Chapter 22

Thursday Morning. Not a slow day at all.

Waking up in a strange bed was not unusual for Jimmy Picknell. And it was Jimmy to most of the women that were here. As the youngest man there, he was younger then all of the women except Candy and Cindy. Neither of which he played with last night.

Waking up next to Elizabeth was fun. She reminded him a little of his mother, with her laugh and her energy. And she was warm and open and very outspoken, and the absolute world class, award winning fuck. Not as tight as some women, she had muscle control that blew his mind. Something about Yoga and Kagel exercises. It was enough to drag him out like nothing in his experience.

When they were talking, after the first round of outrageous sex, he found out that she was supposed to come to H&S three weeks ago. Then, he would not have known her. And he would have been one of the ones to hook her up, hang her upside down, drive a spike hook into her anus, and tie her hands behind her back to it before passing her off to Peter for him to cut her throat from ear to ear. She wouldn't have been good enough to keep around as a Goat, and at that she would only have been there for a day or two.

I would have missed out on this. I would not have had this wonderful evening. And I am sure working in a much better place.

One of James' goals had been to move from a "hook up" to a "Killer". Later he would move to butchery and possibly grading and eventually running an automated spitting machine. None of that was here. He was a journeyman, paid journeyman wages and essentially a butcher. Chris and Marty were both very good at pointing out the tricks of skinning, deboning and slicing the meat parcels that were slid down to him from the slaughter area. And the light in here was so bright. And Carl German was a very tough grader. He looked at blood sample responses, and had shown James how these were an indicator of what areas of the body were beginning to become unsuitable for human consumption. Moving here was a professional jump on many levels. He was sure that he would be a real journeyman in a few weeks.

Downside was that there was only room for a single mechanical processer. And those jobs were very rare here. Not that there was any chance of getting into those positions anyway. Rick the Prick and Peter the greaser were the two that ran the spitting machines and chopper machines at H&S. And there was only one chopper and no spitting machines here. And they weren't run much.

The other upside was breakfast, dinner, and a great fuck with a wonderful woman. Someone Jimmy would never have been able to meet on the outside. Of course, Jimmy's only view of her before would have been to hook her up and slide her down a trolley.

Something smells great, Jimmy thought to himself. Carefully detaching himself from Elizabeth's sleeping body, he walked down the hall to the lavatory and relieved himself of about two quarts of liquid. The wine was great but he had to drink a lot to make up for what he was sweating. And Carol had given him this orange stuff that was supposed to keep him from having any headache. It worked.

Walking down the stairs naked was not too different, but seeing two of the resident goats working in the kitchen was almost too good to pass up. Thinking back on his instructions, Jimmy walked over to the counter and carefully hugged Candy and asked aloud "Is there anything I can do for you ladies?"

"If you want to set the table, that would be great. We probably will have a few people down here in a few. How do you like your eggs?" Helen asked.

"Any way you make them. But don't forget to add that wonderful smelling salsa. That is great."

"Thank you" Helen said. "We keep a fresh stock of veggies here every day. We go through eggs and tofu and bread like crazy."

"So how many do we have here for breakfast?" Jim asked.

"There are seven of us, plus Margaret and David, plus you guys too. And occasionally our husbands stay over. Sometimes I think I am running a restaurant or the dorm at college again." Helen said. "But I like it. Coffee?"

"Yes ma'am." Jim answered. Setting each table with five places, Jim set out saucers and silverware. After setting four tables, he stopped. "How many of the husbands are still here?"

"I think that is enough. Jim never came over last night. Poor Carl kept me up most of the night. Anyway, we will have plenty. So, What do you think?"

"I think the coffee is great." Jim answered.

Candy laughed and Helen replied. "Scamp. I hope the rest of your team is as smart as you are. Seriously, what do you think?"

Realizing he was in dangerous waters, Jim replied, "I think this place is different. I think I worked yesterday and it was calm to the point of almost boring. I think I learned things and that I got paid. I was able to just do the job and everything was quiet. Everything is bright, it is clean, and I don't have dirty clothes at the end of the day. And the coffee is great."

After taking a sip, Jim continued, "I also think that I don't hear of others dealing with the kind of fights and brawls we had at H&S. I think that people here have a lot more respect for everyone. And that shows all around. And I am sure glad to have met you and Elizabeth and Carol. I never would have gotten to know people like you any other way."

"You smooth tongued devil, I think you mean that. We will just have to let you stay around." Helen continued, giving Jimmy a kiss on the forehead.

"I do have a question, though. I hear and see Candy, Cindy, Margaret and Abby as the cutters here. And I guess I wonder how that makes you feel about it."

"My, you are getting comfortable." Helen replied. "Well, I can tell you a long story, but the thing you have to remember is that here, the person who kills you is someone who cares. I know I would rather that then from some brute that saw me as a piece of meat."

"I guess that makes sense. But I know I can't kill someone I know." Jim replied.

"That is one of the differences between women and men. We don't have the scruples about slitting each other's throat. I know that if I am expired, this slitting bitch here will do the job nicely, quietly with no pain and talk to me the entire time." Helen said smiling.

"You can count on that, lady" Candy replied.

At that comment, Jim was shaking his head. Women. How do you figure them?

Gradually, bodies began to stir and descend the stairs. George and Carol with Cindy were the first to come down. Candy and Nancy were in close pursuit. Carl German was a little later, coming over to give Helen a kiss and hug.

"I woke up alone, lady." Carl said to Helen.

"You were snoring and I was hungry. I didn't want to wake you." Helen said, snuggling back to Carl's erection. "But we can go back up after breakfast."

"I doubt that, girls" Carol said. "Much as we like to, I think that things are going to be busy today. In fact, until Stienhauer is back in business, nothing is going to be the same."

"I agree." Candy said. "I was looking at the assignment lists and we have as many people wanting into here today as we did on a Monday or Wednesday. I think that we are going to be full tilt for a while."

"So, ladies, eat up. Our work awaits." Helen said, loading food on the first plate.

Margaret was surprised at the crowded parking lot. When David dropped her off, Cindy greeted her at the door. "We have looked at the schedule and we have more for today then yesterday. Looks like one hundred twenty asking for term, and another eighty for interviews."

"Shit. We can't do that much." Margaret said.

"Our production Manager disagrees, and she also has a couple of fish she wants to keep out of the stream." Cindy said, taking Margaret's bag and leading the way to the break room. "Nancy and Candy are in the office going over prospects, and we have some of them coming over here today. Interviews for most but term for a couple." Cindy continued.

"I guess get ready and catch up with you guys." Margaret said.

Entering the break room, Margaret saw that Jimmy and most of the old H&S crew were scarfing down food. Helen and Carl were sitting with Carol and Abby, and a plate was sitting next to them. Helen gestured for Margaret to come over and sit down.

"Ok, listen up bitch." Carol began. "The MAB is on a tear. There is a lot of press going around about production backup, as a follow up from last night. So we have to demonstrate three things. 1. Our production is capable of holding the line. 2. The people we have here are intrinsic to our success. 3. We have the extra capacity coming on line soon."

"Phew. Who is the goat and who is the owner here?" Margaret asked, teasingly.

"Well, since I am the legal eagle here, it is my job to set us up for our best presentation against any court ordered termination of oldest first. That was what Merle was saying at the eleven o'clock news. His suggestion is to go back to business as usual and keep production up."

"I will have a chance to talk with that man sometime." Margaret said, scarfing down her breakfast. "And he won't like it."

"Unless you are swinging a blade around his balls, he won't even notice you." Carol said. "This guy makes slime look good."

"Ok. So what is the agenda?" Margaret asked.

"Nancy and Candy think they can find a few to pull out of the stream. They are going over names now. We need at least one more goat leader. We may make a small change in processes to speed up the killing time. Abby and Jimmy have a few ideas about that."

"Quicker and less painful then what we are doing?" Margaret asked.

"Absolutely. Abby is doing some research into EEG flat lining and we want to get the time from our current three to five minutes to less then one. That will make an improvement in process time beyond the door. Once you're dead, it is a butcher exercise, and the boys are keeping up ahead of that. We need to continue the flow up to the door and then reduce the interval from three minutes to one minute at the turnstile. That is all." Carol finished.

"And from a humane perspective, that works out pretty well too." Helen added. "If we can keep the time of passage shorter, we have less stress. The stunner in the turnstile already causes disorientation and shock. Probably for up to twenty or so seconds. That means that we only have to deal with another forty or so seconds of awareness instead of two and a half minutes. If we can stop all sensation and then all bodily functions, then the brain will cease to operate. And that is what we really want."

Abby was quite for most of this. Now she felt it was her time to speak. "When you suffer trauma, the body takes time to react to it. The transmission of the impact takes time to be presented, recognized and then reacted to. We need to stop brain function in the interval that it takes to organize recognition. The cutting technique we have here is exceptional. But the bleeding takes time. If we can lower that time frame, with no sensation of pain, we can speed up processing time. And still give a loving good bye."

"Make it too quick for them to have time to be afraid?" Margaret asked.

"Exactly. I think that's what we need to get to." Abby said.

"Well, then, I guess we better get ready to open up." Margaret said.

Nancy and Candy, in the meantime, had gone through over two hundred prospects in the list for this week. Of that listing, they were able to cross reference three who might be suitable goats. One of them is a city social worker, one a nurse aid, and the third a volunteer for her foster sister. All three were due to be in today for interviews.

"I wonder if we can pull them aside without a collar for them?" Candy asked Nancy.

"I am not sure. We can ask David about the ones assigned to H&S if we have to. But in any case, we have one open right now. I would feel lucky if we find one." Nancy replied.

Thursday at H&S

After dropping Margaret off at Findlay, David drove on over to H&S. The goal here today was to look at Margaret's initial sketches, see how well it would be implemented, and how it could be expanded to scale. With the history of production of about 150 per day, David had expected to see an enormous capacity. And he did see one element. The freezer and cooler compartments were enormous, compared to Findlay. Everything else was wasted, due to how the women were moved from place to place.

In David's mind, the first step was to see about putting up walls with exam rooms, medical review rooms and restrooms in a logical progression. The second step was a larger room for clothing and personal effects boxing. Next was to build a demising wall to the rear kill and carving area. David looked at the paint marks that were on the floor and saw that there were some good ideas that Margaret had left on Tuesday. The real goal here was to be parallel processing. If we had two or more lines working in the real time, we could process flow sixteen at a time with minimal delay. We will probably need two locations for blood and urine processing. This would allow for up to ninety-six per hour when spread across two machines. This is critical. A single Geocentisis machine, to take care of belly searches from both sides. Capitol investment would be high, but fortunately this sort of thing could be leased.

Sixteen exam rooms, eight in a row on each outside of a loose "H" with blood and urine exam machines on the inside of the H at the back. This would allow a larger lab with windows at each end of a wall to the rear with an entry for the imaging for those pregnancies, which turned up from urine checks.

If I get one side built quickly, we can continue to build the second side during off hours while we are able to process. We can do about ninety a day working five days a week for a while until we get the second section built. Then we can revert to three-day operations. Biggest problem will be building twelve lavatory stalls in two different rest rooms.

So, we have two hallways. You leave reception area with forty-eight seats, to go down one of two hallways. First stop is one of the groups of eight exam rooms. Time there will be about ten minutes so we have up to sixteen being examined at one time. Then on through the bathrooms where it will be about five to ten minutes. Going from the bathroom through stripping and verification takes about ten minutes. Processing is twelve minutes for group of four, which is about the max goat should handle. With two isles and two killing stations that would mean that up to eight in that twelve minute period. So total time from departure form reception to parts and pieces would be thirty-three for the first and forty-two for the last. Total capacity would be about sixteen per side per hour. So, in full operation we would be easily able to process up to one hundred twenty-eight per side in eight hours. This would mean up to two hundred fifty-six per day.

That assumes twelve goats, with four doing intakes, and eight doing rotation. On that rotation was a fifteen-minute period where the goat was engaging with the four before taking them down.

So. We will fill the freezer pretty quickly and also have to have butchery running at the speed of sixteen per hour as well. So we have to have at least four to eight butchers running full time.

So, this is a production house with no Specials. We would do cold spitting (meaning already dead) only. While this would crimp some of the H&S income, the volume would more then compensate for that.

We would have to have a scheduling module for AM and PM operations, David thought to himself. Not so important for the beginning, but it will when things get in to full volume, we don't have enough places and tables for sitting ninety people at a time.

Jack Stienhauer and his architect and construction manager had arrived by this time.

"David, this is Phil Martin, an architect and builder I have worked with in the past. Phil, this is David Findlay, who is taking over management operations here. " Jack said by way of introduction.

"Pleased to meet you, Phil. My wife and I sketched out the rough plans yesterday. I assume you have some questions." David said.

"Actually, very few. The blue lines are pretty self-explanatory. The notes on the floor are pretty good, and I understand that you want the floor leveled and carpeted in most of the spaces."

"Actually everywhere in front of the demising wall. And when the wall is put in, I want sound insulation doubled in the overhead of the front area, and white noise generators to be running in the front area." David said.

"No sounds. We can rebuild the opened area of the existing demising wall, if that will provide enough room." Phil said, with a gesture toward the opening.

"I think that is where Margaret painted it to be."

"David, I think you don't have enough exam rooms on this. We could make the rooms smaller and get more of them." Jack said.

"Actually that would be counter productive. The goal is small groups moving rapidly. I ran the numbers and this will allow us to do up to two hundred fifty six in a single day." David replied

"David, I don't mean to counter your numbers, but you never did that much before." Jack said.

"Jack, we are popping over a hundred every day now. The process works. And there is some automation I am looking at that will improve that time by some ten percent. So I don't think that my numbers or planning is out of line."

Phil, sensing a chance to improve his position, asked David how this would work.

"Pretty simple. Send your wife over to us and we will show her. Then she can tell you." David responded, looking Jack straight in the eye.

"Phil. I did that already. After my wife was there all I can say is do it his way."

"Ok. Now we need water for a wet bar in the front room. We don't have one at Findlay and it causes a lot of grief. We also need a glass front beverage cooler. We didn't have one and we are putting it in now. We also need long table along the wall on the left side. Access drops for electricity for three desks and that should leave enough room for the tables." Jack said.

"Now in the medical section we will need room for two blood rooms adjacent to the entry from the restrooms. And in between a location for a Geocenitsis machine. From there we have the dividing hallway and two rooms for overnight and temporary detention. Four beds in each as well as lavatory sink and shower. No tub.' David continued.

"David, we aren't running a hotel." Jack said.

"Jack, we will process at least two hundred a day. Up to forty will be pregnant. Three of those may be males. We have to store those pending verification and contact with Social Services."

"Merle never did that." Jack said.

"Yes. Merle never did a lot of things. He also no longer has a license. I do."

Sensing that this discussion was going to be contentious, Phil said, "I will just leave you two alone while you settle this."

"No need. David has his point. I am loosing money every day that this stays like this. We need to see what costs are and how long this will take."

"Costs won't be much." Phil explained. "The internal walls and doors will be pretty easy to build. We have a lot of pre built with doors at the intervals you have outlined. With the overhead open we can do electric drops from above. Hardest thing is toilet drainage. We will have to raise the floor for both lavatories. But that won't be too bad. Eight inches with a ramp."

Walking toward the rear of the plant, Phil asked, "What are the turnstiles for?"

"Process operations. I can't tell you more without a signed confidentiality agreement." David replied.

"Ok. And then, behind that, we have overhead tracks for the trolley. I assume we have to redirect some of those?" Phil said.

"Absolutely. And I see we have two disposal chutes here in the floor. Have the trolley pass over those first and then back to the disemboweling stations."

"Ok" Phil said. "That will remove about sixty feet of track. Going direct to there simple. Where from there?"

"From there, we have a split. One side toward the whole carcass cleaner and then to the cooler, the other to parts and pieces tables."

"I think we need at least twelve to sixteen tables. That should be enough for processes. I think that pretty much finishes what we need." David continued.

"Well, I will let you two finish on details. I have to get back home," Jack said. "Phil, can you get me an estimate tomorrow?"

"Sure. We just need a few more details." Phil said.

After Jack left, Phil looked at David and said "Do you have any specific colors or other details that we can use with this to reduce the time for delivery?"

"Sure. Why don't you come to my plant and see how we are set up. That should give you the details you are looking for. Most of the staff there will be working here so they can give you ideas."

Which is why Phil Martin and his wife, Kimberly, were at Findlay processing at eleven o'clock, doing a review of the operation.

An unpleasant surprise

Susan had warned Kimberly that she was in for an experience if she was going to look over the operation at Findley's. She jokingly told Kimberly to check her status while she was in reception, just in case. Standard procedure, she laughed as she said it.

Kimberly was surprised at a lot of things when she got to Findley's. First was the cleanliness. And the sense of calm and quiet were pervasive. Even with packed seating at all of the tables, there was no sense of fuss or drama. Seeing the six naked women walking around was a bit of an eye-opener, but no one seemed to be upset by it. The color scheme could use some work, she thought to herself. She was the decorator part of the firm, with her husband being the contractor and architect. This was the first time

She had seen anything beside H&S. Sure was different, she thought to herself.

"Hello. Can I help you?" A younger brunette asked. She was naked except for the orange collar, and Phil found himself eyeing her very speculatively.

"Hi. I am Phil Martin, contractor for H&S processing. David Findley sent us here to look at this operation to replicate it at H&S. My wife and I were wanting to do a review."

"Hi. I am Abby, and I don't believe we have any registration or specific direction on that yet. Do you mind filling out our questionnaire while I get in touch with Margaret or David? If you are going to be around here, we have to do that for insurance purposes."

"Nonsense. This is silly." Phil started to say.

"Never mind, Phil. I am sure that this is reasonable. I talked to Susan and she said that we are in good hands. Besides, this will give us some feel for the process." Kimberly said as she accepted the intake form. "Why don't you see what is available to drink?"

Looking over the form with Abby, Kimberly realized that there was minimal hustle or noise. And that one of the nude women was taking a group down the hallway marked "Examination". The doctor's office atmosphere was much different from what she had expected. Getting through the questionnaire, she noted all of the key points. Susan had told her that this alone was worth more then any visit to a lawyer. After a few moments, Abby came back with a portable computer.

"Ok. Let's scan this number in and see what the status is." She said to Kimberly. Keying the number against all selected as opposed to assigned selections, Abby was not surprised to see Kimberly's number came up. Kimberly, however, had a different reaction.

"There has to be some mistake." Kimberly said, with panic starting in her voice.

Oh Shit. This woman is panicking in reception and we have over twenty to push through. "Not on our part. Initially you were supposed to report to H&S. You are three weeks past due to report, according to this." Abby replied. "Did you get any registered mail or e-mail in the last few weeks?" Abby asked.

"No." Kimberly replied. Thinking that the woman was making a horrible mistake, reached for the computer. "Let me check now."

"Just a second. If you check now, from my workstation, you will be indexed as active and having reported. Do you want to do that?" Abby asked. Seeing Kimberly's face pale and shaking her head no, Abby continued. "Let me do some lookup from the MAB and see where the advisories were sent. Nancy, can you help us here?" Abby said to another woman.

"Sure. Want to help my group over there down to exam, and I will help your person here." Nancy said as she came over.

Taking the intake form from Abby, Nancy entered the ten-digit number into the search form against the published and listed selectees. Sure enough, Kimberly came up as selected three weeks ago. Looking further into the notification trail, she saw that the initial notification was sent to her home address as H&S processing. And that the e-mail notification was an account at H&S dot com. The only reason that the late reporting had not been filed was because H&S was in such a chaotic condition.

At this point, Phil had returned with drinks, and Kimberly asked if he had anything stronger.

"What does this mean?" Kimberly asked.

"Well, it means this. First, you were legally selected. Second, you are less then thirty-six, so there is not much in the way of extensions available. Third, your notice was lawfully sent to the address of record, which was H&S processing, and that your e-mail notice was also sent there. H&S didn't acknowledge it nor did you. But at this time you are a runaway. Your driver's license, credit cards and other personal identifications have been flagged." Nancy continued.

"This is got to be some kind of joke." Phil said, getting angry. "We're leaving."

"It's no joke." Nancy continued. "Now here is the ugly part. If you leave this room now, we are required by law to contact the police of your appearance and departure. If you want to research your legal options, you are welcome to do so. Have a seat, have a drink and we can work with you to help. If you want to call a lawyer, we can help there. But she can't leave the property, and we close at five o'clock."

"I need to talk to David Findlay, this is outrageous." Phil continued, getting more agitated.

"I'll tell you what. I'll get Margaret, David's wife, here, and our legal consul. And you can call your own from here. And we will work with you to help you as much as we can." Nancy continued.

"Please do." Kimberly responded. The initial shock over, she began to think through her resources to get out of this mess. This was a lot worse then the tickets she used to ignore in college.

"I'll get Margaret and Carol and have them come over here. You can make your calls from here and see what you can do, and we will be back in a minute." Nancy said, as she gestured for Carol.

Coming over, Carol looked and detected something amiss. "How can I help you?" she asked.

"Carol, this is Kimberly Martin. She was coming here to work with Phil, her husband, to get notes on colors and architecture for our other place at H&S, and apparently she was selected and not physically notified. So she is a bit upset. Can you help her with this? Her husband Phil wants to talk to David or Margaret about this."

"Sure. Nancy, take my group over there down to examination and meet Candy in processing if you can? I will help these two out."

"Ok" Carol said after Nancy departed. "Lets see what we have here."

After three minutes, Carol was able to see that Kimberly had never been properly notified, and that she was properly selected. Her e-mail notification was sent to a work address identified as H&S processing. "Kimberly, were you an employee at H&S?" Carol asked.

"I was a contractor there part time. But I don't usually go there." She replied.

"Ok. Well, have you had any mail loss at home or other issues in the last few weeks?" Carol asked. "I ask this because they sent e-mail to your office, and also a copy of the notice to H&S. But with them closed, no one has followed up."

"My God, I can't believe that this is happening." Kimberly said.

"Well, I am afraid it is. Is there someone you want to call?" Carol asked.

"Well I sure do." Phil interjected. "David and Jack for starters. I am not going to loose my wife."

"Phil, why don't you call both of them? Kimberly, while we are here, why don't we work on the rest of this form?" Carol asked. "When Margaret get's back, we can see what the options are."

"When will Margaret be back?" Phil asked.

"Probably in about thirty minutes. She is half way through with a group right now." Carol replied.

"You mean she is taking women down to be killed?" Kimberly asked in a whisper.

"Yes. That is what we do here." Carol answered calmly.

Phil spent the next thirty minutes calling and talking to Jack Stienhauer and others. Jack was not very helpful. He was sympathetic, but had nothing to offer in terms of advice. His contacts with the lawyers were more upsetting. His business lawyer asked where Kim was going to be sold, since she had a great body.