Chapter 7: Breaking Out

Angelica tried and failed to get her bearings in the metal mouth. She very quickly learned that tongue had far, far more strength than she could hope to resist. The fluid and steam around the spy served to disorient, and the faint light filtering in through the burlap of the sack on her head served only to confuse rather than help her see.

She thought her assignment would be an easy one. Get in, steal some documents, record some data, get out. But, for the first time, she was captured. A routine intelligence gathering operation quickly turned into something out a fantasy. Before they had put the burlap sack on her head, they had let her witness the gigantic brass woman who was presently swishing her around like a candy.

Thankfully, the damndest thing happened. The tongue nimbly maneuvered her beneath it, then held her there. This Belle woman wasn’t going to eat her! Some watery fluid and steam still sprayed and pooled around Angelica, but that was all that was swallowed down. She was safe. The colossus was hiding her, merely pretending to have eaten her.

Angelica played along: holding as still as possible and making no noise.

On the outside, Victor proudly talked about yet more of the colossus’s capabilities.

“Very good. I’m sure you noticed the moisture in your new mouth Belle? Small jets in the oral cavity spray both steam and a mist of slightly viscous watery fluid. Just like the role of saliva, this preps your meals for digestion. Although your throat is kind of like one big pipe, a series of pistons allow it it to flex. This simulates peristalsis and makes sure your meals reach your new stomach as safely and efficiently as possible. A series of small lights in your mouth, throat, and stomach illuminate the process for any involved, while also aiding the minibots in assisting your digestion.”

“My digestion, huh?”, said Belle.

“Yes, the meals in your stomach are treated with super-heated steam. That combines with some other sprayed compounds and a bit of churning to soften up and break down anything into useful parts. Some of it goes into further pipes, other bits are taken by the minibots themselves. It’s another technological marvel, really.”

Belle cocked her brass eyebrows.

“Super-heated steam? Sounds unpleasant for any living thing I eat.”

Victor made some hand gesture before leaning into the mic: at once admitting the issue while waving it off.

“Well yes, there was no way to engineer away the pain of a living morsel in there. That woman you ate is basically being cooked alive. I imagine it’s quite agonizing, but as a proper god it might help to view as the ultimate sacrifice. They suffer for your own benefit. Anything you eat can be used to make you stronger, better, and even bigger later on.”

While Victor talked, Belle noticed Henry Fib trembling once again. The talk of being melted alive frightened him. It seemed he, more than others, realized that Belle might not exactly be grateful for her unwilling apotheosis.

Belle smirked, and slyly tested the other shackles on her her. They were thick and sturdy bonds of metal, but she knew was stronger. The main problem for her now was the numbness in her body. Only recently was she able to move her wrists. Still, focusing, she felt more and more.

“Now let’s see, what other processes are there to go over.” said Victor, thinking aloud. “Ah, your heart, which you may be able to hear or feel, helps pump the steam around you now. You have mechanical lungs as well to assist with moving steam in ways too, mostly for speaking. Aside from that, well, I think that’s most of the obvious and important mechanisms elucidated.”

“I don’t care.”, said Belle. “I’m sick of listening to you ramble. You’ve ruined my life, so I’m gonna end yours Victor.”

Henry seemed to notice Belle’s arms wiggling. The sound of those metal bands clanking and groaning against Belle’s own brass exterior. In a bit of panic, he moved forward leaned into the mic on that console.

“I know you might be upset still, but we are here to advise you Belle. I can assure you that woman deserved her fate.”, he nervously cleared his throat. “Even once you can move, we can give you tips on how to influence others. Voxhaben has a bustling PR department after all. I worked there myself briefly. We can tech you the best tactics of rulers throughout history, methods of conquest for the inevitable resistance.”

Victor looked at him, annoyed.

“My partner is correct, we’re here to help you as long as you see fit.”

Belle smirked down at those two, and all the others on the scaffolding platform near her navel.

What happened next happened fast. Her shoulder shifted and with one great thrust her metal right arm tore free of the few bands restraining it. Those shackles shattered, and the several tons of metal composing their make crashed down on the floor or flew out towards the scaffolding, tearing into it. A few people near Belle’s feet, which shifted some, were crushed by the remnants of that which used to restrain her. Belle paid it little heed. She quickly reached out towards Victor’s platform and curled her fingers around him, Henry, and a good chunk of the scientists and guards surrounding their bosses.

Henry screamed, and even unaided by speakers his voice was picked up by the complicated auditory mechanizations resting inside Belle’s body near her ears.

“No, stop. Our advice is crucial to your future! You can’t do this. You weren’t supposed to be free yet!”

The scientists and guards in Belle’s mitts were similarly alarmed, trapped by 10ft thick fingers on a palm more than 50ft wide. Oddly enough, Victor himself was laughing.

“Now now Mr. Fib, part of making a god is that they can do whatever they like. It’s ultimately not our place to assume what a super being should or could do.”

The scaffolding shook and groaned with everyone one of Belle’s movements. She quickly managed to free her other arm, this time cleaving the limb through the scaffolding to her left and taking much of those onboard it down with it. That wasn’t on purpose so much as her currently limited mobility. Though finer movements like her fingers, toes, and tongue seemed easy enough, moving her arm felt like swinging a rigid log. Her elbow bent slow as she lifted victor and the others up more towards her head.

“I must admit I’m impressed. Moving your arms this soon, however clumsily... Why, you’re exceeding expectations Belle!”

Belle grinned, showing off the lighter shade of metal which made up her teeth. Her left, free hand moved up towards her face.

“I hope I’m subverting them too.”

She opened her mouth and lifted up her tongue to show Angelica alive, albeit a bit wet. With forefinger and thumb she delicately pinched up the woman.

Victor talked with surprise creeping into his voice. “Ah you tricked us. How sly!”

“Aren’t you upset I kept your prisoner alive? Defied your wish to devour her?”

Victor replied.

“Sometimes a test can have multiple right answers. Just because this turn of events isn’t the one I preferred, doesn’t mean I’m not excited you passed.”

“Well I’m done with your tests, Victor. I’m done with this complex. I’m getting out of here and fixing this mess.”

As this all went on staff tried to flee the scaffolding entirely, or at least to the safer lower levels. It was a rather long path down though, with guards, doctors, and engineers scrambling into each other as the metal walkways shook with every movement of Belle’s. Strangely, though, no guards seemed to try and help Victor, even the ones safe on the ground. They simply readied their arms, but didn’t fire. They had orders not to, not while Victor was still safe and in sight.

Belle tilted the hand with Angelica. The woman yelped while loose bindings and gravity let the burlap sack free from her blonde-haired head. The moist environment of Belle’s mouth had made the ropes easier to slip free of. The spy was working her wrists and ankles through the knots around them as she hastily spoke.

“I can help you Belle. I work for the US government! We can help fix this.”

“Such dexterity in your fingers Belle!”, said Victor, ignoring the spy’s words for the moment.

“Ha!”, said Belle. “Saving her life wasn’t just the right thing to do, it seems to have given me a way to turn this all around. I’ll get back to normal and be done with this nightmare.”

Victor’s laughter more than overpowered Henry’s whimpers.

“That rat will say anything to save herself. It’s foolish to think you can return to what you used to be Belle, but even more foolish to *want* to! To try and regret this gift, why, you’re acting just like any other short-sighted person on the street. Mere insects to you now. Think of it Belle! You are beyond them.”

Belle sheltered Angelica in the curl of her fingers. She brought her right hand close to her face. The roar of steam and air from her vocal processes escaped her mouth to assault her captors as they squirmed.

“What I’m beyond of is listening to you, Victor. For all your talk of the evils of people, calling them rodents and bugs, you’re one of the worst. I had no say in becoming this, you had no right!”

“What’s done is done, Belle. You’re a god, embrace it. Now, what are you going to do? Crush us? I can think of no better way to prove our place as ‘insects’ before you.”

He laughed, clearly the only one finding this amusing.

“No.”, she said. “For all your infatuation with your project, your making of a ‘god’, I think you should suffer that ‘ultimate sacrifice’ you were gushing about earlier.”

She let out a curt chuckle, speaking sarcastically.

“What better way to prove your devotion, right?”

Henry was in tears, screaming. The other staff in her hand wailed at the idea. Victor, meanwhile, kept his spirits high for the moment.

“Ah harsh punishment. Good. A god should be good at disciplining the lowly mortals. You’re a fast learner Belle! I knew you were the right choice! Ha, ha, ha!”

Belle paid it no mind. She opened her mouth wide. The orifice stretched dozens of feet in width: more than enough to accommodate them all. She pressed her palm to her mouth and tilted her head back, body nosily clanking with the movements.

Her lips shut, Belle moved the mass around with her tongue a bit. She had used a bit too much pressure and mangled one of the scientist’s arms in the process. Those inside her mouth screamed from it.

She didn’t toy with them long. She wanted to be done with them. Belle swallowed.

Victor and the rest were hit with the saliva spritz, soaked, by the time the tongue tilted. Her swallowing came with a great roar of pipes. Victor has thought it possible he might die to the body of his creation, but he hadn’t thought it would be like this. He was getting a tour of the digestion system he designed.

The throat was line with rivet-sized lights so that the minibots, and meals, could see. Thus, he missed no details on the path down. Although the main throat pipe could flex and bend like a human’s, it wasn’t made of flesh. The metal was dryer and a good deal harder.

As the pistons worked the pipe to tug them along, he witnessed Henry’s leg caught in a rougher part of the peristalsis. More specifically, he saw and heard the agony as Fib’s fibula fractured when faced with the indomitable might of Belle’s throat. For the most part though, the throat did it’s job of getting them to the stomach relatively unharmed, if a bit battered or bruised.

Victor and the dozen or so others landed in the stomach proper. The sound of hissing steam and spraying fluids reached them over the incessant spinning of gears. Like the roar of a metal whale, the metal stomach grumbled in a welcome, shaking, vibrating ‘churn’.

The atmosphere was boiling. It wasn’t long before everyone erupted into screams. The staff all ran about, trying to move to escape the omnipresent super-heated vapors. It was pointless, their skin was searing, their clothes sloughing off. The boiling heat was omnipresent and inescapable.

Victor laughed it off at first. It was an ironic end, and, ultimately, his project seems to have been a success. She acted on your own, doing what she thought was best. But, no pride nor madness could protect him from that level of pain. Pretty soon, he was screaming in agony like the others, tears welling in his eyes.

His last thought wasn’t about the satisfaction of his body going to a greater being. It was neither about thrill of his god project brought to fruition, nor even of the mysterious whispers which helped him make it a reality. No, his last thoughts were of regret for not having a cyanide tablet embedded in his tooth, like his doctors once suggested in case of kidnapping--or torture.

Back outside, Belle smiled. She had disposed of the man who had brought her harm, and seemed to have a path forward. She opened the fingers of her left hand but a tad and gazed at the spy.

Angelica looked upwards. She was trembling a little.

“Don’t be afraid.”, said Belle in her booming brass voice. “We’re in this together.”

“Can you... can you feel them, still?”, asked the spy. Despite her fear, she was morbidly curious.

Belle paused, focusing.

“Yes. I can feel them. It feels weird but... not entirely bad. It’s almost tickling: the most similar sensation I suppose would be like the bubbling of soda, with some larger movements thrown in. I guess I can feel them flopping around in there or something.”

The spy shuddered, but got to her feet. Belle took a closer look at her. She had the clothes on when she was captured it seemed: namely, a red long-sleeved top with trousers and some laced boots. Not the most professional outfit, but very comfortable and highly fitting for spying and infiltration, so it made sense. The woman’s blonde hair was short, her eyes blue, and she quickly regained much of her composure even facing the 1000ft being that just ate a dozen or so people.

“My name is Angelica Pankhurst, and I answer directly to the president. If we get to the capital building, I can talk to her and get help I’m sure, but we need to be leave, and be careful.”

As if on cue bullets started to fly. The guards on the ground and the few brave or stuck ones on the scaffolding started shooting at Belle. The bullets from their pistols and rifles bounced harmlessly off her exterior, not even denting it as far as the former reporter could tell. They did, however, scare Angelica a decent amount as they ricocheted off those towering fingers. She ducked behind the middle one as cover.

“Belle, we have to get out of here.”

The 1000ft tall being nodded.

“Yes, of course. Let’s go just, bear with me here, my legs feel even stiffer than my arms.”

Belle focused and, with a grunt, bent her legs enough to pop those shackles right off. A swipe of her right arm cleaved the upper half of the scaffolding completely off. She then raised her right foot and hovered it over the scaffolding lower to the ground. People were still stuck there, but she had given them more than enough time to escape. Some of them even shot at the bottom of her brass sole.

Needless to say, she wasn’t feeling too merciful towards them, nor all that guilty when she stepped down.

Her sense of touch was less refined than when her body was human. It was a good deal more ‘gross’ rather than ‘fine’. Still, she was able to feel people beneath her step pop, as well as feel the tough metal scaffolding flatten and crumble like paper.

Belle’s first step in her new body had killed well over a few dozen people. It also shook the complex as a whole, quaked the ground a little, and echoed with an audible thoom.

Belle almost fell over though, she steadied a hand against the nearby wall, cracking it.

“Careful!”, cried Angelica, who was held close and safe to one of Belle’s sculpted, naked brass breasts.

Her legs felt like they were partially asleep: like she had sat on them wrong, and they were a bit numb. She managed to reorient herself though, with her left foot falling over a dozen or so more people. They had tried to run, but her feet were about 150ft in length and 50ft in width. There wasn’t nearly enough time, even when she moved slow and clumsily by human standards.

Of course, Belle wasn’t a feeble human. She was far stronger. They stood no chance against her. The scaffolding about her was entirely collapsed now, having broken against her formidable form. All the restraints were since snapped.

“I’m leaving!”, she shouted as her heels twisted into the floor, regaining her footing. “If you want to live you’ll stay away! I don’t want to hurt you, but I’m not gonna shed any tears if I have to.”

‘I wonder if I can still cry with this body?’, thought Belle as an idle notion.

She shook her head and got back on task.

Some of Voxhaben staff actually obliged and ran to the far corners of the facility. Yet, many still fought Belle as she slowly moved to the side wall of the chamber. Unknown to her, Victor had a contingency plan in place. In the event she became hostile to Voxhaben, the guards were to shoot at her and try to stop her. All knew the idea was futile, but he was adamant that they couldn’t make “escape too easy”. A bit of compensation to their loved ones meant that much of the guards still followed this duty.

Some shot at her from the scaffolding near the ceiling, but Belle just reached up and, with one big tug, brought most of the rafters up there down. Parts of the roof collapsed too in the process, letting in a bit of that springtime afternoon sun.

Others fired at her feet, but they served only to tickle her as she stomped down without a care. She had looked towards them at least, but it was more to keep her own footing in check then try and dodge them.

Belle noticed that some staff were neither fighting nor running from her. They were bowing down, worshiping, praying.

“Are you seeing this Angelica?”

“No, I can’t risk a stray bullet poking through her fingers if I get close to the spaces between, what’s going on.”

“They are bowing to me, but, why?”

“We have a dossier on Victor Cogston, several actually. He was very strange, and wasn’t afraid to hire strange employees. It’s not out of the question he’d have a cult before the choice of god was even ironed out.”

Belle eyed those worshipers oddly: when they were to her side. Some of them stayed in front of her, refusing to move. She didn’t want to risk taking any sort of awkward step to avoid them, only to trip and end up killing them anyways while making her life even more complicated. The sight of smooth brass sole was the last many of these ‘worshipers’ would see.

“Urhg, yuck, I never thought I’d feel a person explode against my body like this--no, a body. This monstrous machine isn’t me.”, said Belle.

She noticed, as did many on the ground, that none of the gory viscera from a stomped person seemed to stick to her exterior surface. Her body seemed to self-clean. It come along in part due to the compound-coating process to her exterior, that which kept her movement processes from melting her most outside self. All the dirt, blood, and smashed bones her body should have marring it instead just fell right off onto the ground, assuming it ever stuck to her at all.

“What kind of god is dirty, after all?”, was a phrase Victor had once said to his team that designed said cleaning processes with him.

Belle certainly didn’t complain about it, even as she felt a tiny bit guilty at being mess free from all the lives she took.

One thundering step after another, amid the useless fire of the bug-like people below, she moved. It wasn’t too long before she was at the wall. With her left hand holding Angelica safe, she raised her right arm back.

“Hold on!”, she shouted.

Her fist punched right through the central chamber leaving a huge hole in the wall. Belle moved her entire body towards it, crumbling what was left of that barrier between her prison and the city outside.

The center chamber of the Voxhaben Complex collapsed behind her. Bare brass feet slammed down into streets, toes digging into the buildings at the other ends.

At last, Belle was back outside again.