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11
Chapter 12 � Criminal # 101025
Maria Elena spent the next several hours in Kim's office, recovering
from the first of 34 judicial switchings that were part of her formal
sentence. Victor moved a chair close to the recovery table and took a
seat to massage her hands and the uninjured parts of her body.
Maria Elena did not move once she was settled on her stomach on the
table. The pain searing into her was bearable as long as she stayed
still, but any movement caused her welts to throb and burn. For a long
time the pain and trauma from the switching filled her thoughts, pushing
out anything else that might have worried her just a day or two before.
But anyhow, it was done. The trial was over and her first punishment was
over. She would fall asleep (or pass out), her welts would turn much
darker, and eventually she would wake up and begin her life as a
convicted criminal.
As happy as she might have been about her success during Criminal #
101025's trial and sentencing, Spokeswoman Lee-Dolkivna had to move on
with other responsibilities. For the moment she was done with Maria
Elena. The criminal had been switched, returned to her custody, and now
was safely on a recovery table with her lover to comfort her. Meanwhile,
she had to deal with other cases, including the recent arrest of a
French antiquities dealer who had been caught smuggling some ancient
artifacts out of the country. That particular case would be a real
challenge, because Kim had never defended a suspect who had violated the
country's antiquities laws.
The Spokeswoman glanced at her assistant, Criminal # 98946, who was more
than eight months pregnant with a stomach that was painfully swollen.
She had held up well so far, but within a week or two she would have to
go on maternity leave, leaving her boss with a double-load of work. Not
a pleasant thing to contemplate, especially with the trial of that
antiquities smuggler coming up.
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Program Director Cecilia Sanchez briefly went into the Central Cathedral
to make sure her students' clothing and other personal items were safely
stored. She smiled slightly as she picked up a bag full of unused signs
and banners, the props with which the Americans would have created a
public scandal had Kim not intervened. Cecilia thought it would be
better to get rid of the bag of protest items, just in case they decided
to get stupid again. She passed the bag to a Cathedral attendant and
asked him to burn it. The director's next concern was herself. Because
she had gone to trial, she was wearing one of her best dresses. She
vaguely wondered if she might be called upon to perform Public Penance
along with the others. If that happened she would have to toss a dress
worth nearly $ 700 into a fire pit, something she had no desire
whatsoever to do. Better to take off the dress and put on a prayer robe,
just in case. She paid the attendant a copper coin to rent a black robe,
changed into it, and put her dress with the items belonging to her
students. If the Church decided to collar her for any reason, they would
not burn the prayer robe. Cecilia reflected that it was a bit
hypocritical that the Clergy had no problem burning clothing that
belonged to other people, but if someone went in wearing a Church-issued
prayer robe; that was one item that would never go into the fire-pit.
Once she was properly attired in her rented outfit, the exchange program
director was ready to go to the Temple of the Ancients and deal with her
students. She walked several blocks from the Central Plaza to the nearby
Plaza of the Ancients. She took a deep breath as she approached the
Temple, still concerned about the possibility that she might be collared
along with her students. She really could not think of any reason she
would have to be collared, but she wanted to be ready just in case. She
had been collared once before, during the summer of the first year she
spent in Danubia, along with her fianc� and her friend Cynthia Lee.
After four months the Church released the three Americans from their
Penance, but within a year both Jason and Cynthia returned to the
Temple, burned their clothing for a second time, and resumed performing
Public Penance. To some extent she could understand why Jason would want
to return to wearing a collar, but Cynthia's motives were a total
mystery. Cecilia did not ask, because if a person was performing Public
Penance it was not considered appropriate for an outsider to ask why.
Cecilia climbed the stairs and entered the main Temple chamber. She
expected her students to be on the back balcony, which was the spot
where people usually began Penance service to the Church. As she exited
the rear of the building, sure enough, there they were, along with the
Priest from the Cathedral. The students were kneeling, each one with a
Priest or Priestess standing behind them praying with hands placed upon
their shoulders. Cecilia approached the group and knelt in front of the
others. She
stayed upright, however. She was not wearing a collar and therefore was
not expected to place her head on the ground.
The director could tell that everyone in Carmen�s group was scared out
of their wits. Their eyes were wide with confusion and worry over the
sinister ritual in which they were participating. She noted that their
temporary collars already had been taken off and that each was holding a
more permanent Church collar specifically fitted for his or her neck. Within a
few minutes they would be asked to accept the collars they were holding,
knowing that their existence would become different from what they had
been used to over the summer. Their daily lives would become comparable
to the life of Criminal # 101025. For them to truly show support for
Maria Elena, merely protesting for a single morning would not be enough.
For at least a month they would be required to live like her, to wear
formal penance collars and become
little more than criminals themselves.
Carmen, as the leader of the protestors, was the first to hand her
collar to the Priest standing over her. She swallowed as he moved behind
her to place the
device around her neck and lock it with a special key. After the collar
was on her neck, she knelt forward,
placing her forehead on the ground and completely exposing her bottom and
vulva. She would have to stay in that position until all of her
companions were collared. Cecilia continued to kneel as she watched;
hugely relieved that so far there had been no mention of her being
collared along with her students.
A few minutes later 14 US citizens, one in a black prayer robe and the
others completely naked, left the Temple of the Ancients. Each was
holding a sheet of paper explaining what was expected from a person
performing Penance. Cecilia led her group directly to the university.
Later she would have to send someone to the Cathedral to pick up the
group's clothing and her own dress.
Cecilia told her group that instead of taking the trolley they would
walk to the campus, which was nearly two kilometers away. She explained
that the students needed to get used to being naked in public as quickly
as possible and that walking fully exposed along a major street was the
best way to do that. More importantly, she needed time to explain the
protocol required of anyone performing Penance and make sure the
students understood that what they were doing was a serious commitment.
She reminded the group that regular university classes would be starting
the following week.
"Before you get into class, you need to make sure you completely
understand the rules of Public Penance. You gotta kneel whenever you
talk to anyone who's a public official, which means if you need to talk
to any of your professors, you gotta be on your knees with your head on
the floor before you open your mouth. In theory that would mean me as
well, but I'm not gonna make you kneel in front of me unless you screw
up and piss me off."
Cecilia gave the students a chance to think about what she had said and
continued:
"The Danubians are gonna be watching you, especially now. I want you to
understand that as long as you follow protocol, you�re doing something
that they'll consider honorable. You break protocol, and they'll
consider you dishonored, so make sure you memorize what's on that paper
the Temple gave you. And another thing. Don't you be talking about what
you're doin� to no one. People don't talk about Public Penance. You
don't have to justify why you're collared, because that's between you
and the Church. Public Penance is not something you discuss; it's
something you just do. If you start talking about what you're doing or
trying to explain why, you'll be dishonored. Get it?"
Several members of the group responded:
"Yes, Cecilia."
"Anyhow in your case there's no mystery, 'cause everyone knows you're
doing it for Maria Elena. And that's another thing. I want each of you
to be proud of... (well, not exactly proud, because the Danubians make
fun of that, being proud, I mean) ... but... I guess... just understand
that you made a big difference in her life. Not just with the perjury,
but also the switchings. Without you, she probably would've been
sentenced to somewhere around 100 switchings, total. Thanks to you it
got cut down to 34. And keep in mind it'll probably be less than that,
'cause they won't switch her if she's pregnant and they won't switch her
if she's done some outstanding act of public service. So, you
accomplished a lot more here than you could have in the US or anywhere
else. I mean, in the courtroom they did pay attention to the fact you
guys were out there kneeling and holding up your signs. Anywhere else,
you would've gotten blown off."
Cecilia and the others walked quietly as they approached the university.
They had missed language class and would barely be in time for physical
fitness training. There were 47 students in the program who had not
participated in the protest that the director needed to talk to. She
gathered the entire group, with the 13 naked protesters standing off to
one side.
"OK people. I think you all know that your Colombian classmate went on
trial today, and that 13 of you went downtown to protest what was gonna
happen to her. Well, we all found out there's a correct way to protest
here, and what your classmates are doin� is the way it's done. After the
protest they had to go to the Temple and get collared. For those of you
who don't have it figured out yet, they're performing Public Penance.
Now, I really don't give a shit how curious you might be about it,
because the Danubians don't talk about Public Penance. Do NOT ask them
anything about what's going on. As for how long they'll stay collared,
that's between each one of �em and the Church. I'm warnin� you again,
don't you be askin� a bunch of questions, 'cause they can't answer! So
don't ask!"
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Maria Elena woke up late in the afternoon. Victor, who had been reading
a book while she slept, immediately stood up and took her hand. She
needed to get off the table to get a drink, go to the bathroom, and
leave the office. Carefully he helped her get down as she winced from
the welts that covered her backside and shoulders. A few minutes later
Merchant Victor Dukov and Criminal # 101025 slowly walked down the
stairs leading out of the Central Police Station. He held her arm as she
went down the steps on unsteady feet. She noticed that people were
watching, but was too tired and in too much pain to really care.
They took a trolley to return to the university, and from there slowly
walked back to Victor's house. Cecilia gave her a glass of blackberry
punch, while Pedro looked at her with a terrified expression. Cecilia
later would have to explain to her nephew that Maria Elena had been a
naughty grown-up, and what happened to her was how naughty grown-ups had
to be punished. A few minutes later Maria Elena was on Victor's bed,
completely exhausted and desperate to just lie still.
The next morning the criminal woke up and went to the kitchen. Her body
still throbbed and ached from her punishment, but Cecilia had told her
that she needed to resume her normal life within 24 hours of her trial.
She would be expected to help with breakfast and to return to the
university to resume her classes. Her cruelly-punished body would be on
display while she gardened and when she was with the norteamericanos.
She would understand that it was an important part of her sentence for
everyone in her life to see her after she had been switched.
Maria Elena's employers were understanding of her situation and gave her
a light assignment, sweeping sidewalks. The welts still throbbed, but
the gentle movement of sweeping and the hot late summer sunshine on her
skin began to heal her more quickly than she could have expected. She
felt humiliated anytime she noticed someone looking at her, but for
people to see her after a switching was part of her Path in Life as a
criminal.
Class was more difficult. The norteamericanos gathered around
her, some of them wanting to express sympathy and some of them just
curious to see, up close, a person who had received an infamous Danubian
judicial switching. Cecilia explained that there was a tradition that
all punished criminals had to perform when surrounded by people who knew
them. Maria Elena had to put her hands on the language instructor�s desk
and bent over slightly, to allow her classmates to examine her more
thoroughly. The criminal's face flushed with humiliation and resentment
as she stood still and her wide-eyed classmates studied the painful
welts that remained from her first judicial switching.
Equally unpleasant was having to face Carmen and the 12 other students
who now wore Church collars on her behalf. The 13 naked exchange
students all looked uneasy with their situations. The most difficult
adjustment was attending language class in the nude, especially when
they were called upon to answer a question. The rule was that a collared
university student had to stand up, kneel with their knees spread and
their crotch completely exposed, and place their head on the
floor before responding. If the student answered correctly, the language
instructor granted permission to �recover� and sit. If the student
answered incorrectly, that person had to remain kneeling, with their
bottom and genitalia fully exposed to the rest of the class, until
called upon again. The instructor tried to go easy on the collared
students, but protocol was protocol and he was not in a position to tell
them not to comply with what Public Penance required of them.
After class, Criminal # 101025 asked Carmen to gather the collared
classmates together. She let them know that she was well-aware that it
was because of their sacrifice that the perjury charge was dropped and
she had been sentenced to a single switching per year. Now that she
already had endured the first of those dreadful punishments, she could
fully appreciate the huge favor they had done for her. To be switched
once a year would be bad enough, but without them she would have faced
the switching table at least once every six months. She tried to express
her gratitude, but then tears welled up in her eyes. Although she had
started to cry, she forced herself to give her classmates the real
reason she was so affected by what they had done for her. Carmen
translated:
�I� in all my life� there�s only been two people who ever cared about
me� I mean cared enough about me to ever actually do anything for me. One of
them was my mother. The other was my boyfriend� my first boyfriend. I�ll
never see either of them again. My boyfriend is dead, and I am ashamed
to face my mother. So I am alone, and there isn�t anyone to care about
what happened to me. Or that�s what I thought. You all cared about me,
and you were going to go get yourselves arrested to try to help me� and
now you�re all� naked� because you cared about me. I� I love you� for
what you did for me� I mean� I wasn�t worth it� but you did it anyway�
and I will always remember� and I would give my life for any of you��
Maria Elena broke down crying. One by one she accepted a hug from each
of the classmates who were sacrificing for her.
She knew, at that moment, that in spite of the difficult existence she
faced as a collared criminal, she had gained so much more by coming to
Danubia than she ever could have imagined. Exactly two weeks had passed
since that moment in the airport when she was desperately trying to get
that drug dog to be quiet and those two cops came running up to her with
their pistols drawn. Just two weeks, but already she knew that she had
been redeemed� redeemed so that she could learn to care about other
people and have a life worth living.
Chapter 13
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