That night, Charity’s assigned groom directed her into a cell right next to Garnet and Hazel’s stable area. She removed Charity’s leather harness and provided her with a nice warm blanket to sleep under. Charity kissed her ponygirl friends through the bars of her cell and fell asleep easily in her comfortable bed.

The next morning, the groom was accompanied by (tick), who was dressed as a groomer now and not a room entertainment girl. The groom seemed to be training (tick) how to care for Charity. Together, they fed and bathed Charity. They dressed her in a new, fancy harness. It still left her breasts, proudly on display, but it was definitely more comfortable and richly decorated. “I guess that I’m a prized animal, at least,” Charity thought to herself.

After having been bathed, Charity and (tick) were standing around idly waiting… for something. Charity assumed that Faith would come and be her escort outside the menagerie. She and (tick) could not communicate with each other very easily. Regardless, (tick) proved once again that she was quite skilled at bathing Charity. They seemed to have the time, so Charity dropped to her knees and shuffled up to (tick). Surprisingly, (tick) gently pushed Charity away with a frown. Maybe grooms were not allowed to fraternize with the livestock.

“You have made quite the impression on Millpond,” Empusa said when she and Faith arrived shortly after lunch.

“Millpond?” Charity asked, confused.

“Er… Ero-(tick)-(po-tick)-su. Her name translates to Millpond… I guess it sounds much prettier in our native language though, doesn’t it?” Empusa explained.

“We just call her (tick),” Faith said.

“Well… I’m having trouble making that thound,” Charity lisped. “Tick… tick… I can’t pop my tongue quite right…”

“No one expects you to speak so much,” Empusa said to Charity.

“Oh… well… I was worried that I offen… that, um, she didn’t want me anymore,” Charity said.

“Don’t get her in trouble with her new boss,” Empusa laughed. “Apparently, she has suddenly found a new calling though. She just decided that she wants to be a groomer now. I think she was inspired by the idea of grooming you, Charity. Maybe she will be a natural.”

<>--+-

Later in the afternoon, Faith and Charity were able to have a few minutes alone out in the pasture.

“How are you doing, babe?” Faith asked.

“OK,” Charity said smiling. “When is the… the…”

“When is the airship coming?” Faith finished Charity’s thought for her. “Still about three weeks before we can head to Paradise.”

Charity nodded. “Am I going to make it?”

“Sure, babe, no problem! You’re doing great,” Faith responded as she wrapped an arm around Charity’s back, hugging her. “Hey! Do you remember what I have in my pocket?”

Charity looked to the ground, somewhat lost in concentration. “Pocket?” she said finally.

“Yeah… You remember, I had a few items that I brought from home…” Faith said.

“You brought a pocket from home?” Charity asked.

“No. My clothes had a pocket and I had some things in the pocket,” Faith started patting her hips. “A pocket? Helps you carry things in your clothes. They don’t really have them here, it seems. Hopefully Empusa put that stuff somewhere…”

“Do you think Hope is okay?” Charity asked.

“Oh, yeah, babe,” Faith said, forcing a smile. “This is her universe. She knows what she’s doing.”

“If you see her… I think I need to fuck her…” Charity said.

“I’ll keep an eye out for her,” Faith said.

“Fucking her helps me stay human, I think,” Charity explained. “I’m so fucking… horny…”

“Yeah…” Faith said, wistfully. “Ahem… Hey! Empusa said that there is going to be a big series of rituals in a couple of days. It’s her job to help some women obtain their calling…”

“Look! The ponygirls! I’m going to go fuck them with my tongue now,” Charity said. “Okay?” Her voice almost cracked. There was a tear in her eye.

“Okay…” Faith said, kissing her sister on the side of her head. “Charity. Hang in there, okay?”

<>--+-

When Charity was installed in her cell in the evening, she noticed that Killdoll had been moved to the cell next to hers. At least Charity assumed that the woman was Killdoll. Having a featureless spherical head did an excellent job of obscuring one’s identity. That thought made Charity depressed. She had argued that she was certain that Dammasch had taken Blue through the portal. Now, she realized that it could have been any woman dressed like Killdoll. The only exception would be that Blue had to be wearing the collar with the key to Charity’s chastity belt.

Charity closed her eyes and tried to remember details from her encounter with Dammasch in the mine. Unfortunately, Charity knew that humans have a tendency to remember things that they want to remember.

“I’m doomed,” Charity thought to herself. “I’m going to turn into a brainless animal…”

Charity thought back to her conversation with Faith. She had had trouble remembering the word, ‘pocket’. She could visualize a pocket when Faith described it, she just could not get the word to form on her lips.

Maybe if she had more people to speak with, she would be able to hold on to her humanity for a bit longer. She looked around the menagerie. There was no one with whom to talk. No one with whom to have a conversation. She looked over at Killdoll who was standing still with her body turned directly towards her. Creepy. Was she staring at Charity?

Charity suddenly had an idea. She walked over to the corner of her cell adjacent to Killdoll’s cell and Hazel and Garnet’s stall. The floor of the cells was wood, but the stalls had hay covered dirt.

Killdoll soon walked over to the corner as well. Charity slipped her leg through the bars and drew a three by three grid in the dirt (#). She pointed at the drawing. Eventually, Killdoll turned and leaned forward - angling her crotch faceplate towards the ground. She seemed to be looking at the drawing. Charity stuck out her foot again and drew an ‘x’ in the upper left corner of the grid.

Killdoll rocked back and twisted to direct her crotch in Charity’s direction, then turned back to the drawing.

“Come on. You remember, don’t you?” Charity asked.

Killdoll slipped her own leg between the bars and drew an ‘o’ in the center of the grid. Except upon closer inspection, it was not an ‘o’... more like the shape of a heart.

“Ha! You do remember, don’t you?” Charity said. She drew an ‘x’ in the lower left corner.

Killdoll blocked Charity on the left middle, once again with a heart shape. Then Charity was forced to block Killdoll. Eventually, the match of tic-tac-toe ended in a draw.

“And you’re not dumb either!” Charity said to herself.

Charity erased the game from the dirt and drew a new grid. “You go first this time,” Charity said. Killdoll drew a heart in a corner. Charity drew an ‘x’ on the top middle - generally, a fatal choice. Killdoll took the center, forcing Charity to block. Killdoll’s next move required Charity to block in two different directions. Killdoll won!

“Can you understand what I’m saying?” Charity lisped.

Killdoll seemed to nod her featureless head slightly.

“Can you read and write?” Charity asked.

Killdoll shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, let’s try! What is your name?” Charity erased the tic-tac-toe grid and indicated that Killdoll should write in the dirt.

Killdoll stuck her foot out and drew two hearts in the dirt.

“Heart heart?” Charity asked. “Two hearts?”

Killdoll turned to look at her drawing then back to Charity.

“I don’t think that is your name,” Charity said. No telling what her mental state may be after over ten years of mental isolation, supposedly awash in dopamine.

Killdoll erased the hearts, then drew them again. She looked at the drawing, then erased it again. Once again, she drew two hearts. Then she quickly erased the hearts and walked away from the corner deeper into her cell.

“Well, it was worth a try,” Charity said to herself.

<>--+-

The next morning, (tick) and her trainer arrived as usual and tended to all of Charity’s needs. At the same time, Killdoll’s groomer was working in the next cell over. She had wheeled some sort of box into the cell with a couple of hand cranks.

A chain was lowered from the ceiling of Killdoll’s cell. Killdoll held her two mitted hands together as the groomer passed a sturdy metal bar through the holes in her hands and rings at the end of the ceiling chain. Cross-pins were used to lock her hands in place. Next, a three foot long spread bar was fixed between Killdoll’s ankles. The chain was raised back towards the ceiling, pulling Killdoll’s arms up with it until her feet were about to leave the floor.

Tubes were routed from the box to ports on the metal bikini wrapped around Killdoll’s loins. The handler poured some warm water into a reservoir in the box and then began to crank one of the handles. Charity could see Killdoll’s body tremble. Her stomach seemed to bloat a little. The groomer locked the handle and spent some time washing Killdoll with a damp cloth.

Charity could see Killdoll’s diaphragm moving in and out quickly. She must have been hyperventilating. Suddenly, Killdoll seemed to have a seizure of some sort; her feet lifted off the ground and her body jerked around a bit.

Charity noticed that her own chastity belt began to glow. She felt her arousal ramp up a bit. “Holy shit,” Charity thought. “She’s having an orgasm!”

After about ten minutes, the groomer changed some settings on the box. Charity could see that Killdoll’s belly contracted as the groomer turned the crank. Next the groomer emptied a second bottle of some sort of thick liquid into a second reservoir on the box and began twisting a different crank. Killdoll began bucking back and forth in her bonds again - thrusting her hips forward.

This time, after having cranked the handle slowly for a while, the tubes were disconnected from their ports and the box was wheeled out of Killdoll’s cell. Killdoll was left hanging, trembling in her bonds.

Charity found that she was trembling as well. She remembered when Hope had stretched her out on the rack and teased her to a monstrous orgasm. She imagined being hung and teased and the glow from her chastity belt bathed her cell.

“Every act that Killdoll participates in arouses her,” Empusa said.

Charity turned to see that she and Faith were standing outside Charity’s cell watching Killdoll’s grooming.

“I have no idea how many orgasms she has every day,” Empusa laughed. She turned to Charity. “Hazel and Garnet are preparing to go for a run. Would you like to join them?”

Charity tried to say something, but she couldn’t think of any words to say. Eventually, she just nodded her head. She liked to be outside in the fresh air. She wondered what Faith was going to be doing. Maybe she would come for a run too…

Empusa turned to Faith. “The course on which they run is completely on the estate property, so Charity will be safe.” Then she spoke to (tick) who began to retrieve the decorative harness for Charity to wear.

Charity was surprised to hear Faith say something in the local language too. “That means, ‘Have a good afternoon. See you soon!’” she explained to Charity.

“Your pronunciation is coming along nicely,” Empusa said and she leaned in to Faith for a kiss.

“With all these pops and clicks, my tongue is getting quite a workout,” Faith smiled back at Empusa.

Charity wanted to say something witty about tongues and workouts, but she couldn’t make any words form in her mouth. She was still trembling with arousal and she glanced over at Killdoll, who was still stretched from the overhead chain. Meanwhile, (tick) had attached a leash to Charity and was gently tugging her towards the door. Charity turned in time to see Faith and Empusa walking out of the menagerie hand in hand.

<>--+-

(tick) locked the leash attached to Charity’s harness to both Hazel and Garnet’s harnesses. She could move no more than ten feet from them. They were led out the doors of the menagerie and then the ponygirls started jogging with Charity in tow out across the fields.

It felt really good to be out in the sun and Charity’s fitness had benefited from their travels. She had never felt so strong in her life and had no problem keeping up with Hazel and Garnet’s pace. They led her down trails that ran along a series of cliffs that overlooked the ocean below. The views made her think of a time when she traveled to the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland.

They stopped occasionally to feel the wind blowing off the water. They waded through the chilly waters of a creek where Charity demonstrated the benefits of having arms to splash Hazel and Garnet who could only clumsily kick at the water to splash back. Charity was happy to make up with them afterwards kneeling between the ponygirls, using her hands and tongue.

They sat together on some warm rocks and watched the sun dip towards the horizon. When they finally made it back to the menagerie, the sun was setting and (tick) was waiting to wash and massage Charity. She was pretty tired when (tick) locked Charity’s cell for the night and kissed her on the lips through the bars.

Charity was prepared to lie down and fall asleep when she noticed Killdoll standing in the corner by their dirt drawing pad, gently tapping the bars with a padded hand. Killdoll used a toe to point to eight fat hearts that she had drawn in a line in the dirt.

“Hearts,” Charity said.

Killdoll nodded then reached as far out of her cage as she could with her leg and drew half of another heart. She then pointed to each of the eight hearts in order with her toe.

Charity studied the drawings for a moment. The half heart was set away from the line of eight hearts. It looked a little like an upside down hook.

“Hangman!” Charity said suddenly. “You want to play hangman!”

Killdoll clapped her hands together excitedly. Charity felt her arousal ramp up a little.

“Okay…” Charity said. “An eight letter word… um… ‘R’. My first guess is ‘R’.”

Killdoll shook her head and drew a small heart dangling below the point of the hook.

“No R’s.”

Killdoll pointed to an open space and then to Charity. Charity drew an ‘R’ in the dirt to remember that she had used that letter.

“E?” Charity asked.

Killdoll drew a heart shaped torso below the head.

“Shit! I’m going to lose,” Charity mumbled.

Killdoll thumped her chest with her mitted hand.

“Heart, but with eight letters,” Charity lisped. Killdoll stomped in the dirt two times. “Heart… beat… um… love…” Killdoll clapped her mitted hands again and pointed at the hangman game.

“Okay,” Charity said. “L?”

Killdoll clapped her mitts again and pointed with a toe at the third heart. Charity drew an ‘L’ inside it. Then Killdoll pointed at the fourth heart, then the seventh and eighth as well.

“- - L L - - L L”

“You are answering the question from last night! Killdoll! The solu… the word is Killdoll!”

Killdoll raised her arms up in a V and started to jump up and down. After the third jump, she dropped to a knee, trembling and shaking. Charity knew right away that Killdoll was starting to orgasm.

Charity’s belt started to glow brighter and she felt a wave of arousal sweep across her body. She was so horny that she felt woozy. She tried to say that she needed to lie down, but she couldn’t form any words. Eventually, she stumbled over to her cot and collapsed desperately moaning and pinching her breasts.

<>--+-

A few days later, Charity and the ponygirls were only able to enjoy the outdoors for a brief amount of time. Women from all the nearby villages were arriving for some sort of “Calling Rituals”. Faith explained to Charity that sometimes Empusa used magic to help women excel to be the best at their calling as possible. “That’s an example of how they make this universe more perfect on an ongoing basis,” Faith said.

Shortly after lunch, handlers and guards entered Killdoll’s cage and installed her in her tubular upside-down Y frame. Charity’s belt started glowing as they locked Killdoll into position. She had to lie down for a while and calm down after the handlers wheeled Killdoll and her frame out of the menagerie. Obviously, she was playing some role in the magic and she was apparently excited about the event.

About an hour later, (tick) arrived and dressed Charity in a colorful, fancy harness with an attached leash. Charity was happy to see Hazel and Garnet would be her escort to the proceedings as (tick) locked Charity’s leash to the mid-ring of their adjoined chain.

Once they stepped through the doors, they were met by six tall, muscular guards armed with pikes. Charity was shocked to realize that the job of the guards was to protect her. Crowds of women parted as they made their way across the field towards an amphitheater overlooking the ocean. All the women seemed to stare at Charity as she walked by. Some even cheered. Charity moved as close to Hazel and Garnet as she could.

Charity saw that Killdoll was parked on a rise to the right of the amphitheater’s stage. The guards led Charity to a rise on the opposite side. After she and the ponygirls were positioned, the guards stood at attention making sure no one could get too close to Charity.

From where she stood, she had a good view of the amphitheater and the ocean beyond. In the middle of the amphitheater, there was a series of vertical poles embedded in the ground. A naked woman was chained in the center of the poles, with her hands raised straight up. A spreader bar anchored her feet apart on the ground. Other women were taking turns using paints to draw images or mark her body with symbols. Slowly, her entire body was covered in a rainbow of colors.

The chained woman seemed to be enjoying the attention. Everyone was smiling and she kissed all the women who stopped to add to her body paint.

Meanwhile, on the stage, handlers rolled out something that looked like a large wooden sarcophagus. Its lid was removed and placed to the side. Next a narrow cage was rolled out and set on a riser in front of the sarcophagus. A throne and a smaller chair were set on the side of the stage near to Killdoll.

The sun was beginning to set and the amphitheater was near capacity. A loud cheer rose from the crowd and Charity saw Empusa walk out onto the stage. She waved and bowed to the people, then took her seat on the throne. Charity wondered where Faith was.

A Mistress of Ceremonies came out on the stage and spoke to the crowd which responded with laughter and cheers. Then the MC turned to the back of the stage and said, “Fay-(pop)-ya!”

Faith walked out onto the stage, in a beautiful dress waving to the crowd. She even turned towards where Charity stood and blew a kiss. Charity smiled and waved back. Then Faith turned towards Empusa and knelt before her, bowing her head to the stage. Empusa stood and took Faith’s hand, pulling her up from the ground. They embraced and shared a very intimate kiss as the crowd cheered wildly. Faith then held her hands up to the crowd and, after they quieted down, she spoke briefly in the local language causing the crowd to erupt in cheers again. Finally, Empusa directed Faith to the chair next to the throne and they both sat down.

Charity was feeling a little light headed. She wrapped her arms around Hazel and Garnet’s waists just to maintain her balance.

Meanwhile, two guards had released the painted woman from her bonds. They led her through the crowd toward the stage - each guard firmly holding an arm. The woman’s face alternated between a smile and a look of concern. She was obviously worried about something. As they led her up onto the stage towards the tall cage, Charity started to become worried for her too. Particularly with the sarcophagus lying behind the cage.

When they arrived at the cage, the guards let her turn to the crowd and she waved and smiled. She said a few words, wiping tears from her eyes as she did… but still, she was smiling. The crowd cheered as the guards helped her step backwards into the cage. There was enough room for her to stand comfortably with her hands at her sides. The guards swung the door closed which did not seem to lock.

Charity could see the woman’s chest rise and fall quickly and deeply. She pursed her lips together as she exhaled. Every once in a while she tried to look over her shoulder to look into the sarcophagus behind her.

Suddenly, a wave of arousal washed over Charity like heat from a freshly fueled bonfire. It hit Charity with such force that she actually grunted. She moved her lips to say “What the fuck?” but all that came out was incoherent mumbling. Charity looked up to the rise where Killdoll was stationed. A handler was kneeling before Killdoll, occasionally gently stroking a groove in the center of the faceplate of her metal bikini. Charity could feel a surge of arousal with every stroke that the handler made.

Empusa stood up from her throne. She raised one hand toward Killdoll and another toward the woman in the cage. There was a popping sound of metal on metal followed by creaking. The woman in the cage let out a sudden squeal. Her face was twisted in fear now.

The cage! It was shrinking! It was slowly closing around the woman’s body! The woman was saying something - a plea to the goddess, perhaps. Still, the cage continued to shrink around her. The metal bars shortened and tightened. The hinges for the door popped off and fell to the stage. The crowd began chanting a phrase over and over as one.

Finally, the cage stopped shrinking, but it left the painted woman inside without an inch of motion in any direction. Her legs were held together. Her arms were pinned to her sides. The bars even seemed to be pressing against her face.

Empusa shouted something and the two guards pushed the cage with the painted woman inside backwards. The cage tipped over backwards and fell into the sarcophagus behind it. Apparently, the sarcophagus was filled with some kind of extremely dense liquid or gel. The cage landed with a messy splat, half-submerged.

The woman in the cage was screaming pleas for mercy, tears were streaming from her eyes. The cage was heavy, though and it was slowly sinking into the gel.

“Oh, fuck!” Charity thought. “She a fucking sacrifice!” She looked towards Faith who remained still in her chair, though with a tense look on her face. She wanted to shout to Faith to help her get out of this place. She pulled at Hazel and Garnet, but they stood steady equally enraptured by the scene before them. Charity couldn’t form any words.

The cage had sunken far enough that the gel rose over the woman’s ears. Her entire body was shaking and the gel was beginning to wash over her stomach. The woman screamed again and some of the gel spilled into her mouth. She coughed a few times before her head submerged and the amphitheater became quiet. Charity watched in horror as the last edges of the cage disappeared below the surface of the gel.

A number of guards appeared on the stage and lifted the heavy lid from the ground and placed it back on the sarcophagus. The guards used heavy wooden mallets to hammer in spikes around the edges. Once they were done, Empusa stood and spoke to the crowd for a moment. Then she turned to the back of the stage and shouted out toward the ocean. A section of the back of the stage had been lowered forming a ramp. The guards pushed the sealed sarcophagus towards the ramp, letting go as gravity took over. The sarcophagus rolled down the ramp and fell over the side of the cliff into the waters below.

Charity was beside herself with fear and anger. She finally found her voice, but she couldn’t form any words. “Argghhh!” She began pulling as hard as she could on Hazel and Garnet. She had to get out of this place. “Arrgghhh!”

Two of the guards who had been positioned around Charity grabbed her arms to keep her steady. They led the ponygirls with Charity in tow out of the amphitheater, across the field and back into the menagerie. They pushed Charity into her cell and slammed the door behind her, making sure it was locked.

Charity jumped up and ran to the door, grabbing the bars and rattling the metal. She screamed as loud as she could. She wanted to call for Faith, but she couldn’t say her name. The six guards had to work hard to drag Hazel and Garnet, stomping and snorting, away from Charity’s cell. Eventually they were locked in a stall far away.

Charity continued to scream. The ugly, hybrid cat girl with the nasty rat tail was starting to hiss and growl two cells down. “Fuck them all!” Charity thought and she screamed some more.

After a half hour, Charity could finally form the word, Faith. It was still another hour before Faith and Empusa arrived in the menagerie and Charity’s voice had long gone hoarse.

“Get me out of here, Faith!” Charity rasped and she rattled the door to her cell.

“Calm down, babe. What is wrong with you?” Faith asked.

“What is wrong with me!? Bitch queen, here,” Charity said, pointing at Empusa, “just drowned a woman… and tossed her body in the ocean. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Perhaps I should have explained the ritual before,” Empusa said, frowning.

“Explain human sac… sacrifice?!”

“The woman is fine, Charity,” Faith said. “She’s fine!”

“She didn’t look so fine as she slowly drowned,” Charity screamed.

“She did not drown,” Faith said. “She is fine. She is in suspended animation.”

“What!?” Charity said.

Empusa tried to explain. “Her calling-”

“Fuck you!” Charity said. “You tell me, Faith!”

Faith and Empusa looked at each other for a moment.

“The woman tonight wants to be part of a special group of women who… um… host? Yes, host simulations,” Faith explained. “She has been placed in suspended animation and she is currently being transferred across the ocean to Paradise. Calm down, Charity. Empusa will need to explain to you about what a simulation host is. Listen to what she has to say.”

Charity growled, but looked at Empusa.

“In your universe, your scientists spent a lot of time trying to recreate the human brain using silicon chips. The human brain has 80 billion neurons connected by 100 trillion synapses. It’s utterly foolish to attempt to recreate the human brain with silicon. There is also the question of ‘Why?’ Why not just use a human brain as the computer rather than build it from sand?

“In your universe, your scientists wanted to use these powerful silicon chips to simulate the universe. Here, we have learned how to simulate a universe using a human brain. The ritual that you saw tonight was one to prepare the woman to host an entire universe in her brain. She, in fact, will be like a Goddess in the simulated universe - all powerful. Her task will be to create a universe with certain parameters so we can learn… that is, Goddess Dammasch can learn how to always direct our universe in such a way to make it more and more perfect.

“So, we placed the woman in a medium which will quickly harden and will perfectly preserve her body. The cage allows us to interface with her brain. She is being transported across the ocean to Paradise by the Women of the Water. There, our scientists will use her as a new simulated universe, perhaps, or maybe she will become a portion of one of the bigger projects and combine with other universe simulators. It is a very prestigious calling! Of course all callings are perfect and prestigious.”

Charity glanced over at the ugly hybrid cat girl, who apparently had settled down. She was distinctly not perfect. Charity felt like she understood most of what Empusa said. She wasn’t sure that she trusted her. She glanced at Faith who seemed satisfied with the answer. Faith had worked in the high tech industry for years. Charity had to trust Faith’s instincts on whatever Empusa was talking about.

“She’s alive?” Charity asked. That was her main concern.

“Yes!” Empusa said, smiling. “And soon she will be even more alive than you or I could imagine. She will be a goddess of her own universe!”

Charity looked around her cell for a moment. “I’m feeling very trapped right now. Can I get out of here for a little while?”

“Not tonight,” Empusa said. “There are a lot of visiting women on the property tonight after all the rituals. And you are a celebrity, Charity. Everyone knows what you are becoming and what you are wearing. Most are probably afraid of you. Some may want to take you from me. From us! We have to keep you safe.”

Charity let out a heavy sigh.

“I’ll have the handlers release Hazel and Garnet from their stall. They are very upset. They love you very much. I think that it would be good if the three of you spent some time together. Everyone would feel better.”

“Can I sleep with them?” Charity asked.

“That’s a wonderful idea. I’ll have a cell setup for a woman and two ponygirls immediately!”