Bug’s Eye View

Prompt and Response for Dust and Divine, A.K.A. Screaming Loudly

Source Prompt:

“A scientist studying bug-people the size of ants, with a similar social structure, accidentally spills a chemical compound they were researching, and shrinks smaller, smaller, smaller . . .”

“Introduction of foreign human objects with various amounts of copy and text seems to have little impact on the main Chitinian colony. Curiously though the objects, once left alone, usually disappear overnight. I find it likely that they are brought back to the inner chambers of their burrow, which has interesting implications if…”

Agatha rambled into one of her many tape recorders, preferring speaking into the advice more beneficial than writing down notes in the moment. Agatha was a scientist, one with rather lofty ambitions and work ethic. Head of her class, she double majored in Chemistry and Entomology, her two favorite subjects, and has long since been funding her livelihood with various projects focused around the two disciplines.

“...and so, I believe this is an excellent step towards proving my theory that, not only are Chitinians more than simple insects, but that they may even be sentient enough to…” 

One of her two current projects involved the study of Chitinians. Chitinians were small, ant-sized humanoids. They looked like a cross between a human and an ant, having two arms, two legs, and roughly similar proportions. They had antenna, and large compound eyes similar to an ant’s, and they also had various patches of chitin across their body, namely near joints, that somewhat resembled scales. Socially, they acted much like ants. They scavenged for food, worked together to drag larger hunted bugs and other resources back to their colony, and all served a single queen. This also meant that, by most, they were treated exactly the same as ants. That is to say, as pests. 

“...respectable theories. It's incredibly frustrating that the scientific community at large simply doesn’t think that these marvelous creatures are capable of being anything more than simple insects. If my theory is right they are so much more! They…”

Agatha’s theories were considered radical, but her findings only continued to embolden her. She theorized that Chitinian’s were much closer to humans in terms of potential than most thought. In just a few months she’d been able to introduce primitive tool use to her text colony in the form of small sharpened sticks, or rather, splinters.. She’d observed them hunt larger live insects with increased efficiency, and Chitinians that she hadn’t personally introduced the tools to use them, indicating to her that they were capable of relaying complicated knowledge and instructions to each other. In short, she believed that not only could Chitinian’s be “tamed,” but also taught. She believed that these “insects” were in fact sentient beings, capable of complex thought and maybe even emotion!

“So that is why I must continue. If I can prove that this colony can recognize simple written text, then I can adventure even further! They might be able to write, hell if I find a way to record it they might even be able to speak! My findings have the potential to shake up the way the worl-”

*click*

“Shit.”

Another full recorder. Just how much was she prattling on nowadays?

“I can’t lose this momentum, now where did…”

Agatha looked around the lab for the spare recorder she kept in the lab, and eventually she did find it but…

“Uhhhhg, damn you Alexander!”

Peaking out just over the ledge was the spare recorder… on the top shelf. Agatha’s lab assistant Alexander was 6’4” and he often forgot that Agatha was… more vertically challenged. Standing at only 4’10”, she needed a step-stool to get most of her work done in the lab. Sighing deeply, she pulled her stool near the counter top and climbed atop it.

“Ooooooh C’MON!”

Sadly the petite woman was still too short. Still feeling in a hurry, she climbed up onto the cluttered countertop and began to reach for the recorder. Having to stretch, and trying not to slip on any of the many various items littering the messy workspace, she inattentively used one hand to grab a lower shelf to brace herself.

*ca-CLUNK*

“Oh shi-”

The shelf gave way, causing Agatha to collapse painfully onto the countertop, banging her forehead on the wall, and worse still, a lone conical flask filled with a translucent pink liquid was propelled into the air. Still dazed, she was unable to react as the glass smashed to pieces next to her, covering her in its contents.

“Oooooow… damn you Alexander, what am I covered-”

Her eyes went wide in fear as she realized what that flask held. It was the latest test batch of her other project, a growth serum. It was no secret that Agatha was unhappy with her height, so she was quite excited when her long hypothesized growth formula was slowly coming to fruition. Meant to be taken in small doses over a long period of time, the end product of the growth formula would take someone like her and increase them in size to supermodel height in a matter of a few years. That being said, she did NOT take this in small doses, and of course this batch had yet to go through many of the typical tests that met her standards, and OF COURSE the flask containing the formula wasn’t supposed to be on that shelf at all, but was placed there by Alexander mistakenly. To summarize, Agatha had absolutely no idea what was going to happen to her. She could very well explode, or the concentrated formula could have an acid-like reaction to her skin, or she could even-

“UUUUUUUUNNG!~”

Profusely blushing, Agatha slapped her hands to her mouth after involuntarily letting loose a high-pitched moan of pleasure. She wasn’t sure what came over her, it was as if a jolt of pleasure shot through her body seemingly unpromte-

“OOH!~”

Again it happened. Not only that, her body felt… tight, but good at the same time. The feeling was coming in pulses, the closest sensation she could think of was the feeling one gets when having a really good stretch.

“OH- FUUCK!~”

*PWING*

Another spasm of pleasure, another moan, but this time it was accompanied by the sound of ripping, and one of the buttons on her shirt flying off onto the other side of the room.

“I’m… I’m growing? I’m growing! I’m- UUUUUUUHNG!~”

The growth formula was working, she was growing! Surge after surge came, Agatha growing with each of them. She’d finally been able to find the focus to stand up on the floor, just as the rest of her clothes ripped off of her and fell to the floor. Eventually, she leaned on the counter top to brace herself, she must have been 6’6” by now, the formula was a success, despite the unorthodox testing method. Now she just had to-

“NNNNNNG OH- Hoooohoooly SHIIIIIIT!~”

Another growth spurt, bigger, more powerful. It was too much. Falling to her knees she still began to inch towards the ceiling. She wasn’t stopping. Each pulse grew her larger, more of her filling the room, if it didn’t stop soon she’d bust out of the lab, or worse be crushed by the solid walls as she was squeezed against them. Her eyes darted around, looking for any way to help herself. Spotting her phone on the counter top, she clumsily moved her giant hand towards it, knocking the top of her Chitinian enclosure off of its walls, something she’d have to fix after more pressing matters. Somehow managing to get to her speed dial, she called Alexander.

“Hi, you've reached Alexander!”

“Alexander this is Agatha, I need you to-”

“I’m not at my phone right now, so please leave a message at the tone, and I’ll get back to you!”

“God damn you Alexande- OOOH!~”

The next spasm caused her to tighten her fist, unfortunately crushing her phone in the process. Agatha felt fear wash over her as the walls closed in on her growing body. She was now at the mercy of whatever the formula was doing to her body. She could only hope that-