Daisuke fell back against the wall, blood filling his mouth.
Noboru laughed, then turned on Yuka. “On your knees, bitch.”
“Never,” she said, staring defiantly at him.
Daisuke desperately looked around for a weapon. The room was lushly decorated, but empty. There were no convenient crowbars or baseball bats, just a western style bed.
Noboru grabbed Yuka's shoulders and pushed her down. “Did I say you were allowed to talk? There's only one thing that mouth of yours is good for.
Yuka head-butted him in the stomach, then punched him in the groin.
Smiling approvingly, Daisuke yanked the pillowcase off.
“Bitch!” Noboru snarled. “It's time you learnt your place.”
Daisuke jumped on his back, wrapping the tightly twisted pillowcase round Noboru's neck,
Noboru staggered backwards, hands vainly clawing at his neck, the collapsed.
“Is he dead?” Yuka asked, watching him warily.
Daisuke smiled reassuringly at her. She only had a few bruises, but half her clothes had been ripped off, revealing the great body beneath.
It was a tempting sight, but Daisuke didn't need any mind reading to know she wouldn't welcome any advances. He needed to try and act cool.
“Don't think so,” Daisuke said uncertainly. “In the films, they always-”
He paused, aware girls didn't like to talk about that sort, and clambered to his feet.
“We should tie him up anyway,” he said, kicking Noboru in the kidneys just in case. “We can use the bedsheets.”
Yuka glanced at the bed, then blushed, reflexively covering herself as she realised how dishevelled she was.
After a moment though, she smiled, her dress fully repaired.
“The Master PC's gift,” she explained. “Are you OK?”
Tying Noboru up, Daisuke nodded. One of his teeth felt loose, and he was covered in bruises, but nothing seemed seriously wrong.
Yuka frowned, a large T-shirt appearing loosely wrapped round her waist.
“Put this on,” she said, tossing him the T-shirt. “You look ...”
Catching it, Daisuke looked her in the eye, and smiled. Yuka liked the sight of him in a ripped shirt, sweat gleaming on his skin, not by enough to rip the remnants off and take him right there and then, unfortunately, but it was a start.
Yuka scowled. “Don't get any ideas.”
Noboru groaned. “What? How?”
“We've got a Master PC too,” Daisuke said.
“You have?” Noboru said. “And you've left her looking like that? You obviously don;t know how to use it properly.”
“What should he have done?” Yuka asked, smiling sweetly.
“F cup breasts and an IQ of 90,” Noboru said, twisting round to look at Daisuke over his shoulder. “Girls are good for only one thing, and they don't need much in the way of brains to do it.”
Daisuke punched Noboru, twice. “There are lots of things girls are good for.”
“Like what?”
“Cooking, sewing, shopping,” Daisuke said automatically, then looked at Yuka for inspiration. “And all the other things men are good for.”
“Nice recovery,” Yuka said. “Gag him.”
“Which way?” Yuka asked.
Daisuke looked down at the building plans, produced by the Master PC, then round at the corridors.
“I think we're here,” he said, tapping the middle of the east wall. “His office should be left, behind the reception desk.”
“Hopefully, the sleep gas buttons will work this time,” Yuka said, then frowned. “Didn't Hiroshi say he'd made it so his victims didn't need to sleep?”
“He thought of that,” Daisuke reassured her “They don't need to sleep, but they still can. As long as they're not protected from all magic, the buttons will work. Should be this next door. Ready?”
Yuka nodded, then paused. “Lets try talking first.”
“Why?”
“I know what its like to be under mind control,” Yuka said, her voice tinged with remembered horror. “If he's done the same thing, they need to know there's someone who understands, and we should be able to talk them round.”
“Optimistic,” the receptionist said, opening the door. “If you're not smart enough to whisper, you're not smart enough to talk round the master's commands.”
Daisuke glanced at her, the clutched his head, screwing his eyes shut. The receptionist was gorgeous, her perfect body only enhanced by the skimpy costume but, like Yuka before her, she was screaming inside.
“What commands?” Yuka asked.
“Don't let anyone near the Master PC,” the receptionist said. “What's up with him?”
“It's a curse,” Yuka said. “You know about the Master PC?”
“She's Noboru's mother,” Daisuke croaked. “She didn't like his career choices, so he turned her into that.”
“How did-” she began.
“I've been through the same thing,” Yuka said, hugging the woman. “Daisuke saved me.”
“So now you're under his control?” Noboru's mother said, smiling sourly. “I know how it works. All his girls think they're free too. I'm the only one who knows we're all slaves. If only I could use the Master PC. He leaves it on all the time, you know, just to tease me.”
“But you're not allowed near it?”
She nodded. “All I need to do is press the F5 key, and I'll be free, but every time he leaves the office he tells me not to go near it. He told me again when you two broke in.”
Yuka smiled triumphantly, then threw herself backwards, pulling Noboru's mother down on top of her.
“Get in quick,” she said, but Daisuke didn't need any instructions. The moment the doorway was clear, he dashed inside, rushing towards the computer.
Noboru hadn't thought his commands through. If his mother couldn't go near the computer, she couldn't easily keep people away from it, and she certainly couldn't drag them away once they reached it.
Turning over the building plans, Daisuke quickly typed in the commands Hiroshi had printed on the other side, irrevocably terminating Noboru's Master PC privileges, then logged back in under his own name.
“We can reverse all the physical effects,” Daisuke said, checking what commands Noboru had used. “And we know someone who can help with the mental and spiritual damage. Hmm, he was lying about F5.”
“Why,” she said, “what would have happ-”
Mid-word, Daisuke pressed the final key, and she froze.
“Time stop,” Daisuke said, smiling. “We can do all tidying up when we're ready.”
Daisuke hadn't been lying; they could have reversed all the physical changes on the spot, but dealing with a few dozen panicked people, without mind control, would not be so easy. Before they could do that, they needed time to plan, more time than they'd had.
“As long as we don't leave the tidying up too long,” Yuka said. “My mum says if you do that, it just piles up.”
Daisuke shrugged, unconcerned. “We'll manage. What do you want to do now?”
(Posted Sat, 06 Nov 2010 19:21)
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