Obsession-Compulsion, by Mudak
Chapter Eighty Three
Agents Viktor Karovski and Deirdre Gomez returned to FBI headquarters to brief their supervisor, Michael Warrington, on the current status of the investigation. When Warrington learned that Karovski and Gomez believed that Gordon Wallingford himself had been infected with his own virus, he notified Director Louis Godfrey of the situation.
The next two days involved Godfrey, Warrington, Karovski, and Gomez briefing scores of agents with varying degrees of experience, planning for what, it was hoped, would be the closing of the case: the arrest of Gordon Wallingford, his conviction, and, in an ideal world, the effective deactivation of the virus.
A grand jury was already convening, to hand down an indictment of Wallingford. Warrington assured the group that the grand jury need not be apprised of any specific information associated with these latest developments unless and until Karovski and Gomez decide to move in. In light of the recent events surrounding Dr. Richard Stanwyck, a second grand jury was working on an indictment of Stanwyck, however Warrington was less committal about its status and long-term intents.
The first real topic of discussion surrounded whether or not Ashley Steinmetz had actually infected Wallingford with his own virus. To answer this question, Agent Jim Steubens was brought into the discussion. He had been known to be infected with the virus, and consented to be housed within headquarters by and large ever since the incident where he became infected. When the password to control slaves was learned, he was occasionally “activated” as a slave to answer questions.
Warrington paraded him in front of the group and asked him, “Is it possible, if you have sex with someone, that that person would not become a slave?”
“Only if the slave had consumed the virus inhibitor.”
“Is the same thing true for female slaves?”
“In order for a female slave to pass the virus to another female, they have to share a dildo.”
“How about a female slave to a male non-slave?”
“It’s the same as for a male slave to a non-slave.”
“Tell us about the virus inhibitor.”
“They’re basically cookies. Designed to be used after someone had bought a password, to keep them safe from their own slaves. It lasts about two or three hours.”
Warrington asked the crowd if there were any additional questions for Steubens. When his question was met with silence and shaking heads, he returned Steubens to his room.
Upon his return, Warrington then proceeded. “I think it’s safe to say, then, that, if the Steinmetz girl actually did have sex with Wallingford, he’s been infected. Now. How confident are we that she’s had sex with him?”
Agent Gomez stepped in. “The evidence we have is circumstantial, but strong. Fact: Colburn delivered a Care Bear to Wallingford. Fact: Steinmetz had been programmed to seduce any man with a Care Bear, and not know who he was, in order to bypass rules preventing slaves from seducing Wallingford himself. Fact: Steinmetz left the newspaper to go to Wallingford’s office. Fact: Less than three hours after she left the newspaper, she reported seducing someone with a Care Bear.”
Agent Karovski continued. “There are two primary gaps or possibilities within these facts that could undermine our belief—hope, if you would—that Wallingford has been infected. The first is Colburn. She reported that she had delivered the package, but if we are to assume that she has been compromised—and there is a very strong possibility to this assumption—then she may either still be in possession of the package, or she gave it to someone else. The second is that we know that Steinmetz had sex with someone with a Care Bear. Either she infected that someone, or that someone was already infected. Could I have a show of hands of how many people think that Wallingford might not actually be infected?”
Amidst a rustling of paper and a low murmur, about a quarter of the hands in the room went up.
Warrington spoke next. “I don’t like these odds. All right folks, what do we do now?”
A female voice from the back of the room was the first real sound heard. “We could get a search warrant for Wallingford’s office. You know, to see if the Care Bear is there and to look at records of student visitors.”
Warrington responded. “Not a bad idea, but it’ll take some time. Plus a search warrant could tip off Wallingford that we’re on to him. The last thing we want is him suspecting we’re coming.”
A male voice was the next one heard. “How about a covert investigation?”
“And possibly compromise otherwise valid evidence? I’d rather not.”
After a short while, another female voice was heard. “Why don’t we make contact with the Steinmetz girl?”
“And what? Ask her if she fucked Gordon Wallingford?”
“No. She was programmed not to remember who she had sex with. But if we activate her and ask her what the first thing she did was, after she carried out her Care Bear mission, she could ease our concerns.”
Warrington, Gomez, and Karovski looked at each other and none could think of any reason why they shouldn’t try it.
“Who suggested that?”
A woman seated towards the middle of the auditorium stood up. “Agent Sharon Hewlett, Sir!”
“Would you like to go to campus to query the Steinmetz girl?”
“It would be an honor, sir.”
Warrington looked over at Agent Karovski. “Agent Karovski. Please bring Agent Hewlett to the university and report back to us as soon as possible.”
“Yes, Sir!”
Karovski and Hewlett hastily left the room.
After the two of them left, Agent Gomez asked Warrington, “Should we do any planning while they’re not here?”
“We can start to. But let’s take a break first. Everyone, be back in here within a half hour.”
Chapter Eighty Four
On the drive back to the university, Karovski started to look at his cell phone. After pressing a few buttons, he found the phone number from which Ashley Steinmetz confirmed that she had carried out his orders.
“What are you doing?” Agent Hewlett diverted her eyes momentarily in order to see what he was doing.
He raised a finger to silence her. A moment later, he spoke into the phone. “Hi, is this Ashley? ... Good! You might remember me from yesterday. This is Agent Viktor Karovski. ... I asked you a few questions yesterday, do you remember? ... Good. I’d like to ask you a few more questions, if you don’t mind. ... Uh huh. ... Where are you right now? ... Okay. Can you stay there for about ten minutes? ... I should be there soon. ... Is there a place near you where we can talk in private? ... Great! ... Uh huh. ... No, it’s nothing major. Just a quick question or two. ... Good. ... Then I’ll see you in ten minutes.”
He clicked his cell phone shut and looked over at Agent Hewlett. “She’s in her dorm room.”
“Perfect.”
In relatively short time, the two agents were standing outside of Ashley’s door, knocking. Ashley smiled at them as she let them in. “My roommate went over to the gym. I told her I’d meet her there. How are you, Agent Karinsky?”
“I’m pretty good. Ashley. How are you?”
“I’m fine. Is she your partner?”
“This is Agent Hewlett. She’s working with me on this case.”
“How do you do, Agent Hewlett?”
“Pleased to meet you.”
Karovski looked at both women, and, seeing that the pleasantries were completed, spoke again. “Shall we get down to business?”
Ashley sighed. “Sure.” There was something in the way she spoke that gave Karovski the impression that she might have considered him attractive, so he continued, recognizing the need to keep things professional.
“I hate to ask you this question, Ashley. They say nobody knows whether or not they’ve been infected with Dr. Smith’s virus—”
“You can say Dr. Stanwyck, Sir.”
He chuckled. “I’d rather not. Just like everyone else, he’s innocent until proven guilty, and if we want to keep you as a reliable witness, we shouldn’t use any names at least until a formal indictment is handed down.”
“Sorry about that, Sir.”
“Anyway. I was wondering if you had any reason to think that either you or any of your friends might be infected?”
She paused. “Not that I can think of. I mean, sure I guess anything’s possible, but I can’t think of anyone who might be. But I will say this.”
“What’s that?”
“A few months ago, I volunteered for a sleep study by Dr. Wallingford. Before you guys took Stanwyck into custody, I wondered if I might have been one of the original ten subjects that Dr. Smith claimed were his initial ten. And I wouldn’t have been comfortable talking about being involved in that study.”
“Did he make you do anything that made you feel uncomfortable?”
“Well, he hooked a lot of sensors up to my body and head to monitor my sleep, but other than that, no.”
“Do you know who else was in the study?”
“I was relatively new on campus at the time, so I didn’t know anyone else in the study. I don’t remember their names, either.”
“That’s all right. One last thing, if you don’t mind, Ashley.”
“Sure. What’s that?”
“You’re my slave.”
“What’s the password?”
“Orgasm.”
“How may I serve you, Master?”
“Yesterday, you called me to confirm that you had seduced a Care Bear. Where were you when you placed this phone call?”
“I was walking out of the science building. I had had a meeting with Dr. Gordon Wallingford about taking his class next semester.”
Karovski glanced over at Hewlett and smiled broadly.
“Was there anything interesting in his office while you were there?”
“He had a Care Bear in his office.”
“Did you have sex with Dr. Wallingford?”
“I had sex with the Care Bear.”
“Was it good?”
“It was amazing.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“All right, Ashley. On the count of three, I want you to wake up and remember none of this. One. Two. Three.” Karovski sighed as she woke up. “All right, Ashley. Do you still have my number?”
“Yes.”
“Good. If you think of anything else, please give me a call.”
“I will.” Ashley was feeling a bit confused since he really didn’t ask her all that much, but didn’t want to question the judgment of an FBI agent.
Karovski and Hewlett returned to their car and called Warrington with the good news. He responded with enthusiastic praise and told them to return to headquarters as soon as possible.
Chapter Eighty Five
Karovski and Hewlett returned to the office and went into the lecture hall where additional conversations were already taking place.
Smiling broadly, Warrington looked at the two of them and said, “Let me bring you up to speed. Basically, the consensus of opinion is that we want to take down Wallingford in front of a fairly large number of people. While he may be able to activate some of his slaves for defense, he won’t be able to do it in large numbers because of the potential for witnesses. Any attempts to use his slaves to stave off arrest will be incriminating and he probably will realize this.”
“Makes sense,” Karovski mused. “Any thoughts on where?”
“That’s what we’re getting to now.”
“Well, if no one’s suggested it yet, maybe in the class of his that Colburn attends.” Karovski blurted out.
Some amused rumblings echoed throughout the hall, but no one spoke with any objections to the idea.
Agent Warrington laughed. “I was going to suggest the lobby of the science building, but this is much better. Plus we may be able to ascertain whether or not Colburn’s been compromised or whether she can be of further assistance in the investigation.”
Agent Gomez chimed in. “There’s no need to let her know that we’re coming. If she’s offended by the fact that we’re there, that’s better than her possibly letting Wallingford know.”
“Very well, then. I think it’s already been established that Gomez and Karovski will go in to take down Wallingford. Does anyone here want to serve as a backup in case they need help?”
All hands in the auditorium went into the air.
The next two days were filled with strategies for every contingency imaginable. Among the resolved items were:
Colburn had reported that she was one of twelve students in the class. It was not unreasonable to assume that at least one, possibly all twelve, of the students had been compromised.
The military adage of not leaving your comrades behind did not apply in this situation. Gomez and Karovski were told to flee if the other happened to be compromised. Heroism in this situation would only increase the count of compromised agents.
Karovski accepted the previous point only after being allowed to take the place of Gomez in being compromised, if conditions warranted.
Deadly force should be avoided if at all possible. All agents, including backups, would be using tasers.
During one break in planning, Agent Gomez slipped away and contacted Gary Milford at the newspaper. He confirmed that he would be sitting in on one of Wallingford’s bioethics classes before his interview. When she relayed this information to the rest of the team, there was a fair amount of excitement. Notwithstanding a few naysayers, most of the planning team felt that it was a good thing to have a journalist there when Gomez and Karovski moved in to take down the leader.
When all planning was over, Gomez and Karovski returned to the safe house for as good a sleep as they could get. They knew they would need it.
Chapter Eighty Six
Junior Agent Sara Colburn was at the student union building buying lunch before the bioethics class taught by Gordon Wallingford. When she opened her purse to pay for lunch, she noticed the dildo she had placed in her purse a couple of days earlier and let out a sigh.
She didn’t really know why she had felt compelled to put a dildo in her purse. Every time she saw it when she was out in public, she kept reminding herself that she needed to leave it back at her apartment. But when she was in her apartment, she wouldn’t think to take it out.
Oh well, she thought. She’s the only one who knew that she was carrying it, so there’s nothing all that bad about it.
Lunch was by and large uneventful and she casually walked to the room where Wallingford held his class. She was the first student in the room, but she wasn’t alone. There was a man sitting in the back. She’d never met him before but she immediately recognized him as Gary Milford. She figured she’d recognized him by virtue of her involvement in the investigation, so she engaged him in conversation with a vagueness that wouldn’t give away her undercover status.
“You look familiar.”
“Well, you might have seen me on campus a few months ago. I’m Gary Milford. I’m a newspaper reporter.”
“Of course. Heather. Heather McCann.”
“Pleased to meet you.”
“Same here. So, um, Gary. What brings you to this class?”
“I’ve got an interview with Dr. Wallingford after this class and he invited me to sit in.”
“An interview?”
“Yup. I’m working on the story of—you know—the sex slave virus, and I want to talk to him.”
“I thought they arrested Dr. Stanwyck in that case.”
“They did. It’s just that, um, I can’t really talk to Stanwyck right now. And Wallingford spoke to your campus paper, so I figured he’d be a good, um, start to my next story.”
“Gotcha.”
“And Wallingford said you guys had been discussing the case in this class, too, haven’t you?”
“That’s right.”
There was a pause in the conversation as the rest of the class started to file in. Some of the students noticed Gary sitting in the back and tried to engage him in conversation. Others paid him little to no attention.
The murmur of several conversations died down as Gordon Wallingford strode through the door. Putting down his attache case by the side of the desk, he silenced the entire classroom with his usual entrance line, “Sorry I’m late everyone.”
He glanced across the room and smiled as he saw the newspaper reporter. “By now, you should all be aware that we have a guest observing this classroom today. For those of you who don’t know the man sitting in the rear of our room today, he is Gary Milford, the newspaper reporter who first broke the story of the Dr. John Smith’s slave virus. Last week, I agreed to grant him an interview, and invited him to observe our class. Even though I don’t see it on his desk, please do not be surprised if he tape records this class. After class, he may approach you for permission to use your name in his story. Granting or denying permission is left to your individual judgments and will have no bearing on your grades in this class. I would just as soon not even know whether you granted him permission.”
As the class turned around to face him, Milford smiled and gave a half-hearted salute to everyone.
As the students turned back to face the professor, he spoke again. “Would any of you like to bring Mr. Milford up to speed, so to speak, on some of the things we have discussed in this class?”
All of the students looked back and forth at one another but no one seemed too inclined to speak. Wallingford chose one of the students to give her explanation of things. “Miss Hightower, why don’t you brief Mr. Milford on our discussions?”
“M-m-me?” Christina Hightower stammered. She had previously been made the object of ridicule within the class by virtue of her decision not retain her virginity until she gets married, and was not enthusiastic about speaking about this. Wallingford peered down his nose at her and she gulped. ‘Well, um, we all agreed that the fact that this virus, or whatever you want to call it, is, um, an unethical project. We, er, we spent a fair amount of time discussing the fact that Dr. Stanwyck—”
Dr. Wallingford interrupted her. “Please, Miss Hightower. In the original news article, the name given was John Smith. Considering that Dr. Stanwyck is a friend and colleague of mine, and considering that he has not yet been convicted of any crime, please use the pseudonym with which Mr. Milford is already acquainted.”
“Sorry, Professor. Dr. Smith took out an ad in our on-campus paper, offering to sell the slave virus—or rather the password for the virus—to anyone who was willing to pay enough money for it. So we discussed the various reasons for paying for it.”
“Very good, Miss Hightower. Would someone like to go further into that idea? Miss McCann?”
Junior Agent Colburn continued. “Well, basically, the reason for buying a slave would be for one of two high-level reasons: to build yourself up, or to tear someone else down. I’m sure that some people—mainly some of the guys on campus—would love to be able to use the virus to have sex with whichever women they wanted. The other side of the coin involves an incident that got a lot of publicity on campus but which didn’t really make the mainstream press: it involved a girl who went on a sexual rampage but who was rebuffed at every advance she made. We never learned why she did what she did, but rumor has it she’s in FBI custody and somehow plays into the slave virus puzzle. While we can’t be sure, we suspect it had something to do with someone buying a password and not controlling their chosen slaves carefully enough.”
Tom O’Grady jumped in. “Dr. Wallingford here got permission to buy a password and he brought a girl in to demonstrate how it worked. It was an interesting day, that day. There’s a skeptic on campus who feels as though the whole thing is a hoax. Between what we all saw, the rampage, and the apparent arrest of Dr. Stanwyck, his arguments that the virus doesn’t exist aren’t carrying as much water as they used to.”
Dr. Wallingford concluded. “That pretty much summarizes everything, Mr. Milford. I’d like to discuss motives for creating and using the virus now, unless you have something you’d specifically like us to discuss.”
Gary waved his hand. “That’s fine.”
Outside the door, Agents Gomez and Karovski arrived outside of the classroom. Karovski held back while Gomez attempted to look in the window and observe Dr. Wallingford’s movements. After a few minutes, she whispered, “He spends a fair amount of time sitting on his desk, but when he gets up, that’s our window of opportunity.”
“What do you think? Should we be prepared to muzzle him, or take him out?”
“”Muzzle him. Definitely.”
Agent Karovski radioed to the backups and confirmed they were in place. Once confirmed, he nodded to Gomez. “On your cue, we move.”
Back inside the classroom, Christina Hightower was ranting about the excesses of scientific study. “This really sounds like something out of the movie Jurassic Park. I mean, there was this one scene in the movie, after the one guy demonstrated the process for cloning the dinosaurs, where all of the other scientists expressed their concerns over the fact that this was even done. They argued that he’d spent so much time trying to find out if he could do something, that he’d lost sight of whether he should do it.”
Lori Carlton responded, “That was in the book, too.”
“Okay. Either way, isn’t this a lesson for restraint in experimentation?”
Dr. Wallingford chimed in. “Are we asking for restraint or stricter controls? Not all experiments, Miss Hightower, create dinosaurs that rampage across a small island or turn people into mindless sex zombies. But not all experiments achieve their intended goals, either. How many of you are familiar with the prescription medication Requip? Judging by your faces, I’d say it sounds familiar even if you don’t know exactly what it’s for.
“Let me give you a hint. It’s prescribed for a particular disorder, because it works for that disorder. But it was actually a failed experiment to treat a much more serious condition. Any takers?” His question was greeted with shaking heads. “All right. It was supposed to be a Parkinson’s Disease treatment, but it’s actually effective at restraining Restless Leg Syndrome.”
Junior Agent Sara Colburn, in her undercover role as Heather McCann, responded to this. “But Dr. Wallingford, a lot of people believe that Restless Leg Syndrome is a disease invented by the pharmaceutical company, just to sell their drugs.”
“And what if it is, Miss McCann? Why not try to make a sale of something in a failed experiment, rather than just throwing all of the money out the window? The history of scientific research, especially in the context of selling the results to the consumers, is littered with experiments that yielded results that were not inline with expectations.” He stood up and started to list off examples. “AZT. Post-it notepads....”
Agent Gomez took a deep breath and said to Karovski. “Let’s move!”
She quickly opened the door and both of them ran in. On entering the room, Karovski started to speak. “Dr. Gordon Wallingford, I’m agent Viktor Karovski and this is my colleague Deirdre Gomez, FBI. We’d like to take you down to headquarters and ask you a few questions.”
Wallingford raised his hands and smiled. “Am I under arrest, agent? Should I call for my attorney?”
Before Karovski could answer, Wallingford said, “All right, everyone. You’re all m—”
Agent Gomez quickly covered Wallingford’s mouth. Even if he wasn’t about to activate the slave virus on the students in his room, she didn’t want to take that chance. Karovski looked at her and nodded. She nodded back.
“Gordon Wallingford,” he began, “You’re my slave.” He and Gomez held their breaths to see what would happen next. Gomez removed her the gag from Wallingford’s mouth.
Wallingford relaxed his arms and asked in a monotone, “What’s the password?”
Karovski whispered in Wallingford’s ear, “Orgasm”.
“How may I serve you, master?”
Karovski and Gomez heaved a deep sigh of relief. “I am going to ask you a series of questions. I want you to answer them honestly and completely, do you understand?”
“Yes, master.”
Amidst all of the commotion, no one noticed that Junior Agent Sara Colburn had rummaged around in her purse and removed the dildo she was carrying in her purse. She loosened her sweatpants and casually slipped it under her panties and into her quickly moistening sex. This was a part of her programming from when she had first reported back to Dr. Wallingford about the Care Bear.
“Dr. Wallingford, are you the man who identified himself as John Smith to Gary Milford all those months ago?”
“Yes.”
“Are you solely responsible for the existence of the chemical compound commonly known as the sex-slave virus?”
“Yes.”
“Are you aware that a student recently identified Dr. Richard Stanwyck as being John Smith?”
“Yes.”
“Why did she do this?”
“She was a slave, and I planted phony memories to make her think that Dr. Stanwyck was responsible for the virus.”
“What about Stanwyck himself? He has confessed to being John Smith.”
“I commanded to confess.”
“So Stanwyck is also a slave?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you do this?”
“To throw you off my trail.”
Karovski wanted to ask what made Wallingford think the FBI suspected him, but he figured it was because Colburn had been compromised so he felt no need to ask this question. “All right, Dr. Wallingford. Why did you create the virus in the first place?”
Wallingford paused for a moment before answering. “When I realized what the virus could achieve, I felt that it would be helpful to use it to bring a lot of students more in-line with the educational goals of this institution.”
“What made you go to Gary Milford in the first place?”
“When I saw the way it was working, I wanted to use the story to scare the student population into being more moral. After that happened, I got too caught up in the trappings of power.”
Colburn stood up at this point and stood directly in front of Gomez. “I have something you might want, Deirdre.”
Without thinking, Agent Gomez pushed her away. “Sit back down, Sara.”
Tom O’Grady spoke, “I thought her name was Heather McCann.”
Gomez punched her fist in the air. “Shit. I just blew your cover.”
Karovski asked his next question. “Dr. Wallingford. You said before that you wanted to throw us off your trail. What made you think we suspected you?”
“Your undercover agent here.” He gestured over to Colburn, who by this time was standing very close to Gomez, who was trying, with little success, to back away.
Colburn was raised the dildo with which she had just pleasured herself and held it up to Gomez’s face. “You want this, don’t you?”
Gomez stepped back. Karovski asked, “What are you doing?”
Colburn didn’t answer, but held the dildo underneath Gomez’s nose. Gomez started to wobble, and in short time lost her balance.
Karovski looked over at the two women in stunned disbelief. “Are you all right, Deirdre?”
Before she could answer, Agent Gomez felt compelled to kiss Junior Agent Colburn full on the lips. As the two women separated, Gomez hastily started removing her uniform. “I want that,” she said breathlessly as she reached for the dildo that she knew would grant her the satisfaction she was looking for.
Karovski radioed back to his backups. “Gomez is down. Repeat. Gomez is down. Wallingford is under my control. Am evacuating premises immediately.”
Looking up at the class, which clearly was fascinated by both pair of people at the front of the room, Agent Karovski quickly said, “All right everyone. Please leave here in an orderly fashion. My partner here has been compromised and our continued presence will only serve to endanger the rest of us.”
The class reluctantly started to move. Christina Hightower and Lori Carlton were the first to leave. Christina because of her discomfort with all matters sexual and Lori because she had just learned that she was a slave whose memories were altered to accuse Dr. Stanwyck. After a few minutes, all but Gary Milford, the three agents, and Dr. Wallingford remained in the room.
“You recording this?” Karovski asked Milford.
“You bet.”
“Good. I want you to come with me and Wallingford. We’ve got a few more things to do. Dr. Wallingford, I want you to come with me to the central square on campus.”
“Yes, master.”
The three men casually walked out of the classroom, leaving the two women, who were by this time both completely naked, writhing and moaning, panting in combined ecstasy to do as they saw fit in the room.
There were two other agents outside the door as the three men left. Karovski instructed the backups, “Let them have their fun. When they’re done, I want you to tranquilize them both so that neither one can do any more harm. With any luck, their condition will only be temporary.”
Out in the middle of the square, Karovski looked at Milford, “That thing still recording?”
“Yup.”
“All right, Dr. Wallingford. I want you to speak loudly, for everyone to hear. Are you Dr. John Smith, who invented the slave virus?”
“YES!”
Say it out loud. Say you are John Smith and are responsible for the slave virus.”
“I AM JOHN SMITH! I INVENTED THE SLAVE VIRUS.”
“Good. If I ask you to sign a guilty plea for all charges associated with the virus, will you do it?”
“YES!”
Very well, Dr. Wallingford. Let’s return to your lab.”
The three men walked back into the science building and took the elevator to the floor with the lab. Before Dr. Wallingford could open the door, Agent Karovski gave him another command. “I want you to release all of your guards before I enter. I want to see all of your guards leaving here.”
Wallingford casually strode into the lab. Karovski and Milford waited behind. In relatively short time, two students, one male and one female, were calmly walking out of the lab. Milford started to move towards the door, but Karovski restrained him. Sure enough, a third student, Ashley Steinmetz, came out a few minutes later. Like the first two, she had a vacant expression in her eyes but she walked with a purpose.
Milford was stunned when he saw her. “You mean she’s...” he whispered to the FBI agent
Karovski nodded his head solemnly.
The two men went into the lab and caught up with Wallingford, who was standing in front of a door. Karovski asked, “Is your master computer in here?”
“Yes, master.”
“Good. Am I correct for believing that you can make changes to the way the virus interacts with a host body through this computer?”
“You are correct, master.”
“Can you completely deactivate the virus and all of its physical manifestations?”
“Yes.”
“Will that have any impact on the data that’s housed within this computer?”
“No.”
“I want you to deactivate the virus now.”
Wallingford approached the computer and started to type in some commands into the screen. Karovski tried to keep close tabs on what he was typing, but the screen cleared itself too quickly.
After about two or three minutes of typing, Wallingford doubled over in pain. He placed his hands on his stomach. Milford did the same.
All around campus, students felt the same pain that Wallingford and Milford felt. Those who would remember it called it a sharp, stabbing, almost burning, pain in their lower abdomen, just above their waist. Some students couldn’t keep from vomiting.
Agents Colburn and Gomez, lying naked and exhausted in an otherwise empty classroom cringed as they felt the pain searing through their stomachs. Colburn let out a loud scream.
After about forty five seconds of intense pain, everyone who had been infected stood up straight and knew—inexplicably, they knew—that it was over.
Wallingford looked around at Milford and Karovski and asked, “Where am I?”
“You just deactivated your virus, Dr.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Agent.”
Karovski chuckled. “I wouldn’t try that if I were you, Dr. Wallingford. You should hear the tape that Milford just made. Now, I have a minor formality I need to go through. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney.—”
Wallingford knew he had been caught and the fact that he was able to deactivate the virus was probably among the most damning evidence. “I’d like to speak with my attorney now if you don’t mind.”
“Of course. Gary, is it safe to assume you’ve got enough to make a great story here?”
“I do.”
“Excellent, Dr. Wallingford, Mr. Milford and I will grant you a few minutes of privacy. You might want to advise your lawyer that not five minutes ago, you stood in the main square of this campus and admitted to being John Smith, the inventor of the slave virus. There was no fewer than fifty witnesses to your public admission, and Mr. Milford caught it on tape.”
Karovski and Milford adjourned to the previous room in Wallingford’s lab. After about three minutes, Wallingford joined the two men. “My attorney would like to speak with you, Agent.”
Karovski took the phone from Wallingford. “This is Agent Viktor Karovski. With whom am I speaking? ... All right, Mr. Dunlap, have you spoken with your client?... We are convening a grand jury right now. ... Uh huh. They have already agreed on more than 4000 charges of involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, white slavery, prostitution, racketeering, conspiracy, and improper use of a controlled substance. They are finalizing their indictment as we speak, and the full indictment should be made public within 48 hours. ... The evidence is pretty airtight. .. Uh huh. ... Yes, Richard Stanwyck is in FBI custody right now, but we are about to release him without filing any charges. ... Okay. ... Yes, thank you, Mr. Dunlap.” Karovski handed the phone back to Wallingford.
“Yes. Uh huh. ... That’s right. ... You think I should? ... That would protect my family, wouldn’t it? ... All right. Thank you, Frank. I’ll talk to you later.”
Wallingford hung up the phone and looked at the FBI agent. “I’d like to plead guilty to all charges to avoid a trial. I’ll be working with my lawyer to work out a deal for the amount of time I’ll actually serve.”
“We can certainly arrange that. If you’d like to spend tonight with your family, we’ll come by the Dean’s office tomorrow to bring you into custody.”
“Thank you.”
Karovski glanced at Gary Milford. “Would you like to hold off on publishing your story until after we bring Wallingford into custody?”
Nodding, Milford mused, “I think that would be for the best. After all, no one else got a front row seat to this.”
The agent and the reporter left the laboratory, laughing.
Chapter Eighty Seven
Gordon Wallingford considered fleeing after he admitted to all of these crimes, but he decided against it. If nothing else, he was (or at least had been) a man of integrity; it was lust for power and money that turned him into the man who probably would never see the light of day outside of a Federal prison for the rest of his life.
The following day, Wallingford arrived at the Dean’s office. Standing outside the door, he saw Dean Scarsdale, Richard Stanwyck, and FBI Agents Jim Steubens, Nancy Lafferty, Tanya Brookings, Mark Petersen, Michael Warrington, Viktor Karovski, Deirdre Gomez, Sara Colburn, and several others whom he didn’t recognize. All had serious, almost dour looks on their faces.
FBI director Louis Godfrey placed handcuffs on Wallingford’s wrists. “Are you prepared to plead guilty?”
“I am, sir.”
A man wearing a long black robe stood up. “I am Judge Robert Lincoln. I accept your guilty plea and will encourage all sides to meet with one another to determine a reasonable punishment for your deeds and present it to me for approval. In the event that no agreement can be reached in one month’s time, or if I do not approve such agreement, I shall then set a date for a sentencing hearing. Do you understand?”
Both Director Godfrey and Dr. Wallingford spoke in unison. “Yes.”
“Very well. Let us all adjourn from these chambers. I believe the student body needs to be informed that the threat, and all associated fears and insecurities, are officially over.