I awoke to the same knocking as usual. I crossed the room slowly, still adjusting to all my new bruises.

"Good morning. You have eight minutes to get ready."

"But I didn't sleep in today!"

"Seven minutes and fifty nine seconds, fifty eight seconds, fifty seven…"

I got ready and made my bed slowly, barely finishing before he reached the end of his countdown.

"Slow today."

"I'm still sore."

"I see…or at least, I will."

"What does that mean?"

He didn't answer, and instead smirked evilly at me and turned to leave. I followed along behind him, shouting all the way.

"Wait, what does that even mean?"

We arrived at the treatment room. I noticed two things simultaneously. One: a man stood stiffly against the wall, not reacting as we entered the room. Two: my usual paper gown had been replaced by a black bag at the end of the treatment table.

"I'm going to go ahead and collect my sample today. We will not be using the heart monitor again unless it is needed."

He pricked my finger and collected the few drops of blood he needed, then gestured to the bag. The man by the wall had not moved.

"What's going on today?"

"Our tests from here on will very frequently involve a partner for you. I must be able to maintain an observational role, so I've selected this as a replacement."

"This", not "him"? He talks like the man in the corner is just an object.

"Today you'll be testing the effect of these on you…"

He gestured to the bag.

"...and it will help, when necessary."

He pointed to the man.

There's something so familiar about him…was he the man from that third day? When I was stuck? His legs look familiar, and I never saw the rest of him…but didn't Kabuto…

The image of the man's bright red blood spilling under the door flashed into my head.

"Does he have a name?"

"It does not, no."

"He should have a name."

"It does not need one."

He spat every 'it' contemptuously, as if the man was beneath his concern.

"What you'll be changing into today is in the bag. Now, change."

He turned to face the corner, leaving me to process what was going on. I slowly approach the bag, pouring its contents out onto the table. I kept the man visible in my peripheral vision as I moved. He remained motionless, eyes closed and face expressionless. The bag contained several sets of bras and panties, all in black.

Does he expect me to wear these?

There was a strappy set, a lacy set, a set covered in spikes, and a set that seemed to be themed around cats.

And why all in black? Does he like that color on me? And who is that man in the corner?

I sighed, and chose the cat themed set. I placed the others back in the bag and changed quickly, trying not to look at myself. The bra fit perfectly. It was closer to a tiny crop top with a keyhole shaped like a cat's head cut out of the middle, exposing my cleavage. The panties tied at the sides. They had two little kitty ears attached to the front, and the ties at the sides had cat paws hanging from the strings. I put my own shirt back on over them, trying to tug the edge down enough that the panties weren't visible. I felt myself turn red as I realized that there would be two people looking at me dressed like this in a moment.

"D-done. I'm done."

Kabuto turned around, then sighed at me.

"Are you? I don't believe that shirt was in the bag."

"I would rather keep it on."

"Is this really going to be the test that you can't complete? Really?"

"It's…I don't wear things like this."

"Are you worried about how you look now? I've already seen you naked."

"I guess…but…"

I looked over at the man against the wall.

"It doesn't care."
"But he…"
"It's dead."

My eyes shot open in surprise, and I whirled around to face the man in the corner. Kabuto stepped close behind me, and I felt his breath on my neck.

"It met with a tragic accident after your test on day three."

So that is the same man!

"Luckily, I am adept at reanimating useful corpses. This one is under my control. Think of it like a puppet, if that helps you."

I had heard tales that he was able to do things like this when I was still imprisoned with the others, but I never believed them…

"He's…it's dead…and you want me to…"

"Would you rather I bring in someone with their own will?"

I thought about my last meeting with the man. How he kept going after I was finished. After he had been told to stop by Kabuto. Did I really want to chance that happening again?

"No…"

"I didn't think so."

I walked over to the puppet against the wall with Kabuto shadowing close behind. I reached out my hands to touch it, expecting the stiff chill of a corpse. Instead, I found the warm, soft give of living flesh. I tried lifting its hand on my own to look closely at it, but was unable to budge it at all. I heard him exhale behind me in amusement.

"It is under my control, you won't be able to move it without breaking it. And I don't think you're strong enough for that."

"Fine. It's fine. I can try this."

"Good…now, about that shirt."

I looked back to see Kabuto move his hand slightly, then the puppet moved. It grabbed the hem of my shirt delicately and lifted it over my head, allowing me to slip out of it. It tossed the shirt carelessly across the room. It landed perfectly on top of my other clothing. I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to hide behind them.

"I was wondering which set you chose. Now, return to the table."

I slowly turned away from the puppet to cross the room again, walking past Kabuto quickly. As I passed by him, I heard him murmur "I really did do a number on you yesterday, hm?". The marks he left with the corp and the paddle were all on display in the skimpy outfit he had provided. He walked to the desk and opened one of the drawers, pulling something small and dark out of it. I sat on the edge of the table, waiting. He stepped back towards me and put the objects on me without showing them to me, then grabbed a small mirror out of the same drawer and showed me my reflection. He had added a choker with a large cat's bell, and a pair of cat ears.

"Absolutely not!"

I snatched the ears off my head and tossed them at the wall. I went to remove the choker, but was unable to.

"Untie this right now."

"Mmm…I don't think I will. It suits you, and the outfit."

He made a flicking motion in the air, and the puppet shot across the room to join him.

"Now, lie back on the treatment table."

"Take this damn bell off me."

He chuckled darkly. He made another tiny, almost imperceptible motion, and the puppet stepped towards me. It placed one hand on my thigh, holding me in place on the table, then started slowly pushing against my chest. Its eyes remained closed.

It's so strong!

I fell backwards against the table, and it slid its hand down to rest on the bottom of my ribcage. I tried to sit back up, but pushing against its hand there knocked the wind out of me. Kabuto walked beside the table, bidding me to look up at him.

"Relax, this is today's test."

"The test is 'how embarrassed can we make Melo'?"

"Something like that, yes."

He laughed again, and then lifted his clipboard and pen.

"Let's begin."

The puppet undid its pants, then started stroking itself until it was erect.

It looked like a few changes were made. That's certainly a little, well…smaller…than it was before. Why would he do that? Was he jealous?

I opened my mouth to ask him about the change, but at that instant he made another tiny motion and the puppet pushed my panties to the side. It inserted two of his fingers immediately and pushed them in and out of me at the same it pumped itself. I gasped, then bit my lips to keep further sounds from coming out. It lined itself up with me, then started pulling me down onto it. I felt myself sliding off the edge of the table. My legs raised up to rest on its shoulders as it lowered me fully onto its length. As soon as it settled inside me, it started pulling back out and slamming into me. With every thrust, the bell on my neck chimed out. I heard Kabuto laugh.

Embarrassing! I feel like I'm gonna cry…

I wrapped my hands around the bell, trying to muffle the sound. It only made a slight difference, and the chiming was still very audible. Kabuto laughed louder. I took my hands off the bell and used them to cover my face instead. The puppet's cock found the sweet spot inside me and started thrusting into it, making it hard to stay quiet.

"Now, now. That won't do. The whole point of this outfit is to see how you look in it. How am I supposed to do that if you're hiding behind your hands?"

The puppet's motion stopped. I peeked out between my fingers to see what was happening. It leaned down over me, forcing my legs back so far that my knees touched the table. It collected my wrists in one hand, then held them back over my head. It used the other to explore my body.

Ew! It's touching me! This gross, dead thing is touching my skin! I'm gonna throw up. I thought I was okay with this but…

It slipped its hand under my bra and started caressing my breasts gently, then began grinding its dick against that spot inside me. I felt tears begin to spring up.

What if part of it like…rots off? Am I gonna get some weird disease from this? It's dead and it's inside me and…

I turned my face away from it, towards where Kabuto stood beside me. His gaze behind his glasses was unfocused, like he was staring at something only he could see, and his hand was making those same tiny movements. The puppet's own hand over me remained strong, but gentle as it caressed down my stomach and started moving over my panties, searching for my clit.

It's under his control. When this thing touches me, it's not really the puppet. It's…him. His hands and his…

It grinded into me again as it found my clit, pressing against me through the thin fabric of my panties. I groaned and moved against it. It pressed down on my clit and went from grinding back to thrusting into me, and I let out an involuntary "ah~".

Is this how he fucks, too?

He noticed that I was staring at him, but I did not look away. Instead, his attention drew out another "ahhh~". The puppet released my hands over my head and moved that hand down over my neck. I wrapped my arms around its torso.

How could I ever have mistaken this touch for anyone but Kabuto's?

Its hands were strong, but the flicks over my clit were delicate and precise. Its hand resting on my neck was just enough pressure to keep my attention, but not enough to be choking. It moved its hand down from my neck to my chest. It balled the fabric there up in its hand and used it to pull me up closer to it.

Is this how he'd treat me?

I maintained eye contact with him as the puppet pulled me up close to it. It pushed its head into the crook of my neck and left a trail of kisses on the delicate skin there. It pulled itself almost entirely out of my and fucked me with just the head of its cock, and I whimpered. I tried to push myself down onto it more, but it held me in place by my bra. Kabuto leaned down to whisper into my ear.

"So needy. Poor thing. You just want it so bad, hm?"

The puppet paused its thrusting entirely and instead focused its work entirely on my clit. I jumped when it hit a particularly sensitive nerve, and let out a desperate noise.

"Yes…"

"Do you want to know a secret, Melo?"

The puppet hit that same nerve again, and I felt myself jolt again. It paused, as if waiting for a response.

"Yes, yes!"

"Me too…"

I let out a whine at the confession, unable to force any real words to come to mind. He stood up abruptly and made a tiny motion. The puppet bit deeply into my neck, holding the skin there in its mouth resuming its thrusting. My head lolled back behind me.

He wants me too. Fuck, he…

I felt that tight feeling start to build inside me more quickly than I thought possible. Those two words kept repeating inside my head as I started to unravel.

"Me too…"

I tightened my arms around the puppet and gave myself over to the feeling completely.

"Me too, me too~", then take me yourself!

I felt myself clenching around its length as I came. It released me and withdrew as soon as I finished. I collapsed back on the table. It dressed itself and returned to its spot by the wall.

"Fuck…"

"Again? We're finished with testing for today, Melo. Don't get greedy."

He smirked at his own joke, then pricked my finger to retrieve the blood sample.

Are we not going to acknowledge what you said?

"Dress and we'll return you to your room."

"Alright."

He turned away from me, and I took the ridiculous outfit he picked off and put my own clothes back on.

Shit.

"Hey I umm…."

His voice was like ice when he answered me.

"Yes, Melo?"

His tone hurt me for a moment, before I realized the reason for it.

He thinks I'm going to bring it up. Relax, I know better.

"The choker. I still can't get it off of me."

His tone was immediately warmer.

"Right, of course."

He approached me, standing in front of me and reaching around to remove the choker. I caught his eyes as he did so, then smiled. He relaxed slightly.

Just another secret, right?