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Story Notes:

This is my first attempt at a story, as the title suggests it's based on the soylent green universe, set a few decades on from the film when things have gotten even worse and scientists have discovered how to shrink people to an inch tall.

 



I'm not sure where the disclaimer goes so I'll stick it here

 

 

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's Chapter Notes:

not much size change stuff here, sorry if it's a bit long I got carried away with the setting

“Welcome to the afternoon news. As record breaking temperatures continue well into January...” droned the radio in the chic suburban cafe “government insiders claim that the recent global crop failures mean they do not have enough rations to...” The station was quickly changed before anyone noticed and the cafe once again filled with the latest music. The barista knew none of his customers were concerned with such matters. This was one of the most exclusive districts in the city, no one here worried about where their next meal would come from and no one wanted to hear about those who did. This was where the sons and daughters of the elite came to show off their latest fashions and enjoy the year round sunshine. Here everything was perfect, or almost everything. Out on the street, amongst the handsome young men and beautiful girls shuffled a lonely figure, his tatty rags hanging off his emaciated frame. Most people around ignored him, others glared, angry that his very presence shattered their perfect bubble. Slowly a police car pulled up to the curb and out stepped a uniformed man, baton drawn ready as he approached the intruder. “Excuse me,” he said with thin veneer of politeness, “you don't look like you're from around here, care to explain what you're doing?”

“Please officer, I'm not here to cause trouble.” The man quickly responded, with a sense of fear and desperation in his voice. “I just thought... I thought I might be better off here.” He handed the policeman a crumpled piece of paper.

The police man took it without a word and began reading, he stopped for a second to glance back at the man before finishing. “Fair enough.” He smirked, as he handed the paper back. “Do you know the way?”

“Just down here on the second left, I'm told there's a large gate.”

“That's right, you can't miss it.” The officer smiled before leaning in close to the destitute man. “Now hurry it up. This is a nice neighbourhood and I don't want you wandering around here any longer than necessary.”

 

Soon the man saw the entrance to the large gated community, an armed guard stood outside eyeing him as he approached.

“Don't approach any closer, what's your business here?” The guard demanded as he raised his weapon menacingly.

“I'm here to speak with a Miss Matryona or a Miss Katona. I'm told they live here.” The man stood, raising his hands slightly.

“And why would they want to speak with the likes of you?” The guard demanded.

“I saw this advert in a paper, they say they'll take on anyone.” Replied the Homeless man as he slowly held the piece of paper out in front of him.

The guard slowly approached and took the paper from him. He carefully read the advertisement. “It says to call first, are they expecting you?”

“I don't have a phone or any money for a payphone, at least let me speak to them, even if just to find out when to come back.” The man pleaded.

“Wait here.” the guard instructed as he handed back the paper and walked back to his guard station to begin making a call.

 

 

A short distance away beneath a large desk. A tiny figure, no bigger than an inch, was hard at work, trying frantically to scrub what was to him a large red stain off the insole of a woman’s sandal. He'd been told he wasn't to leave the sandal until it was clean, he knew all to well what that meant if he took to long. On either side of him sat two gigantic feet, their every movement sent chills down his spine. Above him an elegantly dressed woman of 40, though still very attractive for her age, sat typing intently as the phone started to ring. She sighed angrily as her concentration was torn from her work.

“Hello” She answered, hiding her annoyance.

“Hi, this is the guard tower here. Is this Miss Matryona?” Came the voice on the other side of the phone.

“Speaking.”

“I've got a guy here who wants to speak to you about this, uh, this job offer you've got advertised.” Came the voice on the other side of the phone.

“We've already had one batch just a week ago, we normally take in a group every month. The advert clearly gives a number to call, tell him to call it and they will make the arrangements with him.” She instructed, her irritation now evident in her voice.

“Um, well I told him that, but well... he doesn't have any money for a phone call.”

The women let out another angry sigh, she was about to tell the guard to send the man on his way but she paused for a moment, she was in no rush to finish her article and it wouldn't hurt to take in an extra servant. It might even be fun to meet him while he's still full sized. She drummed her fingers on the desk as she thought about it, the sound of which boomed down to the tiny servant working at her feet.

“Tell him to wait there as I'm a little busy at the moment. Check him for weapons as usual, I'll call you back when I'm ready for you to send him in.” With that she hung up without even waiting for a response. She immediately began making a call to her servants central office. “I'm having a guest around, call all servants back to their quarters immediately.” She ordered and again put the phone down without waiting for a response. “I'm afraid time's up.” She said as she got back to typing, the tiny servant working below her screamed in protest as she slid her feet into her sandals, pinning him against the mess he'd been trying to clean. She enjoyed feeling him struggle against her sole as she finished the paragraph she was typing. It didn't take her long to finish and with that she stood up, crushing the helpless servant into another red stain on her insole, and went to check her other servants were out of the way, ready for her guest to arrive.

 

The homeless man sat waiting by the guard tower, reading through the advertisement over and over again. How had it come to this? He couldn't help wonder. He remembered hearing about a time when food had been plentiful and most people could get a job and a place to live without too much trouble. Everything seemed to fall apart so quickly. The population had exploded, the climate had gone to hell, no one had enough food, there were no where near enough jobs or homes. Soon most people were living of high energy crackers produced by the Soylent Corporation. Rumour had it some of the crackers were made from people, no one knew if it was true, but the choice was between eating them or starving so the truth was no one really wanted to know. Things got really weird when some scientists discovered how to shrink people, The idea was they could break down the body, discard most of the body tissue and rebuild an exact replica of the person at a fraction of it's original size. They hailed it as the answer to all of our problems, they could shrink the human race to an inch and suddenly we'd have plenty of space and resources. Naturally the idea wasn't popular and never got wide spread acceptance. But the Soylent Corporation quickly stepped in and bought the technology and as it lobbied aggressively for it to be used it slowly became more common. Again it was rumoured they were using the left over body tissue to create their soylent crackers. First people found guilty of serious crimes were shrunk to save space in prisons. Obviously accidents happened to these tiny people so it was decided it was impractical for them to receive the same legal protections regular people had, soon ruled that those who had been shrunk were no longer legally recognised as people. Eventually more and more crimes resulted in shrinking and eventually it was decided that consenting individuals could be shrunk. By now all but the most minor offences resulted in shrinking and some areas had even gone as far as rounding up the homeless to be shrunk. Voluntary shrinking was also becoming more popular, it had become fashionable for the wealthy to have tiny pets or servants. Though you put yourself at the mercy of whoever took you in many felt the promise of a home and regular meals made it a risk worth taking. While many families who took in tiny people treated them well, it just so happened that those who took care of their tiny servants or pets rarely had openings for new ones, while houses where tinies needed to be regularly replaced were always looking. So unfortunately most people ended up with owners who saw them as disposable or worse. Still, there was no shortage of desperate people willing to take that risk for the chance of a safe home and regular meals.

 

That's why he was here. He hadn't eaten for days, there was a shortage of soylent crackers. “Real food” the advert promised, with a picture of a steak, his mouth watered just looking at it. The idea of eating anything other than processed crackers was just a fantasy to most people. “Your own bed.” The advert went on to offer. He knew being an inch tall must be dangerous but it couldn't be worse than living on the streets and he'd have luxuries he could only have dreamed about before.

“Miss Matryona will see you now.” The guard said, waking the man from his thoughts. “Number 23, just on the 2nd left.” The homeless man looked around as he walked through the gated community. He'd never seen a place like this, wide open streets, no crowds, huge houses with even bigger gardens. He had no idea people still lived in such luxury, no wonder they had to keep it behind armed guards. As he reached number 23 he had to stop and catch his breath at the sight of the mansion. Slowly he walked through the garden, up to the door and rung the bell. After a short while the door was opened by an attractive and well dressed middle aged women with long brown hair, she spent a moment looking over the man, her brown eyes looking up and down his tatty clothes, before breaking the silence. “Come in.”

“Thank you very much, Miss.” The man replied as he followed her into the house.

“My name is Karen Matryona.” She continued. “I expect people I employ to call me Ma'am. I'm afraid I wasn't told your name.”

“It's John, Mi- uh, Ma'am.” The man replied.

“I've contacted my lawyer who will be around shortly with the paper work.”the women continued without acknowledging his response. “Would you like some food while we wait?”

“Yes.” John quickly responded, almost forgetting how he was expected to address her. “Yes please, Ma'am.”

He followed her to the kitchen where she offered him a seat and began to prepare a bacon sandwich. He looked around as she cooked, “You don't have any other people working at the moment?” he asked.

“I've relieved them of their duties for the time being, I assumed you weren't used to being around shrunken people. We wouldn't want any accidents.”

“Of course not, Ma'am. What sort of duties do they have?”

“At the moment they would normally be cleaning in here. There's a wide range of jobs for them.”

“What sort of work would I be doing?”

“I don't concern myself with managing the staff. When you start you will be given a role.”

With that Karen brought the sandwich over to the table and placed it in front of the man befgore taking a seat herself, he locked at it for a moment, taking in the sight and smell, he'd never eaten real food like this. Soon his hunger got the better of him and he began wolfing it down.

 

Karen watched the man as he ate ravenously, slightly amused by how pathetic he was. “Hungry?” She asked with a smirk. “I assume that's why you applied.”

“Yes, Ma'am.” The man replied, not noticing the mocking tone in her voice. She continued to watch in silence as he finished eating.

“Now you've finished let's discuss the terms of your employment, I live here with my partner, Natasha Katona, we will your employers and we both expect to be addressed as Ma'am and any instructions to be carried out promptly and without question. Is that clear?”

The man nodded, he didn't think anything of her being in a lesbian relationship, same sex partnerships had been encouraged by the government for some time in an attempt to keep the population under control.

“I expect you to reply.” Karen said sternly. “We find it disrespectful to just not and vague gestures aren't always easy to see coming from a shrunken person.”

“Yes, Ma'am. Sorry, Ma'am. I meant no disrespect.”

“Don't let it happen again. “In addition to my partner my daughter also lives here, and her boyfriend is a frequent visitor. You will also address her as Ma'am and him as Sir and obey any instructions given to you by them. The same courtesy will be granted to any other guests we have. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Ma'am.” John replied. “You and your partner have a daughter?”

“From a previous relationship.”

“And, if I'm not intruding, can I ask what you and your partner do?”

“I'm a fashion designer, I run my own company and I also the editor of a successful fashion magazine. My partner is a lawyer for the Soylent Corperation.“

 

The conversation was interrupted by the door bell. “That will be my lawyer” Karen said as she got up and left the room, she returned with her lawyer who explained to John that by agreeing to be shrunk he would be giving up all rights and legal protections and become the property of Karen Matryona and Natasha Katona, who would in turn provide him with a bed and regular meals. John agreed to the terms and signed the agreement. The lawyer agreed to drive him to the Soylent labs where he was to be shrunk. The labs almost seemed like a hospital, doctors and technicians examined him and asked questions about his health almost like they were preparing him for surgery. They even gave him an anaesthetic. As he he felt a sharp pain followed by a cold sensation run up his arm as he drifted off to sleep he thought about what his life would be like from now on. Karen had seemed a little strict and unpleasant, but at the same time she was offering him somewhere to live and he would never go hungry again. 

 

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