Discovery - Part I (Patreon)

One street was all the neighborhood was. On one side was a row of suburban houses, compact in their design but modern fitted. Across from those, a wall. A gray-tinted wall, a visor that rose as high as the homes, transparent but barely reflecting the face looking past the screen. The artificial light blurred her vision of the outside, so she shielded away the glare with her hands. Sometimes, just sometimes, she’d be able to catch her, way off in the distance -- across the room.

“If she wasn’t coming, she would have messaged us,” Kendall told her. She was in the reflection, so Sierra had noticed when she looked up. Sierra turned to face her, no distinct emotion on her face. Kendall tilted her head with a gentle smile, “Are you anxious for your first time?”

“I like to be prepared,” Sierra replied. She picked up her gym bag from off the pavement, the same exact bag Kendall had around her shoulder.

“So that’s a yes, yes you are anxious,” Kendall teased. “That’s a cool way of putting it.”

Sierra walked down the road and Kendall followed, catching up to her with a little jog. “You must have nerves of steel then,” Sierra said, “if you’re so calm about being picked up by her.”

“Well, after you’ve been picked up by a giant’s hand once, you get used to it from then on.”

“... Do you?” Sierra rose a brow. “Do you actually?”

“Ahh, haha, no. Sort of,” Kendall admitted. Sierra giggled alongside her. “There isn’t anything quite like it.”

Sierra agreed more than Kendall could understand, for that phrase suited the circumstance she and forty-nine others had found themselves in. It wasn’t a giant they discussed, but a scientist -- the overseer, specifically, whose role was thusly to oversee a community project like no other. A community of varied folks who volunteered for the opportunity to be shrunk to a percentage of their natural heights, approximately four centimeters tall. For years, they were going to live in a setting constructed for their shrunken states, and it was the overseer that would perform routine examinations and tests on these subjects.

Each of the inhabitants had their reasons for volunteering for such a strange, obscure project. The entire procedure was being ran quietly, beneath the eyes and ears of any media attention. But the pay was guaranteed, a wealthy sum, and many of those who took to apply had direct purposes to put the money towards. After all, to be shrunken and experimented on was a sacrifice few were willing to make. Only the truly committed gave themselves up to being made so vulnerable, to live isolated from the rest of the world on what was effectively a woman’s table.

But it wasn’t the money that drove Sierra to the project. Kendall, she had learned over the past four months, had debts to repay. Other neighbors had reasons for laying low outside of society. Sierra had a job and hobbies; all had to be left behind, for years, so that she could be shrunken as part of a scientific experiment, and it had all been for the purpose of getting away. She wanted to escape her stresses, and she had little elsewhere to go at the time. When the opportunity to live a carefree life presented itself, even with such an unreal cost, Sierra dashed towards it.

Now, however, there was more that she wanted from this experiment. Beyond the money and beyond the lifestyle, she had discovered a stronger purpose for being in the tiny community.

The road ended upon reaching a large building, a rec center complete with a comfortable park outside it. Attached to the building at its entrance was a dock, just like a train station but with only one singular car waiting to be loaded. A line of six people was already there, and one among them waved Kendall over gleefully. Kendall trotted ahead to meet this person, passing and leaving Sierra, and without that pressure behind her, Sierra again slowed so she could look outside that window.

It hadn’t been that she was worried the overseer wouldn’t arrive. She wanted to be the first to see her.

Across a mile-long stretch of a polished teal floor, a door slowly moved open, and the overseer stepped through it. With one hand, she carried in a briefcase, and with the other, she buttoned up the top of her white lab coat, the knot of her red tie barely visible above the collar. Black slacks completed the uniform, with only dark blue heels being any other flare of personal fashion. The door was closed quietly behind her, and she walked into the lab with a smile aimed at the community that stood level with her hips -- to her, a line-up of intricate dollhouses, none of which she couldn’t lift with the most casual effort.

The clacking of her heels was distinct to the subjects of her project. Each step cracked against the hard floor, like dulled thunder way off in the distance. The sound of these steps became routine to the members of the community, but it was Sierra that always listened to them intently, her heart beating in sync with every footfall. Her expression had subtly shifted when the overseer had entered the room, having swallowed them in the midst of her fascination.

Sierra watched diligently as the scientist first tended to a desk, a computer, the briefcase, some papers. “Sierra?” Kendall called out to her, pulling her from her trance. More than usual, she had been staring openly, so Sierra moved immediately towards the line of others. “We’re about to board, you know!”

“I’m right here,” Sierra said, her pace hurried only out of politeness. It would still be several minutes before the overseer was ready for them -- she had memorized this schedule just from her observations.

“Yeah but you don’t want to keep her waiting,” Kendall warned with a teasing wag of her finger. “No one’s kept her waiting before. She might decide to punish you.”

“Mhmm.”

“You joke about that,” someone else said, ahead of the two in line. A man, disgruntled and serious, shaking his head. “But it isn’t funny. We’re like hamsters to her, in a cage.”

“Chase…” Kendall rolled her eyes with a chuckle-like huff. “She’s never done a thing to us. You get yourself worried about nothing.”

“We’re more like lab rats,” Sierra suggested, her tone dry with a quiet edge of sarcasm. “Not hamsters.”

“Yeah, funny.” Chase turned away from them, but he then looked back at Sierra. “Oh. You haven’t been taken out before, have you? Yeah, don’t get yourself hurt out there. She’ll have to set you aside.”

“Chase, that isn’t funny,” Kendall said, even though she was smiling still. “Are you trying to scare her?”

“Just a heads-up.”

“Advice taken,” Sierra replied. She wasn’t sarcastic then.

Chase and his worries immediately lost Sierra’s interest when the clacking of giant heels was heard again. Everyone in line watched as the giantess approached their community, standing tall over the walled-off horizon. Three footsteps was all that was needed for her to stroll up the street, beginning to end, so that she was standing in front of the rec center and its docking area. More so than anyone else, Sierra stared up, high up to where the overseer’s face beamed with a warm expression between waves of cool black hair.

The overseer’s mouth opened, then opened wider, until a surprise yawn took her over. It was a powerful gust of a breath, maintained to herself, but nevertheless could the tiny citizens below feel a sense of how strong that wind had to be. “Pardon me!” she laughed. “Before today’s over, I’ll have had more cups of coffee than I did hours of sleep…”

The people received the comment warmly, as though it was stated by a coworker. This was the light humor that Overseer Ophelia Duval was known for, a tone that undoubtedly eased the high tensions of her test subjects. While spoken jokingly, it reflected a true part of her career and how busy her schedule often was. Even now, there were partially visible bags under her eyes, though it blended seamlessly into her more mature appearance; an unintended aspect, so she regarded it, not wanting to give up her youth just yet as she neared closer to the top of the hill.

A switch at a console was pressed by Duval which opened the doors to the shuttle for the shrunken people. The line ushered in, every person bringing with them their own uniform gym bag. Pairs of seats were filled in and the luggage was stored in small vaults underneath each section. The design inside the shuttle lent itself to any other bus or train, but the seats came equipped with heavy duty seat belts, a testament to the vehicle’s purpose.

Sierra was about to take a seat before Kendall questioned her choice. “You’re not going to want a window seat if it’s your first time.”

“Actually, I think it will help,” Sierra insisted, claiming the seat and adjusting the harness. “It’s just a short trip. I appreciate the concern, though.” Kendall shrugged and took the adjacent seat. “Did you get sick on your, uh, first time?”

“A little bit~” Kendall chuckled. “Others had it worse than me, anyway. Duval had someone return home after they, err, spilled.” Sierra nodded, but grew worried of that possibility of being sent back. Her stomach would have to endure.

Both ends of the shuttle had each a long window for viewing the outside. Two huge, blue eyes filled the display as Duval leaned close to the glass wall, peeking in at its passengers. “I’m locking the hatches,” she announced, and a click could be heard as the shuttle doors were sealed tight. A heavier sound clanged from beneath them, as Duval had flipped a switch to unlatch the shuttle from the dock. Then, Duval rose out of sight and donned over her hands a pair of sterile gloves.

“Ready…?” Duval giggled. “Three, two, one.” It was a speedy rhythm that preluded lift-off. At the flanks of the shuttle, a thumb and forefinger pinched around the vehicle, each digit fitting near-perfectly into indents made just for this purpose. Gravity intensified for the passengers as the shuttle suddenly elevated, hardly a smooth transition from still to mobile. The shuttle, which had to weigh as much as a traditional bus, had been taken into the giantess’s grasp like a mere toy.

Sierra’s heart was aflutter with an anxiety completely unrelated to the reasons Kendall would have assumed. The height at which they were being carried was certainly breathtaking, a factor Sierra herself agreed with. She awed, in her quiet way, at how the rec center shrank away, as did the rest of the neighborhood being left behind. But it was the glimpse of the overseer’s finger, as minor as it was, that had her chest pounding. She had the urge to put her hand against the window, to try and feel the raw strength being applied to hoist the trailer with such delicacy, but her hands only gripped the seat belt, fidgeting with anticipation.

“Whee~” Kendall laughed, even stretching her arms outward for effect. This was for Sierra’s entertainment, but she realized she wasn’t looking. “How do you feel?” she asked. “... Sierra?”

“F-Fine,” Sierra swallowed. Her eyes were glued to the outside, the view of pockets, buttons, and a red tie descending past as the shuttle rose higher -- but it was Duval’s chest, round and protruding even with the lab coat, that Sierra particularly observed. The movement came to a peak, where the shuttle was then turned so that those giant blue eyes from before were staring into the passenger windows. “Very fine.”

“Just a quick headcount,” Duval told them, tallying up the eight subjects. “Looks good! Let’s take all of you to the desk, hold tight.”

Duval kept the shuttle at shoulder height while she strolled away from the neighborhood and around a corner to another part of the lab. Even a walk as short as this felt like a journey for Sierra and the other subjects, a trip of rocking back and forth in wave-like leaps. More than a mile of the lab was traversed, all of it lost in an unsteady blur, before the overseer had reached today’s workspace.

Atop a waist-high table was a strip of an outdoor lawn, as though a slice of someone’s yard had been cleanly removed and transported to the facility. Duval faced herself as well as the shuttle to survey the landscape, which was about half the length of the community’s neighborhood. It began at one side with a plot of grass that stretched up to a series of stone steps, like the beginning of a patio. A tall wooden wall replicated the likeness of a door, where the rest of the course then went “inside,” complete with wood panel flooring, a rug, and then finally, a low-height coffee table. Understanding the layout was important for the shrunken experiments, for they knew ahead of them would be a complete trek through it.

“This is pretty straightforward,” Duval explained, motioning over the obstacle course she had arranged. “Today, you’ll be running through a course that replicates some of the features you would find outside a suburban home. An experiment to test the movement capabilities of shrunken people in a simulated environment; everyone’s favorite.”

As the overseer had suggested, this was a fairly mundane test that the community members had been trialed through before. Sierra listened intently as a first-timer, as did most everyone else. There was still a small groan from someone in their seat. “More labor,” Chase had complained, and a couple others shared his sentiment more quietly.

What’s his problem? Sierra asked herself, finding the griping to be the only thing worthy enough to distract her from the overseer. She considered Chase lucky that at their height, neither the overseer nor anyone of normal size could hear them especially well, not when speaking with anything less than a full tone. It made it easy, then, to sneak comments of disdain right under Duval’s nose, but it was the disdain itself that bothered Sierra. We signed up for these kinds of activities, she remembered, what does Chase expect?

The shuttle was gently lowered to the beginning section of the obstacle course, a flat piece of desk that came equipped with a series of stalls for changing into uniform. Once the shuttle was completely released from Duval’s grip, the passengers undid their seat belts and began to exit. Sierra had reason to stay in her seat for a few moments longer after the trip had concluded. Kendall chose not to tease her this time, figuring that it was queasiness from the movement keeping her slowed, but it was truly just her flustered state of mind after having been in the grasp of a titanic scientist.

Nonetheless, Sierra was energized to step outside, even if she was the last one out. The others were accustomed to the feeling awaiting them; the huge open space of a different area in the facility, absolutely imposing with the grand scale of things. There was no longer the familiarity of similarly-sized houses, no longer an illusion of living a normal life. There were tools far larger than most buildings, a steep drop just past the edge of the work desk, and of course, the overseer, a woman of epic height and strength, casually taking a seat into a mobile chair.

The group knew what to do from there, moving ahead towards the privacy stalls with their gym bags. While they did this, Duval was powering up a nearby computer monitor when she noticed that not everyone was moving along. She smiled at the straggler, not realizing she herself was the cause for Sierra’s delay. “Go ahead and get changed into your uniforms,” she politely urged. “It will make you easier to see down there, after all. Don’t want any accidents!”

Sierra swallowed and nodded, even though her gesture was too small for the scientist to notice. It clouded her thoughts to know that she was addressed, pointed out amongst the group. Kendall waved at her to follow, lagging behind just enough for her to catch up. Sierra hurried along into one of the stalls, but with every chance she had, she always glanced back at Duval, even as she closed the curtain behind her.

The outfit, Sierra agreed, was indeed noticeable. Everyone donned an orange track suit of sorts, and blue streaks down the limbs made each of their little motions easier to track. With her longer brown hair, Sierra had to tie it back into a ponytail much like some of the others. She was the last to get ready, but the pressure of her peers didn’t affect her at all, certainly not the same way she felt about being seen by Overseer Duval.

“We know,” Kendall joked as Sierra got into a line with everyone else, “it’s definitely not the most fashionable thing, is it?” Sierra lightly chuckled to the comment, feeling conflicted. She wanted to be noticed, that was certain, but with everyone dressed exactly the same, she wondered how possible it actually was to get the attention she desired.

After adjusting some settings from her computer, Duval rolled her chair back to the end of the table. Minimal was needed to get everyone’s attention, as usual. “Everyone ate a healthy breakfast, right?” she said, genuinely asking. Without any objections, she continued, “Then allow me to layout the conditions of today’s test. I have a little motivator for you all, to try and get some impressive times on these results.”

Sierra hadn’t been especially interested in the test itself, but the promise of a prize allured her. It was already her intent to try her best at whatever Duval tasked her with, but she was keen to earn something more.

Duval smiled, eager to reveal what this motivator was. “I know desserts are on a limited stock for all of you, so the first four people to complete the course will receive…” She drummed her fingers in a roll against the edge of the desk, sending little quakes across the surface for her subjects to feel.  “... cheesecake! I hope you all like cheesecake, it’ll be easier to share than something like… pie. So, do your best to get positive results!” 

Sierra stood straight, far more alert now than she had been before. She wished the world could slow down just so she could comprehend the matter, as straightforward as it had been explained. Finish the course quickly and I get a dessert date with the overseer, she calculated. The stakes had been raised, for this was a lucky break for her to earn even more time with the giant woman, this fascination she couldn’t shake off. More than before, she intended to produce the results Duval wanted.

The group of eight were directed to line-up where the flat desk became a forest of trimmed grass. The authenticity was there in the details, down even to the scent of the lawn greeting the shrunken subjects. Sierra was only then starting to feel uneasy about her first run through an obstacle course. Unlike the security of the neighborhood, this actually did feel like she was shrunken and facing something real, something now huge.

“Is everyone ready?” Duval asked, her finger at the ready to begin a countdown timer. Sierra felt strangely soothed by the words, but they really only brought upon other anxieties. “Three, two, one… begin!”

It was as easy as that to start, but the line-up of runners were hesitant to sprint off into the course. The wall of grass that greeted them was an immediate obstacle to adapt to, requiring the participants to weave around and shove aside tall blades of green. It was a slow start for most, except for Sierra; she dashed ahead confidently, but she was quickly met with resistance. The lawn tangled around her for being overzealous, tugging back on her arms and legs if she didn’t stomp them down firmly enough. Despite having taken what was effectively a head start, she was barely that much further ahead than anyone else, and even less distance seemed to have been crossed from Duval’s perspective.

Brute force eventually rewarded Sierra with a path forward, a divide in some of the grass to more swiftly run through. Her morale was boosted with this advantage, but it was short lived before the next barrier, a root of a tree. There was only the option to climb over it, and so she did, hiking up onto the bark and clawing over the bump.

She looked back, given the opportunity to see her lead while atop the root. The others all appeared muddled up in knots of grass, and the sight nearly gave her a grin. I could actually do this, Sierra realized, her heart thumping between the adrenaline and the thought of winning. Just keep moving, she pressed onward, but her mind was on other things, her eyes on other places. Duval, up above, was looking at her -- She’s looking at me!

A splash of mud woke her up from the onset of a daydream. The landing just past the root wasn’t as solid as she expected, and now she was collapsed to her knees in mud. The cold water barely phased her compared to the chill of embarrassment. She was looking at me, she groaned, wondering just how laughable her slip had to be.

In the meantime, something else found its way to catch Sierra off-guard. Another splash struck her, someone else making their landing, and with better grace. Sierra spat the dirt that flickered too close to her face, and to her surprise, it was Kendall stealing first from her.

“You’ve got me woken up, Sierra!” Kendall laughed -- unknowingly taunting. “A little competitive edge is what we needed, I think!”

Sierra stood in a hurry, wanting to catch up but having to recover her momentum. Somehow, she had accidentally whipped Kendall into high spirits, and with the others making it over the root, there was suddenly more potential for failure. She would have to recover her momentum, but Sierra was still in the race.

Grass and weeds continued to bend under Sierra’s movements as she marched through the difficult terrain, until eventually the path ahead of her came to an abrupt end. A wall of dull gray greeted her suddenly enough that she nearly walked right into it. She put her hands against the surface, realizing it then to be concrete. It was the staircase leading up to the fake door, which meant for Sierra that she was halfway through. A meager three steps was all it was, but each step was several times her height. She was puzzled -- was this even the way to go?

But she saw above her, to her disdain, the rival that was Kendall. Further along the ledge, Kendall was just then succeeding over the obstacle, proving the stun to be doable, but not without a struggle. Even with her surge in energy, Kendall had to slow down upon reaching the top of just the first of three steps. Sierra had some relief, finding this to be a chance to catch up.

“This is way easier,” she heard from behind her. Approaching the same barrier was not only Chase, by three others that had formed a casual group. Sierra had once again created an opening for others to beat her; all of her marching through the grass had left behind a trail far easier to wade through and navigate. Without as much grass pushing back against them, the lead Sierra once had was now completely drained.

“Oh, that must have been your path,” Chase said, surveying the stone step. “Hey, thanks for the help. How do we get past this, though?”

Sierra disregarded him, despite being stuck on the same problem. To ventilate some of her anger, Sierra tried a straightforward answer by attempting to run and jump up the wall. She kicked up from it and leaped for as high as she could, but her furthest reach was significantly beneath the ledge. She fell down gracelessly, stumbling back onto her butt in front of the others.

“I don’t think that’s how,” Chase chuckled. Sierra’s face steamed red as the others giggled at her. “We probably have to climb it. Sort of like a rock wall.”

That’s literally impossible, so Sierra told herself in anger, but obviously it wasn’t. Kendall had made it up somehow, and Chase’s inspection of the wall showed that some parts of the concrete were more damaged or rugged, allowing him to get some distance upwards. Others were catching on from his lead, and that included Sierra, tracing the wall for a pathway up.

By the time she found a suitable crag to use as a starting point, the rest of the day’s subjects had made it to the staircase’s base, and they were bound to learn from those scaling the wall. Sierra had these worries weighing against her as well as gravity, yet she forced herself to go higher, to move faster. Her fingers burned as they gripped the rough texture, her muscles were not trained for this much activity, but she pressed onward, only realizing how much effort she had exerted when she reached the top with a roll onto her side.

“Oh shit,” she panted, her throat cold. “I’m so out of shape…” On her back, her eyes opened to see the ceiling of the lab, as distant as the sky felt like it should be. Hovering nearby was Duval, still observing the race unfold with a seemingly pleased expression. Inspired anew, Sierra leaped to her feet and was in a rush to the next wall, no time to waste.

“You’re almost inside~” Duval cheered on. She rolled her chair to the middle of the table now that the race had progressed that far. “I know it’s probably not easy to climb up those steps, but keep up the pace, you’re all doing fine.” A giggle trailed after her words, quietly amused by how the subjects scurried their way to the door.

Sierra disagreed that this was fine. Having mounted the second step and getting to the third, she mathed out that she was barely in fourth place. Discouragingly, it was Chase trailing her from behind, still a fair distance back but admirably close for someone who wasn’t trying. Sierra exhaled those pointless thoughts aside, dedicating more of her mind to moving ahead.

Not a heartbeat went by once Sierra climbed over the final edge before she was on her feet and running after the others. She endured through her exhaustion so that she could be crawling underneath the door’s crack alongside the others in the lead. It was a tight and claustrophobic fit, but she made it to the other side where a plain of wood welcomed her. It was the final stretch, nearing ever closer to the goal as she and the others trekked onto the rug.

Then, there was only one trial remaining. The coffee table, intricately crafted from wood, stood tall and wide like a palace. They were expected to climb it to the top, somehow; its legs appeared too sleek to scale, a duo of thin cabinets were too far out of reach to use. While Kendall was searching for any other prop to use to reach the end, Sierra instead looked to the gigantic scientist eagerly watching them, expecting an answer.

Sierra shook her head and followed her instincts. The most obvious approach had been the best so far, and so she ran up to the nearest leg and scrambled up it. The surface was polished and smooth, and so immediately Sierra found herself slipping back to the carpet fibers. “Shit,” she whined, biting her nails while estimating the leg another time. She tried again, this time with a tighter hug to hold herself up with. It was tough, but she could maintain it. The problem was still moving up, but her biggest worry was looking ridiculous in front of the overseer.

Little hops and squirms allowed Sierra to scale up the leg; she was in the lead, the only one to get a solid enough grip to move upwards at all. Others were giving it their attempt, but didn’t garner the same marginal success that Sierra earned. She nearly dared to look down and back, but it took all of her strength just to remain stationary at times, holding long enough to work up the stamina needed for continuing.

“Is that really how we have to do it?” Chase asked, wiping the sweat from his brow while he pooled his group towards Kendall. The set of them were looking on at Sierra’s advancement, but as far as Sierra thought she was, it had taken minutes just to worm herself up a quarter of the leg’s height.

“No way,” Kendall chuckled. “She’ll be up there all day doing that. Maybe if we use the drawers here on the side, but if we wanted to reach them…” A spark of an idea came to her, and she motioned for the others to follow.

Sierra was in her own world, thinking only of how she was going to soar to the finish line. The only thing to warp her out of her climb-focused trance was the sound of Duval’s giggle, a gentle bubble of tones that surpassed anything Sierra had heard with its cuteness. She wondered, though, just what the amusement was for. Was she being watched? Was the giggling at the expense of those still lingering down below? Or was it her that Duval found funny? The worries had to be swatted aside like flies; I just can’t give up now, she breathed, just a little bit further, just a little more…

And a little more was as far as she could keep getting. Her pace was getting her no where, but she was convinced that she was on the right track, until her hopes crumbled high above her. She was halfway up the leg, only that far, when she noticed a head peer over the edge. It was Kendall’s bubbly smile there waiting for her, yet another taunt that befuddled her.

“Yoohoo~! Sierra! We found another way!” Kendall shouted down. “That was a lot easier!”

“What?! S-Seriously…? B-But I was-- I was ahead!” Sierra gasped, shaking her head as much as her position could allow. She stuttered, emotions coughing up in her throat. “How? Wh-Where did you go?!”

“We used the cabinets!” Kendall laughed. “It seemed obvious, just out of reach! There was actually a pen just waiting there on the floor, we propped it up like a ladder.” She pointed over in that direction, though Sierra hadn’t the advantage to actually see the set-up. It all sounded despairingly believable, however. “Go on down and use it,” Kendall urged, “just about everyone is making it up now.”

“Everyone?!” Sierra felt her heart drop -- and then the rest of her body, slipping along the polished leg of the table before reaffirming her hug on it. She buried her face into the wood as frustration toiled her. Not only had she exerted herself doing the wrong thing, but that mistake had cost her the entire competition. That chance to have a dessert date with Duval had been mercilessly dashed.

“We have our winners~” Duval applauded with little and distant claps. “I see you solved my little puzzle. Ah, most of you, hehe. But a valiant effort from everyone! These are all fine results, thank you for trying so hard.”

It was done, officially. Sierra had failed, making this entire excursion outside the community an utter waste as far as she was concerned. In every regard she saw her disappointments, from not only losing her opportunity to spending time with the overseer, but failing to even produce a positive result for her experiment. The only thing she did succeed in, ironically, was getting noticed -- for all the wrong reasons.

She sighed, bitterly trying to accept the outcome while she gauged the distance of her height. I climbed all the way here, just so I can climb down, and then… climb back up again, she said, scoffing at her situation.

Kendall, at least, was going to watch her on her descent, but she wasn’t alone. Chase joined her, peeking over the edge with slightly more curiosity than concern. “Is she getting down alright?” he asked Kendall. “I bet she has to be loving this, being at the butt-end of one of the overseer’s tricks.”

“I-I wouldn’t call it a trick,” Kendall giggled. “More like a puzzle.”

“Games are all this is to her,” Chase complained with a roll of his eyes. He knelt to the ledge, feeling worse for Sierra and her struggling. “I just hope she doesn’t get hurt because of this.”

Sierra was initially annoyed with what she overheard from Chase, who of all people, she wanted to hear from the least. But what he said inspired an idea. If she were to get hurt, what would happen? It began as just a fun curiosity, to imagine the overseer suddenly so worried for her; concerned, tender attention while she recovered. It was warm, just the thought of that scene in her head. What if…?

For as long as it had taken her to ascend up the leg, it was taking just as long to carefully descend it. The rug below was still a fair distance down, but the surface seemed soft, welcoming enough. She inched a little further down, sliding along the sleek leg, and once down far enough, it was time--

She slipped, letting go of the leg early. She braced for the landing, only in midair starting to wonder if she could actually get hurt. The impact came; not comfortable, but she tumbled over as though it were far worse. “Agh--!” she coughed, for effect. She winced sharply, making sure to coil over what hurt the worst -- her wrist, which she landed with most of her weight.

Sierra’s heart froze, feeling a tense pause. She blinked, wondering if her act was obvious, and how foolish she would look if she was caught. But the huge ceiling up above was clouded by Duval’s face, leaning into the simulated living room. The overseer was horrified, as were Kendall and Chase up on the table. Sierra struggled to not break character -- she wanted to laugh, I think it’s working!

“O-Oh, oh dear,” Duval muttered aloud, “that wasn’t good…” Her face fell closer to Sierra, her field of view overwhelmed by the massive face. Sierra could feel the overseer holding her breath, making the air so tense. That’s how close she was to her; she turned red, realizing that.

Sierra shuddered dramatically, kicking herself for getting distracted. She rolled out to have her arm held out. Duval came closer, frighteningly close; Sierra felt the weight of her eyes directed completely on her injury. There was a strike of belittlement, a sensation of feeling even smaller than usual. She comprehended then how dependent she was on this woman, how her health and well-being were in the hands of this gigantic, god-like person.

Her thoughts bounced about in nervous fits. She couldn’t even understand the overseer and what she was saying, her senses washed in the onset of panic. Every anxiety started to come to life. What does she do to people that are injured? What if she finds out I’m lying? Or… either way, what if I’m taken away from her? She nearly fainted, What was I thinking?!

But before she could berate herself for long, Duval had grabbed her attention. “Do you understand, Sierra?” she was suddenly being asked. Sierra was dazed out, and she feared the overseer might attribute that to something else. She didn’t waste time nodding, approving of whatever Duval had explained.

What she agreed to, then, surrounded her. Two gloved hands walled around Sierra, each palm as broad as a building. Sierra spasmed, frightened by their intimidating appearance. Like two separate beasts flanking her, they collapsed in under her, combing her body right out from the fibers and into their grasp. The surface was resilient, but without a doubt did it feel like a human palm underneath the glove, the unmistakable grooves and the cup-like shape to hold her. All of this had happened in just a gasp, but then she was ascending, jetting into the air, and in the next moment, all the motion stopped. There was no act about how sick she felt, and not only from the whiplash of movement. More inflicting than anything else was being her’s, being carried, her whole body proven to be exactly as light and timid and frail as she had insanely agreed to it becoming.

Above her, that expression that pained Sierra to see. Duval was ill with sympathy, of course taking the matter seriously. In her hands was, by all means, something small and helpless, now injured and even weaker. She hurried away from the lab table, towards her personal desk. Her demeanor was cool and calculated, addressing the situation without letting herself be disordered in her haste.

In her hands, that tiny body froze stiff into a pill shape. The world was acting alien and bizarre, abducted away from one reality and thrown into another, a turn of events Sierra was entirely responsible for. Exaggerated thoughts flashed in her head, silly ideas of being disposed of like the reject she felt she was, but she had just enough fear plaguing her to keep her convinced it could be the case. This was the attention she had wanted, her wish granted to excess in an instant, but soured by the regret she felt, tainted by the uncomfortable uncertainty in her fate.