Chapter One

“No way! You can’t do this, Sir!” I chuckled as I heard her plea. Even when trying to argue her point, Sarah knows she must show reverence to a man, especially her boss. In a different time or an alternate reality, Sarah would likely have been my boss or even have a seat on the board of directors. However, such ideas are comical to think about these days.

Twenty years ago, after months of civil unrest, female slavery was introduced into law, and the equal society many had been fighting for had halted in an instant. After the Female Slavery Act 2024 was signed into law, it became possible for women to fall into slavery after failing to pay off their debts, long-term unemployment, or committing petty crimes. Once a woman was enslaved, it was for life (or until her owner gave her her freedom back), and she became the property of whoever held the rights to her. She could be bought and sold like livestock, and a budding slave trade started to flourish soon after.

Over the next decade, women’s rights were eroded piece by piece. They lost the right to vote, to own land, and to hold management roles. Sarah and I both graduated college at the same time; while I finished my studies in the middle of the pack, Sarah was top of the class. We were the final graduating class before the Education Integrity Act 2034 came into effect, forbidding women from further studies after high school.

Sarah’s father used to be the CEO of one of the largest auction houses in the country, and his connections, combined with her intelligence, had landed Sarah a research role at SlaveTech Inc. SlaveTech started by bringing BDSM equipment to the mainstream when female slavery was legalized, but they had sprawled out into numerous ventures over the years and is known as one of the two biggest slavery corporations in the US.

After a couple of dead-end jobs following college, I also managed to land an internship at SlaveTech in R&D. Taking a chance on Sarah was one of the greatest decisions SlaveTech ever made. Her genius led to the creation of technologies I never thought possible. Unfortunately for Sarah, current laws forbade her from taking on any leadership role, which benefited me. Although everyone knew it was Sarah’s brain that revolutionized the company, it was a man who needed to take the credit, and I happily stepped in.

Ten years after graduating college, I was now the Director of R&D and one step away from a prestigious position on the board. Even after all this time, Sarah struggled to hide her envy, but I often reminded her that I didn’t write the law and that we just had to deal with it.

I admired her body as she stood furiously on the other side of my desk. She had gorgeous platinum blond hair throughout college, but she had darkened it the last few years to blend in and appear more plain. There was no hiding the sexy, naturally plump lips on her face, however; a genetic gift from her supermodel mother. She obviously kept herself fit, and her natural D-cup breasts were challenging to disguise, especially with modern-day female fashion trends.

“There’s nothing I can do, Sarah.” I grinned. “This has come from the top.” I watched her reaction before focusing on the large cardboard box she had dumped on my desk.

SlaveTech’s end-of-year financials were released a month ago. For the first time in years, we were overtaken in revenue by our largest rivals, ControlCorp, mainly due to the release of their newest flagship product, the Smart Gag. The launch of our own far superior product, the Control Collar, was marred by patent issues and poor marketing, so the revolutionary product we had spent over a year developing sold sluggishly.

SlaveTech immediately replaced its CEO with new blood. A ruthless businessman named Harold Masters took the helm and wasted no time making drastic changes. One of his first announcements was introducing a new female uniform policy. He believed that we didn’t do enough to showcase our products and declared in a memo that female employees may only wear clothing produced by the company. He delegated the implementation of the new policy to the management of each department, with the only requirement being that each female employee wear the company’s new Control Collar.

“This is outrageous!” she exclaimed, “How am I expected to work effectively wearing any of this? It’s a sick joke; I won’t wear all this!” I had always allowed Sarah to speak her mind to some extent, but she was starting to test my patience.

“Look, you have no choice unless you want to spend a week in the basement.” I knew the threat would strike a chord with my subordinate. Misbehaving female employees were often sent to the basement for punishment. Most men had no idea what happened down there, but the women were terrified of being sent there, and usually the threat of it was enough to keep them in line. “Besides, don’t take it personally. All women in the R&D department are required to wear the same thing.”

I couldn’t help but grin when I saw Sarah’s eyes narrow at my latest statement. It was well known that she was the only female research team member. The department didn’t often hire women after it became illegal for them to receive higher education. A high school diploma didn’t make the grade for developing such groundbreaking products.

“Sir, please. This company needs me. You need me.” Sarah pleaded. She did have a point. I would have never risen to lead my own department if I hadn’t taken the credit for Sarah’s fantastic work. Still, finding a new job was increasingly difficult for women. Companies didn’t want to risk hiring a female in a competent position when the government was forever implementing new laws.

I slowly rose to my feet, placing my hands on the desk. At 6’4, I was an imposing figure to most, and I knew how to use my size to emphasize my point. “Enough. You will slip on every item inside that box before you leave my office.” I spoke with a sterner, more serious tone. “Or do I have to bring in an enforcer to take you downstairs?”

I saw her shudder. I had backed Sarah into a corner, and she knew she had no choice but to obey her boss. I watched her slide her hand into the box and pull out a simple, slim black collar with an LED screen at the front. “Property of SlaveTech?” Sarah uttered in dismay. “I am not a slave. I am no one’s property!”

The company’s internal Control Collars were modified in several ways compared to those on sale to the public. The most apparent modification was the words’ Property of SlaveTech’ emblazoned on the LED screen in the center of the collar. “Relax. It is just labeling the collar property of the company rather than being owned by the public.”

Her expression indicated she wasn’t entirely convinced of my argument, but she tentatively wrapped the black collar around her bare neck nonetheless. I saw her pouty lips part in a sullen gasp when the clasp clicked in place, locking itself around her neck.

Immediately after Sarah’s Control Collar clicked into place, I felt a sudden vibration from the smart device on my wrist. ‘New Device Detected. Connect?’ a popup on my watch appeared. I tapped to confirm and grinned as I witnessed my collared employee’s eyes shoot wide open. Sarah brought her hand up to the back of her neck, a tiny needle penetrating her skin and injecting microscopic little computers inside her.

I couldn’t stop myself from smiling widely when Sarah brought both hands to her face. While it was undetectable to the naked eye, a thin, transparent, borderline invisible rubber material wrapped around her face and under her hair. Other than an extremely mild gloss on her face, she looked exactly like her usual self, except that she would feel the material for as long as the Control Collar was in place. The real noticeable alteration was to her hair. The transparent material slithered through each individual strand of her dark hair and started squeezing out the dye. As the material made its way through her hair, the dyed brunette color was replaced by her natural platinum blond shade. I had forgotten how sexy her blond hair made her look, and this was a happy side effect, although Sarah didn’t seem to agree.

A mixture of confusion and humiliation was painted on Sarah’s face. Living in the modern world, Sarah would have definitely had to deal with embarrassing situations from time to time, but it was clear she thought of work as her safe space, and this sudden uniform policy was ripping that away from her. “Come on. Slip on the rest of your uniform. I’d be happy to help if you like.” I chuckled when the blond rolled her eyes. “You’ll probably have to undress first, though,” I added.

Sarah’s eyes glanced over at my office door as if she was contemplating finding somewhere to undress in public, but she knew I wouldn’t allow that at this stage, so she removed her white lab coat and started unbuttoning her white blouse. I tried to disguise my jaw hitting the floor when I peeked at the creamy cleavage packed inside the white bra under her opened blouse.

As with every man my age, I had seen my fair share of breasts. I was single and never had the best of luck dating. Even with their diminished rights, free women still had their choice of men, and I was never successful in that regard. I had considered purchasing a slave a couple of times but never followed through. I had rented a slave a time or two and had acquired a type: blond and busty. I now found myself standing opposite a blond and busty woman, undoing her bra in front of me. With today’s technology, many would argue that D-cup breasts are far from busty, but they looked just fine to me.

“Can you look away?” she protested. She slowly slipped off her black knee-length pencil skirt when it became clear I wouldn’t comply with her request. She then kicked off plain black flat shoes. I had always resented her unwillingness to wear heels, even at my request. She had argued that high heels were not suitable footwear for a lab, but that was about to change.

I observed her as she removed her nude stockings. She paused with her fingers interlocking the hem of her panties, obviously hesitant with me ogling her. I heard her sigh in resignation before slowly dropping the white briefs; my eyebrows raised when I saw a thin landing strip of blond hair just above her pussy. It was rare to see any hair on a woman’s pubic area these days, and I figured this was Sarah’s small act of resistance.

Sarah stood before me completely naked, and that fact seemed to dawn on her as she swiftly placed her hand back inside the box and pulled out a large, shiny, bright red material. I chuckled as I witnessed her eyes transform from confusion into horror when she discovered what she was holding. She should recognize it; she designed the devious clothing, after all. “No way…” she murmured, her voice sounding less commanding than usual.

“That is part of your uniform. Put it on,” I ordered. Shaking her bright blond-haired head, she started wrapping the material around her waist. Curves rested just underneath her breasts, and the red material covered her entire abdomen. When she wrapped it around her waist and across her back, laces loosely hanging from the outfit’s side suddenly came to life and attached themselves to the other side. Dreaded anticipation was etched all over Sarah’s face when she let go of the outfit, but the thin red rope continued to lace up the side. Sarah gasped breathlessly when the laces pulled firmly for the first time, tightening the outfit further. Sarah was now wearing a SlaveTech-designed red PVC training corset. The garment was specially designed to shrink the midriff by tightening every time the wearer’s waist gets smaller. A slave’s owner can set a target waist size through his control watch, or else it will continue to get tighter and tighter until the corset believes the waist won’t safely shrink any further.

“Aghh…” Sarah exclaimed when the laces tightened up one last time, crushing her waist as much as it could. That sound made me smile. I had known Sarah for over 15 years and had never seen her like this before. I glanced with glee at her heaving breasts; one of the side effects of the corset was the cups resting under her breasts, pushing her chest up, forcing her tits to jut out in front of her proudly.

“Continue…” I didn’t give her time to rest; there was work to be done after all. Sarah closed her eyes and reached inside the box, clearly dreading what she would find. She pulled out a pair of simple black hold-up fishnet stockings.

“You are such a perv.” I had to smile at her comment as she bent over and slipped on the stockings. She carefully pulled them up to her mid-thigh, and they immediately made her legs appear one hundred times sexier. I gave her a wolf whistle and indicated for her to continue.

She pulled out a tiny glittering piece of fabric and groaned. “Come on, this has gone far enough!” She finds her voice, staring at the bright red g-string in disgust. I smile calmly before pointing back at the box. “That is part of your uniform, Sarah, but there’s something else inside you’ll need to slip on first.” I encouraged, causing her to look back inside the box reluctantly. Her eyes widened when the small butt plug appeared in her hand.

“It was such a genius idea to make the one-size-fits-all SlaveTech plug self-lubricating. It must be an honor for you to finally test out some of your own creations, right?” I mocked her. She stood frozen as if I would somehow change my mind. After she saw no way out, she reluctantly bent over my desk, giving me a great view of the top of her tits. By the time the plug had reached the opening of her asshole, it was smothered in lubricant, allowing Sarah to easily slip the plug inside her rear. Although I couldn’t see it yet from my perspective, a large red jewel now displayed between her butt cheeks, telling everybody what was now deep inside of her. I chuckled knowingly as I watched her wince and clench her fists; the plug was designed to expand inside the wearer’s ass until it filled the ass completely.

Sarah slid the tiny PVC g-string up her legs, keen to cover her pussy despite the humiliating string garment I had chosen for her. The string nestled between her asscheeks, and the jewel of her plug could clearly be seen behind it. On the front of the g-string displayed the letters ’R&D’, so everyone knew where she belonged if she got lost. I laughed to myself at the thought.

“Almost there…” I encouraged jeeringly. Sarah couldn’t hide the fury on her face, although her bright blond hair made any expression she made more delightful to look at. She reached into the box and pulled out the final pieces, shaking her head wildly. “No, this is too much, Hugh…” She had used my first name, which took me aback. It was understandable, though. She had designed those boots in her hand and knew exactly what they were capable of. “I’ll wear the rest of the uniform, just not these.”

I paused for a moment. Part of me actually considered her plea, but the fact that she had used my first name, forgetting her place, irritated me. “It’s either the boots or the dungeon,” I said firmly, making it clear how serious I was. With no choice, she placed the patent red knee-length boots on the floor and slid her feet inside. The heel of the devious footwear was 8” tall, and her toes were forced to point downwards. Sarah had to stabilize herself against the desk when she zipped the boots up the side, up to her knees. The boots would tighten around her feet and legs as she zipped them up. Once she removed her hands, the zips transformed into a padlock, and I felt another vibration on my control watch. ‘New Device Detected’, I smirked when I read the message.

The terror hadn’t left Sarah’s face when she tried to stand up without the support of the desk. I was sure she could feel the boots start their work already. She was wearing special SlaveTech Heel Training Ballet Boots. Not only did the special technology inside the footwear train the wearer to eventually walk comfortably in extreme heels, but it also shortened the wearer’s tendons. If you wore the boots long enough, you would ultimately be able to walk in nothing but extreme heels. It was a perfect design as far as I was concerned.

I clapped my hands together in joy as I took in the gorgeously slutty image before me. The most intelligent woman in this building was dressed in the most extreme outfit, all her design. Even as I selected each piece of her new uniform, I would have never guessed how perfect it would look. “Wait, this can’t be it. There must be more.” Sarah spoke anxiously, peering inside the empty box on the table.

“You’re right…” I replied, but the jovial tone of my words unnerved her further. “…There is one more piece to your uniform.” I looked at my control watch and started tapping on the newly installed Control Collar app.

“No! Don’t you d-aghhh!” Sarah groaned desperately; the transparent latex on her face started to tingle and slide inside her mouth. The latex began to form a solid black rubber phallic dildo, invading her mouth. She tried to bite the rubber cock in resistance, but it continued to grow until it reached the back of her mouth. “Mmphhhh!” I heard a faint cry coming from her mouth. I grinned widely, but not because of the dildo invading her mouth. Where her unpainted lips usually sat, a pair of glossy, bright red fake lips now presented themselves, pouting heavily as if she was inviting a kiss. To anyone walking past Sarah, it would look like she was posing in a slutty kissing face, totally oblivious that her real lips were trapped underneath and her mouth was filled with a rubber dildo.

I stepped around the desk, causing Sarah to stumble back, almost tripping up in her extreme heels. “I always did love your lips.” I mocked, turning her shoulder toward the mirror next to my office door, allowing her to take in her kinky appearance. The startled expression in her eyes contrasted with the inviting appearance of her lips. The new CEO made it clear that he would look favorably on the most creative directors, and I doubt anyone would be able to top this.

“One more thing before you get back to work,” I said casually, tapping another button on my watch. I noticed Sarah’s back arch up in alarm and her hand reaching for the desk to stop herself from tumbling over. The large plug inside her ass had briefly vibrated inside of her. “If you ever feel your plug vibrate like that, I want you to stop what you are doing and report to my office. Understand?” She narrowed her eyes, but I knew she understood. I smacked her on her bare asscheek, eliciting a muted wail from Sarah’s gagged mouth. “Right, back to work,” I commanded, opening my office door for her. It was clear she was hesitant to leave my office, but she eventually tottered towards my door, taking tiny mincing steps to keep her balance. I closed the door after she exited and returned to my chair, giving myself a moment to soak up the moment. This was going to be fun.

❖

Over the next couple of hours, I worked alone in my office. Being the director of research and development wasn’t all fun and games; we had a budget to stick to, and I was responsible for coordinating with the other departments. The team was working on a new form of intelligent rope, which would tighten when someone attempted to loosen their bonds. We already had a variant on the market, but sales had slumped since ControlCorp released their own updated version.

Eventually, I got restless sitting at my desk and was curious to see how Sarah was handling her new uniform, so I rose from my chair, readjusted my tie in the mirror, and headed out onto the floor.

As I left my office, I noticed the half-empty bullpen, but it didn’t take long to figure out where everyone was hanging out. I saw the backs of a half dozen men crowded together. I approached and grinned when I witnessed the sight in front of them of two bare ass cheeks sticking out; Sarah was bent over, looking through a microscope, her free hand on the table to keep herself stabilized. I was especially pleased with the large red jewel displayed between her butt cheeks, shimmering proudly in the office light while she worked away.

I stopped next to a young man named Tommy. He was a fresh recruit in the department, only a year removed from college. He noticed me standing beside him and grinned. “Sir, I approve of your new uniform choice. It’s very, very nice,” he remarked, drawing out his praise and making sure it was loud enough for Sarah to hear.

I raised an eyebrow and turned my head toward him. “You like it? I can get you a matching set to wear if you don’t get back to work!” I snapped back at him. The department was under tremendous pressure to push out new innovative products. I couldn’t achieve that if half my team stood around all day ogling their colleagues.

Tommy quickly understood, giving me a curt nod before returning to his station. The rest of the crowd soon dispersed after that. I approached Sarah and placed a hand on the table beside her, resting up against it. “How is my star researcher doing?” I asked.

Sarah peeled her eyes away from the microscope and stared at me. I gasped in lust at the vision presented in front of me. Her bountiful D-cup breasts were exposed and proudly jutted out high on her chest. Her already slim waist was tightly constrained in the red PVC smart corset; it may have been wishful thinking on my part, but I could have sworn her waist already looked smaller.

“Mmmp,” The faint noise from the pouting lips on her face brought my attention away from her body. Those frozen bright red kissing lips looked entirely inviting, a stark difference from the fiery look in her green eyes. Sarah had always made it clear that she had no love for me. She knew I was riding on the back of her intelligence and believed she should be the one in my position, as if a woman could handle the pressure. However, I had never seen her eyes stare at me like this, as if she was attempting to mentally drill a hole through my skull.

I took a moment to admire the marvel of technology wrapped around the blond researcher’s neck. Despite leading the team that designed the Control Collar, I hadn’t seen much of its capabilities up close since its release. It used tiny microscopic computers to form an invisible hood over the wearer’s face, laying dormant until instructions were given by its paired control device. The collar had the ability to blindfold its wearer, block their hearing, and gag them with all manner of devious gags. It also had intelligent settings, such as only blinding the wearer after a set time or removing the gag when a man asked them a question, giving them time to answer before replacing it back in their mouth. It was a tremendous piece of technology that deserved more than its sluggish sales.

“I have a meeting with Mr Masters this evening, and he wants an update on our latest projects,” I informed her. “I expect progress on the rope, and I need you to complete the security update for the Control Watch before the meeting.” I didn’t give her time to acknowledge my demands, not that she could have responded anyway. I placed a hand on her bare ass when I brushed past her, noting her muted squeal in protest. I turned to face her again, “I’ll call you to my office at the end of the day for your final report.” I smirked, stepping back and heading towards my office.

❖

The rest of the work day was uneventful. I took a stroll during lunch to check in on the other departments. It was a delight to compare the individual uniforms each director had chosen for their department. Some of the uniforms made the female employees look like glorified strippers, while others were deviously kinky. Not a single woman in the building had escaped the effects of Harold Master’s latest memo.

My watch buzzed at five o’clock to let me know the workday was ending. A few more presses on the device brought up the plug app, which I used to summon Sarah to my office. I had almost lost my patience when I heard a soft knock on my door. “Come in,” I commanded, absently licking my lips at the sight tottering through my door. Struggling on the extreme ballet heels, Sarah took tiny mincing steps towards my desk. Her heaving tits barely budged with each stride, and her ass wiggled unintentionally to keep her balance. Her kissing face gave the impression my subordinate was attempting to seduce me; at least, that’s what I liked to believe.

She placed a hand on the chair opposite me, but a shake of my head was enough to instruct her that I expected her to stand. I tapped away on my control device and watched the pouty, bright-red lips dissolve, shrinking along with the giant dildo pushed down her throat, revealing her plush, natural, unpainted lips again. She gasped and cleared her throat. I grinned up at her, “So, what’s the progress on the rope?” I didn’t waste any time demanding an update.

Sarah took a moment to compose herself. She had likely spent all day trying to think of a way out of her situation, but someone with her intelligence knew there was no way out. She couldn’t resign without running the risk of becoming long-term unemployed and falling into actual slavery. “It is coming along well, Sir. According to my calculations, we should be ready to start testing by the end of the month.”

It was good news, but I wasn’t prepared to let her relax. I knew she could get the product ready if I pushed her. “That’s not good enough. I’ll give you two weeks.” I responded firmly. She parted her lips to retort, but I didn’t allow her to speak. “And the security update? Please tell me you have that ready, at least?”

My question confusingly elicited a tiny smile from Sarah’s lips, perhaps the first time I had seen her smile today. “Yes, Sir, you should receive an update any moment,” she said, her face returning to a neutral expression. As if on cue, I felt the vibrations of my control watch, and a message displayed on the screen: ‘Update 4.7 beta available. Proceed?’ I chuckled; the blond bitch was going to land me a position on the board soon enough. I pressed proceed, and a progress bar appeared on the screen. As progress slowly crawled upward, I took the time to appraise my uniform choice. I loved how her breasts were proudly on display for everyone to see, and her ever-shrinking waist only served to accentuate her figure. Her face could use some work. Even though I intend to keep her gagged around the building, it wouldn’t hurt for her to add a little makeup.

I glanced back at my watch and smiled as the progress bar had jumped to 98%. While this was only a crucial security update, one of the benefits of working at R&D for SlaveTech was having access to new updates before they were released to market. I watched the progress edge up to 99% before finally completing, and the watch vibrated again.

When the vibrations ceased, I felt a sudden dizziness wash over me. I stared up at the scantily clad Sarah in bewilderment. My eyesight started getting blurrier, “What…” My tongue felt heavy, and my voice sounded weak. What was happening?

My vision eventually cleared up, but my perspective was all wrong. I was no longer staring up at my blond subordinate but instead looking down at a man sitting in my chair, a man who looked identical to me. I felt a sudden, painful sensation in my midsection, as if a boa constrictor was squeezing the life out of me. I experienced agony in my calves, with my feet propped up on my tiptoes, unable to flatten them at all. Instantaneously, I knew what was wrong. “Oh my god, it worked!” I followed the sound of my own voice back to the man sitting in my office. How was this possible? If I was somehow inside Sarah’s body, was she in mine?

I opened my mouth to demand an explanation when we were interrupted by a knock at the door. The knock startled whoever possessed my body, and they tapped away at my control device on their wrist. Without warning, I felt a tingle across my lower face and a thick substance invading my mouth, forcing my lips to part. The substance got thicker and wider, prompting my mouth to open even further. When my mouth was pried open as far as it could stretch, the rubber substance solidified, and a strap wrapped around my head, keeping it in place.

“Now, that’s what I like to see when I enter a room.” My head turned toward the source of the booming voice in the doorway. The wide-set man staring at my newly exposed ass was SlaveTech’s new CEO, Harold Masters. “Aghh mrphhh!” I tried to speak, but the massive ball wedged between my teeth rendered me unintelligible.

Mr Masters grinned and approached me confidently, using his large hand to grope my exposed tit. What the fuck was going on? “You must be the lovely Sarah Jackson. A decade with the company without being swept up by marriage or slavery. That’s impressive.” I mumbled another garbled plea, but it was useless. I needed to warn Harold what had just happened urgently. “You know, I knew your father before I joined SlaveTech. He was a royal pain in my ass throughout my career. I was glad when he finally retired.”

Harold finally took his hand from the heaving mass of flesh attached to my chest, and I watched my well-dressed body rise from my chair and walk around the desk, outstretching his hand to greet the CEO. “Mr Masters, it’s great to see you again.” I heard my own baritone speak as the two men shook hands. I lifted my hand to the gag stuffed in my mouth and attempted to pull tightly against the straps, but they wouldn’t budge.

“Mrphhh!” I tried to exclaim once more. I wasn’t accustomed to being so helpless, and the alien feeling felt humiliating. In desperation, I spied the control watch around my former self’s wrist and lunged forward to grab it. My hand managed to hold his wrist, but I wasn’t used to the extreme footwear on my feet, and I stumbled, falling flat on my face in front of both men.

“Mr Connolly, you need to control your staff.” I heard Harold Masters demand with displeasure. Looking up, I witnessed my old body tapping away on the control panel, and my entire face started to tingle with tiny pinpricks. Before I could react, a rubber substance slid over my head and face, solidifying into a tight black hood. It even flowed over my mouth and eyes, blinding me and reinforcing the gag between my lips.

“My apologies, Mr Masters.” I could still hear the conversation above me as I lay in darkness. “She is still getting used to her new uniform, but we are getting there.” My old voice responded apologetically.

“Well, she is not learning fast enough.” The CEO was clearly unimpressed by what he just saw. I just needed to get this gag out of my mouth and explain to him what the bitch had done. “Send her to the dungeon. Tell them that I sent her. That should speed up her training.” The dungeon? Training? Ohh, hell no!

“Mmphhh!” I tried to cry out, lifting myself up from the floor, but as I managed to drag myself back to my knees, I felt a pinprick on the back of my neck where the Control Collar sat. Starting to feel dizzy all of a sudden, I felt the breath of someone’s mouth near my latex-covered ear. “Sorry it has come to this, Sir. I will explain everything when you return.” My old body faintly whispered into my ear as my consciousness left me.