Crossing Realms, Chapter 2: A New Residency

Ash hung her head, defeated, stepping towards Miss Castor, who roughly pulled her closer, immediately pulling her skirts out of the way. Ash felt the woman's hands feeling her diaper, pulling the hem back, her fingers invading her leak guards. She was accustomed to such behaviors from Amazon, but they were still dehumanizing, especially from her boss. 

Miss Castor shook her head, “When did you last change child? You are soaked.”

Ash was startled; she hadn't even realized she had gone! She couldn't have been soaked, could she? She knew better than to argue with the woman. 

Ash gritted her teeth, “What will you do, adopt me?”

Miss Castor laughed; she freaking laughed! Ash felt the woman's hands leave her backside, Miss Castor wiping a tear from her cheek, “Adopt you? Oh gosh, no child, absolutely not. I would break you like a twig, no. I need a challenge. I want someone who will fight back. I need the challenge.” She turned Ash back towards her, running a finger across her cheek, “No, I have something different in mind for you. You are beneath me; I'll let the facility break you and put you up for adoption; someone will enjoy having you as their toy.”

Ash felt a cold shiver traveling down her back, the woman's finger tracing her jaw. Ash whimpered, crying softly, “No, please, Miss Castor, don't do this. It was just an accident; it will not happen again.” Ash begged.

Miss Castor laughed, “Of course, it will not happen again, baby, because I will make certain of it. You are going to make a great baby for a family.” She grabbed Ash’s arm and slapped a silver bracelet around her wrist before the girl could react. 

Ash sobbed, falling to her knees as Miss Castor called for the caregivers standing outside, “Take her away, you know what to do.” 

Ash knelt there, crying, feeling the hands of Amazon roughly grab her under her arms and drag her from the room. The girl's pitiful cries cut off from Miss Castor as the door shut behind her. “Please! I'll do better! Please don't do this!” She begged her Amazon captors. 

They were dressed in blue coveralls, blue masks over their faces, and hair in blue hair cover, “You knew this was a possibility of happening when you signed up for this job; you shouldn't have come here if you didn't want it.” The feminine voice responded, shoving a pacifier in Ash’s mouth and locking it.

They pulled the crying girl into a small room, the lights dim; it only had a crib, a changing table, and a toy box. Ash was roughly forced onto the changing table, her cries muffled by the paci gag; she knew she couldn't spit it out. 

Ash felt her arms and legs pinned to the corners of the changing table, the nurses already working scissors through her clothing, her sobs falling on deaf ears as they were removed and thrown away. She felt her diaper being ripped open as well, hands running across her skin, lathering her with some kind of lotion. 

Ash’s skin tingled; they rubbed it everywhere, apart from her head. The nurses left her momentarily, pulling over carts worth of tools and menacing syringes. Her wristband was scanned, and the nurses looked at a screen, “Standard reduction, desexualization, oral fixation, incoordination level 3, mental capacity 6, total dependency.”

Ash’s heart lept and she thrashed against her restraints, pulling desperately, but they held her easily. A nurse stepped beside her, fixing something to her pacifier. Ash’s paci was growing cool and leaching a liquid she was forced to ingest. “Nanite preparation complete, anesthesia administered.”

Ash broke, crying her eyes out as she felt the drugs slowly taking hold, an inky blackness creeping in from the edges of her vision, completely wrapping their lanky fingers across her eyes before she fell entirely unconscious. 

----

Ashley's head swam, and a pulsing headache pulled her from her slumber. She groaned, her hand going to her forehead, and found she couldn't move it. She opened her groggy eyes, trying to figure out what was happening, what was happening, and where her Mommy was. 

She saw she was in a crib; Ashley squirmed, trying to figure out what was happening. She felt herself crying. Wait, she didn’t have a Mommy! Ashley was… What was she? Ashley had been swaddled; a daycare worker leaned down and undid the swaddle, pulling Ashley into her arms. Ashley discovered she was only wearing a diaper underneath, which was soaked and messy. Why was Ashley crying? She thought she recognized the woman holding her, but she couldn’t place her face; it felt as if she could almost recognize her, but every time she thought she remembered, it slipped from her like sand through her fingers.

The worker seemed distraught, holding Ashley, and looked at the girl with curiosity and fear. “Ash? Do you even recognize me?” she asked. 

Ash? Who was this Ash person? She was Ashley! Ashley’s tears had slowed, her thumb in her mouth now, and she shook her head. “Who are you?” she mumbled, her tongue sluggish and slurring.

“You… Don’t recognize me at all? Ash, we were friends for 16 years! We graduated from Tweener School and lived together for three years. Have you forgotten all that?” The girl asked Ashley.

Ashley scrunched her face, focusing, trying desperately to remember who this girl was. She thought she remembered something, but it felt like a long-lost dream, and she cried in frustration. Had she indeed been this girl's friend? “I don’t remember.” she sobbed.

The girl grimaced, holding Ashley to her chest and cradling her as she carried her to the changing table, quickly and expertly getting Ashley changed. “I can’t do anything right now; you’ll have to deal with this for now, Ash. I’m sorry, I’ll… See what I can do.” the girl stated, plopping Ashley back into the crib. Ashley did not even realize or think her diaper was already damp again.

The crib beside hers contained a girl dressed similarly, apart from a cute t-shirt that did nothing to cover her diaper. She sat up, staring at Ashley as Ashley nursed her thumb, trying to comfort herself. There was something deeply wrong, but Ashley didn’t know what; she couldn’t remember anything past waking up; she knew she had been sent here by her Mommy, but who was that? No… She did NOT have a Mommy! The girl said she was a Tweener; wasn’t that like an adult? The girl had been more significant than Ashley but not as extensive as some people she saw milling about the daycare.

The girl beside her was studying Ashley, her eyes dull holes into Ashley. “You’re Ash?” she asked hesitantly, “I heard it from that girl.” she nodded towards the worker.

“Why does everyone keep saying that? I’m Ashley!” Ashley stated firmly, her words swirling. 

The girl shook her head, “No… You ARE Ash; I recognize that face; what did they do to you?” 

“I don’t know!” Ashley squealed, confusion clouding her mind, “I’m Ashley! I want my Mommy!” she cried.

The girl stood up, holding the crib's bars, “I’m Emily, Emily Ashford, the girl you were tormenting just yesterday; you truly don’t remember?”

Ashley didn’t even bother responding, continuing to cry; why did people keep asking her if she remembered them? She didn’t remember a thing! 

Emily smiled softly, “I mean, you did get what you deserved, but holy hell, that is a bit extreme; what did they do to you?” she asked.

“I don’t KNOW!” Ashley snapped at Emily, “I don’t remember anything; I woke up like this, I…” she trailed off, slumping in the crib and continuing to cry.

Ashley’s thumb found her mouth again as she curled on her side, trying to comfort herself, her arms wrapping the flimsy blanket around her. She hadn’t even realized a worker was standing over her crib until she was being scooped up, the blanket pulled away, her thumb replaced with a pacifier before being deposited on the floor, and the girl, Emily, plopped beside her.

Emily crawled over to Ashley, seeming to inspect her, looking her head to toe, “They completely modified your body.” she stated plainly, “You aren’t a tweener; you are…” She trailed off, “I’m sorry; good luck.” She crawled off, leaving Ashley alone. 

An Amazon came over to collect her, a cruel-looking woman that Ashley would have instead not interacted with. She wanted the kind looking, caregivers! The woman did something to Ashley’s pacifier, and she felt it growing cold in her mouth; she suckled it contently. Her mind began to clear, almost like a fog in the mid-morning sun. The block that had prevented her from remembering her friend, Lily, lifted, and memories of Emily flooded back, slamming Ash like a sledgehammer. 

Ash glanced up at the woman holding her; Miss Castor grinned down at her as she sat facing the woman on the edge of the changing table. “Do you understand your place now, child?” she asked.

Ash went to respond and found she couldn’t. She needed to remove her pacifier, but for whatever reason, she was utterly unable to; her mind seemed to prevent her from completing the simple motion.

Miss Castor grinned, pulling the paci from Ash’s lips. “Yes, Miss Castor, I do; please don’t leave me like this; I’ll be good.” 

Miss Castor chuckled, “It’s not permanent; you’ll return to your average body in the coming hours. I wanted to give you a taste of where your life was headed. I want you to have your memories back and be aware of your fall and the adulthood ripped from your hands. You have a wonderful family coming to adopt you soon, a family I think you know well; you’ll have a big brother and many fun habits you’ll come to find out about.” 

Ash cried earnestly as Miss Castor continued her tirade, “Your contract with your landlord has been terminated, your assets sold, and your finances sent to your new family. Your conditional adult license has been revoked, but you can regain it upon successful proof. Although, I highly doubt you’ll ever be able to. Oh, and the last thing, your name is Ashley; you had best remember that.” The woman grinned, leaning in close and whispering, “Ashley, make poopies, now.” she ordered.

Ash didn’t fully comprehend what the woman was saying or trying to say, and her mind was completely overwhelmed. She didn’t even realize what was happening until she felt the warm, squishy muck filling the seat of her fresh diaper. Miss Castor chuckled, shaking her head as she stuck a pacifier in the girl’s mouth again, “And to think, you thought you were an adult. Look at you.” she said, depositing Ash on the daycare floor.

Ash was left to sit alone; Little was toddling around her; some were playing, some were watching cartoons, and others were being fed. Her friends would give her sympathetic looks, hushed whispers, and shocked faces, but none approached her as if she were some lousy luck charm. Ash curled over on her side, feeling utterly defeated and completely alone, her adulthood ripped away. 

End of Chapter 2