The red room was, unsurprisingly, rather red. The floor here was a sleek deep red rubberized texture, rising up to black concrete ceilings. The room was around 12 feet on a side, with a solid red door leading into the second-floor hallway. A small drain was in the center of the floor. Along the back wall, a large ornate wood and red leather couch stood underneath a framed picture. A red metal table, high enough for standing, was placed alone in the corner to the right. Atop that table, a small black box rested. Jennifer thought it looked like a cash box she often used when she was a cashier.

The couch had a horizontal shelf on each armrest and was large enough to accommodate four people sitting comfortably. Jennifer walked in and began to appreciate the art hung above. An oil painting on canvas. It depicted a youthful woman staring out toward the viewer. She was holding an ornate carafe and a glass. Some kind of majestic bird of prey was hovering at her hand with the glass, attempting to drink from it.

Mel sauntered over to the couch, unstrapped her shoes, and pulled her legs under her to sit sideways while using her phone. Jennifer followed her, sitting comfortably on the soft material. She noticed a simple brass panel on the armrest to her left, atop which sat a red corded phone built into the couch. Jennifer looked to Mel, who finished using her phone with a giggle.

“So,”  Mel gently slapped her thighs, “These rooms are a little more private. I wanted to talk to you about some… stuff. Show you some things, too.”

“Oh, uhh, OK! Is… everything alright?”

“Oh!” Mel seemed surprised, “Yeah, no, everything is fine! I’m doing really good, and I just want to share that.”

Jennifer raised an eyebrow, showing a knowing smile.

“Ohhh realllyyyy?” Jennifer teased.

“I’m not going to hit on you again!” Mel leaned over with a smile to gently push Jennifer on the shoulder, “I promise!”

“Quite a relief,” Jennifer said dryly, as she took another sip of her drink. The cool liquid entered her stomach and spurred the squirming contents into a frenzy. She was beginning to enjoy this quite a lot.

“No, this is about you, actually.”

“Oh?”

“It’s just been hard to see you so stressed all the time, with everything that’s been going on. I thought chem 201 was going to literally kill you.”

“It did, in a way” Jennifer grimaced.

“So this little trip is not just a one-off thing. I want to give you this place to relax. With me, whenever you want. It’s how I stay sane.”

“Oh, Mel, I…”

“No, no, no,” Mel placed her hand on Jennifer’s shoulder, “You deserve some personal time. And, I thought you might enjoy some catharsis.”

“I’ll admit it’s been frustrating. Every day, a new death threat.”

“I’m frustrated for you.” Mel leaned in close, “Jennifer. We have so much more than them. They’re jealous of our superiority.”

“Superiority, huh?” Jennifer smiled, giving Mel enough slack to hang herself.

“I know you think I’m mean. But I think it’s just natural. They are small. We give them protection and we deserve payment.”

“So, that’s what all this is, then? Payment for…?” Jennifer sipped her drink again and felt the eager revelers in her digestive system repay her in the only way they could.

“It’s not… like that. Here, let me show you. Hand me the phone?”

Jennifer obliged, picking up the red phone from the receiver and stretching the long cord toward Mel.

“Yes, one free range, please. Yes. Yes, just one.” Mel returned the phone to Jennifer who placed it back onto the receiver.

“You never said what free range was.”

“I was waiting until we had a little privacy. It’s not easy to say…”

“Well?” Jennifer smiled and gently shook her head.

“Do you remember I told you I squished six?”

“Yeah. Accidents.”

“Those ones were accidents, but I’ve done some things. To others.”

“Things?”

“Doesn’t it piss you off? That they just… Say those things? They don’t deserve to be able to do that”

Jennifer was feeling rather drunk. She shook her head to find some clarity and couldn’t grasp any. She felt a tinge of anger for the bullying, mostly from anonymous tinies. Jennifer gulped down the rest of her drink, as a server walked in with a platter filled with glasses. They took it from the platter and walked it toward the couch.

“Leave it on the floor,” Mel said without taking her eyes off Jennifer.

The server wordlessly obliged, bowed, and left with a dull click of the metal door.

“What does free range mean?” Jennifer tried to focus on the glass in the center of the room. Something was inside, moving just a little.

“It means there are no accidents, cutie. It means we get to do whatever we want.” Mel stared, her eyes burning into the side of Jennifer’s face.

“From outside the city, then?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Mel rose and walked to the glass. She retrieved it and knelt down on the floor next to Jennifer. She continued,

“Where they’re from. What they used to do. When they end up here, it doesn’t matter.”

Mel leaned against Jennifer’s nylon legs, placing the glass containing a single tiny person into her lap. She swayed slightly with intoxication. Jennifer looked down, her breathing increasing. The little person inside was a man, wearing a simple white shirt and boxer briefs. There was a wild look on his face, staring up at her.

“What… What are you saying?” Jennifer looked right at Mel, who looked up with an innocent smile.

“I want to help you process your feelings. I want to watch you step on this one until it pops. I want you to let go of these feelings you have for lower-siders.”

Jennifer was lost in a thousand sensations. She slowly processed her friend’s words, letting them sink below the fog of the alcohol. This tiny person wasn’t lab-grown. He wasn’t some kind of meat that would save humanity. He was a living, breathing, person. Jennifer tried to muster some amount of sympathy for the little soul in the glass in her lap and couldn’t. He seemed like just another face in a sea of faces, and if she felt sorry for him she’d need to come to terms with the other one she’d stepped on accidentally. A single tear fell down her cheek.

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Jennifer said with a shaky voice.

“I know, cutie. I know,” Mel grasped Jennifer’s hands, “That’s what I’m here to prove to you. That’s what I want you to understand.”

“Does… does he deserve…” Jennifer trailed off. She only felt anger welling up.

“Cutie.” Mel leaned in, forcing eye contact, “it doesn’t matter.”

Mel took the glass again and emptied the occupant onto the floor. She then stood, and watched as the tiny man began to sprint for the underside of the couch. Mel’s bare foot moved in a lazy arc and battered him with the top of her toes. He was caught in the chest and went flying on his back.

Jennifer closed her eyes and pictured the orgy in her stomach. She felt so grateful to those inside her, still somehow fucking each other. To give her a massage from the inside. They were dying down but still wanted to please her. Not like this ungrateful one on the ground. The little man spoke:

“You fucking bitch! This is insane!” He rolled around in pain.

Jennifer laughed. The audacity of this one.

“Come here.” Mel smiled softly and with both hands motioned towards Jennifer to rise from the couch.

“I don’t know if I can.” Jennifer rose.

“Let me ask you something. Did you enjoy it?”

“Enjoy what?”

“When you squished that one that night on the sidewalk.”

Jennifer only blushed. She remembered the feeling of fear upon the accident, and the feeling of determination she had at the time. To finish them off. She remembered seeing them lie there as she pressed firmly and twisted, the sensation of a pop. She felt bad that it happened, of course, but at the time there was an exhilaration.

“Hold onto that feeling,” Mel said knowingly.

The man had risen again, this time with a limp, and was trying to go for the drain. Jennifer thought with morbid humor that he was just a little too big to fit through the grate. Mel noticed him and pressed hard into his back with her big toe. He lost balance dramatically, landing on his face with a muffled yell. Mel wasted no time, following up by deftly placing her big toe on his left leg. She easily covered his leg with the pad of her toe, and she pressed down.

He screamed, louder than Jennifer had ever heard a tiny. He tried to claw away from Mel, who ground out his leg from the hip with a soft smile. She lifted, revealing a bloody spot where the leg used to be. She wiped her toe on the floor with a swift motion, adding a smear next to him several times his length. He was babbling incoherently, still crawling away at a literal snail’s pace.

Jennifer began to hyperventilate. Mel led her, grasping her hands her bare feet stepped backward over the scene and Jennifer’s heels clicked into place. Their hands were joined directly above him. The tiny man looked to his periphery, seeing the sparkling black leading up to the dark fabric of her legs reaching up to infinity. He babbled something again, and turned around onto his back, bleeding profusely. The spot where his leg used to connect was dark purple and mangled.

He managed to squeak “No! Please!”

“Shoes?” Jennifer asked as she looked down with fury.

“Do what feels right.” Mel was still staring at Jennifer, smiling with the softness of a friend.

“Please! Pl… My… Ugh, my... family owns a newspaper! I… I… I have connections!”

Jennifer felt like he was so far away. She felt like she should get it over with, ending his misery. She wanted to enjoy it, but there was no reason to prolong his suffering. She ignored his fevered cries as she raised her foot. Her balance was way off, and she used Mel’s hands to steady herself. The sparkles of her pump glittered in the light, and the unforgiving sole was moved to position. For a moment, Jennifer hesitated and looked at Mel.

Mel just smiled and nodded toward the floor.

“Please! Ple... Please! I’ll... I have money! I have! No! Miss! Please!” The man began to scream as the sole lowered. Jennifer felt the contact of his body, a small squirming sensation as she pinned him to the floor. He was just to the side of the ball of her foot, the rubber of her sole ready to take his life.

“Nononononono… ugh.. plea-”

Jennifer pressed down, leaning forward with a quick motion and cutting off his last words. Instead, he made a popping sound as his insides spurted out in two directions. Some of him landed on her heel, squirting the length of the arch of the shoe. The rest was pushed forwards, he was gone. Jennifer’s mouth turned up at the corner to a little smile. She turned her hips and twisted. Another spurt of red emanate from underneath her, and a few flecks of the tiny man landed on Mel’s toes.

“Oh, shit. Sorry.” Jennifer looked up.

Mel was beaming. She stepped forward, releasing Jennifer’s hands to pull her into an embrace. Mel took her in close and hugged her strongly with both arms wrapped around her. Jennifer was surprised but soon embraced her back in return. She smiled and began to shed a few tears. She felt such a release of tension. It felt great to have all those anxieties melt away at once.

“I’m so proud of you,” Mel whispered.

The two women held each other in a platonic embrace, standing and swaying gently over the slowly spreading pool of blood. A thin line trickled out from under Jennifer and snaked towards the drain. The room was silent, and Jennifer basked in the feeling of letting go. The buzz and the feeling of taking control of her past was giving her euphoria. She couldn’t imagine that the secret to all this was just to put herself first.

Mel broke the hug first. She stepped back and performed an excited dance. She smiled, wiggled, and rose her arms up to some unheard music. Jennifer laughed and stumbled back to the couch. She sat down and looked at the aftermath.

Mel flopped onto the couch with her and leaned back. Her eyes were closed and her broad smile occasionally formed silent lyrics as she mouthed some upbeat song.

“Thank you.” Jennifer said.

“You’re welcome, cutie,” Mel replied, eyes still closed, and head back, “You did really good, and we can head back whenever you’re ready.”

“Actually… Can we order more?”

Mel’s eyes flicked open, her smile grew until nearly all her teeth were showing. She turned to Mel, a mixture of glee and drunken excitement.

“I was hoping you’d ask.”

Meanwhile, in the clutter of Jennifer’s purse, several tiny people looked around with motionless fear after hearing the unintelligible pain from outside the fabric. Their heart rates increased, and they strained to move but remained still.