The Slave and the Zombie

So what do I do now?

Today, Master V announced to me that he now had a new servant; one to occupy camping chairs for him, leaving him free to do whatever he wanted on the Grid while said servant brought in Lindons that Master would then harvest from him. I wondered about this -- even a slave such as myself has some rights, but this new "servant" was being treated as little more than a zombie, a mere placeholder for Master's benefit.

"I'll show him to you," Master told me, commanding me to dress.

We ported to a casino, where Master searched around for a few minutes, unable to locate his minion. Finally, he resorted to calling him up. S (or so I will call him) appeared soon afterward and stood before us, unmoving.

His clothes were plain, but his face was textureless white; cabalistic writing scrawled across it. "I didn't give him a face," Master explained. "He is nothing; a thing." I was disturbed and a little frightened by the soulless visage that turned in my direction.

Then Master V had to leave, and commanded both of us to be about our respective businesses. But as I ported away, I received a single IM message -- from S:

Please help me escape

There is someone there, behind the blank mask, someone who suffers. But what can I, a slave, do? Master punishes indiscretions readily; I shudder to think what he would do to me were I to aid another of his "possessions" in escaping him even if I knew how. Could S even survive as an independent being, or is he totally at the whim of his maker? Worse, what if this entire episode is an invention of Master, a trap to test my obedience?

I must think.