A Brief Conversation with Momo-chan
Jennifer Tempest glared silently at the glistening, latex-covered figure in the restraint chair in front of her. The only part of the woman that wasn’t coated entirely in black, polished latex was her head, which was mostly covered by her heavy-duty gas mask, the dark lenses staring back at Jennifer with a cold detachment. The woman’s hair was a hot pink color, tied up into twintails at either side of her head, the only part of her that wasn’t covered in rubber. An additional layer of latex in the form of a tightly fitted, thick straitjacket held her arms securely around her in a tight self-hug, multiple straps keeping her secured to the chair. Her legs were similarly secured, sheathed in a sheet of latex held in place by laces and additional straps, only her feet really free to move. And move they did, shifting back and forth, her toes wiggling almost playfully, rather innocently, each individually sheathed in latex.
The uncomfortable silence extending a bit longer, Jennifer’s frown deepened, but she held her anger in check behind her carefully constructed wall of cold detachment. The glare she had lanced the woman with had sent many people cowering and blubbering to apologize for whatever slight they had committed against the succubus, but this woman hardly seemed to notice. At last, Jennifer spoke. “Why do you continue to vex me so, Momo?”
The tightly restrained woman across from Jennifer tilted her head, breath hissing softly through her gas mask. “What do you mean?” Her voice was entirely too innocent. She knew exactly what it was she was doing, but yet she persisted in playing innocent.
“Why do you continue to sit there in front of me in those restraints when both of us know you could free yourself at any moment? Just as you have done repeatedly since you submitted yourself for observation and evaluation? Why continue playing as if you can’t simply bypass my highest security restrictions with ease?” Jennifer’s voice took on a definite venomous quality, her lip quivering as her anger threatened to break her cold mask. “Why, Momo-chan, do you continue to vex me?”
“Oh,” Momo said, tilting her head the other way, taking in a breath, then letting it out with a protracted hiss through the mask. She shifted inside the straitjacket, rubber squeaking softly. “It’s cozy I guess.”
“Cozy?” Jennifer said flatly, her scowl darkening, eyebrow twitching.
“Yeah, like, you know. Cozy. Comfy. Feels nice.” Mom shrugged. “You have really nice, cozy facilities here. Probably the best I’ve experienced, really. Much nicer than the government facilities I was in before. And your staff is nicer, too.”
Jennifer breathed in slowly through her nose, easing back in her chair. She shifted her legs, crossed them with a slight squeak of latex. “Would you say that you’ve enjoyed your time in my facility, then?”
“Oh yes, absolutely,” Momo said immediately, nodding quickly. “Best nuthouse…um…mental health facility…I’ve ever been in. So many interesting things to do and see!”
Jennifer felt her eyebrow twitch. “Nuthouse…the audacity!”
Over the course of the last month, after Momo had admitted herself voluntarily, Jennifer had subjected Momo-chan to multiple examinations and tests, many of which were incredibly painful and intrusive, not that Momo had particularly cared; she couldn’t feel any of it, her pain receptors burned out by whatever super-soldier cocktail the secret government program she’d been involved in had shot her up with. Momo had remained tight-lipped about the details, citing national security, Despite her claims of being independant now, she still stubbornly refused to divulge secrets from her time working for the US government, not even a hint at which agencies she had been involved with, nor the type of work she had been involved with. Whatever her motivations now, she had an unshakeable loyalty to her country.
Jennifer had tried to uncover those secrets of course. When Momo-chan, the only name she ever gave and the only name Jennifer had managed to find associated with the woman, had arrived at Edgewater, Jennifer had performed a deep dive into her history, but found only a shallow puddle. There were no records of her anywhere; no fingerprints on file in any organization, no DNA records, no service records from a woman matching her description. Even Bob and all of his internet savvy could find nothing but vague references buried deep in the dark web. Momo-chan was a ghost, a government spook with her past completely erased.
Failing to find anything about Momo’s past on file, Jennifer had of course moved to more esoteric methods. Her initial attempts at influencing Momo’s mind with her succubus aura had proven useless, the woman’s mind far too focused, despite appearances to the contrary, to be affected. Likewise she had proven resistant to any drugs that had been tried, and even Miasma’s gasses had proved ineffective in manipulating her. Whatever it was that the government had done to Momo had made her very resistant to all forms of torture and mental influence, and had even given her an amazing regenerative ability. Bane and Del Vecchio’s tests of the depths of Momo’s pain resistance had found no bottom to that particular hole, and many of their tests had been complicated by that healing ability; even the most severe wounds that they had inflicted had healed in a matter of minutes, and yet they had not managed to get her to scream once.
Well, not through pain, anyway. Momo-chan had screamed many times, but only when her latex bodysuit or gas mask were removed. It was the one curious quirk of her mental state that was absolutely debilitating for her. As soon as her gas mask was removed, for instance, she would begin getting panicked, and within a minute she was screaming to have her ‘face’ returned. It was the same if her latex bodysuit was removed; Momo had likened it to having her skin peeled away, and screamed if that was the case. Thus far, therapy and various drug treatments had been unsuccessful in breaking that psychological attachment, perhaps only delaying the inevitable breakdown to a few minutes in some cases.
Realizing that the silence between them had continued and gotten uncomfortable once more, Jennifer spoke again. “Why are you in Sentinel City? You had mentioned a new start upon admission, but why come here first? It couldn’t be the food here. Certainly not just to disrupt my facility and shatter the confidence of my staff, I hope.” Not only had Momo proven an enigma in terms of her history, but she too had proven herself to be a security risk of the highest magnitude. She had managed to escape from every single restraint that had been tried upon her, and Jennifer couldn’t figure out exactly how she was doing it. Multiple new designs had been created by Misha over the last month, and while they could completely restrain even someone like Nurse Winters indefinitely, they barely slowed Momo. Not even the ultra-max security ward with its layers of defenses could slow her for long, and even Miasma’s many gasses flooding the corridors outside the cells had only managed to slightly inconvenience Momo; her gas mask hadn’t had a filter attached since her admittance, in fact. She had wiggled free of everything they had placed her in, and even found ways out the cells that couldn’t be replicated, at least not yet. Thankfully Momo’s only interest during these escapes were the cafeteria or snack machines, but that was of little comfort.
The fact that she had gotten out so many times proved there were deficiencies in Jennifer’s security, and she simply couldn’t have that.
Again, Momo shrugged. “The food isn’t bad, pretty good, really, as far as nut…er…mental health facilities…go. I just needed somewhere quiet to think for a while. And thought, you know, maybe I could get some answers about my conditions? Or maybe some perspective on them from professionals not on the State’s payroll?” Momo shrugged again, but this time the straitjacket that had been wrapped so tightly around her was loose. With the slightest wiggle, the straps around her torso seemed to loosen and Momo pulled her arms free of the jacket and wiggled her hips, pushing the straps down her legs and sliding them out of the sheath in one smooth motion.
Jennifer blinked once, then again. “How did she do that?! It shouldn’t be possible, but yet again, there it was! I was literally staring at her the whole time and saw nothing!” Even the camera footage of Momo’s escapes had been inconclusive. Further, Jennifer had enlisted another patient, Clean Sweep, to observe Momo during several escape attempts. Even the woman possessed of superspeed and blindly fast reflexes had been unable to offer anything helpful. Jennifer’s incendiary gaze fell onto the restraints, which were still locked, exactly where they had been before, then went to Momo’s lens-covered eyes.
Momo seemed to notice this time, giving Jennifer a girlish giggle in return as she raised her hands and shrugged. “I was feeling a little warm, so…”
Snatching her glasses from her face, Jennifer heard herself let out a low growl as she rubbed her eyes. After collecting herself, she turned her eyes back to Momo. “Your thirty days are up, Momo-chan. Leave my facility and endeavor to never return, please. Not that we would turn you away if needed, but I fear we may not be equipped to deal with someone of your particular talents.” Jennifer tapped quickly on the tablet that had been on the desk.
Momo’s head tilted again, but she finally nodded. “I have plans and lots of business stuff to get into, so I’ll be busy for a while. Um…thanks for trying, though. And uh…sorry? I did enjoy my stay, though. Five stars, without a doubt. Great fun. Would visit again.”
“Feel free to leave a review online,” Jennifer muttered, feeling her stress levels peaking. Bob would be working overtime this evening. “Doctor Ausar will handle the exit interview and see you out.” Jennifer motioned to the door with a dismissive wave. She caught Momo’s innocent, friendly wave out of the corner of her eye as the woman left the office.
Once the door had shut, Jennifer took several minutes to breathe slow and deep, easing her nerves, but not nearly enough. She would need something more. Picking up her phone, she tapped the screen, found her contacts, and dialed. It was answered just after the first ring. “Bobbi, report to my office immediately. And…clear your schedule for the rest of the day.”
Thanks so much for reading!
Stay tuned for something different coming soon!
Until then, Urban out!
Hit me over on DeviantArt, or on my Discord server! I’m usually always around, and would love to hear what you have to say!
