The Opening: A Diaper Dimension Story (Chapter 26 - Complete)

[LostBBoyBear]

Warning!

As with my previous stories, this one contains several elements inherent to the pre-established 'Diaper Dimension.' These include, but are not limited to:

• Diapers and their usage for their intended purpose
• Breastfeeding
• Non-consensual mental regression through various means (Including possible drugs, hypnosis, and/or surgery)
• References to surgery to achieve various nefarious goals
• Humiliation
• Giants, aka, Amazons or Bigs
• Predominantly female domination (some male)
• Babying of adults (perceived or otherwise)
• Experimentation on humans
• Kidnapping
• Coerced or manipulated actions through possible means of white lies, gas lighting, or incentives
• Mild language or use of explitives
• Depictions of death, illness, or handicaps
• Graphic imagery associated with any of these warnings

This story has not been labeled as mature, due to a lack of specific references to anything overtly sexual, but this warning serves as a 'turn back' point for any readers who do not wish to read about the previous warnings.

Lastly, this list is subject to change during the course of writing this story. While most of the plot is ironed out, more warnings may be added if needed.

For those readers interested or do not care about the warnings listed, please enjoy the following story.

 

Hey everyone! First off, I promise that I will be updating the DD reference guide soon. Things are just a little busier during this time of year, but I will get to it.

Going off that, I also want to note that currently at least, this story is shaping up to be about 26 chapters long. With the holidays coming up and even a vacation sprinkled in there, I will try to post this story as often as I can, but I will ask for your patience during this time. For instance, I will be a little busy this weekend, so the next chapter might not post until Monday. Also, because of that and the at least 26 dyas going into the future here, this will be my last story of 2023. No matter when this ends, I will be taking a tiny break and then coming back around the middle of January with the sequel story to the CONvention. There should be plenty to look forward to with this origin story of sorts and the several sequels that I have planned for next year.

Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys the first chapter of this new story!

Chapter 1: Sitting... Waiting... 

Ten minutes. It was such a small fraction of time, and even less than what it took to fingerprint and photograph a perp at my old job, but today, I was nowhere near that old job. Here, in another dimension entirely, one end of those ten minutes was back at daycare. Possibly forcefully mind numbing and a place where bad things could happen, but safe and familiar as it had become since I first arrived at the facility and town here. On the other side of the ten minutes though, the group now surrounding me were to journey into history or oblivion. It was hard to tell at this point, but from what I had seen with my own eyes by now, either was just as terrifyingly likely.

At the front of the shuttle bus speeding across the town I had come to know so intimately, Mrs. Louder sang at the top of her lungs to distract the other Littles from what was happening in her own nervous yet excitable energy. She was a kindly figure that I had even grown attached to as she had gently braided my hair a few times and gave me extra snacks when I was good, but I could still see through all her charm and musicality that she was worried about what was to happen next. I wasn’t sure if she could be nervous with what was about to happen to her precious Littles or that she was nervous for what would happen to her if she didn’t keep her Littles calm on the way over.

I then saw my friends sitting and humming amusedly right next to her. ‘Why did they have to be so complacent?’ I knew the effects of everything here were powerful, but my friends were now first up in all this madness. In likely another ten minutes after we arrived, they would either be a pile of goo, a drooling and babbling disaster of a once proud adult or would rank among the great successful firsts such as Ameilia Earheart or Valentina Tereshkova in great traveling milestones. While I wanted to admonish them, I was here too.

“The wheels on the bus go round and round!” Mrs. Louder sang out as a contrast to my own thoughts of great explorers who had come before us. A few of the more regressed Littles joined her, but most just seemed scared or confused. I, however, was neither complacent nor confused, but I was legitimately scared. My only solace now was that my hair was up in a single ponytail today and that I was wearing my now favorite pair of daffodil-colored shortalls, as opposed to the short and cutesy dresses most of the rest of the women Littles were dressed in around me. Small concessions like that were important here.

Still though, from my assignment at this place, I knew exactly what was going to happen, and despite my previous mishap with the room with the pretty lights and a slight burning desire to join in on the song now, much to my annoyance and shame, my awareness ensured that I knew most of the grizzly details of what could potentially be our fate. If Amy was even remotely correct about her warnings about other peoples’ theories, everything that I had ever known could be ripped apart in a few violent seconds as reality imploded over the breach that was about to be purposely formed.  

My inner thoughts mattered little though, as we finally arrived at our destination and went through the black door at the end of the hallway at the main research facility. I tried anything I could to get help, but nothing seemed to work. Now, to my left was robotics and to right was hypnotics… ‘so colorful, so pretty, so…’ I shook my head and refocused on not tripping over my pink Velcro shoes as we entered a large room beyond a single door. It was the source of current lot in life and secretly admitted joy, but it was also the main villain in all my recent experiences as well. It was a portal device.

Per typical of Bigs around this area though, many known and unknown figures clinked their champagne glasses together over the possible success of today up on the viewing catwalk nearby. Most just ignored the terrified expressions of the Littles passing below them and continued to laugh and cheer about what today could mean for their wallets and reputations.

Once we were all in, one of the more elegant and reposed Bigs from up there raised her glass to the scientist standing nearby next to a myriad of controls and switches. “We’re ready when you are, doctor! Make us proud!”

The scientist nodded and with her black-gloved right hand, yanked hard down on a large lever connected to an expansive and impressive control panel.

All at once, the room began to vibrate erratically, and I quickly tasted cooper in my mouth. Each of most of the Littles sequestered in the room began to cry out; some for mercy, some for their appointed mommies or daddies. I remained silent, but tried to plug my screeching ears as much as I could. My eyes shut tightly but when they opened for a split second, I could see many of the Littles in front of me squat and mess themselves completely. It was a normal thing for some of them by now and their thick diapers and onesies or humiliatingly short dresses were a continual visual testament to that notion, but still, to see them all at once with everything else going on was positively horrifying to witness and experience firsthand. Fearful of it all, I even probed my hand to my own rear in the tiny amount of strength I could muster. To my relief though, I found that I didn’t have a ‘mush tush.’ In a day full of bad things, it seemed to be the one legitimately good thing occurring now.

Finally, though, the vibrations and noises ceased and for a moment, I felt a tiny trickle of blood exit my nose. As I wiped it away, the portal hummed once more, but this pitch was lower and seemed to shake the very foundations of the building. As soon as this one started though, it stopped. The once skeletal finger-like metal shafts in front of us then belched forth a liquid barrier and was soon still. Reality remained for now, but I quickly saw something even more troubling on the other side of the perceived opening.

*              *              *

The old skyscrapers stretched to the clouded sky like blackened claws swallowing the city up. The afternoon rains had produced a sickly ooze that seemed to creep down each aged façade with the same menace as the neighborhoods that were now riddled with crime and despair north of 89^th street and the safe zones below. The once proud monuments to industry and progress up here to the north now only stood as stark reminders of a time now long passed and how the world had moved on but only to a darker and more dismal state.

I ensured all the lights were off on my squad car so as not to alert any of the criminal elements that likely now surrounded our position. My rookie, John, sat beside me and nervously encircled his thumbs and tapped his foot over what was about to go down in the building just a block in front of us. For me, it was just another Thursday night where I might need to exercise a little more caution with the upcoming raid we had planned for the building in front of us now.

“Relax, rookie. Keep going like that with your foot and I’m sure the gang leaders will be able to hear your stammering foot from inside their hideouts,” I said, pointing to the ramshackle old building that was now being surrounded by several members of our assault squad. “You don’t want to give away our position, do you?”

John shook his head and stopped tapping his foot. “No, ma’am. Sorry…”

I nodded my head and was glad he could take a hint and try and calm down. Fear was a killer on these streets. Now, I can freely say that some amount of fear in a cop could keep them safe, like the eyes in the back of your head or the prickling sensation running up your back when you were being watched. These sensations had been formed after millions of years, so trusting them was natural and, most often, essential. John’s energy, however, was more on the fatal side of that equation. In a moment of surprise, he could panic and freeze. The gangs around here these days didn’t hesitate to take advantage of a cop like that… or their training officer, and I had already lost too many friends in this job to have it all just end like that.

“All units be advised north of 89^th street…” the radio buzzed from our central dashboard. “We have reports of a flash of light reported at Lexington and 116^th. Be advised that this could be instance of leftover ammunitions from the last war… extreme caution is advised.”

John nearly reached for the radio, but I quickly stopped him. “Easy, rookie. We’re to provide capture for any runners of this assault. Happens a lot and you don’t want these guys swearing a blood debt or anything against our units in there now. Plus,” I emphasized, “that area is notorious for tweakers and others just trying to get a quick high before fleeing the city. Lots of hallucinations, so that’s probably all it is. Better to stay here and do our job until another unit arrives at least.” John hesitated, his rookie instincts to help everyone instantly still strong, but just nodded and eased back into his seat. “Good. Just wait a few, and then, if no one else responds, report that we will check the scene after we are done here.”

John nodded and waited the few minutes I had advised. From our experience together, I could see that he was scared and quick to react in most situations, but he seemed like a good kid fresh out of the academy we had since cobbled together after the collapse to keep at least the lower half of the city safe from the more northern half. I wondered why he had chosen to be a cop here in the big city in the first place honestly, but that was his own business. Just like my reasons were my own as well…

“Central… be advised,” he began with a smirk after no one had responded yet after a few minutes. “We are in the middle of an assignment but will radio in after to check it out if no one has yet responded.”

“Roger, unit 902C.” The dispatcher then paused. “Good luck out there. Bring ‘em in safe…”

John smiled. “Roger, Central. We are advised.” He then kept his smile up and placed the com unit back into its holder on the dash.

He was definitely green, but he would learn if he just followed my advice.

Turning back to the house in front of us, knowing the Glowers gang, these guys were sure to give off some kind of show tonight and try to make a break for it during the assault. I readied myself for a wait, but when I looked over at my rookie after a moment of watching the building, I spotted him pick up a comic book he had been reading for some time now. I wasn’t the biggest fan of his little hobby, but I at least noticed that he would still occasionally look up from its pages. Resolved that he was at least partially doing his job during the quieter moments so far, I resumed my more diligent watch.  

After some more time, the temperature began to drop, and our seemingly ancient squad car barely gave off any heat. Soon, we could both see our breaths as we waited and watched.

“Damn!” John cursed after a moment of slightly shivering and then rubbing his hands together. “No month like October, huh? It’s warm and all, and then one day… ugh… it’s this! There’s just a bit of nip in the air now. Damn, do I wish these heaters would work better.”

I sighed as I wished the same but complaining like that only made oneself feel better and not the situation itself. “Yeah… all that pollution and fallout from out west really screwed up the usual weather patterns of this area… used to see 70 or even 80-degree days when I was a kid. A little global warming in there didn’t hurt, but I almost miss when that seemed to be our largest problem.”

“Wow… that would almost be hard to believe if I didn’t read about that in one of the old books from back at school. I reckon there’s not a day now above 55 around here anymore in October.” I nodded and he soon went back to looking at and distracting himself with his comic book. After a moment though he then looked back up toward me as if he wanted something. “You got any plans for all the upcoming holidays? Like Halloween, or Thanksgiving, or Chri…”

“I don’t really think anyone celebrates Thanksgiving in these parts anymore,” I interjected. Being alone made the holidays tough. Talking about it for me just made them worse. “I try to celebrate, but it’s hard to have all that Thanksgiving cheer without even a single turkey leg.” I could barely remember the taste anymore. I was only 15 when it all started going massively downhill, but the years since had been tough and felt like a lot longer. “Maybe one day…”

John looked surprised for a moment. “Wait, do you know someone with a turkey leg?” he asked with a glint of hope that maybe I had a connection downtown or with someone in my shelter who was better connected than I was.

I disappointedly shook my head. “I’m not some kind of millionaire, you know… There’s what? Maybe seven turkey farms in the whole world left? Anyone who even touches north of 89^th street like us definitely doesn’t have access to that type of food anymore. Just a hope is all.”

John sighed. “I see your point… could do with some hope, but then what about any plans for Hall…?”

“Let’s just stick to looking out for any escapees from the raid, okay?” I asked, trying to steer the conversation away from personal topics like that. I just didn’t want to think about all that anymore after… I shook my head and refocused back in front of me while I adjusted one of the pins keeping my longer hair tied up in the back.

“Sorry…” John said dejectedly after a second. Soon, he went back to splitting his time between reading his comic and occasionally looking up.

The assault team seemed to have everything in order tonight and I was glad that they were getting better at all this. The original police that had been on the force when I was a kid were now all either dead or about to retire, so this next batch of senior assault force police officers had to be ready to keep what was left of this city alive. Often, that meant knocking down a door north of 89^th street to prevent any of their old raiding parties from coming south, but if any of them wanted to go home again, they still needed to do it right the first time. So, I continued to wait.

It was a good night so far, but still, I looked over and saw what could almost be guessed as a pout occasionally flicker over John’s face, likely from my shutdown of his questions. I knew I had to act… at least for the sake of the future of our partnership… a good partner in this city was hard to find after all. “Been a while since I’ve seen one of those,” I said pointing to his still brightly colored comic book. “Looks in pretty good condition as well.”

John looked up and his smile I had seen earlier began to light up once more, seeing that I was actually taking an interest in something that he liked for a change. “Yeah… I know a guy who owns a bunch and he’s replicated all of them and sells them to anyone willing. He was really big into all of them before… well, you know.” I nodded. “So, I get them from him as just a nice little thing I do for myself.”

“Fair enough…” I studied the cover. “Crisis on Infinite Earths… I think I remember that one…” I tried to recall. “Is that the one where they ban together from different dimensions to fight an evil or something like that?”

John almost let out a chuckle. “Something like that…”

I realized how ridiculous I probably sounded to someone willing to spend money on these things these days, but I could tell John was at least appreciative of my efforts towards something that he liked. “Okay… yeah. Probably sound like an idiot, but it’s been a bit since I’ve seen one, okay?”

John nodded and smiled. “Right… so, when was the last time you actually saw one in person? Were baseball games still a thing every weekend?”

It was a completely innocent question, but I just resumed my posture and stared back at the house not wanting to dwell back on my own personal past. Fortunately, from the lights inside, I could tell the assault force had busted into the place and were now going floor by floor. Hopefully, all this would be over soon, and that John would take my abruptness as a refocusing on the job rather than an avoidance of his questions.  

Still, I could tell John was taken aback by how suddenly I ended the conversation, but I couldn’t share a vulnerability with someone who had yet to be tested out here. If I wasn’t careful and he was captured, someone could pry the information from him and use it against me. Happened to my last partner… she resigned instead of giving up any information, was let go, and ended up killed three weeks later as retaliation. Fortunately, though, John only looked back and to the building where I was mainly focused and saw the movement inside himself. At that point, he seemed to take the hint and placed his comic book down to refocus on the job.

Still though, I had to admit to myself that all this was a mind-numbing task for a quiet night so far. So, inevitably, John soon asked me the question I had heard dozens of times over the years and even asked it myself before I knew the real answer. “So why the assault force and not just us? Or, at least why do we have what amounts to babysitting duty tonight when it seems like they have it covered?”

I sighed. “That’s a tough needle to thread, rookie, but I won’t lie to you like I was originally lied to when I asked that very question. Won’t do you any good and with the truth, you may just learn something in the long run.” I took a breath and continued. “As you may know, after the last war, a lot of the ordinance wasn’t used after the Desolation Ceasefire Treaty was signed. That treaty kept a lot of people from dying and us humans from becoming an endangered species in all likelihood, but it also meant that a lot of the weaponry made to be used wasn’t. Then, a lot of it was somehow… lost.”

“Lost?” John questioned while correctly looking puzzled.

I sighed in frustration. “Yeah… no one knows if it was a quick buck by a crooked politician or just the ensuing chaos of the world afterward, but the weaponry got out into civilian hands.” I looked back to the flashing lights and the tiny noises of the patters of guns going off in the distance. “Last assault before we had a dedicated team for things like this… we lost 15 officers within two months, or 70 if you include those who had to at least retire afterward from all the damage they sustained. Bullets aren’t fun, but chemicals… that’s something slow.”

John looked horrified, but also somehow relieved and satisfied at the same time. I’m pretty sure a tiny part of his innocence in all this went away as well as I relayed the failures of the government and the futility of us normal police in some situations, but he needed a tough hide to survive on the streets of this city nowadays.

After another half an hour of virtual silence outside, the flashes of light seemed to slow down as the assault team reached the top of the large building. We hadn’t heard a dispatch for any medical services, so the gang must have either been subdued or killed very quickly with no injuries on our side. To be frank, with assaults like these, that entirely depended on how or even if they defended themselves. That was the other crucial factor of the assault team’s existence besides protecting everyday cops: fear. It didn’t mean anything to most of the more hardened gangs now, but even the few that it was effective against was satisfactorily enough for most of us ‘normal’ cops with the odds sometimes slightly in our favor because of it.

John seemed to get antsy again and as if he was desperate to fill the silence in our squad car. Finally, he did as I peered out toward the streetlight by the back alley of the building. “So, you mar…?

“Shit!” I yelled and then popped open my door. “There goes a runner!”

John saw him immediately as well and locked the squad car as he hopped out as well and we started our pursuit in the winding streets.

Normally, we would take the car for a pursuit within the city, but the Glower gang had marked this as their territory over the past year and had set up defenses against rival gangs and us police. As much as no one liked it, going on foot was ultimately easier and likely safer in this area now. Our slowly rusting squad car just couldn’t handle the area properly or safely anymore when it came to a pursuit, and in the end, we probably would have just lost them in the rubble all around us.

So, John and I doggedly pursued the runner, and I could feel my lungs begin to strain from the higher speeds this runner was electing. I could see several onlookers observe the action before them from their own little shanty towns in the burnt-out buildings and alleyways, but I knew they would just remain where they were. While there were several heavy-hitting criminals up here, most never wanted to get involved whenever we chased a suspect anymore. Most never helped us, but likewise, they never helped the gangs either.

The runner fled as fast as he could, but after a few minutes, he became a victim of his gang’s own traps having made a wrong turn about a block back in the heat of the moment. Breathing deeply and seeing his wrong move, I held my weapon aloft as I approached him carefully. “Arms up! You are under arrest in connection with the assault today with the Glower gang. Now, we’re going to cuff you, but don’t you do anything stupid, okay?” He nodded and I gestured to John. “You do this one. You could use the practice.”

John walked up from behind me and nodded. As he approached the runner, I hung back and kept my guard up to still offer the rookie some protection. Unfortunately, searches weren’t one of John’s strengths as I soon found out, and the runner could have probably smelled the rookie aura around him. He was new at this after all, and I should have been paying more attention to the little things, but I was more distracted by someone lurking over nearby in another alley. These were perfect places for an ambush whenever they did occur, so, I only looked away for a second, but the runner saw his likely only opportunity and took it.

In seconds, he shoved John right into me. Being barely 5 ½ feet tall while looking away meant that my steadiness right then was sorely lacking, so when I was hit by an athletic someone easily over 6 feet tall, I nearly fell to the ground.

Being the first to be hit and seeing the attack coming for at least a split second before the impact, John was on his feet first, but he had been too slow for the practiced skills of the runner. So, by the time John was about to charge and subdue the suspect once more, the runner had already pulled out his concealed snub nose revolver from his pants and pointed it right at John’s heart.

“Oh…” was all that John could make out with a gun pointed directly at him. He wore a vest, but like most of the equipment we owned, it was at least 15 years old and was showing its age. Sometimes, they would still function at this range, but other times… well, there was a reason we used an assault team now when more bullets may have been involved.

Seeing my rookie in trouble though, and now taking advantage of the runner’s focus on John alone, I steadied myself on the ground and eyed my target. I knew I had to be quick. A single wrong move could be deadly, but I was confident that I could disarm him and quickly end the situation. Seeing my move as the runner briefly rubbed his bleary eyes, I bolted up and smacked the gun away from his hands. I knew it was a risk, but I had seen his slight shakes from the likely drugs he was currently on, so I knew his grip and reaction time were weakened in the best of circumstances.

My gamble paid off and the gun went flying and scratching across the street as John lurched in the opposite direction at first and then grabbed the runner’s gun once he was sure that he wasn’t in the line of fire anymore. Having been the one who reacted first this time, I was quick on the draw, and almost instantaneously had my taser pointed directly at the runner’s head. I needed a live suspect, not another dead gang member on these streets tonight. “That was really stupid, but we’re going to do this one more time. If I see any of that nonsense again as my partner searches you, I’m reaching for the other one without hesitation. Understand?” I gestured to my still-holstered service gun on the other side of my belt. The runner saw the more deadly option and only nodded and relaxed his stance in defeat. I then turned back to a clearly intimidated John who had just picked up the discarded weapon. “Okay. Give the gun to me and search him again. Do it properly and more thoroughly this time. I’ll be sure to keep a bead on him, but I don’t want another incident like that. Got it, rookie?”

John nodded. “Yes, ma’am.” John then forcefully spun the runner around and searched him far more thoroughly. I could tell that he was a little frustrated and embarrassed with what had happened, and I could see that it was translating to his movements. It may have been a bit rough twenty years ago, but now, I could only note that it was good police work in a city so full of crime. Still, I knew we were going to have to have the talk once the runner was secured.

Once John was satisfied with his second search, he cuffed the runner and we both escorted him back to our squad car and popped him in the backseat. I closed the door, securely deposited the runner’s gun in the trunk, and then turned to John with a sigh. “You went easy on him at first.”

John drooped his head and nodded. “I… I didn’t want to be that cop, you know?”

I nodded back in acknowledgment. “I get that, John, and I’ll admit that there’s a fine line between being that cop and just being thorough. Your second search towed that line today, but your partner, be it me or anyone else in the future, needs to be able to trust that you did your job properly the first time, and not the second time when you went a little too rough.”

John hesitated but nodded again. “I understand, but… where’s the line? How do I know if I’ve crossed it?”

I sighed and rubbed my temples. He was asking questions that every cop had likely asked themselves at one time or another. “Well… asking those questions is a good start, but don’t do something to just be cruel. Show the force out here, but we don’t want them coming back injured because you were adding a little extra to your job description instead of just talking about your feelings later or taking your frustration out on an actual punching bag. Don’t be that cop. There’s enough of them these days already.” I took a deep breath in. “I’ll admit that in the years after the wars and everything after, we had to be extra cautious to differentiate between the criminals and just the misfortunate up here. Now though, all that’s changed due to the gangs, but we still need to obey the law in all we do. To be blunt, these days, if you need more force as a cop, you probably need the assault team or you’re doing something wrong in the first place.”

John acknowledged what I had to say, but after a moment then looked very guilty. He quietly asked, “Because of the shelters in place? Is that what’s different now after the war and all the pandemics? Besides the gangs I mean… they can’t be the only reason, right?”

I nodded. “Well, that’s exactly right actually. Those pods of thousands of all of us living downtown are the biggest reason due to their rules and all. Maybe annoying but because of those rules, the government even supplements projects like that these days. One of the only things still too…” I said with some frustration. The shelters were great, but for the price of just one of them rather than renovating an older building, our department could easily have been fully funded for the next five years.

I shook my head to unload that ‘what if’s thoughts. “Anyways… if you’re still living out here, you’re likely going to be doing something illegal. Maybe 2% aren’t, but then they wouldn’t run from us… not anymore. I’ve seen it happen before in those rare circumstances, but look, rookie,” I sighed, “if you’re going to make it as a cop in this city, you’re going to need a tougher hide but to also follow the line as well. It’s a tough needle to thread, but then, not everyone is cut out to be a cop here. You understand?” John nodded hesitantly but then just got in the squad car.

Satisfied our prisoner wasn’t going to be any more trouble situated in the backseat and knowing we needed to take him back to the station now, I radioed in. “Dispatch, this is 902C. We caught a runner, but there could be others around here… especially since our runner nearly came from out of almost nowhere. It’s enough to warrant other investigations here, so we suggest other units check it all out. Could be escape tunnels around here I’m guessing. Meanwhile though, the rookie and I are going to check out the earlier reported lights on our way back to booking if no one else has, since it’s on the way anyways.”

“Roger, 902C. We’ll be awaiting you shortly, but no one else has checked out that report on those lights. Please do use extreme caution when dealing with them. This isn’t the first… and they’ve been… well, just good luck.”

I raised an eyebrow over what that even meant but decided not to question it further. “Roger, dispatch. Leaving now and thanks for the luck!” I then placed the radio back on the dash and took off, John still looking perplexed and yet satisfied that we would now be investigating the lights that he had wanted to investigate earlier.

Arriving at the apparent scene, we ushered a few gawkers away as we heard a few grunts, mumblings, and bits of laughter coming from the nearby alleyway. Knowing this area and that someone was likely just currently hallucinating, John and I both placed our hands on our stun guns to be safe.

Entering down the corridor, I could see a few oddly placed what almost looked like burn marks, but as predicted, a ragged and scrawny man stood trembling and rubbing his arms and hands together. I tried to get his attention. “Sir? I’m going to need you to come with us, sir. We can help you.” I wasn’t sure if I truly believed that, but I just needed him to believe that for a few moments as we brought him in.

The man stopped and stared at me in one of the most peculiar ways I could have ever imagined. Part of me swore he resembled a toddler’s scared and yet upset look, though it also seemed to be easily coupled with a look of distrust and hatred. “You… you need to get out of here. Bad portal! Not safe. S’not safe!” he yelled. I wasn’t sure what to say, but the man paused, waved his arms about, and then ran right up to me.

Seeing John almost reach for his other gun, I lowered my hands and shook my head to ease him off. The man before me could use a shower and maybe some anti-psychotic drugs, but I somehow knew that I would be okay if nothing was escalated further. I had seen this behavior before and I knew that if we all just kept calm, it would all be over in a few minutes.  

He then started up again. “Bright lights! Bright lights! All around! So blue and silvery! So pretty…”

Being so close now, I could smell a permeating smell of urine and could also see what clearly looked like needle marks dotted about his arm. Oddly enough though, I also swore that I saw something strange on a few of his wavering and trembling limbs. Undeterred though, I cleared my throat and I at least felt satisfied that I had easily found the person that had gotten us on this call today “Sir, we may have people that can help you with those lights. Just come on back with u…”

“No! Save me pretty lady,” he practically cried as he flung himself into my arms. “Save me! She’ll get me! They’ll get me!”

I patted his back for a quick second and then peeled him off me and looked him directly in the eyes. “Who?” I asked quickly, doing my due diligence. “Is someone going to hurt you? Are you running from someone?”

His knees began to shake, and his lower lip trembled. I wasn’t sure if he would remain upright, but he finally made out a few words. “The… the giants!” he finally managed to blurt out. “They took us all! Experimented with us… forced us to do things! We were so short and vulnerable and… and…” The man seemed ready to burst into tears at any moment. I had seen odd behavior from a tweaker before, but this felt… different. At first blush now, he almost seemed like the victim of an abduction.

Intrigued and wary of what he had said, I tried to listen to his words more, but it devolved into a rambling mess just like most did with these nights in this area. I wasn’t sure how to classify him specifically, but he had fresh needle marks on his arms and a dopey look on his face, so I knew I could bring him in as a drug user if nothing else. Still, I also couldn’t help but notice that his clothes were heavily singed in some places, and upon closer inspection now, the earlier marks on his limbs that I had seen looked like several old scar lines. It was odd though as many seemed like they were still healing, yet still had been fully sealed up.

“Sir…” I said exhaustedly and just wanting to get him back to the station now, despite my curiosity, “we can help you out, but to do that, we need you to cooperate with us just this one night. Can you do that for me? Can you be good for me?” I wasn’t sure why I added that last part, but for some reason, it just felt right.

His face then oddly relaxed, and though he still seemed sad, everything else almost went on autopilot as he asked, “Can I get a snack as well during that time?” He then paused and dropped his head low, and mumbled, “I was a good boy…”

I wasn’t sure what to make of any of this anymore. Part of me wanted to try and snap him out of whatever this state seemed to be, and that he was likely just one of the many now transient homeless people with some kind of underlying psychological disorder, but another part of me just wanted to give him a hug. Still, following Occam’s Razor, I knew that after further government-funded programs were shut down, the masses of homeless living on the streets with a psychiatric disorder had nearly tripled. The shelters downtown used to take them in on a case-by-case basis, but that was becoming less common as the years rolled on. So, in all likelihood, he was just one of the rejected ones and not something else that my mind was trying to concoct.

“Sir…” I tried to begin once again. I wanted to get through to him, but he didn’t seem to be budging away from saying that he was a ‘good boy.’ Remembering a brief stint of training I had for these types of situations, and still grappling with the notion that this could be something other than drugs, I decided to go another way. “Well, if you want to be a ‘good boy,’ then just settle down and let us take you in. Maybe you can even tell us what really happened here. We might even be able to get you a snack if you do…”

The man stopped rocking back and forth and looked at me with such a mixture of hope and anguish. “I can do that… I promise that I’m a good boy!” He stopped moving for a moment and just sat down on the ground and his eyes almost seemed to glaze over as if he was in some type of meditative stance. I slowly signaled for John to move in and try and escort him back to our car so we could get him back to processing.

To my relief, the man no longer struggled and instead just wore a big goofy grin. He kept mumbling about being a ‘good boy’ but I was just relieved that he was compliant now. Now secure, John and I just needed to get him back to the station before any more problems occurred between there and here.

“Hey! Get this freak show outta here!” the runner complained when John ushered the supposed tweaker into the other side of our squad car. There was a metal barrier between the two seats that we put up just for this, so John just ignored the runner and shut the door on our new passenger.

After several blocks, we finally arrived at the back entrance to the station. While before the wars it hadn’t been much more than a compacted multi-story car park mostly underground and next to the police station, now, it was a fortress unto itself. Being one of the most northern police stations in the city, and while gratefully attacks were less prominent in recent years, everyone still had to be prepared if the worst should happen… again.

After acknowledging the two sentries on duty at the entrance, we were let in and parked underground before we unloaded the cuffed detainees. Fortunately, neither struggled as John and I escorted them into the station and to booking. As John dealt with the runner, I processed the tweaker.

“They’re coming for us all! This is a trap! You lie! You’re with them!” the tweaker cried while we took his fingerprints on our scanner. His meditative stance had unfortunately worn off and he quickly panicked as soon as he saw several men with guns.

I sadly knew that he was almost certainly bound for one of the few mental prisons out of the city, but I hated to see him in such a state. As for the station, they just largely ignored him, especially after his next statement.

“You’re with them, but they were all so terrible!” he yelled in desperation. “They forced me to do so many awful things. I wanted to be a good boy for them, but I was too short! Good boys aren’t short! Good boys are tall! Why do you help the giants? Aren’t you like me?”

John and I looked at each other and back to the nearly six-foot-tall man in front of us. Seeing as we weren’t in some fairy tale story with giants and all, we both just gave each other the same look of disbelief and pushed on with our duties as both the runner and tweaker were processed and placed into the temporary holding cells. For his safety, I advised that the tweaker be placed into a pair of padded cuffs, but a large part of me just wanted to hug the clearly distressed man that I was now leaving behind. He oddly reminded me so much of George. He even… ‘Easy, Megan. Easy… this job is hard enough without you comparing him to your brother…’

Shaking it off, I then joined John at the rest station nearby. While enjoying our allotted one of two cups of coffee per day while on duty, I noticed that John was still looking down as he had since his mistake with the runner, so it was no surprise when he spoke back up to me. “I’m sorry for what happened with the runner today… I feel so stupid.”

Though it was an error on his part that could have gone much worse, I managed to worm myself into his gaze and give him a small reassuring tap on the shoulder. “Yeah… you messed up, rookie, but as your name suggests, you’re still new at all this. It’s practically in the job description to mess up occasionally, which is why you’re partnered with someone like me. I won’t always be around, so you need to learn, but making a few mistakes on the job happens. The main thing is, are you going to learn from today, or is this going to happen again when you search someone who just fled a building that was being infiltrated by our heavily armed assault team?”

John just shook his head. “Definitely not. I’ll be more thorough… promise. I’ll even try to keep that line you mentioned earlier in my mind. I really do want to be a good cop here.”

“Good and I’m glad to hear that. From what I can see on the board, no one got hurt today, so it’s a good day in this city. It’s not always perfect but going home alive is sometimes the most important thing we can do in a day here. We can’t always have that wish granted but we should always try anyways.” John nodded with a smile, and I gulped the last of my coffee.

After restocking our supplies and finishing our coffee, John and I headed for the exit back to our squad car. Apparently, there were other runners from the assault, so we needed to plug in the gaps from where the other units had been pulled from.

Passing the processing desk though, I overheard something that piqued my curiosity. “Sorry, Officer Lewis. Sergeant Reynolds here already bagged the find of the century. You’re not the first tonight with tweakers claiming of giants of bright lights.”

I turned to Sylvia, our main processor here after hearing my name and then to the beefy and slightly overweight Officer Lewis. “Officer Lewis… you find something else interesting as well tonight?”

Instead, Sylvia nodded and spoke up first. “Yeah… weirdest thing… got another tweaker claiming to come from some portal. Giants and bright lights even!”

“Yeah!” Officer Lewis said, jumping back in. “Strangest damn event too. Actual reports of some lights or some nonsense like that and then we found this tweaker claiming… uh, dimensional travel. Yeah, that’s it! Can you believe that bunch of bull? Some imagination, huh?”

I looked over and saw a woman now dressed in similarly singed clothing and was now also quietly babbling to herself. She was more subdued and quieter than John and I’s man, who was now sitting on a bench oddly circling his lips with his thumb. Strangely enough though, this new woman almost seemed to being saying that she was a ‘good girl’ like our guy had been calling himself a ‘good boy.’ The back of my brain twitched at the peculiar coincidence. ‘But maybe it wasn’t…’

“Strange…” I squinted at the two for a moment but then ultimately shrugged my shoulders and decided to shuffle away the lingering sensation in the back of my head saying that this was something more. “I guess that’s just this city now for you though. Was a weird place back in the day, but it’s just gotten weirder.” I looked back over to the two odd individuals. “Case in point, I guess…”

“Yeah. Probably right, sarge,” Officer Lewis noted before shuffling off and to the breakroom.

As I exited the station and joined John back in our squad car, I saw once more that he had picked up his comic book and was reading it while he waited on me. Oddly enough, I saw a strange glowing light depicted on the front cover and remembered the whole plot of that story. The tweakers… the light… I shook my head.

I was trying to make detective in a month, and I knew damn-well that detectives don’t use comic books to formulate their theories. As I turned the car on though, I just couldn’t get the two tweakers I had seen out of my head. It was probably just some new drug to replace the old one, Escape, because everything else that was playing through my mind right now was just ridiculous. Afterall, portal travel was only something in comic books and old movies and stories. It wasn’t something that would ever be part of my reality in this life at least.  

Edited January 12 by LostBBoyBear

[Guilend]

I am definitely interested. I like how you started the story in the future then going back to the beginning of how it all started. It's what really sold this story from the beginning. Good job.

 

I love how at the beginning she noticed the Amazon's nervousness and emptied that something bad could happen to the Amazon if they didn't stay quiet. I guess in this stage of that dimensions development and before portals I imagine Bigs would get punished pretty severely or even turned on each other more because of the lack of Littles to dominate/baby 

[keith60]

i hope there will be more of this story soon

[LostBBoyBear]

Hey everyone! Sorry for the longer wait than usual, but I got home late yesterday after I got back from my trip. Not to get too personal, but it was a very long weekend after I went back to my college, JMU, to celebrate College Gameday. We lost unfortunately, but it was still a great and very busy weekend!

Regardless, I'm back now for a little bit and I'm hoping to post a few more chapters at least this week. Thanksgiving is coming up and I'll be absent again for a little bit for that time at the end of this week, but I'm hoping that it won't impact the schedule too much beyond the days that I'm actually gone. I already have several chapters written out and this story has been a breeze so far to write. 

Moving on, I wanted to start with a bigger bang in the first chapter with the flashforward, but I also knew that you all needed a little background before going forward with this story and for any of my others. As a result, there's a decent amount of exhibition in this chapter, but I promise, things are about to pick up in a major way very soon. 

Anyways, I hope you all still enjoy this next chapter!

Chapter 2: Welcome to the Desert of Reality 

Fear was something an officer in this town couldn’t afford to carry with them. It was normal for most people, but for us few in uniform, it could be seen as a sign of weakness with the hardened criminals we often took in or confronted or could just lead to moments of doubt or hesitation. Either way was bad, so entering back out onto the streets, still smelling the cleanser that he used to clean the backseats, I saw that John was still distracted over the whole bit of the runner pulling a gun on him that he hadn’t found on his search of him. “Hey, rookie. You gotta snap out of the funk you’re in. What happened earlier is just part of the process we deal with, okay?”

John nodded but just wordlessly continued to look forlornly over the city we passed by. I could see that he needed some time to process it all, so I gave it to him for the time being at least.

We drove alongside the mostly burnt-out and once beautiful Central Park, now just a bombed crater of its former beauty. We drove past the brownstones, former houses of the wealthy and elite, now just facades of the criminal elite or forward staging grounds to assault the main perimeter fence to the south and to the rest of our ‘civilized’ society.

Still, as our shift went on, the early morning rays of light cast a spotlight onto everything that once was so beautiful. For a brief moment, bathed in the sunrise, the buildings up here north of 89^th street almost looked as they once did. Rusty and some shattered windows perhaps, but still mighty and a testament to what humanity could achieve. “You think we’ll ever get back to how it used to be?” John finally asked with something I his tone that I could almost make out as a spark of hope, the same one that I had seen in so many other rookies before him.

I looked into his eyes and saw the same promise that so many others arrived here with, and I knew I needed to be careful with it. Despite the deplorable conditions in most places, the human spirit still seemed to spark in most in the beginning. After a few years though, that spark seemed to fade in most of my fellow officers. For now, though, I still wanted to keep his spark alive to keep one decent cop on the force still… one who would still do their job after a few years. ‘Maybe George would still…’ I shook the thought out of my head and refocused on John’s hopeful question. “Maybe… it would take a lot… maybe a miracle I would say, but one day… perhaps.”

John smiled and I felt that I had done my good deed for the day for the rookie. It was a small victory for sure, but with so much going on in our jobs, the hopeful rookies sometimes kept the rest of us going who had been at the job longer. When those of us who had been on the job a little too long or had seen too much would then almost would give up, the rookies’ youthful spirits could keep us going. It was a small bit of hope, but it was still something that we could all huddle around while we waited for our miracle to happen… one day.

The rest of our shift subsequently then went smoothly, and we finally got the ‘all clear’ sign from the assault team that the building was now safe, and the Glower gang had been fully subdued one way or another. It was a solid win for our force and beyond a few other runners during our shift, everything else went accordingly with our original plan. It was a tiny dent in the crime of the city, but it was still something one could be proud of at the end of a long shift.

Processing our last two prisoners of the night shift, a few local drug dealers peddling their death sticks on 112^th street, I saw another tweaker join the other two in the holding cell. Before I could ask what was going on with them though or even process my renewed urge to just give them a hug and tell them it would all be okay, someone called out my name.

“Damn, Sarge!” Sergeant Davis shouted. “Another two for you and the rook? What were you… born with a badge on your butt or something? Probably always wanted to be a cop or something, am I right fellas?” Many of my fellow officers joined in with his laughter. John, on the other hand, to my relief, did not.

I grimaced at Sergeant Davis’s usual brisk comments but just played them off as if they didn’t bother me at all. “No, actually. I wanted to be an astronaut when I was younger.” Everyone quickly stopped laughing at the seriousness I was conveying. “But you know… most of all that program got cut after everything that went down. What was it…? Five years since the last time anyone even left our atmosphere?”

The huddled masses around the holding cells remained quiet, but one of the younger members, Officer Garson, then asked, “So, what happened? When’d all that change, huh Sarge?”

The whole station went even more silent… if that was even possible. The older cops knew about me… about George.

My face then scrunched into a tiny ball and my fists gripped so tight that I could feel my nails press sharply into my palms. It might not have been healthy, but it kept me from registering my feelings outwardly to the rest of the station. So, after a moment, I was able to reply to the younger officer with relative ease and neutrality on my face. “You know… like most of us here… death in the family and all. After all, someone had to support my younger brother… and well, most everyone here knows how that went…”

Officer Garson immediately went pale. He was younger, but he knew that whole story about me at least… most did after a month or so here. It was practically a legend around here with my background and all. If the hopeful spark of the rookies couldn’t get the officers going, a cop with a history like mine did the trick pretty well also. “I… I…” he stumbled around. “Shit. I’m so sorry. I… I… I didn’t mean to…”

I held up my hand to ease one of the more junior officers around here. “Relax… you didn’t know… but now you do, right?” He quickly nodded his head and after he ran off with his metaphorical tail between his legs, I turned my back toward the holding cell.

The rest of the station humbly went back about their business, and avoided practically any eye contact with me, but I could still see John out of the corner of my eye and his now very puzzled look… one that was continually boring into my being as discreetly as he could. He had the decency not to ask about my brother, but I could tell he had several questions still for me about what just happened. He should know the story, but first, I knew I needed to talk to Sylvia.

“Hey, Sylvia,” I said as casually as I could as I approached her desk, still trying to shuffle off what had just happened in front of everyone.

“Hey, Sergeant Reynolds. Crazy night, huh?” she asked as she gazed into her nearly full holding cell, clearly trying to brush off the previous incident as well. She was a decent person like that around here.

“Yeah…” I nodded. “Must be lots of paperwork for you I’m guessing…” She then nodded herself. “I’m guessing you get to see it all… the usual, the brutal… the strange… Must be so tough…”

Sylvia’s smile faded and her eyes narrowed. “Right… I suppose…” Her eyes squinted even tighter, her head cocked to the side a bit, and she then sighed. “What do you want, Sarge? Out with it.”

“Me?” I tried to play off as innocent in case she didn’t want to do me the favor I was about to ask.

“Yes…” she said as she breathed heavily as she could clearly see through my practiced casual rouse with her. “I know that tone of voice anywhere with you. We’ve been friends for a long time now, so just ask me friend to friend or woman to woman, if that makes you feel any better, okay? Just… out with it.”

I shrugged my shoulders and sighed. “Very well. It’s nothing official or anything, but I’ve just got a weird feeling about something lately.”

Sylvia’s left eyebrow raised. She usually loved my weird feelings as most were either too wild to be believed or dead right. “Oh? Do tell.”

“Well…” I then pointed in the cell toward the three tweakers. “Those three. All came in tonight with the same story from what I can tell. Sounds really strange and all almost seem traumatized on some level.” I decided not to tell her, at least for now, about my other feelings of sympathy for each and that I wanted nothing more than to just hug them to bits.

Sylvia looked at each of the three who still seemed to be mumbling that they were a good boy or girl. “I see… poor fellows, but you got a theory then?”

I see-sawed my hand back and forth. “Eh. Maybe… Can you just do me a favor and keep tabs on if there are any more and maybe take a look at some of the older records? See if there’s a pattern at all?”

Sylvia heavily sighed over what I was asking her to do. “If it was anyone else…” She then leaned back into her chair. “Still though, we are friends and I do owe you from that round of poker last week at Davis’s place…” She then twiddled her thumbs about and I knew a deal was coming. “Hmmm… how about this? I do this for you, and we call that debt even?”

I smiled at something so simple this time. “Sounds like a deal.” We then shook on it, and I left after grabbing one more look at the three tweakers inside. It might have just been some new drug like I told John, but I couldn’t be sure after three in one night. Besides my strange internal urge to just hug them tight, I just couldn’t shake my gut feeling over something odd going on. For now, though, that thought had to be put on pause as I left for the locker room to go home tonight.

As John and I put our civies back on to go home for the night along with the others from the night shift, the television in the co-ed locker room popped on. Immediately, the room went silent. Broadcasts still occurred, but things like these usually only meant more suffering or mourning or remembering. As John and I stored our gear, I quickly knew which of the two it was going to be.

Our leader, if you could call him that anymore with how things were in our ‘government’ lately, popped on. “Good evening, my fellow citizens,” President John Haythem announced. “I just wanted to take the time today, in remembrance of our past, to take a moment of silence for those we have lost.” The rowdiness in the room nearly soon all vanished.

It was easily noticeable around me of who had witnessed it all, who remembered it all, or who had lost someone… or who hadn’t in all those dark years. Officer Garson only booed the president while Sergeant Davis remained unusually reserved. It didn’t take a genius to figure out which of the two categories either of them belonged in. For my part, I was part of the group that remained reserved and silent.

After a moment, the president spoke back up. “Thank you. Now, after war broke out in 2038, and the two successive ones after that, many said we would never again rise from the ashes, and that we were too dependent the oil that was quickly running out because of those wars.” He took a moment and then gripped his podium tightly. “It was tough, but we, as a nation, endured.”

It was hard not to roll one’s eyes over his exaggerated expressions and emotions on camera, but I knew he was just trying to reunite the country once more. Still, since so much of our country did rely on oil back then, chaos ensued and our already failing infrastructure began to collapse further. So… ‘endure’ was still a bit of a strong word to use considering what happened afterward.

“Many of you,” President Haythem continued, “went to the cities or mountain towns to look for work, and in this chaos, a new unseen enemy took root, but we endured!” I could hear his speech and cadence rising to a theme of ‘endurance.’ I could already tell it was working with some in the room from their whoops and hollers, but it’s hard to be cheery about it all when you directly remember the first pandemic killing 10% of the population and the second pandemic a year later killing over 30% of those who remained.

“Many of us lost a loved one… I lost my sister. It was terrible, but we endured.” He wiped his eye. I couldn’t tell if it was genuine emotion or not from him, but I could tell that some of my colleagues in the locker room were absolutely buying it. Despite his pomp and theatricality, there was a good reason he had been re-elected to a second term almost unanimously.

“Then, Escape came out. It plagued our streets and deformed us a nation, but, we endured!” he began to yell out. I could feel a small swell even in myself getting beyond the worst of it from back then, but the feeling was quickly dampened. It was tough… for all of us.

Of course, as a cop now, I knew the drug was so virulent because it was cheap to produce and delivered a peaceful high to its user, but back then… I just knew what it did to people… and those who were lost to it. It was the same ugliness and deformity Haythem was talking about, and more importantly, what it took from me…

“Even when the gangs grew and the police were overrun right before I started my first term six years ago, we endured. We built the shelters, where I’m guessing most of you safely are now. We, as a nation, needed to survive, so we fought back… we endured!” I could hear the audience around him cheer, and I knew what was next if he was to stick with the timeline he had been humming about.

“And, in my first year as your leader, your president, I made sure that Congress passed the Police Act and protected our streets further. So, to all you men and women in uniform today, I say thank you! Thank you for your work!” A cheer rose up from around me! “For your dedication!” Another cheer! “And for being the best police in the whole world!” The locker room burst into an array of cheers and celebrations.

I was glad that he was at least acknowledging us, but I still just felt like a useless rock that a bully would just kick out of their way on the road and not give a second’s thought to if they so choose. I knew we were important for the city, but still, it was hard not to get discouraged when the Glower gang had just moved into the building that we had assaulted last night a year ago. Before them, three others had occupied that space since the Police Act was passed in 2047. Things were better in one way, but I still wasn’t sure of a way out of this hole that we had all dug for ourselves.

The president then continued for another good few minutes and many continued to cheer him on to the very end. I briefly wondered if they would repeal the term limits of the presidency and give him a third term in office, but I just put it out of my mind for now. The election wasn’t until next year, and I felt I still had time to ponder such events another day.

Once the broadcast had ended and the locker room had then settled down, I tied the last knot in my shoes and closed my locker. Grabbing my coat and bag off the bench, I then exited the locker room and snagged a drink from the fountain. As I stood up, I could see John exit the lockers as well right behind me and give me a quick but curious glance. Remembering earlier with his odd but curious looks toward me, I sighed and waved him over.  

“Yes, Sarge?” he asked as he joined me to one corner of the hallway and out of the way of the others.

“I saw you staring at me. You want to ask me about all that happened upstairs with Davis and Garson, right?” I asked him directly.

“I…” he seemed curious but that he also didn’t want to pry into my past. I appreciated the gesture on his part, but I just held up my hand to stop him from stumbling around.

“I’ll do you the favor and just come out and say it. No hard feelings, okay? Being my partner and all, you probably should know anyway.” John immediately looked relieved and nodded. I then reached into my duffle bag’s side pocket and pulled out my wallet and handed it open to John. “This is… was,” I correct myself, “my brother, George.”

I took a second to compose myself and John just stared back at me waiting for an answer about what the story was about him. So, with a deep breath, I began. “As I told you, the last virus took both our parents. He was 14, but I had just turned 18, so I made sure he didn’t get put into the system. I worked two jobs and put my own dreams on hold, but I still made ends meet and gave us a safe place to live still. Unfortunately, all that hard work on my part also meant that I wasn’t around that much… so, I didn’t see him start to spiral and get in with the wrong people. He moved out when he was 18 and it just got worse. I…” I felt a lump in my throat and had to stop for a moment.

With understanding eyes, John nodded. “Go on. I’m listening whenever or even if you feel ready. We can always stop if you want.”

I smiled, shook my head, and took a second to get rid of the lump. It was hard, but I knew I just needed to finish now. “I was going to go to one of the few colleges left in the city at that time once he graduated high school, but then our parents died, and I found work with the city. The bills got paid, but it didn’t leave much time to look after my brother in other ways. He got in with the wrong crowd and…” I took a deep breath to try and compose myself. “Within two years after our parents died, he had gotten hooked on Escape.” I paused for a moment and cleared my throat. “First two times he got caught were just minor bits really. Misdemeanors, but the third… the third, when he turned 18, he overdosed on the drug. It makes you lose track of reality and…” I could feel the lump again, “and he danced in the street and got hit by a car. He died within the hour… and I was still at work.”

John looked stunned, but finally spoke while I tried to keep it together in front of my rookie. Talking about it all still hurt after all these years, but he needed to know as my partner. “I’m so sorry, Sarge,” he said finally. “What happened next?”

My anger then took over my grief and I continued. “I tried to jail his dealer, Carlyle, but he went free after only a week in jail. Never could figure it out, but I applied for the academy the next week. I knew from it all that if I wanted justice in this city, I had to step up and earn it myself.”

John looked at me and sighed. “You shouldn’t blame yourself.”

His words hit me with full force. They were something I had tried to tell myself a dozen times over by now, but they never seemed to be the truth when coming from my lips. “I appreciate that, rookie, but you don’t have to…”

“No, Sarge,” he quickly spoke up. “One of my focuses was on narcotics at the academy and Escape is a beast of a drug. It’s all innocent, but it hooks onto you deep. You might know from your experience, but take it from me on this, unfortunately, your brother was on his own path after his first hit. You did what you could for him, but that’s just not always enough.”

I gave a half smile to John and nodded. “Thank you. It’s nice to hear that, but I will always feel I could have done something more. It’s my drive as a cop here. It makes me do better.” I sighed and patted him on the shoulder. “Find your own and you’ll go far. You’re already a good person and with a little more experience, you’ll be a good cop as well. And… for whatever it’s worth, that’s a lot in my book.”

“Thanks, Sarge,” he said in a way that made me think that he really needed to hear that. I wanted to say something more, but as before, someone called out my name.

“Sergeant Reynolds. Cap wants to see you!” Officer Davis called out from the nearby stairwell.

I groaned but thanked John and told him to get some rest for our next shift tomorrow. We departed and I then turned back and headed up to the captain’s office.

Getting there, I could already hear Dr. Stanislav, the station’s psychiatrist, raising her voice to the station’s leader, Captain Quincy. I really didn’t want to get in the middle of the two, but orders being orders, I slowly knocked on the door to announce my arrival. Fortunately, though, the shouting stopped, and the door suddenly creaked opened. After being noticed by both, I was waived inside by the Cap.

“Morning, Sergeant,” Cap said with his smile that usually meant bad news was coming next.

“Yes… morning, Sergeant Reynolds…” Dr. Stanislav added almost reluctantly. She sighed and wrinkled her eyes up for a moment before setting her clipboard down.

“I’m sure you know that the Glower gang takedown was a complete success,” Cap began.

“I do…” I nodded as I saw his previous awards from the city behind him. In his dusty and dilapidated office, their shine could have seemed odd, but it was just who Cap was.

“Yes, well…” Cap waffled a bit, “some of those we captured are singing quite nicely in interrogation, and we found out some things… important things you see.”

“That’s… good…” I said after a moment of the two just staring at me. I still wasn’t sure where they were going with all this.

“Well,” Cap continued, “we…”

“Oh, just let me do it, Quincy!” Dr. Stanislav yelled. Strangely enough, she was not known for her tact.

“No, doc. She’s one of mine. Let me,” Cap said forcefully yet gently in his own way. Still though, once his usual hardened resolve passed more or less, he then sighed heavily and looked back at me. “You see, Sergeant, the Glower gang is a small group. Important in the city, but one of the lower tiers for narcotics for this entire sector. Based on information from a CI and from a few of the interrogation’s downstairs, we’ve found that the Glower gang is one of the lower branches of the Pixie gang…”

The name dropped my stomach to the floor. It would forever be etched into my mind and a deadened spot on my soul after I heard it so many times at trial. “Carlyle…”

Cap nodded. “Yes, and he’s only gotten bigger since back then with… well, I don’t need to remind you of that. So, because of all that, we think…”

“We’re putting you on administrative leave!” Dr. Stanislav blurted out. Cap looked at her with hatred in his eyes, but he just waved his hand for her to continue as his appreciated method of tactfully breaking the news was clearly now shattered. “Sorry to be so blunt, Sergeant, but the Glower gang is going to be a top priority for this station for the next week or so at least. We’ve talked with the mayor already and our units are being re-tasked to solely focus on the Pixie gang. We can make a big dent in their operations, but with your history…”

“There’s too much history there, Reynolds,” Cap interrupted her. From his face, I could tell that he really didn’t approve of any of this, but I was guessing he was in a no-win scenario at this point… especially if the mayor was involved. “I don’t want to do this but just take a week or so off. We’ll contact you when you can come back without issue. The city will even still pay you in your absence, but we can’t have any accusations of impropriety with a case like this.” He then paused and leaned forward on his desk with his hands clasped together. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how much the Pixie gang needs to be taken down…”

Since I had walked in, I had been dreading the worst, but all this felt like a blow too much. I still hated Carlyle and had nightmares over what that man did to my brother. He may have taken the drugs himself, but Carlyle was a dealer of death that night and had given him a ‘hot dose.’ He claimed it was an accident, but everyone knew he was lying. It happened again a year later when I was at the academy and about 15 times since I had graduated. It had become his signature move that we found out from an undercover that he had even nicknamed, ‘going to Neverland.’ He would have gone to jail from all that we knew about him, but I suspected he now had his hooks in some of the local governances… possibly even this station as well.  

So, with all that burning and poisoning my mind, once they had finished, all I could do was numbly nod and place my service gun on Cap’s desk. I could still keep my badge, but they didn’t want me ‘doing anything stupid,’ or at least that’s what they would say if they were ever asked about it.

“I’m sorry…” Cap managed to spit out as I left the office.

I nodded. “I’m sorry too…” I wanted to say so much more, but there was too much at risk now. Something always felt off about the case, and now with my leave from the force and their official investigation, I didn’t want to risk anything. He couldn’t escape… not again.

“I’ve seen this before where an officer was too attached to a case and ran it into the ground,” Dr. Stanislav said coldly right before I turned to leave. “This is for the best. You’ll see.”

I saw Cap give her another dirty look, but then sympathetically looked back at me. “You remember Sergeant Tess Genaro, right?” I nodded remembering one of my older friends and even mentor on some levels here. “Well, she was a superior officer, but she burnt herself out on a similar case and it collapsed not long after if you recall.” I did and nodded. “Well, you are on the same path, and you are too good of an officer for that to happen to you as well. I mean, for all we know, she’s dead or sleeping in the streets by now. So, please don’t do anything stupid and have that be your fate as well.”

I shook my head. “I was there too, Cap. She was my friend but there still wasn’t anything I could do for her or for that case. I promise to stay out of all this and… I’ll do what is best for the department,” I said, practically saying what was in the police manual. I would be the good cop in all this, but it didn’t mean I had to like it.

Before exiting Cap’s office, I turned back toward the two of them, and for my own sake, I had to add one last thing. “Don’t screw this up…” I then exited the room without giving them another chance to speak. I said what I needed without being too insubordinate. I would have preferred to help, but politics still reigned supreme within these halls. So, with a sigh, I headed back downstairs and toward the exit.

As I was leaving the station to go back home for what would be at least a week though, Sylvia flagged me down. “Hey, Sarge! Over here!”

I nodded and walked up to my friend. “Hey, Sylvia,” I sighed, still frustrated with what had just happened, but I wanted to know if my instincts were at least somewhat correct with the tweakers that I noticed were still rocking back and forth in the distant holding cell. “Anything interesting, or did I just send you on a wild goose chase?”

Sylvia shook her head. “Absolutely not.” She then pulled out a stack of files and placed them on her desk in front of me. “Look here. Ten files in total in the past two weeks have come in with the exact same symptoms and story. Strange lights, track marks, disoriented and altered mental states… it’s all there, but there’s something more…”

I began looking over one of the files. “What could be weirder than the three tonight?” I asked casually, thinking that it would likely just be another one of her facts that interested her, but had nothing to do with the ‘meat’ of the case that I needed. Still, I knew to give her some latitude in her favors for me with these things.

“Well, I looked back further into the past three years, and there is a dozen more. So,” she continued with a smirk, “makes you wonder what the heck is going on recently. A dozen more in the past three years, then ten in the past two weeks, with an additional three tonight? It’s increasing rapidly whatever it is.”

I closed the folders before me and wasn’t sure what to make of it all. Remembering my upcoming leave though, I didn’t want to leave this alone. If it was a drug that seemed even more devastating than Escape, I couldn’t just leave it alone. I don’t think I could live with the guilt if I found out someone had died like my brother and that I maybe could have done something about it. “That is odd… tell you what though… I’m going to take these files and give them a look. Probably all just a coincidence, but you never know…”

“I…” Sylvia began as if she was about to protest, but she just waved me on instead. “Good luck on your possible case, Sarge. Just bring them back when you’re done…”

I smiled and nodded. “Thank you so much, Sylvia. I’ll owe you one after this.”

She smiled in her own way. “You better believe it!” I then hurried off and stuffed the files in my bag before exiting the station.

A quick ride back to one of the humbler shelters downtown on the electrified subway later, I then exited at my stop. Dozens of wind turbines rode atop my building, and while they were a bit of an eyesore after their extended use, I was just thankful for their presence. After all, they and the others dotting the lower half of the city now allowed the electric squad cars, the subway, and just common electricity to run as it once had. Of all the changes over the years, they were the one positive in it all, but I just wished they were a little more efficient to get us out of the survival mode we couldn’t seem to escape.

Still, I finally entered my apartment and went over to the bulletin board I had set up on one side of my bedroom. My apartment was small, but I was still one of the more fortunate to be able to live in a place with a separate bedroom. I knew from my own experience that John would be lucky if he could afford a studio apartment, but also it was even more likely that he lived with two or three roommates as I once did when I was a rookie.

Regardless, my near-Spartan abode reflected my lifestyle, particularly that the bulletin board in my bedroom was one of the more prominent features in it. Attached to it were dozens of files that I had collected over the years that had plagued the city. If each could have been solved, the city would have been far safer, but for now, I knew that they were all just pipe dreams waiting for the miracle that everyone hoped would come one day. Currently though, I felt in my gut that I had another more pressing case on my hands.

Reaching into my duffle bag, I soon replaced the older files with all the ones that Sylvia had given me before I left. She had even given me the additional dozen cases from the past three years she had mentioned as well. So, including tonight, that made 25 cases that we at least knew about. Knowing our largely broken system, however, there were likely more, but seeing it all before me in order of when they were taken into custody, Sylvia was absolutely right about one thing. Something was definitely happening to this city at least and whatever it was, it was only growing in size.

Edited January 18 by LostBBoyBear

[kerry]

21 minutes ago, LostBBoyBear said:

Millions were subsumed by its potency and got hooked

I have an excellent vocabulary—I used to be an English teacher—but I doubt that even I have ever used "subsumed" in a spoken sentence. 🙂 

I think I know why you feel the need for all of this background, but my reaction to it is: They are living in this world; why would they need to give each other recent history lessons? It would be like needing to recap the 2016 US presidential race in order to help a younger person understand Trump's role in 2024. Even if they were not around for it, they'd certainly know who Hillary Clinton is, what basically occurred, and the whole Jan. 6 mess. 

Maybe a better example: you'd never have a character explain 9/11, would you? (See, there was this terrorist named Osama Bin Laden, and he...) 

Shouldn't John, who grew up in this broken city, already know basically why it is this way?

I think you'd be better off 86-ing that background dump entirely, maybe coming in at the tail end of the conversation with John. Your later exposition of the situation with the brother is much better, as John naturally doesn't know that story.

I do like the world you are setting up here and look forward to reading more about it.

 

[LostBBoyBear]

3 hours ago, kerry said:

I have an excellent vocabulary—I used to be an English teacher—but I doubt that even I have ever used "subsumed" in a spoken sentence. 🙂 

I think I know why you feel the need for all of this background, but my reaction to it is: They are living in this world; why would they need to give each other recent history lessons? It would be like needing to recap the 2016 US presidential race in order to help a younger person understand Trump's role in 2024. Even if they were not around for it, they'd certainly know who Hillary Clinton is, what basically occurred, and the whole Jan. 6 mess. 

Maybe a better example: you'd never have a character explain 9/11, would you? (See, there was this terrorist named Osama Bin Laden, and he...) 

Shouldn't John, who grew up in this broken city, already know basically why it is this way?

I think you'd be better off 86-ing that background dump entirely, maybe coming in at the tail end of the conversation with John. Your later exposition of the situation with the brother is much better, as John naturally doesn't know that story.

I do like the world you are setting up here and look forward to reading more about it.

 

I totally understand that and that's a completely valid thought here. I honestly hesitated to add all that in here in the first place, but I just wanted to get it all out of the way so I could focus elsewhere for the rest of the story. I'm honestly probably going to change it in the future, but I just wanted to set up the whole desparate society bit here in the beginning and why humanity would be open to a deal with the Bigs. 

Though to your point about 9-11, I have had to explain that event to people who were born after 2001. It feels weird, but that's just kind of history for you and most of society forgetting about it. I also tried to ensuate that John grew up sheltered, but in my rewrite later, I'll either completely re-write the section or add some clues as to his background. For example, the educational system wouldn't be that great and people would likely be even more ignorant of events going on around them. 

That being said, your point is well-taken and I will try and figure out a way to change it at some later date. For now, especially because the state of the world only loosely applies in this story, I will just be focusing on more story development for future chapters. Now that some explanations are out of the way, the story is really about to take off with all the stuff that I'm sure everyone will enjoy far more. 

[Guilend]

Yeah, I totally get John's point of view. I was sheltered growing up and wasn't really educated very well early on, so not only do I not get a lot of cultural references, I don't get some basic history that others my age do. It's less of an issue now that I'm 37 years old and have lived a but of history now, it was a major problem back in my early 20s. My wife of the time had to explain jokes or other information and it was annoying to be honest lol. I constantly felt stupid and ignorant. I definitely understood the history dump as being relevant in the story. But I do understand that not everyone can relate to John as I can lol. It also explains his hesitation during the arrest. He probably lacks the confidence in himself to make the split second decision, but if given time he will either grow into it with life experience or it will destroy him. Only time will tell. Most people have the inate ability to survive so the odds are in his favor. 

[LostBBoyBear]

Just so everyone is aware at this point, I have not yet changed the exposition from chapter 2, but this will be coming soon. I have lots of ideas for how to do it, but it shouldn't chnage much in teh grand scheme of this story. I havent decided how exactly I want to redo it, but I will let you all know in case you wanted to read it. 

Further, I should be able to post another chapter tomorrow, but if I can't, there won't be another until Saturday at the earliest. 

Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys this new chapter! Great things are now about to unfold!

Chapter 3: A Theory and A Light

I always loved puzzles as a kid. One could work for hours on a series of interconnecting pieces and at the end, there would be a wonderful picture as desired as a reward for any efforts made. So, even though while I pieced together the threads of the various files that Sylvia had given to me like I would have a large puzzle and found the intricacies of it all to be almost mesmerizing, I was also starting to feel that there were still several factors that made me want to drive my head through a brick wall.  

In my limited research that I could muster, I had discovered a few things, but all had just seemingly led to more confusion. I looked back up at the board and began to talk out loud to see if I could gleam something new from what I saw. “Electrical outages were noted with the power grid shortly before each of the disturbances were called in, but…” I heard a knock at the door.

Walking out of my bedroom and over to the door, I opened it cautiously and quickly saw that it was John. “Hey rookie. What are you doing here?”

John looked a little sheepish and he carried his own duffle bag, clearly just coming off a shift from the station. “I primarily just wanted to see how you were doing.” He paused for a moment. “Uh, can I come in?”

I hesitated but then opened the door wider and gestured for him to come in. “Please, make yourself at home. It’s not much, but its clean at least.”

John looked around briefly at my apartment and soon found a spot at my small dining table and sat down. He sighed. “I wish you would come back. Station isn’t the same without you, Sarge.”

I smiled at his thoughtfulness. “Thanks, but you know what? We’re both off duty, so let’s just call each other by our first names for now, okay? I could use some interaction where I’m not called Sarge or sir.”

I could see his eye flicker for a moment at my request, but he then nodded. “Okay… Megan…” he said still with some difficulty.

I knew it was an odd move by a superior officer, but I had been cooped up inside a bit too much and I knew that I also needed more allies at the station who were actually decent cops. The increases in our budgets still couldn’t satisfy some of the greediness rampant with some of our fellow officers and I knew deep down that some had to be on the take. With John, I wasn’t worried about that, and besides, he was my partner. We then chitchatted about various bits of the city and recent policy, but my inner desire soon gave way. “So, John… how’s everything going back at the station?”

John smiled but also sighed. “It’s… going. This new task force is rooting out a lot of problems, so that’s good, but uh… Carlyle is still in the wind.”

My smile quickly vanished, but I nodded at the news. “Well, I don’t like hearing that, but at least some progress is being made. If the Pixie gang is gone, then he may be forced out into the open.”

John nodded. “Mine and most others’ thoughts exactly, only…” He then trailed off.

“Only what, John?” I asked impatiently after a second of stillness in the room.

“Well…” he hesitated, “we’re not sure where Carlyle is… at all.” I squinted at my rookie to convey my curious nature about what he was implying. John sighed again. “What I’m trying to say is that Carlyle is missing.” He let the news hang in the air for a second and then continued. “In fact, from everyone we’ve talked to, he’s been missing for a good amount of time now. Could have gone into some deep hiding place, but…”

I knew where John was going with this. Carlyle could be dead. Gangs were powerful, but each were also rivals of each other. So, naturally, they often bumped noses and put out hits on each other when they felt it was warranted. One of the largest gangs from about five years back, the Candied Skulls, was taken down in three weeks when four rival gangs teamed up and took almost every single one of them out. That type of action had calmed down in the past two years, but every cop knew that it was still a possibility when dealing with these types of criminals. If it had been even ten years ago, I may have seen a shrink about letting it all go with Carlyle and his role in George’s death, but as most were now far too overbooked for the demand of our current society, I had just muddled through my pain over the years and let time do most of the work. “I see…”

There was a brief moment of pause between us, but then John anxiously looked down at his duffle as if he had brought something else over to discuss with me. If I was in a deeper hole or didn’t trust John, I would be worried that it was a bomb or something of the sort. Instead, I just went ahead and asked him and prayed my instincts were correct. “Is there something else you want to share with me, John? Perhaps in the bag?”

He took a deep breath and nodded slowly before retrieving his bag from the ground and pulling out a series of 14 more manilla files. “These are from Sylvia. She wanted me to give them to you if you were still investigating them, but…” He then looked behind my shoulder. “I guess I don’t have to ask that question, do I?”

I looked back at my bulletin board in my bedroom. “No,” I sighed, “but I’ve hit a dead end.”

John wordlessly nodded and stood up to see my bulletin board up close. As I was getting nowhere fast, I didn’t stop him. After a moment though, he asked. “So, what do you have?”

I sighed and began to explain about the electrical disturbances while John just nodded away. “I found they couldn’t be narrowed any further than a one block radius from where the ‘tweakers’ were found.” I made a mental note that I needed to think of a new name for them and one that suited their separate category for this possible new drug on the streets. “Anyways… after further interrogations with some of the earlier subjects after regimens of therapies and various drugs, the police following-up with them discovered that they all were claiming that a ‘large light took them away.’ I honestly doubted those types of claims, as did the previous detectives in each of these cases, but upon further investigation, I also discovered that each of these victims had gone missing for a time before being found again.”

John raised an eyebrow over this revelation. “So, they aren’t just vagrants or anything… you think there’s something foul going on, don’t you? Like human trafficking or something?”

I sighed and tossed the folder I was holding back on my bed. “Right now, all I have is circumstantial evidence coming from mentally unstable or unreliable sources. Each of the victims here had been a transient before their abduction and most weren’t even noticed as missing until a week later when their pimp or dealer came to collect what was owed of them and they didn’t come through.” I then saw one report on the edge of my bed and picked it up remembering one last thing.

John leaned in. “Something else you got there?”

I nodded. “Well… oddly enough though, many of these homeless, drug addicts, or prostitutes were actually all found in remarkable health and no longer addicted to their former habits.” I then grimaced slightly at the wording that had been written about each. “That being said, all seemed to be suffering from some kind of muscular or joint damage stemming from a botched surgery in all likelihood.”

I looked at the pictures of their injuries and squirmed a bit and then sighed over the fate of these poor people. I remembered a case from about ten years prior where one pimp hobbled his girls slightly to prevent them from running by affecting their joints. The scars in those photos seemed remarkably similar, but I still couldn’t figure any of it out as these victims didn’t fit their type of profile.

John looked over a few other folders that bore similar images. “That’s terrible… despicable, but I see what you mean… there’s not much to go off of, but still… maybe there’s something else that these new files could hold.”

I smiled at his determination. “You’re right, but there’s one more piece I forgot to mention,” I said, looking at a single yellow sticky note on my bulletin board with a large question mark at the end of a single theorized word.

John paused from looking at the folder in his hands for a moment and stared back up at me. “Oh?”

“Yeah… yesterday, when one of my neighbor’s fuses shorted out, I had an idea…” I hesitated to even bring it up, but John’s palpable curiosity overrode my initial reluctance to share the theory, so, I pointed to the sticky note I had been looking at. “I think someone may be using an EMP device to knock out the security cameras where they are being taken and then later dumped. Some let off a bright glow of light when activated, but this could be why there isn’t any security footage around and could even explain the ‘bright lights’ right before the surge.”

John stroked his chin. “Hmmm… sounds plausible.” He then thumbed through a few of the loose connections I had made between the victims. “Seems like the demographics of those taken are spread out though. Must be something else that connects them.”

I nodded. “I was thinking the same, but with the addition of surgical techniques inflicted on them, I was thinking that they could be the rejects from a smuggling ring or were taken to test a new street drug or other experiments.” I then looked at a few of the ‘tweakers’ and remembered one more thing. “I also thought that social economic barriers may play a part.”

Curiously though, John then shook his head. “Look at the files I gave you just now.” I did and thumbed through a few and saw what he was referring to. “As you can see in there, three of the victims were from better and more upper-class neighborhoods and healthy before their abduction, yet still suffered from the mental breaks the others did.” He then paused and sighed. “No one seems to be able to make a connection between all of them except their symptoms afterward. I don’t want to doubt you, but are you sure there’s a connection at all?”

I drooped my head and then shook it. “No, there’s too many victims here to just be a mere coincidence at this point. Something is going on in this city and if our infrastructure was like it used to be, I guarantee we would find similar patterns elsewhere than just within these 20 or so square miles.” I then slightly punched the wall in front of me in my continued frustration with this case. “I just can’t seem to make the connection I know is there.”

To my side, John nodded and sat on my bed comfortably before smiling up at me. “Well, I’ll trust that gut of yours. I don’t have any plans for tonight, so let’s look at them together and see if we can make heads or tails with these new files. Maybe there’s something new in them that will make the pattern more obvious once we do.”

I smiled and sat down next to him. “That’s good thinking. Let’s give it two hours and then I’ll buy you a drink afterward as a start of my thanks. Plus, I could use a break from all this if we haven’t found something by then.” John smiled and nodded, and we then dove headfirst into the new files that he had brought over.

By the time almost an hour had elapsed, my head was nearly pounding in concussive blasts and swimming in the sea of half-baked theories before me. “I don’t know, John. I’m not seeing anything new. You?”

John hesitated, but then switched to three other folders in quick succession. “I… it could be nothing but look at their backgrounds.”

He then handed the folder to me, and I looked down at each of their background sections. There wasn’t much in them, but I noticed that a continual thread in each file had noted each kidnap victim was single and often a loner in life. For example, one of the junkies often kept to himself and one of the more elite often walked alone at night to take in the night air. It felt like the tiniest thread to go on, but at this point, I was desperate after so many other dead ends.

I sighed. “I hate coincidence, but also, there would have to be hundreds more, right? Not just the almost 40 cases we now have. It’s not even 50 in a city of probably over thousands of currently single and, or lonely people.” John seemed utterly crushed by my dismissal, so I knew I needed to backpaddle a little to keep his hope intact and as an acknowledgement of the finding he made. “Still though, it’s something that now connects them all. Maybe it’s an opportunistic thing. Maybe…”

Now, when a cop leaves to go home for the night in the past few years, most will take three things; their badge, their gun, and their radio just as mere safety precautions against most of the uglier problems they could face. So, right as I was about to spot another random theory about what he had found, John’s radio popped on. “All units be advised. There is another reported glowing light at 125^th street facing the river that was also followed by a large power outage. Caution is advised to any responders.”

John and I both looked at each other over the near perfect match to the rest of the cases we had just been reviewing. So naturally, I tried to immediately head for the door.

John stopped me though before I made it. “Please, Megan. Let’s just leave this up to the cops who are still on duty. You more than most know of the more dangerous situations regarding power outages in alleyways, especially in the 100’s section of this city!”

I hated that he was right, but I nodded over his stark and truthful words. Power outages there were infrequent, but when they did happen from faulty local generators, not being connected to the main power grid anymore and all, the results were usually disastrous. More often than not, they even became deadly due to the lack of security measures in place and the subsequent criminals often taking advantage of the resulting darkness. Still, with a new resolve, I grabbed my coat from nearby. “I get what you’re saying, but his could be the break we’re looking for, John. I can’t just let this go.” I then put on my coat and headed for my door before stopping and staring back at the John who seemed hesitant over what to do. “So, you coming?”

He grimaced. “Ugh… please just stay. We could get some backup and maybe some help. I know this could be the big break and I really want to go as well, but you never…”

“No,” I interrupted. “This can’t wait. Things are escalating with whatever this is, and I don’t want another person from this city being taken. If we wait, we’ll have another ‘tweaker’ or whatever on our hands a month from now. If we don’t go now, this could hit so many other people by then. We need solid evidence, and I can see it in your eyes as well. You want to go just as badly as I do.”  

John sighed, but then thumped the wall in frustration and began walking over toward me. “I don’t like this, but you need support and I do want to figure this case out once and for all. Besides, you’re on leave right now and don’t have a radio to call for backup if you need it. After all, you just said that we don’t know what’s happening. We should be prepared if nothing else.”

I smiled at my rookie, and I knew that he would be one of the good ones at the station in the future. He still had some things to learn, but he had a good heart and wanted to help his partner stay safe and follow a lead. In my book, those two factors meant a lot when dealing with all the problems in this city.

Then, after a short ride up to the station, John checked out one of the off-duty cars reserved for situations just like these. They weren’t equipped with much, but all had trackers on them and a button that could be pushed to alert the rest of the station if backup was required. Captain Quincy often advised against taking them out at all, but they were still there just in case. So, with some reluctance, John drove out of the station and then beyond the barrier at 89^th street. Not long after, we saw where the problem was on 125^th street.

Already, we could see muggers and looters starting their work in the post-blackout area, some ten square blocks emanating out from the original disturbance up ahead. So, while our car was unmarked, its existence alone as an independently driven car without a gang affiliation alerted everyone in the vicinity to a likely cop’s presence. Fortunately for us, tonight, everyone just scattered as soon as they saw us. Other nights could have been much worse, and we would have been surrounded in minutes with a potentially big problem on our hands.

Getting closer to 125^th street, the epicenter of it all immediately became more apparent. A bright glow seemed to pulsate from one of the usually darker alleyways, one that I knew was a prime location for runaways and drug addicts. It fit our rough profile exactly, so John slowed the car and parked it still about a block away.

“Keep your eyes open, John,” I warned. “We don’t know what this is yet and it could be something really nasty.” He nodded and we both got out of the car, him welding his service gun and me my backup weapon that I kept in my apartment for events just like these. We normally entered most situations with our tasers, but technology like this almost always meant old war weaponry, and in almost every case, the criminals weren’t shy about turning the weapons on any approaching officer.

Now edging closer, I could see that John had his phone out and at the ready in case he needed to call for backup. Unfortunately, though, as we got closer, the light from the alleyway began to pulse, and then immediately got brighter. Right as it did so, I saw both the phone and radio short out with a small spark. “Shoot!” John called out.

“It’s okay, John.” I then pointed back to the car. “Go back and get the heavy-duty radio from the trunk. Cap always keeps a spare military grade model in there for times like these. Shielded from EMP devices and all.”

“That what you think this is? You think your earlier theory was right?” he asked as he stared down at his now useless phone and radio.

I nodded. “I do, and if I’m right, then we’re dealing with something much bigger than just a tiny gang with old war weaponry. EMP devices, even these days, are hard to make or maneuver around. So, if it is an EMP device, we’re probably going to need that backup.” I then turned back toward the glowing light. “You get the new radio and I’ll go on ahead.”

I could hear the hesitation in John’s footsteps, but they soon became more distant, and I pressed on ahead with my gun drawn. I could feel my pulse quickening as I came closer to the light. I saw a few other vagrants from this area, but all seemed horrified or shocked at whatever was down that alley. It made my palms start to sweat, but I knew I couldn’t stop now. ‘Whatever this is, it’s got to be something serious…’

Nearing the alleyway, I could hear John’s clacking footsteps come up from behind me. Bracing against the wall for a moment, I waited until John was back by my side. Based on everyone else’s expressions, I didn’t want to take a chance of whatever we would find. Gun at the ready, I then looked back at John. “You ready, rookie?”

John gulped and fingered his gun more tightly, but ultimately nodded and responded in his shaky, but more formal addressment as I had done. “Yes, ma’am… uh, Sarge. You lead the way.”

“Good.” I then took a breath and, clutching my gun tight against my chest and ready to draw immediately, I spun around the corner and pointed my weapon at whatever I would find. What I did find though was nearly beyond words.

Before me was a giant mass of what could only be described as a giant and pulsating glowing bubble. The bluish silvery substance seemed to slither and shake with each pulsation and almost took on a form that I would compare to that of the type of slime one would make as a kid in science class.

I tried looking around for a device that was causing this disturbance, but I frustratingly and confusingly didn’t find any. The whole thing just hummed and floated above the street like some old Christmas ornament. Though, despite its wondrous and near magical appearance, I couldn’t help but get a sick and sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Whatever it was, didn’t seem to be something that would likely do anyone any good.

“Wha… what is it, sarge?” John asked from my rear.

“I… I don’t know…” I responded, clearly just as confused as my rookie. There was nothing in the manual to prepare me for this, but I knew from my gut at least that any others needed to stay away from it. At minimum, if the ‘tweakers’ we found were any indication, their interaction with this ball of light only seemed to be negative. So, I turned around for a moment and faced John. “This thing is probably dangerous. We need to get everyone away from here.” I then saw the radio sticking out from his belt, but shockingly, even that device, which was meant to withstand a nuclear bomb, seemed to be on the fritz. “Get out of here and call this in. Whatever it is seems to be messing with that heavy-duty radio even.”

John looked down and conveyed the same sense of shock over the radio’s glitchy appearance now. He then looked back up and shakily nodded. “W… will do, Sarge. Calling it in now.”

I then turned back to the glowing and pulsating orb, and, not questioning my orders at all, I heard John quickly walk away and begin to usher those specific onlookers away from the scene. Another second later, I heard him begin to call in for backup.

I continued to stare at the orb, and I tried to figure out what it was. At that moment though, I saw that there were at least three others at the other end of the dead-end alleyway. “You all! You need to get away and out of here as soon as possible!”

Most didn’t seem to want to listen, but one began walking over toward me. From his wide-eyed stare and stumbling steps, I knew he was on something. So, about halfway to me, I tried to call out to him to be careful of the orb, but he just kept walking haphazardly. I wasn’t sure what I expected, but I could confidently say that I was not prepared for what I saw next.

Stumbling slightly about, the man reached out steady himself with the brick wall to his right side. It was just a moment, but the orb pulsed again. Now, not paying attention to its boundaries though, the man was soon touched by the orb and in a second after the tendrils encircled him, he was gone. No puff, splatter, or boom. Just… gone.

“Shit! What the…?” My mind reeled from what I had just seen. At first, I thought the orb was just a new weapon or some odd static discharge from a modified EMP device somehow, but now… the man had literally just disappeared right in front of my eyes after the orb had touched him like some old elaborate magic trick. My heart then sank as I devastatingly knew that he would likely now end up like the rest of the ‘tweakers’ we had found. My only solace in it all was that his disappearance did motivate the others to quickly scurry away.

Now, even though many of the vagrants on the other side of the orb seemed to be inebriated as well to some degree or another, each took their time and used a deliberate caution to actively avoid the still pulsating orb. It seemed like a life and death game of limbo that I had played when I was younger, but instead of just being out, the person hitting this barrier would vanish. Fortunately, though, almost everyone made it safely to the other side. Well, it seemed except for one person.

She was an older lady, and she didn’t seem high or mentally unstable. She was probably just an unfortunate member of the populace who hadn’t made the effort to come to the shelters downtown and still lived to the north of 89^th street. It was also possible she had a relative or a child who was mixed up in the seediness of this area, but regardless, she was in this alleyway tonight. My heart pounded loudly as she ambled about in the alleyway as well as she seemingly could.

I held my breath as she then creakily bent under the dangerous orb. Her frizzy and graying hair nearly got caught at least six times in the tendrils of the orb, but each seemed to almost blow out of the way each time. My heart rapidly beat as I could do little to help the old woman, but after about a minute, she finally made it to the other side. Unfortunately, she stood up too soon.

I could see the tendrils of the pulsating orb extend outward and to her unknowing form. I couldn’t just stand idly by. I had to do something! “Lady! Watch out!” I yelled out, but she didn’t seem to be able to hear me. So, I did the only thing I could think of.

I ran toward her and swung her out of the way as if we were dancing. It worked, but it left one problem. I was now the closest one to the glowing orb.

In seconds, I could feel a warm sensation crawl around me. I looked down in horror, and like the other man previously, I could see the pulsating tendrils of the orb begin to encircle me. I then looked back up and saw John had arrived back and had begun to usher the other vagrants away. “John…?”

He looked at me with ghostly and terrified eyes but then quickly began to sprint toward me. “Megan! No! Get out of there!”

It was too late though. The heat around me began to pulse with my heartbeat. The glow electrified tenfold, and my ears popped from the intense humming now surrounding me completely. Then, as soon as it all started, I felt a dropping sensation and right as John neared me, it all went black, and I was sucked backward into a void of nothingness.

[Guilend]

Oh no. I never seen that coming.

Okay, I'm sure everyone saw it coming lol. I absolutely loved how it happened. The details are both beautiful and frightening lol. 

Am I the only one saddened that the older lady didn't end up caught by the rift alongside the Sarge? Is it bad that I wished she had, knowing what could possibly happen to her? I mean, she probably will get better health care that she probably needs. She might even enjoy herself. It's probably been a while since someone touch her, though she'll only get attention during diaper changes and probably will end up with surgeries to prevent walking.

Onto the story, I'm definitely looking forward to see what happens once she's on the other side. I can't wait to see if those surgeries are done to every Little brought over, is it accidental or are people actually targeting them? I assume that's the case. Do they let everyone go after doing whatever it is that they're doing to them or only certain ones? I really hope they don't do those surgeries on the Sarge. 

[LostBBoyBear]

Update and Question 

Hey everyone. So, I've been thinking about this story a lot and while I am enjoying it, I'm honestly not sure if you all are...

I write for myself, and call it a writer's lack of confidence at this moment, but I'm also not sure how interested everyone else actually is in this story. I have everything plotted out until the end and I would love to continue, but last night, someone on another site that I post this to, added this story to a list of 'bad stories/those I'm not interested in.' Needless to say, but it's shaken my confidence a smidge while also making me question if I should even continue with this story or not. 

I was originally going to post another chapter tonight, and it is almost ready right now to do so, but I want to know if you all want me to continue this story or if you would rather me just wait and move onto my next one at some point. As I said, I have the rest of the plot ready to go, but I also know that getting sucked into another portal could serve as an ending of sorts if needed. I know prequels or origin stories can be complicated within universes occasionally, but I was still super excited for this story. I also don't like ending it just right here, but, I won't beat a dead horse, so I'm going to leave this decision up to you all. 

If you want me to continue with the story, just let me know in a comment after this posting. I am going away for the Thanksgiving holiday and will check this post again when I return. If I've received some more positive feedback, we'll all just call this a fluke, I won't mention it again, and I will deeply apologize for the lack of confidence in myself. If the comments note to do so, or just don't appear period, however, I will end this story right now or add an epilogue of sorts. There will be no hard feelings I promise you and I will return to writing more stories eventually. 

Anyways, for now at least, I hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday!

[Guilend]

4 minutes ago, LostBBoyBear said:

Update and Question 

Hey everyone. So, I've been thinking about this story a lot and while I am enjoying it, I'm honestly not sure if you all are...

I write for myself, and call it a writer's lack of confidence at this moment, but I'm also not sure how interested everyone else actually is in this story. I have everything plotted out until the end and I would love to continue, but last night, someone on another site that I post this to, added this story to a list of 'bad stories/those I'm not interested in.' Needless to say, but it's shaken my confidence a smidge while also making me question if I should even continue with this story or not. 

I was originally going to post another chapter tonight, and it is almost ready right now to do so, but I want to know if you all want me to continue this story or if you would rather me just wait and move onto my next one at some point. As I said, I have the rest of the plot ready to go, but I also know that getting sucked into another portal could serve as an ending of sorts if needed. I know prequels or origin stories can be complicated within universes occasionally, but I was still super excited for this story. I also don't like ending it just right here, but, I won't beat a dead horse, so I'm going to leave this decision up to you all. 

If you want me to continue with the story, just let me know in a comment after this posting. I am going away for the Thanksgiving holiday and will check this post again when I return. If I've received some more positive feedback, we'll all just call this a fluke, I won't mention it again, and I will deeply apologize for the lack of confidence in myself. If the comments note to do so, or just don't appear period, however, I will end this story right now or add an epilogue of sorts. There will be no hard feelings I promise you and I will return to writing more stories eventually. 

Anyways, for now at least, I hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday!

You got my vote to continue. I'm very much enjoying it. Ever since you mentioned doing an orgin story I've been interested in reading it. Thus far you've exceeded my expectations. The detail you've put into this, which is on par for your stories, is wonderful. Plus, at this point since she's been sucked into a portal to another dimension, I'm very curious to see what it looks like on the other side. To kind of see what's different. And be able to see how far the Amazon/Bigs have come when reading your future stories and rereading your older ones. And to see what hasn't changed or appears to have changed, but the future just dresses it up as change, but it really hasn't,  it just a new paint job.

[BabyMorgan]

I’ll chime in here too. I vote to keep going. This is obviously prequel to your other stories and is expanding the universe with more color and context. And since you have just one instance of the possible DD world, fleshing it out makes a lot of sense. 
 

Not every story is right for every little or big. There are a lot of stories that I don’t care about. It’s no criticism as to the quality. Just that the story doesn’t interest me. 
 

On the other hand, there are a lot of stories that really resonate with me. Those I follow fanatically (even though I lurk much more than post.) Your work is entertaining and I personally think you should be doing a Patreon. Don’t let one opinion throw you off your game.

Now, if you start seeing Rotten Tomatoes ratings for your stories below that of “Baby Geniuses 2”, you might want to rethink your life choices….  Just saying. 😅

 

 

[Panther Cub]

I too am curious to see where this story goes, so I also cast my vote to see the chapter posted!

[kerry]

Oh, hell, yes!

Continue!

This is a very original, very fresh and interested piece. And I have to know how you'll handle your narrator vanishing into "tweakdom."

 

[dirtydingus84]

keep the story going. also I am getting like robocop vibes like the police are based on those police. 

[Baby Billy]

I don't comment on alot of the work that I read, that being said one of the reasons I will give up on a story the I am reading is the lack of the writer to put the work down in a form the is easy to read and flows the right way.  Mostly lack of prof reading and run on paragraphs are the topic.  I think your writing is very good, that being said not every story line is for everybody.  I think you have a group of people on this site that wants you to continue and are enjoying this, you may think about pausing on the other site if they are not.  I vote keep going.😃 

[Nibbley15]

Pweese more.  I personally can't get enough of the DD realm.  Love every twist and turn y'all pour into this.  No matter what the timeline or "DD" type world can't wait to get into another story.  With the vastness of this universe, could be true on some level, is that where all these dreams and writings come from?  Who knows???  

Pweese more.

[Guilend]

On 11/22/2023 at 2:55 PM, BabyMorgan said:

Your work is entertaining and I personally think you should be doing a Patreon.

I just saw this. I totally agree. He really should. I'd definitely pay $5-$10 a month to get early access to chapters or even patreon only stories if he chooses to do that.

[LostBBoyBear]

Well... it's hard to put into words just how much your all's comments have meant to me. It can sometimes be hard to guage how successful a story is sometimes, but I'm so glad that many of you responded... far more than I was even looking for to continue. It truly touches my heart in a way that even as a writer I would find hard to express or do justice. So, for now, I will at least extend my most sincere and heartfelt thanks to all of my readers, commentors or just readers alike. 

Secondly, I hope everyone who celebrated had an excellent holiday. I definitely made merry with my own family and my stomach still feels a bit too much like Violet Bureauguard... still though, no blueberry coloring for those of you wondering. 

Moving on, there will likely be another break or two in my writing with this story, but I will definitely let you all know beforehand. 

Anyways, I want to sincerely thank you all again and I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

Chapter 4: We're Not In Kansas Anymore

When I was younger and before the world spun into the spiral of doom that currently eclipsed it, I went to Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey with my brother and parents for a tiny weekend get away one summer. I had just turned 12 and my growth spurt had just begun to take root. So, while my brother couldn’t ride many of things I did, much to my mom’s annoyance, my dad slipped in a few folded-up paper towels in my sneakers to give me an extra inch or so in height. As such, I was able to ride the Jersey Devil Coaster.

I was terrified as it heaved and jerked me about. I screamed bloody terror, but in some perverse way, I had also developed a taste for rollercoasters and rode them all as much as I could until most of the theme parks shut down by the time that I had turned 17. Getting sucked into that portal was the single-most terrifying and thrilling experience I could imagine.

I couldn’t help but think back to that day as I had suddenly felt the thrill of being shot backward and then afterward of plummeting to unknown depths. Inky blackness and indescribable colors swirled about me in an array I would never forget. At the same time though, and likely another reason I thought back to that literal devil of a coaster, I wondered if I was being sucked into the damns of hell.

I felt my stomach plummet about as much as it could without eviscerating me from stem to stern. My eyes screamed and bulged with maniacal insanity. My innards seemed to be imploding from every direction and my ears seized and almost burst open like so many piñatas. Lastly, and most fittingly of my journey to hell, I felt like I was burning to death from every piece of exposed skin that I had. It was sheer pain and torment unlike anything I had ever felt, but like all terrible things before though, it ended, and I fell roughly on a relatively soft patch of grass.

My lungs seized and I gasped for any scrap of life I could. To my delight, I was alive, but the air felt different… heavier as my lungs took in all the fresh air they could in a single second. I was quickly relieved I wasn’t dead or a vegetable, but as soon as I knew I was still in the mortal plain, my stomach then overturned, and I quickly rolled to my side as I began to vomit my guts out all over the freshly cut and damp grass. It was a pitiful moment, but finally, it ended, and I rolled over onto my back. Staring up and blinking to clear the funk that I felt was all around me, my eyes adjusted to the still bright light oddly hovering a few feet off the ground.

Once I was satisfied the light wouldn’t take me again and then looking around, I found myself in a park. Though possibly normal to most, I knew that while they still existed in my world, most now, even within a hundred miles of me, were usually artificial turf and maybe one tree existed in all its singular glory. As the light from the orb above me showed though, I was in the middle of a park and surrounded by not only several trees, but their sheer enormity was all-engulfing and… strangely fantastical. “What the…?”

At that moment, in all my confusion over what had just happened and where I was, I then remembered back to John and his comic book. The portal… the trees and the grass… real grass. The orb above me… “It’s a portal…” I mumbled to myself. So many things began to click in my head, and I even remembered, before the wars broke out, reading an obscure article in my science class about other countries which had been messing around with those types of things. ‘That must be it…’ It was a lot to take in, but before I could think further, the light flickered above me, pulsated for a moment or two, and then ceased to be and left only darkness. “Shit.” The portal to my home was now gone. Wherever I was, I knew I was stuck for at least the foreseeable future.

My head then swam with a thousand and one questions, but the cop part of me realized that I needed to adjust myself and my priorities. I was in an unknown land, and I had been brought here by a force that didn’t seem too kindly with those who it spat back out on the other side. Speaking of which, I began to smell something funny.

At first, I couldn’t figure out what it was. It was foul, but somehow familiar… almost like when I saw an older computer overheat and melt a bit. From the streetlights though, I could then see a small wisp of smoke rising from somewhere nearby. I thought it was odd though nothing at first, but when I traced it back to its origin, I saw that it was coming from me. ‘Shit! Stop, drop, and roll! Stop, drop, and roll!’

I immediately began to roll about on the ground nicely away from where I had vomited as I remembered back to what I had been taught at least since the first grade. Gratefully, the smoke quickly withered away and when I was completely sure of it being fully extinguished, I stood up and began to examine my clothing. My once bright blue coat and dark slacks were now virtually almost completely melted or were at least heavily singed in most places. I still had enough to maintain some degree of modesty, but my disarray would be very apparent to anyone who noticed me. Still, it wasn’t my first priority.

Looking around at my near picturesque view, I knew and was reminded of the fact that finding out where I was now took the most precedent. If I was in a friendly country, I could be back home within a week or two, but if not… well, I needed to know as soon as I could which scenario that I was now in.

Seeing I was in the middle of a park of some kind that was surrounded by enormous and almost glistening buildings, I thought for a moment that I was in Central Park… or at least the version of it before all the wars and gangs had burnt it nearly to dust, but there were still too many small differences. ‘Maybe Germany?’ I wasn’t sure, but before I could process my location further, I heard some machines begin to whir to life. So, as a precaution, I jumped into a nearby hedge that I had spotted to use for cover. Until I was sure where I was, being overly cautious seemed like the right course to take.

From my concealment, not long after, I then heard some shrieking from nearby. Repositioning myself, I saw the homeless man that had gotten sucked into the portal before me. “Jesus! Put me out! Put me out!” The man was running around and panicking as his clothes continued to smoke all around him. I could even begin to see parts of his skin underneath where the clothing had melted or had burned through completely. I wanted to reach out and help him, but the machine whirring only intensified, and soon, two masked and armed individuals approached him.

I couldn’t hear their muffled voices, but they quickly calmed the man down and doused the smoke emanating from his clothing. They seemed kind, tall perhaps, but non-threatening. Or that was at least… until they shot him in the neck with some sort of tranquilizer and then hauled him away. I almost shouted for the man to watch out as I saw the assault coming, but I quickly silenced myself. Seeing what I just did, combined with the other victims, now alerted me to the fact that I was likely not in a friendly country.

I hid behind the hedge for a while longer and calmed myself down from what I had just witnessed and the realization over how screwed I just might be now. Still though, once I had normalized myself a little more and the figures had seemingly disappeared, I marveled at what I was seeing around me. Everything seemed so much bigger. Roots, trees, bushes, flowers, and even blades of grass now all appeared to be almost twice their normal size.

In an almost post-apocalyptic world, the more studious like myself knew that there were all kinds of new wonders and horrors to behold. Science and war gone amuck had changed many things and the rumor mill was always working overtime to fill everyone’s heads with the strange and unusual of our new world outside the relative safety of the protected lower sections of the city. In truth though, I and most others hadn’t left the confines of the city in over ten years now. It just wasn’t safe anymore to do that quite as freely, but I always wondered how the rest of the country or world was truly getting along. Based on what I was seeing now, other countries seemed to be doing much better and were now even experimenting with size. ‘Lucky…’

I had seen the shows before the wars that always seemed to advertise and brag about having the world’s largest of something, and I knew vegetation was no exception to these previous boastings by a long shot. Even my neighbor growing up had once boasted about seeing a pumpkin that was even larger than him, so I reckoned that I was now just seeing the same here. Like before though, what I saw next made me question everything I had ever known.

I was sitting against one of the trees and trying to wait for the lights to dim to signal that the figures had truly moved off, but I quickly discovered that I was not the only one in that forested patch of land. I heard what sounded like scratches coming from above my head. Fearing the worst, I picked up a stick and backed away from the tree. I was ready to defend myself against anything… or so I thought.

The scratches grew with intensity until they finally halted, but a creature bounded from behind the tree and stared right back at me. Now, normally, I was pretty good with animals, but I realized after that point in my life that I was only good with animals that I had been familiar with beforehand. The squirrel now before me, however, was not familiar to me in at least one critical aspect.

While it still had its pointy ears, deep eyes, and trademark bushy tail, I couldn’t get over its sheer size. While still smaller than me, most squirrels were scarcely longer than my arm, tail included. This one eyeing and crouching before me, was at least twice the size of a normal squirrel. The body itself now measured almost two feet long and the tail added at least almost another foot and a half. It now looked more like some weird dog than a squirrel, but it couldn’t be anything else. My mind soared with the possibilities, but my instincts were at the helm now.

With my single stick, I thrashed it about in front of the creature before me. It held a single nut, one that was at least three inches long when it should have been only one or two at the most and stood its ground. I then knew that I had to defend my ground and fend off this animal. The stick wasn’t much, but it proved effective, and the animal quickly scurried away. Unfortunately, the commotion caused the previously far away and almost leaving masked figures to come and check out my hiding spot. Seeing them get closer, I dove into one of the larger bushes and clutched my stick to my chest, praying that they wouldn’t notice me.

“Anything?” the far one asked, as they adjusted their uniform’s belt.

“No. Not a thing. Just a squirrel I think,” the one doing most of the investigating replied.

“That’s a shame.” I heard the disappointment seep through her voice. “HQ noted that more should have come through the portal from where we positioned it. Our spies over there were very clear about that being a prime location.”

“So what?” the one closer to me asked. “A few less for us to have to bag.”

“So what?” the woman asked annoyedly, her badge showing a series of squiggled lines and words I couldn’t read. “Geez, Ralph. You sure you’re a middle? You act so much like a Little sometimes.”

“Aw, don’t say that Bevy,” Ralph said back with dismay. “You know my grandmother was one, but I’m just a smidge on the shorter side. That’s all. Nothing wrong with my head.” He then paused for a moment, before adding, “Honest.”

“Hmph!” Bevy scoffed. “Not sure if I believe that, but anyways, HQ said that another came through the portal as well. Not the numbers we were expecting, but they need all of them to test out their theories. You know their policies for people who fail them, and we definitely don’t want another one who escaped. That type of failure only has one punishment.”

I then heard Ralph gulp and I could hear the panic wrap tightly around his next words. “Uh… then we need… uh, to put out an alert in this area. Right now!”

Bevy sighed. “Geez. There you go again… idiot! A Little alert could screw everything up and alert everyone to what is happening. You know this job isn’t above board or anything like that. That’s why we need to find the other lost Little in the first place! There are already rumors going around in this town. We don’t want to be the ones to break it that they’re more than just rumors.”

“Oh… I guess we just gotta keep looking ourselves for them then. Maybe over by those other bushes?” Ralph suggested. “Or we could reach out to our contact in the police…”

“Hmmm….” Bevy mused. “Maybe not so much like a Little after all. Come on! We’ve got to keep searching!”

I saw Bevy and Ralph begin to walk away. Both seemed enormous and I wondered if they had ever played professional sports before all this, but I then shook my head and knew I had to get to the root of all this rather than focus on the more trivial aspects of what I had just witnessed.

Now, I knew I was clearly the person they were looking for, but what was a ‘Little?’ Or for them… a ‘Middle?’ I felt like I now had more questions than answers, but I had one of my questions answered rather quickly from all that; this was verifiably not a friendly territory to me. So, knowing that information, it helped push me forward and out of their search area. I needed to find someone friendly and fast. ‘Maybe the embassy still exists over here?’ It was a long shot, but it was something that I could at least try to aim for.

Walking discreetly out of the centralized portion of the park, I dove under and took advantage of many of the boulders, bushes, and underpasses of the area. I was immensely confused with why this area still looked so much like Central Park, but I knew I had bigger concerns, so I began to whisper to myself to try and make sense of everything going on.

“Super confused, but I’m definitely in another country of some sort. Ralph and Bevy’s uniforms screamed tech company, but their badges and symbols, though I’ve never seen them before, seemed more on the government side.” I didn’t like that, but my whispering was helping me process everything I had seen better. “I’m somewhere else, but where? The park is almost exactly like Central Park was, but I must just be imagining that. I need to see more buildings to get my bearings. Ugh! A map would be so helpful right about now!”

I just kept walking and then decided to stop whispering to myself when I began to hear the buzz of traffic and nearby people. It was enough to distract me from the oversized benches and enormous footpaths I encountered along the way, but finally, I dove into another hedge alongside the sidewalk and decided to overserve the people walking around me. I needed to know more about where I was, and I knew that the language of the more common and everyday people was a perfect way to do that.

So, finally, after crawling stealthily through the bushes by the sidewalk, I came to a nearby newsstand and a trashcan right next to it. I still didn’t want to be seen quite yet, so I made sure to stay out of view of anyone nearby and also made sure that I kept my eyes focused on my next moves rather than anyone else moving about on the sidewalk to the other side of the bushes.

Looking into the trashcan, I easily saw some of the old editions that had been thrown away recently, so as soon as I felt that no one was watching, I made my move and grabbed an old paper bundle to read and figure out where I was. There though, on the front page, was something that I wasn’t sure what to make of.

‘Portal Travel and You: Recognizing the Signs of Portal Breaches from Other Dimensions.’  I stared at the heading and my mind flooded with the further confirmation of even more possibilities. The comic… the strange light… Central Park and the familiar yet strange buildings… it all started to come together, but the picture and heading on the front cover was the most damning evidence of all. The odd orb that I had been sucked into and then spat out of was right there in black and white, and then under the heading, the portal itself was clearly marked as the thing to actively avoid or report right away. ‘Megan Reynolds… portal traveler to another dimension… not simply another country…’

Looking around though, beyond my shock of what had happened, everything began to dawn on me at once as to where I was. This was my city, but it just wasn’t my city exactly. It was the Big Apple, but from a different dimension. The trees… the people… everything being so alive… so fresh… The wars and all must not have happened here. This was my world but without all the death and chaos that had plagued everyone.

I was breathless and amazed at what this meant. I, Megan Reynolds, being of actual sound mind and body unlike the others, had entered a dimensional portal and had come out the other side. I wasn’t sure why the others had come out as defective, but I rationalized that I must have been the first to whom the journey had actually been a success. I was the envoy of all of humanity back in my dimension, and I wanted to celebrate this great day! This was…

“Simon!” a voice cried out from my left and beyond the bushes. I peered through one of the bushes to see what was happening and saw an array of people that made me question everything and my approach to this whole situation with being in another and likely dangerous dimension.

Now, I had watched Dr. Seuss growing up, the little animated movies that is, and I was always fascinated by the various sizes of some of their characters all living together. Looking out over the crowds of people now flocking around the street, I could see what potentially looked like three general sizes of people and thought back to those old movies.

The first seemed to be the boldest and well-to-do. Each practically strutted around in the most luxurious of clothing and possessed what I could only fathom was technology far in advance of anything we had. Then, the middle height people seemed like the servers and the general staff of this city. Most seemed to do menial jobs and the like and were neither bold nor intimidated, unlike the shortest group of people. This next and shortest group frighteningly seemed the most submissive, and even more worryingly, the most like me. Then, however, when I thought it couldn’t get worse, I noticed something that chilled me to my core.

While the other two height categories of people seemed to be dressed normally, I began to notice a pattern in the shortest group. Though only applying to maybe 50 to 60% of those I saw, many were dressed in what I could only be described as juvenile clothing. Then, to top it off, many appeared in a similar mental state to the ones who had been taken that I originally had passed off as mere ‘tweakers.’ It was a disturbing sight to see them all, but I was in another dimension after all and had to consider other possibilities as well… ‘Maybe this was just a cultural thing and is normal for everyone?’

Looking back at the relatively small person before me though and the much larger woman stomping after him, I felt an eerie gut feeling that perhaps something more was going on here. Something… more sinister.

“Young man! What do you think you are doing?” she yelled with her hands on her hips at the young man before her who had suddenly stopped and now looked very shy and a little panicked. “I gave you the responsibility of being a big boy, and this is how you treat my kindness? Do you know how many Littles would likely kill for the chance to wear big boy undies again? Do you?”

The young man shook his head in what could only be described as shame. “I’m sorry… I…” He looked around in fear and I had seen that face a thousand times before when I had confronted guilty suspects. He was obviously doing something he wasn’t supposed to and was looking for anything at all that could easily explain it away. “I was chasing a squirrel into the park. I didn’t mean to leave you… I’m sorry.”

His words were so weak… so broken, and then the way he stood reminded me of how my brother looked like when he was five and accidentally broke a lamp in our family room, but I was still so confused. ‘Isn’t he my age? Is he on drugs… or is he mentally handicapped in some way? Is there something more to the ‘tweakers’ I encountered?’  I wasn’t sure at all, but I just pressed closer to find out more.

The woman before me squinted her eyes closely as she looked hard at the diminutive man before her. If this had been any other place than what I could only assume was this dimension’s 59^th street and its normal loud and busy streets, I swore I could have heard a pin drop from 20 yards away. Finally, she spoke. “Hmmm… I don’t know if I fully believe you, but let’s call this a warning. You’ve been so good for me today and I have some more errands to run…” She then bent down and gave him a serious no-nonsense look that I could only scarcely recall from my own childhood. “But this will be your only warning. Don’t make me regret giving you your big boy undies back.”

The relatively shorter man looked absolutely terrified from what I could see in my position in the bushes, but he only nodded and then took her hand as they began to walk off. To say that I was shocked at that moment would have been an understatement. Upon seeing that and what seemed to be almost the normal case for most my height, I opted not to receive my fame and glory for successfully traversing a portal between dimensions. Until I knew more, my safety was far more important.

Walking further, I was elated to find my city back to what I remembered it being when I had been a teenager, but I noticed a few things that began to slightly puzzle or at least disorientate me. Firstly, many of the named streets or items seemed to be different which slightly confused me at first, but I soon got the hang of it with things like the still gratefully numbered streets. Secondly, everything seemed to dwarf me in height. It perplexed me for a moment, but after remembering how that person was treated as a child, I briefly wondered if those my height here were treated as the children our heights seemed to suggest rather than our own mental abilities.

Finally, and thirdly, I only briefly wondered if this was the case, because I also lastly, and maybe most importantly, realized that as perceived children, those my height were treated with the same disregard that some children were back home. It wasn’t anything violent necessarily, but those my height, whom I quickly learned were called ‘Littles,’ were often talked down to or even scolded by those known as ‘Bigs.’ Dishearteningly, I could only compare this relationship to that of a child and an adult. So, when I thought of sharing my story with being a portal dimensional traveler and all, I felt that my story would be played off as just that. It would be a story from a Little with an overactive imagination, or worse, an imagination that only wanted to cause trouble.

Sitting down on one of the large boulders in the park, the sun began to dip behind the almost futuristic-looking buildings. I seemed to almost be in a utopia of sorts, but because of my size and circumstances, I didn’t imagine that I could enjoy any of its seemingly wondrous amenities. Instead, the reality sunk in that I was virtually trapped here and had no current way of getting back. My only hope though was that others had been sent back somehow instead of being just permanently stuck here. It wasn’t much, but it powered me through my worries and then to make an actionable plan. I needed to somehow integrate myself into this society, find out about the portals, and then hitch a ride back home.

Looking around, I waited from behind a bush for darkness to conceal my movements better. Still, the city was still brightly lit in many areas, but I also knew where to spot the cracks in the glowing façade to slip past most and make it out and into the city from the park where I had been hiding. Looking at my singed and melted clothing though, I knew it would be the first thing I needed to change.

So, despite being an officer of the law, I spotted some nearby clothes on a clearance rack. Having grown up in less than reputable time, I had honed a few of the more unsavory skills in my youth. My parents had quickly righted me in my early teens, but the skills were still there. Therefore now, I used those skills to easily blend in with a few of the crowds, cause a distraction, and then snag a few items off the racks arranged outside. Once satisfied and using a dark alley, I quickly changed and threw away my old clothes in a building’s rear dumpster.

The cold air had nipped at my extremities, and I knew that its remnants would be a complete giveaway that I was either homeless, a criminal, or worse yet, a dimensional portal traveler. From what I had seen in that news article, besides unruly Littles, they seemed to be this society’s largest threat. I knew what I had to do then, so I sighed as I looked at my past being so easily shed away, and then further resolved it in myself to keep my singular wallet that I had once stuffed in my now ruined jacket. It would serve as my tiny reminder of my past and my goal for the future. It was all tough, but still, I pressed on and was able to more comfortably blend in now with everyone else in my new clothing.

Now, I had always been short, but I truly felt minuscule compared to everyone else around me. It was an odd perspective to have as being both an adult and yet being on a child’s eye level. Everything seemed so much more intimidating and overwhelming, but it also gave me the further cover that I needed to slip around the city.

So, while I had received several odd looks as I was walking around, I finally found a city directory from one of the more touristy areas. Many of the pamphlets or guides cost money, but I also found several discarded ones on the street that no one seemed to care about anymore, and though it took some time and some concerted effort, I finally found the one I was looking for.

“Littles Group, a place for lost or struggling Littles,” I read aloud once sequestered to another dark alley. Based on what I had seen in this society, I knew that Littles were likely the ones downtrodden here, so I took a gamble that a society with so much technology and seeming wealth would also have shelters in place for them. It wasn’t much, but I didn’t have much either, so it could prove to be a good first step while staying here in this dimension.

The walk took some time and every corner I turned or alley I ventured down, I felt a Big was going to snatch me up in a second. We ‘Littles’ seemed to have no control over anything here, so I only assumed that once captured, I could do little in the way of protest. Plus, whenever a Little did something they weren’t supposed to, each and every one of them suddenly became frightened. Whatever was their punishment, I knew it was something that I didn’t want to experience firsthand, and my nerves were taking a beating with all that in mind. Regardless though, I soon made my way to the Littles Group shelter.

The building was tall and seemingly made for Bigs, but it also contained two sizes of doors at the front. I almost turned away as I saw a Big enter the taller door, thinking it was a trap somehow, but I knew I had few options open to me… I only hoped that the Big was a volunteer. Now, if I was a praying woman, I would have done so right then, but instead, I just hoped about as hard as I could, as the door gave way, and I entered inside the Littles smaller sized door.

Inside, the shelter was just as quaint looking as the outside had been, but now, there were also a row of desks and several seats lining the perimeter of what looked like a lobby. Seeing another Little take a ticket, I quickly copied them and then sat down.

“You smell like burning electronics,” another Little finally said to me after sniffing my arm.

I looked over at the commenting Little next to me and was face-to-face with a woman whose hair was done up in pigtails. I didn’t know what to say, but I finally spat something out to maintain my cover as a native to this dimension. “Yeah… sorry about that. Electronics of a Big burst over me as I was getting here. Should go away soon…”

I saw another Little scoff at my made-up story, but the pig-tailed Little just nodded and went back to reading a tiny book in her lap. Not having wanted her to cause a fuss in the first place, I was satisfied with my encounter with her and then eased back into my chair.

Looking around, I saw several varieties of us Littles and several brochures for the help and care of them. Before I could check anything out any further though, my number was called.

“Number 98!” a Big woman then called from the side. I quickly stood up and raised my hand, at which she only smiled and ushered me into the back of the shelter and into a small office off to one side.

I followed her nervously, still thinking that all this was a trap, and I guess she could quickly tell as much when she sat down at the desk now across from me. I took a seat as well and she cleared her throat. “I know you’ve probably gone through a lot to get here, but I just want to assure you that I want to do all in my power to help you out. No judgement or relocation services here.”

I smiled and nodded like I knew what she was talking about, and she then went about typing some things into her computer. I wanted to ask what ‘relocation services’ meant, but I thought it would make me stand out as an outsider, so I just remained quiet as she clacked away on her keyboard.

A few minutes later, she began asking me the usual questions, but even then, I struggled with most of them, the most obvious being my name and where I was from. “Name?”

“Uh… Megan…” I racked my brain for a last name that wouldn’t give me away, but then I wasn’t sure if I would remember it or not in the far-flung future. I had no way of knowing how long I would be here, but I also realized that this was another reality, and no one was looking for me per say. I may have been a criminal of sorts in their eyes being a Little and portal traveler, but I also knew that my name wasn’t going to be on any wanted poster anytime soon, so I sighed and answered back fully. “Megan Reynolds.”

She nodded and continued her typing, but then got a funny look on her face. “You’re new here, aren’t you?”

I internally screamed and began to panic. I had been here less than a day, and they were already on to me, but I tried to keep my outward reserve intact and tried to play it off as I had just come here from only another part of the country. Not knowing this place and having already seen the names were a bit different, I tried to keep my answers as vague as possible. “Uh… yeah… just arrived.”

She nodded slowly. “I figured as much. We’ve been getting so many new Littles to this city looking for work or more lenient work conditions. New Eboracum was designed for such an influx of course, but it’s also hard to know which of you are runaways or just migrants.”

“Runaways?” I asked naively. I knew the question could give me away, but I needed more answers, particularly with those that seemed like they were despised or would be highly punishable if confirmed.

“Probably a migrant then if you don’t know,” she said a little more upbeat to my relief. “Runaways are just Littles who were owned by Big someplace else. They run away from their homes for one reason or another, but it’s all very illegal. The Runaway Littles Act prohibits us from taking any of them in.”

“Oh… definitely not a runaway then,” I said hastily. Her description didn’t sound good, and I had so many other questions, but I had my first real answer and another that I hadn’t even intended to hear as well; runaways are bad in this society and Littles may be viewed as property by some.

“Figured as much from how you look, sound, and act, but I’m afraid we’ll still need to test you on a few things.” She let the statement hang in the air for a second, but then ushered me over to a scanner of some kind. “Just stand still for a minute. Might feel a bit weird, but I just need to confirm a few things. Insurance purposes and all…”

I could feel my heart increase and my mind begin to race at all this. It felt like a trap, but running away would probably have just labeled me as a true runaway in her eyes rather than just a migrant as everything else seemed to suggest. So, with a fair amount of risk, I knew that I just had to risk whatever this machine was, and I silently hoped beyond any measure for a good outcome when she flicked the switch above my head.

All at once, my body began to vibrate, and I felt a near burning sensation course through my bones and muscles. Tiny prickles could be felt along each of my limbs and my head suddenly became heavy and full as if I had suddenly dived down at least 20 feet underwater. It was uncomfortable to say the least, but to my relief, it quickly ended.

The Big woman then smiled gently down at me. “Perfect, sweetie. You passed the test. Memories are fully intact, language and verbal skills are non-affected, limbs appear normal and maybe even trained, and your bladder and bowel seem to have no degeneration whatsoever!”

I managed to smile to convey my relief of the good news, but her statement also chilled me to the bone. It shouldn’t have surprised me from what I had seen so far in this world, but to actually test for them felt like a whole new level of wrong. I was happy I passed, but I was far more worried than ever if those factors would ever even be in consideration for the classification of a Little. I knew right then that I needed to get out of this dimension as soon as I could.

After a few more rounds of questions and more entering her computer, she fortunately turned back to me and smiled. “Well, it seems we have a few places for you to check out and then move into. They may not be the temples of New Columbia, but they should do nicely as a place to start here in the city.”

“Thank you,” I responded meekly.

“You’re very welcome, honey,” she said with a sickly-sweet smile across her face. “I hope you do well in this city, but you can always come back if you need any more help… job or otherwise.”

I nodded and then took my new ID card that she had just printed out and thanked her for her time. I saw the word, ‘immigrant’ stamped onto the top of the ID, but I was at least relieved that I was right that this place was a ‘no questions’ type of facility, at least in the ways that could get me caught. Still, even counting my own luck here, I also saw that the shelter was rife with obstacles for Littles who were less lucky. As I exited out the side door, to my left, I saw just how much worse it could have gone and breathed a sigh of relief.

There, in a backroom of the facility, was a string of Littles… all pacified and to my utter horror, diapered and most who just seemed to drool on themselves. Nearby, a slew of matronly women attended to them and then began to load them into an almost school bus-like vehicle that was labeled as ‘Littles Relocation Services.’ In an instant, I knew that they had likely failed the tests that I had just passed myself. They were likely runaways and as the doors closed behind me, I began to truly take in what was at stake here in this dimension being a Little myself.

I was deemed a Little, not regressed, but still a Little. My rights were curtailed, and I would be doomed to forever be regarded as nothing more than a child in this society. Now, I will admit that I enjoyed my childhood, but there were certain aspects back then that I also couldn’t stand; the biggest issue being my lack of independence. It was enough to strike a deep pit in my stomach, and I now knew that getting home could very well be my only salvation. How, when, or even where were still all in question, but I knew that I had to try at least. For now, though, how successful I would be in my endeavors and avoiding capture had to be my top priority. So, with a sigh, I headed off into the dark of the city that I now had to call my home.

[Kat5]

You're doing GREAT and this just incredibly compelling!

[Guilend]

OMG that chapter was amazing. 

I expected the whole, she arrives in some facility and they grab her and go from there. Which is how several other stories go. So I was curious on what you wrote from that point forward like how she escapes and how "damaged" she'd be. But wow, you was amazing.  The way she noticed her surroundings, her thought processes was all spot on.

It's difficult to surprise me when it comes to any form of storytelling, but I don't think I've come close to ever figuring out your stories at least till the last leg of the journey. With some of your earlier work I could reasonably predict the ending just because it is the DD and it's the happiest ending that can happen, though I can never tell from the beginning how bad the Little will be by the end. But the journey to get to the end is always unpredictable. Now with story I haven't a clue how it ends. There's literally only two main roads, she escapes back to her dimension or she doesn't. What makes this interesting is the possibilities surrounding each road or path is countless possibilities. If she gets back home will she be immediately "arrested" and hide her, does she go into hiding, or is she able to get the word out and kind of become famous as the one that "saved" them, though I don't think she'd see it that way lol. 

I'd hate to be in those Mid's shoes right now. I of course was thinking if the same punishment would befall an Amazon that failed their mission and then I remembered the way your society is built, if an Amazon was doing the same job as those Mids, chances are they're not in good graces with their superiors so I'd imagine it would be the same punishment. 

I can't wait to see what she does next. In my opinion, she needs to find a hole in the ground near the park. That way when the portal comes back she can make a run for it. It could take a while and she'd need to be stealthy and make sure no one even know she existed to pull it off.

[Panther Cub]

A post-apocalyptic world to a DD world... I love it! This story is so compelling! I can't wait to find out what happens to "Little" Megan!

[Kat5]

I came back to this just to say that I'm enjoying this story that I stayed up to read this chapter after work instead of going to bed.

[LostBBoyBear]

Ugh. Hey everyone! Sorry about the lateness of this posting, but the universe seems to be determined that I not post this story in a timely manner. It seems that while my Thanksgiving holiday was wonderful, my family left me with a nasty but fortunately quick sickness. I could have pushed yesterday to post this chapter, but I was definitely not confident in my editing abilities after my fourth dose of Nyquil of the day. 

Anyways, feeling much better now, so I should be able to continue to post on this story until next week now when I will have another and longer break. I will share more details when we get closer.

Also, some of you have asked about me doing a Patreon, and while I was giving this some serious consideration with three tiers and all earlier this year, I have decided not to puruse this any longer. Beyond some of the changes I would need to make with my writing schedule and another account to manage, I have been following several creators who have been recently blocked. It sadly no longer seems to be a site that us creators in these types of universes can rely on anymore. Many seem to be moving elsewhere now, but I can be confident enough in saying that I will not have something like this until next year at the earliest, if at all.

Regardless, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter!

Chapter 5: Not Fast Enough

I was never the smartest growing up, but I was studious, and I could at least complete a test that was given to me, even if it was difficult. Despite my circumstances after the wars and all the chaos that had followed, I never felt that I was truly in an uphill or no-win scenario when I was given a task of some sort. There were certainly difficulties… my brother was a constant reminder of that, but I was still able to push through each one of them.

This dimension though… I could scarcely know where to begin, but I knew one thing above all else; Littles here were set up to fail. Not in a deadly manner mind you, but in a way that would almost always guarantee them to wind up wrapped in some Bigs arms. Even if they were the strongest, or most studious, or ever vigilant, they all seemed to be destined at some point for one inevitable conclusion. My next-door neighbor, Kelley, that I met when I first moved in was a testament to that very notion.

*              *              *

I had already checked off five of the places that the Big woman from the shelter had given me to check on for a place to live in. While a few were certainly possibilities, many had stipulations that screamed red flags to me, even with my relative newness to this dimension. The top three requirements for living in those nicer places were for all Littles to be diapered or the wearing of a padding of some kind, twice weekly inspections by a co-signing Big of apartment cleanliness, and curfew restrictions. All were doable for sure, once one had surrendered their ego, but each seemed perilously close to Big involvement and ultimate capture toward regression and Littlehood.

So, with much reluctance on one hand, but relief on the other, I had finally found a place where I could feel at least somewhat protected in some regards. The neighborhood could quickly be spotted as one of the older sections and more downtrodden of the city, but the apartment building was at least clean and on the cheaper side due to the previously mentioned negatives. The seediness of the area could almost guarantee police presence, which wasn’t ideal, but they also would likely be too concerned with many of the other glaring problems that they could see here rather than with my singular presence… if I was careful.  

After a quick negotiation with the landlord, I was then given the keys to my apartment in 7B. While I unlocked the door to my new place, I heard footsteps coming down the hallway. “Hello. I’m Kelley,” the twenty-something Little said cheerfully, her ponytail bobbing a little as she did so when she finally made it to the door next to mine.

“Megan. Just moving in tonight,” I replied somberly, still a little unsure if I could really trust anyone while I was here.

“Awesome! We’ll be neighbors and I’m sure we’ll be close friends, but I gotta go!” She then held up a bag. “Can’t let the groceries and all go bad, you know?”

I nodded. “Good to meet you, Kelley. See you around!”

“See ya!” she called out as she then unlocked her door and entered her own apartment.

Satisfied that I had at least been courteous to my new neighbor, I then entered into my own near-Spartan living area in my pre-furnished studio apartment, but still, it immediately felt safe, and I quickly collapsed onto my bed and fell soundly asleep.

Two weeks later, I was working on gathering more information about portals from the local library, which just so happened to be one of the grandest and most advanced I had ever seen. One solid and uninterrupted week in those stacks could likely give me the knowledge for at least two Nobel prizes back home, but I remained diligent in my studies for actually getting back there in the first place. As I flipped the page on one book, I then heard a stumble outside. Fearing the worst, my cop instincts told me I had to look at the very least.

Upon opening the door, there, stumbling about, was Kelley. “Hey there, Kelley. You okay?”

“I’m… hiccup! perfect… Meggy…” she slurred, obviously drunk. “Great day and all! Just got a promotion to be a personal secretary where I work!”

“Congratulations…” I looked around for any signs of a Big. There were none, but she was still taking a tremendous risk out here where others could see her. I shuddered to think of her coming here from wherever she had started her celebrations in this state. “You need to get inside though and keep quiet,” I warned.  

“I…” she thrust her keys forward but missed and fell to the floor.

Sighing, I helped the inebriated woman and my growing-to-be friend back into her apartment and prayed that no one had seen her like this who cared about such things. I had just read an article about the recently discovered affliction of Maturosis in Littles, and I thought it was utter nonsense, but I knew a Big could use it to justify taking Kelley if they saw her like this. It seemed that any hint of immaturity was enough to diagnose Maturosis these days…

A week later I heard a few mumblings coming from outside my door. Being closer to the elevator and staircase, I peeked out my eyehole to the outside and nearly gasped at what I saw; Kelley was being escorted by a large and forceful Big.

“Now Kelley,” the woman began. “You did an excellent job today as my personal secretary, but you’ve been worrying me lately. The incident last week at the bar was very concerning to just start off with.”

Kelley’s head drooped in shame. “Yes, Ms. Katori. I can show you inside as you requested earlier. I promise I’m okay though.”

“We’ll see,” Ms. Katori responded as she followed Kelley inside her apartment.

It was just as I feared, and that Kelley’s drunken state had been noticed by a Big. It was her boss no less and I worried what the future might hold for her as a Little in this dimension. Unfortunately, my fears were confirmed two weeks later.

“It was just one tiny accident, Ms. Katori. Please!” Kelley begged as she was being dragged into her apartment by Ms. Katori. Kelley had made another loud noise outside, so once again, I peeked through my door’s eyehole.

“Silence!” Ms. Katori sternly yelled. “I thought you were a big girl with your panties and your excellent job as my secretary these past few weeks, but I guess I was wrong. Just look at yourself!”

Kelley and I, behind my door’s eyehole, both glanced down at her pants, which were now completely soaked. It had been no small accident, and I could nearly hear the death knell sounding out for her. I knew what was coming and she was my friend, but Kelley was too far gone at this point. I had learned that accidents like these were plenty of justification for a Maturosis diagnosis and immediate termination of any Little rights. My intervention would only serve to group me in with her by now and just doom us both.

“But… but…” Kelley meekly fumbled around and tried to protest.

“No buts!” Ms. Katoria sternly warned as she waved her finger in front of the scared Little’s face. “You failed your cursory period in my employ. Now, I think you can still be my secretary, but I’ll be looking after you from now on. I think you’ll need someone to ensure you’re all nice and dry from now on... during and after work.”

Her cold and vindictive demeanor rankled the tiny life left within my soul still and I hated the woman more than anything, but Kelley, likely knowing her sealed fate, only submitted and the two entered her apartment. I knew that Kelley would only be viewed as a helpless Little forever afterwards once she exited her apartment that night.

*              *              *

That was almost three months ago now, and as I predicted, Kelley was later taken away and her apartment had been rented out to another person. I still saw her occasionally in her stroller with her new mommy around the park, but if she ever recognized me, she had made no effort to communicate as such. Still, she opened my eyes to the truth in this new dimension firsthand. I had shut myself off to most of the world around here by now because of her, but I was also still safe from the extra caution I now exhibited because of her as well.

The whole event with Kelley had also made me curious though, and I had done a little research into where I lived. Since the day Kelley had been taken away, there had been 57 other incidents almost exactly like that one. Of the roughly 300 Littles that lived in my apartment complex, I found out that nearly half had been here for less than two months and that pattern had been on repeat for at least the past decade. Now, having lived here for a little over four months myself, I was now the exception to that general rule.

Still, despite all my challenges, I had made some progress in my new life here. I didn’t have much of a social life, but this could almost have been considered almost as a positive here as there had been police raids on at least two of the four groups I had originally considered joining by now. The police had been looking for signs of Maturosis, and from what I could tell, they had found evidence that at least 60% of the groups had it to some degree. Further regressions and adoptions soon followed from what I could find.

Overall, though, I was pleased with my progress on two other fronts: my investigation into the portals and my job. Due to the shelter, I had been set up as a dishwasher at a local restaurant. It was hard work and the stacks of dishes that often towered over me were daunting to say the least, but it was good work and allowed me to keep to myself most of the time. Plus, my job was made a bit easier due to the technology inherent in this dimension. After my third day here, I knew that even a small amount of their technology making it back home could have changed everything for the better, but at the same time and to my dismay, that wondrous technology here had actually hurt my investigation a bit.

While back home light disturbances were a rarity and easier to find, this dimension almost had too many. Half of my queries were only met with dead ends, rogue scientists, or startup companies experimenting illegally. To say that I had to use caution in my investigations was an understatement, especially after one threatened to shrink me even further. I wasn’t sure if I believed them or not, but I beat a hasty retreat without a second thought. Still, though, one night, I learned some things that were very useful.

*              *              *

The Brillo pads and hot water burned into my skin and my eyes stung from the chemicals used to clean the dishes, but still, all things considered in this new dimension, I had a job. Being a dishwasher at a local restaurant that catered to the hiring of Littles meant that I had a form of security from the Bigs around this area with the management here. While other Littles turned away for fear of being captured in some elaborate scheme by the Big management, I only accepted the job, knowing full well that I could be compensated even more for my willingness to work under such conditions. It turns out, not every Big in this dimension hated Littles.

“Megan! Why are you here so late?” Mr. Morales, the restaurant owner asked with concern as he walked up behind me.

“Sorry, Mr. Morales. We had a rushed order tonight and we got an influx of dishes at the last minute,” I apologized. The job may have been more Little-friendly, but I wasn’t stupid. One or two failures could always add up and I could be out of a job… a prime target I had found for Littles being taken away. “I just wanted to finish these up before I left for the night.”

Mr. Morales smiled in the sort of fatherly way that he did with most of the hard-working Littles that he employed. It downright intimidated or even irritated some, but in a city full of the things I had seen, I saw it as an almost comforting gesture in a way. “I appreciate your hard work, Megan, but I also want you to get your rest. You honestly do more than most Littles that I usually employ. You island folks must sure have a wonderful work ethic, but anyways, you really don’t need to prove anything to me.”

My breath caught for a moment at the story that the shelter had given me as part of my paperwork for a background when I was interviewing for jobs. I wasn’t the biggest fan of it, but it seemed to satisfy most nosy Bigs. “Thank you, Mr. Morales. I just want to do a good job here, and there were a lot of dishes, so I didn’t want to…”

“Megan,” Mr. Morales interrupted, now looking a little more serious and I briefly worried that I had crossed some line with him, “I’m telling you that you can go home. It’s late enough as it is, and it can be dangerous at night for you Littles. The morning shift can take over the rest like they used to before you came. To be blunt, I’d rather you not complete something now than be taken because of the time…” he then lowered his voice. “The authorities and stricter Bigs are taking more of you all these days for the tiniest infractions. I think they’re looking for someone… it’s those lights in this area. Bad news, they are…”

I nodded calmly to ensure that my inner screaming voice to run wouldn’t show. I knew that I was that person they were looking for, but I also knew that those portals and the subsequent abductions were exactly what I was looking for as well. As it stood, a little over a month in and there had been a dozen or so more sightings since I had arrived… I was just always too late to do anything about them. “Thank you again, Mr. Morales. Please send my thanks to the morning staff as well. I’ll buy them a drink or something,” I said as I began to exit the Itali-themed restaurant.

Mr. Morales waved and smiled widely again. “You are a wonder Megan, but please, get home quickly.” I nodded back and scurried away from the kindly Big.

He gave me hope that other good Bigs existed in this dimension, but I knew that the fear most Littles possessed was very real and justified for the 95% of the population who wasn’t. In fact, it was something I was counting on.

Fear made some people shrivel up, but it also made others scared and talkative if you presented an alternative… which is where I had been coming in. I offered a way out… a way to fight back against the system with only just a question or two answered.

Since I had arrived, I knew that the bright lights, aka portals, were my only way back home. After reading up a bit on them, they seemed to act as doorways of sorts, and like most doors, entry could come from either side. So, I began investigating each new instance of a bright light in my off time as I had done back home. The big difference here though, was that bright lights could be narrowed down to just portals. No hallucinations or odd power outages, but verifiable portals from casual nearby observers, so tracking them down was much easier despite my lack of resources here.

Now, either from pure ignorance of an investigative Little or sheer sloppiness, the agencies that had been taking Littles had left a trail about a mile wide, literally. I had been tracking the portals and Little abductions that seemed to be related, and while I couldn’t exactly see a pattern right now, I knew I was on to something as I viewed the mini map I had purchased and marked with recent bright light sightings. Each night after work, instead of going home, I blended in with the city and then covertly asked others in the areas over what they had seen. It was slow-going, but I was starting to make some progress, as evidenced by the map I now had in my hands.

Walking amongst the crowds, I began to understand more about this society and how, while one attribute could be considered a negative, it was also a positive in some cases. So, today, my shorter Little stature could have been a burden, but it also allowed me to easily slip between Bigs and go mostly unnoticed. The other negative was being a perceived tiny girl and Little around here. It was dangerous, but it had some positives, like…

“You there! Halt!” a Big shouted out from nearby to the crowd before him.

I froze and gazed at the security officer coming up to me, but I also noticed a few other Littles had stopped as well over his generalized order. I had seen this before, and I knew I needed to act quickly. “’Scuse me, officer… my caregiver sent me out to get a dress…” I lied with my more practiced and childish voice. “I want to be really, really pretty for tomorrow’s party, but I don’t want him to get mad at me. Can I please be excused? Please?” I pleaded with my eyes about as wide as they could go. It was humiliating, but I could see the officer’s resolve begin to melt before me.

“Ugh,” he groaned. “Very well. You go on and meet with your Daddy, but don’t let me catch you out here at night by yourself again!”

“Thank you so much!” I cried in my fake persona. For added measure, I even disgustingly hugged the brute’s leg before practically skipping away.

I felt dirty doing that and I made a mental note to try and avoid that officer, if possible, in the future, but I was free for now at least. I had left my fellow Littles back there at his mercy, but I hadn’t sold any of them out and so I could still feel good about myself afterward. Littles selling out Littles had become increasingly common in the past month that I had been here, and it was honestly what forced me to adopt the little girl persona in the first place. It was a desperate measure, but I still needed answers. As I was saying before, being a girl Little around here was dangerous, but it had some perks. As such and rounding the corner, I stopped my tiny skipping as a still free woman in this city and headed for 65^th street.

Once there, I then surveyed the tall older brick building before me that I was searching for on that street. It lacked any doorman or security measures of any kind, a sadly common trait amongst most of the Little dwellings in the city. So, I quickly entered and got away from the enrapturing cold of late November. After a bit of searching, I found the apartment I had been looking for and knocked on the door.

“Yes?” I heard a muffled response from the other side of the door.

“Is this Clara Ulfman? Or does she live here?” I asked, making sure I got the name right from the paper I was holding in my hand now.

“Who wants to know?” the voice asked back suspiciously.

I wasn’t surprised by the rapid and blunt response, but it also made me keenly aware that I had to be cautious with this interview. “I’m just a fellow Little following up on the interview you gave about the strange lights.” I sighed. “I believe you and I think they’re happening more now.”

There was a momentary pause and the door then opened wide, revealing a pale and almost gaunt woman before me. Pretty in a way, but the years of panic, distrust, and relative isolation had started to catch up to her. “I’m Clara but, why and what do you want to know? Are you part of the paper or something? The government?” Her nose had flared angrily as she had asked that last question.

I shook my head in hopes of calming her direct line of questioning to me. “No, ma’am. I just wanted to know what you knew about the bright lights you mentioned here from two years ago.” I then held up the paper I had found in my research at the local library of past instances of similar bright lights. Seeing the full-length article had been written by a Little no less, I knew she was worth interviewing.

Clara then eased up and sighed heavily. “Worst mistake of my life, but come on in. Let me show you firsthand.” I nodded and then followed the graying-haired lady into her home and shut the door and the chilly air behind me.

Her apartment was similarly sparse to mine, but also looked much more lived in. It smelled strangely musty in some places and like beef stew in others, which made sense once I had seen the pot cooking on her stove. Clara then pointed to a map to the side of her room. “Look here. I think you’ll find what you want here.” I looked over and was amazed by the research laid out before me.

Like back home with the research that I had done before, her findings were only confined to the city’s limits, but it was still more extensive than I had originally imagined. I suspected that unlike my lack of communications technology or resources, her boundary limitation was likely more the result of being a Little and somewhat of a shut-in now here. “Are all these incidents of the bright lights you mentioned in the article from two years ago?”

Clara nodded. “Been going back for years, and I even found mentions in other parts of the world like Honshu or Catalon, but you know those places… they tend to bury the news or call it ‘fake’ when they don’t like it. This here is everything I’ve gathered until about three months ago.”

I nodded my head over her timelines and research, but I also wasn’t completely sure about those countries yet and didn’t say anything about them for fear of giving myself away. So far, my research into the geography of this world consisted more of me discovering places to ‘go to one day’ and ones that I ‘should avoid at all costs if I valued my life.’ Honshu and Catalon were always categorized in the latter of those two classifications. “Is there anything else you can tell me about the bright lights?”

Clara nodded. “Yes. In fact, it’s happening again and more often now as I’m sure you’ve already guessed, but I’m not sure if you’ve been tracking another stat as well.” I shrugged my shoulders and she then shuffled through a few papers stacked high on her dining room table. “Ah. Here it is,” she exclaimed softly as she unearthed a single stack of papers. “Started keeping track of these when I noticed the pattern two years ago right before I published that news article.”

I then took the papers when she offered them to me and noticed a list of about 946 names. “What are these?” I asked, looking back up at a weary-looking Clara.

She then grimaced. “They’re the lost ones, dear. After each bright light, there’s a slew of disappearing Littles.” She then paused and held up her finger before I could ask a single question. “Before you ask though, yes, I checked to see if they had been adopted. No such luck I’m afraid, and in fact, I can’t find them anywhere and ruled out migrations or deaths as well. They just… vanished, and all right after the bright lights. If the bright lights have returned and continued their pattern, I suspect more Littles will have just vanished as well.”

I looked back in horror at all the names listed, front and back of the papers I had been handed. It didn’t even cover the past three months, but it was still devastating to see all the names in one place. It didn’t take long though for me to recognize one of the names from one of the ‘tweakers’ that had been found again last year back on Earth. From that one name, I knew that I had my connection. “Thank you… this is so much.” I managed to keep my emotions steady and readjusted myself back into detective mode. “So, can I take a picture, or…?”

Clara then shook her head. “Take it. Take it all,” she said remorsefully. “Maybe it will do you some good, but I want no part of whatever this is anymore. It’s cost me too much, so just leave me out of this mess. It’s yours now.”

I nodded hesitantly, quickly gathered the papers, maps, and other bits up that she had collected over the years, and then walked out her front door before turning back to her. “Thank you, Clara. You have no idea how much this helps me.”

Clara smiled but then gravely nodded her head with a still sad look in her eye. “I’m glad, but just be careful of all this. We Littles aren’t as safe as we once were. Something is happening out there…” With that, she then closed the door, and I wondered what I had just tumbled into the middle of with all this.

*              *              *

So, here I am, once again after work and trying to investigate the portals more. I often thought back to Clara’s words that night a few months ago and wondered if I should even continue and possibly risk my freedom, but I still plugged ahead and appreciated the research she had handed off to me as well. It had tremendously sped up my own investigation and even filled in some gaps, but I was still in the dark about the source of all these bright lights. I had learned so much, but I knew I was still no closer to finding out what was truly going on.

I sipped my tea and stared at Clara’s map that I had added to my bedroom wall like back home since then. The bright lights felt too focused to be random, but not centralized enough to form a pattern that I could see. It had taken all my skills and determination to keep my hope alive with this investigation, but I knew that I was getting close and that I would probably find something soon. Unfortunately, in retrospect, right at that moment, I needed to head to the store before it closed for the night.

So, I bundled up against the wintry January air, and exited my apartment. It was even a pleasant walk and the trees seemed to bristle in the breeze all around me. The decorations of wreathes and candles for this society’s festivals of Saturnalia were just being taken down and left the city feeling emptier and more somber somehow, but it also was all now so peaceful… that is until I saw one cop harassing a Little just up ahead of me and about half a block from the store I was headed to.

Now, I had been a cop for seven years prior to all these portal incidents, in which time my instincts and drive to serve others had not dimmed in the slightest. I may have been more cautious in some scenarios than I once was when I was a rookie myself, but when I saw an injustice, I still wanted to correct it… even in this world. My instincts learned here told me to just walk away, but my instincts as a cop and defender of others still flamed hot.

“Where are you going, Little one? Your mommy or daddy must be worried sick about you,” the tall police officer taunted the Little before him.

“Please, sir… I just wanna go home,” the rakish red-headed woman sputtered out beneath him.

“Hmmm…” he pretended to think on it. “Nope! Don’t think so! It’s way past the bedtime of someone so weak… so young. I think you’ll be coming with me instead.” He then reached down and grabbed her by the arm and started to yank her away.

My hatred for most of these Bigs only seemed to grow by the day, and I guess it had reached a boiling point by now. I knew that people like Mr. Morales existed, but they were more the exception than the rule. So, when I saw him grab this meek and frail fellow Little, I couldn’t hold back anymore, and my instincts learned here were overridden by my need to protect others. “Hey! Stop that!” I then ran up to the two.

Reluctantly, the cop let her go, and she fell to her knees, but he then stared right back at me and almost seemed to growl. “Just walk away. This doesn’t concern you, Little.”

I knew I was already in it now and he would likely just call me in before doing who-knows-what to the red-headed Little that still trembled below him. “No,” I said as I stood my ground. “I can see what’s right and what’s wrong. You were hurting her.” I then bent down and helped the Little back to her feet. “There you go. Easy does it.”

“T… thank y… you…” she managed to say.

I smiled weakly and pointed back toward the more crowded parts of the city that I knew were safer. “It’s okay, but you need to get out of here.” She hesitated, so I only reemphasized my pointing. “Go. Now!”

The red-headed Little let out a tiny yelp at my raised voice but then understood what was happening here and scurried off and out of sight. While I was glad that she was gone, I nervously turned back toward the now-fuming cop. “Look… I’m sorry…”

“Shut it!” he barked angrily. “ID! Now!”

I had seen the same fury in myself in the mirror before in these types of situations and I knew I was in trouble in some form just with how he looked. How much remained to be seen, but I quickly reached into my clutch I always had on me since coming here and pulled out my ID in compliance. “Here you go, officer.”

The clearly seasoned officer squinted at my ID, but my stomach dropped when a crooked smile then grew across his face. “Out of town and shelter ID, eh?” I nodded. “Well, that’s too bad… for you. This is clearly a violation of our laws here.”

I panicked and briefly wondered if the ID was somehow a trap for Littles. “Is there something wrong with my ID, officer?”

He shook his head but still smiled in the most unsettling of ways. “No, Little lady, but you just committed a crime, and this ID only makes it worse.”

I racked my brain and tried to think of every possibility of what had just occurred. I knew I was in another country and dimension entirely, but the only wrong I could find was with the officer now accusing me of a crime. “I’m not sure if I follow… what did I do wrong?”

His smile only sickeningly grew larger. “That’s the problem with all you Littles. You all are coming here from some damn island or mountain community, and you have your own uncivilized laws.” I gulped as I knew I was about to hear just how much I had screwed up. “You, young lady, are an immigrant according to this ID, which means that some laws apply more so to you than a native Little. For instance… you just aided and abetted a fugitive Little. She was a runaway and that already carries a steep fine, but you’re also a migrant here…” He then looped his fingers into his belt, likely to assert his authority in this situation, and sighed. “I’m afraid the penalty for such an action will be steep as a result in accordance with the bill passed just last year.”

My mind felt scattered and my stomach as if it wanted to heave the small dinner I had while at work earlier in the day. I thought back to all the ‘tweakers’ I had found back on Earth and all the missing Littles here from the list that Clara had given me. I wasn’t necessarily going to be one of them, but I didn’t like the sound of what this officer was implying at all.

“Now,” he continued, “are you going to cooperate, or is this going to get really nasty?” I stared around and he saw my eyes scanning the area. “Please, make a move. Just give me an excuse,” he threatened as he lightly tapped his right side containing what I knew to be his collapsible nightstick and taser.

I knew he had me at that point, and to most around here, I was just another Little… not the former cop or woman all alone and trying to get back home. Here, I was just another number to be taken away by the police for not much more than being a Little and trying to help another one out from a corrupt law. So, knowing there was no way out and that resistance only meant steeper punishments, I just held my hands out before me. “I’m not resisting. Take me in if you feel justified.”

The cop’s face clearly showed his dislike for my peaceful action, and despite a little grumbling, he quickly cuffed me and led me back to his squad car that I could now see in the distance.

Oddly enough, looking down, I could see that he had restrained me, but they also weren’t the traditional pair of handcuffs either. Instead, they were heavily padded around the wrists and looked like something one would find more in a mental institution than as part of a cop’s everyday carry. Still, I was at least thankful for their comfort.

Not long after he had made his arrest, where I also noted that he hadn’t spouted any of my rights, he opened his side door and pushed me inside. “You’re going make someone very happy very soon. For now, though, you just stay right here and don’t…”

“Hey, Jake! You go out and arrest someone again without me?” a voice asked from the other side of the car. “I was gone, what? Eight minutes and you…” I then saw a sandy-haired officer peer down and look right at me in the back seat. His face immediately dropped. “Oh, hello there. Thought you were…” His face then quickly turned into a scowl, and he popped back up to look at his partner. “Jake… a minute?”

I could hear Jake groan heavily, but it didn’t take long for the two officers to clearly get into an argument off to one side of the squad car. It only took a second for me to understand that it was about me, but it also gave me time to think about my future now. Here I was, cuffed and in the back of a squad car and ready to be transported to who knows where. My investigation had taken me far, and while home was still far away, my hopes immediately dropped further as I realized that my real home was about to become even more distant from wherever I was going next.

[Panther Cub]

WOOOO!

Go Megan! I mean, I can't wait for her to end up in padding, but still! You go girl!