Broken Prison, ch2: Revelations
	"This is ridiculous... I'm sorry this had to come up" Nathalie sighed, handing Jennifer her coat. "Your audience is more important... we can always resume the modifications on Rose at a later date..." Jennifer looked back at the living area with a longing in her eyes, then smiled, blushing again. "W-would tomorrow be convenient perhaps?" "Hmm? Sure, tomorrow is fine" Nathalie mumbled absentmindedly, eyeing the car that was apparently awaiting her. And Deb as well, according to the instructions forced upon her, but she waved Jennifer off before walking back to get her doggy pet from the garage, not wanting to estrange Jennifer even further by revealing the worst of her transgressions already. Nathalie knew there was only one reason they'd request Deb to be present, and watching the wretched woman following her on her leash, dazed by the fresh injection of hallucinogens to keep her quiet, she wondered if she would even miss her; but that wasn't her concern going into this audience. A tall blonde woman in an impeccable business suit above long, smooth stockings, her hair tied in a long ponytail, was waiting at the car. "Ah, finally. My name is Sylvana Mirkovic, I have been requested to escort you to our company headquarters. Please enter the car, miss Weston" she requested with a strange mixture of British and Russian accents, taking Deb's leash while Nathalie climbed into the spacious black limousine. Mirkovic entered last, seating opposite of Nathalie with the girl in white demurely next to her; Deb was forced to sit inbetween them on the floor of the car, staring off into nowhere. "So what's the reason behind this sudden request? My communication with the company has always been through Mrs. Zeller, and now..." "Mrs. Zeller has been reassigned to a new position some time ago" Mirkovic interrupted, not taking her eyes off Deb. "Why wasn't I informed of that, and should I be expecting more girls in fetish wear delivering hand-written notes to my door? It's not exactly efficient, is it?" Nathalie asked, still upset about being torn away from productive work; Sylvana finally looked up from her pet, sending her a mysterious smile. "Did my innocent gesture upset you? You're no stranger to girls held against their will, I believe... although this slave has no will of her own" she cooed, unashamedly groping the thankful girl through her thin rubber costume. "Your Deborah there... I understand our chemicals were quite helpful in keeping her under control?" "You work at the Biochemistry department, then?" Mirkovic nodded slowly. "Something like that. I personally dislike resorting to chemicals or more... drastic measures to train my girls, however" she spoke haughtily, and Nathalie didn't appreciate the obvious glance the pale woman gave Deb, but didn't want to get into an argument about it - if this Sylvana Mirkovic was behind the development of those drugs, she deserved her respect. "I wasn't aware the company kept... girls like that around in the first place" Nathalie finally asked after some more silence. "We don't show them off, ofcourse. And only a select few have been trained, for cases where our organization required absolute reliability. This girl here has never known a life outside servitude... she's as perfect as a slave can be - I could show you how it's done sometime, if you wish..." "No, not really interested" Nathalie coldly brushed her off, staring at the approaching skyline - they were heading into the city it seemed. "Ahh... you really prefer to just butcher them to deny them choice, don't you?" "Excuse me?" Nathalie replied; by now she had had enough of the condescending smile on Mirkovic' thin lips. "It was a compliment - I understand why you did what you did, Nathalie, I'm merely pointing out-" "I don't recall asking for your opinion on my personal affairs, Sylvana". For a short moment, Nathalie could see the true, cold disdain in Sylvana's eyes, and she was almost anxious for the woman to try to pull rank of sorts so they could finally drop the pretense. "...Fair enough, I'll let the topic rest". Nathalie nodded in quiet approval, watching the tall office complexes slide past as they navigated through the busy center traffic. She wondered why this Mirkovic woman angered her - was it simply the denigrating undertone in her words, or did she somehow get caught up in her challenging taunts? "I can't believe our headquarters would be over here..." Nathalie admired as they entered the second elevator already, transporting them further up the highest skyscraper in the city; Sylvana gave her a quick smile, seeming eager to get their earlier hostilities behind them. "That's why it works so well, nobody would think to look for us here. Every floor above the thirtieth is our property - we have several floors acting as buffer to cover our activities, and sufficient additional security to easily remain hidden in plain sight - it's a bunker in the sky, if you will". Or a prison, Nathalie thought - the only escape would be through thin staircases or elevators, unless you could somehow opt for the fast way down... she shivered in a moment of claustrophobia, her feeling of unease increasing as the elevators took them higher and higher. The doors finally opened up to an unexpectedly massive hall, buzzing with activity and lab coats the uniform of choice; Sylvana and the girl in white stepped out first, but suddenly Nathalie felt very apprehensive about walking into such a public place with her shameful pet in tow. "Don't tell me you're embarrassed?" Sylvana beckoned with a slight grin, and bolstered by her challenge, Nathalie walked forward, giving a sharp tug on Deborah's leash, who due to her injection wearing off suddenly found many reasons to stay behind in the elevator, but finally had no choice but to follow. Strangely enough, despite the many disapproving or mortified stares and glances, Nathalie took each step with more and more confidence. She didn't care what these people thought of her, didn't have to care; she answered to her superiors and to her superiors only. "This is our main logistical hub, connecting to each of the departments-" "Sorry, I'm not in the mood for a tour," Nathalie politely interrupted, "just take me to where I need to go, please". "All business, hmm?" Sylvana shrugged, guiding her to what appeared to be a special set of guarded elevators. "Miss Weston! Miss Weston!! A moment of your time, please!" she suddenly heard from a distance, and to her dismay she noticed two men in lab coats hurrying towards them, stacks of paper clutched in their arms. Nathalie had quickly moved into the elevator to avoid the two, sighing with relief as they were briskly halted by the stationed security personnel, their disappointment the last she saw of them before the doors closed. "Thank God" she smiled thinly at Sylvana, who gave her a curious look. "I hear the results of your research have been giving the Biomedics department quite a few headaches... you're unpopular enough around here as it is, are you sure you want to feed that sentiment with such a cold attitude?" "If that's what it takes... I hate having to explain my own work, you know what it's like, right" Nathalie grumbled, but although Sylvana gave her a calculated nod, she saw none of the recognition she expected in the woman's eyes. "Well, this is as far as I can take you" Sylvana gestured as they exited the elevator into a barren, sterile room; Nathalie gave another forceful tug on Deb's leash and stared ahead at the cameras dotting the walls. "Yeah, thanks". "I'm sure we'll see eachother again soon" Sylvana greeted before stepping back into the elevator; Nathalie quietly hoped that wouldn't be the case. The girl in white impatiently tugged at her sleeve, guiding her forward into a final elevator, where after the doors hissed shut a series of blue beams began a swift scanning process; the security in this place was thorough if nothing else. After a solid click the beams shut off, and the elevator ascended to the top floor in the building. Little could have prepared her for the breathtaking view she beheld when the doors slid open; constructed almost entirely out of curved, tinted glass sheets held in place by thin steel girders, she could see the blue sky above her, a grass meadow before her and clouds drifting past in the distance; it was as if she had wandered into a dream. The pleading eyes of the slave girl brought her back to her senses, and she nervously followed the straight, white marble path through the grass towards an arrangement of seats. "Good afternoon, Nathalie. Please, sit" an elderly African-American woman in a light-blue business suit invited her, and Nathalie gingerly sat down, nodding politely to the other two seated women, a Hindu in a red silk sari and a somewhat younger woman in what appeared to be a long black gala dress, with striking long, grey hair; the slave girl in white rubber hurried toward her, kneeling in bliss as the woman patted her head. With a firm push, Nathalie forced Deb to sit down on the floor next to her as well; she was facing the Executives of her company, the people that had funded her research, had excused her actions... "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Nathalie. It is not often that the work of one person can stir up an entire field of science like you did" the grey-haired woman smiled. "Although we disapprove of your isolation, you've proven yourself sufficiently valuable to us to tolerate your continuation of your research as you personally see fit" the Hindu woman added with a cold undertone in her voice, and the elderly woman nodded. "Your position at this company is secured for the time being. However, considering the magnitude of your previous results, we would be interested to learn the direction of your current research". Nathalie nervously cleared her throat, thrown off guard by the mixed compliments. "W-well, the most logical step forward from where I left off would be to further push the boundaries of cellular regeneration; regrowing partial or even whole limbs on a larger, crude scale - restoration of nerves or possibly even nerve clusters on a more specialized scale... but to be perfectly honest, I've not resumed my research since delivering the final draft of my previous project, I was expecting to be contacted by Mrs. Zeller when..." "Ah, I reassigned Mrs. Zeller to a different function as requested by her - we'll arrange some alternate form of communication for you to report back your progress until we assign you a new coordination manager" the grey-haired woman explained, and received hesitant confirmation from the other two. "We trust you will resume your work soon, then?" the Hindu woman smiled thinly, and Nathalie nodded, feeling a mixture of relief and anxiety over her new situation. "There was something I wanted to ask you about, however" she spoke, and the Hindu woman smiled. "I know I'm just a simple researcher in this company, and as you are undoubtedly... aware," Nathalie stumbled for words, gesturing nervously towards Deb, "don't hesitate to resort to unorthodox methods to further my goals. My question is aimed to appease my conscience, and I asked Mrs. Zeller about the following as well, but she indicated she was not at liberty to discuss it - how are you planning to harness my project results to further the field of biomedicine? Will my invention eventually... save lives?" It was silent in the room; the grey-haired woman finally nodded to the African-American woman, who in turn nodded as affirmation. "Nathalie..." the Hindu woman started. "...the invention of your serum will not be made public, because in the end, that measure will save more lives than your inventions ever could". "Help me understand" Nathalie spoke softly, trying to hold back a cold wave of disgust, anger, disappointment. "Medicine's noble goal has always been to postpone death and soothe suffering. However, praising the preservation of life as the highest good has turned us blind to the consequences of our good intentions: our numbers grow and grow, but the world around us cannot indefinitely sustain our prosperity, is already getting exhausted by our need and greed. While we save lives by the millions, we consequently abandon them in increasing hunger and poverty, the seeds of envy, hatred, corruption - war. In the long term, despite its noble premise, the advance of medicine only adds to the suffering". "We have made it our goal to do what we can to combat what we consider the cause of the problem," the elderly black woman now continued, "to stem the cancerous growth of the world population. We are faced with the short-sighted ethics surrounding life science research complicating this problem. Advances improve longevity, fertility, resilience without balancing this out even on a local scale - on a global scale, the effect of poverty skews matters even further, the rich gaining access to progressively better care while the poor are left to perish. As wonderful and important to humanity as these scientific advances are, we believe it is irresponsible to introduce them before proper balance is achieved". "So you hire away the most prominent researchers, thereby obtaining and controlling what advancements they could offer - what if they refuse?" "Then we exchange one life for many" the Hindu woman calmly replied. Liquidation. "Suffice to say, you will keep this information confidential". Oddly enough, part of Nathalie could follow their reasoning, was satisfied with the given explanation, and yet... "And I assume disagreement with your views will not work out well for me. But you leave me with no reason to continue my research". "Your curiosity. It demanded this revelation, and it's always been the motivation for your work" the Hindu woman answered, then rose from her seat again. "You're an inventor, worth more than the lives you try to save, and we'll grant you free reign to do what you do best" the grey-haired woman added. Without as much as another word, the Hindu and African-American woman left the table, each departing the hall through a separate corner elevator. "I take it you're still here to demand I hand over this woman" Nathalie smirked, pulling Deb's leash demonstratively. "Indeed. We deem her a threat to our organization, even in her current state, and we are not comfortable leaving her in your care. We understand you may have formed some personal bond with her, therefore we considered it prudent to inform you face to face". She had suspected as much; to her surprise, Deborah nuzzled her leg, looking up in despair, her eyes begging her to protect her. Abandoning Deb would mean her final goodbye to her Bella... but as she looked over the wretched woman, she realized how little there was left of her old friend in the woman, how little she cared for her scientific experiment; Deb could never take Bella's place in her heart. "Take her... there's nothing between us, she's simply in the way now". There was a strange smile on the grey-haired woman's face, and only now it occurred to Nathalie that her stature hinted at an older age than her youthful features would suggest. With a slight gesture, the woman sent her slave to take Deb's leash from her, who slowly but surely succeeded in pulling the struggling and whimpering dog-woman along the path. "Is there anything else you need me for?" Nathalie finally inquired, ignoring the woman's stare. "You'll have to forgive the attitude of my colleagues... their hatred of you runs deep, you must have felt it - you're everything they despise, a largely self-taught genius, pushing the envelope of an entire field of science on her own strength, single-handedly threatening all they have worked for". The woman rose from her seat, slowly circling around her chair. "A headstrong loner, difficult to control. A powerful woman, taking charge when threatened". Nathalie couldn't help blushing from the praise, the woman's finger enticingly brushing against her face now, her perfume intoxicatingly close. "Yet unlike them... you're compassionate, caring for your victims despite the harm they sought to inflict upon you; a woman embracing her sexuality, unafraid to take what she desires, without hesitation, without remorse..." Resting both hands on her shoulders, the woman gave her an intense stare. "I think you're wonderful... and I need your help".
	Chapter 1 Chapter 2: Revelations Chapter 3