Woke (Chapter 6) (Patreon)

“Say – no – to – injustice!” Erin projected into her megaphone, waving her arms and bellowing at any Alphas who passed within twenty feet, though most didn’t even look in her direction. “The time for change is NOW!”

Behind her, a chorus of chants rang out from the Alphas and in-hand Betas manning the information table with fliers and stat graphs to pass out. Some three-inchers even spoke into noise amplifiers to share testimonials of their downtrodden experiences. All of their cries were met with similar emphasis to Erin’s, as well as the corresponding lack of direct response from the passerby, but they gave it their all anyway:

“Listen to their voices!”

“End the suffering!”

“All sizes matter!”

Still none looked their way, and this effective ambivalence to the words of the Alpha and Beta movement members would have disheartened the group under different circumstances. The reason no one was looking or listening to them specifically, however, was because it was literally impossible to not come within a mile radius of the quad where their info session was taking place, and not devote every ounce of one’s attention to the sole Omega member of the group towering above the group, the school, and the county.

“You have the power to change the status quo! Put others before yourself!” Kayla declared to the ground far below in her meekest voice. She tried to frown and half-heartedly pump her fist, as she was still finding her confidence in this important cause; after having a day to painfully consume the shocking articles and video footage Erin provided her to outline EquiSize’s mission, a new fire burned in the giantess’s heart. Despite using a muted indoor voice, though, because this was Kayla and not one of her mite-sized compatriots, naturally her voice still rumbled across the entire campus and beyond with the might of a chanting ten-thousand-strong army.

One way or another, the group’s message was reaching its audience, plus every classroom and dorm in earshot of this seismic call to action. So they were satisfied.

Kayla stood as close to “among” her new friends as was possible, given that there were only two designated stepping stones located on this part of campus, which meant the giantess’s cautious feet, unmoving and fenced in to the concrete borders, took up roughly half of this lawn alone, while the EquiSize station was located somewhere between the shade of her insteps. Still, because of the student collective’s shared spirits, she felt united with them, and they mostly shared this sentiment, even though it took some getting used to standing below her building-height ankles, when even perched in the stadium nosebleeds while Kayla sat cross-legged yesterday, they’d been thoroughly sobered by her size advantage.

Indeed, the Betas in attendance especially had to navigate a serious mental block at first which made them feel more as though they were eclipsed in the shadow of a living mountain range, not a single peak but many, instead of a semi-timid college freshman who just wanted to do her best to help others. To the surprise and secret delight of the three-inch students, though, especially James who’d first ventured into Kayla’s hand, they noticed that for once, they weren’t isolated in their nervous awe of a dramatically taller being. Because today, everyone(except those who’d met already met her) experienced that feeling around Kayla. From the moment she took her position on the quad for the pop-up event, every head was turned her way; the flow of foot traffic between academic buildings, usually ever-moving, froze entirely; athletes on the fields let the ball go still, even while the coach whistled; construction crews working skyscraper bones in the neighboring downtown almost dropped their tools off twentieth-story ledges. Classes with window views to the lawn came grinding to a halt as students reticently gathered together with their noses pressed to the panes, gawking in open-mouthed eye-stinging disbelief, just attempting to comprehend the scale of the girl outside by staring at her strong, smooth lower legs and every visible skin cell patterned across them. When their gazes traveled up and up, then, the sobering effect only compounded.

“We cannot ignore the cries for help any longer. It’s a long road to equality, but it… it starts with us!” Kayla continued booming. She stumbled briefly, trying to recall the talking points Erin had given her, but also remembered she was encouraged to improvise if she felt it in her heart. And, despite her usual penchant for stage fright, she did today. “…it starts with me. I didn’t even know about these atrocities until yesterday, the things that happen to Betas across the world, even on this campus, with hardly anyone speaking up. Bigotry, prejudice, bullying, disappearances, and… violence. It has to stop. So it starts with you now, too.”

Yes, every single other human on campus was at least aware that Kayla was present within the first hour of her arrival the day before, most because she’d stepped over them in one of her mile-spanning strides, and the rest because they felt the occasional shudder of the earth’s crust: a constant land-locked equivalent of sea legs they’d have to develop over the course of the year with an Omega tip-toing around their matchbox-sized homes. However, this was the first time that the soft-spoken giant had made even the slightest attempt to make herself heard by more than a handful of classmates, and to be truly seen by everyone who happened look anywhere but straight down. And the longer she spoke, standing in solidarity with like-minded others and with her focus reluctantly yet necessarily paid to thoughts of the invisible Beta holocaust happening around the globe, Kayla grew into her own skin. Her volume rose, her spine arched, and her posture squared in alignment with the righteousness of her message.

If there were still a few stragglers left on campus not yet paying attention to Kayla’s words and presence, this surge of bravado on her part collected them now, too. Everyone, indoors and out, turned now as though guided by hive mind in the direction of the astronomic do-gooder whose merest whisper could cut through stone barriers louder than any megaphone or sonic cannon. They dropped what they were doing, be it a phone, an exam, or a significant other to listen and watch, most with reserved respect, and many with mounting fear. No matter what Kayla had asked of them now, the very fact that there was a living landscape of a mile-plus-tall woman currently expressing her displeasure with the world below her feet, a shortcoming on the part of her comparatively insect-sized fellow citizens, filled them each with varying degrees of foreboding. Even dread, depending on who was listening and how they felt about Betas.

“If you have ever thought less of another person before, no matter what class, disregarded or ignored or wrote them off, there’s still a chance to make amends. Build bridges, don’t burn them down! Join us in our cause to unite everyone! Betas, if you’re listening, we are here to support you. But… it must be said now, from all of us gathered here, that we are drawing a line. It is not acceptable to actively participate in a culture that accepts the suffering of its people as a way of life,” Kayla stated. Her fists involuntarily balled.