Bad guys win.  Unfortunate.  There is a bit of foreshadowing in the earlier stories, with Austin that there can be some burdens too big to put on one's self.  The cruelty and oppression of the dimension has been narrowed into an idea that maybe not tomorrow, but you can and need to survive this, and get through it, that there are people waiting for you 'on the other side', to help you.  Is that the case with her other patients?  Unknown, it's a mixed bag, but that there are small glimmers of hope here and there.  Maybe she gets out, and keeps enough of her wits to explain what Juvantis did and is still doing.  As a big, presumptively she would have a lot more sway even in her regressed state than a little with a similar accusation. I don't want to say it's under developed, there's a beginning middle and end, and it explores a handful of ideas at a meta level all the way through, but from a PLOT perspective, not a whole lot happened, and this is the kind of point in the book you'd turn and start the next chapter.  The character does not actually resolve any of her existing baggage, nor does her experience let us the audience do that either.  It's only by looking at what happens to her as a combination of all her previous patients, that we can hope to have a coherent understanding of her arc.  She tries too hard to lift up the world on her own, she does this out of guilt, she is punished.  She also has proof that like she suspected with Vincent, "something of the host survives", her decision to play it safe with him was probably justified.  Still that's like a reader meta-knowledge thing, not like her character improved from learning these things.  So it still feels like half a story. I'm glad you explored this one, and sorry to see it end so quickly, but hopefully you come back to the larger plot points here and get a chance to explore these characters again.

Boomers

Chapter 113: Bubbly I LOOKED UP just in time to see a large cup from the concession stand hurled at Beth! It splashed her as if to make it seem like she had an accident, even as I felt the leg that was on that side get hit as well.  I made a face as it felt gross! I had no time to register more, though, as a girl a little shorter than Beth tried using a weird blade to cut through the shoulder strap of my backpack she was holding! “Beth…” I started to say as the girl thought she would pull it clean off, but the blade couldn’t even notch the material Aunt Bella had made it from! Instead, we were yanked backward, Beth stumbled, and I felt dislodged from my perch. She managed to hang onto me and rolled over to protect me with her body as she slammed into the ground. The girl who had failed to grab the bag had black hair that was cut asymmetrically, and I could see a beautiful, moving dragon tattoo on her shoulder underneath a spaghetti-strap top she wore.  “Fuck!” the girl said. “Come on!” I noted that the one who had splashed her with the drink was taller. Nikki moved between Beth and them, even as they took off running! “What just happened?” I asked. “Good question,” Nikki said. “Are you two okay?”  I squirmed loose of Beth and looked at her with concern. Another woman in line for the changing tables said, “Oh my god! I can’t believe they just tried to snatch your bag right here in the restroom like that!” “Those stupid kids are probably part of that claws gang…” another girl closer to our age said while bouncing what looked like an actual infant in her arms.  “What’s that?” I asked, even as I made a face at the stickiness on my pants leg. ‘Definitely coke in that…’ “Mostly a bunch of thug Tweeners,” the woman said. “If you ask me, they should all be sent to an etiquette school and adopted out!” an older woman said as she looked at us both with concern. “Your pants are ruined, deary,” she said to Beth. “Hers aren’t much better,” the mom of the actual baby said, motioning to me.  Nikki looked at us and said, “Yeah, those aren’t going to do well for getting you home.” “Carly has a spare pair of leggings, I think, in her bag at least?” Beth said. “Why did they try and take her bag anyway?” “Looks like a purse rather than her bag when you’re wearing it,” Nikki said.  I looked up at her, still holding it over her arm, and realized that, yes, on her frame, it did look like a cute backpack purse like my sisters used sometimes. “Oh,” Beth said at the same time as I did. “Let’s get you changed, Carly, then we’ll figure out what to do with me…?” Right then, a female police officer arrived, “Good evening, I understand there was an attempted assault or purse snatching?” “Yes, did you all catch them?” Nikki asked. “It was my charge here,” she added, pointing to Beth. “No… Would you be willing to speak to us for a minute, Miss?” the officer asked Beth.  “Yeah, let me change her first?” She said, pointing to me.  “Yeah, that should be fine, but let me get a picture of her pants since it seems like she was hit too?” The officer pulled out her phone and took pictures of both of us and my bag. There wasn’t even a scratch on the bag material. Once she did so, Beth lifted me onto a changing table the other women had let us use in front of them. My diaper was soaked from my urine, and the jeans were rather nasty then. Beth used baby wipes to wipe my leg off after changing the diaper. “Leggings are in here, right?” She asked, finding the right pocket where I’d stashed an emergency top and leggings. I nodded and watched her pull them out. A moment later, I was dry, but she was still covered in sticky, wet junk. “Do you think my grandma still has your duffle in her car?” I suggested to her. “That’s a good idea,” she said.  Right then, my phone rang, “Carly? Where are you?” Grandma asked. She wasn’t frantic, but she certainly seemed nervous. “Something happened in here as we were leaving. Do you happen to have Beth’s duffle still in the car?”  “Yes?” “Could you bring her a pair of pants and a top?” “Are you okay?” She asked. “Mostly, just bring that inside. We’ll answer some questions in the meantime?” Now she sounded more nervous, “I’ll be right in!” “That takes care of clothes?” I told Beth.  She lifted me down to the ground, “Thanks… I guess let’s get this over with?” She asked the officer who was standing by.  We walked out to the lobby, and another officer waited to talk to us. I watched a small robot whoosh passed us suddenly and began sucking and mopping up the mess on the floor. ‘Even that job is no longer a person’s?’ I thought to myself. “Sorry this happened to you,” she said when we stood beside a big guy I assumed was her partner. “Can I get your names first?” “I’m Nikki Paulson,” Nikki said, “her bodyguard.” “Bodyguard?” The man asked. “I’m Beth Sylvester,” Beth said. “And this is Carly Slane.” “I can guess part of what happened to you, but could you tell us for the record?” The female officer asked. “I’m Officer Rosen, by the way, and this is Officer Guerra.” “To be honest, I’m barely sure what happened,” Beth answered.  “I have to admit I was looking behind us, not in front,” Nikki looked genuinely remorseful about missing the threat to Beth. “I saw it,” I told them. You could have written the scene as comic relief in a film as the two giants finally paid attention to the Little, who they probably assumed was a mindless baby. ‘Probably a real toddler, actually,’ I admitted with a sigh, knowing what I looked like. “Okay…” Officer Guerra said, “What happened?” “There were two of them,” I started. “I didn’t get a great look at the one who threw the drink on us, but I think she was a bit taller than Beth and had some multi-colored dye in her hair?”  I watched the woman stare at me for a second before she started jotting some notes down. “You said two; who was the other one?” “Never seen her before,” I told them, “I’m just here to go to Emerson on a semester exchange. The other girl was a bit shorter than Beth, with her hair cut asymmetrically.” I closed my eyes briefly to picture her, “Her hair was black, but the best identifier was the crazy dragon tattoo she had on her shoulder?” “Dragon tattoo?” Rosen asked with a sigh. “Yes?” I replied. “Damn, I doubt there’s any video then,” Rosen said. “Why would you say that?” Nikki asked them. “It’s a group called the Claws, a gang that uses mostly…” “What’s going on? Are you okay?” Grandma asked right then as she made it to us. She held her large diaper bag purse, and I hoped she had Beth’s pants in there. “Yes,” Beth told her. “They tried to steal Carly’s bag off my shoulder… I’m guessing they thought it was a purse instead of her diaper bag?”  ‘Diaper bag?’ I groaned. ‘It’s true… but there’s also a tablet and my phone in there.’ “If you can just let us finish this interview, we’ll be able to let you all get her in dry clothes?” Guerra said to Grandma, who suddenly lifted me up in the air.  I was placed on her hip and held protectively even as Grandma seemed to be checking for damage! “Fine,” she said to him. “Actually, you already got everything out of Beth? Can Nikki take her into the bathroom and let her change?” I suggested. Rosen nodded, “I don’t think she saw anything else to tell us. Can we see the bag, though, first?” “You can keep it; it’s Carly’s,” Nikki said, handing it over to her to look at. “Her clothes are in your bag?” “Yeah, you can take it in there. Main compartment…?” “Got it!” Nikki said. “Come on, Beth, we’ll leave these guys to it.” I watched them walk off and turned back to the officers, “Why did you say there wouldn’t be any video?” Guerra said something under his breath that I assumed was a swear word in a foreign language.  “Shouldn’t have said that,” Rosen sighed. “This Claws gang is made up mostly of teens who do the dirty work, and usually, they are Tweeners. They know that they’ll likely just get put into a facility for a couple years to be re-educated but not really spend any time in prison. A lot of them come from home lives that are lacking, so it’s not even that big of a downside to getting busted?” “That’s sad,” Grandma said. “How does that affect the video?” “They’re actually pretty organized in the upper levels, and someone must be a first-rate hardware hacker. Anytime they steal purses, shoplift, or mug someone, the cameras all flare to a bright, unusable color. We’ve tried reconstructing the data, but there’s just no data to reconstruct since everything ends up being all white.” “Huh,” I said, thinking of ways to accomplish that task myself with what I knew of HoloCameras.  “Anyway, I think this was just a crime of opportunity. Ms. Sylvester had her hands occupied with you, and they figured if they splashed her, there would be a distraction, too. They’ve done this a few times. Yours is the first actual description we’ve gotten that seems solid, though? How do you remember that much?” I shrugged, “I have a really good memory.” “She does,” Grandma said, bouncing me up and down.  “Umm… can I have your name for my report? I take it you’re the girls’ grandma.” “Just this one,” Grandma said, “I’m Amanda Westerfield.” I enjoyed the look on the woman’s face almost as much as the man’s!   BETH FELT LIKE everyone was staring at her as Nikki followed her into the restroom like some sort of Little who needed her pants changed because she had an accident! To be fair, the amount of ‘wet’ on her was definitely more significant than any pee accident would be, and that at least gave her a little bit of comfort. They walked into the central area of the restroom, and she was relieved that the rush from their film was over. There were three empty stalls. She walked towards a handicap-accessible one for greater space to move around in.  “Here,” Nikki said, quickly rifling through the bag and handing her a stack of what looked like pajama pants, a shirt, and a pair of her panties.  ‘Not what I would have chosen, but beggars can’t be choosers,’ she admitted. “Thanks, I’ll be out in a second.” “Hold on for a second,” she said, digging into the bag more. She grabbed something, “Here, you can use these to wipe yourself down too.” She blushed at the pack of baby wipes but nodded and hurriedly walked into the stall.  Beth looked down at the floor and made a face at a couple of stains and some toilet paper sitting on the floor. She merely shut the door and began by pulling her shoes off. After that, she practically had to peel her sticky jeans off her bottom and then the equally soaked and disgusting panties. ‘I’m so glad I have Nikki out there, I’ve seen people adopted for less than this!’ She felt sick at that thought but forced herself to open the packet of baby wipes and began wiping down her lower body as much as possible. She was feeling surprisingly cleaner as she pulled on her panties and the pajama pants before moving onto her shirt and sticky stomach. A couple of wipes later, she pulled the top over her thankfully-dry bra.  She carefully folded her soaked clothes after tossing the wipes in the disposal box beside the toilet. Beth took a second to use the restroom since she’d been distracted by the situation before, and her bladder was aching. It wasn’t as desperate as midway through the movie, but she was notably relieved as she opened the door. “Better?” Nikki asked her. “Yeah,” she told her.  “Oh, did someone have a little accident?” A new Big woman asked beside the sinks. “Mind your own business,” Beth said. “What did you say?!?” The woman asked indignantly as she began squaring up to confront her. “She said mind your own business,” Nikki said. “She just had a whole drink spilled on her as a couple girls tried to steal her purse. There’s no need for you to go all crazy-mama nutcase on her.” “Why…” “Why are you still standing here? I was asking myself the same question,” Nikki told her. “And I will put your ass down on the ground if you try to do anything to her.” “You…” “Are trying to save you a trip to the ER.” Nikki glared at the woman before saying, “Go ahead and finish washing your hands,” she told Beth even as she continued giving the woman a death glare. Not knowing what else to do, she did that and scurried out to where Amanda and Carly were still talking to the officers. She and Nikki approached them. Officer Rosen said, “Okay, I think that’s all we need from you all. I doubt you’ll run into those two again, but if you do, please call us to help us identify them. You’ve given us the best description we’ve had, though.” “Will do,” Carly said. The group broke up, and Amanda led Beth and Nikki outside while protectively holding Carly. They reached her car without further comment, and she buckled Carly in, even as Beth fumbled with the booster seat straps beside her. They were on the road to Amanda’s house a short while later.  “Other than the end, how was your night?” Amanda asked. Carly smiled at Beth, “I think pretty good?” Beth smiled back at Carly, “Yes, I think so too.” “What’s your plan for tomorrow?” Amanda asked. “We are supposed to go shopping with some of our friends,” Carly said. “Who all is going?” Amanda asked. A full breakdown of who was going and how they planned to stay safe was lined out before Amanda agreed it should be safe enough. “I also want to have some time to do some testing with you,” Nikki told Carly. “Is there time on Sunday for that?” she asked Amanda. “Sure, you could do it right after her swim if you wanted?” “That’ll be great, thanks,” Nikki said. “I can’t wait,” Carly told her.  Beth looked down at her short girlfriend, who lay in an infant-style rear-facing car seat. It was bonkers to think of her sparring with the woman Beth knew was highly trained in hand-to-hand combat! “What?” Carly asked. “Huh?” “You’re giving me a weird look?” Beth sighed, “It’s a little crazy to think of how tiny you are, and you two are talking about martial arts combat between each other?”  She wondered if Carly would get upset, but instead, she laughed, “You’re right, it is crazy!” She sighed, “But if it helps me save my life or someone else’s? Not so crazy.”  Beth nodded. The car had a fair way to travel, and she soon found herself watching Carly sleep in the car seat, and then her eyes closed, too.   I WOKE UP to Grandma unbuckling the car seat buckles, “Are we here already?” I asked. She smiled, “Yes, you two both conked out pretty quickly.” I looked over at Beth who didn’t seem to be waking up very quickly. “Where are we?” She said after Nikki shook her shoulder some more. “Amanda’s house?” Beth woke up enough to move the hair out of her face, even as Grandma picked me up and squeezed the diaper I was wearing through my jeans. “Already a bit wet here?” She looked concerned. “Have you felt any urges at all?” As she moved me to her hip, I shook my head, “No.” She hugged me, and I watched her grab my backpack out of the car even as Grandpa came out to the garage where we had parked. “Can you grab Carly and Beth’s bags from the back?” “Sure,” he said. “Looks like the two of them are just about out already?” “Close to it,” Grandma said. “I think Carly probably should have a bath first, though. Beth definitely needs a shower, at least.” Beth grimaced but nodded, “Yeah, I’d better do that.” She looked at me a little oddly, “I could take care of Carly while I’m at it, too?” I felt like time stopped at that moment as I looked at her. Even as I did so, I blushed. “I’m already helping her with diapers? And it’s not like I have anything she doesn’t?” I looked up at Grandma, who looked torn before looking at me. “You’re an adult, Carly. It’s up to you?” My skin would probably fry an egg there as I was so red! “Umm… which bathroom?” “My tub is a little bigger, I think?” “It is,” Grandma said. “Well, in that case, here you go.” I felt myself handed over to Beth, who thankfully was awake enough to take me in her arms.  “No sex, please?” She said with a sigh, “I know we don’t have to worry about babies now, but your moms will probably kill me!” We both laughed at that, and I only then noticed Grandpa shaking his head. He followed us upstairs and dropped our bags off at our rooms while Nikki went further down the hall to the guest bedroom she’d taken over. Beth stopped at mine long enough to grab a diaper and a onesie pajama before carrying me back to her room and closing the door.  “You sure you’re comfortable with this?” Beth asked me as she sat me down in the bathroom. “You’ve seen everything? It’s only fair?” I smirked. She leaned over and mercilessly tickled my side. When she let up, I could tell my diaper was soaked, but she gave me a hug before turning the taps on the bathtub. I watched her use the touch screen to infuse the tub with a sweet berry fragrance and fill it with a mountain of bubbles! After rechecking the temperature, she shut off the taps and said, “You want to pull your clothes off?” I giggled, “I guess? You don’t need help?” She giggled at that, too.  I pulled my shoes off, socks, jeans, and sweatshirt and set them all in a folded pile. I decided to try to see if I could pull the diaper off, but the tabs wouldn’t budge. “Naughty girl, that’s my job,” she smirked.  I looked up and realized she was stark naked then. Her body was still huge compared to mine, but she was beautiful, and everything was perfect. I was speechless as she leaned down to remove the diaper, wiped me with a wipe, and then put her hand on my naked rear to step into the bathtub.  She held me to her body as we just sat in the water for a moment. She ran her hand through my hair, the wet soap dampening it a bit. “Thanks for a great night tonight, Carly.” I squirmed and got her to let me turn around and face her. The water was high enough with us both in the tub that my chin was barely clearing the surface with my bottom on the tub. She seemed nervous by that, so she moved me to sit on top of her extended legs. “Even with the ending?” “Well, that part sucked, but being with you makes it all worthwhile.” She reached over and booped my nose. “I had fun, too,” I said. “Now, as much as I would love to explore some possibilities tonight, I think we’re both tired. Let’s get your hair washed out, then I’ll scrub you before you can scrub as much of me as you can reach?” I smiled at that, “Deal!” Other than a few stolen kisses, it was an innocent event, but I couldn’t help but blush as she carried me into my room with Grandma, walking by a bit later. “You tucking her in?” “If you don’t mind?”  “Well, I call dibs tomorrow night?”  “Deal!” Beth said. She really did tuck me in after finishing drying my hair and braiding it into a loose ponytail. “Good night, Carly,” she said, kissing me before leaving and closing the door. ‘Well, that was a first date for the books?’ I thought. I was so worn out from the past couple of weeks that I was soon out like a light!   ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Thanks for reading!!!! Please press the Like Button and leave me a comment!  So, I'm guessing the hint I gave about being a reference to another work is a bit clearer now? Let me know when you figure out which tale! This is a new arc, which I've finished writing, fortunately. I'm hopeful I'll still find some time in a few weeks to get ahead of chapters again enough to be good through the next long haul. This year definitely has not been going according to plans, though! (Sadly, that happens sometimes!) I appreciate your patience today... it's been a week! Well, really, about 8 at this point... This was the worst it should be hopefully! Next week is still busy, but not as bad! The following week will be about normal I hope. I've got light at the end of the tunnel in about 4 weeks, no matter what. We'll see if I can circle back to some more writing then! As always, if you enjoy my work, please consider supporting me with a purchase of one of my completed works on Amazon Kindle! http://amazon.com/author/babysofia  

Where is everybody? The IC desires used to be busy. What happened?

The new guy here Agent Smith?  Or Bix's never mentioned real father?  Or is it Aiden? I think the story is good, especially for a first outing, but kind of lost the thread when it ramped up the action in the library.  We introduced a lot of characters, and it was difficult to remember which, if any, hellcats were lost in the battle (and presumably is the source of Evelyn's new little to sell.  There's mysterious, and we're wrapping up here, and maybe this might have benefited by putting all the cards on the table rather than bringing it to the vest.  Same for the agent smith reveal, there are only so many male characters introduced, and he is the only one given with distinctive eyes.  If it is supposed to be him, perhaps giving him a stronger description in a prior chapter, and then give it as a reveal here would be great. Because if there is a part 2, we're probably going to find out immediately what's up.  Seasonal Endings should answer questions and setup new ones. BUT if it is Agent Smith, or if it's his real dad, or if Agent Smith is his real dad, I think those are positive outcomes for the story because now Bix can pursue being in this shadow organization, he has been tested through this whole process and now has an opportunity to redeem himself.  Again, you barely hint at the positive turn around here (Unless the positive outcome is supposed to be: Bix becomes a baby), and a bit more opaqueness would benefit. This chapter was good.  It has Strong descriptions, good use of symbolism with the clothing and descriptions of the tippy toes, "the way power and control dressed themselves up in the soft pastels and rounded edges meant for children.", great first outing, and I hope to see more.