Chapter 3

It was a long night for Judy. Ned fucked Ellie again once they had retired to the bedroom that Judy had basically never allowed Ellie to occupy -- and Ned apparently had the AI pipe the sounds of their pleasure into her little force-field cell for her to listen to. Ellie, encouraged, was LOUD and happy and obviously VERY responsive; it didn't take a genius to realize that putting Humpty Dumpty back together again wasn't going to happen.

Judy had good reason to be happy that they had sex, as it turned out; when it was over, Ellie had to go to the bathroom and looked in on her -- which kept Judy from having to piss herself, as she'd needed to go for a couple of hours. Ellie said nothing to her, and she was equally silent; tonight wasn't the time to go threatening Ellie with dire consequences. No, it appeared that Judy was going to have to do considerable sucking up to regain her favored position ... She did her business in silence and returned to the corner without making trouble, her irritation at being stuck in an unfurnished corner without a blanket or pillow unvented.

If Judy thought she was going to make out at some time in the future, she was deluding herself -- Ned knew better. He knew that his just thinking about it disturbed the stability of his home; once she got the upper hand again, Judy might be more subtle, but she would be just as selfish and controlling. No, she'd had her run -- and she'd fucked it up. Unless Marco's other woman was a leader, the job would likely fall to Dolores -- and Judy would pay for her part in having Dolores traded off, too...

The platoons that had been deployed were on three-day pass, starting today -- plenty of time to put the new order into place. Ned was looking forward to the whole thing; already, the changes had reaped real benefits as far as he was concerned. Ellie seemed happy to be tucked in close to him -- and he KNEW a finger-snap would have her nursing his cock -- and that was a LOT better than anything Judy had offered lately ... Ned drifted back off with his plan firmly in mind.

The next morning, Ned was up early; he wanted his current women to be down at the medical pod being worked on before there was any competition for space even thought they HAD an appointment. It was time to exercise his will a bit, too, so his first word to Judy was, "Strip!"

"What?"

He couldn't hear her, but he didn't need to. "I said strip. Clothing is a privilege; you have to earn it -- and you haven't. So get out of your clothes." Ned stood there, watching her, his arms crossed.

"Now, Ned..." Judy began.

"Drop the field." Ned strode forward and his hand came back.

"Okay, okay!" Judy threw her hands up to protect herself...

... And Ned shifted targets, punching her in the stomach. Judy collapsed, unable to pull air in through her paralyzed diaphragm. Ned turned around and walked back to beyond where the field had been and told the AI, "Raise the field." Then he addressed the shocky, gasping woman on the floor inside, "I'll be back to check on you in a couple of minutes. Be naked." Then he stuck his head in the master suite and yelled, "Ellie! Coffee and a toasted bagel! I'm hungry!" Finally, he turned and headed off toward the bathroom.

It took Ellie maybe six seconds to stagger out of the bedroom, her shift in her hand, headed for the kitchen. She took in Judy collapsed on the floor as she skidded around the corner, pursed her lips, and got back on track for the kitchen; it wouldn't do to piss Ned off such that he did whatever he'd done to Judy to HER!

While Ellie needn't have worried, it was in her nature to do so -- and, frankly, if she was garnering attention of ANY type, she was happy about it. She'd been more or less furniture for months, but that had apparently ended last night -- and she would do just about anything to see to it that Ned was pleased with her and rewarded her with sex -- and, ultimately, children. Things were looking up, and she wanted them to stay that way -- so when Ned wandered into the kitchen a couple of minutes later, she asked him, "Should I change anything? Should I call you Master or something?"

Ned snorted -- but Ellie was serious, and he realized it. Backing out through the doorway, he swept another glance at Judy, who was sitting on the floor clasping her knees -- in an effort to cover herself, no doubt. Ellie didn't need verbal reminders of who was boss -- but Judy did ... Ned crooked a finger at Ellie, leading her out to face the captive Judy. "I've had Judy get naked, because clothes are a privilege, and she hasn't earned any," he told Ellie while eyeing his other concubine. "Judy is a slow learner; she needs someone to set an example. And while you don't really need to call me anything to remember who is boss, Judy will need a reminder. That being the case, I'm instructing you to call me Master until I revoke the order."

Ellie permitted herself a slight smile, eyeing Judy, "Yes, Master."

"Take off your clothes," Ned continued. Ellie said nothing; she just pulled her shift over her head and folded it neatly on the couch arm. "Now kneel," Ned directed. "Sit back on your ankles with the tops of your feet flat on the floor. Is that comfortable? Spread your legs a bit."

Ellie had gotten down on order and was in position. "Yes, Master, it's okay."

"This is the new rest position," Ned explained, "when you're naked. Furniture is a privilege. Judy, do it."

Judy, of course, opened her mouth to argue -- but thought better of it. Watching Ned like a hawk, she assumed the position, thinking, 'This will settle out in a couple of days. In the meantime, I can do anything Ellie can.'

"Good," Ned approved, looking on, then turned toward the kitchen. "My breakfast?"

"Coming, Master!" Ellie was up like a shot and running for the kitchen.

"This is how we'll operate when we leave here." Ned declared as he eyed Judy after breakfast. "Nothing but air escapes that mouth until I say otherwise, understand? Just nod..." Judy nodded, and Ned told the AI, "Drop the field." The AI did so, and Ned waved the pair up. "Let's go."

Transit to Medical naked was embarrassing for the women -- but not as embarrassing as it could have been, since some sponsors just didn't allow their concubines clothing in the first place. The pair of them got looks -- even the occasional wolf whistle -- but everybody had concubines, so there really wasn't that much demand for a pair of pretty marginal specimens. At Medical, the duty medics took the pair and popped them into pods right away; normally, Ned would have had no priority at all, but they'd OBVIOUSLY never been seriously worked on, so he was allowed what amounted to his first pass -- and since casualties didn't stay long, one way or another, the medics were bored. Specialist Four Chamberlain looked the pair over in their pods and said, "Damn! You couldn't do any better than that? Where'd you get them, anyway?"

"I'm a purist -- or I thought I was," Ned countered. "Would you believe I was married to one of 'em?" Back and forth banter led to some revelations -- and some recommendations...

Modifications took time -- pod time was for nanobot programming and injection and some accelerated maintenance and repairs, but it would take over a month for everything to be finished. In the meantime, the changes would occur gradually -- and would sometimes be painful. The women spent two hours in the pods before the medics helped them out and returned them to Ned. "How do you feel?" Ned asked Ellie.

"Better..." There probably wasn't any visible change, but Ellie could SWEAR that her breasts were both a little bigger and a little closer set. She wanted to look at her ass in the mirror, too ... She remembered herself, " ... Master."

"What about you?" Ned turned to Judy. "Yeah, go ahead..."

Judy opened her mouth -- and nothing came out! It seemed like she had to scream to get out a quiet whisper! She became aware that Ned was grinning evilly at her. "You ordered this?" she husked.

"Chamberlain suggested it," Ned replied. "I'd have shut you off totally, but while this makes things real hard, you CAN communicate. When you learn not to abuse it, maybe I'll give you more of a voice -- but it'll probably be something more pleasant than what you had." He pointed toward the corridor, "Let's go -- I have other business."

On the way back to their pod, Ned told the women, "There have been changes made -- two new bedrooms and a nursery. Get things organized; the AI did the best it could, but there will be some things that will be out of place." He dropped them off, then headed off to collect his new acquisitions.

Dolores looked up in surprise when he let himself into Marco's old pod without announcing himself. "Are you ready?"

"Not quite," she replied. "You're early."

"Doesn't hurt anything."

"Ned, about Judy..."

"Don't even start!" Ned warned. "The situation has changed. I'm not taking any shit -- and that includes from YOU!"

Dolores blinked in surprise. "Uh, okay..."

"I'm trying to retrain Judy, and she needs examples for proper behavior. As a result, I'll expect you both to address me as Master for a while. I don't anticipate that it'll be forever, because I think it's stupid -- but it will enforce a mindset on Judy. Do you understand?" His gaze took in Margeaux, who had just waddled in. It didn't take more than a glance for Ned to realize that Marco's genetic legacy would have its first appearance in a month or so. While he was still pondering this, Margeaux responded quietly, "Yes, Master," and dropped her eyes. Turning his attention to Dolores, he raised an eyebrow.

"Oh! Yes, Master!" Dolores eyed Ned as if he'd grown an additional head. This wasn't the limp character that had collected her at pickup, then let his shrew of a wife talk him into shoving her off on someone else! Dolores held a grudge; she'd had a tough time for several days before she'd attracted Marco's attention and escaped the Civil Service pool, and she hadn't been pleased at all about being endangered again. But Ned seemed to have changed...