"How could we have been so stupid?" Tyler asks, now sitting on his bed across from Sarah who does the same. Both sitting upon disheveled sheets and from within the same baggy clothes as before.

"What do you mean?" Sarah asks, looking up from her huddled position. Both of them still trying to wrap their heads around what Dr.Hallman had said. They were going to shrink more? How much more? When? Why? What had they gotten themselves into and why did either of them ever accept this offer?

Regret swam deep within their veins, surely.

"Its just that... We both trusted these people. This company, so blindly." Tyler says as he looks around the blank, bare necessities room. "But don't you remember the news a few months ago?" He asks.

"News? What are you -" Sarah pauses, "You don't mean... No." She looks away, "That was a hoax. They proved it!" She hisses back at him.

"How can you still think that?" Tyler asks, "Look at us!" He motions to their sizes.

Sarah frowns and thrusts her gaze to the floor, shaking her head as she thinks back to a few months ago when news reports of some kind of... Scientific miracle that had supposedly been discovered began surfacing.

Cosmolex had always been known mainly for its medical products, equipment and even its cosmetics. However, in July, merely a few months prior from what was now October 22nd, Cosmolex had unveiled something new.

So new, in fact that they and the scientific community scarcely had a name for whatever -it- was or should be classified as.

Cosmolex referred to it as 'Virastine'. A new breed of chemicals they proposed to be classified as 'Slow Acting Shrinking Agents'. After all, it did just that. It shrank those who ingested it approximately six to seven inches through a nights sleep.

No one knew why it worked, how it worked or even what it was made up of outside of high security Cosmolex research facilities. Though the majority of the population didn't seem all that concerned. After all, within a few weeks of near constant media coverage, Virastine was considered to be little more than a PR stunt. A hoax.

Even Sarah herself, like the many others whom had seen it on the news and online, had considered it a joke. She knew only few individuals in her personal life that were sensational about it. But, alas, in the age of the internet, no one truly believed it could be possible. They were all so used to such a vast amount of content being fake, staged or doctored.

Sarah looks towards Tyler, "So... We can't sleep then?" She asks, "That's how it works, right? You go to sleep and you wake up shorter than the night before." She shudders. How were they supposed to go without sleep? "I thought it was only supposed to do six inches... Not ten." She clenches her eyes shut as she thinks of their current predicament.

"I don't know.." Tyler trails off, "Maybe that's what Dr.Hallman wants us to think," He suggests, "Why else would he tell us it was Virastosis? Don't you think that sounds exactly like whatever this Virastine stuff causes?" He asks.

"Probably more like the act of being under its influence." Sarah says as she buries her face in her arms. Her knees pulled to her chest.

"But what if we're not under its influence?" Tyler asks,

"What do you mean? We're shrinking! We can't be under the influence of anything else... Do you know any other drugs that shrink your body, Tyler?" Sarah asks as her face lifts from her arms for a moment.

"Well..." Tyler sighs, "No, but... What's to say they haven't discovered another means?" He asks. "We -are- in advanced studies after all." He says.

Sarah shakes her head in a mixture of disbelief and denial. "I can't believe this." She mutters, "Maybe you're right.. But... We can't just stay here, can we?" She asks, "I don't want to be a lab rat anymore... When I thought we could go home today and only be coming in once and a while it was okay.. It was like, self-paced, you know?" She asks, "But if we're really shrinking.. Do you think they're going to let us leave?" She asks, her voice beginning to quiver.

"Ah.." Tyler trails off, "I don't... See how they can't?"

"Do you think it would even be wise to go home?" Sarah asks, "Just imagine waking up in your bed the size of a dog or a cat and trying to make breakfast or even trying to reach the phone to call a friend over." She shudders, not liking the image in her head.

"I don't think I'd want to be that size around -any- of my friends." Tyler admits.

Sarah shakes her head, "Me either." She says.

Within that moment a short knock upon the door is heard as it soon swings open with a smiling Ms.Hayes being revealed, "Hello, subjects!" She grins happily, stepping inside of the room holding a few bottles of water and some cafeteria food.

"I was thinking after such a big announcement from Dr.Hallman that you two might be feeling hungry." She says, setting everything down to the table before the couch in the living room. "You know, all of that adrenaline eating up all of your energy." She smiles as she motions to the food, "So eat up! Its all for you." She says, thrusting her hands into her lab coats pockets.

"Th-Thanks," Sarah smiles sheepishly, "Listen.. Um... I need to go home soon, are we still allowed to do that?" Sarah asks,

Ms.Hayes smiles wider, she always loved this part. "You want to go home?" She asks, "Well, I can see why! But do you really think its a good idea? Not that it matters, I guess." She says, giving an innocent shrug of her shoulders and a cute smile,

"Dr.Hallman says the two of you need to stay here for further observation. I would have thought that with the diagnosis of Virastosis you two would have known that." She says, looking from one to the other until her eyes fell back onto Sarah.

"Y-Yeah.." Sarah trails off, nodding lightly, "I guess you're right. I just wanted to gather a few things. If we're going to be staying here for a few days or even weeks don't you think I could at least bring a change of clothes?" She asks.

"A change of clothes?" Ms.Hayes laughs lightly, "How do you expect anything you own to fit you right now? Let alone within the next couple of days or even tomorrow?" She asks.

"Can I ask how long we'll be here exactly?" Tyler asks,

Ms.Hayes looks over, nodding, "Of course! You both signed the contracts, right? If this Virastosis is persistent the two of you may well expect to serve your entire four month contracts here." She says.

"Four months?" Sarah asks, her eye twitching as her throat runs dry.

Ms.Hayes nods, "Well we can't just let you two go scampering off into the public eye like this, can we? It would be unethical!" She says, smiling, "Who knows what could happen to the two of you if left unattended." She says.

"S-So... We'll be safe here?" Sarah asks, trying to reassure herself more than anything else.

"Of course," Ms.Hayes smiles, "Everything will be just fine." She nods.