Chapter 27

The Doctor and Nancy were back in the control room once again, monitoring the numerous readouts as the master timer approached the 24-hour mark. With 5 minutes to go, he pressed a button on the panel marked "Completion Sequence", which caused a green light to come on; each of the monitors subsequently indicated "Completion Sequence Activated", one after another.

The level indicators the readouts slowly crept towards zero; the indicators for Tonya's vital signs showed that she was going into a relaxed state as the stimulation subsided. As the last few minutes slowly passed, the Doctor brought a small box into the test room, laying it down near the test bench.

Tonya was becoming more aware of her surroundings, no longer in sensory overload from the intensity of the stimulation she'd been receiving. She felt herself returning to a normal state of mind, and soon, she heard a disembodied, passionless voice in her headphones.

"The procedure is now complete."

Nancy joined the Doctor in the test room; the lights, which had been dimmed for the duration of the test, now rose to their full brightness. Nancy put clamps on the various tubes that ran to the various implements that had been inserted into Tonya's bodily cavities; after they were clamped, the Doctor disconnected them from the various pumps, and attached them to corresponding nozzles on the small box he'd brought in, then removed her earphone/eyepieces.

After the tubes had been re-connected, he started releasing Tonya's restraints; the yoke around her head was raised, the hand restraints deflated, and soon, her arms were free! The straps across her back were undone, then the straps around her thighs, knees, and finally, her ankles were released, and she was totally unfettered!

Standing on each side of her, the Doctor and Nancy helped Tonya get off the test bench; her footing was unsure, and they had to hold her tightly to keep her from falling. The Doctor picked up the box as they left the room, and walked Tonya into a room marked "Recovery", where they sat her in a chair made up of several padded sections that would conform to her body, making sure that the tubes weren't getting pinched in between.

The Doctor deflated the gag, unfastened it, and slowly pulled the feeding tube from Tonya's stomach; she moaned as the end of the tube was removed, and took several deep breaths to relax herself.

"How do you feel, Tonya?"

"I... I'm not sure... how to explain it..." Tonya replied, her mind trying to grasp words sufficient to describe her ordeal.

"What happened to you while it was going on?"

I... I did things that... that I... never could do before..." Tonya explained, "And then I saw Nancy... and I got mad at her..."

Nancy blanched at this, her mouth turning into a frown.

"... and I chased after her..."

Nancy gave the Doctor the Evil Eye; his response was simply to hold his hand up to keep her silent.

"... when I caught her... I started beating her up... I mean, really badly..."

Nancy gritted her teeth and clenched her fists; the Doctor had to hold his finger to his lips and silently shush her to keep her from interrupting Tonya's train of thought.

"... and I beat her so badly..." Tonya went on, a tear welling up in her eye, "that I tore her face off!"

This time, it took the Doctor's hand on Nancy's shoulder to keep her in check; she was clearly incensed at Tonya's revelations!

"But the weird part about it..." Tonya continued, "was that when I ripped off HER face, MY face was underneath it!!"