The sign pointed down an alley. “FSP 35th & Alder”, black on pink with the silhouette of a kneeling woman. Tien followed the arrow and found the place. The sign over the entrance was lit and she slipped inside. All four chambers were open; Tien took the rightmost one.

The chamber entrance was a low slot and a warning notice was affixed above, “Identity and suitability will be confirmed. Surrender not guaranteed.”

Tien had to crawl to enter the chamber, the symbolism not lost on her. The interior wasn't much bigger; she wasn't even five feet tall and couldn't stand up in it. She sat on the floor and tucked her legs under her. There was almost no light and, since nothing was happening, she wondered if the thing was broken. Having to crawl out again would be humiliating so she kept waiting.

“State your full name and ID number.”

The unseen voice startled Tien and it took her a moment to understand what to do. Its clear, commanding female tone was easy to obey. She answered slowly.

“Quang Thi Tien. KB-919-446-J.”

Seconds passed, slow in the silent dark, before the voice barked out again.

“State your purpose.”

“I'm here to Surrender, I guess.”

Not just surrender, but Surrender with a capital S, she thought to herself. This wasn't about fighting or hiding. If anything it was the opposite. She thought the other kind was probably easier.

“That identity is valid for Surrender. State your reason for Surrendering.”

“I was rejected for pre-university class. I won't be able to earn as much as my school subsidy would've been so my dad'll kick me out. And they'd be angry if I told them I'm gay. Surrendering's better than being a burden on my family.”

The seconds ticked by again and Tien hung her head in the darkness. She bit her lip. Admitting her failure had been harder than she'd expected.

“Those are acceptable reasons to Surrender. You will now be physically confirmed. Remove all clothing and jewelry and place it in the forward pouch.”

Tien had deliberately worn as little as she could. In particular, she had left the house with no underwear, only an undershirt, jacket and exercise pants. If she couldn't manage the trip from home to the Surrender Point without panties or bra, how could she be ready to give them up permanently? Even in the cramped space it was a matter of seconds before the pouch was full and she was bare. She curled back up and felt vulnerable.

Soft, pink lights appeared, three on the chamber walls and four on its floor. The implacable woman gave her next command.

“Kneel with your knees and feet over the floor lights. Place your hands on the side lights and look at the centre light. Stay in that position.”

The floor lights were widely spaced. It was uncomfortable to kneel like that and it was nerve-wracking to have her legs spread, even though she was alone. She posed and waited. Nothing seemed to be happening at first, but then came a volley of questions, all in that same demanding voice.

“Are you sexually attracted to men?”

“I? No.”

“Are you sexually attracted to women?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Have you ever had oral, vaginal or anal sex? Or are you a virgin?”

“I'm still a virgin.”

“When did you last masturbate, if you know how?”

“I don't really do it. A couple of weeks ago, I think?”

Tien realised she had just answered some extremely personal questions without hesitation. She also didn't feel uncomfortable about having done so. Something about the way they were asked had just made her do it. Perhaps it was comfortable because it was so impersonal. She heard the entrance slide shut behind her and the light in front of her went out.

“You are eligible to Surrender. Do not move. Watch the following video presentation.”

An image faded up before Tien and she swallowed at what she saw. A white woman gazed out at her, short haired, muscular, an ox of a woman, scary even though she was just an image on a screen. She spoke with clipped tones as she glared.

“Surrender Prospect. My name is Sergeant Twine, my nickname is The Viper, and I'm a trainer for the first thing Surrendered females go through – Standard Conditioning. My job is to make SC a living hell and destroy the spirit of every woman and girl I touch. What you're about to see is only a taste of the three months of intense, constant pain, sexual abuse and humiliation I deliver to every female who Surrenders.”

The image on the screen changed. A camera panned to show a sort of wooden bench or bar, triangular with a sharp edge at the top and sloped sides. A young woman, nude, pale skinned and with her head completely shaved, was sat astride the bar. Her ankles were chained below it and her arms were bound behind her. A rope ran up from her arms and forced her to hunch forward. Her breasts hung down and swayed as she breathed.

The camera moved closer and Tien could see that her sex – also shaved – was grinding against the edge of the bar as it bore her whole weight. She was bruised between her legs and slick with sweat. She spoke in a rough whisper.

“This piece of garbage's only value is her holes and her suffering. All the rest is worthless. This piece of garbage's only value is her holes and her suffering. All the rest is worthless.”

The Viper's voice took over.

“Every scum in SC spends hours like this. They have to crawl or drag themselves back to their cell afterwards.”

The image faded to black, but the torment was seared into Tien's mind. She clenched involuntarily as she imagined riding that thing.

The next scene showed a different woman, olive skinned and heavier and also naked. She was bent over some sort of frame, strapped down with her arms and legs pulled apart. Her head was also shaved, with some sort of leather straps or harness fastened around it. Tien gasped as the camera showed some sort of metal hook embedded in the woman's anus. A rope ran from the end of the hook to the harness, forcing the woman to keep her head up and her back arched.

The woman's face was pressed firmly between the legs of a trainer and from the mix of whimpers and slurping sounds it was apparent that she was being forced to give oral sex. A second trainer stepped forward. She was wearing a thick, studded strap-on dildo, easily ten inches long. Tien winced as the trainer thrust the whole thing into the woman's vagina with one long, hard movement. Instantly the whimpers rose to screams, but there was no escaping her fate.

“This is neither the strictest bondage nor the largest dildo we use on the scum in these sessions.”

The third scene showed a girl who, except for being white, looked a lot like Tien; slim, short and small-breasted. The camera came in for a closeup of her face and it was clear she had been crying. Her blue eyes were bloodshot and tear tracks covered her cheeks. She looked the picture of misery.

The camera pulled back to show she stood on tiptoe, legs together as she bent over a table. Her bare bottom was marked in half a dozen places with thin, red stripes and more criss-crossed her upper thighs.

An unseen trainer raised a cane and whipped it down against the girl's buttocks. The loud crack of wood on flesh was followed by a gasping moan and a wavering voice.

“This scum thanks you for beating her. Please show her more love.”

The cane fell again, this time just above her knees, and she sagged, lifting one leg and twisting her foot as she whimpered. She held back sobs as she spoke and forced herself back onto her toes.

“This scum thanks you for beating her. Please show her more love.”

The Viper offered her comment as the scene darkened away.

“Every scum must forget their old definition of love and learn what it means for a Mistress to love them.”

Tien's heart was pounding and when she tried to lick her lips she found her mouth was completely dry. It was getting painful to kneel on the hard floor, but she could not look away.

The fourth scene showed a woman or girl who couldn't have been much older than Tien, maybe her late teens at most. Asian, although warmer toned than Tien, she was slender and seemed tall. It was hard to tell for sure because she was hanging upside-down by her widely parted ankles. The camera circled her to show that her arms were bound behind her, elbow to wrist. She was nude and bald like all the other “scum”; a horrible and appropriate word, Tien thought. A red rubber ball gag was buckled over her mouth, forcing her lips into a circle. Her wide eyes showed her distress.

The poor girl's stomach bulged so much that she might have been pregnant. Several clear bags, some full of fluid, some empty, hung above her and a tube ran from a half-full one into her anus. She swung gently, unable to keep still yet unable to escape her torture.

“Enema training takes a variety of forms. Very hot or cold liquids, additives to increase cramping, anal plugs to prevent voiding, being forced to soil themselves and clean up the mess... I always enjoy seeing the fear on a scum's face when I tell them it will be a challenging session.”

All of this was well beyond what Tien had expected even though she had done some reading on what happened when you Surrendered. How many more terrifying things would they show her? Her body was really beginning to hurt, and every bit of video brought her closer to the moment of truth.

A tiled room held three women, probably all in their twenties, one black and two white, bound spreadeagled side by side. The wrist and ankle chains kept their limbs stretched out. A trainer used a hose to blast them with water, spraying them all over as they screamed. She lingered over their sex organs and between their buttocks. They were bright pink (or glossy brown for the one) and steaming when she set the hose aside.

Three more scum appeared, all wielding bristle brushes and buckets of soapy water. They began to scrub the captives, prompting further howls as their skin was scraped. Their faces were treated no differently than anywhere else.

“It's important for scum not to develop friendships. They don't just have to hurt each other, they're made to compete and not just to avoid pain. It's just one of many ways we mentally break them.”

The video changed to show two women, both Indian and dark-skinned. Tien thought they looked alike although a little different in age and she wondered if they were related. They sat on the floor facing each other, leaning back and with their legs tangled together. As they rocked back and forth the camera moved in to show that they were grinding themselves together. Their female parts were slippery and swollen and the older woman's clitoris was almost as big as a fingertip.

A trainer with some sort of whip, a flexible rod with a square of leather on the end, was goading them.

“More, you lazy scum! I want to see you dripping with sweat. It'll be level three punishment for both of you if you don't pick up the pace. And don't you dare orgasm!”

Both women immediately began to move faster, bucking their hips almost frantically. To emphasise the last point the trainer whacked her whip down against the younger woman's left breast, squashing it and landing right over her nipple. She let out a shriek and her hands clawed against the ground.

The Viper commented.

“No scum is ever allowed to orgasm without permission, and it's rarely granted. We punish any unauthorised stimulation very strictly. By the way, not every scum manages to complete SC. The ones who fail are condemned to an unbearable, wretched existence.”

Some of Tien's friends were sexually active, but she wasn't. She'd only told one of them she was gay, and she was too shy to do anything about the aching loneliness she felt. Touching herself between her legs felt good sometimes, but it was dirty and wrong and made her so ashamed that she usually couldn't finish. There was little opportunity anyway; the shower was about her only private time. Her parents monitored her Internet access so she couldn't find help online. In a way, Surrendering was her attempt to fulfill that part of herself.

Unlike the previous clips, the next one was set outdoors. It showed a gloomy sky and scruffy grass next to some sort of barn. An asian girl was being pulled by the arm by an especially large trainer. Her back was marked with many thin lashes, her legs were bruised and she walked stiffly.

They rounded the corner of the barn and came to a stretch of muddy ground marked off a low fence. The trainer pushed the girl forward and kicked her in the back on her knee so that she fell on her face. The girl squeaked in surprise as she began to sink in the watery dirt and tried to get to her hands and knees. The trainer shouted at her.

“Crawl on your belly like the worm you are! Filth like you belongs in filth. Get moving!”

The girl began squirming and dragging herself along. She was completely covered in mud from head to toe, front and back. The camera pulled close to watch her squelching through the dirt. She had to work hard to keep her head above the muck and made slow progress.

The trainer screamed at the struggling girl until she reached the other side of the mud. She put one booted foot on the girl's head and forced it under the mud. The girl thrashed, but the trainer waited a long time before letting her up to breathe. The scene faded as the girl turned around for a second trip.

“As I said before, this was just a taste. If you Surrender, this will be you. All day, every day, and at the end of it everything you are now will have been stripped away from you. Spend the next two minutes thinking about what you've seen.”

A countdown timer appeared. 2:00. 1:59. 1:58. Tien watched it tick and struggled to make sense of her thoughts. Why on Earth would she volunteer for this? Everything she'd seen was horrifying. Pain, sexual abuse and humiliation didn't begin to cover it. Was it really better than dealing with her parents? Was it really better than being homeless, for that matter?

But that last part. The boot on the face. There was something about that, not exciting perhaps, not interesting either perhaps, but... stimulating. And being washed like a piece of meat, there was the same thing there.

Tien thought she might be a little wet between her legs, but she didn't dare move to check. She wondered if she'd been deluding herself and this was really about desire, but if it was how could she be ashamed of putting her hand between her legs when she'd just watched something a million times more extreme and apparently liked some of it, even if just a tiny bit? Her mouth was still bone dry and her lips cracked as she smiled to herself.

The timer reached zero and the original calm, unflinching female voice spoke.

“The acknowledgement of Surrender will appear on the screen. Read it aloud to Surrender. If you do not wish to do so, move away from the lights and say 'Stop'. Completing the acknowledgement constitutes permanent Surrender and cannot be undone.”

Tien's body was cramping and trembling as each line appeared on the screen.

“I Surrender my right to clothing.”

“I Surrender my right to food.”

“I Surrender my right to water.”

“I Surrender my right to speak.”

“I Surrender my right to move freely.”

“I Surrender my right to dignity.”

“I Surrender my right to be free from suffering.”

“I Surrender my right to sexual autonomy.”

“I Surrender my name.”

“I Surrender my body.”

“I Surrender my mind.”

“I Surrender my future.”

“I Surrender my entire life and all that I am.”

“I Surrender myself of my own free will.”

Tien crumpled, arms at her side and legs splayed beneath her as her body gave out. The last line faded away. She panted, almost forgetting what she'd just done.

Suddenly the floor opened beneath her and she fell into a soft cocoon. She barely had time to realise she was falling, let alone grab for anything. The material shrank around her, forcing her into a ball. A familiar voice spoke.

“Listen up, scum. It won't be long before you meet me in person. Make sure to kiss my boots and call me Ma'am. I've failed out scum on the first day for not doing that. Welcome to your worst nightmare and I'll see you soon.”

The scum formerly known as Quang Thi Tien was confined with her thoughts and the quiet darkness.