I'm not even home yet when the portal gag activates for the first time. The gag is my punishment, and my guarantee of further employment. All I had to do to avoid getting fired - or, worse, having my boss call the cops - was agree to the gag. A fitting punishment as well, since it was the design specs for the gag's portal technology that I had been attempting to sell to the competition when I was caught.
"If I turn you in," he said, "it will mean jail time. Five years minimum. And I guarantee no major company will employ you after." I was, in other words, royally screwed. "Or... I may choose to overlook it this time, and even let you keep your job, if you agree to wear this gag - permanently."
The gag was invisible, but very real. I could feel it between my fingertips, stretchy and slippery, and impossibly light. Worn over the mouth, it could be sensed against my skin, but there was nothing to prevent me breathing through it, or spitting through it, or sticking my fingers through it even. I could even drink coffee through it, and eat too, so it was a very strange gag indeed, if it even was one at all.
Wearing it seemed a lot better than spending years in prison. Wearing it, and getting to keep my job, seemed hardly like punishment at all.
Until, sitting in the bus, still amazed at the bizarre outcome of my failure, the portal activates, forcing my mouth open. It's getting dark outside, and my reflection in the window shows me my shocked expression and the black void that consumes my lips and the mouth between them. I try desperately to tear the gag off my face, but succeed only in pinching and scratching at my cheeks.
The bus is pretty full, some people even having to stand. A little old lady is sitting next to me, and she's not the only one suddenly staring at me in horror. They don't know, but I do. I know immediately what this means. It means that somewhere - somewhere else - my mouth is visible, and stretched wide open.
