The guard removed Alyah's handcuffs and replaced them with another pair that had a much longer chain in between, which was padlocked to belt in front instead. With them on she couldn't raise her hands aboved her head, but had lots of freedom. The guard pointed towards a small table, were the kitchen staff was having breakfast before the other immates, as they were going to work earlier in the morning. She sat there and the guard quickly padlocked her leg chain to the chair.

An hour later, once that all immates had eaten, and only one of them had been punished for chewing too slow and talking too much, all the dishes had been cleaned and all the leftovers had been thrown away, Alyah was free for a few hours. The guard changed her cuffs again. She decided to go to the gym and then to the showers.

In the way to the gym two guards stopped her and asked where she was going. They didn't check the immate number that time, and she wasn't sure exactly how and when that should be done. In the gym there were no guards but there was an instructor instead. As usual he typed the immate number and saw that she had the merit points to use the equipments.

He accompanied her to the showers. They were normally used in groups, and accessed through another door, but expending merit points on the gym, included individual access to the showers through a secondary door, that would otherwise be closed. He guided her to a locker, freed her from the chains and turned around. There she undressed and put on the gym equipment, a white sports bra, khaki leggings slightly padded on the crotch area and trainers. Fortunately the gym and showers had a more powerful air conditioning.

-The chains, please, sir.- He turned around again to reapply them and closed the locker.

She chose the treadmill for starters so he helped her getting in, chained the front of her belt to the machine and then her hands one by one to cuffs hanging from the handles at her sides. Only then he removed the leg chains. As always, when a staff person was touching her chains, either to check them or to alter them, she musted stand still and let them move her limbs or move them herself only under a direct order. She would be punished otherwise. He typed the speed she told him and the machine started to move. As there was nobody else there he stayed with her doing small talk. Ironically he could ask him to fuck off because it was her leisure time, but he was nice, and not a problem. He didn't know that she had a barbell on her clit and that for her running with that tight garment on was quite fun.

When she started to feel tired she requested of him to stop the machine and to take her to another one to lift some weights. He reapplied her normal chains and guided her to the second one. There she sat on a chair and again, he cuffed her limbs and waist to several points of the machine. Redundant bondage was very important for those people, clearly.

Not long after he informed her that the time was done. Again he applied the leg chains and the regular handcuffs behind her back. She was again taken to the showers, where he removed the chain. She undressed and covered herself with a tower. He guided her to a booth and cuffed her ankles to a pair of chains bolted to the floor, whose cuffs were made of a soft spongy material. Again he turned around to let her shower in peace. The rules actually said that in advanced and hard security levels the guards could watch. Alyah deduced that at that point he musted have become tired of seeing sweaty naked women. As usual there was a time limit for the shower, and he reminded her so. She dried herself and got dressed again. He dutifully applied the chains afterwards.

In another universe maybe would be her husband watching her in the shower. Maybe using the opportunity to do a quick fuck. Maybe she shouldn't have encouraged him to stay at home that Sunday, forcing him to drive his truck the next Monday, when a flood killed him and other several hundreds. Maybe she woudn't feel like shit all the time.

In any case she had free time until lunch hour so she went to the kitchen. She might as well go to her cell, but she hadn't requested any movie and there was't anything to do there. Wandering around aimlessly was forbidden but going from one place to another was allowed, at least for easy and advanced level immates. When a couple of guards stopped her she merely said that she was going to the kitchen and they didn't bother checking. Sadly she had no watch so she had to be in the kitchen to know the hour. There the guard made her sit again in the table with her colleagues of the day. She wasn't in the mood for chatting, but they were polite and so she did the same.

Later, after everybody had eaten and they had finished cleaning the dishes she again found herself free, until dinner time. She could find a guard, ask for permission to watch a movie and go to her cell. Sadly her cell had no sunlight. Instead the office area did have ample windows with sunlight. With the excuse of finishing previous work she went there. The accountant was more than happy to go rest and let Alyah do his job. He merely connected her leg chains to a bolt on the floor under his desk, and her hands to a chain hanging from the desk itself. She wondered if he ever had had somebody kneeling there, connected to the eyebolt, sucking his cock, as was an usual male power fantasy. She in fact had done it for her husband, though in the truck instead of a desk. In any case she spent part of the time watching the birds and the cows of a nearby farm. She guessed that the accountant used to do the same exact thing.

About an hour later, which she knew because the accountant's computer had a watch, Alyah saw a woman passing across the corridor. She was dressed in a pants suit, like the accountant, very different to the blue shirt and black trousers of the guards. She also saw Alyah and stopped in her tracks. Looking around she warily entered in the office.

-Immate 301476. Alyah, right?- That was worrying. Nobody else had used her name.

-Eh..., yes, ma'am.- She tensed.

-You don't know who I am.

-No, ma'am.- The woman walked around the desk and stopped right behind Alyah. Suddenly she placed her hands on Alyah's shoulders and started to massage them. The massage moved up to the neck and down to the upper arms.- Ma'am?

-I have a question for you.- She bent down and whispered into Alyah's ear.- You have been a month here. Your time here should have ended two weeks ago but you keep adding days. No calls from friends or family. No faults committed. Lots of merit points accumulated. Working even in your free time. Why?

-Eh...- Alyah gulped. Whoever was that woman, knew a lot about her.- I like what I do, ma'am.- She replied the most inconcrete thing she could improvise. She could talk about her huge depression after her husband's death. About losing contact with friends and family. About losing her job and later her house. About her firm decision to jump off a cliff. About her last moment whim to spend the last of her savings in a weird hotel prison that her husband liked. But telling her intimacies to a stranger made no sense.

-Right, you are a nice, obedient girl, aren't you. I'll go to your cell tonight. Let's see how nice and obedient you are.

-That's not allowed, ma'am.

-I'm the director, darling. I can bend the rules.- She half lied. If somebody broke the rules she would be blamed.- But if you are truly a nice girl, you can call me Pauline.- She kissed Alyah's cheek and left. Alyah's heart was pumping hard. She didn't know what to expect, but if the director wanted to have a conversation with her without cameras couldn't be good. She could have told her whatever right there but the camera on the corner probably had stopped her. Supposedly they weren't recording anything but somebody could be watching.