"Attention co-workers I actually like!"

Caroline jumped in her seat as Katherine's voice boomed across the floor and looked out from her office,

"Katherine!" she shouted, striding to the main floor, "Don't stand on desks, you're pregnant,"

She glances down at the desk space, "And definitely not when you're in heels!"

Katherine rolls her eyes and turns back to the retro-microphone in her hand, "I am here to report that Caroline Forbes has finally got herself a pleasure-spouse…"

She breaks off and Caroline's face goes red as the staff break into cheers and rounds of applause, Katherine beams and flicks her hair over her shoulder,

"Please head to meeting room one for details."

She tosses the retro-microphone away and it screeches as it hits the floor, she inches around before holding out two hands expectantly and two interns come forward to help her get down from the desk.

"We need to discuss the line-up for tonight," Caroline protests as the room quickly fills with their work friends and a few curious interns, "We don't have time for this."

"Oh please," Camille laughs, "You don't stand a chance of talking her down from this."

"Okay," Katherine swanned into the room and pressed a button, bringing up the screen on the far wall,

"Someone hop onto the Factory page and bring up his profile, his name is Niklaus with a k."

Seeing that she has no chance of getting out of this, Caroline sinks down into her favorite spot and smiles when Liv sits down next to her.

"I can start talking about Luke if you need to make a break," she offers and Caroline shakes her head,

"Katherine would never let me get away with it. How is he, by the way?"

Olivia was a fraternal twin and those were rare enough in the new society that nobody had been quite sure what should be done with the males. They'd given the option to the female twin at ten and again at eighteen to surrender their brother to the Factory, the mines, or to keep them in their house.

If they were to be kept in the house, they found themselves in a strange limbo, neither spouse nor servant, not really existing in the hierarchy.

"He's good," she replies, "Tyler's no longer freaked out by him, so they're getting along."

The Factory page is loading and Caroline pretends to focus on the screen.

Spouses who had already been purchased had restricted profiles where somebody had to register their interest before they could access information fully. Caroline is goaded into entering her log-in and the women clap and pour over the details.

"Ooh," Andie hums, "Artistic and pretty, good choice."

Caroline blushes and then grabs the keyboard from Andie when she jokingly hovers over the return button,

"Not funny." She singsongs and keeps a firm hold when Katherine tries to yank it away,

"Hey, what's this feature?" she demands, pointing to the screen, "You can allot him spending coupons online?!"

She grabs her phone and begins tapping away, "I'm still transferring them to Elijah old-school."

"Wait, Elijah?" Camille pipes up, "You still have him?"

Katherine nods, "Uh huh."

Andie blinks in surprise, "Well, that explains why the wait-list for him hasn't moved up any."

Caroline watches as Katherine laughs, "Oh Andie, first you lost your spouse to Elena and now you're waiting on mine? Pick one the Pierce-Gilbert's don't want and move on."

Andie glowers, crossing her arms over her chest and muttering darkly about nepotism in the new regime and Caroline knows that she's not entirely wrong.

Katherine and Elena were descendants of the first women to bring about the new regime and as such, got liberties that other women didn't get. However, they weren't as bad as the politicians in New Washington who could have as many as three different spouses at the same time.

Caroline turns her attention to the interns in the corner, young women under twenty-one didn't have live-in pleasure spouses and clearly, they were curious, "Questions?" she asks one of them kindly,

"What do they do when you aren't there?" she asks, "Like, when you're at work or out, do they just…wait for you to come home?"

"Cause that's kind of creepy." she finishes and Caroline finds herself at a loss for words.

What did spouses do when the women weren't at home?

She glances to Katherine who was still bickering with Andie, "Kat?"

"And so's your mom," Katherine finishes, "Yeah, Care?"

She gestures to the intern who repeats the question and the older women around the table pipe up,

"They do whatever you want them to do," Camille tells her, "I have mine read psychology journals and summarize the articles I might be interested in covering."

Katherine shudders, "Send them to the mines, it'd be kinder,"

"They're meant to pursue their interests when we're out," she explains, "Mine tends to read, play chess…" she stops and puts a hand on her hip, facing Caroline,

"You didn't tell yours that he was allowed to do activities while you were gone, did you?"

Caroline puts her head in her hands, "Seriously?! I literally have to tell him he can do that?"

Katherine rolls her eyes, "Come on."

She takes her hand and pulls her from the room, down to her office, "Honestly, how did you even survive before me?"

"You know we still have to confirm the line-up," she grumbles as Katherine pushes her into her chair,

"Who are you calling?" she asks but Katherine ignores her.

"Hello, dearest," Elijah's voice tentatively filters into the room, "How is your day, thus far?"

Katherine smirks flirtatiously, "Good and it'll be better when I get home to you. Listen, Caroline is going to send some coupons to her concubine, take him shopping for art supplies, or whatever he needs to get through the day."

She's about to hang up when Elijah replies, "Dearest, does Niklaus have permission to leave the premises without Miss Caroline?"

Katherine sighs, and holds her hand out, "Controller." she demands when Caroline isn't forthcoming,

"I don't have that on me," she explains, "I figured that was something you kept in the bedroom."

Her friend throws her hands up in the air, "You are literally the worst." She shouts,

"Elijah, change of plans, take him downstairs and the two of you can watch a movie…something you like that bores my brains out."

Elijah thanks her and she ends the call, turning on her heel and striding from the office,

"There," she snaps, "Caroline Forbes' problem has been solved, I'm going to hair and make-up."

Six hundred thousand and seventy-four Mississippi.

Six hundred thousand and seventy-five Mississippi.

Six hundred thousand and…

His bedroom door is opened so quietly that Niklaus doesn't even notice until Elijah calls his name.

He wonders if nine hours had passed already but he doesn't think the sun has moved far enough in the sky for that to be the case, which means…

"Is something wrong?" he asks tentatively, his hands tensing and gripping his knees.

But Elijah is smiling, "No," he swears, "Katherine called and asked that I take you downstairs to watch a film. She called when she and Miss Caroline realized that you had been left without instructions for the day."

A film?

"An instructional video?" Niklaus tries to clarify, but his brother shakes his head,

"No, Katherine allows me to watch actual movies, like the ones we used to watch as children, do you remember?"

Vaguely.

He stands uncertainly, "Are you sure it's not a test?" he asks, "Should we not tell them that we'd rather stay in our rooms?"

Elijah holds his hand out, "Niklaus, they would not test us like this, they are simply being kind."

Kindness is a lie.

A pipe-dream fed to the boys at the Factory.

If you are a good concubine…

A good spouse…

If you're pleasing to your mistress, then she will be kind to you.

And what was kindness?

In what way, would their future owners be kind to them?

This was never specified, unlike the punishments they could expect for failing in their duties.

Those had been explained to them in explicit detail, followed by instructional videos that had left them with nightmares for weeks afterward.

For the second time that day, he allows himself to be drawn downstairs, this time to the living room where the viewing screen is and stands while Elijah picks up the remote,

"She permits you to do this?" he mutters in amazement when the technology doesn't reject his male DNA.

He grins, "Yes, Katherine had the settings adjusted on many of the devices so that I could use them. She prefers having others do things for her."

He sorts through the files until he draws up a film, "This is an adaptation of a novel," he explains, sinking down onto the carpet in the seiza position that they'd been taught at the Factory and Niklaus follows suit, "Katherine finds them boring but allows me to watch them."

Seeing the production logos and hearing the music filter through the hidden speakers gave Niklaus pleasant flashbacks to his childhood, to late nights when he and his brothers had been allowed to watch films with Rebekah, all of them cuddled up on the couch together.

Back when they'd been allowed to sit on furniture.

The film is a period drama, set hundreds of years ago, and Niklaus finds the plot boring but much more fun than counting in his head as he waited for Caroline to come home. But Elijah is enthralled, watching avidly and only speaking to tell him about changes in the plot.

He is so caught up that he doesn't hear when the housewife steps into the room.

"What are you doing?" she screeched and the two brothers quickly climb to their feet.

She put her hands on her hips, glaring at them furiously, "How dare you leave your rooms!"

Elijah swallows nervously, "Our mistresses gave us permission to…"

He's cut off as he doubles over, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, Niklaus reaches for him automatically when the housewife holds up her hand,

"Don't touch him, I forbid it!" she holds out her palm and he sees the device resting in it.

It looked like a smaller version of the remote that the mistresses used for their spouses.

"He deserves this punishment."

Her eyes are gleaming savagely as she turns the dial again and again, the ability to kill him within her reach.

"Forgive me," Niklaus says quickly, clasping his hands behind his back,

"Mistress Katherine called her brood-spouse and asked him to play a film for us as a means of passing the time, I'm sure if you contacted her she would confirm…"

"Asked!" the housewife shrieked, "She asked him?! What kind of language is that?"

Niklaus had forgotten how to speak to a devout. He opens his mouth to apologize but before he can say anything, she slaps him and points the device at him.

At first, he judges the shock as a five before the pain jolts through his bones and he drops to his knees, groaning as he tries to ride through the agony.

"I'm going to file complaints against both of you for insubordination," she announces proudly as she stomps on his hand, causing him to fall to the carpet.

"You'll both end up in the mines."

Niklaus closes his eyes to hide the hatred burning in them and keeps his head lowered as she strides out of the room. Another savage burst of electricity courses through them before it blissfully ends and the two men gasp as they can breathe again.

Twitching with the aftershocks, both of them struggle to their feet and Elijah pauses the movie that had played through uninterrupted the entire time.

"We should go upstairs." He mutters quietly, as if either of them had a choice.

The housewife is in the kitchen so they go the long way, through the laundry and up a back staircase that hadn't been used in a while.

Niklaus follows on his brother's heels, reaching out to grab him when he trips and supporting him the rest of the way to his bedroom.

He is barely conscious and Niklaus lies him down on his bed, taking his hand and at a complete loss as to what to do until he comes to.

"I'm alright," Elijah lies gently, squeezing his hand, "Anna never does anything that will prevent me greeting Katherine when she comes home from work."

"This has happened before then?" he surmises, unable to meet his brother's eyes and instead, looking about the bedroom.

It was the exact same layout as his except he had a portable chess table on his seat and books stacked neatly on the windowsill.

"She's devout," he croaks, "She would have done worse if you hadn't been there."

His muscles are still tense and sore from the torture and Niklaus struggles to stand up straight,

"Could you not tell Katherine?" he suggests, "You're always harping on about how kind they are."

His brother's eyes narrow at that dig, but he shakes his head wearily, "It'd be her word against mine."

And before the law, a man's word was worth a great deal less than that of a woman's.

"That device she has can't be legal, though," he protests, "The only ones allowed to adjust our arousal controls and punish us are our owners and the authorities."

Elijah shakes his head more firmly now, wincing and placing a hand over his eyes, "Niklaus…please…I cannot risk Anna complaining about me, I'm overdue to be returned as it is."

He shrugs, "Would that be a bad thing? Katherine might give you extra food but I'm sure…"

Elijah snatches his hand, sitting up and draws him close, "I am not leaving her!"

Niklaus stares into his brother's eyes and sees something there that he can't quite define,

"What is it?" he asks quietly, blue eyes staring into brown, "Why do you care so much?"

He releases him and lays back down, looking up at the ceiling, "Do you know how many times I've been a brood-spouse, brother?"

"Eight," he reveals, answering his own question, "Eight times and seven successfully. There are seven children out there that I helped to give life to and the moment the woman conceived I was sent back to the Factory. I don't know anything about these children and I only know that there's seven and not eight because my stats were read when Katherine purchased me."

He takes a ragged breath and gives a pained smile, "Every day I please Katherine, every day I make pleasant or easier for her, is another day she flouts regulations, keeps me by her side and I come closer to being there for the birth…I just want to see the baby once, just once and know the sex."

He blinks hard, "Here's hoping it's a girl." He whispers, the joke falling flat.

Niklaus nods to calm him, "Our secret." He promises, his mind far away on paintbrushes and release from pain.

Caroline flops down onto the couch and kicks off her shoes, sinking her toes into the carpet with a pleased sigh.

"Can I fetch you something to drink, Miss Caroline?" Elijah asks, lingering in the doorway to the kitchen, "Tea, coffee, lemonade?"

"Elijah makes really nice lemonade," Katherine interjects from the other couch where she is reclining in a theatric pose, her hair spread out above her head and her arm flung on the tresses, "Various flavors, lavender, mint, grapefruit…"

She finishes in a yawn and Caroline smiles, "I'm fine, really."

She glances up and sees Niklaus watching the situation, his eyes sharp and figures he's taking mental notes, still learning the ropes like her. He looks a little pale but smiles when their eyes meet.

She pats the cushion beside her, realizes that she's left her notebook in her handbag and is about to get up when Katherine anticipates her move and sends Niklaus to do it instead.

"Seriously?!" she complains to her friend, "I'm not disabled."

Katherine shrugs, "He needed something to do, he was looking nervous."

Elijah glides into the room, carrying Katherine's afternoon tea and sets it down on the coffee table, before settling onto the couch at her feet. Caroline watches as he slips off her heels without asking, putting her feet in his lap before beginning to massage them.

"Sweetheart?"

She starts, twisting to look at her pleasure-spouse who is holding the notebook out to her like it was a champagne glass on a silver tray. She takes it quickly, fumbling it and Niklaus grabs it before it hits the floor, this time setting it on her knees and she blushes.

"Do you want to sit down?" she asks and he smiles, nodding once before sinking down onto the carpet and she meant the couch but doesn't want to make the moment anymore awkward.

"Did you two enjoy the movie?" Katherine asks.

Her eyes are closed so she can't see their reactions and Elijah's face is a perfect mask of placidity as he murmurs agreeably but Caroline glances down and sees that Niklaus isn't as quick to cover his expression.

"I'm sorry I forgot to give you permission to have fun while I'm out," she whispered apologetically, "But you can do whatever around the house when I'm at work."

He smiles complacently at her, "Thank-you, sweetheart."

His eyes are still shuttered and she frowns, wondering if she's imagining things or if something is wrong.

Maybe he and Elijah had a disagreement? Or just didn't like each other?

Deciding that she'll figure it out later, she hops onto her notebook, browsing her social media pages before checking her emails.

She has a few from work, some from her friends, more than a dozen promotional messages and sees one from the Factory.

She assumes it's promotional material or a survey and goes to delete it when she sees the tag line.

'Possible unauthorized interaction with female'

What?

She opens it.

'Dear Ms. Forbes,

At 13:43 hours today your assigned pleasure-spouse engaged in an interaction with a female who isn't listed as a resident at your address. As programmed and per latest regulations, this conversation was recorded on his controls and has been sent to you for your perusal.
If you find that this interaction was against pleasure-spouse protocol, please feel free to contact our Complaints department.

Sincerely,

…..'

What?!

Caroline scrolled to the bottom of the page where she found an audio file attached. She opened it up and tapped the button to have it play to her Bluetooth device in her ear rather than on the notebook speakers.

The first time she listens, she's not sure what she's hearing, but by the third time she's turned up the volume enough that she can hear the electric buzz.

It's loud enough that the other occupants in the room can hear some of the noise and are watching her curiously, "What's the matter?" Katherine asked, propping herself up on her elbows,

"Someone screw up on our twitter feed again?"

"No," she manages, "Not at work."

She sends the audio to Katherine's ear device and her friend rolls her eyes, "Urgh, work is over for the day, Caroline, why do I have to listen to anything…"

"Just listen to the damn thing," Caroline snapped, before resting her hand on Niklaus' shoulder,

"Hey, sit next to me."

His brow furrows in surprise but he cautiously lifts himself up and sits on the couch beside her, his hands on his knees as he tilts his head slightly.

"Do you want to tell me what happened today?" she asks him quietly and the blood leaves his face.

"What am I listening to?" Katherine demands, her voice dangerously low and Elijah pauses, his hands still holding her feet,

"I'm afraid I don't understand," He says, "Is something wrong?"

"This upgrade must have been after you left the Factory but Niklaus' controls come pre-installed with a recording device," she explains,

"Apparently, it turns on every time he interacts with a woman who isn't Katherine or myself."

Elijah blanches as Katherine pulls her feet from his grasp and sits up, "Talk," she demands, "Now."

He opens and closes his mouth a few times, clearly struggling for words and Niklaus reaches over, touching Caroline's hands, "May I speak, sweetheart?"

She nods and he smiles, "It was a simple misunderstanding…she didn't realize that we had been given permission to leave our rooms."

"She punished you," Caroline points out, "I can hear you in pain…what did she do? Did she have a weapon or…"

"She had a controller, much like yours although I've never seen anything like it before," Niklaus continues, lowering his head,

"It caused shocks like the ones we're administered by our owners or at the Factory."

"A universal controller." Katherine explains, standing up and looking about for her handbag, Elijah reaches for her hand but she shakes him off.

"Like the authorities have?" Caroline queried, "I didn't know housewives carried them."

"Because they don't," she said as she stomped from the room, "Because having one without a license is very, very illegal."

"Dearest," Elijah calls, rising swiftly and hurrying after her, "It was a simple misunderstanding."

Through the doorway, Caroline watches as Katherine spins around to face him,

"Really?" she asks, her voice heavy with sarcasm, "And how often have there been misunderstandings in this house?"

Concubines were forbidden from lying to their mistresses. They could decorate the truth, tell their mistress they were beautiful when they weren't, or refer to incidences of abuse as 'simple misunderstandings' or 'deserved chastening'.

However, a blatant lie was against regulation.

So instead, Elijah falls silent and Katherine glowers,

"I'm going to bring up your stats," she told him quietly, "I'm guessing your heart rate jumped every time she hurt you, so I'll be able to count the number of times she did. If I find out it was more than twice and you didn't tell me, I am not going to be happy."

Niklaus gives a sharp intake of breath and Caroline sees Elijah's shoulders drop, "I wanted to stay with you," he murmurs, "A little bit of pain was worth that."

Katherine reaches up, stroking his cheek gently, "The whole point of you being my spouse is that only I can choose to punish you," she points out,

"This bitch broke those laws."

Katherine had moved out of sight and ear shot when she checked Elijah's statistics page but her screams of fury as she reported Anna's actions first to her employer and then to the authorities echoed throughout the house.

After the day's events, Caroline figured both the spouses could do with a full night's sleep and sent them up to their rooms after ordering them to eat.

Elijah treads the staircase with obvious reluctance and Caroline catches Niklaus as he moves to follow,

"You didn't do anything wrong," she assures him, "But if something like this happens again, you call me immediately, okay?"

He blinks and stares at her for a moment before giving a slow nod,

"Yes, sweetheart."