Part 3

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It was just after lunch when Mellanie bounced into her father’s office looking for him. She bounced up onto his desk and bent to give her aunt a kiss.

“Hi Aunt Stephie, where’s Daddy?” she chirped.

“He’s down on the floor meeting with the men that came to service some of the equipment. He should be done in a just a little bit.” She noticed Mellie looking at her in a way she hadn’t in a long time, really studying her. “What is it Mellie?”

Mellanie reached out and straightened her Aunt’s hair, pushing it back behind her ear, her little fingers lingering over the wires leading out from behind the woman’s ear for a moment then touching her own head in the same place.

“Aunt Stephine? Do you like your job?”

“Well like it or not it’s what I do. But yes, I like being useful and it gives me a little pride to do my job well. Why do you ask?”

The little girl sighed and looked out the window a moment before answering.

“Daddy wants me to come and do what you do. I don’t think Mom likes the idea. They were fighting last night.” She picked up a pen from the desk and idly fiddled with the button on the end clicking it open and closed a few times.

“Do YOU want to do it?” Stephanie asked the girl.

Mellanie stared out the window quietly for a moment, her face pensive. She finally turned back to her aunt, her voice quiet but excited.

“I do I really do. You’re the smartest woman I know, and you run this whole place almost all by yourself. I want to be able to do something that important too.”

If Stephanie could have blushed, she would have. “well I don’t do it alone. Your father is the one who runs things, he runs the business and meets the clients to negotiate contracts.”

“Yeah but YOU are the one that really runs things without You this whole place would just stop.” Mellanie looked at Her Aunt with admiration bordering on worship.

Stephanie was struck with a sudden thought, could Mellie have agreed because of HER? She looked at the girl trying to read what was really in her head.

“but last night it hit me… if I do it? What happens to you?” she looked at her aunt sadly. “I don’t want to take your job away from you.”

Stephanie smiled at her niece and for the second time in one day found herself missing her hands.

“Sweetie, I’m really getting to old to do this job anymore. You would be doing me a big favor really. especially as your father is upgrading the plants equipment soon and when he does its going to be hard for me to learn to operate the new machines. You’re younger and more flexible. You will be able to learn them better and faster than I could.”

“But what happens to you?” Mellanie asked not really sure she wanted to know.

“The same thing that happens to every woman sooner or later. At least I know it will be truly painless for me. Literally like turning off a switch.”

As she finally said it aloud. Finally looked at what her fate would be, she strangely found she didn’t mind. All her life before this job the end of her life had frightened her. She knew it would happen. She was even pretty sure how it would happen and that it would hurt. But then Robert had surprised her, even though she was useless as a woman, sterile, unable to bear children like her twin could and doomed to be nothing more than meat. Robert had found a way for her to be useful, to have a life. Of sorts.

She would have told Mellie this but at that moment Robert came in and seeing Mellanie he smiled and braced himself as she launched herself into his arms.

“Stephie Call security we got some loose stock running in here.” He grabbed Mellie and lifted her, slinging her over his shoulder and turning toward the door as she smacked his back giggling.

“Daddy!!! Don’t be gross!! You don’t fuck the stock!!”

“Oh, I Thought that ass looked familiar! Hi Dumpling.” He smacked her ass playfully and set her back on the floor. Moving to sit at his desk as the little girl straightened her skirt in mock indignation.

“So, you here to see me or your Aunt Stephie?” he asked grinning.

Mellanie climbed onto his lap and wiggled a bit more than necessary to get comfortable. She smiled as she laid her hand on her father’s chest and kissed him.

“both of course.” She wiggled again before getting serious. “Mom said Aunt Stephie called and asked me to come see you after lunch.”

Robert looked to his assistant with raised eyebrows. “Oh?”

“The appointment you asked to set up… its at 1:30. I sent the directions to your car’s navigation system.” Stephanie told him.

He looked at his desk clock and saw it was nearly 1:00.

“Hmm I guess we should be getting ready to leave now then.” he said. “Come on sweetie we have an appointment.”

“We do? For what?” Mellanie asked nervously.

Stephanie spoke up at this point. “before you can do my job, they need to test you and be sure you can handle it. It shouldn’t be a problem for you.”

Mellanie was suddenly nervous, “Will they do it today?”

“No, they company requires that all candidates be tested first and then the arrangements will be made.” Stephanie told her. “your father and I are positive you will be accepted but the rules have to be followed.”

Mellanie nodded her understanding, took a deep breath, letting out slowly, and took her daddy’s hand. As she walked with him to the door, she looked up at him. “Do you think they’ll show us how they do it?”

“We can ask.” Her Daddy said as he opened the office door and let her go through first.

The walk to the car led through the plant, not on the floor but on the catwalks along the sides of the building. Mellanie couldn’t help but look down at the activity below. It wasn’t a new sight she had visited her Daddy at his work many times and most of the workers knew her by sight. A very good thing considering what they did. It wouldn’t do to carve up the boss’s daughter without his say so. Mellie slowed for a moment watching as a line of roasters, girls about her age were lined up in front of the clipper, some giggled excitedly, some looked scared, some seemed to be completely unaware and unconcerned with what was about to happen. It was this last bunch that made her a little sad. These were farmgirls. Raised in batches for the sole purpose of being meat. Raised in pens and never educated at all, many of them couldn’t even speak. They hadn’t had a mom or a dad to hug them or teach them anything or just to love them. At least the other girls knew what the world was like. They had played with friends gone to school and maybe like her had even gotten to know a little about sex.

As she watched a young red headed girl was laid on the bench in front of the chopper as a worker clamped her ankles to a hoist. He slid the bench toward the clipper, which as its name implied, neatly clipped her head off between the two large blades. The meat was then lifted off the bench and slid down to the next stop where the machines began to take over, slitting the torso and letting the guts fall out into a trough , the next stop had a worker who removed ant organs that didn’t fall free on their own.

Mellanie wanted to keep watching the meat as it made its way through the line, but her Daddy’s cough brought her attention back to the present. She smiled up at him and followed through the door to the car park.


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