Ultimate Escape Room Challenge: Antarctic Base (part 2)

 Indeed, the next cupboard had produced two pairs of down pants, again one black and one pink. This time they seemed quite similar. The pants were in fact more like armless overalls, not only covering the torso but even zipping all the way to a high collar that would end under the chin.

Kirsten soon had hers on, zipping it up from the crotch to her breasts so she could leave the collar open for now. Then she helped Ayana into hers, which did turn out to be a bit different as it had attached feet. Kirsten helped Ayana move her mittened hands through the armholes, then zipped it up. She had difficulty closing the collar over the hood underneath. Ayana needed to stretch her neck as much as she could until Kirsten could finally close the zipper all the way. The combination of the collar and the hood (or balaclava) underneath meant Ayana's neck and head, and even her entire torso, were now held completely immobile. The tight collar around her neck pulled the hood in, causing it to feel tighter over her mouth and make speaking harder.

Kirsten closed the button flap over the zipper, and like before, the green light turned on the moment she was done with Ayana. Apparently the lights did not care that she was not wearing her own clothes fully zipped or with the hood up, but Ayana's needed to be closed completely. This time, however, no code appeared, and for a moment they didn't know what to do next.

Finally Kirsten noticed two ropes hanging from the ceiling, near the entrance door. "Those weren't there before," she exclaimed. Ayana ponderously turned around, trying to see what her friend was looking at. Meanwhile Kirsten was already under one of the ropes, reaching up with her hands and pulling it down. They heard something shift in the wall in front of the hometrainer; the panel had been pulled up! But nothing much changed, as an identical panel was revealed behind it.

"Pull on the other rope!"

Ayana obediently made her way over, careful not to fall with her feet in the down-filled encasements. But pulling the rope was easier said then done, because once underneath it, she could not see it. Unable to change the position of her head within its tight confinement, she blindly groped over her head with her mittened hands. However, the mittens also prevented her from feeling the rope when she touched it. It took several minutes of Kirsten's guidance until she was finally able to clamp the second rope between her mittens and pull it down.

This pulled up the second panel in the wall, and with both panels pulled up, they could see an opening in the wall and behind that something circular. But they were too far away to see it clearly. Meanwhile, the rope was already slipping through Ayana's mittens. The panel was quite heavy, and the thick mittens were ill-suited to holding the rope. Kirsten took her own rope in one hand and moved closer to Ayana. "Hand me your rope," she said, extending her other arm. Once the ropes were pulled down, it was possible for one person to hold them both, with both arms stretched outwards.

With Kirsten holding both panels up, Ayana moved towards the wall. "It's something to do with that hometrainer!" Kirsten suggested. Ayana carefull sat down on it and tried to peddle. It was hard, because with her feet kept slipping off the pedals and she could not look down to place them better. She got a few rotations going, and behind the opening in the wall, she could see a disc rotating along. "There's a disc over there, I think if I cycle fast enough, a code will be visible on it!" she called to Kirsten. "Hurry up!" Kirsten replied, "these are getting heavy!"

Ayana tried to work up some speed on the bike, but again and again her feet slipped off and she lost her momentum. After five minutes of fruitless attempts, Kirsten dropped the panels. "I can't hold these anymore! We need to switch," she said. Ayana, who had worked up quite a sweat inside her gear, climbed off the bike. "But how? I can't hold the ropes with these."

"I'll help," Kirsten offered. She pulled the first rope down, took Ayana's hand and tied the rope around her wrist. Then she took the second rope and pulled Ayana into position until she managed to tie the rope around her other wrist. Having spent some of the rope's length this way, it meant Ayana's arms were now held at 45 degrees to each side, and she was stretched out completely in between them. Between the position of her arms, and the down clothes holding her head and body in position, there was almost nothing Ayana could do at this point.

Kirsten now went to the hometrainer and started peddling. Once the disc rotated fast enough, a code indeed appeared on it. She jumped off the bike and headed straight to the cupboards, unlocking the largest one. "It's down suits now," she called to Ayana, pulling the two suits out of the cupboard. Again, one was pink, the other black.

"Can you untie these ropes first?"

"Actually I think it's better if I help you into your suit first. It has attached feet again, so it will be hard to stay upright, and the ropes will help with that."

Holding the pink down suit, she came over to where Ayana was still standing helplessly, her arms by now painful because of the strain. "Lift your left leg," Kirsten commanded. Ayana did, but had trouble keeping her equilibrium while standing on one padded foot. Kirsten supported her and helped her slide her feet into the down suit. After a lot of struggling, eventually they managed to get both Ayana's legs all the way into the suit, her feet arriving into another layer of down. After alll this Ayana's arms were burning with pain.

"Now please get these ropes off my arms," she asked.

Kirsten started to untie the rope around Ayana's left wrist. When it came off, Ayana's powerless arm dropped down.

"Let's put it in the suit's sleeve first," Kirsten said, hoisting up the suit. With her head and neck held upright, Ayana hadn't even seen that the suit was in front of her. Like her jacket, it would be zipped at the back. Meanwhile Kirsten was pushing Ayana's arm into the sleeve, then pulling the sleeve over the arm until Ayana's mittened hand arrived into another mitten. Having lost all feeling of what was going on, Ayana didn't even notice that this mitten had no thumb, it was just a closed off end to the sleeve.

"All right, I'll just attach your wrist to the rope again, otherwise I won't be able to hold you upright," Kirsten said.

"No, no, don't..." Ayana protested, but Kirsten didn't listen and Ayana couldn't stop her from lifting up the exhausted and stiffly packed arm and tying the rope around it again. At least now she untied the other arm, for now easing the strain there. It got the same treatment: into the sleeve, then reattached to the rope to keep Ayana upright.

All this pushing and shoving had made Kirsten quite sweaty, after peddling on the hometrainer in her down outfit. With Ayana secured again she took a step back to appraise the rest of her work. Now that both arms were in, Ayana could see the hood that was bunched up in front of her face. She was having second thoughts about this.

"Kirsten, stop, untie me please and let me out."

"Come on Ayana, we need to finish the room. Remember the bottle of champagne that's waiting for us!"

"I know, but..."

Kirsten didn't understand much more of Ayana's protests, as she had pulled the down hood in front of her face and got to work fastening it at the back. This was a fairly complicated process. Like the jacket underneath it had a zip going from top to bottom. But before the zip could be pulled down, the sides of the hood had to be brought close to each other. The hood was a tight fit with the other down hood underneath. To that end, there was a lace threaded through holes on both sides of the hood. By pulling the lace tighter, the hood would be fastened around Ayana's head.

The lace started at the top and Kirsten began pulling the slack out, working her way downwards. Once she got to the base of Ayana's head, Ayana's muffled protests finally stopped. Kirsten wasn't aware that this was due to a leather panel that was worked inside the suit's nylon layers. Fastening the lace pulled the leather panel tightly over Ayana's mouth and chin, pressing the down layers underneath firmly against her face. While Kirsten got down to lacing up Ayana's neck, Ayana was perfectly quiet.

Similar leather contraptions were hidden in the suit around Ayana's neck and torso, so that when the entire down suit was laced up, Ayana's entire body was held rigid and her head held straight up. With her arms still held up Ayana stood silent and motionless. All she could move was her legs, but standing on the soft layers of down, she dared not move those either, fearing to lose her footing and hurting her painful arms even more.

It took Kirsten ten minutes to fully lace up the suit, and now she could pull down the zipper from the top of Ayana's hood to the small of her back. Finally there was a down flap that she buttoned over the zipper. As soon as the last button was closed, the third lamp next to the door turned green.

Kirsten walked around Ayana, looking at her up front. The hood was completely closed in front. It had a dark reflective plastic built in over the eyes, through which Ayana could presumably see out. Under the nose, right over her nostrils, was a valve that allowed her to breathe easily. But of her face there was nothing to see. She was just a featureless, pink down person, standing there perfectly still.

"All right, I'm going to solve the next puzzle," Kirsten said to Ayana, raising her voice to get through the down layers. There was some movement in the ropes holding Ayana's arms in response, and a snorting exhalation of breath. Kirsten assumed that meant Ayana had heard her.

Ayana tried to make it clear that she did not want to remain tied up like this, and that she wanted out of this thick, restrictive clothing. But Kirsten was already turning away and moving out of her field of vision. Ayana had no idea how long she stood there, unable to do anything about her situation. She tried to shout a few times but the pressure on her mouth formed an airtight seal, and all she achieved was that she got out of breath. When she tried to move at all she was quickly reminded that she could only hurt her arms more. And so she remained motionless and waited for Kirsten to return.

"The fourth lamp has switched on," Kirsten said, pointing at the exit door. "I think I found all my items, and there are no further clues, but I think the last lamp will turn green once I'm dressed. I'll untie your arms first." Ayana could give no response. Once untied, her arms dropped limply to her sides, her face remained completely hidden. She just watched while Kirsten pulled up the hood of her black down jacket and fastened the zip over her mouth, then zipped the down pants up all the way to the tight collar.

"Hmf! This is tight!" Kirsten complained as the collar around her neck pulled in the jacket underneath. Ayana, who could barely move a limb, didn't feel too compassionate. She motioned with her arm to urge Kirsten on, she was sweating to death and wanted out of these clothes as soon as possible.

Kirsten then put on a down suit that looked similar to Ayana's, but there were key differences. The suit, like her down pants, didn't have attached feet. Instead she had a pair of black Moonboots, which she pulled over the suit's legs. These were thick, but at least they would be easier to walk on than Ayana's double padded feet. The suit also didn't have a mittens, a stark contrast to Ayana whose hands were packed in the jacket's attached mittens and the suit's thumbless mittens.

Like Ayana's though, the suit had a completely closed hood, with a dark visor and a valve for breathing. It also zipped down the back. Kirsten had to push the zipper down from the hood towards her back, then reach from the bottom until she found it to pull it all the way down. Doing up the button flap over the zipper on her back was even harder, but once the last button was closed, the fifth lamp turned green and the large doors slowly opened. "We got there!" Kirsten exclaimed happily, but the sound coming out of her hood was muffled and Ayana could barely hear her through her own hoods.

Kirsten quickly moved towards the door. Ayana, unstable on her padded feet, was careful not to stumble while she tried to follow. Then they stopped in amazement when they saw what was beyond the door...

Ultimate Escape Room Challenge: Antarctic Base (part 1)

The Ultimate Escape Room Challenge 

NEW Escape Room in Town!

Tailored to experienced escape room enthousiasts who are looking for that extra challenge, our escape room ‘Antarctic Base’ offers an unseen level of detail and tests you have seen nowhere else! Can you escape the base in Antarctica’s harsh conditions?

Duration: 2 hours

Only available for 2-player teams

Special temporary promotion: Escape within the time limit and receive a free Magnum bottle of champagne!

For Kirsten and Ayana, upon seeing the ad, the only question was “How soon can we get there?” The two friends loved escape rooms and had finished every room in the wide area. This challenge was exactly what they were looking for. And while the escape room was pricey, with a game length of two hours, it had reason to be so. In addition, they had to enter their clothing measurements while booking, which suggested an unusual attention to detail and a truely immersive experience. And of course, the girls had no doubt that they would also end up with the large champagne bottle to celebrate their escape afterwards!

---

Two days later, on Friday evening, they arrived at the new escape room. As required, they were half an hour earlier than their start time in the room. They were welcomed by Lara, a pretty dark-haired girl with glasses. 

“So have you done a lot of escape rooms?” Lara asked conversationally.

“Oh yes, and we always manage to escape!” Ayana proudly said.

“We’re here for that bottle of champagne!” Kirsten grinned.

“I love your confidence! I’m sure our room will offer challenges you haven’t encountered yet! But for creative problem solvers like yourselves we’ll make sure to keep the bottle cold!”

After the small talk, Lara directed the girls to the toilets first, then told them to change. “In the changing room, you’ll find an outfit in your size. Also there will be a diaper. I know it’s a bit weird, but two hours can be quite a long time, especially with the stress of the escape room. It would be a real shame if you had to abort early and miss your bottle of champagne for it.”

“For that bottle I’ll wear anything,” Ayana joked.

“Besides, with your bladder, it’s a reasonable precaution anyway,” Kirsten laughed.

Ten minutes later both girls had changed. In their form-fitting, black woolen catsuits and balaclavas, they looked like a pair of burglars. Assuming burglars wore a large diaper package that clearly contrasted with the tightness of the rest of their clothes, of course. The catsuits had attached gloves and feet, so the only uncovered part of their skin was the opening of the balaclava around their nose and eyes.

The girls giggled as they looked at each other. “Hey, fatass,” Ayana said, slapping Kirsten’s bottom.

“All right,” Lara announced when the merriment had subsided. “Now that you’re dressed, we’re ready to begin. One more thing before we get started. I heard the room will be free the rest of the evening. So in case you don’t escape in two hours, I’ll give you the choice to end the game as is usual, or to continue trying.”

“Well the point is kind of moot isn’t it?” Kirsten laughed confidently.

“But of course we would like to keep trying… in the unlikely event we’re not out yet,” Ayana added.

“Okay, excellent. I just need to ask you to sign these forms then, confirming that we’re not holding you against your will. The law is, sadly but understandably, rather strict in these things,” Lara smiled.

With the forms signed, Lara started to explain the premise of the escape room.

“You are part of a research group on Antarctica. After a night shift you just woke up to find everyone gone, and there are signs of a struggle. It appears all the others in the base were abducted by a terrorist group. The reason is clear: they are here for your scientific test results, which, if they fall into their hands, could wreak havoc on the world. You quickly look for the hidden safe where they are stashed, and find the safe still there, undiscovered. But this means it’s only a matter of time before the terrorists return. You grab the test results, but the station’s defense mechanisms have activated so it won’t be easy to get out. Furthermore, you will need to find the necessary outerwear to survive on Antarctica. Your mission is to escape the base using a snowscooter, after you have found and put on all the necessary pieces of clothing. Then drive over to the next base, where you will be safe from attacks.”

“Wow! Cool!” Ayana exclaimed.

“Any further questions?”

Kirsten shook her head. “Nope. Let’s go!”

Lara opened the door to the room, from which cool air could be felt.

"Well, I hope we find our first piece of clothing soon," Ayana commented as they stood in the "Antarctic base". "It's pretty damn cold here!"

"Let's get going," Kirsten replied, as a large clock had indeed started counting down from two hours.

The practiced girls split up immediately, scouring the room for clues. Ayana immediately turned left, where there was a lab section with bottles full of colored fluids. Meanwhile Kirsten walked around the rest of the room. Straight ahead was a hometrainer. She sat down on it and started peddling; from somewhere ahead, behind a wall, came a whirring sound. When she investigated the wall, she noticed a panel that somehow should be able to slide out, but she couldn't figure out how. After a while she gave up and scanned the rest of the room. Also on the back wall, next to the part with the panels and the hometrainer, was a large door with five red lights next to it. She supposed this was the exit of the room, and they would need to turn the lights green.

On the right-hand wall was a section with large cupboards, each padlocked and requiring either a key or a numerical code to open. Right next to one of the cupboards was a long cylinder with water, and a key on the bottom. Clearly they needed to access this key somehow, but again it was not clear to her how. From the bottom of the cylinder, a hose led into the nearest locked cupboard however, so she suspected they needed to open that cupboard before they could solve the cylinder problem. Right next to the cylinder was a switch labeled "IN" and "OUT". It was currently in the OUT position. Kirsten flicked it back and forth a couple of times, but nothing happened.

While Kirsten had been going over the rest of the room, Ayana was busy adding one colored fluid to another. Kirsten didn't pay too much attention to what she did. The girls knew it was more efficient to split up, rather than trying to solve the same puzzel, and trusted each other. Sure enough, Ayana soon exclaimed: "Got it! 2375!" Kirsten rushed over to the cupboards, knowing already which one required a four-digit number. And indeed the combination worked, and she opened the cupboard, revealing two down jackets, one pink and one black.

"Pink's for me!" Ayana exclaimed as soon as she saw the jackets. Kirsten grinned. Ayana's love for the bright color was legendary. Admittedly, it did go well with her dark skin. Without further comment, she grabbed the black jacket. It was a fairly thick, down-filled jacket with a hood, in a pull over the head style. She quickly did just that. The zip went from her breasts to her nose. She closed it until halfway, leaving the hood down. As she turned to Ayana however, her friend didn't seem to have made much progress with her own jacket.

"What's the matter?" she asked, eager to get on.

"This jacket, it's kind of weird. I think it zips on the back..." Ayana said uncertainly.

"Well put it on then, I'll zip it."

The jacket was indeed quite odd, having attached mittens, and a hood that was actually more like a balaclava, leaving only an opening around the eyes and nose. Still, Ayana put it on and Kirsten closed the zip, which started at the top of the hood and ran along Ayana's back to the bottom of the coat. Despite the jacket's bulk, it turned out to be a tight fit, because it was so thickly filled. Kirsten also closed the buttons that held the flap over the zipper.

"What now?" Ayana asked, her voice sounding oddly muffled behind the thick down layer over her mouth.

"I don't know... there are also some straps here at the bottom of your jacket, maybe we need to do something with those." Indeed there were two short straps dangling at the back of the jacket, one on each side of the zipper. Kirsten immediately saw they could be connected, but what now? She turned Ayana around and saw another, slightly longer strap hanging on the front.

"Hold on, I think I got it," she said, threading the strap from the front through an opening formed by the two connected straps at the back. She saw there were buttons at the end of the front strap, and matching holes at the start of the front buckle. She just needed to thread the front buckled through the back ones, then bring it back to the front and close the buttons. However, the strap seemed too short for that.

"Hold still," Kirsten said, while she started pulling the back and front of Ayana's jacket down as far as she could. Ayana felt the tension in her hood as Kirsten pulled at the bottom. Finally Kirsten tried to connect the straps again, and now she was almost able to close it. She braced against her friend's stomach, yanked as hard as she could and finally managed to close the straps. The result was that the strap dug deep into Ayana's diaper. From the strap between her legs to the thick hood's pressure around her head, she felt like her whole torso was now squeezed tightly in the jacket.

It worked, however. As soon as the straps were closed properly, the first green light next to the back door popped up, and a 3-digit code appeared underneath. This was for the cupboard next to the water cylinder. Kirsten opened it, finding a short hook and a gas mask that was strapped to the wall. The gas mask had two hoses attached to it, one leading into the back wall of the cupboard, the other into the side wall, then reappearing as the hose leading to the bottom of the water cylinder.

Kirsten experimentally placed her head into the mask and breathed out. Some bubbles appeared in the cylinder, and the key briefly floated up slightly, before dropping down again. "Okay, I think I understand. One of us needs to put the gas mask on and breathe in it. The other must be near the cylinder, and we need to coordinate: whenever we put it on IN, the mask will get access to fresh air from the tube to the back, so the wearer needs to breathe in. Then we put in on OUT, and the other person breathes out so the bubbles will let the key move up a bit. If we repeat this fast enough, eventually we will get the key to the top, so we can fish it out with the hook."

"I guess I'll have to do the breathing then," Ayana said, not sounding too happy about it. "I can't do much fishing with these." She held up her thickly mittened hands.

Soon Kirsten was strapping Ayana's head into the gasmask. She had to stand right in front of the cupboard. The rubber gasmask was large and stretchy enough that it could be pulled over her down-hooded head, but it greatly increased the pressure on her head. Several straps at the back needed to be tightened to hold it in place. As Kirsten fastened such a strap at the bottom of the mask, Ayana found that it pressed hard on the part of her hood covering her mouth, and she was unable to talk, or even get any air through her mouth. All she could do was breathe through her nose into the mask, which was not very pleasant. While Kirsten was tightening the straps, she felt like she was running out of air. Indeed, the switch was still in the OUT position, so she was only using the remaining air in the hoses, and quickly running out of oxygen.

Kirsten had finished securing the mask, however, and went over to the water cylinder. "Ready?" she asked, unaware of Ayana's discomfort. Ayana, desperate for fresh air by now, could only nod as best as she could. "In!" Kirsten said, and flipped the switch. Greedily Ayana sucked in the air - and nearly retched! While the air coming from the IN cylinder certainly held fresh oxygen, it also contained hydrogen sulfide - that distinct smell of rotten eggs! Desperately Ayana clawed at the mask to get it off, but with her mittened hands she could do nothing. "Out!" Kirsten said, misinterpreting her signal. Ayana tried to breathe out as best as she could, and Kirsten started dictating a rhythm. Ayana could do nothing but follow along and hope the damn key would be high enough to be fished out soon. Unfortunately for her, it was a slow process, and it took several minutes until finally Kirsten could try to grab the key.

While she did this, the switch remained in the OUT position, and again Ayana was quickly running out of air. Luckily once Kirsten had caught the key, she flipped the switch to IN again, letting her suck in full breathes of the foul air. Kirsten went to the cupboard that required the key and unlocked it. Meanwhile Ayana desperately - but of course still unsuccesfully - tried to free her head from the contraption.

"Here, let me help you," Kirsten finally said, when she noticed her friend's wild struggle. She started undoing the straps of the gas mask.

"Booaaak," Ayana exclaimed, as soon as she got out of the mask.

"What?"

"The smell! It was horrible!"

"That bad really? Let me..." Kirsten sniffed the inside of the mask. "Oh, yuck! You had to breathe that? Sorry, I had no idea!"

"Ah, it was terrible. I'll need a lot of champagne to wash that away! Let's go on, what did we get?"

"Down pants this time!"

Ella and Lisbeth (part 2)

--- part 1: https://kuomu.blogspot.com/2014/02/ella-and-lisbeth.html ---

(Ella)

I arrived at Lisbeth's place at ten in the morning on Sunday, two days after the night we went out with Tamara and Paula. I had called her the day before, to hear if she was feeling okay. She had assured me that she was completely fine, and not feeling ill at all. We had arranged to go for a walk today. But I was not going to take any chances with Lisbeth's health.

"Hi Ella," Lisbeth opened the door. She was wearing comfortable clothes, sweatpants and a hooded sweatshirt.

"Hello Lisbeth," I said as I came in, carrying the large sports bag.

"What's that?" Lisbeth asked.

"That's a little suprise, you'll see it in a moment. How are you feeling?"

"I'm really fine, I told you yesterday, I was really just under the weather for a day."

"Hm," I said, sounding sceptical. "We should still be careful about your health."

"You, um, you think I need to wear the two jackets again?"

"Oh, definitely. And a few other things, just to be sure."

"Other things? What do you mean?"

"Well," I said as I bent forward and started unzipping the bag, "after we arranged to go for a walk today, I called Paula and Tamara and explained that we should make sure you dress warm enough. I asked them if they happened to have any leftover clothes in the category: as warm as possible. And then I went around to pick everything up. First of all," I brightly announced as she straightened up, holding a black garment, "are these snowpants, provided by Paula. Putting these on over your jogging pants should keep your legs warm enough."

"But... you really shouldn't have..."

"I know, but I did. So come on, try them on."

Not sure what to say, Lisbeth just accepted the snowpants and put them on.

"Next, we have this beautiful pair of white Moonboots, which Tamara gave me."

"But... seriously, Ella... it's not even winter yet. Those will look ridiculous in the current weather."

"Maybe, but you also got ill when it wasn't even winter yet. Warm feet are essential to staying warm entirely. Besides, I think they look cool."

"I really wasn't that ill..."

"Lisbeth, I understand that you feel ashamed to wear warm clothes. I'm here to help you over that. Downplaying your illness won't convince me. So just put them on, or we're not going anywhere."

Lisbeth sighed but she started putting on the Moonboots. Meanwhile I grabbed Lisbeth's black down jacket from the wardrobe. When Lisbeth had finished putting on the boots, I handed her the jacket. Without comment, she put it on and zipped it up.

"Now, before you put on your red jacket, we have a little something from me." I handed Lisbeth a pair of very thick mittens. They were black and filled with a material similar to down, with a waterproof outer layer. I helped Lisbeth pull them on so the cuffs came over the sleeves of her black down jacket.

"Now then..."

Lisbeth looked up in surprise when she heard the tearing sound of duct tape. I took her arm and started wrapping the tape around her wrist, over the down jacket's sleeve and the mitten. "What are you doing?" Lisbeth exclaimed.

"Basically the same as your trick with the hood's drawstrings," I replied. "Just a little bit more effective." I calmly kept wrapping duct tape around Lisbeth's wrist. "Other hand," I ordered when I was finished.

"But... no... then... I won't..." Lisbeth stammered, refusing to give me her other arm.

"Yes, then you won't be able to take off the mittens, or anything else really. That's the point. Now come on."

I grabbed Lisbeth's other arm. Lisbeth didn't really resist. Soon her other wrist was also wrapped in black duct tape, trapping her hands in the thick mittens.

"Okay, let's get you properly wrapped up again, so we can get going."

I pulled up Lisbeth's hood, zipped the jacket to the top and started pulling the hood's drawstrings tighter.

"Not too tight," Lisbeth protested, but I ignored that. I made sure only Lisbeth's nose and eyes were showing. Then I knotted the drawstrings, and, like before, took them around Lisbeth's neck and tied them again at the back. I proceeded to take Lisbeth's bright red down jacket, helped her into it, zipped it and tightened the hood as well.

"Now you're ready to go!"

(Lisbeth)

I couldn't believe Ella had once again dressed me up completely in warm clothes. I had secretly both hoped for it and been afraid of it, and I had not dared to make any suggestion in that direction, claiming I was perfectly healthy again. But Ella pushed through and here I was, trussed up as if braving a snowstorm.

I was really nervous walking down the street like this. But once we got out of town and there were fewer people around, I calmed down a bit and started to enjoy the situation. I literally couldn't change it anyway. As we walked on, I steadily got warmer inside my packing. I could feal the sweat dripping on my face. Finally I asked Ella if she could take off my hoods for a bit, because I was warm.

"Hm, okay, for a little while then," she said. She opened the zip of the red coat a bit and pulled down the hood. I waited for her to unknot the black hood's drawstrings, but nothing more happened.

"The other one too," I said.

"No, we mustn't let you cool down too much," Ella said decisively.

I wasn't sure I was better off like this. Now I was still in the tightly tied black down hood, with the red standing behind my head, looking even more odd.

Then we passed a group of young girls, and as my luck would have it, they asked us for directions. Ella was happy to help them, while I tried not to look at any of them directly. When the girls were ready to move on, Ella said, still clearly audible for them: "That's long enough, let's put your second hood up again." While she did so, I was sure I heard some snickering from the girls.

After another hour, we reached a town where we would stop for lunch. I asked Ella to take off my hoods outside the cafe.

"No, exposing you to the cold air would be a really bad idea now."

"It's really not that cold," I tried, but she was already going in so I had no choice but to follow her.

We took a seat and Ella took off her coat. I waited impatiently for her to help me out, but she just started looking at the menu.

"Ella... my coats please."

"Oh right, I forgot you can't get out on your own. One moment."

She stood up, and unzipped my red jacket and helped me out of it. Meanwhile a waitress approached.

"All set up for a winter, huh," she commented, smiling. "Can I get you anything to drink?" Ella order a coke and I quickly followed suit.

After taking off my red jacket, Ella finally got around to undoing the black jacket's drawstring and taking off my remaining hoods. "What about these?" I asked, holding up my duct taped mittens.

Ella shrugged, "I won't be able to get that tape off here, it would be too much work anyway. I'm sure you'll be able to use your fork still, and if you need help cutting I'll do it."

I thought it was pretty stupid I had to eat with the mittens on, but I saw no way around it. When the waitress came back, I hid my hands under the table so she wouldn't notice the tape.

In the end, I did manage to eat a salad while wearing the mittens. Once we finished, Ella of course showed no mercy wrapping me up as before, well within view of several people in the cafe. Then I had to wait while she put on her own coat until we could finally leave and continue our walk.

The whole ordeal was repeated as we made another stop for a drink in the afternoon, but for the most part, I still enjoyed the day. It was nice to be wrapped up warm with Ella taking care of me. 

Finally we arrived back home, where Ella helped me out of my red down jacket, then started cutting off the tape. I was still in my black down hood, but I didn't ask her to take it off first. I was rather looking forward to getting the use of my hands back.

"By the way, Lisbeth," Ella said casually, "From nown on, I expect you to be dressed like this whenever you go outside."

"What, with tape around my wrists?" I joked halfheartedly.

"No, but wearing everything else that you wore today," Ella said quite seriously. "I don't want you to get ill again and I'll help you overcome your misplaced shame about being dressed warm. So I'll be checking your clothes whenever I see you, and I'll tell the other girls to do the same."

I swallowed. On the one hand, this was what I wanted... but all the time? The thought was exciting and frightening at the same time. "Okay, Ella," I heard myself say.

Rules for Kuomu

UNIFORM SPECIFICATIONS

The uniform to be worn by Kuomu depends on the temperature T (in Celsius degrees), which is calculated as follows:

T is the average of the current temperature and the average of the day’s (expected) minimum and maximum temperatures.

Example: on a day with minimum of 4 and maximum of 12 (average of those is 8), if the current temperature is 6, T would be 7; if the temperature rises to 12, T becomes 10.

The uniform is then determined by the following rules:

T <= 11: one hooded sweatshirt and one down jacket. (Hoods are always worn up, those of down jackets are always tightened; this is implicitly assumed in the following rules.)

T <= 8: add long down coat on top of down jacket

T <= 5: add scarf and mittens

T <= 2: add Moonboots 

T <= -1: tie hoods as tight as possible (only leave eyes and nose showing)

T <= -4: add balaclava, replace mittens with oversized mittens secured around wrists

T <= -7 (and every next step of 3°): add a down jacket

RULES

1. The uniform must always be worn outdoors. Note: this means it is completely put on while indoors, and stays on completely at least until after going in.
2. When putting on the uniform, one layer must always be completed before starting the next. This means a jacket must be closed and the hood put up before starting the next.
3. When going indoors, (partly) removing the uniform is not allowed for durations less than five minutes, between the moment of removing a part of the uniform and putting it on again. Exceptions may be made only for the reason of showing off the uniform better, by taking off the coat’s hood to reveal the down jacket underneath. Mittens can be taken off if the use of hands is necessary, but random browsing on the phone is not a good reason for this, and a bank card can be used with mittens on if it’s been taken out of the wallet beforehand (plan accordingly). Note: if you are not sure whether you will be inside for less than five minutes, it’s probably best to err on the side of caution and not risk punishment. Deliberately staying indoors longer than needed to avoid this rule is not allowed. 
4. On public transport, when arriving at the destination, the uniform must be put on completely before the vehicle comes to a stop. As always, be aware of the time needed to put everything on and plan accordingly. Risking a punishment is still worse than having to wear the uniform for a few more minutes.
5. When at rest, stand in a proper posture: stand straight up, look forward, keep arms to the sides, feet parallel and not too far apart. If Moonboots are worn, they must be touching.

PUNISHMENTS

Two types of infractions are distinguished:

Category 1: willingly not wearing (a part of) the uniform when it is required for a period of at least one minute

Category 2: shorter and/or unintended mistakes against the rules, e.g. being a bit too slow to put everything on.

Note that if a category 2 infraction is not corrected as soon as possible, it automatically becomes a category 1 infraction.

The severity of the punishment is determined by rolling two normal six-sided dice. The following procedure is applied:

1. Die 1 is the duration of the punishment, in days. It starts the moment of the first opportunity to wear the uniform under the rules of the punishment. It ends at the end (23:59) of the Nth day after that, where N is the die roll result. Days on which no uniform is worn are not counted.
   
2. Die 2’s result will be used to modify T. For a category 1 offense, it will be subtracted from the temperature T (as calculated above) and the modified T will be used to determine what uniform must be worn. For example, if the roll was a 4, while T is 7 degrees, uniform will be worn as if T were 3. For a category 2 offense, the die result is first divided by 2 and rounded up, then used in the same way.
3. If another infraction is made during the time of a punishment, its punishment time will be added immediately after the previous punishment’s end. (It will be as if the offense was made exactly when the previous punishment ended.) New dice will be rolled for the next punishment, but 1 will be added to both rolls. (In the case of the second die of a category 2 offense, this is done after the division by 2.)
4. If an infraction is made during the time of a punishment AND another punishment is still waiting to be carried out, the punishment for this new infraction will start at the same as the punishment that was queued up (after the current one ends). No more than two punishments can be in effect at the same time; any further punishment that is earned will start as soon as another one has ended.

A Cinderella story

 On a beautiful day in early October, Marina Jones met her new neighbours for the first time. The four young women seemed nice and pleasant to Marina. When she had opened the door, the tall woman with the curly brown hair - Veronica - had been in front, and she had made the introductions. Clearly the leader of the group, a woman who knew what she wanted and was used to getting it, was Marina's first impression. She wore simple, well-fitting jeans and a white shirt. Next to her was Sally, of average height, blonde and stunningly beautiful, dressed in a pale red summer dress with a matching silk scarf draped carefully around her neck. Then she introduced Susan - dark hair, glasses, dressed in dark pants and a round-neck grey-and-black sweater. And finally Yasmin, who they usually called Mini, the shortest girl of the group, standing at the back in a very thick looking yellow down jacket with the hood up and tied around her face.

Marina invited them in, and offered a refreshment. The women sat down - Veronica on a chair, the three others on the sofa. Yasmin had untied her hood and taken it off, but remained in the thick jacket, which looked even bulkier while she sat down. She had short light brown hair and looked a bit flustered. Meanwhile Marina learned that the girls had met in uni, and after finishing their studies they had decided to hire a house together, since they were all still single. Veronica and Susan did most of the talking, with Sally occasionally making herself heard, but quiet "Mini" in her down jacket just sat there and sipped from her hot chocolate. Marina Jones, who was a retired teacher, found this group of friends quite intriguing.

When they left, Marina noticed another peculiar thing. The girls stood up and Veronica was saying goodbye, but meanwhile she saw how Susan immediately grabbed the hood of Yasmin's jacket and pulled it over her head again. Then she took the drawstrings and tightened them, not simply pulling but roughly yanking them tight before knotting them.

During the next few days, Marina saw how the girls settled into their new place. She didn't want to be that typical old woman spying on her neighbours (she was 64 and in perfect health, but admittedly a bit lonely at times ever since her husband had died), she found them quite interesting to watch. In particular that curious, silent girl Yasmin. Every time Marina spotted Yasmin outside, she was dressed in either the yellow down jacket she had worn on that first visit, or an orange down jacket that looked just as thick. And always with the hood up and firmly tied, despite the pleasant autumn weather. Did she have some kind of illness? And there were other things Marina noticed. It seemed like it was always Yasmin doing the grocery shopping, always alone. It was also Yasmin raking the fallen leaves or putting out the garbage. And however briefly she had to go outside - always with her head buried deep inside the thick hood.

One evening, several months later, Marina saw a taxi arrive at the neighbour's house. After a moment Veronica, Susan and Sally emerged from the house, all clearly dressed for a fancy night out. There was no sign of Yasmin.

On a whim, she decided to pay her remaining neighbour a visit. She walked the short distance to the their front door and rang the doorbell. Nothing happened. She rang again, longer now. She knew Yasmin had to be inside, why didn't she answer the door? She rang a third time and finally the door was opened, but only slightly, so she could not see anything inside.
"Yasmin?" she asked, "it's Marina Jones, your neighbour."
"What is it?" The girl's voice was shy.
"Can I come inside? It's cold out here."
Silence.
"Yasmin? Can I come in?"
"Okay." The door was opened further, revealing Yasmin. She was dressed in a red heavy one-piece down suit. The hood left an opening just big enough for her face; everything else was covered as the suit had attached mittens and socks with the same thick filling as the rest of it.

Marina followed the red fluffy person inside, and meanwhile she noticed that the suit zipped up the back.
"Isn't that quite warm to wear indoors?" she asked.
"Yes."
"So why don't you take it off?"
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because they've tied the zipper at the end, so I can't open it."
"So they left you stuck in this suit, while they went to party? Why?"
"I said I wanted to go too," Yasmin said, sounding genuinely ashamed for having suggested such a thing.
"Well that's perfectly normal. Why wouldn't you be allowed to go?"
"They said I could go if I wanted. So I was really happy. Then they all got dressed up and I asked what I could wear, because I don't have nice dresses. Veronica told me they had a beautiful red dress for me. I had to strip to my underwear and then go to my room. I did and then I found this on my bed. They all burst out laughing at my reaction. And then they put me in the suit and tied the zipper at the end so I couldn't get out. Then Veronica asked if I still wanted to come with them."

Marina was shocked at the cruelty of the other girls. "I could help you out of the suit," she offered. "And then you could even go to the party."
"I have nothing to wear though. And no way to get there."
"I can fix both of those. I still have some clothes from my daughter. You're about the same size as her, I think they should fit you fine. I'm sure you'll find something you like. And I have a car. I'll take you there."

And so Marina helped to transform Yasmin into a beautiful young lady. She brushed her hair, helped her select a dress, found fitting high-heeled shoes and applied a bit of make-up. Then she brought the girl to the city.
"I'll come back to pick you up at midnight, okay?"
"That's great. Thank you so much."
"Enjoy yourself."

---

Yasmin emerged from the building, clearly in a hurry. She seemed to stumble along as she headed toward Marina's car.
"Hurry, let's go please, quick," she begged as she got into the car.
Marina immediately started the engine. "What's the problem?"
"They're leaving. Veronica, Susan and Sally. They're going home, I saw them. We need to get there before them, or I'll be in a big trouble."
"Don't worry. We'll make it, you'll see." Marina sped up. It was snowing by then, but that was fine. She was confident she could get them home quickly and safely, and it would slow down the other girls.

"Did you have a good time?" she asked Yasmin when she'd caught her breath.
"Yes, it was great, I - oh! I'm so sorry! I lost one of the shoes when I left!"
"Don't worry about that, it's only a shoe. Tell me about the party."
"There was this really nice guy - Jamie. I danced with him and we talked and, well, I liked him a lot."
"That's great. Did you get his phone number?"
"No, but I told him where I live, and he said he'd come visit me soon."

Marina brought Yasmin home and helped her back in the down suit, tying the zipper like before. Then she went back to her own house with the clothes Yasmin had worn, well in time before the taxi with the others arrived. She was happy and pleased with herself. It's like a fairytale, she thought. She hoped that Jamie would show up and take Yasmin away from those wretched women she lived with.

Not every tale has a happy end though.

---

Veronica opened the hood of the sleeping bag and the one of the down suit below, revealing a bit of Yasmin's sweaty face.
"Had a good night?" she asked sarcastically.
"No," Yasmin whispered. "Please let me out. It's so warm." She tried to move, but the thick down-filled bag had been tied securely to the bed, and the ropes around it had kept her immobile all night.
"But maybe your memory is a bit better than it was last night now. So I'll ask again: did you have any visitors yesterday?"
"Yes, our neighbour came over."
Veronica smiled. A nice and uncomfortable night did wonders to help the truth. Of course the neighbour had come over - they had seen the fresh footprints in the snow.
"Why?" she asked.
"She wanted to borrow some milk," Yasmin said.
Veronica's smile disappeared abruptly. Did the girl think she was stupid? It had only started snowing when they left the party at midnight. No way that old woman had come to borrow milk at that time. And besides, there must be a reason Yasmin hadn't wanted to tell that woman was here. There was more to this.
"I think we'll have to give you the rest of the day to think about it some more," she said as she started closing the suit's hood again.
"Shall I get a heavy blanket so she doesn't get cold meanwhile?" Sally suggested.
"No, please, no!" Yasmin thrashed around her enclosed head as much as she could. "I'll tell everything! Really!"
"Everything? No more lies, nothing left out?"
"Yes! Please, open it again!"
Veronica considered for a long moment, then she opened the down suit's hood again. "Last chance, Mini," she said. "You'll tell everything now or I swear you'll be in this the rest of the day and the next night."

---

When Jamie came over later that day, Susan answered the door.
"Hello, handsome," she said, leaning against the doorframe in a lazy, gracious pose.
"Hi, I'm here for Yasmin."
"Yasmin? We have no Yasmin here. It's just Veronica and Sally and me."
"Really? But... I met her last night and she gave me this address. I wanted to bring back her shoe, she lost it last night."
"She must have tiny feet," Susan said, examining the shoe. "I'm sure it wouldn't fit me, nor Veronica or Sally."
Jamie looked crushed. "Then I must have gotten the address wrong. If there's nobody else here..."
"Well do come in then, and you'll see there's nobody else here."
"No, I mean, I believe you of course, I didn't mean..."
"Don't worry, come in and meet the others, and have a look around."

"Sorry to disappoint you, it's just the three of us here," Veronica said after Susan had explained the situation. "And Mini of course."
"Mini?" Jamie asked.
"Our mannequin. We like to put our excess clothes on it. We call it Mini. See." Veronica opened a wall-high cupboard, and Jamie saw an expedition-quality down suit. The hood had been tied shut completely, and judging by how thick and tight everything was, there must be many more layers under the suit. Several straps were needed to hold the whole thing up apparently. On the mannequin's hands were huge mittens and its feet were in oversized Moonboots.
"Well, Mini won't get cold," he said.
"No. But I'm afraid she's not the one you're looking for either," Veronica said, pointing at the enormous Moonboots. "Those feet wouldn't fit that small shoe of yours either."
She closed the cupboard and locked it, leaving the mannequin in its darkness.

Aisha

Life is full of coincidences, and the way Ingrid and Aisha met is a perfect illustration of that. Had Ingrid not fallen at that exact moment, just when Aisha was the only person around, they would never have known each other and everything that follows would never have happened. And the fall itself was caused because Ingrid was distracted by a crossing cat, and lost her footing on the icy pavement. So in a way, we have the cat to thank for everything that comes next.

As said before, Aisha was the only witness of Ingrid's tumble, and that little coincidence was critical as well, because if anyone else had been there, Aisha would have hurried on instead of helping Ingrid. Aisha is not a particularly selfish person, however. The problem was how she was dressed at that moment. She was wearing her black, knee length down jacket, with the hood up and tied quite tightly, leaving just her eyes and nose showing. But the really weird thing, the thing that excited her but caused her to avoid contact with other people, was that she was locked in the hood. She had replaced the drawstrings with small chains, attached a padlock and left the keys at home. The padlock was covered by her long white scarf, but still...

So when Ingrid fell, Aisha's first impulse was to let somebody else help her, but with nobody around, she had no other choice than to approach the woman who was clearly hurt quite badly.
"Are you hurt?" she asked, and immediately realized it was a stupid question. Yes, she was hurt.
"Should I call an ambulance?"
The woman on the ground considered this, then said: "No, I live right around the corner. It will be easier to have the doctor come over. Better than sitting here in the snow, too. I just need to get home. Could you help me?"
"Sure. Where are you hurt?"
"Left ankle seems sprained, I won't be able to stand on it. And my left wrist hurts really bad. I think it's broken. Can I use your scarf as a sling?"
Aisha's face suddenly felt very warm under her hood. Taking off her scarf! She hesitated but there was really no possible explanation for refusing. She just had to hope the woman wouldn't notice the padlock. So she unwrapped her scarf and knotted it, creating a makeshift sling which she carefully hung around the woman's neck so she could rest her painful hand.

Next, Aisha helped the woman up. She stood on her right foot, with her right arm around Aisha's the base of Aisha's thick hood for support. Then they slowly advanced, the injured woman hopping on one foot, trying to be very mindful of more slippery patches. Aisha had her arm around the woman's waist, so she could catch her if she should fall again.
"I'm Ingrid by the way. And thanks for helping me."
"I'm Aisha, and no problem. How far is it to your house?"
"It's really close, just around the corner. The second house, number 23."

Once they reached Ingrid's place, Aisha, who was now carrying Ingrid's purse as well, found the keys and unlocked the door. Then she helped Ingrid inside, where she dropped down on a sofa. Aisha put Ingrid's bag next to her.
"Thanks again. Could you just do one more thing for me? I have ice in the freezer. Can you get it? And also a towel to put it in."
Aisha was feeling pretty uncomfortable in her tight down hood, but you can't really refuse in such a situation. So she went to the kitchen, and returned a moment later with the ice and the towel. Meanwhile Ingrid had managed to take off her shoes. Aisha handed her the towel - and then the dreaded question came.
"Thanks. Won't you take off your coat? Or at least the hood?"
Aisha's face (thankfully almost entirely hidden) turned scarlet. "I, uh, I,..." she stuttered.
"You can't take it off because it's locked?" It was more a statement than a question; Ingrid wasn't blind, after all, and the padlock had been right in front of her eyes when Aisha handed her the towel.
"Uh, yes..."
At that moment, when Aisha thought she couldn't possibly be more embarrassed, another person entered the hallway.

Sheila entered the living room and stopped as abruptly as if she had ran straight into a brick wall. Picture the scene she arrived at: her friend and roommate Ingrid is sitting on the sofa, with one foot bare and her arm in a makeshift sling. Standing in front of her is a person in a thick black down jacket, with the hood up and tied tight. The person turned towards her, and amusingly, the expressions on both faces were identical: fear. Sheila's first impression was that Ingrid had been beat up by a robber, who would now lunge at her. Aisha felt as if she'd just been caught masturbating in front of strangers.

The moment passed, however, and Sheila realized her first impression was wrong. She was still shocked, however, and she wanted to ask "What happened?" but somewhere between her brain and her mouth the words got changed to "Who are you?" at the hooded person. It was Ingrid who answered though, and told her about the accident she had.

Aisha, meanwhile, just wanted to escape from the humiliating situation, and realized that, now that Sheila had arrived, it was time to bolt.
"Well, I really need to go now, so..."
"Yes, okay, thanks a lot Aisha. Please, can you just write down your phone number before you go? I'd like to call you again later."
Aisha did this, without the faintest idea about the consequences of that innocuous act.

---

A week after that incident, Ingrid called Aisha. They talked for a bit about Ingrid's injuries. (The ankle was better, she could pretty much walk normally. The broken wrist was in a cast.) Then Ingrid said she had a present for Aisha, to thank her for her help. Aisha said that wasn't necessary, but Ingrid insisted that it was something special for her, and she hoped Aisha would enjoy it. Aisha's curiosity was roused, and she agreed to come over on Saturday.

Of course this time Aisha didn't wear her lockable down jacket, so she was able to take off her hood and jacket. Ingrid and Sheila were both there, and the three girls talked for a couple of minutes before Sheila brought in the cardboard box that contained Aisha's present. She opened it and revealed a bright red long down coat. But, as Ingrid quickly explained, it wasn't an ordinary coat. Just like in Aisha's other jacket, they had replaced the hood drawstring with a chain so it could be locked. In addition, they had done the same with drawstrings around the waist, at the hem, and around the wrists. These last ones had been done in such a way that they could be led through loops in a matching set of mittens, making those also impossible to remove. And finally there was a pair of Moonboots, also with chains and locks to prevent them being taken off.

"So now you can be locked into your complete outfit," Ingrid concluded. "What do you think?"
Aisha was stunned. Not only had Ingrid noticed the lock on her hood and known what it meant, apparently she had taken the idea one step further. And why? To mock her? To please her? On one hand Aisha was embarrassed that someone knew her secret (two persons, actually); on the other hand she had to admit that she was excited to wear these clothes. In the end though, it was just her upbringing that kicked in and made her smile and thank them. When you got a present, that was the only correct response, her parents had taught her, even if you had your doubts about it. And she sure had her doubts. She was very uncomfortable about her secret being out.

But there was nothing she could do about that now. And of course she had to try everything on. A minute later she was dressed in the knee length down coat, the Moonboots and the heavy, down-filled mittens. Everything in a fiery bright red. Then, one by one, the chains which were worked into the garments were pulled tighter and locked with padlocks. One on each of her Moonboots. Then those around her wrists, which also kept the mittens on her hands. Next the one on her waist. And finally the one at the hem of the coat. This one Sheila pulled very tight, nearly forcing her knees to touch, before she locked it.

Aisha wanted to say that was too tight, she couldn't walk this way, but then she realized that didn't really matter. She wasn't realistically going outside like this anyway. All of those locks were clearly visible. She said: "It's a really nice outfit, but you know I can't go outside in it, right? Everyone would be able to see the locks." "Right! We've thought of that!" Sheila said, and quickly left the room. Aisha was momentarily puzzled, until Sheila returned with a green rubber raincape. Without a pause, she put it on Aisha. "There, all covered!" she grinned.

It was true. The cape was slightly longer than the down coat, so it even hid the odd position of her knees. It had no armslits, so her arms were entirely under it.
"Oh, one more thing," Sheila said. She pulled up the back of the cape and took Aisha's right arm. She did something with the padlock on her wrist, pulling her arm backwards a bit while she did this. Then she suddenly took her left arm as well, and before Aisha knew what happened, they were locked together on her back.
"Hey!" she exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing?"
"With your arms under the cape, they're useless anyway. Might as well lock them together, while we're at it." Sheila said.
"But I don't want that! Unlock them, please!"
Ingrid stepped in. "Don't worry, Aisha, we'll unlock them afterwards. Now it doesn't really matter, does it? With those mittens locked on and under the cape, you couldn't do anything with your hands regardless."
While that was true, Aisha didn't think it made her any happier.

Aisha tried a few tentative steps. "I can hardly walk like this, with my arms on my back and my knees  together. I feel like I'm tied up."
"Yeah, you are pretty well tied up," Sheila said. "Just one more thing." And suddenly she had something in her hand that made Aisha really afraid.
"W-what's that?" she stuttered, although she knew what the red ball that dangled on the leather strap was for.
"As you said, you're essentially tied up now, so it's only fitting that you get a gag as well," Sheila grinned, and ominously walked up to her. Aisha tried to step back but found herself stopped short by her hobble. Sheila was holding the gag right in front of her face now.
"No, no, I don't want a gag. Listen, I..." Aisha babbled, but that wasn't very smart. With her mouth open, Sheila could easily push the gag in, and she buckled up the strap and locked it. Aisha protested but nothing intelligible came out.

Then Sheila put Aisha's hood up and pulled it tight to hide the gag. Only her nose and eyes remained visible. She used a scarf to cover everything up further, and finally pulled the rubber hood of the cape over it all and tied that in place. It still left a good amount of the red hood visible.

"Okay, let's go," Ingrid said as both girls put their jackets on. Aisha shook her head as much as the hoods would allow. She didn't want to go out like this, all tied up and gagged! But they each put an arm around her and gently but firmly pushed her towards the door, ignoring the wild shakes of her hooded head and the pathetic grunts in her gag.

That was the first time Aisha went out completely tied up and gagged - but of course it wasn't the last time. Once her initial panic subsided, she enjoyed the afternoon, and Ingrid and Sheila took good care of her. So if you ever run into these three girls, one of which stays covered under her coat and cape, with the hoods up and tied tightly, always silent and never moving her arms - you'll know you've found Aisha. Go say hello to her; I expect her face will turn red while she lowers her hooded head to escape your attention.

Raissa's Revenge

After she discovered the truth about what had happened during her "quest", Raissa's first instinct had been to rush to Francesca and... do what? She didn't know, and that made her pause. She wanted revenge, that was certain. And she realized she wanted Francesca to be humiliated in public, because that had happened to her. She needed to find a way to get Fran outside in her beloved gear. That would cool off that horny bitch! Well, not literally, perhaps.

---

It was Saturday, and Francesca wanted to spend the day locked inside her Glosssuit. She called her good friend Raissa and asked if she could come over later to free her. That was no problem, Raissa said, and she asked what she was going to wear.
"My blue Glosssuit, with the open face, and a gag," Francesca said.
"You should put the orange pants and jacket on underneath," Raissa suggested.
"Hmm... Why not? This will be a hot day," Francesca laughed.
"Enjoy!"

Twenty minutes later, Francesca was lying on her bed, dressed in the orange down pants and jacket, with the blue Glosssuit on top. Exactly like Raissa had been dressed when she had sent her to the fetish party. The thought of poor Raissa, dressed like this outdoors, made her extremely horny. It had been a naughty thing to do, she thought. Francesca had agreed to go to the fetish party, but then started having second thoughts. She wanted to know what it was like, but she didn't dare to go. She had thought up a plan to make Raissa go in her place, and once that plan was formed she couldn't get it out of her head. And eventually committed to it.

It had been Raissa's idea to wear the jacket under the suit... just like how she was dressed that day. Usually Raissa didn't mind what she wore. Was it possible that Raissa had enjoyed wearing this outfit? Perhaps they could do some sessions in down together? The idea drove her wild and she climaxed.

She was dozing on the bed when suddenly the bedroom door opened. Half asleep and with her head packed in down-filled nylon, she had heard nothing. So she had the fright of her life when there was suddenly a man in her bedroom, dressed completely in black, with a balaclava over his head. She jumped up and would have screamed, but the gag and her hoods blocked the sound almost completely. She backed away in the furthest corner but the man closed the distance in a few steps. She was paralyzed with fear when he grabbed her and threw her face down on the bed. At least he can't rape me, shot through Fran's head, and the absurdity of that caused a brief panic-induced giggle which made her briefly choke on her gag. She made a snorting sound as she sucked air through her nose.

Meanwhile the man was sitting across her legs and ass while he pulled her arms behind her and tied them together. First her elbows, then the wrists. Despite the thick filling of her suit, he managed to tie her arms securely together. He had still not said a word, and neither had she, obviously. Wasn't he surprised about that? Wasn't he surprised to find her in a down suit? Or was he just too professional to show it? That thought sent a cold shiver down her spine despite the fact that she was hot and sweaty.

Once her arms were tied, the man shifted his position and started on her legs. Francesca feebly tried to kick but her struggles only resulted in more heat trapped inside the suit. Finally the man got off her and she felt her ankles being pulled towards her ass. The connecting rope between her ankles and elbows was pulled as tight as possible, completing her hogtie.

The man left the room and she was alone, her mind filled with fearful thoughts, her body drenched in sweat.

Some time later - half an hour, perhaps? - she heard a rustling sound. The man was back, and he lifted her knees while pulling something under them. He worked it further under her body and when he reached her head she could see what it was. An huge, brown garbage bag. Fresh panic engulfed Francesca and she desperately tried to kick and scream, but of course, tied up and gagged as she was, this had absolutely no effect. The bag was pulled over her and closed. Francesca noticed that their were tiny holes in the bag, which would allow air passage. She hoped that meant the man didn't want to kill her.

Now she was lifted up, one person holding her knees, another her shoulders. So there was a second robber. Carefully they carried her out of her bedroom. Then she was placed down again. She judged they must be at the top of the stairs now.

Nothing happened for a moment, and then suddenly she was pushed forward! She screamed in her gagged as she was pushed face forward towards the stairs! But instead of tumbling down the stairs (and likely breaking her neck) she slid over a smooth surface, accelerating downwards. This didn't quite stop her panic however, and she kept howling in her gag while she slid faster. Then the surface leveled off, she was still carried forward by her momentum, until hands stopped the motion of her bagged form. A slide, she realized when she finally calmed down a bit. They had placed a slide on top of the stairs, with soap or oil on it to make it more slippery. At that point somebody bumped against her knees - the second robber coming down.

Then she was being carried again. Through the door - outside now. Placed down again, on something soft. Then, unmistakable - the crashing sound of a trunk being closed, right above her. She was being kidnapped!

The engine started, and now they were driving. Soon she realized the entire trunk was filled with soft things, pillows or mattrasses, so she didn't get hurt when the car turned. So her kidnappers were concerned with her well-being. That was a good thing, at least. That wasn't to say that she was comfortable though. She was still in a tight hogtie, with a large ball in her mouth, dressed in layers of down inside a plastic bag, in a stuffed trunk. Her nostrils were wide as she kept taking deep breaths of warm air that would rapidly run out of oxygen. She wondered how long she could survive here.

Thankfully, it was a short ride. After ten minutes the car stopped and the trunk was opened again. Then the bag was opened and even her ropes were being untied. Still facedown, Francesca had not seen her kidnapper yet. Once she was untied, her legs were pulled over the edge of the trunk so she could easily climb out. She turned and faced her captor.

"!!" No sound escaped her suit, but "Carl" was what she had tried to say. The man - now without balaclava - was Carl, Raissa's boyfriend!

"You've done something pretty nasty to Raissa," he said, "and this is payback time. You'll have to walk home like this. Raissa will be waiting for you. I suggest you use the time to reflect on what you did and think of how you will apologize to her."

He turned back to the car and took something from the passenger seat. Her oversized Moonboots, which were meant to fit over the attached feet of her Glosssuit. "You'll need these," he said putting them on the ground. Then he closed the trunk, got in the car and drove away.

Francesca was standing in a clearing in the forest. She recognized the place. She had picknicked here last summer. With Raissa, of course. She was about 10 km from home.

Awkwardly, she picked up the oversized Moonboots and walked over to a bench. She sat down and started putting them on. It was difficult work with her limited vision and the suit's thick mittens, but she took her time for it. She was in no hurry. She knew she deserved this, but that didn't mean she looked forward to her walk of shame.

Of course, some part of her did look forward to it. While she was lacing up the Moonboots, she felt excitement and fear doing a strange dance in the vicinity of her stomach. She managed to tighten the hood of the Glosssuit, making the opening very small. At least that hid the other hood underneath, and the gag. When she finally stood up and started walking, it felt like she was dreaming. This couldn't be happening. But it was. And she knew there was no way out, no way to avoid this.

---

It was horrible. Every person she passed stared at her. She tried to avoid their gaze, but she still saw their amazed and amused faces. Even through her hoods, she could hear giggles and laughter and people talking about her right after she passed. She could never understand the words, of course, but by the way conversation abruptly broke off when people noticed her, she knew it was about her.

The worst was when she had to pass four young women, about her own age, all immaculately dressed in a way that showed they cared about fashion. They were wearing heels that made clacking noises on the pavement - until the moment Francesca crossed them, and she knew they had stopped and turned around to look at her. She thought she'd never forget the sound of their laughter.

And it could get worse still. Three boys, about 15 year old, were walking in the same direction, and they were now right behind her. They talked about her loudly, clearly not minding that she could hear them.
"I think she's going to climb the Himalaya!"
"Yeah, she must've taken a wrong turn on her way to Africa!"
That one's not passing any geography tests soon, Fran thought.
"Look at those boots!"
"Yeah it says Moon Boot on them. Maybe it's a spacesuit?"
One of them now danced to the front of her, and asked: "Hey are you going to the moon? Or the Himalaya?"
When she didn't reply he went back behind her and said to his friends: "She's got her hood tied almost shut! Like Kenny from South Park!"
Another one now came in front of her and asked: "Are you Kenny?"
He went back and reported: "She's not answering!"
"At least Kenny makes noises, this one's dumb!"
"Look! There's a lock on her zipper! She can't get out of that suit!"
This was going bad. She had to get rid of them. Francesca turned into a side street, hoping they wouldn't follow. It didn't work. The first boy showed up in front of her again. "Can't you talk?" he asked. He peered into her hood opening and deliberately blocked her path. She tried to go around him but he stepped in front of her, forcing her to stop. She tried to turn away again but then he grabbed the drawstrings of her hood, pulling it completely closed. She pulled her head away and grabbed at the drawstrings with her mitten, but he easily held on.
"Let me tie this for you," the boy said. He was starting to make a knot, which would seal her in the darkness of her hood, with no way to escape. Gagged and blind and unable to open the knot with her mittens, how would she ever get out? Panic gave her strength, and she roughly pulled the strings out of her hands and managed to open her hood a bit again. Then, before he could try again, she pushed herself between the boys and ran away as fast as she could.

Francesca ran until she was out of breath, which was soon because of her gag. She breathed heavily through her nose and turned to look behind her. They hadn't followed her. If they had, they would of course have outrun her with ease. Francesca was now even hotter than before, and completely exhausted. Her nostrils were wide, making snorting noises as she greedily sucked in air. She walked on for a bit but eventually she had to rest. The heat inside the suit completely drained her energy. Francesca entered a park, located a bench and fell down on it.

An old woman shuffled past and then sat down on the bench. "That's a fancy suit," the woman commented. "You must think it's really cold to wear a thing like that. Me, I don't think it's cold at all now. We used to have real winters. This is nothing. You young people have grown weak." Francesca of course remained silent during this monologue. "Yeah, ignore me, I'm just a babbling old fool. That's what my son seems to think too. Respect for your elders, that's another thing of the past it seems." Francesca stood up and walked away as fast as she could.

On and on she walked. She was humiliated, tired, and sweating so much it seemed her clothes must all be glued to her body by now. But eventually she got home, and went in through the back door. Raissa was waiting inside, sitting on the sofa. Francesca went down on her knees in front of her and hung her head in a mute apology.

"Francesca, I'm willing to forgive you for what you did to me, on one condition."
Francesca looked up at Raissa.
"From now on, you will wear your hood up whenever you are with me."
Francesca nodded.