Woke (Chapter 5) (Patreon)

However, Kayla still thought of James, and used the zoom function to get as close as possible to see him in Erin’s hand. Ignoring the topographical detail of her own skin-cell-pocked hand below, she instead studied the Alpha’s own petite appendage and the microscopic yet still valid and deserving life crouched within. Expecting to see some mild withheld horror in his little face, unable to take it all in without falling into shock, though, the Omega was aghast to discover a goofy little grin on James’ face. He looked glad, amazed even, at the sights and textures all around him, his eyes occasionally flashing upward at the colossal face of their host before averting his gaze ground-ward again. Whatever he was feeling was a chaotic mix of appreciation and bewilderment, but certainly not the terror that Kayla expected to find. It warmed her heart anew.

Those tiny footsteps tickled the Omega’s senses at every turn, setting individual synapses alight with such strange clarity she felt she could even notice the specific motion of Erin’s heels and toes as she took controlled strides along the tender terrain, though of course this was likely just something Kayla had convinced herself of. Either way, the girl felt bizarrely synchronized with the subjects currently traveling across her hand like an overly long city block, indeed connected in a way she hadn’t expected. But maybe that was the point. She admired their resolve, really, and willingness to go to unknown and scary places. Even if Kayla had only the best intentions for Erin and James, and was deeply focused on keeping them safe in her hand, she couldn’t fault them either for feeling at least some apprehension at stepping onto an organic platform larger than most of the university’s academic buildings, cushy yet teeming with more than enough strength to claw chunks of the stadium out from under them. That same attitude must’ve been what allowed them to stand up for what they believed in, Kayla decided, despite looking so very small and helpless to her from this perspective.

Erin arrived at the center of Kayla’s palm at last. The Alphas waiting on the balcony all cheered and clapped, partially in joking spirit but at least some with appreciation for the feat. Kayla would’ve liked to have clapped too, and with total conviction, but reminded herself that now was decidedly not the best time to slap her palms together over and over.

“See? Nothing to it,” Erin said. “Feeling steady, Kayla?”

“Absolutely! You don’t have to worry about a thing,” the Omega insisted quickly.

“Oh, I wasn’t. But I know you were,” Erin said with a wink. She looked into her hand. “Everything good with you too?”

Kayla perked up now, awaiting the next amplified sound from her device in the opposite hand, even though part of her was also still listening intently on the impossible chance that she could hear the Beta’s voice sans technology. She zoomed back in on James, trying not to take too much blame for the obvious jitters he was experiencing, shifting his dust-mite weight from leg to leg, and instead take cheer in the fact that he was smiling, despite being surrounded by a rosy wasteland of someone’s actual hand.

“Y-Yes! Yes, I’m… good. S-Sorry, I’ve just… I don’t remember the last time I was in this… spot. I think I have before, but… it was a long time ago,” James explained. He wrung his shaking hands, something that make Kayla want to coo with remorse, but he got it under control. “It’s not so bad at all. Actually, I… I mean, it feels… safe here. Safer than most of the other places I can go on campus, really.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Kayla said, beaming. It occurred to her how, for a Beta, any minor trip across the college real estate would require constant vigilance to make sure one wasn’t blown away by a gust of wind, smashed under a lunch tray or stack of books, or simply snatched intentionally off the map and whisked away to God-knew what horrid fate. The Omega certainly couldn’t quite put herself in his shoes, but even imagining it left a sour taste. It was both saddening and gratifying to know that the humongous hand of a stranger, which obviously so overwhelmed him, still managed to offer significant comfort. “And, um, it’s… nice to meet you from a little closer now. Sort of… shaking hands, right?”

Erin smirked, chortling a little, and even James reacted with some reluctant jubilation.

“I guess it is, yeah,” he agreed. The Beta bowed his head. “Nice to make your acquaintance. We’re all really excited to have you join us… Kayla, right?”

“That’s me.”

“I think it’s time you met everyone else, too.” Erin said. “You know… since we’re already here, and all. How about it, Big Shot?”

The crowd of Alphas, and zoom-magnified Betas in their hands, looked largely accepting of the idea, some even eager, but all affixed their bug-eyed stares to the Omega’s face above, awaiting permission before stepping aboard en masse.

Kayla’s stomach spun, flush with instant anxieties at exponentially increasing the responsibility she already felt so heavily to protect the tiny lives temporarily in her care, but Kayla quickly swallowed these nagging doubts. Ordinarily she might’ve hemmed and hawed over such a thing, her shyness eventually causing the giantess to curl into herself and politely refuse, but somehow today was turning out all kinds of different than she expected. And the Omega decided that if they were all courageous enough to literally put their lives in her hand, the least she could do was buck up and push through the nerves in order to fast-track these hopeful-friendships and start doing some real good for the suffering Betas of the world ASAP.

“Yes,” she conceded. “C’mon, everybody. Don’t be shy. I won’t move a muscle.”

Convinced, the group slowly made their way over the railing and hopped onto Kayla’s fingers, meeting the same padded landing as their leader, and then trailed along all four of her longest digits down the plank of her outstretched hand, toward the pillow-soft valley of the Omega’s palm beyond. As predicted, the earlier sensations of needlepoint-limbs strolling along her every flesh groove and fingerprint oval were repeated in multitudes, giving Kayla a pleasant little neural jolt. Her device scanned over each and every individual traveling, and the Omega did her best to try and at least commit faces to memory, since it would take her a few meetings to learn names. By the time the entire club had convened in her palm, still with plenty of space for more, she truly felt like one of them.

“So,” Erin said, addressing everyone. “Now that we’re all present and accounted for, and most important of all ice-broken, let’s get down to business. As most of you know, we’re holding a surprise informational pop-up event on the central quad tomorrow at noon. We’ll hand out fliers, talk to anyone who will listen about our cause, hear testimonials from survivors of Beta injustice, and above all, drum up support for our protest at the fall school board conference this Friday. That’s where we’ll make the biggest splash, and give the voices of the unheard a chance to be heard loud and clear by the people in charge. Kayla… you in?”

All eyes, small and super-small, turned to the tallest and newest member again.

“I am,” the Omega answered with a smile, more self-assured than ever, with her new friends figuratively by her side, and more literally in the palm of her hand. “Big time.”