Spotted (Patreon)

“Our budget won’t be increased next year, meaning we’ll have to be more strategic on where and when we deploy ground forces…”

The sigh you heard coming from above reminded you of your old life. Remembering was a painful experience. You’d trade anything for just one more day of the most mundane normalcy - going to the office, being annoyed at your colleagues’ superficial chatter, unsatisfying lunch breaks, even budget meetings. All of it sounded heavenly compared to being so small, walking on a cushion of dust left there by cleaning personnel not paid enough to bother with places only shrinkies could explore.

You tried your best to hug the massive wooden table’s foot, ignoring the normally-imperceptible grime, discarded hair and rock-hard crumbs that had piled up on your path. You couldn’t let cleanliness matter right now. Instead, your attention turned towards the sneaker-clad foot ever so slightly tapping in rhythm against the polished floor in the distance. The woman it belonged to was bored - a terrifying prospect. Boredom led to fidgeting, which led to accidental shrinky deaths. You hadn’t spent days treading through thick layers of dust, hiding from titans, only to be reduced to a pulp under a twitchy foot.

Looking back, you regretted focusing so much on her damn foot. Keeping an eye on the person it belonged to would have been a better use of your attention. Perhaps the light tapping of the rubber sole against the ground had hypnotized you. Perhaps you were just another dumb shrinky.

A barely audible snap dragged you out of your trance. Looking up to find its source, you met her gaze. Almond eyes locked on your tiny form, freezing you in place. Your mind raced. Fear took over. For just a moment, you ran, but before you knew it, the titaness’ left foot had slid forward to meet the table, cutting off your escape. She lifted a finger - a chilling warning. Her eyes slowly wandered off your tiny form. She didn’t need to be pressed in her movements. Fear, stress and permanent anxiousness were reserved for beings like you. She knew you wouldn’t move a muscle.

“Sorry, could you go back to the previous slide please? You went a bit quick and I’d like to know more about what this new scope means for our South American operations.” the titaness asked, keeping the presenter busy. Her gaze fell back on you. She smiled. Obedience came naturally to shrinkies.

You watched as she discreetly removed her left shoe using nothing but the tip of her right foot. At your puny height, the suction sound her bare skin made as it left the shoe’s humid confines was overwhelming. In reality, it was too weak to even reach your tormentor’s ears - let alone her colleague’s. She repeated the process with her other shoe, before calmly picking them up and storing them by her side.

You could feel your heart threatening to burst in your chest. Her index finger rose again, though this time not in warning, but to guide your eyes. She crossed her legs, right over the left.

That’s when you saw it - her. The wormlike form neatly tucked under your captor’s flexed toes. Another shrinky, just like you. You wanted to puke, but felt too scared to even do that. You watched as the giant’s toes relaxed, letting the tiny thing freefall till a thin silver chain linking her to a matching toe ring stopped her. Sound resembling a scream escaped your mouth, but quickly disappeared, as the titaness delicately ordered you to remain quiet.

You watched with horror as the shrunken woman dangled from the chain, unconscious, her body covered in grime and glistening with sweat.

It’d been easier to blame your morbid curiosity for your fate, rather than admit you’d been doomed from the start. You mechanically tugged on your collar at the thought, your eyes traveling up the silver chain attached to it. You have a new painful memory now - the sight of your owners’ toes surrounding you faster than you can react, locking you in a steel pinch of warm, sweaty flesh. Only pain and darkness followed.

That, and so many more boring meetings…

Another Tracer piece? Look I've been on a Blender craze, and if I'm going to sink hundreds of hours into that software, I might as well get pieces featuring everyone's favourite British tomboy out of it. 

This one in particular started as a test on feet shapes and textures. It's surprisingly hard to get anything good looking in 3D when it comes to feet (which is why bare feet are so rare in my work). However, I felt this passed the threshold in terms of looks. What do you think?

Anyway, as always, I hope you enjoy this new render and story!