David Presents
TMF Poster
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2008
- Messages
- 119
- Points
- 0
Tickle Down Theory
“Ahahahahaha! Eugene, could you please turn off your machine now?” asked Gloria, breaking out into another spasm of laughter.
“No, Gloria, I cannot do that; I have not collected nearly the amount of data I require,” replied Eugene. He wore a long, white lab coat over his dark-blue slacks and white dress shirt, both badly in need of ironing; a plain blue necktie knotted carelessly; dark argyle socks; and scuffed, black leather shoes. “We still have a long ways to go yet!”
“Ahahahaha! It’s just - ahaha - that I don’t think I can take much more!” she pleaded.
“But you must. Think of all the good you are doing for science!”
“Ahahahaha! I know Eugene, but please, turn it off now!”
“Gloria, allow me to remind you that you agreed to participate in this tickling experiment.”
“Ahahaha! I - gasp - I know I did, Eugene, but still - ahahaha - there are limits!”
“You gave me your word that you would see it through to the end! And I have never known you to go back on your word, Gloria, no matter what!”
Well, that was true enough, reflected Gloria sadly, as she continued squealing with laughter. She had promised she would be Eugene’s test subject for one session of his tickling machine, and what good was her promise if she broke it? She would just have to tough it out, she scolded herself sternly. It would end eventually, and she did have a date with her boyfriend, Cliff, who was taking her to the Community Dance that evening, which was something pleasant she could think about to help her get through this!
“Ahahaha! I’m sorry, Eugene, I did make you a promise, didn’t I? Ahahaha! I won’t ask that again!”
“I should hope not!” snorted Eugene. The young biochemist glanced at his computer screen. He sat comfortably at the desk in his lab, located in the scientific research complex that employed him. After working hours, he used the facilities to carry out experiments of interest to himself, as he was doing now.
“Ahahaha!” Gloria was lying strapped onto an examining table. A pair of soft cuffs held her arms up above her head; another pair restrained her ankles. Long robotic “arms” ending in very fine, delicate, velvety-soft “fingers” tickled ceaselessly over every part of her body not covered by clothing.
At that was nearly all of it! She was regretting now that she only wore a yellow tank top that left her midriff exposed, a pair of electric-blue gym shorts, and a white scrunchie twisted in her coffee-brown hair, forming a sporty ponytail. It was just that when Eugene had described his machine she felt it only fair to give it every chance to succeed, for she hadn’t really believed it could tickle her!
But that it could, and quite effectively! There was no relief from those mechanical arms, as they mercilessly continued their task, keeping her laughing hysterically. Although the cuffs allowed her to twist and turn about somewhat, the computer controls automatically repositioned the fingers in response to her movements, so there was no relief, no matter what she did. Her feet, legs, stomach, sides, armpits, and even her arms were brushed repeatedly in variable patterns so that it was all she could do to catch her breath between her uncontrolled giggles.
“Fascinating!” exclaimed Eugene, studying the results on his computer. “I had no idea tickling produced that particular response! I am learning so much today, thanks to you, Gloria!”
“Ahahahaha! You’re welcome!” she managed to gasp out in reply.
“It’s too bad, though, that you’re here instead of Torianna,” observed Eugene, a dreamy look coming into his face. “I really wish she had agreed to be a test subject. I mean,” he hastily added, “because she’s not as ticklish as you are, and therefore, would make a more challenging test for my machine!”
“Ahahahaha!” Torianna was Gloria’s roommate, a blonde who flirted with every male she ever met, including Eugene, and, more seriously, with Gloria’s own Cliff, a point that often strained their friendship. “Ahahahaha! Yes, I wish she were here - ahahaha - instead of me, too!”
However, Torianna was not there, and Gloria was, and no matter what she did, the tickling continued, going on and on and on until she thought it would never stop.
___
In actuality, the tickling session did not last so very long, but to Gloria who was extremely ticklish, it felt like an eternity. But finally, at long last, it was all over. The mechanical arms quietly folded themselves up, disappearing into a nearby recess in the wall. Eugene walked over to her side, briskly opening the cuffs on her arms and legs. Gloria could vaguely hear him saying something as he helped her off the examining table, but she was much too busy trying to regain both her breath and her composure to understand one word.
“Whew!” she exclaimed, collapsing into a nearby chair. “Thank goodness that’s over! I sure hope you can find someone else for next time, Eugene, because I’m never volunteering for another session, not ever again!”
“Uh-huh,” replied Eugene vaguely. He frowned at the results shown on the screen, deep in thought. He came to a sudden decision and walked over to Gloria’s chair. He knelt down beside her, busy doing something, but just what, Gloria didn’t know or care; she was much too concerned with trying to recover from her ordeal to pay much attention to what was going on around her.
“Eugene, what are you doing?!” she exclaimed suddenly, realizing, too late, that he had already looped several coils around her torso, arms, and the back of the chair! She tried to stand up; however, during those few minutes while her mind had been wandering, Eugene had expertly tied her thighs to the seat of the chair and bound her calves together without Gloria being aware of what was happening. Even as she finally came to understand her predicament, Eugene tied yet another knot into the ropes around her upper body. She was hopelessly bound to her chair!
“I’m really sorry about this, Gloria,” apologized Eugene, truly looking miserable, but continuing to add more ropes all the same; “but I simply must obtain more data, and, as you said you’d never agree to another session, I must keep you here until I have a chance to reprogram my computer so we can start again!”
“But Eugene, I just can’t take any more!” Gloria struggled wildly in the chair, quickly discovering Eugene had done a thoroughly efficient job of binding her. “And besides, when I agreed to this, you promised that once the one session was over you wouldn’t even ask me to volunteer for another. You <i>promised</i>, Eugene!”
“I know I did, but, well, I’m ashamed to admit I’m not quite as good about keeping my promises as you are, Gloria.”
“And besides, I really need to get ready for my date with Cliff tonight! He’s expecting to take me to the dance, you know, and he’ll be so disappointed if I’m not available to go with him!”
“Oh, well, Cliff’s got quite a way with the ladies, so he should be alright,” shrugged Eugene, speaking quite callously, or so it seemed to Gloria. “I wish I was as smooth and suave as he was! But I’m working on it.”
Gloria opened her mouth to reply, giving Eugene a chance to insert a cloth he used for cleaning test tubes into her mouth, so instead of whatever response she was going to make she said, “Mpfff!” Before she had a chance to work it out again, Eugene busily wrapped some invisible packing tape over her lips and under her chin, sealing her mouth closed.
“Mpfff!” repeated Gloria, looking very hurt and angry, while Eugene, feeling guilty, pretended he couldn’t see her, but went back to his computer, pecking away.
“This next session will have to be quite a bit longer and considerably more intense, I am afraid,” he announced suddenly, looking over at Gloria. “But it will be well worth it, for all the valuable data we shall collect!”
“Mpfff!” Not a longer session! Gloria had hardly managed to endure the last one! She just had to escape, somehow! Nevertheless, no matter how she struggled, she simply could not loosen even one of the numerous ropes surrounding her! How in the world was she going to get out of this?
___
<i>Click, click, click, click, click!</i>
“Mpfff!” exclaimed Gloria. From the hallway outside the lab came the sharp sound of approaching footsteps, growing louder until they abruptly stopped right outside the door. Someone was coming in!
“Uh, hi, Torianna!” Eugene’s face flushed bright red with pleasure as he watched the blonde stride confidently inside. “Are you here to volunteer for my experiment?”
“No, I’m not here to volunteer for any stupid experiment!” Torianna wore a sleeveless blouse, black with white borders; a miniskirt with broad cream-white and hot-pink vertical stripes; sheer stockings; and shiny, black, open-toed high-heels with elaborate straps that repeatedly crisscrossed halfway up her calves. “I wouldn’t participate in one of your awful experiments, not even if you got down on your knees and <i>begged</i> me!” she concluded, looking expectantly at Eugene.
Eugene looked back in bewilderment. “Well, if you didn’t come here to volunteer, then why are you here?”
“Mpfff!” said Gloria in frustration, watching the scene play out. If only she weren’t bound and gagged, and had a couple minutes to whisper a few words of advice into Eugene’s ear! “Mpfff!”
“And what have we here?” asked Torianna, finally deigning to notice her roommate.
“Ah, yes, this is Gloria,” stammered Eugene.
“Yes, I know who she is; I only see her everyday,” replied Torianna sarcastically. “What I meant was, why do you have her all tied up?”
“She was nice enough to volunteer, you see,” explained Eugene, rather unsatisfactorily.
“Yes, I believe I do see.” Torianna flipped her cell phone open. “Hello, Cliff? Yes, it’s Tori… never mind that now, the reason I’m calling is, well, I’m really sorry and I don’t quite know how to tell you this, but Glory asked me to let you know that something came up, so she can’t make it to the dance with you tonight after all!”
“Mpfff!” screamed Gloria furiously.
“Yes, I know, it was very rude of her not to call and tell you herself, expecting me to do it for her… what do you mean, that’s not like her? Of course it’s just like her… okay, fine, go ahead and call her, and see for yourself.”
Near the examining table on one of the small, metal shelves jutting out from the wall lay a jumble of the few possessions Gloria had brought with her – a sun visor, her sandals, and a light jacket. From inside the jacket pocket came a faint chiming sound.
“Oh, perhaps I’d better answer that for you, Gloria,” offered Eugene, moving towards the shelf.
“Perhaps you’d better not,” suggested Torianna, interposing herself between Eugene and the shelf, smiling sugary-sweetly at him.
The chiming soon subsided. “I could have told you she wouldn’t answer, Cliff,” Tori spoke into her cell phone, “but don’t feel bad. I’ll tell you what; if it’ll make you feel any better, why don’t I go with you in her place? Okay, see you then!”
“Mpfff!” Gloria had never been as upset with her roommate as she was right now!
“Well, see you around, guys,” announced Torianna, looking quite pleased with herself. “I’ve got a hot date tonight,” she continued, giving Gloria a toothy smile, “but don’t feel jealous; I’ll be sure to fill you in on all the juicy details once you get finished here. And believe me, if all goes as planned, I expect them to be quite juicy!”
“Mpfff!” Gloria looked desperately at Eugene. Don’t let her walk out, she pleaded with her eyes, but Eugene just stood transfixed as Torianna give her hips an exaggerated swagger, reveling in the show she was putting on as she exited the room.
“Too bad she wouldn’t stay to volunteer,” sighed Eugene. “I would really enjoy, um, I mean, I feel I could get some quite useful data from her! Oh, well, on the bright side, it shouldn’t be too much longer now before I’m finished with my reprogramming, and then we can get on with things!”
“Mpfff!” Not only was Gloria going to have to endure a longer and more intense tickling session rather than spending the evening at the dance, but she was going to have to do so knowing her best friend was using the opportunity to steal her boyfriend!
___
“Mpfff, mpfff, mpfff!” screamed Gloria, trying to get Eugene’s attention. Seeing he ignored her, she leaned forward, pressing her feet onto the floor as she lifted her chair a couple inches into the air and slammed it back down. “Mpfff!”
“Stop that!” ordered Eugene angrily. “The noise is distracting me from my work!”
“Mpfff!” repeated Gloria, defiantly banging her chair again, even louder.
Eugene strode over and in one deft motion tore the strips of tape from Gloria’s mouth. “What?!” he demanded as he pulled the cloth out from her mouth, holding it ready to put back in if she tried to scream.
Gloria coughed for a second before finding her voice. “Eugene! Tori’s going to the dance with Cliff!”
“Yes, I’m aware of that,” he replied impatiently. “If that’s all you have to say then open up so I can gag you again. Oh, and if you try that trick of banging your chair again then I’ll tie you with your legs drawn back so you’ll have to keep still.”
“But Cliff, we can’t let Tori do that! You’ve just got to untie me, and fast! I know I can, um, persuade her to come back here and volunteer for your experiment. You’d rather have her than me, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes! I mean, no! That’s just a trick, so you can escape. Well, it won’t work!”
“No, Eugene, I promise it isn’t; but you’ll have to hurry so I can catch her before she leaves the building! And if I can’t bring her back then I’ll come back myself, and let you tickle me all you want; I give you my promise on that!”
“And you always keep you promises,” realized Eugene. “Well, I would prefer Torianna, um, because…”
“…because she’s not nearly as ticklish as I am and would make a better test subject; yes, I know. But you’ll have to hurry, Eugene!”
Eugene reached into his desk drawer for a large pair of scissors. He methodically cut Gloria free, who, not wasting a second, darted out the door.
“I hope Gloria uses her most forceful arguments to persuade Torianna to volunteer,” thought Eugene happily, putting a few finishing touches on his reprogramming. He thought he heard some shrieks coming from down the hall, but then decided he must have just imagined them. Why would people be out in the hallway screaming? This was a respectable scientific institute, after all! “Hopefully, Torianna’s objections will crumble before the power of Gloria’s well-reasoned, logical arguments!”
The lab door suddenly flung wide open. Torianna staggered in, followed by Gloria.
“Go on, say it!” Gloria ordered angrily.
“Hey, Eugene, I’ve got an idea,” suggested Torianna brightly. “Rather than spending your evening in this dusty old lab, how about taking me to the dance tonight? If you ask really nicely, I just might say yes!”
“No, that’s not right,” corrected Gloria, giving her roommate a meaningful look. “Let’s try that again!”
“Um, I mean, I volunteer to participate in your stupid experiment,” mumbled Torianna.
“Great!” enthused Eugene. “Well, if you’ll remove your shoes and lie down on this examining table, I’ll attach a few electrodes to you head so I can monitor your responses, and then we can get you going!”
“Yes, let’s get you going,” echoed Gloria, strapping her roommate in with the cuffs. She lifted Torianna’s blouse partway up, exposing her stomach. “Now you’ll be just like I was, except for your legs,” she continued, referring to Torianna’s stockings. “As they’re of such thin material, that might actually improve the tickling sensation.”
“It won’t make a bit of difference,” replied Torianna coldly. “I’m not at all ticklish, so you may as well just release me, because nothing’s going to happen.”
“We’ll see about that.” Gloria moved to pick up her belongings from the shelf. “This machine is quite efficient, as I can attest from personal experience! I have a feeling it’ll get results!”
“I’m certain it will,” agreed Eugene. “I spent quite a bit of time designing this unit to make sure it would work correctly, so you don’t have to worry Torianna; you will most assuredly be tickled!”
With a barely audible whirr, the robot arms came out of their recess, positioned themselves over Toriana, and started their tickling motions. “See, I told you nothing would ha - ha - ha - ahahaha! S-stop it!” she gasped as she broke out into laughter. “Ahahahaha!”
“Good job, Eugene!” praised Gloria. “And now, I’ve got to straighten things out with Cliff and then get ready for my date, while you stay here, Tori, making a valuable contribution to science!”
“That she is!” pronounced Eugene eagerly. He glanced at his monitor. “What wonderful results I’m getting!”
“Ahahaha! Eugene, stop this, now!” ordered Torianna as soon as the two of them were alone.
“But we’ve hardly started!” Eugene stopped even pretending to look at his monitor, instead watching Torianna eagerly.
“Ahahaha! But Eugene, we’re missing out - ahahaha - on the dance! Ahahaha! Let me go - ahahaha - and I can come back - ahaha - and do this some other time! Ahahaha!”
“I… don’t think I trust you enough to do that, Torianna.”
“Ahahaha! Eugene, I want - ahahaha - you to listen - ahahaha - to me very carefully! Ahahaha! Turn this machine off - ahahaha - right this instant, or, I swear - ahahaha - I’ll make you so sorry! Ahahahahahahahahahahaha!”
“Oh, no, I simply cannot do that. This session must run through to its conclusion, and that’s not going to happen for a <I>very</I> long time still!”
“Ahahaha!” Torianna was laughing so hard she could no longer speak at all. She tried turning and twisting and wriggling and writhing, but discovered, just as Gloria had earlier, that there was now escape from the ministrations of the automated fingers as they relentlessly continued their tickling. And that despite the fact she had specifically told Eugene to stop!
“Once I finally get out of this,” she promised herself as she continued her unrestrained laughter, “he’s going to find out just how serious I was when I told him I would make him so sorry if he didn’t!”
“Ahahahahaha! Eugene, could you please turn off your machine now?” asked Gloria, breaking out into another spasm of laughter.
“No, Gloria, I cannot do that; I have not collected nearly the amount of data I require,” replied Eugene. He wore a long, white lab coat over his dark-blue slacks and white dress shirt, both badly in need of ironing; a plain blue necktie knotted carelessly; dark argyle socks; and scuffed, black leather shoes. “We still have a long ways to go yet!”
“Ahahahaha! It’s just - ahaha - that I don’t think I can take much more!” she pleaded.
“But you must. Think of all the good you are doing for science!”
“Ahahahaha! I know Eugene, but please, turn it off now!”
“Gloria, allow me to remind you that you agreed to participate in this tickling experiment.”
“Ahahaha! I - gasp - I know I did, Eugene, but still - ahahaha - there are limits!”
“You gave me your word that you would see it through to the end! And I have never known you to go back on your word, Gloria, no matter what!”
Well, that was true enough, reflected Gloria sadly, as she continued squealing with laughter. She had promised she would be Eugene’s test subject for one session of his tickling machine, and what good was her promise if she broke it? She would just have to tough it out, she scolded herself sternly. It would end eventually, and she did have a date with her boyfriend, Cliff, who was taking her to the Community Dance that evening, which was something pleasant she could think about to help her get through this!
“Ahahaha! I’m sorry, Eugene, I did make you a promise, didn’t I? Ahahaha! I won’t ask that again!”
“I should hope not!” snorted Eugene. The young biochemist glanced at his computer screen. He sat comfortably at the desk in his lab, located in the scientific research complex that employed him. After working hours, he used the facilities to carry out experiments of interest to himself, as he was doing now.
“Ahahaha!” Gloria was lying strapped onto an examining table. A pair of soft cuffs held her arms up above her head; another pair restrained her ankles. Long robotic “arms” ending in very fine, delicate, velvety-soft “fingers” tickled ceaselessly over every part of her body not covered by clothing.
At that was nearly all of it! She was regretting now that she only wore a yellow tank top that left her midriff exposed, a pair of electric-blue gym shorts, and a white scrunchie twisted in her coffee-brown hair, forming a sporty ponytail. It was just that when Eugene had described his machine she felt it only fair to give it every chance to succeed, for she hadn’t really believed it could tickle her!
But that it could, and quite effectively! There was no relief from those mechanical arms, as they mercilessly continued their task, keeping her laughing hysterically. Although the cuffs allowed her to twist and turn about somewhat, the computer controls automatically repositioned the fingers in response to her movements, so there was no relief, no matter what she did. Her feet, legs, stomach, sides, armpits, and even her arms were brushed repeatedly in variable patterns so that it was all she could do to catch her breath between her uncontrolled giggles.
“Fascinating!” exclaimed Eugene, studying the results on his computer. “I had no idea tickling produced that particular response! I am learning so much today, thanks to you, Gloria!”
“Ahahahaha! You’re welcome!” she managed to gasp out in reply.
“It’s too bad, though, that you’re here instead of Torianna,” observed Eugene, a dreamy look coming into his face. “I really wish she had agreed to be a test subject. I mean,” he hastily added, “because she’s not as ticklish as you are, and therefore, would make a more challenging test for my machine!”
“Ahahahaha!” Torianna was Gloria’s roommate, a blonde who flirted with every male she ever met, including Eugene, and, more seriously, with Gloria’s own Cliff, a point that often strained their friendship. “Ahahahaha! Yes, I wish she were here - ahahaha - instead of me, too!”
However, Torianna was not there, and Gloria was, and no matter what she did, the tickling continued, going on and on and on until she thought it would never stop.
___
In actuality, the tickling session did not last so very long, but to Gloria who was extremely ticklish, it felt like an eternity. But finally, at long last, it was all over. The mechanical arms quietly folded themselves up, disappearing into a nearby recess in the wall. Eugene walked over to her side, briskly opening the cuffs on her arms and legs. Gloria could vaguely hear him saying something as he helped her off the examining table, but she was much too busy trying to regain both her breath and her composure to understand one word.
“Whew!” she exclaimed, collapsing into a nearby chair. “Thank goodness that’s over! I sure hope you can find someone else for next time, Eugene, because I’m never volunteering for another session, not ever again!”
“Uh-huh,” replied Eugene vaguely. He frowned at the results shown on the screen, deep in thought. He came to a sudden decision and walked over to Gloria’s chair. He knelt down beside her, busy doing something, but just what, Gloria didn’t know or care; she was much too concerned with trying to recover from her ordeal to pay much attention to what was going on around her.
“Eugene, what are you doing?!” she exclaimed suddenly, realizing, too late, that he had already looped several coils around her torso, arms, and the back of the chair! She tried to stand up; however, during those few minutes while her mind had been wandering, Eugene had expertly tied her thighs to the seat of the chair and bound her calves together without Gloria being aware of what was happening. Even as she finally came to understand her predicament, Eugene tied yet another knot into the ropes around her upper body. She was hopelessly bound to her chair!
“I’m really sorry about this, Gloria,” apologized Eugene, truly looking miserable, but continuing to add more ropes all the same; “but I simply must obtain more data, and, as you said you’d never agree to another session, I must keep you here until I have a chance to reprogram my computer so we can start again!”
“But Eugene, I just can’t take any more!” Gloria struggled wildly in the chair, quickly discovering Eugene had done a thoroughly efficient job of binding her. “And besides, when I agreed to this, you promised that once the one session was over you wouldn’t even ask me to volunteer for another. You <i>promised</i>, Eugene!”
“I know I did, but, well, I’m ashamed to admit I’m not quite as good about keeping my promises as you are, Gloria.”
“And besides, I really need to get ready for my date with Cliff tonight! He’s expecting to take me to the dance, you know, and he’ll be so disappointed if I’m not available to go with him!”
“Oh, well, Cliff’s got quite a way with the ladies, so he should be alright,” shrugged Eugene, speaking quite callously, or so it seemed to Gloria. “I wish I was as smooth and suave as he was! But I’m working on it.”
Gloria opened her mouth to reply, giving Eugene a chance to insert a cloth he used for cleaning test tubes into her mouth, so instead of whatever response she was going to make she said, “Mpfff!” Before she had a chance to work it out again, Eugene busily wrapped some invisible packing tape over her lips and under her chin, sealing her mouth closed.
“Mpfff!” repeated Gloria, looking very hurt and angry, while Eugene, feeling guilty, pretended he couldn’t see her, but went back to his computer, pecking away.
“This next session will have to be quite a bit longer and considerably more intense, I am afraid,” he announced suddenly, looking over at Gloria. “But it will be well worth it, for all the valuable data we shall collect!”
“Mpfff!” Not a longer session! Gloria had hardly managed to endure the last one! She just had to escape, somehow! Nevertheless, no matter how she struggled, she simply could not loosen even one of the numerous ropes surrounding her! How in the world was she going to get out of this?
___
<i>Click, click, click, click, click!</i>
“Mpfff!” exclaimed Gloria. From the hallway outside the lab came the sharp sound of approaching footsteps, growing louder until they abruptly stopped right outside the door. Someone was coming in!
“Uh, hi, Torianna!” Eugene’s face flushed bright red with pleasure as he watched the blonde stride confidently inside. “Are you here to volunteer for my experiment?”
“No, I’m not here to volunteer for any stupid experiment!” Torianna wore a sleeveless blouse, black with white borders; a miniskirt with broad cream-white and hot-pink vertical stripes; sheer stockings; and shiny, black, open-toed high-heels with elaborate straps that repeatedly crisscrossed halfway up her calves. “I wouldn’t participate in one of your awful experiments, not even if you got down on your knees and <i>begged</i> me!” she concluded, looking expectantly at Eugene.
Eugene looked back in bewilderment. “Well, if you didn’t come here to volunteer, then why are you here?”
“Mpfff!” said Gloria in frustration, watching the scene play out. If only she weren’t bound and gagged, and had a couple minutes to whisper a few words of advice into Eugene’s ear! “Mpfff!”
“And what have we here?” asked Torianna, finally deigning to notice her roommate.
“Ah, yes, this is Gloria,” stammered Eugene.
“Yes, I know who she is; I only see her everyday,” replied Torianna sarcastically. “What I meant was, why do you have her all tied up?”
“She was nice enough to volunteer, you see,” explained Eugene, rather unsatisfactorily.
“Yes, I believe I do see.” Torianna flipped her cell phone open. “Hello, Cliff? Yes, it’s Tori… never mind that now, the reason I’m calling is, well, I’m really sorry and I don’t quite know how to tell you this, but Glory asked me to let you know that something came up, so she can’t make it to the dance with you tonight after all!”
“Mpfff!” screamed Gloria furiously.
“Yes, I know, it was very rude of her not to call and tell you herself, expecting me to do it for her… what do you mean, that’s not like her? Of course it’s just like her… okay, fine, go ahead and call her, and see for yourself.”
Near the examining table on one of the small, metal shelves jutting out from the wall lay a jumble of the few possessions Gloria had brought with her – a sun visor, her sandals, and a light jacket. From inside the jacket pocket came a faint chiming sound.
“Oh, perhaps I’d better answer that for you, Gloria,” offered Eugene, moving towards the shelf.
“Perhaps you’d better not,” suggested Torianna, interposing herself between Eugene and the shelf, smiling sugary-sweetly at him.
The chiming soon subsided. “I could have told you she wouldn’t answer, Cliff,” Tori spoke into her cell phone, “but don’t feel bad. I’ll tell you what; if it’ll make you feel any better, why don’t I go with you in her place? Okay, see you then!”
“Mpfff!” Gloria had never been as upset with her roommate as she was right now!
“Well, see you around, guys,” announced Torianna, looking quite pleased with herself. “I’ve got a hot date tonight,” she continued, giving Gloria a toothy smile, “but don’t feel jealous; I’ll be sure to fill you in on all the juicy details once you get finished here. And believe me, if all goes as planned, I expect them to be quite juicy!”
“Mpfff!” Gloria looked desperately at Eugene. Don’t let her walk out, she pleaded with her eyes, but Eugene just stood transfixed as Torianna give her hips an exaggerated swagger, reveling in the show she was putting on as she exited the room.
“Too bad she wouldn’t stay to volunteer,” sighed Eugene. “I would really enjoy, um, I mean, I feel I could get some quite useful data from her! Oh, well, on the bright side, it shouldn’t be too much longer now before I’m finished with my reprogramming, and then we can get on with things!”
“Mpfff!” Not only was Gloria going to have to endure a longer and more intense tickling session rather than spending the evening at the dance, but she was going to have to do so knowing her best friend was using the opportunity to steal her boyfriend!
___
“Mpfff, mpfff, mpfff!” screamed Gloria, trying to get Eugene’s attention. Seeing he ignored her, she leaned forward, pressing her feet onto the floor as she lifted her chair a couple inches into the air and slammed it back down. “Mpfff!”
“Stop that!” ordered Eugene angrily. “The noise is distracting me from my work!”
“Mpfff!” repeated Gloria, defiantly banging her chair again, even louder.
Eugene strode over and in one deft motion tore the strips of tape from Gloria’s mouth. “What?!” he demanded as he pulled the cloth out from her mouth, holding it ready to put back in if she tried to scream.
Gloria coughed for a second before finding her voice. “Eugene! Tori’s going to the dance with Cliff!”
“Yes, I’m aware of that,” he replied impatiently. “If that’s all you have to say then open up so I can gag you again. Oh, and if you try that trick of banging your chair again then I’ll tie you with your legs drawn back so you’ll have to keep still.”
“But Cliff, we can’t let Tori do that! You’ve just got to untie me, and fast! I know I can, um, persuade her to come back here and volunteer for your experiment. You’d rather have her than me, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes! I mean, no! That’s just a trick, so you can escape. Well, it won’t work!”
“No, Eugene, I promise it isn’t; but you’ll have to hurry so I can catch her before she leaves the building! And if I can’t bring her back then I’ll come back myself, and let you tickle me all you want; I give you my promise on that!”
“And you always keep you promises,” realized Eugene. “Well, I would prefer Torianna, um, because…”
“…because she’s not nearly as ticklish as I am and would make a better test subject; yes, I know. But you’ll have to hurry, Eugene!”
Eugene reached into his desk drawer for a large pair of scissors. He methodically cut Gloria free, who, not wasting a second, darted out the door.
“I hope Gloria uses her most forceful arguments to persuade Torianna to volunteer,” thought Eugene happily, putting a few finishing touches on his reprogramming. He thought he heard some shrieks coming from down the hall, but then decided he must have just imagined them. Why would people be out in the hallway screaming? This was a respectable scientific institute, after all! “Hopefully, Torianna’s objections will crumble before the power of Gloria’s well-reasoned, logical arguments!”
The lab door suddenly flung wide open. Torianna staggered in, followed by Gloria.
“Go on, say it!” Gloria ordered angrily.
“Hey, Eugene, I’ve got an idea,” suggested Torianna brightly. “Rather than spending your evening in this dusty old lab, how about taking me to the dance tonight? If you ask really nicely, I just might say yes!”
“No, that’s not right,” corrected Gloria, giving her roommate a meaningful look. “Let’s try that again!”
“Um, I mean, I volunteer to participate in your stupid experiment,” mumbled Torianna.
“Great!” enthused Eugene. “Well, if you’ll remove your shoes and lie down on this examining table, I’ll attach a few electrodes to you head so I can monitor your responses, and then we can get you going!”
“Yes, let’s get you going,” echoed Gloria, strapping her roommate in with the cuffs. She lifted Torianna’s blouse partway up, exposing her stomach. “Now you’ll be just like I was, except for your legs,” she continued, referring to Torianna’s stockings. “As they’re of such thin material, that might actually improve the tickling sensation.”
“It won’t make a bit of difference,” replied Torianna coldly. “I’m not at all ticklish, so you may as well just release me, because nothing’s going to happen.”
“We’ll see about that.” Gloria moved to pick up her belongings from the shelf. “This machine is quite efficient, as I can attest from personal experience! I have a feeling it’ll get results!”
“I’m certain it will,” agreed Eugene. “I spent quite a bit of time designing this unit to make sure it would work correctly, so you don’t have to worry Torianna; you will most assuredly be tickled!”
With a barely audible whirr, the robot arms came out of their recess, positioned themselves over Toriana, and started their tickling motions. “See, I told you nothing would ha - ha - ha - ahahaha! S-stop it!” she gasped as she broke out into laughter. “Ahahahaha!”
“Good job, Eugene!” praised Gloria. “And now, I’ve got to straighten things out with Cliff and then get ready for my date, while you stay here, Tori, making a valuable contribution to science!”
“That she is!” pronounced Eugene eagerly. He glanced at his monitor. “What wonderful results I’m getting!”
“Ahahaha! Eugene, stop this, now!” ordered Torianna as soon as the two of them were alone.
“But we’ve hardly started!” Eugene stopped even pretending to look at his monitor, instead watching Torianna eagerly.
“Ahahaha! But Eugene, we’re missing out - ahahaha - on the dance! Ahahaha! Let me go - ahahaha - and I can come back - ahaha - and do this some other time! Ahahaha!”
“I… don’t think I trust you enough to do that, Torianna.”
“Ahahaha! Eugene, I want - ahahaha - you to listen - ahahaha - to me very carefully! Ahahaha! Turn this machine off - ahahaha - right this instant, or, I swear - ahahaha - I’ll make you so sorry! Ahahahahahahahahahahaha!”
“Oh, no, I simply cannot do that. This session must run through to its conclusion, and that’s not going to happen for a <I>very</I> long time still!”
“Ahahaha!” Torianna was laughing so hard she could no longer speak at all. She tried turning and twisting and wriggling and writhing, but discovered, just as Gloria had earlier, that there was now escape from the ministrations of the automated fingers as they relentlessly continued their tickling. And that despite the fact she had specifically told Eugene to stop!
“Once I finally get out of this,” she promised herself as she continued her unrestrained laughter, “he’s going to find out just how serious I was when I told him I would make him so sorry if he didn’t!”
