"There were giants on the earth in those days."

Scott Chelgren
Home of Tanya Robertson
Wayzata, Minnesota
 

 It was about three thirty or so, and Tanya would be
getting home soon.  I was sort of looking forward to it.  It was
a break in the monotony, anyhow.  She was a kind of like
company.  I could sit and watch her study, and imagine that she
knew I was there.  It was what I did every night, from the
relative cover of her bed.
 

 She didn't know, of course, that I was there.
Didn't know that I'd been observing her for the past two weeks.
Well, I had to do something, and this was it: try to get a
fly-on-the-wall's view of a typical teenage girl (albeit one
with green hair).  And I'd done well in my observation.  I
picked up on her name (Tanya Robertson), her grade (Senior), her
school (Wayzata), her activities (newspaper and quiz bowl), her
boyfriend's name (Chuck something-or-other) and even such things
as her favorite snacks (potato chips and bananas).
 

 I rarely had to leave her room, and when I did it
was at breakneck speed.  I was playing it safe, and I probably
could have done it forever.
 

 But it was getting dull.  I needed a challenge.
This was safe, but it was too safe--and I was getting
bored.  I needed to do something.
 

 So I started to plan.
 

* * *
 

Anonymous
Glenview, Illinois
 

 No sign of him.  That wasn't a surprise.  D.X.
always was a private individual, and he had more reason now for
privacy than ever.  Those contacts he had here were reticent,
save for one who offered the opinion that D.X. Machina could "go
to Hell."
 

 So I sat at the cafe and drank cafe and wondered
what to do next.  Mayhaps I would go to  Arizona.  I had heard
he spent time there.
 

 I had to find him, though.  Or the Cadre would drum
me out.
 

 So I considered my options, and read the
entertainment magazine, and pondered.
 

* * *
 

Sarah Kensington
Lind Hall
East Bank, University of Minnesota
 

 Shakespeare is fascinating.  At least I've always
found him to be.  His language has such a rhythm, such panache,
and his storylines are breathtaking in their complex simplicity.
I love Shakespeare, and I was glad to have this opportunity to
study him.
 

 It was doubly good, because it kept my mind off
other business.  Two weeks!  May as well have been two years.
Scott found me in a week in Los Angeles, a city ten times the
size of Minneapolis.  He'd wanted to then.  He'd been able to,
then.
 

 If he was going to find me, he would have found me
by now.
 

 So I turned back to A Midsummer Night's
Dream.  The course of true love never did run smooth.
 

* * *
 

Scott Chelgren
 

 By the time night fell, and Tanya climbed into bed,
I had come up with a diversion.  Something to do.  Something to
alleviate the boredom, and to get my mind off of her.
 

 I would go to school with Tanya.
 

 It was Wednesday, by my reckoning.  That gave two
school days before the weekend.  Time to get acclimated.  I had
an idea for a game that would involve me going to school each
school day, and coming home each night with a different girl.
You know, try to get a wider variety of people, try to get out
and meet folks.
 

 Something like that, anyhow.
 

 I laid down and tried to sleep.  The morning would
be interesting, I was sure.
 

* * *
 

D.X. Machina
Minneapolis Downtown Hilton
Minneapolis, Minnesota
 

 I paused to look at the statue of music before I
went out onto the mall.  I always liked this hotel; it had
style.  And this statue was cool, man.  Almost made me want to
grab my old trombone and see if I remembered how to play.
 

 I was going down to Uptown, to see an old friend of
mine.  I was hoping she could help me break through to one Scott
Chelgren, MIA  I had tried all the tricks I knew--meditation,
channeling, eating really spicy Thai food--but none of them had
worked.  Scott had shut his mind down so far that I couldn't
even sense him.
 

 He wasn't dead, though.  I would've sensed that.
 

 So I had to try to find him, talk some sense into
the lad.  Or else Ms. Danes would rip my still-beating heart
from my chest, or so she had mentioned in our last
correspondence.
 

 I stepped out onto Nicollet Mall.  It was a crisp
October morning in my hometown, and I smiled in spite of myself,
and headed for the bus stop.  The 17 would be by soon enough.
 

* * *
 

Scott Chelgren
 

 I awoke early; truth be told I usually did.  I
wasn't sleeping well, and my excitement had only exacerbated my
insomnia.  Still, for the first time in two weeks, my thoughts
weren't entirely comprised of Sarah...one or two of them were on
other things.  That was a victory, I thought.
 

 I heard the alarm go off, and heard the dull thud of
Tanya hitting the snooze button.  I stretched, and tried to
decide how best to go about this.
 

 First of all, I shrunk myself down to half an inch
tall.  Part of the game--if I grew above that height, I would
lose.  Of course, there were no real consequences of losing, but
the game had to have rules, didn't it?  Then I wandered out into
the room.
 

 It was still barely dawn on that early October
morning.  I could hear Tanya's breathing, and not much else.  I
looked around the room until I spied it.
 

 One of the things I had learned about Tanya was that
she always put her clothes out the night before, and always over
by her desk.  Today she was wearing a white blouse and a black
skirt (a slight departure from her usual black blouse and black
shirt).  They were hung neatly on her closet door.  I walked
over to them.
 

 The skirt brushed the floor; I grabbed a hold of the
fabric and started to climb the inside hem.  I was already a
good three inches above the hem when Tanya finally awoke.

 
 I kept climbing until she returned; I figured I must
be just below knee level by now.  I didn't want to get too high,
lest I get knocked off and hurt in the fall.  But as I felt the
skirt drop to the floor, I realized I might be too high already,
as the fabric piled up around me.
 

 I started to panic, but forced myself to calm.  She
would step into the skirt presently, pull it up, and then I
would be fine.  As I thought this, she did that, and I found
myself a true inch below knee level.
 

 I'm too good at this.
 

 I knew I would have to climb higher for safety's
sake, and so, as she wandered her room, her titanic legs always
behind me, I began to climb again.
 

 By the time we left the house, I was two true inches
above her knees, and climbing hard.
 

* * *
 

D.X. Machina
Uptown
Minneapolis, Minnesota
 

 I hopped off the bus at the stop by SA.  A walk to
Teresa's, to be sure, but I needed time to think about where
things were heading.
 

 Yes, I'd brought GTS to the masses, or at least a
vanishingly small number of the masses.  For this great boon, I
was suffering the punishment of Prometheus.  I was on the run
now, and I knew that I couldn't stay in Minneapolis for long.
 

 He was following me.  And it bugged me.  I had
considered him a friend and an ally, yet he had been in Chicago
for the past week, trying to track me down.  Why?  Not because
he wanted to renew acquaintances.  And not because he needed to
talk to me, or warn me, or any crap like that.  No, he was doing
this for Mr. Koschkei, the Chairman, and I didn't like it.
 

 I came to the storefront presently.  Madame
Theresa's PSYCHIC Studio.  Not very original, but hey, I suppose
it did the job for her.
 

 I knocked on the door.
 

* * *
 

Scott Chelgren
En route to Wayzata High School
Wayzata, Minnesota
 

 The going was easy, now.
 

 I was walking along her thigh, heading towards her
waist.
 

 I could feel the pull of her scent; the soft,
sweet/pungent aroma that was so magnified by my size, or lack
thereof.  It was always hard to ignore; this morning I found it
quite impossible.
 

 I was careful.  I reached her panties (plain white
cotton, I noticed) and immediately entered.  I doubt she noticed.
 

 The heat and scent were overpowering.  I did pause,
for a moment, and wonder at what I was doing.  But only for a
moment.
 

 I felt my way into the underbrush, and slid along
towards the top of her vagina.  I could feel her muscles
contracting beneath me slightly; I doubted she was truly aware
of me, but her body knew of my presence.
 

 I felt her begin to rise, and I held on.
 

 We were going into class.
 
 

* * *
 

D.X. Machina
 

 Teri is an old friend.  I don't truly know how old;
she claims we knew each other as slaves in ancient Egypt.  I
used to smile and nod politely when she said this, but that was
before the Madison incident.
 

 I don't discount much these days.
 

 Her receptionist was an overpierced, overtatooed,
bald specter of womanhood.  She smiled, and said in a cheerful
voice, "What do you want?"
 

 "I need to speak to Madame Theresa.  It's important."
 

 "And who, might I ask, are you?"
 

 "Tell her," I paused, then continued.  "Tell her
Jake's here."
 

 The woman buzzed back, and announced me.
Six-point-three seconds later, Teri appeared, all
four-foot-eleven of her.  She had changed her hair color to
black, and she was pale--almost a Gaimanesque figure.  But her
violet eyes still shone with the sparkle I had first noticed in
High School, eight years and a lifetime ago.
 

 "Jake!  Come on back, love!"
 

 I followed her into her meeting room, and she closed
the door.
 

 "Hi, Teri."
 

 "GOD DAMN YOU, JAKE THEISSEN!"
 

 I sighed.  I guess I'd earned this.
 

* * *
 

Tanya Robertson
Wayzata High School
Wayzata, Minnesota
 

 It was strange.  I felt almost giddy.  I was, ooh, I
was, um, wow....
 

 That pretty much describes it, I guess.
 

 I didn't notice anything until I sat down for first
hour.  It was A.P. American Government, and things were getting
dull, as usual.  My teacher, Mr. Lowenstein, has this tendency
to drone on, and on, and on.  So I was trying to keep notes,
when I began to notice a certain feeling.
 

 I recognized it.  I mean, it's hard not to know
you're getting aroused.  But, I mean, why?  Certainly my teacher
wasn't doing it for me.  I couldn't figure it out.
 

 But my clit almost ached with ecstasy.  I could
almost feel something down there, doing something...incredibly
good, wow.  I could feel myself getting wet.  I was just glad I
had gym class next hour.  I was going to need some deodorant,
and fast.