Wow! Thanks for the support guys! I never thought this would go anywhere. Well, without further ado, chapter 2! (heh, that rhymed...)
***
Something had gone terribly, horribly wrong. Dr. Cockroach wandered around his wide, white prison, trying to understand what exactly was going on. As he paced, looking for a door, a window, a corner seam, anything, a terrified white haired woman watched him warily.
Finally giving up on his search, the Doctor sighed and lowered himself to the floor opposite Susan, pulling his legs into something resembling the lotus position. His invention had failed again that was plain to see. In the meantime, he was stranded in a white wasteland with a doppelganger of Susan who quailed and quaked at his very presence, a dramatic difference from the strong, brave Susan he knew.
"Alright, my dear, what can you tell me about our current situation?" She opened her mouth, still eyeing him carefully.
"I don't know about you, sir, but I am simply experiencing a particularly nasty nightmare." She pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.
Dr. Cockroach blanched- a particular coloring he was unable to achieve in his normal, insect state. Nightmare, the DreamCatcher, Susan's susceptibility due to her experimentation, it all made perfect sense. Somehow, the DreamCatcher's malfunction had launched him (mentally? Physically? He wasn't quite sure) into the subconscious of Susan. Apparently, his experimentation had done more than give her a pained ankle- it had returned her dream-state to that of pre-Ginormica Susan.
"Susan, dear, I'm so sorry," he said, reaching forward to grasp one of her hands.
"For what?" she replied, drawing her hand out of his reach. "The only thing wrong here is the fact that this particular dream is trying to convince me that this strange man who has suddenly appeared is actually my dear insect friend. You sir," she proclaimed, eyes whisking across the Doctor's sitting form, "are no insect."
Dr. Cockroach immediately began thinking. If Susan shut down, switched to the next stage of her sleep cycle, he might be trapped within her subconscious. Not that that would necessarily be a bad thing said a sneaky little voice in the back of his mind, which he promptly ignored. Instantly, he thought up a convincing argument.
"Insect? Oh dear- Cockroach!" he chortled lightheartedly, patting her gently on the knee. This time she did not draw away. "You thought I said Cockroach, didn't you? No no, it's Cochran. Dr. Nigel Cochran at your service." He winced slightly, even though it had been years since anyone had used his real name. It did bring back some painful memories.
"Dr. Cochran?" She asked, suspicion lacing her voice. "Why are you here?"
"Ahm, well-" Dr. Cockroach fumbled for a workable answer. As Susan began to doubt this strange addition to her dream, the edges of the white void began to fizzle. "I am here as your conscience!" Blast. She'll never buy that. You saw too many cartoons. Besides, the only bug that can moonlight as a conscience is a cricket! Just then, Susan broke into a wide smile.
"Oh, my conscience! That's fantastic!" She beamed at her companion.
Dr. Cockroach- er, Cochran, stared at her, dumbfounded. He was beginning to think that he did not care much for this version of Susan. She was weak, scared, and not particularly bright. He had to find a way to help her.
"So, Susan," he said, pulling out hi ever present notepad. "Tell me a little bit about yourself. " He sat with pen poised above paper as his subject again eyed him uneasily.
"If you are my conscience, Doctor, shouldn't you know all this?" The doctor smiled. Dream states were amazing things- a person could be made to believe almost anything.
"Of course, dear. But some of it I would like to hear from you. And of course, I am relatively new to this job." He smiled slightly at her, and was gifted with a dazzling smile of her own in return.
***
There was no way to measure the passage of time here. After what felt like hours, Susan asked to end the interview session. Doctor Cochran folded his notepad and returned it to the inside pocket of his coat. As the time had passed, the woman had become increasingly more comfortable with her new friend.
"So, am I sane, Doc?" she asked, nudging the Doctor playfully. He smiled slightly.
"Susan, am your conscience, not your therapist. I'll be willing to help you in any way I can, but I can't diagnose you with anything." she sobered slightly.
"Oh. Ok. Well, I guess I better turn in-" she looked off in the distance and a obnoxiously pink and frilly bed popped into existence. The doctor took the hint and stood, helping her to her feet as well. The sooner he could get Susan back to normal, she faster he could avoid her populating her dream state with that type of thing.
"Of course. Now Susan, I'm only going to be here while you are awake," he said, assuming that this dream Susan would sleep while the real Susan was awake. "When you wake up, just call for me and I'll come back, alright?" the woman nodded. "Smashing. Now, how to I get out of here?" he asked, nervous that she wouldn't know.
"Oh, that." she said, waving a hand dismissively and emitting a strange pshaw noise. "You just go out the back door." As she said that, a white door appeared. "You promise you will come back?" she caught his arm as he started to reach for the door handle. Touched by her gesture, he took her hand and gently kissed it. "I promise."
Susan smiled, and crawled into her bed. The doctor watched as she drifted off to sleep and the white void began to grow dark. At the last possible minute, he opened the door. Through it's frame he could see his own form, slumped over the control panel of the DreamCatcher in his dreary cell.
"Until tomorrow, my darling." he whispered, then darted through the door.
***
Dr. Cockroach awoke, a catch in his back from his awkward sleeping position, but nothing more serious in the way of damage. he began to take stock of his surroundings when a female voice jolted him from his reverie-
"Dr. Cockroach!"