After hearing from a friend of mine who had traveled off-world a year or so ago, as we spoke she told me that besides having fun, earning lots of credits, and learning new things, she had found the whole life-changing experience something that she thought that I needed. She told me that she had spoken with her manager and that they were willing to offer me a job in the same mine where my friend worked.
It was an outer space colony mining company, somewhere that paid big but had trouble recruiting because of the remoteness of the mines; it was nearly a year away from home. My friend said to me that they were holding the position open but that they didn't provide travel expenses, as too many had ripped off the mining companies promising to travel there but pocketing the money advanced them for the journey, so I would have to make my own way there.
The trouble was that living here had become prohibitively expensive, and the social credit system was set up in such a way as to control the population, the way you acted in society had a significant impact on your credit score, and being in trouble with the authorities like I had been in the past reduced my ability to make enough credits to get myself out of the lower cast. The elites controlled most of the income stream; below that were the executive classes, then came the workers, and below that were the social outcasts, criminals, and other miscreants, who, for some reason or other, had been relegated to this class.
Checking in with one of the shipping lines that traveled to the system with the mine, I found that I didn't have anywhere near what the cost of the journey would be, even in the lower class sections of the ship and without adding one of the sleep pods that were available to shorten the journey for most travelers. Speaking with the agent via a video link, I informed her that thanks, but with me not having enough credits to travel, I wouldn't be able to use their services. It was then that I found out about an alternative; the agent said that I could travel for free, but I would have to become one of the maidbot servants on the ship, mainly to help maintain the areas used by the crew and guests.
Just so you know that most of the guests who traveled inter-space spent the majority of their time in the suspension pods, sleeping the time it takes to get to wherever they are going. By doing this, their bodies age slower, and the time traveling is shorter for them; being asleep, you don't notice the time needed to travel the long distance. A year in a sleep pod is about the equivalent of about two months of aging, so to go long distances it's the way to travel.
The agent then went on to explain about being a maidbot on the ship; as a maidbot being controlled by the onboard system, you get to travel for free, but you don't enjoy the benefits that the guests enjoy, and you essentially become company property for the length of your contract. The work is basic, the hours long, but once chipped and under the system's control, she told me that you don't notice the time or suffer the aches and pains from the manual labor required as an onboard maid.
So, after considering my options, either staying here and living a poor, miserable existence or stepping off the planet and traveling to unknown worlds and a future where I can actually afford to live, I knew that I had to sign myself up to become one of the onboard help. I knew that once I signed that, I became part of the company's inventory, not an employee, but more just another piece of the equipment onboard the ship, and I did wonder if I'd done the right thing in signing up for the journey, but looking at my options I figured that my life sucked anyway, it couldn't be any worse – could it.
The day came for the start of my new life, an adventure in outer space I had called it, my own mind spinning with ideas, dreams of a new start, hearing many stories about how people had changed themselves working in the mines and of course, the high pay that came with both the job and danger had some influence on my thoughts. Back here, it was a dreary, gray existence, controlled by the state but out there, the same rules didn't apply; I could have a new life if I just got there and worked my ass off. The rewards far outweighed the unknown, the dangers of mining or living in some remote part of the universe.
With my belongings packed into the small shipping crate that I was allowed to take with me, the rest either dumped or given away, I closed the door on my small one-room living pod, the finality of the door closing letting me know that my life was about to change, hopefully in a good way. I arrived at the spaceport; my ship that would carry me to the stars was just docking from its return, and the main guests would not be arriving for two days. I was here early to get myself ready; the company had informed me that I would need to make myself available on this day to enable the changes needed in my body for my new role.
Once I had finalized the contract, effectively signing my body over as their property, I was shown through to a back area not seen by the traveling public. Here I was met by one of the staff, they then guided me into another clinical room, where she told me to remove all of my clothing and that anything that was required for me to wear would be issued by the company, as in the maidbot uniform I would wear for the journey. She stood there watching me as I stripped off. I felt slightly embarrassed that she was staring at me, but I assumed that she was used to this, and I needed to get to my ultimate goal, so a little humiliation along the way seemed a small price to pay.
But the humiliation continued; another woman joined her, this one seemed much stricter and more commanding, and she ordered me to lay down on the examination table, where shortly after, she poked and prodded in places that I would have reserved for a lover, not some officious cleric who seemed to get her jollies off in handling naked females. Wincing through the pain as she probed certain areas, which I thought really didn't need probing, let alone exploring with her fingers, I kept my mind focused on the light above me, and the fact that I would soon be on my way and on my journey.
Once done, and finally allowed to cover what little dignity I had left, I was escorted from the room, guided by the original staff member to another room; here I was again naked, and she informed me that this was my last chance to back out of the contract, beyond this point I would be company property and turned into a maidbot. She gave me a moment to think about it, but I knew that I needed to get away from my life here and on towards my new future, and let her know that I consented for them to continue.
The details of what happened next are slightly sketchy in my mind; I remember her guiding me towards some pod-like thing, and that I was standing in there naked, with my legs slightly apart and hands to my sides as she had told me to do, but once the door of the pod closed and all light seemed to be gone, I sort of blacked out. When I awoke sometime later, I found that there was now a new voice talking to me, though at first it seemed distant and foggy, but as I came around more, the voice became clearer, and I understood this to be the control system connecting directly with my own mind.
As I listened, my body at this moment unwilling or unable to freely move or respond to my own thoughts, I felt a slight panic at the realization that I had no control over my body, but the voice soothed my mind and then enabled me to have some but very limited movement, just for now it told me. The voice then told me again that I was now company property and that the special implants had now been inserted and connected to my body and mind, and that from this point on I would be nothing more than a maidbot for the company to use as they deem fit. I found that I could move my hand, or was I being controlled into doing this, either way, my hand felt around the back of my neck, and running my fingers there, I felt a slightly raised bump of one of the control chips that had been implanted while I slept, or was unconscious more like, in the pod. The voice told me that it was easier and less painful for the transition to happen this way.
Moving from my position from laying on a table to standing, or again was I instructed to do so, it felt somewhat like both my choice but also complying with instructions from the voice. My legs felt shaky and weak, but after a few minutes, I found my ability to walk returning, and then took my first faltering steps as a newly minted maidbot. It didn't seem too bad, I still seemed to have my own thoughts and memories, and I did seem to have some control over my own body at the moment, but the voice let me know that this was limited for now.
The voice of the system continued to explain to me my roles, and then informed me that I had been given a designation as a maidbot MSB9008-46378F, and then directed me to examine my still naked body in the mirror, where it told me that my maidbot designation had been imprinted above my left breast and on the lower parts of my back near my spine, along with a barcode for easier scanning should the need arise, but again the voice informed me that the chipset that was implanted would also allow me to be recognized by my designation anywhere.
But what shocked me even more, was the lack of hair on my body, every part of it had been removed, including the short hairstyle that I usually wore, all gone now and seemingly not to be coming back anytime soon as I was led to believe from what the voice told me. I was completely bald, and even my eyebrows were gone, I looked more android than human at this moment.
After a few minutes to allow that to sink into my mind, the system then took back control of my body from me. I would now be under its control until the end of my contract, which would be the final destination of the ship in about a years' time. The voice then directed me to dress myself in the uniform that the company provided. I thought that I would be wearing some form of maid attire, the images of French maids going through my head. But no, it seems that the rigors of space and the tasks that I would be undertaking required something more hard-wearing and practical.
The suit that my body now wore seemed more like it showed off more than it should have, you could clearly see the outlines of various parts of my anatomy, and the suit seemed to enhance those parts and put them proudly on display. The suit covered my entire body except for my head; it was very tight and fitted my small body easily; it also seemed to stretch, which I guessed would be needed given the work I would be doing. But what seemed strange was the suit had a high gloss shine to it, and the smell reminded me of something, I remember smelling something like it before but couldn't quite recall.
The voice upon seeing my thoughts, helped me recall the time that I once wore an ancient material for a costume party, long before my downfall, where I was dressed in a latex outfit that was based on some classic movie character of the 20th century, cat or batwoman or something like that. But this was actually a new polymer equivalent that was far harder-wearing than those frail costumes, which I recall fell apart after some rough bedroom sex.
The final parts of my uniform were now available for me to put on, the boots that came up to knee level, more protective than glamorous, not the high heeled versions that I had previously worn; these were much more practical and would enable me to work easier, the system informed me. The hood was next; though this didn't cover my face, as it had been found that guests were scared or felt discomfort around a face-less maidbot, so to be more friendly and accessible, the face part had been removed. I wondered why the hood was separate from the suit, but the system informed me that it made it easier for me to move and that hoods could be changed and removed for any maintenance that I would require on the journey, and I wondered what else had been done to me that required this to happen should the need arise.
Finally, the gloves to cover my hands and protect them from any harsh cleaning environments and solutions that I may use in transit. Now with every part of my uniform fitted, I was allowed one last chance to see my reflection in the mirror. The suit did look as tight as it felt, and I could clearly see the outlines of my sex and every other part of my feminine body defined by the high gloss suit; I did wonder why, but then thought that it was more for the guests than myself, I'm sure that they loved looking at the maidbots onboard ship.
Though it was only when I was lined up with the other maidbots did I realize that we all looked the same, with only the facial features differing in some slight way; we all looked the same. The uniforms, the boots, the high-gloss suits displaying our bodies, and the now blank face of all of the maidbots. We all stood there awaiting our orders from the system, it seemed that we were early as we stood there for some time before being told to march in line towards the spaceship.
Once onboard, we were assigned to certain areas of the ship and to designated sleeping pods, where we would rest between shifts and be replenished, and our other needs taken care of. We were quickly put to work cleaning up the main living areas of the ship, the last crew had left a mess behind, and it seemed that it was our task to clean it up. The day continued, and after many hours I eventually made it back to my pod; though I didn't feel any aches from the back-breaking work I had been doing, which I was thankful for, I knew from seeing the mess that there would be much more to do.
The next day seemed to be a blur; all of the maidbots continued to clean and prepare their assigned areas, even some areas that the guests don't usually see, that includes the staff areas behind the scenes and several storage areas. Where we were directed to go, the system showed us how to get there and what to do when we got there; in the map that seemed to appear in my mind, there were certain areas that were blanked out; I assumed that those places didn't need the attention of the maidbots and forgot about them.
Finally, the ship was ready for guests; it seemed to take longer than the few days that we had spent cleaning and preparing for them, but time didn't seem so important to me at this moment, the system commanding my movements and controlling me seemed to have taken over my mind and I was just along for the ride. But being part of the ship now, we dutifully lined up to welcome the guests onboard, standing along with some of the crew; all the maidbots stood at attention, their bodies proudly on display and catching the eye of many of the guests as they walked onboard.
Judging from the looks that we were getting, I guessed that the company chose this outfit to entice the guests; the sexy allure of the maidbots and their uniforms would make them want to choose this company over their rivals. Well everyone has to have some edge over the competition, I guess. Not that I could have done anything at this moment, I was here along with my fellow maidbots, dressed in tight outfits and welcoming the guests, showing them to their assigned quarters or sleep pods, their eyes examining every inch of my body as I walked in front of them.
Once all of the guests had arrived and had been settled into their accommodation for the journey, each maidbot was given tasks to perform; some were waiting on the guests, while others were in the crew section getting meals ready and doing last-minute cleaning. I found myself in the sleep pod section, assisting the guests into their pods and helping them prepare for the journey; some would spend their entire journey in them, while others had opted to spend some time in them and then come out and carry on the journey in the main areas, it was more cost-effective for them this way and reduced the credits needed for their trip.
The longer-term guests of the sleep pods required assistance with changing out of their normal clothing and into the special flight suits that kept their bodies in a suspended state, but also maintained them while they spent their time in them, effectively ensuring that they arrived in the state that they set off in, with no muscle or tissue damage from long term inactivity. Of course, this meant them getting completely naked, and while inside one of the changing areas away from everyone else, it also meant that they were alone with the maidbot that would be assisting them, which was currently me.
Of course, the effects of seeing a tightly clad and suited maidbot did have some effect, as you would expect from the male members of the guests, and I would have blushed at what I witnessed if I had been able to, but the system corrected any such behavior on my part and allowed me to sail through without any hint of arousal or embarrassment on my part. Though looking at some of the bodies and their appendages, I wouldn't have minded being disconnected for a short while, just to sample what was on display and obviously make the guests feel welcome, not for my own pleasure, needless to say.
After every guest was taken care of, things stored away and everything neat and tidy, the announcement from the Captain came through both the guest speakers and the maid control system that the ship was ready to depart, all crew members were required at their stations and that guests should be seated for departure. The maidbots were assigned the task of making sure every guest in their area knew and were ready. As all of mine were now safely stored in their sleep pods, I was assigned to check the main guest areas for any that may have strayed.
Once completed, I was directed to my own pod; entering the room I placed myself inside the open pod, the door of which closed, sealing me inside. The interior seemed to grow around me, securing me in place, and if I could have been able to have free movement at that point I would have been unable to break free. Again I found my mind seemed to shut down, like before, whether it was some form of sleep or stasis I didn't know, it was only when the pod reopened did I return to consciousness, and the ship was on the journey to change my life.
Things on the trip were for the most part uneventful, the routine of cleaning, taking care of guest needs, and also helping the crew seemed to take up my days, and the time seemed to warp by. The only break from the monotony was when the ship stopped at ports of call along the way, again the maidbots assisted the crew and made the guests comfortable in whatever place they were traveling on the ship. This time my role was just welcoming and showing guests to their quarters, some other maidbot got the sleeping pod section. I wondered if she would have the same feelings that I did, I would never know as the maidbots don't communicate with each other.
It was only on the longer last part of the journey did things start to go wrong, for some reason, the control section of some of the sleep pods malfunctioned, so there weren’t enough to go around, and some guests had to be removed from their pods early, much to the disgust of some, while others took it in their stride, especially when offered a discount on future travel. And so it was that I found myself reassigned as a personal maidbot to one of the more disgruntled guests. The Captain had placated her with the offer of having 24-hour maid service and an upgrade to one of the empty executive suites. I had been summoned to the Captain's quarters and while there, the control system for the maidbots that I had been working under was switched off. The Captain explained to me the situation and wanted to let me know personally just how important the task that he was assigning me to. I would be given more freedom to move and think as a reward for my help, he said to me that the guest had requested that her personal maidbot should be 'more human than bot', hence the need for changing my status.
Agreeing to help out in the circumstances, well, I really didn't think that I had much choice anyway, being company property after all, I thought it would make things easier for the last part of my journey, but that didn't turn out as expected. I knew as soon as I stepped foot into the suite that things were not going to be easy for me; this guest turned out to be very demanding and thought that the company owed her for her inconvenience of having to travel like the peasants, as she called them. So she took out her rage and venom on the one thing that represented the company, the maid sent to look after her.
Frequently she would berate and belittle me, send me on pointless or repetitive tasks, each of which I carried out to the best of my abilities, I was still under the control of the system, but I found that I did have more freedom as the Captain had stated, but that freedom was more in mind than body, so I could think that she was a demanding bitch, but couldn't act on it and had to carry out whatever command that she gave me.
The days seem to drag by now; while I had been assigned elsewhere the days seemed to flow into one another, and the passage of time appeared to be quick. But now with 'dragon-lady', as I called her in my mind, in charge of me, the days were long and seemed to be endless. Of course, one of the most prominent changes was in my uniform, gone was the polymer high gloss suit, replaced by a clear version, which I had the horrible thought that this is what she wanted me to wear, I was virtually naked in the suit. No, luckily for me, she had required me to not only be her maid but to dress like one, so I ended up wearing the outfit I thought I'd be wearing in the end, the black dress, the frilly white apron and the maid bonnet.
Her instructions were to call her "Madam" or "ma’am” and not anything else, and to curtsey each time as well. This, along with her constant demands, the long hours, and running around that she had me doing, soon took their toll on my body, it was rare that I was allowed down time to recharge or replenish my body; no sooner had I entered the pod it seemed than I was again summoned to attend to her needs. The only break I thought I may have had was when she herself slept, but she had other ideas and had me doing more pointless tasks, or running from one place to the next to fulfill her needs.
Then one day I found myself in my pod, the recharging had just commenced, and the system was checking my body for any errors or injuries; when it found that I had missed the required hours my body needed for recovery, it also found that part of my body was injured, I needed fixing it seemed and therefore deemed that as a maidbot that I was unfit for duty, and another maidbot was sent to replace me. The pod then replenished, recharged, and disposed of my wastes, once it was satisfied that my body had recovered enough for my duties did it finally allow the pod to reopen and allow me to resume my duties.
Of course, this didn’t go down too well with the guest, she was very unhappy that a mere maidbot had shown up in my absence, and had complained to the Captain; after looking into her complaint, he had told her that I was being made fit for service, and would be returning soon. Well apparently, soon wasn’t good enough, and when I returned, I copped the full extent of her rage, and my tasks became even harder, more involved and I found it much harder to continue, but knew that I must, the system controlled me to ensure that the guest was looked after, even if it meant that I was a complete wreck by the end of the journey.
Finally, the ship reached the last port of call, this was the end of the line for not only me but also the ‘dragon-lady’. I had finally made it through and knew that I would soon be released from my contract and return to living as a normal person. I thought that the mines would be far easier to work in now after working for this woman. But before that could happen, I would have to make sure that everything was ready for her departure, getting her things into place to be taken away to her home on the planet. I hoped that I would never see her again, even though we were on the same planet, I hoped that it was big enough for me not to see her.
Now whether she knew the layout of the ship, or by design was just a mean bitch, but she had directed me to a part of the ship I had never been to before; this was in a part of the gray area that had been blocked out in my internal map. And being that I had some freedom of movement, well the Captain took pity on me and gave me some more to compensate for dealing with the guest, I found that I had the ability to go beyond the control system, something that the other maidbots couldn’t do.
Being in a strange area of the ship was scary; it didn’t look like anyone had visited it in a while, the dirt was everywhere, and I wondered why they didn’t send the maidbots down here to clean, then suddenly came to the realization that I no longer heard the voice of the system in my head, this part of the ship must be some sort of blackspot. It also meant that I had no idea where I was; the internal map that I had been using up until now was no longer helpful or even available to me, just fragments that I could remember. So I ended up hopelessly lost, deep in the bowels of the ship, and then everything went dark when I turned a corner and didn’t see the drop before me.
When I came too, I saw the bright light shining in my eyes; one of the engineering crew had found me, and wondered why a maidbot would have been down here in an area normally off-limits to them. After hauling my body out of the hole in which he found me, I was taken back to the main area of the ship and to the medbay to check out my body for anything broken. As I lay there, I wondered just how long I had been down there and tried to connect with the system to establish what time of day it was, but I found that I couldn’t.
Just then, my thoughts were interrupted when another crew member came in and introduced themselves as the Captain, she wasn’t the one who was in charge on the way here, and a look of confusion must have shown on my face. She explained that the ship had finished the journey and was now heading back to the home planet, they had a crew change on the ship, and that’s how she guessed that they had missed me. Normally something like this never happens, she informed me, and apologized. But then asked me why I was in the place that I was found.
Having explained to her just what happened and that I had been directed down there by the guest, I refrained from using the name I had reserved for her, and that one minute I was walking along and the next waking up after being found by the crew member. She asked me about the uniform that I had been wearing, something unusual she called it, not what a normal maidbot would be wearing she said, looking at the now torn maid dress that I had worn laying on a table next to me. I told her that I had been required to wear that and the near-naked suit underneath to appease the guest.
The Captain laughed, and said that she could see that the suit was see-through, looking directly at my body. I was still wearing the damn transparent suit that I wore underneath. But then things started to sink in; she had mentioned that the ship was now returning, I had missed my opportunity to disembark at my destination, and I asked if there was some way of transferring to get back?
She then told me that the ship was traveling direct back to the home planet, and no stopovers were planned, so I was stuck on the ship until then. But then she informed me that because I had only taken out the contract for the journey to my destination, that I was now effectively a stowaway and could be punished or cast adrift, I was no longer company property or even a maidbot. In fact, she said that there were no maidbots currently needed on the return leg as there were too few guests, only the crew were not in pods, and then only when not needed for their roles.
I was stunned to hear the news that I was heading back to my old life, even more, that I was now a criminal. I was traveling without payment, which was a big crime back on the old world. I would be destined for one of the labor camps for sure; my dreams of gaining independence through my new job in the mines were now no longer a reality. I lay there in a pit of despair as she told me this, and I wondered if they had some holding cell on board the ship that I would soon find myself destined for.
But she informed me that because of what had happened to me and the fact that I had volunteered to help with the troublesome guest, that she would personally intervene on my behalf. In fact, she said as the Captain that in the circumstance she could make it that I could look after the crew areas, as long as I agree to become a maidbot again, and that as I still had the chipset inside of me, that she could reactivate them and return control over my being back to the system.
She then went on to say, seeing that most of the crew are currently in their pods, I guess that you’ll mostly be taking care of my needs, if you get my meaning, she told me. And you get to stay in that suit for a while longer; I like the look of it on your body, so if you agree, we can start.
What choice did I have, and so it was that I became the Captain’s maidbot, and bed companion on those long, lonely nights deep in space. I did have more autonomy than before, though she did switch me over to full maidbot mode when the crew were around; they even got used to seeing me walking around in my transparent suit; if they took any notice I didn’t care, and they knew that I was the Captain’s personal plaything, so they left me alone.
And the journey back was much less strenuous, although some nights in the Captain’s bed were long and rigorous, the journey was soon over, and I thought that things were going to back the way they had always been, that, on the other hand, was where I was wrong, for the Captain had other ideas for me. And after waking up, I had been turned off by her as we neared the planet, I found myself back on board another ship, again with the same Captain, but this time a freighter so no annoying guests and minimal crew, so less work for me and more time with my new owner, I had now signed a contract transferring my maidbot status to her, I now belonged where I should be, happy and contented, and a little sore…