Chapter One

Qiu Lian knew she was different ever since she was little. She couldn't understand what it was, but Qiu felt different from "normal" girls her age. Qiu tried to explore herself and her feelings in an attempt to understand why she felt this way, becoming a deep introvert. Inside her own world, she lived her life, always enjoying solitude over the 'idiotic' babbling of other kids her age. She had friends, friends that Qiu valued deeply, but Qiu distanced herself from the rest of her rural village, being content with her own thoughts.

When Qiu was sixteen she started working in the nearby city. She was able to get a job working at a phone shop selling sim cards and phones. Her work being in the city, she had to commute nearly an hour each way by bus. The scenic route quickly became tiresome, just trees and mountains with ever-increasing dots of buildings and houses until entering the city proper. She stuck with the job until she was eighteen, which is where our story begins.

"I'm off to work again," Qiu informed her mother one weekday after school.

"Oh, alright dear. Could you bring some of that good soy sauce home with you?"Huang replied, not looking up from the vegetables she was cutting.

"The kind from that barbecue restaurant?"

"Yes, that's the one. I plan to make dumplings tomorrow," her mother said.

"Sure, I'll get the usual amount?"

"Yeah, and bring home anything you think you'd like with them."

"Okay."

Qiu smiled as she bent down to collect her bag. Her mother kept continued to cut vegetables and hum quietly. The wooden pantries of the kitchen reflected a yellowish tint from the evening sun, the cicadas of summer chirping noisily through the window. Qiu walked to the den, sat on the couch and began to tie her shoes. Her mother noiselessly appeared at the kitchen door frame, and said,

"Remind me again, what day will your exam be?" She meant the college entrance exams that took place each year.

"It'll be June," Qiu couldn't forget that even if she had wanted to.

With a concerned look, she said, "Do you think you should stop working for a while before the test? To study?"

"Yea, I plan to quit work before spring sets in."

"I think that would be a good idea, the test is very important for your future." Huang's face lit up, her gaze shifting upward, then asked, "Do you have ideas yet for what you plan to study?"

Qiu's focus didn't stray from the shoelaces. "I'm still not sure, maybe history or something. I like books, stories and things."

"Yeah, I'm sure you'll find something you'll have an interest in. Well enjoy work while you can!" Huang turned, waving goodbye, returning to her meal she was preparing.

"Thanks, I'll try.." Qiu said half-sarcastically. Her job was anything glamorous, but knew her mom meant well.

The trek to work was tedious as usual. Grimy atmosphere seeped into the air as the bus went slowly toward the city.

"Qiu, we've got someone over there who wants to buy a prepaid, take care of that," said the shift manager as Qiu walked into the phone store.

"Yeah, I got it," said Qiu with a sigh. Another day in the life.

With hardly any breaks, Qiu set up phone numbers, pulled phone models from displays, and did the paperwork to get people on their way. She was supposed to be smiling, but she rarely did in those kinds of rushes.

On the way home, Qiu thought about the job posting she found online. She was surfing through listings a few days ago one late evening, and came across one that looked interesting.

'Wanted: Young women for extreme contract modeling job. Must be 18+. Must inquire in person.'

Qiu turned the word over in her mind. "Extreme." She smiled as she put her hand to her forehead, head slumped against the window watching the rain fall from the night sky. 'What could it mean by that?' she thought to herself. The first thing she thought to do was call the company for more details, but strangely no phone number was listed.

"The next stop is Big Bridge stop. For passengers who are getting off the bus, please don't forget to collect your belongings," chimed the cheery computer voice from the speakers.

On the road home from the bus stop, a friend spotted Qiu.

"Hey, did you see the video I sent you?" asked Bao Zhai.

"The one with the cats? Yeah, funny."

Bao smiled. "So you got any plans this weekend? I'm getting some of the girls together for a trip to Changsha, you wanna go?"

Qiu thought. "Maybe, could I let you know later tonight?"

"Sure, I'll be on QQ."

"Okay, great. I want to check something beforehand."

"See ya online."

"Yeah, see ya."

When Qiu got home she dropped her bag next to the door, and rushed towards her room.

"How was work?" her father asked from the armchair, looking up from the paper in his lap.

"Oh, it was fine. Nothing special, nothing too hard either."

"I think it's great you're working, learning responsibility. I'm very proud of you, Qiu."

"Yeah, thanks dad. I'm going to check something now, I'll be back for dinner."

"Alright, the food is just about ready."

"Did you bring home the soy sauce?" said Huang, reaching her head around the corner from the kitchen.

"Yeah, one second." Qiu walked back to her back, took out the sauce, and walked it to her mom.

"Thank you dear, this will taste wonderful."

"Yeah, no problem," said Qiu, turning back toward the staircase.

When Qiu got to her room she started up her computer and sped to the advertisement listings. She quickly found the one she had in mind, and checked the details. 'Yes, it's in Changsha. I could check out this job while I go up for the weekend with my friends. Perfect.'

She logged onto QQ and found her friend. In a few short minutes they were planning the details of their trip, a trip that would change Qiu's life.


Chapter Two

On Friday, after school, Qiu and her friends gathered at the bus station. They would take the bus to the train station, and from there onto Changsha, the capital of the province. Qiu had only been to Changsha once in her life, years ago when her parents brought her for a vacation.

"You excited?" a voice said at her side.

"What? Oh, yeah, of course I am," Qiu replied to her friend.

"Me too, I've never been to the capital before."

"I don't remember much of it, I was there when I was a kid but that's it."

Qiu contemplated sharing her discovery of this modeling with her friends, seeing what they thought about the possibilities, but she decided to keep it secret, to have it as her own. She planned to go off from the group for a while to find it, and rendezvous back after.

The squeaking brakes of the bus pulling to a stop broke through Qiu's trance. Everyone began to pile in, dragging suitcases and bags of all colors.

"Look at all that stuff, like we're going to Beijing or something," whispered Bao to Qiu, motioning toward the girls struggling to pull everyone up the steps of the bus.

"Yeah, a little over prepared," Qiu said in agreement. She looked down at Bao's belongings, who held up a single backpack with a smile. Qiu laughed.

The journey was filled with the gossip of the village, card games, and sleeping. Qiu thought back to the conversation she had with her parents about the trip, who were happy to let her go.

"About time you had some fun, I was worrying all that work was getting under skin," said her mother.

Qiu could only smile, hesitant to say what excited her most. She almost felt like she had won the lottery. She would check out the company offering this modeling job, but the description seemed to want anyone, female and eighteen years old or older. 'That could be mine,' she told herself. She could become famous, pictures in magazines, lots of money. It seemed amazing.

Qiu laid her head back in the seat of the train and closed her eyes. As the train rocked back and forth, slowly drawing her toward the city, she fell into a light sleep and dreamt of the possibilities awaiting her.

When the train finally arrived at the city, all the girls from the village were smiling and looking around, like they'd never seen such wonder as a capital city. It took them under an hour to find a hostel for the few nights they'd be staying, and then decided on plans for the rest of the night.

Qiu planned to take time the next day to go the address listed in the ad. After googling it she saw it would be about a ten minute cab ride. Feeling settled and prepared, she joined her friends in the festivities of the night.

The next morning, after a night of visits to giant shopping centers and landmarks in the city, everyone was exhausted. They decided to have breakfast then planned to go out in the afternoon. Qiu saw her chance.

"I'm going out for a bit, an old family member is near here," she said.

"Oh, who is it?" asked one of her friends.

"Some cousin, we've never met, but we made plans to meet when I came to the city," Qiu lied.

"Okay, we plan to be going out around two, so you can meet up with us. Text us if you'll be late."

"Alright, see you then," said Qiu, and was on her way.

Qiu didn't really enjoy lying, but in this kind of situation she determined it would be best. This might not be anything worth getting excited about or telling anyone, and until she could be sure what the details of it all were, Qiu didn't want to share it.

She hailed a cab on the street of the hotel, noticing the busy city noises and bustling of people around her. She gave the driver the address, and before she knew it, was being told she'd arrived.

After paying the driver and stepping out, she looked at the building. It didn't seem like a place movie stars would be, just a dozen or so stories of office windows. She double checked the address she had written down, and when she'd confirmed it was indeed her destination, pulled open the door, and stepped inside.

In the entrance hall there was a circular desk with an attendant sitting behind.

"May I help you?"

"Yes, I'm here for a modeling job," Qiu said, not sure whether to ask or declare.

"Alright, that will be on the sixth floor. I'll let them know you're coming."

"Thanks," she said, and was on her way towards the elevators on the right.

The sixth floor had granite flooring, and purplish walls and ceiling. Qiu stepped out of the elevator and just realized she didn't know where on the sixth floor to look, but it wouldn't matter. In the hallway outside the elevators there was a single door. Qiu brushed her hair out of her face, straightened her clothes, and took a breath. 'You can do this, they'll love you,' she told herself. She walked to the door, grasped the handle and turned. She pulled it open with feigned confidence, and walked in, taking in the surroundings. Another desk at the front, another attendant behind, grey walls, beige carpeting, ordinary ceiling tiles, fluorescent lighting, chairs lined against the walls, and a camera in a corner of the room. Qiu shivered.

"Hello miss, I've been told you're here for the modeling contract?" said the desk attendant.

"Y-yes, I am. My name is Qiu Lian, nice to meet you," Qiu responded, outstretching her right hand.

The clerk smiled back, but didn't shake hands. "Please take a seat, we'll be with you shortly."

"Okay, thanks." Qiu was getting more nervous by the second. She walked to a chair, sat down, and looked around her. There wasn't anyone else in the room but her and that desk clerk. 'Is she the interviewer?' Qiu thought to herself. She put her hands under her thighs to keep warm in the cool air-conditioned office room, and waited.

In another room on the sixth floor of the office building that Qiu had just entered, a man and a woman stood over a series of television screens. They were focusing on the one that had the feed from the camera in the room in which Qiu sat waiting.

"She's pretty," said the man.

"And I'm not?" the woman joked.

"Yeah, you're pretty too. So what do you think, does she fit the requirements?"

"Let's see..." the woman said, leaning in closer to the screen. "Seems like size B cup, not too short, not too tall. Figure looks ordinary, maybe a bit on the skinny side. And yes, to adhere to your single variable measurement, she is pretty."

"Great, I'll start the paperwork."

"No need to get excited, this one might shy away from us too. We're not exactly selling ice-cream here, ya know?"

"Fine. I'll be in my office, let me know if we get the green light."

A door opened back in the hallway behind the front desk after what felt like an hour, and out walked a tall woman in business attire. Her hair was curled in a tight bun and she wore black rimmed glasses. As she walked toward Qiu with a stern demeanor, Qiu opened her mouth and slowly stood up. Then the woman spoke, and when she did her face lit up like a lantern.

"Hello, my name is Zheng Yuan," the woman said with a big smile. "I am the Head of the Testing Department, and I represent the company that posted the modeling advertisement, which is what I'm assuming you're here to inquire about?"

"Y-yes, I'd like to know more about it before-" Zheng cut her off.

"Of course, we can get to all of those details and clear any questions up you might have. Now, I must ask, are you eighteen years old?"

"Yes, I turned eighteen this year," Qiu said.

"Excellent. We will need to verify that, but first please come with me to my office where we can discuss in depth the details of this position."

"Sure," Qiu said.

Qiu followed the woman back through the doorway. Qiu heard the door shut behind her as she followed Zheng down a carpeted hallway. She took note of the shoes the woman wore, the heels higher than anything Qiu had seen anyone wear before.

"Are you from the Changsha area?" questioned the woman as she turned her head slightly without breaking pace.

"No, I'm from a village a few hours by train. I'm here visiting with my friends for the weekend," Qiu said.

The woman nodded slightly. They approached a door on the left of the hallway, and the woman ushered Qiu inside. In the office there was a desk covered with folders, pictures, trinkets, candy. Two chairs sat in front, one executive looking one sat behind. The woman went behind the desk and sat down with a smile and a sigh. Qiu then took her seat.

"May I see your ID first?" asked Zheng.

"Oh, sure," said Qiu. She pulled it from her purse, and handed it across the desk.

After a moment of inspection, Zheng smiled, and said "Alright, now one last thing before we begin. Are you currently pregnant? "

"No, I'm not," Qiu said, the idea of being pregnant being hard to imagine.

"Okay. How much have you heard about our company?"

Qiu swallowed. "I only saw the advertisement, I've never heard of your company." The ID was handed back.

"Alright, well it would be best to make that clear first." Zheng cleared her throat. "Our company is one of the world leaders in chastity design and device production. We are funded by numerous major investors, as well as scientific organizations focusing on chastity, control, and the effects on the body."

Qiu took a moment to digest what she had just heard. "...You mean, like, those things from ancient history that people wore so they couldn't have sex?"

"Exactly that, although our designs are no longer considered 'ancient'. We have state of the art technology at our disposal, and implement cutting edge and innovative ideas for maximum customer satisfaction. Do you follow?"

"Uhm, I think so. I'm still not sure what the whole modeling job is though."

"The position we are advertising is a trial run for our new designs. We're looking for people like yourself to wear our products so that we may study both the effectiveness of the design, as well as the effects on the individual wearing the pieces."

"You mean I would, wear, a-"

"You would sign a contract in which you agree to wear a chastity harness, which might include many fringe utility pieces. There are multiple levels of intensity of the style you select, and the compensation increases accordingly with the level of intensity."

Qiu was stunned. She didn't know what to say. Priorities came into her mind, and she asked, "How much is this, compensation?"

"There will be a signing bonus, as you must have read about, as well as a monthly check lasting each month for the entirety of the contract. The contract is a one year long agreement, would you like to examine it?" Zheng turned to reach down to a drawer in her desk.

"No. No, thank you though, I'd like to think for a moment."

"Very well," Zheng said with a smile, straightening back into her chair.

Qiu's mind was racing almost as fast as her heartbeat. She felt scared, 'What kind of place am I in?' she thought. 'What is going on here, this is ridiculous, I can't believe something like this would be real.' A part of her told her to turn around, get out, never look back at this building and forget all this. Another part of her, though, was excited. Excited in the face of the unknown. The words this woman had spoken to her, she understood them all, but it still didn't make sense. Qiu thought it felt like a dream, but couldn't tell if it was a good one or bad one.

"I'm really not sure I'm interested in this. I'd never imagined the advertisement to be something this, this-" Qiu said, cut off by Zheng.

"This exotic? Yes, well we take pride in our business, and maintain a very professional attitude about it all."

Qiu looked down at the desk in front of her, and decided. She didn't want to do with this kind of thing. "Thank you for explaining this all to me, but I'm really not interested. I think I'd like to leave, now."

Zheng blinked, and a smile formed on her lips. She started, "I completely understand, that is no problem at all. You can leave whenever you'd like, we won't keep you." There was noticeable disappointment in her tone, but also a sense of acceptance.

Qiu began to rise, and looked down. At Zheng's voice, she snapped her attention up.

"If you would like to get your measurements into our system though, before you go, we could keep a file for you in case you ever change your mind." Zheng's face held a look of earnest persuasion.

"What do you mean, measurements?" Qiu said.

"Well, all of our equipment is specially made for each of our customers, so everything fits without a hitch. It's just a measurement on, rather intimate parts of the body. But it's completely harmless, and afterwords you can be on your way out the door."

Qiu paused. 'Is that a good idea?' A dialogue formed in her mind. 'How bad can it be? She looks trustworthy. You can maybe find out more about this place doing this.'

"Sure, why not," Qiu said with a smile.

"Marvelous, the measuring station is just down the hall. Please come with me," said Zheng as she walked out her office door.

Qiu followed Zheng down the hall away from the front room she had entered through. 'I'll just do these measurements, and be gone,' she told herself.

Coming to another door, this one a little heavier looking, Zheng motioned Qiu in.

"We'll have one of our engineers take your measurements, I won't need to be present. If I don't see you again, it was great to meet you. Please always feel free to contact us if you take an interest in what we have to offer."

"Okay, I'll remember. Thanks for informing me about all this," Qiud said. Zheng waved with a smile and turned, closing the door as she left.

Qiu examined the room she now occupied. 'Looks like some doctor's office or something,' she thought. The floor had white tiles, white walls, white ceiling. There was a stainless steel table on one side of the room, bolted into the ground. A few chairs, white exterior cabinets, and a small desk built into the wall.

The door opened, and in walked a woman that Qiu guessed was in her forties. She wore a white lab coat, her hair in a short ponytail.

"Hello miss, I'll be taking your measurements today," the woman said with a grin. Qiu felt more relaxed watching her set a folder down on the desk and a small box on the floor.

"Now if you'll please get undressed, we can start this and have it finished in no time."

"What? I need to be naked?" Qiu asked with wide eyes.

"Yes, we'll need to get perfectly precise in our numbers, or else our products will have no effect."

"Uhh, well, okay," Qiu said sheepishly.

With a gesture of encouragement from the woman, Qiu bit her lower lip, and began undressing. She pulled her t-shirt up through her head, yanking it from her arms. She set it on one of the chairs, and looked at the smiling woman for a sign. 'No one knows I'm here, what is this place really? What if they do something? Is this really safe to do?' Qiu's thoughts raced.

She sat down, slowly pulled off her sneakers, set them aside, and began pulling her jeans off her legs. Once they were free, she folded them on the chair seat beside her, and stood up.

"Underwear too," said the woman.

"Why my underwear?" asked Qiu.

"We must be precise to the very millimeter to get everything perfect. Any bits of clothing will interfere in getting the measurements. If you're not comfortable, you can leave now if you'd like. There's no pressure for you to do this."

"Okay, no, it's fine. Socks too?" she asked.

"Yes, even your socks."

Once Qiu was completely naked, the woman motioned her to stand in the center of the room. Qiu complied, her arms across her chest, not sure what to expect.

"Now, just relax, put your arms at your side, and breathe. That's it, just breathe."

Qiu tried to relax as best she could, and looked down to see the woman wrapping a measuring tape around her waist.

"Take a deep breathe," the woman instructed. Qiu complied, holding it. The woman pulled the tape together, looked, then said, "And release. Breathe out completely." Qiu let the air slowly escape her lungs, feeling more relaxed already.

"Keep going, breathe out, breathe out," said the woman. Qiu kept squeezing her lungs, more and more air escaped through her nostrils. She couldn't talk to ask how long, so she kept exhaling as much as she could.

"That's it, good," said the woman as she pulled the tape hard into the smallest diameter of Qiu's torso. She turned away to the desk, opened the folder she had brought in, and with a pen recorded some numbers. "And, repeat."

Qiu went through the breathing, the woman taking careful measurements each time. This was repeated just below her breasts, on her bust line, above her breasts, and lastly across her hips.

"Now raise your arms up, touch the sky," the woman said. Qiu complied, and the same measurements were taken again, both while exhaling and inhaling.

Her neck was measured next, the woman gently pulling the tape across the soft skin, giving soft words of reassurance while noting and recording each number. Following the neck, she had Qiu outstretch her arms, and measured the length from shoulder to finger tip. She measured Qiu's wrists, her forearm, distance between elbow and shoulder, then moved to her legs. Qiu was taken aback at how thorough it all felt. 'What could possibly need such precise measurements?' Qiu pondered, but silently obeyed the instructions.

The woman took measurements of her ankles, foot, thighs, distances between her lower joints, even her individual toes. Qiu just stared as the woman wrapped the small tape around each toe, writing in her folder from a kneeling position.

When it seemed like there couldn't possibly be anything more to measure, the woman said, "Now I'm going to measure your pelvis area, this might feel, awkward."

Without another word the was pulling the tape through Qiu's legs, holding the tape on her front below her belly button, and pulling it snugly up behind her bottom.

Qiu let out a soft squeak, to which the woman said with a laugh, "Don't worry, just some last numbers I've gotta get." Qiu stood there, stiff, mouth partially open, looking on as the woman seemingly invented ways of measuring body parts. "Breathe deeply," the woman said. Qiu complied once again, breathing in and out as deep as she could. Many more measurements were taken around her groin and rear, some feeling more invasive than anything Qiu had felt before.

Gathering the tape into a coil, the woman said, "Now, this next bit will feel rather intrusive. If you would come sit in this chair over here, it won't take long." She was directing Qiu to a strange looking chair.

Qiu walked over with the woman, and sat down into the chair. It was sloped backward, and when the woman had kicked a few levers, the back of the chair fell even further. Qiu grabbed the sides, fearing she would fall out.

"Don't worry, that's as far back as it will get. Now, if you'll rest your legs up on these saddles here," the woman said as she lifted long metal legs from the bottom of the chair. Qiu complied, stretching her feet out to the platforms raised in the air. With her legs outstretched and separated, her groin and rear pushed up and forward, Qiu blushed as the woman was preparing tools below her vision.

"Now, just hold still, I'm going to measure places inside your body. This will feel intrusive, so if you'd like me to stop at any time please say so."

"You mean, like, in my vagina?" Qiu said.

"Yes, as well as your rectum and urethra. Is that alright?"

Qiu hesitated, struggling to comprehend anything going near those places of her body. "Well, do you have to?"

"Yes, it's imperative to get these measurements as well. If we don't finish this process everything I've measured to now will be worthless. Do you want to continue?"

Qiu thought for a moment, then swallowed, nodding. 'Well, a few last things won't hurt,' she told herself.

After another moment of preparation, Qiu felt something hovering over her vagina, and then slowly inserted inside her. She gasped, raising her head to look down, clutched the sides of the chair.

"Hang on, just a little further," the woman said without looking up.

The object was steadily pushing into Qiu's vagina, further than Qiu had ever felt. Her breathing became heavier, the intruder pressing itself inward with more and more force. Her legs pulled instinctively together, the saddles holding her feet in place.

A quiet beep sounded, and the woman said, "There, all done." She removed the object with relative ease, Qiu gasping and squeezing her eyes as it left her body.

A few moments of recording the readings from the item inserted into Qiu, and the woman held up a different device. "This will be going into your anus, it shouldn't take long either. Just try to relax."

Before Qiu could relax, she felt a similar sensation in her rear, something being pushed into her. "Oooaaaaghh..." Qiu squealed. The measuring plug was being inserted deep inside her rectum, pushing her rectal walls apart as it went deeper inside her body. Qiu gripped the chair, clenched her jaw, squeezed her eyes and held her breath. Another high-pitched beep, and the plug was quickly withdrawn.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" the woman said, trying to sound reassuring.

Qiu breathed, and after a few breaths, nodded her head.

"Now one last insertion, and our measurements will be finished," the woman said. She prepared another item, and lifted it to Qiu's groin.

Qiu reflexively tried to pull her legs together again, trying to push her head back into the chair. 'Almost done, almost there,' she told herself.

Qiu felt a pinching feeling above her vagina, as a small rod was inserted into her urethra. "Ahhhg," Qiu whined as the rod was quickly pushed through her urethra into her bladder. Another beep, and the rod was just as quickly pulled out.

"There, all finished. That wasn't so bad, was it?" the woman said, writing down more readouts.

After writing the last measurement down, the woman said, "We're all done with the measurements, I'll need to take a spit sample, and then you'll be all set."

"A spit sample?" Qiu said.

"Yes, for a feature of one of our products you might choose to test. Open wide," the woman said, reaching to Qiu's face with a cotton swab.

Qiu opened her mouth, allowing the woman to touch the swab to Qiu's mouth under her tongue. "And that's everything," the woman said, pulling the swab from Qiu's mouth and promptly sticking it inside a small container.

"So, I'm finished? Nothing else?"

"That's right. I'm all finished. You can see yourself out?" the woman said as she gathered the folder and box of supplies.

"Uhm, yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks, it was nice to meet you." said Qiu. "Oh, I do have a question, could I see what all the measurements are for? Like, the products you keep talking about, could I see some of them?"

The woman frowned, and said, "I'm sorry, we don't keep any samples in the building, the materials are all processed and manufactured in our laboratories. The descriptions of our products can all be found in the contracts, so you'd have to look there."

"Oh, okay. Thanks anyway," Qiu said. The woman smiled, and left through the door, closing it behind her. Qiu turned and began getting dressed. 'Well, that wasn't bad at all.' she thought.

In less than two minutes, Qiu had gotten dressed, found her way out the doors, down to the lobby, and out on the street. She took in the warm afternoon sun, smiling, contemplating on what she'd gone through. 'It was weird, and I still don't really know what any of those devices are like, what my measurements are all used for.' She hadn't wanted to knock on Zheng's door and bother her again to find out, she still was unsure about that entire place. 'Best to leave it be,' she told herself.

After waving uselessly at cabs that were filled or on break, she got one, and was on her way back to the hotel. She checked her phone, past two o'clock. 'Oh well, I'll catch up with them later.'

Qiu's thoughts were directed on digesting her experience. Everything Zheng had told her, all those measurements. It felt strange, but she felt happy she discovered the place. She closed her eyes, and rested.


Chapter Three

"Qiu. Wake up, Qiu. You're going to be late."

Qiu was vaguely aware of her mother's voice ringing from downstairs.

"Qiu, it's eight thirty five, you've got to get to school," Huang called out from the den.

"Yeah, yeah," said Qiu with a groan. She looked at the clock, confirming her mother's observance of the time. "Fine..."

In ten minutes Qiu was out the door, on her way to school. It was nearing the end of winter, some specks of snow still freezing the hard ground. Qiu thought about her dream, she had just come from. She smiled, not fully able to remember it, but felt happy and rested.

It had been some months since her trip to Changsha, but she thought about her encounter with that strange company more than anything. She kept thinking about the measurements, about the objects they could be used for. 'They would be for me, and no one else,' she thought. She had her own little world in her mind for the possibilities of that future. It was admittedly a future she didn't expect to live out, but became something like a fantasy.

The words of that woman she had met kept ringing in her ears, 'You would sign a contract in which you agree to wear a chastity harness, which might include many fringe utility pieces' It made her short of breath sometimes imagining it. 'A...a chastity harness.' It sounded to different in her world, to look around at the natural hills and houses of her village, and then imagine something so strange as that.

Qiu had never known the touch of a man, or boy. Qiu felt the boys of her village all seemed to insecure, so childish. Hardly any of her girlfriends were in relationships, and the families didn't seem to want to foster any developing ones. School, farming, and more school. That seemed to be all there was in Qiu's world, and those seemed like her only options. Within her own mind she escaped to her fantasies, which grew more and more to be centered on the strangeness of the chastity company. She spent many late nights in her room, trying to envisage what it all could be like, trying to imagine the sensations of wearing something that would be so intimately hers. The measurements they had taken of her became a deep, dark mystery, as to what intent they could be used for. In this fantasy, Qiu felt happy, longing for sensual attention to her young and blooming body.

These thoughts impeded on her focus during school, the last bell not being able to ring soon enough. Once the monotonous school day was over, she set straight off to work to clock in some extra time. Work was just as predictable, except for one guy.

He came in, dressed like a movie star, an air of confidence around him. He didn't seem to be older than twenty, but still looked like the most mature boy Qiu had ever seen. As he approached Qiu slowly, she blushed, and asked if she could help him. He said he'd like a phone. So she began her scripted dialogues of selling phones.

"And with this model you get a color screen, unlimited receiving calls and texts," said Qiu.

"And a phone number?" asked the guy as he leaned over the counter.

"Yeah, you pick a phone number after the model. Some cost more than-" Qiu started.

"What about your phone number?" said the guy, with an emphasis on the middle word.

Qiu smiled, turning slightly red.

"You want my phone number?" she asked with a suppressed smile, looking down at the phone she had taken out of the case for him.

"Yeah, I'd like that," he said, looking at her.

"Well my phone number is already in use, on my phone," Qiu said, her head getting a little dizzy. She was trying to play the game she thought was expected of her, hoping her manager didn't come by and ruin this moment.

"I see. Well, maybe I could convince you to let me have your phone number?" the guy asked with a half-smile.

"That might be okay," Qiu was in the verge of bursting out laughing, out of a mix of nervousness and excitement.

"How about, I take you out after work, we can go to a bar I know, it's right down the street," he said, gesturing toward the door he came in through without turning.

"Okay, that would be nice," Qiu said, seeing this was for real. She looked at him, wondering if this was the kind of person she had been waiting for.

"What time will work for you?" he asked.

"I get off at ten."

"Alright, I'll be here, ten o'clock. And your name would be..?" he outstretched his hand.

"Qiu. Qiu Lian. Nice to meet you," Qiu said.

"Qiu, nice name. I'm Jun. See you at ten?"

"See you then," Qiu shyly said, as he started back towards the door. She watched him leave, and looked down at her hands. 'Wow, incredible,' she thought.

At ten o'clock, Qiu walked out of the store to find Jun leaning against the wall on the left. She had texted her mother to say she would be late coming home, and felt ready to see what this new guy might bring into her world.

"Hi," Qiu said with a shy smile.

"Hey. I'll show you a nice place I like to visit," he said.

Qiu walked with Jun down the road, making small talk, a flurry of emotions whirling through her stomach and mind. They arrived at a bar, one that Qiu had never frequented, but had known about.

After an hour of smooth talking and flattery that Jun spouted, Qiu had more to drink than ever. As Jun bought them both drinks, they seemed to be drunk quicker than they could be made.

Qiu's head was swimming. She felt in love, this smiling man appearing to become more than she'd thought could be hers.

"Come with me, I'll show you my place." Jun whispered to her over the loud setting of the crowded bar.

"Okay." Qiu wasn't thinking, she just knew this felt right.

Within two minutes they were in a cab, Qiu's head resting on Jun's shoulder. 'This is amazing, this is all I want.'

The situation escalated faster than Qiu had planned for. She was lying on her back, only half aware of the what was happening to her. It didn't feel right, something hurt.

"Sto-Staaaaah," Qiu couldn't manage to say more over the plethora of feelings she was experiencing. The room was dark, she heard grunting, felt a penetrating feeling in her groin. She tried to push him away, but her arms felt like they weren't hers. Tears began to fall from her eyes. She couldn't do anything. The feelings were a mix of pleasure and pain, but fear triumphed over them both. 'What's happening? What is going on? Why is this happening to me?'

After some painful minutes, Qiu managed the awareness to pull her clothes back on, fumble through the apartment, and find the door. The guy she had trusted, Jun, lay asleep in the place he had forcibly taken her. She whimpered, and held back tears as she stumbled down to the street. She found a cab, managed to slur her home address, and laid her head back.

Pain. Pain, in a once unimaginable sense. There was nothing but pain and fear that filled her mind as Qiu sat in the cab, half asleep. 'What happened? What was this experience? Why did that happen?' Her mind was tainted from the alcohol and the memory of what she went through. 'How could I have been so stupid? I trusted that guy. Home, I just need to sleep. Mom, mom and dad, I'll see them.'

As the cab approached her village, Qiu's eyes were glazed over, staring out the window. She could see something, in the dead of night. 'Smoke?' she thought.

When the cab got closer to her house, her mind nearly failed to comprehend what she was seeing. Her house, and a few other near it, were ablaze. She screamed, pushed the car door open, and ran outside. She got three steps before tumbling to her feet, unable to walk straight.

Most of the village was outside as well, a fire brigade pulling hoses and buckets of water. People shouting to each other. Qiu's mind could only see her house, already an inferno. She crawled closer, the heat of the blaze creating a barrier.

"Hey, Qiu! Thank god you're alive! She's over here, she wasn't inside. Qiu, where-" a neighbor was shouting. He paused, and knelt closer to her, only to then push her down to the ground in disgust. "She's drunk!"

Voices were gathering around Qiu, she could sense a crowd, but couldn't even manage to get up.

The next thing she remembered, she was being laid down on a blanket in a cool room, reassuring words trying to comfort her frenzied mind. Qiu could not think, she fell into unconsciousness.

The next morning, Qiu awoke with a start. She looked around, unsure of where she was, a horrible feeling inside her, unsure of why. She stood up, and recognized a friend from school's house. She walked around, "Hello?" she questioned the silence.

"Oh, you're awake," said a voice from another room. Out walked her friend, her face wrought with anxiety. She walked to Qiu and gave her a hug.

"What happened? Why am I here?" Qiu asked.

"The fire, you don't remember?" said her friend. And instantly everything from the previous night flooded her mind. She broke down to her knees, crying out, memories of the night with Jun, memories of the fire.

"What happened?" Qiu wailed.

Her friend knelt down, trying to comfort her, but crying. "Your parents, they-your parents were in the house when the fire broke out."

'This isn't happening. This is a bad dream. A joke, everyone's joking. I'm about to wake up.'

"Qiu, they died. Your parents died last night. Almost everything was lost in the fire, too. Oh Qiu, I'm so sorry!"

Qiu realized it was real. Her thoughts couldn't form words. Despair, despair was all she felt. Qiu felt nothing, nothing could comfort her. There was nothing left in Qiu's world but darkness.

One week later, Qiu saw the depth of the situation she fell into. She had spent a day picking through the remains, looking for anything, anything from her life that wasn't destroyed. She stayed with her friend, but saw the village had turned on her.

"Why weren't you there to help your parents?" they had asked. "Where were you, what were you doing? You came back from drinking, the nerve-" some villagers who had been her parent's friends had gotten so visibly upset with her they almost struck out. It took many others to prevent them from doing so.

"None of the other families lost any lives, only material things that can be replaced. They were fine, because their children had been there to help. Where were you? You killed your parents!" they had said.

Qiu could not even respond to them. Her own emotions had prevented her from facing that truth, facing the fact that her selfishness might have killed her parents. She felt like dying.

School had become a challenge as well. She at first received half hearted pity, but then life moved on the everyone else. Her friends slowly abandoned her, being persuaded to distance themselves from Qiu because of their parent's warnings. They said Qiu's lack of filial piety had led to her mother and father's deaths. She slowly became an outsider, a few close friends sticking with her, but only covertly, fearing the backlash of being seen supporting the outcast in the village.

After the initial week after the tragedy, Qiu began to regain her mental faculties. Gripped with sadness, she longed to reach out and embrace her mother, to run to her father and cry that she didn't mean to not be there for them. She felt lost, lost in a way that only losing one's parents at such an age could create. The depths of her despair permeated to almost every aspect of Qiu's world, the reality of what had happened almost too great a pain to bear.

She noticed her friend's parents, in whose house she was staying, were looking on her as a burden. She felt unwanted. At the family meals, people rarely spoke to her, trying allow Qiu to feel welcome after such hardship, while unable to ignore the dishonor and disdain that Qiu carried with her. Qiu decided to leave.

She had saved up a small amount of money from her job. It was enough to get started somewhere else. She was sick of having to deal with the village's ostracism, as well as coping with her own loss of her entire life.

At the early onset of spring, she left her village, the only place she'd ever known to be home.


Chapter Four

Qiu rested her forehead against the train, the afternoon sun soothing through the cold plastic window.

"Ticket, please," said a ticket checker. Qiu handed him her ticket without much enthusiasm, and took it back after he punched a hole in it.

"Ticket, please," Qiu heard him say to the next row behind her.

She had thought about where to go. She would be alone, regardless. She had no family left, grandparents had died before she was born. No one she could go to, no real friends outside her village. She planned on finding work, studying for the college entrance exam, and make a life for herself. The best place she determined this could be possible was the city she had visited, the capital. She was headed back toward Changsha.

The memories of that place she had visited haunted her mind, almost as much as the loss of her parents did. She thought about the money, thought about the idea of the position. 'It'd prevent another Jun from happening,' she rationalized. It sounded crazy to her, too far-out, but it also held some allure.

Qiu thought about it. 'Wearing a-a chastity...' the words themselves almost didn't make sense. It was just a way out, a way to alleviate financial pressures, she told herself. But still, a voice in her head kept whispering, 'It would guarantee you have complete control over your body. You'd never be tricked by a man wanting to fuck you and leave you. You would be your own master, incapable of your power being stolen from you like the way Jun did. You...you would be in control.' Qiu licked her lips, and smiled at this thought. There was an attraction to that, and she planned to save it as a last option. 'But I can find better work,' she told herself, shaking the pulling feeling of excitement.

After a few days of living in a hostel and scouring the area for a job, she remembered her old job. 'Oh, forgot to tell that phone store I quit. Haha, oh well, it was a shitty job anyway,' Qiu thought to herself.

Despite making an effort to get a regular job, she couldn't stop thinking about the strange company. Every time she would ask a small clothes shop, or a grocery store if they had any openings, the only thing that was on her mind was Zheng and that office room. She couldn't shake the feeling any longer.

Qiu sat in her room at the hostel and surveyed her situation. She planned to independently study for the college entrance exam, which was months away, but didn't have much money left to live on. With no easy openings for a dull job to sustain herself, she made the decision to go back to modeling company. 'I'll just see what they're offering, won't jump in too fast. They're legit, I'll be fine,' she reassured herself. The next day she planned to go back to the company, and slept soundly.

On a warm Thursday afternoon, Qiu found herself standing in front of the same building she stood before months ago. She thought about how her life had changed since. Losing her parents, meeting that horrible guy who wooed her to bed, losing her connection with her village, her house, her belongings. She'd lost a lot. Qiu hoped what this place could offer her could give her a life back.

She walked into the same lobby she remembered, an attendant smiling to greet her as she informed him she was there for a modeling position. After the brief exchange of politeness, she was on the elevator to the sixth floor. The same hallway stood before her, the same door. What awaited her inside would be the same as she had remembered, but more.

She opened the door, and with much less nervousness than the previous time she visited this place, walked through. The same desk attendant was there to greet her, who showed no outward signs of recognition.

"If you'd take a seat, we'll be with you in a moment," the attendant said with a smile.

Qiu sat, hoping to see the familiar face of Zheng walk through the door. After a few minutes of silence, the tattering of the desk keyboard buzzing away, the door that led to the hallway opened. Qiu's face brightened when she saw Zheng, almost the same as she had remembered, walk into the waiting room, and said, "Hello, Qiu. It's wonderful to see you again. We can talk in my office, please come with me."

Qiu complied, confident in what to expect. She followed Zheng down the same hallway, noting Zheng's ridiculously high heels once more. "It's been what, four months since we saw you?" Zheng asked.

"Yeah, I think just about four months," Qiu replied.

Zheng opened her office door, motioned for Qiu to go in with a smile, and followed her in. Qiu stood before the same chair she had sat in, observed the different items on Zheng's desk, and sat down once Zheng was seated.

"So, what can we do you for you, Qiu?" Zheng said.

"Well, I'm interested in, that is-I've been thinking I might-" Qiu began.

"You'd be interested in contracting with our company?" Zheng asked with a wide smile and big eyes.

"Yes, I think so," Qiu said shyly, looking down at her hands.

"Well that's just great. We've still got your information in our system, it wouldn't take long at all to set you up," said Zheng, as she opened a drawer to her desk. Qiu noticed large stacks of bound paper being set heavily on the desk.

"This," said Zheng, "is the contract that we employ for our models. It covers everything that our models must know before joining us." Zheng rotated the booklet and pushed it toward Qiu. "You must carefully read every line in this, and make sure you fully understand every article. If, after reading and digesting it all, you are prepared to sign it and become a model, we will prepare lawyers and witnesses for a signing to make it final."

Qiu pulled open the book, and found every page was covered from top to bottom in sentences, numbers, bold words. It looked like a dictionary.

Zheng leaned a little closer toward Qiu, and said, "Now, Qiu, this is a very serious endeavor you would undergo upon signing this. As much as our company desires models for our products, I want to ask if you're completely ready for what this all entails."

Qiu looked up at her, and saw what she thought were almost motherly eyes in Zheng staring back with concern. "I, I'm pretty sure I want to do this," Qiu said.

"Alright. Take this contract home with you. Make sure you go through everything, every detail will be very important to both you and our company down the road. The information on compensation can be found at the beginning. We don't rush anyone into this, so please go home now, and come back when you're completely sure you want this. And, I must ask you again, you're not pregnant, are you? We can't hire pregnant models."

"No, I'm not," said Qiu with a shy smile. "I'll make sure I read it."

"Great. Well I hope to see you again, and if you have any questions we can answer anything you might ask here when you return." said Zheng, standing up.

Qiu mimicked Zheng's action, picked up the booklet, and held it firmly. She shook Zheng's outstretched hand, observed a genial smile, and turned toward the door.

"I'll come back when I've read it, see you then," Qiu said with confidence.

"It was great to see you again, Qiu. Bye now."

Qiu pushed open the door, walked down the hallway, hearing the door shut slowly behind her.

No one seemed to watch her as she walked out the building, and began walking back to her hostel. Along the way, she felt like she had something important. 'I'll read this contract, and maybe sign it. It might be a whole new world.' For those moments walking on the streets of Changsha, Qiu felt more excited than she'd ever been.


Chapter Five

Qiu was lying on her bed in the small room she inhabited, staring at the cover of the contract she was about to read. 'The possibilities, it's so exciting.' During the time before she opened the contract, she let her fantasies play out in the ideas of what could be held inside the red cover that simply bore the word "Contract" in bold black letters.

After a short while longer, Qiu opened the cover, ready to face the reality of what she had in her hands. The first thing she found was the compensation section. It entailed a signing bonus, along with monthly payments. It wasn't an enormous amount of money, but it was considerably more than she made working at the phone shop.

The contract was very specific."The devices the subject will wear will remain on the subject for the duration of the contract. The contract will run for a period of one year (subject to change at the discretion of the Head of the Testing Department). Should any increase in time occur, monthly payments will be determined accordingly. All unforeseen medical emergencies will be covered under the health insurance of the company. The well-being of the subject will always be taken into consideration, and should any proper medical care be required, the company will provide the necessary treatments of the highest standards." 'Yeah, seems legit,' thought Qiu.

She saw increasing payments, relating to the increase of items she could wear. There were four levels of "intensity", it read, each level offering a multiple of pay in the signing bonus and monthly payments. Level one was a tongue stud. Level two was a belt, with thigh bands. Level three was a bra, and level four was a collar, along with wrist and ankle bands.

Qiu could hardly breathe, 'These sound so interesting. It's almost like jewelry.'

She read on, finding the beginnings of the agreements and item descriptions. Qiu's mind nearly drifted into a daze reading the words of the contract she held. 'Could this be for real?' she thought. 'These things, I don't know. Could I really wear these devices for such a long time?' She had a growing level of anxiety as she read, but that was tempered with a growing sense of excitement as well.

Qiu read the contract until she fell asleep, her dreams influenced by the strength of her feelings from what she read.

She woke up the next day, and kept reading. 'The details, the descriptions, it's more...it's so much. It's amazing.' Qiu had to remember to eat something, and take a break from reading. After a short breakfast, she continued reading until lunch.

Emotions began to color her judgment. Her head was swimming. She decided. 'I want this. I want it all, this is everything I've ever wanted. I must have this, I must. My life will be amazing doing this. This stuff, these things, they're so different. They make ordinary life seem boring. I'll do it.' She wanted to go through with it.

Qiu saw power in what she read. She saw a declaration to the world that she had made this decision, and nothing could stand in her way. In giving in to this company's plans, 'No matter what it all meant,' she told herself, she felt more in control than she'd ever imagined she could feel. 'And the best part of all this,' Qiu thought, 'it'll be secret. No one will know I'm wearing anything so devious as a chastity belt. I'll be in control of everything, it's perfect,' Qiu said to herself with a smirk.

The idea of the contract, wearing the metal devices fascinated Qiu. She had always felt apart from others, distance separating them and herself. She saw in the contract a way to live fully as herself, to state to the world that this was who she was. In this fantasy of her imagination, Qiu made the most fateful decision she would ever make.

Qiu quickly showered, got dressed, and was out the door to change her life. She had planned to gain something in doing this, something like empowerment, control, self-respect. The truth of what she was about to do would not only change her life, but it would also deprive her of these very things she expected to gain.


Chapter Six

Sitting in front of Zheng in the same place as the day before, Qiu declared her intention.

"I want to do this," she said with confidence.

The first thing Qiu noticed in Zheng's face was happiness, which lessened slightly to become a look of concern. "That's wonderful, we're very happy to offer you this position. Now, you've read the contract?"

"Yep, whole thing," Qiu said. It was mostly true. She had read all the big sections, everything that looked like it would matter.

"What questions do you have for us?"

"Uhhm," Qiu thought about it. "I think I understand everything," she said, her mouth breaking into a smile. "I'm super ready to do this, I want it all."

"All? You're sure you want to sign up for the entirety of what the contract stipulates? It's broken into sections to make it easier, and shorter. To undergo everything...that is no minor commitment, Qiu."

Qiu paused. "I know that. I understand what this will mean, I want to do it." She put a strong look in her eyes. "I need this. It's not just for the money, this is going to give me something I feel I've been lacking. Okay?" Qiu had rationalized that she would trust this company, regardless of what she might have missed or might forget in the contract. This place, these people, and their products she would wear would provide her with a base. A place of trust, of understanding. This is what she thought she needed in life, and Qiu was determined to grab at it.

"Yes, of course," Zheng said, recovering from her concerned feelings. 'This is business, make it happen,' she thought to herself. "We can set up a signing later this evening, it will take place downtown at the government office. I could drive you there if you'd like."

"Sure, that'd be great. I'm staying at a hostel, I'll give you my address," Qiu said, looking for a piece of scrap paper and pen. Zheng dug them out from the clutter of the desk. When Qiu had written the address, Zheng took a look at it, and nodded.

"Alright, I'll come by around six o'clock, can you be outside?"

"Yeah," Qiu said with growing excitement. 'It's happening!' She felt giddy.

"We'll need to get your banking information for the payments when we sign the contract, so have those numbers ready by then." Watching Qiu nod, Zheng smiled and said, "So you're excited?"

"Yeah, I am," Qiu said happily.

"Good," Zheng said. 'You'll need this excitement to carry you through what you will experience, little one.' "I'll be outside your hostel at six."

"Okay, see you then," Qiu said, getting up to leave.

Zheng sat there, staring, her smile a little smaller than usual. Qiu waved, went out the door, and back toward her hostel.

Zheng picked up the phone on her desk and dialed some numbers. 'We finally have a model for this. And right before our funding was about to dry up, too. Qiu will give us the chance to study what we've been wanting to research. Finally.' Zheng sighed, and smiled. 'This Qiu might be in for a surprise.' The line connected and Zheng began making the preparations.

On the way back to the hostel, Qiu felt overjoyed. The colors of the trees looked greener. She could almost see the aromas of the street vendor food in the air. 'This will be the beginning of happiness. The happiness that was taken from me, Jun, the fire, I'll be happy again,' she said to herself.

She decided to stop by a book store to buy some college entrance exam materials, planning on beginning to study for the college entrance exam. Inside, the people seemed happy. They didn't feel any different from before, but Qiu's happiness felt infectious. She couldn't stop smiling, and anyone who saw her couldn't help but to smile in return with an awkward politeness.

After finding the right books, she checked out, and decided to go to an internet cafe for the downtime until six. Hours were spent enjoying the many wonders of cats, checking her email, and playing a few random games. In between videos of cats, Qiu went to her bank website and recorded the routing information, noting the dwindling amount of money she had left.

Around five o'clock, she left the internet cafe, headed toward home, and picked up some street food on the way home. 'Mmmm, delicious,' she thought, smelling the bag as she walked up the stairs to her hostel.

Qiu ate voraciously, savoring the morsels of chicken and vegetables. She washed it all down with water, and then sat on her bed, contemplating what she was about to do. She didn't feel any different. 'Eeeeh! This is so exciting, this is guna be so fun. I can't wait to see how it all feels.' She rubbed her breasts, getting a tingling sense in her groin. Thoughts sprang into her mind of her night with Jun, and shocked her a little. She almost stopped, but closed her eyes and continued to touch herself.

Masturbation was something relatively new to Qiu, as she had only recently learned first hand what sex is like. Before she met Jun that night, she had touched herself only a few times, finding internet sites that depicted men and women doing things that Qiu had never seen before. 'At least Jun used a condom, I can remember that much,' she thought, trying to lift her spirits.

Breaking herself out of her fantasy, she checked her phone, and saw she had to be downstairs soon. She collected her purse, pulled her long, black hair into a ponytail, made sure she had her room key, and went out the door.

She saw a car sitting outside the hostel as she exited the building, and the passenger window rolled down to reveal Zheng sitting in the driver's seat. Qiu smiled, walked over to the car, and got in.

"You ready?" Zheng asked.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Qiu said, smiling. "I've been ready for a while now."


Chapter Seven

The government building was rather plain on the outside, but inside there were plenty of decorations. Flags, plaques, portraits of the great men that built their country were all around the halls.

"Ms. Yuan, right this way," a voice said from nearby the front desk. Qiu saw a middle aged man with big rimmed glasses, smiling and gesturing with both arms which direction to go towards.

"Mr. Hong, I trust the preparations have been completed?" said Zheng.

"Yes, Ms. Yuan. Everything is ready," he turned his attention toward Qiu. "Is this is the signatory? "That's right, this is Qiu," she said. Zheng turned to address Qiu. "Qiu, this is Mr. Hong, he will be one of the lawyers to witness and document the contract."

"Nice to meet you," Qiu said, outstretching her hand.

Mr. Hong grasped it, and said, "And very nice to meet you, young lady. Now, if both of you wouldn't mind following me to the ceremonial signing room, we have the documents ready."

Zheng and Qiu followed Mr. Hong down one of the main hallways of the government office building. Qiu looked up at Zheng, who still wore those high-heels, and felt small beside her. Zheng was looking ahead unwaveringly. Qiu swallowed and kept pace.

Mr. Hong approached a large double doorway, turning to pause before opening one of the doors.

"Here we are," he said, holding the door and ushering them in.

Upon walking into the room, Qiu's stomach lurched. The walls were draped with red velvet curtains, the national flag hanging wide in the top center of the main wall. There must have been a dozen people, standing around a display table in a semi-circle, who all turned when the two women walked inside. They wore black suits, the crowd being mostly men. Walking toward the people, who were all smiling with a welcoming aura, Qiu saw a camera aimed at the table, a portrait of Chairman Mao beneath the flag, looking on impassively as always.

Qiu turned to Zheng, "Are these people all-?"

Zheng cut her off, "Yes, they're affiliated with the company. Some represent the investors, others the science crowd. They all know what you're signing today." Zheng smiled, and walked to greet the awaiting crowd.

Qiu saw in Zheng something she had not noticed before. 'Malice? No, Zheng wouldn't have bad thoughts toward me, she's supposed to be helping me. But what was that expression?' Qiu would ponder this question for many years after that day.

As Qiu neared the group of people, Mr. Hong hurriedly passed her to meet one of the men standing there. There was a great deal of handshaking, and Qiu felt somewhat excluded. After a few minutes of niceties, Zheng motioned Qiu over to the crowd. Qiu blushed upon being introduced, and was offered a great deal of hands to shake.

The men and women of the group circled her, saying things to each other that Qiu couldn't quite make out over the collective garbling. They were all smiling, nodding their heads, and Qiu noticed a couple of times people would point at her, and turn to another person with a hushed voice. It felt a little uncomfortable, but before it went on, Zheng pulled Qiu out of the circle, and walked her to the table.

She put a pen in Qiu's hand and slid the documents toward her. Someone was fiddling with the camera, focusing on Qiu and the table. It felt a little unreal to Qiu, but she forced herself to remember her excitement. 'This is what I want,' she kept telling herself.

"Now Qiu, what you have before you is the same exact contract you took with you and read," said Zheng. "Mr. Hong will guide you through the rest of the process." Zheng stepped back, and motioned to the cameraman to begin filming.

"Thank you Ms. Yuan. Now Qiu, we've got a number of places for you to mark your signature. Before we begin, I must ask for the record if you are in full mental capacity in this moment."

"Uh-yes, I'm aware of what I'm doing," Qiu replied.

"Excellent. Now you have read and fully understand this contract in front of you?"

Qiu looked to Zheng, who only gave a small nod of encouragement with a smile. "Yes, I've read it."

"And you are fully prepared to be bound to this contract, with heavy legal ramifications should you withdraw from this agreement you sign today?"

"Yes, I'll be with it till the end, the end of the contract." She thought back to her rationalization for saying those words. 'One year does sound long, but I can make it. It will be an adventure, an exciting change for some time. It'll be fun, I know it will be.'

"Very good. Now will you read the following page carefully, and when you are ready, sign at the line at the bottom and add the date?" He slid a full page of text in front of her.

"This is the contract?" she asked.

"It concludes the first portion. It holds the information for the first stage of the contract," Mr. Hong replied.

Qiu remembered the portions, knew the general details of each, but above all felt she wanted it. Wanted everything. She read the page, a warm feeling stirring inside her as she did so. Finally, she reached the end. "What's the date?" she absentmindedly questioned anyone who heard her.

Mr. Hong looked at his watch, and told her the date. Without hesitating Qiu signed on the line and dated it. Mr. Hong pulled the page away from her slowly, and just as slowly slid another one just like it in front of her.

"Here is the second portion of the contract, please read each line carefully, and when you are ready, sign at the line at the bottom and add the date."

This process was repeated another four times, Qiu carefully read through, and signed and dated at the end. For the last two pages, she scanned them, noting the same structure, same concepts, a few different words, but nothing that blared out at her. A section titled "Function of Cathodic Devices," caught her eye, but didn't think much of it. She scanned the section, found some familiar words like batteries, voltage, and computer. 'Must be part of the way they study the devices,' Qiu thought. She continued on to other sections, quickly forgetting about the various big words that held no meaning to her.

After getting to the end, she signed the line, dated, and looked up at the crowd around her before starting on the last page. Everyone had eyes locked not on her, but on the pen in her hand. They were quiet, standing stiffly, almost as if they were holding their breaths. She saw Zheng's face, just as straight as the others.

"Here is the final page, please read it carefully, and when you are ready, sign and date at the bottom," Mr. Hong droned on.

Qiu began reading the page, and saw this one was different. It was in a different structure than the others. Rather than listing very detailed descriptions of what she would agree to wear, this one focused on the mental health of the signatory. She found stipulations that she hadn't seen in the contract when she read it back at the hostel. "If the signatory of this contract is declared unable to function independently by a mental health doctor during the time the contract is in force, the company will provide living arrangements at the discretion of the Head of the Testing Department." 'That's weird,' thought Qiu. 'Like, if I go crazy or something? That doesn't make sense.'

"Mr. Hong, this sentence here, about living arrangements, what does it mean?" Qiu asked.

Mr. Hong bent down toward the paper. "It means exactly as it reads, it is all very plain wording," he said.

"Is it ever used?" Qiu asked.

"I'm sorry? What do you mean?"

"Like, has that actually happened to anyone else while they were in the contract?"

"No, it has not happened before," he said. Qiu felt reassured.

She kept reading, blocking the feelings of the people around her out, and read the rest of the page. There were more guidelines that focused on signatory, which would be her, should this or that happen. Some of the clauses were things like suicidal tendencies, losing ability to function, and so on. It all seemed very improbable. She felt depressed after that night with Jun, and losing her parents, more depressed than she'd ever felt before. While she could not push those memories out her mind, she had no intention of killing herself. 'I'm strong,' she thought to herself. 'I can handle anything that's thrown my way.' She continued reading.

Another part of that page was centered on the business aspect of the endeavor. 'If more investors come forward or offer their support, additional instruments may be developed and implemented for study at the discretion of the Head of the Testing Department, yaddha yaddha.' She felt confident in her trust of the company, confident in her trust of Zheng that she wouldn't be going into something she couldn't handle. 'Zheng will watch out for me,' she told herself, 'I'm sure of that.'

Qiu read about the legal ramifications should she attempt to withdraw from the contract. "This contract is legally binding, and should any party not fulfill their obligations listed in the contract, lawsuits may and will be brought up onto the party that fails to meet their responsibilities." 'Hm, intense, thought Qiu as she read on. 'Wow, people could go to prison for not sticking with the contract. Pretty serious stuff. It won't be a problem on my part at least, this is what I want.' Qiu nodded to herself, feeling sure in that judgment.

She skipped around a little, catching the major parts, noting minute details that she didn't expect would matter. "She read the final sentence, "All clauses from page one of the contract to this sentence are final and unable to be retracted." 'Yep, I understand that.' Qiu signed on the line, dated it, and applause broke out among her crowd. She looked up, smiling, not understanding what was so amazing.

'I might be the only one here signing this stuff, but this feels legitimate. These people couldn't be bad or anything.' She turned her gaze to the camera, which was being put away by someone. Above the camera hung Chairman Mao, looking on, a symbol of goodness and trust, in her eyes. 'Hell, we're here in a government building, the government wouldn't allow some shady company to function in its facilities.'

She heard bottles of wine being opened, Zheng was laughing with some of the men, drinks were being poured. Someone patted her on the back, and she looked back, her face full of joy.

Mr. Hong approached her with another paper, speaking in a quieter voice. "This is the bank paperwork, do you have your account information?"

"Yes, I do," said Qiu, reaching down into her purse. She pulled out the paper with the numbers and took the pen Mr. Hong was offering. She recognized the page as the ordinary direct deposit slip that was used by many companies, the same one she had used for her phone store job. She filled in her information, carefully double-checking it was all accurate, and handed it back to Mr. Hong. He accepted it with a smile, and went back to collecting the various documents on the table.

'I did it,' thought Qiu. 'I'm in. Now it's for real.' She stood there smiling, watching everyone around her celebrating. 'Sure is strange, but I guess I should enjoy the attention.'

As Qiu stood there, beaming that everyone seemed so happy with her, she did not notice Zheng moving around the room, speaking directly with each person.

"So, we have your continued support?" Zheng asked a tall man in a suit. The man turned to look at Qiu, and smiled with a glean in his eyes. "Yes," he said. "You have my support, and more, for this one. I'm prepared to double my investment for this project."

"Marvelous, we do appreciate your investments, and I will personally guarantee results we are looking for," said Zheng with a humble tone. The man smirked, and drank down his drink.

Zheng repeated this process with each investor in the room, garnering as much support and funding as she could. 'Qiu sure is popular, this is going to be one helluva testing period,' she thought to herself. 'We might even be able to go all the way with this one, but that will come for the future.'

After some time of watching all the talking and sipping some of the wine, Qiu was approached by Zheng, who had the biggest smile she'd seen yet on her face.

"Let's go Qiu, we're done here," said Zheng. She took Qiu by the arm and led her out of the room, smiling all the way. Qiu felt like a movie star with an escort, the way the people reacted to her exit. 'So strange,' thought Qiu. 'One moment they're stone cold silent, the next they're drinking and laughing.' The significance of the people who acted as witnesses to her contract signing was lost on her.

In Zheng's car on the way home, Qiu felt ecstatic. "So, when do I start?" she asked.

"In about four days, the equipment will be ready. You'll come to the office to have the first stage installed." Zheng replied.

'Installed.' Qiu played with the word in her mind. She was still in the process of digesting the scope of what she was going to go through with, but was excited nonetheless. "In the contract it said there'd be monthly meetings, is that when the pictures are taken?"

"The pictures?" questioned Zheng.

"Like, the modeling. The contract stated monthly 'inspections'. That's when pictures are taken of me wearing the parts?"

"Yes, pictures will be taken each inspection meeting, as well as the survey you answer about a variety of personal topics. You know all this though, why are you asking?"

"Right, just making sure," said Qiu. She looked ahead, watching the rain patter on the windshield. 'I can't wait. Four days. I guess I'll start studying for the college entrance exam in the meantime.'

Driving through the slow traffic back toward Qiu's hostel, Zheng thought about what Qiu had asked. 'Did she really read the whole contract? She should know the plans from here on out.' With a half smirk, she thought, 'Well, she'll be in for a few surprises, but it doesn't matter anymore. The contract's been signed. When Qiu comes into the office next, she'll begin her new life. She'd better be prepared. I plan on getting the most out of this one.'

The traffic light turned green, and the cars began to move slowly.

"When do I start getting paid?" Qiu asked.

"You'll receive the compensation along with the signing bonus on the day you begin to model. So, around four to five business days from now." Zheng said.

Qiu nodded, staring straight ahead, thinking about what to buy first. They arrived at the hostel a short time later, and after a quick goodbye, Zheng was on her way.


Chapter Eight

Qiu spent the next four days preparing a list of items she intended to buy, and daydreaming about her new lifestyle that was about to begin. She'd never had as much money as she would be getting from the job, so Qiu spent some time coming up with a list. She quickly filled pages of ideas for presents to herself and foods she'd buy.

She decided to walk down to the internet cafe, and got some food on the way. Upon logging into her email and bank account, she saw the low funds she had. 'Gotta make it stretch, just a few more days," she told herself.

Four days passed, in which Qiu sat at the internet cafe, bought cheap meals, read some of her college entrance exam prep books, and slept. She took some walks in public parks, a big smile on her face the whole time, enjoying the simple pleasure of people-watching. Finally, the day her equipment was ready had come.

Qiu woke up at ten o'clock, and could hardly contain her excitement. 'It's today, it's really happening,' she thought. After a quick shower, getting dressed in her usual jeans and a dark purple t-shirt, she gathered her purse and walked downstairs to the street.

After a short walk, at a pace that was almost jogging, she arrived at the building. She looked up at it, and took a big breath in. Smiling, she walked into through the door. The attendant waved at her with a smile, nodding as she returned the gesture. In the elevator, up six floors, through the initial hallway, and to the door that held held a treasure within, Qiu believed. 'It might be different, even a little bit scary, but I'm ready. I want this to happen,' she said to herself. A thought of her parents, her old home, leaped into her mind. Suppressing it with a small grimace, she pulled the handle, and stepped inside.

Zheng was leaning over the front desk, talking to the attendant. She turned her heard and stood up to greet Qiu with a smile.

"There she is, you all set to do this?" Zheng said.

"Yes, I'm ready," Qiu replied.

"Perfect. Follow me." Zheng walked to the same door Qiu had been through many times before. Qiu followed, taking steady breaths.

Zheng walked at a brisk pace down the corridor, with Qiu in tow. Past her office, past the room in which Qiu had been so thoroughly measured, and past many more similarly colored doors. They made a left turn at the end of the hallway, continued down the corridor, and finally came to a big door that looked like it came from a hospital. Zheng turned to Qiu with a look of excitement, and pushed open the door. Qiu walked in, Zheng following right behind her.

"This is device application room, as we call it. In here we prepare the devices that are awaiting installment, and through that door over there," Zheng pointed, "is where the operations and installation takes place."

Qiu looked around. It was the cleanest room she had ever been in. 'Feels just like an emergency room or something. One of those clean rooms from movies,' she thought.

"Over here," Zheng said, walking to a table at the far end of the room, "are the devices that will be installed on you today. You may look at them if you'd like. You'll soon know all about them and what they're capable of doing."

Qiu walked to the large stainless steel table, and her mouth fell open. 'This, this is beautiful,' she couldn't help thinking. She saw the chastity bra, the chastity belt, the thigh bands, the collar, the wrist and ankle cuffs, and in a small container saw what would be the tongue stud. Each object was a very polished, machined piece of titanium alloy that looked nearly like stainless steel. Qiu had never seen such flawless metal before, and became short of breath as she reached out to touch the nearest item.

The bra looked about like a sports bra, only all metal. It consisted of two small breast cups that were rounded perfectly smooth on the outside. The semi-circles stuck straight out from the flat metal that would cover her chest, and were only eight centimeters in both height and diameter.

It had a flattened chest area that would cover Qiu's chest from below her breasts, up to her collarbone. The length of the bra looked like it would encompass her whole front torso. There were four bands of the same material that, two running up over where the shoulders would be, and two running from the ends of the sides of the bra. There was a soft, black material on the inside of the bands. Qiu ran her finger over the inner bands, still in awe, noting the sensation felt like leather. The bands weren't closed together, but hanging rigidly with a small amount of flexibility. The bands were four centimeters in width, and about one centimeter in height. On the ends of the bands there were what looked like connection points, which would fit into mating slots. The horizontal bands had similar but opposite looking connecting points, and the upper shoulder bands appeared to fit into the top sides of the lower bands, a short distance in either direction from the center of Qiu's back.

Zheng watched on attentively. She checked her watch, wondering if the physicians would be late. Qiu continued to examine the bra, holding the two top bands and picking it up. It was lighter than she had expected. She looked at the inside of the chest plate, and gasped. In between the small breast cups on the inside of the bra, Qiu saw what looked like a great deal of sensors. 'Heart monitors?' Qiu thought to herself. She also saw an assortment of round nobs in a circular pattern on the insides of the breast cups. They were not more than a quarter of a centimeter tall, equally wide in diameter, all sticking out of the inside of the cups toward the center of the flesh that would be encased within. They were rounded off at the ends, forming miniature domes. At the very tip of the bra cup, Qiu saw what looked like dozens of these rounds nobs, all centered on where the nipple would be. 'There must be fifty to sixty of the round nobs in each breast cup,' thought Qiu. 'What are they for?'

"Zheng, what are these nobs inside the bra here?" she asked.

"We will get to that, all questions will be provided detailed explanations. For now don't worry on it," said Zheng with a smile.

As much as Zheng's reply was an evasion of answering her, Qiu still felt reassured by Zheng's smile. 'I trust this woman. I wouldn't be here if I didn't,' thought Qiu.

Setting down the bra, she moved her attention to the collar. She picked it up, and was surprised again by it's lightweight characteristic. It was a gleaming, silvery band of metal, the same material as the rest of the devices, with black, soft material lining the inside. It was about five centimeters high, perfectly smooth all around, with a thickness of about two centimeters. Qiu thought it looked a little small, the two semi-circle connected at an almost invisible joint. Turning it over in her hands, she saw the inside ring of the band contained those same little round nobs, only these were bigger. The small domes measured two centimeters in diameter, and stuck out about full centimeter. There were sixteen in total, exactly halfway between the top and bottom of the collar, all evenly spaced with about two centimeters between each one.

In between two of the nobs, where another one would have been expected to be, there was instead a square protrusion. Qiu saw there were two of these squares. They didn't stick out any further than one of the nobs, and were curved to the angle of the inner band. The squares were separated by about ten centimeters. They were featureless on the sides and edges, but Qiu saw what looked like a small screen on the protruding end, on the part that would be in direct contact with her skin. 'Weird, did I forget some details of the contract?' Qiu thought.

Pushing any doubts from her mind, she set the collar down gently, and moved to four bands, of two sizes.

"These are the bracelets and anklets?" Qiu asked with a smile.

"That's right," said Zheng.

Qiu picked two of the rings up. Instead of feeling lighter than she'd expected, they were actually quite heavy. 'One ring must weighed more than a pound, wow,' she exclaimed to herself. Imagining herself wearing such heavy jewelry made Qiu smile. Each band was just over one centimeter thick, and resembled solid cylindrical bangles. She thought the bands were also too small, but didn't bother to question Zheng about it. She set them down, eager to see everything.

Continuing down the row to the right, she looked down into a small white container. It held a stud. It looked like a short metal stick with a metal bud the size of a pea on one end, the other pea-sized sphere sitting just next to it. 'Wow, that's bigger than I'd pictured,' Qiu thought. She put her hand down into the container, picked it up. It felt light. "Cool," she said out loud.

Putting down the stud, she moved back to the last objects on the table. She had reached the chastity belt, and ran her fingers over the edges of the bands with a deep sense of awe and appreciation. The belt was just about what she had expected. It looked a little like lingerie, with no legging. Looking at the front of it, it was a solid, featureless V, smooth and shiny. Near the bottom portion of the V, the sides fell in toward the center, becoming concave. The top portion of the V was connected to a wide, thick band that would run around the torso, above the hip bone. The connection of the V with the band was perfectly smooth, no trace of overlapping of materials. Qiu picked up the belt, this being the heaviest of all the items on the table, and inspected the cold, smooth metal. As she picked up the belt, two, long chains that began at the sides of the belt and ended in two, large rings dragged across the table. 'Those must be the thigh bands,' Qiu thought to herself.

The back of the belt looked like a wide thong, a single band running from the bottom of the front V up behind where the butt would be. The band looked like it connected to the top torso one, hanging only a few inches from where the point of the three bands would come together. It was slightly more than three centimeters in width, and not one centimeter thick. It's sides were rounded to a very smooth finish, to prevent chafing of the buttocks. The band that would encircle her body around her waist and up her rear had the same leathery material inside of it it as did the bra, but the outside was smooth, pure metal.

Qiu tilted the belt downward, with some effort, to see two small holes next to each other where the band was thinnest. The holes were spaced three centimeters apart, and had a diameter of not more than one centimeter.

"What are these holes for?" Qiu asked, turning her head to Zheng, her ponytail whipping at the motion.

Zheng smiled, and replied, "They're required for the functions of the belt. We'll get to all that soon. Once the physicians arrive, we will begin the procedures."

Qiu accepted the answer, and tilted the belt back around to look at the inside. It was all of the black material that lined the collar and bra. She spotted another two small holes in the front, directly over where her groin would be. Around the holes, there were steal mating attachments awaiting their components, and the rest was featureless, smooth material. She saw it was rounded inward a little in the center, designed to push a little bit into her crotch area. This was to further prevent any foreign objects access to her groin. The inside of the back band of the belt looked like it was missing a component. There were what looked like open connections to something, but Qiu couldn't guess what they could be used for.

Looking straight down, she did not see the two holes in the bottom of the belt that were visible on the outside. Feeling a tingling sensation in her loins, she set the belt back on the table, careful not to drop it too heavily. She looked at the two thigh bands, about four centimeters in height, and about one and a half centimeters thick. The inside of the rings were lined with the black, leathery material. The rings hung open slightly, the joint being nearly imperceptible. The outsides were featureless, like nearly everything else Qiu had examined, except for two places. There was a point on both rings that were connected by a short link. The link was of the titanium alloy used for every other object, and consisted of hundreds of tiny connections bonded together. This allowed for a relatively free range of motion, while at the same time being as strong a bond as science can create.

The length of the chain was only thirteen centimeters. On the other side of each ring, a similar chain ran from the side of the ring to the side of the belt. This chain was nearly thirty centimeters long. 'That's pretty,' observed Qiu to herself, thinking the links looked like necklaces she'd commonly seen people wear. The long links disappeared into grooves on the sides of the torso band of the belt, ending in solid connection points.

"Zheng-," Qiu started, but then hesitated. She was about to ask how the devices opened and closed, as Qiu couldn't find any visible locks. Zheng looked down at Qiu with a blank face. "Nevermind," said Qiu. 'I know what she'll say, they'll tell me later, blah blah. Forget it.'

The door of the clean room was pushed open with a burst, startling Qiu.

"Ah, right on time. Thank you for being punctual, doctors," said Zheng, turning to greet the two men and woman walking into the room.

"Of course. When you're in our profession, it's peoples' lives on the clock," said the leading man with a grin. "Is this the test subject?" he asked, turning to Qiu.

"Yes, this is the one," said Zheng. Qiu was standing, waiting for an introduction, looking at the doctors setting down bags and pulling on lab-coats. "Qiu," said Zheng, "here is a gown. If you'd like to change before we put you under, you can go behind that curtain over there." Qiu followed Zheng's gaze toward the curtain in the corner of the room. She felt a little nervous.

"This won't hurt, will it?" she asked Zheng.

"Oh no, you won't feel a thing. We'll give you a shot, and before you know you'll be knocked out cold."

Qiu, looking at Zheng's reassuring expression, gulped and took the gown. As she walked to the curtain she heard Zheng walking over and speaking with the doctors. Qiu saw a bed behind the curtain, the upper portion slanted at an angle to allow patients to sit up easily. 'This might as well be a hospital,' she though. A few moments later, and Qiu was standing naked under the gown. She walked back into the room and set her clothes and purse in a chair.

"If you'd like to lie down, we'll be ready with you shortly," a doctor turned to address her, pausing in laying out a sack of clinking tools.

Qiu nodded, and returned to lie down on the bed. As much as she was ready to start all this, she still felt an amount of trepidation being in such a setting. She'd never been able to handle needles, couldn't deal with pain, and couldn't stop fretting over the "shot" Zheng had mentioned.

Before Qiu knew it, a doctor was standing over her, holding a hypodermic needle in one hand.

"This will relax you, Qiu. Just breathe deeply. In, and out. That's it." The man rubbed a bit of rubbing alcohol on her upper arm, and put the needle to her skin. Qiu squeezed her eyes shut, unwilling to face the pinch of the injection. "There, all done," said the man. That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Qiu smiled, nodded, and noticed she felt groggy already. She put her head against the pillow, and looked up at the ceiling tiles. 'Feels like, dreaming,' she remembered thinking. The next thing she knew she was being carted through a threshold, and a mask was brought to her face. The last thing she saw was a very bright light with masked shadowy figures standing over her.


Chapter Nine

The doctors quickly began their work. Zheng had informed them of the usual pre-op information, and they would handle the rest. The first thing they did was move Qiu to the operating table. After carefully places her square in the center, her gown was removed.

The operating table allowed for full three hundred sixty degree range of movement, and easy access to the hard to reach parts of the body. As soon as Qiu was positioned, the operation began. First they removed all of Qiu's hair below the head. Her armpits, legs, arms, pubic hair, everything was removed by a laser. A thick, white cream was then applied generously to all of the hairless areas, and let sit for thirty minutes.

After the short break, the doctors scrubbed every inch of Qiu's body with warm water, soap, and sponges, getting all of the cream and gunk out of their way. The tongue piercing was decided on being implanted first. They carefully found a spot in the center of her tongue towards the back of the muscle that would work. A machine was used to forcibly punch out a tiny hole, and a stainless steel grommet worked into position. The upper half was maneuvered into the hole, the lower half pressed in from below. With a small amount of pressure, the doctors heard a click, and the grommet was stuck in place.

The grommet was only three tenths of a centimeter in inner diameter, but the edges that stuck out onto the tongue was about a whole centimeter in diameter. Bringing to bear the stud, they twisted off one end, stuck the free end through the hole, and twisted back the stud. There was another audible click, signifying the one-time-lock had locked itself together. The stud was secured in Qiu's tongue, only able to move up or down in the grommet.

They next moved to the neck. They positioned Qiu so that her head was tiled back, hair out of the way, and brought forward the collar. The collar was pulled to its maximum diameter, and slipped into Qiu's neck. The curves of her soft skin being met perfectly with the specialized shape of the collar. After lining up the collar so the two small square studs on the inside of the ring would be aimed at the front most section of Qiu's throat, the collar was slowly closed. The band was pressed tighter and tighter around her neck, the rounded studs sinking into her neck, until finally the mating parts clicked together. The collar looked snug from the outside, the studs pressing firmly in around her whole neck. One of the doctors tested the freedom of movement, and were happy to see the collar couldn't be rotated at all.

The bra was next, and would be more complicated. They had Qiu flipped over onto her belly, and suspended the upper half of her body from the table. Firm, pliable, black bands were slid from the bottom of each hanging breast to the base. They were two centimeters wide, and only half a centimeter thick, the edges of both sides rounded to an extremely smooth finish for as much comfort as they could provide. The bands were designed to squeeze Qiu's breasts before being placed into the bra cups, thus making them push outward into the metal domes.

The bands were custom made to fit perfectly, and it took some effort to push the bands fully down to the base of each breast, funneling the sensitive mounds through. When the bands were fully down at the base of each small breast, they pulled the tightening cord that would remove as much slack as they could, cutting off the end of the slack once the bands were tight.

Qiu's petite breasts began to swell and darken. The doctors smeared a clear gel over each tied breast, to which would both serve to increase conductivity with the nodes within the bra. The bra was slowly guided onto her body, the top straps first being put up behind her shoulders. When they were confident everything was in place, they continued to slowly push the bra onto the torso. Satisfied that the breasts were lining up as they should, one held the bra in place firmly, as the other two worked on pulling the straps together. To ensure maximum effectiveness, the breast cups were smaller than a normal bra would be, putting pressure on Qiu's engorged breasts until they were in maximum contact with the inside of the bra.

The horizontal bands that went behind Qiu's back were pulled together, the front doctor pressing the bra plate into Qiu's body. More and more tension was being applied, and finally the two mating halves clicked together. The shoulder straps required just as much effort to pull down to the bands on Qiu's back, and were eventually snapped shut. The shoulder straps put considerable pressure on Qiu's shoulders, just as the torso bands squeezed her sides together. They were tight enough that not even a pin could be squeezed in between them and the skin, anywhere on her body.

The doctors pulled at the bra, looking at the amount of access that could be gained from all directions. Satisfied that it was impossible to move or shift the garment, they moved to put into place the wrist and ankle rings.

Those were very simple, requiring no effort to close around the ends of Qiu's dainty extremities. The wrist bands closed snugly around her wrists. There were shaped in an oblong manner around the wrist, rather than being perfectly cylindrical. This would prevent any twisting around the bone, only giving a very small amount of movement up and down the forearm. Once the bangles were snapped together, the doctors checked to ensure they were secure, and then moved onto the ankle rings.

The ankle rings were a little wider, allowing for movement up the shin and down towards the foot. They were also formed in an oblong shape, to prevent the bands from digging into the bone. They could not be twisted around the leg, but could still be moved a short distance up or down the ankle. The ankle rings were just as easily as the wrist rings closed together.

Moving onto the final item, they prepared the surgical tools. This was the real reason Qiu needed to be asleep, as the operation would be quite invasive.

The doctors positioned Qiu's body so that her rear was sticking up, her legs and torso slumped over the bent table. After extensive cleaning of the rectal area, an enema was administered. A slight groan escaped Qiu's breaths, the sensations straining her unconscious mind. After the enema was drained completely, heavy tools were used to install a sterilized device that looked liked a metal tube with extremely fine and smoothed off rims. It was carefully and slowly inserted into Qiu's bowels, sliding up into her rectum with extreme pressure. It was about eight centimeters in length, one centimeter thick, and three centimeters on the inside diameter. It would act to dilate Qiu's rectum, which would be needed for the way she would defecate whilst wearing the belt.

The next device attached to the tube inside her rectum, and would connect to the belt itself. It was shaped in the form of a cone, the point leading out from Qiu's body, but was more bulbous than a simple pointed cone. It was not more than five centimeters long and three centimeters in diameter. The end attached to the rim of the tube inside Qiu's anus. It would act as a pressurizer, processing the waste from Qiu's rectum into a fine liquid. The device was inserted into Qiu's anus, with only a small portion sticking out, which would connect to the belt.

Once the doctors made sure both objects were in place and ready to be attached to the belt, they carefully flipped Qiu over once more. Avoiding resting her body on her behind, they opened her legs and lifted them up onto elevated saddles. After sterilizing a tiny, metal, hollow rod, one of the doctors gently inserted it into her urethra. The rod was pushed into Qiu's body until the doctors confirmed it was inside her bladder. Fluid quickly began to drain from the rod, and the doctors collected the waste into a container.

The silver rod was about seventeen centimeters from end to end, and made up of an infection-resistant alloy, exactly like the devices in Qiu's rectum. Once Qiu's bladder had been completely drained and a thicker portion of the rod rested just outside the urethral opening, they clicked a button on a computer pad on the table beside the operating space. Inside Qiu's bladder, the end of the rod flared out like petals of a flower, coming into contact with the base of the bladder. Just outside Qiu's urethral opening, the rod's sides mirrored what had happened inside her bladder. The tiny metal hinges locked into place, now preventing any inward or outward motion of the rod. The rest of the rod hung loosely from Qiu's groin.

The vagina was next on the doctor's agenda. A plug was to be inserted into the vagina to deal with Qiu's menstruation cycle. When she would menstruate, the blood and fluids would be suctioned through this hollow plug, and would be pressurized into thin liquid, just as her fecal matter would be. This would allow for sanitary disposal of bodily fluids, without any worrying about the cleanup.

The plug was thirteen centimeters in length and five centimeters in diameter. It consisted of the same metal alloy that would prevent infections from occurring. The plug was mostly hollow on the half that would go furthest into the body, while the other half was crammed with electronics and pressurizers to suck in and compress the fluids that would inevitably be released by Qiu's body. On the end of the plug that would protrude from the vaginal opening, there were attachments that connected to their mates inside the belt. The end that would be deep inside Qiu's body ended in a concave shape with a hole in the center.

The doctors applied a lubricant to the plug that also acted as an antibacterial agent. The plug was then aimed past the hanging urethra rod, and into the waiting vagina. Little by little, the plug was pushed gently in. If one of the doctors looked at Qiu's face, they would have seen mild contortions in her expression.

The plug continued in, stretching the walls of the vaginal cavity more than they'd ever been stretched. The doctor that was slowly inserting the plug felt the plug nudge slightly, and nodded to the others, signifying it had reached the cervix. A long tube similar to the urethra rod was connect at the end of the protruding plug, and they began to close the belt.

The doctors lifted Qiu up, and slowly slid the belt up her legs. One doctor in the front and one behind guided the devices into their openings and mating components. The urethral and vaginal tubes were funneled through the holes in the front of the belt, as the rectal catheter device was fitting into place with the slots in the belt. As the belt was drawn tighter to Qiu's body, the ends of the rods were nearing their mating slots in the bottom of the belt.

The rear portion of the belt was slowly being compressed, the doctor carefully insuring the components mated properly, and the back of the belt was drawing closer together over Qiu's hips. With a short series of clicks, the plug and rods were secured to the belt, and the rectal catheter was in place. The doctors strained to connect the mating parts of the belt in the rear, pulling up on the back of the belt and pushing the sides together. With some effort, the mating clicks were heard as the bands clicked together. The rear band that originated from the point of the front V pulled upward and into Qiu's rear, pushing apart the buttocks like a wide, metal thong. With a rising amount of effort and strain, the rear band slid into the connection above Qiu's waist, clicking firmly into the back of the belt.

The form of the belt pressed firmly on the plug inside Qiu's vagina, the sensors and connections all in place. The design of the front portion of the belt was such that considerable pressure would be applied over the entire vulva, with one exception. There was a concave area covering the clitoris and the skin around it, preventing any degree of sensation to the area. Given the virtually zero amount of give in the belt itself, no amount of squirming, squeezing, or pressing would ever make the belt come into contact with the sensitive nub or the surrounding skin.

The two tubes protruding from Qiu's front orifices were securely connected to a small recessed tub at the lowest point of the belt, and the rear devices led to a similar spot three centimeters behind. There was no room for any amount of movement in any area of the belt, which would prevent any jostling of the extremely delicate tools inside Qiu's organs.

The doctors took a short break, and then proceeded to finish the rest of the procedure. The thigh bands were all that were left to put in place. The thigh bands were designed to prevent a spreading of the legs in an attempt to reach under or around the belt. With comparative ease, the doctors aligned the bands and pulled them open to squeeze Qiu's thighs into them. They were positioned halfway between the knees and the pelvic region. The chain that led from the thigh bands to the belt was designed to prevent the bands from sliding off the leg, preventing their removal.

The short chain that connected the two rings looked like it was built into the rings themselves. There was only a small raised square at the point the chain was connected to the ring, and the chain itself was just about indestructible. The two halves of each ring were pressed together, the doctors taking care to not pinch the skin as the clicks of the locks snapped shut, as the cuffs allowed for very little rotation around the thigh as tight as they were.

Double checking that the belt, bra, and fringe devices were all in place, the procedure was completed. They covered Qiu back in her gown and gently laid her back on the first bed. They gathered the tools, made notes in the computer logs, and when they were finished, two of them carried the supplies out of the room. The last doctor carted Qiu's sleeping body back to the curtained area in the first room. Qiu would rest quietly until the next morning, which would be when she would awake to her new life.

Zheng sat in her office chair, a direct feed to the recovery room that Qiu was asleep in on her monitor. 'Yes, sleep well, my little Qiu,' she thought to herself, an intense look in her eyes. 'You've made the biggest decision, now let me make the rest.'


Chapter Ten

Qiu's journey toward consciousness was filled with numb sensations in many parts of her body. Before rational thoughts became formed, base perceptions of the changes to her body bounced around her mind.

"Uggh," groaned Qiu. She slowly regained her mental faculties, her first thoughts being directed to the dull pains she felt, the origins of which she could not pinpoint. She tilted her head to the left, opening her eyes to see the dimmed lights above her. 'What, what is this? What are these sensations coming from?' Her mind began to race, for a moment forgetting where she was.

She heard a door open, the lights brightened, and recognized the sound of high-heels clicking across the tiled floor toward her. The curtain obscured her view, but in an instant Qiu saw Zheng appear from behind the curtain at her side.

"And how are we doing?" Zheng said, raising her tone at the end.

Qiu's mind was still groggy from the drugs, and filled with the warning bells from her body that something was not right. "I-," Qiu started, but then the memory of the room, the bed, the curtain, the clean room, all rushed back into her mind. "The operation, it-?" Qiu felt something in her mouth, obstructing her words.

"Was a complete success," Zheng cut her off. "Everything went smoothly without complications." She stood over Qiu, smiling.

'Ugg, my body, what are these places that feel like they hurt?' Qiu wondered. She looked down at herself, seeing only the slightly raised flat gown from before. She moved to touch her aching breasts, and stopped the motion in midair, staring at her arms. 'Wow...,' thought Qiu in a slight daze. 'These are beautiful.' Her thoughts fell onto the shiny rings around her wrists. She grasped one with the opposite hand, noticing it would not rotate. She slid it up and down, seeing the extent to which it could move. The range of movement of the rings was not more than two centimeters, gripping her forearm firmly.

Qiu's thoughts fell back to her breasts, which were aching like she'd never felt before. Forgetting for a moment the reason why, she put her hands to her chest. The clink of metal between her wrist cuff and her chest place instantly reminded her of the bra. Her hands were touching her domed breasts, rubbing them through the gown. She yanked a side of the gown off, sitting up and pulling it out from under her. What she saw took her breath away.

The same devices she had looked over not twelve hours before were now in place on her body. Amidst the ocean of numb sensations, a feeling of excitement burst forward. She smiled.

Putting her hands to her chest, she saw the metal plate that conformed perfectly to her body. Two, small domes jutted out from the shiny silver surface, holding her breasts tightly. Gripping the domes with her hands, she rubbed them, trying to sooth the dull pain. Her mind almost couldn't comprehend it when she felt nothing. No amount of rubbing or tapping brought any sensation to her skin beneath the metal, forcing Qiu to rationalize it to her confused brain. 'It's okay,' she thought to herself, trying to slow the frenzy of questions that were popping into her head. 'It's a chastity bra, I'm not going to get any sensations from touching my breasts, it's okay. I knew this would happen, I read about it, I planned for this. It's okay,' she kept telling herself. Regardless of how comforting her thoughts were to herself, the dull pain of her swelled breasts would not leave her.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions about your new devices. I will gather the documentation and we can go over everything," Zheng said, walking away.

Qiu barely heard the words, still trying to process all of the feelings she was noticing. Her hands went to her neck, which felt like something was almost choking her. She could not see the collar, but wrapped her fingers around it. 'Perfectly smooth,' Qiu noted. She tried to pry her fingers in between the collar and her neck, but unable to do so. 'Wow, those nobs that I saw on it press harder than I expected. This is ridiculous, I can't even move it an inch.'

Giving up on her neck, her attention fell to her groin, which she now noticed was the most intense of all of the sensations. She realized she had an extreme urge to pee. 'What is this? I have to pee harder than I've had to in my life.' Overlapping this feeling, she reached down to the belt, pausing. She just noticed the plugs buried deep inside her body, her hands grasping the belt she wore with fervor. "Ohh, my god. This...this is too much. Ohhh.' Her breathing became faster, and as it did her body began to shift more with each breath, disturbing the plug in her vagina.

'Aaahggg, this is for real? How could it feel like this?' her mind shouted. The vaginal walls inside her body were stretched to what felt like their breaking point. Qiu clawed at the belt, her mind screaming at her to alleviate this feeling, the wrist cuffs clinking against the metal.

Zheng had returned to the room, and heard the commotion. Rushing over to the bed, she saw Qiu's head back, back arched, hands clutching at the belt, a low-pitched moaning escaping her mouth. "Hey, hey hey, it's okay. Qiu, it's okay. Hey, stop, listen to me, it's okay. Qiu, stop it, slow down," said Zheng.

Qiu's mind barely registered the soothing sounds. She turned her head, her mouth in a grimace, eyes on the verge of tears, and looked at Zheng. Zheng's face conveyed a great amount of compassion, and Qiu stopped her thrashing to say, "This, thing. I didn't...know," she garbled. The tongue piercing was interfering with her speaking.

"Qiu, you knew about this, this was all in the contract. You told me yourself, you wanted this. You have to accept it now, you agreed to this. Remember the contract signing? You've got no choice but to stick with this."

Qiu's rational part of her mind was slowly winning against her primal instincts. She hesitated, and slowly nodded.

"Now, what you're going through, I have never experienced. But as the Head of the Testing Department, it's my job to work with you on this. I'd also like to think of myself as a friend, is that alright?"

Qiu was calming down, comprehending everything Zheng was imparting to her. 'Yeah, I remember, this is what I want. This will be fun, I want to do this,' she thought.

Seeing that Qiu had quieted down and relaxed, Zheng took a breath. "Good, that's better," she said. She had been bent over Qiu in a concerned posture, and stood back up. With computer tablet in hand, she walked behind the curtain, dragged a chair back to the bed, and sat down. "Now, let's get on with the formal descriptions of everything. You will already know everything, as it is all in the contract, but this will still go over every aspect."

Qiu sat up, feeling the intruder in her anus shifting with her body. The feeling shocked Qiu almost as much as the vaginal plug, rendering her unable to think for a brief moment, overwhelmed with sensation. "Uhh," Qiu squeaked, "I think I need to use the restroom." Her bladder felt like it was pressing inward, attempting to eject the rod inside of it.

"We'll get to that, for now stay where you are," said Zheng nonchalantly. "Now, we'll go from the start to finish. The harness's computer of your harness will-," was all she got out of her mouth.

"What, the harness has a computer?" Qiu interjected.

Zheng stopped, look straight at Qiu, and paused. "How much of the contract did you actually read?" she said.

"Well, most of it," Qiu said with a lisp in her words.

"How about we start with what you do know, and go from there?"

Qiu looked down at her metal-clad body. She felt like she had let Zheng down. Zheng was the only person Qiu had in her life that was more than a stranger to her. At least, that's how she felt.

"Well, I knew about all this stuff I'm wearing now. I must have read the details too quickly, though," she managed, slurring her words noticeably. She thought back to the day reading the contract, remembering the excitement. 'Did I really miss some of the details?' she asked herself. Concluding it was possible, she looked to Zheng with a worried look.

Zheng, visibly calm and concerned, was hiding her true emotions from Qiu. "I understand, Qiu. Don't worry. We can go through it all, and this time, I'll make sure you're crystal clear on everything."

Qiu nodded, feeling a little more relaxed, but through all of this still unable to adjust to the plethora of sensations she was experiencing every moment. Her neck felt pressured; her breasts felt swollen and numb; her hands felt heavy; she couldn't shake the feeling of needing to urinate; her vagina felt swollen and trespassed upon; her anus felt equally invaded; and the final feeling Qiu had in this was the physical weight of the equipment she now wore. She would not feel the full weight of each item until she stood up, but still felt heavier than ever.

"So," Zheng began, "let's start with the computer. There is a computer embedded inside of your belt, which has a multitude of functions. The first function is the connection with the tongue stud in your mouth."

Qiu put her hand to her face, and moved her tongue around feeling the stranger stuck through it.

"As you know, or might know, the tongue stud will remain in place during the duration of the contract. It's function is designed to prevent any sensual oral contact with anyone. There are very powerful readers in the studs that can detect the smallest amount of human DNA. If the readers sense human DNA that is not your own, the computer will administer an electric shock from the stud." Zheng paused, accurately reading Qiu's expression as astonishment. "So you didn't read about that part? What did you think the tongue piercing was supposed to be used for, Qiu?"

Qiu could barely respond, digesting what Zheng had just said. "I don't know," she said, "I thought it was for decoration, or something. All this, stuff, that I'm wearing," motioning at her body, "I thought the piercing was just, like, about new and different things. I didn't think..." she trailed off. 'So that's what the mouth swab was for,' she thought to herself, remembering the day she had her measurements taken.

"Well, it is not the way you expected, Qiu. There is nothing you or I can do about that though. This transcends your subjective feelings. There are a great deal of backers and scientists expecting results from their investments. You signed the contract, you have to work through this," said Zheng.

Qiu knew Zheng was right. 'It's my own fault I didn't read everything. It is,' she thought to herself with despair. 'I can't blame anyone. No one was forcing me to do any of this. I have to take responsibility, I made this happen, so I'll live with it,' she thought to herself with resolve.

"As I was saying," Zheng continued, "if there is even a trace amount of foreign DNA from a human inside your mouth, the stud will release an electric shock. You should feel the shock spread to your whole mouth, but it shouldn't be too intense."

Qiu thought about the idea of someone else's DNA being in her mouth, unable to picture anything. 'Like, someone's tongue? That french kissing thing? Okay, I guess I can avoid that,' she thought.

"The shock will only last a brief moment, and will allow you to purge the foreign DNA from your mouth before another charge is emitted. Do you understand this?"

Qiu nodded, "Mmhm," she mumbled, "I'll just gargle some water or something, right?"

"Right. Now, the next item, your collar. It does not currently have any functions past a decorative necklace, and will remain that way for a while."

"What do you mean about the collar, it currently has no function?"Qiu asked, the effects of the drugs leaving her head.

"Yes. Down the road it will have more purpose, but for now I strongly suggest you focus on your current state, as trying as it is already," said Zheng.

Qiu put her head back, accepting Zheng's judgment. She stared up at the lights above her, and listened to Zheng continue speaking.

"Your bra is pretty straightforward as well. It holds your breasts very tightly, and prevents any level of sensation to be attained from external stimulation. The material is some of the toughest on earth, and short of a bomb going off, the metal you wear cannot be removed. Removed by anyone but our company, of course. In the future, there will be additional functions to the bra, but for now it does nothing except prevent the wearer, that is you, from any degree of stimulation, by yourself or anyone else. Your wrist and ankle cuffs are benign as well. In the future, that will change, but for now think of them decorative bracelets and anklets. They're designed for a level of comfort, and your shouldn't have a problem walking in the ankle cuffs. The belt you wear has many more functions, let's see," Zheng paused, scrolling on the tablet she held, "I suppose we'll start with the waste disposal functions."

"You should be feeling some very interesting sensations right now, in your groin and rear-end."

Qiu sheepishly nodded, slightly blushing.

"Your vagina, urethra, and rectum have been filled with devices that will manage your waste disposal. That's the reason you feel like you need to pee," said Zheng. "There is a rod that has been inserted into your urethra that runs to your bladder. It now acts as your toilet, and will constantly drain your fluid waste from your bladder to the recessed compartment at the base of the belt. This is why you feel you have to urinate, because your urethra is stretched open, and will be from now on. The feeling of needing to pee should die down though, in time. Once it does, you'll no longer feel the need to use the restroom as you've always done before. The waste will simply accumulate gradually into the compartment."

Qiu's face showed some alarm, questions jumping into her head faster than she could think about them. Zheng continued, "The compartment that holds the fluid is pressurized and completely sterile. This compartment will be drained each day at specified times through the hole at the bottom of your belt. This is to ensure there is no overflowing build-up of fluids. If there is an instance where too much liquid is being drained from your bladder, like if you drink a lot of water on a hot day, the compartment will compensate by draining fluid as more comes into it. Be aware of that."

Qiu had a hard time connecting the words Zheng was saying to the feelings she was experiencing. She bent forward, feeling the plug and rectal tube shift inside of her, and tried to see those holes she had seen in the belt yesterday. Sure enough, at the bottom-most section of the belt, there were those two visible holes. Qiu stared at them for a few seconds, then said, "And the back one is for my solid waste?"

"That's right Qiu, but it won't be solid when it comes out," Zheng said. Qiu's face was puzzled. "Your muscles in your colon will push the waste toward the tube, as usual, and when the matter reaches the head of the tube, it will be gently and slowly funneled into a device that will liquidate the waste." Zheng saw the amazement in Qiu's face. "The devices in and on your body are created by cutting edge technology. Our company has access to the field of experimental electronics, and we couple this with our extensive engineering departments. It all might sound like magic, but trust me, it's just science," said Zheng with a smile.

'Wow,' thought Qiu. 'I guess it's pretty cool, I get to use some super advanced technology.'

"The fecal matter will be compressed into a liquid state, and will be drained into a similar compartment as the urine," Zheng said. "Every day, three times a day, the compartments will be purged, draining the fluids out those two holes. No need to worry about toilet paper anymore."

"What times? During the day, what times are compartments opened?" asked Qiu.

"We'll get to that after we go through the last bits here," said Zheng. "Now, the vaginal insertion, must not be too comfortable, right?" Qiu nodded enthusiastically. "I thought as much. Well, what it does is it drains the menstrual fluids during your ovulation period. As the matter nears the plug, it will be softly sucked through a hole, and processed down your belt. It will sit in the urine compartment, and will be expelled on the next waste-release period. Are you following all of this, Qiu?"

Qiu nodded her head, and said, "But why is the plug so far...in me," she said with embarrassment.

"It reaches so far up your vaginal cavity, Qiu, in order to minimize the distance the menstrual waste is in contact with your vaginal walls. If it sat at the base of your vagina, there would be a risk of bacteria accumulating, as we'd have no way of cleaning inside there," Zheng said, nodding her head toward Qiu's groin.

'I guess it makes sense,' thought Qiu. 'I just wish...it didn't feel so, so penetrating.' She told herself she'd have to live with it, learn to ignore the sensation.

"The final pieces are the thigh bands, and are just what they seem. They hold your legs together, allowing for only a limited amount of movement. This prevents any attempt to gain access to the lower parts of the belt, while still allowing for a nearly normal walking motion. The upper half of the belt is quite secure, as you can see for yourself. Try to stick your finger in between the metal and your skin."

Qiu complied, sliding her index finger to the side of the large V-shaped object. She pushed, and twisted her hand, trying to pull upward and reach in, but there was no give. Not even her pinky finger could slide underneath. "Wow," Qiu said absentmindedly. 'It's for real, it's now for real,' she thought to herself. 'I can't touch anything.'

"The computer in your belt will have more importance later on, but that is all you need to know for now. I'll look up the schedule for the waste-release times. Oh, I almost forgot, are you hungry? You've been lying there for half a day already."

"Yea, actually," Qiu replied. "I could eat." She realized the growling from her stomach.

"Okay, I'll get some juice, would you eat yogurt?"

"Yeah, that sounds good."

Zheng left Qiu, and walked to a cabinet out of Qiu's vision. She promptly returned, balancing a juice box on top of the yogurt, tablet in her other arm. She handed Qiu the juice and yogurt, and sat back down. Reaching for the objects, the feeling of the heavy bracelets was all Qiu could think about. Taking the items, she tore open the plastic spoon and straw, opened the lids, and consumed the food voraciously. Qiu's mind was acutely focused on the tongue piercing as she drank and ate, feeling the studs touch against her mouth and click on her back teeth. 'Such a strange feeling,' she thought, 'but I think I like it.'

"The times for the waste-release occurrences are set to nine am, three pm, and lastly at nine pm. You'll need to sync a clock or watch you have to our time, as you won't have any warning when it happens. Your bowels and bladder have already been emptied, so there shouldn't be any waste to dispose of until tonight. Be sure to take care of where you are during those times, as forgetting about it could be messy. I presume you have a cell-phone?"

"Yea," Qiu said in between bites of yogurt. 'So I'll be forced to get to a toilet at certain times each day? I'm not sure how I feel about that. I guess I didn't think about these kinds of details before. It all was too exciting, I must not have been thinking clearly. Well, I'm sure it won't be too bad.

"I'll get it for you." Zheng stood up. "Is it in your purse?" she asked Qiu, referring to her cell-phone.

"Yea, the side pocket," Qiu said.

Zheng returned, looking intently at the phone as she walked. Sitting down, she handed it to Qiu. Qiu sat the cartons down on the bed next to her, and took it. "We'll just match your clock with ours," said Zheng, allowing Qiu to scroll through the menu to the clock. "You ready?"

"Yes," Qiu replied.

"It is...nine thirty seven in ten seconds."

Qiu clicked some buttons on her phone. "Okay, got it," she said.

"Perfect. That's all I needed to cover with you today, so you can finish eating and be on your way. Oh, that's right," Zheng said, "you won't be able to wear pants anymore. We can provide you with a skirt to wear home, but then you should stock up on suitable clothing to accommodate your new garments."

Qiu, pulling the spoon from her mouth, said, "Yeah, I didn't think about that." 'Oh well. More shopping, more fun,' she thought to herself.

"You'll be credited with the signing bonus by tomorrow at the latest. One month from today, you'll come back to this office for the beginning of the study of your circumstances, and will be payed on the same day you check-in. I'm going to go find you a skirt, I won't be long." Zheng left Qiu on the bed, and walked out of the room.

Qiu was alone, alone now for the first time since she had awoken. She lifted her hands to her breasts, cupping them strongly. 'Nothing. I can't feel anything,' she thought. 'Ahhg, they feel so swollen though.' Moaning, she tried to massage the silver domes, but couldn't move the metal plate at all. Reaching below her breasts, she tried to get a grip to pull or push the bra. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't even get a fingertip under the metal. It was smoothed nearly perfectly to the contours of her skin, and exerted not a small amount of pressure into her chest.

Qiu closed her eyes, strained her head back in the pillow, bent her neck, swirled her tongue, caressed her metal chest, twisted her legs as much as they could move, and let the waves of new feelings wash over her. The tongue stud felt so alien, unnatural. Her neck felt firmly squeezed. There was no feeling in her chest, save the dull pain of her breasts. Her hands, gripping the silver domes, the wrist cuffs clinking against the bra. The plugs in her nether regions shifted with her movement, bringing nearly unbearable sensations, a mixture of pleasure and pressure in places she had never felt anything before. Her thighs being compressed, the short length of chain preventing more than the smallest of separation. Her ankles felt heavy, the ankle cuffs dangling slightly as she strained to lift her legs. Qiu let out a loud moan. Words could not describe what she felt. Amidst the sensations, that feeling of excitement, of happiness for what she had gotten into, arose again. 'This...this is amazing. These feelings...just indescribable,' she thought with a smile.

The opening of the door pulled Qiu back to reality, as Zheng strode back in across the tiled floor.

"Here we are. This should be suitable for your return home today," Zheng said, setting a skirt on the bed. She stood over Qiu, who was smiling happily, her hands resting above her head, body outstretched. 'Wow. I think this study is going to be the best we've ever carried out,' Zheng thought to herself. She licked her lips, an eager look in her eyes. "Before we send you on your way, do you have any questions you'd like to ask me?"

Qiu looked back at Zheng, her mind trying to ignore what her body was feeling. "Uhhm, I don't think so. I don't need to do anything, just come back in a month?" she asked.

"That's correct. No training or conditioning will take place for some time, so just go about your usual life. We've set out your whole monthly schedule for the duration of the contract, you can get a copy of it at the front desk," said Zheng, motioning with her head through the walls toward the desk.

"Great, I guess that's it then," Qiu said, beginning to swing her legs over the bed.

"Here is my contact information. Should you have any issues or questions, I'll be available most of the time to assist you," said Zheng, handing Qiu a blue business card.

Qiu, now sitting up erectly, took the card. Listed on the card was Zheng's name, title, company name, e-mail address, and phone number. "Thanks, I'll remember," said Qiu. She slid off the bed, her feet landing softly. When her feet hit the floor, the foreign objects within her exploded against her skin, causing Qiu to almost fall to her knees. Zheng caught her, holding her by her shoulders.

"Woah," said Qiu, looking up at Zheng concerned look.

"It might take some time to adjust to it all. Take it very slowly for the first few weeks, give your body time to adapt to these changes," said Zheng.

"Right, I'll do that."

Standing back up, being very conscious of what the slightest movement could cause her to feel, Qiu picked up the skirt. She bent over to step into it, struggling against the bra that did not bend with her body. Lowering the skirt as much as she could, she tried to raise her leg, but couldn't raise it high enough, her thigh being restricted by the band. As she raised her leg, the objects inside her moved, a soft moan escaping Qiu's lips.

Observing Qiu's attempt to kick her leg up, she said, "You might need to sit down for these kinds of actions from now on, Qiu."

"Yeah, I guess so."

Qiu stood back up, her breathing becoming heavy, a light sweat escaping her pores. She brushed her hair out of her face, and began walking toward the chairs in which her other clothes still lay. Qiu got not more than a few steps before stopping, unable to concentrate on the simple action, her groin exploding in sensations. Her butt felt pressed, the thong band squeezing tightly inward between her buttocks, preventing the large fatty muscles from resting naturally together. She looked down at the belt, trying to imagine the devices stuck inside of her that was causing such deep tremors.

In addition to the deep sensations Qiu was experiencing, her steps were limited drastically by the thigh bands. Stretching one leg forward, the band tugged against the bond that connected it to her other thigh, reducing her gait to what Qiu felt were baby steps.

"Walking will be, interesting, to say the least. You must have been aware of this though, even if you skipped over some areas of the contract, right?" Zheng said.

Qiu turned back to face Zheng, her first thoughts coming to a feeling that she had disappointed Zheng somehow by not having done what she said. Pleasing Zheng, or at least not giving Zheng reason to think less of her, was one of Qiu's priorities, as Qiu wanted someone to look up to.

"Yes, I read it about it. I knew it would be like this," Qiu replied, lying straight to Zheng's face.

"Good. Now, if there is nothing else I can help you with right now, I have some business to attend to. Don't forget to pickup the schedule from the front desk. If you have no further questions or problems, I'll be seeing you in a month. Alright, Qiu?"

"Sure, yeah. I should be able to manage. See you in a month," said Qiu, a little unsure of her own words.

Zheng smiled, and walked to the door. Before pushing it open, she looked back with a sympathetic smile, and said, "I hope you enjoy yourself this first month, Qiu. I believe you'll be needing your usual cheery attitude in the time to come," and without another word was out the door.

'Yeah, thanks,' Qiu responded in her mind. Pushing any growing doubts from her thoughts, Qiu turned back to her task at hand.

She stepped cautiously to the chairs, learning how to minimize the mind-blowing sensations that clouded her mind on every step. Reaching the chair, she turned to sit. When her bottom hit the carpeted seat of the chair, Qiu's rectal plug shifted the tiniest amount, the weight of her body pressing it inward. Her hands shot down to the chair, lifting herself up, her mouth open, breathing heavily.

Holding herself up for a few moments, she slowly inched her way back down. 'Slowly, slowly," Qiu thought to herself. Seated once more, she bent forward to slide on the skirt. The same feelings erupted through her rear-end and groin, causing her to let out a high-pitched squeak. 'Wow, this might take some time to get used to.'

Stepping into the skirt, she pushed herself up from the chair, holding the garment with one hand. Standing, she pulled the skirt up fully over her metal-clad waist. Looking down, she saw no trace of what she had on beneath. 'Cool, no one will ever know.'

Reaching down to her t-shirt, she lifted it up over her head, pulling it on. Looking down again, she saw her bust line looked just about the same as it had before the bra had been locked on her. 'Yeah, you can't see anything. My boobs are jutting out a little, but it doesn't look strange or anything.' Putting her hands to her chest, she smiled again at the fact that she couldn't feel anything. The dull, swollen feeling of her breasts wasn't subsiding, but it wasn't intolerable.

After going through something like a ritual to pull on her socks and sneakers, she stood up to take inventory of herself. Without the distraction of the two large invaders shifting around inside of her, Qiu was still aware of the great urge to urinate. Trying to ignore the feeling, she looked at her physical appearance.

Touching her wrists, the cuffs felt warm, immobile. Her ankles were adorned in similar cuffs, which rested just above her socks. 'I look like I'm just wearing a pretty collar and matching bracelets,' Qiu thought. The pressing of her collar was another thing that Qiu could not push from her mind, a constant, gentle, choking presence. 'I can't wait to look in the mirror when I get home,' she said to herself with a giddy excitement.

Tying her hair back into a ponytail with the hair band, jeans and purse in hand, she set out to the front desk to retrieve the schedule. Each of her steps brought forth massive tingles within her belt, but Qiu strengthened her will, focusing on walking. 'One step at a time, come on, Qiu,' she thought to herself. Finding a rhythm that gave her the least amount of distracting feelings, Qiu pushed through the door and turned into the hallway. Remembering the route from yesterday, she was on her way.

With the length of the hallway, Qiu became much more aware of how limited her pace was. The distance she had covered the day before, following Zheng to the operating room, now took her nearly twice as long to traverse. There was the faintest clinking sound with each step Qiu took, the small chain between her thigh bands being pulled to its longest extent and then given slack. It wasn't much louder than a ticking of a watch, and Qiu only noticed it because it synced with her stride.

Qiu struggled to maintain her concentration, her short gait and the feelings of each step becoming her entire world. She turned and looked into a room on the left as she passed an open door, to see a man sitting behind a desk similar to Zheng's. He was bent over the desk, pen in hand, phone squeezed between his shoulder and ear, speaking into the receiver. He looked up as Qiu passed. Qiu turned her head forward, not wanting to stop in the rhythm she had found.

As she approached the door to the waiting room, she passed by the shut door of Zheng's office. 'See ya,' she thought to herself. Zheng had become more than a corporate figure to Qiu, but she wasn't quite sure how she thought of her. She liked her, and that was enough for now.

Walking slowly into the waiting room, the skirt swishing in the wind of the door's breeze, she approached the attendant.

"Hello miss. This is your schedule for the near future," a woman said from the chair behind the desk. She handed Qiu a thin folder, which Qiu accepted with a smile.

Pausing a moment too long, Qiu said with a slight slur, "Thanks," and turned to leave. She was still having trouble focusing on herself, and did not want to interact with other people just yet.

A quick trip down the elevator, past the lobby attendant that didn't pay the girl with the funny walk any attention, Qiu was out the door and in the hot sun of a spring morning.


Chapter Eleven

Qiu decided to not test herself by walking all the way home. After some failed attempts, she managed to flag down a taxi. Stepping off the curb onto the street and opening the back door, she tried to step inside. She almost fell over, her leg not being able to obtain the height of the cab's floor. Catching herself on the door, pressing her lips together to suppress the noise from the burst of sensitivity from the plugs inside of her, she turned around to get in rear-end first. After tossing her jeans and purse in, she slowly lowered herself to the cushioned seat, trying as much as she could to avoid disturbing the belt's attachments.

Upon being seated, she pulled herself in, carefully swinging her legs in tandem into the car. Closing the door with a deep breathe of relief and starting to sweat, she told the driver the address. When she spoke, she was instantly self-conscious of how she sounded, slurring each word. 'This might be more challenging than I'd imagined,' she thought. The cab driver thought for a moment to contemplate Qiu's words, nodded, and began to drive.

With each little bump of the car as the cab drove down the street, Qiu was sharply aware of the plugs, shifting slightly against her body. She struggled to steady herself, trying to prevent a moan from escaping her mouth. This continued for the whole ride back to the hostel, the driver contently listening to some radio, unaware of the situation of the young woman in the backseat.

Arriving at her destination, Qiu payed the driver, blushing slightly as the driver looked at her wrist band as he took the money. She scooted herself out of the cab, feet first, and got out. Closing the door, she stepped up on the curb, just barely being able to get her foot onto the cemented sidewalk. Taking the few short steps to the hostel's door, she tried to find the rhythm that she had earlier. She felt like each of her steps pushed the objects deeper inside her, but they were not moving at all. Her vaginal and rectal walls were the culprits, shifting with each step Qiu took, rubbing against the plugs.

Her face was red and she was out of breath by the time she reached the elevator, the moving floor provided an enormous relief. 'How am I ever going to go up and down stairs?' Qiu asked herself. Riding the elevator alone, she arrived at her floor, made it to her room without much difficulty, and shut the door behind her.

"Uhhhhg, finally," Qiu said out loud. She dropped her jeans and purse on the bed. Pulling off her t-shirt, she sat down slowly on the bed, and pulled off the skirt. She stood up, and went to the mirror above the desk. What she saw took her breath away again.

Qiu saw her body, from thighs to neck, covered in the metal of her devices. There was about twenty centimeters of bare skin between the belt and bra, and a sliver of bare skin between the bra and collar. The rest of her body, from the thigh bands up, reflected the light from the sun through the window curtain. 'Woooow, this is....amazing,' Qiu said to herself.

She touched it all, every inch of her metal-clad body, testing the security everywhere. 'I can't get the tiniest bit of a finger in anywhere.' She turned around, seeing the thong pressing her buttocks apart. Reaching down, the wrist band clinking against the metal, she tugged at various places. 'Nothing.'

She reached to her neck, watching herself in the mirror, staring with wide eyes and an open mouth at the thick metal band around her skin. She tugged at it, pulled in all directions, the small nobs on the inside of the collar applying equal pressure around the entire area. She tried to twist it, but like the wrist and ankle cuffs, it wouldn't budge.

Opening her mouth, she stared at the metal grommet and stud with wonder. She saw what had been causing her problems in articulating her words, touching it softly with her fingers. She moved it up and down in the hole, but there was very little space for it to maneuver.

Overcome with the image of herself, she tilted her head back as her hands fell to her groin. She walked her way over to the bed, and throwing caution to the wind, let herself fall back onto it. The explosions that rippled from her sex and anus sent Qiu soaring like a rocket into space. A shout would be the best word to describe what came from her lips, her mind reeling with the most powerful pulses of nerve endings Qiu ever felt. Her legs spread as far as they could, hands pressed to her vulva, Qiu was rubbing her hands on the metal that covered her sex.

She was unaware of the cavity in her belt that acted as a shell above her clitoris, as the detail had been buried in one of the many paragraphs of the contract that Qiu had attempted to read, but couldn't retain the meaning of the words. Opening her eyes, she bent forward to look down at the upside down V that covered her, hands still rubbing the spot her clitoris should be. 'Why can't I feel anything?' she thought. Her wrist bands made metallic banging sounds as she began to pound her fist over her sex in frustration. She tried to pull at the belt, to get around it, to move it, anything. She wanted to feel something, to feel more than just penetrated by those plugs that would dispose of her waste.

After some of the longest minutes of Qiu's life, she faced the fact that she couldn't get any sensation through to her womanhood. 'I knew I'd be wearing this, but I didn't expect it to keep me from touching myself. This was supposed to be to stop another Jun from happening, uggh, why can't I feel anything?' Qiu thought. She began attacking the belt again with a fervor, making clanging sounds as metal hit metal.

Desperate for any release from the edging, she attacked the bra that held her engorged breasts, trying to feel anything. Her conscious mind told her she had already tried that, that there would be no way to feel her breasts, but a primal feeling of lust took over. Her hands each grasping a dome, rubbing them intensely, trying to twist them, hitting them, pressing them in every direction. It all came to nothing.

"What the fuck! Agghh, why can't I feel anything!" she shouted.

A wave of anger rose within her, but slowly left her, sadness taking its place. Still clutching the domes that imprisoned her numbed breasts, Qiu began to cry. She cried in self-pity for her situation, and then thought of Jun, of her parents, and of her village that she had left behind her. Qiu's emotions raged within her as she sobbed, putting her face in the pillow. She could still not forget her life, which not two weeks ago was so different from where she was today.

After a long stretch of crying, Qiu wiped the tears from her eyes, and leaned up in the bed. 'They're gone. My mom and dad, are gone.' The unspoken words brought chills down her spine. 'I'm here now. I have this job, I wanted to do this. I wanted to wear these things, I'm going to be alright. I'm going to study for the college exams, go to college, and live my life. You're strong, Qiu. You're strong, you can do this.' Qiu's thoughts of self-encouragement brought her spirits back up.

She sat up and looked at the window, the curtains bright yellow from the afternoon sun. 'I'll be okay. I've just gotta take it one step at a time,' she told herself. Her stomach growled. Hunger was calling her, telling her to eat. Looking down at the bed, she had a moment of contemplation, and decided to go out for food. Carefully pulling the skirt up her legs and pulling on a fresh t-shirt, she walked to the mirror. Her hair was matted in various spots along her head, her eyes still a little red. Pulling a brush from her belongings, she brushed her hair flat, left it hanging as it was and headed to the door.

On the way to the elevator, she passed a few people, but was too busy trying to concentrate on taking short and steady steps to notice anything about them. Outside, she walked her way down to a street vendor, and told the old woman what she'd like. The garble of her words made her her blush, becoming aware again of her inability to form words properly. Returning to the hostel with food in hand, Qiu decided she'd need to practice speaking. 'Like learning how to talk all over again. Oh well, I still like this tongue stud.'

Getting back to her room, she savored the aromatic meats and vegetables covered with rice. With every bite, she swirled her tongue around the food, enjoying the novelty of the piece of metal in her mouth. Finishing her meal, she cautiously sat down on the hard wooden chair of the desk, and pulled out the college entrance exam study guides. Opening a book to a random page, she tried to read the line of text, listening to herself. She laughed, hearing how absurd she sounded. With a bit of determination as well as hours of practice, she felt she could manage to speak again. Some sounds still were a little hard to pronounce clearly, but she was confident she'd be able to talk with people. After deciding she could speak well enough, she studied for a while.

While she was concentrating on various subjects, she could not shake the feeling that she needed to pee. She wasn't moving around, so the plugs within her did not irritate her as much, but the rod that held her urethra stretched open was throwing off her focus. Not knowing what else to do, she tried to ignore it, with only mild success.

Checking the time, she saw it was almost nine o'clock. Remembering that the belt would automatically dump the waste from her body, she toddled over to the toilet. Letting herself down slowly, Qiu sat on the toilet, and waited. After a few minutes, she heard a faint whirring that sounded like an extremely quiet hairdryer. She looked down at her crotch, the belt biting into her waist as she bent over, and saw some liquids falling from the tiny holes. It looked like a faucet, the way the waste was falling steadily. The pressurized compartments shot their holdings out through the openings, the fluids making a splashing sound as they hit the toilet water.

'Sounds just like I'm pissing,' noted Qiu. She was happy that she wouldn't need to be embarrassed using public toilets, as no one would perceive anything peculiar. Qiu observed the sensation of needing to pee was not diminishing as the waste was being released.

Waiting the few moments it took for the holes to come to a slow drip and then stop, Qiu took a wad of toilet paper and rubbed over the holes. Looking down at the paper, she saw it was completely dry. 'That's convenient, I don't even need to wipe it off. I still feel like I need to pee though. What can I do, sit here all night?' Waiting for the urge to leave her, Qiu got impatient and gave up.

Returning to the main room, Qiu felt hungry again. She made the short trip that took her longer than she expected because of her short stepping, she found a small take-out restaurant. Ordering the dish, she was able to say her words nearly perfectly, the cashier not hesitating to list out the total and exchange a receipt for the money Qiu handed to him.

Walking home with her focus on nothing but keeping calm about the plugs shifting annoyingly within her, she almost missed the ATM. Qiu stopped to check her account for the money from the contract. She saw the money from the signing bonus had been deposited, which made Qiu smile. ' I can buy things now.'

Continuing her trek back to the hostel, the night sky slowly cooling the air, Qiu was planning out her next day. In her room, she ate her food, playing with her tongue piercing as she did, and decided to sleep. Pulling off her t-shirt, skirt, and socks and shoes with some effort, she started to pull at her bra. 'Oh yeah, I guess I sleep in this stuff now.' She'd absentmindedly been undressing, forgetting that the metal on her body would not leave her.

Setting an alarm on her phone, Qiu switched the lights off, and lied in the dark above the sheets for a while. In the darkness, she closed her eyes, moving her hands up and down her body, touching herself in every area she could. With one hand on her groin, one at her chest, she smiled as she was yet again denied any feeling of her own touch to her most sensitive places.

Rolling over, she pulled the sheets over her body. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw the metal domes on her chest, rising and sinking only the slightest amount as she breathed. She laboriously flipped herself over to sleep on her stomach, her thigh bands inhibiting the natural kicking motion required to turn one's body. Resting her weight on her chest, she did not feel any pressure on her breasts as she normally did, the swelled masses already under as much pressure as they could withstand.

Drawing her hands beneath her pillow, Qiu shut her eyes, trying to let sleep take her. The constant presence of the plugs impeded on her mind, preventing her from completely relaxing. Eventually, after hours of semi-consciousness, Qiu fell into sleep. Her dreams were peaceful.