The Courier
Copyright 2008 by EC
EC's Erotic Art & Fiction - http://www.ecgraphicarts.com/

(warnings: erotic discipline, sex between adults, medical fetish, 
forced public nudity, harsh police interrogation)


Chapter 13 – 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. 

----------

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 to herself, better get rid of these, 
just in case they decide to get stupid again. She passed the bag 
of protest items 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 
herself. 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 fiance 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 fell to her knees. 
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 all of her students were 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 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 lives 
would become very 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 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 
placed the device around her neck and locked it. As instructed, 
she knelt forward, placing her head 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 
group.

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 of the students 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 the time to explain protocol required of 
anyone performing Penance and make sure the students understood 
that what they were doing was a very 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'll have to 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 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 very 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 doing to anyone. 
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?"

"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 throughout her life. 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 doing 
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 them and the Church. I'm 
warning you again, don't you be asking a bunch of questions, 
'cause they can't answer! So don't ask!"

----------

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. Very 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 Criminal # 101025 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 very 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 bend 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 painful 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 very 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, 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 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.

----------

The following day was Wednesday of Maria Elena’s third week in 
Danubia. She woke up and gently kissed Victor. She had spent yet 
another night in his bed, but still was too sore to have sex with 
him. She hoped that by that evening she would be recovered enough 
that she could resume that portion of her life. She got up and 
looked at herself in a full-length mirror. Her welts were still 
very dark and painful, but she noticed that they had just started 
to fade. Excellent. Another day gardening in the sun would help, 
and hopefully by the beginning of the following week her skin 
would be completely healed.

She helped Cecilia with breakfast. They chatted about the 
upcoming fall semester and a likely change in Maria Elena’s work 
schedule. Because the norteamericanos would be enrolled in normal 
classes with Danubian university students, the language training 
would end and Maria Elena would have to work longer hours in the 
garden. The Ministry would pay the university for a tutor, but 
only for two hours a day. Also, because she no longer would be 
part of the exchange group, Maria Elena would not have to attend 
physical fitness training.

“I guess the point is you’ve gotten to know my students, but 
after next week you guys won’t be together in class anymore. 
They’ll all be in different classes taking different subjects. 
That’s when things are gonna change in the exchange program and 
people will start going their separate ways. It's like that every 
year, the summer group splits up once they start normal classes. 
The way things normally work is that several cliques will form; 
you’ll have groups that end up not having much to do with each 
other. I wouldn’t be surprised if the collared group forms its 
own clique at the beginning, but once their collars come off, I 
bet they’ll split up. Anyhow, whether or not you hang out with 
any of my students is up to you, but you’ll have to remember 
they’re free and you’re not, so they’ll always have more time 
than you.”

Once she had cleaned up from breakfast, Maria Elena went to the 
university and reported for work. Her boss decided that she was 
healthy enough to rake leaves, so he handed her a rake. He then 
departed, leaving the criminal alone to reflect on her own 
situation. She realized that, as much as she idealized her 
classmates, it was true they would move on with their lives as 
soon as the semester started. She felt she was close enough to 
Carmen that their friendship would continue, but she did not feel 
she knew any of the others well enough to predict what would 
happen. One big problem was the reality that most of them spoke 
no Spanish and she did not speak English, so they would only be 
able to communicate in Danubian. 

As she raked, Maria Elena realized something else that troubled 
her. She did not much care for Cecilia. The Dominican’s abrasive 
and bossy personality grated on her, so she hoped to be around 
her as little as possible in the future. The sooner she did not 
have to rely on that irritating woman, the better. Cecilia had 
been extremely helpful and never did anything to offend her, so 
outwardly she would have to remain cordial. However, over time 
she hoped to build a life that would allow her to distance 
herself from her housemate. Being friends with Carmen offered one 
opportunity to not have to deal so much with Cecilia. Another 
opportunity she had was to finish taking over the 
responsibilities of the house, which would free Cecilia to spend 
more time away with Jason or with her students.

Maria Elena had lunch with Carmen and the norteamericano who had 
translated for the group when they were at the Cathedral getting 
ready to demonstrate. It was strange to see them sitting in the 
nude at the university cafe. However, it seemed that Carmen was 
more at ease with being naked than she had been the day before. 
The guy still seemed a bit uneasy. From the cafe the three went 
to class.

----------

Maria Elena's love-making sessions with Victor resumed Thursday, 
three nights after her switching. Her body was still somewhat 
sore, but she was determined to put the punishment behind her and 
make her life as normal as possible. She got on her hands and 
knees so his weight would not press on her welts. She placed her 
body on display for her lover, showing him her markings as she 
assumed a submissive position and spread for him. To see her 
punished body presented for sex was a strange and rather sinister 
sight for Victor, because he never had made love to a woman who 
had been punished. Like everything else with the Colombian, it 
was a new experience for him, one that he found intensely erotic.

The criminal's summer routine lasted one more week. In the 
morning she got up and prepared the kitchen for Cecilia to cook 
before helping Victor get dressed. She quit going to the 
university with her housemate, because Carmen started passing by 
to pick her up in the morning. Carmen admitted that she was still 
embarrassed walking around naked on campus by herself and liked 
having Maria Elena go with her for company. Every morning there 
was gardening and every afternoon there was lunch, class, and 
exercise. Carmen often went home with Maria Elena and chatted 
with her while she was setting up for dinner. She started staying 
for dinner and studied with her Colombian classmate in the 
evenings.

That Saturday Cecilia and Maria Elena planned an interesting 
surprise for Carmen and the other protesters. They invited the 13 
collared students to go with them to the Socrates Club. Cecilia 
realized that one way to reward the group that had shown 
solidarity with her housemate was to show them a place that none 
of her other students had ever seen first-hand. Yes they were 
foreigners with a sketchy command of the Danubian language, but 
their collars made them welcome among the city’s criminals. Jason 
accompanied his fiance, of course. For the couple it was a 
typical night, socializing and dancing periodically interrupted 
when Cecilia took Jason to an intimacy room to spank him and make 
love to him. 

----------

The next two weeks passed uneventfully as Maria Elena pursued her 
expanded work schedule and her reduced hours of language studies. 
She spent her free time with Carmen and her nights with Victor. 

There was one indication that Maria Elena’s life would have to 
change at least somewhat by the end of September. Very rapidly 
the days were getting shorter and the early mornings were 
beginning to get chilly. Often the prisoner shivered during the 
first part of the morning while she was gardening, which forced 
Cecilia to change her class schedule. She had to be tutored in 
the morning so she could be indoors when it was still cold and 
started working at 10:00, when the temperature outside was more 
comfortable. 

Summer was drawing to a close, but in Europe the richest weather 
often immediately precedes the cold rains of autumn. The warm 
late summer sunshine and cool breezes caressed Maria Elena’s bare 
body as she worked, making her feel sensuous. She knew that the 
final weeks of sunshine were something to enjoy, because soon 
enough it would be cold and rainy. Undoubtedly she would spend 
the rest of the year indoors stuck behind a customer service 
counter or serving food, so she knew that she had to appreciate 
the final days of her gardening position and the chance to be 
outside.

There was nothing to indicate anything other than she would lead 
an ordinary existence as a criminal…or so everyone thought. 

