Chapter 36: The Public Whip Master

One Friday morning I was again summoned with Jeremy to Bud Williamson's office for a conference about Rachel Green. I knew that our agency had the previous week received the official assignment from the Court to protect Rachel.

"Stephanie", Bud began, "yesterday Rachel turned herself in at the courthouse as directed for her whipping. By this evening she will have been transported to 'Morrison Whip Masters Ltd', where there is to be a large well advertised public whipping of several slaves followed by Rachel's punishment and an auction of her servitude before a smaller select audience. As I understand it they may even be auctioning the right to rape Rachel before this select audience. Naturally I want you to be there to make sure that everything that is done to Rachel stays within the bounds of the law and that she receives proper aftercare. Since you are new at this, take Jeremy with you."

"The reason there is such an entity as a Public Whip Master", Bud explained, "is that slave owners in Capitallia are not permitted to privately subject their slaves to corporal punishment. This is one of the provisions of the federal 'Kinder and Gentler' slave law. The concern was that abuses might occur because a slave owner applying such punishments in private might be acting out of anger and might get carried away and impose physical punishments that would cause permanent injury to the slave."

"But such punishments may be imposed in public?" I asked.

"Yes, if done by a contractor licensed to do such work by the city, county or state. The idea was to make corporal punishment a profession subject to appropriate standards, controls and supervision. The second reason, of course, is that by imposing such punishments in a public setting the humiliation of the slave is increased and there is added deterrent value in having members of the general public see what can happen to those who commit crimes."

"But what if a slave is disobedient?" I said. "If a slave owner cannot corporally punish wouldn't that put a serious limit on his ability to secure the desired obedience?"

"Not really", Bud replied. "The slave owner has so many other tools available to him for securing obedience in our high tech era. There are the bio-implants, drugs, mind control technology and post-hypnotic suggestions, just to name a few. A master who cannot control his slave with all those tools should probably not even be allowed to own a slave. The tools allow the modern slave owner to strip his slave of free will – so that it then makes no sense to punish a slave for disobedience. Any failure of the slave to obey is really a failure of the slave owner to properly use the available technology."

"A slave may be whipped", Bud continued, "only to punish the original crime for which he or she was enslaved in the first place. Even then the punishments can only be as specified in the criminal sentencing phase."

"What about indentured servants?" I asked.

"Where the indenture is for two years or less it may not be economic for an owner to bear the costs of high tech obedience control. In that situation the owner may instead elect to control disobedience with the threat of mild public whippings or public humiliation. In this case the punishment would be for an act of disobedience or for substandard performance on the job, and not for the original offense that got the person indentured."

That evening Jeremy and I drove over to the facility of "Morrison Whip Masters". We had come to the facility one half hour early because we needed to spend some time in the part of the building where Rachel would be prepared for her punishment. I saw many limos drive up to the main entrance, drop off their occupants and continue to a parking lot to wait for their customers at the end of the evening.

"Many who enjoy corporal punishments", Jeremy explained, "would just as soon not be seen or identified as devotees of this form of cruelty. Limos help provide anonymity. Others, such a politicians and law enforcement officers, often feel that being seen at these events could actually help their reputations as upholders of the law!"

At the main entrance I saw that attendants were handing out black masks that they passed through the windows of the limos. Most people emerging from these vehicles were already wearing the masks though a few were not. We had driven an agency car and Jeremy declined the masks as a valet parked our car.

"The masks", Jeremy informed me, "add a certain mystique to the occasion and provide some degree of anonymity – or at least the illusion of anonymity. Also the video cameras the house uses to record the events on stage sometimes catch audience members on tape as well. The tapes are then automatically computer edited to completely bleep out the face of any person wearing a mask."

As we entered the building we came to where they were taking tickets. As Advocates we were just waived through. The program I was handed showed that three people were to be whipped tonight – Jeff Duncan, Tom Jenkins and Sally Rigers. It would have been a conflict of interest for me to serve as advocate for any of these three. I had sentenced the first two and my good friend Edgar owned the third. Since I was here to protect Rachel I was puzzled that her name was not on the program, but I saw a small note about a Board of Directors meeting in Room B101 at the end of the evening. I wondered if that was code for the discreet private whipping she would receive before a select audience.

We went to the office and announced ourselves. A staff member then escorted us to the preparation area on the floor below. There were a series of curtained off cubicles. We walked past one where a naked Sally Rigers lay strapped to a hospital type bed, then two more where the two men who were to be punished tonight also lay naked and restrained on similar beds. As we approached the last cubicle we saw the back of a beautiful black girl who was standing, naked, in front of a man in a white coat who was checking her pulse and listening to her heart. Her beauty was evident in her posture, her well-defined shoulders, the delicate tracery of her spinal column, the muscular fullness of her buttocks, and in her long slender and muscular legs. That she was a girl and not yet a woman was evident in that her hips had not fully widened or filled out, and her breasts were just beginning to develop. She turned upon hearing us approach and I saw that it was Rachel. She acknowledged us with a weak smile.

A tall man in a business suit was standing nearby looking at Rachel and the doctor. Apparently we were just in time to witness Rachel receiving a quick medical exam to see whether she could stand the punishment and the drugs they planned to give her. The man in the suit turned just then, noticing us, and gave my companion a big smile and slapped him on the back.

"Jeremy, my old nemesis! What are you doing here tonight? You are not going to spoil my show tonight I hope! And who is this lovely lady?"

"Ted, this is Stephanie Glenn, one of our newest advocates. Your prisoner Rachel Green is actually Stephanie's assignment. I am just here to guide her since this is one of her first jobs."

"Steph, this is Ted Morrison, owner of this establishment. I have been tangling with him off an on for better than ten years now."

Just then a nurse came in carrying a report of some kind that she handed to the doctor.

"These blood results look very good", the doctor announced, looking at Mr. Morrison. "I think you have a very fit specimen here Ted, and there should be no problems with her tonight. Shall I go ahead and inject her?"

"Excuse me Mr. Morrison, but before you inject her with any of your 'enhancement drugs' I want to know if you have received any court papers modifying the type of punishment she is to receive?"

"I haven't seen anything like that cross my desk" Morrison said with some surprise. "Why – was there an appeal pending on her case?"

"Yes. We appealed the 'Level Two Enhanced' part of her whipping sentence. We had some faint hope the Tribunal might have issued a ruling in time to save Rachel."

"Afraid not. Are you ordering me to not give her the drugs?"

"Can I do that Jeremy?"

"You could issue such an order and they would have to do her whipping without drugs. But this would be a very bad move for you as a new advocate Steph. In fact it could open our agency up to a lawsuit for damages."

"What damages?"

"I'm sure Mr. Morrison here has emailed invitations to the select audience of 100 people promising them a Level Two entertainment tonight. Probably half of them wouldn't have come if they thought it was going to be just a standard whipping. If we spoil the entertainment with our ruling Mr. Morrison might have to refund these people their admission. And his reputation would suffer."

"Very well Mr. Morrison", I said. "Since the Court has not seen fit to modify the original sentence I guess you are entitled to proceed to prepare her with the drugs in accordance with the sentence of Judge Beemis."

"Thank you Miss Glenn. It's going to be a pleasure working with you", He said with a gracious smile.

He then turned to the doctor and two nurses who were awaiting his instructions, and spoke to them in a louder and more commanding tone.

"All right folks. Let's get her strapped to the bed and start her IV!" Morrison said turning to the doctor and the nurse.

I thought I might be sick at this moment. I had gone into advocacy hoping to be the protector of vulnerable people like Rachel. And now I found that I could not protect her. All because of some bigoted judge and an appeals court that was backlogged with too many cases. Soon they had Rachel strapped down and were starting her IV. I did the only thing I could at that moment to help her. I held her other hand tightly and told her my thoughts would be with her.

"Will it be really bad Miss Glenn?" Rachel wanted to know.

"Honey I won't lie to you", I said. "It's going to be a very rough evening but I know you are a girl with a lot of spirit and you will pull through this!"

I gave her hand an extra firm squeeze then caressed her forehead with my other hand. I then turned to Mr. Morrison.

"Can you not find some way to lessen this girl's punishment?" I asked him.

"I'm not a monster, Miss Glenn", Morrison had turned back to converse with me in a low voice. "I only carry out the sentences handed down by the courts. If I didn't do the punishments they would get somebody else to do them. The legislature and the courts want these punishments to be administered before the public. So if I sell tickets and inject a bit of showmanship does that make me a bad person?"

I had no answer to that so I promised Rachel that we would return after her punishment and made my excuses.

As we returned from our visit to the preparation area we again found ourselves in the main lobby. By now many more people had arrived and I marveled at the numbers.

"Why are these public whippings so well attended?" I asked him.

"They are very well advertised for one thing", Jeremy replied. "The Office of the Public Whip Master is a for profit business which charges admission to the general public so they have every incentive to promote these events and try to get as many people to attend as they possibly can."

"You mean people who don't even know the victims just come because they delight in watching total strangers get hurt?"

"That is true for many of them", Jeremy replied. "But you should also know that the Whip Master will have sent out engraved invitations to everyone who had any personal or business relationship to any of the victims. He is required to do this by law and it is surely in his interest as a businessman to do so. There is a likelihood that each person scheduled for whipping today will have offended certain people in his or her life so these people are even more likely to experience delight on seeing their enemy whipped than would some random citizen."

We entered the auditorium. I estimated it would hold about 1000 spectators. Once inside we found that a special section of six comfortable front row seats had been reserved for Advocates. Besides Jeremy and myself two other advocates were already seated. They recognized Jeremy right away and stood to greet us. Jeremy was quick to make introductions.

"Stephanie, this is Barbara Fox of the Fox Agency", he said as I held out my hand, "and Roger Stinson of Stinson Associates. I would like you two to meet Stephanie Glenn, the one Stephanie's Law was named after!"

They looked duly impressed to meet someone so famous, though I certainly did not feel like any celebrity. I figured they must represent agencies much smaller than the one I worked for since their names matched their agency's names. They were quick to complete the introductions.

"I'm here as Advocate for Ms. Sally Rigers", Mr. Stinson said, "while Barb Fox is here as Advocate for the two men on the program. Say those names sound familiar – Tom Jenkins and Jeff Duncan. I read something about them in the news awhile back, just can't remember what."

I decided not to enlighten him or Ms. Fox about my own connection to those two men, as I did not want to influence either of them in any way. They both had a job to do this evening and I would not interfere.

We took our seats. I noticed that a couple of scantily attired waitresses were threading their way through the rows of seats taking orders for beer and wine from other patrons, though they did not approach us. There was a buzz of excitement in the air. Looking around, I noted that there were almost as many female audience members as there were males. Just then an assistant manager of the facility came to us and showed us how to use the built in microphones in our armrests should we feel a need to stop the proceedings if we believed there was a violation of a subject's rights. He also inquired if he might bring any of us drinks. We declined.

I saw that there were a dozen or so female prostitutes and a few male prostitutes soliciting in the audience. It was a well known fact that men often became sexually excited watching these public punishments and would, of course, need sexual relief. What was not so well known was that some of the women watching these punishments would also need relief. There was a tier of glassed in private booths at the mezzanine level, comparable to sky booths at a stadium, where male and female prostitutes would take their customers to perform oral sex while the customer could continue to watch the show. Another detail I noticed was that every seat in the auditorium was equipped with a video monitor.

"What are these for?" I asked Jeremy.

"Oh, sometimes close-ups of certain things are displayed on the monitors", he replied.

Just then an announcer's voice boomed over the public address system.

"We are about to get underway if you public spirited citizens will all take your seats."

There was good natured laughter at this since everyone knew that probably nobody in attendance had come just to be 'public spirited'. Soon everyone was seated and the hall became quiet with anticipation. The announcer's voice continued.

"Jason, our official Whip Master of the day, is about to bring all our victims front and center now so that you can all appreciate just who is on the menu today! Let's give Jason a warm welcome!"

At this point Jason came on stage. He made a striking impression – being a tall, slender and muscular fellow clad in a short black leather vest that bared his hard flat abdomen, black boots that came up to mid thigh, and a black spandex codpiece that molded his genitals, leaving little to the imagination. His muscular buttocks were quite bare. He made a flamboyant gesture and took a bow. The audience went wild with applause.

When the applause died down he blew a whistle and three female assistants, wearing black midriff baring vests, black tights and black high heels, frog marched the three victims on stage and lined them up front and center, for audience inspection. There was an adult female and two adult males just as the program had indicated. Each of the three victims wore a white T-shirt and tight fitting blue jeans. Each of these was barefoot. Jason picked up a waiting microphone and began to address the audience.

"These people", he began, "were once salaried professionals until they were convicted of felonies and enslaved."

What the audience saw was two males – Duncan and Jenkins – who looked very ashamed to be on this stage and tried to cover their faces. They saw a female – Sally Rigers - who looked angry and hostile. Her shoulders were tensed, her arms were held in a somewhat raised position with fists clenched, and she was looking somewhere up high on the back wall of the auditorium, well above the heads of the audience. The Whip Master spoke sharply to the males and cracked a whip loudly on the stage floor. They dropped their hands and stood at attention now.

"And you Ms. Rigers", Jason announced, pointing his finger at the female, "better lose your fucking attitude if you hope to get out of here with your ass intact! For starters unclench those fists and let your arms hang naturally while standing erect and making eye contact with these public spirited folks who have come to see you punished!"

She complied for the most part though she retained a somewhat rebellious facial expression and her shoulders remained tense.

Again there was enthusiastic applause.

"You folks are in for a real treat tonight", Jason continued. "First you will see the two males punished in ways that are sexually humiliating beyond anything you have seen on this stage before! Then, we have saved the best for last. You will see this attractive and hostile young woman, a convicted perjurer, receive, in addition to sexual humiliation, what is known in the law as a 'Level Two Enhanced Whipping'. We have never done one of these in public before. The purpose of such a punishment is to totally 'break' the individual – by causing pain and fear beyond what any human being can bear. The individual loses all awareness of place and time and loses all control of her vocalizations and her behavior on stage. You will not only see Miss Rigers lose her attitude but you may well see her age regress to a childlike state."

Of course there were about 100 people among this audience of 900 or so who knew that they would see yet another 'Level Two Enhanced Whipping' of a sixteen year old schoolgirl-prostitute in the much smaller auditorium after most of the other guests had gone home for the night.

"Before we proceed to the main event", Jason continued, "I should point out that we make every effort to stay in compliance with the law as we administer these court ordered punishments. Also I must notify you that we have slave advocates with us today to insure that we remain in compliance with law. They have authority to stop our proceedings at any time if they feel we are going too far."

There was much audible groaning at this announcement and shouts of 'Go home! Leave us to our enjoyments!'

"I would ask that you show proper respect to our advocates. After all, if it weren't for them, it would be illegal for us to do what we do here. They make it possible by assuring the checks and balances the law requires. Would you folks please stand for a minute so the audience can see who you are?"

The four of us stood with some reluctance, as we were not eager to be identified as possible targets for retribution in the event we did wind up putting the damper on any part of this evening's entertainment.

"Let me introduce Barbara Fox of the Fox Agency, Roger Stinson of Stinson Associates, Miss Stephanie Glenn and Jeremy Withers of The Williamson Agency. Mr. Stinson has been assigned by the Court to protect the rights of the female subject, while Ms. Fox has been assigned to protect the two male subjects. The two representatives of the Williamson Agency are just here to observe."

"I want to caution any member of this audience", the Whip Master continued, "who may not be totally familiar with what happens at a public whipping. These victims are here today to be hurt and to be humiliated. They are enslaved felons. All of them will be stripped – forcibly if need be. If anyone in the audience is not comfortable with viewing the naked bodies of today's victims, now would be a very good time to leave. I will pause now in case anyone is having second thoughts."

There was some laughter and guffaws at this announcement since everyone here obviously wanted to see the victims stripped naked. Jason waited a few minutes and when nobody made a move to leave he continued.

"Not one of these individuals", Jason continued at last, "will leave this stage today until he or she has experienced extreme pain and, in most cases, extreme humiliation. You may expect to hear screams and pleas for mercy. For some of you this may be pleasurable to observe and to hear. These will be the sights and sounds of justice being administered to convicted criminals. There is a great satisfaction for many of us in seeing such justice exacted. But for some tender hearted folks who may be in the audience today this may prove distressing. I would encourage anyone who thinks they might not enjoy today's performance to leave at this time."

This time there was silence. Many people looked around to see if anyone else was leaving. Only two or three out of the over 900 people in attendance actually left. He continued his address to the audience.

"Good. That means those of you who are still with us are prepared to be entertained! Turn down the house lights and up the stage lights please!"

At this point the stage became brilliantly lit and I became aware that there were several still cameras and video cameras pointing at the stage.

"First I should mention", Jason continued, "that our proceedings today are being recorded, and that anyone wishing to do so may order still photos and video footage of today's punishments after the show. Contact one of our agents in the lobby or go online at Morrison Whip Masters at the web address in your programs. The second thing I must mention is that most of the whipping will be done with an electric whip. We use the electric whip because, while it is extremely painful, it leaves no marks and no injuries requiring medical attention. The pain is caused by powerful involuntary muscular contractions induced throughout the victim from head to toe. We use high amperage current from our portable generator. Each victim will totally lose control of his or her own muscles and will end with muscles so cramped that he or she usually will not be able to walk off the stage."

"What about bladder and bowels?" some fellow in the second row shouted. "Do they lose control of those too?"

"I am glad you asked! The answer is we prevent bowel accidents by giving each of them a colonic irrigation just an hour earlier and then by inserting a locking plug in each of their rectums. Bladder accidents, on the other hand, are inevitable and very much a part of the show!"

Another round of applause. The Whip Master motioned his assistants to move the line of victims upstage.

"We have a tradition that we like to follow here at Morrison Whip Masters. Before we begin the full whipping of each victim we like to call on a member of the audience to, as we say, 'initiate the punishment' of that victim. This involves pulling the victim's pants down and administering a vigorous paddle swat to the victim's naked buttocks. It is a ceremonial act that begins the punishment."