Chapter 3: Private Prostration

The sound of the lock clicking shut was sharp and final, totally unnatural in the quiet of the library. That single, cold sound completely stripped away the final remnants of the public nature of the campus, transforming the small study room into a self-contained prison. Ariana felt the sudden, complete isolation. She stared at the wooden surface of the closed door for a second too long, already trapped inside.

Jordan was now facing the room, standing solidly between Ariana and the door, his frame completely blocking any chance of retreat. The movement was simple, but his action of locking the door instantly cemented his intent to control the space. Lucas was still sitting at the table, watching the interaction with an air of clinical boredom.

Lucas cut through the sudden tension now. His voice was low, totally casual, and carried an inherent expectation of obedience which transcended the reality that he was only a student.

“Vesper, you need to clear the table now,” Lucas commanded, addressing her by her surname again. He made a small, dismissive gesture with his left hand, indicating the clutter on the large rectangular surface.

Ariana instantly reacted to the instruction. The table surface held a few academic folders belonging to Lucas, Jordan’s thin briefcase, and a couple of half-empty plastic water bottles. She moved quickly, instantly adopting the same frantic, clumsy haste she had shown earlier in Professor Elias’s classroom. She pushed the items to the far end of the table, creating a completely clear space directly in front of Lucas’s seated position.

This small act of reorganization felt absurdly submissive. She was tidying up for her captors, essentially setting the stage herself for her own forced humiliation. It was a completely domestic, mundane task placed in the most restrictive and abnormal of contexts.

The main obstacle now was the chairs surrounding the table. There were four of them, standard heavy library issue, and they were all positioned close to the table. Ariana knew exactly where the performance had to take place: on the floor, directly beneath the edge of the large table. The Dogeza itself was an absolutely low posture. The table would enhance the feeling of being confined and completely dominated.

She quickly pulled two of the heavy chairs back and away from the table, ensuring they wouldn’t impede her movement. The legs scraped slightly on the thick carpet, a small, grating sound that felt loud and completely unnecessary in the tight space. She didn’t look at either Lucas or Jordan during this hurried preparation. She was trying to become entirely functionally focused, narrowing her perspective to the immediate, required task: creating the performance space.

Lucas observed her hurried movements without expressing any emotion. He was simply waiting for her to comply with the practical requirements of the session. He watched as she cleared a minimal space on the carpeted floor beneath the desk. The space was only large enough for a person to kneel and prostrate completely without knocking against the desk legs.

Once she paused, signaling the preparation was sufficiently complete, Lucas finally spoke again. He leaned forward slightly on the table, shifting his weight.

“This session is mandatory, as we established outside,” Lucas stated, his voice quiet, almost conspiratorial in volume. He established the required authority again by using the word mandatory.

Ariana stood perfectly still, trying not to fidget. She wanted to appear receptive and obedient, showing no signs of internal resistance to his self-appointed role as her assessor.

“We need to ensure that your form is flawless for the professor, especially in the context of your previous failure to observe the time constraints,” Lucas continued, using Elias’s formal language. “Jordan and I are providing this service now because we are concerned about the integrity of the class standards as a whole, which your performance directly reflects upon.”

He paused, letting the implication that her failure was a detriment to the entire class settle heavily in the small room.

Then he added the new layer of scrutiny that instantly amplified her dread.

“This practice session will be performed with a small adjustment,” Lucas announced, articulating the decision as if it were a simple, purely academic procedural change. “I will be recording your entire submission on my phone from start to finish.”

Ariana felt a sudden, cold jolt of dread immediately hit her fast. The simple act of prostration was already deeply humiliating, a total physical and psychological surrender. The idea of Lucas filming it, capturing her total defeat in a permanent, easily shareable format, added a completely new dimension of violation and exposure. The classroom setting, while public, was still institutional; this private filming, however, was personal and invasive entirely.

She wanted to protest the concept immediately. The words formed in her throat, a choked, frantic desire to know the specific limits of their unsanctioned oversight. However, she recognized the inherent trap in asking too many questions. Querying the recording would be a fundamental challenge to Lucas’s disciplinary authority, and she had just decided she absolutely could not challenge the authority so soon after violating a core rule.

She remained silent, locking down her expression and keeping her breathing shallow. She had to show complete compliance, even if the new requirement felt completely wrong.

Lucas, sensing her internal reaction but completely accepting her external obedience now, continued explaining the necessity for this invasive recording.

“The specific purpose of the recording is to ensure that we can provide you with completely precise, constructive feedback on your form and obedience before the next official class session with Elias,” Lucas explained, using the most academic justification possible for an inherently non-academic act. He emphasized the phrase constructive feedback, attempting to frame the filming as a necessary pedagogical tool completely.

He completely ignored the clear reality: the recording was also an unparalleled tool for increasing her humiliation and securing proof of her mandatory submission to their control specifically. It also gave them potential leverage over her, a fact she understood immediately.

Lucas immediately reached into the pocket of his expensive dark jacket now and smoothly pulled out his cellular phone. It was large and sleek, likely one of the most recent models, and the surface of the screen was completely smooth. He did not show any hesitation at all. He unlocked the screen now with a precise movement of his thumb across the glass. Lucas quickly navigated to the camera application, then checked the recording function, ensuring the device was set to video mode. He minimized the interface slightly but kept the camera open and ready.

He then completely adjusted his position now. He positioned his chair at the corner of the table, turning his body slightly so he could get a clear, unobstructed angle down toward the floor where she was expected to be. He adjusted the phone’s position slightly in his hand, holding it stable near the edge of the table.

“Go to your starting position, Vesper,” Lucas commanded, his voice immediately shifting from the slightly explanatory academic tone to a low, authoritative one.

The starting position for the Dogeza was kneeling upright, placing her on the floor directly beneath an imaginary line drawn between Lucas and the table.

Ariana immediately moved toward the cleared space on the carpet now. She took exactly two steps forward from the door, placing herself directly in the small, open area beneath the table. The proximity to the table’s underside already felt confining. She slowly lowered herself onto the solid floor, sinking onto her knees, adopting the traditional seiza kneeling posture. Her spine was straight, her hands resting flat on her thighs. The thick library carpet felt coarse beneath the thin fabric of her jeans, a minor physical discomfort that completely grounded the reality of the situation.

This posture, simple kneeling, was the required starting point for the absolute prostration. Even in this position, she felt small and exposed, caught between Lucas’s seated, superior height and Jordan’s cold, blocking presence near the door. The closed lens of the phone camera was slightly angled down at her now.

At that moment, Jordan initiated the verbal command protocol. He had not moved from his spot near the door, creating a psychological barrier behind her. His voice did not have the casual authority of Lucas’s; it was drier, completely clinical and emotionless, entirely focused on precise instruction and execution. It was the tone of an absolute drill sergeant.

“Vesper, listen,” Jordan instructed. “You will perform the full act now. You will follow the professor’s explicit requirements. Every movement needs to be controlled and entirely unhesitating. This is not a suggestion for proper form. This must be a presentation of absolute submission. Do you understand completely?”

Ariana confirmed her understanding with a subdued, completely whispered “Yes, Jordan.” She used his first name now, something she had not done before, recognizing the immediate, personal nature of his instruction. It felt less like a formal address and more like a necessary acknowledgement of the specific control he was exerting directly over her now.

“Good,” Jordan replied, the affirmation completely devoid of actual approval. It was simply an acknowledgement of her required compliance.

He immediately began issuing the specific, corrective verbal commands concerning body placement and precise posture required for the ritual. He was clearly reciting the steps Elias had described earlier in the classroom, but Jordan delivered them with a focus and specificity that turned the historical description into entirely personal, immediate instruction.

“Lean forward from the waist now, slowly. You need to keep your back entirely straight for as long as possible,” Jordan dictated, his voice sharp and totally focused. “Lower your torso now, keeping your arms at your sides. Your hands must pass near your knees first.”

Ariana instantly began the slow, difficult movement into the formal prostration. She leaned forward, feeling the tension run through the small muscles of her back. The initial movement was precise, following Jordan’s non-negotiable instructions. She moved with deliberate slowness, trying to convey the unhesitating obedience they demanded, even though she was internally fighting the deep, rising tide of humiliation.

“Your arms must extend forward now, but not too quickly. Keep them totally parallel beside your body,” Jordan continued, his voice absolutely steady. “Your hands must open now, palms flat to the carpet, at a distance exactly even with your shoulders. Slowly extend your hands forward.”

She did exactly as commanded, sliding her hands forward on the synthetic fibers of the carpet. Her fingers brushed against the floor, feeling the sudden drag of the carpet against the skin of her palms. She completed the slide, placing her hands flat on the floor, perfectly parallel with her shoulders, now fully extended in front of her body.

Lucas quietly shifted the phone, ensuring it was focused on her perfectly executing the intermediate position. Ariana could see only the slight reflection of his phone screen now, a small, dark glass rectangle silently documenting her position of intense vulnerability.

“Now, the final stage,” Jordan stated, his voice dropping slightly, becoming more severe now. “This is the complete surrender. You must completely bow your head. Lower your torso until your chest touches the floor. You must bring your face entirely down until your forehead or the top of your head presses flat to the carpeted floor. The rule is absolute contact. Make it perfect.”

Ariana felt the last remaining internal defenses crumble under the cold weight of the instruction. This was the moment of total exposure. She lowered her head slowly and precisely, continuing the motion of her body descending. The movement was difficult, bringing her upper body down and forward. She felt the heavy pressure on her abdomen and the immediate strain in the muscles of her legs.

She completely surrendered the movement now. She finalized the position, dropping her face until the skin of her forehead made solid contact with the coarse, unforgiving texture of the library carpet beneath her. The physical contact itself was a cold shock.

She was now completely prostrated, lying flat on the floor beneath the heavy library table. Her body was minimized entirely, reduced to a low, completely defenceless shape between Lucas’s seated authority and Jordan’s rigid oversight.

The position itself felt inherently demeaning, a physical manifestation of the required, complete, and total subjugation Elias had described in purely historical terms. Now, however, there were no walls of historical context to protect her. In that silent moment of total surrender, the only reality was the coldness of the floor and the full weight of her obedience to the two students who observed her.

Her small, low position amplified the heavy presence of the two onlookers. She completely knew that Lucas was filming her continuously from his superior, seated posture. The knowledge that she was being digitally documented permanently amplified the immediate humiliation, making the private practice feel worse than any potential public performance the next day itself. This recording felt like an invasion, a documented proof of her forced personal submission to them.

Jordan delivered the final, severe command, his voice cutting through the silence created by her completely low position.

“Hold the prostration perfectly, Vesper now,” Jordan commanded. His statement stripped away any lingering, tenuous notion of the exercise being merely about academic form. “This position is not merely about body placement or historical accuracy. It is absolute surrender. You will remain perfectly still. Do not move for any reason.”

The command ensured that she fully understood the reality of the performance. This was about forced obedience and control. Her slight hesitation earlier in the chapter was already a mark against her. She needed to exhibit absolute, frozen stillness now.

Ariana lay there motionless, forehead pressed hard against the carpet’s fibers. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to find some small, internal privacy, but the heavy reality of the two students watching her was completely suffocating. The air felt stale and heavy beneath the table. She completely focused on the singular order: absolute stillness. She counted internally to herself, slow and deliberate counts, willing the mandatory seconds to pass quickly.

The silence of the room was intense, broken only by the extremely gentle sound of her own shallow, controlled breathing and the slight, minimal movement Lucas made with his phone. She was acutely aware of the time that was dragging, each second amplifying her vulnerability.

After several seconds of absolute stillness, which seemed to stretch into an intolerable length of time for her, Lucas finally spoke again. His voice was low, signaling the end of the mandatory prostration, at least for this particular take.

“Stop recording now,” Lucas stated, speaking more to the device than to the people in the room. He completely pressed a button on the side of his phone, officially ending the digital documentation.

“You may rise now, Vesper,” Jordan commanded, the permission feeling like a small, restricted breath of air.

Ariana slowly, carefully lifted her body off the floor. The movement felt sluggish because of the strain and the deep psychological relief. She pushed herself up from the floor, first lifting her torso and then drawing her arms back now. She shifted again, returning to the seiza kneeling posture, remaining low and completely respectful, not daring to stand upright yet. She kept her eyes focused downward, avoiding direct contact with either of the male students who were now looking at her.

Lucas did not wait for her to recover or transition completely. He immediately turned the phone screen toward himself, replaying the video he had just completely recorded. The silence of the private study room was now filled with the sound of the recording, though he kept the volume low. Lucas scrutinized the brief footage with intense, detached concentration, completely reviewing her performance frame by frame.

He kept the phone turned toward himself for several moments, but then he quickly angled the screen completely outward, allowing both Ariana—still kneeling on the floor—and Jordan—still standing by the locked door—to clearly see the replay of the footage.

The video on the screen of the expensive phone completely showed a clear, high-definition recording of her awkward, complete prostration. The image was unflattering, entirely focused on her face and body pressing against the floor. Seeing the visual proof of her enforced submission, detached from the immediate physical sensation, felt more degrading and cold than the physical act itself. It was the documentation that sealed the humiliation, the absolute proof of her control.

Lucas immediately delivered his final, cold critique of her surrender for both her and Jordan to hear. He spoke with the complete, detached certainty of someone completely analyzing mechanical failure, not a highly personal human action.

“The form of the prostration itself was satisfactory entirely, Vesper,” Lucas summarized, his focus completely on the phone screen. “The extension of the arms and the contact of the forehead with the floor were precise enough for the professor’s explicit requirements. That is simply the baseline.”

He then flipped the phone screen back to look at her, focusing his cold, dark gaze from the recorded image to her subdued, kneeling figure.

“However, the speed of your initial descent was slightly hesitant,” Lucas continued, completely pinpointing the small margin of her imperfect obedience now. “Watch the ten-second mark on the video again. You displayed a noticeable, entirely unnecessary pause before the final drop to the floor.”

He played a brief segment of the video again, allowing the seconds to scroll past and emphasizing the precise moment of her minimal hesitation.

“That slight delay completely indicates a mental resistance to the core concept of immediate and absolute surrender,” Lucas concluded, his voice completely devoid of any comfort or empathy. “Resistance like that is completely unacceptable under the conditions of the class. This is the whole point of our required practice session now. You need to entirely eliminate that hesitation before the next class on Wednesday. We will meet again on Tuesday for a final review. Don’t be late.”