It all started with a tinker named Dingle and his chip. Couple that with the demise of gasoline as a common fuel and the rise of urbanization - and it was bound to happen.
Dingle was fiddling with a microchip that was used to train pets when his wife, amply misnamed Patience, walked in angry again about something that he had forgotten to do. While listening to her latest tirade, Dingle had an inspiration. He pressed the chip against her forehead. The effect was stunning. His wife shut up. When he removed the chip, his wife resumed her ranting. Of course, now Dingle was lost in this new revelation, and failed to hear as his wife stormed out of the house. Dingle went back to the drawing board.
Urbanization had brought its own set of complications. While most people didn't own cars anymore, and public transportation had become very efficient, they still wanted a form of personal transportation. Walking was fun for short distances, but people wanted something more.
The first form of human powered transportation was the New York Rickshaw Company. For a set fee, the customer could rent a rickshaw team by the day, week, or month. A lot of city dwellers found this acceptable. The rickshaw was at their call for the allotted time and the service was excellent. It was just like a personal set of wheels without the cost of ownership. The NYRC was soon franchised in every major city. The major problem was finding capable males to pull the taxis.
At a Sunday social in Dingle's home city, Patience Dingle was telling her friend, Edith Harrison, of the strange episode when her husband had touched her forehead, and she had forgotten what she was saying. Mrs. Harrison was the wife of one Henry Harrison, owner of the local rickshaw franchise. She relayed this strange tale to her husband. Both being close friends of the Dingles, they agreed that getting Patience to shut up was a major feat. But Ole Henry had another idea as well. He went to Dingle with a plan.
Harrison's plan was to use low risk prisoners for rickshaw duty service in lieu of prison time. If Dingle's chip could be programmed to keep the workers calm enough to be controlled and safe enough to be on the street, Harrison would have a virtually limitless supply of capable males to pull his rickshaws.
Harrison took his plan to the local authorities. With the jail bursting at the seams, the city decided to try Harrison's plan on a volunteer basis. Selected inmates would have a chip implanted in their foreheads, they would be housed and fed by the company and their medical needs would be the city's responsibility. They would be paid just like any other employee. With few exceptions, the program was a success. Many former inmates continued to work for the company after their release and the implant had been removed.
As the chip was refined, more violent prisoners entered the work force. As the male prison population dropped, female inmates were recruited. This proved to be quite popular with the young urban male population.
Soon the prison system was emptied of all but the most hard core violent offenders. That was the start of the Equine age in 2109.
Fast forward to 2203.
With the increasing need for reliable urban transportation, the Federal government enacted the Human Equine Procurement Act of 2203. To the authors of the bill, this made perfect sense. Human equines didn't require the large area that the four legged variety did and costed far less feed. They could be housed in an urban setting with relative ease and little expense.
The act basically said that any human of good health wishing to become a draft animal would be paid after service a set amount of money. The act also had a provision for parents whose child has caused a debt to be placed upon the family fortunes to “sell” that child and use the money to pay off his/her debt.
Roxy Michaels had never heard of the HEPA. She knew that her parents had two female equines to pull the family carriage. Since Roxy wasn't very good in school, she thought that families had always owned equines. She knew that the females were well cared for, but beyond that, she didn't bother her otherwise uncluttered brain with useless (to her) facts. Roxy did know how to lie and steal. She had faked her daddy's signature and ran up an enormous debt on a shopping binge. When her father had confronted her, she merely shrugged off his threats and went back to shopping.
One night at dinnertime the doorbell rang. Her father motioned the maid to remain and got the door himself. He returned with two men in suits. They looked at her coldly. Roxy felt a shiver go up her back. One of the men handed her father an envelope. The other man shot Roxy with a dart in the thigh. She was about to curse the stranger when she keeled over. The men caught her and gently laid her on the floor. They quickly cut her clothes off of her and wrapped her in a body bag.
Roxy woke up in a cage. Her head hurt, she was naked, and she was pissed off. She started to scream to be let go. Oddly, no one around her seemed to hear her. No matter how loud she screamed everyone went about their business. Roxy was hoarse and her throat hurt from her exertions. After screaming for hours, she simply gave up, and knelt sobbing in her cage.
Looking through tear filled eyes, she watched two women and a man approach her cage. "Are you calm now?” the man asked.
Roxy swallowed hard and nodded her head, 'yes'.
"Fine. Then we shall begin" the man informed her. "You have amassed a debt of one million dollars by fraud. Your parents have decided that your service under section 2A paragraph 3 of the Human Equine Procurement Act will be the easiest way for you to retire your debt without endangering their good credit and name."
"Under the provisions of the Act, you will work off your debt at a rate commiserate with the established pay for voluntary equines. Your term of service is calculated to be 35 years, 6 months, 8 days. This is based upon a workday of 18 hours and a workweek of 7 days. Any variation will of course lengthen or shorten your term of service."
"For your time here, you will be involuntary equine 690. Remember your number. There are painful penalties for laxness."
The next day, IE690 was led out of her cage to an examining room. She was laid on a table and a mask was placed over her face. She was told to breathe deeply. IE690 took a deep breath and went to sleep. When she woke up, she had a ring through the middle of her nose and a barcode had been stamped on her left breast. Each nipple had a ring through it too.
Her body hair had been permanently removed for health reasons. She was awakened and led to a mirror. She looked at the rings hanging from her nose and nipples and couldn't remember if they were new or not. She was sure the barcode had always been there. She didn't realize that her body hair was missing. She couldn't feel the nanochip implanted in her forehead.
The nanochip was programmed to prevent speech and previous life memory while allowing training regiments to be easily learned and retained. It also stored personal data on the equine. A new feature was body temperature regulation. This meant that it was no longer necessary to clothe an equine in the winter. The chip maintained a constant body temperature for the equine regardless of the ambient conditions.
Training for IE690 took a month. Everyday for 18 hours, she was worked to increase her stamina and strength. IE690's regimen was common for the center. The program was geared to produce a reasonably fit equine in a thirty days. Basic training for a life as a draft animal was all that the new equines received. Further training would be left to their new owners.
Before leaving the center, female and male equines were fitted with a chastity shield and a horse tail anal plug. While sex with equines was frowned upon, a chastity shield prevented unwanted sexual conduct among the equines. Of course, the owner could remove the shield, but there had been few cases of owner to livestock sex. The anal plug was used when the equine was in service to prevent accidents and an unsanitary mess. (Plus it looked good.) Most male equines were sold to commercial interests for heavy draft work like deliveries in town. The females were mostly sold to private individuals.
IE690 was sold at auction to a nice family who allowed their two children to name her Pinto. Pinto was stabled with the family's other mare, Trixie. Life was good for Pinto. Her duties were simple. She and Trixie cleaned their stable, kept the carriage and tack polished, and of course pulled the family carriage. Neither Pinto nor Trixie thought it odd that they were naked all the time or that the changes in the seasons didn't bother them. Like Trixie, Pinto had the family registration number tattooed just above her navel and on her left buttock.
The children loved to play in the stable. Though their mother had warned them against feeling the equines, they couldn't resist the urge to handle the fit specimens' orifices and breasts. Of course, neither Trixie nor Pinto complained. They were muted livestock and endured the playful children in silence. Pinto would have admitted that she felt a thrill when the boy stroked between her legs.
One of the places the family liked to picnic was Dingle Park. Trixie and Pinto liked the park. They got to feel grass under their bare feet. The air was clean and the trees provided shade from the sun. Dressed in their finest tack, the equines got to show off their fit physiques, tan limbs and high breasts. With their tails bouncing behind them, they made a musical note as the bells on their nipple rings, harnesses, and ankles jingled as they pulled the carriage. While the family played and ate, the equines were hobbled and tethered to a post by a leash attached to their noserings.
Plus sometime during the picnic, each equine would get a sweet treat.
In the center of the park was a statue of Dingle and a fountain for watering the equines. As Trixie was drinking, Pinto looked up at the stone figure not realizing that her predicament had started because Dingle had figured out a way to get his wife to shut up.
To be continued (maybe).