Gromet's PlazaMachine Stories

Weird Science

by Helios

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© Copyright 2006 - Helios - Used by permission

Storycodes: Solo-F; Machine/f; capture; wrap; ducttape; cocoon; stuck; cons/nc; X

This story is a remake of "Smart Duct Tape" by Naughtygirl

Erika relaxed on her sofa, lying down as she read a magazine, sipping a cold ice tea as she always did on a lazy Sunday when there was nothing to do after her morning workout. Erika had very short dark brown hair, pale blue eyes, stood around 5 foot 5 inches tall and weighed around 135 lbs and had a distinct “tomboy” appearance, even though she was in her mid-twenties in age. Erika simply wore a t-shirt, comfortable jeans, and a pair of socks; the typical garb for a relaxing Sunday.

The magazine was full of interesting stories and articles, mainly about movie stars and celebrities and the silly gossip surrounding them. Erika’s eyes flicked back and forth as she explored the nether regions of the magazine, the odd area that she liked most: the advertisements. Here was where you could laugh at all the so-called miracle inventions, and order some for an even bigger laugh. Wondrous cleaning products, useful articles that didn’t even have an address in coherent English to send to for ordering. Erika smiled over this.

Turning the page, Erika scanned the contents of this new rack of promotional nonsense, mentally sorting away the advertisements that normally wouldn’t be worth reading. However, Erika suddenly came across an intriguing article. It was a simple one that read:

From Omega Tech Labs comes the latest product in home maintenance!

SUPER DUPER DUCT TAPE

The only roll that does the job for you, whenever it is needed!
Order now for a revolution in duct tape repair!

Produced by Dr. I. Bondright. PhD. MD SRT MIT

Erika couldn’t help but take notice. After all, this guy had more letters after his name than she had in her surname! The address was also genuine, yet another surprise. She read it and saw that it was just over the border in the next state, along with the unbelievable price of only 10 dollars! Erika fetched her checkbook and within minutes, answered to her compulsive side and delivered a check and order in the outgoing mail.

Less than two weeks later, Erika arrived at her home and immediately noticed the smallish but nonetheless bulky package left on her front doorstep, as it was too big for her mailbox.

“This is it!” thought Erika excitedly as she took it inside, flopping down onto the couch as she opened the package. Inside were two items: a small paper booklet, obviously the manual/warranty and a shrink-wrapped opaque package about twice the size of a duct tape roll.

“Odd.” thought Erika, as she rolled it over in her hands. It was surprisingly heavy!

Erika then opened the manual, and to her immediate disappointment, the manual wasn’t all it seemed. It was nothing more than pages of thick card stock, and only contained three pages stapled together, with no words on the rear sides of any of the pages. The first page was nothing but a silhouette of a duct tape roll, and the second page was a thank you note for buying the product. The last page consisted of three instructional lines. They read:

1) To use the OMEGA DT-2000, remove from wrapping and press both red studs at the same time until they are completely depressed.

2) Once activated use these commands only. “Here” will summon the tape roll to whatever position you are. “Fix” will activate the roll to fix the object. “Stop” is self-explanatory. Adding “All” to fix will order the tape to auto fix everything in your house needing repair.

3) Warning! The OMEGA DT-2000 will only respond to the first voice it hears. It is not recommended to try this device out and then give as a gift to a friend as the device will not respond.

Now Erika was intrigued as she picked up the opaque package. It felt bulky to her as she slit open the wrapping, pulling it off the device. The device was essentially a large roll of duct tape that sat on a little vehicle platform. It was a small vehicle that resembled a tank with small tracks and two small arm-like claws that were resting on the surface of the tank vehicle.

Erika held the device in her hand. It wasn’t that big, barely the size of a football. The roll of duct tape was tightly compressed.

“There must be over a mile of tape on that roll,” thought Erika. “Well, lets test this thing out.”

Erika found the two red studs, and pressed them hard. With a click, they entered and Erika heard a small whirring. The only thing Erika saw next was a yellow light lit up on the surface of the tank vehicle.

Perplexed, Erika put the device down on the coffee table and walked out of the room. Erika walked into her bedroom, stood next to a picture frame that she had tried for weeks to repair with no success and took a deep breath. Erika blushed, feeling really silly talking to herself and called out, “Here!”

Without warning, Erika heard a high speed whirring, a thump, followed by more whirring as the device came toward her. It came into her room at high speed and to her utmost amazement, actually drove up the side of the bedside chest of drawers where the picture frame was and waited patiently on the top. Erika couldn’t help but laugh; it was hilarious! The cute little device had driven up the side of the drawers unit and waited for her at her command!

“Now what to do,” thought Erika as she picked up the picture frame and put it next to the device and said, “Fix!” in a firm voice. Instantly, the device sprang to life, as Erika stepped back and watched in amazement. The device picked up the frame with its tiny but strong mechanical arms. It placed it on its front and proceeded to reel out some tape. But instead of just slapping it on arbitrarily, it cut tiny threads of it, and layered them across the split in the frame expertly to increase the strength ten fold. The device picked the frame up and turned it onto its other side. Repeating the process, the device stopped when it finished.

Erika walked up to the bedside table and picked up the frame, marveling at the intricacy of the repair. It was incredible. She flexed the frame, testing it. Nothing gave. The frame, despite having some tape on it was stronger now than when it was unbroken!

Now was the time to really put this thing through its paces. Erika approached the device and said, “Fix All!” in a firm voice. The device whirred into action, zipping down the side of the bedside chest of drawers and rushing into the lounge. It slowed down and patrolled the room. For the first time Erika noticed the little electronic eye mounted on the front of the tank that the roll rode around on. It was searching for something it was capable of repairing.

Suddenly the device shot off, and Erika raced after it as it shot into the rear junk room. By the time she arrived, the device was engrossed in repairing an old toy boat with a broken funnel hanging off it. When it was done it zoomed off again, leaving Erika to pick up the toy boat. The funnel was attached with more strength than before, just like the picture frame. Erika could hear more taping coming from the back patio. This time Erika didn’t follow it; she knew it was doing it all by itself and it was pointless to watch it all the time.

Erika went back into the lounge and turned on the TV. In the back of the house, the device was busy as it looked around its new world. It saw only red through its robotic lenses. Shapes. Images. Lines. It knew how to recognize broken objects by visible stress on the edges of irregular lines on an object. From this image it matched with the other edge and then applied tape in a unique method to reinforce and repair. It was powered by its own internal reactor and it had the smartest intelligence chip ever created. It had the unique ability of a machine, to be able to learn ways to perform a task. Its task right now: repair the damaged, wherever they may be.

The device moved slowly around the house now, from room to room, using its optical eye to scan and monitor everything. All that it saw was being catalogued and filed away in its own little microchips. It moved into the bathroom and saw a mirror had fallen from its mounting and was resting in the cabinet now. The device identified where the mirror had been and formulated a repair method. It would turn some of the duct tape into a super strong double-sided applicant and affix the mirror back to the wall, using the existing screw holes and screw plugs as a support for the mirror's weight. The device set to work and ten minutes later it was finished.

Almost like an artist, the device rolled back slightly and scanned its work. Checking for stress, it saw plenty of invisible stress but it was uniform, consistent and not getting any stronger. The repairs were finished and the device moved down the wall, and along the floor out of the bathroom. Identifying two repairable objects: the microwave heat seal and a power cord from a hand held mixer.

Despite their appearance, the arms on the front of the little vehicle were incredibly strong. It picked the electric mixer up around the rod shaft emerging from the motor and pulled it, cord and all onto the floor. Now it showed true brilliance. The device identified from its sensors the exact wires to reconnect and in which order. It wrapped each wire individually with a single layer of tape before wrapping all three in a double layer of tape to insure they wouldn’t come loose again. It identified the on switch and depressed it, awaiting the anticipated noise. The mixer whirred into action and stopped as soon as the device turned it off. Success logged, onto next repair: the microwave oven. With effortless determination, the device went to work repairing the old worn heat seal on the rear of the microwave, but what it got was far from what it expected.

As soon as the microwave whirled into action, it bombarded the poor little device with short wave energy, leaking through the duct tape seal. While duct tape makes a good heat seal and bonding agent, the device wasn’t radiation proof and this was something the little device had not been programmed for. Inside the device’s chassis electrical energy was flying all over the place being directed and redirected by the radiation. The microwave turned off after ten seconds of activity, but device was still feeling the effect of all the short wave energy. Finally, the device’s internal computer shut down and fell quiet.

From the living room where Erika lay quietly watching the TV, she overheard the mixer turn on and off, then a little bit later heard the microwave turn on and off, although, there wasn’t a whirring noise to follow, indicating the device she bought was on the move again. Erika’s senses went on high and she listened intently waiting for something to happen. Erika turned off the TV and got up and to look where the device had gone, heading immediately for the kitchen since that’s where she had heard the activity last and spotted it lying on its side on the counter near the microwave.

Picking the heavy tool up, Erika noticed that the light was still lit but it was blinking and another light next to the “Reboot” button was now lit. Erika put the device down on the floor, upright and walked six feet away and called out, “Here!”

Nothing happened. There was no point referring to the ridiculously short manual, so Erika picked the device up in her hands and did the only sensible thing. Pressed the two red studs in again.

The computer core activated upon receiving fresh energy from the reactor and initiated its boot up sequence:

Check arms........OK
Check motion....OK
Check memory...OK
Check primes.....FAIL FAIL FAIL

In response to this, the computer activated its failsafe subroutine and loaded a new set of prime directives, which were rules the computer must NOT ever break. However, this time one was missing.

1. Shut down in case of failure.
2. >>> EMPTY <<<
3. Dormant mode upon completion of task.

The computer accepted this as it completed boot-up going into ready mode. However, what Erika didn’t know was that the missing directive was:

2. Organic life is not repairable and not to be treated for repair.

The device now awaited its owner’s next command.

Erika walked away from the device, and called out over her shoulder, “Fix All!”

The device activated and got back onto track, as Erika returned to the living and turned the TV back on to watch the next program. Strangely enough, though, Erika felt as if she was being watched. Erika turned around to see that the device was positioned in the door way that lead from her room to the lounge room. She could hear it whirring away, scanning the room.

The device’s scanner recorded only one repairable object, a slender but heavily damaged object that was covered with stress lines and stress areas, inherent to movement which it knew would lead to damage, wear and tear. The solution: prevent the movement, equalize the stress and permanently seal all stress areas. It decided the repair method best suited was a complete cast all around the object since it detected no singular moving parts or power output throughout the device.

Meanwhile, Erika had gone to her bedroom to change into her swimsuit, as she planned to head to the pool for a swim. She was planning to go to the local fitness center, and changed into her aquamarine swimsuit. Although her athletic body mean A-cup sized breasts, her swimsuit did highlight her firm buttocks and powerful legs.

Erika returned to the living room to collect her things, but then overheard the sound of the device again.

Erika raised one eyebrow in skepticism as the device moved directly towards her busily playing with its duct tape roll, reeling out a length. It moved right up to her ankles and planted the end of the duct tape on her ankle. At first Erika thought this was odd but when the device took off and ran around her at high speed, binding her ankles together. Erika yelled as she fell over. The device was pulled off its course and fell on its side. It immediately used one arm to lever itself up but now the repair target had changed shape. In its view screen Erika was now with several largish bumps and not tall anymore, requiring a new repair method. Using its arms, it severed the length of tape from its roll and backed off to scan for a new method of repair.

Erika freaked out, having fallen over and had her ankles taped together tightly, she was scared now. Erika tried to stand up but it was too difficult, managing only to fall down again. Erika quickly crawled together on her hands and knees to her room and slammed the door, sitting up against it to bar entrance. Breathing heavily and shaking, Erika found the stray edge of the tape and began to unwind it from her ankles, amazed at how much tape was on there in such a short time of wrapping.

Erika peeled off about three yards of tape and wound it into a tight ball, throwing it into the corner.

“Why did it attack me?” wondered Erika. All Erika could imagine was that the device must have been damaged somehow and by starting it up again, she only made it worse. Now, Erika had to find a way to stop it. A pint-sized machine with an attitude problem wasn’t going to hold her captive in her own home.

The device patiently waited outside the door as Erika turned the handle of the door, maintaining pressure on the door, as she peeked out into the lounge room. Strangely enough, the house didn’t seem to be hers. It seemed different, almost as if she awakened in a stranger’s house. Erika allowed the door to come open half way, her foot still wedged behind it to allow her to regulate how far it was allowed to open.

There was still nothing; perhaps the device was broken again. Erika knew it wasn’t, as she saw the TV stand had been repaired. That was new, so it was still out there, somewhere, waiting for her.

“What did it want?” wondered Erika as she cautiously stepped out of the door, taking with her a sharp knife she took from the kitchen although she preferred a baseball bat but didn’t have one.

Erika emerged into the living room as she looked under the table at the end, hoping to see the device, but saw nothing. Wherever it was, it was hidden. Erika walked slowly to the end of the living room, when she suddenly heard a noise that sounded like clicking.

The clicking sounds became faster and louder; it was approaching her!

Erika prepared the knife, ready to use it if needed.

Then, from around the corner came: a toy wind-up dog. It was a cute little toy she had received as a novelty gift years ago. However, it wasn’t making a barking noise. Erika picked the little toy dog up, and turned it over, its legs still thrashing about. The batteries were fine, but there was still no bark. Erika’s eyes scanned around the toy until suddenly...

WHUMP!!

Erika fell flat on her back as something flew around her waist and dragged her down to the carpet. Erika screamed, dropping the knife as she struggled to see what had dropped her like that. Erika twisted around and thrashing around like fish on a deck. Erika caught a glimpse of a strange hopping thing but that was all, a glimpse.

Erika became aware now, during her frantic struggles, that something had bound her legs together tightly. She knew it was the device and reached over to pick up her knife where it lay. Just as her hands just managed to clasp the handle of the knife as another streamer of blue duct tape flew over her wrists and hand. It seemed to pull tight immediately, hugging it to her side.

More tape flew in front of her field of view, this time it landed over chest, further pinning her arms down at her sides. It had wrapped itself around just once and now Erika felt she was losing this fight. The dog was just a diversion and the device had ensnared in sticky blue duct tape. Her arms were almost useless, having been pinned to her side by a wide strips of tape as the device continued wrapping more and more around her.

“HELP! SOMEBODY!!!!” yelled out Erika desperately, realizing that her house was too far away from any neighbor to hear.

“What IS this stuff?” grunted Erika, struggling to her feet, desperately trying to hop away.

Erika was helplessly cocooned by the blue duct tape wrapping. Her legs were pulled so tightly together now that her poor crotch was flattened between her thighs, with her vagina’s wetness trapped in a tight but tiny gap just below her crotch. The device kept wrapping though, binding her cocoon as Erika couldn’t move her arms or legs out.

Erika stood there like a cocooned mummy, desperately trying to hop to the front door and somehow escape. She tried to test her bonds but they were so absolutely tight that no give was found, not a slightest bit at all. While frightening, it was equally the most incredible sexual feeling she’d ever had! Helpless, wrapped, and impossible to escape; it was strangely sensuous.

Erika’s hobbled along only to be tripped up by the device as she fell onto one of her loveseats.

“Let me go this instant,” ordered Erika, desperately trying to reason with the insidious device.

The device hopped back up onto its usual position, working itself up the loveseat and noticed that Erika’s feet were still free as it began unrolling some more duct tape.

“NO! NO, DON’T!!!!” exclaimed Erika as the device wound the tape around her feet, binding them up down to her toes. Erika was mummified from her armpits down to her toes, tightly restrained beyond words as she strained against her bonds.

Finished with its work, the device dropped to the floor as it stopped still and began whirring. Inside its hull, the device's computer checked its code. The trigger order, “Fix all” had been commanded and therefore the program was set. Now that the program was over, the device went onto a special program. This was only meant to be executed at the end of the first fix all. Now that it was ended, the device played via audio a message from its creator designed to promote the device.

“GREETINGS CUSTOMER. I AM PLEASED THAT YOU HAVE PURCHASED THE OMEGA DT-2000 AND HOPE IT HAS SERVED YOU WELL.”

Erika heard this audio playback and thought, “Serve me well my ass, it served ME into this situation!”

“THE TRIAL PERIOD FOR USE OF THIS DEVICE IS UNFORTUNATELY OVER NOW. SO DUE TO THE HIGH COST OF PRODUCING THIS DEVICE, I WOULD ASK THAT YOU FORWARD $500 DOLLARS TO THE PLACE OF PURCHASE IN EXCHANGE FOR A RENEWAL CHIP THAT WILL ALLOW YOUR OMEGA DT-2000 TO RETURN TO NORMAL SERVICE. IF YOU DECIDE TO PURCHASE THE UPGRADE CHIP, YOU WILL HAVE ACCESS TO OUR SERVICE AND HELP LINE FOR ANY MAJOR DIFFICULTIES YOU MAY HAVE. BUT FOR BASIC PROBLEMS, JUST REMEMBER TO TELL YOUR DEVICE TO STOP.”

“AAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!” yelled out Erika angrily, thrashing about on the loveseat. After the Omega DT-2000 finished with Erika, it shut down and awaited its owner to either upgrade the unit or throw it out with the trash.

Erika lay there, as she scanned the clock, seeing that she’d been mummified for at least an hour. After the announcement from the machine, a million thoughts had run through her head, with none of them helping. She was mummified in duct tape, and wrapped so tightly she couldn’t move a muscle. Erika realized she would probably die of hunger before anyone found her and was just waiting for it to come. Her stomach rumbled yet again and caused her to wriggle slightly.

As she rocked slightly from side to side in discomfort, Erika felt her muscles strain as she struggled away, but was still unable to get loose. Although, in a small recessed corner of her mind, Erika loved being like this. Wrapped tightly and absolutely helpless. If only a man could find her now; but she knew this was a stupid fantasy. Right now Erika praying for someone to find her soon; anyone!

Meanwhile, the nearest house to Erika’s, Mrs. Harris, a middle aged widow, was watching TV, and relaxing. She was tired after a long day at the community relief center where she worked dispensing food to needy people, and she looked forward to watching her favorite evening program. While watching the show, it suddenly occurred to her that she hadn’t seen Erika at all that day. Normally, Erika would come over on some nights and they would share coffee watching the show, taking every opportunity to ridicule the pathetic scenarios that the group of actors kept getting into.

Mrs. Harris felt alone all of a sudden and decided to ring Erika and see if she could come over as she dialed the phone. However, no one answered. Mrs. Harris looked at the clock: it was 7:35 PM.

“Where on earth would Erika be on a night like this?” wondered Mrs. Harries, looking out the window and seeing her car still parked in her driveway. She didn’t recall anyone pulling into her driveway, and was beginning to feel that something was not right. Mrs. Harris resolved to keep trying her number until she managed to get hold of her, hoping that she was okay, and it was just her overactive imagination at work.

Erika almost jumped out of her skin when she heard the phone ring, listening helplessly to its ringing until eventually it stopped.

“Who could that’ve been?” wondered Erika, with a faint glimmer of hope forming in her mind.

“What if the person rang back again later, and again, and kept ringing until they finally decided to come over and talk to her personally. Maybe they might peek in the window, and maybe they might see me! And rescue me!!”

Mrs. Harris put down the phone for the third time. Although nothing had changed between her first and last calls, she was more frustrated and worried than ever before. All sorts of scenarios were playing through her mind, and she was beginning to feel very scared for Erika.

Mrs. Harris was almost beside herself with fear and worry, and she had made up her mind that first thing in the morning she would go over and find out if Erika had left a note or something to indicate where she was. As she walked up Erika’s driveway, Mrs. Harris made note of the drawn curtains and automatically knew that if she wanted to see inside, she would have to find a way in. She knew breaking in was illegal, but what if Erika had fallen and hurt herself, or if she was sick or worse!

From her place in the living room, Erika thought she heard the click clack of high heels outside her house. Erika was tied up tight for more than a couple of hours now, that wasn’t even sure if the sound was real, or just in her imagination. Erika waited, and hoped it would come again. Inside her mind, Erika prayed that it was someone who would help her.

Outside, Ms Harris approached the rear bedroom and went to the first window. She knew that by pressing it in slightly she could bypass the window lock that Erika had installed in just the right way to deny entry to anyone who didn’t know precisely how to bypass it. Erika had once shown Mrs. Harris this, in case she was locked out of her own house and needed somewhere to go inside. Mrs. Harris placed her palms carefully on the glass and pressed inwards, until she heard the faint click that signaled the failure of the locking mechanism.

Mrs. Harris lifted her arms up, and slowly the window opened upwards, until it was fully open. Mrs. Harris bent down and pushed one leg inside, then supporting her weight, she managed to edge the rest of her inside.

From the living room, Erika heard the window open and knew someone was now inside. She really didn't care if it was a burglar or anyone; she just wanted help!

“HELP!!!! HEEEEELP!!!” cried out Erika.

Mrs. Harris entered the living room, realizing that the blue cocoon in the loveseat was Erika!

“What happened?” asked Mrs. Harris as she got a pair of scissors, and began cutting Erika free. Finally, she was saved.

“It’s a long story,” muttered Erika, embarrassed.

 

02.02.06

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