Stacey nodded. She didn't dare say otherwise, although the man had used some formal Tadpole words that she hadn't learnt yet.
A syringe was prepared.
"What is that?" Thieren demanded straining at his cuffs.
"Just a little concoction that will ensure her obedience for a while," the leading official smiled. "It should wear off after a few days. Don't worry. There are no side effects. She'll just be more sensitive and feel any pain more exquisitely. That way we won't leave any marks on her skin. Anastasia, don't move or this will hurt much, much more."
"Her body isn't like other people's," Thieren said, tugging at his cuffs. "What might work for other people might not work for her."
"She'll be fine. I've already reduced the dosage so that she can still function in everyday life," the official flipped a hand, finishing injecting the fluid into Stacey's vein. He sat back and watched her. "It should only take a minute or two to start taking effect. In the meantime, I will read for you how you are expected to behave and what is expected of you in your role as a dolly. Please pay attention, as you must memorise it verbatim before you are released. For every mistake, you will be punished."
It was deep night before Thieren emerged from the truck carrying Stacey's limp and unconscious body in his arms. The official had relented upon seeing Stacey's medical records or he would have continued to wake Stacey up whenever she fell unconscious to continue the punishment. In fact, Stacey had stopped responding to his stimulation and he couldn't wake her up anymore and so he had gotten bored, deciding to let her go earlier after reading her files.
Stacey had almost finished memorising the several pages long list of rules when he had stopped to read her medical record that had been delivered to sit beside his monitoring equipment. Personal satisfaction had been his priority. He had only smiled when Stacey had begun to scream.
It was with a clicking of his tongue and a shaking of his head that he cut everything short, putting down her medical file.
The mentors and a few of the key staff had been waiting outside the truck in the cold, along with the program's medical staff. Stacey's roommates and the other trainees had been shooed back to their rooms when Stacey's screams had begun piercing through the wall of the truck earlier. Stacey and Thieren's bodyguards had shifted uncomfortably together with her group of personal attendants in the cold air.
The sight of Thieren carrying Stacey out in the dim light made them all stir, bombarding him with questions. Thieren ignored them.
"Dr Jin, you'd better come examine her. Jannik, prepare the car. We're going to the hospital. I'm afraid something is very wrong. Ning, send everyone unnecessary to their rooms and get your people organised in a follow-up car."
The black truck engine whined and grumbled to life. Everyone stood back while it drove away.
"No cameras," Thieren told the crew and AJ. "What I'm about to say is not to go on the record. This is just so that you can prepare yourselves. This is going to be the last time we run this program. We're not doing it again. Those people higher up think they can play with us like this just because I chose to become a businessman. They've forgotten who I am and what I can do. They think they can use and abuse my wife as if she's a puppet. They can get away with it this time because I wasn't prepared, but I'm going to have the power to crush them all and teach them a lesson for fishing in my pond. Stacey will not be returning to the program. After she's recovered, I'll let her film a goodbye with everyone, or if the program finishes first, she'll film a goodbye video for you all. Someone should let her friends and the trainees know. I'm going to pull her out of the limelight, so that she can recover in peace."
The car Jannik was driving arrived at that point in time and bodyguards helped Thieren place Stacey in the backseat with her head on his lap.
"If she manages to get over this," Thieren told the crew and mentors, "I'll invite everyone to our wedding ceremony and banquet. You'll all be very welcome. Jannik," Thieren turned his head to face front. "Drive. Fast."