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Chapter 18: Alice , Sally & Hermione's Training
The next morning, Elspeth and the Comtesse were walking through the west wing of the Chateau. “It's good of you to show me around Comtesse,” Elspeth said.
“Och, you can drop the Comtesse bit, it's Sandra - Sandy to my friends,” she said.
Elspeth smiled. “Well thank you, Sandy ,” she said. ”Where are we now?”
“Oh this is the old barracks. We use it for the guard's quarters and the main training area. Let's go through here.” Sandy opened a heavy, iron studded, oak door and led the way onto a balcony that stretched across the end of a hall below them. She leant on the rail of the balcony and pointed down into the room below. “There,” she said, “there are some of your party, down there.”
Elspeth joined Sandy at the rail. The three guards in the room below came to attention as they realised that the Comtesse was watching them. “Carry on, lads,” she called. “Continuez. Don't mind us.”
The guards returned to their tasks. Elspeth peered down at the scene. Sally and Alice were the subject of their attentions. Both of the girls were naked except for high heeled mules and thick leather strap gags. The guards were exercising the girls in a rather curious set up. There were four rows of three chairs lined up. White tape marked out an aisle alongside the rows. Each girl was being driven in turn along the aisle and made to kneel beside one of the rows of chairs, then brought to her feet and made to totter back down to where she had started. The slightest waver or hesitation was rewarded by a blow from a guard's stick but Elspeth could see that the girls were making progress. The guards seemed to have had little cause to punish them and most of the bruises and wheals on their thighs, backs and calves looked to be at least a day old.
“They seem to be getting there,” said Elspeth.
“Yes. Of course Doctor Insing's efforts at adjustment makes it easier and Freddie is only looking for them to handle very simple tasks. Not really much of a test for the training regime but as long as they are ready for you then I guess we'll have done our job.”
“And how about Miss Addams and Miss Alardyce?”
“Well, let's see. The flyer – Jean – she was surprisingly quick to adapt. Insing had made significant progress even by the end of the first session. I think she's more or less finished and back in the cell. Surprising really I'd have thought that she would prove more difficult but there you are. Addams has been a little more challenging, I believe. We can stop by the Herr Doktor's office if you like. She should be there and I would be interested to see how he is getting along.”
Insing's office was in a small clinical suite of rooms at the far end of the barracks building. The Comtesse swept past the woman on reception duty. She leapt to her feet, evidently agitated by the unscheduled visit. “Please Comtesse, the Doktor is in a session with a patient,” she appealed. “He does not like to be disturbed.”
“Herr Doktor Insing was disturbed a long time ago,” Sandy laughed. “I'm sure he won't mind.” She opened the door without knocking. The naked, almost comatose form of Hermione Addams was stretched out on the couch, half covered by a sheet. Insing was standing beside her with one hand firmly placed on her naked right breast.
“Morning Herr Doktor,” Sandy called cheerily, smiling as Insing straightened up suddenly, banging his head on the polished metal lamp that had been positioned over the couch.
“Ah, good morning Comtesse,” Insing replied, grimacing at the pain but nevertheless managing to pull himself stiffly to attention while clicking his heels. “And to your delightful companion. I don't believe I have had the pleasure…”
“Nor are you likely to,” thought Elspeth, viewing with distaste the way that he was sucking on the end of his moustache and the fact that it was not only his posture that was stiff.
“This is Elspeth Grant an associate of Herr Clegg,” said Sandy by way of introduction.
The mention of Clegg's name appeared sufficient to remove the leer from Insing's face. “Always interesting to meet anyone that moves in Herr Clegg's circles. Do you know much about the lady we have here?” Insing grinned as Hermione scowled.
Elspeth looked thoughtful “She worked for the Royal Aero Club from 1931. Before that though she was one of the first women to win a mathematics degree at Cambridge , I'm not quite sure how she came to trade the academic world for the role of archivist but I suppose we all have to earn a living. The interesting thing to me, Herr Doktor, is whether you can do as you claim and carry out these ‘adjustments' without damaging her intellectual powers. It is rather important that she should go on being able to calculate.”
Insing replied with confidence. “You will be interested then to learn that the woman here is almost completely adjusted and there is no apparent damage to her other capabilities. You saw me verifying some of her responses as you came in.”
“An original term for it,” thought Elspeth but she said, “And your conclusions?”
“Well you see for yourself she no longer needs restraints. She can remain in place as told without need for that. It's a very difficult balance Mr Clegg is asking for, you understand. The suppression of the will but the retention of her rather exceptional abilities. To ensure she is fully adjusted for compliance but still able to function is a difficult test and it would be irreversible if we were to take her too far. Fortunately my techniques can be finely tuned, I have studied this in great depth you understand, great depth. It is after all a very flexible medium. They should have recognised my work, they could have done so. In time my contribution to psychotherapy will be understood they will have to accept me you know, they will have to accept me.” Insing's voice had got progressively higher through his tirade until he was almost squeaking.
“I'm sorry, Herr Doktor,” Elspeth interrupted. “I'm not sure I've grasped this at all. What is this flexible medium that you refer to?”
“Ach, so sorry. Foolish Insing, I know. Please you see here…” He pulled back the sheet that covered the lower part of Hermione's body and taking each ankle in turn spread her unresisting legs. Elspeth could see a polished metal tube probing into Hermione's vagina. Cables ran from its base to a small control box beside the couch. “Now as I explain to all my patients, my therapy is simple. There are those already who propose electric shock treatment – convulsion therapy that attacks the electrical currents in the brain. This is all very well but it works against the body. I choose to work with the body and use its natural defence mechanisms to establish the adjusted behaviour mode as the way of avoiding that which the body fears most of all – pain.”
“Pain?” said Elspeth. “That's all there is to it? Pain?”
“Now, Fraulein Elspeth, now. No, that is not ‘all there is to it'. Of course. This is not simple pain but extreme, extended, carefully directed and controlled pain. This is science. What do you take me for some form of barbarian?” He turned with a splutter of distaste back to the control box. “Now, please excuse me and Fraulein Addams if you wish to have her ready in time. I still have work to do. All there is to it! Pah!” He began to twist the controls. Hermione's body bucked as a shock tore through her
Sandy laughed. “Come on, Elspeth, I fear you've upset our good doctor. Let's see if we can find a bottle of Chablis.”
“Fine by me,” Elspeth responded and the two women left Insing to his task.
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