Boygymnast

Unfortunate Friends

PZA 5th Anniversary 2007-2012 Story

This is Boygymnast's version. Click here for the other versions.

Chapter One
Fun in the Woods

The two boys stood at the top of a rock and dirt drop off that over looked a large lake that had been untouched by human development. Mike took his eyes off the lake and looked over at Richie as he started to remove his shirt and kick off his trainers. "Come on, what are you waiting for? You're going to swim too, right?" Richie said as he continued to quickly remove his clothes. Mike was dumb struck for a moment as his best friend removed his briefs and stood naked in front of him. "Come on, Mike. It's okay. Jake and I have swam naked up here all our lives. No one ever comes up here," Richie said.

Mike was looking at his friend, I mean really looking at him, for the first time in his life. Yes, Mike had seen Richie naked before, even showered with him a few times when they were younger during sleepovers, but this was the first time Mike saw Richie as someone that created a feeling of excitement in him. Richie was about a few centimeters shorter than Mike, standing at 145cm [4" 9'] to Mike's 149 cm [4"11']. Richie was fit from many years of soccer play, smooth body still, and an average sized package. He kept his blonde hair average length but it was usually tousled and uncombed. Mike was also fit from years of lacrosse, had slightly better chest development, and a decent package. Mike's hair was jet black and he chose to keep it more emo style, but his attitude was definitely not emo.

Richie had already reached the edge of a large rock and looked down at the inviting water below. "Hurry up," he screamed as he leapt from the rock and splashed into the water. Mike shook himself back to reality and quickly removed his clothes. He looked around to see if anyone was looked and quickly pulled down his briefs and ran to the edge of the rock and jumped in. The water was cool for this time of year but they both quickly warmed to it and started having fun. They dunked each other, splashed each other and swam back and forth together. They were so into their fun that they never noticed that someone else was up on the rock next to their clothes watching them.

Derek was a friend of Jake's who lived on the opposite side of the lake. He was on his way to greet and hang out with Jake when he saw the two boys playing in the lake. As he watched them play he thought he'd take their clothes back to Jake's place just for a laugh. He scooped up all the clothes and continued on his way, laughing and giggling more with each step he took.

After an hour or more of swimming the boys decided to get out and lay on the rocks to enjoy the sun. They laid on the rocks naked for some time before Richie asked, "Mike, do I look ok ? I mean like do you think others like the way I look?"

Mike thought for a few moments and said, "Richie, I think you are in great shape and have a really hot body. What about me? What do you think others think about me?"

"Mike, you are the hottest boy I know. Girls like you and boys like you. And being the captain of the lacrosse team makes you one of the most popular guys in school."

"Thanks, Richie. It's good to hear that you think that. I have always felt I could ask or tell you anything."

The sun slowly dried both boys and they decided to head back for some lunch. They got up to where they left their clothes and found them to be missing. "Shit, we left the clothes right here," Mike said. "What happened to them?"

"This has Jake written all over it," Richie said. "Damn it, why does he have to be such a pain. I sometimes wish he'd just quit picking on me. I know he hates me and wants me out of his life."

"So what do we do now?"

"Well I guess we go back to the house like this and find out what he did with our clothes."

"Are you joking? You want to run back naked. What if someone sees us?"

"No one will see us, Mike. There are only a few people that have places up here and if one comes along we can hide in the bushes until they pass."

The walk back seemed long than going to the lake, but it was uneventful. As the boys approached the house, they saw Jake and Derek sitting at the table eating lunch. Jake noticed them first. "Have a nice walk back without your clothes?" Jake yelled to them.

Richie raised a middle finger towards Jake and yelled, "Where are our clothes, Jake?"

Jake was a little bit angry about the middle finger, stood up and walked towards Richie and Mike. "On your knees and say it, or I'll make this the worse vacation you have ever had," Jake said.

This was something Jake started about a year ago. When Jake got mad at his brother, Richie had two choices. His older brother would beat him up or Richie could get in his knees, say he was sorry and pronounce Jake to be the leader. Richie knew that he could not beat his older brother so he learned to just give in and do as Jake wanted.

Richie dropped to his knees and said, "I'm sorry, Jake. I should not have given you the finger. You are the leader, you are always right, and I must learn to follow your rules."

"Your friend too or no clothes," Jake said.

"Come on, Jake. Mike doesn't have to do it. It's between you and me."

"Do it or stay naked the rest of the day."

Richie looked at Mike and said, "Better do it so we get our clothes back."

Confused by all this, Mike got on his knees and said, "You are the leader, you are always right, and I must learn to follow your rules."

"They are in the shed. And stay away from Derek and me, we want to be left alone. Now get out of here."

Richie and Mike got up and ran to the shed. Inside they found their clothes lying on the floor and quickly got dressed. Mike looking around said, "So is this a workshop or something?"

Richie said that when his father was alive, he would work on projects out here in the shed. Richie thought back to the accident and how he missed his father. His father worked for the government and Richie knew he was in charge of some department. Richie remember going out with his father and many people on the street would say hello to his father. Richie was young back then and never asked what his father's job was. Then the accident happened and everything changed. The truck lost its brake and ran through the intersection against the light and collided with his father's car. Doctors say the impact was so bad that his father never felt a thing. After the accident Mum had to go back to work, Jake acted like he was in charge, and Richie just wanted it all to go back to the way it was. He knew it would never be the same, could never be the same.

"What is this?" Mike said.

Richie came back to reality and looked at what Mike was looking at. On the table were two heavy steel collars like those worn by slaves in the city. Richie knew these must have been left here by his father before the accident. He picked one up and looked it over. It was heavy, thick and unbreakable. He opened and closed the hinged halves a few times but found no locking mechanism. "I don't know. Probably something my father was messing with. Come on lets go eat," Richie said.

Mike followed Richie out the door and into the house to find something to eat. After some sandwiches and soda the two boys were out exploring in the woods again. They were standing next to a large tree and Mike said, "I'll bet I can climb higher in the tree than you can."

"No way," Richie said. "I've always been a better climber than you."

"Loser has to do whatever the winner says for half a day tomorrow."

"You are so gonna lose, Mike."

"We'll see."

Mike and Richie started climbing. Richie was more experienced and faster, but Mike was determined. Richie was about 3m above Mike and yelled, "You better stop there, we are getting too high for safety."

Mike continued to climb and was now next to Richie. "I told you I can climb higher than you." Mike continued climbing until he was 3m higher than Richie. "Do you give up?" Mike called back.

Richie knew better than to climb any higher. He was already nervous at this height and going any higher would surely be more dangerous. "Yes, I give. You win this time." Mike smiled at his victory and the two started back down.

When they reached the ground Richie said, "You're crazy, Mike. What would I have done if you had fallen from way up there?"

"No way would I have fallen. That climb was easy, you just got scared."

"Well to be fair you have to let me try to get even."

"Ok, what do you think you can beat me at?"

Richie thought for a moment and then said, "We will race, from here back to the house. It's double or nothing for me."

"No, no, I have some plans for you during my half day. I think we just do another half day, that way if you win, which you won't, I still get you for the half day. But if you lose, you're mine all day."

Richie knew that Mike would have some tough tasks and games that he would have to do tomorrow. But if he won, he'd get to do the same to Mike in the afternoon. "Deal!" Richie said.

The two boys lined up and Mike said, "Ready, set, go !"

The two boys were off, running as fast as they could. Mike was ahead of Richie, but not by much. They ran through the woods with branches whipping back at them as they raced for the house. Richie however had the advantage. He knew these woods and knew the shortcuts that would save him precious seconds. Suddenly he turned and ran at an angle to the path, jumping over fallen logs and ducking under branches. Mike saw thus and yelled, "Where are you going?"

Mike heard Richie laugh and realized that Richie knew something he did not. The thought made Mike run harder and faster. As they reached the last 100m Richie was a few meters in front of Mike. Mike had a moment's thought that he was not going to win. That was all it took to break his concentration and he saw Richie slowly pull away from him. Richie reached the house first and both boys fell down on the grass exhausted and gasping for breath.

Mike laughed, "You are so gonna pay tomorrow for cheating."

"I didn't cheat. I just knew a faster way than you did," Richie said.

The boys went inside and cleaned up for dinner. Richie asked, "Mum, where is Jake?"

"He will be staying over at Derek's tonight and they will be back for breakfast in the morning," his Mum said.

Richie was happy that Jake wasn't around and that he and Mike could just have fun playing video games together. After several hours of play, both boys crawled into their beds and fell asleep.

The next morning started early with Jake yelling at them to get up for breakfast. Both boys pulled on shorts and headed to the kitchen.

"You boys should dress a bit more proper in the morning," Richie's Mum said. Mike and Richie looked at each other, shrugged and kept eating. "I'll be going to market about mid-day. Jake, watch after your brother while I'm gone."

"Do I have to? They will be fine by themselves. Derek and I were going to ride bikes on the trail."

"Yeah, Mum. We aren't little kids. We can watch ourselves," Richie said.

"Well, I suppose. If you have any trouble, you call your brother straight away. And Jake, you better answer your phone. ," Mum said.

Breakfast over the boys went back to their bedroom and Mike grabbed Richie's backpack and dumped the contents on the bed.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Richie asked.

"Quiet, remember you do what I say all morning. Here, you're going to need this." Mike gave the empty backpack to Richie. Richie started to grab his trainers and Mike said, "No, you will not need those. Shorts and backpack is all you'll need."

"Come on Mike, I need trainers if we are running around in the woods."

"No you don't. You do as I say and I say you don't need them. Let's go - boy!"

They went out the back door of the house and headed to the shed. Inside the shed, Mike picked up the two steel collars and said, "I think we might need these today." He turned Richie around, unzipped the backpack and put them inside. Mike also grabbed some rope, a knife and a whip that he saw hanging on the wall. He pushed these into the backpack, zipped it closed and walked outside. "Come on, boy. Time to make you work."

The two boys both dressed in shorts, one wearing trainers, the other wearing a backpack walked deep into the woods. Mike and Richie had played betting games before, but it was never where they could walk away to places where no one would be likely to stumble upon them. Last time Richie had spanked Mike arse until it glowed red and he still felt the sting the next morning. Mike had vowed to get him back and now was his chance. He didn't care that the roles would be reversed in the afternoon, all he could think about was what he'd do in a few minutes to Richie.

They reached a small clearing and Mike called a halt. "Take off the backpack and dump the contents by that tree," Mike said. "Then go around here and fill the backpack with rocks. I want that backpack full, boy!"

Richie held back a laugh and did as he was told. It took about 10 minutes for Richie to find enough rocks to fill the backpack. "All full, and it's heavy too," Richie said.

"You just earned five points for being slow. Now, put it on your back. You have some running to do."

Richie groaned as he lifted the backpack and slid his arms into the shoulder straps. The weight was heavy and he had to lean full to keep balance.

"Twenty laps around the clearing. I'm timing you so no slacking, boy!" Mike said.

Richie ran around the outside of the large clearing. It was tough running with all that weight and with bare feet. He kept stepping on old branches that sometimes painfully yet harmlessly stabbed at his feet. The branches from trees would occasionally hit his chest and cause a slight slap to make him wince. By the end of the twenty laps Richie was exhausted and sweating all over his almost naked body.

"You're all sweaty boy. Take off those shorts so you cool off some."

"Are you kidding? The shorts are not making me hot, the running did."

"Five more points for talking back. Get them off now, boy!"

Richie removed the shorts and tossed them by the tree with the other stuff.

"Press up time. Drop and give me fifty. You have one minute to finish," Mike said.

Richie opened his mouth to protest and Mike said, "Fifty-five seconds."

Richie dropped and started his press-ups. Being in good shape for sports, he easily pressed out the first thirty before starting to struggle with the additional weight. He barely completed fifty and Mike said, "Ten more points for not finishing on time. Now that you completed your workout I guess we can see if you can please me. Take off the backpack, go get one of the collars, put it on your neck and come over here to serve me, boy."

Richie enjoyed the serving part. This meant that Mike wanted his neck, chest, stomach and beyond licked by his servant. Richie loved the taste of Mike. It was a kind of clean yet slightly dirty taste and turned Richie on. He quickly did as he was told not even noticing that the collar made a soft click as he quickly put it around his neck. The collar was cold steel and a little heavy on the neck, resting slightly on the collar bones, but Richie didn't notice. He was interested in tasting Mike's body.

Mike was lost in ecstasy while Richie licked his chest, neck, stomach, even his pits. Richie had a great tongue and he always paid great attention to Mike's body. He was even trying to reach his tongue down inside Mike's shorts. Noticing the time of day, Mike stopped Richie and told him it was time pay back his points.

Mike positioned Richie with his hands around a tree and quickly tied them so he could not stop hugging the tree. Richie knew this was all part of their fun and he had to pay back each point with a whip stroke from anything Mike chose. Mike rubbed the whip again Richie's back and said, "We'll save this for the last ten strokes."

Richie shook in a little bit of fear and a little bit of excitement knowing he was going to receive ten from the whip. Mike was behind him once more and said, "The first ten with this." Richie felt the thin tree branch made into a supple switch rubbing against his naked bum.

Mike stepped back and swung hard bring the switch down across both cheeks. Richie gasped then yelped in pain as Mike watched a bright red streak appear on Richie's bum. Mike felt the excitement in his groin and laid another stroke just above the last.

"Fuck! That hurt," screamed Richie.

Mike smiled and the next three were hard and fast, each one just a few millimeter above the last. Each groan, gasp and yelp made Mike's cock grow harder in his shorts.

Richie looked back and said, "You're enjoying this a lot, Mike."

"I am, but I'm going to enjoy whipping you even more," Mike said.

Richie felt his own hard cock rubbing against the tree. The strokes from the switch hurt some, but only for an instant and then the pain subsided quickly. He knew that Mike was going to whip him hard because that's exactly what he would do if the roles were reversed. Richie knew that if he kept the thought in his mind that Mike would be serving him next, he could make it through.

It felt like Mike laid the final five strokes with the switch harder than the first, but actually they were all about the same. Mike was starting to sweat and leaned up against Richie's already sweaty body and whispered, "Now you are pay back for that last whipping you gave me."

Richie groaned and said, "It wasn't that bad, you only had red marks for a few days."

Mike smiled, "You're going to have the for more than a few days, boy."

Mike stepped back and picked up the whip. This whip was different than the one Richie had used on him before. Richie's was what the slavers call a single tail and while it is accurate and painful, it only leaves one stroke of pain when you are hit with it. The whip in Mike's hand now was one lie you see being used by the slavers with the work gangs. It had three tails, each the same length and thickness attached to the braided handle. Mike had never held one of these but eager to see how Richie would react as the tails hit him.

"Ready? This is going to hurt," Mike said.

"Just get it done so I can whip you next," Richie yelled at him.

Mike drew back and not knowing how hard to lay on the stroke he let go full force. It was like slow motion as the tails landed hard across Richie's back. Richie's first scream was blood curdling. The three spots that the tails had hit were now bright red with little trickles of blood starting to appear along the stripes. Richie pulled at the rope that held him to the tree and at the same time hugged the tree even tighter as strange sounds continued to come from his mouth. Mike now realized that Richie was really struggling.

"Richie, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Mike said as he dropped the whip and started to hug Richie from behind.

Through the pain Richie was able to say, "Please untie me."

Mike quickly moved to Richie's wrist and used the knife to cut at the knots that were now tighter than ever on Richie's wrists. It took what felt like an eternity, but Mike finally cut the knots and released Richie from the tree. He helped Richie sit down on the ground so they could both catch their breath.

"I'm sorry, Richie. I didn't know that whip was going to hit that hard. I would have never used it full force like that if I had known."

"It's ok. It's ok. I know. Fuck that hurt bad. What does my back look like?"

"You're going to have three whip marks for more than a few days, bro," Mike said and smiled slightly.

They heard some noise behind them and turned to see what it was. It was Jake and Derek riding bikes towards them. "What are you up to?" yelled Jake as the came to a stop near them.

"Just playing," Richie said.

"Don't be getting into anything that will get me in trouble with mum or I'll kill you."

"Yeah Yeah, we won't."

Derek slapped Jake in the chest to get his attention and pointed at Richie. Jake looked to where Derek was pointing and saw it.

"Is that a fucking 3;," Derek said but was cut off by Jake's hand coming towards his mouth.

"Shut up Derek and never mind," Jake said. "We're going over to Derek's for a while. You two better be back in time for dinner and put some fucking clothes on little brother before mum gets home."

Jake and Derek started pedaling away leaving Mike and Richie wondering what was that all about.

"Time's up. You're all mine now," Richie said.

"Wait I didn't get a chance to finish punishing you."

"To late, you ran out of time. You're now all mine boy," Richie laughed. "Get that other collar around your neck while I take this one off."

Mike was a little angry at running out of time and quickly grabbed the collar and put it around his neck.

"Wait!" Richie said just as Mike closed the collar around his neck and heard a distinct click. "Mine is not coming open."

Mike grabbed at his collar and tried to open it but it wouldn't budge.

***

As Derek and Jake rode towards Derek's house Derek said, "That was a slave collar around your brother's neck."

"I know and I'm going to teach him a lesson," Jake said.

They came up to the house and dropped their bikes on the ground. As they walked inside Jake said, "I'm calling the slave authority and have them picked up. It will teach them to not mess around with stuff that is not theirs."

Jakes called the slave authority and explained that he and his friend were riding in the woods and saw two slaves. He said he didn't know who they belonged to but it didn't look like they should be there without an overseer. The person on the other end thanked Jake for reporting the sighting and said they would handle it.

***

Richie and Mike pulled harder at their collars but it was no use, they were locked closed.

"There has to be something back at the shed to open these. Let go look and get them off," Mike said.

"Just who is giving the order here, boy?" Richie said. "Get that backpack on and run your laps. We have plenty of time to get these off later." Mike looked at Richie in disbelief. "I did it, so you have to too. Get moving."

Mike knew it was part of the game, so he picked up the backpack and started running. On his tenth lap Mike was getting winded and realized he had worked Richie hard. He started to regret making it this difficult but Richie did it, so he could too.

Richie sat and watched Mike run around the clearing. His back continued to hurt where the three tails had struck and he could tell that it was going to hurt for a few days. He would definitely be sleeping on his stomach for the next couple of nights. He also realized that Derek had pointed to the collar around his neck when he and Jake were there. Richie didn't care, he knew that Jake and Derek knew what they were up to. They wouldn't say anything to mum, and if they did Richie would just make something up to cover for what they said. Mike was just finishing his twenty laps and walking towards Richie.

"No stopping, fifty press-ups. Naked too, just like I had to," Richie said.

Mike removed his shorts as Richie watched. Mike's cock stood out half hard from the excitement and adrenaline coursing through his body. Richie loved to look at Mike when he was naked and working out for him. Every muscle in Mike's body would flex in prefect rhythm as he did each press-up. Without realizing it Richie was slowly stroking his own hard cock as Mike continued his workout.

"Enjoying yourself?" Mike asked.

Richie snapped back to reality. "Fifty more for mouthing off!" Richie yelled at him.

As Mike continued, Richie heard a noise behind the tree. Richie turned his head to see a group of four men watching them. "What the fuck do we have here?" the man in front said. Mike stopped and looked at the man speaking. Richie started to stand up and the man quickly lifted a baton to Richie's side and touched him with it.

Richie didn't know what hit him. He lay on the ground twisting, convulsing and making strange sounds. He had no control over what his body was doing.

"You stay right where you're at slave, unless you would to feel my stun baton too," the man said. He turned to his men, "You two secure that one. You, take the one that doesn't have any manners around his betters."

The two men walked over to Mike and one put his booted foot on Mike's back and forced him to the ground. Mike moaned in pain and tried to get out from under the boot. The second man quickly grabbed Mike's arms and pulled them sharply behind his back. Wrist shackles were quickly snapped in place, then the man moved to Mike's feet and secured then with legs shackles.

"Stop your hurting me, what are you doing? Let me go!" screamed Mike.

The man reached down, grabbed a fist full of Mike's hair and pulled his head upwards. Mike responded by screaming in pain and the man forced a gag into Mike's mouth and quickly secured it behind Mike's head. Mike felt the rough leather straps pulling at his cheeks and tried to force the gag out, but it held tight to his head.

"Slaves need to learn to keep their mouths shut when their betters are around," the first man said.

Mike looked over and saw that Richie had stopped convulsing and was laying there with his hands and legs shackled just like Mike's.

"Boss, look at this," one of the men said.

The boss looked at what was being shown and whistled. "Well well, what do we have here? An overseer's whip and a knife found with two unsupervised slaves out in the woods. Get them up on their knees."

The men easily lifted both boys up off the ground and slammed them both back to it on their knees. Mike and Richie both groaned in pain as their knees hit the dirt.

"Where is your overseer, slave?" the boss asked Richie.

"We aren't slaves, Sir. Please, we were just playing out here in the woods," Richie responded.

The boss walked to where Richie knelt and put his face close to Richie's face. Richie could smell the man's bad breath that mixed with whatever fragrance of cologne he was wearing. The smell made Richie feel sick.

"Your collars say you are slaves. Only the authority can put a collar on a slave and only the authority can take a collar off a slave. Now where is your overseer, slave?"

"We aren't slaves, Sir. We 3;.," was all Richie could get out before the boss's fist came crashing into the side of his head. Richie was dazed for a second and then the world before his eyes turned black. Mike was in shock at the boss's reaction.

"Pick them up. We'll sort it out back at the station," the boss said.

Chapter Two
Processing

Oh, poor Richie. He could see the man in front of him carrying Richie over his shoulder. Richie's body was limp and appeared life less as they continued through the woods. His mouth still had a few drops of blood around it and the side of his face was heavily bruised. His body bounced against the man with each step but there was no voluntary movement. Even if Richie was conscious he wouldn't be able to move much with these restraints.

Mike groaned loudly when the chain between his ankles caught on a small stump. The men just pulled harder until the chain slipped from the stump. There was nothing that was going to stop these men from taking Mike and Richie where they wanted.

They exited to woods onto a dirt road and walked about 50 meters to a parked van.

"Get them secured so we can get going," the boss said.

The man carrying Richie opened the back door of the van, lifted Richie from his shoulder and dropped him inside. The other two men easily picked up Mike and put him in the van too. They put Mike on his knees and locked the chain between his ankles to a ring in the floor. Then they pulled his bound wrists up into the air forcing Mike to bend forward to ease the pain. They pulled his wrists higher and Mike started to scream into his gag as his knees actually started to be pulled off the floor. They locked his wrists to a ring on the side of the van and released their upward pull.

Mike's face was pressed into his knees and his chest lay tightly against his thighs. Thankfully Mike's knees rested on the floor with most of his weight, but there was still enough pressure on his arms to cause considerable pain. The men secured Richie in the same way, though Richie's knees were about an inch off the floor. Mike was grateful the Richie was unconscious because if he had been awake he'd be screaming right now.

The men slammed the back door shut and the two boys were enveloped with darkness. Mike was scared and in pain. He felt the tears in his eyes but could do nothing to wipe them away. Why was happening, why wouldn't these men listen, why did they treat them this way? These questions and more raced through Mike's mind without being answered.

The van engine started and Mike felt the forward movement as they started to the station. Mike wondered what would happen at the station, how long would it take to get there and would they ever see anyone they knew again. Mike screamed as the van made a turn causing his arms to be pulled even more.

The ride continued for about 20 minutes until the van came to a stop. Mike was limp from the pain he was enduring and his naked body was covered in sweat. The door opened and sun light burst into the darkness, momentarily blinding Mike with its brightness. The men quickly unlocked Mike's wrists and ankles and removed him from the van.

They carried him across a small concrete open area, into a building and dropped him on the floor. Mike couldn't move a muscle to stand or walk even if he wanted to, so he laid there waiting. A few moments later Richie was dropped next to him on the floor and the men walked away. Mike waited, and then heard footsteps coming towards them. A young man dressed in white lab coat and white pants came towards them.

"Sergeant Morgan. I see you brought in a couple more lost slaves. This one isn't even conscious. These lost slaves always seem to give you trouble," Ben said.

"I'm just doing my job, Ben. Sometimes they resist or break their standard discipline and they need to be reminded who is in charge. These two even had a knife and an overseer's whip with them. That's two class one counts for a slave. Anyway, you techs have it easy. You get to sort them and find their owners while my team and I have to run all over the providence tracking them down," the boss said.

"Yes, its easy cleaning them up, finding their owners and retraining them as necessary once you bring them in. We should switch positions sometime." Ben sarcastically said.

"You wouldn't last an hour out there on the search," the boss laughed. "I have to get going we have one more loose one about 2 hours away that we have to pick up and take to station 34. See you next time I'm in the area."

"Good luck in the hunt. See you next time."

Ben was glad to be rid of Sergeant Morgan. He always brought in the missing slaves but they always showed signs of more abuse then were necessary. There was not much Ben could do about it though, because policy stated that slave reported missing were to be brought in by any means necessary. The laws for owning and keeping a slave were strict on the owner and the slave. Slaves were still human but to maintain discipline and control the law stated that slave treatment should always be swift, harsh and exact to ensure a slave's mind stayed focused. Ben knew these laws were becoming outdated because many owners treated their slaves with leniency as if they were paid workers rather than slaves. Soon the laws would have to change, but maybe not in Ben's lifetime. For now he had to deal with these two lying on the floor in front of him.

"Guess I better wake your friend up," Ben said

Ben walked over to a small metal cabinet and returned to where Richie and Mike lay. Ben leaned down and broke a smelling salt capsule in front of Richie's nose. Richie instantly responded, waking and not knowing where he was.

"Lay still for a minute slave," Ben said. "If you move or try to speak, I will use my stun baton. I'm sure you know what those feel like."

Richie was still a little foggy in his head but he definitely understood what the stun baton was and he did not want to feel it again. He simply lay there and allowed his head to clear. His eyes grew more focused and he saw Mike lying on the floor a meter away. He saw the gag strapped tightly around Mike's face and he started to cry.

"I have to get you two processed," Ben said. "There is no more running free. I have to follow strict slave control policies and if you two give me any trouble I will make you regret it. Now both of you, on your feet and follow me."

Mike's feet hurt from being dragged through the woods, but he was able to stand with some minor pain from them. He was able to take short steps that the chain between his ankles allowed and started to follow Ben.

Richie however could barely stand. His muscles were shaking and he was very wobbly as he stood. His first step he fell to his knees, gasping in pain as his knees hit the floor.

"Follow on your knees then slave, just get moving or I will have to give you some motivation," Ben said as he tapped on his baton.

Mike and Richie followed him as quickly as they could through a doorway and into a room that looked like it was a cross between a laboratory and a computer science fair. There were various computer screens hanging over many pieces of chrome tables, chairs and other unrecognizable devices.

"You," Ben said pointing at Richie. "Stay on your knees."

"You," Ben said pointing at Mike. "Post!"

Mike looked at Ben and tried to figure out what Ben meant. Ben looked at Mike and thought about how leniency could affect a slave. Now he was starting to see it in this slave. This slave didn't even know what a basic post command meant. He was surprised at this but also saddened because slaves that forgot simple commands were doomed to a harsh existence after retraining.

"I told you, 'Post', slave. Get on the fucking post now!" Ben said and pointed to where he wanted Mike to move to.

Mike looked and there was a post, but it was unlike any post he had ever seen. On the floor was a square metal mesh grid. In the center was a metal post about a half meter high and on top of it was a metal cylinder with a rounded top. Mike shuffled towards the post while trying to figure out what to do when he got there. He stopped just centimeters from the mesh and froze when he realized what it was for.

"I don't have time for your forgetfulness, slave," Ben said. Ben grabbed Mike from behind, easily picked him up and carried him to the post. He spun Mike around and quickly forced Mike on the post, impaling Mike's bum on the top of the post. Mike let out a scream through his gagged at the sudden intrusion. As Mike struggled, he didn't notice that the pole was rising out of the floor. Ben reached down and hooked Mikes chained ankles through a hook in the floor. In less the 10 seconds of struggling, the top of the post was deep in Mike's bum, and the balls of his feet barely held him up. Mike couldn't move did his best to stand still and keep his balance.

Richie knelt looking as what was happing in horror. He dared not speak because he didn't want to feel that awful stun baton again.

Ben stepped away and returned with an electronic device that he touched to the collar on Mike's neck. Looking at the readings, he shook his head, reset the device and touched it to the collar again. The second reading confirmed what Ben saw on the first reading. The collar read that the owner was Thomas Evans and that the slave was a class five slave however the collar was otherwise blank. It was possible that the electronics in the collar could have been scrambled by some outside process but that was highly unlikely. However, these two slaves reported missing and were found carrying a knife and an overseer's whip which they may have gotten from nefarious means.

Ben decided the best course was to let the tribune figure it out with the owner. His job was to process them and identify who they belonged to. He walked away, returned a few moments later, and stuck a small needle in Mike arm. He took a small drop of blood on a test pad and placed it on the electronic device. The device quickly read the DNA properties of the blood and returned with the information Ben wanted. He touched the device to the collar and the device beeped three times.

"There we go, all set," Ben said. "You collar now reads correctly slave. I see your name is Mike and you are owned by Mr. Thomas Evans. We'll get you returned to him as quickly as the tribune allows." Ben walked over to a monitor and touched the screen a few times. "Looks like you are in good shape slave. I'm sure your Master will be happy to get you back after we figure out why you were wandering free."

Richie heard Ben say his father's name. He wished his father was still alive so he help right now. His father always knew the answer to a tough situation.

Ben touched the screen once more and the post retracted towards the ground. As Mike's legs started to hold him up the post easily slid out of his bum.

"Over there, kneel," Ben said pointing to a place he wanted Mike to go to.

"You," Ben said to Richie. "Get your sorry bum over here and Post."

Richie moved on his knees towards Ben and the post. As he got close to Ben, he looked up with pleading eyes and said, "Please."

"Not another word from you slave," Ben said. "Your friend here is going to be wearing that gag until he is returned to your Master because he didn't know better and spoke to Sergeant Morgan. Now, remember your training. Keep silent at all times, slave. Post!"

Richie bit his tongue and tears ran down his face. He crawled forward on his knees across the metal mesh and almost screamed in pain as the metal bit into his tender legs. Ben positioned Richie so he was over the post and as it touched his bum, it quickly rose out of the floor. The pain was intense as he was lifted off the floor by this metal post forcing its way deep into his bum. Richie let out a moan of pain that Ben didn't seem to notice.

Ben checked the collar that Richie wore and it too had the same results as Mike's. Ben corrected the data in the collar after checking Richie's DNA against the database and also completed a full body and health scan. Richie's results were also good and indicated no health problems. Ben touched the screen and Richie was released from the post. Now able to stand better, Richie shuffled to where Mike knelt and slowly knelt beside him.

Richie looked at Mike and desperately wanted to say something, but could only cry at seeing his best friend chained and gagged kneeling beside him. Mike felt the same, only he was sorry he made Richie play like this today. Mike also cried at the way Richie's face looked now. Sergeant Morgan had hit Richie hard and the discoloration of Richie face made him cry.

Ben did feel truly sorry for the slaves he processed but he learned long ago that you can't become emotional about them. This was a job and these slaves, even though they are human, are simply slaves and they need to be treated as the law dictates.

"You two will be in the pens tonight and I need to get you prepped so no troubles from either of you. Frankly, I don't see why a Master would remove the rings and cuff from a slave. It against the law for your cock to be entering someone so why remove them."

Ben knew that Mike wasn't going to answer and Richie was too scared to utter a word.

Ben ordered Richie to stand. He grabbed Richie's balls pulling them down hard and quickly snapped a cuff around it. It all happened so quickly that Richie didn't have a chance to shout out, but he did feel the pain in his balls slowly beginning to build. Ben worked quickly and forced Richie flaccid cock through a series of rings connected by a metal bar. Lastly he fitted a ring around Richie's cock and balls and firmly snapped it closed. Richie's cock started to expand and he immediately felt the pain as the rings grip tightened. Renewed tears formed in his eyes and he wanted the rings and cuff removed.

Ben worked with the same speed and efficiency on Mike's cock and balls and soon Mike was feeling the same pains from the rings that Richie felt. Neither Mike nor Richie had ever seen a chastity device let alone worn one, but they were both beginning to understand its purpose. Whenever their cocks got too hard and the pain became almost unbearable, their cock would respond by shrinking back away from the pain.

"Come on, let's get you into the pens for the night," Ben said.

They followed Ben out through a door and down a hall. At the end of the hall was a large door with no markings on it. Ben opened the door and ordered Mike and Richie inside. The smell inside was awful. It was a mixture of stale sweat, damp dirt and human waste. Richie wanted to step back but Ben's hand was wrapped around the baton which was ready to be used.

They worked their way down the steps which was even more difficult with the chains on their ankles. At the bottom of the steps the floor was hard packed dirt. They turned and before them on each side of the dirt aisle were small cages. They walked between the cages and saw that each one contained a naked boy, chained and locked inside with no means of escape. Richie gasped having never seen so many naked boys kept in cages like this.

Ben found two empty cages beside each other. "You inside that one and you inside that one," Ben said to Mike and Richie. Mike looked confused and so did Richie. "On your knees and crawl backwards into the cage."

Mike and Richie got down on their knees and moved backwards into their cages. This was made doubly difficult by the chains on their ankles and that they had no use of their hands which were cuffed behind their backs. As Richie's knees entered the cage he felt the same metal mesh that he had felt at the post. He let out a small moan as the mesh started biting into the skin of his knees. Mike felt it too, but there was less sound coming from his gagged mouth. Mike continued backing into the cage until he felt something start to touch his bum.

"It's just like to post," Ben said. "Push back and get it deep inside. You need to be on it good so I can close the cage door."

Mike had a pleading look on his face but he could tell by the look on Ben's face that he better do as he was told. He pushed back and felt the cold steel going inside. His cock immediately started to get hard and fight the rings that were surrounding it. Tears of humiliation and pain ran down Mike's face as he pushed until he felt he could go no further. Richie had done the same and was struggling to keep from crawling forward.

Ben had gone around the back of the cage and Richie felt something between his legs. He bent his head down to look when suddenly he felt a tremendous pain as the metal plug was thrust even more deeply into his bum. He screamed at the sudden pain and fought to pull away but he couldn't move. He continued to feel the pain but now it felt like it was from his balls too. He looked over at Mike's cage and could see was Ben was doing.

Ben hooked a small chain to Mike's cuffed balls and quickly gave it a hard pull which forced Mike deeper onto the plug. Ben then secured the chain to a hook on the cage which left Mike's balls pulled and stretched tightly towards the back of the cage. There would be no way off the plug without ripping your own balls off.

Ben reached through the top bars and secured Mike's hands to the top bar of the cage. He did the same with Richie's hands and came around to the front of the cages.

"You two will be in front of the tribune tomorrow to hear what the he decides to do with you," Ben said. "Don't act like you forgot all your previous training because they are not as lenient as I am."

"And you," he said to Richie. "Watch that tongue. Remember noises like that scream you just made will lose it for you. Now both of you, heads down to the floor."

They both lowered their heads to the floor and Ben pushed each of the cage doors closed. With the doors closed they couldn't even lift their heads to look about. Both boys started to cry again. How had playing a game in the woods ended this way? What would happen to them tomorrow? These thoughts and others filled their heads as they waited in their cages.

***

Meanwhile, back at Richie's house, his mum was beginning to worry. It was starting to get late and Richie and Mike had not been seen since this morning. Jake came into the house and his mum confronted him.

"Where is your brother? I told you to keep an watch over him and it's not like him to be this late," his mum said.

"I don't know mum. Him and Mike were in the woods playing mid-morning, but I have not seen them since," Jake said.

"Well you need to go out where you last saw him and see if he's there. Maybe he's hurt or something."

"He's not hurt, mum. He'll be fine just needs to learn his lesson."

"What do you mean, Jake? If you know something, you better tell me now young man."

"Mum, I don't know. I just meant that he'll learn from this because you will ground him for being late," Jake said. He knew the Richie was learning a lesson for messing around like that. Serves him and Mike right for playing around like slaves in the woods. The authority will probably show up any minute with both of them and mum will really teach them a lesson then.

As the evening wore on, even Jake began to get worried. The phone rang at about 9 PM and Richie's mum rushed to answer it. Jake over heard her saying that his father had passed away then she started screaming onto the phone.

"You've got them where? How can that be? I will come down there straight away. What? Why can't you? Well when then? Tribune? Why? This is not right. Yes we will definitely be there. 10 AM. Yes, I will make sure we have an advocate."

Jake had a look of guilt on his face and his mum recognized it the minute she returned to the living room and saw him. "Jacob Evans, what do you know of this?" she said. She only used his full named when she was very angry.

"Mum, I don't.."

"I don't want to hear another word unless it's the truth, Jake. I see it all over your face. Now what did you do.?"

Jake sighed. "They were out playing in the woods and they have some of father's things from the shed."

"What things?"

"A couple of the collars that father had. I knew what they were because father told me about them when I was little. Anyway, well I sort of… Well I sort of called the authority and told them that I saw two slaves in the woods with no one else around."

"You did what? Oh Jake, Jake, do you know what you have done?"

"I figured that the authority would take them in, check them out and bring them home for playing around like the stupid little kids that they are, Mum."

"Jake, the authority thinks that Richie and Mike are slaves. They have them locked in the slave pens tonight and will appear before the tribune tomorrow morning. They think the two of them ran away from their overseer and now the tribune will want your father to answer why they escaped his control."

"How can they do that, Mum? Father is dead, don't they know that?"

"Yes, they know and now the tribune will want an explanation as to why his property, Mike and Richie, where not transferred to a new owner."

"Well they are not property, Mum. They are not slaves," Jake starting to get worried now.

"Yes, you and I know that, but the authority doesn't. They have collars that are controlled by the slave authority and those collars contain all the information about the slave. Your father saw to it that even the DNA of the slave was recorded in the collar to ensure there were no mistakes."

"Well that's it then, Mum. The collars they were playing with from the shed couldn't have their information or DNA."

"I hope you're right and it's that easy tomorrow. I need to call Mr. Poynter, he was your father's advocate for many years. We need to have him here in the morning when we go before the tribune."

"Mum, I'm sorry. I didn't know. I didn't mean 3;," Jake said with a worried look on his face.

"Jake, I know you didn't think this through. I'm still angry and will deal with you after we get your brother and his best friend free," she said.

Richie's mum quickly called Casey Poynter and informed him of the situation. "This doesn't sound too difficult, Sarah," Casey said. "We should be able to prove that the two of them are not slaves and get them quickly released. I'll be there first thing in the morning. Try not to worry too much."

Richie's mum didn't rest well that night. Her husband was a lead engineer of the collar systems used to track, monitor and control slaves. She had seen the way slaves are kept once when he took her on a tour of the facilities and she never wanted to see it again. She knew the slaves were necessary for society to function properly, but she hated the way slaves were cared for and treated. She always did her best to keep her children shielded from seeing that, but occasionally there were questions from her boys which she learned to quickly dismiss. Now her youngest son and his best friend were being held by the authority and she worried if they too were being treated like the slaves she had once seen. She could only wait, wonder and worry.

***

In the slave pens, Mike and Richie were crying and not getting much rest either. They only wanted to go home and end this nightmare. Caged, chained and unable to move, your muscles begin to cramp and hurt more with each passing minute. Richie felt numb all over from the pain and there was no way to relieve it. The pain just became part of his existence. The minutes passed slowly and thoughts of how horrible life can be played through his head.

Mike could hear Richie moaning next to him. It was a low sounding moan, the same as others on the opposite side were making. Mike wished the gag was not in his mouth so he could talk to Richie. He'd say how sorry he was for getting them into this mess and hope that Richie would forgive him.

Both boys were in for a long night.

Chapter Three
Tribune

"I frankly don't see a problem, Sarah," Casey said. "I will show the tribune that Richie and Mike are not slaves by turning over their recent school reports and attendance records. That combined with lack of their data in the collars and Jakes testimony should convince the tribune that this was all just boys playing around and a practical joke gone bad. The most I can see coming out of this is community work rehabilitation for the three of them."

"The three of them?" Jake said

"Of course Jake, you also called in a false report and the tribune will not look lightly on that," Casey said.

"But that will be on my citizen record forever. It will ruin my chances at work assignments later in life."

"You should have thought about that before you acted, Jake. Now it will not be that bad. You will still have plenty of opportunities."

Jake was now angry with Richie even more. Richie was always messing things up for him and now he was messing with his future work opportunities. "I won't testify that I made the call," he said.

"You most certainly will Jacob Evans," his mum said. "You will tell the tribune what you did and accept responsibility for it."

Jake looked at his mum, saw her face and knew she meant it. "Alright, but I will get him back for messing up my life."

"Messing up your life?" his mum yelled at him. "Do you realize your brother and his best friend are slaves right now because of you? Don't you feel even a little responsible for this situation? How self-centered are you Jacob Evans?"

Jake got up and went to his bedroom. He thought about his mum words while he got dress to go to the tribune. He wasn't self-centered. His brother was always getting into trouble and Jake was always blamed for it. Self-centered? Far from it. He was tired of taking the blame.

When he returned to the kitchen his mum and Mr. Poynter were ready to depart. They got into Mr. Poynter's car and drove to the tribune office.

***

Richie and Mike did get much sleep either. They were two broken willed boys by morning. Both were numb to everything around them though they still felt the pains of being locked in the cage all night. A slave came down the row of cages with a large water hose that he could barely handle. He sprayed icy cold water at each cage to wash down each slave and to clean the cage. Mike tried to scream as the icy water hit his naked skin, but only a garbled sound got past his gag. Jake too screamed when the water hit his skin. He had never felt water that cold before in his life. The two boys shivered in their cages while the water dripped slowing from their bodies.

A big man in uniform was standing in front of their cages. "You two are first for warm-ups because we have to get you ready for the tribune," he said. Then looking down at Richie's cage and seeing his back he said, "I see you are familiar with warm-ups so you will go first."

Richie didn't know what the man meant, but he heard his cage door opening and for the first time in many hours he was able to move his head and back. He moaned as he moved and the man said, "Don't worry we will have you loosened up in no time, slave."

Richie felt his wrists and balls being unlocked. "Out, knees, present wrists," the man ordered.

Richie slowly moved out of the cage and stayed on his knees. He thought the only way to present wrists was to bow his head to the floor and raise his wrists off his back high into the air. Thankfully he was correct and felt the man unlocking the cuffs from his wrists, then his ankles. "Post!" the man said.

Richie thought, do these guys do everything on those posts? He looked up and did not see a post like in the lab. The man however was pointing to a wooden post that ran from floor to ceiling at the end of the row of cages. Richie's muscles were stiff, but he slowly got up on his feet and moved towards the post. When he reached the post, the man lifted Richie's arms, pulled him off the floor by his wrists and quickly snapped Richie's wrists into a set of cuffs attached high on the post. Richie yelped as the weight of his body was dropped and he was left hanging by his wrists. His feet hung about fifteen centimeters above the floor.

"You get the standard warm-up and two more for being slow," the man said.

Richie's body shivered involuntarily as he realized what warm-ups were. He wanted to yell stop to the man, but fear of further torture came over him and he did his best to keep quiet.

Richie heard the whistle of the whip as it came through the air but he never felt it touch his body. Instead he saw a burst of light and the searing pain of what felt like lightening as the whip cracked across his back. His mind felt like it left his body and he saw his body convulse and strain as it hung from the post. The second stroke landed without any warning and Richie heard a blood curdling growl come from deep inside his tortured body. Each stroke seemed worse than the last and Richie's body fought back less and less with each stroke. By the seventh stroke Richie hung limp and almost lifeless on the post. The man released Richie's wrists and his body fell to the ground.

"Knees, present wrists," the man ordered.

From somewhere inside Richie willed himself to move to his knees and present his wrists again. He didn't want to feel the whip or the stun baton ever again. He vowed to himself there and then that he would learn to quickly do as he was told. The man cuffed Richie's arms behind his back then went to Mike's cage.

Mike was given the same instructions and was grateful to be out of the cage and have that metal cylinder out of his bum. All night his muscles fought the cylinder and tried to get it out of his bum. All Mike got for that was his cock trying to get hard and painfully shrinking back on itself all night long.

Mike got to the post and was told he would get one more for being slow. Richie watched and cried from his kneeling position beside the post as the whip lay stroke after stroke on Mike's back. After six strokes, Mike was released from the post and arms cuffed again beside Richie.

The man ordered Richie and Mike to follow him out of the pens. They walked down a hallway and into a room that was much smaller but also similar to Ben's lab. Inside two slaves knelt with their head pressed to the floor. The man pointed across the room and said to Richie and Mike, "Post!"

These posts were like in Ben's lab so both boys knew what to do, even though they did not want to do it. They moved across the room, stepped on the metal mesh grid and squatted down until their bums touched the post. The post responded instantly by rising out of the floor until both boys could just stand on their feet but not get off the post.

"Standard gear for tribune. I'll be back in fifteen minutes," the man said to the two kneeling slaves. Then the man walked out of the room.

The slave immediately went to work like they had done these tasks thousands of times. The gag was removed from Mike's mouth and he was grateful to be able to stretch his jaw once more. It was short lived though as the slaves fitted a muzzle over both boys head and cinched the straps tightly. Neither boy could open their mouth to make a sound now.

Heavy metal cuffs were locked around their ankles but these only had side rings on them. There was no connecting chain.

"When you in tribune, spread legs wide and get locked to grid before touch post," the one slave whispered.

The slaves continued their preparations and returned to Richie and Mike with a set of thin yet heavy chains. "Leash. Obey, they hurt less," the slave whispered.

The slave reached for Mike left nipple and attached a heavy clamp to it which caused Mike to start trying to pull away in pain. He wasn't going anywhere with the post deep in his bum, but the pain made him try. The slave attached the second clamp to Mike's right nipple and it seemed to hurt even more then the first. The other slave had done the same to Richie and received the same reaction. The clamps were connected by a chain and the held a longer chain from the middle which hung down their chests.

If either of the boys could open their mouth to scream they would have, but like everything else that had happened since yesterday, they had no choice but to accept what was being done to them.

The door opened and both slaves quickly returned to their positions kneeling on the floor. The man walked in and up to Richie and Mike. He grabbed Richie's leash and gave it a good hard pull. Richie's body reacted to the pain but no sound escaped the muzzle.

"You will both be taken into the tribune in a few minutes. There will be no trouble from either of you or you will be put down. You both understand what it means to put an animal down?" the man asked.

Mike and Richie nodded that they did. "Good, then you understand they in front of the tribune obedience is absolute," the man said. "I'll be back in a few minutes to take you in."

***

Sarah, Jake and Casey arrived at the tribune a little before 10 AM. They entered and waited in the back for their case to be heard. At 10 AM, their case was called and they took their seats on the defense side. The prosecution side had two advocates and an authority officer. The room was called to order.

"Have the property brought in," the tribune said.

The side door opened and Richie was led in first. Sarah gasped when she saw that her son was naked, chained, collared and being led into the room on a slave leash. With tears in his eyes, Richie walked to the metal mesh grid and spread his legs wide like a well-practiced slave should. When his ankles were locked to the grid, he squatted down and as his bum touched the post, it quickly raised to enter deep into his bum. This time the post went higher than before causing Richie to stand on the balls of his feet. Mike came in next, was locked to the grid and his post also rose until he was on the balls of his feet. Mike wondered how long he would be able to stand in this stressful position.

"Officer, please identify the property," the tribune said.

Sarah saw the heavy whip marks on both of their backs and whispered to her advocate. She had tears running down her face as she watched the officer approach her son.

The officer touched an electronic device to Richie's collar and the screens on the desks of both advocates and the tribune lit up to show the data in Richie's collar. The officer did the same to Mike's collar and now both sets of data appeared side by side on the screens. Mr. Poynter looked at the data in disbelief.

"You may state the case for the providence, Mr. Alden," the tribune said.

"Thank you, your honor," Mr. Alden said. "The property in question was reported by a good citizen as being loose and unattended by an overseer. As the report from Sergeant Morgan states, the property was tracked and found to be alone in a wooded area. When confronted one of the slaves resisted and had to be stunned before officers were able to control him. The other slave sought to argue with an officer and he too had to be subdued. Upon inspection of the immediate area Sergeant Morgan's team also found a weapon and an overseer's whip. Both of these items I now submit as evidence."

He handed two evidence bags which contained the knife and the whip to an officer. "Having either of these in their possession is considered class one crime for a slave, your honor."

Mr. Alden continued. "The property was delivered by Sergeant Morgan to the processing center where their collars were checked and we attempted to contact the owner. We were unable to reach the current registered owner because he is deceased your honor. We learned late last night that Mr. Poynter is the current registered owner's family advocate and that there may be some extenuating circumstances surrounding this property your honor."

"As law requires we base our case on the evidence found in the possession of this property. After hearing any testimony and reviewing the evidence, if your honor agrees with the providence's case, we ask that that this property be categorized as class one slaves and sentenced to life in the mines as a demonstration to other slaves to never disobey the laws set down by our fore fathers. Thank you for hearing us your honor."

The tribune nodded, "Mr. Poynter, you may proceed."

Casey cleared his throat, "Thank you your honor. This is a case of a simple boyhood mistake and prank going awry. These two which the providence calls property are best friends and this boy, Richie Evans, is Sarah Evans son."

Casey looked at the boys and they were both struggling to maintain their position on the balls of their feet. Both boys were covered with sweat and tears fell from their eyes at they stood there in obvious pain.

"As the paper work I have submitted will show these two boys have been free citizens, have excellent attendance and grades in school and are each top athletes in their sport. Your honor from the evidence we have gathered, these two boys were playing in their late father's work shed and found two slave collars. These collars were developed for the authority by the late Thomas Evans, Richie's father. The collars must have been working models the same collars that he developed and refined the tracking, monitoring, and data storage systems for the system the authority uses today. As playful as boys are, they must have accidentally locked the collars around their neck and found they could not get them off."

The tribune continued to listen to Mr. Ponyter's presentation.

"Now when Richie's brother, Jacob Evans, saw that his brother had a collar around his neck, he thought to play a prank by calling the authority and report them as missing slaves," Mr. Poynter said pointing at Jake.

"Is that true young man?" the tribune asked. "Stand and be heard."

"Y..Yes your honor," Jakes said in a shaky voice. "I called the authority and reported them missing as a prank. I only meant to teach them a lesson to not play with things that do not below to them."

"So you admit that you were one who reported these two to the authority?" the tribune asked.

"Yes your honor, I reported them and I am sorry to have caused this much trouble. Please, my brother and his friend do not want to be slaves. They have their whole life ahead of them and should not suffer for my prank, Sir."

"Your plea for them is so noted, young man. Mr. Poynter is there anything else?"

"Yes your honor. Richie's mother would like to speak."

"Mrs. Evans. Please stand and be heard."

"Thank you your honor. Richie and his friend Mike are not slaves. They are fun, loving, and respectful boys that just made a mistake. Please your honor I beg you, don't take them away from me," Sarah said. Then she sat down crying into her crossed arms.

Both Richie and Mike wanted to speak but the muzzles prevented that. What the two boys didn't know was that the tribune would not have listened to them anyway. The law stated that slaves could be represented by an advocate if their owners could afford it, but a slave was not allowed to speak in a case heard by a tribune. It didn't matter what a slave said because a slave was property of its owner and the owner could choose to defend a case or not.

Mr. Poynter, Sarah and even Jake knew this. It was something Jake learned in civics class at school last year. Slaves were disciplined by their owners and if the owner did not keep them well disciplined, then the authority had the right and duty to take the slave away from the owner.

"Mr. Poynter is there anything else?" the tribune asked.

"No, your honor. We humbly request your decision."

"We will be in recess for thirty minutes, while I review all of the submitted materials and evidence," the tribune said. He departed the room for his offices.

Sarah, Jake and Mr. Poynter left the room. "Well Casey, what do you think? Will the documents you submitted convince the tribune this was all a mistake?" Sarah asked.

"Sarah, I'm not going to lie to you. This can go either way."

"What do you mean? How can you say that?"

"Sarah, didn't you notice the screens on the table? The collars on each of them showed their names, birthdates, committed history, sentence and the most damning data of all, their DNA match. How did that happen if they were just playing with the collars?"

"I have no idea. There is nothing the boys they could have done to get that data in the collar, is there?"

"No, no. Only an authority device could have put that data in the collar. But everything shows that the data was intact and untampered with since they were dropped at processing."

Back in the room, no one seemed to care about the two boys still standing with the post deep in their bums. The pain seemed to get worse with each passing minute, but no one gave them a second thought. To the people still working in the room this was part of a normal day. Slaves were sometimes left for hours while the tribune reviewed the case. The slave just had to stand there and wait for the tribune to return.

Forty minutes had passed and Casey received a call that the tribune had reached a decision. They quickly returned to the room and awaited the tribune.

Sarah looked across the room at her young son. His whole body was shaking from the strain he was put under to hold his position. She felt so sorry for him and wanted to rush over and give him a big hug, but she knew that she could not do that. Until the tribune decided, Richie and Mike were considered as property of the providence.

The tribune entered the room and took his seat. "I have a few questions before I announce my decision. Mrs. Evans, I'm sorry that you lost your husband. In my review of this case, I found he was a caring and responsible citizen that contributed greatly to the betterment of our society. I wish I could have met him to thank him for his service. Since his passing, have you remarried, Mrs. Evans?"

"No your honor. I loved him dearly and don't think I will ever find another man like him," Sarah said.

"I understand. So, if I were to ask you who is the male head of your family, I assume you would say your eldest son, Jacob. Is that so, Mrs. Evans?"

"Yes your honor," Sarah said.

"Thank you, Mrs. Evans," the tribune said. "Jacob Evans, please stand."

Jake was unsure what was happening, but slowing rose to his feet.

"Jacob Evans, as the male head of your family since your father's death, you are the one that is responsible for the property, especially slaves, of your late father. Upon his death your advocate should have notified the authority to change title on all family slaves to your name. Given the nature of what has transpired, I will overlook that and proceed with my decision."

"Jacob Evans, as the legitimate owner of two class five slaves, it is your responsibility to maintain their strict discipline. I can tell from the events that you have not conducted yourself as the law requires. You did the right thing by calling the authority when they went missing, but you were responsible for the two of them going missing. Given your age and lack of knowledge on how to properly control slaves, I am sentencing you to two months of schooling at an ownership academy. There you will learn the attitude and discipline it takes to own slaves. This incident will also be recorded in your citizenship records and you will be monitored throughout your life to ensure you maintain proper control of your property."

Jake was shocked and just stood there with his mouth open. His first thought was that Richie had once more gotten him into trouble. This time it was major trouble and he was being sent away to some school and his citizenship record was marked forever. He hated Richie even more for doing this to him.

"As for the property, I have the authority to remove them both from your care without restitution. However given the pleas of your mother, I have decided on a suitable alternative action. Mrs. Evans, I know you live in a more liberal providence than ours, and so I understand how you can produce recent educational records given that slaves are authorized to attend school in your providence. However, here in our providence we do not have those same liberal attitudes."

"After reviewed the data which has been properly encrypted and stored in the collars that your own husband developed and your property now wears, I must give more weight to the evidence contained in that data. It states that eighteen months ago, this property was sentenced as class five slaves for a period of no less than 10 years. That is the proper amount of time any tribune would have sentenced given their age of eleven years at the time of sentencing. That would have permitted your husband to seek their release when they were twenty one years old."

"So the facts are that they left the care of their legitimate owner, their owner admitted that they left his care when he called the authority, they were found with items that no slave should ever touch, let alone take from an owner and finally they both resisted the authority when they were apprehended. I could sentence them both to the mines for any one of these but I understand you desire to keep your son close even though he is now a slave."

"My judgment is that the property is to be reclassified as class two slaves for the remainder of their lives. They will be taken immediately to be permanently marked and fitted with the appropriate devices of a class two slave. Once fitted they will be transported to this providence's slave training center where I will ensure that I receive daily reports of their retraining and where they will learn to never even think of leaving their owner."

"When I decide they are fit to be returned, Jacob Evans will decide whether he wants them or not. If he so chooses they will be returned to him and rest of your family. If he does not want them, they will be assigned to the mines for what will remain of their short lives."

The tribune pressed a button and the posts rose higher into their bums causing the two boys to shake and scream into their muzzles. "Slaves listen well; you will be given a second chance to be of value to your owner. Mess up again end you will find no mercy from this or any other tribune." The tribune banged his gavel on his stand then ordered the property to be removed.

Sarah was crying and begging for mercy, but her pleas would now go unheard. Richie and Mike were removed from the posts and led out of the room. Sarah turned to Jake and screamed, "How could you have done this to your own brother?"

Jake stood and looked at his mother in disbelief. She blamed him for all of this. Never once did she say well it's their own fault for playing with the collars. She didn't even blame his father for leaving the collars in the shed. She always blamed Jake for Richie's mistakes. Well now there would be no more Richie mistakes. Richie and Mike were now his property, his slaves. They would learn his ways from now on and he silently vowed that they were going to learn to regret putting the blame on him.