By RedStar Stories

Ally sat in a chair in the waiting room and tried very hard not to fidget. Everything she worked so hard for the last six months was about to come to fruition. After two rounds of interviews, one phone and one in person, all she had left was one final presentation and the job would be hers. She just knew it.

Ally's eye caught on the screen on the far side of the room, slowly rotating between many of the company's products. Chasti-Permalock was an odd choice for a dream employer, especially as Ally had no interest in the company's products for herself. No, her interests were far more basic. Wealth and fame.

It was startling how many high-profile clients came through CP's doors. All it would take was a few years of work, a little schmoozing in the right circles, and Ally would be set for life. She could get out of this place and do something more socially palatable.

A door on the far side of the waiting room opened and a woman stuck her head out. "Ally Hopkins?"

Ally nearly bolted out of her chair. "Here!"

"I'm Gwen May." the woman held out her hand and Ally shook it a bit too enthusiastically. "I'm one of the section heads for the engineering and design teams and I'll be one of your interview team today. If you'll follow me, I'll take you back to the room."

As she followed Gwen down the maze of corridors, Ally couldn't help but stare at the woman's odd attire. The top part was the standard suit jacket, but those weren't often paired with what looked like a steampunk ballgown cladding the woman's legs. Ally swore she could hear a metal-on-metal clomp with every step like the woman was wearing horseshoes under the long garment.

A few minutes later, Gwen led Ally into a small conference room. Two other people were sitting waiting on either side of a solid wood table. The man on the left looked to be in his early fifties and was completely bald. Between that, the tattoos poking out of the sleeves of his polo shirt, and the silver metal plate covering his left eye, he looked more like a pirate than middle management.

The woman on the other side of the table looked to be only a few years older than Ally. She was wearing a smart dress in dark blue, with patches of purple pinstripes. Her curly, dirty blonde hair was done up in a loose ponytail. She was the perfect picture of an average white-collar employee, save for the golden metal plate that covered her lower face from nose to chin.

"Ally, this is Leonard Barnes." Gwen gestured to the pirate. "He's one of the other section heads."

"Leo. Damn woman, how many times do I have to tell you that Leonard Barnes is my grandfather?"

Ignoring the remark, Gwen gestured across the table. "And this is Marta Doyle. She's the newest member of my team, so she has recent experience sitting through this process from your side."

Marta scribbled something on the tablet in front of her and spun it around so Ally could read. Hi!

So the metal plate wasn't just cosmetic, this woman was thoroughly and permanently gagged. Ally had to suppress a shudder at the thought of never being able to speak again. Why would someone do that to themselves?

"We've got your presentation all loaded up and can start whenever you are ready." Gwen slid a computer clicker over to Ally before she took a seat beside Marta.

"Ok, let's jump right in." Ally hit a button on the clicker and the screen behind her shifted into presentation mode. "Good morning everyone and thank you for bringing me back for this final practical portion of the interview. After my last interview, I was given the challenge of combining existing Chasti-Permalock products in a way that would let us break into new and profitable markets. And which market did I pick..."

Ally hit the clicker. The slide showed the familiar blue marble shot of the Earth, with the word SPACE in very bold and eye-catching font running across the top.

"That's one way to set stratospheric expectations early in a briefing." Leo harrumphed.

"Ignore him, Ally," Gwen smirked. "Someone's still bitter they didn't get to be a test pilot earlier in their career."

"I failed the vision qualifier by one letter. One measly letter. In one eye."

"Well, maybe my presentation will help you find a way back." Ally said, gamely trying to pull her briefing back on the rails. "Current estimates are that investment in space will increase by a billion dollars a year for the next several decades. While much of that will be rockets and satellites, there is much interest in sending humans up there as well. Part national pride, part journey of discovery, and part human nature to strive against forces telling us we can't do something."

Ally moved to her next slide, showing a diagram of a human-shaped body surrounded by a lot of text. "Humans, however, are about the worst cargo you can send into space. We like our oxygen just so, and the temperature not too extreme, and we get all bubbly if the pressure drops too low. But by using several existing CP products, we can solve a great many of these problems and make human spaceflight much safer and more economical."

A click caused the text on the screen to disappear, leaving the body graphic behind. "The first part of what I'm calling the Space Acclimation package is probably the most radical change. The full amputation of the subject's limbs and the installation of an onmi-port in each of the sockets."

The arms and legs of the figure on-screen flickered a few times before disappearing, leaving silver caps at the hips and shoulders. "There are several reasons for this procedure. Weight is precious in space, often costing thousands of dollars per pound. Removing the arms and legs reduces the body's mass by around 45 percent."

"It also removes their ability to do anything by about 90 percent." Leo pointed out.

"There will need to be some replacements, obviously. But as we're dealing with a low gravity environment, the required strength is significantly reduced. By using lightweight polymers and carbon fiber, prosthetics can be used that weigh less than ten percent of the mass of the limb they replace. The use of omni-port will also allow for adaptation such as swapping out the legs for added arms for stabilization or to plug directly into shipboard mechatronics such as grapplers."

"It would take some special training, but I can see where you're going with this." Gwen mused. "What else is part of this package?"

"I'll split the rest of the mods into torso and head sections, starting with the former." The image on the screen zoomed in, leaving the head off-camera. "The next addition would be the application of a Chasti-corset." The silver garment appeared, covering the graphic's torso from crotch to collarbones.

"Given the loss of both muscle and bone density during long-term, low-G exposure, the corset provides needed structure for the torso." Ally continued. "The waist reduction is also able to take advantage of synergies with other products I'll get to later."

"What are the two icons at the bottom of the screen?" Gwen asked.

"Ah, I was about to get to that. The Casti-corset is one of CP's flagship products and as such several add-on product lines were developed. There are two I would like to point out that would be relevant to this package. The first is the detachable breasts from the crossplay line." The corseted torso disappeared, replaced by a dozen floating breasts of different sizes and configurations. "Detachable breasts provide significant flexibility to the package. They can be used for all kinds of storage, from extra oxygen, to rehydrating liquids, to solid materials. Because of the interchangeable nature of the product, they could even be swapped out for specific activities, such as spacewalks or repairs."

"I can't see any male astronauts being comfortable with a pair of basketballs strapped to their chests." Leo nodded to the bottom left breasts on screen, spherical orbs nearly twice the size of the others shown.

Ally shrugged. "As I said, the package is flexible. The use of detachable breasts is less critical to the overall adaptation than the corset itself."

Marta held up her tablet with You mentioned a second corset mod?

Ally nodded. "Yes, the mounting plate from the bondage line. One of the biggest challenges our current astronauts face is staying in one place in low gravity. For example, how do you not drift away while sleeping? All manner of straps and bags are used currently, but they have their downsides. The mounting plate, when attached to the back of the corset, would provide a rock-solid connection without the risk of chafing or limb stress."

"You already solved the latter problem by removing their limbs." Leo pointed out.

"Sorry, I was pointing out some problem that the current, still limbed astronauts face." Ally said.

"You'd need some sort of neck corset to keep their head from moving as well," Gwen noted. "Though I might be jumping the gun with that suggestion."

"A bit, as I had including that in the head modifications. But yes, the package will require stabilization of the neck, for the same reasons as used for the corset earlier. The corset will also serve as the base for a Chastilock bodyform, which will provide a protective layer over the skin and other applications."

The slide return to a picture of a corseted torso. Dark grey liquid seeped from the silver corset until all visible pink skin was covered. "In addition to preventing the shedding of skin and hair, the bodyform will provide some environmental control. It may also be adapted to provide some protection against cosmic radiation, but I'm not sure I can include that in the design as it's not a commercial product."

"It actually is," Leo said. "We provide it as a niche product to some nuclear workers and government CBRN teams. The navy was also looking into it for some of their nuclear sub teams, though I think that project got canceled."

"Oh, I didn't know that. Anyway, I saved the best torso modifications for last. The genital mods. It wouldn't be a CP product without suggesting both anal and vagina/penile coverings, as appropriate. CP offers a wide variety of products that fit this category, but in the end I selected a package from the petplay tidy-pet line. For males the penile attachment creates a sheathe over the dick and balls, holding everything in place to prevent awkward swaying in low g. The female plug prevents menses and the resulting bloody mess."

"If I remember right," Gwen began. "both devices lock the user's ability to urinate outside of a particular area or attachment. I assume you're adapting this to prevent any accidents?"

Ally nodded. "That was my intention, though designing the toilet in question is a bit beyond my skills. Switching to the backside, the anal plug is a key piece of the overall package. The tidy-pet anal plug allows for liquid feedings, similar to an enema. By draining and filling morning and night, this will save the astronaut from having to eat. Due to the danger of crumbs, most foods in space are liquefied anyway, so this wouldn't be too radical of a difference in diet."

"They also wouldn't be able to taste whatever they're eating." Leo shuddered. "Considering how disgusting it was when I tried at bite while visiting for my daughter's spacecamp graduation, that might be a feature more than a flaw."

The simplified diet would also let you shrink much of the digestive system, Marta wrote which is what you were alluding to earlier.

"That's correct. Any other questions before I move up to the head mods?" Gwen and Leo shook their heads in the negative, while Matra drew a thumbs up on her tablet.

"We already talked about the neck corset, so I'll skip that slide." The presentation torso moved up to show the neck, then another click caused the head to appear. "The bodyform on the torso will also cover the head, removing all hair and providing full protection."

Tell us about the gag. Marta wrote.

"I had a feeling that would be of interest to you specifically. With nutrition being supplied by the anal plug, I was able to select a rather severe gag and nose plugs for the acclimation package. I believe they use this package for deep-sea divers. It's designed to concentrate oxygen inside the mouth and throat to compensate for oxygen-poor environments. Given that a spacecraft is a pressurized tube just like a scuba tank, and that too much oxygen can cause problems both inside and outside the body, I figured this gag was perfect for this application. Like all CP gags, it still provides total silence, queue the jokes about no one being able to hear you scream in space."

Ally paused a moment for her joke, but was disappointed when none of her interviewers laughed. "This gag travels far enough down the throat that it can pick up the muscle movements we use for speech. With some practice, it can digitize this speech and transmit it to nearby compatible systems. Almost better than talking, allowing communication from astronauts on different sides of the spacecraft."

The slide changed, showing an astronaut floating outside a space station. The thought bubble beside its head read Can you hear me now?

"Finally, the last piece of the package is a bit unusual, but I believe it ties everything together with a certain flair." A click of the remote caused a metal plate to cover the upper portion of the face on-screen. The flawless silver metal ran from ear to ear, covering both protrusions and smoothing over the eyes and upper nose. Two small pointed horns stuck out the top, curling up toward the crown of the head.

"This is the visor from Restrained Fantasy's Infernal line." Ally explained "It's designed to transmit remote audio and video input to the wearer. The horns contain antennas that are designed to connect with other products from the same line."

"A bold choice." Gwen mused. "Why go for something this ostentatious rather than simpler eye and ear plugs?"

"It's true that CP offers numerous patches and plugs that would have met the base requirements for protecting the astronaut's eyes and ears. But as the literal face of this acclimation package, I thought something a little over the top was in order. Something that makes the subject feel a little otherworldly. Given the extreme nature of the changes, I wanted to make it very clear that those that undergo this procedure are a world apart from their fellow men."

Ally hoped she hadn't toed too far over the line into punville, but her interviewers were nodding along appreciably. The trio asked a few more simple questions then dismissed Ally so they could deliberate over lunch. Feeling confident, Ally strode from the room. This job was totally hers.

After lunch, Gwen led Ally back to the interview room. Once everyone was seated around the table, the section head said, "Well Ally, we were all very pleased by your presentation. You showed great creativity and deep knowledge of company product lines. As such, we would like to formally offer you the job."

Ally had to work very hard not to jump out of her seat and start doing her happy dance. That would have been very unprofessional in front of people who were about to be her colleagues. "I accept ma'am. I'm really looking forward to working here."

"Gwen and I showed your designs to some of the other sections heads over lunch," Leo added. "One of our directorate heads stopped by and he was impressed as well. So much so that we'll be putting together a development team to turn your idea into a product we can offer to our government customers."

"It would be a great honor to be part of that team." Ally's smile went up a few watts. Yes, in the door only five minutes and already her name was making it up to leadership. Her ten-year plan was well on its way to fruition.

"Be part of the team?" Gwen almost sounded surprised. "You'll be the centerpiece. This was your idea after all, so it's company tradition that you'll be the first one to test the design."

It was a good thing Ally wasn't drinking anything, as she would have spit-taked all over the others in the room. "Come again?"

"It's company tradition. We design by example here at the Chasti-Permalock corporation." Gwen rose from her seat and kicked up her skirt so she could lay one leg on the table. To Ally's surprise, the woman wasn't wearing clunky heels, her feet ended in silver metal hooves like a horse. Black and brown rubber skin rose from the ankle, disappearing up Gwen's skirt. "I got these from the first project I worked on. I came up with improvements to the ankle joint, so I got the privilege of testing them."

It's the same with me and my gag. Marta added. I got to test several of the new attachments I came up with.

To Ally's horror, she realized she had been a little too ambitious in her presentation. She wanted a life of luxury and prestige, not to spend her life as a limbless, senseless, anally fed freak. By the way Gwen and Marta talked about their applications, there was no way she was going to be able to beg off from being the first test case. And having just accepted the job, it wasn't like Ally could spontaneously quit. That would irreparably damage her reputation.

"Just think," Gwen said as she put an arm around Ally's shoulder. "You're going to be the first member of the company to get sent into space. If your design checks out, you could even end up part of an interplanetary mission."

As she was dragged off to see her new workspace, Ally had to reflect that she was technically going to end up with everything she wanted, just under very different circumstances than she ever dreamed...