"Ok, now that you've learned how to talk to me, you need to learn how to talk to humans", Sarah was again creeped out by hearing someone refer to humans, and not 'other' humans. But then again, she supposed that was accurate. She didn't really qualify as human. She wondered if one day she would call them that without even thinking about it. "They don't have the ability to receive or send thoughts like us but luckily for them we can transmit our thoughts into that intercom over there. Watch", Rachel pointed to the wall with the intercom on it, where Ellen was standing, watching them. Sarah wondered how long she had been there. "Hi Sis", Rachel said, happily. "Hi Rachel, how's our new friend coming along?" Ellen's voice came from the speaker.

"I'll let her answer herself" Rachel replied, "Go ahead Sarah".

"Umm, hi Ellen" Sarah said, not really knowing what else to say, adding "How do I sound?"

Ellen smiled, telling her, "I don't know how much Rachel went into this with you but both of your voices are high pitched and squeaky, like you inhaled too much helium but that's normal and I can distinguish between the two of you. Very nice job I should add"

Sarah was a little disappointed to learn she would always sound like a chipmunk, but at least she able to talk again. And she had a lot of questions.

"Now that I can talk, can I ask you some more questions?" Sarah asked Ellen.

"Of course you can, but let me get you into your new home. It's much more comfortable and Rachel can show you around while we talk"

Rachel's face lit up at that, again showing that child-like persona she had seen early but it quickly went away. "Sounds good", Sarah said, "When do we leave?"

"I've got the travel bowl right here", Ellen said while pointing to a small goldfish bowl on the table next to the aquarium.

"It's going to be a bit cramped, It's really more for Rachel but as long as you keep your head underwater you'll be ok. It won't be for long anyway. Now, don't be alarmed, I'm going to reach in and pick you up, just hold your

breath". Sarah nodded and looking up saw the surface of the water break and Ellen's giant hand reach in, her thumb went under one arm, her forefinger under the other and she was lifted out of the water. Once out, she immediately held her breath while she was being transported. Being out of the water like this even for a few seconds made her realize just how trapped she was. The air was cold and dry to her, as soon as it hit her skin she felt goose bumps plus her tail felt like it was already starting to dry out.

This feeling didn't last long though, she was in the fishbowl soon enough but it was too small even for her. She had to lay on her back to stay under but her tail stuck out. It was feeling dryer by the second. After a few more seconds she heard a splash and Rachel was lying in front of her, lucky for her she was small enough to be entirely underwater.

"I know, the air is really dry to you, isn't it?" Rachel asked her as she settled in for the ride. Sarah nodded. "We're not made for out there" Rachel said pointing outside, "We dry up fast".

"What happens if we dry up completely?" Sarah asked.

"Oh, don't worry, you'd suffocated before that happened" Rachel said, a little cheerfully. Sarah gulped and they remained in silence for the rest of the ride.

After a few minutes of bumping around in the bowl, colliding with Rachel in some very uncomfortably intimate ways, she felt it being placed on a flat surface. Ellen's fingers came in and scooped Rachel up and away. Sarah's turn came shortly after and once again she was out in the air, her tail almost hurting it was so dry now. Ellen must have realized this because she moved faster and dropped her into her new home.

She landed with a splash and took a moment to get her bearings. When she did, she looked around in awe. This tank was huge, even by human standards. At her scale, it was like two city blocks. Rachel swam up next to her and said, "Not bad, huh? Come on, let me show you around", reaching out her hand. Sarah took the smaller woman's hand in hers and followed her to a corner of the tank with a tube going out into the room. "These were made for me but you should be able to squeeze in. Ellen is going to see about making them bigger eventually but I really want you to see what's in here" Rachel said as she dove into the tube and took off. Sarah reluctantly followed, a bit worried about getting stuck she entered the tube. It was a tight fit and not something she would like to do on a regular basis but she eventually managed to squeeze through. It came out into a chamber with a 32 inch television screen for a wall. At her size it was like a movie theater. There were a couple of rocks in front of it and even a little waterproof remote control.

"This is my, I mean our entertainment room. Any movie we want we just ask Ellen for and she'll put in for us." Sarah had to admit to herself, she was impressed. There was no way she would ever be able to afford a TV this size in her old life, let alone fit it into her apartment. She was a little disappointed in the seating selection though. "Why

do we have to sit on rocks? Couldn't she get some couches in here or something?"

Rachel chuckled and told her, "You're still thinking like a human. Before you say anything, try sitting on one." Sarah choose the larger one and lowered herself onto it. Her tail contoured perfectly onto it and her back felt more supported and comfortable than she'd ever felt. She'd never have believed it if she wasn't experiencing it but this rock was more comfortable than any couch or chair she had ever sat on in her human life.

"Comfortable?" Rachel asked, getting right in Sarah's face. "Very", she replied.

"Wait till you see your bed then, it's even better. Come on, I'll show you" Rachel darted back into the tube and Sarah, again squeezed her back though to the main chamber. When she came out she saw Rachel heading toward the bottom and followed her. The bottom was covered with stones and there was a small opening in the floor that Rachel went into and again Sarah had to struggle to get through but luckily it was just a doorway so she popped out into the bedroom chamber. Rachel's room was very odd. Ellen had obviously spent a lot of time making miniature replicas of human items. She had a dresser, a night stand, desk, and posters all over the walls. The posters revealed more about her split personalities. There were boy band posters right next to beautiful artwork. It looked like an adult lived here with a child. The centerpiece of the room was a massive flat rock, about twice the size of a king mattress. Sarah saw it and was impressed and nervous at the same time. Did Ellen expect her to sleep in the same bed as Rachel? Did Rachel expect her to?

"This is nice, where's my room?" Sarah asked, hoping Rachel would say Ellen's working on it or it's the next room over. Anything but what she said next.

"What do you mean? This is your room. It's our room. We're going to have so much fun here. I know we're going to get along great, not like those other..." Rachel's mature personality took over mid sentence before she could finish, "It's just easier this way. Don't worry, we'll make the door bigger for you"

"No, wait. What did you mean by 'other'. Other what? Have there been others before me? What happened to them?"

Rachel covered her ears, shouted "NOTHING! LEAVE ME ALONE!", and took off out of the room and out of Sarah's sight.

"Shit, what did she mean by others?" Sarah thought to herself. Just then she heard Ellen's voice come over the intercom in the room, "Sarah, we need to talk. Can you come out into the main area?"

Sarah squeezed her way out of the bedroom into the main area. She could see Ellen standing next to the tank, waiting for her.

"At the opposite end of the tank there's another tube, this one is big enough for you. Please take it and wait for me

in the room it leads to", Ellen's voice was cold and clinical which alarmed Sarah but her desire for answers was strong enough that she did as Ellen requested.

She was right, the tube was big enough for her to swim through, which felt nice after the last one she had to deal with. This room was set up similar to Rachel's bedroom with the same decoration style minus the mature decorations, this seemed to be her playroom. There were all kinds of things for her to swim around, over, under, and through.

Suddenly the door to the room shut and the whole thing started to shake. Looking outside she could see she was being carried. She felt a thud as the room was placed on a table and once again she was looking right into Ellen's face.

"Ok, drop the bullshit, this wasn't an accident, was it?" Sarah demanded of Ellen.

Ellen looked at her, took a deep breath, and simply said, "No."

The bluntness of her answer took Sarah by surprise. She had been expecting to have to fight for the real answer yet there it was, just thrown out in the first sentence. The two of them remained fixed on each other as Ellen spoke. "Everything I told you about what happened to Rachel is true. The part I left out is that the whole ordeal left her mind fractured beyond repair. You see, even when she was a human size mermaid no one bothered to talk to her and she never knew she could communicate in any way. She had to develop a separate personality to keep from going completely insane. Then when she was shrunk and abused even more, she snapped. As I said earlier I was able to make her not afraid of humans but she still had issues. She needed someone her size to comfort her, someone she could hold when she had her bad moments"

"Then why didn't you just get her a boyfriend? Why me?" Sarah asked

"That's what I tried to do at first", Ellen said. "The first was even a willing volunteer. He had nothing to live for in his human life so I made the offer, telling him exactly what it would involve and showed him Rachel. He jumped at the chance to spend his days free from the troubles of life with someone as beautiful as Rachel. I even mentioned her mental problems but he didn't care. I made him a couple inches taller than her, at his request, so he wouldn't feel completely inadequate. Everything worked very well for a few months until he started getting bored with Rachel, he seemed to be more and more interested in me. The horny little bastard got to a point where he demanded sex from me. Now, I know what you're thinking, how can an 8 inch merman demand anything from me?"

"Yeah, that had crossed my mind", Sarah said

"Well, he told me that if I didn't take him into the bathtub every night he would tell Rachel he hated her. She was so fond of him that it would devastate her so I complied. I'm ashamed to admit that it was actually enjoyable. He was

able to do things I would have never dreamed of but I knew it was wrong. Finally, even with our nightly sexual encounters he demanded even more. When I refused he took it out on Rachel. The only plus side to that was once he hit her she started hating him and I was free to dispose of him"

Sarah's eyes widened, "You killed him? Just like that?"

"No, he's still alive but I think killing him might have been better for him. I gave him to the owner's daughter, Amber. She gets to keep all the returns when our clients get tired of or unable to take of their pets. She's developed a god complex from all the little creatures she has at her command."

Sarah felt her stomach churning. Her choices were now live with a mentally disturbed girl smaller than her or a mentally deranged giant girl. "What do you mean by creatures? Do you make more than merpeople?" Sarah asked. "Yes", Ellen replied, "We can make any fantasy creature you can think of. It's all about DNA manipulation. We mostly do catgirls the size of normal cats but we can anything anyone can imagine."

The idea that there were more than just merpeople like her out there fascinated, and even excited Sarah. Ellen continued,

"For the second guy I decided to look for someone gentle, someone who would never hurt Rachel. And as an added safety measure I made him smaller than her so even if he did turn out to be an asshole he wouldn't be able to hurt her. That was a disaster from the beginning. As soon as he woke up he freaked out. Hoping Rachel could calm him down I introduced her but at his size she seemed like a giant too, which only freaked him out more. For a moment I thought this could actually help Rachel, she seemed to be treating him very maternally but he just wouldn't calm down. When he started trashing the place I had to give him to Amber. Which brings us to you", Ellen said as she adjusted herself in her seat.

"But why me?" Sarah pleaded.

"I decided that what Rachel really needs is a friend, not a mate. I had been watching you for a while. You seem like a very kindhearted, caring person. When I found out you had experience working with troubled teens I knew you were perfect. I made you bigger than Rachel so you could handle her tantrums."

"Stop right there," Sarah interrupted, "If you care so much about your sister why didn't you do this to yourself?!" She was getting angrier just thinking about it. This woman took away her life and made her into a pet for as long as she lives and for what? To take care of some mentally unstable young woman?

"Believe me, I considered it", Ellen replied coldly, "But at that size I'd be unable to protect her from people like the guy who did that to her. Or Amber. She probably would have ended up convincing her father to let her keep us. I'd be useless to her like that"

"Yeah, being made small and useless would sure suck" Sarah said sarcastically.

"I've made arrangements for that." was all Ellen would say followed by, "Now then, I'm going to give you a choice. Do you want to help me take care of my sister or should I call Amber right now?" She picked up a phone to emphasize her point.

Having no choice, Sarah reluctantly agreed, adding "I just have two requests"

"Go on", Ellen said.

"First, I want complete honesty from you from now on. No more games. If there's anything else you've left out, tell me now"

"Fair enough", Ellen said, "No there's nothing I've left out. What the second request?"

"I want your word that you'll provide me with anything I ask for within reason."

"Done" Ellen said. "Let's shake on it" She lifted the lid from the room and reached her hand into it. Sarah grabbed her index finger and they shook.

"One more thing", Ellen added, "Before you go back, do you want to know how tall you are and how much you weigh now"

Oddly enough, with all the excitement Sarah hadn't even given any thought to just how small she was. In a way she didn't want to know, like not knowing could somehow make this not real. Of course, not knowing wouldn't make any difference and she knew it.

"Okay." She said.