The line winded its way toward the inter-dimensional portal.

Pop.

The leading group winked out of existence and, like decapitated snake, the line shifted forward. Except it didn’t. Not all of it.

The fat man in front of her had his eyes glued to his phone, and his feet to the terminal floor. Remy didn’t call people fat, but in her head, she thought it. His hairy ass crack winked at her, unsolicited, from above the rim of strained shorts. It had happened more than once already. Each time the man bent down to retrieve his bag, she looked away, but never fast enough. Gag!

Part of it was the smell. The odorous glutton, his greasy hair speckled with dandruff, likely hadn’t showered in a week. The result: a fragrant bouquet of old sweat and oil which she hoped nearby travelers wouldn’t pin on her. Then again, why wouldn’t they? Her hoodie had likely absorbed some of the pervasive scent, making her partly to blame.

As if reading her mind, the older woman behind her cleared her throat. Remy bristled, then glanced back with an expression of her own, one of open-mouthed inquisitiveness. The phlegmy woman eyed the growing gap in the line ahead of the fat man. Remy flashed a placating smile, then turned away and donned her headphones. She cranked Beethoven high enough to where the annoying woman would hear it, and realize the futility of her passive-aggressive bullshit.

It hadn’t always been like this. Her city had once boasted a hundred portals, spread out, each conveniently located near a major suburb. In the last year, however, the number had been reduced to seventy-three. Several major terminals had closed down, citing the disappearance of their respective portals.

It happened. Portals disappeared, almost as mysteriously as they appeared. The government assured everyone the total number of portals in the world hadn’t decreased, but it didn’t stop her mom from worrying. If enough disappeared in her her city, it would make traveling ‘home’ to visit her family increasingly difficult — a doomsday scenario for her mom.

Though perhaps not so much for Remy. She loved her mom, sure. She even loved her sisters in the familial way, the way you had to love them, even when they annoyed the ever-living shit out of you. But she didn’t love their world.

It had once been her world too, years ago, before she experienced her first portal shock. Now it was just a place she visited during the summers and holidays, more out of obligation than anything else. Soon it would just be the holidays and she looked forward to visiting less often — secretly — though perhaps Lily suspected as much.

Though only fifteen (a couple years younger than herself), the intuitive girl could read her like a book, so much so it scared Remy sometimes. Lily knew, perhaps more than anyone else, how much Remy hated “Earth Prime”. Lily didn’t blame her for it, at least not directly, nor did she seem upset at her older sister’s attitude. And by all rights, she shouldn't be upset. After all, who could blame a beta for not wanting to live in a world scaled for primes?

Especially when the scale was a factor of twenty.

***

Haley tapped her forefinger on top of the beta transport unit. “Are you even listening?”

“Don’t do that!” Remy’s voice emitted from the unit’s cheap speakers, a tinny sound but still recognizable as her eldest sister. “And yes, I’m listening.”

“Ok, then what did I just say?” She narrowed her eyes at the darkened unit, essentially a half-foot cube resting on a mount between the front seats of their car.

“You got an A on your geography presentation and...something about the spelling bee.”

“Mom!” Haley reached over the front seat to tap her mother’s shoulder. “She’s hardly listening to a word I’m saying. Can I take her out yet?”

“No,” Mom said. “Not yet. It’s not safe for her and it’s not legal.”

“But Mom!”

“I said no! You can wait a few more minutes. We’re almost home.”

“Then I can take her out?”

“If she gives you permission. You know the rules, Haley. Don’t make me repeat them.”

“But what if she says no?”

“Then you’ll have to wait until she says yes. She may want time to adjust, so give her some space. She’ll be here a while, so you can be patient.”

Patience. Haley hated the word. She’d already been patient, waiting months to see her oldest (and tiniest) sister again. They’d spent a lot of time together over the summer, but so much had happened since then and Remy needed to know about all of it as soon as possible. It really couldn’t wait another day.

“You’ll let me pick you up, right?” Haley bent forward, her eye nearly plastered to the beta unit’s tinted exterior. Unfortunately it only offered a murky outline of Remy’s chair.

“Eventually,” Remy said. “If you stop bugging me. I’m trying to read my email.”

Electronic communication didn’t exist between Earth Prime and Earth Beta, so when Remy visited, she usually spent the entire first day reading and responding to her friends on Facebook and email. It irritated Haley because family should come first. If she had her way, she’d limit Remy’s computer time to an hour a day, just like Mom limited it for herself and Lily.

“Can you at least make it so the glass isn’t so dark?” Haley asked. “I can’t even see you.”

“That’s the point,” Lily said from the passenger seat, not even bothering to look up from her phone.

“No one asked you.” Haley stuck out her tongue.

“Girls!” Mom said.

Things would’ve been better if Lily had been the one who shrunk. She could’ve moved to Earth Beta and stayed there for all Haley cared. Unfortunately, Remy had to be the one to shrink, making the last three years of Haley’s life a never ending cycle of waiting for her oldest sister to return home. Ugh!

“There,” Remy said. The beta unit’s glass lightened considerably. “Happy?”

“Ummmm...can you turn around?” Haley strained against her seatbelt to get a better view as Remy swiveled her recumbent chair. Though her body remained partially concealed behind the chair’s connected laptop shelf, her head became visible and…

“Did you change your hair?” Haley asked, squinting.

“No,” Remy said.

“It looks different.”

“It’s longer. I haven’t had a haircut.”

“Want me to cut it for you when we get home?”

Remy looked up from the computer screen for the first time. “There’s no way I’m letting you do that again.”

“Why not? It looked pretty the last time I cut it.”

“To you, maybe. But your scissors aren’t designed for beta hair. I was fighting split ends for weeks.”

“What are split ends?”

“Doesn’t matter.” She returned to typing away on her laptop. “Not letting you cut my hair.”

“Smart move,” Lily chimed.

Haley glowered, but held her tongue. Talking back to Lily would only get them both in trouble. Mom had already warned them to be on their best behavior around Remy, at least for the first few days. Any arguing would need to wait until Mom wasn’t around. Still, it irritated her that Lily could get away with being so rude.

“Anyway.” Haley tapped lightly on the beta box to get Remy’s attention. “I got second place in the spelling bee. Wanna know which word I got wrong?”

Remy sighed and looked up. “If it’ll get you to stop knocking on the glass.”

“Ok, I’ll stop.” She knew her sister found the tapping annoying (something about the trapped sound waves), but a light tap couldn’t hurt, and it did get her sister’s attention. “It was the word: separate,” Haley continued. “Miss Miller said it’s one of the trickiest words, so it’s ok I got it wrong. Do you know how to spell it?”

Lily spoke up. “Ess eee pee — ”

“Shut up!” Haley punched the side of Lily’s seat.

“That’s it!” Mom looked over her shoulder. “After we get home, go to your room. Time-out for an hour.”

“But she — “

“An hour and ten minutes.” Mom turned her attention back to the traffic light. “Every word you say, I’ll add another ten minutes. We don’t curse in this family, and we’re not going to start today.”

Haley wanted to explain how ‘shut up’ wasn’t a curse word, but it would require using more words and each would add another ten minutes to her time-out. So instead, she crossed her arms and stared out the window to her left, mostly to keep Remy from seeing her mad face.

Time-outs weren’t a big deal. There were plenty of things she could do in her room for an hour. But the timing couldn’t have been worse. Right now she felt so angry and embarrassed she wanted to cry, and she would’ve — if Remy weren’t watching. In spite of the current setback, she was determined to show her eldest sister how grown up she’d become over the last few months. She knew so much more, more than enough to impress Remy. She only needed the time to sit and talk.

Lily exhaled quickly, but it wasn’t innocent. It was a snicker, a subtle dig at Haley’s plight, only serving to drive her that much closer to tears.

“Don’t think you’re off the hook, Liliana Phillips,” Mom said.

“You’re giving me a time out?” Lily asked. “For what?”

“You’d enjoy that, wouldn’t you? No, I’m giving you dinner duty.”

“Fine,” Lily said.

“And dishwashing duty.”

“Fine.” Lily seemed not the least bit bothered.

Mom laughed. “I wasn’t asking for your confirmation, sweet daughter. No words until we get home. Speak, and I’ll think of another chore to give you.”

Silence. Haley grinned because she knew Lily must be hiding at least some amount of annoyance. Lily had mastered the art of hiding her feelings, especially around Mom, but Haley knew a few ways to press her buttons.

“Remy can talk if she wants to, and we can listen.” Mom stated. “She’s the only one of my children behaving like a grown-up today, so she’ll be treated as such.”

“Glad to see the family drama alive and well,” Remy said.

“Careful, Remy,” Mom said. “You’re never too old to get grounded. Tell us something positive. How are you doing in your studies? How’s the car holding up? Anything.”

“A’s and B’s but you already know that,” Remy said. “I did get a C in pre-calc, but honestly, when do you ever use calculus in real life?” She paused, then said, “Don’t answer that. I know you’d give me the standard mom answer that I should still study and try my hardest.”

“Actually,” Mom said while taking a right turn onto their street. “I was going to agree with you.”

“Wow. Ok. I guess it means I am the favorite daughter now, the one who can do no wrong.”

Haley rolled her eyes at the old joke. In the past, both she and Lily had accused Mom of loving Remy the most. They knew it to be untrue — Mom loved them equally — but it still got a rise out of her.

This time, Mom just laughed. “What about your car?”

“It’s great, if you ignore the fact it can barely exceed the highway speed limit.”

“You shouldn’t be exceeding the speed limit,” Mom said.

Haley rolled her eyes at this too. She knew for a fact her Mom regularly exceeded the speed limit. When she’d let Lily drive, she’d monitor the speedometer like a hawk, but when Mom drove, not so much. When Haley called her out on it, at best she’d get a dismissive laugh. At worst she’d get a time-out, depending on Mom’s mood at the time. Mom loved the phrase: Do as I say, not as I do. But Haley was pretty sure it was bad parenting to not practice what you preach.

“I’d like to be able to accelerate, especially during the on-ramps,” Riley said. “I’ve been looking online at a few cars in case you’re interested. They’re not expensive if we buy them from a prime manufacturer.”

“Your car wasn’t cheap,” Mom said. “It was over a hundred dollars.”

“Give me a break. This car cost what? Twenty thousand?”

“Not the point,” Mom said. “Money doesn’t grow on trees. It’s hard enough supporting you kids. Lord knows your father doesn’t help.”

Haley felt a twinge in her chest at the mention of her father, someone she’d seen only a few times as a toddler. She couldn’t remember his face or anything about him other than the herbal smell of his aftershave. Basically, he didn’t exist as a person, but it still didn’t stop her from wanting to meet him one day, if only to ask a few questions. She never shared such thoughts with Mom, however, as it would only make her angry.

“Ok, but the car I’m looking at only costs two hundred and fifteen dollars,” Remy said. “The exact same car sells for FIVE hundred betabits. If you do the conversion, it comes out to five thousand dollars!”

“And the transportation fee would be what? A thousand? More?” Mom asked.

“Free. They say I’ve got a bigger than average aura, so I could transport it myself.”

“The answer is no. I’ve seen what happens when transports fail. The car gets chopped in half, or you end up hurt, or worse. Why do you think transport fees are so high?”

Remy sighed audibly. “I’ve got a friend who transports bikes at least once a week, and my aura’s bigger than his. He makes good money from it. I bet — ”

“The answer is no, and it’s final,” Mom said in a tone that wasn’t to be tested. “What’s his name?”

Remy laughed. “He’s just a friend.”

“What’s his —”

“I’m still gay, Mom,” Remy said.

An awkward silence filled the car. Everyone knew Remy was gay, but they also knew Mom didn’t exactly approve. She pretended to be accepting and she obviously still loved Remy, but Haley sensed her disapproval. When she’d asked (it had been nearly a year since then), Mom had responded with how she loved them all and didn’t want to see them get hurt. Then, she’d abruptly ended the conversation as tended to be her custom.

“I know…” Mom said. “I’m only asking for his name.”

“Ferris. He’s also gay. By the way.”

“I...don’t see why you feel the need to tell me his sexual orientation. I have a friend who’s gay. Two in fact. Esma and Barb.”

“And you’re telling me this because…” Remy let the last word drag on questioningly.

“I figured you’d like to know.”

“You’re saying you’re finally ok with me being gay?” Remy asked.

“I was never NOT ok with it,” Mom said.

“Sure.”

“Ok. Initially I thought you might be...confused. I’d hoped you’d change your mind because I didn’t want to see you suffer for being different. Is that a crime? Is it wrong for a mother to be concerned about the wellbeing of her children?”

“Can we talk about something else?” Remy asked.

“No,” Mom said. “This is important. I’ve understood for a while now — you’re gay and it’s not going to change. I love you just as much as I love Lily and Haley.”

“Ok, I get it! Jeez, does this have to become an episode of the Partridge family?”

“Don’t say the Lord’s name in vain.” Mom glared through the rearview mirror.

“Ok,” Remy said. “I’m glad you accept my sexual orientation. Now can we get back to talking about my future car?”

“Yes. And the answer is no. You won’t be breaking the speed limit anytime soon.”

“Great.”

***

Remy stepped out of the beta transport unit and inhaled the flavors of home. Glade plugins hit her first, some sort of a Hawaiian scent her mom preferred. Though she couldn’t see them, she assumed one would be plugged into an outlet in the living room, it’s fragrance spreading into the kitchen like an invisible fog.

The kitchen table, the massive field of polished wood underneath her feet, looked the same as ever. It spread before her in all directions, it’s center decorated with the same beta dining table, the same beta chair, the same plate and utensils. The pieces would get moved to her spot prior to eating, but Mom always moved them back to the center afterwards. Like an annoying ritual, everything had to have its place.

“I knew you’d want some peace and quiet before Haley bombarded you.” Mom’s face hovered into Remy’s field of vision.

“It’s fine,” Remy said. “She’s just excited.”

“Well then, I’m sure you won’t mind spending some time with her after dinner,” Mom said.

Remy shrugged. She’d spent the last week preparing herself mentally for dealing with this Thanksgiving ‘vacation’. To her, it would be a job. She’d get through it, just as she always did. Then, she’d return to her normal world and resume her normal life.

Getting coddled by her youngest sister had been something she’d put up with since the day she’d begun shrinking, almost three years ago. The first shrink cycle had reduced her to less than four feet in a week’s time. Haley, only seven at the time, had immediately become the ‘big sister’ in her own mind (she become comparatively taller after all). After inserting herself into Remy’s life as an inescapable playmate, Haley eventually became an unrelenting caretaker too, especially after Remy lost the ability to open doors.

“She’s been looking forward to your return since the day you left,” Mom said. “We all have. Isn’t that right, Lily?”

“Yup.” Lily set the final bag of groceries at the far end of the table, her face as unreadable as ever. She had a tendency to say things in a way that could be interpreted as either sarcastic or real, and she seemed to prefer the ambiguity. Remy had assumed it was just part of her ‘dark’ phase, which had begun over a year ago, but it only appeared to be getting worse. If the girl did have a heart (and Remy suspected she did), she went to great lengths to hide it from others.

“Glad to have ya home, sis.” Lily sat at the table and swiped on her phone.

“Nope.” Mom plucked the phone from Lily’s hands with practiced precision. “You’re helping cook prepare dinner, remember?”

“Oh.” Lily’s impassive eyes flitted to meet Remy’s briefly before staring at something on the far wall. “Yeh.”

“Can I help?” Remy looked directly at her mom. They’d had this discussion before — the one about Remy helping out in the kitchen (or anywhere really) — and she was curious if her mom would remember any of it. She usually dismissed anything that contrasted with her core beliefs (one of which included protecting her children), but she did seem oddly receptive of Remy’s sexual orientation earlier, so…

Mom hesitated, but only for a moment. “Sure. Lily, please carry your sister to the cutting board and let’s get started.”

Remy tried to hide her surprise, but likely failed. Even Lily failed, her eyebrows raising a fraction of an inch, a movement easily perceptible to the beta. It was short lived however. Lily positioned her hand palm-up on the table. “All aboard.”

Her hand was dry and white, but warm enough as Lily took her customary seat at the edge where the fingers connected to the palm. As she sat, her eyes wandered toward Lily’s wrist where she thought she noticed something. Unfortunately, Lily must’ve noticed too because she pulled her sleeve down further.

“Ready?” Lily asked, curling her fingers slightly.

Remy nodded, leaning back against the massive fingers and appreciative her sister had asked. She wouldn’t always be as accommodating, especially not as the days passed, but motion sickness was a thing for betas just as it was for primes. The first few ‘rides’ were usually the worst a beta adjusted to the change in scale and transportation modes.

“Nice color.” Remy ran her hand over the deep purple polish coating Lily’s thumbnail. She could identify the imperfections on the surface, the thickness, the rubbery texture, but she was determined to say something nice. And for Lily, a self professed teenage outcast who usually cloaked herself in black everything, it seemed to represent a minor change for the better. Purple was dark, but not as dark as black.

“Thanks,” Lily said. “I like your hair.”

“Why does everyone keep mentioning my hair?” Remy asked. “I haven’t done anything with it. It’s just as boring and brown as it’s always been.”

The self deprecating complaint had likely been a mistake. She knew it as soon as the words left her mouth. She hated girls who complained about their own looks. Even though she honestly didn’t think her hair to be anything special, she should’ve accepted the compliment, if only to encourage Lily.

Fortunately, Lily didn’t seem deterred. “It looks like it has highlights.”

“Really?” Remy stepped off Lil’s hand and onto the cutting board. Her hair had grown past shoulder length, and it was mostly straight, so she undid her ponytail and pulled a lock of it in front of her face. “I don’t see any highlights.”

Lily shrugged, then backed away as Mom placed a bowl of cherry tomatoes on the board.

“Chop these,” Mom said, placing a couple of tomatoes onto the board along with Remy’s cutting knife. Remy nodded and tied her hair back into place.

It more of a machete than a knife, merely a fraction of the size of the smallest prime-scaled utensil in the kitchen. Still, when Remy hefted it, she remembered its weight and how straining it could be to use it for long periods of time. She refused to show any of this strain, or her mom would simply do the task for her in a fraction of the time.

The task itself was mere busywork. No one would eat the tiny slices except herself (and Haley, of course, since Haley found small food to be ‘cute and adorable and delicious’). It was better than no work, a placebo perhaps, but infinitely better than nothing. She’d lost count how many times she’d reminded her family how much she hated being waited upon. She’d learned to accept a certain amount of it from Haley (the girl was only ten after all), but not from anyone else.

When one sliced into a cherry tomato with a machete, it didn’t work like the commercials depicting muscular betas interacting with prime foods. Perhaps the machete had dulled over the years, but it didn’t slice clean through as one might expect. With a good swing, it sunk halfway into the red flesh, but that was about it.

This time, even with her double-handed swing, it proved no different. As if on cue, the sword slowed to a halt at the midway mark. Remy dropped to her knees and sawed the rest of the way down, watching the outer remnant of the sliced tomato wobble onto its rounded edge.

Thankfully, the tomato itself was oval shaped and not perfectly round, making the initial cut into the taught skin significantly easier. With squishier or rounder tomatoes, she’d occasionally been unable to pierce the skin. During those times, Haley would notice and get the blade started, then let Remy finish by ‘sawing’. Haley used to cheer her on, but had since learned not to say a word. Remy had taught the girl well about the meaning of pity and why it was so hurtful. She could live with the the doting from her younger sister, but not pity. Never pity.

Unfortunately, Haley wasn’t there to witness Remy’s success with this particular tomato. While she didn’t want to be cheered, it wouldn’t hurt for the girl to see her older sister slicing these tomatoes like a pro, if only because she’d failed in her last couple of attempts over the summer.

After finishing with the first tomato (the slices arranged neatly and — if she might add — impressively), Remy asked, “Where’s Haley?”

“She” — Mom turned toward the stove clock — “still has thirty more minutes of time-out. Why?”

“Oh. I dunno.” Remy rolled the next tomato into place. “She’s probably on her phone or playing a game. Wouldn’t it be better to make her help out?” Remy looked up, caught an odd glance from Lily, then immediately looked back down. “As punishment?” Heat rose to Remy’s face.

A pause hung in the air, then Mom laughed. Had she noticed Lily’s knowing gaze? Had Remy even noticed it? What the hell did Lily even think she knew? That Remy wanted to show off her tomato cutting skills to the only person who would appreciate them? It wasn’t true but she didn’t want Lily (or Mom for that matter) thinking it to be true! Ugh!

“Haley, get off your game and get down here!” Mom said. “I’m putting you to work!”

For a long moment, Remy heard nothing save the flow of water into the sink and the peeling of potatoes. Then, as if responding to a bomb threat, the flurry of kid feet padding down the carpeted stairs, quickly followed the whoosh of air smelling distinctly of grape gum and Haley hair.

“Can I talk now? Where is she?” Without waiting for an answer, Haley’s chin slammed onto the counter, her face occluding the entirety of Remy’s view. “Omigosh, what happened to your hair? So pretty!”

Remy wanted to laugh and cry in frustration at the absurdity of the attention of her hair had been getting, but instead she coughed, her lungs filling with the potent scent of sugary grapes exploding from Haley’s too-close mouth and nose.

“Spit it out.” Mom held out her hand.

Haley rolled her eyes as Haley always did, then swallowed and ptooeyed the wad of gum into Mom’s hand. Remy winced at the crude display, all of which occurred directly in front of her.

She recalled Mom doing the same to her when she’d been a kid, but seeing it at twenty-times scale hadn’t been on the bucket list. Try as she might, she’d never been able to fully describe the perspective of a three-inch beta (she exceeded three inches, but not by much), especially in relation to the mouth of a prime. Due to a regretfully unforgettable experience she’d had with an ex’s mouth years ago, she’d maintained an unhealthy fear of them — a fear she’d tried, but clearly failed, to explain.

Attempting to divert her train of thought, she leaned on her machete and crossed her legs in conquering pose. “Notice anything else?”

“Um, oh wow!” Haley’s appreciative eyes veered toward the slices of tomato. “Can I have one.”

“One.” Remy stepped aside, allowing sister’s gigantic, rainbow-painted fingernail to pass. “Wouldn’t want you to ruin your appetite.”

Haley giggled, plucked the top slice, and popped it into her gaping mouth. While easily quadruple the diameter of a full-sized beta tomato, the slice didn’t even span the width of her immature tongue. Still, she made a show of chewing carefully and swallowing as if it were the most delicious thing.

“Really good!” Haley beamed, her characteristically large incisors on full display.

It had to be for show. Her taste buds couldn’t possibly have recovered from the sugar-filled gum she’d just spat out. Nevertheless, Remy took a certain amount of satisfaction from the compliment. It wasn't strictly genuine, but nor was it pity. It was a polite nod toward food she’d prepared all by herself (a rarity, especially on Earth Prime), and it was enough to scratch her itch of doing something useful, no matter how small.

 

As Remy had expected, the family dinner proceeded in the usual way. Haley, always the bubbly conversationalist, talked while everyone else ate. She managed to finish her food around the same time as Remy, partly because she lacked reservations against speaking with a mouth half-full, and partly because no one had bothered to cut Remy’s slice of pork.

The pork had been stewing all day in the slow cooker, and it wasn’t particularly hard to cut, but it still slowed her down. The stringy meat folded like enormous strands of pasta, and it resisted perpendicular slices, forcing Remy to cut at an angle and slurp the smaller strands of meat in an unrefined manner. Perhaps it was no worse than Haley’s undignified display, but it was certainly no better.

“Who’s got room for dessert?” Mom asked.

“Full.” Remy patted her distended belly.

“I’ll have some!” Haley raised her arm high into the air, her stomach with room to spare. She still had the metabolism of a kid, because she was a kid. She could very well eat the entire pecan pie and burn it off in a couple hours.

“I’m going to my room.” Lily got up, empty plate in hand.

“After you do the dishes,” Mom said. “Remember?”

“I’ll do them later,” Lily said. In response to Mom’s warning look, she said, “I need to use the bathroom.”

“Fine,” Mom said. “But if you forget, I’m waking you up an hour early tomorrow to clean.”

“Ok.” Lily dropped her plate off in the sink and glided upstairs, her thick-socked feet padding silently. She had the uncanny ability to appear and disappear soundlessly, even to Remy’s sensitive ears. Remy attributed the quality to Lily’s socks, though the teen had a certain grace about her. Lily had struggled with her weight during puberty, but it had been a misdirected struggle, a direct result of bullying. She’d never been stick thin, nor had she ever been overweight. Didn’t matter. Self image could get corrupted by all sorts of shit, including so-called friends.

“Wanna bite?” Haley extended her fork to Remy, the prongs coated with the gooey center of the pecan pie. To a prime, it would appear as an empty fork, but the remnants on a single prong would be enough to fill Remy's mouth and Haley knew it.

“No thanks,” Remy said, standing to stretch.

“Still on that fad diet?” Mom asked. “Keto-whatever?”

“Not really,” Remy said. “But I don’t like sugar.”

“W-fy not?” Haley asked, her mouth stuffed with pie.

“Because it’s really bad for you,” Remy said, her fingers dancing, mimicking those of a spooky ghost.

Haley’s eyes widened as she stopped chewing. Then, she promptly opened her mouth and let the bolus of pie roll onto her plate. “Blech,” she said, sticking her tongue out and scraping with her teeth.

Remy had trouble grasping how such an otherwise adorable kid could regularly and consistently engage in such feats of disgust. It’s as if God had tempered her natural cuteness with an irrevocable need to do something gross at least once an hour. Whether it was picking her nose, burping, or farting, she’d do it with glee, seemingly drawing energy from the reactions of those in her presence.

“It’s NOT bad for you.” Mom glared at Remy, a hard glare, one that meant she was serious. “I can’t believe you said that.” She whisper-yelled at Remy.

“It is.” Remy stood her ground. “And eventually you’ll thank me when she doesn’t get diabetes.”

Mom’s lips thinned and straightened, her glare fierce. Then, she threw up her hands. “Fine! I’ll throw it away then. It’s obviously not going to get eaten, thanks to you.”

She swiped Haley’s plate and unceremoniously dumped it onto the garbage. Then she made a show of upturning the remaining pie, letting it fall into the trash, then tossing the container in along with it. Remy didn’t like upsetting Mom this much, but she had a right to speak her mind, especially when science had her back.

“There!” Mom said. “Happy?”

“Yes!” Remy yelled. “I’m so happy you’re pissed at me for having an opinion. Can’t wait to see how fun the rest of the week will be.”

“Mommy…” Haley seemed about to cry. “I’ll eat it if you want.”

Mom took a deep breath, ran her fingers through her graying hair, then said, “No. Your sister’s right. It’s not good for you. I think a little is ok, but it’s not worth arguing about.” Her eyes landed on Remy. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.”

Remy could’ve said a million things. She could’ve belabored her point about the toxicity of sugar, or passive-aggressively mentioned how she’d expected a few shout-fests, or any number of things. But it had been a long day. So, she pulled a Lily. “It’s fine.”

“It’s not fine. I shouldn’t have yelled, but we’ll move on.” Mom glanced at the trash. “It was store-bought anyway.”

Something about the way she said it touched Remy’s funny bone, and she couldn’t suppress the resulting snicker. Whether it was due to the tension or the way the laughter had escaped her belly, it quickly became contagious. Haley wiped her eyes then giggled, covering her mouth as if she’d done a bad thing.

“What?” Mom asked. “Publix makes good pies!”

The girls at the table laughed harder, and even Mom cracked a smirk. She turned her head away, but not before Remy caught sight of it.

Eventually Mom sighed, then presented her hand palm up to Remy. “I have a surprise for you. Hop on.”

“I dunno,” Remy said. “If it’s more pie…”

“It’s NOT pie.” Mom tapped her fingers impatiently. “Hop on please.”

***

It wasn’t pie.

“What is it?” Remy asked as Mom set her on the carpet.

“ Open it and find out,” Mom said.

“It’s huge!” Remy stated the obvious. She’d rarely seen gifts this large, even when she’d been a prime child. The rectangular box had to be nearly as tall as Haley, which to Remy, made no sense whatsoever. How could she possibly use something so big?

“Lily, get in here!” Mom said. “You’re sister’s opening her birthday gift.”

“My birthday’s not for another five months.” Remy stepped toward the skyscraper of a present. The paper boasted colorful geometric shapes, which seemed childish, but who cared.

“Well, this counts as your gift from me,” Mom said. “It was certainly expensive enough, so you have no choice but to like it.”

“No pressure.” Lily monotoned from the back of Haley’s bedroom. If she hadn’t spoken, it’s likely her arrival would’ve gone unnoticed.

Remy finally reached the base of the gift and placed her palms on the paper. It didn’t budge, probably covering a sturdy box material, rather than a flimsy layer of plastic. Giant teddy bear? Life-size doll? Weren’t they usually encased by plastic on one side so the child could see inside? Then again, perhaps the plastic was on one of the other sides.

“Go ahead,” Mom said. “Open it.”

Opening presents had been one of things she’d demanded to do herself after shrinking. She remembered the first Christmas after she’d reached her final height of three and a quarter inches. After waving Haley away, she proceeded to open her gifts, but almost immediately regretted her decision. They were sometimes hard enough opening as a prime. As a beta, she discovered the resistance of simple wrapping paper to be almost insurmountable. Almost. She always managed, but just barely.

Point being — there was no f-ing way she’d be able to unwrap this particular present.

She caught sight of her target: the seam. It hadn’t been sealed along the entirety of its vertical span, but it had been taped along the area she was capable of reaching. She faked a laugh to hide her rising embarrassment.

“I’ll let Haley open this one,” Remy said.

“Ok!” Haley leapt up from her perch, but Mom extended her arm to the side.

“Give it a shot,” Mom said to Remy. “Opening it’s half the fun.”

Remy rolled her eyes along with her head, hoping her mom would see her expression. Then she turned and walked to a corner of the box. She knelt, dug her fingers into the crease, and pulled.

It didn’t budge. Her fingernails weren’t long but they were sharp and strong enough to peel a beta orange. They, however, failed to dent the wrapping paper. It felt like attempting to puncture a hard plastic lining, even though she knew it was paper.

Exhaling in frustration, she stood, then turned around. “Haley, can you get it started for me?” Whether from embarrassment or exertion, her cheeks had already started to burn.

Mom kept her arm out. “How about I get your knife —”

“I don’t want the knife!” Remy slammed her fist back against the box. “I want Haley to open it! It’s my gift and I want Haley to open it!”

“Hey!” Mom said. “This is supposed to be fun. Why are you so — “

“I can’t open it!” Remy could feel the water briming in her eyes but she willed herself not to cry. “Is that what you want to hear? The tiny, helpless girl can’t even open her own birthday present.”

Mom steepled her fingers against her forehead. She exhaled, then said, “You know, I should just expect I can’t do anything right when it comes to you.”

“I never said that.” Remy wiped her nose, already feeling a little better after venting her feelings.

“Haley.” Mom gestured. “Go ahead.”

Haley hesitated, then crawled over to the box, her right pigtail casting a shadow over Remy. She reached for the same corner Remy had been working on, pinched and tugged until the paper ripped a couple of inches. She had such power in those youthful fingers, more in her pinky than Remy could muster with her entire body. When Remy watched the fingers of primes work up close like this, she couldn’t help but feel amazed. Amazed at what they could do with seemingly so little effort. Amazed at what they could potentially do...by accident.

Haley looked down at Remy, her blue-green eyes questioning.

“Can you unwrap the whole thing?” Remy asked. “Please?”

Haley sucked up some drool that had been about to fall from her mouth in her half upside-down position, then nodded silently. With a growing smile she unwrapped the entire box (it was indeed windowless), then moved aside and announced: “Tada!”

Remy backed up several paces and craned her neck to read the sleek metallic sticker:

BetaBot v3.7

Her eyes felt as if they might spring from her head and her mouth gaped. A BetaBot? Didn’t they cost thousands of dollars? This couldn’t be real, could it?

This time the tears flowed before she could stop them, but she didn’t want to stop them. They were happy tears. She could only recall crying once in her life from a present. It had been her first smartphone. But this — nothing could compare to this. Other than, perhaps, a new car. Not that she was complaining. What sensible beta would ever complain about receiving a state-of-the-art BetaBot?

“How...?” Remy turned around to see Mom wiping tears from her own eyes.

“Happy now?” Mom asked, her voice choked.

“Oh my gosh!” Remy rushed to her mom’s outstretched hand and hugged a couple of fingers so tight she feared she might be cutting off circulation. “Thank you so, so, so much! How’d you know I wanted one? Can I try it now? Are you sure we can afford it? I feel… I feel like my heart’s going to explode!”

Mom scooped Remy up in her hand and lifted her into a cheek hug. Remy endured the familiar affection, waiting until Mom got it of the way before repeating her questions. She’d wanted a BetaBot since the day she’d heard about them, but they’d always been too expensive. To have one sitting in their house! It seemed like a dream.

“Don’t worry about the cost,” Mom said after settling Remy in her palm. “It’s paid in full and entirely yours.”

“But how much —”

“I said not to worry. I’ve been saving to buy one since the day you began shrinking. It’s not the most expensive model, but it’s also easy to resell. Eventually you’ll get the full-sized version, but this will help for now.”

Remy knew enough about BetaBots, the 3-series being their most popular model. While they stood only half the size of an adult prime male, they represented an enormous leap forward in terms of integrating betas into prime society. Three feet might not sound like much to a prime, but to a beta, it meant freedom, protection, transportation, and all sorts of things primes often took for granted.

Unable to contain her excitement, Remy jumped down from Mom’s lowered hand and ran toward the box. She stopped and stared upward as Lily and Haley lifted the gigantic block of styrofoam from it’s cardboard casing. The box toppled backwards and they set the block in front if it.

Haley carefully removed the front styrofoam piece, revealing the BetaBot. It looked like a giant doll, a toony teenage girl, wearing a blue shirt and black shorts. Although it’s oversized head matched the scale of a prime child, it’s limbs were hardly half the size of Haley’s, it’s full height barely reaching past her younger sister’s elbow. Although it had brownish hair, the bot looked nothing like Remy (nor any human for that matter), but it didn’t bother her in the least.

What mattered was the technology.

Though top-heavy, the giant head somehow contributed to the bot’s uncanny ability to balance. In the rare event of a fall, the controller would sustain no damage. The bot itself would break from a drop three stories or more, but the cranial VR chamber would remain intact, protecting its occupant from injury.

That’s right! It was based around VR tech, presumably the most advanced in the industry. Remy skipped with uncontrolled excitement as Haley tore open the foil package containing the haptic suit. It was red and black and looked like it might be too big, but Remy knew better. The suit was designed to shrink to the wearer’s dimensions.

With a leap, Remy snatched the suit from Haley’s hand, then ran to the other side of the box. “No peeking!” she said as she disrobed.

She removed everything, including her underwear, then unzipped the front of the suit. It didn’t unzip far, but it was far enough to get her legs through the collar. She pulled it up the rest of the way, and stuck her arms into the sleeves. It fit like a loose trash bag until she zipped it.

There was a hissing sound, and the suit contracted until it clung to her like a second skin, covering her body from neck to toe. In spite of its tightness, her movement wasn’t impeded. The suit stretched like silky spandex, feeling both incredibly soft and surprisingly durable. Once she got used to it, she ran back out to her watching family and did a twirl. “Fit’s perfectly!”

“It looks so cute on you!” Haley eyeballed her from a too-close distance, causing Remy to back up a step. She then handed Remy the visor. It was red and black like the rest of the suit.

Without hesitation, Remy pulled it over her head and let it rest on her ears and nose like a pair of heavy glasses. The weight bothered her somewhat, and she’d imagine it would eventually become an irritation. However, as soon as she pressed the large button on the exterior of her left earpiece, a hissing sound emitted and the visor became almost weightless. It was as if she were wearing the most comfortable headphones imaginable, one’s that padded not only the skin around her ears, but her entire face as well.

The augmented reality (AR) HUD came into view. Essentially it was Haley’s bedroom, the same as always, except for the faint ‘info’ symbols. She stared at the one above Lily’s head for a few seconds. The information panel expanded:

Liliana M Phillips

Age: 15

DOB: Sep 22, 2003

Address: Private

...

Remy focused on the ellipses. Most of the additional information (phone number, blood type, etc.) was either private or restricted (she wasn’t sure of the difference). The panel also contained lots of biological information, such as heart rate and pupil size. Such data, she remembered from her studies of BetaBots, could be used to detect lies. It wasn’t a hundred percent, but combined with intuition, it could be quite useful.

“How do you turn it on?” Haley swept the bot’s shoulder-length hair aside and searched for a switch.

“There’s a phone app,” Lily said. “Or Remy can do it.”

“C’mon, Remy!” Haley said. “Hurry up and turn it on!”

Remy focused her gaze on the bot’s info symbol and read the panel:

Remy Phillips Bot

ID: BB3724-019188

Power: 94%

Status: Sleep

…

“Turn on!” Remy said, fully expecting nothing to happen. At first, nothing did. Then the status changed from Sleep to On and a female voice filled her ears.

“Good evening, Remy. I am Remy Phillips Bot. Would you like to initiate boarding procedure?”

“Holy shit!” Remy said, fumbling backwards and nearly falling onto her butt.

“Language!” Mom’s said.

“What happened?” Haley asked. “Is it on? I can’t tell.”

“It just spoke to me!” Remy said. “It literally just told me it’s name and asked me to board. Should I?”

“Yes!” Mom and Haley spoke simultaneously.

“Ok. Um. Yes then,” Remy said. “Initiate boarding procedure or whatever.”

After a brief pause, Bot said, “I do not understand...whatever.”

“Initiate boarding procedure.” Remy enunciated each word as clearly as possible. She noticed small buttons beneath the info panel with commands like board, sleep, and charge. She assumed she could focus on them to accomplish tasks without needing to speak, but talking to her bot was far cooler.

“Initiating boarding procedure,” Bot said.

All at once, several things happened. Bot’s face fell, literally, opening from the top and rotating on a hinge under the chin. Then it knelt, lowered it’s right hand to the floor, and said, “Please watch your step.”

Remy did as asked, marveling at the small size of the hand. While plenty large enough for her, it couldn’t have been half the size of Mom’s. And although she couldn’t feel it’s texture through the haptic suit, it seemed pliable, it’s skin indenting slightly at her footsteps.

“Sit,” Bot said.

“I’m fine, just lift me up.” Even if she fell, a fall from the bot’s kneeling height onto carpet wouldn’t hurt much.

“Sitting is a mandatory precautionary measure. If you’d prefer, I can secure you in my hand to ensure —”

“Ok, ok, I’ll sit,” Remy plopped herself onto the bot’s palm, her legs extending to it’s wrist.

The bot’s other hand appeared and cupped Remy, making it impossible for her to see, much less fall. She stifled a complaint, knowing it would likely fall on deaf ears. The manufacturer of these bots placed safety above all other concerns, as well they should. A single lawsuit from an injured beta would likely wipe out an entire year’s worth of profits.

“This is so cool.” Haley’s enormous eyeball could barely be seen through the space between the bots fingers.

“Ascending to cranial platform,” Bot said.

Thankfully, the ascent was fast. There were no mechanical sounds involved, and the movement of Bot’s hands mimicked that of a trained prime: smooth and without abrupt starts or stops.

Upon reaching the destination, the covering hand peeled back, revealing the inside of the VR chamber. It looked like a padded cell one might find in an insane asylum, except it was a black material and perfectly spherical in dimension. Since the other hand remained partly overhead, Remy found herself forced to crawl onto the inner ‘facial’ platform. It too was hemi-spherical, like a shallow, rubbery futon in both softness and shape.

“Please step carefully inside VR chamber,” Bot said.

Remy turned to find both Haley and Mom staring at her, both wide-eyed, both perched like cats waiting for a mouse to exit it’s hole. It was enough to make Remy laugh. She tried to walk to the far end of the platform to give them a better view, but her feet wouldn’t move beyond the edge of the inner ‘futon’. She could move easily inside the futon, but lifting her foot became impossible at the out edge, as if held in place by a powerful magnet. Falling off at this point would be impossible, unless she somehow managed to rip her feet from her ankles.

So instead, she waved then turned and walked toward the chamber. The inner futon edge offered no resistance whatsoever and she proceeded to step inside the Bot’s ‘head’. As soon as she entered and turned around, the Bot spoke in her headphones. “Initiate merging procedure?”

“Yes!” Remy spoke loudly, hopefully loud enough for her attentive audience to hear (even Lily appeared mildly fascinated). “Initiate merge procedure!”

“Initiating merge,” Bot said.

Remy’s feet locked in place, glued to the floor as the outer facial platform raised in front of her. It eclipsed the view of her family, the room, everything. Eventually it sealed shut, surrounding her in darkness. She’d never been claustrophobic, but for a moment, her heart skipped at the thought that she might be trapped.

Then the strangest thing happened. She lost all weight. She couldn’t describe it any other way. It was as if she’d suddenly started floating with no sense of gravity and no sense of orientation. She couldn’t see, hear, or feel anything. If it weren’t for the sound of Bot’s voice softly counting down from ten in her ears, she’d have freaked out.

Once Bot reached zero, it said, “Merge complete.”

Then the light returned.

Feeling returned.

Everything and more returned in a way that took Remy’s breath away.

She found herself standing in the middle of Haley’s bedroom, except everything, literally fucking everything was different. The carpet under her feet was actually under her feet. Strange, perhaps, for it to be the first thing she noticed, but after wading through ankle-high carpet, it was hard not to notice.

Secondly, everything was beta-sized. Well, not quite beta-sized but close enough. The bed, the book-laden shelves, the pink chairs. The family! She could literally see over Haley and Mom’s crouching bodies, their eyes staring up at her like she’d grown a second nose.

Up...they were looking up. At her!

Dizzy, she stepped backwards and felt her heel collide with something hard but not too hard. Her arm went out, but it wasn’t fast enough. The fall happened all at once and in slow motion, simultaneously, which seemed impossible. She fell to the floor, her feet propped over a random piece of styrofoam, but the impact was more like a friendly pat on the back than anything else.

She recognized the styrofoam block as the same one that had towered before her just a few minutes ago. Now it seemed positively small in comparison, still larger than her but not so big she couldn’t kick it aside, which she promptly did.

“Sweetie!” Mom rushed over, followed by Haley, both with concerned looks on their faces. “Are you alright?!”

Remy heard voices differently, more clearly, as if she could pick out nuances she’d never noticed before. She scrambled to her feet and looked around, utterly confused at what was happening to her. One minute she’d been talking to the BetaBot and the next, she was standing outside of it, feeling like an entirely new person. A giant beta, if such a thing existed. Except her BetaBot...it was gone...

“Where’d it go?” She asked, looking around, trying to get her bearings.

“Sweetie, calm down. Are you ok?” Mom asked.

“My BetaBot. I — I remember...what happened to me?” Remy had so many questions. She could recall being this confused at one other point in her life. She’d awoken at two in the morning after passing out from smoking too much weed. At that time, she thought she was dying, unable to hold a thought in her head for more than a second. Now, while she shared the confused state of mind, she didn’t feel about to die. She felt pretty great actually.

“Sweetheart, you’re inside the BetaBot,” Mom said.

“What?” Remy asked. Mom wasn’t making any sense. “I’m obviously not in the Bot. It somehow teleported me out and” — she looked at her hands, her arms, her legs. Her bare feet… “Why’s everything so different. I’m — ”

“You’re in the Bot, sweetie.” Mom placed a large (but considerably smaller than usual) hand on her shoulder. “You’re controlling it.”

“No,” Lily said. “She is the bot.” As soon as she spoke the words, it all clicked.

“This is me? This is me!” Remy grabbed her legs, her stomach, feeling the touch of fingers on skin, the material of the shirt on her chest. “This is my body. Oh, Mom! I never imagined it would be like this. I’m…I’m big. I’m huge! Look at me!”

She rushed into her mom’s outstretched arms and buried head into chest. She’d forgotten how to hug Mom properly. It had been so long. She wrapped her arms around Mom’s neck and burst into tears, relishing the feel of her mom’s heat on her body, the smell of her mild perfume on her collarbone.

“Oh...my baby…” Mom’s tearful voice — a caress on Remy’s back. “I love you so much. I’m so glad you’re happy.”

Remy didn’t want to pull away but she had to start moving or she feared she’d burst from happiness. She wriggled out of her mom’s embrace only to find herself surrounded by Haley. In the brief glimpse Remy had of Haley’s face before being pulled into an awkward hug, she’d seen the girl’s soaked cheeks and emotional expression. It wasn’t surprising given that she could cry at the drop of a hat (and usually did, especially when Mom cried). What was surprising is that Remy could see all of her face at once, not just parts in closeup or profile.

“Put her down, honey,” Mom said, and for the first time, Remy realized she was actually floating. It was different than earlier. She felt gravity, but her feet no longer touched the floor.

Haley’s teary face became visible as Remy found herself held out by the girl’s two arms, one hand under each armpit. “I’m just s — so happy.” Haley stuttered the words before pulling Remy back into another standing hug.

A tearful laugh escaped Remy’s chest. She might’ve grown, but Remy was still no match for a ten-year-old girl with a cuddling addiction. She’d be returned to Earth when Haley deemed it, and only when Haley deemed it. At least that much hadn’t changed.

“It’s ok, Haley.” Remy chuckled. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Haley!” Mom said. “Put your sister down. She’s still getting used to it.”

“Oh.” Haley sniffled, inhaling twice. “Kay.”

Remy felt the carpet under her feet once more, the release of Haley’s encircling arms from around her body. Her sister remained directly in front of her, but she no longer eclipsed Remy’s field of vision as she usually did.

“You guys!” Remy touched her face, tracing her cheeks with her fingertips. “This is so amazing! I can feel everything. It’s like I’ve become someone else.”

Amazingly, she could feel her own face, both through her fingertips and on her cheeks. The area around her eyes was slightly numb, but she couldn’t feel her visor, which seemed odd. She reached out and planted a hand on Haley’s nose, causing the girl’s gap-toothed smile to widen.

Haley’s skin, as smooth as ever, felt warm, and moist from drying tears, and slightly oily. The fine hairs on Haley’s cheeks, usually easily visible to her beta eyes, only barely registered under her fingertips. The blond hair on top of the little girl’s head felt silky, not like a mass of thin ropes.

Haley giggled at the attention, bringing Remy back to reality. She spun around, then dashed to the room’s door, forgetting she was actively controlling an enormous machine. As she considered it, she couldn’t fathom how it replicated the feel of ‘running’ in her mind. Although it was the bot’s feet pounding on the carpet, they felt like her own, though admittedly larger and toonier than she’d have thought possible.

She bumped into the door with a thud, and stumbled backwards. But, she regained her balance, narrowly avoiding another undignified display.

“Careful!” Mom said.

“I’m ok!” she said before turning her attention to the doorknob which was roughly at eye level. Even though the door was parted, she reached for it and turned it successfully. She had to use both hands, but it wasn’t too difficult to twist.

She slammed the door shut, turned the knob, reopened it, then repeated the process several times. “I can open doors now! Look! It’s easy!” Granted, she could do all these things on Earth Beta, but her brain had reverted to prime mode. She hadn’t been able to do simple activities on Earth Prime in years and it delighted her to no end.

“Sweetie,” Mom swept Remy up into her arms, and held her on her hip like a toddler. It made her realize, in spite of her feeling of hugeness, she was really no bigger than a toddler. “You can stay in there as long as you want, but no going outside until you get used to it. And you’re always to be with someone when outside. Understood?”

“Ok, but I’m already used to it,” Remy said. “It feels like my own body.”

“You say that but you just ran straight into the door.” Mom tapped Remy’s nose, which she felt.

“That’s because — ok — maybe I need to get used to it but...but...” So many things to say, to think about. “I’m just so happy you bought this for me!”

“So am I sweetheart. And I’ve got one more surprise for you but I’m going to save it for later. You should have enough to keep yourself busy for now, right?”

Remy wasn’t too sure what Mom meant by keeping busy, but she nodded, eager to be placed back on the floor.

“Good,” Mom gave her a peck on the cheek and set her down. “You two play nice with your sister. The bot’s expensive to repair, but more importantly, I don’t want her getting hurt. I know it’s supposed to be impossible, but I don’t want to see any roughhousing. She’s still a lot smaller than us.”

“Roughhousing?” Lily said.

“Seriously mom,” Haley said. “What are we? Eight?”

Remy stifled her laughter, especially since Haley wasn’t exactly far from eight. The girl had matured quite a bit over the last couple of years, but she hadn’t outgrown the need for playful physicality. Only now, Remy looked forward to it because she’d be able to hold her own. Well (Remy glanced at her youngest sister who still dwarfed her in height and size) perhaps not, but at least she wouldn’t be pinned under a single finger anymore.

“Alright then.” Mom ruffled Remy’s hair. “Call me if you need anything. Bedtime in an hour.” Then she stepped out of the room and went downstairs.

Naturally, the first thing Remy did was rush to Haley’s leg and bearhug it. “Let me see if I can lift you.”

Haley giggled, whisper yelling, “Mom said no roughhousing!”

It didn’t matter. Try as Remy might, her youngest sister’s feet didn’t leave the ground. Remy could feel the resistance as her muscles strained, her feet pressing hard into the floor, the smell of Haley’s thigh plastered to the side of her nose. It all felt so real, she couldn’t convince her own brain otherwise. To her, she was the bot. No. She was herself, only much bigger.

Unfortunately, not big enough to budge Haley.

Laughing, Haley pried Remy from her leg and lifted her once again by the armpits. “You’re too light. Like a teddy bear. There’s no way you could lift me.”

“Hmm, maybe there’s a strength setting somewhere.” Remy looked at the options and found several settings, many of them she noted to revisit later, but nothing for strength. Too bad. It would be cool if she could at least match Haley in strength, but again, no complaints.

“She’s seventeen pounds,” Lily said, not looking up from her phone.

“I’ve gotta put you down.” Haley walked to her bed and placed Remy at the edge so the bot’s feet dangled. Haley sat down too, and took hold of Remy’s hand, cupping it in her own.

“Your hands are so cool,” Haley said, using her free hand to trace around Remy’s. “They’re not even very warm, but they’re tiny and cute. It’s like you’re a doll but you’re my sister too.”

Remy watched as her hand got swallowed up by Haley’s larger one. She could feel the heat and pressure. “How’s it any different than my real body? To you, I’m like a doll either way.”

Haley missed Remy’s mild irritation and continued, “Usually you’re too small, even for a doll. I feel like I’d break you if I tried to play with you. But now you’re big enough to hug, and hold, and cuddle all night and not get hurt.”

A mischievous look flitted through Haley’s eyes. Before Remy could hop down, Haley tackled her back onto it, pulling her into a reverse hug, nuzzling her blond hair against Remy’s neck as her legs curled around Remy’s butt.

Remy squirmed, but she couldn’t budge Haley’s arms. “Leggo!” Her cry would’ve worked if she hadn’t let lose a bit of laughter at the same time.

“Cuddle snuggles!” Haley said, continuing her nuzzling and progressing into tickles against Remy’s abdomen which felt like real tickles. Remy’s laughter intensified. Her feet flailed, but bounced ineffectively against Haley’s legs. At one point, Haley’s thigh brushed against Remy’s groin and an alert appeared in midair:

Enable external genitalia stimulation?

Remy’s laughter ceased as she stared at the NO button. In what seemed like forever, NO registered, causing the question to disappear from her view. Everything was so real she’d forgotten she could still see faint pieces of the HUD. Strangely, they disappeared after a short time, leaving only a single info circle at the upper right of her vision, virtually invisible unless she shifted her gaze to the upper right.

“What happened?” Haley’s nuzzling stopped.

“Nothing!” Remy said. “Nothing,” she repeated herself in a calmer, less suspicious tone. After clearing her throat, she asked, “Care to let me go now?”

“Ummmm, not until you promise to sleep with me tonight,” Haley said.

“Haley, you know I can’t do that. If you rolled over —”

“With your new body, I wouldn’t be able to accidentally hurt you.”

“Uh, yeh, I guess.” Remy considered. “But I doubt I can sleep in here.”

“You could,” Lily said from her seat on Haley’s small table. “It can charge while you sleep.”

“Sure,” Remy tried to sit up but Haley still held her too tight. “But what if I need to use the bathroom?”

“It’s one of your private rooms,” Lily said.

“Yeh. Not following.”

“Go to options. Private Rooms. You should see bathroom.”

“Still not following. I mean what if I have to take a piss in real life.”

“Oooooo, you said the ‘p’ word.” The air from Haley’s voice tickled the back of Remy’s neck.

Lily sighed. “It’s a virtual bathroom. You walk in there, do your business, and walk out. The bot will handle the biological aspects.”

“So you’re telling me, if I take a poop — ”

“The bot has a dry flush toilet, a bidet, along with the ability to open specific parts of your haptic suit,” Lily said. “I could go into more detail.”

“Whoa.” Remy blinked. “Wow. No, that’s quite enough.”

“Does that mean she can pee like a Baby Alive?” Haley asked.

Suddenly, Haley sat up, pulled down Remy’s shorts, and felt around Remy’s groin area. “She doesn’t have a pee hole.”

Thankfully the warning didn’t reappear on Remy’s HUD, but she felt a distinct sensation down there — far more than she ever wanted to feel from her little sister. Remy scrambled back, pulling her shorts up in the process. “Don’t! I can feel — ”

“But I don’t understand how you pee without a hole,” Haley said.

“She actually does have a hole, but it’s under adult options,” Lily said. “And she doesn’t pee from it. The waste is wrapped up and disposed of later.”

“So it stays inside the bot with me?” Remy asked, thankful to be away from Haley’s inquisitive fingers.

“No offense, but you’re real body is quite small,” Lily said. “So is your waste. The bot can store months of your urine and fecal matter without filling the container which, by the way, is located — “

“That’s ok! I don’t need to know where it’s located.” She did, but she didn’t want to find out from Lily.

“If her pee hole isn’t used to pee, what’s it used for?” Haley asked, clearly hung up on the topic. She’d received a Baby Alive for her ninth birthday, and it had been one of her favorite toys, so the line of questioning made sense.

“It’s used for other things,” Remy said. “Next topic.”

“You mean it’s used for sex?” Haley asked.

Remy glanced at Lily who, unfortunately, appeared eager to let Remy speak.

“I know about sex,” Haley said before either of the older girls could talk. “I’m not a dummy. It’s how babies are born. The boy sticks his penis into the hole where a girl pees. It hurts at first, but then it feels good, and then a baby is born from the girl’s stomach.”

This didn’t come as a surprise. Remy had explained how sex worked during her visit last summer. Clearly Haley had a few of the details wrong, but she remembered most of it. At the time, as Haley’s endless stream of questions had continued, Remy had even explained masturbation.

However, Remy had no desire to reconvene on the topic, especially with Lily in the room. If anything, this should be Mom’s job, though she couldn’t remember how she herself had learned about it. She remembered her first orgasm, but that had been at least a year after she’d learned about sex and masturbation.

“Yes, it’s for sex,” Remy frowned at her own words. “Maybe. I don’t know.” She really didn’t. Could BetaBots have sex? “Talk to Mom if you want to know more about sex.”

“I already know about sex.” Haley sounded exasperated. “I want to know about — “

“We don’t know,” Remy said. “Listen, when I find out, I’ll tell you.” She considered what she’d just said. “Maybe. It’s private, so if I don’t want to talk about it, you’ll have to be ok with that.”

Haley huffed, crossing her arms. “Ok. But I don't see why it has to be such a big secret. How am I ever supposed to learn anything if you don’t tell me?”

“I’ll think about it, ok.” Remy said. “End of discussion.”

 

Remy’s eyelids snapped open. Dreams. Such crazy dreams. She couldn’t recall any of them, but there had been many, far more than she could count. She’d enjoyed most, perhaps a little too much, and then...

Something had slapped her in the chest!

As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she remembered where she was — and with whom she was sleeping. Turning her head to the right, she identified the problem. Haley had turned over in her sleep, her right arm draped over Remy’s stomach.

But thankfully not crushing her entire body.

Remy couldn’t help but smile as she remembered her new body, as she felt the sheets sliding against her new skin, as the warmth of Haley’s arm penetrated her flesh. Haley’s entire forearm, something which should be several times bigger than her, rested on her stomach. Before yesterday, she’d have imagined it to be impossible. Before yesterday, she’d never dream of sleeping with any of her siblings under any circumstances.

Now that she’d assessed the situation, she needed to decide what to do about it. Although the weight of Haley’s arm wasn’t uncomfortable, she doubted she’d be able to fall asleep while bearing its weight. More importantly her bladder beckoned. She didn’t have to go, not in a dire way, but she could go. If she’d been sleeping alone, she’d get up and pee if only to take her mind off it.

She could do the same now. Haley was a heavy sleeper and it’s doubtful Remy would awaken her. Even if she did, who cared? Certainly not Haley.

Then Remy recalled the private bathroom Lily had mentioned. Theoretically, she could use it while the bot ‘handled things’ in real life. Now seemed to be as good a time as any to test it out, especially since she only had to do number one.

She glanced to the upper right, found the widget, then navigated through the menu until she located Private Rooms. There were many choices, including control room, beach, games...there was even an adult option. She skipped past those and selected bathroom.

She teleported.

The lights were bright. She found herself standing in the middle of an entirely average bathroom. It had a sink, a mirror, toothbrushes, and toothpaste. It also had a toilet (a bidet to be specific) and a shower. Could she take a shower? How would the bot handle it?

Curious, she tugged on the shower door. A warning appeared in the air: Shower module not installed.

Ok. That settled that. But what about the toilet?

She opened the lid to find...a normal looking toilet bowl, filled partly with water. But...it was too normal. Shouldn’t a bidet have some sort of spraying device? It looked like an average toilet, the kind you’d find in an average American household. If she tried to use it and it wasn’t installed properly, what would happen?

Unfortunately, the sight of water had increased her urge to urinate, and it couldn’t wait any longer. She sat on the porcelain seat and —

Cold!

She stood and found the chill remained on her butt for several seconds, as if the seat had stuck to her ass somehow. Then it faded, her body returning to normal temperature.

She rubbed her ass and realized for the first time she was entirely naked. Why hadn’t she noticed? Was she dreaming? If she pissed in her dreams, would the bot handle that too?

No, she wasn't dreaming. Her thoughts never flowed so coherently in her dreams, or if they did, she couldn’t remember them from one minute to the next. Her memory seemed as crystal clear as ever.

Determined, she re-seated herself upon the toilet. As expected, the chill returned, oddly a few seconds after sitting down, as if there were some sort of a delay in the virtual room. She’d noticed such delays here and there, such as when she fell (which had already happened twice). Her body’s impact with the ground didn’t quite sync up with what she felt. The latter seemed delayed by a second, and diminished in effect.

She couldn’t hold it any longer and the pee flowed out like a miniature niagara. It felt good while it happened, as if she might be doing something wrong but she didn’t care. Lily was right about one thing: her real body was quite small, and any mess she made would hardly be noticed. It might cause her some embarrassment, but she couldn’t imagine it doing any damage to the bot.

When she finished, she reached for the toilet paper only to find none. She made as if to stand, but her ass was stuck to the seat, this time quite literally. Panic. She tried again, but failed.

Then it hit her — a stream of water so cold she almost yelped aloud.

“Too cold!” As soon as she spoke the words, the water warmed to a far more bearable temperature. Then it warmed further until it became somewhat pleasurable.

She sat for a few seconds, enjoying the weird bath until it stopped of its own accord. Although somewhat disappointed it didn’t continue, she’d at least regained her freedom, and found she could stand without restraint. She dried herself with a fluffy yellow towel and, somewhat eager to explore the rest of the house, she opened the bathroom door.

The simulation ended and she found herself back in Haley’s bedroom, staring up at the ceiling. It was confusing to go from standing to lying down all in an instant, like the sensation of falling through something solid. But she wasn’t falling. She was safe and sound in bed...Haley’s bed...with Haley’s arm still draped across her.

Rather than scooting away, Remy tested her strength and found she could lift Haley’s arm without much strain. She moved the appendage away, onto the sleeping girl’s side. Free from obstruction, she reached for the source of a growing concern — her vagina.

Unfortunately, the nightgown blocked her fingers from touching her skin. It had been one of Haley’s hand-me-downs and, even though Mom had trimmed it, it hung to the bot’s ankles. She could hike it up, but she didn’t want to move around too much with Haley at her side. So she simply felt for moisture.

There wasn’t any.

She knew she could feel wet things because she'd done it earlier: the tears on Haley’s face, the sink, even a glass of water which she’d somehow managed to sip (and which had somehow managed to quench her thirst). There was no wetness this time, but...there was also no vagina, at least not so far as she could determine.

Haley had been right about missing a hole down there, perhaps two holes. She wanted to explore further, but she could feel her own hand through the nightie, and it made her uncomfortable. She wasn’t a prude. She had no qualms against touching herself, but not with her sister nearby. Perhaps she’d find some time to explore herself in the morning. Doubtful, but a girl could hope.

***

Erica spent the morning hunched over her phone with her oldest prime daughter at her side. Configuring BetaTracker shouldn’t have taken long, but Erica had never been great with technology, and it was too important. She couldn’t afford to screw it up.

“You’re sure she won’t be able to run away?” Erica let her finger slide across the screen, moving the view. It showed an overhead wireframe of their home with two overlapping dots: one for Remy, the other for Remy’s bot.

“She won’t be able to leave the front yard,” Lily said, pointing to a red circle surrounding the image of their house.

“She’s going to try,” Erica said. “Lord knows she’ll try.”

When Lily didn’t respond, Erica asked, “You think I’m doing wrong here, don’t you?”

Lily gave her an expressionless look, then stated matter-of-factly: “She may try to kill herself.”

“Oh God!” Erica placed her hand in her lap before it could start shaking. “Remy would never...she’s not suicidal.”

Erica had some experience with handling depressed kids, mostly in handling the one sitting across from her. Erica knew the medications, she knew the therapies, but she didn’t know the feelings, at least not firsthand. On the other hand, Lily knew the feelings, the suicidal thoughts...all of it. If she thought Remy might travel down the same path, Erica had best pay attention.

Then, she remembered something. “The bot...it has a feature — ”

“Self-harm prevention,” Lily said. “It won’t help if she leaves the bot.”

“Does she need to leave it?” Erica asked. “It can do everything, right? Eat, sleep...whatever she wants.”

“It’s missing a couple of the newer hygiene modules.”

“Ok. I’ll buy them. How much are they?”

Lily blinked, then said calmly, “She won’t stay in there forever.”

“You and Haley can keep an eye on her when she’s out.”

“We can’t — ”

“You can and you will.” Erica slapped her palm on the kitchen table. “She’s not allowed out of the bot unless one of you with her. Understood?”

Lily tapped on her phone. “The bot has a babysitting feature. As long as it’s not asleep, it should be able to watch Remy when we’re not around.”

Erica considered her middle daughter for several long seconds. “Fine. I’ll trust your judgement. If you’re sure the bot is capable of stopping my baby from” — she swallowed the lump in her throat — “killing herself...”

Lily did something completely uncharacteristic. She reached across and took hold of Erica’s hand, gave it a squeeze, and held onto it.

“I’ll make sure,” Lily said.

***

Remy awoke to a shaking sensation, her body rocking from side to side, a pressure on her chest. Her eyes opened to the sight of Haley’s face directly above her, scraggly hair dangling everywhere, noses nearly touching.

“You’re alive!” Haley said.

A drop of Haley’s drool landed on Remy’s chin, causing the older girl to twist to her side, sit up, and wipe it with the back of her hand. She remembered where she was. She remembered the hand, the chin — they weren’t her own. But they felt like her own, so she wiped anyway. “Gross.”

“Sorry,” Haley smiled in a way that meant she wasn’t sorry. “I couldn’t hear you breathing, so I had to wake you up.”

“This isn’t me, remember?” Remy said. “I’m inside the head.”

“Duh,” Haley said. “Hey, what do you wanna play? We can’t play dolls since you’re bigger” — her eyes widened dramatically — “I know! We can play hide and seek. It’ll be a lot easier for me to find you now.”

“Maybe later,” Remy said. “Right now I’m hungry.”

“After breakfast then?” Haley asked, unwilling to drop the subject.

“Maybe. I’d like to go outside first. Maybe even go shopping. Your old clothes are a bit too big on me.” She pulled the neck of her nightgown up, but it fell right back down her arm, exposing her left shoulder to the cool air. Even though her real body resided inside a climate controlled chamber, she felt the coolness of her surroundings and it caused her to shiver.

“I wanna go!” Haley bounced on the bed, her knees hitting the mattress and her hair flying everywhere.

“Put your pajamas on,” Remy said, hopping down from the bed. She landed cleanly on her feet, surprising herself at her own balance.

“I’m not cold,” Haley said.

“You’re too old to be running around the house half naked,” Remy said. Had the girl gone to sleep wearing only her panties? She could’ve sorn Haley had been wearing a nightie like herself, but perhaps she’d removed it at some point.

“Mom doesn’t care,” Haley said. “She said it’s fine as long as no one sees me.”

“I care,” Remy said. “And I’m not taking you to the mall unless you put something on.”

“No fair,” Haley stopped bouncing and disappeared on the other side of the bed. She rose back into view while donning her nightgown. “Boys don’t have to wear shirts.”

“Life’s not fair,” Remy made her way toward the bedroom door.

Haley rushed to her side. “But I don’t even have titties yet.”

“You will soon enough.”

“Will they be as big as yours?” Haley asked.

Remy stopped walking and looked at her own chest, studying it for the first time. She cupped her breasts. They were proportionally smaller than on her real body, but it didn’t bother her. She wasn’t trying to pick up hot babes on Earth Prime. As far as she was concerned, the flatter the better when it came to moving around.

“Feel mine!” Haley lifted up her gown, exposing her chest. There were no breasts, only two nipples and some ribs. The girl wasn’t stick thin, but she could afford to put on some weight.

Remy reached up with both hands and lightly pinched Haley’s nipples, causing the girl to let loose a series of giggles. She jumped back, pulled the nightie down, then covered her non-existent breasts with her hands.

“Whaja do that for?!” Haley eyed Remy with wary glee.

“You told me to.”

Halley's grin widened. “So whaddya think? Are they going to be as big as yours?”

“Bigger,” Remy said, though in truth, she had no idea.

Haley frowned. “I want them to be the same size. Yours are perfect. And your bot’s boobies are nice too.”

Remy laughed. “Since when do you care so much about boobies?”

“I don’t know. I just think about them sometimes. My friend Kayla already has them and she said the bigger they are, the more boys will like you.” Haley paused. “I’m not sure I want boys to like me too much. Maybe I’ll be a les-bean like you.”

A les-bean, huh?” Remy laughed, then launched forward, directing a tickle attack at Haley’s stomach. She succeeded for a few seconds before the giggling preteen grappled Remy’s wrists.

Rather than retaliate, Haley asked, “How will I know...if I’m a les-bean or not?”

“It’s just a label.” Remy tugged at her arms, but couldn’t escape the large child’s grip. “It doesn’t matter. Boobies don’t matter either. What matters is how you feel. If you’re in love with someone, girl or boy, you’ll know it. Just be yourself.”

Half of what she said sounded like bullshit, but Remy didn’t have the answers to life, love, and all that shit. She did have a healthy resentment toward the media and it’s version of ‘beauty’. If words she spoke now would discourage her little sister from getting ‘work done’, she’d say them. In her head, it was like giving the double bird to society and it’s fucked up narcissism. The Kardashians weren’t going to brainwash her sister if Remy had anything to say about it.

***

Remy checked to see if she was drooling. She wasn’t, but she could feel her mouth watering as she eyed her plate of pancakes, eggs, and sausage. She didn’t have nearly as much food as Haley or Lily, but it was hundreds of times more than her normal body could consume. It would be her first meal in the BetaBot and she couldn’t wait to get started.

She gripped her knife and fork, one utensil in each hand, and began cutting away at the sausage. It was shaped in a circular patty and sliced easily enough. Her utensils were large for her hands, but they were prime utensils, something she’d never dreamed of lifting again, much less using.

Mom and Haley cast glances in her direction, paying more attention to her food than their own. “Remember, small bites,” Mom said.

Whatever. Remy was tired of taking small bites her entire life. For once she could take a big bite and enjoy it like a normal person. She stuffed a quarter of the sausage in her mouth and began chewing.

There was a delay (one she’d come to expect with certain actions), then the flavor hit her like a bomb. Her cheeks puffed out as her mouth suddenly felt stuffed with the oily meat. It wasn’t entirely stuffed. She could chew, but perhaps she had taken too big a bite.

It tasted hot and delicious, just like sausage should. It tasted nearly the same as always, but not quite. With her larger mouth, she could taste the burned edges along with the tender center, all at once, something she’d never been able to do with prime food.

The surprise came when she swallowed. As soon as she gulped her first mouthful, another bite (this one smaller), appeared on her tongue as if by magic. Perhaps she’d somehow missed it with her first swallow? She gulped again only to find yet another mouthful awaiting her attention.

She continued this process for several swallows until her stomach began to fill. Then, with her entire family watching (all except Lily), she unceremoniously opened her mouth and spit the remaining sausage onto her plate. It looked roughly the same as when she’d started, mashed up, but relatively unchanged in size and texture. It appeared relatively dry though a small amount of steam rose from it, just as it did with the untouched pieces.

“What’s wrong?” Mom asked. “Can you taste it?”

“Yes,” Remy said. “It’s delicious. But I — I’m starting to feel full.”

Haley scooted over to examine the sausage. “Did you even eat any?”

“Yes.” Remy rubbed her stomach. “A lot.”

“Doesn’t look like it,” Haley said.

“Well I did!” Remy said, unsure why she felt the need to raise her voice. Haley hadn’t meant any harm. “I mean — I swallowed several bites, but they just kept coming.”

“I’m sure I sound like a broken record, but you’re three inches tall,” Lily said. “The bot can transfer the food to your mouth, but it can’t increase the size of your stomach.”

“I know!” Remy said, hoping her bot was incapable of showing embarrassment. “I just figured it would go to the waste disposal container or something.”

“It doesn’t.” Lily deadpanned.

“Clearly.” Remy glared at her sister.

“Alright, alright,” Mom said. “Can you give me a few hours before you start fighting? At least until we get back from the mall?”

“When are we going?” Haley asked, seemingly immune to the tension in the room. “Can I help pick out her clothes?”

“I’m staying home,” Lily said.

Remy wanted to remind Lily that no one had invited her, but she bit her tongue. She still couldn’t identify why she was upset. Perhaps it was because in the bot, she felt like an entirely new person. She could do so much more, almost as much as a prime, but not quite. Perhaps it made her shortcomings, as minor as they were, seem so much greater. The closer she got to being normal, the more pronounced her remaining limitations became.

***

The journey to the mall was surprisingly uneventful. People didn’t pay much attention to the three-foot-tall girl. Then again, they never paid much attention to the three-inch-tall girl either. Betas weren't exactly rare and BetaBots were becoming more common so perhaps the novelty of small humans had waned among the general public.

Remy found she could keep pace with Haley so long as she walked as fast as possible. Sometimes she’d break into a light jog to keep up, but nothing strenuous. The bot did not do the work for her. As proof, her HUD’s fitness meter displayed steps taken and calories burned. She’d almost met her fitness goal for the day (whatever that meant), and it wasn’t even noon.

The first place they stopped was Payless. Her current shoes were designed for the bot, but they looked like Crocs. With Haley’s help, Remy found some toddler shoes which were reasonably discrete. They were like Converse but with a velcro strap at the top, in case she forgot how to tie them. Whatever. They were comfortable than the Crocs and didn’t expose her toes to the cold weather, so it was a win in her book.

The rest of the shopping happened in much the same fashion. They moved from the toddler section of one clothing shop to the next, each time finding a couple of fitting items which didn’t make her look like a three-year-old. Granted, the cat print gray dress and the pink one with the fuzzy apple pushed the limits of what she found tolerable, but since both Haley and Mom had insisted, she couldn’t help but add them to her growing collection. They made quite the persuasive team, and she suspected Mom would’ve bought the dresses anyway.

At Haley’s insistence, Remy wore the cat dress on the way home since the feline’s pink cheeks matched the pink in her new shoes. In spite of popular opinion (euphemisms aside), lesbians didn’t hate the color pink. It wasn’t her most favorite, nor was it her least. She did hate dresses, but she couldn’t deny the comfort of her current outfit, especially wearing her new cotton panties. They reminded her of the one’s she’d worn in her childhood, when she’d been a prime, both soothing and concealing.

Haley gave Remy a piggyback ride on the way back to the car, and it was a welcome relief. Remy had already exceeded her fitness goal for the day and her legs protested the thought of further activity. Besides, she’d was already wearing the clothing of a toddler. Why not be transported like one?

“You’re lighter than my backpack,” Haley said as she hopped onto a curb and crunched through the brown grass.

Remy leaned against her sister’s warm back and rested chin on shoulder. She could fall asleep in such a position, but she didn't want to lose her grip and risk damaging her bot. It might not be her real body, but it was close enough. She’d take care of it, good care of it, since it would make her visits to Earth Prime so much more enjoyable.

“You know,” she said. “This bot almost makes me want to visit more often. I wish I could take it home with me.”

“We are going home, sweetie,” Mom said.

“No, I mean back to Earth Beta.”

“Oh,” Mom said.

Remy chuckled as she thought about it. “Of course, there I’d be a giant. Wow. I’d literally be a giant. Wouldn’t that be ridiculous?”

“I suppose it would.” Mom clicked a button on her key fob and the car beeped in the distance.

***

“ I’ve been drinking water, and it’s fine,” Remy said. “I don’t feel thirsty at all.” She ducked behind Haley’s legs to avoid her Mom’s outstretched arms.

“Check your bladder.” Lily said from her spot on the sofa.

“It’s” — Remy glanced at the blinking rectangle in the corner of her vision — “almost full. I’ll just go empty it.”

“You don’t have the advanced water and waste modules,” Lily said. “We have to empty it for you.”

“So empty it for me!” Remy squealed, dived from a reaching hand, but she wasn’t quite fast enough.

Mom caught hold of Remy’s arm, then lifted her, and set her on the couch beside Lily. “Remy Phillips! I’m giving you five seconds to get out of there!”

“No!” Remy struggled, but couldn’t budge her Mom’s huge hands. “I don’t want to be small again. Why can’t I just take a shower as I am?”

“She just said you don’t have the water module, so you can’t get wet.” Mom’s fingers pressed against the top of Remy’s head, likely looking for a way to open the bot.

“Not exactly,” Lily said. “Her bot can get wet, but her real body won’t get clean. After the modules are installed, she’ll be able to drink warm water and take a bath. She’ll also be able to spit and cry and urinate.”

“I can already urinate, thank you very much.” Remy fell onto her back and brought her arms and legs up to ward off Mom’s probing hands.

Lily sighed. “Sure. Using the basic dry waste module, which by the way, will also need manual disposal. After you get the modules, you’ll be able to urinate dirty water and defecate dry waste from your bot without our assistance.”

“Neat!” Haley said.

“Not helping.” Remy shot her youngest sister a scowling face. “I’m only here for a few more days. Why can’t I just shower when I get home?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Mom had pinned Remy’s arms and legs to the cushion. “Lily, how do you open this thing?”

Remy continued to squirm to no avail. “How long is it going to take?”

“If you would get out, I’ll drive it to the store now,” Mom said.

“A day, at most,” Lily said. “Maybe sooner since you already have the basic waste module.”

“Ugh!” Remy hated the thought of another day of tininess.

“I can’t understand why you’re being so stubborn,” Mom said.

“No you can’t understand,” Remy said. “It sucks being three inches tall. I’ve finally got a halfway decent body, and now you’re taking it away from me. Why couldn’t you have installed the freaking modules ahead of time?”

Mom’s eyebrows raised, her expression warning. “Are you sure you want to use that tone with me? Do you know how expensive this is?”

“In fairness, the advanced water and waste modules didn’t exist when Mom purchased the bot,” Lily said.

“Sorry,” Remy said, feeling slightly guilty at her ungratefulness. She sat up, and searched for the HUD feature which would allow her to exit. “It just — this body feels like it’s mine now. I’m actually a little scared to leave it. It’s hard to explain.”

“Sweetheart, I’m glad you like your new body.” Mom ran her hand along the back of Remy’s hair. “Trust me, I am. And I promise I’ll get it back to you as soon as possible. Now can you come out? The faster get it to the store, the faster you get it back.”

“Ok.” Remy found the option for separate, smirking a little at the spelling of the word. She’d likely have guessed incorrectly if she’d attempted to spell it yesterday.

She selected the option and immediately lost her senses. There was nothing. She was nothing. She was alone with her thoughts and nothing else.

Fortunately the isolation didn’t last long. Light flooded her compartment, this time from the real world rather than some virtual imitation. She still couldn’t move, however, her arms and legs spread like a snow angel.

“Cool!” Haley’s face was the first to appear. “She’s floating.”

“What?!” Remy asked. She couldn’t move her head. “What do you mean?”

“Magnets,” Lily said, as if the single word should explain everything.

Mom reached with her hand. “Can I take her out now?”

“It’s best to let the bot do the work,” Lily said.

Mom’s encroaching hand withdrew and Remy felt weight return to her body. Something solid slid under her feet. She jerked forward, regaining control over her limbs, and stumbled into the futon platform. “Whoa.”

“Good,” Mom said. “Now get undressed. Let’s not waste any more time.”

Remy sighed as she took in the greatly expanded environment as a result of her greatly reduced size. Three giant faces stared at her as if she were a specimen from some alien planet. She recognized them as her family, of course, but elevated to some scarcely conceivable level of divinity. Their power unfathomable. Their will unquestionable. Arriving from Earth Beta led to a similar experience, but not as extreme. When traveling, she interacted with many betas before direct exposure to primes.

“Gimme a second.” Remy tugged off her helmet as she regained her composure. Then, she glared back at the giants surrounding her. “A little privacy?”

Once they turned their heads, Remy unzipped her suit causing it to hiss like a deflating balloon. She wrinkled her nose at a sudden whiff of something unpleasant. It took her a second to identify it as her own body odor. The suit practically slid off her arms and torso, her own sweat and oil making it’s removal like peeling an old banana.

“Ok.” She stepped out of the suit, then picked it up to hide her indecency. “Maybe I do need a shower.”

Haley was the first to turn around. “Can we take a bath, Mommy? Please!”

“Fine, just be careful.” Mom plucked up the helmet, then snatched the suit from Remy’s hands leaving her fully naked.

“Sweet!” Before Remy could complain, she found herself encased in Haley’s soft but unbreakable grasp, moving fast, presumably in the direction of the bathroom. “I can’t wait to show you my bath bomb. I’ve been waiting until you got here to use it.”

Being naked in front of her family wasn’t a new thing. Neither was bathing with Haley. Remy simply couldn’t perform some sanitary functions without assistance, and Haley never failed to volunteer a helping hand. However, it still didn’t stop her from feeling a certain degree of embarrassment, especially given her current state of filth.

“Pyewww!” Haley sniffed Remy’s head, the only part of her body exposed from the girl’s closed fist. “You really need a bath.” She closed the door, set Remy beside the sink, then twisted the tub’s faucet. Water roared in distance, drowning out the sound of the bathroom’s fan.

Haley stripped naked, removing her dress and panties faster than Remy would’ve thought possible. She undid her tails and let her hair fall straight as she dove under the sink and rummaged around. When she reappeared, she held up an enormous pink box containing the ‘bubble bomb’. It looked like a spherical cupcake with glitter on top.

“Aren’t you glad I waited?” Her eyes danced with glee, and Remy couldn’t help but smile. Haley opened the top of the box and inhaled dramatically. “Oh my gosh! Smell!”

She aimed the opening at Remy and the sweet, soapy aroma flooded her senses. She stepped backwards and held up her hands in a warding gesture. “Yeh.” She coughed. “Smells wonderful.”

“I know.” Haley giggled then reached for Remy.

“No grabbing.” Remy held up her hands, but to no avail. Haley grabbed her, encircling everything below her armpits, and carried her to the tub. She probably hadn’t heard Remy over the water.

“It’s safer this way...when you’re wet.” Haley stepped into the tub and sat down. She planted Remy between her legs as she worked on the packaging.

“I wasn’t wet,” Remy mumbled, not intending to be heard. She’d been sweaty, but her sweat had begun to dry. Of course, she was certainly wet now. The rising water already reached her breasts.

She turned away from Haley’s unabashed display of her ‘private’ area. The girl had zero sense of modesty. During the warmer months, if she could find a way to strip to her undies, she would. She’d merely giggle if mom told her to get dressed, then retreat to her room. If Remy’s house happened to be there with Remy inside, she’d almost always forget Mom’s command and move on to more interesting things, like hide and seek. If Mom used her ‘serious’ tone, which usually only happened after a couple of times getting caught, Haley would then wear something more substantial, but only then.

Remy, on the other hand, didn’t have a ‘serious’ voice in her three-inch form. Day one, Haley listened and respected, but she dropped the act entirely by day two. Since it was day two, Remy knew she had about as much control over Haley as one might have over the wind. Oddly, Haley did seem more obedient this morning with ‘RemyBot’, but perhaps it had been a fluke. She intended to find out when she got her bot back, which hopefully would be later tonight.

“Got it open!” Packaging clattered to the floor on the other side of the tub. “Look!”

Remy turned around and gazed up at the massive pink and white ball hovering a few inches above her face. It had already started to bubble at the points where Haley’s fingertips contacted its surface. It had also started to descend, making Remy wave her hands as if signaling search and rescue.

“Wait!” Remy yelled. “Where’s my tub?!”

“Awww,” Haley said. “Dontcha wanna feel the bubbles? They’ll be really big for you.”

“No!” Remy turned the other direction as if to make a run for it (soon to be a swim for it), but there lay nothing but Haley’s crossed feet and the roar of the faucet. Instead, she turned back and yelled, “I’ll drown!”

“No you won’t.” Haley carefully placed the bomb in the water then, without hesitation, scooped Remy up and held her near the center of the resulting ‘explosion’.

Remy squealed and fell back against Haley’s fingers as the furious fizzing encircled her body, the pink bubbles popping just under her chin. Haley lifted her higher causing Remy to burst into laughter as the fizzies assaulted her feet. Upon hearing it, Haley burst into her own fit of giggles, lowering Remy to more thoroughly experience the bubbly sensation.

Remy sat up straight on Haley’s palm to ensure her head remained above the growing layer of bubbles, but it was probably unnecessary. Haley wouldn’t let her get hurt, at least not intentionally. In spite of her frequent childish disobedience, she had a sense for when Remy was afraid, and instinctively sought to remedy frightening situations. If Remy could trust Haley with anything, it was her safety.

Ironically, in this case, Remy found herself almost grateful she’d been overruled. Sitting comfortably in the center of a giant bubble bomb turned out to be a lot more fun and a lot less scary than she’d imagined.

She beamed up at Haley. “Smells like cupcakes!”

“I know! Isn’t it cool!” Haley’s face rushed down and plunged into the water, sending a wave of pink bubbles cascading over Remy’s head. She barely managed to close her eyes and mouth in time. She considered standing, but Haley’s head was already on the rise, her dangly hair now decorated with pink glitter.

Haley wiped her eyes with her free hand and blew her nose. “Ewww!” She grimaced. “Booger!”

Of course, Haley had to bring the booger laden finger to Remy for inspection.

“Disgusting,” Remy said, mostly because it was what Haley wanted to hear.

In truth, she’d never been disgusted by bodily fluids. In fact, she enjoyed popping pimples, especially on primes. She had a talent for it, and she could always do it in a way that wouldn't leave a mark. It should gross her out, but it didn't, perhaps because it was a task she could perform better than primes, and such tasks were indeed rare. Extremely rare.

“I dare ya to touch it,” Haley said.

“Pass,” Remy said. It wasn’t an ugly booger. It was white and gooey and, in her opinion, hardly counted as a booger, but that didn’t mean she wanted to touch it. “Can I have my tub now?”

“Only if you touch it.”

Remy reached out, stuck a finger in the cooling mucus, and withdrew her hand.

“Ewww, you touched my booger!” Haley said.

Remy popped the same finger into her mouth, sucked and withdrew it with an audible pop.

Haley’s mouth dropped open and for a moment she looked utterly stunned. Then her face scrunched. “Ewwwwww —”

She erupted into a giggle fit and coughed out something unintelligible which Remy interpreted as: “Ate my booger!”

Eventually she calmed. Then she looked at her finger and, still grinning wildly, popped it into her mouth. When the finger emerged, it was entirely clean.

“I ate my own booger!” Haley laughed hysterically as she spoke. It was contagious and Remy found herself laughing, then coughing pink bubbles as Haley’s hand had dipped lower in the water.

Attuned to Remy’s coughing, Haley stopped giggling and lifted Remy, this time all the way to her face. “What did it taste like?”

“Delicious.” Remy crossed her arms. It was significantly cooler out of the water.

“I mean what did it really taste like?”

Remy rolled her eyes. In all honesty, not much of the booger had stuck to her finger. It had a taste, but not one she could easily describe. “Salty, I guess. A little like…grape bubblegum!”

“Nuh-uh!” Haley’s gap toothed smile was on prominent display and Remy found herself amazed at the size of the girl’s incisors. They seemed too big for her mouth, but Remy knew it was because she was still just a kid. She’d grow into them, probably get braces at some point. It sucked that some kids made fun of her at school. In Remy’s opinion, the two teeth only added to her cuteness. And, though she had an irrational fear of prime mouths, Remy found her fear of Haley’s mouth to be dramatically reduced, almost nonexistent. Almost.

“Why is your hair curly down here but not on your head?” Haley asked.

Something brushed Remy’s groin, immediately snapping her attention away from Haley’s mouth and toward the giant finger prodding her mons.

“Quit it!” She slapped at the finger and it retreated. “I told you not to touch there.”

“Why not? I touch myself there sometimes.”

“You can touch yourself all you want, but not other people,” Remy said. “We’ve been over this.”

“But you said you touched your girlfriend there.” Haley looked genuinely confused.

Remy had forgotten she’d mentioned that detail over the summer when she’d given a very high level description of lesbian sex. Now it was coming back to haunt her.

“It’s ok if you’re in love with each other and you’re in a relationship.”

“But we love each other, right?” Haley asked.

“Well yeh, but...” Remy searched for a way to explain it. “You can’t marry your sister or anyone in your family, therefore you can’t be in a loving, marital relationship with your sister.”

Haley considered this for a while, then said, “But you weren’t married.”

Remy swung her head backwards where it softly impacted Haley’s finger. “It doesn’t matter. Well...it kind of matters. Ideally you should be married. But if your not married, you at least need to be in a relationship with someone you love enough to eventually marry one day. And don't ask me why I didn’t marry Rachel. Sometimes people break up, and it’s hard to talk about it.”

“You mean like how Mom never wants to talk about Dad?”

“Uh, yeh.” Remy didn’t like this topic of conversation any better than the last. “But Dad’s an asshole, so I’d rather not talk about him either.”

Haley chewed on her bottom lip for a second. Her finger, the same one that had probed earlier, moved toward Remy then stopped. “So why —”

“Can you put me back in the water before we continue with the hundred questions?” Remy shivered noticeably. “Please?!”

The fizzing had stopped by the time Remy returned the water, and the foam had spread, making it far less likely she’d get an unwelcome mouthful of suds. Since it was too deep for her to stand, she remained on Haley’s palm until the massive girl retrieved the plastic tub from the soap dispenser. Haley filled it with water, then turned the faucet off. The water level of the prime tub had risen past her belly button, more than enough for a proper bath.

Haley set the plastic tub between her legs where it floated. She let Remy slide into it before scooping a generous portion of suds into her hand and layering them on top of Remy. The tiny teen could’ve done without the suds (did they even contain soap?), but she didn’t complain. She had her own bath now, and while it might be nothing more than a child’s toy designed for cleaning dolls, it suited her just fine.

“Thank you.” She relaxed with her arms resting on the tub’s plastic sides.

“Now can I ask more questions?”

“Go for it.” Since Remy was in a place of relaxation, she could handle the endless barrage of questions. Probably.

“Can I touch your boobies?”

Remy looked down, momentarily questioning the presence of her ‘boobies’. They hadn’t gone anywhere, but they weren’t exactly prominent. Although she wore a B cup, reclining caused her breasts to disappear, at least from her own perspective.

“Nope,” she said. “Next question.”

“Why not?” Haley asked in a way that caused Remy to glance up. The girl was smiling, of course.

“Now you’re just being annoying,” Remy said. “We’ve talked about inappropriate touch a million times. In fact, we just got done talking about it.”

Obviously, a million was an exaggeration, but Remy was sure she’d talked about it at least once last summer and the one before that. Unfortunately, like most difficult explanations, they didn’t satisfy Haley for long. As she grew in both age and intelligence, she invariably thought of a new way to ask the same questions, a slight twist perhaps, or a deeper delve into a chain of ‘whys’ until the only remaining answer was: because.

Case in point.

“But what about when I wash you?” Haley asked. “You let me touch them then.”

“That’s different,” Remy said. “Don’t ask why.”

For a while, Haley remained silent, giving Remy time to think of an answer for what she knew was coming.

“But...why’s it different?” Haley asked.

Remy sighed, even though she’d expected the question. At least she’d thought of something. “When you wash me, your intentions aren’t to arouse me, so it’s fine. Arousal is part of what makes sex feel good. Sex feels good because it makes people want to have babies. People need to have babies because reproduction is the only way to avoid extinction. Hopefully that answers all your questions and you’ll let me soak in peace now.”

For a time, Haley seemed satisfied and Remy got her wish. The combination of the warm water and soothing smells relaxed her to the point where she could feel herself start to doze. Then Haley asked, “What does arousal feel like?”

Remy blinked. “It feels...I dunno...good. Haley opened her mouth to speak, but Remy interrupted. “Tingly warmth in your pelvis. Sometimes it spreads to other parts of your body, especially when you become more aroused. Eventually it builds to the point where you have an orgasm, and it’s the best feeling in the world. It doesn’t last long, but it makes you feel happy and peaceful for a while afterwards.”

“What if — ”

“Nope,” Remy said. “You’ve reached your limit. No more sex questions for today.”

“But why?” Haley scowled.

“Because I know where you're going. We’ll end up talking about masturbation again or something equally embarrassing. Sometimes you just have to experiment and learn things for yourself, especially when it comes to private things.”

“No fair,” Haley said. “How am I supposed to learn when you won’t answer my questions?”

“You just…” Remy searched for a way to explain. “Ok. Let me ask you a question. You’ve masturbated before, right?”

Haley gave a sly smile, her cheeks blushing slightly. “Yes.”

“Ok.” Remy had her on the ropes. She pressed her advantage. “What do you think about when you masturbate?”

Haley’s eyes widened, then her blush deepened, spreading to her ears. She chewed on her bottom lip, refusing to look Remy in the eye.

“It’s embarrassing isn’t it?” Remy asked

The giant girl nodded. She was so cute, Remy almost felt bad doing this to her. Almost.

“The embarrassment is part of what makes arousal feel good,” Remy said. “It’s partly why sex and masturbation feel good. If you could talk about it easily, it wouldn’t be embarrassing, and you wouldn’t feel as good thinking about it. Now do you understand why I can’t answer all your questions?”

Haley, her face positively red, continued chewing on her bottom lip. Then she nodded, and cast a furtive glance at Remy. Eventually, she asked, “Why does embarrassment feel good?”

“It’s psychological and you’ll learn more about it in high school,” Remy said. “Basically everyone has a subconscious. Your subconscious knows what it wants, but it can’t talk to your brain directly. It tells you stuff by making you feel good when you think about things it likes. Sometimes these things are embarrassing. Sex itself is embarrassing for most people to talk about because society teaches us to be discreet.”

“You mean how society teaches us to wear clothes?” Haley asked.

“Exactly. Somehow you managed to skip that lesson, but yes.”

That got a giggle out of Haley. Unfortunately, it also seemed to lessen her reservations. “Do you really want to know what I think about?” she asked.

“No. And you don't need to tell me.”

“Hmm. I still don’t understand why it feels good when I think about it,” Haley said.

“You don’t need to understand. Just be happy it works. You can use it whenever you want to make yourself feel better, and eventually…”

“Eventually what?”

“Eventually it’ll feel so good you may have an orgasm, but never do that unless you’re alone or with the person you love.”

“But how will I know if I’m close.”

“You’ll know. You’ll probably start to breath harder, your heart rate will increase, and you’ll feel like you’re losing control. It’s when you willingly give up all control that it happens. You’re body may shake and make noises. Oh, and you might get wet down there. It’s not pee, but it can be messy. Basically these are some of the reasons why you never want to do it in public.”

Haley exhaled thoughtfully. “Sounds scary.”

“Maybe the first time, but then it’s never scary again. Actually you have to be careful because you might get addicted to the feeling. If you do it too much, it can cause lots of problems.”

“Like what?”

“Well, you’re brain becomes addicted to the chemicals of arousal. You have to do it more often just to feel normal, and if you don’t, you might start to feel depressed.”

“That sounds really bad.”

Remy shrugged. “It’s no worse than any other addiction. Like sugar. It’s ok to have some sugar even though it’s bad for you. But if you get addicted, you’re teeth will rot and you’ll get fat. Masturbation isn’t bad for you, but addictions are. So you just have to be strong and know when to be in control. For example, whenever I feel myself getting aroused in school, I force myself to think about playing a boring game like chess or Monopoly. Then, the arousal goes away and no one notices.”

“Cool.” Haley scratched the back, her gaze elsewhere. “That’s a neat trick.” She appeared to be thinking about something.

“That’s it?” Remy asked eventually. “I’m done playing Dr. Ruth?”

“Who’s Dr. Ruth?”

“Nevermind,” Remy said. “I’m just surprised you’re finished asking questions.”

Haley’s grinning face zoomed in closer. “Because it’s bath time!” Her wriggling fingertips emerged from the water, dancing with mischievous intent.

Yuk.” Remy said, catching sight of her sibling’s fingernails. “Not until I clean underneath.” She grabbed one of Haley’s fingertips and ran her on fingers under the nail. It wasn’t a long nail, but it was long enough to house a substantial amount dirt and other gunk. Luckily, her tiny fingers were well suited to the job of gunk removal.

“Awww,” Haley said. “This takes forever.”

“Hold still.” Remy finished with the first, then moved on to the next finger. Haley was familiar with the process because Remy had always insisted upon it during the first shared bath of her visit.

“So boring,” Haley said. But she complied, patiently waiting for Remy to finish cleaning one fingernail before offering the next in sequence. Since her pinky finger was miraculously clean, she skipped it and presented her left hand.

“Well,” Remy said as she dug out a particularly stubborn bit. “Maybe if you’d stop digging in the mud all day.”

Haley giggled, causing her fingers to momentarily jerk away. “I don’t dig in mud. They just get dirty.”

“Uh huh. Well.” Remy clawed out the last speck of dirt. “Nice and clean.” She rinsed her hands. “Now it’s time for the ears!”

“Noooo!” Haley made a face. “It’s my turn to wash you!”

“Ridiculous,” Remy said. “I’d just get all dirty again by doing your ears.”

“But my ears are fiiiine.” Haley stuck a finger in one, removed it, and smelled. Her nose wrinkled before she could catch herself.

“Ears.” Remy repeated, knowing she’d won the battle. Defeated, Haley slid further into the tub, resting her head against the tile. She then plucked Remy up and set the tiny teen on her left shoulder. Remy used the copious amounts of tangled hair to climb onto the bathtub ledge. Then she approached the giant ear.

She tugged at a massive lock in her way, but it wouldn’t budge. “A little help here.”

Haley swept the unruly lock behind her ear, giving Remy access to the sought-after orifice. Without hesitation, Remy stuck her arm deep into the canal, pushing through the warm, accumulated wax with ease. Her arm happened to be just the right length to reach far but not so far as to risking harm to the eardrum.

Remy rotated her arm in a tight circle, causing Haley’s shoulders to contract upwards. “Careful,” Remy said. “You’ll break my arm if you jerk away.” She wasn’t sure if it was true, but it certainly seemed possible, lodged in there as deep as she was.

Remy formed a scoop with her hand and withdrew her arm, taking with it all the wax that had built up in Haley’s ear since their last session, a few months ago. Surprisingly, it wasn’t much, but it was enough to give Remy the satisfaction a job well done. She repeated the process a couple of times, ensuring pristine cleanliness, before asking to be transported to the other ear.

It, for whatever reason, was considerably dirtier. It required Remy nearly ten scoopings to remove all the wax and dirt. When she finished, she felt markedly unclean herself, but immeasurably satisfied. “Done!”

Haley sat up straight, then bent forward, dipping her head in the water and shaking it around. The wax, though noticeable to Remy, would hardly be of concern to Haley. Remy couldn’t even see the particles in the water, especially not with the still-present layer of bomb suds, but Haley scrubbed her hair and face nonetheless.

After she emerged, saying “yuk, yuk, yuk,” she turned on the faucet and splashed her face several times. Apparently satisfied the dirty bits no longer clung to her hair or skin, she turned her attention back to Remy. “Your turn!”

Remy squealed at the menacing look in Haley’s eyes and leapt feet-first into the tub. It was a high jump, but she’d learned to be less afraid of heights after reading about terminal velocity and the square-cube law. While on Earth Prime, betas gained certain advantages which helped them survive falls...within reason.

After plunging into the warm water, Remy remained underneath the bubble layer until Haley’s searching hands found her and scooped her out. She squirmed and nearly slipped free, but Haley’s free hand pinned her to the wet palm. Two of Haley’s fingers, one on each of Remy’s arms, was all it required to render her helpless and immobile.

“Stop trying to get away,” Haley said, but her smile spoke otherwise. She’d always enjoyed Remy’s fruitless escape attempts and would often give Remy several opportunities to break away. Even now, she withdrew her fingertips slowly, as if waiting for another escape attempt. When Remy remained still, Haley’s smile faded, just a little, like a cat losing interest in her prey. Some interest, not all interest.

Haley rubbed her free hand on a bar of soap and proceeded to lather Remy’s entire body with it. Nothing could describe the feel of such powerful digits kneading her body, easily covering entire sections of her skin all at once with wet, slippery warmth. Haley spent longer than usual on Remy’s ‘private’ areas, likely due to their earlier conversation, but Remy didn’t care. She wasn’t particularly aroused and Haley didn’t know exactly what she was doing (or where to focus), so it was harmless. Remy simply enjoyed the massage, especially when Haley pinched her sore feet. Nothing beat a good foot massage.

The pressure — and texture — changed.

Remy’s eyes snapped open and she found herself buried knee-deep in Haley’s mouth. She squealed and jerked her feet back but they were caught behind Haley's teeth. The gap between her incisors was almost wide enough for her feet to squeeze through, but not quite. Realizing further resistance would only encourage the child, she simply gave up and lay flat, confident whatever Haley had planned wouldn’t endanger her.

Haley sucked at her feet and shins for several seconds, tickling Remy’s soles with her tounge and the breath. Eventually she licked her spittle from Remy’s legs and asked, “I thought you were afraid of mouths.”

“I am,” Remy said. “But I’m not afraid of yours, so if you were trying to scare me, you failed.”

Haley frowned cutely, then her eyes lit up. She opened her mouth wide and chomped several times, each time inching closer to Remy’s head.

Fearlessly, Remy grabbed hold of the girl’s bottom lip and stuck her head through, only to have the giant teeth stop short, resting on Remy’s upper back. The menacing incisors retreated, and Remy backed out, but not all the way. Something had caught her attention.

“Hold still,” Remy said as she ran a hand over the left front tooth, then the right. She could easily fit her hand through the gap between them, and it fascinated her in a weird way. The enamel was quite smooth, and the gums were a healthy shade of pink, although the teeth themselves could’ve been whiter. Though her mouth didn’t smell pleasant, her breath wasn’t bad. It smelled faintly of peanut butter and cake, the latter likely coming from the tub water.

“You really need to start flossing.” Remy scratched at a small section of plaque, or what she assumed to be plaque, but found it too hard for her nails to penetrate. She wasn’t disgusted, but more intrigued since this was the first prime mouth shed examined in such proximity in a very long time.

“Why?” Haley asked her predictable question, after pulling Remy far enough back from her mouth to enable speech.

“Because it kind of stinks in there. You don’t want to have stinky breath. And if you don’t floss, you’ll get cavities.”

A dripping hand emerged from the water and cupped itself around the mouth. Haley exhaled and sniffed. “It doesn’t stink,” she said.

“You can’t smell it because your nose is used to it, but I can.”

“But I brush my teeth.”

“Doesn’t matter. You have to floss too, otherwise the food remains between your teeth. Tiny bacteria grow in it. They eat the food particles and poop, eventually making your breath stink.” Remy wasn’t entirely sure of the facts, but they sounded good enough to her.

“Ewww!” Haley shot a look at the bathroom sink. “I’m gonna floss right now.”

“No!” Remy said. “You should only do it once a day, before you go to sleep and after you brush.” It was entirely untrue, but she didn’t want to give the poor girl a complex.

“And then my breath will smell good?”

“Yep,” Remy said. “But you have to do it every day.”

“I will!”

“I’m surprised the dentist didn’t tell you all this.”

“He did, but he never told me about the poopy bacteria.” Haley’s tongue navigated the area between her bottom lip and teeth.

“Don’t worry,” Remy said. “I was exaggerating. It doesn’t smell that bad. As long as you floss every night, you’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure? Smell again.” Haley exhaled over Remy.

Remy ignored the blast of warm air and said, “Stick out your tongue and let me touch it.”

“Ahhhh.” Haley did as requested.

Remy ran her hand over Haley’s tongue, mesmerized by the feel of the taste buds, the simultaneously slick, yet muscular and bumpy surface of the tongue. Then she retracted her hand and found it covered in saliva. She smelled her hand while Haley was watching. “It’s fine, just a little peanut butter and not much else. Brush and floss before you go to bed and it’ll smell even better.”

“Okay!” Haley narrowed her eyes. “Now I’ve got to wash you all over again.”

“Yep.” Remy reclined and let Haley do her thing. She was proud of herself. She’d simultaneously confronted her fear of the mouth and taught her little sister a valuable lesson in the process. Plus vore was, ironically, one of her turn-ons. It wasn’t her favorite kink, nor did she relish the thought of her fantasies including the oral details she’d just acquired, but she wasn’t about to get hung up over it.

What she fantasized about in her own mind was her own business, and she’d enjoy her fantasies without guilt. After all, if she couldn’t be free in her own mind, she couldn’t be free anywhere.

And that was a life not worth living.

 

“Give her this.” Erica handed the folded paper to Lily. “Remind her how much I love her. Remind her how much we all love her.”

“Ok.” Lily took the slip of paper.

“You’re sure you can do this?” Erica asked.

“I can do it.” Lily stuffed the paper into her jeans pocket.

“I love you, honey.” Erica planted a kiss on Lily’s forehead. “If anything happens...if you need anything — ”

“We’ll be ok,” Lily said.

Ok.” Erica took a shuddering breath, then marched toward Haley’s room. Before she could allow her anxiety to build, she swung open the door. “Bedtime you two. Remy, you’ll be sleeping in Lily’s room tonight. We’ve already got your house set up.”

Her children looked up from their game of Monopoly. Haley was on her stomach, head perched on her hands. Remy stood on Park Place, likely playing the roll of her own token as she usually did.

“Awww,” Haley said. “Can’t we finish? I’m winning.”

“I’ve got more hotels than you,” Remy said.

“Yeh but I’ve got more houses and more money.” Haley stuck out her tongue.

“It’ll still be there in the morning.” Erica strode toward the board and knelt, extending her hand to Remy. “Plus, we’ve got a big day tomorrow. I need to pick up Remy’s bot, she needs to learn how to use it’s new functions, and you’ve got school.”

Haley rolled her eyes, then brightened. “Can Remy come to school with me?”

“Not tomorrow,” Erica said. “Maybe on Tuesday if she feels like it.”

“Really?!” Haley turned to Remy. “Will you come? Pleeease?”

Remy shot Erica a look, sighed, then said, “Maybe. But only if there’s a no touching rule. I don’t want to be passed around like last time.”

“Yay!” Haley jumped up and did a little dance.

“And only if you get ready for bed now and go to sleep,” Mom said. “I don’t want to find you still awake at ten, or sneaking off to steal your sister from her bed in the middle of the night.” Tonight especially, Erica thought. Haley adored her oldest sister but Remy would need some space for a day or two.

“Ok.” Haley dashed off, yelling as she ran. “I’m going to floss too!”

Erica looked at Remy who only shrugged, then stretched. “What time is it? I’m really not that tired.”

“I know, sweetheart,” Erica said. “You can stay up with Lily for as long as you want. But do try and get some rest.”

Erica willed her hand to remain still as Remy boarded. It wasn’t easy. It would likely be the last time Remy would perform the action of her own accord. After tonight, her eldest daughter would hate her, and she wasn’t sure she’d ever be forgiven.

“I won’t stay up late,” Remy said. “Lily and I never have much to talk about. I mean I love her, she’s my sister, but we’re pretty different.”

Erica rose to her feet and blinked back the wetness. She held Remy lower than usual to avoid eye contact. Although she wanted to respond, she dare not speak because her voice would crack.

The walk to Lily’s room, even though it was only a few steps, seemed like an eternity. Erica replayed the delivery of her firstborn in her mind, how her life had changed the moment she held her baby, how she knew at that moment, she’d do anything to protect her child, to make sure Remy had the happiest life possible.

She’d promised the same during the births of all her children, but Remy had been her first. Her first success and her first failure. Letting her shrink…

It had been her fault they’d taken a detour that day, her fault they’d drawn too close to an uncharted portal. Watching her daughter shrink, little by little, had nearly caused Erica to lose her mind. It was like watching her baby endure a slow, disabling disease without a cure. She’d almost lost Remy in those early days, but she wasn’t about to let it happen again. She’d have to break part of her promise — Remy’s happiness — in order to uphold the more important part of that same promise — her safety.

“Mom? Are you ok?” Remy asked. “Your hand’s shaking.”

Erica wiped the tears from her eyes, steadied her hand, and lifted Remy to her face. “Just tired, sweetie. Give me a kiss.”

Erica kissed the side of her daughter’s face, lingering there a bit longer than usual. After she withdrew, she said, “I love you.”

“Love you too, Mom.” Remy wiped the side of her face and looked up. “Sure you’re ok? You look pale.”

Erica nodded, then knocked on Lily’s door. As soon as it opened, Erica handed Remy off to her middle daughter, then retreated downstairs, barely managing to say, “Good night.”

She’d just made the biggest mistake of her life, and she’d done it knowingly. It made her a bad mom, it made her heart ache, and it almost made her wish she’d never had children. However, it was done. There would be no turning back. She’d go on living, and she’d protect them until the day she died, with nothing but her own weakness to blame.

After making it to the kitchen, she reached into the back of the spice cupboard and retrieved an old pack of Camels. She lit one with an equally old lighter hidden inside the pack.

It had been a long time since she’d smoked, and the smoke was hot on her tongue.

***

Remy swung her legs as they dangled over the side of Lily’s algebra book, feeling both utterly bored and surprisingly energetic. With Haley, her energy could be drained in a matter of minutes. Just dealing with the girl’s incessant affection could wear her out. With Lily, it was the exact opposite. Conversation wasn’t an option, and Lily would answer questions by using as few words as possible, as if she had a daily limit which couldn’t be exceeded.

Contrary to popular opinion, Lily wasn’t a goth. She wore black clothes, black hair, and dark nail polish, but there the similarities ended. She didn’t wear spiked jewelry, she rarely used makeup, and she never listened to music of any kind. She read a lot, but it was mostly science fiction, not vampires and werewolves.

She had an unusual face. From the front it was rectangular, almost masculine, with a somewhat blocky nose and thin lips. From profile however, it was quite feminine. Her nose tapered to a point and her rounded chin complemented her mouth which never betrayed her emotions. On rare occasions she’d smile, but you’d have to be looking for it. The corners of her mouth would turn down slightly instead of up, her levity only apparent by examining subtle changes around her eyes.

Those eyes. They were brown, and not even a pretty shade of brown. They were average. But the area between her eyebrows, the way it furrowed slightly when she contemplated, it made Remy jealous. The girl was highly intelligent, not even ‘smart for her age’, but off-the-charts smart. She hid it well. She avoided the advanced classes in school and made B’s, but they were consistent B’s. She literally never made A’s or C’s or anything else. Every assignment was a B and only rarely with a plus or minus appended.

Remy used to question her about it, but she’d long since given up. Lily simply didn’t answer some questions. But occasionally, her mask of mediocrity would fumble and she’d answer something random in a brilliant way. It’s what made Remy jealous. When Lily’s brow indented every so slightly, Remy could almost feel her brain processing faster than a computer, an envious ability if ever there were one.

But, she didn’t envy the sadness. There was always a profound sadness in that furrow.

“So.” Remy noted how the furrow disappeared as soon as she spoke. “Whatcha thinkin?”

Lily didn’t look up from her sketch, but her fingers stopped moving. She didn’t look at Remy when she asked, “Would you ever commit suicide?”

“Whoa.” Remy blinked several times. The question itself had surprised her, but not because of its content. Lily simply didn’t ask questions. “I — don’t think so. Why?”

“What if you could never go home?”

Wow. Another question. However, this time Lily looked directly at her, and the look was unsettling. Remy had anticipated the conversation would veer toward Lily’s own suicidal thoughts...but this seemed more about herself. “What do you mean?”

“What if all the portals disappeared?” Lily asked.

Remy’s heart paused in her chest. She’d considered the possibility. Everyone on Earth Beta had considered the possibility. But no one liked to think about it, much less discuss it. If all the portals vanished and she could never see her family again...

“If you’re trying to make me cry...” Remy didn’t continue the sentence. It was obvious by Lily’s air of sorrow she wasn’t trying to be mean. But what was she getting at?

“I’d miss you guys,” Remy said. “Terribly. Every day. But no...I wouldn’t kill myself.”

“What if you were here when the last portal disappeared?” Lily didn’t blink.

The words pierced into Remy like a cold knife into her stomach. They reminded her of something…

She’d had a nightmare recently, one which had involved Lily. In it, Lily turned to look at her. Lily’s face was unreadable as always, but when she’d opened her mouth to speak, the words which came out felt the same as they did now. For no apparent reason, she’d said, “I’m going to kill you.”

Remy had jolted awake and the fatal blow had never arrived, but that only made it more terrifying. It was the worst nightmare Remy had ever experienced because it seemed so entirely plausible. Logically, she knew Lily would never harm her, but there was so much of Lily she didn’t know. People fear what they don’t know. They fear what they don’t understand.

“Stop it,” Remy said. “You’re scaring me.”

“Would you commit suicide?” Lily asked.

“I said, stop it!” Remy jumped to her feet and crossed her arms. “Why can’t we ever have a normal conversation? Why can’t we talk like sisters. It doesn’t have to be about boys or girls or makeup. It could be about anything.”

Remy breathed out in frustration. She obviously wasn’t getting through to the girl, but at least frustration was better than fear.

“Ok, you want to talk about this? Fine.” Remy took several steps toward Lily and stopped, standing right in the middle of her sketch. From Remy’s perspective it appeared to be some anime character (Lily did watch anime), but she couldn’t be sure. Her perspective of being right on top of the huge sheet of paper didn’t help.

“First, let me ask you a question.” Remy said. “How would you feel if you suddenly became trapped in a world twenty times your size? How would you feel if a random insect could kill you, if you couldn’t do anything for yourself, if your skills were popping pimples and cleaning underneath the nails of fingers bigger than yourself? Imagine that, and imagine living that way for the rest of your life.”

Lily looked down for several seconds. No furrow this time. Then she returned a haunting gaze to Remy.

“Ok,” Remy said. “Now let me ask you the same question. What would you do in that situation. Would you commit suicide?”

This time the brow furrow did appear, and for several seconds, Lily remained quiet. Then she spoke. “I don’t know.”

“Ok then.” In spite of the unpleasantness of the conversation, Remy experienced a certain amount of satisfaction at having stumped her sister. “You have your answer.”

Lily didn’t speak but her hand started moving again, shifting the massive pencil in quick strokes along the corner of the page. Remy eyed the rapid movements as she continued to speak to her gigantic sister. “I don’t know if I would commit suicide. I doubt it. I’d probably keep living because I wouldn't want to hurt you guys. But I’d probably die on the inside. I wouldn’t be the same person as I am today.”

A drop of water landed on the paper and immediately got sucked up, spreading out, smearing the pencil markings. Remy looked up to see a glistening streak on Lily’s face. Lily was crying, but...Lily never cried...

Lily never cried.

***

“How is she?” Erica asked, sitting up straight on the couch as her middle daughter descended the stairs.

“Asleep.” Lily rubbed her eyes and adjusted the backpack on her shoulders.

“You look exhausted.” Erica rose and placed a hand on her daughter’s forehead. “Are you sure you don’t want to skip? You haven’t taken a sick day all year.”

“I’ll be ok,” Lily said. “Let me see your phone.”

Erica nodded, then handed her phone to her daughter. Lily tapped and swiped a few times, then returned the phone. The screen now displayed a clear image of Remy sleeping in her glass house. Erica assumed it was a still picture until Remy shifted in her bed.

“Oh, wow.” Erica breathed. “I feel like I’m spying on her. Does she know? Will she find out?”

“Unlikely,” Lily said. “We have root access to her bot. It’s set to monitor her vitals and alert us if anything happens. It’s also capable of handling most situations on it’s own.”

“Good...I guess.” Erica still felt she was somehow betraying her daughters trust even further than she already had. “What if she boards it?”

“It won’t matter,” Lily said. “Actually, she’ll be even safer. The bot will be able to more easily prevent self-harm, and enforce the eating and exercise schedule.”

Eating schedule?” Erica asked. “Why — “

“She threatened to starve herself.” Lily said.

“Oh my God.” Erica couldn’t peel her eyes away sleeping form of her littlest. “She wouldn’t, would she?”

“She can’t.” Lily said. “I activated the bot’s preventative measures. Even if she doesn’t merge, it should be able to keep her fed.”

“What? How?”

“It’s probably better you didn’t know,” Lily said.

Erica pinched the screen to zoom in on Remy. “You’re sure it won’t hurt her if it tries to...force feed her?”

“It won’t,” Lily said. “If you’d like, I can set it to alert us before engaging in the process. One of us would have to authorize it.”

“Yes. Do that. Will I be able to watch?”

“Part of the process, yes,” Lily said. “But again, it’s unlikely to be necessary.”

“Good.” Erica hated the thought of forcing her daughter to eat, but if it came down to it, she would. Thank goodness she had the bot. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to do any of this without it’s help.

It might just be the key to saving her daughter’s life.