Chapter 52: Rachel's Programme

Rachel was laying on one of the couches where I had first seen Brian's family being treated under the electro stimulation programme. She was sedated but conscious; she'd not objected when the Doctor slipped the hypodermic needle into a vein in her arm. She'd asked if Sukie could be with her for the start of the programme. We'd agreed and Sukie was sitting beside her stroking her hair. Rachel looked calm. The Doc lowered the gantry above her and took down each pair of wires in turn, fastening them to the studs that had would carry the current across each nipple, across her clitoris, her vulva and her anus. I could see that in spite of the sedation Rachel was gripping Sukie's hand tightly.

"We'll start now," said the Doc. "Are you ready?" Rachel gave the slightest nod. The Doc threw the switch and the sequence started. Rachel gave an involuntary grunt as the first pulses began. She gripped Sukie's hand even harder at first but then seemed to relax. Soon a quiet smile spread across her face. The Doc turned to me. "We can leave her now," she said. "There'll be nothing more to do now for two hours."

Sukie looked up at me. "Can I stay?" I looked at the Doc. She shrugged.

"Yes," I said. "I'd like that. Thank you." Sukie smiled and turned back towards Rachel. The Doc and I left the two of them in the room. I could hear the pulse generator humming quietly as we walked out.

"It's been interesting," the Doc said once we were out of the room and away from Sukie's hearing. "I think what happened was that the mental trauma of the rapes and mistreatment and her focus on using that as preventing her conditioning created a sort of mental blockage. The drugs that we were using simply served to reinforce that. It was only the effects of the staged anaphylactic episode that allowed her to draw a line under that. As you say, it's as if she's been able to give herself a whole new start."

"That doesn't explain her willingness to undergo this though, does it?"

"No, not at all. I think that's got to do more with her past before we took her in, if I'm honest. I wonder how well she had been able to accept her sexuality prior to us acquiring her. I think that she is basically highly sexed — all our psychological profiling prior to the programme indicate that her artistic drives are perhaps behind that. She's highly emotionally aware and highly physically sensitive as well. If she had been in an environment where that had been suppressed its probable that there was considerable internal conflict. Seeing what had been done with the other women opened her eyes to a way she could reach what she suspected was in her already. It's curious. In some ways she's absolving herself of responsibility by being able to claim that her behaviour is the consequence of the programme but equally she has taken the responsibility of putting herself into the programme. It's a bit of a paradox."

"Well, I can agree that she's quite highly sexed," I said thinking back to my recent encounter with her and Sukie.

The Doc, gave an embarrassed, "Hmmph. Well she's staying in the treatment centre tonight. I want her to have at least four days on this part of the programme before taking the risk of exposing her to any other outside stimuli. Then she'll go into her own normalised suite and start working with the thong."

"That's OK, Doc," I said, "I'm as keen as you are for this to succeed. I don't want to do anything to rock the boat. I've got some other work to do. If there's nothing I can do for Rachel now, I guess I'll get on. Let me know if there's anything I should do."

"Sure," said the Doc.

I went back to my office and spent some time going through Rachel's report on Brian's family and the programme. I could see plenty of opportunities on the back of it, but then I guess you didn't need to be a marketing genius for that. What I did do was to write a memo to Freddie suggesting that we used them for the hospitality event that I'd suggested for some of the buyers. Thought he'd think it was a good idea for all sorts of reasons.

I went back to the suite when I'd finished. One of the guards turned up escorting Sukie shortly after. "How is Rachel?" I asked. Sukie sank down on the couch, looking exhausted. "And how are you?"

Sukie looked up at me. "I'm. I'm all right." She said hesitantly. "Rachel is fine too. I'm sorry. I just found it very frightening. She's so very brave to do that."

"I know. But it's important to her."

"I couldn't do it," Sukie was almost sobbing. "I thought I could do almost anything to please my man but, not, ... Not that."

"She's doing it to please herself, Sukie. No-one else."

"You might believe that," Sukie smiled. "You're important to her, you know."

"I know. She's important to me. And so are you." I sat down alongside her and took her in my arms. She was shaking.

"I can't take the programme," said Sukie. "But I can please you. If you want me to."

I could see that right then nothing was more important to her. "I'd like that, Sukie," I said. I did and she did too. Afterwards we both fell asleep. When I awoke Sukie slept on. I fetched her breakfast. She was outraged and we both laughed.

"Will you sit with Rachel again today?" I asked her.

"If you want me to," Sukie said.

"You find it difficult don't you? I don't want to make you."

"I know. I will go but it is frightening. I don't know if she will be the same when she comes back. She was always sweet and kind to me. Now perhaps she will feel jealous of me. Perhaps she will forget about me. Perhaps she will ask you to get rid of me."

"I don't think so Sukie. And I don't think I would listen if she did." The girl brightened. "Look, let's go and see her together. You needn't stay if you don't want to. There's no need for you to be there. Unless you want to be."

"Thank you," she said, smiled and got out of bed to get showered and dressed.

We found our way back to where Rachel had been the day before. She was sitting, naked, on the side of the treatment couch. She waved as she saw us coming into the room.

The Doc appeared. "I'm just restarting things," she said to us and then; "Lie down Rachel, please." She picked up a hypodermic syringe. "Sedative," she said. Rachel nodded, acceptingly. "Less than yesterday, though." She nodded again. The Doc administered the injection. Rachel gave a comfortable, "mmm" as the sedative began to take effect. The Doc hooked up the wires and started the sequence of low frequency stimuli once more.

Rachel relaxed into it; mewing quietly, sighing, muscles twitching in response as the sequence took control. Sukie threw her arms around me. I took her out.

From what the Doc had said there was little point in either Sukie or myself being around after the first day. In spite of the lower level of sedation, the cumulative effect of the continuous stimulation meant that Rachel was pretty much lost in the programme apart from when she was sleeping — and she needed the sleep to allow her body to rest.

We both went to see her after she had been in the normalised environment for a couple of days. She came rushing towards us as soon as she saw us, flinging her arms around first Sukie — that comforted her — and then me.