With some effort, Marcus' limp body was dragged by the arms, out of the ring and roughly down the steps. She pushed the cart out of her way, and pulled him across the dirty floor, to the shrinking machine. She stepped to the control panel.


Just then, Marcus let out a groan. Tessa rolled her eyes in frustration.




"What the fuck!" I screamed at her, touching the fresh cut above my eye.


She ignored me, entering information into the panel. I watched as she pulled out a key and inserted it and a second later, the machine turned on.


"Walk through." She said, flatly.


It took me a second to comprehend what she wanted, my brain scrambled.


"What?. . No. . No fucking way." I responded, dismissively.


"Either you walk through. . . . Or I force you through." She responded calmly, as if there was no way she couldn't do it.



"Nea is going to be back any minute, she is gonna be pissed that you're fucking with me." I said, hoping to spark some fear of getting in trouble into her.



"Ha! Too bad I locked her out! It takes 20 minutes to walk all the way around from that way." She informed me, her tone bratty.



I had no way of knowing whether or not that was true, but I had to hold out. My body was in too rough of shape to out run the girl, and from what I'd seen, she had me in strength too. My options were limited, and as she stepped out from the panel. I was beginning to think that she thrived on these confrontations.


I tried to make a break for it, but I only took two steps, before I felt an arm around my throat. She bent me backward, stretching me out as she dragged me until I was face to face with the machine.


Fuck.


Her arm retreated from around my neck, and I felt both hands on my back as she prepared to push me through.


As a last attempt, I put my hands on the frame and resisted her. A battle of wills as she seeked to shrink me down to size. I strained my hardest, but she was winning the war. My arms felt rubbery and my legs felt weak. . . . I knew I was going in. There was no way around it. I heard her take a deep breath and just as she was about to give me the final shove. . . .


The back door opened and Nea returned.

Knowing she could get in serious trouble, Tessa released me, and made a run for the front door. She pulled it open, slipped through, and was gone.

My heart was pounding out of my chest as I slowly walked back to where the silver double decker cart was. I know Nea wasn't anything close to an ally, but I had to admit I was a little glad to see her.

She looked infinitely annoyed that myself and Andrew weren't waiting on the cart, but she said nothing as I willingly laid down on the bottom bunk, a sign of my surrender. It took her a few minutes, but she eventually got Andrew's limp body onto the cart and we were on our way. I decided to try for more information as we walked.

"Who was that girl? What the fuck is her problem?" I asked as Nea wheeled the cart along the long hallway.

"Tessa. . . Claire's youngest daughter and Bridgette's sister." She answered, no emotion present.

"What's wrong with her? I . . . I could feel she. . ." I began but couldn't put words to thoughts.

Nea only chuckled.

"She's. . . Just a little overzealous when it comes to product testing." She said, not really caring if I believed her, and not really trying to convince me.

"What kind of people leave other people's lives in the hands of some crazy little girl!?" I spat at her.

"It isn't my call." Was all she said.

It was silent for a moment.

"Has she ever killed anyone?" I asked, my voice dead serious. "Tell me the truth."

I couldn't see her face from my position in the bottom of the cart, but her silence told me all I needed to know as she continued to walk.


"We're here." She said as she entered in a security code and entered a separate wing of the building. We were back in the lab. Nea took us both back to her section of the it, and we were unloaded. I was placed in some type of chamber sized for a full sized human.

It had holes with latex arms, and various tools hung inside with cords leading out. Nea sat down outside the chamber and appeared to be looking at my body through some type of heads up display on the outside glass. A few minutes later, she went to work examining the damage Bridgette had done to me.


This time, no type of miracle gel was applied to me, but she did turn up the temperature in the chamber, and to my surprise, my body did start to feel better immediately. I was given a pillow, and was made to spend the night in the chamber.


I awoke feeling refreshed, my body feeling good as new. I didn't know exactly what that green shit was, but it really did work.

Outside the chamber, scientists moved around the lab in various areas. Each one seemed to be conducting their own experiments and research, but I knew they all somehow answered to Claire. I was forced to stay in the pod until finally, an hour later Nea arrived and let me out.

I was given fresh clothes and made to follow her out of the main lab and into another smaller wing. She opened the door for me, gesturing me inside. Taking the first door on the left, I was a little confused by what I saw.

To my relief, Andrew was there, and it looked like he had been repaired to the same standard as I was. He appeared to have had a good night's sleep, and the only evidence of the day before, was the fact that his nose still looked broken.

Samantha was in the room also, seated across the room from Andrew. She was her full height, which seemed like a load of bullshit, but I didn't question it out loud. She gave me the look from hell as I took the chair 2 down from Andrew.

There was another woman down from her that I had never seen before. She was also regular sized, but she wasn't in the greatest condition. Her face and neck were visibly bruised and she had a defeated look on her face.

Nea stood at a big island in the middle of the room, and addressed us all.

"Ok, subjects," she said, reinforcing the fact that she nor the company really gave a shit about us. "You guys are being transferred to a different lab across the country today. " she informed us.

Understandably, the general consensus around the room was disbelief. We all started talking at once, voicing our displeasure but Nea just weathered the storm and waited for us to be quiet again.

"It's not my decision! I just do as I'm told." Nea recited for I'm sure the millionth time in her life. "A major break through has been made on the east coast, and they need all of the unaltered test subjects they can get."

"Why don't they just hire them from that area? It would make more sense than paying for plane tickets to get us there!" Samantha spoke up.

"Travel plans have already been arranged. The scientist that made the discovery has been here at the compound all week and is flying back to his home today. He and his wife will transport you to the lab personally as it is only 5 miles from the city he lives in." Nea explained.

"You will be reduced to 3 inches and placed in chambers for transport. You will be in an induced coma until the lab needs you. "

More discontent with the situation. Not that it mattered.

In the coming hours, we were each reduced, chambered and gassed. From there, we were put in a briefcase and given to the scientist and his wife. They boarded the private plane bound for their home state, and ultimately we were delivered to the the new lab.

All of our previous lives were over, the cover up complete. We were all just numbers now. . . . Figures in a fucked up corporate business plan.

I had begun this journey as someone who overall, mattered very little, and you could say that my drive to change that, is exactly what got me to where I am today.