Product Liability Lawsuit

This submission is written in response to the story by saddletramp1956, entitled "Warning Labels." I liked it, as I do with everything the man writes. But I really thought there should have been a pardon. Belinda shouldn't suffer for 'virtual stupidity.' So here goes. I think you will enjoy it. Again, thanks to you, boss. All credit goes to you. I'll take any blame. "Free Belinda"

Published by saddletramp1956's permission.

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"Presented for your consideration- The story of Ryan Johnson, a good-looking young man who worked for Global Financial Services, an accounting company. Single, six ft. three in. tall, 190 lbs. very good shape-he can bench press 210 lbs. At least he thought he was single. He is about to be dragged back into......."The Cheating Zone" DA DA DA DA, DA DA DA DA.....

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Ryan Johnson was not having a good day, nor were his nights any better. So far, over the past two weeks, three dates, or encounters, had gone down in flames.

It started with Traci, an acquaintance of his parents, who was quite attractive and outgoing. He had picked her up at her condo (she was an attorney); they had gone for drinks and dinner, followed by more drinks and dancing. But they only got to the restaurant, as it seemed every time he looked at her, he insisted on calling her, Belinda.

'Belinda?', he thought, 'Who the hell is Belinda??'

The first time it happened, she looked at him like he had two heads. She smiled and said, "It's Traci."

"Yes, of course, it is. I was just so enamored by your beauty...."

She wasn't buying it. By the time we got to the main course, it had happened several more times. Twelve, to be exact.

"Ryan, this has been stressful. Please take me home."

I paid the check. We left to get the car, and I drove her back to her condo.

I opened my door to get out to get her's, but she said, "Don't bother. Call me when 'Belinda' is not around anymore."

She shut the door, turned on her heel, and went inside.

'Well, that went not well,' I thought as I drove home

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That was Friday night. The following Thursday, I was having drinks after work when one of the account reps from another department came up and asked if she could join us. She and another young woman had just come in. Being gentlemen, we immediately said sure.

Her name was Sharon, and she was recently divorced. I quickly realized that she was coming on to me. 'This looks promising,' I thought.

"So, how are you finding the new department, Belinda?"

'NO, NOT AGAIN!!' She looked at me, and she said, "Who's Belinda??"

"I don't know. It's not you, though. I have been in a fog for the past week or so, and I don't know why." With a conscious effort, I said," Can you forgive me, Sharon?"

She smiled and said, "Sure. It was just a one-time thing."

The evening progressed, and we danced. The dancing got more intense, and soon Sharon was grinding her nether region into my cock. She moaned as the combination of the drinks and the close contact was pushing her to a decision.

"Why don't we adjourn to someplace more suitable?" she said. She stuck her tongue in my mouth and grabbed my cock. I groaned around her tongue, grabbed her ass, and said, "Sounds wonderful, Belinda."

She pushed away from me, slapped my face, and stormed out.

'WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME???" I thought. 'And WHO the hell is Belinda???' My life was becoming a train wreck. That's when the thoughts started.

'Ryan, I love you. Where are you? There is no love here. OH GOD, they are starting again!! AAGGHH' Then there was silence in my mind.

'WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON??'

One week later, we are meeting the new transfer from the London office, and coffee, tea, and cakes were the rule of the day. Her name was Esmerelda. She was talking to me, and I clearly was taken with her. And I had just met her. 'This could be interesting!!' I thought.

Guess what? She looked at me and asked if we could go somewhere more intimate? "Sure, Belinda."

Ahh, no, not again. She looked at me and said, "Or maybe you should ask Belinda!" She turned and walked over to Tommy Jones. 0 for 3; So much for suave and debonair.

So here I sat, nursing a beer, on Friday night. I turned on the boob tube, and the Sy-Fy channel came up with "Twilight Zone" reruns. One of the old black and white episodes ended, and the screen suddenly went to snow. The thoughts started again.

"Ryan, GOD, please help me. I need you. There is no love. It's only sex. Please love. OH, no, he's coming again. And there are four of them. For the love of GOD, HELP ME!!"

What the fuck? Then I saw it. A blonde, in a diaphanous shift, moving to the stairs. She paused about four steps up, and turned to me, and begged ''Help!' 'PLEASE!'

The wraith proceeded up the stairs. I jumped up and followed.

I ran upstairs and turned into my bedroom.

There she was, naked on the bed, tossing and turning in the throes of sexual pleasure. But she was screaming, 'NO, NO; it's not love. STOP!' Then it was like someone shoved something in her mouth, as she started to gag, sucking on something.

I sank to my knees and said, "Please, God, help me. PLEASE- help me. I don't know what to do!!"

Then she slowly fades away until she disappeared. I was stunned! I turned and went back downstairs, only to come face to face with a red-skinned gnome in a three-piece business suit. He was sitting in my favorite recliner, smirking, and had a red briefcase open on the coffee table.

"Who the fuck are you? And how did you get into my house??

"Ahh, you don't remember me, do you? Allow me to re-introduce myself.

"I am Mr. Zrglbork, a representative from TCZ Enterprises. I am here to fix a few paperwork problems with your previous contract with us. Nothing major; I just need your signature and initials on a few things."

His slimy smirk would make a hyena puke.

"What do you mean? I didn't have any 'contract' with your company. I've never even HEARD of your company!!"

"OHH, don't worry about that. Just sign and initial where indicated, and we can clear this up." He pushed several documents across to me, with the tags indicating where signatures and initials were required, and handed me a pen.

Now, my dad always told me to never, ever sign anything without reading it. Especially when some suspicious, slimy lawyer tells you to. And this guy fits the bill on these accounts. I started to read, and he had a panic-laden fit.

"You don't have to do that. It's not necessary. I suggest signing as I told you to do. NOW."

With that, my doorbell rang.

'Who the hell is this?' I wondered.

"DON'T ANSWER THAT," he shrieked. "IT"S NOT NECESSARY."

Well, now I DEFINITELY wanted to answer the door. I noticed as I stood up that my guest seemed to freeze in his seat and struggled to move and get up. No luck. It was like he was locked in place. I kept my eyes on him as I got to the door and opened it to confront an attractive, mature woman.

She had shoulder-length platinum blonde hair, stood about 5'6", dressed in a tailored business suit, with a creme-colored ruffled blouse and a pencil skirt, with a slight slit up the left side. Stockings of a coffee color and 4" high heeled shoes finished her outfit. Her figure was quite impressive, with what looked like 36-B breasts and a pert ass. Her legs were fan-fucking-tastic looking.

The evening was finally looking up.

"Mr. Johnson?" she inquired in a soft, melodious voice.

"Your name wouldn't be Belinda, would it?" I asked, hopefully.

She smiled and said, 'No, my name is Dr. Adresta Rhamuosia, but you can call me Dr. A if you would like." She turned to introduce the young man behind her. "And this is Special Agent Michael A. Angel. We are from The Center in response to your plea."

"What plea? And what are you here for?"

"It's a long story, but we have plenty of time. May we come in?"

"Hell, at least you asked. Sure, come on in."

Dr. A walked up to the sofa, and Special Agent Angel came in and stood behind the red garden gnome. He erupted.

"You can't be here. You can't do anything. You have no authority, and you know it."

"Shut up, Zrglbork." She looked up. "Michael."

Michael leaned over and grabbed Zrglbork's head and squeezed. He gulped while his mouth slammed shut.

"That's better."

Dr. A looked at me. "Technically, he's right. If you had not asked for help, we could not even come in here. But you did, and that, if you'll pardon the expression, 'opened the door.' "

"I"m sorry, I don't understand. Could you explain this to me?"

"All in good time; first things first. I have to lay the groundwork and get the paperwork started before anything else. Just 'Bear' with me."

(Heh, Heh, Heh)

She reached into her inside suit jacket pocket and pulled out a flip phone. She flipped it open and looked at me, smiling. "Gibbs phone. I love them."

She spoke to the phone. "Open channel D."

"Channel D open. Central here; go ahead, Dr. A."

"Good evening, Clarissa. How are things tonight?"

"Quiet, Dr. A. How are things on your end?"

"Interesting. I need to check some paperwork. Has TCZ Enterprises filed an amended Assimilation form 6778.1, Part H, within the last four weeks? It will be under the name Johnson."

"Stand by, Dr. A. By the way, is Michael with you on this mission?"

Dr. A. rolled her eyes. "Yes, Clarissa, He is." She looked at me and smiled.

A sweet lilting voice "Hi, Michael!"

Michael grinned and blushed a little.

"Good evening, Clarissa."

Clarissa returned to her professional demeanor.

"Dr. A. a 6778.1, Part H against Mr.and Mrs. Ryan Johnson, your location, with regards to assimilation, is listed. But because of prior assimilation protocol, it has been denied."

Her face split into a huge grin. She lloked at Mr. Zrglbork. "Too bad, Arthur."

"Excellent!! Thank you, Clarissa."

"Good night, Michael," said the voice of Clarissa, with a playful lilt in her tone. Michael blushed again. Dr. A rolled her eyes.

She closed her phone/communicator and, turning to look at me, smiled and said, "We got here just in time. Did you sign ANY of those papers?"

"Nope. He insisted that I just sign them, that it wasn't necessary to read them as it was just a formality. But my dad always told me to never sign any legal document without reading it first or getting a lawyer to look at it. That was when you guys rang my doorbell. But I still don't understand what this is all about."

"Well, now I can tell you. First, let's clean up this mess."

She turned to Micheal and said, "Micheal, please remove Mr. Zrglbork to the Excursion's containment area."

"With pleasure, Ma'am."

He picked up the red-skinned twerp and carried him outside.

DR. A. pulled out her phone again and flipped it open.

"Open Channel D."

"Channel D open; Cental here; Go ahead, Dr. A."

"Clarissa, I need to have an emergency strike force sent to liberate and secure one Mrs. Belinda Jonhson from assimilation status at whichever orgy she is at."

"Hold her in stasis until further notice. Further, detain, and prosecute all attendees at such gatherings. Find the leader and detain or terminate him, on my orders, and institute shut down on all TCZ Enterprise holdings, parties, and interests. Are we understood?"

"Affirmative, Dr. A. The strike force is en-route; We have instituted shut down on TCZ Enterprises.

One moment, please-we have found the subject and liberated her. She is being treated and is in stasis. Numerous attendees are in custody. The leader seems to have escaped capture, supposedly on the way to the fourth level of hell."

'You can't win them all' thought Dr. A.

"Excellent. Please keep me advised."

She closed her phone and sat down on my sofa, looking me straight in the eye.

"Now, what would you like to know?"

"For starters, what is this all concerning? Who was that creature, what was he talking about,..." Suddenly, both their subconscious thoughts heard a plaintive cry.

"RYAN, help me. IT'S COLD, and there is no love. Please, help me. Save me."

"AND WHO IS THAT??" I exclaimed.

Dr. A. took a breath and calmly said, "That is your wife, Belinda."

'WHAT THE FUCK DID SHE JUST SAY???' I thought.

"I'm not married; I don't have a wife, and who the hell is BELINDA??"

She smiled and took his hands. A serenity overcame him, and he sagged back to rest on the couch. He felt at peace and knew everything would be alright.

She started, "Yes, you are or were married. You and your wife signed up for a virtual reality, role-playing game, where you both used an Oculus-style headpiece and numerous sensors to simulate sexual congress. You signed up for the deluxe his and hers package. There were several pages of instructions, warnings, and cautions about addiction and 'assimilation.' The problem lies in the wording and explanations- They did not do a satisfactory job explaining 'addiction' and 'assimilation.' "

"Your wife was using the device over the recommended time limits and without waiting the recommended time between sessions.

"In short, she became addicted. After an extended period, she became assimilated. You can home just in time to see her vanish into the nether realm. She ceased to exist. You tried to stop her and reached out to touch her. That was how you came to be contaminated.

"Mr. Zrglbork was there to assist in her assimilation and did not stop you from interfering. Point of fact, he snickered and watched as you touched her. That was his downfall.

"He had to come back to get you to sign forms and acknowledge what had happened and that you would hold them blameless."

"But, I don't remember any of this. I don't remember signing up for this, paying for it, using it, or the actuality of having a wife."

"And you won't until we go to my office and reset your subconscious. Are you willing to do this? Because once you are aware of everything, you have a decision to make. But you must first agree to the re-awakening. Then you get to make the decision."

He pondered this situation. He didn't know this woman, didn't remember her and had no history with her. Nor with his supposed wife.

"What if I don't agree to go with you?"

"You are free to do this. We can clean up here and revert to the status quo. But the situation will remain the same. You will continue to have sub-conscious snatches of words and conversations.

"You will never have closure on the former acts of your life.

" AND you will continue the social faux-pas of name confusion.

'WELL, that would be worth everything if it would stop,' I thought.

"Deal. Let's go."

Dr. A smiled. "I thought that would tweak your interest."

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She gathered up all the papers and put them in the red briefcase, using insulated gloves.

"One can't be too careful," Dr. A said, smiling. She closed the case and put it in a sealed, insulated bag. "There!" she said.

We picked up everything that applied to my situation and left, locking up my apartment. We walked out to find Agent Angel standing next to the back door of an immaculate, pearl white Ford Excursion. He opened the door, and we got in. He shut the door, and went around to the driver's seat, started it up, and away we went.

We drove for about forty minutes and arrived at a rather drab one-story building, maybe fifty feet square, with sealed-up window openings and a heavy metal insulated fire door.

We exited the big Ford and went inside. Agent Angel procured Mr. Zrglbork from the containment area in the back and hustled him inside.

Looks were deceiving. The inside was roomy and cavernous. A large reception desk greeted us, manned by a sultry-looking redhead with a shoulder rig packing what looked like a heavy handgun. Black, librarian-style eyeglasses on a chain accented her attractive face. She had a very stylish but conservative business suit on, and she appeared to be all business.

"Good evening, Dr. A.," she called out. "Central has been calling for you."

"Thank you, Amanda. Put all calls through to my office, please."

"Yes, ma'am. At once." The young lady pressed several buttons and threw a few switches as we walked down a hallway to double-oak doors and entered a warm, comfortable executive office. Large floor-to-ceiling bookshelves covered two walls, the third having several large file cabinets and a glass-topped refreshment center. The fourth had numerous photos and portraits in addition to the entrance doors.

The large desk held three twenty-four-inch monitors, a cordless keyboard, and a hands-free cordless phone. A padded office chair completed the setup. Two comfortable chairs were facing the desk; I chose one and sat down.

Dr. A. sat at her desk and brought up her computer. She pushed a button, and one of the monitors turned to face me.

"Before I go any further, I want you to understand some of what you are going to see and hear. The result of your wife's addiction does not necessarily reflect her true feelings. She is a very submissive person and wants and needs a lot of affection. She does love you but was vulnerable due to the overdoes of sexual activities."

"I think I understand, but I have no connection with her or any of this. I don't know...."

"You will, Ryan; You will."

She stood and came around to sit next to me. Sitting down, she placed her hands on my temples, and pressing, said, "Just relax."

The feeling of euphoria came over him again, and the monitor got that swirling paint pattern going. Then he started to feel anxious. The monitor changed and showed a wedding celebration.

The wedding was his.

The girl was beautiful. She was laughing and dancing with him. His mom and dad were there, in the background, laughing and singing with everyone else. His brothers, his best friend, best man was there (at least he figured Todd was best man-he had been Todd's), and everyone was having a great time. He looked to be ecstatic as he danced with the best-looking woman in the room.

"That is Belinda. You are happy."

'Yes, we were,' He thought, as his mind flipped.

"So you remember??" asked Dr. A.

He was excited. "YES, I DO REMEMBER!!"

"That was five years ago. They were five good years. You were both happy."

"YES, and we were going to start a family. We were putting aside money for a house, and she had just gone off the pill."

"Then it all changed...".

"Yes, we would do lots of things in bed, together. But we were always exclusive. We didn't swing or anything.

"Then, one night in bed, she told me about this Oculus-type device that she had found online. It was similar to the gaming device she had bought for me for Christmas.

"But this one was for sexual encounters. It had helmet-type appliances and various sensors that would enhance your feelings, your inhibitions, and your attributes. We got out of bed.

"Going to the computer, she showed me the website. I read the description, and it seemed relatively innocuous. So I ordered the his-and-hers deluxe package."

"It's all coming back to me now."

"We would use it in bed together, but only in the one-on-one mode, for the two of us. There were several other modes, and the one that gave me the most concern was the 'online mode' where you could join in with different groups, but you had no control over who or what you were joining.

"We would use the device in bed, and when I had to travel to have sex. I would call Belinda, and we would hook up online, but I never realized she was using the device without me."

That was when it dawned on me what had happened in detail, and I broke down. "I didn't know. I DIDN'T KNOW!! I could have stopped this; I loved her!!!"