“This is the hottest one yet!”

 

Boris and Oleg wheeled Maria down the corridor, the gurney sliding silently across the vinyl flooring. Despite the bright overhead lights, Maria slept peacefully. This area of the building looked far different than the hallway she had walked through with Irina—much more clinical.

 

“You say that every time,” said Oleg, “but you’re right. She’s cute.”

 

Both men had brown hair, brown eyes, and stood about 5’10”.

 

Boris sighed, “One of these days—you know—they need to let us have some fun. You know what I’ve heard Orlov d—”

 

“Shut up!” whispered Oleg, “You know there are cameras. There could be bugs too. Anywhere.”

 

“I’m just saying,” said Boris, whispering now, “we roll some of the most beautiful women through these halls. They’re dead to the world. What’s the harm?”

 

“First of all, I’ve seen you cop plenty of feels when lifting them on and off the gurney. Second, we get to undress them before the whole operation thing. Isn’t that good enough?”

 

“You offend me, brother. I give these ladies the utmost respect when lifting them. Now, if my hand slips from time to time… I can’t help that.” They came to a point where the corridor split in two directions. They turned to the right and proceeded down another long hallway. “And yes, we get to strip them. But that damn Popov watches the whole time to make sure our hands don’t wander. And don’t get me started on that nurse of his.”

 

Maria slept undisturbed as Boris and Oleg babbled back and forth. The brothers had not given her the luxury of a pillow and blanket; she lied flat on her back, still in her dark blue sweater dress, tights, and heels. Her lips were slightly parted.

 

“There are plenty of women that work in the office, you know… willingly. Your efforts would be better spent on them,” said Oleg.

 

“Yeah, well, the secretaries are a bit more… opinionated than these girls,” Boris looked down at the sleeping blonde. “That being said, I think I made some progress with Tatiana yesterday.”

 

“Sure,” said Oleg, “and I bet Irina Nikitina smiled at you this morning?”

 

“Fuck you. And as a matter of fact, she did.”

 

“Uh huh. Sure. She’s been acting strange lately anyway, so it wouldn’t surprise me if she’s lost her mind and now suddenly finds you attractive.”

 

The brothers stopped the gurney in front of a large steel door with a black keypad. Large capital letters on the door read “N.I.R.A. IMPLANTATION”.

 

"Here we go," said Oleg as he typed the four-digit code.

 

The door beeped then slowly swung open, revealing a large operating room. The glow of the bright overhead lights reflected off the stainless steel medical carts and instrument tables scattered about the room. Even the white vinyl floor seemed to have a shimmer to it. A slight antiseptic smell lingered in the air. Several computer monitors hung from the ceiling, their screens flashing between different programs and data points. The walls were a light blue. In the middle of the room—underneath the monitors—was the operating table. Behind it stood a man and a woman, both dressed in scrubs.

 

"Finally!" the man said. "How do you two end up getting lost every time you need to transport an Asset? The walk from Orlov's office involves a single turn."

 

"Our apologies, Dr. Popov," said Oleg. "We got here as fast as we could."

 

"She'll be waking up any moment now," he hissed. "Let's get a move on. Start undressing her."

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"Don't use the shears. We need to put her back in these clothes on Monday."

 

Oleg slowly lifted Maria’s left leg. It was completely limp in his arms. He could feel well-developed calf muscles underneath the smooth texture of her black tights. Her calf was relaxed and pliable in his hand. He gently grabbed the bottom of her black heel and pulled it off. Even underneath the tights, Oleg could tell that she had cute feet.

 

"Shoe size?" asked the woman.

 

Oleg looked inside one of the heels. "9.5," he said. Somewhat small for a taller woman. He lifted Maria’s right leg and pulled off the other heel. He placed both of Maria’s shoes in a large plastic bag and sealed it.

 

Meanwhile, Boris had walked to Maria’s right side. The hem of her sweater dress fell to her mid-thigh. He had been watching Oleg lifting the blonde’s legs and had stood for a moment transfixed. Now it was his turn. He looked back up towards Maria’s face. Her eyes were closed and her mouth still hung open slightly. He looked back towards her thighs. No need for modesty now. He grabbed the hem of the dark blue dress and slowly began to pull it up. Gradually, Maria’s thighs came into full view. What a babe.

 

He continued to slowly pull the dress up, revealing wide hips and a tiny waist. Even unconscious, her stomach was tight. Let’s see what else we have here. He delicately pulled the dress up and over her chest, revealing a lacy black bra. Larger than I thought.

Oleg walked over, facing Boris, and reached under Maria’s back, lifting her so that she appeared as if she were sitting up on the gurney. Holding her up with his right arm, Oleg grabbed both of her arms and held them straight up above her. This allowed Boris to pull the dress up and off of Maria completely.

 

While Boris bagged her dress, Oleg laid Maria back on the gurney. She still showed no signs of waking, although her hair had gotten a bit messy when Boris pulled the dress over her head. Even with the messy hair, Oleg thought she looked angelic.

 

With the dress safely in the bag, Boris said, "Let's flip her over."

 

The orderlies gently rolled her onto her stomach. Boris unclasped her black bra while Oleg walked towards her lower half. Boris thought back to when he was first hired and how much he struggled with this part of the job. But by now he had unclasped enough bras in this room that he could do so with surgical precision. He reached over with his right hand and undid it with a quick snap.

 

"Brassiere size?"

 

"36C, Nurse Nadya."

 

"I'll need to take measurements myself later," she said. "So many of these girls come in wearing the wrong size."

 

Now that she was on her stomach, Maria’s black tights were see-through, and Oleg could tell that she was wearing a thong underneath. It was always interesting to see what the girls wore to these “interviews”, and he and Boris would always make bets. Oleg had bet that Maria was wearing a conservative white bra underneath her dress. He lost that one. But he was right on the money with the thong prediction. Was the thong black too or was it just the tights? Time to find out. With both hands, he slowly grabbed the elastic at her waist. As he began pulling the tights off, revealing her creamy white skin, he began cheering on the inside. Her porcelain skin was an excellent contrast to the lacy black thong that gradually came into view. Don’t have to buy Boris a drink tonight. She was matching, too. That would have been double.

 

As he pulled the tights down her ass, he could he felt her soft skin against his fingers. Finally, the tights were down to her thighs and he could see her ass in all its glory.

 

“Hurry up!” hissed the nurse.

 

Oleg hadn’t realized it, but he had frozen, holding the fabric of Maria’s tights as he stared at her ass.

 

“Sorry,” he muttered.

 

He could hear Boris stifle a laugh. Blushing, Oleg quickly pulled the tights down her thighs, over her calves, and off her cute feet. Her tight ass and sculpted legs made it clear that she was athletic. Probably a soccer player.

 

Once the tights were bagged, Maria was left in just her unclasped black bra and thong. Feeling everyone's eyes on him, Oleg reached for the waistband.

 

"Don't take any longer than you need to, now," said Nurse Nadya. "No slips of the hand, either."

 

"Mhm," he grunted. He quickly pulled the thong down, freeing the fabric from the grasp of her asscheeks, and off her shapely legs before bagging it. While he would have liked to look between her legs longer, he decided against it and turned his eyes to Boris.

 

"Let's flip her back over," he said.

 

Once they had laid her on her back, Boris slid the straps of Maria’s bra down and slid her arms out. Finally, Boris lifted the bra off of her, freeing her breasts which sprung free with a small bounce. Her small pink nipples were hard in the cool air of the operating room. Oleg, stealing a glance, thought that they were the perfect size. Not too small, not pornstar big either. Her skin was a uniform creamy white from her head to her toes. Must not have made it to the beach over winter break.

 

Now that Maria was fully undressed and all her clothes bagged, the orderlies pushed the gurney closer to the operating table. “Let’s get this show on the road,” Dr. Popov ordered.

 

Boris and Oleg grabbed her torso and legs, respectively, and gently lifted her onto the operating table, which was covered with a blue anti-microbial matting.

 

“Nurse Nadya, please start an IV while the twins take her measurements.”

 

The orderlies went over to one of the instrument tables, each retrieving a tape measure. Meanwhile, the blonde nurse, who looked to be in her mid-thirties, sanitized the inside of Maria’s left elbow while looking for a good vein.

 

“Waist: 25 inches, 63.5 centimeters.”

 

The nurse slowly inserted the IV with the precision and efficiency of a professional who had done so a thousand times. Once inserted, she aspirated the IV, confirming she had placed it in a good vein when blood flowed back into the syringe.

 

“Hips: 36 inches, 91.5 centimeters.”

 

Whether from was the cold tape measures being wrapped around her body or the pinch from the IV, Maria began to stir. The nurse paused for a moment.

 

“Hello there, sleeping beauty,” said Nurse Nadya, “would you mind confirming your full name and date of birth, please?”

 

Maria’s eyes slowly fluttered open. Her first thought was that she was cold. Where’s my coat? Wherever she was, it was very bright and she had to squint to look around. Moving her head was difficult.

 

“Where… where am I?”

 

“There’s no need for the two identifiers. All her relevant information is on this monitor. Please read it out,” said Dr. Popov.

 

As Maria came to her senses, she realized she was fully naked. What’s going on? She tried to get up, but realized she couldn’t move. She looked over and saw that her arms were held out at 45-degree angles and secured by armboard straps.

 

Nurse Nadya pulled down one of the monitors and read: “Maria Miller. Date of Birth: 4/15/1999. Asset number 232.”

 

“Very good. Please push 2mg of midazolam.”

 

“No… stop…”

 

The nurse rolled the anesthesia cart over. She uncapped a small syringe and inserted it into the IV.

 

“Height: 5 feet 9 inches, 175 centimeters”

 

Maria, who was groggy but growing increasingly concerned, suddenly felt a wave of relaxation come over her. That she was naked—lying on an operating table and getting prepped for some unknown procedure—was something she noted, but wasn’t too upset about. She had been aware of two men with tape measurers folding them around her body and reading out numbers. The tape felt cold. Metallic. There was also the masked nurse, whose face she couldn’t see, but who Maria strangely felt was grinning throughout the preparation. She had heard a third male voice, deep, with the slightest hint of a Russian accent, although she hadn’t seen the man whom it belonged to yet.

 

Boris walked over to one of the monitors. The operating table had a built-in scale which fed data to the screen. “Weight: 140 pounds, 64 kilograms.”

 

“Nurse Nadya, prepare to administer 159mg of propofol,” said the deep voice. Out of the corner of her eye, Maria saw the nurse walk back over to the anesthesia cart. While the nurse was away, the third man stepped into Maria’s line of sight.

 

“Hello, Ms. Miller. I am Dr. Popov. I’ll be conducting today’s procedure.” He leaned over the table so she could see him more clearly. Although he wore a surgical mask and a face shield, Maria could tell that he was in his early forties and had brown hair with eyes of the same shade.

 

“Now, Nurse Nadya has already administered your midazolam, so you’re not likely to remember any of this conversation. Regardless, I like to explain the procedure to our new Assets.”

 

“He actually just likes to hear himself talk,” said the nurse.

 

Dr. Popov ignored her. “You’re here because you’ve been selected for Pirozhki and Kvass’s Special Assets Program. Congratulations.” After waiting a moment for Maria to respond, which she didn’t, he went on: “The Asset Manager—I think you met him earlier—has designated you as a Category II Asset, meaning that you have strong—but not unlimited—loyalty to the mission of Pirozhki and Kvass.”

 

Maria noticed the nurse walk up to the table. In her hand she held a large syringe full of a milky substance.

 

“Asset Management requires all Category II Assets to be implanted with a Neural Impulse Regulation Apparatus, or NIRA,” explained Dr. Popov, “the NIRA ensures your compliance with the most critical and… sensitive… operations of the firm. You will be placed under general anesthesia for the duration of the procedure. There will be a single incision at the base of the skull, near the atlas—or C1—vertebra where the cervical module will be implanted. We will also need to implant the posterior module, which we will attach to the filum terminale, which will thereon connect to the cauda equina and then the lower spinal cord. The implantation of the posterior module is more… invasive. For that part of the procedure, we will need to go in your… erm—”

 

“We’re going to put it in your ass, sweetie,” the nurse interrupted, “Dr. Popov here is too polite to say it.” The nurse turned to the doctor, “They never remember these conversations anyway. Might as well tell it as it is.”

 

This turn in the conversation momentarily interrupted Maria’s relaxed state.

 

“My… ass? What…?”

 

“You will be asleep,” the doctor reassured her, “there will be no discomfort or pain.”

 

“No… I don’t… want this…”

 

“I’m afraid it’s too late for that, dear,” he said, turning to the nurse. “Nurse Nadya, please administer the propofol. 40mg per 10 seconds until the onset of induction.”

 

The nurse walked over to Maria’s IV and inserted the syringe with the milky substance. She slowly began pressing the plunger.

 

“It is time for you to take a good nap, Ms. Miller,” said Dr. Popov, “I would say ‘sweet dreams,’ but I’m afraid there are no dreams under anesthesia.”

 

“No…”

 

“Again, I would like to congratulate you on your new position.”

 

“Stop…”

 

“You will wake up feeling good as new.”

 

This time Maria did not protest. Her eyes, which were previously wide open in fear, were now just slits. The smallest hint of blue was perceptible between her eyelids. Her mouth hung slightly open.

 

“She’s out,” said Nurse Nadya.

 

“Good,” said Dr. Popov, grinning.

 

“Shall we begin?”

 

 

*****