Anti-clockwise

Alyssa turned it anti-clockwise. She thought that that was what she had been told.

Suddenly, Alyssa's vision cut off in an instant. So did her hearing. Alyssa went to cry out but found herself unable to do even that. And then she realized that her hands were resting on her neck. As if...

As if her head wasn't even there anymore.

Alyssa felt around the bottom of the bracelet. It was definitely only half there. Her head must have detached and fallen off somewhere. But the was strange. Why couldn't she feel it in that case?

Alyssa blindly got down on her knees and looked around for her head. Being blind, deaf and mute she could only use her sense of touch. She didn't find a head, but she did grip Loretta's leg, and bump into the lab desk.

Alyssa felt strong hands pull her back onto her feet. Then those same hands grabbed her neck and twisted the bracelet back the other way.

Alyssa was suddenly back in control of all of her sense. She could see, hear and speak once more, and she was positive that her head was back on her neck. She breathed a sigh of relief and calmed down.

"Sorry about that. We forgot to tell you about the the second mode," Mark said.

"Second mode is activated by turning the bracelet counter-clockwise?" Alyssa replied.

"Yes. And instead of detaching your limb it uh...remove it."

"How?"

"How does it work? Do you know anything about quantum physics?"

"No?"

"Then you wouldn't get it."

Loretta and Mark made sure that Alyssa was definitely alright before moving on. They wanted to give Alyssa a tour of the lab.

"Sure thing. But uh, could I swap these handcuffs out for something?" Alyssa asked, holding up her hands.

Loretta came over to her and simply twisted both bracelets counter-clockwise, causing her hands to both vanish. The cuffs, no longer attached to anything, fell to the floor. "There you go. That should be all fine."

Alyssa thought it could be annoying to not have hands, but couldn't really reverse the process, so decided to run with it for now.

================================

The lab was bigger than Alyssa was expecting, although not as flashy. It was mainly a bunch of small isolated labs. Mark and Loretta worked with a very small number of staff. They had introduced themselves, and everyone had had a great laugh making the same joke about trying to shake hands.

They were all lovely people, and Alyssa was failing to see how this is a punishment.

Eventually, they got to the end of the tour.

"Now, Alyssa. You are probably wondering why this is considered a punishment for your breaking the rules."

"Thought had crossed my mind."

"Well now we tell you why. While under your employ, we dictate that you must at all times be missing at least one limb, in order to sufficiently test the devices. This missing limb must be to a degree we set. One hand is not enough, but the whole arm is. Or both hands. Same works with legs. The head on its own is fine. These limbs can either be detached or removed entirely. Finally, there may be times where we request a specific configuration from you. You must comply under such conditions, understood?"

"Understood," Alyssa noted.

"Good." Mark smiled. "In that case, your first assignment is to go spend a few hours at the beach with Loretta. I want your head to be detached."

Loretta threw off her lab coat and let her hair down. She left her glasses and stilettos on however. "I'll detach my head as well. Just to make you feel comfortable." She produced one of the collar devices from in amongst her cleavage and snapped it around her neck.

"Um, little help here?" Alyssa raised her handless arms.

"Oh yes, so sorry." Loretta came over and brought Alyssa's hand back, only to then immediately detach her head and give it to her. Alyssa wasn't quite sure what to do with it. So she just watched as Loretta removed her head and put it under her arm. Alyssa copied. It was rather weird to have her eyeline in a drastically different place.

"Woah this is weird," Alyssa noted.

"Don't worry. You'll get used to it eventually," Loretta's head said. "Now let's go! Beach time!"