Chapter 23: Hank Collects More Hungry Mouths

In 2106 a madam named Ellen Sterling was faced with a problem: some of her girls were quitting after making their fortune and starting families. In some cases, the girl's customers quit patronizing the Sterling brothels. Ellen did some market research and found out that the patrons would like to "make time" with their old favorites. The girls would have been willing if they could have a family. That is how Ellen Sterling got into daycare. At the same time, some of her working girls realized that it was possible to have a family if they could meet the requirements of the Statement of Financial Responsibility.

Capitallia was founded on the principal of "take what you want, but YOU pay for it." There was no government-funded safety net. One controversial issue in the old United States was caring for unwanted children--orphans, unwanted pregnancies, children of convicted criminals in prison and the children born to foreign mothers on American soil. In keeping with Capitallia's founding principles, mothers were required to file a Statement of Financial Responsibility. This document was intended to ensure that someone would provide support for the child if the mother died or became incapable of caring for her children due to injury or disease or enslavement. Normally the requirement would be satisfied if the woman could get a citizen or three non-citizens to sponsor the child as "godparents" and agree to take in the child if the mother cannot care for it. The mother had the responsibility to keep her child's Statement of Financial Responsibility updated. It was recommended that the update be done annually.

In Florida, Ellen Sterling lobbied for a corporation or non-profit trust to be counted as a citizen for the purposes of the Statement of Financial Responsibility. Life insurance was one way to guarantee an income for a minor child, but mere money wasn't enough. Ellen founded the Ellen Sterling Foster Home to provide that care which money couldn't buy. Staffed by retired prostitutes, the foster home was an extension of the day care operation. Ellen Sterling died in 2129, but her chain of brothels in Florida employed more than 6000 prostitutes. Of those 6000 prostitutes, there were 637 single mothers that used Ellen Sterling Foster Home as their "citizen" for Statement of Financial Responsibility purposes. So far this hadn't caught on in most of Capitallia.

Due to near-perfect fertility control the number of unintended pregnancies in Capitallia was almost nil. The requirements of the Statement of Financial Responsibility had all but rendered the traditional foster care system obsolete. The Ellen Sterling Foster Home had a maximum capacity of 60 children--all girls. There was another foster home for boys, totally separate from the girl's home. Besides, selecting a child's gender before conception was virtually foolproof in the 22nd Century.

Florida's age of consent was 14 and Floridians were legally adult at age 16. Age of Consent only affected the age that a person was legally regarded as able to give informed consent for private sexual intercourse. Commercial sex as either a prostitute or as a prostitute's customer required being legally an adult. "Children" were prohibited from participating in commercial sex as a prostitute. Only adults could purchase prostitution services.

This had some unintended consequences on child actors and children photographed for art's sake.

In Florida a person was eligible for a prostitute's license at age 16--it was older for other states. Commercial sex included the shrinking category of pornography. In 2134 kiddie porn was legal with some restrictions. The major federal restriction was that the images could not be published until the child had reached age 18, even if the images had been made a decade before. The images had to be carefully documented, registered and sealed until the child reached federal adulthood--the kiddie porn vendors in the early days of Capitallia would pay a stipend for the initial images on speculation, an advance on the imagery royalties. Federal laws stipulated that simple nude photographs of children of any age were okay. "Sexually provocative poses", those photographs blatantly exhibiting the genitalia or photographs emphasizing the sexuality of even fully clothed children, were limited to ages 10 and above. photographs of actual sex acts were restricted to the local age of consent and older.

Exempt from these requirements were "naturist" photographs, medical documents and a segment of scientific studies. If none of the three exemptions applied, the wise photographer would document the session and would wait until the child was 18 and had, as an adult, signed a contract to publish the photographs. As always, the burden of proof was on the accuser, but photographers who failed to abide by the rules wound up enslaved as a sexual deviant. Following the rules did delay gratification; there were many children who refused publication when the child finally gained the legal right to say yes or no to publication. On the other hand, digital photography was cheap. It wasn't really much of an investment to do the appropriate paperwork that defended a child's sexual innocence and then store the digital photographs for a decade.

By 2134 kiddie porn peddlers had sufficient inventory that they could afford to simply contract to produce the video and still images without offering any money up front. No money would be offered until after documentation, registration and being sealed until the child's 18th birthday. This would give a child a useful nest egg--at age 18—if the child turned adult chose to have it. Many parents did present their kids for nude modeling or more explicit modeling--but only out of a desire to give their kids a possible nest egg for later.

Two exceptions existed--emancipated children and the old family "bearskin rug" photos. Emancipated children, those children granted "adult" status, could contract for the more explicit "kiddie porn" shoots--as with prostitution, emancipated status permitted the child to authorize publication and receive payment as if 18 even when the emancipated child was otherwise underage. This emancipated child status also permitted the other form of commercial sex-- prostitution. "Adult status" included economic activity as an adult. The other exemption existed primarily because the naked child family photos were never published. Taking photos or making videos of children, even "sexually provocative poses" or even actual sex acts, was not criminalized unless there was economic activities involved. Of course, such photos and videos could have been evidence of criminal sexual activity with underage children, but the videos and digital still photos themselves were not criminal acts. Simple possession of nude child images was not criminal.

With the ready availability of a wide variety of cheap sex, one reason for preying upon children had vanished--that the child was more vulnerable to sexual exploitation than adult sex partners. In Florida the number of nude children didn't result in increased child abuse--like the concealed firearm permit laws of the late 20th Century, the nightmare predictions of the public nudity laws resulted in the opposite of what the opponents to the laws forecast. The concealed weapon laws didn't result in gunfights--violence dropped until the general federal US handgun ban of 2044.

After the formation of Capitallia in 2089 when Florida passed laws protecting the rights of legal resident and citizens to be nude in all public places, about 4% of Floridians (and a lot of tourist) went naked all of the time and another 22% went nude in public frequently. The percentage of naked children on Florida's beaches, in Florida schools, even in Florida shopping centers and amusement parks sometimes exceeded 100% in the younger age categories. The most severe impact was on children's clothing--especially children's swimwear. For example, children under the age of 8 seldom wore anything while on the beach. Florida schools mandated nudity for certain activities--with parental permission, of course.

Naked teens seldom shoplifted. In fact, juvenile crime in Florida was either a tourist's child or was newly arrived in Florida as a resident--in about 90 days, the new resident child had become a Floridian and was a well-behaved child. With all these naked children in public there was no practical way to prevent adults from taking photos of naked children on the streets, beaches, in shopping malls or around commercial swimming pools. It was a violation of federal pornography laws for any such photos to be used commercially in any media including websites --except after the child model had reached legal adulthood and had authorized release of those photos and videos themselves.

Rape was rare in Florida. Child abuse was very rare because most Florida primary schools (grade 1-8 covering ages 6-14) featured several hours per week of mandatory school nudity. Bruises and other injuries were not hidden by bulky clothing in Florida. Few adults could abuse a child undetected. Children who bullied other children were quickly attended to. This may have occurred more because people were more aware of children in Florida--not ignoring children as in other states. It may have been that adults were more actively looking out for children. The low rate of crime against children in Florida was a selling point--bring your children to Florida and raise them in safety.

The major funding for the Ellen Sterling Foster Home was a trust established by Ellen and run by Brian Forsythe for 25 years. Ellen charged a nominal fee for her girls to join her program of sponsoring their children. This was enough to keep the foster home solvent as long as Brian Forsythe was running the trust. Eventually everybody retires. Brian didn't age well. In 2131 he turned the reigns over to a Toland Dashrolf. Brian was physically unable to prevent Toland from stacking the Board of Directors and siphoning off the trust funds. Suddenly there weren't any more checks from the trust coming in.

Ellen had established separate corporations for her foster home and from the other operations so that if one went broke, the foster home was safe. The trust owned the land and buildings outright and the life insurance policies on the prostitutes provided some income. The trust having no income wasn't a disaster. That disaster came a few weeks later when it was discovered that the trust funds had been totally cleaned out by the new fund manager who had also mortgaged their real estate to the hilt, left the state and was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly there were no more monthly checks coming to the sisters to pay the ongoing expenses. The bank was threatening foreclosure if payments were not brought up to date by a certain time. When the sisters could not meet this deadline the bank took title to the real estate. Once it became clear to the other creditors that the home was broke they joined together in a "Petition for Enslavement of Debtors" against the three sisters. The last straw came when a court officer delivered papers telling them to vacate by September 1.

Three retired prostitutes were the remaining staff that cared for 17 orphans aged 6 through 14. Young orphans would be snapped up by citizens who wanted children, but few wanted children age 8 or older. Even prostitutes suffered from reduced income--there was no help from the prostitute community. They didn't have money either. The adult caretakers, three retired prostitutes named Rachel (age 54), Netta (51) and Lara (44), looked for alternatives. The three women had retired from prostitution because they had used up all of their sexual capital.

While looking for alternate caretakers for the 17 children in their care, one of their customers mentioned that the Jakefield Cosmetic Surgical Clinic sometimes helped people in need--for a price. Joan Jakefield had been Hank Dalton's slave for a while and now was a full citizen and Hank's partner. A new medical technique was undergoing clinical trials, but due to liability insurance costs the clinical trials were open only to full chattel slaves. Netta was the leader, Lara a stolid if unimaginative follower and the eldest, Rachel, was still mentally a teen, but they felt that Joan Jakefield was their best option. There were outstanding debts of $33,487.29 when the three women agreed to indefinite period of full enslavement in exchange for paying off the foster home's debts in full and for taking in 17 orphans.

What did Hank Dalton get out of taking on 17 orphans? Were three old women, work-worn ex-prostitutes who could no longer work their trade, fair payment for taking on 17 more hungry mouths--one pregnant? And really--the three old women could have been bought as slaves at auction for far less than $33, 487.29-- Hank's accountant claimed that the women could have been bought at auction for a nominal payment of $99 each. This was the situation that Hank had been called about while flying his sky car from Silver Orb, Nevada to Pensacola, Florida. It took a few days to transfer guardianship of 17 minor children to Joan Jakefield and Hank Dalton, to put the three adults through a baseline physical, to transfer funds paying off the debt and to pack out the pitiful few worldly goods that the three women and 17 girls had. Meanwhile, Hank and Joan were battling a vast conspiracy to destroy Capitallia.

The pay-off for Hank was that his sense of fair play had been satisfied. The prostitute single mothers had followed all the rules--and 16 of them (two of the girls were twins) had become victims of Murphy's Law. Besides, Hank saw adopting 17 girls as a means to shape the future. Paying off their debts and keeping the 3 new slaves in contact with their former wards provided 3 very willing slaves. Doctor Dalton's medical experiments had better results than the competition because his medical subjects had positive mental attitudes. Hank thought that paying $33,487.29 for three willing subjects and for changing the world was a bargain. Explaining it to his accountants was a problem.

Even though it was not quite September 1, Netta vacated the old foster home three weeks early. The girls had reported prowlers lurking in the bushes-- bushes that could no longer be trimmed due to lack of funds. Their final night in the foster home would have been dark and without water--since the bills hadn't been paid, the utilities shut off. Netta tried to phone Joan but the foster home's phone didn't work either. Joan had been calling the foster home three times a day to get an update on events there. When Joan couldn't reach the foster home, the Pensacola Amazon Militia (PAM) investigated. Finding that the girls and women were safe but without water and power, the militia woman on the scene persuaded the three adult caretakers to pack up, lock up and move into the PAM compound. PAM had a school on the compound so it was a simple matter to dispatch a school bus to the Ellen Sterling Foster Home. When the white bus with the PAM logo on its sides pulled up to the rear doors, a line of 20 females dressed in little more than rags carrying an assortment of boxes and bundles left the building and walked into the bus. Two nude militia women were in the bus--one driving and one directing the girls to seats. Had the orphans lived sheltered lives in other states, the sight of two nude adult women might have shocked them because of the "modesty" in the rest of Capitallia. As noted previously, a quarter of Florida adults, nearly all children and many tourists were nude in public because of Florida's "right to bare" laws. There were plenty of empty seats on the old 44-passenger bus.

The drive to the Pensacola Amazon Militia compound was forty minutes, but it wasn't boring. A short orientation film informed the children that the compound was headquarters for an all-woman militia, for a commercial detective agency, and for a bodyguard service. Also there was the Joan Jakefield Cosmetic Surgical Clinic, a grade school for children in grades 1-8 with 49 day and 43 boarding students, a high school with another 53 day and 17 boarding students, a headquarters for an on-line community college, and a small private zoo. While this video orientation was going on, Netta was talking to Joan on a cell phone borrowed from a nude Amazon.

The occupants of the school bus didn't look as if they were legal residents of the richest and most-powerful nation on the planet. Their clothes were ill- fitting hand-me-downs that were patched but clean. The cardboard boxes carried by some were battered and worn, some repaired with a mix of adhesive tapes. A few carried their things in shopping bags, there were two with trash bags, and many had made rolls out of bed sheets and pillow cases. The younger ones carried second-hand dolls or teddy bears. All had shoes, even if they had to wear two pair of socks to get the shoes to fit. Some of the shoes had holes or broken laces. The three adult women wore sari-style dresses and had bare feet. The only other things they wore were their legal resident non-citizen ID bracelets. None of the children wore non-citizen ID's because children were exempt from the demeaning requirements to display their status.

The school bus was admitted to the compound with no delay and pulled up to the door of the dormitory building. The two naked Pensacola Amazon Militia women opened the bus door and started unloading.

The dormitory door opened and a curvy blonde with brown eyes stepped out. She was naked except for a slave collar.

"I am Slave Amanda," the woman announced. "May I ask for the following people to come with me? Rachel, Nitta, Lara and Elena?"

Slave Amanda was slightly taller than the average woman at 1.75 meter. She had large, firm breasts and lush curves--but had the normal female fear that she was carrying too many kilograms. Amanda did weigh 60 kilograms--proportional to her height, given her hips and breasts. Her eyes were brown and her hair blonde. Other than eyelashes, eyebrows and her shoulder-length corn silk hair, Amanda's body was smooth all over. No hair hid her labia, slightly distended from constant arousal. Amanda's nipples were nearly as big as her little fingertips and she was flushed--not blushing, but the sexual flush from excitement. Amanda couldn't help herself as she padded her way barefoot down the corridor leading the four women to a small conference room. Amanda was completely naked--she wasn't required to wear a slave collar in private. Her owner and master, Hank Dalton, had commanded Slave Amanda to remain totally naked and fully accessible while on the compound.

Rachel was fleshy, too, but had seen better days. She was barefoot, had white hair, and wore only her Legal Resident Identification Bracelet and a sarong in a faded blue that matched her eyes. Rachel was obviously missing one breast and limped noticeably. She was the normal 1.65 meters tall but tipped the scales at a portly 82 kilograms. Despite her infirmities, Rachel acted more like a teenager than a shopworn 54 year old ex-prostitute.

Nitta, the leader, was emaciated and her white hair was thinning. The whites of her brown eyes were yellow, her skin sallow, sagging and scaley. Nitta was also quite short at 1.5 meters tall and she weighed only 35 kilos. Beneath her patched green sarong her breasts had shriveled to mere flaps and her thin limbs had knobby elbows and knees.

Lara was much younger than the other two at age 44 and her hair was black salted with white. She had brown eyes and was average height (1.6 meters) and weight (55 kilograms). The two reasons Lara had retired from prostitution was a severe untreatable case of vaginitis that made all intercourse painful. When Lara smiled, half her face was paralyzed and her right arm was withered.

Clearly the three prostitutes had exhausted their sexual capital.

The fourth woman was actually still a girl a few weeks shy of her 14th birthday. Unlike the three retired prostitutes, Elena wore no Legal Resident Identification Bracelet--by Capitallia law she didn't have to until her 18th birthday 4 years in the future, and if she gained proto-citizen status Elena didn't have to wear that demeaning bracelet. Citizens weren't required to wear a legal resident bracelet or necklace. It was hard to guess Elena's weight of 44 kilograms in her bulky clothing. She wore a pair of holed Wave Rider running shoes with one white and one brown sock, a pair of patched and faded baggy pink sweat pants, and a grey sweat shirt that hung on her short 1.5 meter tall body like a tent. The sleeves had been rolled up above the wrists. There were yellow stains on the pillowcase hugged against Elena's chest--her worldly possessions. Regular features, brown eyes, auburn hair that fell just below her shoulders, Elena was not unlovely, but without makeup was not a raving beauty. With just a little work Elena had several decades of sexual capital in her future.

The trip was long enough for Slave Amanda to inquire about food allergies--more for conversation than out of need. All 20 girls and women had been given physicals the day that Hank and Amanda arrived in Florida. As naked Slave Amanda led the four women down the corridor a door opened and a line of seven people walked out. The first four were women with big, obviously fake breasts and very pretty faces under garishly colored wigs. One wig was leaf green. One was sea blue. One was carrot orange and one wig was banana yellow. Their eyes were abnormally large in their child-like faces and they had neatly trimmed pubic hair that was the same color as their scalp hair. Behind the women were two men, one white and one black. The white guy had shoulder length blond hair and sparkling blue eyes in his almost feminine face--he was smoothly muscled and his body was completely free of hair. The black man's eyes were deep brown and he was entirely bald. Both men had large jutting erections and big testicles. The last person in line had both breasts and an erect penis, but no testicles. It also had oversized eyes like the four women. Slave Amanda greeted the seven as they passed. The clothed women shrank against the side of the hallway, putting as much distance between the naked creatures as they could.

"Don't be afraid," Amanda said brightly. "They're fembots and they work at the brothel. Joan has them come in once a week for their preventative maintenance. Yes, they look like Japanese manga characters, but they're in high demand at the brothel. Besides, they're programmed to be happy and friendly. Hank gave them their personalities. He only leases them because Hank believes that they are self-aware, that they have feelings. Hank protects them as if they were human slaves. After last night, I believe my master. If they aren't human, they are almost human."

A pair of doors at the end of the corridor slid open and Slave Amanda led the four shaken women into the conference room. It was not a large room, just enough space for an oval table featuring an interactive display surface and leather-like high-backed swivel chairs around it. Slave Amanda directed the four women to the four empty seats. There were eight other people around the table. From left to right around the table the people were Doctor Joan Jakefield, Mr. Reage of the Florida Department of Youth Intervention, Ms. Cesar of the Cesar & Santini Underwriter firm, Mr. Fiske of the Pensacola Slave and Indentured Servant Advocate Agency, Sophie Shields, Slave Crissy, Deputy Director Robin Tyson of something identified only as OMI/CDO and Doctor Hank Dalton. All 12 seats had a desk plaque with the name of the person seated and there were four plaques in front of the empty seats with the names of Rachel, Nitta, Lara and Elena. When the four women got into their chairs, introductions began.

Joan, Hank, Sophie and Crissy were nude. Mr. Reage wore a white linen business suit with a miniature set of handcuffs for a tie tack. Ms. Cesar's somber gray business suit was brightened up with a fluffy peach ascot and a blue shirt. Mr. Fiske wore a brown polo shirt but and was bald. Director Tyson wore a powder blue female power suit with white blouse.

"You are not in trouble because Dr. Dalton wants to bail you out, Elena," Mr. Reage said. Elena hugged her stuffed pillowcase to her chest. "He is offering you a third alternative to the normal two for girls in your condition."

"I don't want to give it up!" Elena shouted.

Elena trembled as Amanda placed a reassuring hand on the frightened 13 year old.

"I don't believe in abortion and I'll run away if I have to. I'm keeping my baby."

"So you do know," Mr. Reage said.

"It's okay, Elena," Sophie said. "I'm pregnant too, and I am here to help you."

"I'm your underwriter," Ms. Cesar announced. "Your guardians authorized me to represent you. Dr. Dalton has a deal for you that will allow you to keep your daughter and raise her. You will have to work hard, but Dr. Dalton and Ms. Shields will sponsor the child for the purposes of the Statement of Financial Responsibility. This keeps you from being put on trial for irresponsible pregnancy. What Dr. Dalton is offering you is concubine status and a chance to qualify as a citizen on your 25th Birthday."

"I've just earned my citizenship last week," Sophie said. "I am a full citizen now and I have been working as a teacher here for three years. I came here as a Legal Resident with a problem--my twins were having sex with each other."

"That's against the law," Elena gasped. Her face immediately got red.

"On the desktop you'll see photos of the people I suspect were the father," Hank said as the tabletop lit up. Two of the faces Amanda recognized--Manny (Fredrick Herman Manning) and Diego and Amanda thought the other four looked familiar. Hank continued speaking. "I have a 90% certainty of who the father is. You need not tell us today. If you accept my offer to be my concubine, I will want you to have your daughter and two more. I will want to educate you so that you will have a career and can pass your citizenship exam. I'll pay your initial taxes, but in exchange I will have complete control over your sexuality and your fertility. You normally won't wear any clothing at all. On your 25th birthday and after earning your citizenship you will be required to renegotiate your concubine contract."

"What's a concubine?" Elena asked, her voice quavering. "Is that some sort of slave?"

"A concubine can be a chattel slave, an indentured servant, a free legal resident or even a citizen," Ms. Cesar said. "Dr. Dalton is offering you a full apprenticeship as his concubine. The difference between a mistress and a concubine is that the man agrees to support the concubine's children, but a mistress is on her own. I'm here to go over your concubine contract until you can answer a few questions."

"Because you are a minor," Mr. Reage said, "I am here to see that your rights, and your child's rights if you carry your daughter to term, are protected. Dr. Dalton and Ms. Shields will adopt your child in order to satisfy the support requirements of the law. There is no safety net in Capitallia."

"I'm here for three future slaves," Mr. Fiske said. "Dr. Dalton and Dr. Jakefield called my agency to protect the rights of three free legal residents until they begin their enslavement. Sister Nitta, if I have your title right," Nitta nodded, "you are the director of the Ellen Sterling Foster Home. Dr. Dalton and Dr. Jakefield originally contracted with you to enter slavery on 2 September of this year."

"As I said on the phone I need you three to remain free women for a while," Joan said. "Mr. Reage wants you three to approve Elena's apprenticeship as her legal guardians. The apprenticeship will be as Hank's concubine. There are four of us concubines sitting here in this room--Amanda behind you, Sophie, Crissy and me. We all have our stories to tell. For instance, I was once a man and I had the duty of interrogating my poor master. Oh, just so you know, Sophie and I are free women, full citizens, but we willingly submit to Hank fully, as if we were slaves. I used to be a slave, too. I see that I'm confusing you. Sophie?'

"As I was saying, I was living in Sparks, Nevada and I got off work early," Sophie said. "I had just lost my husband. I was a single mom and both my children were in the 6th grade. They were supposed to be in an after school activity, but I came home and found them in bed together having sex. I lost my mind. I was so frightened that they were going to be perverts," Sophie chuckled. "Well, they are perverts. Anyway, I put them in Juvie Hall more to keep from wringing their necks than anything else. I misunderstood the law--as long as they were not forcing each other, statutory rape didn't apply because they were the same age. Incest is no longer a crime. Hank was recommended as a specialist and after talking to him, I agreed to become his concubine, move here with my children, and we'd raise them right. Hank told me that losing their father and being abandoned by me led my twins to seek comfort in each other's arms."

"I've been following their case since they arrived," Mr. Reage said, "and they are well adjusted, even if their therapy isn't mainstream. As you know, Elena, Florida is a clothing-optional state. There are six states that are clothing optional, but Florida has the strongest tradition. It is too cold in Alaska to run around naked. Vermont is too cold, too. But Florida not only protects the rights of nudists to walk public streets naked, all public buildings are clothing optional. Commercial enterprises can opt to require nudity or to make clothing optional or to adopt any dress requirements they choose, as long as visitors are given fair notice what the policy is. A person entering commercial property is deemed to have consented to whatever policy is posted at entrances to such property. Anyway, Dr. Jakefield's primary school mandates school uniforms at least 16 hours per week-- that's four hours in the morning. The primary school also mandates 6 hours per week of nudity in the classroom and in the school gym. The Shields twins were provided with clothing but they only wear them when on field trips."