Meredith thought for a moment, then suddenly inspiration hit and her face lit up. There was one toy of hers she had never had the opportunity to test on a real and willing human, and now she had two of them.
"Step this way please" the older woman smiled eagerly as she motioned the pair of clumsy visitors towards a small, perfectly white door at the back of the store.
"Please, enter" she nodded "then your debt will be repaid"
"That's all we have to do?" James answered with surprise.
Meredith nodded again "it is"
"You're very keen to get us in there" Nicola folded her arms suspiciously "What is it? Some kind of sex dungeon?"
"Of course not" the store owner replied, managing to remain calm and cordial "Although it could become one I suppose. It is a door to a world of endless possibilities"
"You're a loony" Nicola scoffed "Come on James, lets get this over with"
As the pair entered the room they were immediately shocked to discover that there was nothing there. At all. Just an empty, featureless white room and each other.
"What the actual fuck?" Nicola panicked as she turned around to find the exit door had dissapeared "Let us out of here!"
"I'm afraid I can't" Meredith's voice reverbarated from up on high "You can never go back, only remain where you are or move forwards, in as many directions as others will take you. You are beyond my control now"
"What do you mean?" A very confused James asked.
"Simply that everything that happens to you will be decided by the will of other people, and they may have numerous very different ideas for what to do with you than I would. From now on there can be any number of different James and Nicola's having any number of different experiences in any number of different forms. The only boundaries are the limits of human imagination. Isn't it exiting?"
"Just let us out!" Nicola searched poimtlessly for a wall to pound on.
"I already told you, I can't" Meredith chuckled softly "and this is the last you will hear from me. Good luck"
As her voice fell silent the astonished pair looked at each other in shock.
"James? What the fuck?!" Nicola looked decidedly less assured of herself than usual.
"Just stay calm. It's probably some kind of prank" James didn't sound very convinced by his own words.
All James and Nicola could do for now was wait and see what happened next.