“The battery will be dead in a matter of weeks”. The engineer’s words hung in the Capitol committee room. The senators regarded him. He spoke bluntly, not in political mumbo-jumbo, and did not appear to be nervous or intimidated by them. His determination was evident. John, the 25-year-old media rep for the chairman, was relieved they had all agreed to a closed session.

The chairman turned to the right of the engineer. “What impact will this have on crop yields. We all know the power grid is also used to heat the soil”. “Dr. Manette” the name on his table said. This guy seemed nervous. A bead of sweat was forming on his brow, and he shifted in his seat.

“Senator, we expect crop yield reductions of around 50% within months of the battery dying”. An audible gasp came from some other senators and staffers in the room. Good luck keeping this secret now, John thought, unable to comprehend the wider consequences at that moment. Another senator interjected.

“What scenarios of reducing our energy consumption do we have to prolong the life of the battery?”

“Senator, we believe we could perhaps last a year with severe cuts to consumption; i.e. households and non-essential industry getting electricity just a few hours a day”.

…..

John stumbled through the front door of his penthouse apartment. The committee hearing had gone on much longer than expected and he was exhausted. After the hearing he then had to fend off some prying reporters; and even lead them down irrelevant rabbit holes to distract from something of this magnitude.

As he loosened his tie and started to poor his bourbon, he looked out the top-story window; the high vantage point over the capital. Way out on the horizon, he saw one of his favorite site. Their owner, an incomprehensible Prodigan, was home from college. John knew she stood 4,000 miles tall or thereabouts. And she was changing her clothes for bed. John had the best view in the city. He watched as she slid out of her jeans, revealing a pair of pink lingerie underneath. It was new from the last time they’d seen her. She pulled the panties down and then stepped out of them. John, and any other men that could see, admired her naked pussy. Her “landing strip” was miles long- taking on a new meaning to the micros. You could fit hundreds of airports on it. Naked only from the waist down, she walked over to her dresser. She turned so her back was to the microputian ant farm. Her butt was mostly taut, but John could see the small ripples of fat move across each cheek as she walked. She removed her top, and dropped her bra on the floor. John scowled, the fact that her back was to them meant he couldn’t see her tits. Although they were large enough, he could see their curves poking out on her sides. He watched again as she lay down on her bed mindlessly checked her phone.

Why, John wondered, had there been so little effort in trying to contact her? She could change the battery. He could only figure the politicians didn’t like reminders of a being infinitely more powerful than themselves. But she’d saved all of their puny little lives once before. Maybe she could do it again.

…….

‘This has to be fake’ Maddie murmured she read the little pamphlet from the mail after he usual Saturday-morning run.  ‘Beaming thoughts directly into someone’s brain?’. Her curiosity was sparked. But she had to see if she could find the ant farm. She hadn’t touched it for 10 years- back when she was 10.

Still clad in her sports bra and yoga shorts, she fiddled with the device as she walked back up to her bedroom. It looked an old flip phone, complete with a QWERTY keyboard, and an unusually long antenna. She opened it. The screen flashed. “Frequency detected. Type your message”. What was she supposed to say to these tiny people?

“Hey”.

A message appeared rapidly on the screen. She noticed at the same time there were some speedometer looking needles, with labels; “fear/comfort”; “admiration versus loathing”; “anger versus happiness”. This micro appeared to be very high on fear, admiration, and neutral on anger.

“Is this…are you really our owner?”

Maddie realized she didn’t even know where the ant farm was yet. She looked around for a second before she saw it on an upper rung of her bookshelf. Carefully, she picked it up and set it on her desk. They would now know who she was, heh.

“Of course I am, silly”.

“Could you, could you always do this?”. She knew what the micro meant. Beam thoughts into people’s brains. She’d owned them for a decade but had never had any personal interaction with them.

“Actually, I just got some promotional thing from the company that sold you guys to me. It is able to beam thoughts right into micros’ heads. I can’t believe it is actually working!”

“Oh wow”. The unknown micro responded.

“So what’s your name, little one?” the giantess prompted.

“I’m Ashley” the micro replied. Before the giantess could speak, the micro responded again.

“Now what are you going to do with us?”

The giantess smirked. “Well, what did you expect me to do with you?”.

Maddie was quickly reminded, the micro was transmitting her thoughts, some of which were not controllable….

John stumbled out of his and his girlfriend Ashley’s bedroom. He was slightly hungover. He usually would’ve slept a few hours later on Saturday except it sounded like there was a violent earthquake outside. “Honey, what in the fuck was that….”

“Not now, John!”. He didn’t even hear her. He was looking out his penthouse window, admiring the midriff of their fit young Goddess, dominating their horizon. Evidently, she had become bored with the first Microputian she had talked to, and picked up another frequency his own. John knew who it was immediately:

“Was my girlfriend respectful to you?”

The Goddess still seemed friendly. That was a good sign.

“Yes she was. Why wouldn’t she be, little guy?”

“She’s…she’s easily jealous”.

“Oh?”

“You’re very popular with men”.

He covered his eyes with his hands. ‘Open mouth, insert foot’, he thought.

The giantess giggled.

“Don’t worry, I get it. I’m as big as a planet to you guys; the center of all attention”. Oh shit. She could read all his thoughts and not just those he transmitted to her.

“It’s not just men that love you”. He paused. “You saved us”.

“When was that?”

“You don’t remember?!?!?”

“No, not really, you’ve just been in storage to me”.

“Well, your mother wanted to throw us away after you got the wrong package”.

“Oh yeah”

“It may not seem consequential to you, but it saved hundreds of millions of our lives”.

It was incomprehensible to Maddie. She realized she really just didn’t have an accurate sense of the scale she was dealing with. Hundreds of millions of people, just in the little terrarium sitting at hip level to her on her desk???

“I’m glad I did…but I can’t take credit for it. I don’t even remember. I was a child”

“You can and should. But it’s ok- I just want to ask if you can do it again”

…..

John furiously called his boss. He dialed and hung up a half dozen times. The scare that surely everyone had from the interaction with the 4,000 mile giantess hadn’t dented his smooth talking and shit-talking. “Did you call me 6 times to tell me you wet yourself over that girl?” he opens. Smartass.

“No sir. But it’s about her”.

“Oh boy. Does Ashley know you had a wet dream about the giantess? You know how jealous she is”. Another smartass remark.

“Funny you should mention Ashley. We both talked to her”.

“Talked to who?”

“The giantess, Maddie”

“Oh shit. The fear fried your brain, son. How the fuck could you ‘talk’ to her”.

“did you see the cell-phone thing she was holding”

“No, I did get a good view of her camel toe, though”

“She could be your granddaughter- and I’m not even sure we’re the same species. Anyway, we can end this battery problem today”.

“You’re insane”

“Just trust me. Come to my apartment in an hour, and you’ll see”.

……..

Maddie’s parents were on a cruise over Christmas. She had nothing to do until she would go to her grandparents’ house on Christmas day. She was planning on sitting at her desk and watching Netflix, mostly. But now she had plenty to work on. The story the Microputian, John, had told her, was fascinating. They needed her to change out the battery to their civilization. But due to the scale she was dealing with- tens of millions would need to evacuate the region due to the earthquakes that would be caused when she removed and replaced the battery. It was so much responsibility.

A part of her wanted her to run away, to ignore them. However, she had been assured by John that she was only the person that could do the job. It made her uncomfortable how many lives were at stake. Especially, after interacting with two Microputians, she realized that they were 100% the same as Prodigans. They had the same thoughts, at least. She never realized that.

Some Prodigans thought of them as an advanced animal, at worst, or at best, equal but nonetheless different. Like aliens, or something. But it wasn’t true. They were monogamous, they had a similar civic government structure to Prodigans, they had rural and urban areas and a divide. The similarities were eerie. There was one big difference. She had done the math. She was over 4,000 miles tall to them.

Her phone buzzed again. It was John. “Hey John” she said brightly. “My boss is 5 minutes out”. He told her. “John…” she said softly. “I just wanted to apologize if I came across as condescending to you earlier”. He didn’t think so, and wondered why she thought so. “No, not at all. Why do you think so?” he replied. “Well, I’ll be honest with you. It’s how we Prodigans think of you”.  

“Eh, I can’t blame them”. John replied. “Just look at you”.

“I wish I could see what you look like” she replied.

“We’ve got some advanced tech. I think we’ll find a way”. John said.

…..

“I’m sorry, but we need more time”. John nervously told the deity on the line. “We’re evacuating 30 million- 20% of our population”. “and we fucked up- we didn’t prepare anyone for this until last week”.

“that wasn’t you. You’re not a politician- don’t blame yourself for that”. Maddie replied. She grew more stern. “but you have to find a solution. I hate the suspense”.

……

The skies over the eastern province darkened suddenly despite it being midday.  Only those who had been looking off at the horizon realized what the cause was. They’d seen a foot come into view. They knew the giantess had propped them up on her desk, directly in front of their civilization. Earlier, she had removed their glass enclosure, but nothing had happened immediately. Now, the soft, smooth sole arched slowly towards them so that her toes were what was blackening their sky directly overhead.

They didn’t know what her intentions were, some were fearful. Was this why they had been asked to evacuate? They had no way of knowing. Others on the periphery of the Eastern territory soon realized what she was doing. This was what it looked like when a Goddess gave herself a pedicure, directly over the millions of mites of the population. Why she was doing it- they could only speculate. She began to brush the oil around her toes, softening her cuticles. She smiled slightly as she admired her handiwork. Then, those in the know, like John, began to see her intentions. She was attempting to hasten the evacuations by scaring the micros, all the while doing little real damage. She began to file down her toenails. Those in other areas of the civilization got a great view as what appeared to be dust particles, dried bits of her toenail tumbled down from the heavens. Each one of those flakes were surely as large as a person tumbled down like oversized hail, smashing through cars, buildings, and occasionally people, or leaving massive holes in the ground like meteors. In the province, chaos ensued as the first casualties rolled in. No one had ever thought a 20-year old girl’s pedicure could have such life and death consequences for them- especially when she wasn’t even trying to hurt them! Some fled their homes as they saw houses and buildings around them have massive holes bored through them by the 6 foot long projectiles. Others, perhaps smartly, fled to their basements, thinking the momentum of the falling meteors might be stopped. Others fled outside only to watch with horror as people turned into red splotches, crushed and brutalized.

This phenomenon recurred 5 times, each tens of miles away from the last, as she moved one by one to repeat the process on each of her toes.

Then, as quickly as it had started. The dying stopped. The giantess withdrew her foot and left.

……

John and Ashley watched the news that night to see reports of the carnage done in the Eastern Province. There were between 500-1000 dead, probably more than that with serious injuries. But the panic had been so massive, millions had fled that very day alone. Many more were expected to flee in the coming days.

“She did it- we’re almost in the clear now!” John told his girlfriend Ashley. She glared at him. “Please tell me you didn’t sign off on it”.

“Sign off on it? You think I control her?”

“Good point. But someone should. She’s obviously getting kicks from this. Mark my words, she may seem innocent, but she’ll do something like this again, next time for no reason”. S

Before he could respond, John sensed Maddie trying to communicate with him. “Well, what do you think?” She asked him. He involuntarily thought some things. “Well, I always admired your feet. I see that you take good care of them”. She giggled. “A lot of people got to see that. You can’t blame me for flaunting them”.

“I have to change the battery tomorrow”. “I go to back to college the day after tomorrow- I don’t think you guys can come with me”. 

 “Are you coming to the org fair?” Maddie’s friend asked her as the students filed out of the classroom.

“Later. I have something to do back at my place first”.

“Do, as in, doing a guy?” Her friend playfully stuck her tongue out at her.

“Stop!” Maddie playfully slapped her.

She quickly walked out of the lecture hall and dialed someone on facetime. John picked up almost immediately. “Hey Queen. How’re you doing?”

“Hi John- I just wanted to check everything was going well in micro-world”.

“Of course- really not much of a change for us”. “we’re just happy to have the daylight back”.

She’d put their civilization in a sturdy cardboard box when she moved back to college; she didn’t want it to move around in her car or when being carried.

“sorry, just better safe than sorry, you know?”.

“No need to be sorry- no one’s really upset”. “Let me show you”. She received a text message from John; it was a video file.

The timestamp was from the prior day. It was the view out a 2nd story window, some sort of lounge in the apartment building where he lived. It was also very dark; pitch black in fact, the only light being the light from street lights and buildings.

A disheveled looking woman stood on the city street-corner holding a large sign labeled “the end is near”. Around her a group had gathered. There appeared to be a conflict between her and the group.

A handsome young man dressed in business casual attire was speaking.

“No, my friends, the end is not near. Our Goddess went out of her way to save every person we’ve ever known. We trust her, we have her faith in her”.

“But what about the pedicure? thousand died cruelly!” someone protested.

“It saved more lives than it cost. They were refusing to evacuate”. “if we obey, we need not fear”.

…..

The Microputians could not cope with their newfound turmoil and did what came easiest; they blamed the messenger. 

In their mind, no they were not about to run out of sustenance. It was all a cynical power grab their own ruling elite. The goddess’ getting a new promotional feature to communicate with them was also not a coincidence but a conspiracy to get her involved in their affairs and give those who could communicate with her absolute power over their fellow micros. 

That night, all throughout the land, and even the capital city where John resided, armed mobs ransacked government buildings. John and his girlfriend nervously watched the TV as the violence unfolded. The leader, some army reservist from the region to be evacuated, was televised live from an undisclosed location. “We have obtained internal government documents that show, the federal government is working tirelessly to convince our God to flatten our entire province”. 

“We therefore cannot risk them having the only line of communication to her. Although she is the most merciful and beautiful being, who could wipe out every man, woman, and child of this nation on a whim, we know that she would not do it or her own accord”. “She was driven to the numerous casualties from her divine pedicure by malicious influences”. Thank you. He stepped away. 

John’s girlfriend shook her head. “He’s using such religious language- she’s just a college girl!”. John grinned. He was a little drunk. The stress of fleeing and hiding out from the coup had got to him. In fact, his position gave him advance notice of the trouble and he’d sped out to a cabin on one of his boss’ sprawling hunting lodges. “She saved all of us? Check. She is literally all powerful? Check. And besides she’s nice to look at. We definitely traded-up our moons when we get sold” referencing when Maddie changed the view  they got of her planetary ass cheeks. his girlfriend glared at him but said nothing. 

“You know they key to communicating with her is being high up in our penthouse. I’m sure they’re ransacking it right now. You won’t get to talk to your new girl”. She sneered at him. 

….

Maddie was fast asleep during the start of this drama. She awoke and had to pee. She yawned and rolled out of bed. She was naked. She was not particularly modest but she of course had been recently reminded of her hundreds of millions of roommates. But it was pitch dark in her room, so should be fine. As she got to the bathroom she checked her phone. Her Microputian communication app was blowing up. “What the?” she muttered. It took her a moment to realize something was wrong. Quickly, she slipped into a bathrobe and ran over to the micro world. She dialed them. “Hello?” she said. A voice she didn’t recognize answered her. “Greetings…” she cut him off. “Where’s John?”. 

“John?”

“Yes, my friend John. The only place that gets signal so I can converse with anyone is his apartment, so you must be in his apartment….”

She trailed off. 

“What have you done with him?” 

“Nothing. I assure you, he is safe, dear Goddess” the rebel leader replied to his owner. 

They could all see her in exquisite detail. Her face was temporarily obscured as she sighed heavily. She was breathing quicker than usual. They could see her soft planetary tits rise and fall more exaggeratedly and quickly than usual. 

“I’m sorry little guy but I just don’t believe you- your a rebel, aren’t you?”

“Not against you”

“In fact that is why we wanted to come and petition you…..” 

While he was still speaking, she  leaned down rapidly. Her face loomed over all. She was squinting at them. “I can’t get close enough with this stupid glass”. She removed their glass enclosure. “Much better”.  She leaned closer. She could see very little on her scale. In fact, all she could see were the tallest skyscrapers, which were barely even perceptible. Of course, one of them happened to be where John lived. After a few minutes, she realized it was no hope. She couldn’t even see the city scapes at her scale. She sighed. With no protective covering, she watched in both horror and awe as the small structures crumbled to dust from her slight breath.

…..

The line to the Microputians turned over to static immediately. Maddie sat there, stunned for a little bit. She was shocked. She’d crumbled several buildings to nothing with just her slight breath. It was kind of hot. But she was worried about her friend, John. This little mites had evidently harmed him. “Time’s up” she thought. Maybe without sophisticated weapons, these little rebels couldn’t do any more harm. Plus, all of them deserved the punishment for hurting her friends. She’d offered to do them a great favor, to save their civilization, just like he’d done before? She was going to remove the battery, and not replace it. They could live in the Dark Ages for a little while and collect dust. She’d talk to them when she was ready.

….