screen. I don’t even think about doing anything untoward with it until I want another training manual, which says something about my frame of mind, but once I start down the road of hacking and modding, it’s like it all comes back to me, and I can’t stop, and I look forward to it every day.
It’s only an hour or two before I’ve destroyed the content blocker that limits my searches to dull topics, and from there I manage to mod it to work with voice commands, steal media, function in all sorts of ways it was never intended to. I sneak in my own reverse content blocker, so anyone peeking in on my connection will be unable to see what I’m working on. I break into a few small sites, just for fun, just to see if I can.
I remember, and it’s glorious.
I look up my family to see how they’re doing. I can’t visit them or anything, but I can’t just ignore it. I find their address is still the same, still the house we grew up in, but the last census data indicates two married adults living there without anyone else. Abriel?
I know he passed the Assessment, but what he did after that… I never really thought about it, just like I never really thought about what my life would be like. Is he okay? Did my plan work? I comb through registries of college after college, desperate to find his name among the registrants. I can live through him, right?
I’m engrossed, hunting for Abriel when I finally become aware of the feeling of eyes watching me. I glance up and see my master, and I quickly tap out the combination that will clear my screen except for the training manual I am supposed to be viewing and a page of recipes I was looking at before I started on this new task. I glance up at him, trying my best to look innocent.
He stares at me for another moment or two, long enough to make me want to squirm and hide. I resist the urge to cower, because I know he doesn’t like it when I cower.
“The reverse content blocker needs to go,” he says, matter-of-fact. “Do you really think I gave you a tablet so you could sneak around and do illegal things on it?”
I blush furiously and try not to tremble. “No, master.” Simple is better.
“It won’t happen again.” His words aren’t threatening, nor are they a question. It’s like he’s stating that the sky is blue, he knows it with that much certainty.
And he’s right. “No, master.”
He nods. He’s not angry, which is good, because I don’t even know what I’d do if he was angry. He just nods at me and keeps standing there.
“You obviously need more to do with your time,” he states. “Meet me in the dining room in twenty minutes. The content blocker will be removed by then.”
“Yes, master,” I mumble, as he strides away. I disable the content blocker immediately. He hasn’t told me to take away anything else, so I don’t, not yet.
He doesn’t seem angry, but he wasn’t particularly pleased, either. I hadn’t expected him to check, I figured he would have assumed I was just a stupid slave and never thought of it.
I wonder how long he knew before he told me.
With that taken care of, I have a few minutes to ponder his request to meet him. More to do with my time, he said, what does that even mean? I clean when he asks, I try to cook…
I wonder whether he’s going to fuck me or beat me.
I have myself in a blind panic by the time I arrive in the dining room, and I rush to drop to my knees at my master’s feet the second I get there. I don’t wrap myself around his legs, because I’m terrified he might kick me in the face if I try it.
He looks at me critically. “Is there a problem?” It sounds like an accusation.
I stare up at him, silent and stupid. Wait for him to hurt me. He raises an eyebrow, and it’s like I’m afraid he’s going to hit me with it, because I cower away.
“Go get me a soda, calm yourself down, and when you come back, show me some of the things you’ve learned in the training manuals. The ones I sent you
Richard A. Thompson
P.S. Bartlett
Dayo Benson
Troya Black
Andrew Wilson
Laurie Halse Anderson
Patricia Wentworth
Linnet Moss
Philip Dray
Mari Carr