Slowing the process

The group of Zoes got to the lab and got to work immediately on finding a way to stop the multiplication process. On the way there, the number of Zoes had increased to 10 including Zoemeron, who desperately wanted to find a way to reverse what had happened to her; still, he knew that stopping Zoe's self-replication was far more important, and so she focused on that instead. The sooner they found a solution to that, the sooner she would be able to find a way to revert back to Cameron... if that was even possible.

As it turned out, having multiple Zoes in the lab turned out to be a benefit; they exchanged ideas and discoveries, speeding up the process significantly. It wasn't something they could have done if it had only been two people working in the lab. Finally, after twelve straight hours of working (and the appearance of only five more Zoes, which was far better than expected), they came up with a temporary solution; with the other Zoes' help, Zoemeron had modified the replication machine to suppress Zoe's replication, and when Zoe #8 sneezed without incident, the entire group celebrated. However, there was a catch; the replicator had to scan every Zoe once every twenty four hours, or the effect would wear off.

Still, this bought the Zoes some time, and Zoemeron could now focus on his own situation, even if only partially, while the group researched a permanent solution. The Zoes went home, and exhausted, they undressed and collapsed, with Zoemeron, Zoe Prime and two other Zoes sharing the bed in the master bedroom, four Zoes sharing the guest bedroom bed, six Zoes sleeping in the living room on the foldout couch, and the remaining two Zoes sleeping on a spare mattress.

Zoe Prime awoke the next day, sandwiched between Zoemeron and Zoe #6. They were cuddled close together, with Zoemeron spooning Zoe Prime, and Zoe Prime doing the same to Zoe #6. Zoe Prime smiled; this felt good. Actually, it felt great. She felt the typical signs of arousal, and that's when she realized, in shock, that she was attracted to herself. She was turned on by herself!

Zoe had no idea how to process this information. It all seemed too weird; none of this seemed real. She felt a little less awkward about the situation when she realized that the other duplicates likely felt the same way; after all, they all had the exact same mind. But what about Zoemeron? What would she think if she knew about Zoe's sudden overwhelming attraction to her own duplicated form?

She didn't have much time to think about it, as the group began stirring. There was more work to do at the lab, and not just to come up with a more permanent solution to the replication process. Would they be able to reverse Zoemeron's transformation? They didn't know for sure, but they did know that if there was any chance of it, time was of the essence...