The darkness slowly receded and David pushed himself up from the floor. Machines were humming and lights were flashing. He looked towards the control center where Dr. Miller had been sitting - but saw no one.
He checked himself over, worried that Gilmore had once again messed with him, but his body and mind were unaffected. In fact, he felt more aware than he had since this whole ordeal had begun. Was that the resistance shield Miller had talked about? And where the hell was the doctor, anyway?
"Mmmm" came a soft moan from behind him. But it was more than one voice. David whipped his head around to see four impossibly sexy women on the couch against the wall.
"Uh... hello," David said nervously. The four women just stared hungrily. Where had they come from? David pondered a moment. It couldn't be... could it?
"Dr. Miller??"
"Yyeesss..." all four said in unison. "We told you... call us... Ed..." their harmonious voices spoke slowly, dripping sex. "We need... help."
David looked to the control panel. He had to reverse this. Could he? He had no idea if this was Gilmore's doing, or part of Miller's test. The foursome were writhing against each other - hands caressing and exploring.
"We need.... you... inside."
They were trying to draw him closer - David had to admit it was hard to take his eyes off the scene before him, but he had to. He pulled up to the console.
"Pleeeaassse..." came the moan from behind him. He had to ignore it.
A few keystrokes, sub-menus, and mouse clicks brought up a dialogue window. It was... surprisingly easy.
-RESTORE LOCAL REALITY FIELD: Y/N?-
He tapped "Y"
"Woah!!! Okay, then!" David spun around quickly when he heard the voice. Dr. Miller sat by himself on the couch, completely restored - not even a sign of the rubbery schoolgirl.
"Whew. Nice work, young man. Looks like the neural net is holding up just fine."
"You... did that on purpose? What if it didn't work? What if I had given in!?"
"If that was the case, we would have been sunk either way. This is quite literally our last hope. We knew you'd make the correct decision."
"WE?"
"Sorry, still getting my wits about us... I mean me. You ever have your mind split four ways and consumed by desire?"
"Can't say that I have..."
"Right, well, it's a bit to recover from. Now then." Dr. Miller crossed to the control panel and checked the readouts.
"Looks like the local field is holding up just fine, for now. Gilmore shouldn't be able to mess with anything in this basement. But we can't hide out here forever. That's where you come in. You need to get to Dr. Gilmore as soon as possible!"
"And the resistance shield will protect me?"
"Yes. Your mind at least - I'll have to use the system here to protect your physical form. He's going to throw all his computing power into stopping you. You won't be able to trust anyone you encounter. Take this," he handed David a small earpiece. "We'll be in touch as long as possible. Now get going!"
David started climbing the stairs out of the basement, bracing himself for whatever possibilities might confront him in Hillsburg...
