Disclaimer: these stories are a work of fiction.
The Storm Knights stripped her naked, bound her heavily, tightly gagged her, and dragged her to the Dragon Court of the Empire.
There they pushed her down and locked a short chain between her neck collar and a ring embedded in the floor, so that she could not stand.
The dark stones were cold, and she shivered.
The Dragon Judge entered the chambers, the Storm Knights clashed their pikes against their shields, and the bailiff cried, “All rise!”
All rose, except for the prisoner, who could not. Had she wanted to.
The fire pits flared as the Judge sat upon the dragon chair. His words echoed across the silent chamber.
“The prisoner has been tried and found guilty of high treason for rebellion.
“Under the laws of the empire, there is only one possible sentence: death.
“It lies within the discretion of the court to grant a quick and painless death, or to make an example of the criminal to deter others.
“Given the unmitigated and heinous nature of this crime, the court sentences the prisoner to death by torture, and commands the executioners to make that death as slow and as painful as they may devise.”
The Judge paused.
“The court is also in receipt of a petition under the Experimental Subject Act from… the… ‘Erotic Arts Institute’… requesting that the prisoner be remanded to them for experimentation.”
“The court cannot imagine how any scientific result by… ‘Erotic Arts’… could possibly outweigh the salutary effect of swift and certain punishment for these heinous crimes.
“However, the petition is valid under the laws of the Empire, and so by order of the court is granted.
“Yet to be absolutely clear, the the sentence of this court is not annulled, but merely held in abeyance until such experiments are completed.”
The room is white, so very white.
She is gagged and bound to the table, but not uncomfortably so. And she’s warm, warm and comfortable as she hasn’t been since she was taken.
The experimenter speaks, dictating notes.
“We have indications that this process is enhanced when the subject is aware of what will happen.
“Traditionally brainwashing has been attempted through pain and overwhelming sensation such as bright lights, loud noises, or sleep deprivation.
“Our hypothesis is that this may actually be counterproductive as it simultaneously induces resistance while brainwashing attempts to overcome it.
“We believe that brainwashing may be more effectively accomplished through pleasure…
“…and some have tried using drugs such as opiates, however that inevitably leads to drug tolerance so that ever increasing dosages are required… we’ve found that a natural approach to pleasure works better over the long term…”
She floats, floats, floats…
She cannot remember.
Her past life is like a dream that one forgets upon awakening.
Awaking into another dream, a different dream, a dream of… ecstasy.
In the beginning she had plans. Plans to pretend to go along with the experiments, to bide her time, to wait for her chance to escape…
Now she can no longer remember.
One small nagging thought remains… it’s hard, hard to speak.
She manages to whisper, “…the sentence?”
“Ah,” says the experimenter, “by order of the court your sentence of death by torture is to be carried out when we are done with our experiments.
“But you see, the law specifies no time limit for how long the experiments may continue.
“We can keep you forever…”
The last thought fades away, forgotten too.
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