plate. Stepping aside, he waved Lisa in before him.

The front hallway and what she could see of the living and dining areas were tastefully, if a bit sparsely furnished. Very clean and well kept, not at all what she would have expected of a ‘bachelor pad.’

“Why, Bradley, this is very nice indeed.” She remarked, taking it all in at a glance. “So very clean and neat! But then you were always a neat boy, not at all messy like some of those friends of yours. Do you have a service come in, or do you have your own staff?”

“Well, the place isn’t really big enough to have its own staff,” he chuckled. “So I’ve had a service in once a week. With all my traveling, it seemed to work out pretty well. But yes, I do like a clean house. With you here now, and me not traveling quite so much, it’ll probably need to be cleaned more often. So let me show you around. I know it’s small, but I don’t need anything much bigger just yet. You can see the living room and dining area. Haven’t really used that yet. I usually eat in the kitchen, but let’s see the rest of it.”

Wandering around, he showed her the very large kitchen, laundry room, and ground-floor bathroom. Next, he took her upstairs to show her the rest of the house. Technically, it was a three-bedroom, but one of the extra bedrooms had already been converted to a den/work area. The master bedroom was very nice, with a huge king-sized bed and a master bath whose shower/tub could easily have fit three or four people. Although the décor definitely said ‘male,’ it was tastefully done and wasn’t overly masculine to the point of reeking of musk. Just something about it let you know this was the king’s room and not the queen’s. The only thing that seemed somewhat out of place was the large wicker-framed pad placed at the foot of the bed. It looked like a bed for a very large dog, but Brad had never mentioned a pet to her, and he had never been allowed to have one while living at home. Oh well, she thought, maybe as part of his quest for independence, he got a pet when he moved out. Lisa never had been much of a pet person and wasn’t overly excited about sharing a house with any kind of animal, especially a large one, but beggars can’t be choosy.

The third room was a bit of a puzzle. Empty, nothing but bare carpeting. The only break in the expanse was a small round disk of metal set flush in the middle of the floor with what looked to be a small hook or clasp sticking up in its center.

“What’s going to be in here, dear?” she asked. “Is this supposed to be my room?”

“For a while, it will be,” he answered. “Until you earn something better anyway.”

“What do you mean, earn?” Puzzled, she looked back at him. He leaned against the wall, arms folded, with a slight smile just barely curving his lips up at the ends.