*****
An hour later, and you were withdrawn from Zara's coat pocket, placed into the woman's outstretched palm instead. Reorienting yourself, you took stock of your surroundings.
She had quite clearly taken you to that off-site research facility she'd mentioned earlier, the laboratory where she performed her duties as the head of the CTC's Pharmaceutical and Genetic Engineering Department. All around you, women in lab coats bustled this way and that, vanishing down one clinically-white hallway after the next, or slipping into research rooms stuffed to the brim with scientific equipment, measuring devices, and tools you'd only seen in sci-fi movies. The place was pretty cutting edge, perhaps even more so than Small Wonders, but being in the pocket of the CTC clued you in that only horrors went down in here.
You craned your neck and stared up at Zara's pretty, sharp-featured face. The woman herself was walking down an exceptionally long hallway, small smile plastered on her face. From this angle, it was impossible not to see the same features you saw nearly daily on Zoey's face. Zoey really was the spitting image of her mother, and you had to wonder if the girl hated that fact given how apparently tenuous their relationship was.
You coughed. "Um...Miss Reed...where are you taking me?"
Zara's eyes flicked down to you. "To my personal lab, little one. Oh, we're going to have so much fun together!"
"Uh huh. And this experiment isn't dangerous, right?"
"Goodness no! We're doing groundbreaking work in the field of affected genetics here at the CTC, but we'd be horrified if tinies like yourself actually died or something from our work! No, not dangerous at all!" Zara giggled. "It's so amusing how the mind of a tiny works."
You furrowed your brow. "What do you mean?"
Zara smiled, but it was a patronizing smile, like how one looked at a baby. "Well, hundreds of studies have shown that tiny brains simply can't evolve to the same capacity of us normal people, and as such, most tinies remain simple-minded, childish, and easy to please. It makes you so fun to work with!" Zara placed her other hand on her chest. "And that's why I've made it my mission in life to help you tinies grow and evolve past your biological limits, attaining true freedom once you are liberated from your mistaken beliefs that you're meant to mimic us normal people. No, obviously, your purpose is to embrace your unique qualities of squishy malleability, forming a symbiosis of servitude with unaffected!"
You rolled your eyes. The woman was obviously a certified quack, as every single thing she'd just said was utter garbage. But the way her eyes shone with belief was a bit terrifying. For as wrong as she was, she clearly believed every word out of her mouth.
"You've been doing this your whole life?" You prodded, trying to dig deeper to see if there was a single salvageable thing about this woman.
Zara shook her head. "No, actually. For most of my professional career I was in charge of my own standalone genetics company, which was working on ways to enhance the durability and reformation of tinies. Silly, I know, but I was a lot more naïve back then."
You gaped. Zara's old work sounded amazing! "What changed, Miss Reed?"
"Well...the CTC came along and bought out my company when we were going through a bit of a rough patch of dry funding." Zara smiled wistfully. "I'd say that was when my life changed for the better, because Penelope helped me onto the right path and showed me the truth of the nature between us normal folk and you tinies." Her smiled faded. "Not...everything was easy during that time, though."
"Is that when you and Zoey drifted apart?" You asked.
Zara nodded, a faint tear in her eye. "I...had to make a certain decision, for the betterment of my family. For the happy life my three children always deserved. It's just a shame Zoey didn't see it like that."
Your heart skipped a beat. Three children? Zoey had two siblings?
"Zoey has siblings?" You gasped.
"Of course!" Zara brightened a bit. "A lovely set of twins. My first children born, actually. A tiny-sized brother and sister, and they are both the sweetest of darlings. Even if it's been a while since I last saw them face-to-face, I just know that they've discovered true happiness and are living the most amazing of lives!"
"Why...haven't you seen them?"
"Well, that's sort of the inciting incident that turned my headstrong daughter against me. I tried, so very hard, to explain to her how it was in everyone's best interest, but my Sweet Spitfire has always been hard to convince of things." Zara's eyes lost some of the condescending glint they'd held all conversation, and she looked at you with something akin to actual kindness. "Thank you, truly, by the way, for taking my angel under your wing. I've heard so much about how happy she is spending time with your family. Even if I dream of having her back by my side one day, you and your wife's care does not go unappreciated."
"It's n-no problem." You stammered, caught on the backfoot by praise from the woman who was about to subject you to some sort of experiment. "But...uh...what was the incident?"
"Well, I had to take her siblings and licen--oh, look! Here we are!" Zara cut herself short, arriving at the door to her lab. "Story for another time, little one!" She winked at you, back to giving you a belittling smile. "You tinies really have a way of getting me to loosen up!" Zara laughed as she entered her lab, closing and locking the door behind her, then setting you on her desk.
Sitting on the woman's neat and organized desk, you watched as she meandered around her office, digging through random drawers and checking on miscellaneous equipment. Finally, she procured two syringes, one filled with a clear liquid and the other with a red liquid. The syringes were small, and you realized with a gulp of anxiety that they were designed for affected-sized individuals. Whatever was in those syringes, that was the experiment Zara had planned for you. The only strange thing was that you wondered why there were two.
"Miss Reed, why do you have two--" You began, only to be cut off as Zara unceremoniously jabbed you with the clear liquid syringe, pushed the plunger, and injected you with the chemical. Instantly, you thrashed in pain, your limbs shivering and shuddering. "What...was that?" You demanded with a yell.
Zara smiled placatingly at you. "That was just the pre-experiment requirement, little one. A concentrated dose of Perma 0-D-B-N-C, a relatively new creation of mine. Like our normal 0-B-D-N-C drug, it compels tinies to follow commands given to them. Unlike other strains of that drug, Perma 0-B-D-N-C can only sync to a single command, but it lasts permanently within the genetic code of the tiny subject. So, the next command I give you, you will obey for your entire life." Zara giggled. "I know big science words can be tricky for your adorably mushy minds, so let me know if you understood that."
You growled. "Yes, I understood, you giant monster! This wasn't part of the--"
“Oh, also,” Zara talked over you. “That liquid was embedded with a micro-sized tracker. It isn’t capable of the same shock-induced inertia control of our other Tiny Trackers, but it can still accurately provide your location data no matter where you are in the world, for the duration of our experiment!” Zara tittered. “Well, and also for your entire life! It isn’t exactly removable, but it’s not like there’s harm in us CTC folks always knowing your location! The better to care for you, after all!”
A blood vessel popped in your forehead. “You. Did. WHAT???”
"Anyway!" Zara beamed, cutting you off. "Now, let me just clap my hands...and..." The towering black-haired scientist clapped her hands, and suddenly your body went rigid, your mind alert. "My command is this, little one: You will never tell a soul the specifics of what will be done to you in this room, nor who did it to you. Do you understand my command?"
"I understand." Your mouth moved on its own, answering the scientist in a monotone voice. As soon as you did so, Zara clapped again, and you felt your body loosen...not that you weren't stricken with fear. You really had just lost all control of yourself, and Zara’s entire identity was already becoming the tiniest bit fuzzier in your brain.
"Amazing work, little one! Now, with that taken care of, let's get to the real fun of the experiment!" Zara tossed the empty syringe into a trash can, and pointed the one with the red liquid towards you. "This chemical may just be my crowning jewel, and I think you'll have so much fun with the changes to your body after the chemical binds with you!"
Eyes wide, you turned to run, only to hear the blissfully uncaring woman above you laugh heartily, slapping a hand in front of you whose wind impact caused you to topple backwards. Terror seizing you, you looked shakily up at the woman, who merely smiled like she was having the time of her life.
Zara drew the syringe closer. "This is a special chemical, little one, so I'll explain it to you!"
1) Zara reveals to you the prototype Tiny Reduction Serum, a chemical that shrinks affected even smaller than one-inch!
2) Zara reveals to you the prototype Flesh-Fusion Enhancer, a chemical that enhances the strands of affected DNA that allow tinies to bond with human flesh, drastically accelerating the fusion process.
3) Zara reveals to you the Addictive Hormonal-Taste Amplifier, a chemical that boosts an affected's taste factor while simultaneously secreting a hormonal amplifier, essentially compelling unaffected to ravenously chow down on an injected tiny.
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