It was like chasing a pair of elephants. Except not really, since Sam's feet were much, much bigger than any elephant (or any trunk animal for that matter) that has ever roamed the earth. And louder. Each step she took was an assault on his ears, as if he found himself next to a line of cannons, each going off in regular intervals, and it was nothing short of miracle that his eardrums didn't end up ruptured. It was also ultimately futile; one step of hers was like a hundred of his and Jake barely made it several inches in when Sam was already out of the room. Why did he even try to catch up with her, he wondered. Obviously he needed her help to reverse his sorry state, even if he doubted her mental faculties. But the perspective of being stuck at this size was enough to push him into action. And to get her help he needed to get her attention first, and to get her attention... He realized he had a long way to do that.

Standing in the middle of a hardboard floor, a pale brown plain stretching in all directions, Jake did the only thing he could at the moment: started to wage his options. Getting to her was hard enough as it was, considering the distances he would have to make and the ever present danger of getting stepped on by her. Then was the question of how exactly should he get her attention and he found himself clueless. He decided to figure something out when he gets to her, as time was of the essence. The sooner she notices him the sooner she would help him (or at least, he hoped, try to). There was no telling whether his current state was fixed for the moment or permanent or, which would be the worst outcome, whether he might get even smaller. Jake shuddered at the thought of becoming even more minuscule, determined to get to Sam as quickly as his tiny legs could allow him to. As he walked on he looked around his surroundings, partly out of necessity and partly out of curiosity. He half-expected the world to look different to him now and was almost disappointed to realize it really didn't; everything looked the same, except bigger. More of the same, yet in much more detail and said detail became apparent to him the moment he glanced at the floor. Here and there he could make out small puddles of some liquid strewn around and as he passed one, he could tell by the smell it was her sweat. He wasn't really surprised by that, as it was a normal thing to expect from a human being, even this big. Or maybe especially this big. But the idea of being able to see literal sweat drops falling off Sam's body perplexed him a little. Deciding to ignore that, he pressed on and a few minutes later he was out of the room as well. He found himself in a short (at least to a normal-sized person) hall and looked around to try and locate Sam's room. He found it quickly by noise alone and he cautiously walked towards it, hugging the wall. It was, he thought, the safest way to keep moving and avoid getting under Sam's foot at the same time.

When he finally made it to her room he was welcomed by a cacophony of high-pitched, electronic sounds. From the entrance he saw Sam's enormous form sitting on the couch in the distance, playing an Xbox, her attention glued to a small tv screen nearby. There was a white rug between her and where Jake was standing and he shook his head upon realizing he'd have to go through it to reach Sam. The alternative was to walk around it, but he decided he had no time to waste. He carefully stepped into the rug and walked on. Fortunately the fibres were shorter than him, so he could look out towards Sam for any movement from her part. The fact that she was sitting perfectly still helped him concentrate just on reaching her. But then another curious thing had him stop in his tracks. He entered a spot where the fibres were bent, lying low, as if something pressed them down. He quickly figured out he was standing in Sam's footprint and realized once again just how utterly tiny he was now, another subtle humiliation of many more to come. Still he pressed on and still he observed the giantess looming up ahead for any signs of her suddenly getting up and stomping her way where he was currently walking. But the remainder of the journey went on undisturbed and eventually Jake found himself exiting the rug onto the floor under the couch, next to Sam's enormous right foot. At first he tried calling out to her, several times, but he did not notice any reaction from her part. He wondered whether she couldn't hear him because of the tv, because of being focused on the game or simply because he was now too small for the giants to register his voice. Since that didn't work, he opted to get closer, approaching her foot in very slow, very cautious steps. One sudden move from her would be the end for him, she would only need to budge her foot two inches to the left to snuff the life out of him. Jake still couldn't come to terms with just how colossal she was now, how her foot alone, hell, how her toes alone dwarfed him. He felt humiliated more than he felt himself in danger, while at the same time knowing he needed her help, forcing himself to get closer and closer until he was standing right next to her little toe. Not so little up close, not to him at least. Now what, he thought. He slowly reached out and put his hand on the toe's surface, wondering if such a minute touch would be enough to be felt. Her skin felt warm under his touch and he could have sworn he also felt the rush of her blood beneath it. But sure enough, it wasn't enough to get noticed. He coiled his hand into a fist and bumped her toe, being gentle at first, then again, harder. And again. And still he felt no reaction from her, as he couldn't see her face past her knees from where he was standing. Jake felt the frustration and humiliation wash over him, getting the hold of him and carrying him past the boiling point. He was furious - at Nathan, at her, at himself for getting into this mess. If it wasn't for Nathan who, for the reasons he had no time to think of, smuggled a very experimental piece of equipment into his home and for his giant, absent-minded bitch of a roommate, he wouldn't be stuck at such a miserable height right now, he wouldn't have to suffer the humiliation of literally crawling at Sam's feet. He hit her toe again, and again, then he kicked it, then he started using both his arms and his legs. And when he finally ran out of breath and he could no longer feel his hands or move his legs, he slowly looked up and noticed what he feared would happen: nothing. His futile attempts at causing Sam harm went completely unnoticed by the giantess. He wasn't an insect, Jake realized, he was even less than that. Resigned, he sat on the floor with his back to Sam's toe. He was finished; she could crush him for all he cared, grind his body to paste just by laying her foot on top of him. He couldn't care less what happens next.

And then he realized how foolish he was acting. He was one of the most brilliant minds of his institute, hell, maybe even his age. He deserved better than to end up crushed like a bug. He would scale the giantess's body, get her attention and then instruct her on how to get him back to his normal height. And he would do all that before sunset, because (as he concluded long ago), setting a deadline was the first step of getting the job done. And he could do deadlines. His energy and will back, he jumped to his feet and glanced over Sam's foot, searching for a good spot to begin his hike. But unfortunately for him he could not start climbing her up right then and there, as reality picked that very moment to hit him - in the form of Sam's foot, the same he was standing right next to. She only budged it, moved it slightly to the right, a movement so small and delicate even she wasn't aware of doing it. But it was more than enough for Jake, and the sudden collision tossed him to the ground, leaving him lying there, gasping for breath. It took a long while for him to finally be able to get up and stand straight. It also served as a reminder of what exactly he was dealing with: one wrong move from his or her part and he's finished. And so, when Jake has finally decided to move, he did so carefully. He walked around her foot, trying to keep a safe distance, despite how improbable it was given the size of her feet, until he decided her big toe was his safest bet. He approached it quickly, yet cautiously, and grabbed onto the ridges on her skin, using them as a sort of step ladder. Jake wasn't an experienced climber, so it was fortunate for him Sam stayed still at that moment, as he would have quickly ended up under the massive lump of her big toe if she didn't. Eventually he made it onto her toenail. He could make out several spots of leftover nail polish on its otherwise natural surface, the same bright-blue colour as her hair. As he pressed on, he almost felt like walking on a frozen lake, then, once he made it onto her big toe proper, like walking on a collapsed sequoia. It felt easier to him to think of his surroundings as, well - surroundings, natural things strewn around the natural world. It was easier to register in his brain than to think of what he was really doing, walking across a human being's foot. But who was really a human being there, he wondered. Sam shifted her foot once again, almost making Jake trip, but he managed to uphold his balance and continue on towards her ankle. The air was hot and thick with sweat and the scent of Sam's skin, all radiating from her body and Jake had to unbutton his shirt a bit as he felt himself suffocating. He made it to her leggings and began his ascent, carefully grabbing onto their surface and climbing up. At least her clothes were easier to climb than her skin, he thought. Still, he had to climb around the holes in the material, knowing full well he couldn't hold on to the smooth skin on her legs and possibly even risk sliding all the way down to the floor. He couldn't help but wonder, as he pressed on, whether the fall would kill him. On one hand sure, he was small and fragile now but on the other he was light. Very light, in fact. Technically, there was a chance jumping down from where he was (and he made it roughly to her knee when he was pondering about it) would not harm him. But he wasn't eager to test his little theory, having more pressing matters on his mind.

Climbing on the top of Sam's knee felt more like what Jake would imagine mountain climbing to be like. The surface was hard and harsh and rugged and he did not enjoy it at all. But the climb tired him out and so, seeing the giantess still invested in her game and relatively immobile, he decided this was a good enough spot to rest, if only for a moment. He sat down and looked around the room. The tv was still making loud, irritating noises in the distance, its light a myriad of colours, like a sun that was going through a cosmic mental breakdown. He could see Sam's hands tightly holding a controller, pressing buttons bigger than him with ease, the sound of it echoing even through the noise. Eventually Jake's attention followed elsewhere. From his position he could, straining his neck, see Sam's face all the way above him, high up in the sky. Her grey eyes were still fixed on the screen and her mouth was parted. Suddenly, Jake noticed something hanging in the corner of the latter, something transparent, something that seemed to be-

He barely dodged as the object came crashing right where he was sitting with a loud, slapping noise. His eyes open wide in shock, he realized quickly what it was that just fell from Sam's mouth - a drop of saliva. Far above him the giantess was wiping her mouth with her free hand, while Jake sat there for a moment, laughing at his surreal situation. He was almost crushed to death because this girl was salivating. How would that look on a tombstone? And above him and around him the giantess remained ignorant of the whole ordeal.