The following morning they got up in good time. Belle explained that they needn't rush, since no-one would be expected at their desks before nine, and they didn't have far to travel. Marion couldn't have an on-site breakfast, because she wasn't officially a staff member yet, so they made their own and got themselves ready to depart with time to spare.

As on the previous day, a member of the security staff took them up to Site Security, and an administrative assistant took Marion's card in order to start the employment process. The puzzled woman discovered that Marion's details were already on file, and was alarmed when she discovered why. Khiskov was called, and smoothed things over, but the woman was upset because the usual procedures had not been followed, and it was important 'because it's security'. It took a call to Sophia to get Marion's accreditation confirmed.

At least they didn't have any problems when they got to Stores, since the stores keeper knew what was going on and why. Marion got her staff disc, which Belle clicked around her neck, and she got a dress in brown with white cuffs to the sleeves. Above the left breast a name plate had been sealed, with 'Marion' in large letters, and underneath in slightly smaller type 'Counsellor'. With Marion carrying her outside clothes over her arms, they left Stores and headed for the open area at the front of the building.

"We came out of Stores through the public entrance, if you understand me," Belle commented. "It's one of the few places we can cross the fence without being challenged."

"The 'fence'?" asked Marion.

"Yes, it's not a real fence. It's used to describe the area inside of which you can only move about with the aid of your disc. Outside you can do most things with either your disc or your card, but you can't use your card to get through any gates inside. In fact, normally you can't get inside if you're carrying your card. I'll explain why that is when we get to the locker room."

Belle led the way to one of the two locker rooms, the one usually used by the E Deck Shepherds. She walked between rows of lockers until she reached her own.

"Here," Belle said, "this is my one." She pushed her ID card completely into a slot on the front, and opened the door. "If you don't mind waiting a few seconds while I get changed." She did this with practised ease, putting on the familiar light grey shirt and trousers, and exchanging her outside shoes for lightweight ones with touch-and-close fastenings. She loaded various items from the shelf into her trouser pockets. When she had finished, she closed the door and pointed to the lock mechanism on the front.

"The locker, my card, and my disc all work together. The door only opens when both the disc and the card are in the lock, and I can only take out either the card or the disc when the door is closed. When my card is in the lock, I'm officially at work, and when I take out the disc, I'm officially on duty. Like so," she added, and pulled down a transparent flap to remove her disc, which she clicked around her neck.

"Now, to take the disc off, I pull out this little thing here," she pulled out from the bottom of the lock mechanism what looked like a black plastic disc connected to a retractable cord. "Place this thing under your disc like so," she demonstrated, "and it should come open." There was a click and a pin fixed to one end of the braid came free from the disc, enabling her to remove it. "It checks that your disc matches the card in the slot, so you can only remove your disc at your own locker. Put the disc in the little pocket and close it, and you can then either open the locker or take out your card. With me so far?"

"I think so," said Marion. "I can't see how to get it wrong, so I should be all right, especially if you're around the first few times."

"As you saw me do the other day, it is possible to walk out of here with just your disc, but obviously you can't do much without your card. There have been the odd occasions when forgetful staff have got as far as getting on a tram before they've realised. It can get embarrassing. Fortunately, those of us with uniforms have an incentive to change before we leave, so it's not usually a problem." She tapped a square door above the locker. "This cupboard is also mine, it will unlock when the owner approaches while wearing the disc, or when the disc and the card are both in the lock. The idea behind this is that certain staff may need to get items during the day, for example we have diabetics among the admin staff. A lot of us usually keep our bags in there, one or two people bring in lunch. And on top of the unit is where any laundry of yours gets placed when it's done."

"Sounds good," said Marion, "but how do I get a locker for my things?"

"Easy," replied Belle. "Just look for an empty one. A locker with either a disc or a card in it, or both, is in use. Just look for one which has neither. When you put your card in it, you'll claim it as yours. Now I happen to know -" she moved along the row, "- yes, this one's free. Got your card?"

Marion inserted her card, and an indicator winked briefly. Belle took the clothes from Marion, and Marion pulled the release tag out from under the lock and clicked open her disc braid. She placed the disc with it's attached braid in the pull-down pocket and closed it, and the indicator winked again. She tried the door, and it opened.

"See? Easy!"

Marion arranged her clothes in the locker, closed it, and reclaimed her disc. Belle took her out of the room and showed her the staff canteen which was sandwiched between the two locker rooms on the ground floor.

"Breakfasts and dinners can be eaten here," she said, " and admin staff - which may include you, I suppose - can also eat lunch here. All food is free, and there's quite a good choice. Shepherds have to eat their lunch on the Decks, which means we have to order a tray like the detainees do. Ready to go upstairs now?"

"Yes, please."

They walked over to a nearby lift, getting a stare from a nearby Shepherd as they passed through the fence.

"I have the most tremendous urge," Marion said as the doors opened, "to hold out my hands for you to cuff me. I feel almost naked to be walking around here without."

Belle looked at her fondly as they entered the lift. "I wouldn't do that to you, love. Firstly, you're now a member of staff, and secondly, you purport to be a trusty, neither of which would be wearing cuffs."

"You can cuff me any time," Marion said, softly.

Belle's eyes glistened. "What a wonderful person you are," she said, "to show such trust. I just hope I can live up to your expectations."

The door opened before either of them could say anything else, and they exited onto D Deck, which was where Sick Bay was. Belle nodded.

"That's a good thing, though," she commented.

"What is?"

"Look at it this way, six months ago you would never have thought of asking me to do that. It shows that you can adapt, you can learn new habits. It means you ought to have an easy transition. Here we are, shall I see you later today?"

"I don't know. Probably."

"If not, I'll come and find you down here at the end of our shifts. That okay?"

"Yes, of course."

Belle headed for the stairs, and E Deck, and Marion entered Sick Bay and headed for Sophia's office.

"Service, Sophia."

"Oh, service, Marion. Take a seat while I sort this out."

Sophia hammered away at the keyboard for a minute or two before she looked up, scowling.

"This job is ridiculous. I'm glad I'm not running a hospital. No wonder Pannal went crazy."

"I shouldn't pass comments like this, Sophia, but I think Pannal's problems went farther than just too much form filling."

"I don't doubt you're right. Now, I've found you somewhere to make a base, if you'll come with me." Sophia stood, and ignoring her communicator's insistent call, led Marion out of her office and through Sick Bay.

"I have a spare consulting suite, which is this one," she said. It was a small office with an attached treatment room with the inevitable powered chair with straps. "I can't imagine you'll be using the treatment chair, but it's there if you want it." She waved Marion to the chair behind the desk, and sat down herself in one of the two in front of it. "If nobody's done it so far, welcome to the madhouse that is Female Offender Containment Facility Five. I have no idea what to do with you, I've been far too busy since we last saw each other. How have you been doing?"

"It's been very tiring," Marion replied. "Belle dragged me round shops both days, so I've got a basic wardrobe and I'm not unhappy with that. But it's been a bit overwhelming, and to tell the truth I'm glad to get back inside for a rest."

Sophia ran a hand through her hair. "I don't know what should happen to you in terms of induction procedures, but if you want to take it easy for a few days that's fine with me. Any idea how you're going to manage your job?"

"Not really. It's going to be a case of try something and see what works, I think. With your permission, I think I want to use E Deck as a sounding board. I know all the Shepherds and all the detainees, so they'll tell me what works and what doesn't."

Sophia waved her hand. "Go ahead. I would caution you that most of the other Decks aren't as calm and collected as E Deck, so don't assume that what works up there will work anywhere else. There's one place I might suggest you try next, and that's D Deck, just along the corridor and left at the end, underneath where you were. That's the Sick Bay ward, where we keep the detainees who have broken limbs or a disease or some other medical problem. The set-up's similar to E Deck, but obviously the patients don't move around quite as much as the E Deck crowd can."

"One other thing I thought of," said Marion, "is that I might accompany you on your rounds, at least to start with. That way I get an idea of what the different Decks are like and you can introduce me as we go, so that when I subsequently appear, people know why I'm there."

Sophia nodded. "That's a good idea. I don't - obviously - get much opportunity to do rounds now, but you can go out with one of the other doctors here instead if I'm not available."

"That's fine by me," said Marion.

"Now, your desk terminal should be set up for you to use, I called Facility Services yesterday to have it done, but I don't know if they needed your paperwork first before they'd do anything. Because it's a Sick Bay terminal, and because you're one of my staff, it means that you can access the records of everyone, and I do mean everyone in the facility, staff as well as detainees. We're responsible for looking after both up here in Sick Bay, around a thousand in all. Because most of the staff work long or unsocial hours, they tend to use us instead of their local doctors, and the system is set up to permit that. That means two things that you'll have to take note of. The first is that you'll be able to access medically privileged information, and you'll have to remember to keep it that way. You presumably took an oath when you were signed on by Site Security?"

"Yes, I did."

"Which one? It makes a difference. The medical staff have a slightly different set of regulations and ethics from the detention staff, who have a different set from other staff, and so on."

"They got confused by me, because I didn't fit into any of their pigeon holes. In the end, because I would be working for you, they gave me the medical one," replied Marion.

"Oh, good, that solves a lot of problems. But you do understand the issues involved?"

"Yes, Director. I know when to keep my mouth shut, and if I get any problems I'll ask someone first. Will I be allowed to add my own notes to the files, if I need to?"

"I don't see why not. You'll be careful, won't you?"

"I'll probably ask someone to hold my hand for the first couple of weeks," said Marion.

"The other thing that I realised when I got Facility Services to add you in," Sophia continued, "is that of course you may have to talk to members of staff as well as detainees. Are you prepared for that, if it happens?"

"The thought had crossed my mind, but that was all. I, like you, have had other things on my mind the last couple of days."

"Good. I'll let you settle in, then. Have you ordered lunch yet? Of course not, you haven't had access to a terminal. Tell you what, I'll collect you at lunchtime and we'll go and eat together in the canteen. We can have a chance to talk, and it will get me away from that damned communicator. Okay?"

"Yes, Director."

Sophia left, and Marion got up and wandered round her new domain. She opened all the drawers and cupboards, discovering odd things like a leftover box of surgical gloves and a box of specimen jars, but little else. When she sat down at the terminal and powered it on it recognised her, so she began to investigate the facilities available to her, discovering that there was a great deal more she could do than even Talya had been able to discover upstairs. There were a number of messages in her inbox, and she was still figuring out what to do with some of them when Sophia reappeared at lunchtime.

"Oh, yes, you get a lot of this junk to start with. You acknowledge that one, and that one, and send them back to where they came from. That's a copy of your contract, move it to your personal file. Those others you can ignore for the time being. Fancy lunch?"

"Yes, please. I'm not sure how I'm going to manage the admin. I'm more of a doer than a keyboard jockey."

"Join the club!"

The two women took the lift back down to the ground floor. Sophia was interested in Marion's activities during the last two days. They were talking and walking towards one of the sets of gates that separated 'inside' from 'outside' when a loud voice stopped them.

"Just where do you think you're going, citizen?"

A fit young woman wearing a uniform similar to a Shepherd's but with black cuffs to her sleeves put out a hand to stop Marion. The woman looked enquiringly at Sophia.

"Your pardon, Citizen, but you know the rules. Trusties aren't allowed through the fence."

"This person is a member of my staff," Sophia replied, "she's not a trusty, even though she's dressed like one. I'm Facility Medical Director Caparelli."

The woman looked askance at Marion. "This is... unusual. I'll need to verify both your identities. Please step over to the scanner."

Sophia and Marion both did so, and the machine confirmed who they were.

"I'm sorry, Director, I didn't realise. Is this some new arrangement, then?"

"Yes, it is. Marion here needs to talk to the detainees, and it was felt that it would be better if she wasn't dressed like a Shepherd. Sorry to have caused confusion."

"I guess it's not going to be the last time it'll happen. Just doing my job." The woman waved her hand to permit them through the gate.

"This could get awkward," Sophia commented as they entered the canteen. "Perhaps your choice of outfit wasn't such a good idea."

"This was the Controller's idea, not mine," Marion said. "I've not seen that uniform before today. Black cuffs?"

"Site Security. Like the name implies, they look after the overall building security whereas Shepherds manage Deck discipline. They're technically Shepherds, but of course there are turf wars. There's a file somewhere which shows all the different colour and clothing combinations we use in the facility which should explain all this. I suppose you'll have to get added to it eventually."

There were a number of double-takes from staff already eating in the canteen, and the women serving behind the counter gave Marion searching stares. The stares continued after they sat down.

"This could get tricky," Marion commented, as she inspected the 'healthy' lunch she had picked. "What really matters is what I look like inside the fence, though, so we may have to work something out. Maybe a grey jacket I keep in my office." Of course, with only women in the building, lunches were always going to be tailored to their dietary requirements. Marion thought, without much enthusiasm, that she might eventually get used to female ideas of food. She took care to eat slowly, and tried to avoid the looks that kept coming her way from other diners. When they got up to return their trays and leave, it was almost possible to hear a collective sigh of relief run round the room.

A different Site Security Shepherd was waiting at the gate in the fence when they approached, and she looked positively tense when the gate clicked open for Marion. She didn't say anything, but Sophia and Marion could both practically see the wheels turning. They both spent the lift journey thinking of ways to improve the situation. Sophia got out at Sick Bay, and Marion carried on to E Deck.

Not being sure of the protocol, she waited outside the gate until someone noticed her on the watch station monitors. An arm was waved, and she pulled the gate open, the first time that she had been able to do that on her own since she had originally entered the facility. She walked down the corridor to the watch station.

"That's a bit different," Linda remarked, indicating the brown dress. "Is that what they decided to put you in?"

"This is the Controller's idea," replied Marion. "It seemed reasonable when she first suggested it, but just now we nearly had a riot when Sophia took me to the canteen."

The expression on the four womens' faces was interesting, as they realised the effect that the presence of a trusty outside the fence would have.

"Not a good idea," said Kristina. "Is there anything you can do?"

Marion sighed. "I'm adding it to my list of things to worry about."

"It should be easier once everyone knows what the colour combination means," said Elena. "But I bet Site Security has a fit every time they see you."

"Yes. I'm trying to solve problems, not create them," said Marion.

Elena instructed Marion, "When you come to a gate, just walk through it, you don't have to have someone let you in. That only happens if you're with someone who isn't allowed through the gate on their own. Which, now I come to think if it, is how you would have seen gates operated in the past, being a detainee. You wouldn't have realised a Shepherd could just go through if she was by herself."

"Thanks, Elena. I can see I'm going to have an exciting week or two finding out how things work. Do you mind if I go and chat to the girls?" Marion indicated the lounge.

"Go right ahead. It will be interesting to see what they think of your outfit."

Marion walked through the gate and entered the far lounge, where ten women were jammed in having a discussion. The talk stopped abruptly as she appeared.

"Marlon? You back inside? Belle told us, but we couldn't quite work out what's going on. Did you not get freed after you left us, then?" asked Martha. She came forward and gave Marion a hug, followed by several of the others. It seemed Martha was the unofficial leader of the E Deck detainees now.

"Yes, I did get freed," Marion replied, "and I legally go by the name Marion now. I'm back here working, doing much the same as before I left you."

"But why are you dressed like that, then? From what Belle said, I thought you had become one of them instead of being one of us."

"I hope I'm not seen as one of them or one of us," Marion said. "I don't want to be seen as a Shepherd, because that's going to throw up a barrier to anyone who wants to speak to me. The Controller suggested I wear something like this."

"Can you come and go as you like?" one of the other women asked.

"Yes, I can," Marion said. "I am in fact an employee here now, and Sophia is my boss, so that effectively makes me one of the medical staff, but not a Shepherd. As far as I am aware, I have the run of the facility. Oh, and if you hadn't heard, I've got one of those transitional apartments up the road, so I live quite near at the moment."

"So what's your job, then?" Martha asked.

"We're making it up as we go along. Nobody quite knows what I'll be able to do or how things will work out, so we can experiment a little to find out what works best. Sounds like this uniform isn't one of those things. The general idea is to do much as I did while I was up here before, only I'm supposed to be covering the whole building." Marion shrugged. "Can't see me doing that on my own, somehow. But if I can get the general principles laid down, we can find other people who might be able to help."

"That's an excellent idea. We were wondering what might happen once you'd left E Deck. You certainly pulled us all together," Martha said.

"Is this an official visit, then?" asked Deyna.

"Yes and no," Marion replied. "I'm just up here to say hello, and to let you know I'll be around. If anyone wants to talk, I'm here. If you want to talk privately, I'm sure the Shepherds can find us somewhere to hold a personal conversation. I expect you'll eventually be able to get hold of me the same way you can get hold of anyone in Sick Bay or Stores, but I don't know if they've got that set up yet. On the other hand, sometimes I think I'll just come up here for a good old-fashioned chin-wag. I am not about to desert my friends."

"You'd do that?" someone asked, "isn't that against the rules?"

"I don't see why it should be. I must emphasise, I'm not a Shepherd. They have to treat you a certain way, and you have to behave a certain way, because that's the only way to keep order inside such a place as this, even if some of you don't like the idea." Several of the women nodded agreement. "That's fair enough, but it would hamper what I intend to achieve. Don't you agree? So, unless someone in authority objects to what I want to do, I plan to make up my own set of rules, and they are going to include spending some time with people I respect whose words I've learned to value. You lot."

"She's at it again," said Martha. "With a pitch like that, how can we fail to agree?"

"Flatterer. I expect I will also, on occasion, tell you about people on other Decks who have told me things, carefully anonymised, of course, and ask you for opinions. You're never short of opinions, let's face it! I will freely admit that there is much I don't know about the new female world I now live in, so I will expect serious and unbiased help, if you're prepared to give it."

"Feel free," said Martha. "You do realise that what you're proposing is to feed us juicy gossip from the other Decks? You know how to bait the hook, don't you, dear."

"Yes, perhaps I should have rephrased that slightly." Marion smiled. "But you will help, won't you? You'll be much more involved in this little project than any of the other Decks, so E Deck will always be my base. I'm relying on you all to keep me grounded. Now, there are some things I need to ask the group about. How many of you have spent time on the other Decks? I need to have some idea of what I'm likely to face, so I can figure out how to handle them."

About a third of those present had been transferred from other Decks during their current detention, a third had had experience during previous detentions, and the rest were newcomers who, like Marion, had never known anything else other than E Deck because of their circumstances. Marion became more unhappy as the experienced among them contributed their memories of life in the jungle. One thing became clear, that every Deck had it's own culture and had to be approached in a different way depending on what particular women were detained, and how the Shepherds controlled the situation. Marion became ever more thankful that she had ended up here instead of a male facility, which would have been even rougher, a thought which caused her some wry amusement when she recognised it.

Several of those present offered to collect experiences from those who for various reasons hadn't been in the meeting. With the afternoon passing, Marion took her leave and walked along to Talya's room, because she wanted to enlist her support also. When she arrived, Talya's door was open.

"Service, Talya."

"Service... Marlon? Marion? What should I call you now? What are you doing in that get-up? Shouldn't you have been released by now?"

Marion outlined her current circumstances and why she was dressed like that, and explained the problems that had caused so far.

"I don't know," Talya said after a while. "I'm no more familiar with the insides of this institution than you were, so I can't say I understand the problem that well. But I agree, it seemed a good idea at the time, but it's not going to work. Have you had any ideas?"

"No. The only thing I'm sure of, is I don't want to look like a Shepherd."

"You tell me all the staff wear grey, and they all wear shirt and trousers, and all the detainees wear dresses in various colours, but never grey. I think the dress is key. As you say, you have to be able to talk to people without any barriers, and the dress will show you're not part of the forces that keep people in here, so to speak. But how about a grey dress? That will show you're a member of staff, and should give you enough authority to show you're not to be messed with. I've been hearing lurid stories of what gets done on some of the other Decks."

"You're right," said Marion, "the girls have been telling me things about their experiences elsewhere. It's bad, perhaps, but not as bad as some of the rumours would have you believe. Your suggestion about dress colour has merit. If I'm dressed in grey, and there is trouble, the Shepherds would be able to identify me and haul me out. It would make my movements around outside the fence a non-issue as well. It would also be more honest, which is a thing which has concerned me about this," she fingered her brown dress, "I don't want to appear to be something I'm not."

Talya nodded, but questioned, "Can you change something like that? I thought everything in here was controlled fairly tightly."

"I'm in an interesting situation, since this is a new post. The rules covering what I can do and where I can go, and so on, haven't been written yet. I expect I've already broken a whole pile of regulations, but nobody's said anything yet, so I'm keeping quiet and just getting on with it."

"I envy you," sighed Talya, "to be able to do just what you want to."

"I'm not sure want is the appropriate word," replied Marion, "it's more a question of need. Speaking of which, I think I might need you. I told you how I intend to use the E Deck girls as a focus group, well, I want to make use of you as well. It's early days yet, of course, but I think I might need the sort of help you can provide. Can I ask you, how long have you been here, and how much longer have you to go?"

"Four years," said Talya, "and I've got about two years to go, with nearly a year before I can be considered for parole. Why, what did you have in mind?"

"My problem is, before I came here, I was just a simple machine minder in a factory. Oh," she added, waving a dismissive hand, "I know there's more to it than that, but the point is that I'm beginning to think the admin side will be fairly heavy going. I wondered whether I could co-opt you. Get you made a trusty, in fact. If I can do that, would you be prepared to help me? It would mean working down in Sick Bay. There's probably not going to be a lot to do at the start, but it'll take time to get ourselves organised. What do you say?"

"Me? A trusty?" Talya looked apprehensive. "I'm not sure."

"I don't even know how they determine who to make a trusty in this place," said Marion. "You can make that your first investigation. If I can swing it, you'd be in my office downstairs, so you'd probably see less people than you do up here, if that's what's worrying you. You'd also have to seriously earn your status, since the terminal I have in my office is an unrestricted medical one."

"Wow. You know how to swing a carrot in front of someone."

"Funny, that. The girls down in the lounge said much the same thing. Interested?"

"You bet. I understand that it's mostly going to be admin work, but that's okay. I owe you anyway for digging me out of the hole I'd got myself into, so if you can find me something useful to do in this place, then I'm in."

"Hmm. Don't get your hopes up too high just yet. Find out if there's a way for me to get you down to Sick Bay to start with."

"I'll do that." Talya's face fell as Marion stood up. "You're leaving? I wanted to hear about your shopping trips."

"You lot certainly have one track minds, don't you?" Marion laughed. "I'll come back tomorrow and tell you, I promise. I want to get down to Stores before the end of the shift to see if they can make me a grey dress."

Marion left Talya's room and departed E Deck, telling Belle in passing that they would meet in the canteen at shift changeover time. She made her way back down to the Stores counter.

"Service, citizen."

"Service, Marion."

"It occurs to me that I don't know your name, even though we've talked a number of times. Would it be against regulations to ask?"

"No, not at all. I'm Miranda Hardacre. What can I do for you? Is it the dress?"

"Yes, it certainly is. I wore it to the canteen at lunchtime and there was nearly trouble. Site Security seem to be having difficulty with it as well."

"I know, I was in the canteen when you came in. I was the one gave it to you, but seeing you come through that door nearly gave me a heart attack."

"I'm sorry. I don't think anyone could have predicted the general reaction I got. It looks like this is a non-starter."

"What do you want me to give you instead?" Miranda asked. "You did say you didn't want to look like a Shepherd, but I don't see how we can achieve that if you're not in a dress."

"We talked about this upstairs," Marion replied, "and someone suggested a dress the same as this one, but in the same material and colour you make the Shepherd uniforms out of. Is that possible?"

Miranda pursed her lips. "I'd have to make a special program to do it," she said, "but I suppose it's possible. I'd have to register it as a new uniform type and..."

Her voice trailed away as she considered how she would have to feed in a new pattern to the computer-controlled machine that made the specialised seamless clothing which was worn within the facility. Her head came up. "You still want to have the white cuffs?" she asked.

"How difficult would that be to do?" asked Marion. "I'd like it if it's possible. Once my dress becomes seen around the facility, other people might want one. I know the Shepherds won't be able to wear them, but there are admin and other ancillary staff who might. What do you think?"

Miranda looked at her sharply. "You're making a lot of assumptions, here, for someone who's been in the job a single day. But you could be right. I was thinking about it myself when I made you that one. Okay, white cuffs it is. It'll take me some time to set it up, so you'll have to wait till morning. Exact same pattern as the one you're wearing?"

"Yes, please. Oh, there is one thing, I think I'm going to need a datapad. I've spent the afternoon talking to a whole lot of people and I desperately needed to take notes. Have you got such things in here?"

"This is Stores you're talking to, you know," said Miranda proudly. "Of course I can issue you with a datapad. You understand that the ones we issue are specialised, and can only be used inside the facility?"

"I wouldn't want it any other way," said Marion. "But my point is that if you issue me with a datapad, my dress will need a pocket to put it in."

"Of course. And, of course, detainees dresses don't have pockets. Where would you want it? Central pouch, like a kangaroo? On your hip, perhaps?"

"Don't care. Just so long as it doesn't dig into me when I sit down."

"Done. The dress and the datapad should be ready for you in the morning."

Marion decided that the best thing to do would be to go and change, while it was still quiet, and then go into the canteen and maybe have a coffee till Belle arrived. Getting out through the fence without an escort proved a struggle, but she finally persuaded the Site Security Shepherd to let her through, and she thankfully slunk off to the locker room to change.

Another problem then presented itself, since she had forgotten what her locker number was. She was just contemplating testing every single locker in the room to see which one released her disc when another Shepherd came in.

"Can you help me, Shepherd? I've forgotten which locker is mine. I only started the job today."

"How did you get in here?" the Shepherd asked Marion in tones which suggested she thought Marion had escaped from a Deck. "What's your normal duty?" The woman pulled a short metallic stick out from a trousers pocket and aimed it at Marion.

"I'm staff, I really am. Look, here's my staff disc." Marion held up her disc for the woman to see, and the woman lowered her stick, but didn't put it away.

"Why are you dressed like that, then? Oh, your tag says 'Counsellor'. What's that supposed to be, then?"

"It's something new the Controller's trying out. I go round and talk to the detainees. I didn't want to look like a Shepherd."

"Huh." The woman's tone indicated that she thought the idea was hare-brained. "Oh, very well, it happens to a lot of newcomers. See that panel beside the entrance? If you go and stand by that it'll tell you your locker number, amongst other things. If you come in from outside, there's a slot for your card at the side."

"Service, Shepherd."

"In fact, I'll come with you just to confirm you're not making it all up." She gently pushed Marion over to the panel and it promptly lit up with Marion's name, position, usual work location and locker number. "Huh, you're telling the truth. Sorry, Counsellor, just doing my job."

"Not a problem, Shepherd. This outfit isn't going to work, so I'll be getting a different one tomorrow. Thank you for your trouble."

The woman wandered off, shaking her head. Marion followed her, repeating her locker number to try and memorise it. Changing back into her outside things went smoothly, and she exited the locker room and walked into the canteen, ordering a coffee from the counter. Not to her surprise, no-one took the slightest notice of her in her outdoor clothes. She was, however, surprised to find quite a few people in the canteen, and realised that most of them were probably the evening shift grabbing a meal or a drink before they started work. She took a table and sat down to consider the day's events.

Her surmise about the others in the canteen proved correct when most stood up and left in a group, talking and laughing together. Only four people were left beside herself as she toyed with her drink. Going shopping had been bad enough, but she had been familiar enough with the general situation to cope even if the feminine specifics had needed to be learnt. The facility, on the other hand, was a specialised institution and very little in her six month stay there had prepared her for her new job. She wondered yet again if she was out of her depth, and sipped her coffee moodily. She was still contemplating the task she had taken on when Belle arrived and sat down next to her.

"Daydreaming, dear?"

"Oh, service, Belle. No, I'm wondering if I've bitten off more than I can chew."

"Surely not, you seemed supremely confident to me when you came up to our Deck. What's up?"

"I think I'm like the proverbial swan, all graceful on top and paddling frantically underneath. I thought, like Elena thought, that I was good at talking to people, so that's what my job would be. Since I've come back here to work, the whole thing has got blown up out of all proportion. Why can't anything ever be simple?"

"That's just a fact of life, these days. Remember, also, you've just come from an environment where practically everything was done for you, as you reminded me the other day. You're having to use your brain now, and it'll take some time to get into your stride. I wouldn't be too worried about it. Most new jobs are the same, you feel lost and confused the first week or so, then everything clicks and it becomes smooth. You'll see."

"I hope you're right," Marion said doubtfully.

"Give it time, dear. Now, do you want to eat here, or go home. If you eat here, it'll save you the effort of cooking and washing up. On the other hand, you might not like the choices here."

"Let's try the local fare, then. It'll let me see what sort of meals are available, if ever I have to do it again. Let's get in the queue," she added, as the canteen began filling with day staff who had just finished their shifts as Belle had. She said as they stood, "I wouldn't be averse to the odd meal out, if you're interested. Home cooking's fine, but sometimes you want to eat something you'd never be able to make at home."

The food offered could be described as 'acceptable institutional cuisine', and there was a reasonable choice offered. They both chose substantial meals and ate them slowly, talking about a range of subjects as they did so. Finally, they finished and wandered back to Marion's apartment for the night.

"This is the last night I can stay," said Belle as she closed the entry door behind them. "I'm running out of underwear, so I'll have to go back to my apartment after work tomorrow. If you don't want to stay here on your own, you're welcome to come home with me and stay a couple of days."

"I don't know," Marion said as she filled the kettle. "It may be a little too soon. Uh, I don't mean, it's too soon to stay with you, I mean it may be too soon for me to try something else just yet. I've had a lot happen to me in the last week or so."

Belle nodded. "I understand. But the offer's always open."

Marion put the kettle on its stand and switched it on. "Belle," she asked, serious, "Would you like me to move in with you?"

Belle looked up, her expression difficult to read. "I would like nothing better," she said. "I don't think it's a good idea at the moment, though. As you said, there's a lot going on at the moment, and the last thing you want is extra relationship pressure. I'm content to let things develop at their own pace, if that's all right with you."

"I understand, and I think I agree. I think I ought to stay here until I've at least got the job running smoothly, or until I'm found out and they kick me out. After that point I think I'll have had enough of this place and want to move on." Marion looked at Belle. "Perhaps we'll know better by then where we stand. I'll certainly take you up on a visit before then, though, once the outside world stops being big and loud and whizzy."

After a drink, with the evening free, Belle took Marion into the bedroom and sat her on the chair in front of the dressing table. She got out the bag of cosmetics and personal care items and shook them out onto the table.

"I think it's time we had a look at your face," she said. "There's a little tidying up I can do before we get to the powders and paints." Belle fetched a chair from the dining area and sat on it in front of Marion, then picked a pair of tweezers from the pile of objects on the table.

"This shouldn't hurt," she said. "After you've done it a few times, you won't even notice. I'll do it for you the first time, though, because it's tricky doing it both sides until you get the knack."

She set to work on Marion's eyebrows, plucking from underneath and making the edges more defined. Marlon had never been particularly hairy, but Marion's eyebrows were a little on the heavy side for a female, so Belle reduced them a little and gave them a suitably feminine shape.

"There, that didn't take long, did it?"

Marion's eyebrows were still smarting from the onslaught, but she was impressed by the difference Belle had made to her appearance.

"Now, you start by cleaning your face with some of this," Belle instructed. "Don't ever let soap get near it again. You may find this stuff makes your face dry, or oily, or you might get a reaction, so tell me if that happens and we'll look for something else more suitable. You do it like this," and Belle demonstrated the sweeping motions with a tissue. She then instructed Marion in the use of moisturiser, foundation when required, blusher, powder, eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara, lip liner and finally lipstick, demonstrating some of the stages on her own face. When she had finished Marion looked at a totally different woman in the mirror.

"I look... like someone else," said Marion finally. "I don't know that I'd want to go this far every time, just to end up looking like a different person." But the person who spoke in the mirror was very definitely and undeniably female, and Marion wondered if she'd end up hiding herself this way to cover her own perceived lack of confidence.

"Not to worry, dear, that's just a sample makeover," said Belle. "Normally, you'd just do a little to your eyes, and perhaps a bit of lipstick in the evening if you're going somewhere. I've shown you most of what can be done to your face, it doesn't mean you have to do all of that all the time." She added, "although, I have to say, I do know women who wouldn't be seen dead without all that on. Now, I think you ought to leave your face like that for a while to get used to the feel, and you can have a go at cleaning it off later when we go to bed."

Marion felt self-concious for the next hour, walking about with her face painted. She decided that she would adapt to cosmetics in stages as circumstances merited. When they retired, Belle showed her how to get it all off without getting it everywhere, and Marion felt a little exposed by the time she got into bed.

"I quite appreciated the massage you gave me last night," Marion said, as they turned out the light, "I'm sorry I fell asleep halfway through, I was just so tired. Would you mind doing some more some time?"

Belle grinned in the darkness. "Of course, if it means I can get my hands on you. But, you must understand, there might be inevitable developments if I massage anything but your back."

"Oh, I'd figured that out," replied Marion, her hands searching for Belle under the quilt, "Maybe not tonight, I'm still tired, but I'm beginning to feel... interested, shall we say."

"Whenever you're ready, dear," Belle murmured, "Whenever you're ready."