MYRON MERIWETHER'S OFFICE
(NED FOGARTY'S P.O.V.)
* * * * *
"Meet Dr. Hana Nozama of the California Institute of Technology. Marital status: single. Dating history: quite extensive! More specifically; she's dated fifty men over the last five years. And, believe it or not, most of them have never gone out with her on a second date. For the very simple reason that they all disappeared, shortly afterward!"
"Is she a serial homunculist?" asked Mel.
"That's what I'm sending you to L.A. to ascertain. Mr. Fogarty will go with you. His years out there, as an investigative reporter, will make him useful to you as a guide."
"If she's been making men shrink, for the last five years," remarked Gladys: "...how come you haven't busted her before this?"
"Probably because it's only her most recent date that raised a red flag," I replied.
"Very astute of you, Mr. Fogarty."
Whereupon, he clicked his remote control for a second time. This led to the beautiful face on screen being replaced by someone else of Japanese descent. In this case, a man about ten years younger than Dr. Nozama.
"Meet Okada Takeo. Only nephew--and heir apparent--of Okada Hideki. The oyabun, or yakuza 'godfather,' of Tokyo's Okada Clan!"
"Oh, shit!" Mel and I chorused.
Meriwether nodded: "Exactly."
* * * * *
MEANWHILE, SOMEWHERE BENEATH CAL-TECH...
It had originally been built as a fall-out shelter, during the earliest days of the Cold War. But, now, it served another purpose.
The little people gathered in their "town square," upon hearing the tell-tale sounds of the gigantic metal door clicking open. And, they shuddered with fear. Because, they knew what it meant.
Hana Nozama had returned.
Sure enough, she strode over to the "town" (really just a collection of scale-model dollhouses) and smiled down at its inhabitants. Whereupon, she began the all-too familiar litany.
"Eenie, meany, miny, moe.
Catch a shrinkie by the toe.
If he hollers, just ignore,
And proceed, same as before."
The little man her right index finger pointed at, as she concluded, started screaming and pleading in denial. He even tried to run for it! But, it was no use. She caught him up, in her cupped hands, quite easily. And, she swiftly cut off his screaming by mummy-wrapping him in a piece of gray duct tape.
When she was done, the only thing visible was his head, from the nose upwards. Making him resemble one of those "Kilroy Was Here" cartoons from the Second World War. She then placed him directly beneath what looked like a crystal art-deco chandelier from the Roaring Twenties.
It soon became obvious, however, that it was much, much more than that. For, Hana Nozama quickly went behind a lead shield to press some buttons on a control panel. Moments later, the little man was bathed in a rainbow-colored shower of light.
Thirty seconds later (according to her stopwatch), the little man began growing.
At the forty-nine second mark, he burst through his duct tape bonds. At one minute/ten seconds, he had reached a length of eighteen inches. At two minutes/thirty seconds, he was over a yard long. And, at the three minute mark, he had regained his normal height!
But, at three minutes/five seconds, Hana Nozama's smile vanished as she watched the re-enlarged man suddenly begin to convulse, and scream in pain. And, at three minutes/twenty seconds, he was dead. His body resembling nothing less than the dessicated fossil skeleton of a prehistoric caveman!
With her left hand, Dr. Nozama raised a digital audio recorder, and turned it on.
"11:15 A.M.(PST)," she intoned, with a frustrated sigh: "Subject 38 has expired. Back to the proverbial drawing board."
tbc
Giantess World
