A Chance at a new life/Page1

A Chance at a New Life - A Penny Starts Over (No spanking, prologue)
Part 1 - The Verdict

"Miss O’Shaunessey, stand and face the court. Drinking and driving is a serious offense. You could have killed innocent people while under the influence. At the time you totaled your hovercar, your blood alcohol was 0.247 almost five times the legal limit. (Note: the limit has been reduced to 0.05%) You were fortunate that you only received cuts and bruises, by all rights you should have needed an emergency rejuve..."

Anne looked down at her feet. ‘Annie, Annie, Annie, how could you have done this to yourself. You know what alcohol does to people. You of all people should have known better. I wish he would get on with the sentence. I know I am going to become a Penitatas, how long, how bad?’ Anne snapped back to the present.

"...6 times 4 to 12. In addition, you will perform community service to educate others about the dangers of driving under the influence. Sentence to be carried out immediately. Court adjourned"

"All rise."

Anne sat back down in shock. ‘Thirty-two years, at least 16 as a hard-timer. Thirty-two years. What will my parents? Parents! PARENTS!?!’ shaking her head. ‘Be like. They have to be better than what I had. Even the continuously sore bottom has to be better than what I had.’

"Miss O’Shaunessey, come with me." The representative from the corrections board stood behind Anne and waited. "You aren’t going to give me any trouble, are you?"

"No...I’m sorry I don’t know your name." Even facing rejuvenation, Anne couldn’t break the conditioning from her younger years. Her friends had always called her Miss Manners. Anne hoped that excellent manners would score a few brownie points for her.

"Mr. Jacobson. Robert Jacobson. I know you have a lot of questions about the procedure. We will answer all of them before the procedure is carried out. Come with me please."

Anne followed right behind him. They got into the official’s hovercar and went to the corrections board. ‘It looks like such a normal building. It’s amazing to think how many lives have been changed here. Wow. My life as I know it has just changed forever. My stuff, what’s going to happen to it. Storage? Sale? What? He is kinda cute. No ring! What am I thinking, he is carrying me to be rejuved. Oh, God, what have I done.’ Anne broke down crying as they pulled into the garage at the Corrections Board facilities.

Almost automatically, Robert handed her a tissue. "Crying won’t make it go away you know. This way." He led her through a labyrinth of corridors, past a sign that said ‘Rejuvenation Waiting, straight ahead’ To Anne, the corridors seemed endless. They stopped outside a room named "Rejuve Prep Alpha" Robert put his thumb on the touch screen and a green light came on above the door.

They went into a sparsely furnished room. There was a daybed sofa, a table with a lamp and a visiophone, and a small conference table with four chairs around it. Anne looked around apprehensively. It didn’t seem overly threatening. No paddles anywhere. Just very utilitarian.

"Please take a seat." Robert’s voice broke through her reverie. Anne took off her jacket and put it on the sofa. "There are many details to work out before you go to rejuve. And I know you have many questions as well. First, lets go over the disposition of your belongings and bank accounts. Since the judge didn’t impose any fines, your belongings and accounts are free and clear." Checking the PADD, Robert whistled. "You certainly have a nice sum in your accounts. How come you live where you do with that kind of income...It doesn’t matter. It just surprised me. That’s all. Per regulation 142, Section B, paragraph 4, your assets will be either frozen or placed with a designated money manager to increase your income. With either option, you don’t have access to it until you have reached 18 after you have become a Completas. Your belongs will either be placed into stasis or sold, or disposed of as you wish."

Anne agreed to the disposition of all her worldly possessions. Most were to be given to friends, the remainder was given to charity. She signed form after form. Finally, after six and a half hours the last form was signed and thumb-printed.

She was given a shift to change into. "It is too late tonight to rejuve you. You need to get a good night’s sleep since tomorrow will be big day. If you are hungry, you can order anything, within reason, from the vendslot. It has pretty good food, for intuitional food, that is. The facilities are through this door." Robert indicated a door to the left of the sofa. "Most pre-rejuve penetatas have trouble sleeping the night before their rejuve. The sensors in the room will monitor your vital signs and if you are not asleep within thirty minutes a delta inducers will help you sleep. The door is not locked; however, it will alert if it is opened without authorization. The penalty for attempted escape is determined by the Penitatas’ court. You are in enough trouble as it is. Do you have any questions? I know it is a lot of information to comprehend all at once."

"I just have one, what about the community service? How does that work?"

"CS is a fairly new program. After you turn 10, you will join a team that goes to Kindren High Schools and community centers to talk about the dangers of drinking and driving. You WILL be on your best behaviour; you can and will be spanked right there in front of the students, so they understand the full ramifications breaking the law. Here is a booklet with more information on the rejuve process and the Penitatas program. Worrying about tomorrow won’t change a thing. You can enjoy one last night without a sore bottom. Good night." With that, Robert left the room and the door slid back into place.

Anne decided that she wanted a good dinner before she became a child again. She ordered a Cesar salad, rare steak, baked potatoes, cooked carrots, and a chocolate mousse for dinner. She got a shock when she ordered a glass of wine to go with dinner. "Mind altering substances are not allowed for 24 hours prior to rejuvenation." droned the computer. Iced tea was an acceptable substitute. The food looked, smelled and tasted wonderful; unfortunately, Anne’s nerves prevented her from eating much. She just picked at her food. She decided that the sooner she got to sleep, the sooner it would be over.

oOoOoOo

At 7:30 am, a rejuvenation technician came in and woke her up. He handed her a hospital gown and told her to change. Quickly. Anne performed her morning absolutions, and said a quick prayer for forgiveness, and set down on the bed to wait. Her stomach was too upset to eat.

At 8:00 a different technician came in. "Anne Marie O’Shaunessey?" Anne nodded mutely. The technician put a retina scanner up to her face for verification. After the machine verified her identity, the technician placed an identification bracelet on her right wrist. "This will be removed after the P’s are put onto you hands."

The technician and Anne walked down what seemed to be an abnormally long corridor. They stopped at a Rejuvenation chamber at the end of the hallway.

The technician told Anne to place her wristband into the slot to the left of the door. Then the retina scanner again verified her identity. After the computer was satisfied that Anne was the correct person, the door unlocked.

Anne was directed to a table in the center of the room. A very kind doctor stood over her and gave her an encouraging smile. She felt the coolness of a hypospray in her arm and descended into darkness.

oOoOoOo

Anne woke up with a start. "Where am I? What’s going on? Why do I feel like this?" Anne started to cry. "Annie, it’s going to be okay. You have just been rejuved. The confusion is normal. Try to sleep. Your mind hasn’t caught up with your body yet." Annie was very tired, sleep beckoned.

It could have been ten minutes or two hours. Annie woke up with a start. This time she remembered everything. She had been convicted of a felony and sentenced to Penitatas punishment. ‘Wow, the world is so big! This gown is so big!’ Looking at her hands, Annie noticed the silver P‘s on the back of her hands, ‘It’s official, I am now a Penny-A Bad Penny.’

Annie realized that everything about her was smaller, including her bladder. "Mythster, oh mythster," Annie got the attention of the technician standing by her. "I need to go bafroom. Pleeze. I really gotta go." The technician lifted her off the table and carried her to the bathroom. ‘Wow, where did that lisp come from? Did I really sound that bad when I was a kid?"

Annie was very upset that the technician didn’t leave after he set her on the pot. "Will you pease g’way so I can pee pee."

"No honey, you can still have adjustment problems so I have to stay here."

After going to the bathroom, Anne was put back into a crib-like bed and after another three hours of observation, to ensure that the Nano-Web was acting properly and that the adjustment problems had resolved, Annie was dressed in a simple pink dress, white panties, white anklets and black patent leather shoes. Her strawberry blond hair, which had been long when she was an adult, reached down to her waist. It was pulled up into a pony tail. A nice technician named Mrs. Ribley took Annie’s hand and led her into the corridor. Down to the waiting room. There was a simply dressed young couple sitting at the table, talking quietly with the doctor.

"Mr. and Mrs. Warren, this is your new daughter Annie." "Annie, meet your new parents, Bruce and Gwen Warren."

Mrs. Warren came over to Annie to pick her up, but Annie hid behind the technician’s legs. She had been a shy child, and was very shy right now. "Annie, they are nice people. They are your new parents." The technician gently brought Anne from behind her legs. To Anne’s new parents, "According to our records, she had a bad childhood. Even now, despite all the checks, a few bad parents make it through the classes, especially on the outlying planets... She will be receiving extra counseling sessions to work through the past. If you’ll come over here, I’ll show you the reports and requirements."

While Anne’s new parents were discussing her past with Mrs. Ribley, Anne crept beside Gwen’s chair. She slipped her little hand into her mommy’s hand and held her breath, expecting to be rebuked and sent away. Instead, Gwen squeezed Anne’s hand and lifted her up onto her lap. It felt warm and secure. Maybe being a penny won’t be all bad.