A Gilded Cage

Chapter 1 - Flight of the Sparrow

Dianica watched the building closely from the darkened alleyway, only the moon light illuminating the street. Her black leather uniform, including jacket stockings and boots worked well to keep her concealed in the darkness. Her long blonde hair and porcelain skin offset her uniform, giving her a striking appearance that criminals didn't soon forget after she had dispatched them. The only indulgence she allowed herself was her choker, adored with a dark jewel, around her neck.

Criminals that were introduced to the Night Sparrows fists always tried to avoid a second encounter.

She looked around the street, to say it was a run down part of the city was an understatement, several of the streetlights were knocked over and pushed to the beside the buildings and the rest had broken bulbs and provided no light. Only one still stood upright and provided some illumination as it flickered on and off.

There were the remains of several cars lining the street and most of the buildings looked to have no windows left in their decaying husks. The one she was interested in was still in good shape, though it had been staged to appear like the rest of the buildings and only a trained eye could tell it apart.

The tip she'd received earlier in the night had led her here, she'd been tracking a new smuggling operation for several weeks and this, her informant told her, was the warehouse that it operated out of.

She wasn't sure what was in the warehouse, no one seemed to know exactly what was being smuggled in to the city, but that just made it even more likely to be something that deserved her attention. What she did know was that it was very organized, involved a large number of people, seemed to use some very high-tech methods and was definitely illegal.

Dianica stepped out from the alleyway and towards the building, taking care to keep to the dark as much as possible. As she approached the front of the two story structure she could here activity going on inside, almost like construction.

She hugged the wall and shuffled towards a window, taking a quick look inside. Her years of training required only a fraction of a second to evaluate the scene inside.

The building was a large empty space, with only a small office raised off the floor at the back, creating a small second story. The main floor of the warehouse looked like a construction site, with several incomplete structures underway and two completed cubic structures linked together with a smaller connecting rectangle.

Four henchmen were busily working on the incomplete cubes with a variety of tools. The bright overhead lights made a direct entry problematic. The pattern of windows along the back wall, 3 on the first story but only two on the second, looked like there should be one where the office was and that would provide her more cover.

She worked her way around to the back of the building and confirmed her hunch, three windows along the top of the building, two with light coming from them and the farthest one to the right, dark and inviting.

Pulling her grappling rope line out and heaving it on to the roof, she snagged a secure anchor and double checked it to make sure before starting her climb.

Bracing herself with her legs against the building she easily climbed up the rope, hand over hand until she arrived at the window and carefully peered in. The blackness thwarted her attempts to deduce what was in the room but checking the window revealed no obvious alarms and so she slid up the unlocked lower section of the window and pulled herself up and on to the sill.

Dianica pulled out her small flashlight from her black leather jacket's pocket and turned it on, it's narrow beam providing enough light for her to see without illuminating the entire room and attracting unwanted attention. It looked like a normal office, a desk with a chair and some paper on it along with a laptop.

A quick scan revealed nothing of interest and so she stepped down from the window sill and moved towards the desk. Perhaps the laptop would have the information she was looking for, though she suspected she'd have to take it with her to get one of the League's tech wizards to break in to it.

As she took her second step forward, she heard a sudden noise behind her, she turned to the window just in time to see the armoured slab drop down, sealing it shut. Just as it hit the floor, the lights in the room burst to life and she was momentarily blinded.

As her vision cleared she moved quickly to the door, she reached for the handle and found herself grasping at air as the hologram wavered as her hand passed through it.

"Damn it!" she said aloud as she turned back to the desk and went to grab the laptop. It too shimmered as her hand passed through it and she let out a sigh.

Whoever was behind this was expecting someone to find them and that meant this was a trap, it was time for a tactical retreat so she could come at it another way.

She turned to the window and inhaled, there was no point trying to go through the door, there was no way to know what was behind it, but she knew the window lead outside.

The Night Sparrow let out her cry, giving it more than enough to break through whatever armour plating they had installed. The plate though, seemed to have a different idea and instead her cry bounced off of it and back at towards her, she ducked just in time as it passed through the hologram of the desk and hit the other wall.

Her gut suddenly had a sinking feeling as the wall stood fast and her cry bounced off of it as well, but this time as it passed by, it sounded louder.

She dodged again as it bounced off another surface and again, it was getting louder *and* faster. She dodged to the corner of the room and managed to get a moment to regroup. She took in an even deeper breath and let out the most powerful cry she had at the window.

It rattled before it bounced back, she dodged to the side but had lost track of her first cry and moved right in to it.

She grabbed the sides of her head, covering her ears as the noise overwhelmed her and she collapsed to her knees.

It ended just in time for her second cry to slam in to her and she fell to the ground, unconscious.

Chapter 2 - Bound to Cry

Dianica awoke and took stock of her surroundings, the room was a dark grey cube and she was bound in a chair in the center of it.

Wide leather straps were rapped around her ankles, thighs, waist, wrists, elbows and neck, securing her to the chair. She could still feel her costume on her, the skin tight black outfit she came in, though the jacket and choker was gone.

She felt something on her head but couldn't quite make out what it was. There were several cool spots though from where it touched her skin through her long blonde hair.

And of course, there was a large metal ball gag in her mouth, she could only assume it was made of the same sound reflecting metal she had encountered in the room.

The rest of the room seemed empty so she struggled against her bonds to see if they would give, but they held firm.

A few minutes later, after exhausting every possibility she could think of, she heard a faint "click" from the base of the chair. It was followed by a prick in her butt and a sudden warmth as she felt something being injected in to her.

The warmth spread across her entire body and a wave of calmness threatened to engulf her as it reached her brain. She struggled against it, trying to keep a clear head as the drug fought her relentlessly.

As she started to lose the battle, a slight electric tingle passed over her scalp as a blinding flash of white light obscured her vision.

******

Dianica stood in a white expanse of nothing which seemed to go on forever. She looked around finding no land marks or other points of reference for as far as she could see.

She looked down at her naked body and was unconcerned by it. In fact, she was unconcerned by anything that was happening for some reason.

She crouched down and touched the "floor" but her hand passed right through it. She cocked her head to one side and reached under her own feet and touched the bottoms of them. It was strange as she still felt the weight of her body resting on her feet as if there was a floor there.

She called out, "Hello? Is anyone there?" to silence. She called out several more times but not even an echo responded.

She tried her cry, but it too seemed to disappear in to the distance.

After a while she decided to start walking, she placed one foot in front of the other but couldn't really tell if she moved, the vast whiteness remained unchanged and without a reference point, she looked to have stood still.

Still it was something to do and so she continued.

What seemed like days passed, there was no night so she didn't sleep. There was no food so she didn't eat, but likewise she didn't seem to get hungry either.

Without any reference for night and day, Dianica had a trouble keeping track of how much time had passed since she had arrived, but days must surely have turned to weeks and months at some time.

Eventually she'd stopped walking and sat down. Once in a while she'd called out to the emptiness, but never received a reply.

Months must have turned to years, years to decades, decades to centuries? She didn't know but at some point she'd curled up in to the fetal position and started to rocked back and forth and hadn't stopped.

When the voice first spoke her rocking at come to an abrupt stop and at first she had thought it must have been her own voice, but she didn't feel her lips move.

"Are you there?" it came again.

She stood up and looked around, unsure of what to do.

"Can you hear me?" it said.

She parted her lips and replied softly, "Yes."

"What's your name?"

She opened her mouth to reply but paused, "My name?"

"Yes, what is your name?"

She thought hard about it but the past seemed like a dream that she couldn't quite grasp, "I... I don't know!"

"Don't worry, we'll find out together."

"Together? But where are you?"

"I'm right here with you."

"But I can't see you!"

"That doesn't matter, from now on I'll always be with you."

A sudden wave of euphoria washed over her, "You... you will?"

"Yes, I'm here to help. You need help don't you?"

"I... I think so. Yes, yes I need help." She replied more confidently.

"Then it's a good thing I'm here to help. You want my help, yes?"

"Yes, yes please."

"You need my help, yes?"

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

She paused for a moment, not understanding, "Yes... I need your help?"

Another wave of euphoria came over her as the voice replied, "Yes, that's a good girl."

"If I'm going to help you I need you to trust me. Do you trust me?"

She didn't hesitate this time with her reply, "Yes I trust you."

"Do you trust me completely?"

"Yes I trust you completely."

"You trust everything I say?"

"Yes I trust everything you say."

"Everything I say is true?"

"Yes, everything you say is true." She replied as the wave of euphoria peaked, her eyes rolling back in to her head at the sheer pleasure washing over her.

Chapter 3 - Free to Sing

Dianica woke once more, her head pounded and she raised a hand up to her forehead. The bed she was on was a simple cot, the sheets were plain cotton and the blanket was prickly.

She let out a sigh of relief and swung her legs over the side of the bed and looked around. The room was spartan, but functional; a dresser and wardrobe stood along one side and a small makeup table along the other.

She still had her uniform on, even her choker and jacket had been returned.

She tried to remember what had happened and her mind replied with two conflicting answers.

The first was that she was here for her training. The man that had saved her from the evil white expanse had taken her under his wing and she was eager to learn all he had to teach her.

The second was that she had been captured and brainwashed and she needed to do everything she could to escape. The man from the evil white expanse was her enemy.

Her headache worsened as she tried to reconcile the two in her mind. She was interrupted in mid fight as a man walked in to the room.

"Ah awake at last, good." He said, the voice of her mentor/enemy filling the room.

"You... you won't... get away..." she struggled to get out.

"Get away? But I'm here to help you, remember? You trust me don't you?"

"Yes, I trust you." The words were out of her mouth before she even registered she was supposed to reply. The wave of euphoria that followed them landed a body blow to the voice in the back of her mind that said he was her enemy.

"Now stand up."

She did so, a smile crossing her lips as the euphoria increased, pushing the voice to the ground.

"And follow me."

"N... n... n...o." the voice said as it tried to assert control.

"But you want to follow me. And everything I say is true, right?"

"Yes, everything you say is true." The words escaped her lips again before she could stop them and the euphoria landed a head shot to the voice and it went down for the count.

Dianica took a step forward, "I want to follow you." She said as they walked out of the room.

******

Dianica sat on the edge of her bed, hands clasped in front of her, head bowed as she waited for her mentor to arrive.

She'd been training with him for over a week and he was pleased with her progress, but she knew today would be a special day.

Each morning since she'd arrived she woken up with a voice in the back of her head telling her he was her enemy.

She'd fought it each time but it wasn't until her mentor came to help her that she'd managed to defeat it. Then, they'd leave her room and begin her training for the day.

But today was a special day, she had woken up this morning and the voice had fought her for control. Like every morning she'd fought back, repeating her mantra's in her mind, but this morning was different. The voice was weaker, and each time she repeated a mantra, it seemed to get quieter, until finally, it was gone.

Today was a special day because it was the first day she had won her fight by herself.

Dianica hear the door open but kept her head lowered.

"Good morning Dianica, how are you today?"

"Very well mentor, thank you."

"Is there anything you want to say before we begin your training?"

"No mentor, I am ready."

"Good, then come with me."

He led her down the hallway again, like every morning, in to the room at the end of it. It contained several pieces of furniture, a chair, a couch, a tread mill, a stationary bike and a pedestal platform.

Dianica didn't understand the purpose of her training, but she trusted him and he had told her it was needed so she didn't question it.

He directed her to the pedestal and she stepped up on to it and took her pose. Her feet spread apart, her hands on her hips and her face a placid mask.

She'd be here for a few hours, he'd give her other positions to take and then when he was satisfied he'd direct her to the chair, where she'd sit reclined back, legs spread and her eyes closed, her mouth hanging open.

The couch would be next, she'd lay down on her stomach and then bring her knees up under her, keeping her arms at her side.

Finally, it would be the tread mill and stationary bike, before he took her back to her room for the night.

Her training continued for another week without any changes.

******

Johnathan looked at the monitor as Dianica climbed in to bed and pulled the sheets up over her. He shook his head side to side, she'd almost shown up to early. He'd expected her to take more time tracking down the informant he'd planted and get the warehouse location. Fortunately, they'd worked on the "office" first so it was ready for her when she arrived.

"Everything in the green?" he asked.

"Yes sir. As you know, the repetition of obeying the same commands is critical in this phase, but there's no sign of resistance left so you can move on to the next phase now." The tech/henchman replied.

"Good, she put up quite a fight. Swap out her uniform for the first batch of upgrades tonight. It's too bad we have to spend so much time making changes to her, but the machine can only do so much, now it's our turn."

"Yes sir."

******

Dianica slipped her feet in to her shoes and stood up, something seemed different today, but they looked like the same shoes she wore yesterday so she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

She pulled at her jacket and tried to get it to sit right, but it too seemed to be wrong somehow. She was about to take it off again when she heard the door start to open, instantly she dropped down on to the bed, clasped her hands and bowed her head.

"Good morning, how is everything this morning?"

"Very good mentor... but..."

"But?"

"Something seems wrong with my uniform."

"Stand up and let me take a look."

Dianica stood up, placed her hands behind her back and waited.

"Nope, thing wrong with them. They're the same clothes you wore yesterday. They fit perfectly."

Dianica couldn't believe how stupid she'd been, of course he was right. She'd put them away herself last night.

He took her to the training room and she mounted the pedestal once more, she took her initial pose and looked towards her mentor for approval. A grimace on his face greeted her instead.

"Time to go to the next level of your training, pull your top down to expose your breasts."

Dianica hesitated only a moment before hooking her thumbs over the top of her uniform and pulled it down and retaking her position. If her mentor said this was the next level of her training she trusted him.

"Very good."

A wave of euphoria rushed over her and her nipples hardened.

She spent the rest of the day training with her top down, when she'd gotten to the chair, he'd had her play with her nipples the entire time she was in it and it had almost driven her over the edge.

******

Johnathan watched Dianica carefully step up on to the platform to start the day. It had been ten days since they'd started swapping out her uniform, each day making small changes that she'd accept as soon as he re-enforced the idea they hadn't changed since the day before.

In fact, after the third day she had stopped asking and simply accepted the, without question.

Today's outfit was the last one for a while, until they proceeded to one of the later phases.

She was being so careful due to the 8" stiletto ballet shoes she was wearing; she was a quick learner but such a major change to foot wear did have her being extra careful.

Her uniform was quite different now as well, gone was the spandex and leather, replaced by latex. The main uniform hugged her body and ended just below her breasts. There were holes to expose her pussy and ass as well.

The latex jacket didn't even come down to the bottom of her breasts and the sleeves ended just below her elbows.

The lace choker had been similarly replaced with latex, even though they had kept the oval jewel that adorned the front of it.

He couldn't wait for her to get to the chair, he was eager to see the new training he had lined up for her there.

******

Dianica walked over to the chair, her high heels clicking on the floor as she did so. She sat down and reclined in to it, placing one hand on her breast and the other over her pussy.

She closed her eyes and opened her mouth as her fingers started to dance over body.

She barely was aware of the footsteps coming towards her until he spoke.

"Here, use this." He said.

She opened her eyes and looked up at her mentor holding a dildo.

She took her right hand from her pussy and reached up towards it, but hesitated just before grasping it.

The voice from the back of her mind that she hadn't heard in weeks pounded on her brain.