Processing
Tafran woke to the overwhelming smell of musk and semen surrounding him, a warm but hard tiled floor underneath, as well as the feel of furs pressing at his back and front. He opened his eyes and recoiled, noticing his nose had been pressed against the nude crotch of a male fox in front of him. Only now did he notice he was naked as well, lying in an uninviting looking metallic room.
He sat up and looked around groggily, unsurely covering his modesty. The room was filled to the brim with males of various species, all as nude as himself, some of them now rising just as he was. By his reckoning, there were about forty or fifty in total. Another common theme among the residents of the room was their build. All of them slim and timid, the greatest in size barely average despite being a horse. Taf himself was fairly average by the standards of those around him. It was warm and somewhat stuffy in the room, making Tafran's nuts hang loose in their sac, similarly to those of others. Were he interested in males, this could possibly have been an arousing scene to him. Instead he was simply terrified.
Running a hand over his forehead, he thought back to how he could've gotten there. He recalled being at a party, but not much beyond that. He could only guess he'd been drugged and abducted, and that these other males probably met a similar fate. His current concern was why someone would abduct them. Considering how en masse this was, it most certainly wasn't a ransom kidnapping. Then again, he was no expert on the subject. Perhaps this was how things were done these days.
As others began to rise, so did he, maintaining his awkward cover of his goods. It was somewhat difficult with how hefty his gonads were, commonly for a squirrel. He now noticed a smooth door on one of the walls.
A murmur rose among those in the room, confused questions of where they were, how they got there and what was happening. Tafran himself remained silent, not expecting any relevant answer from those around him, and instead decided to push his way through the crowd towards the door. Brushing past all these nude men didn't help his feeling of unease at all. As if following his example, others began to flock towards the door as well, making his passage more difficult and cramped. He felt soft parts occasionally press against his thighs and tail, making him shiver.
But as he neared the door, they all heard a metallic clanging, followed by the door sliding upwards. The squirrel raised himself to his toes, trying to peek over the crowd and see what lay beyond the door. He could just barely make out three tall, bulky figures standing there. He felt the crowd shift backwards as the trio entered the room. He held his ground, hoping to get a better view. As the doors closed shut again, the murmurs of questions asked rose again.
"Silence!", one of the three, a stocky brown horse, called out, deathly silence enveloping the room in response. The middle among them, an exceptionally muscular wolf took a step towards them and began to speak.
"You are now property of Latias Arevalt.", he began, prompting a number of cries of despair. The name was known to some of them, Taf included. Latias was a notorious slave trader, one that actively sought out potential merchandise among hapless civilians rather than prisoners of war as was more common. "Today begins your training. You will learn to serve your masters without protest. But first, you must undergo processing. Await here for your turn quietly and do not resist. Else face punishment.", he concluded. Without a word more, the three moved back out the door and closed it shut. None dared try to stop them or flee. Only the silence remained.
Tafran found that he was shaking profusely. He'd been made a slave! Slavery was deemed legal in the Empire as long as those captured were of age and weren't citizens. Youths just barely of age who had yet to earn their citizenship by serving in the military were prime targets for slavers like Arevalt. The bright side of this was that it wasn't permanent, and they would become free citizens within the Empire once they had undergone four years of service. Twice the number of years the military would require, and utterly degrading.
Taf's family had the finances to pull him out of such a forced arrangement, but he feared how long it would take before they found out. Chances were he'd end up an oft frequented sex slave of some wealthy merchant before they'd manage to get him out. Or worse yet, he could be thrown into an arena to fend for his life. Neither prospect felt acceptable at all.
Some among them dispersed to the sides of the room, preferring to sit by the walls in relative comfort. Some others sat down where they stood, as did Tafran, not particularly sure what to do. All he could do was pray to the gods he'd be spared death or sexual servitude. The only sounds within the room now were strange low hisses and metallic clatters like those of some sorts of tools coming from beyond the door.
Finally, after minutes more, the door slid open again, the third among their captors standing within - an incredibly muscular lion. He wore plain brown pants, black boots and a sleeveless black vest, displaying his broad and bulky arms. He scanned the room briefly, then went up to the closest among those in waiting, a small mutt. The canine got up and allowed himself to be lead out by the arm, stumbling along the way as the feline nearly carried him out.
The door closed shut once more and everything was silent again for a while. Shortly after, however, they heard something else from beyond the door.
"What?! No! Help!", they heard the dog's distressed voice from beyond the metal plate door. "Ugh! No! Let- AAAGH!!!", the canine screamed. He continued to scream incoherently, then it died down to a whimper. Suddenly everyone in the room was terrified, some even shifting away from the door. Whatever 'processing' meant, it sounded horrible. The low hiss returned soon after, and a couple minutes later, the door slid open again.
This time all of them moved away from the lion who had entered. But before they could all retreat to the other end of the room, the feline leapt in and caught a relatively small horse, the tallest among them, gripping his forearm. The equine thrashed and pulled at his grip, but to no avail. In an act of desperation, he kicked the big lion right between the legs. The guard snarled and grimaced in pain, cupping his jewels with one hand, but maintaining his hold. Before the horse could try to break free, the feline violently pulled him in and kneed him hard in the testicles, making him squeal in agony and immediately drop to the floor. The slaver hoisted his limp form off the floor and slung him over his shoulder before retreating out of the room, seemingly unconcerned by the assault on his own groin.
"Oh gods, no! N-aaaaargh! Stop!", they heard the equine now. "GrrraaaAAAARGH!!!", he screamed, sending shivers down all the slaves' spines. "My balls! Oh gods, my balls!", they heard again after a while. Suddenly they had more of an idea what 'processing' meant. Murmurs of despair rose among them again, nearly drowning out one more bellow from beyond the metal door before the low hiss set in again. The biggest among them had succumbed, powerless to fight back against their large captors. Their situation looked dire.
The door opened again, and now everyone immediately leapt away to the other end of the room, huddling together. Taf found himself packed tightly amongst them, facing towards the door. The smell of fear-induced sweat pervaded them, along with minor hints of musk. His backside was pressed against some well-endowed male, and a panicking rat was pressing himself against him from the front. Keeping his own genitals covered, he could feel the other rodent's limp manhood and impressively sized gonads rubbing against his hands. Were it not for their situation, he would've wanted nothing more than to kick the rat where it hurt for invading his privacy.
Eventually, the lion managed to grab a thin panther and pull him away from the crowd. The panther went limp and dropped to the floor, trying his best to dissuade the lion from pulling him away. But the lion shrugged and reached down, grabbing the panther again, this time by the jewels. The held slave gave out a panicked roar and now looked in terror at the others, as if pleading for them to help him, but none dared move. The smaller feline was dragged off by the bigger one, fidgeting and mewling at the agony of being towed along the floor by his berries.
Shortly after the door closed behind them, the now all too familiar sound of unintelligible screams could be heard from the other room, followed by the low hiss. Taf took the moment to break away from the tightly packed crowd and catch a breath, having intimately felt and smelled more males than he'd ever wanted to. He wondered if there was any point to their current struggle. Regardless of how hard they fought not to be the next chosen, they would eventually all have to go through it. It was as if they were all hoping someone would save them at the last minute or their captors would spare the last among them.
Yet, for all his pragmatism, as soon as the door slid open again, Tafran ran back into the crowd, terrified of being next on the line. A small, white mouse among them had gone faint, likely from the cramped conditions, and dropped out of the crowd to the floor. Wanting to get this over with quickly, the lion decided to go for the little rodent and pulled him to his paws. The mouse didn't seem to protest much, looking resigned to his fate. Everyone eased their efforts for a moment more, allowing themselves to regain their breaths.
But for some reason, they couldn't hear the screams this time, wait as they might. Curiosity getting the best of him, Tafran approached the door, wanting to listen in on what was happening. Just as he was at the door, it slid open, the lion's imposing form right in front of him. Feeling sheer terror, he turned tail and ran back into the crowd. Dashing into their midst, he accidentally rammed himself thigh-first into some poor, struggling ram's grapes, inciting a panicked bleat. His efforts were in vain, however, as he suddenly felt himself yanked away by the arm away from the others.
Being forcefully lead out of the room, he looked back at his fellow slaves, as if begging them to help. Were they to all cooperate, they could've no doubt overpowered the three titans and won back their freedom. But everyone was still too concerned with their immediate safety, hoping a miracle would save them as long as they kept themselves out of harms way. Taf wanted to scream out at how foolish they were, but now it was too late. He'd wasted his last moments in panic just like everyone else.
As the door closed behind them, Tafran gulped and looked around the room. The other two slavers stood at the ready near a cage resting atop a cargo hover-mover. Inside the cage were four figures he recognized as the ones who had entered before him. Along the walls of the room were counters with various medical looking tools and trays. At the centre of the room were a plain, metallic table and a modified gynaecological chair, equipped with straps to keep the occupant in place.
"You want your balls snipped the easy way or the hard way?", the built wolf asked, waving his hand first over the chair, then the table. Taf nearly recoiled at the confirmation of his fears.
"Please. My family can pay! Don't do this!", he pleaded, but the slavers simply smirked at that.
"We've heard that before.", the wolf said as he grabbed Tafran by the shoulder and threw him chest-first onto the table.
"Please don't!", he continued to beg, trying to flee from the table, but found himself pinned as the wolf climbed on top and pressed his knee against the rodent's back, restraining his large tail in the process.
"Save your breath. You'll need it in a second.", he said and took Taf by the testicles.
"No! Please!", he repeated to no avail. The canine pulled down, trapping the squirrel's nuts at the bottom of their sac while reaching out for something on a nearby tool tray. Before Tafran could resume his futile attempts at persuasion, the wolf brandished a knife and slashed down. "YYYEEAAAAARGH!!!", he screamed, feeling a pain unlike anything he'd known before. As if to taunt him, the canine dropped his severed ball bag right in front of his face, horror setting in at the sight. A different kind of pain followed shortly after, as he felt something cold press against his wound before instantly becoming searing hot. "Aaaagh!!", he yelled as he felt his crotch being scorched. The device at his groin suddenly became cold again and was pulled away, leaving him with the after-pain of having his testicles severed and his skin cut open.
The wolf released him, letting him fall off the table and roll around on the floor, clutching his deballed groin. The lion lifted him up and put him in the cage next to the other 'processed' slaves. After a while he regained his senses, still hurting badly and somewhat in shock, but once more aware of his surroundings. Sitting up, he looked over his genitals. Somewhat to his surprise, his crotch was quite smooth, only a scar that already felt healed in place of his scrotum. It made him feel dizzy, looking down there and seeing his testicles gone as if they were never there. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He'd been castrated! And they did it without restraints or anaesthetic of any sorts. They just handled him like a small animal.
Hearing the familiar hiss, he looked up from the cage, only to see the horse running some kind of square-shaped hand-held device over the blood stains in the room, seemingly evaporating them in a gust of steam. Once finished, the room looked quite pristine, as if the surgery had never happened there. His severed gonads were no longer on the table, most likely discarded like common trash. Taf then turned his attention to his cell mates. He realized why the mouse hadn't made a noise when they took him in - he was intact. His other cell mates weren't as lucky.
"How are you still intact?", he asked the mouse.
"No talking!", the wolf interjected, cutting any conversation short. "Bring in the next one.", he instructed the lion. As the big feline disappeared behind the door, Tafran could hear the terrified shuffling and murmur of the other slaves trying to escape their fate. Soon after, he returned, dragging a tiger that looked quite pained, cupping his jewels.
"Second one today that kicked me.", the lion said with annoyance, rubbing his crotch with one hand. "You're taking the next batch, Malad.", he said towards the horse. What he did next somewhat surprised Tafran. "Remember this pain.", Taf could hear him whisper before he pulled the smaller feline's hands away and took hold of the his nuggets. The tiger began to thrash and scream as the lion apparently began to clamp down on his already sore testicles hard. He ineptly tried to claw at the massive hand crushing his manhood, but to no avail, since his claws were trimmed. As suddenly as he'd begun, the lion closed his fist shut with a wet crunch. The tiger screamed off the top of his lungs and went limp, then dropped to the floor and assumed the foetal position as soon as the lion released him. Tafran took a moment to look towards the equine slave in their cage. He'd no doubt suffered the same fate as the tiger. The way he shivered and instinctively shielded his crotch all but confirmed it.
The wolf then walked up and lifted the tiger onto the table, climbing on top and pinning him down as he had done with Taf. He took hold of the already neutered feline's mush-filled sac and swiped a knife over it, inciting another pained wail from the tortured tiger. He then dumped the severed part in front of his victim's face while the horse walked up with an odd, cylindrical looking device and pressed it against the feline's bleeding groin. Following another round of the tiger's screams as the machine did its part, they let him go, allowing him to roll around in agony on the table before they threw him in the cage.
Tafran found it grotesque how the latter part of the tiger's castration was essentially the same as his. It seemed like routine for the slavers. Following clean up, the lion went in to fetch another male. He returned shortly after with a resigned looking rat that didn't seem to resist at all.
"Not gonna give use trouble snipping your balls off?", the lion asked, to which the rat simply nodded sadly. "Sit there.", the feline instructed, pointing at the gynaecological chair. The rodent complied without protest. They strapped him in, each leg bound to a separate elevated leg rest, and then pulled them apart, granting easy access to his nethers.
Seeing the wolf duck down between his legs with a scalpel in hand, the rodent tensed up and began to fidget around, apparently regretting his compliance. He suddenly gave out a high pitch squeal as the canine cut into his scrotum. His eyes closed shut and he gritted his teeth in agony as the slaver then proceeded to push his gonads out of his scrotum. With a loud squeak, his balls were finally severed and the healing device was pressed up against his crotch. While still having to undergo castration, he was spared the sight of his disembodied testicles, no doubt in return for his obedience. Or perhaps the brutal means of the others' neutering was actually punishment for disobedience.
As they escorted the now somewhat lighter rat into the cage, Tafran began to wonder how many more neuterings he would have to witness. Despite having painfully lost his own manhood moments earlier, the sights and sounds still made him queasy. Oblivious to his concerns, the lion had already brought in the next victim - a thrashing and protesting, exceptionally small fennec fox.
"Hold him steady.", the wolf ordered, to which the lion took hold of both the small male's arms from behind. The little canine froze in fear as the big canine walked up and grabbed him by the muzzle, inspecting his face more closely before similarly grabbing hold of his berries and rolling them around, getting a good look at his entire body. "Cute one. He'll do.", he said, concluding his inspection with a yelp-inducing punch in the fox's ovals. The lion then easily pushed the fox's doubled over form towards the cage entrance and shoved him in, letting him drop down to the floor to nurse his battered but intact orbs.
Taf now realized how the mouse had evaded his fate - he was simply deemed desirable enough to the slavers. The two still male among them were also the smallest, giving him a clear pattern as to who got to remain whole. He wasn't sure what the purpose was, but at least now he knew it was a matter of luck rather than persuasion. Then again, considering their treatment thus far, he questioned if having such highly abusable organs could be considered lucky.
"Alright. Next batch.", the wolf said, opening the thus far closed door out of the room. The horse and lion began to push the cage, the cargo hover-mover it was on making the job fairly easy. They now found themselves in a dark, wide corridor, leading off to directions unknown.
Tafran sighed heavily, partially in relief at not having to witness any more 'processing', but also because he knew this was just the beginning of his life as a slave.