“How’s the job search going?” asked Mason’s mom, Alice.

“Good” he lied.

“’Good’ as in you have an interview lined up? Or ‘good’ as in you want me to shut up?”

Mason’s pause was just long enough to give it away.

“Thought so,” Alice concluded with a sigh.

It wasn’t like he was a bum, he thought. He’d just taken a year out to go travelling but managed to run out of funds on consecutive nights out before he’d even visited his first country.

“Mason, it’s really about time you started pulling your weight. I don’t mind you travelling, but if you’re staying here, you’ll at least need to pay rent. It’s not like your dad is hanging around to cover for us anymore.”

“What about Katie? She doesn’t pay rent,” scrambled Mason.

“Your sister is still at school for Christ’s sake! Don’t play games with me.”

Another pause.

“I’ll get it sorted,” sighed Mason.

Mason lay on his sister’s bed staring at the ceiling while she typed away at her desk.

“So what do you think I should do?” he asked

“Uh… get a job maybe?” she retorted sarcastically.

“Come on, you know I can’t wait around! You sure you don’t know anyone in the know about some stock or cryptocurrency?”

“I mean, there is a casino up the road if you wanna go that route.”

“Forget it,” he said, getting up to leave.

“Wait…” began Katie as she began typing something into Google, “what about those clinical trials? My friend said her brother made fortunes doing them!”

“Katie… you might be a genius.”

“Tell me something I don’t already know,” she said with a wry smile, theatrically flicking back her cute brown hair

“Can you find any online?”

She was already two steps ahead of him. Rolling back in her chair, Katie gestured to her monitor as one might gesture towards a red carpet. Mason walked over to get a better look as she began clicking through options.

“Gut health trial, five-hundred… neural imaging, a thousand… Woah, wait. Wait. Go back.”

Katie clicked back.

“!! REVOLUTIONARY SHRINKING THERAPY – 5k/DAY !!” read the screen. Beneath was a picture of an upturned palm holding what could be mistaken for a large insect were it not standing on two legs.

She looked at her brother quizzically. “You can’t be serious. No way that’s even a thing.”

“Who cares what it is!? Five grand! For a day!” he responded, ecstatic. “What are you waiting for!? Sign me up before someone else takes it!”

“Your funeral,” she shrugged as she ticked through pages of terms and conditions in a matter of seconds. “But don’t come crying to me if you really do end up like that poor guy in the picture!”

“Or what, you’ll squish me?” he bantered.

“Nah, you’re not worth it” she hit back without missing a beat, “I’ll just put you in mom’s shoe before she goes to work without telling her.”

“God, you’re devious.” he told her with feigned horror.

“Anyway,” she said, changing the subject, “I’ve got you booked in for tomorrow. No need to thank me... little bro.”

“You’re a god. I owe you one.”

“Goddess.” she corrected him with a smirk.

Honestly, Mason didn’t really know what he was getting into- jargonistic terms and conditions be damned, any presumption he had about this came a single picture that was most likely edited.

A time and an address were all Mason had. He had arrived half an hour early, not wanting to risk a delay on the metro. The directions led him through an oddly suburban area quite far from the station, but he didn’t mind given the weather. So long as his organs weren’t being harvested, he thought, he wasn’t too bothered at this point so long as he got his payday. And even then…

He arrived at what seemed to be a slightly run-down apartment complex, all the buttons on the intercom completely worn down save for the pristine one at the top, labelled “501” on freshly printed paper, “appointment only” scrawled beneath. He buzzed.

“Hello?” came a voice.

“Uh, hi, it’s Mason.”

The door opened and he made his way up before knocking on the door.

He was greeted by a woman of Indian complexion with damp black hair, no older than 30. All she had on was a white bathrobe and a pair of slippers.

“You’re early.” she snapped with a subtle accent.

“Oh, uh… I can come back if that’s more conveni-“

“No, it’s fine.” She interrupted, “You’re here now. Come in.”

“I just thought I’d be coming to something more like… a lab, you know?” He said, stepping inside the cramped apartment.

“Did you not read the posting?” she asked somewhat interrogatively.

“Oh, yeah, I did I just-“

“This is for my PhD thesis. Frankly, I’m quite excited about it.”

Mason couldn’t tell from her stern expression; he’d almost take the statement as sarcasm were the situation not already so surreal.

“Come, sit,” she said, leading him into the living room. A large glass chamber stood where the TV would have been, cables sprawling in every direction.

“This is the shrinking chamber,” she told him matter-of-factly, handing him a clipboard and a pen. “Sign at the bottom.”

“I hereby declare myself solely accountable for myself while at a reduced size. I understand that I will be under the supervision of a trained technician though, given that the technology is still experimental, said technician cannot be held accountable in the event of injury, death, or loss of shrunken person(s).” one paragraph read.

The next continued: “I understand that accidents may occur by way of ingestion, inhalation, falling from a relative height, crushing underfoot, or over-miniaturisation. I understand that this list is not exhaustive.”

“I’m Ishani, by the way. I’ll be your technician.”

Mason stared at Ishani open-mouthed. “Is this for real?”

“It’s just for legal purposes,” she waved her hand, “the process will make you durable enough that-“

“No- I mean- the shrinking. You can actually do that?”

“Of course I can. I wouldn’t have posted the advert otherwise. You’ll be the second human subject, this is history in the making!” she said, finally letting slip some genuine excitement.

Mason remained sceptical. “And what happened to the first?”

Ishani furrowed her brow, seemingly displeased with the question. “The first was my flatmate. She’s the one you saw in the picture. That was two years ago but we… still haven’t found a way to reverse the process,” she said carefully, “That’s what we’re hoping to do with you.”

“Woah, woah, slow down! So you’re saying I’ll be stuck like that as well?” asked Mason, slightly horrified.

“Not at all! We have made many improvements over the last two years, it would be irresponsible of us to post the ad otherwise. Besides, you can’t back out now!”

“And why not? I haven’t signed the waiver yet,” Mason protested.

“Sure. But if you don’t, you’ll still have to pay the consultation fee,” said Ishani with a smirk.

“The what?”

“The consultation fee that you agreed to when you signed up online. Don’t tell me you didn’t read the terms and conditions!?” she said with feigned shock.

Mason gulped. “How much was the fee?”

“Five thousand,” she responded frankly.

Mason froze.

“Unless the patient agrees to go through with the procedure. Don’t worry, you’ll still get your money. This was just a precaution to avoid timewasters. You’re not a timewaster, are you?” She lent towards him, almost staring into his soul.

Mason sighed, angrily scrawling his signature. “Fine. I’ll do the damn experiment! But you’d better have a way to restore me to normal size!”

She reclined. “Don’t worry. I’m 90% sure we can.”

Mason winced at the figure, handing back the clipboard.

“Now, Mason, I just need you to undress before stepping into the machine.”

“Can you at least leave the room?” he asked, only to be met with laughter.

“Trust me, no matter how tiny your cock is, it’s about to get much smaller.”

He blushed, reluctantly stripping in defiance of the insult as Ishani walked towards the machine to configure it.

“It’s ready for you now, Mason.”

He entered, not caring at this point to cover his genitals. The chamber was not dissimilar to a shower.

A flash of light.

“See you on the other side!” was the last thing he heard as his vision waned.

“Wakey wakey!” said a familiar voice. The resonance shook Mason’s entire being.

Mason stirred, taking a second to remember where he was. He couldn’t do so, however, before Ishani’s colossal face came into focus. His jaw dropped as the events of the day so far came flooding back. He couldn’t believe this was real. How small was he? Half an inch? Maybe even a little less?

Quite some time had obviously passed as Ishani had had time to dry and tie back her hair. “How are you feeling?”

Mason was warmed by her breath. “I, uh…” he murmured as he began to stand, quickly losing his balance. He did not expect the landing to be so soft- the floor felt almost like that of an inflatable castle. It didn’t take long for him to realise that he was being held- a discovery he found somewhat emasculating, and yet the support of her immense palm against his naked flesh deeply comforting, the ridges of her skin providing grip without disturbing his comfort. He could easily have gone back to sleep right where he lay.

A finger lifted into view above him before rapidly closing in, gently pressing his naked body deeper into Ishani’s soft flesh as she giggled uncharacteristically. Mason was entirely consumed, her fingertip alone several times that of his body. He truly felt like an insect, only less mobile.

Ishani lifted her finger, taking Mason with it, his body stuck firmly to its pad.

“Look at you!” she boomed, bringing Mason right up to her hazel eyes- himself not even the size of a pupil.

Her entire demeanour had shifted. “I almost thought you wouldn’t wake up there for a minute! That would have been such a waste. I can’t wait to test out these new improvements!”

“Wait, you mean you’re not just going to return me to normal now?” squeaked Mason, slightly worried. As novel as the experience was, he was eager to just get his compensation and get the hell out. At that moment he felt utterly powerless.

“Of course not! Don’t you realise how ground-breaking this is? The first improvement is durability. Elissa- my flatmate- is always terrified of being crushed.”

Without warning, Mason was slammed by Ishani’s thumb as she squeezed him tightly for a moment between her two fingers.

“How did that feel?” she asked, relaxing her grip.

“Uh… actually fine,” he responded, slightly dazed. “Though it did make breathing slightly difficult.”

“Second feature! No pain response to heavy pressure. Goes together perfectly, right?”

“Yeah… right.”

“Let’s see how you deal with a heavier load!” said Ishani, tilting her finger- again without warning.

Mason instinctively clung to the ridges of her fingerprints, but it was no use. He scrambled for purchase as he began to slide before being plunged into a sudden drop.

In the split second he had to examine Ishani as he fell, he noticed her resembling more of a skyscraper than a person. Specifically, he caught a wry smile- she was very much enjoying this, and not just from a scientific standpoint.

Mason coughed as his body impacted the ground, but still no pain. Ishani stared down from miles above, but Mason soon discovered a more interesting view as he lowered his gaze.

“I suppose I don’t need this anymore,” Ishani said bemusedly as she dropped her bathrobe, now exposing her entire body from below. Mason was hit by a gust of wind as the white linen crumpled on the ground.

Ishani’s breasts were on the small side but perky, the proud tilt of her dark brown nipples accentuating their firmness.

“Hey! No looking!” she boomed playfully, raising her foot above his pathetic frame. His expression turned from that of begrudging appreciation to abject horror as the immaculately clean sole lowered towards him. Like her palm, it was slightly paler than the rest of her skin. It was average sized, slightly wrinkled with even toes which seemed poised to encase him.

Ishani hit her target squarely, completely obscuring Mason under the soft flesh just left of the next to the ball of her foot. Underneath, Mason’s movement was completely restricted, his face pressed firmly into her sole. He could not help but inhale the intense smell, which was not unpleasant, but rather citrusy with a hint of mango. He really needed to ask what body lotion she used.

The pressure increased once as Ishani shifted her balance onto the him, again when she stood on one leg, and a third time when she raised her heel off the ground, adopting a mock yoga tree pose to her own amusement.

Mason felt he might pop as his breathing was completely restricted. Just as he was about to pass out, the pressure lifted and Ishani seated herself, peeling her foot from the floor and bending her leg into her lap, sole upturned.

“How did that feel?” she asked to no response, which struck her with a tinge of concern.

“Are you okay?”

He still didn’t move, only his back visible to her. He looked okay- as far as she could tell. She flexed her foot a couple of times, dislodging him from the human-shaped crevice he had created around him by encasing him completely within a wrinkle with one flex and stretching her skin back out with the next.

Slowly, he began to unpeel himself- much to Ishani’s relief. “You had me worried there for a second!”

Mason finally rolled onto his back, panting heavily.

“Please… can you turn me… back to normal… now?” he gasped.

“I am sorry little one, but you are just too small for me to hear!” she lied, “but I will let you rest for now.”

Using the same technique as earlier, she pressed him firmly, sealing him to her fingerprint before taking a brief walk to her room.

“This,” she said, “is my bedroom.”

She walked towards her bedside table.

“And this,” she said, pulling out a small drawer “is yours!”

Ishani dropped Mason into his new ‘bedroom’ which was no larger than small parcel.

“I’ll leave you two to get to know each other.”

Ishani smiled deviously, shutting the drawer rather forcefully before Mason could even protest.

Mason scanned the room, confused at her last remark. It was well furnished, though the choice of purple LED lighting in the absence of natural light made it slightly difficult to tell.

“Hey!”

Mason spun round to see a smiling, pale, blonde girl- his own size (slightly taller, in fact)- laying on top of his bed with a book in her lap. She looked relaxed for a girl who had just seen a titan, and her casual attire accentuated this. Her grey graduation hoodie, tight black jeans, and sockless feet all suggested she felt right at home.

His eyes widened as his hands snapped to cover his crotch.

“Nice to meet you!” said the girl.

“I’m Elissa!” she continued, looking him up and down. “Ishani said you were good looking.”

Mason blushed, hoping the purple light might conceal it. He searched for a response but could not find one.

“Anyway, your clothes are in the wardrobe, but I wouldn’t worry about it. We’ll be sharing a bed for the foreseeable future anyway, so get used to it!”

This was all moving way too quickly for Mason. His day had progressed from a normal morning to a fever dream in what felt like less than an hour, though he wasn’t exactly sure how much time had passed.

“Wait, stop," he said, "what about me getting returned to normal?”

The girl dropped her smile in sympathy. “I’m afraid we don’t have a way to do that yet. To be honest, I don’t know if we ever will.”

Mason took a second to process what he had just heard before he was suddenly overcome with anger. “So you’re saying that your flatmate lied to me!?”

“Aw… Ishani lied to you? That’s so sweet of her!" said Elissa, lacking any tact she might have had when she was a normal sized human. "She must have felt super uncomfortable doing that. That explains why she was acting so shifty earlier!”

“What the fuck are you on about?” pressed Mason, growing even more visibly frustrated.

“I’m sorry. I really am.” Elissa backtracked, realising her error a little late. “When Ishani said she had finally found someone to keep me company I at least assumed they would know that’s what they were doing!”

“No.” responded Mason sternly, “it was sold to me as a clinical trial. I thought I was getting paid for this.”

“I’m sorry,” she said again, pausing just a little longer than would otherwise be natural. “It’s not as bad as you think. Ishani will take good care of you!”

“The bitch stepped on me!”

“Don’t shout! Do you know how hard this is for me as well!? All I wanted was a friend. It's not like I wanted Ishani to treat you that way...”

She looked like she was about to cry, causing Mason to soften.

“Look- wait. I’m sorry for getting mad at you, but this is really stressing me out. I’m not getting any money, I get that- I’m probably never going back to normal… But I just want to get back to my family.”

He looked at her desperately for affirmation, but all she could do was stare back.

“I’m sorry.”

Mason collapsed, dejected, prompting Elissa to get up and kneel next to him, touching her forehead to his and wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Hey! It’s not the end of the world. At least you have me.”

Mason opened his eyes and gazed into hers. This was an awful situation, but the compassion she projected made him confident that there was likely far worse company to be stuck with. This girl was sweet, lovely, and beautiful; she could be forgiven for being a bit naïve and maybe even eccentric, what with her only company being a giant sociopath and all.

Mason fell forward into her, ignoring his own nakedness, and embraced her tightly as he began to sob onto her shoulder. She stroked his hair reassuringly.

“Let’s get to bed,” she said softly.

Mason awoke in a panic. Was this an earthquake? He was certain the roof had collapsed when a bright light penetrated through the ceiling. How was Elissa still asleep!? He shut his eyes tight and raised his arms in a cross, hoping they might at offer at least a little protection from falling debris.

It was over in less than a second. Mason dared not open his eyes just yet. Was he dead? His heart sank as he slowly opened them through force of will.

Ishani peered down at him, containing her laughter as though his reaction was the height of embarrassment.

Oh yeah.

“Have a good night?” she asked, causing Elissa to stir. Mason maintained a resentful silence.

“Hey Ishani,” yawned Elissa.

“Morning Elissa! Looks like we finally perfected the formula. I sent the code to your pod.”

Elissa’s pod looking just like the one in the living room, just presumably without the shrinking capability.

“You’ll finally be able to walk around without worrying about getting crushed under my feet!”

“You’re the best Ishani!”

“I hope you’re enjoying your new boyfriend as well” she winked, making Elissa blush.

“You won’t get away with this you know,” said Mason, breaking his silence.

“Oh, is that so?” she folded her arms. “Don’t you remember signing the waiver? I’ll just say you were crushed underfoot if anyone comes asking questions. In fact, you were!” she laughed.

“Hey! Don’t be mean! He’s really upset,” protested Elissa.

“I don’t care,” said Ishani. “The only person I care about looking after right now is you.”

“Aww, you’re so sweet Ishani!”

Mason raised an eyebrow. There was obviously some sort of strange co-dependency going on here. Had two years of devoted doting from the giantess really clouded Elissa’s ability to see her obvious lunacy that badly?

It was almost like Elissa had become an object of fixation. It was almost like Ishani was as dependent on Elissa as Elissa was on her. Almost.

“I’m going to go make myself some cereal. I’ll leave you two to get dressed.”

Mason wondered where all the clothes and furniture had come from. Had they been shrunken themselves, or was this the work of some bespoke designer?

He’d just finished getting ready when he felt the growing rumble of Ishani’s footsteps. Her familiar breath warmed the room when she dictated to them, lowering a spoon into the tiny pair’s enclosure; “Hop on!”

This was far more civilised than the prodding he had endured yesterday, he thought.

Ishani nonchalantly dropped the two tines off by her bowl of cereal on the living room table before picking it up and resting on the couch. They only fell a few inches, and Mason was getting used to the feeling of the drop. Elissa seemed more thrilled than anything.

“I can’t believe it! I’m finally indestructible!” she said, rising unphased and dusting herself off.

He was glad to see her happy.

This briefly pure moment was interrupted by a loud thud to his side. He turned to see two gigantic, familiar soles towering in front of them, flexing and unflexing in a manner which could almost be called intimidating were the action not so inconsequential to anything bigger than a rodent.

Mason turned to Elissa a look of disgust, hoping she might return the sentiment, but to his horror, she was already walking towards Ishani’s colossal left sole.

“Elissa, what are you doing!?”

She looked back over her shoulder. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m going to massage Ishani’s feet! She’ll barely even feel it, but it’s the least I can do to show my gratitude. There’s not much else I can do at this size, anyway…”

Mason was dumbfounded. Elissa arrived at Ishani’s heel and found purchase with surprising deftness. He had a feeling she’d done this before. She climbed the wrinkles of Ishani’s sole with impressive speed before reaching the gap between her big and second toe. Thinking nothing could surprise him now, he was taken aback when Elissa began to kiss, lick, and caress the second toe.

“Thank you, Elissa,” mumbled Ishani through a mouthful of cereal, “but I only feel one little insect at my toes.”

Her face was obscured by her colossal feet (which were likely only average sized) but her words echoed across the room, causing tiny tremors for the tinier people.

Elissa peered down at Mason, at this point seemingly in ecstasy, and gestured for him to join her. Mason approached the sole, which was somehow even more imposing up closer, and grabbed a wrinkle. Then another, then another. This was easier than it looked!

It wasn’t long until he reached the spot he’d been stuck under the day before. He immediately regretted turning to look down- he’d somehow scaled several storeys worth of Ishani’s sole in just a few minutes. He reassured himself that he’d made it this far and was built for such a fall anyway.

Within a couple more minutes he reached the toe gap adjacent to Elissa’s. He had to snap her out of the reverence she had for their captor if he had any hope of getting them both out of there.

Hugging her second toe, Mason shimmied across the ledge. The pad of Ishani’s toe hung over him- she would need only to squeeze it and he would be crumpled.

“Elissa!” he shouted from his adjacent purchase- but she just kept licking and kissing and rubbing, now entirely consumed in the act.

Mason joined her in Ishani’s toe gap, grabbing her arm to get her attention.

“What is it!?” said Elissa, a mixture of sweat and saliva covering her face.

“You don’t have to do this! You don’t just have to do everything she tells you!”

“But I want to do everything she tells me!” she retorted, wasting no time getting back to her worship.

“There is more to life than just Ishani now! After all, I guess… you have me now…”

The comment caused Elissa to stop for a moment.

“What the hell is going on over there!?” boomed Ishani, her foot twitching slightly, “Did I give either of you permission to stop licking?”

Still on her knees, Elissa turned her head and looked at Mason. He saw something dwelling beneath her eyes, something which understood what he was saying. Something which, he assumed, probably had to be suppressed to make life bearable. Was this what they called Stockholm syndrome?

Ishani grew impatient before either of them could say anything. The two were suddenly thrust towards each other, caught completely unprepared, as Ishani squeezed her toes tight. “I can do this now because you’re both indestructible,” she said, as though citing some sort or prior agreement, almost insinuating consent.
It was while Elissa, still kneeling uncomfortably, had her face immobilised against the thick, damp flesh of Ishani’s big toe and Mason’s crotch pressed hard into the back of her head that something clicked.

Ishani held them there for a good ten seconds, playing with the pressure she applied by pulsating her enormous toes, before releasing Elissa and Mason, who were collapsed panting and wet.

Ishani loved the power she had over these two tiny people. She wished she could have more, build a collection of them, maybe even a small town- entirely dedicated to her!

“Now get back to work!” she giggled.

Elissa would usually have just been glad to see Ishani enjoying herself, but for some reason now she could only leer at her- not that Ishani could even make out her miniscule face. Elissa turned to Mason, who was fixated on Ishani with the same hateful expression. She could see he was strong. He had not been beaten down by the giantess. Yet.

“Come here,” she said. Before he even had time to even fully turn, she grabbed his face and kissed him with fiery passion.

This, Ishani did see, and her expression rapidly changed from one of breezy nonchalance to horror as Elissa locked lips with Mason.