Katie smiled, reaching for the device and taking it back from Dante.  “We’ve been calling it the Sizer. It's been my labor of love since I was 14 years old.”

“...and we’ve come a long way in the past few years!” Alexandria added.

“I’ll show you how it works.” Katie said sweetly, scooting a little closer to Dante so that her left thigh was touching his right.  He swallowed dryly.  She smelled really nice…they both did.

Katie’s black fingernail pressed down on what looked like a battery latch on the side, removing a protective piece of plastic.  Dante’s eyes widened. He thought the outside looked complicated!  The inside was packed tightly with more circuitry, small circuit boards stacked and in the center was a small plastic tube no larger than a thimble.  Katie popped the plastic tube out and held it up to Dante.  

“This is what makes the reduction tech possible.  The clear liquid in here is a synthetic compound of choice elements combined with the skin cell sample I took from you when we met at your college.”  Katie popped the tube back into position and a satisfying click let everyone know it was properly seated back in position.  

“An advanced IR compound scanner reads the contents of the tube and sends the info to the integrated CPU for processing.  I had to give the computer a week to sequence your DNA and create all the appropriate datalinks, so that was why we had to wait until now.”

“It needs your sample now…” Alexandria added, “...but we’re actively working to make the Sizer ‘out-of-the-box compatible’ with all targets by removing the need for DNA analysis.”

“Baby steps.” Katie said, smiling.

Dante was feeling a bit overwhelmed. 

“And….this is all…safe?” Dante asked.  

Katie and Alexandria emphatically nodded, each of them setting a hand on either of his knees.  “Of course it is.” Alexandria said. “Katie alone has been running the math on this for YEARS now, and I’ve been helping with the DNA reticulator.”

Dante only seemed half satisfied with the answer, and he hoped that they didn’t see he was fully satisfied with their hands on his knees.  

“And….I can grow back?” Dante asked.

Katie smiled, popping out a tiny SD card from one of the larger printed circuit boards amongs the exposed innards of the Sizer.  “This SD card will store all your size information prior to your reduction, and when we invert the reduction process on the Sizer, the input switches from the tube I showed you earlier to this.”

The mini SD card practically disappeared between Katie’s short fingers.  To think that the entirety of his size history could exist between those small finger tips…that maybe he himself…would likely be…between those fingertips.  

“Okay…but then what happens?” Dante asked nervously. 

This was the first time that both Katie and Alexandria seemed to shift uncomfortably atop their sofa.  Katie had explained a lot of this to him that day after her presentation.  They both adjourned to the cafeteria for lunch and Dante felt like a celebrity himself sitting across from someone so renowned.  Despite the plethora of information she gave him about the size reduction, she seemed tight-lipped about what came after that. 

“Well, Alexandria and I are wishing to secure a significant grant to fund our research into this field of reduction. We are required to present our accomplishments, plans, and goals to a board of very interested but very skeptical investors located in Texas.”

“And you…” Alexandria squeezed Dante’s knee, “...will be the star of the show!” 

Katie smiled, “That’s right.”

Dante inquired, “Just how small will I be?”

Alex looked toward Katie, who responded, “We’re going to be targeting one quarter of an inch in height, but the final value could fluctuate slightly depending on a few factors.  Now, regarding what Alex just said, we’ll be showing off the size reduction technology and even though Alex and I will be giving the presentation, most attention will be on you, so to speak.  You see, there is another part to it, and I know its going to sound strange but…” Katie trailed off and looked over to Alexandria.

Alexandria got the hint.

“Oh…well, I’m sure Katie has told you about how she–we intend to utilize the Sizer and its shrink tech, right?”

Dante nodded slowly, “Yeah, something about reducing prison overcrowding.”

Alexandria smiled big and nodded, her raven-black hair bobbing with the movement of her head.  “Exactly!  The plan is to remove certain inmates from their prisons…but not all of them…only the really, really bad ones.  It will be girls and boys.”

“Starting out with men.” Katie interjected.  “Like I mentioned at your university, our calculations indicate that males are far more susceptible to our reduction methods than females.”

“Right.” Alexandria continued, “We tried reaching out to several prisons and courts all over the country, but none of them were willing to let us use the Sizer on any of their prisoners in exchange for reduced sentences.” The raven-haired woman reached into a matching blue manilla folder and removed a single sheet, handing it to Dante.

“...even though we had several inmates follow up with us, consenting to enroll in the experiment.”

Dante looked at the sheet.  Angry, hardened eyes stared back at him from the top-right corner of the sheet. They apparently belonged to an inmate named Matthew Stone. Judging from the offense description, Matthew was one year into a 7-10 year sentence for assault with a deadly weapon and armed robbery.  There was a lot more, densely packed paragraphs below and then all the way at the bottom was a line with the single word “Wardeness:” and space a printed name and signature, both of which were blank on this form. Directly below that was a line for the inmate’s printed name and signature, but the signature was blank.

“Mr. Stone is one of many who would have enrolled but were not permitted to, so this is essentially a dead end.” Alex said, taking the paper back from Dante and returning it to the blue manilla folder. 

“In their defense…” Katie conceded, “...we were proposing a reduction of their sentences by half and we were not willing to divulge the details on their alternative housing and confinement.”

“Yes, that’s a huge part of it.” Alexandria said to Dante.  “We are only even telling you about it because you’re helping us.”

“And because you signed the NDA.” Katie added, to which Alexandria nodded and continued.

“After the inmate is reduced, he or she would need to be housed somewhere else for the rest of their sentence.”

Dante said, “To…like…a miniature penitentiary? That’s a pretty good idea considering how little space it would take up.”

“You could call it that.” Alexandria said in the way a teacher might try to spin a student’s incorrect answer into a positive contribution.  “The ultimate goal is to place these reduced inmates in the custody of women.”

Dante nodded, trying to take it all in.  

Katie sighed, “Unfortunately, we are not able to look ahead to the experiment just yet. This lack of an inmate pool set us back significantly.  We can’t get started right away with monitoring the inmate and his adjustments to his alternative confinement term since we have no inmates to use.” Alex said. “...and that’s why we need you.  We need someone just to stand in as an inmate…purely for the purposes of the presentation.”

Both Katie and Alexandria were staring intently at Dante, waiting for him to speak.

“Ummm….well, I guess that sounds okay..” Dante said hesitantly. “But you guys…I mean..we wouldn’t get in trouble for lying to them, right? About me being an inmate?”

Alexandria very quickly replies, “Oh, no…of course not!  Dante, your interaction with the board will start and stop with this one presentation.”

“They’ll see you from a distance…right before you’re installed into your alternative confinement area…and again, this would just be for the presentation.” Katie said. Alex quickly picked up, “And after that, who knows…if they even do see you again, it will be later down the road after we’ve been approved, established our lab, and maybe you’ll be standing at our side as a part-time intern!”

“I’m just a little confused.” Dante said, expecting the girls to get frustrated with his reluctance. However, both of them were fully engaged and patient.  “So…you say that I’d basically have to pretend to be an inmate and demonstrate a transfer of my custody to a woman, but why does the board need to see that?  Are you guys going to..like…put me into a cage? I just don’t understand.”

“Its going to sound strange, Dante, but you have to trust us on this.” Katie said.

Alexandria continued, “The ultimate goal is to not only transfer custody of the inmate to the ‘wardeness’, as we call her, but for him to be confined…well…to her body.”

Dante was even more confused, “What..like her pocket?”

Dante stared right into Katie’s pretty brown eyes as she responded, “No, Dante. They will spend their terms of confinement in the rear end of the wardeness.  We’re going to need to put you between a woman’s buttocks.”

He took a few moments to try and process what he’d just heard.  “I’m so sorry Katie..I feel like I MUST have misheard you.  Can you rep–”

Alexandria interrupted, “--you didn’t mishear her, Dante.  The confinement protocols we’re researching involve confining inmates to the rear ends of willing female volunteers, or ‘wardenesses’.”

“Their butts?!  But why?” Dante asked in disbelief. 

This was the first time that Katie had shown any hint of impatience.  

“Alexandria and I have been researching this for a very long time and we’ve determined that bodily confinement is the most realistic, feasible, and convenient method for the long-term, and it maximizes incentive to volunteer.”

“And we chose the rear because of its unique ability to adequately and discretely confine and conceal the inmate.” Alexanrida said.

Katie continued, “..and not all, but most women have rear ends large enough and buttocks soft enough to house an inmate without harming them.

“This just seems so strange..and I feel like there’s more you aren’t telling me…” Dante said courageously.

“Of course there’s more.” Katie said. “And maybe if things go well after the presentation, we can bring you on staff and explain more of our goals and research developments.”

“Dante, we promise…” Alexandria said.  “It will only be for an hour or so during the presentation.  There are powerful people on the board of investors.  Influential people.  If we can get them to invest in us, I know that the weight of their influence will help us get judges and wardens to play ball…” Alexandria began rubbing Dante’s knee.  “...and then we’ll be in perfect shape.  We’ll have a pool of consenting prisoners to volunteer.”

“You’re not a prisoner, Dante…and you won’t be treated as such.” Katie said, rubbing his other knee. “You’ll be our temporary catalyst. The one that kicks all of this off.  The one that makes all of it possible.”

“And don’t forget the money.” Alexandria said softly and playfully into his ear.

“Oh that’s right!” Katie said, “We never even discussed payment.  I was initially going to offer $1,000 to our stand-in inmate, but seeing how perceptive and intelligent you are…how does $2,000 sound?”

“$2,000….and a possible internship…” Dante started as the girls slowly nodded, smiles growing.  

“...for just one presentation?” Dante finished the terms and the girls were grinning ear to ear, already clearly realizing from Dante’s tone that he was on board.

He swallowed dryly, trying to find the words and the girls patiently waited for him to speak.  Finally, he said, “So…which one of…you…” Dante said, looking left and right at the two girls on either side of him, blushing profusely. Katie graciously interrupted him.

“Neither of us would be housing you, Dante.  My job was to find a person willing to be reduced and temporarily installed for the sake of the demonstration as our stand-in inmate…”

Alexandria smiled, picking up the pale pink manilla folder, “...and my job was to find the stand-in wardeness, the girl to do the demonstration with you installed.”  

She scooted closer to Dante and opened the pink manilla folder as if it were a story book she was reading to him.  “Her name is Sabrina. She’s my old college roommate’s little sister.  She’s about your age and she is from Wisconsin.”

Inside the folder were several photographs of a beautiful blonde-haired woman.  In what looked like a highschool yearbook photo, her hair ran down to her shoulders and she had a beautiful smile.  Underneath the photograph was printed:

Sabrina Becotte

Most Friendly and Likely to Help

“She’s very nice…” Alexandria assured Dante, “from what I remember, she used to volunteer at animal rescues…I think she was also in model UN back in high school.”

Dante was getting lost in the pretty blonde’s blue eyes when Alexandria shifted the yearbook photo to the bottom of the photo stack, revealing the next one.  It was Sabrina posing for some kind of club photo. She was standing amongst a group of her peers and she was dressed quite conservatively but Dante could see that Sabrina had the hints of a narrow waist and wide hips.

“She’s pretty, huh?” Alexandria said, nudging a blushing Dante.  

“She’s an English Lit major now, but lucky for us, she’s also interested in the sciences.” Katie remarked.

“And also lucky for us…” Alexandria said with a giggle, turning to the next photo.  It was a sorority photo containing several women on the beach. Fancy and colorful feminine drinks crowded a nearby table and in the background were other beachgoers. At the front of the picture was a group of young women and Dante immediately recognized Sabrina.  She was the most attractive out of all of them.  They were all standing near a hand-painted sign of their sorority name, taped to the table that supported their drinks.  Underneath the name of the sorority were two words written in bubbly, girly pink:

Bottoms Up!  

They were turned away from the camera in their bathing suits, cupping their ass cheeks. Despite her narrow waist and athletic frame, Sabrina’s ass was by far the largest there.

“She’s perfectly suited to do the demonstration for us.”

“What about…umm…well…” Dante couldn’t find the words as the four catlike eyes prodded him.  

“...hygiene?” 

Katie smiled and put a hand up, “Say no more, Dante.”

“Yeah..” Alex giggled, “For this presentation, I’ve made it abundantly clear to Sabrina that she should clean herself like she’s never cleaned herself before, and we’re going to have her do so moments before the presentation.”

Dante was flabbergasted, but the offers on the table were too good, the arguments too convincing, and perhaps most regrettably, Dante found the two girls far too attractive to say no. He felt his hands shake as he agreed.  On one hand, he loved hearing them cheer and celebrate, even opening a bottle of wine and filling three glasses.  He loved being a part of this celebration, but he feared that he had the most to lose out of all of them. In his primal brain, it felt worth it to make such attractive women happy.  His heart melted to see such beautiful and talented women smile because of a decision he’d made.  It made him feel powerful in some strange way.

Over his glass of wine, Dante talked with the two girls about his academic aspirations.  He even got much more personal as he neared the bottom of his glass, opening up about his estranged family.  He lived no more than 20 minutes from them but hadn’t seen any of them in over 3 years. His mother and father cared for him in their own ways, he knew it to be true; however, they were always absent at the moments that mattered most.  They treated him like an adult way sooner than they should have.  They put a roof over his head, they fed him, and they tried their best to be great friends…but he didn’t want peers, he wanted parents.  

There had been a serious falling-out between them at the start of his Junior year of high school, one that he didn’t care to get into with Katie and Alexandria. As a result, he got emancipated, moved in with his then-girlfriend, and he hadn’t looked back since.  He tilted the bottom of his wine glass up, collecting the last few droplets and Alexandria did the same.  

Katie reached over the full glass of wine in front of her for the bottle and started to tip the spout over Dante’s empty glass but Dante declined.  

“One is enough for me!” He said politely.  

“Alright, perhaps we should get started then?” Katie asked, setting the bottle down.

“...on second thought, fill her up…or better yet.” Dante said with a crooked grin, looking at Alexandria, “how about Bottoms Up?”  

“I like this one, he’s funny.” Alexandria giggled, wrapping her arms around Dante’s upper body and setting her head on his left shoulder. 

Katie picked the Sizer up from the coffee table and started tinkering with the buttons. 

“Well, if things go well maybe we’ll be a trio instead of just a duo.” Katie said, biting her lip and not looking up from the Sizer.

Dante’s heart skipped a beat.  To think that he could get in at the ground-level of something so innovative and remarkable…something with so much potential and…he felt kind of shitty saying it, but with girls that were really fucking hot.  He felt like there could be something between him and Alexandria, but time would tell.  She seemed into him…hopefully she still would be after he grew back. Hopefully spending an hour or so in her friend’s butt wouldn’t turn her off TOO bad.

He heard a faint chirp coming from the Sizer in Katie’s hands, and the brunette took off her black, thick-framed glasses to get a closer look at one of the indicators.  Both Dante and Alexandria watched as Katie squinted, and then the corners of her lips rose.  

“It’s ready.”

Dante’s stomach was doing backflips and everything was moving so fast now.  Katie had connected the Sizer to Alexandria’s pink laptop and running long lines of code reminiscent of those new Matrix movies.  Alexandria was encouraging Dante to stand. 

“Okay, Dante.  So, this is going to be a little uncomfortable…but you can’t be wearing any clothing for this.” Katie looked up from the computer screen.

Dante’s stomach leapt into his throat.  “What?”

It was all Dante could say to the two intelligent, pretty girls staring at him.  

Katie left clicked the mouse button and an empty, long progress bar popped up on the screen and very, very slowly began filling.  Katie calmly said, “She’s right, Dante.  The Sizer’s targets must be of organic matter only.  Additionally, we need to control the environment as best we can once you reduce…and losing you in your clothing would be an example of losing that control.”

Alexandria patted Dante on the shoulder, comforting him.  “You can get undressed in the bathroom if you like…and then come out in a towel that you can remove right before we resize you.”

Dante opted for that route.  His heart raced in the girls’ bathroom.  Everything was so meticulous and feminine, and here he was folding his shirt and pants atop the toilet seat, standing as naked as the day he was born right in the center.  How did he get here?  When he came out in the towel, he immediately felt Alexandria’s eyes exploring his body.  Katie took a few glances as well, but she was more occupied with the computer screen and the series of LED lights blinking on the Sizer.  Alexandria was clearly the one charged with having the bedside manner.  She took the toweled Dante by the hand, gently leading him over to the far side corner of the living room, near where Katie had moved the laptop and Sizer. He had noticed once again how short Alexandria was; her hand felt so small in his…as if he squeezed even slightly he might hurt her.  

“Do you see this X here on the ground?” Alexandria pointed down between her sock clad feet, wiggling her toes. There were two strips of hot pink tape arranged in an X shape, the one he’d seen before.  It was against the living room wall on the far side from the couch. 

“You’ll just stand here just like this, with the X between your feet, okay?” Alexandria said, speaking up to him with a smile. How much longer was this raven-haired girl several years older than him going to be looking up to him like this?  Not much longer, it seemed. 

“Will it hurt?” Dante asked nervously.  

Alexandria shook her head but then looked over to Katie who was clearing her throat.  

“I haven’t felt the sensations myself…but according to my calculations, you should feel some pressure in your extremities and some slight discomfort…but it will not last long.” Katie said.  The long progress bar filled up, and it switched from white to a flashing green.  

“We’re ready.” Katie said, picking up the hefty Sizer.  

Alexandria smiled at Katie and then turned to Dante, looking up at him.  She held out her hand.

Dante was very nervous, and he shakily handed the white towel to Alexandria, standing there as naked as the day he was born before the two women.  

“Don’t worry.  Everything will be just fine.” Alexandria said, rubbing his bare shoulder before stepping to the computer.  

Katie held up the Sizer and pressed some keys on the side of it.  “Running final prep.” Katie commented out loud.  Alexandria replied, “Final prep checked against the computer.”  She looked up from the computer and out to Dante with a big smile.  Katie was holding the Sizer up now.  She stood only about 10 feet away from Dante, and she was pointing the business end of the sizer at his huge, shaking, naked body. 

“All systems go.” Alexandria said with enough excitement in her voice to make Dante uncomfortable.  

The Sizer came to life, chirping a strange sequence of almost alien-sounding beeps and tones.  He saw red lights blinking in seemingly random patterns, and then slowly they all transformed to orange.  

Then yellow.

Then green.

Then finally pink.

Dante heard a click coming from Katie’s trigger finger and a very quick buzzing sound. Dante noticed that the Sizer produced just enough recoil to kick Katie’s shoulder back and jiggle her breasts and then a brilliant flash turned out all the lights

~