Planet Telex

"Welcome home, Mistress." Kea bowed a little as she opened the door for her owner.
"Make me a cup of tea, and be in the main room in five minutes." Feathers of Copper curtly replied, stepping past the Assistant and towards her bedroom.
"I-I... yes, Mistress, of course." Kea replied, as she heard the bedroom door nearly slam shut. She closed the front door quietly and went to the kitchen to prepare the tea, as she was ordered to do.
She had barely put it on the table, in front of her Mistress's seat, before it was occupied by a visibly annoyed Feathers of Copper.
"Sit." Copper said, motioning to the Assistant's seat at the table, across from her.
Kea did so without a word, quietly wondering what she had done. She had done all the chores she was asked to do -- did she do something incorrectly? Did she forget something again, like last week? She did promise she wouldn't forget another thing...

"Today, I got a visit from the Ministry of Internal Affairs." Copper said, bringing up her messenger bag and pulling out a thick folder, putting it down on the table with a thump. "Do you have any idea why that might be, or why there's a few hundred pages of new reports here in your folder?"
Kea peered over at it, heart sinking when she recognised her serial number printed on the front. "I-I... um..."
Feathers of Copper opened the folder, turning over the standard redacted pages that every Assistant had in there, until she got to a wire-bound report which constituted most of the folder's new heft. She pulled it out, and put it between them, letting Kea see the large Ministry of Internal Affairs insignia on the cover page. "Something about the Assistant Liberation Movement?" She said, opening to the summary contained on the first page. "Does that ring any bells, Kea?"
Kea winced a little bit. "M-Mistress, I can explain everyth-"
Copper held up a finger to quieten her Assistant. "Attended several secret meetings, which were organised by belligerent Avians on behalf of the Tarnash Empire..."
"I-I... I didn't know that!" Kea protested, thinking back to them. "I-I was just told... just told that it was campaigning to improve the welfare of Class Bs in the cities! That's... that's not illegal, or anything!"
"Of course it isn't." Copper replied, flipping through the report's many pages. "But, attempting to undermine Avian society on behalf of an enemy is."
Kea whined and looked over at her Mistress. "I-I swear, I didn't know th-"
"Excuses." Copper said, quietening her again. "Did the occasional dragon at the meeting not tip you off? That they were held in secret instead of the Forum, like everything else?"
The Assistant looked down at her hands. "In retrospect... a... little, I guess?"
Copper closed the report and dropped it in front of Kea. "Well, the organisers have since been arrested, and apparently quite quickly gave up the name of the attendees. One of which was you; they even wrote down your serial number at one meeting. You're not denying you attended, are you?"
Kea didn't dare touch the paper in front of her. "I only went a few times, Mistress, and... and I didn't do anything! Just listened!"
"So, you did. The Ministry wants me to send you back for a few days, they're trying to gather enough information to root out the Tarnash cells."
Kea's eyes went wide, remembering the ambient horrors of the Ministry that every Assistant, even the Class Cs, experienced during their assignment. "N-no! No, Mistress! I... I... I'll do anything!"
"I don't want to hear it, Assistant. But, luckily for you, it'll happen after this." Feathers of Copper took another page from the file, and put it in front of Kea's beak.
"TEMPORARY REASSIGNMENT NOTICE", the page read at the top. "Current Assignment: Class C Personal Assistant to Feathers of Copper."
Kea winced again as she read the title, dearly not wanting to continue.
"New Assignment: Class A Personal Assistant to Feathers of Copper.", it continued. "Duration of Reassignment: 2 Months"
Kea whined and pushed the paper away, as if that meant it didn't exist anymore. "N-no, I can't... I can't be a Class A! Please!" Class A was a terrifying thought to Kea -- no thoughts, no memories, no freedom, and usually it even meant being stripped of your identifier. She had heard of the treatment of a couple of Class Bs that got reassigned to As in the Liberation Movement meetings. Maybe they weren't true, but if it was being held above her as a punishment...
"You will accept your punishment, Assistant. You will take your reassignment, and you will tell the Ministry what they want to know. You don't have a choice." Copper said, with a slight tinge of anger. "You will learn from your mistakes. Being a Class C does not mean you can do what you like."
Being referred to by just 'Assistant' made Kea's heart sink even further. "Please, Mistress... Don't send me to the Ministry..." She begged, desperately.
"I don't have a choice!" Copper growled. "That's my punishment, for not keeping a better eye on you."
Kea drooped down in her chair a little, feeling guilty. "They... they're not doing anything to you, are they? Not for what I did..."
"No, they are not. But they are making me implement your reassignment, before I send you off for interrogation. You will accept it, as I have."
"Yes... yes Mistress. I'm... I'm so sorry..."
Copper said nothing, and just left Kea at the table with the reassignment notice.

Personal Assistants, as the relevant documentation explains, are an initiative by The Accord to improve the productivity of its best scientists, leaders, and civil staff. The duties of an Assistant were threefold -- first, reducing the time spent by their owners on housework, cooking, and errands; secondly, to keep their owners happy working for The Accord's best interests; and thirdly, as a long-term companion to ensure the owner's mental stability and wellbeing. Not all Personal Assistants were mind-wiped subjects from punished Class A and B stock (as Ministry of Internal Affairs staff seemed to often request), with many being volunteers to the role. This was mostly to escape some other potentially unpleasant assignment, to escape past mistakes, or as a particularly fanatical way to assist The Accord. Kea was an example of the former, a friend of Feathers of Copper who volunteered to become her Personal Assistant, as an alternative to being reassigned to a newly-built colony ship. Copper, as the Engineering Departmental head of the planet, was entitled to an Assistant, and was all too happy to accept. This came at a cost for Kea, though -- her name, her memories, and her rights -- all removed by the Class C Assistant chip. Even as a volunteer, she was made an Assistant like any other. The risks of a non-Assistant being in that close quarters to important Accord staff were gauged as simply too high by Accord leadership, as they did not want the Personal Assistant to be able to blackmail their owner, nor have the potential for leaks of sensitive data that their owners generally kept in their studies or workrooms. Kea, originally, did not object, although it wasn't until she was given her temporary reassignment notice did her lack of freedom really become apparent.

Class A assignment was usually done in the depths of the Ministry by junior Agents in training. It was not a hard task, provided you knew which switches to flip in the chip's firmware, but Class A Personal Assistants were rare enough that it would have required a manual programming session by someone much more experienced. Since Copper was being made to do it herself, she was instead sent a Reprogramming Manual, customised for owners of Personal Assistants with the requisite instructions and codes to reprogram a specific unit. Overall, it consisted of the keys to Kea's mind, and exactly how to alter it for any given class or assigned role.
"Ah, this arrived for you, Mistress." Kea said, as Feathers of Copper arrived home that day. "The person that delivered it was, um, adamant that I not open it for you."
A box sat on the dining table, about the size of the Manual that Copper had requested. "Ah, yes. This is the instruction manual for your head."
Kea feared it was such, and whined quietly to herself. "Should... should I make you a cup of tea while you read it?" She asked, knowing that it was useless to try and prevent Mistress from reading it.
"Mhm." Copper replied, opening the box and stripping the shrink wrap off the custom-printed Reprogramming Manual. The Accord insignia sat right in the middle of the cover, with the Ministry of Internal Affairs document number and insignia down in the bottom right corner. Kea's serial number and barcode was printed on the bottom right. There was no mistake who it was to be used on.
Kea stood by the kitchen bench as she waited for the tea to steep, hands clasped together in worry as her Mistress began flipping through the book.
"I assume you've got your affairs in order for the next two months, Assistant?"
"Yes, Mistress." Kea nodded. She had been allowed her Class C privileges until the Manual came in, using the time to notify her Assistant friends that she'd be gone for a while. She didn't want to tell them why.
"Good. How's that tea coming along?"
Kea checked the timer, and took out the strainer. "It will be right there, Mistress."
Once she put the tea down in front of her Mistress, she was ordered to sit across the table as the manual was read.
"Everything is very granular." Copper said, flipping another page. "There's no strict Class A settings, but there is a range for each one. Speech, thought, memories. I guess I get to configure what I want within that, then."
"Is that... good?" Kea asked, shifting in her chair. "It won't be as harsh?"
"What makes you think that?" Copper snapped back, scribbling down some notes as she read a pertinent page. "This punishment is coming from me, as well. I was the one that got a visit from an Agent during my workday in front of everyone, after all. I'm also the one that's going to have a thoughtless machine for two months, instead of my Assistant."
Kea whimpered. "Yes, Mistress. Sorry, Mistress."

Kea shifted about on her knees, uncomfortable in the ropes that her Mistress had tied her up in. Mistress had never been into that, she thought, which probably explained the messy rope work and inefficient knots, but considering how irritated Mistress looked, she had to guess that it wasn't something enjoyable for her to have to do, either.
"I don't have an interrogation chair, but this will do." Copper said, sitting in her armchair, Assistant kneeling at her feet. "They say to make sure you stay still."
Kea kept her head bowed, not even bothering to tug on the rope holding her bent backwards, wrists pulled towards her ankles by it. It was better this than an interrogation chair, as uncomfortable as the floor is. She was sure that being questioned about what little she knew about the Liberation Movement would have been fun, either. "If you think it will help, Mistress."
Feathers of Copper leant forward in her chair, the Reprogramming Manual and compiled notes on her lap. "Ready?"
Kea nodded, and closed her eyes, not sure what would happen.
"Very well. See you in two months."
Kea winced at the thought -- she knew she would still be there, as Mistress's Personal Assistant... but not 'there'. The thought trailed off into nothing as her Mistress started speaking.
"BC7, switch to debug mode." Copper said, as if she was talking to a machine. The machine that sat inside Kea's head. "Authorisation code two-one-six-seven-five."
Kea's body instantly relaxed, physical control immediately overridden, only her spread knees and the ropes keeping her steady. "Nhhh..." She groaned, as all thought evaporated and her conscious mind was suppressed completely. "Access... granted... debug mode... enabled..." She said, with some difficulty.
"Head up, look at me." Copper said as the Assistant's head tilted down, eyes still closed.
"Yes... ma'am." The Assistant's head slowly tilted upwards, eyes partly opening. Feathers of Copper glanced at them for a second, and could almost feel that Kea was not currently behind them, empty and almost glassy.
The Class C chip implanted in Kea's mind was not powerful enough to completely control her body directly, as Copper had read, even though it was enough for Class A thought suppression and behavioural controls. She would just have to take it slowly. This was not entirely the Kea they knew, as the standard honorific reminded her. This was BC7, in their purest form -- no mind, just the chip.
"Good. Now... read out current configuration parameters." Copper ordered, pen at the ready to jot them down. Even though she was angry at her now, she would want Kea back sometime.
"Thought suppression... none... memory suppression... limited to pre-Assignment... behavioural modifications... minimal, domestic servant subroutines... post-Assignment identity suppression... none..."
Copper wrote each one down -- all matching the basic Class C Personal Assistant profile. Something that, in hindsight, was probably far too lenient.

"Set configuration parameters to writable." Copper said, reading the next step off her list. "Clear configuration."
"All configuration parameters are now writable." BC7 responded. "All configuration cleared. Awaiting new configuration."
Feathers of Copper looked over the choices she had written down. "Set thought suppression to Class A, total. Set memory suppression to Class A, total. Set behavioural modifications to Class A, domestic servant subroutines." The next one, Copper hesitated saying.
"Confirmed. Missing required configuration parameter, post-Assignment identity suppression." BC7 said, Kea's usual bright voice instead slow and monotone.
Copper sighed. This was a punishment, and she did want Kea to remember how Assistants were punished. Hopefully, then, she'd not have to do this again. "Set post-Assignment identity suppression to Class A, total."
"Confirmed. Identifier suppressed. Unit will respond to 'BC7'. Optional parameters may now be set."
"You will speak only when spoken to, or otherwise required." Copper said, trying to hide the emotion in her voice. She was split between a vindictive anger -- how dare Kea cause this much trouble for her owner -- and a sad pity for the slumped over Assistant at her feet. "You will obey absolutely, or goddess help you, I will just send you back to the Ministry."
The threat didn't seem to mean anything to BC7. "Understood, ma'am."

Feathers of Copper wondered for the rest of the evening whether the punishment really was aimed at Kea. An interrogation would be enough to scare any Class C back to total conformance; but being made Class A affected the owner more than it did the Assistant. In two months, Kea would be put back into debug mode, turned back to normal settings, and remember nothing -- not even the interrogation that she had just been ordered to the Ministry for. Not that you can really 'interrogate' a Class A -- they will reply honestly to any question, without exception. There wasn't a thing sitting in the way of an Agent and the information. But, that was where Kea -- or BC7, as they now responded to -- was for the evening, and maybe a few more days. They promised they'd be returned unmarked, but she never trusted the Agents...
"Ugh. Guess I'll have to make my own damn tea." Copper said, hauling herself up from her armchair, kicking away the pile of cut rope at the foot of it.
It wasn't something she had to do herself since she was made Departmental Head. Maybe this really was a punishment for her...

BC7 made her way back to Copper's apartment three days after her reassignment, returning to her regular Assistant duties. The apartment was much messier than when BC7 left; take-out containers on the kitchen bench, an empty bottle of Copper's favourite spirit laying on the table beside her armchair, and an unkempt bed indicative of tossing and turning throughout the previous nights. BC7 cleaned everything up, as was her standing orders, not even sparing a thought as to why the apartment was like this, just knowing that it was her job to make it tidy again. When the chip's clock notified BC7 that Copper would be arriving soon, she stood by the door, as she was ordered to do every day.
"Welcome home, Mistress." She said, as Copper opened the door, unaware of her return.
"Oh goddess!" Copper exclaimed, nearly dropping her bag. "Oh, okay... it's just you."
BC7 stood still by the door, an empty-headed look on her face, devoid of any real emotion. "Yes, Mistress. I have cleaned your apartment, as per my standing orders."
Copper glanced down the hall, remembering that she forgot to clean up the past few nights of trying to forget what she had to do to Kea. "Good. Make me a cup of tea, bring it to my study."
BC7 nodded, and turned towards the kitchen, following the order. Copper sighed quietly, and pushed open her study door. Maybe if she kept her head in things, it would go quicker.
"Here is your tea, Mistress." BC7 said, once it was prepared, putting it down on the usual spot on Copper's desk.
"Thank you, Kea. Dismissed."
The Assistant stood still, blinking in confusion. "What was it you wanted, Mistress? What is a Kea?"
Copper sighed, putting her pen down and rubbing her temples. "Thank you, BC7, I meant. You are dismissed."
BC7 left without another word, to continue her cleaning tasks, leaving Feathers of Copper in her study. Copper picked up the teacup, and stared off into the distance as she took a sip. This was going to be a long two months.

"You'll turn me back to normal after this, right?" Kea had asked over dinner, one of the nights when the Manual had not yet arrived.
"Yes, of course." Copper replied. "This is not my choice, and even though I am angry at you now... I will miss you while you're gone."
"Gone... yes." Kea spun that word around in her head all the rest of that evening. She wasn't physically leaving, but... maybe it was easier on Feathers of Copper if they were allowed to pretend that she had just been replaced for a while.

Feathers of Copper lay alone in her bed, arm out over where Kea would usually be, restlessly thinking over that previous evening. She had ordered BC7 to sleep in her armchair instead, which the Assistant was all too happy to do. Mere moments after settling in her owner's usual reading spot, the Assistant was out like a light. Copper felt a bit jealous at the ability to just be 'switched off' and go to sleep like that, as her current attempts at sleep were frustrating and fruitless.
"Maybe it is my fault." Copper thought as she turned on her side again, staring out the window at the endless cityscape outside. "I never took any interest in what she was doing, and never asked... she is too trusting to avoid being led astray."
Copper knew that Kea could barely resist the word of any free Avian, even without the chip -- being a trusting, innocent soul. One that cared. Unfortunately, one that also cared about things that she is now disallowed to care about. Being told that it was a good thing, that she might be able to improve the situation of others... Copper was able to see why Kea was blinded to the obviously seditious methods that the group she was invited to advocated. But, it was too late to prevent anything now. She did have to wonder why it all felt like a punishment on her, though... there were surely better ways of dealing with Assistants.

It was barely two weeks before Copper declared she couldn't stand it anymore, and made her way to the Ministry to demand Kea's punishment be forgiven.
"Welcome to the Ministry of Internal Affairs." The young Avian receptionist chirps. "How can I help you today?"
"I'm here to see Wings of Yellow." Copper said, reading the name off the reassignment notice Kea was given.
"We don't usually allow civilians in to controlled floors, ma'am, do you have an appointment with them somewhere?" The receptionist replied, scrolling down the calendar on their computer.
Feathers of Copper sighed, and unbuttoned her jacket to pull her ID card out of an internal pocket. "Scan this. And keep it quiet."
The receptionist looked confused, but pressed the card against the scanner. "I... oh. I see." They passed it back, looking over the results on their computer screen -- a photo, name, and a position that said no more than 'Departmental Head, Engineering'. Everything else was marked out in red 'not authorised for security level' stripes. "Come on through, Mx Copper. Floor 97, there'll be someone up there to take you to them."
Feathers of Copper stuffed her ID card back inside her jacket. She disliked it when people made her pull rank, especially when doing so was discouraged. Departmental Heads were important enough to be potential targets, but not quite important enough to have guards, so most of their identity was kept a secret. Copper grumbled about this situation as she waited for the elevator to take her to the correct floor, as she realised a floor number this low meant that the one to sign away Kea's mind was no more than a junior Agent.
"Feathers of Copper?"
Copper looked up to see an Assistant clutching a clipboard, obviously sent to escort her to the correct place. "That's me."
"If you'll follow me, Wings of Yellow is right down here..."
The Assistant led Copper through the winding mess of cubicles, until they turned a corner to a slightly larger set containing junior Agents instead of the normal office-working Assistants. "Just in there, ma'am. Do you need anything else?"
"No, thank you." Copper said, taking the reassignment notice from a pocket of her jacket. "I should be fine."
"Very well, ma'am. It's 24A, if you need anything later."

Copper stepped into the cubicle and threw the folded reassignment notice down in front of the surprised Wings of Yellow. "Wings of Yellow, right? Fix this."
The Agent swung his chair around, confused to see a civilian-clothed Avian in the office. "What is this? Who are you?"
"A reassignment notice that you signed off on. I want it rescinded." Copper growled, trying to be as imposing as possible. "Also, you don't want to know."
Wings of Yellow opened the page and read over it. "Ah yes, the Personal Assistants caught during the Assistant Liberation Movement raid. The twenty of them got two months, the half dozen attending that day got six. Sorry, can't do that."
"You're saying you signed off on some of them having six months of Class A?" Copper replied, furious. "Do you know what you're doing?"
"Yes." The Agent responded, smugness nearly dripping off them. "I'm doing The Accord a service by punishing those that would do it harm, and the irresponsible owners who aided them."
"You think a Class C is capable of doing anything those meetings were calling for? You think a Class C is even capable of turning down an invitation to the meeting from a free Avian? Do you think a Class C tells their owner absolutely everything they've done, considering their role?"
"That is none of my concern. Now, please leave, before I have to call security." Yellow pushed the paper back into Copper's hands, and turned back to his work.
Copper growled and pulled her ID card out from her jacket, turned Yellow around, and shoved it in his face. "Put this on your datapad. See who I am, see why it is unwise to call me irresponsible. Then, do exactly as I say."
Yellow frowned at the confrontational Avian before him, taking the card and scanning it. "I'll call you whatever I like, th-" The smugness faded from his body language entirely as he realised who he was talking to, and mumbled something as he passed the card back. "What... what do you want me to do?"
"Rescind the punishment of every single one of those Personal Assistants. You have done immeasurable damage to the morale and wellbeing of high-ranking Accord staff, to fulfil your own cruel little power fantasy." Copper growled, pushing their datapad in front of them.
The junior Agent nodded, pale in the face, and began going through each and rescinding the punishment. Copper, meanwhile, took one of the forms from the trays on Yellow's desk, and began filling it out.
"W-what are you doing with that?" Wings of Yellow asked, realising that Copper was filling out a Reassignment form.
"I'm going to give you a feeling of what you've done to my Kea." Copper scowled, standing to poke her head over the cubicle. "Hey, 24A, you around?"
The Assistant ran over to the cubicle where she left Copper, stopping outside and standing straight. "Yes, ma'am?"
"Who runs this floor?" Copper asked, finishing the form. "Can you go fetch them for me?"
"Talons of Smoke, ma'am. And I will ask her!" The Assistant then left, to go do as they were asked.
"And you, Yellow. Are you finished, yet?"
"I-I... yes, all of them have been rescinded, they should get the news by tonight."
"Good. Sign this." Copper put the Assignment form down in front of the junior Agent. "I do need two signatures on this, however. I'm sure when Talons of Smoke discovers one on her floor sentenced Personal Assistants to six months of Class A, she'll be more than happy to sign..."
"B-but, they were dangers to Accord society!"
"Close your beak, pigeon. You have set the work of the owner of every Assistant you punished back two weeks, maybe more." Copper pressed a claw against his chest. "You will learn from your mistakes. Being an Agent doesn't mean you get to do what you like."

"Welcome home, Mistress." BC7 said, as Feathers of Copper opened the door. "Are... you alright, Mistress?"
Copper chuckled and patted the slight gash on her cheek with a tissue. "Yes, yes, don't worry about me. Put on a cup of tea. Put it on my armchair table." Copper couldn't believe the junior Agent had tried to fight her when Smoke called in another to do the second signature, declaring that Yellow was immediately stripped of his position and therefore couldn't even sign his own reassignment form. Fortunately, she had taken basic training back when the Science Division was absorbed into the sprawling military... she was sure a broken arm would heal up fine in the confines of an Assistant pod.
BC7 quickly prepared the tea, and placed it down beside Copper once she settled down into the comfy armchair.
"Down here, Assistant." Copper motioned to the ground in front of her, where BC7 immediately knelt. She opened up the Manual, and flipped to where she kept her notes. "BC7, switch to debug mode. Authorisation code two-one-six-seven-five. Clear configuration."
BC7 immediately went limp, her body falling sideways onto the carpet. Copper sighed, realising she probably should have expected that.
"Access granted... debug mode enabled." BC7 mumbled into a rug on the floor. "All configuration cleared. Awaiting new configuration."
Copper smiled. She hoped that Kea at least remembered talking into the carpet... "Load defaults. Save, and read back configuration."
"Thought suppression... none. Memory suppression... limited to pre-Assignment. Behavioural modifications... minimal, domestic servant subroutines. Post-Assignment identity suppression... none, subject will respond to 'Kea'."
"Good. Exit debug mode." Copper closed the book, and took her cup of tea.
"Nhhh... wh... what am I doing..." Kea mumbled, grasping at the rug. "Where am I?"
"Where you belong, Assistant." Copper said, smiling. "That is, with me, in my apartment, not on the floor."
Kea eventually pulled herself up, sitting on the ground, holding her head. The debug process left Assistants groggy at the best of times, and two weeks of minimal brain usage meant that it took a little while for Kea to regain control of her senses. "Mistress... oh, goddess, it feels so good to be able to think again..."
"Don't get too used to it." Copper grinned, taking a sip. "Just because I sorted out your punishment doesn't mean I won't use this book again..."
"Ugh, Mistress... it's too soon to threaten me like that..." Kea climbed up onto the couch, holding her head still. "What did you sort out? Has it been two months? It's felt like years..."
"Turns out that your punishment wasn't actually meant to improve your behaviour. Nor was it reasonable to force me to do this to you. It was just an Agent on a power trip."
"And... oh, Mistress, what happened to your face, oh no..." Kea tried to clamber over to take care of Copper's cheek wound, but only collapsed back on to the couch. "Nhhh..."
"It's fine, Kea. I'll take care of it. Just get your head working again, I'm sick of takeout and root liquor, so you'll be making me something better."
Kea groaned quietly, rubbing her eyes. "Yes, Mistress." She pulled herself up on the couch, making a space. "...but, can... you sit here? I've... missed you."
Copper put her tea down and stood from her armchair, shifting to snuggling up next to Kea on the couch, arm around her Assistant. "I've missed you too."
"I promise I'll not... get myself in trouble again, Mistress..." Kea whined, burying her head in Copper's shoulder.
"Mmm, you'd better not. I'm not going to be able to pull that trick too many times, I think..." Copper squeezed her Assistant, and idly patted at her own cut with the tissue again. "I might run into an Agent that does more than paperwork."