A/N Video: Technology behind the slave collar's 'whisper back' feature.
There was something that sounded like a massive spring snapping. I felt something cold around my neck. Suddenly there was something gnawing at the nape of my neck near my spine. It whined like an old printer and sent sparks down my back. It was so painful I thought I would pass out. Suddenly the robot arm doing it moved away. There was a mirror allowing me to see a bar code freshly tattooed there. It hurt like the devil's spit. One robot arm grabbed my shoulder and a second tattoo was cut into my right arm. This one was a complex pattern like an organic QRcode.
"Actually I was thinking of a flower, or possibly a bird," I said looking at it.
The robot unzipped my crouch zip and I instinctively pulled my legs together only to have the robot spread them apart with ease. The slave girl introduced my privates to a machine that looked like octopuses tentacle.
"What are you doing?" I said.
"Scanning you. Master never trusts the self-certified Medical scans the factories do" said the slave. I lay there powerless to stop the machine from groping me.
She lifted the scanner up.
"Clean, nothing transmittable and a virgin." the robot said. I wasn't sure which was more degrading being groped by a machine or having my little secret splattered around the local slave net.
The machine released me.
"You belong to him now. We all do. " said the slave girl. "I've seen your file. For most of his personal slaves it isn't necessary to explain but given your unacceptable outburst in the arrival area it seems sensible, to remind you. We exist purely to service any of master's appetites. Any appetites no matter how degrading or sordid. You will be expected to give up your body to slate any desire and I mean any desire he may have, even if he has yet to state it. Any behavior falling below that of a complete and utter slut to him and you will answer to me. Understood anonymous sex object?"
All I could think of was that she meant 'satiate' not 'slate'. I nodded.
I really had no idea what he wanted me for. From her point of view, I was an amateur sex object.
"Welcome to iCollar OS 9. Booting<zing>" came the sound from the collar. The first thing I had to say was the sound quality was terrific. I never knew the sound quality on my old collar was so bad until I heard the sound quality on my new one. The voice quality sounded really good as well. Like it was a real person. OK, I'm a collar geek, the world's ended and I'm a slave, sue me.
"Skip terms and conditions?<zing>" said my collar. Where were you 28 hours ago? I've been through a near-death experience since then I thought. It booted up really quickly. Wow this collar was fast.
I was dragged from the machine and left standing. Along with a new collar, my wrists had rather elegant manacles or bracelets which looked to be made from black glass.
"Your very lucky to have a iCollar this quality," said the slave girl. "This is a really top of the line one. More memory, more disk space, faster processor. It has a whisper back feature. If you just think the word Siri before speaking then the machine will pick up what you're about to say. Try this what's 56572 squared."
"Siri what is 56572 squared," I said. I noticed I didn't speak the words out loud.
"32,0039,1184<zing>" said my collar.
"32,0039,1184" I shot back. I think if someone was standing in the room it would sound like I'd worked it out in my head. Yea I was now the world's most expensive calculator. I can go to parties and do impressions of Mr Spock.
"It's all picked up sub-vocally. There are nerve signal receptors near the back of the collar. They pick up the nerve signals going to your vocal cords and figure out what you're going to say a tenth of the second before you say it. If what you say starts with Siri then it mutes you and tries to do what you ask. Ask what's the population of New York" she said like I actually cared.
"Siri , what is the population of New York?" I said feeling muted.
"Currently 304<zing>" said Siri.
"304" I echoed. I was really surprised by the speed it was almost instant like I actually knew it. The number seemed right New York was one of the first cities to fall to the New Mechanical Order.
'well' I thought to myself 'my network connection must be really fast here'.
"Now to something important, try asking permission to speak." said #DEC the girl slave.
"Siri permission to speak," I said feeling instantly muted and saying nothing.
This time Siri said nothing back to me but in the mirror, I could see that the crystal in the middle of my collar now glowed blue. I knew Apple had been taken over early on in the war during the battle for San Francisco. My new collar was smaller and lighter silver and grey again machine but exquisitely beautiful. I guess Sir Jony Ive and co, was working for them now. I guessed he wore one too, it felt more comfortable like it had been designed by someone who wore a collar and knew what it was like...
"By getting rid of bulky explosives and replacing it with an elegant lethal injection system means these new iCollar are smaller and yet have more battery power. Tell your new master or mistress that you can now go up for two days without charging and have more than four times the processing power, and up to eight times the punishment time than before<zing>" the iCollar said to me, in a calm English accent.
'Typical I thought. I'm just booted up and already the collar trying to use me to advertise to my own owner'
"Get dressed and do your face e-slave," said the slave girl. My collar told me she was called #DEC. I was too in shock from my near death experience to want to argue. The lights came one and Looking around I was back in room 404 and hidden behind invisible doors the walls were high-end makeup printers and clothing machines. I was in a long time and it stung but when I came out my hair was now blonde, my face matched #DEC's and my outfit matched hers. It felt good but a little strange to be slightly different.
"On your hands and knees over there" #DEC said pointing to a patch of floor, under a light. The room was getting dark. It was after sunset and the glow of city outside was now the only lighting. Perhaps he realized he needed a new coffee table or something.
The robot behind her moved slightly in a menacing way. I decided to go along with things. When my hands were on the floor the bracelets were magnetized and kept my hands on the ground. The toes of my shoes also stuck, I was immobile, vulnerable to him in every way. A chair moved under its own power into space and set it'self down under a light facing me. My heart rate went up. He was coming back. This time I was on the wifi.
Then the door swished open Rockwood returned and entered behind me I could recognize his arrogant walk. He walked around me in silence touching me with something, I imagined it as a leather whip.
*****
A/N - Too Geeky? Let us know.