The permit machine

Jessica was lead kicking and screaming down an empty street. The old lady stopped at a building that looked like a shop, with a long window stretched across the first floor. Above the window was a sign displaying the shop name 'Permit Office'. The old lady tried to push the door, but it wouldn't budge because it was locked. She glanced up at the door, spotting a sign behind the window saying 'closed'.

She sighed. "No matter, we'll just use the machine instead." She moved over to what appeared to be a fancy looking ATM. It was mostly a portrait plasma screen, with a terminal next to it for pressing buttons. A large 'start' button was displayed on the screen. There was also a drawing of a pair of feet directly infront of the screen. The guard placed Jessica, who had calmed down a bit now, onto the foot drawing. He held her upright by her shoulders, to keep her in place.

"The fuck is this gonna do?" Jessica asked. As if on cue, the old lady pressed the start button and metal clamps suddenly held Jessica's feet in place. "What the fuck!?" Jessica panicked, as she tried to run away but couldn't as her feet were clamped to the ground. A blue hologram suddeny scanned Jessica's entire body. On the screen, it showed a netted hologram of Jessica's body.

Once the scan was complete, the screen then displayed Jessica's full name, address and pretty much everything about her. "What the actual fuck... umm that shit is private!!" Jessica started to panick, whatever this machine was it didn't sound good. "Splendid, now if I just press this." The old lady muttered to herself. She pressed the 'Mark subject as a Non permit holder.'

Another series of questions popped up. 'Was the subject caught in public without a permit?' She pressed yes. 'Did the subject resist when caught?' She pressed yes. 'Did the subject cause you or anyone else mental problems?' The woman took a moment to think, then remembered the horrible things Jessica said and pressed yes. While the machine displayed a loading bar, Jessica moaned.

"Why'd you press yes to all those!??" She asked loudly. "Because they're all true! Anyways, the machine is printing out a non permit ticket, when asked about a permit this is what you show them. What it means is you own absolutely nothing, it will all be confiscated until you can prove yourself worthy of an actual permit." The old lady explained.

Jessica stared at her in disbelief. "You're fucking nuts! There's no way this is legal! Police!!! Police!!!" Jessica started screaming. "Police can't help ya, in fact I would stay far away from them as possible, the things they'll do to a non permit holder can be quite brutal..." Rob the security gaurd guard explained. Jessica gulped, she hadn't quite processed the severity of the situation until now.

"So..so how do I get an actual permit?" She asked the old lady. "Well it's very simple, you go to any building in the town, show them your ticket, and you see what they can do for you!" The old lady responded bluntly. Jessica had a slight bit of relief. "That doesn't sound so bad." She thought.

The machine finally completed its printing, as a brown ticket slid out of a socket on the terminal. It then displayed another statement, 'confiscating belongings'. Suddenly, mechanical arms all shot out of the machine and swarmed Jessica. Her bag, phone, purse, and jewelry were all snatched off her. The arms then cascaded back into the machine with her stuff. "HEY!! THOSE ARE MINE!! YOU GIVE THEM BACK RIGHT NOW!!" Jessica screamed, trying to shove her arms out of Rob's grip.

The old lady chuckled "oh Jessica dear, I told you, all your belongings no longer belong to you and therefore must be taken away. In fact you're very lucky it didn't strip you naked! But I will remind you that your clothes are still not your own!" The old lady laughed, she picked up the ticket and placed it into Jessica's back pocket. "Don't forget this!" She chuckled and walked off with Rob, who let go of Jessica and ran away from her before she could hit him.

Jessica screamed and shouted, furious about what just happened. "COME BACK HERE AND GIVE ME MY STUFF!! OH FUCK OFF THEN! GO TAKE YOUR BUM BUDDY AND FUCK UNTIL YOU GET A HEART ATTACK!!!" She screamed, but wasn't successful as the pair quickly made a right turn and disappeared. The screen had a count down displayed of 5 minutes before her clamps would disengage, allowing her captors to disappear before she causes them harm or grief.