Roderick Cowell stirs awake to the sight of a giant ten year old blond boy.  There was something familiar to Roderick about this giant.  “Lindquist…”  Roderick moaned.

“Roddy?  How do you feel?”  The giant boy asks.

“I should be dead,” Roderick then moaned out.  The event that led Roderick to this moment played in his head, the nine foot once elderly man, throwing him across the room when Roderick couldn’t tell him where Lindquist was.  Then the giant took his arm and squeezed until the pain became unbearable after finding out his last injection was a placebo.  The giant shook him and beat him like a ragdoll.  Roderick wasn’t hasty enough to make an escape; he had to just take it.

“That sadistic bastard,” the giant child muttered.  “He tried to beat you to death.”

“How am I not dead?  Where am I anyway?”

“You’re at Gaea House.  You’re safe here and among friends,” Sven said with sad eyes.  “The others found you in the woods.  You were dying.”

There was something different about Sven Lindquist other than the evolution.  Something humane about him that wasn’t there before.  The Roderick realized something about himself, he wasn’t wearing glasses and he could see clearly.

“They administered Titan XL5 on you.  It was the only way they could heal you.  They want answers and you’re the only one who can give them,” Sven said.

“Titan XL5?  You mean the serum?”  Roderick asked.  He noticed that he could move his arm but there was only a dull pain and the bruises looked faded.  The serum must have healed him but he didn’t feel any bigger.

“It can heal, just like it did Calvin before he started to grow.  Calvin inflicted a lot of damage on you.  You were bleeding internally and you had a brain hemorrhage.  Your body has been healing itself these past three week and there is still more healing that needs to be done.  All the internal damage is healed and your nearsightedness fixed.  You’re still five foot six and you won’t be going through a second childhood like I am,” Sven said with a lopsided smile. 

Roderick felt a tingle in his legs and Sven read it in his thoughts.  “You’re paraplegic now.  There was quite a bit of spinal damage done as well.  The serum is healing that as well,” Sven said.

“I can’t walk?”

“Only for now, the x-rays keep changing.  Your spine is mending but the process is slow.  We give you about a week and you should be back on your feet again,” Sven said with a smile.  “The others do want to talk to you as soon as you feel up to it though.  They seem to think you must’ve missed some element in the process of the serum you injected into Calvin.”

“I’m not sure when that will be,” Roderick said sadly.

“They don’t hate you for what you have done, Roddy.  They want to know what went wrong.  The people and children that have evolved aren’t violent like Calvin,” Sven said.

“How are they, Sven?”

“From my experience so far, I see things differently.  I’m not a selfish or self-centered as I once was.  Certain things don’t matter anymore.  I feel stronger and much smarter.  It’s like I’m learning all the answers to humanity’s problem.  It’s weird but I’m not the same person anymore.  I’m much more forgiving and calm with the instincts of an animal,” Sven explained.  “Trust me, it’s not so bad.”

Jane sat in the office of Steven James with tears flowing from her eyes.  The poor woman was beside herself.  Jane never thought much of the newly evolved; she stayed ignorant to their ways because she felt that they had no place in the human world.  That was until she met the new and improved Bradley Hester who happened to save her son’s and her husband’s lives.

Dan Hester acted as proxy for the giants.  Whenever a difficult case came that Steven knew the humans involved didn’t feel comfortable around the giants, he called in Dan Hester.  Some humans couldn’t accept that their world is about to change and Jane Powers was one of those people.  Dan sat with her on the balcony area of Steve’s office with papers to sign for the children involving the administration of Titan XL5.

“Your day will came, Jane.  More people are reporting to us every day.  We just want to make sure you’re going to be ready.  Mike has been admitted into Gaea House and will stay until he feels he’s ready.  If he wishes to return home, The Gaea Foundation will fund in the rebuilding of a new home just like the one Leah and I have now.  I suggest you take advantage of this because it’s only a matter of time,” Dan explains.

“How’s it like Dan?  Living around…them?”

“It’s not really that bad.  Leah and I have actually grown closer in our marriage.  They are still the same people you know and love, only improved.  They are the future of humanity.  I’m not saying it’s always going to be peachy because it’s not.  Leah and I still have our moments at times but most of the time we are pretty happy.”

“What about Josh?  Does he know his Mom is a…giant,” Leah whispered the last word like it was something awful.  Dan gives her a small smile.

“That’s another matter we need to discuss, the children.  I’ll warn you first hand that what I’m about to tell you is top secret,” Dan said, pulling out graphs of the earth and the surrounding planets.  “There is a reason for all this sudden evolution.  The earth and the atmosphere are gradually changing.  The vegetation is getting larger and the air is getting thinner.  The earth itself is literally growing and the sun is getting closer.”

“What does this have to do with all this madness?”

“We are going to be extinct in another twenty years if we don’t evolve.  Our children won’t be allowed outside and they’ll end up living in a literal bubble because of these changes.  The newly evolved are not just smarter and stronger, their skin is UV resistant which is why they look so young and their lungs are made to adapt to the thinning air.  Everything about them is made to withstand a catastrophe that will render us reliable on machinery to keep us alive.”

“Why hasn’t anyone said anything about this before?”

“Because it’s simple; the giants know that the humans are prejudice of them.  That is why I’m their proxy.  I’m here to help you in anyway,” Dan said.  “Do you want to know the truly top secret part of all this?”

“Why all the secrets Dan?”  Jane asked her old friend.

“If the humans knew their secrets, there would be a war against the giants and let’s face it Jane, the humans aren’t the smartest species on the planet anymore,” Dan said.  Tears still fell from Jane’s eyes.

“You’re telling me that I’m going to join Mike and become like him while my children will be left behind?”

“There is already being places built for those that don’t evolve but there is an alternative,” Dan said, trying his best to ease into the topic of the serum.

“An alternative?”  Jane asks while drying her tears.

Dan pulled out the forms printed on red paper, ‘the special forms’ as they are referred to.  “Since Mike is no longer going to be able to be the father he once was to the kids and there in no known cure for this and let’s face it, there isn’t going to be.  These papers explain the alternative.  If you agree to this, I’d like you to meet someone, if you do not, Gaea Foundation will built a place specially made to accommodate the kids with environmental control and high grade UV protection windows,” Dan explained as Jane read the red papers explaining in laymen’s terms what Titan XL5 is and how it works.

“They have grown children with this stuff?”  Jane asked still unsure.

“Successfully, it’s made to trick the DNA into changing.  It can work in adults as well,” Dan responded.

“Is this why Josh wasn’t at the house?”

“I can’t tell you unless you sign those forms.  This is highly sensitive information, but in my opinion it beats having your children in a bubble for thirty years,” Dan said, giving her a knowing smile.

“Can I get injected with this stuff?”

“We only want to administer it to the children for now.  You will change on your own like most of the giants here have,” Dan said.

“Makes sense, I guess,” Jane said and signed ‘the special forms.’  “I don’t know if the twins are going to like this?”

“We give the children some say in the matter; just because you give your consent doesn’t mean the kids have to do it.”

“I understand it’s a big step.  Can I call you if I ever need any advice?”  Jane asked and Dan smiled.

“I’m all ears Jane.  Now, would you like to meet someone special?”

“Sure,” Jane says with a smile.

The giant door to the office opens and in come a blond headed boy with shining blue eyes followed by a red-headed giant.  The giant smiles down at his guest.

“Janie,” the sixteen foot child says and Jane’s eyes widened.  “It’s me Josh.  I’m big now.”

“I-I-I can see that.  How are you doing, big guy?” Jane said.

“I came here to play with my new friend, Tommy,” Josh says and in comes a red-headed boy the same age as the giant child but just a tad shorter.  “Tommy is my age.  We play together.”

“I see that,” Jane says with a smile on her face.  She watches the two giant boys pull out cars from a cabinet and start playing with them.

“They are not bad kids, Jane.  They’re just kids,” Dan says.  “Even though Josh is much bigger than me, he still listens and does as he’s told.  Yes, he makes me feel small and insignificant at times but it’s not his fault.  Those boundaries are something I need to get over.  I know my day is coming,” Dan says.

Jane watches the children in the corner of the office, unaware of the red-headed giant taking his place at his desk.  He smiles at Jane.  Dan gets Jane’s attention.

“There is someone you need to meet.  He’s the giant to talk to if any problems arise.  This is Steven James, advocate for The Gaea Foundation.  He is the one with whom I act as proxy for and since you’ve signed all the paperwork, Steven is the man to talk to.  He is also the one who will ask your children if they are ready to become giants,” Dan explained.

“I’m pleased to meet you, Mrs. Powers.  Your husband is in good hands here,” Steve said, trying to sound confident but still a little shy as always.  Jane picked up on Steve’s shy side by his body language.  He seemed to be hiding his handsome face behind his long red hair by hanging his head low.  Jane smiled.

“He is really shy,” Dan whispered in Jane’s ear.  “He is also pretty harmless.”

“I’m pleased to meet you too, Mr. James.  I’d preferred to be called Jane,” Jane said kindly.

“Steve,” said the red-headed giant.  “And that over there playing with Josh is my son Tommy.”

“He’s a fine boy, Mr. James.  Is he alright being a giant?”  Jane asks.

“He’s not the size of a mouse to me anymore and my wife and I live a normal life because of it.  Trust me; I don’t regret ever giving Tommy Titan XL5.  I don’t know if I could handle not being able to hold my boy again like I do now,” Steve said, smiling over at the two busy boy giants.

“I understand, Steve,” Jane said kindly.

Robby and his sisters were being escorted into an office by a kind tall gray haired woman in a white lab coat holding a medical bag.  The twins huddled close to their older brother.  Then they saw the two giant boys in the corner of the office.  Jessica and Jordan Powers recognized one of the boys as Joshua Hester.  The two giants seemed too busy to notice the three human children.   A red-headed giant came around the enormous desk; he smiled down at the children.  Steve felt the twins’ fear in their thoughts.  Sadness filled his grass green eyes as the girls began to cry.  This caught Josh and Tommy’s attention.  Steve silently ordered the two giant boys to stay right where they're at and they obeyed.

Jane and Dan came down the steps.  Jane went to soothe her girls while Dan went over to the boys.  Robby couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Josh pick up Dan in a hug and gently put him back down. Dan patted his son on the thigh and smiled up at him.

“Come on girls, Mr. James is a friendly giant just like Leah and Brad.  He wants to ask you something.  All you have to do is say yes or no,” Jane tells the twins.

“Is he going to eat us?” Jessica asks.  Steve frowns.

“No little one, I won’t eat you,” Steve gently says.

“If you won’t eat us, then what do you want,” Jordan sobbed.

“I was wondering if you want to be big like us?  I can make you big like Josh and Tommy but I won’t do it if you don’t want me to,” Steve says to all three kids.

“Can I be big, Mr. James,” Robby asks and Steve smiles.

“If that is what you want Robby,” Steve says to the boy.

“It is, Mr. James,” Robby said excitedly.

“Go to Mrs. McAllister and she will give you the serum,” Steve says to the boy and Robby goes to the tall gray haired woman.  Robin had a syringe at the ready and swabbed Robby’s arm before injecting the clear blue fluid.  Robin then gave the boy a shake afterwards.

“I’m hungry,” Robby then says.

“Is it like vitamins?” Jessica asked with peak curiosity.  “Robby doesn’t look any bigger.” 

Steve laughs.  “It’s a super strong vitamin but you don’t have to take it if you don’t want to.  It doesn’t make you grow right away,” Steve tells the curious twins.  Jessica and Jordan look at one another and agreed to the shot.