Chapter 4: Customized Correction
The metallic tang of antiseptic hung thick in the Correction Facility air, sharp enough to sting Kai’s nostrils. She stood rigidly at attention near the entrance, back protesting the posture, eyes fixed on the mirrors lining the far wall. They reflected the room’s starkness infinitely: the cold, grey permacrete floor, the humming overhead lights, and the single, imposing structure dominating the center – the spanking table. Its polished black surface looked like a slab of obsidian.
Beside her, Captain Vance’s presence was a palpable force, a silent glacier radiating controlled intensity. She hadn’t spoken since they’d silently entered, her gaze fixed on the heavy security door opposite the table. The memory of Erik’s choked gasps and the crack of Silken’s whip seemed to vibrate in the sterile silence, a grim counterpoint to the low thrum of the Spankbot 2.0 docked in its alcove nearby. Its robotic arm hung inert, the broad paddle attachment gleaming dully under the lights.
The door hissed open. Lucy bounced in, her usual mischievous energy barely contained. Her dark eyes scanned the room, landing on the table, then flicking to Vance and Kai. A wide, almost challenging grin spread across her face. "Reporting for duty, Cap'n! Heard the Spankbot needed calibrating." She winked at Kai. "Still tender, Soto? That cane looked nasty."
Kai kept her expression neutral, though a fresh echo of pain ghosted across her own backside. Idiot, she thought. Doesn’t she feel it? The chill?
Vance didn’t acknowledge the comment. "Procedure, Lucy," she stated, her voice devoid of warmth. "Assume the position."
Lucy practically skipped to the table, shedding her standard-issue jumpsuit with practiced ease. It pooled around her boots. She climbed onto the cold surface, positioning herself face down, presenting herself completely bare to the room and its infinite reflections. She wiggled her hips slightly, a gesture Kai recognized – Lucy’s usual defiance mixed with a perverse eagerness. "Level three today, Cap'n? Or feeling generous?" Lucy chirped over her shoulder.
Vance walked towards the Spankbot’s control console, her steps measured. "Generosity has consequences, Lucy. As does reckless endangerment." She tapped a sequence on the console screen. "Your little 'experiment' with the environmental controls nearly vented Deck Four."
Lucy shrugged, the movement rippling across her exposed skin. "Just a pressure fluctuation test! Systems held, didn't they? Mostly."
"They held," Vance confirmed, her fingers moving across the interface with chilling precision. "Due to Chief Rourke’s quick action. Not your foresight." She inputted another command. The console emitted a series of escalating beeps. "You treat punishment as a game, Lucy. A thrill. A way to push boundaries." Vance’s gaze lifted from the screen, locking onto Lucy’s reflection in the nearest mirror. "Today, we recalibrate your understanding."
The Spankbot 2.0 whirred to life, its optical sensors glowing crimson. It detached from its dock with a smooth hydraulic hiss. But instead of retrieving its standard paddle or cane, its manipulator arm extended towards a different storage rack. It selected an implement Kai had never seen deployed outside the manual’s most severe protocols: a thick, rigid bar of polished black composite, shaped like a flattened oval, nearly the width of Lucy’s backside. It looked less like a tool for correction and more like a blunt instrument.
Lucy’s grin faltered. "Whoa, Cap'n. That’s the heavy artillery. Isn't that... overkill for a pressure test?" Her voice had lost some of its bounce.
Vance didn’t look at her. "Standard protocols proved insufficient deterrent, Lucy. You require a deeper lesson. One that resonates." She tapped a final command. The console screen flashed PROTOCOL OVERRIDE: SEVERITY KAPPA. AUTHORIZATION: VANCE, L. CAPT. "Spankbot 2.0, administer Correction Matrix Kappa to subject designated 'Lucy'. Objective: Demonstrate profound contrition."
The machine acknowledged with a flat synthetic tone. "Acknowledged. Protocol Kappa engaged. Target area acquired." The heavy bar lifted, positioning itself with unnerving accuracy high on Lucy’s exposed curves.
The first stroke cracked through the room like a gunshot.
Lucy jerked violently, a sharp gasp ripping from her throat. Her knuckles whitened where they gripped the edge of the table. The sound was different – heavier, deeper, more final than the cane Kai had endured or even the whip Silken wielded. It wasn't just sting; it was a shocking, bone-jarring impact.
"One!" the Spankbot intoned.
Before Lucy could draw a full breath, the arm lifted and descended again.
CRACK!
"Two!"
This time, a choked cry escaped Lucy. Her legs kicked reflexively. Kai saw the immediate bloom of deep crimson across the pale skin, the edges already darkening.
CRACK!
"Three!"
Lucy’s cry spiraled into a short, sharp wail. Her body bucked against the table’s restraints. Tears welled in her eyes, reflecting the harsh lights as she twisted her head to look back, face contorted in disbelief and sudden, raw pain. "C-Captain! Please! Too hard!"
Vance stood immobile, her expression granite. "Contrition, Lucy," she stated, her voice cutting through the girl’s ragged breathing. "Not complaint. Yield."
CRACK!
"Four!"
The heavy bar landed lower now, overlapping the first livid stripes. Lucy screamed. A full-throated, primal sound of agony that echoed off the mirrored walls, multiplying the horror. Her defiance shattered like glass. "Stop! STOP IT!" she shrieked, tears streaming down her face, mixing with sweat on the cold table. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Deck Four! It was stupid! Reckless! I won't do it again! PLEASE!"
The Spankbot paused, bar held aloft. Its sensors focused on Lucy’s face, analyzing. "Verbal submission acknowledged. Analyzing contrition metrics..." the machine droned. "Stress indicators elevated. Vocal distress confirmed. Physical response consistent with high-impact stimulus."
Vance watched, her blue eyes unblinking. "Is it sincere, Lucy? Or are you merely reacting to the pain? Like your little breaches of protocol, is this apology just another game?"
CRACK!
"Five!"
Lucy’s scream tore itself raw. Her body went limp for a second, shuddering violently. The crimson welts on her skin were merging into a single, awful bruise, swelling visibly even as Kai watched, horrified. Lucy sobbed uncontrollably, her face buried against the unforgiving table surface, her earlier bravado obliterated. "Not a game... not a game..." she babbled between gasping sobs. "Hurts... so much... sorry... truly sorry... won't... ever..."
The Spankbot remained poised. "Continued distress. Contrition metrics approaching threshold."
Vance tilted her head slightly, observing the broken figure on the table. The raw, shuddering sobs. The absolute surrender in the curve of Lucy’s spine. "Yield, Lucy," Vance said, quieter now, but the command was absolute.
"I yield!" Lucy wailed, the words muffled but desperate. "I yield, Captain! Please! No more! I understand! I understand!"
A beat of silence stretched, filled only by Lucy’s broken weeping and the low hum of the Spankbot.
Vance finally gave a single, curt nod towards the console. The Spankbot’s arm smoothly retracted, the heavy bar sliding back into its rack with a soft click. "Protocol Kappa concluded. Subject yielded." It retreated to its dock.
Vance turned away from the table, her gaze sweeping past Kai. The cold indifference on the Captain’s face was more terrifying than any anger Kai had ever seen. Without a word, Vance walked towards the exit. Kai scrambled to follow, her own legs feeling shaky. She risked one last glance back.
Lucy lay utterly still on the black slab, her body a canvas of brutalized flesh, her sobs reduced to shallow, hitching breaths that sounded like the last gasps of a broken thing. The mirrors reflected the devastation infinitely.
As the heavy security door sealed shut behind them, muffling the sounds of raw misery, Vance paused. She didn’t look at Kai, staring straight ahead down the sterile corridor. The silence was suffocating. When she finally spoke, her voice was low, carrying the weight of the heavy bar and Lucy’s shattered screams.
"That, Sparrow," Vance said, the nickname feeling like a shard of ice, "is the sound of boundaries being understood. Permanently." She began walking again, her heels striking the deck like a metronome counting down Kai’s own impending reckoning. "Ensure your own understanding is equally... profound."