Slaves of Rubi-Ka

[________Elle DiLaine]

Elle watched as =Audit= took down yet another of the loathesome Chimeras. In her hands she held the heavy rifle Betji had suggested she buy. She didn't like it much, but it was a good weapon. Elle wondered if Betji realised she'd never even so much as touched a gun. The agent seemed to be a nice enough woman. Elle liked her independence. It was fun to call her "Madam Betji" when Betji kept insisting she and Thayami drop the "Madam."

Elle thought for a moment about Thayami as =Audit= went after another Chimera. Thay was so quiet, so timid. You didn't meet many people like her in Elle's business... well, former business. The people you met were slimey, insensitive, and purely conceited fools. Too many days at the office sucking up to these pitiful shells of humanity. Too many nights out to dinner with "suitors" as her mother called them. "Suitors" that reminded her entirely too much of her coworkers. Every one of them had looked at her with credits on their mind.

Not that Elle wasn't pretty... she was sure there was more than credits to the short-lived relationships. Her enormous bed with old-fashioned satin sheets probably played in their daydreams as well.

"=Audit=, follow me. We're moving on."

"I will follow you wherever you go, Master."

Elle walked quickly, frowning down at the greenish mud accumulating on her combat boots. Thayami was the first real human being she'd ever gotten to know. The day after Elle's arrival on Rubi-Ka, Zette had agreed to interview her. Thay was waiting at the door to Rompa to escort Elle to a table. She had smiled and asked Elle why she wanted to be a slave.

Elle wondered now if Thay had wanted to know, or if Zette had told her to ask.

Not that it mattered....

"Charge!" =Audit= shouted, running madly toward a Predator. Elle looked up, startled. There was =Audit=, banging away at a huge cat-like thing, and the cat ripping entire pieces of metal from =Audit='s shell.

Elle winced and fired the big, akward gun at the Predator. It turned to her and slashed away with enormous paws, slicing into her armor. Elle dropped the gun and began weaving her hands through the air. Within moments, a line of nanobots flew from her fingertips into the cat, freezing its internal organs. The thing dropped in a dead heap at her feet.

Elle looked at =Audit= and sighed. He looked ready to fall to pieces, but he wore the same calm, robotic expression he always did. After all, metal can't smile or cry.

"You need an upgrade. A big one. Not only can you barely kill a measely cat, you can't even tell a Sir from a Madam! I think you've even lost your charm with Mistress Zette."

"Noted."

"How can I hope to be sold to a respectable Master if I'm dragging along an outdated piece of scrap?"

"Rompa Bar: It's all about the booty! Operated by Wayne Harbinguer."

Elle started to retort something along the lines of =Audit='s inability to put things into context... but then she realised what he was saying.

"I don't want him to buy me... he "frees" his slaves, =Audit=!"

"Noted."

Elle shook her head and sighed. There was a nice set of Carbonum armor from Mr. Harbinguer laying neatly in a drawer at home. Just waiting for her to be able to wear it. Now, why did this man do such nice things?

A beaurocrat that was nice without having his own agenda was not a beaurocrat at all. How could she possibly---

Elle stopped walking. She ran a hand through her hair and looked at =Audit=. He stood still, watching her.

"=Audit=, why does Unole work for Mr. Harbinguer?"

"Unole was sold to Wayne Harbinguer by Mistress Zette."

"Hmm... so, there is nothing in public records hinting that she is still a slave?"

"No, Master"

"Of course not... why would there be any proof one way or the other? Alright, =Audit=... let's go home. I'm tired."

"Shop til you drop in Omni-1 Trade!"

"...no."

[Khuri]

"When I woke up today, i was alone again... alone in this apartment Mistress Zette gave us to live in."

Short time after Elleiah had become a slave, she was offered to work for Rompa Entertainment as Waitress. Same as Unole. They both live now in an apartment of Mister Whaynn, the Director of Rompa Entertainment.
Thayami was alone in this apartment again. Not that she was used to something else, but she started to really like Elleiah.

"I need to visit her really often" Thayami said to herself. "She will do a great job there, I'm sure of it. Hopefully she won't forget me with her new work."

Thayami wasn't sure about Rompa Entertainment. She didn't like Whaynn much. He seems to kinda ignore her. Maybe because Mistress Zette mentioned to him Thayami is her bodyguard and not for sale. Maybe he lost his interest in her then. Oh, but she got an offer from Rompa Entertainment. From Headlessjack. Short time after she was the first time at Rompa, after she had become a slave, he spoke to her. Offered her to work at Rompa. To clean the toilets or as his personal entertainer...
Thayami told Elleiah her thoughts about Whaynn. But Elleiah assured her it was ok and made it plain to her that she should better keep quiet about it in front of Mistress Zette. So Thayami kept silence.

-----
She was strolling around Rome when she got a call from her Mistress. She said she got something for Thayami. When they met in a Shop, a lady was with Mistress Zette. She gave Thayami several kinds of new armor to test.
Thayami was really glad. Her old armor was a collection of many pieces which didn't fit together and had been really battered from the missions she did; burned, tattered, worn-out. She decided for a new Flak armor. When they had finished, Mistress Zette took Thayami by her side and told her, she want to give her some training now.

"T-training?" Thayami stuttered and shivered.
"Yes, I want to test your skills, Thay." Zette answered slowly. "Now go and try to get a mission from one of the mission terminals. I will follow you and watch you."

Thayami was nervous. She recieved a mission in Rome... inside the building she started rushing through it and finished it before she even cleaned up half of the building from the clanners hiding inside. Mistress Zette was not very pleased.
Thayami had to do another mission. A harder one. When they entered the building, they saw it was filled with Hellhounds and other creatures. Her new armor did a good job for Thayami and little wounds and scretches she got healed by Zette.
The mission was almost done, when Thayami shot another Hellhound and walked to one of the crates inside the room. She quickly opened it, when the trap got activated. A huge fireball filled the room, Thayami appalled and stumbled backwards, but then revived from the shock and attacked the two salamanders who had jumped out of the crate.

"I-i'm sorry, Mistress. I-i didn't saw the trap..." Thayami stuttered.
"It is ok, I'm not hurt." Zette just answered and walked out of the room.

When the mission was successfully completed, they left the building again.

"Around 30 minutes for a building filled with Hellhounds. Not bad at all." Zette said to Thayami.
"Thank you, Mistress."
"But there have been a few mistakes which shouldn't be." she said and looked into Thayami's face.
Thayami lowered her view and looked on the ground, pawing with her feet on the ground. "I-i'm sorry. I didn't saw the trap." she said with a tiny voice.
"You didn't saw it, or didn't you even search for it?" Zette asked vividly.
"I-i... I didn't even search for one. I thought... in a building filled with hounds and saurians I didn't expected a trap... I-i'm sorry!" Thayami answered, stuttering.
"Ok, at least no one got hurt from the explosion. I hope you learned your lesson!"
"Y-Yes, Mistress."
"What have you learned?" Zette asked harsh.
"I-i learned... not to believe in assumptions then better make sure and c-check the crate next time."
"Good. You learned your lesson for today then."

[Timewarped451]

((OOC: This may seem to be out of order, chronologically. It is. My apologies. ))

March 8, 29478

Zette led Elleiah into Rompa and headed for her usual perch. “Hm. Someone has my favorite booth,” she said nodding toward a figure reclining on the seat.

Elleiah’s pet, =Audit= responded in his usual way. “Noted.”

Zette looked at the occupant of her usual place and saw he was not likely to be listening to anything transpiring around him. She decided the booth next to the usual was private enough for her purposes and took a seat.

Elle, always attentive to her Mistress’ needs asked, “Would you like a coffee, Mistress?”

“I’d prefer a glass of wine, Elle,” Zette answered. “Red.” She gave Elleiah money and the girl went to fetch a glass. She picked up her com and spoke quietly on a private channel. “Whaynn. I have something you may be interested in.”

In less time than it took Elle to return with the wine, Whaynn had arrived at her booth.

Elle approached the booth with a glass of wine in hand, stepping smoothly up the shallow stairs. Zette and Whaynn watched her approach with appreciation. Elle moved with grace. Her stature belied her slave status. The girl looked like nothing less than a woman of noble birth. Her demeanor was quiet, subservient, but not fawning.

“Rompa Bar,” quoted =Audit= in a smooth robotic facsimile of a masculine voice. “It’s all about the booty! Operated by Wayne Harbinguer.” Elle turned and gave quiet instructions to the robot. “I will wait here.” It said.

Elleiah served the wine to Zette while Whaynn stood blinking and staring at the robot. She gave a short bow and withdrew to a respectful distance, standing quietly. Whaynn looked at the girl and then turned his attention to Zette. “What do you want, scum?” His voice was harsh, his lips curled down in a frown, but his eyes glittered with something that Zette saw as greed.

Zette gestured toward Elleiah. “Meet Elle,” she smirked.

Whaynn looked over to Elleiah. “Hello, Mister Harbinguer,” she said. Her voice was gentle, almost musical. Her smile was sweet, a little uneasy.

Whaynn smiled. His voice gentled. “Hello, miss. Pleasure to meet yeh.” His smile disappeared as he turned to look at Zette. “Pfft! Another one, eh? Don’t you get tired?”

Zette laughed. She stirred her wine with a finger then sucked her finger dry. “What can I say,” she shrugged. “I offer a deal that can’t be beat.” She pointed her finger at Elleiah. “I have to say, though, that this girl is one in a million.”

Elleiah blushed and =Audit=’s robotic voice piped up. “Master is not a pet. That is incorrect.”

Zette looked back into her glass and skimmed the surface of the wine with her finger. In a low voice she said, “I heard you skipped again,” speaking of the trial. “What was that all about?”

“I was told it was cancelled, so I left for off-planet business thinking it would not happen.”

Zette looked up at Whaynn and saw that he believed what he said. She decided the rumors of him intentionally avoiding the trial were wrong. She came back to the matter at hand. “So, tell me Whaynn, what do you think of Elle? She’s very bright, you know.”

Whaynn nodded. “I’ve met her before. Yes, she is.”

=Audit= buzzed. “Suppression Gas is at 100%. Please contact Mistress Zette DuMontaigne for further information.”

“Can’t say the same thing about her pet,” Whaynn said glancing at the robot.

Elleiah frowned. “I’m sorry, Sir. He will be getting upgraded soon.”

“But better in my hands than yours, Zette,” Whaynn said, indicating Elleiah. “I’m hoping you will draw up one of those freedom contracts.”

Zette yawned discreetly and looked at Elleiah. “I think I have one here," she said. “I wasn’t going to sell her, but something’s come up. I may need the… liquid assets.”

Whaynn cringed. He pulled out a credstick, entered some numbers and threw it at Zette. “That liquid enough for you?”

Zette looked at the amount and nodded. She pulled a standard ToS from her coat and handed it to Whaynn. “Just sign on the dotted line, my … friend.” The word friend came out with a smirk behind it.

Whaynn looked over the contract and signed. Zette held out her hand to take it back. He rolled it up and threw it at her with disgust. She caught it and, smiling, said, “I’ll have it notarized and filed.” She tucked the contract into her coat and turned her smiles to Elleiah who had been watching the transaction closely. “Well, Elle. It looks like you’re another … freed slave. Courtesy of Whaynn Harbinguer and RE.”

=Audit= seemed to finalize the agreement with, “Rompa Bar: It’s all about the booty! Operated by Wayne Harbinguer.”

Elleiah made a short bow and said, “Yes Miss… ermm…” She raised an eyebrow, looking between Zette, sitting comfortably, and Whaynn who wrinkled his nose in something resembling disgust.

Zette motioned Elleiah over and leaned close to the girl and whispered, “If you have any problems, call me. I’m still here for you.”

“Yes, Miss Zette,” Elleiah replied.

Zette leaned back and waved a hand. “Ok. Go with your new Ma… uh… Mentor.”

Elleiah nodded. “Yes Miss.”

“Bye, Elle,” Zette said.

Elleiah looked at Zette. “Goodbye, Miss.”

Whaynn smiled and led Elleiah off. Zette watched them go. “You keep her safe, Whaynn,” she called.

Whaynn frowned. “Any plans for taking your business elsewhere, Zette,” he asked, nearly glaring at the slave trader.

Zette settled back into her seat with an air of indifference. “I think I like it here for the time being.” Whaynn rolled his eyes and turned his back. “As a matter of fact,” Zette continued. “I may move my office to this booth!” She was going to miss Elleiah... and her dumb robot.

[Timewarped451]

March 9, 29478

Zette reran the training session with Thaynami once again. She knew she might have been harsh or abrupt with the girl, but training was not the place or time for tenderness. She nodded as she watched the vid of the girl working her way through the first mission, efficiently eliminating the occupants of the building. She checked her watch again. The building had been cleared in less than 6 minutes. Yes. She was sure of it.

Zette had followed Thaynami through the mission, silent, watching. The girl had shown courage and intelligence in her systematic removal of each foe. At times, when a clanner would focus his hostility on her, she fought the urge to retaliate, allowing the attack. She kept herself centered and focused on Thaynami, channeling her energy toward the girl. Thaynami saw the attacks, quickly dispatched her attacker and turned on the one attacking Zette. As a result of Thay’s awareness and quick reaction, Zette seldom suffered more than a minor skin wound.

“I feel unkillable,” Thay shouted as she ran through the halls in search of another clan invader. Zette’s eyebrows drew together in a slight frown.

Zette knew that Thaynami thought her silence to be disapproval. Secretly Zette wanted to cheer each victory, but knew that to do so would distract Thay from her task. It was important that Thaynami remain focused.

“Mistress, you’re attacked,” she heard Thaynami shout. In fact, a clan enforcer was shooting at her, hardly penetrating her armor, but the girl responded with vigor and had Zette’s attacker down in seconds. Without a pause, Thaynami went on to the next, and the next until the building was clear.

The next mission was harder. The building was infested with Hellhounds and other beasts. Thay killed the mutant strains quickly, efficiently. The Hellhounds, though, as usual, proved to be a harder enemy. Still, Thay fought bravely. Zette followed silently, watching as the girl made her way through the madness.

Zette allowed hounds to attack her, keeping the beasts occupied while Thay dispatched another. The girl was strong, a good fighter, but she was not ready to be double-teamed by these creatures.

Thaynami killed off the last of the vermin infesting the building and turned to open a chest. A bloom of light and noise erupted. Zette ducked, throwing her hands in front of her face to protect her eyes from the explosion.

Thaynami looked abashed. “I… I’m sorry, Mistress,” she said.

Zette waved away the apology, careful to keep concern from showing on her face. “It’s ok. I’m not hurt,” she said and left the room, heading for the exit.

Outside the building Zette looked at Thaynami. She could see the girl struggling with her guilt. Another useless emotion. Thay had made a mistake. Thay knew what the mistake was. There was no sense dwelling on it. She had learned and that was the point. Still, there seemed to be nothing Zette could say at the moment to release the girl from her self-castigation.

Time would take care of that, she hoped. Thaynami had potential, but that bastard Uncle of hers had taught the poor girl to feel guilt over every small error. Yes. It was going to take time, but Thay was worth it.

[Shizhima]

Razor sat back reading the Slaves of Rubi-Ka quarterly reports. She frowned as she drank from her cup.

All this work and the reality is just now getting out.

"Well better late than never." Razor laughed to herself.

Getting the Org started hadn't been easy. It had been a matter of greasing the right palms at the right times. Razor had just been lucky in both. However, she never expected the incident with Whaynn to happen the way it did. At least it got some attention so that more people cold be set straight that SoRK was a professional org, not a pleasure org. Practicality and functionality.

Though offworld matters kept her busy, Razor could see that she needed to take time to take a more active hand in the affairs of SoRK. Though Zette didn't want to be president at first, she seemed to have taken to it. She was handling things better than Razor felt she, herself, could have. But then Razor did have a bit of a problem with her temper.

----------

Razor Clevage

[Shizhima]

Kajira: Some planet called Houme. I come from Gor myself.

Andrew22 : Houme.

Andrew22 : Whats that place like?

Kajira: I don't know. You'll have to ask her.

Kajira: I'm not from there.

Andrew22 : What about Gor then?

Kajira: Gor is a world like any other. The priest kings watch over those they deem worthy of greatness. Technology is practicly unknown there.

Andrew22 : Weird.

Kajira: But slavery is a common practice.

Andrew22 : slavery?

Kajira: Yes. Mostly femals. Very few men.

Andrew22 : All females?

Kajira: No. Mostly.

Andrew22 : Ah. ..were you?

Kajira: Yes.

Andrew22 : We don't need to talk about this. Nevermind.

Kajira: I don't mind.

Arimathea: What's going on?

Kajira: Andrew is learning about my past.

Arimathea: Oh!
Kajira: When I was a slave girl on Gor.

Andrew22 : So tell me more about it Kajira, then I will tell you the untold story about me.

Kajira: All I remeber of Gor was being a slave. I have been a house slave and a slave dancer. I had never been trained or used as a pleasure slave.

Arimathea: *listens*

Kajira: Durring my life on Gor, I had all my needs met. I was educated to be able to handle tasks for my owners. My entire life was planned out for me. I was fortunate to be kept by good masters. On Gor, most masters know how to treat a loyal and dedicated slave. Then, one evening, my last owner on Gor took a wife. The wife treated me badly though I tried to be as good a slave to her as to my owner. She told him that she didn't want me about as I had his eye too often and she felt insulted by that. My owner told me to go. That I was free to carry out my own destiny. The wife was furious that he would just release me considering the money he might have garnerd from selling me on the slave block. So out in the streets, nothing to my name but the silks I wore, I was lost. Then I met a tall woman strange to my lands. She was Razorclevage. She saw my distress and took me into her house in the deep forest. Once there I told her my story and she saw my terror at not knowing what my life would hold. She said that I might be able to assist her in a new venture on a new world. I thought her mad talking of new worlds, then I thought myself mad when the ship lifted from the surface of the world I knew. But soon I recovered. Once here, she introduced me to Mistress Zette. They told me of their plans to begin a legitimate slave market here on Rubi-Ka.

Andrew22 : ..

Kajira: My hopes had been returned. I even turned down their offers of freedom here for I was a slave in my heart. So I was the first slave of the SoRK house.

Andrew22 : What is SoRK?

Kajira: I have had 4 masters on Rubi-Ka untill Ari took me and made me her daughter.

Kajira: SoRK is the organization of Slaves of Rubi-Ka.

Andrew22 : ok.

Kajira: And that is how I come to be here.

----------

Carly "Kajira" Niss

[Saxon]

Saxon looked over the screen intently, even though off-world, he never missed much. He noticed the new slaves that recently joined the SoRK, which annoyed him greatly. Saxon would stop this slave trade, it was only a matter of time.

[________Elle DiLaine]

This was not at all what she had wanted.

Elle stared straight ahead into the dark, abandoned streets of Omni Entertainment. She marched at a quick pace, her small hands balled up in tight little fists and her black dress boots making an eerie echo against the rain-dampened pavement. =Audit= jogged quickly after his small Opifex master without saying a word. For once, it was clear that he really did know when to be quiet.

Furious, she wiped at her cheek with a gloved hand. Hopefully anyone who saw her would assume they were raindrops on her face. Elle hadn't cried in years. A businesswoman never cries. She rolls with the punches and makes them work for her. But how could this work for her?

Elle brought up a visual of =Audit='s scans in her mind. Yes, being linked to that darn bot through her NCU was a good thing at times. But still, there was nothing. Not a soul ahead, behind, or to the sides. How can a person just disappear?

She couldn't stop herself from replaying that sentence over and over in her mind:

"I love you. I just wanted to tell you that before I die."

He wasn't going to die. Whoever was after him, whatever they had against him, she was going to stop them and fix it. If she had to give up everything she had done, everything she had learned and... become... since she came to Rubi-Ka, so be it. How could she just stand meekly by and allow the only man who had ever claimed to love her walk right into death? Real death.

No, she would use whatever she still had left of her former self to stop them. Elle marched on, searching... with no clue where to go. The man who had appeared to be an Omni-Pol officer simply couldn't have been there on the business he claimed. He had ignored any and all facts and witnesses and went straight for Ken. It was a setup, and she was going to blow whatever cover they were hiding under.

Omni-Pol has to answer to someone, too. Elle knew the beaurocratic hierarchy of Omni-Tek as well as anyone. Certainly better than these egotistic little twits.