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The Blue Box
All stories on this web site are purely FICTIONAL. The people depicted within these stories only exist in someone's IMAGINATION. Any resemblence between anyone depicted in these stories and any real person, living or dead, is an incredible COINCIDENCE too bizarre to be believed. If you think that you or someone you know is depicted in one of these stories it's only because you're a twisted perverted little fucker who sees conspiracies and plots where none exist. You probably suspect that your own MOTHER had sex with ALIENS and COWS and stuff. Well, she didn't. It's all in your head. Now take your tranquilizers and RELAX.
Chapter 13
Cheryl and Jeffrey took Jeffrey's car to Pizza Hut. It wasn't a
long walk to the restaurant or to Cheryl's apartment, but Jeffrey
didn't want to leave his car at IDT overnight. The drive seemed
short, because they both had so much to talk about.
Cheryl was speaking. "Darn! There's some stuff I forgot to try
back there. I'm thinking of all these things to do NOW! Why couldn't
I imagine it BEFORE?"
"Forget it," suggested Jeffrey. "EVERY TIME I've used that thing
I've thought of stuff to do after I left. I just try to remember it
for next time. Even then, there's just so much to do when you can do
ANYTHING."
"Yea... Can we try it again tommorrow?"
"I suppose so. Don't tell anyone this, but I have another
version of the Device nearly completed at home. I just couldn't stand
to have my own invention taken away so I can't use it. We didn't have
any security agreements anyway."
Cheryl sounded like a little girl. "Want to go to your place,
then?"
Just at that moment they pulled into the Pizza Hut. The
conversation continued over a 14" Sausage pizza.
"It's fine with me. But, really, I can't recommend using the
Device again for a while. It's just not healthy to be using it very
often."
Cheryl didn't know if she understood, but decided not to ask
further questions. "Oh. Let's go to my place then. Besides..."
(she gave Jeffrey a very interesting glance) "...I'm sure we'll be
able to enjoy ourselves, no?"
"I think we can manage it. Besides, I'll get to see if your room
is really like you pictured it with the Device."
For a while, the conversation turned to more conventional topics.
They talked about their parents, what they thought about their job,
the fact that neither had plans for the future, really, and so on.
Just after getting into the car, Jeffrey remembered something.
"Oh, Cheryl, this is always so awkward... But, I promised you I
wouldn't forget, and since... well, are you... protected? I'm not."
Cheryl answered flatly. "No. I have a Card, though, if you do."
She reached into her purse and pulled out a red plastic card.
"Looks like you have a card WHETHER OR NOT I have one. I DO have
one. Where's a machine?"
"The drug store on the corner. Turn right here. My building's
on this block."
They pulled into the drugstore's parking lot and went inside.
The machine was near the door. It was a very innovative form of birth
control, just starting to gain some acceptance. To use it, you had to
apply for a Card, which cost several hundred dollars because of the
complex tests and encodings which were done when you got your Card.
Basically, your Card was encoded with an image of your gene me pattern
(that's the expensive part), as well as your fingerprints and some
other data.
Cheryl walked over to the side marked "Female", and slid her red
card into a slot. Jeffrey pulled a similar, but blue, card from his
wallet, and put it in the blue slot, which was marked "Male". He
grabbed a $10 bill and put it into the slot marked for such. There
were two openings at the far ends of this machine. Cheryl put her
left hand in one, and Jeffrey put his right hand in the other. Foam
pads gripped both wrists, and some light and noise came from the
machine.
What it did was still somewhat of a marvel. It checked your
fingerprint against the one on your card (to make sure it was YOU),
and took a very small blood sample. The sample was used to check for
every known sexually transmitted disease as well as for other
abnormalities, a feature well worth the $10. Finally, using the
information on both cards, it prepared a two compounds which were air-
injected through the thumb of each person. The effect was that THAT
man's sperm could not fertilize THAT woman's egg. It was called
Specific Binary Contraception: Specific because it only worked
between the two people that had it, and Binary because both partners
needed the treatment. It lasted (supposedly) for about two months (56
days, officially), but was guaranteed only for 31.
Jeffrey and Cheryl both felt the "twinge" of the injection. The
foam pads released their grip. The screen on the device now read
"Process completed, Tests negative. REMOVE CARDS." After Cheryl and
Jeffrey pulled their cards out, two reciepts appeared at yet another
slot. As was the custom, each took one and put it away.
------------------------------------
SPECTRATECH INC.
Specific Binary Contraception
Female: CHERYL STILLMAN
35166369910501
Male: JEFFREY LANDERS
10610047100622
Ref. No. 91626S
Treatment Date: 06-22-01
RENEW BEFORE: 07-23-01
Keep this reciept. The information
on it is contained nowhere else. It
is your only proof of treatment.
Periodic Medical Examinations are
recommended. Treatment may lead to
temporary specific sterility lasting up
to six months.
Dieters! Try SPECTRATECH Nutra-Solv
now available at health food stores!
------------------------------------
Although Jeffrey rarely had occasion to use them, he didn't like
the Spectratech machines, merely for the fact that the reciepts had an
advertisement which wrecked the otherwise serious, important nature of
the document. The IBM machines were much classier, even if they cost
twice as much and were rumored to have an imperfect success rate.
Having a SBC certificate in your pocket was almost erotic by
itself. It meant that out there somewhere is someone who wants to
make love with you. Of course, Jeffrey thought, there's no telling
how many receipts Cheryl has with her right now, but he was most
pleased just to have one. It meant she was SERIOUS about him. It
meant that there was no going back now. He didn't know that Cheryl
felt the same way.
Chapter 14
The short trip to Cheryl's happened in silence, though there was
a lot of smiling. Jeffrey was still wondering what he was doing--
having spent the evening having all sorts of sex somewhere in an
environment that came from Cheryl's mind-- and now, on his way to her
apartment with a certificate in his pocket. The most amazing part was
that this morning, he couldn't have even dreamed of what would be
happening tonight. It was confusing, overwhelming, and he didn't want
to change it. He felt a little light-headed, even. As Cheryl was
trying to break through this mental fog, with the directions to her
parking lot, Jeffrey finally decided that he was becoming lovesick.
That discovery only made the other feelings worse.
The only thing he was allowed to notice on the way to her bedroom
was that there was another bedroom in this apartment. "A roommate?"
he asked.
"Uh huh, but she probably won't be here tonight. It's Friday."
The apartment was simple; a large common area with a kitchen,
some closets, and two bedrooms, the door of Cheryl's looking exactly
like the one that appeared near the lagoon this afternoon. She didn't
say a word, but led him straight to her bedroom, holding his hand.
She closed the door. She turned to him, and he took her in his arms,
kissing her. Jeffrey couldn't believe it; the mechanism of love had
started and wouldn't be stopped. Cheryl's tongue probed Jeffrey's
lips, and then poked its way inside. She ran her tongue all around
his mouth, blissfully around and underneath his tongue, then back into
her own mouth. Jeffrey welcomed the invitation, and slipped his
tongue inside her. He could hear them both breathing, and could feel
her tits pressing against his chest. His hands on her back, he could
tell that she was wearing a bra, which she didn't reveal before.
Cheryl pressed her waist against Jeffrey. She could feel him
growing, through the fabric of his underwear, his pants, her jeans,
and her panties. The bulge was growing and pressing gently into the
soft area just above her pubic hair.
She leaned back and unbuttoned his shirt, slipping it off him,
and then ran her hands through the hair on his chest. She pulled her
shirt up out of her jeans, and lifted it over her head. Jeffrey took
it from her and removed it. He looked for a place to put it, and
finally threw it on a chair. The panties that were in the corner
earlier weren't there, so either she had put them there in her mind,
or the image was from some other time than this morning. Her shades
were drawn, and it was dark out.
Jeffrey ran his hands over the outside of her bra. Her breasts
were quite warm, and that warmth was coming through the fabric. He
unclipped her bra and it fell away by itself. He touched her breasts
gently, and then, as her nipples awakened, poking out at him, she
unbuckled his pants.
Her tits kept him busy while she undressed him. She was
impatient. He had to tear himself away from her to remove his shoes
and slide out of his pants. It was cold without any clothes, unlike
before. He unfastened her jeans, and slid them off while on his
needs. Her scent was already there, through her panties. It was
similar to before, but now seemed more powerful. He clawed at the top
of them, pulled them down to her ankles, and gave her a light kiss
right in the middle of her pubic hair.
Cheryl giggled, and ran her fingers through Jeffrey's hair. She
grabbed his earlobes and pulled him to his feet. "I'm getting weak in
the knees. Come on, let's get in bed." She let go of him and jumped
onto the bed, then bounced back to her feet. "I'll be back," she
said. "I better do this now." She patted the covers. "Warm up my
bed for me." She opened the door and went into the bathroom, where
she was for at least five very long minutes. He got into her bed,
which seemed like a very unfamiliar place even though, in Cheryl's
mental adventure, he had been there before. The sheets were cold.
His erection subsided.
Cheryl returned. Jeffrey told her that he had to take care of
the same business. "Be my guest," she said, grabbing his hand as he
got up.
"I'll only be a minute", he said.
Cheryl clawed her fingers through his hair. "I'm in no hurry.
We have all night!"
Jeffrey liked the way that sounded. He stood in front of the
toilet and then realized that Cheryl had followed him, standing behind
him. She put her arms around him, knocking him off balance and
preventing him from doing what he came for.
"Go ahead", she whispered. "Don't mind me."
"Well, I guess. But..."
Cheryl was a bit insistent. "You should feel comfortable. After
what happened today, I can't say we have anything to keep from each
other. Right? I sucked your body into mine. You belong to me. And
I'm all yours. Share everything."
Jeffrey's eyes were suddenly brighter than the hundred-watt bulb
in Cheryl's bathroom. "You really did that, didn't you?" He turned
around, facing her. "I mean, I wasn't sure if I was only imagining it
myself."
"Well, I kind of lost you somewhere. I couldn't concentrate.
You were making me come. But, yes, that was the idea. I wanted you
so much, I had my pussy swallow you alive. I could feel you slipping
into me as I sucked you in. I could tell where you were inside me.
Then I started coming, and lost track of you."
Jeffrey grew hard again. The images of the afternoon came back.
Cheryl continued. "I want us to be ONE, Jeffrey. Not two separate
people. I want to be part of you, and want you to be part of me."
She turned him around, and held his penis from behind. "Now let's go.
You DO want to go to bed, right?"
Jeffrey thought a second. "More than you could ever imagine."
Cheryl pressed her other hand above his penis, against his
bladder. She had excited him, and it took half a minute for him to
manage to overcome that feeling so the right valves would open. She
held him while he emptied himself. Cheryl took some delight in the
fact that her body would soon coax a different fluid from that
opening.
Chapter 15
They both got into bed and spent a while in foreplay. Cheryl
enjoyed the closeness, the feeling of satisfaction in having a
bedmate, someone that would be with her during the time she was
normally alone. She realized that she was giving herself up to
Jeffrey, and that he would probably never again be content without
her. Each moment they spent together drew them irreversably closer.
Finally, Jeffrey stopped playing with her breasts long enough for his
fingers to play with her anxious pussy. His touch made her grow hot
inside. The heat drew his fingers in. Other fingers found her anus,
which magically opened as he touched it. One finger played around the
edge, and then carefully probed inside. It was warm like her pussy,
pushing against him, loosening to let him further in. He could feel
the fingers that were in her cunt, rubbing the flexible walls between
his fingers. Just as happened with the Device, she was so excited she
started coming right away. She held his hand, fingers inside,
pressing hard against the soft space between her legs. She spread
them apart, lifting one over Jeffrey, so he could reach deeper. Her
come leaked out around his fingers. She was shuddering. Jeffrey was
very close to his own orgasm, stimulated by the pure energy that
Cheryl was releasing.
She was ready. She took Jeffrey by the shoulders, and lowered
her knees so he could climb between them. Once he was between her
legs, she lifted them and wrapped her legs around him. He aimed
carefully, and as she squeezed him, the tip of his cock rubbed against
her rough pubic hair. Her pussy's lips slowly separated, and
Jeffrey's cock was now welcomed into the wet area just outside her
cunt, her pussy's lips sliding up around him. He slid very slowly
into her, pushing deeper, and in seconds began a slow, rhythmic
motion. She pulled on his cock, then squeezed it inside with her
powerful muscles. He was very hard, but she could still feel his cock
yield to the force her pussy exerted. It made it tight, and sealed
the plumbing that now existed between them. She anticipated his
orgasm, pulling him in with her legs. The tip of his cock seated
against her cervix, the walls of her pussy were now involuntarily
contracted, the tight feeling letting Jeffrey know that Cheryl was
having her orgasm. Jeffrey's come pumped out of his body into
Cheryl's, travelling into her pussy, through his penis, and directly
into her womb. From the point where Jeffrey's penis entered Cheryl,
they could both feel it happening. He kept pumping it into her for
several seconds, the hot semen disappearing into her so efficiently,
that her newly ovulated egg would have certainly been fertilized if it
wasn't for the SBC that only minutes ago started effectively
protecting them.
It was over. Cheryl tightened her (rather tired) pussy so she
could roll over, on top of Jeffrey, without losing him. She put her
legs between Jeffrey's, closing them tight around his penis, which was
still entirely inside her. She put her head on the pillow right at
Jeffrey's shoulder, and both went quickly to sleep.
As they slept, Cheryl's pussy went to it's resting state faster
than Jeffrey's penis. Her opening shrank almost to its normal,
unexcited state, squeezing Jeffrey's cock tight enough to prevent the
blood from leaving it. He couldn't shrink this way, so her sleeping
pussy held his still-enlarged cock quite firmly. It was a technique
she liked to use, for it meant more excitement when either of them
awakened. Unlike the earlier events, Jeffrey could escape her grip if
he wanted to, but it made it difficult, and it certainly wouldn't
happen by itself. A few times when either of them tried to roll over
in their sleep, the gentle tug between their legs would remind them
that they were, for the moment, one, and that neither wanted to move
from this position.
Chapter 16
Jeffrey woke up first. It took a moment for him to wake up
enough to realize that yes, Cheryl was asleep on top of him, and yes,
his cock was still buried in her pussy. He liked the feeling of the
way her breasts pressed against him, moving as she breathed. He was
getting excited again. He started to stretch inside her, from almost-
completely-erect to completely so. But she was asleep, and her pussy
was too. It wouldn't grow along with him like it would if she was
awake. It started to get painful. Even her legs were squeezing him
too tight, it seemed. But he didn't want to awaken her. He lied
there that way for almost an hour, watching the ceiling through
Cheryl's hair, which was draped over him. The sun was up and there
was some traffic noise outside. Then he realized that some of the
noise was coming from inside the apartment. Cheryl's roommate,
entering the apartment, had awakened him. She was clanking around in
the kitchen.
Jeffrey was quite happy when Cheryl finally opened her eyes, for
a second. She closed them. He decided not to let her go back to
sleep, and whispered "Good morning" to her. Cheryl didn't seem to
hear, but seconds later, she spoke out loud, though in a sleepy voice.
"Morning, lover. Guess we really wore each other out last night. How
many times did we?"
"Only once," said Jeffrey. "In real life, at least. So far."
He didn't mention the pain he still felt in his cock, or that he
wanted her again, right now. Maybe, like previous partners he'd had,
she'd just want to get up and have breakfast. How depressing.
Cheryl was a little bit more awake. "Oh, right. Gee, we're a
little tight, aren't we? I hope I wasn't..."
Jeffrey finished. "Painful."
Cheryl started to prop herself up on her elbows, her breasts now
dangling down in front of Jeffrey's eyes, still touching him. "Well,
I can fix that right now." She slid the covers off (they were
uncomfortably warm), and looked down at the point where she and
Jeffrey were joined.
Her pussy started pulsating. Blood was flowing to Cheryl's cunt
as she exercised it. It grew warm, then hot. It started to get wet
inside. And, finally, it loosened it's grip. What a relief.
Jeffrey's cock, having slid out just a bit during the night, slid in
by itself. The pulsations continued for a while, stimulating
Jeffrey to the point where he put his hands on her hips, and started
to lift up and down, beneath her. It was very slow and gentle.
Cheryl didn't seem to mind, but wasn't helping. She was letting him
do the work this time. Her pussy stopped pulsating.
There was a knock at the door, which then opened even though
nobody said anything. The woman at the door was about Cheryl's size,
and age, and build. She looked totally different, though, and had
dark, short, curly hair, as opposed to Cheryl's long, straight hair.
She was wearing a T-shirt, which covered her just enough so Jeffrey
couldn't tell if there was really anything else on.
"Oh, sorry. Good morning. Found a friend?" the girl asked.
Cheryl looked back at her door. Jeffrey was a little nervous. A
long, tight squeeze of her pussy silently told him to relax and not
worry about it. He got the message.
Cheryl put her head back on Jeffrey's shoulder. "Deirdre, I'd
like you to meet Jeffrey. Jeffrey, this is Deirdre, my apartment-
mate." She didn't seem to mind the fact that Deirdre was still
standing there, unembarassed even though she must have known that she
and Jeffrey were at this moment locked together, and weren't even
under any covers.
Cheryl continued. She obviously wasn't trying to get rid of
Deirdre, either because Deirdre was of the sort that didn't get the
hint, or because they shared this sort of thing. That idea intrigued
Jeffrey a bit. "So how was your night?"
Deirdre answered. "Terrible. That guy your friend introduced me
to was no fun at all. We played Trivial Pursuit for almost two hours
and he's no good at it. Then all I did was sleep. I should have just
come back here after dinner. What was he, too tired to do anything
else?"
"Ask Sue, not me. I don't know him." Cheryl seemed oblivious to
Jeffrey, until another squeeze let him know that he was still on her
mind.
"OK. Tell me when you're ready for breakfast. You too, Jeff."
Jeffrey spoke to Deirdre from underneath Cheryl's hair, which had
fallen across him again. "Ok, thanks." He got a mouthful of hair.
Deirdre left, but didn't close the door the whole way. Cheryl
didn't even look. She made Jeffrey come rather quickly, in less than
ninety seconds, and her own orgasm went by just as fast. She spread
her legs far apart, letting the cool air finish off the last of
Jeffrey's erection. His penis slipped out of her. She got up on her
knees, her pussy dripping combined love juices onto Jeffrey's abdomen,
then got off the bed, as if there was a hurry to go somewhere. They
went into the bathroom, and this time Jeffrey stayed there, talking
with Cheryl as she relieved herself. He kind of admired the way that
she felt comfortable performing an animal function with him right
there. She seemed kind of elegant while doing so, too.
They showered together, which was fun though neither of them were
really ready to excite themselves over it. Jeffrey watched Cheryl
pick out some clothes, and dress herself. She picked out some black
panties, showing Jeffrey that the choice was made with him, and later
activities, in mind. Jeffrey wore the same jeans, but with the
underwear and shirt he brought in from his car last night.
Breakfast was uneventful. Jeffrey managed to have what seemed
like a good rapport with Deirdre. She was a little crazier than
Cheryl, but had a good sense of humor. Even though Cheryl had taken
him to bed the same day that they met, it was Deirdre whose lifestyle
was more liberal. Apparently, it was a running joke between both of
them...
"Always thought I was the slut around here", said Deirdre in a
tone that couldn't have been mistaken for an insult. "For someone
I've never seen before, you two were humping away like I've hardly
ever done."
Jeffrey was a little annoyed. "We weren't..."
Cheryl bailed him out. "Deirdre, what we did in my room..."
(Jeffrey was thinking "...wasn't any of your business"?) "...was...
was... Well, you should have seen what we did before! I just did
more in four hours than you've ever done in your whole life."
Deirdre was shocked. Jeffrey was too, shocked that Cheryl was
telling Deirdre all this. Deirdre grew indignant. "That's
impossible!"
Chapter 17
Cheryl was smiling. Could she, after all this time, have finally
outdone her roommate? Of course she did. As Jeffrey learned about
this friendly rivalry, he looked a little smug, too. After all, it
was not only his mind that made it all happen, but it was his Device,
too. Cheryl explained the Device, and most of the achievements that
she and Jeffrey made during those four hours.
"But... Really?" Deidre asked. "You sucked him inside? Into
your pussy? Changed him to a female? Made love with him... or her...
using a man's body? Now THAT'S REALLY impossible. Isn't it?"
Jeffrey realized that if Deirdre continued to doubt the Device,
those doubts would block the ability of the Device to work on her.
Just like the government people. Somehow, skepticism, carried near
the extreme, blocked the communication to and from the Device. It was
a problem he was trying to fix on his personal version of the machine.
"Deirdre, listen." He had to explain it the right way the first
time. "It's a real device. It monitors the flow of information from
your brain to the rest of your body. It intercepts that information,
but returns a false neurotransmission that's consistent with your
environment. It also monitors your thoughts. If you have a good
imagination, you can not only LIVE in this environment, but you can
actually CHANGE it.
She understood. "What happens when two people disagree about
what's going on? Like if I wanted us to have a box of cheerios here,
and you imagined a box of raisin bran?"
"It depends on who's holding the box in real life. Whoever holds
the box gets the final say."
"Then," Deirdre asked, "what if neither of the two people having
this argument are holding the box in real life?"
"Then those two people would keep changing it back and forth,
until the one with the box decided to make a change that was
permanent. The one with the box can decide, mentally, whether or not
the others can change his creations."
That seemed logical enough. Deirdre stood up and tossed her bowl
into the sink. "Sounds fun. Ok, let's go!"
Cheryl didn't expect this. Jeffrey had only been here a short
time and she didn't want to share his time with Deirdre. She said,
quietly, "Right now?" She realized that this was a bit selfish after
all Deirdre had done for her.
Jeffrey and Deidre answered together. "Why not!"
Cheryl, outvoted anyway, agreed. "Ok. I think Jeffrey and I
have a lot of things to show you! Wait a minute, IDT's locked. We
can't!"
Jeffrey had an idea. They all piled into Jeffrey's car, and
headed for his place. It was neat, thank goodness. They were there
in a few minutes. Jeffrey's version of the Device was on a workbench
in one corner. The two females watched Jeffrey's not-really-legal
cable TV, talked, and made lunch, for the two hours it took Jeffrey to
put the Device together. He unplugged it from the umbelical
connecting it to the recharger, computer, and test equipment, and
brought it out to the center of the room. It was smaller than the one
at IDT, and looked a little neater, even though the case had a number
of holes sealed with rubber plugs. The controls were different. But
it was the same blue color as before. Cheryl and Deirdre came over to
him when he brought the box over to his coffee table.
At Cheryl's recommendation, they each used Jeffrey's bathroom.
Jeffrey, last to go, poured three glasses of water while Cheryl was in
the bathroom. When Cheryl returned and Deirdre left, she wanted to
talk to him.
"I don't know what we're going to do. If you haven't noticed,
Deirdre likes some pretty kinky things and I have a feeling that's
what she's going to want to do. She won't be happy flying around
downtown."
Jeffrey didn't know how he was supposed to react. "So?"
"We can have fun with her if YOU DON'T MIND it. But I hope you
understand. You're the only one I have. I want to keep you. I love
you. She might like your body, but she can't love you like I do."
Jeffrey answered quietly. "I love you too. I haven't told you
yet. You must have known it."
Cheryl was relieved a bit. "I saw it in your eyes. The Device
couldn't have reproduced that."
"Guess not. Don't worry, I belong to you know matter what
happens with Deirdre. I want YOU to be my girlfriend."
"I already am." They kissed, and Deirdre returned, breaking them
up. Jeffrey headed for the bathroom, noticing that the two girls had
warmed up the seat.
Deirdre was excited. "I want to try what you did. I want to go
skydiving. Walk on the moon. There's so much I don't know where to
start!"
Cheryl tried to calm her down. "You won't be able to do it all.
Just relax! Enjoy what you DO do. That's all that's important. And
remember, Jeffrey's MINE."
"You mean... We can't..."
"No, we CAN share him. You'd do that for me. And there's so
much for you to experience. But I want him back."
"Fair enough."
"I think we'll even have a little fun with him. It doesn't look
like he's ever had to deal with two girls at once. I'm sure he won't
mind."
Jeffrey returned. They sat down around the table. He touched
the metallic circle on the top, had Deirdre do the same, and then he
gave the box to Cheryl. "I think you should do it this time. You
know what you're doing, and know Deirdre better than I do. Four hours
again?"
She puzzled over the controls. They weren't simple anymore. The
display was blank. Jeffrey talked her through it. "Press TIME, and
when it says 'TIME?', press 4, and then four zeroes."
Cheryl entered the time. The display then said "START?", and
Cheryl pressed the button marked START.
Chapter 18
The box beeped. The display read "START -10", and the number
stared counting down. Cheryl sat the box on her lap, and all three of
them sat back and closed their eyes. There were five more beeps the
last five seconds, and then a loud one, which Jeffrey knew was being
generated by the Device only in their minds. When Cheryl and Jeffrey
opened their eyes, the box was yellow. Deirdre's eyes were still
closed.
Cheryl looked at the box. "Why is it yellow and not red?"
Jeffrey had forgotten to mention that. "Security device. It
won't run until I personally enter a code to make it start. Deirdre?"
Deirdre's eyes were still closed, and she didn't answer. Jeffrey
tapped her on the shoulder. Still nothing happened. "Darn, she
didn't lock on it."
Cheryl was concerned. She got up, setting the box on the table,
and slapped Deirdre on the side. Still no response. Jeffrey reached
for the box and pressed the largest button on it, a red one labelled
"Stop".
They returned instantly to their sitting position, the blue box
back in Cheryl's lap. Deirdre's eyes were open, and she was sitting
up. Jeffrey looked at the box; the display read "CODE STOP 0:00:22".
This box was much more informative: It was explaining that the
adventure was cancelled from within, while the box was waiting for the
authorization code, as well as the total elapsed time.
Deirdre said, "What happened? All you did was sit there. I
didn't see anything."
Jeffrey had had this problem with the people who tested the
Device before. Deirdre wasn't being receptive to the signals from the
thought amplifier. She might get past one failure, but if it happened
again, she'd lose so much confidence in her ability to enter the other
world, that she'd probably never be able to do it. Jeffrey picked up
the box, removed one of the rubber plugs, and adjusted a knob inside
using a plastic tool of some sort, watching the display on the top as
he did so. He put the tool and the rubber plug back where they came
from.
"Deirdre, it worked, it just didn't take you along for the ride.
It's partially my fault. The final amplifier was set too weak for
where you were sitting. I turned it up."
Deirdre looked happy again. "So we can try again now?"
Jeffrey gave the box back to Cheryl, asking her not to start yet.
"First, I want you to stare at the center of this table. Just look at
the table. Ok?" When Deirdre did as asked, he continued. "I want
you to imagine a soda can right in the middle of the table. Get a
picture of it in your mind. See it?"
"Yes."
"Tell me about it. What kind of soda is it? Which side of the
can do you see? Don't make it up now, tell me what you see in your
picture."
"It's a Coca-Cola can. The side that says "Coke" is facing me,
and the tab's... TAB's? Hahaha. The pull-thing is facing over toward
Cheryl. It's open, but not empty, because I hear it fizzing."
"That's very good. Cheryl, you have the picture?"
Cheryl nodded.
"Ok, Cheryl, four hours again. Deirdre, close your eyes.
Remember that can. Don't open your eyes until we tell you to. Just
sit back, relax, and remember the soda can on the table just the way
you saw it. Whenever you're ready, Cheryl."
Five seconds later, there were five beeps and a louder one.
Jeffrey and Cheryl both opened their eyes. The box was yellow.
Jeffrey leaped over to where Cheryl was sitting, and punched a few
numbers on the keypad on top of the Device. It beeped once again and
turned red. "Okay, Cheryl, let's see that can now..."
A few seconds later, the can that Deirdre described appeared on
the table. Jeffrey looked to make sure that the side facing Deirdre
was as it was supposed to be. "Okay, Deirdre. Open your eyes."
This time, her eyes opened. "You guys are kidding me. That's a
real can. I knew I was being set up." Her skepticism was showing,
but the Device was working on her. She picked the can up. It was
cold, and half-full. She had a taste. "This is real Coke. Where did
you get this from?"
Jeffrey pointed to the box. "It's not red in real life. You
made it here!"
Cheryl, while Deirdre was looking at the box, changed the Coke
can to a Sprite can. When Deirdre looked again, she was startled.
"Cheryl-- you just imagined this? Very impressive! So realistic!"
If a soda can was impressive, Deirdre had some pleasant surprises
coming.
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