The words stung because they hit too close to home. Wasn’t that exactly why I’d been expelled? Poor choices. Lack of discipline. Cheating because I couldn’t make myself study properly, couldn’t make myself do what I knew I should.
“I understand this is frightening,” Ann continued, her voice softening again. “But you should know that sponsors are vetted with extraordinary thoroughness. We run background checks, psychological evaluations, financial audits. These men are carefully selected. And Selecta security is always watching through the surveillance systems to ensure your safety. If a sponsor ever crosses a line, we intervene immediately.”
I stared at the tablet screen, at the floor plan of the apartment that would be mine—and his. The camera icons seemed to pulse at me, reminding me that every moment would be observed, monitored, recorded.
Suddenly, a wave of rebellion rose from my belly to my chest and into my mind.
No.
No. This wouldn’t work… I couldn’t let this happen, no matter how hopeless my situation was.
“No,” I said, the word coming out stronger than I expected. I stood up, ignoring the pain that shot through my welted bottom. “I’ve seen enough. There’s no way I’m going through with this.”
Ann’s expression remained calm, almost expectant, like she’d been waiting for this moment. “I’m afraid the decision about whether you leave isn’t yours to make anymore, Laura. It’s Selecta’s.”
The words took a moment to penetrate. “What? No, I’m an adult, I can?—”
“You signed the waiver,” Ann said, her voice still maddeningly professional. “You consented to the evaluation process. We determine when that process is complete.”
“Then I’m un-consenting!” I stood up and backed toward the door, my heart hammering. “I changed my mind. I’m leaving.”
I turned and bolted for the door, yanking it open. The corridor stretched before me, and I ran, my sneakers slapping against the polished floor. I didn’t know where I was going—just away, anywhere away from this place.
Heavy footsteps thundered behind me. Before I’d made it twenty feet, Hank’s massive, too-familiar hand closed around my upper arm, spinning me around.
“Let go of me!” I tried to wrench free, but it was like trying to escape from a steel trap. “What are you even doing here?”
“That’s enough,” he said, his voice flat. “The algorithm predicted you would wildcat—that’s what we call it—and I got notified to come over here. The software is pretty accurate.” He began walking, half-dragging me with him, and I stumbled along beside him, my protests echoing uselessly in the corridor.
We ended up back in Examination Room 4. The sight of that exam chair with its stirrups made my stomach drop.
“Take off your clothes,” Hank told me.
I stared at him open-mouthed. All I could think was,Not again.
“Take off your clothes, Laura,” the orderly repeated. “I don’t want to have to cane you again.”
I let out a little sob at that, my tummy lurching even as my hands flew to obey the humiliating command. Naked once more, weeping, I climbed into the horrible exam chair for the second time.
Before I could process what was happening, Hank had secured the restraints. Waist. Neck. Wrists. Then my legs went into the stirrups, the straps tightening around my thighs just above my knees, spreading me wide.
“No, please—” My voice broke. “I’ll cooperate, I’ll?—”
The door opened and Nurse Samuels entered, her steel-gray eyes assessing me with the same disapproval I had seen there before. She picked up her tablet, scrolling through data.
“Her resistance patterns are highly unusual,” she said, to Hank rather than to me. “The biometric readings show extreme flight response, well beyond what we typically see in first-time applicants.” She looked at me then, and something in her expression had hardened. “It’s clear that extraordinary measures are needed.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, my voice trembling.
“It means,” Nurse Samuels said, setting down the tablet and moving to a cabinet, “that we’re going to seal your labia.”
The words didn’t make sense at first. “Seal my… what?”
“We’re going to close up your outer lips, covering your clitoris and your vagina to make them inaccessible to you for a while.”
CHAPTER 6
Laura
