Chapter 6: Alexa's Acquisition

Over the course of the next few school days, Alexa got the feel of the academy and knew what she needed to do to pass her classes. By the time Friday afternoon rolledaround, she was ready to get the kit she would need to acquire a shrunken man. There was a store for students on campus that had a terrarium with an air ventilator for keeping a shrunken captive.

Alexa teamed up with Umbra, and made accounts on several social media sites under an assumed name. With her communicator, she was able to get online easily. It sent signals from the reality where the academy was located to the real world. Umbra instructed her to ask if people wanted to become the shrunken captive of a 12-year-old girl, if it was hypothetically possible.

Within a few hours, they got about five hits. Umbra took Alexa to the school library where she looked up the names of the people who agreed to be Lexie's captive. One of them, a 20-year-old man, was due to disappear on Saturday; by Sunday, nobody ever saw him again.

"It looks like you've found your captive!" said Umbra. "And he looks cute, too. That's important, because the most popular girls with captives all have cute guys as pets."

"Do we need to make an appointment with the time captain to return to the real world?" Alexa asked.

"Yes, but you won't have any problems. Just make sure you meet your target at a public place, like a miniature golf park with an arcade. I'll help you book the appointment."

The next morning, Alexa went with Umbra to the area where the taxi usually came and went. Ozymandias was taking students to different locations, but because the taxi was a time machine, he returned a moment after he left. There weren't too many other students in front of them, and soon, it was Alexa's turn to ride in the taxi.

When Ozymandias greeted them, they said hi and got in. Within a few moments, they were in southern California at a golf park. 

"This is the place where I got my shrunken captive," said Umbra. "Whatever you do, don't act like you're in a hurry. Make small talk with him, then try to get him to go to a secluded location, so you can zap him. Any 20-year-old man who would try to pick up on a 12-year-old deserves to get shrunk!" 

The 20-year-old man Alexa had met online had agreed to meet her there. Umbra and Alexa split up, and Alexa went inside the arcade. She recognized her target instantly. He had dark hair, and a slightly muscular build. He was dressed casually.

"Alexa?" the young man asked.

"Yes," Alexa replied, "but everyone calls me Lexie."

"I wasn't expecting you in a schoolgirl uniform, you get extra points for that!" said the young man. "Would you like me to buy you a soda?"

"Sure, but first can we go somewhere in private?" Lexie asked.

There were some older adults who looked at the young adult and Lexie and got weird ideas. The young man could sense that they were questioning his motives, so he turned to the group of adults and said, "She goes to my church, it's okay."

They went over to where the bathrooms were, and Lexie whipped out her neutrino dissimilator and had it set on 1/72, and she pulled the trigger. The young man, who stood almost exactly six feet tall, was reduced down to an inch tall. Alexa quickly snagged him and held him firmly within her cupped hands, so no one else could see her miniaturized captive.

She made her way around the arcade until she found Umbra.

"Let's go, I've got him!" said Alexa.

Umbra contacted Ozymandias, and within a minute, the taxi arrived. To casual observers, it looked like two teenage girls getting into a taxi; nothing out of the ordinary. They soon arrived back on campus.

"He is immortal now," said Umbra. "He will probably live a longer life as your captive than he ever would have as a free human being. You don't ever need to give him food or water, just keep him in that terrarium."

"Well, I can tell you one thing," said Alexa. "He's never escaping from me!"

Umbra followed Alexa to her dorm, to help her set up the terrarium where she would be keeping her captive. Umbra got the terrarium down from a shelf and placed it on a desk. There was furniture inside the glass prison, so the tiny man would have a certain degree of comfort. Alexa lifted the heavy lid, and placed the shrunken captive inside. He took to his new environment well.

"You should get him acquainted with you before leaving him in there," said Umbra. "If you can get him to like you, he is more likely to develop Stockholm syndrome, which is very desirable."

"What's Stockholm syndrome?" Alexa asked.

"It is a psychological condition that is sometimes instilled in kidnap victims that makes them develop an affinity for their captors. If you get him to like you, he won't try to escape."

Alexa did as Umbra suggested, and reached in and grabbed her captive, then placed him on the desk.

"There's no escape from me," said Alexa. "We are a race of people from the distant future and I kidnapped you. As far as history is concerned, you ended up missing today, and you were never seen or heard from again."

"But I'm only missing because you kidnapped me," said the tiny man. "If you hadn't abducted me, I would still be free."

"That is neither here nor there," said Alexa, “because I did abduct you, and you are now missing. But know this, if you ever try to escape from me and I catch you, I'm sending you on a one way journey to my belly!"

The tiny man had a look of fear and apprehension on his face, and he swallowed in fear. Alexa and Umbra both saw this, and started laughing at the plight of the tiny captive.

"You won't need food or water from now on because you're immortal," said Alexa. "You'd better get used to your new life as my loyal toy!"

Alexa and Umbra laughed again before Alexa grabbed her captive and lifted the lid of the terrarium, and placed him gently inside, then closed the lid.

"That lid is heavy enough that an inch tall captive could never have the strength to open it," said Umbra.

"What about the glass?" Alexa asked. "Can he break it with the furniture?"

"It's transparent titanium," Umbra replied, "so he's not escaping any time soon, unless you allow it."

Back in the common room, the other girls were amazed that Alexa acquired a captive during her first week at the academy.

"I am so jealous!" said Stratus. "That neutrino dissimilation theory is so complicated, I don't know how you passed the test,"

"Did you cheat?" Hellion asked.

"I don't even know how to cheat here," said Alexa.

"Oh, there are ways," said Hellion.

"I studied the textbook," Alexa replied. "It's not as substantial as some of the other textbooks."

"Yeah," said Hellion, "but it's really technical. Only the smartest of the smart can pass that test as quickly as you did."

"Thank you," said Alexa.

"Don't take it as a compliment," said Hellion, "I still think you cheated."

"We're all in Verso house," said Alexa. "We don't need to make enemies."

"I'm not your enemy," Hellion replied, "I just don't understand why you became so popular during your first week here, there are some older girls who have been here for several years who aren't ten percent as popular as you."

"It wasn't my decision to become popular," Alexa replied.

"But Morgan Lefevre hand selected you personally to become her apprentice!" said Hellion. "I would die a thousand times for that privilege!"

Stratus got in between them. "She's just jealous, Alexa! Don't pay her any mind."

Alexa and Stratus walked toward the dining hall together.

"You're going to have to get accustomed to that here," said Stratus. "Everyone in Verso house wants to help Morgan Lefevre try to conquer the world. A lot of people are on your side, but some people are just born to be jealous."

When they got to the entrance pof the dining hall, they were among the first in line for lunch. A girl approached them, with an electronic device in her hand that Alexa was unfamiliar with. She stuck the device in Alexa's face and asked, "Are you Alexa Lockport?"

"Yes," Alexa replied. "Who are you?"

"I'm Sissy Spreitler, a reporter for the school newspaper. You're the talk of the whole academy! Can I ask you some questions?"

"Sure!" Alexa replied. "Ask away!"

"What gave you the courage to take the neutrino dissimilator test on your first day of class?"

"I've had other people ask me that, and one girl thinks I cheated," said Alexa. "I just studied the textbook over the weekend before the first day of class, I got into a tiff with some ephemeral friends at the movie theater, that played a part in the whole thing. I just stayed away from them, and studied reallly hard."

"Is it true you acquired a captive today?" Sissy asked.

"Yes, a friend of mine helped me make the arrangements, and I took a taxi back to the real world and met up with my victim."

Sissy clicked the electronic device, turning it off. "I'm in Recto house, so this is strictly off the record, but I agree with Verso that we should be allowed to keep captives. I think everyone should have one!"

"I think it's crazy that there are people who disagree with that," said Alexa.

Sissy pulled out a stack of stickers with her name on it, and pulled two off and gave one to Alexa, and one to Stratus. "Be sure to vote for me in the student election!" Sissy stormed out of the area before either girl could respond.

"You should run for class president," said Stratus. "A lot of people would vote for you."

"Do you think I should?" Alexa asked.

"I don't know anyone in Verso house who wouldn't vote for you."

Soon, more students arrived to get in line for lunch. When there were a lot of students, Alexa stood away from the line and asked them as a group, "Who would vote for me if I ran for class president?"

Most of the students cheered for Alexa. Some Verso students came up and shook her hand, encouraging her to run. A Recto student even appraoched her and said he would vote for her.

"Stratus, I don't even know the process of running for student government," said Alexa.

"My sister Umbra can explain it all to you," said Stratus. "She ran for class president before, so she can give you the best advice. There are probably a lot of students who can give you advice on this, just don't listen to anyone from Recto house, because they might try to sabotage your efforts."

"I think that's obvious," said Alexa.

"Well, you told me you didn't even know about Futurian society a week ago, so it's not like you can count on your parents. You have no clue whether they ran for student government when they were students here," said Stratus. "You can only count on people you know here at the academy."

"The only reason my parents never told me about our unique heritage is because they knew I was too evil to use that knowledge for the right reasons."

"Were they Verso, or Recto when they were here?" Stratus asked.

"They were both Recto!" said Alexa.

"That's messed up," said Stratus. "One of my parents is Verso, and the other is Recto, so we have a balance. I feel really bad for you! I can't believe they lied to you your whole life in an effort to protect you!"

"They didn't lie to protect me, they lied to protect society from me!" said Alexa. "And in my personal opinion, I don't think they were far off the mark."

"Why would they need to protect society from you?" Stratus asked.

"I have always daydreamed about taking over the world, like Alexander the Great or Julias Caesar," Alexa replied. "My name is Alexa, so it's only natural that I should try to follow in the footsteps of Alexander of Macedon."

This response got some applause from some Verso students. "I'll vote for you, Lexie!" a girl shouted. Alexa waved at her new fans