textfiles/sex/EROTICA/B/bluebox3.txt

Archive-name: Changes/bluebox3.txt
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Archive-title: Bluebox, The - 3


  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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