John:
Unconsciousness begrudgingly loosed its grasp on him. Gradually, he became aware of flickering points of light in the gloom. Indoors, then. The heavy earthy scent of the air, and the clinging dampness of the hard bed he was on suggested a dungeon or cave. A form shambled toward him, moving stiffly. His arms were heavy, possibly from the blow to the head, and bound besides. "Where am I?" he demanded, as much to gain initiative as to pierce the uncomfortable silence. "THe Pit of Despair..."
Me:
"It was not easy, I admit, to render you unconscious. You are more resilient than most."
He woke, bewiildered.
"Don't move!"
The voice stopped him from flexing his arms and legs for just a moment. As his vision cleared, he saw that he was hanging, head down, suspended by his left leg. His arms and right leg hung loosely, enmeshed in fine transparent threads, like spider's silk. His chest, he saw, was also criss-crossed by a thousand delicate, translucent fibers.
"Who da hell are you? What da hell is going on?"
"Patience, my fine pebbled friend. Listen to me for just a moment, and then I'll leave you to your peace. I'll address these things in order of importance, and I shall use little words so you do not misunderstand me. If you twitch one of those over-large muscles of yours, you will break the fiber-optic strands I've so painstakingly wrapped you in, and dozens will die. So, in your vernacular: move bad. Fire! Arrgh!
"The fiber optics, you see, control a governor for a laser. If their circuit is interrupted, the laser goes to full power, and will immediately burn through your dear friend Sue. But that's not all, Bob! No, indeed. For that same laser will ignite a room filled with natural gasses, and kill a round dozen kidnapped children. And quite possibly Johnny as well. And this is the house the Jack built!
"Don't worry, though. Under your head are some monofilament carbon nanotube wires, spun down to just a hair over three molecules wide. The rope you're hanging from, well, it's made from natural fibers--good for the environment, I've been told--but they tend to stretch when something stupid and heavy hangs from them. I don't know if you'll miss your brain, when it gets sliced right out of your skull, but I suppose you'll find out in, oh, an hour or so."
The voice chuckled. "The thing of it is--ha! The Thing of it!--be you ever so fast and ever so strong, you can't save Sue and Johnny. But the good Doctor, he could use your help. So are you willing to kill them both to save him, or are you noble enough to wait for the hot knives?"