“Careful, keep it steady. Careful, nice and slow,” Marie instructed. She and Erin were trying to be as gentle as possible, not wanting to screw anything up in front of Peter. ‘That would be just my luck’, Marie thought to herself. ‘Finally get a huge important meeting and blow it because of clumsiness’.
“I’m good over here, are you?” Erin asked, slightly out of breath. The two women had managed to get a large wheeled cart into Peter’s estate and were now wheeling it down the hallway towards his lavish office room. Being a gentleman, Peter had offered to both help them himself or have any one of the people on his staff assist them.
Marie was stubborn though. This was her baby and she wanted to make it look like she could handle everything herself. Besides, she wouldn’t trust someone she didn’t know with such a delicate piece of cargo.
Proud of what she and Erin built, Marie felt that she had really outdone herself this time. Using her 3-D printer, she had created a beautiful model of a city to give to Peter, an expansive one that stretched out the length of a cheap, folding table. She knew that Peter was fully committed to backing her, and felt this would be a wonderful thing to give him, along with something else.
“Ladies! So glad to see you!” Peter congratulated, sounding genuinely happy to see the two young women. “Is that what I think it is?”
“It sure is, sir!” Erin said excitedly. “One model city, just for you!”
“Fantastic,” Peter said with a grin as the women rolled the cart to a stop. “And don’t call me sir, Peter is just fine.”
Peter leaned in, observing all the detail that Marie had put into this. It was a miniature replica with inspirations of Chicago, Tokyo and New York City. “This is beautiful,” he whispered. “And it’s all printed?”
“Yep, we’ll except for the cars,” Marie said, blushing slightly. Peter gave her a confused look and she shrugged and smiled. “Junk yard and size altering technology,” she responded.
“They won’t suddenly grow back when a timer runs out?”
“Nope, that’s only organic matter. These would need to be grown back manually.”
“Good to know,” Peter mumbled. He carefully began to inspect the model city with a magnifying glass that he kept on hand. He was thrilled at the possibility of shrinking down to explore this ministry world he had been provided, as well as turning other people loose in it.
“And Mr. Watkins, we’ve got something else for you,” Marie said, reaching into her bag, pulling out what looked like a small desk lamp. “We busted our asses on this, but it didn’t take nearly as long since we were able to just replicate the technology.”
“It’s your very own size-altering device!” Erin blurted out, momentarily ruining the moment of drama Marie had been trying to build.
The investor's eyes lit up and his shaking hands reached out to grasp the piece of technology. He vaguely remembered what Marie had shown him before, and he carefully placed it on his desk near the model city.
“Well ladies, I think this is going to be both a scientific breakthrough and a fantastic money-making opportunity we’re about to take on,” he said, standing up and straightening his shirt. “Let’s get these contracts signed and grab a few glasses of champagne to celebrate!”
The doors to the conference room opened, and a woman walked in. “Would you like me to get the champagne and flutes, Mr. Watkins?”
Erin and Marie instantly recognized the woman as Alena, the Hispanic assistant who had nearly crushed Erin and Peter. Erin gave an exaggerated eye roll seeing this woman. She hasn’t forgotten nearly getting crushed by this dunce.
“Actually Ms. Perez, I had another favor to ask. You remember my friends Marie and Erin, right?” Peter asked, with a slight hint of condescension in his voice. “You nearly smashed me and Erin a few weeks ago.”
The assistant looked down, clearly embarrassed. “Yes sir, I do.”
“Good,” Peter replied. “Cause we’re gonna be doing some tests with a piece of shrinking equipment that Marie so generously donated. Why don’t you take a closer look at this model city they constructed and start inspecting it?”
Alena’s blood ran cold. “Are you….wait are you about to shrink me?” she asked nervously.
Marie and Erin were also silent as they watched the exchange.
“Absolutely not, I trust you to do it yourself,” Peter said, motioning for Alena to come closer to the device. “Marie will show you how to use this. Once you’re hit you have thirty seconds before you shrink.” There was a momentary pause as he stared at his assistant. “Think you can manage this?”
Alena gulped, heart racing in her chest. “Yes sir, Mr. Watkins,” she said. She was relieved that he wouldn’t be shrinking her, and it almost seemed like he was giving her a chance to redeem herself in his eyes.
—
While Peter led Erin and Marie down the hallway towards the kitchen, Alena continued to inspect the device. She felt an incredible rush of power as well as a feeling of intimidation coming from it. For a split second, she considered how amazing it would be to shrink Peter and step on him like a bug. Of course that would mean she’d stop getting paid.
Hearing the door to the room open caused Alena to jump. “What’s going on in here?” a feminine voice called out. It was a voice that irritates even Alena. She turned and faked a smile, as Mia Watkins walked into the room.
Mia Watkins was the twenty-three year old daughter of Peter Watkins and his ex-wife, Jenny. A short, petite brunette, being half-Caucasian and half-Chinese, Mia strode into the room confidently,Ike the spoiled princess she was.
Alena couldn’t stand her. This young woman had made her life miserable for years, expecting perfection from her father’s assistants in every little aspect of life, never accepting mistakes. Everything from cooking her food to folding her laundry….
“What the hell is this? Some kind of toy?” Mia said, leaning forward.
“It’s a model city for….a project your dad is working on,” Alena said, trying not to reveal too much to Mia. She shuttered thinking what this spoiled brat would do if she found out people could actually shrink.
Mia shook her head, brushing her dark hair back out of her face and adjusting her sleek, narrow-rimmed glasses. “What’s this? A model city for ants?” she laughed, amusing herself by paraphrasing a favorite movie of hers.
“Yes, very funny,” Alena said with a sigh as Mia shot her an annoying fake and mocking smile.
“Seriously though, what’s my dad care about this,” she said, reaching forward and accidentally crushing a small section of it underneath her hand.
“Hey careful!” Alena shouted, realizing that if too much damage happened to the model city it could be her responsibility.
“Or what? I’ll get in trouble? Please, we both know my dad loves me waaaaaaayyyyyy too much for that,” Mia teased.
Looking at the shrink ray, Alena reached her breaking point. As Mia leaned forward to examine more of the model city, Alena grabbed the ray and fired. The blue beam struck Mia directly in the back and she laid no attention to it. Alena’s hands started to tremble as she looked at the timer counting down from thirty. ‘I just fucked ho, huge’, the woman thought to herself.
Examining the control settings on the device, Alena deduced that the ray was only set for forty-five minutes. Now she just had to make sure no one found out about this until then.
“What’s wrong with you?” Mia smirked, seeing how panicked Alena looked. “You look like you’ve…..” was as far as she got. The young woman rapidly diminished down right before Alena’s eyes, all the way down to the floor. When she stopped shrinking, Mia stood only a mere two millimeters tall.
“Holy shit,” Alena whispered, now more fearful for her job than ever. She located the absolutely tiny body of Mia down on the floor and took a step forward, shaking the ground as she did so.
Mia was totally thrown off by her new surroundings. Her head was spinning and her stomach was in her throat. After enough time passed that she was finally able to start processing stuff, she began to scream hysterically, realizing she was the size of a tiny insect.
The earth shook before Mia, with the tiny woman falling on her ass. She stared wide eyed, as the enormous sandal clad foot of Alena slammed into the ground in front of her. “FOUND YOU!” a booming voice echoed out and two enormous fingers descended down, plucking up Mia like she was nothing and lifting her into the sky.
Being held tightly between the giant, fleshy pillars that were Alena’s fingers, Mia nearly wet herself as she was brought past Alena’s lips and in front of her massive brown eyes.
To Mia’s relief, Alena didn’t pop her into her mouth or squeeze her fingers together as she so easily could. Instead, she was lowered into this tiny city, which she was now right at home in.
“THIS IS KIND OF WHAT YOUR DAD WAS WORKING ON,” Alena said, not noticing the tone of her voice and that Mia was covering her ears. “I’M ACTUALLY SUPPOSED TO SHRINK DOWN AND START INSPECTING IT,” she said, before a smile crossed her lips.
It was a look on her face that made Mia extremely uncomfortable. She started to back up, not knowing what this titaness was thinking.
“ACTUALLY, THIS IS PERFECT. YOU CAN DO IT WITH ME,” she said with a grin. “IT MIGHT BE THE FIRST DAY IN YOUR LIFE YOU’VE DONE SOME WORK.”
Grabbing the magnifying glass, Alena broke out into laughter seeing Mia throwing a fit. The spoiled young woman appeared to be screaming at her while her hands were on her hips. “SORRY, CAN’T HEAR YOU, BUT I'LL TAKE THAT AS A YES!” Alena mocked, prompting Mia to start screaming some more.
“I’ve never liked her attitude,” Alena said aloud to herself with a sigh. Not even thinking about it, she leaned her head forward directly over Mia’s tiny form. Alena pursed her lips together, until a glob of saliva formed between them. She let it fall, splattering into part of the city and absolutely covering Mia’s miniature body.
“BULLSEYE!” she laughed, grabbing the magnifying glass to get a closer look at her handiwork. The tiny woman appeared to be crying and shivering as the saliva dropped off her body, while thin strands still clung to her face and hair.
“NOW, IF YOU DONT MIND I’VE GOT A JOB TO DO,” Alena said, turning the ray on herself. After firing, she positioned her toned ass over a portion of the city, simply saying “MOVE!” and watching Mia scurry away. She sat on the very edge to cause as little damage as possible, and proceeded to shrink down, joining Mia.
It took Alena longer to adjust to the shrinking process, though she wasn’t as shocked as Mia was. The assistant began to walk the streets of the model city, to where she last saw her boss's daughter. Her nose wrinkled at an unpleasant odor, and she rounded a corner to find where she had just spat.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Mia screamed, angrily walking up to Alena.
The assistant grinned. She was in great shape and worked out regularly. Mia was petite even at her “normal size”. Putting her hands on her hips she gave a nonchalant shrug. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You stupid bitch! You shrunk me and spat on me!” Mia hissed, shoving Alena who only took one step back.
Alena’s face turned red and her heart started to race. She stepped forward and shoved Mia back, the smaller girl falling to her ass. “While we’re small I’m in charge,” Alena said calmly but firmly, watching the shocked look on Mia’s face. “Got it?”
Mia went silent, having no idea how to respond to this. This was all too much for her, the shrinking, this attitude which she had never encountered in her life. The miniscule woman just sat there, tearing up, having no idea what to do next.
Alena, meanwhile, had a job to do. She had purposely withheld the info that Mia would grow back naturally, she didn’t need to boost that girl’s ego or confidence any more than it already was. She did begin walking the city streets, though she had to admit, she didn’t know what kind of hazards Peter wanted her to look out for. Everything seemed to be fine.
Even though they were now on opposite ends of the model city, both Mia and Alena were startled to hear the door to the room opening.
The monolithic shape of a normal sized person slowly came into clear view, as Peter approached the model city. “Alrighty, my little helper, where’d you go,” he mused, grabbing the magnifying glass.
Sitting directly next to the model city, Peter started to scan the city for his tiny assistant. It didn’t take long before he saw Alena jogging towards him waving up at the enormous man as he stared down through the magnifying glass.
“AH, FOUND YOU!” he said, leaning forward as she stopped in the model city. Pushing his lips together into an “O” shape, he blew a current of warm air towards Alena, knocking her onto her butt. “GOOD LORD YOU’RE TINY,” he remarked, shaking his head.
Alena paused, in awe at just how big her boss currently looked. She was starting to think that this might be a bit of a dangerous situation, with memories of her nearly crushing Peter flooding back to her.
“YOU SURE ARE LUCKY I'M NOT A VENGEFUL PERSON,” Peter said with a laugh, though his tone of voice still made her uneasy. He then noticed a tiny movement near his other hand. “OH, WHAT'S THIS? DID YOU HAVE A FRIEND SHRINK WITH YOU?” he mocked, reaching down and plucking up his miniscule daughter.
“Dad, stop! Put me down and help me!” Mia screamed from between her father’s giant fingers.
Peter couldn’t have been bothered to take a look through the magnifying glass at the moment. He didn’t really care who Alena’s friend was, he just wanted to taunt her a bit more. “WELL I COULD NEVER GET RID OF YOU ALENA, BUT I WONDER HOW YOUR FRIEND TASTES,” he teased, raising Mia’s tiny, terrified body up towards his mouth.
In an exaggerated motion, he held two fingers above his now open mouth, his warm breath washing over Mia’s petrified frame. The tiny woman shrieks hysterically, staring into the abyss that was her own dad’s mouth.
Alena just stood there, almost indifferent to the actions unfolding before her. “Do it,” she whispered, her heart starting to race. She felt it would be fitting, it would serve Mia right for this to happen to her. She wanted this to happen.
Peter’s mind started to race with the possibilities. Was he really about to eat Alena’s friend? The truth was he didn’t even know, and he wouldn’t have the chance to find out. Before he could act he heard footsteps approaching down the hall as Marie and Erin re-entered the room.
“Alright, everything is signed and looking good,” Marie grinned, handing the stack of paper’s back to Peter.
“Excellent,” he smirked, with a hint of Mr. Burnes in his voice. “Let’s get started on this soon, I’ll be out of town next week,” he said, leading them out of the room, but not before shooting a glance back at the model city.
Inside the confines of the city, Mia had fainted after her father placed her back down, though before she did, she made a mental note to get payback on Alena, her father, and whoever else was involved in this….