‘Ok, let’s
try that again.’
Her words
enveloped you as you regained consciousness.
The cold
plastic was unpleasant against your exposed buttocks. To your left, the small
puddle of bile had yet to dry. She was still sat in the same position, those entrancing
eyes looking down at you with fascination.
She was
somewhat geeky, having an air of playful innocence about her. She would be cute
had she not also vast and mind consuming, once more filling you with terror.
You
screamed again, you couldn’t help it.
Your legs
kicked out, the muscles twitching as you pushed yourself away from her. Almost immediately
your back found the plastic wall of your container, your heavy head clanging
against the side.
‘Don’t be
scared,’ she chirped, her tone friendly, ‘not yet anyway.’
She smiled
and pushed a button on the controller in her hand, ‘Here this should help.’
Immediately
you relaxed, your shoulders slumping. What was the problem again?
Oh, yeah,
the giant woman whose hand reached down towards you. It wasn’t scary though,
look how soft and warm her skin looks.
A lazy grin
fell across your lips as her fingers wrapped around you, lifting you into the
air. She was compressing your chest, making it hard to breathe. That was ok
though, it was all ok.
When she
opened her hand, you had a small drop to the wooden floor. It hurt but that was
ok.
‘Ok, can
you stand for me? I want to make sure everything is working properly.’
Sure, why
not?
You didn’t say
anything, what was there to say? You just rose to your feet and stood there, a
bit wobbly but ok.
She looked
over you, prodding you with a finger. The force should have broken your collar
bone but some how it was ok. She turned you around, the motion causing you to
fall flat on your face.
She giggled.
Yeah, it was kind of funny you supposed.
You stood
back up, the pain in your head a dull buzz.
‘Ok, cool,
cool, yeah that seems to be working. Err, step forwards?’
You did, why
not.
She giggled
again, ‘Awesome. Step left.’
You stepped
left.
‘And right.’
You stepped
right.
‘Open your
mouth. Close it. Lift your left arm, your right, drop them. Sit down, stand up,
sit down again.’
You were
happy to do as she asked, she seemed so nice. Her smile, her voice, she was
really nice.
‘Ok cool, let’s
go back to default. No control.’
She pressed
a button and you cried out with pain. Your shoulder ached, your head pounding
as though filled with nails. Your face and jaw throbbed from where you had
fallen.
The
giantess smirked.
You took a
step backwards, feeling your face for swelling.
It was then
you first noticed the cause of the itching that plagued your skin.
‘What the,
what the fuck?’
Horror
overcame you as your eyes tracked across your arms, from your fingertips to
your elbows, up into your shoulder. Beneath your skin, black wires pulsed.
They
stretched across your chest like a spider’s web, wrapping around your limbs,
your entire naked body.
Your skin
was a patchwork of shiny pale scars, cuts following the wires that had been
threaded through you.
You looked
up at her as terror sent your heart racing, ‘What is happening to me, what have
you done to me?’
Your
fingers traced the ridge of a wire up to your neck and across your face. It
rose towards your ears, your fingertips following until they brushed against
something metallic.
‘That’s enough
for now,’ she grinned. Her finger pressing the button.
You blacked
out.
You awoke
with a gasp, struggling for a moment to catch your breath.
The plastic
container was gone, the smooth wood beneath you a pleasant if still disorientating
change. Yellow hued lamplight lit the room. It was evening.
She sat
half turned away from you. Her hair was in a ponytail, her attention fixed on
an open laptop that spilled blue light across her slender fingertips. One leg
was tucked beneath her, the sole of her white sneaker stained a pale grey from
wear.
You wanted
to scream, you wanted to run, you fought against it.
It was
hard, every fibre of your body quivered with fear but you pushed against it.
Whatever that controller did, you didn’t want her to use it again. You didn’t want
to go back into the black.
Your neck
felt like it had been broken, snapping under the weight of your head. You head
itself was a swollen mess, your brain filled with wool split only by bursts of
pain.
You remembered
the feeling of metal and gingerly raised your hands above your ears.
A sob
escaped your lips as your hands closed around cold steel bars, your fingers
racing along them to where they had been fused for your skull.
‘Oh god no,
no,’ you could help but cry aloud as you explored the metal cage that squatted
upon your skull. You tugged at it, releasing a sharp jolt of agony that sent
the room spinning.
‘Ok, so
there’s still a lot to get used to but we’ll go slow.’
She didn’t
even look at you as she spoke.
‘I’ve
turned the suppressors off for now. It says to use them sporadically to prevent
dependency, neural breakdown. It seems that you’re doing fine without them
anyway.’
Your face
was wet, your eyes and cheeks puffy. Sadness held your heart like a physical
grip, squeezing with every beat.
‘What, what
have you done to me?’
She seemed
surprised that you addressed her directly, a momentary flicker that zipped
across her features before she returned a warm smile. She made a note on her
laptop before answering.
‘Nothing
sweetie. I didn’t do the installation, we are just going through the setup.
Sorry its taking so long.’
She chuckled, ‘Why am I apologising to you? Sorry, its going
to take some getting used to. Oh man, I did it again. Ok, come here.’
Her palm moved to the table, flattening into a platform. It
was clear she wanted to you step onto it.
Something twitched in her eyebrow as you failed to move.
‘I said come here. I haven’t turned suppression on, you need
to walk consciously little guy. Can you hear me?’
She glanced at her laptop before returning her attention to
you. Some of the warmth was missing from her eyes, ‘Do I need to reset you?’
You moved as though physically struck, scuttling forwards. You
delayed only a second, the surrealism of being asked to climb onto a giant
woman’s hand feeling like a wall you needed to get past.
Your fear of her had developed. Before it was physical, her
size and the space she filled creating a primal terror. Now that fear was
joined by fear of consequence, of her power. You feared what she would do to
you if you angered her.
She moved the second her flesh was beneath you, her hand
coiling and shaping to enclose you in her fingers. The air was punched out of
you by her grip, G-force dragging at you as she brought you to her face.
Her cute features, those sensual lips and diamond eyes, the
cute nose and the curly of dark brown hair that had tugged free to twist beside
her left eye; at such vast size they caused only a welling surge of horror to
overcome you.
She shushed you as you began to scream again, the twitch of
those brows forcing compliance.
‘Ok, so everything looks about right. They’ve done a good job
on the Link, the pain should fade a little in time but I’m not 100%. Exo looks
good, Webbing looks good. We’ll try that first. Ready?’
Before you could answer you were already moving. Her fingers
manipulated your body as her other hand came into play. She enclosed your right
arm between her thumb and forefinger, her two digits completely swallowing it.
Her fingernails were painted a now familiar sky blue.
‘Ready, ok, lets see if the Web works.’
She pulled.
You released a howl like nothing you had ever heard before.
The crunch of breaking bone, the searing white hot agony ripping
through your body, the scream that almost made your lungs burst. All of this juxtaposed
the cold indifference in her eyes as she went to work.
Your broken arm was twisted back and forth, deliberate movements
designed to inflict more pain.
The bones inside shattered, she rolled your arm between her
thumb and forefinger, twisting it back behind your head smashing through the
shoulder in the process.
Without warning, she released her grip on your body,
dangling you by your ruined arm. She swished you back and forth, barely a smirk
on her face as you flailed and screamed.
Her eyes tracked you as she lifted you higher, above her
head, into the heavens.
With a flick of her wrist she released you, letting you spin
like a fleshy seed plummeting towards the wooden floor.
From nowhere, her other hand caught you, punching the air
from your lungs.
You were lifted back to her face.
‘That hurt, huh?’
The question was rhetorical, your only response a smattering
of sobs and groans.
She was already probing you again with her fingers, moving
you to better see the ruin she had inflicted on your arm.
The definition was completely gone, the bones of your arm
and shoulder turned to splinters. You couldn’t think beyond the pain to
question the lack of blood, the lack of tears in your flesh. Your arm was limp,
lifeless and dead. It looked like a stepped on worm.
‘Ok, so the Exo is clearly working otherwise it would have
come off. No blood too which is good. I don’t want blood every time.’
She typed something on the laptop with her free hand.
‘Now for the important bit, lets see if the Web is going to
work.’
Without warning, she flicked you towards the table.
Once again you were sent screaming through the air, your
worm arm flapping uselessly by your side. This time the landing was less soft,
bones cracking as you hit the wooden table.
You lay as a smear of agony, your hip and legs freshly
broken.
Her shadow passed over you, the controller taking your place
in her grip.
She observed you for a second, prodding your broken leg;
indifferent to the squeals and shrieks as she broke your ankle and shattered
your knee.
‘Ok,’ was all she said before pushing the button.
Your body shuddered and convulsed as though an electrical
currant ran through it. The room flashed white, your tongue swelling in your
mouth, your teeth chattering. Every limb twitched, your muscles moving as though
turned to snakes. A whirring sound in your ears became a drone that grew louder
and louder until it was all you could hear.
You quivered on the table top, blinded by light and deafened
by sound. You couldn’t respond, couldn’t think.
You knew you were going to die.
The sensation stopped, as quickly as someone switching off a
light.
You sucked in air like someone saved from drowning, pushing
yourself onto your side and curling your legs up beneath you. The foetal
position was instinctual.
‘Ah ah,’ she chided, her fingers already wrapping around
your limbs to stretch you out, ‘lets have a look at you.’
Naked and afraid, you were helpless as her eyes roved over
you. This was as impersonal as an inspection, she was reviewing the performance
of a piece of equipment. She flipped you onto your back, inspecting your spine.
‘Amazing, that’s so cool,’ she sang, excitement and glee
dripping from her as she released you.
You hugged your knees, only then realising that you were
able to do so.
Your eyes widened as you took in your restored arm, your
healed legs.
Aside from the scarring and those black wires, there was no
sign of damage. How was this possible?
You couldn’t know how long you sat and stared at yourself.
This was impossible.
Her voice drew you back, ‘OK, Webs working pretty good. Do
you want to stay On while I put the results in? We’ll do a real test shortly.’
‘Please,’ you croaked, swallowing another swab of fear, ‘who
are you, what is this? What have you done to me?’
‘Urgh,’ she flashed you a light scowl, ‘Sorry but I don’t
want to do this right now. I’ll explain later.’
The controller in her hands, the transmitter pointed to you.
You could barely cry out a protest before her finger hit the
button.
You blacked out.