The CONtingency: A Diaper Dimension Story (Chapter 19 - Complete)

[Kat5]

8 minutes ago, LostBBoyBear said:

I really wanted everyone's imagination to fly

How wildly are we allowed to let our imagination roam? Because Mine already has them being sent to an alternate dimension of giant sheep and having to live as shepherds for a while, dealing with obstinate sheep getting into everything.

Oh, or their punishment varies based on strictness. So Samantha has to live in a nunnery for like three months, and Chelsea they just spank her crosseyed and ship her off to work in a small room taking paper, shredding it, processing it, and making it back into paper, only to have to shred it and so on and so forth for a solid year just to see if it breaks her sanity.

Again, some of us have no control over their imagination.

... I wonder if their high tech has enabled them to make a blender that can actually blend cheese without doing that air gap thing every thirty seconds where you have to turn it off and shake it silly to make it move again.

[Guilend]

25 minutes ago, LostBBoyBear said:

implied what it could be a few times

Implied? Lol I have to read it again because I totally missed it lol

And my imagination flew away before the end of the first book lol

13 minutes ago, Kat5 said:

Chelsea they just spank her crosseyed and ship her off to work in a small room taking paper, shredding it, processing it, and making it back into paper, only to have to shred it and so on and so forth for a solid year just to see if it breaks her sanity.

Ooh, and they don't let her have a clock. She just works till she can't and eats when she's hungry, but can't take long breaks. The only way she can tell the days passing is every Friday she gets a maintenance spanking. Of course after a month or two they start coming in at random days for her maintenance spanking making her question her sanity and what day she thinks it is. Eventually driving her mad that she just gives up and regresses into an infant.

[Kat5]

11 minutes ago, Guilend said:

Eventually driving her mad

I'm still leaning toward shepherd dimension, but to my mind that's definitely an option.

[Guilend]

31 minutes ago, Kat5 said:

I'm still leaning toward shepherd dimension, but to my mind that's definitely an option.

Absolutely. Though in my version they have to wear diapers because there's no bathrooms out where they have to be with the sheep lol

[LostBBoyBear]

Oh wow, do you all have some active imaginations! I think I would actually read a story about the sheep dimension, but alas, that’s not where this story is headed. I think everyone will be happy with where all this is going, but for now, check out the end of the trial. I combined two chapters to make this one up, but I’ve also added a few chapters later on.

Regardless though, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter!

Chapter 6: Why Did You Follow and What Do You Render?

I must have stared outside my window for at least an hour last night. I was just picturing all the ways that I could have escaped from my room and then fled my current life before I had to go back to the academy. Don’t get me wrong here, I care deeply about everyone in this house and Samantha as well, but I was going to be forced to go to another interrogation tomorrow, and that scared the living shit out of me.

As it stood, I already felt fearful without the presence of my nightlight in the corner of my room whenever Oppy turned off the lights for the night. She had started coming in to make sure I was good for the night and to ensure I was still ‘safe and protected’ as she put it after the interview 43C. It was a kind gesture, but it also embarrassed me to no end at first. I was a man… an adult. I shouldn’t have needed a granny to check under my bed or ensure that my nightlight would work, but she persisted, and now, I wasn’t sure if I could go to bed without her tender extra touches each night. Her gestures and Stripe helped me greatly, but I feared for my life if I should receive the same treatment again. There’s only so much you can take from someone before they snap completely.

But I stayed. I was a good boy for my new family, and I also realized that leaving didn’t make sense at this point from a variety of standpoints. Now, I just prayed that I could bring Stripe in with me to my interrogation and that somehow today would be different. Maybe whatever happened to Mr. Jameson would have been a deterrent enough from something like that happening again to me, but I was basically still a bundle of nerves the entire morning even when I left my room. Everyone noticed as they loaded into the car and Harriet even took to holding my hand when we separated from the group to be ready to enter the judge’s chambers for my next interrogation as part of the trial.

Fortunately, we were still early, and Harriet was good with Littles. Despite my lack of regression, I had taken a bit of a hit and was more like a Little than I cared to admit when I was stressed out in particular. Sensing something might have been off, Harriet pulled me to the side and out of sight of others nearby and crouched down in front of me. “Hey, Percy. I know you’re probably really scared right now, huh?” I quickly nodded my head and squeezed Stripe tighter. “Well, it’s going to be okay. I’ll be right outside the door the whole time, and you scream bloody murder if something goes wrong. Academy position or not, I will come rescue you if that ends up happening, okay?”

I was still a bundle of nerves, but her reassurances did help me a little and I appreciated the bond that had grown between us since she had discovered my lack of regression before. “Okay… Thank you, Harriet.” I then squirmed a little on the spot, and she gave me a curious look.

“Honey… you’ve been really scared today… and that’s perfectly okay.” She then seemed a little hesitant. “Uh… is it possible you may have been too scared?”

I was really confused to what she meant, but I could then tell that she was trying to protect my feelings or dignity right at that moment as her eyes quickly gestured down to my crotch. “Oh…” She was asking about the state of my diaper. “Ummm…” I squirmed a little more and felt a slight squish. “I think so… I’m sorry…”

Harriet smiled and rubbed my shoulder. “That’s okay… No need to apologize, but let’s get you changed. We have a few minutes still and I’m sure the judges will understand regardless.” She then stood back up and took my hand while leading me to the nearest restroom.

Due to my recent encounter with interview 43C and my subsequent accidents, I was sadly no stranger to following women anymore into their restroom. At first, being the guy I was, I almost had an odd curiosity about the place that had only existed in rumors to me beforehand, but this curiosity had soon been replaced by embarrassment. Today was no exception.

Fortunately, Harriet was both efficient and mindful of who I was and the situation she had at hand. “Okay, Percy. I’m going to make this real quick,” she noted as she pulled the strap over my midsection, for ‘just in case’ scenarios, as she put it at least. “Before we start though, I think it might be best if we use a… normal diaper instead today. You can always change back, but for your interview…”

I quickly held my hand up to stop her. It would have been quite the scene for any other Big to walk in on with the Little handing out orders to his diaper changer, but we remained gratefully alone today. “It’s okay,” I then reassured Harriet. “I understand… do what you think is best, but just please try and be quick. I’m still… uneasy about all this.”

Harriet nodded and proceeded with my change as had become routine on some of the days over the past month. Oppy had picked out my clothing and Harriet had a bit of a challenge sliding off my formal pants and ensuring my button up shirt and suspenders were out of the way, but she finally managed it and changed my diaper without too much more incident. I still hated being naked in front of any beautiful woman like this, but at the same time, I knew that I had a new reality to contend with. Being changed into a fresh diaper by a beautiful woman, despite being stripped down and the acknowledgement of their use, was almost always preferable to being viewed by a beautiful woman in a used diaper that didn’t get changed. Caveats like that felt like they were starting to distressingly become a larger presence in my life now.

Regardless though, the change soon concluded and after a thorough hand cleaning by both of us, me using a provided stepstool from under the sink, we then left and waited outside the judges’ chamber’s door. My new current diaper annoyingly reminded me of the one I first wore when I came to this dimension and like then, I had to adjust my walking stance a bit. Soon though, I got the hang of it by the time I sat down on the bench outside while Harriet and I waited. Soon however, the door opened and the bailiff from yesterday exited.

“Percy Miter?” he asked. I nodded. “Good. Follow me. Miss Harriet may wait here and collect you when this is over.”

I didn’t argue and after a callback to Harriet because I stupidly and absentmindedly almost forgot Stripe, I then proceeded to follow the bailiff inside. I gave one last wave to Harriet, and she gave me a simple thumbs up in support. It wasn’t much, but I appreciated the gesture as I tried to gather that hopeful energy up in the pit of my soul as the large bronze doors to the judges’ chambers’ lobby closed with a thud.

“This way,” the bailiff gestured toward the center of the five doors before me now. “They are waiting…” I nodded and then walked past the bailiff and into the room.

Immediately, I realized that today would not be the same as it was before. There was no highchair and Mr. Jameson was gratefully nowhere to be seen. In fact, I only saw Judge Hawthorne, Judge Grossman, and one other man in the room. From his pristine charcoal suit, I recognized him as another investigator, and I began to worry a little over all the unknowns that could occur now with these new circumstances.

Each of them then stared at me silently for a moment, but the investigator spoke up first right after the doors had fully closed behind me and the bailiff had left. “Take a seat, Percy, and please, don’t be nervous.” I could only nod my head at that time and shakily walk over and take my seat in front of them. The seat was definitely elevated off the ground, so I had a little trouble getting into it, but I also realized that might have been on purpose to throw anyone off their game. Also, as soon as I sat down and faced the three, I immediately felt very small under their gazes toward me.

“Very good. Sorry the chair isn’t a little lower. We take all types of people in here… not just Littles.” I nodded back at the man. “Right. Introductions.” The man then gestured to himself. “I am Investigator Jennings and I believe you have already met both Judge Hawthorne and Judge Grossman.” Again, I just nodded.

“You should know,” Jennings continued as he pointed to the ceiling and to a small camera there, “this session is being monitored by both Miss Stephanie and Miss Taylor. My fellow investigators are just there to observe and ensure everyone’s safety from outside the room. Today is more of an interview than anything, so it should be pretty straightforward.”

“Yes,” Judge Grossman picked up. “We need to know more about you, but I’m not sure I would classify any of this as ‘easy.’ You see Percy, you… well, you are a wrench in our original overall ruling. As you may have guessed, Chelsea’s sentence stands practically as it did before. Samantha though… well…”

“Some of us,” Judge Hawthorne interjected, “are less convinced of her role in everything that went down at the con. Some of us believe that she acted as the academy taught her as well as her Big instincts, while others seem to think that she went beyond the authority that she was given as a recruiter of this academy. Does that make sense?”

My mouth felt incredibly dry, and I think a little part of me was drinking less today in the hopes that my diaper wouldn’t be a problem whatsoever during this interview or the ruling later, but it subsequently took a second for me to spit out any words at all. “I… I think I… I understand.”

Judge Grossman grinned sinisterly as if she was a chef about to butcher an animal for their menu tonight. I really didn’t like her. “You know… I don’t think I can believe a Little like you. After all, you did try to deceive this academy initially when you came in. Most thought you were regressed for a full day until you revealed to Miss Annabell at reception of your true status. Further, it seems you were almost distant to Samantha when you exited the portal… almost accusatory at one point, but now, you’re on her side and defending her? Did you take a bribe from Harriet Beechum?” The blood in my veins seemed to freeze. Even if she wanted me to talk, I wasn’t sure I could, but then she asked the question I just knew and dreaded that was coming. “What about Ophelia Norris, Mr. Miter? Did she offer you a bribe? Maybe to even go back home?”

I panicked. I wanted to leave again. I gripped Stripe as tightly as I could and waited for my moment of weakness to take over and then allow everything to flow out of me and ruin the whole trial and everyone’s lives in a single second. I couldn’t hold out. I was too weak… too much of a broken Little from interview 43C if nothing else. I was a second away from breaking. I could feel my lips begin to part and betray everything that I now held dear.

Fortunately, though, I think Judge Hawthorne didn’t appreciate the insinuations against Oppy himself and he glared over at his fellow judge. “Do you have proof to ask a question like that, Mary? I mean… do you have any evidence of one of our founding members no less? You better have or you will end this line of questioning right now! Don’t push it.”

Judge Grossman glared back at her colleague. “You can’t protect her forever, Bill… but very well.” She then turned back to me, and I could feel a little spurt make its way into my diaper from her icy stare. “Answer the question, Mr. Miter. What changed? Did you man up, grow a conscience, or was it something else?”

Now, off the record, I really wasn’t sure what had changed. I just knew that one day after the interview with Mr. Jameson, I had a different opinion of Samantha. She was no longer the psychotic and kidnapping Big, but just a woman doing her job and who just happened to have feelings for her charge. It wasn’t a big change, but it altered the way I went about everything since then. Unfortunately, my more unstable emotions caught up with me a little bit. I was still frazzled from the whole trial yesterday and Judge Grossman’s initial questions today had thrown me further into the deep end. To my embarrassment, I then felt my lower lip tremble and a few tears begin to cloud my eyes.

“Oh, for the love of all…!” Judge Grossman exclaimed as she saw my wounded form before her. “Just what I expected! A Little who can’t control their emotions. How original… Are you sure he’s unregressed, Jennings? Doesn’t really look like it to me. How can we use him as an expert witness on academy matters?”

Jennings groaned a little, but Judge Hawthorne just seemed to ignore her as he stood up from his chair before grabbing a box of tissues from nearby and then walking over to me. “Here you go, Percy. Just take a deep breath and the box for the future. Just in case.”

I shakily took the box and blew my nose from one of the tissues before looking back at the older and wizened judge. “Thank you…”

Judge Hawthorne smiled. “You’re very welcome.” He then made his way back over to his seat and sat down. “I think we can give Percy here a second, Jennings,” he continued, “but feel free to continue how you see fit. I don’t see any hint of dishonesty from Percy here. So, I don’t need to ask any questions personally today. I’ve seen what I needed to make my decision.”

Jennings nodded to Judge Hawthorne and then leaned forward to glare over at Judge Grossman. “Judge… I deeply respect your opinion and stances, but Percy was subjected to interview 43C. His responses and your attitude to him should be reflective of that.”

“Right…” Judge Grossman rolled her eyes slightly. “Best stuff for all of them really. Cuts through all the lies.”

“How can you say that?” Judge Hawthorne asked angrily in disbelief. “That formula is barbaric and should have been banned at least a decade ago for usage on Littles.”

Judge Gross man scoffed. “You going soft, judge?” she then asked mockingly. “Perhaps it would be better if someone… younger took your place on the bench here instead.”

The judge’s eyes grew fiery with anger. “Why you…!” The two then proceeded to argue amongst themselves for the next few minutes. It gave me the time I needed to calm down, but it was a spectacle to see firsthand.

Finally, though, Jennings yelled out. “Enough!” Both judges stopped and stared at the investigator between them. “Now, will the two of you apologize and we get back to the task at hand? I’m sure Percy doesn’t want to spend all day in these chambers.”

The two then hastily apologized to each other and started to ask several more questions to me. Jennings had to pull them back a few more times, but I answered as truthfully as I could and just tried to push on through as best as I could. Most were simple but a few made me question a few things about back on Earth and this society as well. Still though, I persevered and seemingly made it through all their questions.

Finally, both Judge Grossman and Judge Hawthorne seemed to resign themselves from their questions. Curiously though, Jennings seemed to have one final question on his mind. “Hmmm… I think lastly, I just want you to answer truthfully here to my question. It may have no bearing on this trial whatsoever, but as an investigator, I have often wondered about this myself in other Littles who have come through. Most are like your friends… uh, Ditzy and Derek. Regressed and not fully subject to this line of questioning… so, I want your own take on it.”

I nodded. “I understand. I can only answer as truthfully as I can.”

Jennings smiled. “Excellent! That’s all I ask.” He then looked at a few papers in front of him and then pulled out a single one and held it up. “These are the facts on the drug that was used on you back at the con that affected your mind. You were drugged and that’s just a matter of fact now. There are only three species in the whole universe that we have found which react on a physical level to the drug. Humans are not one of them.”

“What’s your point Jennings?” Judge Grossman asked impatiently.

“Just this,” he said matter-of-factly. “Percy… your mind was foggy, and these courts have long ago established that we cannot excuse one’s mental state for the actions taken, especially if those actions could condemn another. So here is my question… your mind was foggy, but your motor actions were your own. Keeping that in mind, why with so many unknowns did you step into the portal with Samantha?”

‘Shit.’ It had been a question that had plagued my own mind for some time now. Realistically, I kind of just got caught up in the moment at the con, but there was a little part of me that thought it may have been something more. Not really wanting to explain my potentially complicated train of thought today, I came up with the one response that made sense otherwise. “I’m not really sure…”

“That’s fine!” Judge Grossman surprisingly said. When I thought about it though, I realized she must have thought my true answer could have helped out Samantha. For whatever reason, she wanted to speed things along to convict her. “I think we’re done here. Shall we render…?”

“Not so fast,” Jennings quickly interrupted her. “I asked the question. I have the prerogative now. I want to know a real answer to this. Please try again, Percy.” His eyes bore into me as he waited for his answer.

‘Double shit.’ Jennings seemed to be a good guy, but he was pressing at something I really could only guess at right now. Still, he wanted an answer and didn’t seem to be willing to let it go. “Well… I’m not completely sure, but I think it was because my world is hard,” I answered as truthfully as I could. Each of the figures before me looked at me questioningly. “You see… that day, I had a woman that I connected with on some level offer me another world… another life that could be full of the same comfort and love she had shown me at the con where we had met.”

All of them seemed more assured now, but I could tell Jennings wanted a little bit more, so I dug a little deeper. “On Earth, things are tough all over. Some things are easier these days, but other bits are harder than ever. So, when an offer like that comes around, even if it would seem to include diapers, one tends to take that leap of faith of sorts. If it could lead to a better life, I wouldn’t be surprised if more people would take that offer.”

All nodded, but Judge Hawthorne then leaned forward. “I know I said I didn’t have any questions, but now I’m curious… do you regret that decision to come here, Percy?”

I shuffled in my seat but stopped when I heard the subtle crinkling of my real diaper right now and sighed at the reality of it all. “I’ve met some wonderful people here… and some not so wonderful people as well, sir, but I don’t want to lie to you all.” I sighed and knew that if I said this correctly, it would pack a punch in each of them. If I said it wrong however, I could face the punishment of a lifetime. “It’s frankly still too early to know that answer truly.”

I saw all of them stir a little uncomfortably, so I knew I had to act fast, or all this could blow up in my face. “I came with Samantha under dubious circumstances as you all know, but there was something between us. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to see her for more than an hour since I got here. I don’t think anyone could really have that opinion either at this point with keeping that in mind.”

Judge Hawthorne and Jennings smiled a little, but I could also see that Judge Grossman probably wanted to yell at or spank me right then. I made sure not to give her the chance. “I’m not sure what the truth of all this is from her view, but I think Samantha is a good person and I want to know her better in this world. There was a connection that we made in the con and that’s what led me through the portal. That’s not nothing in my book.”

“Nor mine,” Jennings said softly.

“Or mine,” Judge Hawthorne noted as he stood. Everyone, including a clumsily dismounting me, quickly stood as well. “Your candor is most appreciated Percy. Unless I am mistaken, I think that should be all.” Neither Jennings nor Judge Grossman objected.

Jennings noticed and pushed a button in front of him. The doors soon opened, and the bailiff appeared behind me. “Thank you, Percy. I believe the judges should convene shortly and then render their verdict not long after. Stay well.” Each then waved at me and I hastily exited.

Harriet was silent for a moment as she led me back to the rest of the assembled group, but as soon as we both stopped, a flurry of questions was unleashed upon me by almost everyone there. “Are you okay? Did they torture you? What do you think the outcome is? Did you see Hawthorne? Did they trip you up on anything? How’s your diaper? Are you hungry?”

It was all very overwhelming and even backing up against the wall did little to deter them. Fortunately, Oppy was also there. “Enough! All of you. Quiet down. Percy here is entitled to his privacy. As far as the academy is concerned, what happened there is between him and the judges alone. Okay?”

Each nodded and mumbled a defeated “Okay,” before retreating back to their own little spots. I smiled at Oppy, and we all settled down for a moment. I had barely stretched my feet however on the bench there when the courtroom door soon opened as it had yesterday. The judges were already back, and I could tell that Oppy was immediately nervous.

“All rise!” the bailiff announced once more. Then, just like yesterday, the four judges soon entered as I was accompanied by both Stephanie on my side and Taylor on the prosecutions side. Everyone then sat down, and both Chelsea and Samantha reentered the courtroom. To my relief, Samantha looked a little better than how I had last seen her yesterday.

To my surprise, Judge Hawthorne then spoke up. “Today, leading the majority opinion, I will render our verdict.” Judge Grossman looked a little bitter about that but still remained stoic. It felt like good news, but I still couldn’t tell. “For recruiter Chelsea, we find her guilty of all charges, but this court is willing to show her leniency from the affection that can be shown to her by her Littles and therefore, we will only sentence her to protocols 2, 3, and 5.”

Many behind me seemed to murmur and some even gasped. For her part, Chelsea only looked in shock as Samantha tried to comfort her sister. ‘What did those protocols mean?’

“For Samantha,” Judge Hawthorne continued, which soon snapped Samantha’s attention to him, “we find her guilty of only the charge of stealing from the state.” Wickedly, I could see a small smile appear on both Taylor’s and Judge Grossman’s faces. I really wanted to sock both right in the face in that singular moment.

“However,” Judge Hawthorne continued loudly, quickly silencing a few of the murmurs behind me again, “due to recent and solid evidence, we have determined that she will only serve out protocols 6 and 9.” Taylor looked immediately disappointed. “Yes, yes, but due to mitigating factors, this sentence will be dependent on 249. If 249 should fail, they will be subject to protocol 1 and Samantha will then be subject to partial protocol 2.” Judge Hawthorne then banged his gavel. “Case dismissed.”

Immediately, I could feel the odd sensation of both Judge Grossman and Taylor smiling wickedly at me, but I just tried to put them out of my mind and focus on Stephanie and the rest of my new family as the judges and Taylor soon left the courtroom. Concerningly, while Samantha looked relieved at her sentence of the protocols selected for her, she also looked very worried when she saw me. I gave her a thumbs up and she smiled, but I could tell there was something else going on… something I just didn’t get yet.

Right then though, Chelsea seemed to come out of her stupor. “Screw this!” Chelsea then began to struggle as a single guard began to remove her from the stand. “Get your grimy paws off me! Don’t you know who I am? I’ll get all of you! I refuse to go along with this! I’ll get you… ow! Oh!” From my angle, I could easily see a second guard had silently approached her struggling form and had quickly injected something into her left thigh.

Whatever it was, it worked fast, and Chelsea’s body began to droop downward. Samantha immediately seemed concerned for her sister and even helped the guards remove her from the courtroom. Horrified at it all and quickly turning around, I could see that everyone else was just as shocked as I was. It was a relief to know that I wasn’t alone, but I now really wondered what was about to happen to her. ‘Just what were protocols 2, 3, and 5 anyways?’

“Maybe this will be for the best…” Oppy finally said, though her tone seemed to suggest she was trying to convince herself of that just about as equally as she was trying to convince all the rest of us.

“I don’t know, Oppy…” Harriet said, clearly still trying to register what had just happened with Chelsea and the sentencing. “I don’t know how those protocols will help her exactly. I mean… they are the ones I’m thinking of, right?”

Oppy nodded and sighed. “They are, but maybe they’ll be just enough to get her back on the right track. Plus… they might not even be permanent. Could be a valuable lesson for her. If we help her through it all…” Everyone nodded, but now I just felt even more confused.

Soon though, the group then exited the courtroom and once more entered the side room we were in yesterday. It was a tense few minutes, but I just had to ask what was going on before I burst. “Uh… I know I’m not really supposed to ask these things, but what’s going to happen now and is Chelsea okay?”

The room stared at me as if I had just asked if the moon was really made of cheese. Cute and naïve perhaps, but also as if I should already know that question. Once again though, Oppy came to my rescue. “Well, Luna is probably going to need to stay with me for a little bit. If the court does everything by the book, Ditzy and Derek are probably going to be processed by the system in the morning and sent elsewhere temporarily. They’ll get to play all day, so they’ll be okay, but until Chelsea is done with the preliminary stages of her protocols, they’ll stay there.”

I then looked over at my two oblivious friends partially curled up together and passed out on a blanket on the floor. It was already past their naptime for the day, and I still wasn’t sure if they even knew what was going on with the trial lately. “Will they ever come back? I mean, really come back to us?”

Oppy sighed and looked over them as well. “Maybe… it’s going to depend a lot on Chelsea actually. Right now, in fact… I suspect that she is going to choose one of them to stay with her. The other… they’ll likely be taken elsewhere regardless. Close by, but Bigs just don’t have two Littles right in our society right now.”

I blinked over at my friends and wondered which she would choose. It felt like another terrible bit coming from the wrecking ball that seemed to be Chelsea. I could feel a rage build within me. “What’s going to happen to Chelsea? What’s her punishment?” I asked coldly.

I could see the shock of hearing the harsher tone of my question, but I just continued to stare at Oppy until she would answer me. “Well, its hard to say specifics right now, honey, but she’ll be… altered, and then come back to live with me for a while at least.”

I desperately wanted to know what ‘altered’ meant, but Harriet spoke up next instead. “This is a good thing, Percy. I know you must be angry with her,” she correctly guessed, “but Chelsea is going to be punished enough. We’re honestly lucky though that that’s all that is going to happen to her. The academy judges could have very well elected to bring this to be a federal offense instead of just an internal matter. Things could have been very different then.”

Again, I wanted to know more. ‘What did their federal crimes and punishments entail? Would she have suffered more?’ I felt so in the dark right now. It felt like everyone was grieving over the loss of Chelsea, but all I knew was that she was going to be ‘altered.’ To me, for all I knew, that could just mean that they were going to give her a bad hair day. I doubted it from the seriousness and dour mood of the room right now, but I just couldn’t help but think she was getting off easy with all that she had done to everyone.

I mean, Chelsea was the impetus for all this in the first place. Samantha seemed like a good seed and that she had really only broken one rule in truth. Oppy had even made a few offhand comments before that if Samantha had been alone, some of this might have even just been swept under the rug. It had apparently happened before, but because of Chelsea, it had all gotten blown to a whole other level.

So, the month that I had spent without Samantha, Chelsea’s fault. The interview 43C; Chelsea’s fault. The fact that I was wearing a partially wet diaper right now and had to hold Stripe tightly at night or whenever I felt upset anymore, Chelsea’s fault. My fear of the dark, everyone’s stress, the whole trial, every little bit of wrong that had occurred, Chelsea’s fault.

I wanted to explode against her. Punish her myself. If there was a lever, I wanted to yank it. If there was a public lashing, I wanted to hear the sting. I was all rage and vengeance right then, but I didn’t care. My world had nearly collapsed onto itself because of the selfishness of one Big woman. Even now, Ditzy or Derek was here for no other reason than her own ego or mistakes back at the con, and one of them wouldn’t even be staying with us forever. I wanted to spit. I wanted to hit something! I wanted to…

The door then opened.

I stopped my internal fuming and looked back at the door and what everyone was staring at. Right there, in the soft lilac dress I had seen her in at the courtroom, was Samantha.

Almost instantly, my anger dissipated. Chelsea was still there. I even knew that the consequences of that day might still ripple throughout our lives for the foreseeable future. I didn’t even know what protocols 6 and 9 were or what their consequences were for Samantha, but she was here now. I was determined to not let Chelsea’s lingering shadow affect us anymore. “Hey…”

Samantha smiled over at me, and I could see the soft smiles creeping up on the faces of the family around me that I had grown to know and care about in the last month. “Hey,” I responded quickly. “You know… today’s been a long day…” I then looked at the floor and could feel the reminder of the consequences of all that had happened encased in the slightly wet diaper around my hips. “If you wanted… I don’t think I would mind… you know… a…”

That was the last word I managed to make out. Samantha was a wise and observant woman, but I think anyone could have seen the stress mount over my body in the past month. Today was no exception and after all, Samantha was a caregiver. So, before I could even make another syllable out, in practically the blink of an eye, she darted across the room and scooped me up in her arms for a giant hug.

Still clutching Stripe, I wrapped my arms around her and closed my eyes. Yesterday, I had hugged her as a woman who could have been convicted on all charges. If my prodding of Luna had been any indication, Samantha could have been subject to a whole host of consequences right now. Instead, though, I was hugging a free woman. A free woman who had taken me to another world, but not out of ego… I now knew it was out of a sense of caring and even perhaps a sense of the beginnings of a love. In that moment, I didn’t even care of her hand patting and supporting my slightly wet and padded rear. I just wanted to hold her tight.   

Still though, after a moment, I couldn’t just shuffle off the feeling that I was still missing something in all this. ‘249’ and the protocols rang out in my head. Judge Hawthorne had warned Samantha of the consequences of something not occurring, but I had no idea what they were. It was all a lot to take in right then, but if the past had taught me anything, it was that no moment lasted forever, and the good times should be taken in as much as possible. So, I just squeezed my arms around the free woman who had appointed herself as my caregiver.

It was such a simple title, but something had started to grow inside of me that had felt like it was the most apt title that I could assign to Samantha. Harriet, Oppy, and Luna were all amazing, but there was just something else about Samantha I couldn’t shake from my heart or my mind. Regardless though, I just felt cared about and safe for that single moment in that side room that day.

Of course, all moments had to end, and Samantha eventually set me down and wiped a few tears away from her own eyes and mine. We both had a little laugh, but after acknowledging everyone in the room once more, Samantha smiled back down at me and extended her hand to my small form. “Ready to go home?”

I smiled and quickly grasped onto her offered hand. “Yes. Let’s go home.” She smiled back and everyone started to leave the room, all the tension and angst that had been there before was now completely forgotten about. As we exited the doors, I could only breathe a sigh of relief as the trial was now over, and I just hoped that we could enjoy our lives in peace. I had no idea about Earth or even ever getting back there again, but for today at least, I was just content holding Samantha’s now free and clear hand and felt confident about whatever the future may bring if only she was by my side.

[Guilend]

Really? Like, really? You just HAD to keep their punishment a secret for at least another chapter. You're getting to be as evil with cliffhangers as Miss Fallen and BabySofia 😂 

I was like, oh yeah, now we get to find out their punishment then the stupid judge started spouting out protocols, numbers and stuff and I almost cried because I already knew I wouldn't know what those meant till another chapter lol.

I'm guessing Chelsea being altered is they're going to shrink her into Little size? I'm guessing that's what at least one of the protocols mean, just curious about the other two.

As for Samantha I have no idea what her's mean, not now that she's going home and is technically free? Or at least not in prison. My guess is at least she'll be given to her mother to be under her care and authority, but not sure to what extent. 

I'm dying to see the next chapter now 😭 

[Kat5]

29 minutes ago, Guilend said:

secret for at least another chapter.

There's still time for sheep dimension. Even if it's unlikely, we can hold out hope.

31 minutes ago, Guilend said:

evil with cliffhangers

I ... actually poked for leaving a cliffhanger too ... so it's not just them...

Anyway! OP very good chapter, thank you very much for it!

[LostBBoyBear]

Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay tonight. This chapter ended up being one of the longer ones so far, but I didn’t want to wait any longer for a few elements in the course of this story, and I knew I needed to set up a few elements going forward. With the trial now complete, this story is essentially heading into another section which should lead to the endgame and the third and final story.

Further, I could have posted this chapter yesterday with how much I had already written, but I also wanted to take the time and look ahead a little bit at this story considering this chapter is moving the plot into the next phase. A few plot points had changed naturally since I had started, but I also realized that there were a few flaws in my overall plot that I hadn’t caught before. They weren’t bad or anything, but I kind of felt like things were plodding along a bit too much around chapter 12. I believe I have now fixed that area and the other spot I felt it was happening, plus, I have also added four new chapters since I started working on this story. There may be more that I add to flesh out one particular plot point that I was thinking about, but until then, the story is standing at 19 chapters as of when I am writing this.

Regardless, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter!

Chapter 7: Home Sweet Home of a Sort

Events seemed to move swiftly and in a blur for a while after the trial ended. The whole family celebrated, minus Chelsea of course, when we got back to the house. It felt strange to be celebrating without her and knowing she was likely being punished that night, but I also felt that most thought she deserved what she was getting… whatever that was. A few neighbors and academy personnel were invited to fill out the party, but to be honest, I was a little too distracted by a few things.

Firstly, apparently with the trial now over and Samantha being directly responsible for me, my interaction with others was ‘going to grow’ according to both her and Oppy. Both were insistent, and personally, maybe wanting a friend who didn’t delight in their diapers, I was actually looking forward to it. Unfortunately, though, many of the Littles I met at the party seemed almost broken. Not abused mind you for most of them, but just worn down and fully accepting of this babyish life.

Secondly though, I also was a little numb to the party thinking about the next steps in my life. I had defended Samantha expertly, considering all my drawbacks and trials in the past month, but now, she seemed deadest on taking me to her home. I had visited it once with Oppy and Luna one day I think as part of an incentive for me to help Samantha out but to also ensure the house was okay, but my nerves were now a little frayed thinking about what I had seen there.

Of course, I knew that when Samantha had chosen the interior of the house, she didn’t even know about me, so I took some comfort in that, but I couldn’t get the image of the crib and changing table out of my head. By now, as much as I hated to admit it, I was used to such things as a Littles potty and a highchair, but a crib and a changing table seemed to denote the age that Samantha originally wanted her Little to be. So, when the party began to die down for those with Littles, I too marched up to my room.

Now, I’m not sure how much Oppy had talked to Samantha in the past month of her incarceration, but I also knew that they had talked a little bit. I felt a bit self-centered when I wondered if they had talked about me or not, but I quickly surmised that they had only touched on me briefly as to my abilities since then, when my bedroom door soon opened without warning while I was brushing my teeth.

“Oh…” Samantha said bashfully, “I was going to help you get ready for bed. I guess you do that yourself here then I’m guessing?”

I spat out the used toothpaste while I wobbled on my stepstool in front of the sink and then nodded. “Oppy and the rest found out that I wasn’t regressed, so they gave me a few privileges. I can usually take care of myself, but…” I then looked over at my nightlight and Stripe. I think Samantha noticed immediately and was about to speak up when Oppy soon dashed in by her side at the door.

“Oh good! I caught you, honey,” she said to Samantha. “I guess since you’re going to be taking Percy home with you soon, we need to talk about his nightly and morning routines.” She then peered over at me spitting out a little mouthwash in the sink. “You almost done in there, Percy?”

I nodded and wiped my mouth off before hopping off the stepstool and then coming over to them. Once again, I was in my elastic diaper, but I knew my pajama pants didn’t do much to conceal that fact. Out of embarrassment still, I soon popped myself underneath the covers of my bed.  

“Alright…” Oppy began, “let’s start, shall we?” Samantha hesitantly nodded and then proceeded to follow Oppy around the room as she explained each of her tiny routines for me these days. It was a little embarrassing hearing some of it out loud, but I knew I couldn’t sleep at all if she didn’t. “Right,” she said coming up from looking under the bed, “that’s the closet, under the bed, and behind the curtains. Make sure if you add any new piece of furniture that could create an obvious dark space at night, that you add that to your list as well.”

Samantha nodded. “Got it. Anything else besides checking the nightlight that we did from earlier?” It may have sounded stupid, but I appreciated Samantha asking questions like that. It could have just been for show with others, but with her, I felt it demonstrated that she genuinely seemed to care about my well-being. Plus, each time Oppy mentioned something new, Samantha also seemed pained, and I realized it was likely her guilt over being the cause of why I was subjected to interview 43C. I made a mental note to let her off the hook for that one later. Mr. Jameson, or even Chelsea, was to blame… not her.

“Hmmm…” Oppy looked around the room. “Let’s see… dark spots checked, potty and a fresh diaper before bed, brushed teeth, shower, nightlight…” Her eyes then lit up and she snapped her fingers. “Two last things… first, if it’s been a hard day, I’ll give Percy a capped drink and read him a story to help him fall asleep.” She then turned to me. “How about tonight? You doing okay from today?”

I pondered her question a little bit after my blush had faded. I didn’t like to admit out loud about the extra luring effects of a nightly drink and being read to, but both really did help on a few of my more intense nights. Still, tonight felt better. “No… I think I’m good tonight… Thank you though.”

Oppy and Samantha both nodded. Samantha then raised her finger to Oppy. “Uh, mom… you said two things…”

Oppy smiled and nodded. “Right you are, sweetie! One of the more important things in fact.” She then gestured over to Stripe who was laying right next to me in bed. “Always make sure Stripe is with Percy before bed. If everything else fails, he can still be there for him, but if Percy is too tired, he might accidentally forget Stripe downstairs or on the floor around here. Make sure he’s there to at least start the night with.”

“Start?” Samantha then questioned.

“Start. Yeah…” They both looked at me and I blushed a little. I almost felt like a prop being talked about in all this, but it was a role that I had quickly gotten used to while staying here. Oppy then smiled a bit. “This is one is a bit of a tosser at night, so be warned. In the morning, covers could be on every side of the room and his pillow at the foot of the bed instead.”

Both chuckled a little. “I see… must be a family trait.”

“Yep!” Oppy’s infectious smile then faded a little. “In all seriousness though, if that does happen, Stripe might be no exception and not with him if he wakes up in the middle of the night. If Percy gets distressed for whatever reason at night, find Stripe first. While you do anything else, he can help him out right then.” I blushed furiously at the notion of Stripe basically being my lifejacket and shield these days against all my little issues, but I couldn’t deny any longer that I needed him more than almost anything else some nights. Stupid interview 43C…

“Got it…” Samantha looked a little sad again, but then smiled at me. “Well… I guess I’ve got all that down. You’ll help me out thought the first few times though, right buddy?”

I finally felt as if I was being included in the conversation, so I rapidly nodded my head. “Absolutely!”

Both chuckled a bit over my sudden enthusiasm, but I didn’t care. It was small but being included made me feel more mature. Almost like I was just another adult... almost. It was about my nighttime routine and how to prevent me from being afraid of the dark, but I still loved that I was included for tonight at least. Regardless, Oppy and Samantha then wished me a good night, and after a little reading, I soon passed out, Stripe wrapped tightly in my arms.

The next two mornings also went by pretty quickly. The next day was actually spent getting both Ditzy and Derek ready for their place at the long-term nursery at the academy. When we dropped them off, both seemed a little saddened, but a cartoon on TV and a pile of puzzles nearby soon distracted them. If one of them wasn’t about to be removed from our family, I might have almost even been envious of them right then from all the fun they looked like they were about to have.

Regardless though, they stayed, and we went back home. I noticed that Oppy and Samantha were talking a lot to each other lately and would periodically turn and face me. Soon, I got the distinct impression that I was being talked about for my future care. Still, it soon turned to the next day where we left to go to Samantha’s house and then the next day, where Samantha started her first day back teaching at the academy.

I was at first surprised that she would be allowed back so quickly, but I then discovered after one of the trainees in her class whispered something about protocol 6 with her. Pushing Samantha a little more that night, I found out that she was to be employed by the academy for community service for up to one year where her pay and benefits would be cut. Oppy was helping her out financially, so it wasn’t a massive issue, but it made me even more curious what her protocol 9 was and what was happening to Chelsea right then.

I suppose though that routines were to become inevitable and before I knew it, three weeks had gone by in a flash. The weather had started to turn exceedingly warm and the flowers at the academy were in full bloom. They weren’t the only changes though.

After Samantha had taken her position back up at the academy, she worried about the boredom I had experienced with Oppy and the others in her absence. So, determined to get me out there in her world and use my knowledge of Earth, I had come to be her assistant.

At first, I felt like practically the whole academy had asked to feed me or change my diaper by the end of my second day. To my relief though, Samantha would always turn them down and just shuffle me away in case I needed one of those actually. Unfortunately, while I was still able to use the potty in the bathroom connected to her office on the top floor, I couldn’t always hold it until then, so diaper changes were still something to get through in my life. Others could have felt sorry for me, but in class, I was no longer a laughing matter.

Due to the academy’s purpose of exploring and traveling to other dimensions, namely Earth lately, I was the perfect source of information. In her class, I began to unravel the mysteries of the human species and our culture. Having been a lover of all things’ knowledge, I’m not too proud to admit that I knew more than the average person. My social skills had taken a hit in recent years, but now, I felt almost purpose-built for something like Samantha’s class. Soon, half the academy was signing up for her class in order to hear firsthand accounts of Earth and our customs.

Now, that wasn’t the only change in our lives. At first, we were seeing Harriet, Luna, and Oppy almost every day, and then almost every other day. Two weeks ago, though, all that changed. At first, we stopped seeing Luna regularly. Then, last week, we stopped seeing Oppy as well. Samantha suspected that Chelsea had finally come home, but we weren’t sure until Oppy had called our house last night. Chelsea in fact was back and we were now invited back to her house after class the next day.

As Samantha was finishing her lecture up on Earth today and they were learning more about our culture, I was learning more about theirs. Today, I wanted to know more about the academy and clicked into the reading material on the tablet I had borrowed from Samantha. “Hunters scout an area primed for soft spots and Little recruitment,” I whispered to myself. ‘What’s a soft spot? Maybe that’s another chapter…’ “Recruiters, go to spots and events marked by hunters and find potential Littles to be brought back to the academy for placement. Investigators, as their name would suggest, investigate, and then prosecute or defend incidents that have occurred here or on Earth to maintain the academy rules and standards. Cleaners fix the incidents here and on Earth to ensure this society’s presence is not detected or a disturbance to others, while also ensuring only clean figures from other dimensions are let out to the world. Finally, judges maintain order and preside over or create the rules of the academy.”

A shadow then wandered over my tablet. “Reading anything interesting?” I looked up and to my relief, it was only Samantha. After a long day, I did not want to deal with another Big asking to change my diaper… especially since it was already a little wet right then.

I nodded. “Yep! Just going over the positions of the academy. Actually though… why’d you become a recruiter? Why not a judge? They seem to have more power and respect here. Seems like that would be a good thing.”

Samantha seemed to agree with me for a moment but then her face became a little more serious than I was expecting over such an innocent question. “Well… judges almost have too much power here. They can… influence others a little too well. Beyond what they should…” She then shuddered and seemed to snap out of her pervious darkened demeanor. “But for me, I wanted to follow my mom as a recruiter… Chelsea as well. Oppy was always telling us stories of far-off lands and then helping our society out by bringing Littles back here. It felt like a noble and worth pursuit for me.” She then smiled and shuffled her bag over her shoulder. “Now, you ready to go meet Chelsea, Percy?”

I wasn’t really sure, but I just nodded and hopped off the bench. Samantha then took the opportunity to check my diaper quickly but only announced that she felt that it could hold a little bit more. I groaned a smidge, but I was honestly getting used to that new policy in my life. Regardless, I then took her hand, and we left the lecture hall.

Now, we were just minding our own and were headed out to the car to meet Harriet on the way, but Judge Frankling soon stopped us right in the middle of the hallway. “Hey you two. Heading out for the day?”

“Yep! We’re going to see Chelsea,” I answered back freely. Curiously, I thought I saw Samantha squirm and tense up a bit when I answered.

“Oh?” Judge Franklin then looked up at Samantha. “Is that true?” Samantha only nodded. “Oh, how wonderful! I do hope she learns from all this and comes back next year. Give her my best, will you?” Once again, Samantha only nodded. I quickly felt the tension from her in front of this judge. I didn’t know much about him or any of the others on the bench here, but I was quickly feeling the need to know more about them by now. “Hmmm…” he then looked at us both but then stared down intently at me. “So, Percy, were you a good assistant to Samantha here today?”

I eagerly nodded. I felt like a little kid in front of the judge, and I blushed a bit, but I was proud of what I was doing. I was a Little practically teaching at this academy in another dimension. I had no qualms that my additions to Samantha’s instruction would change the world, but I was just happy that I seemed to be changing the mind of at least a few people here. “Absolutely! I taught everyone about Memorial Day from back home. It would be coming up next week I think, but I actually felt that a lot of people seemed to like the whole concept with the honoring of our soldiers’ bit.”

Judge Franklin’s eyes lit up. “Soldiers, huh?” His eyes almost seemed to roll back in his head for a moment, but he quickly snapped back down to me. “I think I should listen to one of your lectures with Samantha pretty soon. They seem like they would be very illuminating…” He then checked his watch. “Oh wow! I need to be in chambers in five minutes. Good seeing you Samantha… glad all is working well with Percy here.” Samantha made no movement this time and Judge Franklin just gave a little wave and then hurried off back down the hallway.

Both of us seemed a bit stunned by it all, but finally, I spoke up first. “Well… that was strange. He didn’t even say goodbye to me. A little rude for a judge, huh?”

Now, it was Samantha’s turn to be snapped out of her trance. “Just keep moving, sweetie.” She then pulled my hand tight, and we started hurrying back to the exit of the academy and to our car. “He is something else… but just make sure that you’re never alone talking to him, okay? I always want one of the family to always be with you when you’re around him.”

It felt like a very odd thing to promise about with a judge. I had been using my patience all day, but now, I felt I needed to know more. “But why?” It came out a little whinier than I had originally anticipated.

Samantha abruptly stopped and pulled me to the side, and she sighed a little. “I know I don’t play this card very often, Percy, but in this case, you’re just going to have to settle for a ‘because I told you so’ bit.” I now felt even more confused, but I could quickly see the concern in her face.

I guess I took too long to response as she then crouched down and gripped both of my shoulders before looking at me directly in the eyes. “I need you to at least nod at me right now, Percy. Promise me you won’t be alone with Judge Franklin.”

Now, I wasn’t always the most curious type out there, which is honestly probably one of the reasons why I was in this dimension in the first place. I had only just barely begun to question Chelsea and Samantha at the con when I was drugged and then brought here. I was practically a fish in a barrel under their guise then, so it felt wrong to just let this go without questioning it at least a little bit. Samantha was giving me her serious face, and I knew not to tread on those waters after a crossing the street incident last week, but I also felt like I needed to know more information in this case.  

Franklin was a judge after all. Once again, I knew in my mind that things could’ve been different here, but on Earth at least, most judges were trustworthy, and you could be in a room alone with them. Any evidence to the contrary was usually coupled with something really bad showing up in the papers about them soon after. So, considering that I was practically working as a volunteer here, I felt that it was a necessity to know why Samantha was asking me to promise this. At the same time though, I felt Samantha’s fingers dig deep into my shoulders and the seriousness of her face conveyed that I really should give her only one response, so only wanting to be a good boy for her, I did. “I understand.”

Immediately, I could feel the tension ease on my arms, but the seriousness of Samantha’s face remained. I knew she needed to hear more from me, so I gave her what she wanted. “I understand that I should not be in a room alone with Judge Franklin. I should always have you or one of our family members along with me. I promise.”

She still seemed intense, but her smile and a finger stroke across my cheek let me know that she wasn’t upset with me after all that. It had almost become a little habit of ours in the past few weeks, so I was just glad to see it right now. Still though, I felt like there was a giant secret looming over both our heads and ready to strike at any moment.

For now, though at least, she then stood, widened her smile, and then extended her hand out to me once more. With almost a feeling of safety and reassurance, I took her hand without comment as usual by now, and we then exited the building together.

With some tension still wafting about Samantha, we then met up with Harriet outside. Despite her own large backpack, Harriet helped take my diaper bag off Samantha’s shoulder. I could see that Harriet was able to sense the tension as well, but she also seemed to know not to push the matter either with her former mentor. So, we then loaded up in the car and drove off toward Oppy’s in relative silence.

Not long after, however, Samantha parked her car and we all got out. Harriet once again helped with my diaper bag, but then turned to both of us. “Okay… you all should know that both Chelsea and Luna might look a bit different. The important thing is to not stare and just accept them for who they are now.” Samantha seemed like she was just hearing about a weather report, but I was quickly filled with a lot of questions about what I was about to witness. Of course, I would be supportive of those in our little family, but as Samantha knocked on the front door under instructions from Harriet rather than ringing the bell as usual, I wondered just what I was about to witness.

The door then opened and I walked in looking around for Chelsea. Luna, being a little smaller than the door, was hidden for a moment, but then walked back around as soon as the door closed behind us. As soon as I saw them, I could swear that my jaw nearly hit the floor.

Luna was Luna. They looked almost exactly like they had when I saw them two weeks ago, or at least they did until my eyes rested on the top of their head. There, unmistakably, was a large pair of cat ears. Twitching and flickering about their hair as if they had always been a part of their body, the ears stood out prominently. They were no illusion.

I wanted to stammer out something right at that moment, particularly when Luna saw me staring at her head. My eyes were just too filled with questions and wonder for my mouth to be able to articulate. Right before I managed to get something together to say though, a large protruding mass of fluff then waved behind them.

Now, I think I had handled everything in this dimension pretty well up until then. The academy, the at least ten-foot-tall women, the diapers, the interrogation, the trial, and so many other things… all seemed manageable in my head to a certain degree, but right then, I was having trouble registering what my eyes were picking up. I wasn’t blind or stupid or anything, but the pair of cat ears and the now obvious cat tail waving behind Luna was something else to behold entirely. “What the…!”

“Percy!” Samantha scolded from behind me. She then quickly marched in front of me and gave me the largest glare I think I had ever seen in my life. “I know what you were about to say next, and I will not have that type of language uttered around anyone in this family. Do you understand?” I quickly nodded. “Good. Now apologize this instant to Luna!”

As happened a few times before by now, I felt quickly put into my place of the stern condemnations of a Big. Still, between the sudden scolding and the surprise that Luna had been hiding up until today, it took me a second to say anything understandable at all. Another stern glance from Samantha however quickly snapped me into my place.

“Sorry!” I yelped out. “Sorry Luna for reacting the way I did. You look… great! I don’t want to hurt your feelings at all… but I was just surprised. I… I’m not sure what to say… Please forgive me!”

Luna then did something else most unexpected. She giggled innocently in front of my pleading and stammering form before them. “Oh, that’s perfectly okay, Percy. No harm done on my end.” They then sighed. “I suppose I should have explained a little better to you a little bit, huh? I think everyone else knew about my deal and why I even went to Earth in the first place because of who I am. You see… I’m a Middle, but I’m also what people around here call a Neko.”

She said it so matter-of-factly, it felt like a term I should already have been familiar with. After a moment of silence though, I just had to ask. “Sorry, uh… but what’s a Neko?”

Luna giggled again and their tail flittered about their arm. After, the way they held it, it almost seemed like a safety blanket to them. “We’re pretty rare naturally, but we’re almost a form of pet in this society. Lots of Littles, a few Middles, and almost no Bigs, but we each take on characteristics of an animal that calls to us. A few are pretty common, but if you couldn’t tell, I’m the cat version of a Neko, understand?”

I kind of did and I was assuming that Luna had traded in her services in coming to Earth in order for the family to pay for her alterations. It seemed like a pretty good deal to me, but I still had so many questions. Right then though, I heard a wail come from nearby. “Is that…?”

“You’ll see… Chelsea will need a lot of help in her new position,” Luna explained, her tail flicking back to her rear.

“So, what about Ditzy or Derek then?” I asked. I hadn’t seen them here since the day after the trial and even in the long-term academy nursery, where they seemed very happy, it didn’t seem like enough. I wanted to know when at least one of them would be a part of our lives again.

Luna twisted awkwardly in front of me, and I swear I thought I heard a crinkle, but I was just more focused right then on her lack of response. Fortunately, Samantha rubbed my shoulders kindly and Harriet stepped forward. “I’m afraid that because of her protocols and how extreme they were, they’ll be at the nursery for a while still,” she explained.

“She’s right,” Oppy then said as she entered the room. “Chelsea is…” Oppy then trailed off a bit and I could see the weariness around her eyes. “Sorry, everyone… Chelse has been a little moody lately… but that’s also one of the reasons either one won’t be back here for a while. But how’s everyone doing today?”

A flurry of hugs then went around the room, but all stopped when we heard a giggle come from the hallway. Now, I wasn’t sure what to expect right then, but what I saw now on the floor of the hallway coming closer to us was not it at all.

Chelsea continued to crawl, but she eventually plopped down with a large poof on a large baby mat I just noticed on the ground. Before me, the woman who had wrecked so much of my life and almost Samantha’s was now definitely ‘altered.’ Her blonde hair was now divided neatly into pigtails. Her short purple dress bunched up above her thighs and a pacifier dangled from the collar and its pink glitter shone out brightly against the fabric. Finally, from what I could see from even the other side of the room, her matching purple cover did little to hide the fact that she was now thickly diapered. From my perspective right then, Chelsea was a baby, but I still couldn’t believe it. “Hello there…” I finally managed to make out.

“Pffbbt!” was about all she managed to say, or at least some form of baby babble I couldn’t understand. I was shocked and a little horrified that this is what constituted punishment around here and remained nearly dumbfounded. The force that was once the mighty and even admittedly sexy Chelsea, the near-Amazon goddess, was now reduced to this… a diaper-wearing and now drooling form of herself.

To everyone else though, it just seemed like a normal Friday night event where they were meeting the new baby of the family. I half-expected there to be a baby shower for her announced tonight, but I could only watch from the side of the room as everyone cooed over her. I, however, was too stunned to move further.

After some time of cooing and giggling over Chelsea and her just babbling back, Oppy finally looked over to my still rigid form and seemed to whisper something to Luna, Harriet, and Samantha. All looked over at me and then back at Chelsea. Oppy then handed her daughter a plush doll and all then looked back at me and began to walk and sit around me on the couch I still managed to almost be glued to in all this. “I bet you might be a little confused, huh, Percy?” Oppy asked.

It was the understatement of a lifetime and I finally broke. “You could say that! What the heck happened to her? Is she okay? Is she going to be like this forever? Is this going to happen to Samantha?” My brain was coming up with more questions faster than my mouth could spit them out. The four just laughed.

“No, no, sweetie,” Samantha cooed from next to me. “I’ll be okay if I do everything the academy has asked of me. Working for them is part of that.”

“Right, Percy,” Harriet continued. “At the trial, they sentenced little Chelsea here to protocol 2, 3, and 5.”

Oppy then cleared her throat and Harriet spun around to face her. “Dear… remember Percy may be a bit of a part of the academy now… Oh! And congratulations on that by the way. I hope you got my card.”

I nodded. “I did… thank you.” It was really touching when I got it but considering that Chelsea was now chewing absentmindedly on her doll’s arm, I felt like she took the priority in the conversation of the room.

“You’re very welcome, sweetie.” Oppy then turned back to Harriet. “As I was saying, Percy probably doesn’t know the protocols.”

“That’s right,” Samantha then confirmed and spoke for me. She had done that with a little increasing regularity over the past few weeks in certain conversations. It was a tad bit annoying at times, but curiously, I was starting to notice a trend that she did that whenever we were discussing the academy with someone else.

“Let’s see… he probably should know a few of them, right?” Everyone else in the room nodded and Oppy stroked her chin for a moment. “Hmmm… uh, seven is when a defendant will be remanded to the federal system for further prosecution there. Doesn’t happen often, but it can be a little nerve-wracking to say the least, but you probably want to know the protocols Chelsea got, right?” I quickly nodded.

“Very well,” Oppy then stroked her mentally regressed daughter’s hair and looked at her with a mixture of happiness and yet also sadness as well. “Let’s see… protocol 2 regresses a Bigs abilities down for a period of at least one year. In her case, she was sentenced to be on the younger end of the spectrum, so she’s highly dependent on others now. Others with protocol 2 might just be at a toddler level at worst.”

I felt there was a bit of anger in that last statement, as if Oppy thought her daughter’s punishment was ultimately unfair, but she just continued after a moment of seemingly centering herself. “Protocol 3 though, fortunately allows the Big to attend rehab if their evaluation at the end of the year goes well. If it does, she will be allowed to grow back up to some degree at least… maybe even fully.”

I quickly wondered if there were Bigs now crawling around permanently regressed after failing their evaluation, but Oppy’s words quickly pulled my thoughts away from all that. “Finally for Chelsea, she got protocol five, which is to serve community service by taking care of foster Littles in the academy program. Also, until she is able to do that, she’ll be taken to the academy service during the day to be monitored, occupied, and used as an example to others for what not to do.”

“That’s terrible,” I finally managed to say.

“Could have been worse, Percy…” Harriet said ominously. I wasn’t sure how, but when the other three mature adults in the room nodded as well, I took their word for it. I knew I had to be more curious about things, but from their faces, I knew well enough by now to just let some things like that go.

Not long after a few more questions about everything, where I got the distinct opinion that many things were still up in the air, all the adults in the room left. Now, it was just Chelsea and I in the room. I thought it was odd at first, but I suppose Chelsea couldn’t get far in the baby-proofed home and I was at least unregressed, for whatever that counted for these days. Soon though, I couldn’t take it any longer and I scooted closer to come face-to-face with Cheslea who was still seated on her baby mat on the floor.

From there, I stared deeply into her eyes, but to my horror, I quickly realized that nothing was really staring back at me. Her eyes were blank… emotionless overall if it wasn’t for her persistent grin. I thought it could all be a trap, but my hand hung loosely, and I guess Cheslea saw it was another plaything. She then proceeded to bat my fingers around and I was too shocked at what I was seeing this close to do anything about it. Right then, the only thoughts going through my head were just about her hand and how sticky it was.

Still, after a moment, I came to my senses. I still let her bat around my hand, but I couldn’t help but notice the strong whiff of ammonia around her now. I guess that and the drool slowly leaking from her mouth gave me a new perspective with my old adversary. Clearly, this wasn’t a trap and depressingly, she wasn’t faking any of this whatsoever.

Chelsea and I had never been close, but from the trial and all the ensuing chaos, I couldn’t help but to at least dislike the woman strongly. She had interrupted so much in everyone’s life, but now… to see her like this was something else entirely. It was almost odd right then, but my feelings of sympathy toward the woman prevailed. No one, regardless of what they had done, deserved this.

As someone who had recently taken a trip down the regression avenue of this society, despite the fact that Chelsea was one of the ones who had drugged me, her punishment was almost too terrible to behold. Here she was, a woman at the height of her power in this society as a recruiter of the academy, and with one ruling, she was sentenced to drool and diapers for at least a year. Feeling my own sodden mess in my diaper, I knew it was a fate that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

Not long after, Luna came back in from the kitchen, her tail swishing behind her as she did so. “Alright, you two, dinner time! But first, we’ve got some hands to wash!”

I nodded at my eared and tailed Middle friend and immediately bounded up from the couch to the hallway bathroom. Just as I got over to Luna though, Samantha entered as well from the kitchen and quickly stopped me. “Hold it right there, mister. Unless my eyes deceive me, I think someone needs to make a stop at the changing table first, am I right?” I felt the moistened padding around my hips, and I only sullenly nodded my head. “Alrighty then,” she continued as she picked up my diaper bag from the front entryway, “let’s go back to Chelsea’ nursery. I’m sure she won’t mind if we use it for a second.”

As if to respond in her own way, Chelsea had snuck up on the distracted Luna and pulled their tail. “Yow!” The wounded Middle spun around, cradling their tail, and then scolded their former owner. “Chelse! We talked about this already. My tail is not a toy!” For her part, Chelsea just giggled.

Samantha and I did too. “Relax, Luna,” Samantha began. “She doesn’t know any better not to do that to her older sister. Maybe just watch your rear around her from now on.”

Luna groaned but couldn’t help but smile at the giggling form of Chelsea below her. “You’re right… as always…”

“You know it!” Samantha joked before then extending her hand back to me. “Come on, Percy! That diaper’s not going to change itself.”

Once again, I took her hand, and she began to lead me back to Chelsea’s nursery. Right then, I tried to think of other things, but the quickly rushing water and loud giggles echoing from the hallway bathroom with Luna washing Chelsea’s hands in the sink, pulled my mind into only one direction. From Oppy and my time at the academy, I now knew about protocols 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7. There were still at least four left and two had been mentioned in Samantha’s sentencing in some form or another. Entering the butterfly-themed nursery, I could only walk in fear of what those remaining protocols could be. As Smantha helped me up onto the enormous changing table, I couldn’t help but wonder just what it all meant for the woman who had now suddenly become my entire world. Like Luna and Chelsea, I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or cry of the notion that just maybe, one day, I would be the older sibling of the woman now about to change my soaked diaper.  

[Kat5]

7 hours ago, LostBBoyBear said:

but I’m also what people around here call a Neko.

... *looks down at her SL avatars tail*

I am both ecstatic, and plead the fifth in advance!

*I had to come back later to add this edit: I WANNA PET THE TAIL!!!!!

Edited February 8 by Kat5
I'm impulsive and somehow resisted typing what I wanted to the first time around and then it ate at my soul until I came back because there's something mentally wrong with me. But like, in a fun way wrong.

[LostBBoyBear]

2 hours ago, Kat5 said:

... *looks down at her SL avatars tail*

I am both ecstatic, and plead the fifth in advance!

*I had to come back later to add this edit: I WANNA PET THE TAIL!!!!!

I wouldn't worry about it. I'm pretty sure most people reading this story would want to pet the tail as well... I know I would

[Guilend]

Thank God lol. I'm happy she's a Neko again. We'll, she has her ears. I almost mentioned it in chapter 1 or 2 and then I realized she probably had to have some medical procedure that she'd have to do to get them back. It definitely fits her personality. 

While I'm happy to see that Chelsea wasn't shrunk, I do wish she wasn't completely regressed. Just so I could see the humiliation in her face. But im betting she'll be going through that if they allow her to grow up a little bit in a year. I'm curious if she's still in there, like a prisoner of her own mind. If so, I'd say that's a fate worse then actual prison, especially for a whole year. She'll definitely not be the same. She might not ever be fully capable of taking care if herself again due to having PTSD from it. 

I am very curious to the rest of Samantha's punishment. I am confused as to how making her teach at the academy is a punishment? There has to be more to it then that. They really should just tell Percy everything and quit letting him stumble about and practically beg for information. 

At least I know Luna is wearing a diaper, but I'm curious if there's a reason for it other then she's a pet?

On 2/6/2024 at 12:32 AM, LostBBoyBear said:

“due to recent and solid evidence, we have determined that she will only serve out protocols 6 and 9.” Taylor looked immediately disappointed. “Yes, yes, but due to mitigating factors, this sentence will be dependent on 249. If 249 should fail, they will be subject to protocol 1 and Samantha will then be subject to partial protocol 2.

Okay, if 249 fails, they will be subject to protocol 1 and Samantha will be then subject to partial protocol 2. Is says they will be subject to protocol 1, who's they? When I first read it I thought they meant Samantha, but then why not say Samantha will be subject to protocol 1 and partial protocol 2? I'm extremely curious about the 249. My best guess is it's Percy and if he behaves or not. But even that doesn't really make sense. 

[LostBBoyBear]

Hey everyone! I did some counting yesterday (I know, scary), but I believe that I’m going to need to pick up my pace on this story a little bit rather than just posting every other day. I’ve already taken one break and I don’t want to pause the story yet again before I leave for a certain event at the end of this month. It should be doable, but also just want to post it here to give me even more motivation to hurry myself up a teensy bit.

Also, be sure to pay attention to the timeline in this story. While The CONvention only took place over a few days, this story takes place over the course of 11 months. You might have gotten the time jumps by now when I’ve written them, but I just want everyone to be on the same page as we go forward. Most chapters from here on out will experience some sort of time jump of at least a week or two, so just make sure to take note of that. For example, this next chapter is taking place in early June and our Littles got to this dimension in March.

Next, just to clarify, I have not yet confirmed that Luna is diapered. I have implied it, but like death on TV, unless you see (or in this case, read about it directly), it didn’t happen. If she was though, remember that she went through an interrogation herself. Jameson isn’t the only nasty investigator.

Further, I will keep a few secrets to myself, but think of protocol 5 as part punishment and part growing experience. Many Bigs may have humiliated a Little or treated them very poorly. In truth, I kind of thought of it as part of their evaluation to see if they have changed, but it’s also to help them grow as new citizens who care for people more than just themselves. For Chelsea, she kind of needs that lesson.

Lastly, going forward with this story (and even others as well), for right now, I have been using some of the standards in the United States to translate over into Libertalia just to make it easier in my head. Now admittedly, there are a few differences and I know even regions here have a few different policies, but I just want to put that out there in case anyone was confused with a few of my references. For example, around here, the pool opens on Memorial Day at the end of May, and it does in this story as well. If there is a difference however between the two countries, I will be sure to mention it (like location names).

Regardless, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter!

Chapter 8: Connecting With the Past Most Unexpectedly

Weeks passed by and the summer weather began to take hold in our lives. The pool had opened nearby, and Samantha and I had already gone at least three times in the past two weeks. The June weather around here reduced everyone to their summer outfits and another semester had started at the academy. Chelsea still drooled on herself, and Harriet still studied diligently in her classes, but everything was about to change.

Apparently, the Summer semester was less crowded than the Fall or Spring ones. As such, I was only lecturing or assisting Samantha in her classes for three of the five school days of the week. It was something, but Samantha worried that I was bored. So, in the interest of keeping me happy and occupied, it was deemed that tomorrow would be my first day at the academy daycare.

“No, I don’t agree that my happiness would be better served at a daycare,” I tried to defend myself to my new family. Everyone was open and listening to me, but I felt like my message was falling on deaf ears as well.

“I’m sure you’ll love it, Percy!” Luna said as they tried to console me. “The staff is always friendly from what I remember when I volunteered there one summer, and besides, I’m sure you’ll find plenty of new friends there.”

“Ones that aren’t regressed?” I asked skeptically. Luna immediately shrank back and right then; they didn’t have to say anything for me to know that Littles like me were few and far between. If I was to make a friend, something told me that we would have to have a playdate to meet up outside of daycare hours.

“It’s not that bad, Percy,” Samantha tried to justify to me for what felt like the thousandth time. “I’m sure you’ll find some fun there at least.”

“She’s right, you know,” Oppy interjected before I could say anything back. She was making a special pudding for after dinner to celebrate one month of Chelsea being back after her sentencing. Knowing her abilities by now though, something told me that the pudding would all just end up in her hair and even past the corners of her bib. “Also, keep in mind that you’ll be able to see Ditzy and Derek as well. The long-term nursery attendees attend the daycare during the day. That should be nice, right?”

It was that thought and hope that remained afloat in my head for the rest of the night. Even when Chelsea smashed into the pudding and basically exploded the pistachio green goo all over her, I was still thinking about seeing Ditzy and Derek again.

We had seen each other a few times, but those moments were only in passing. Ditzy had giggled and waved at me one day, but most of the time she was distracted by something else nearby, likely something with glitter on or around it. Derek, on the other hand, I had seen more, and he even tried to speak with me, but for him, he always seemed to do well but then trail off hallway through our talks, which was just long enough for me to need to leave before he snapped back. So, when I woke up the next morning, I had just enough eagerness to push beyond my nervousness and revulsion for my fate today.

Completing our usual morning routine, Samantha and I ate breakfast together and I glumly used my highchair. I didn’t like the symbolism of using it, but my short stature forced a few necessities on my life now like that… similar to the car seat I was soon buckled into afterward. My one consolation was that the seat was at least forward facing, unlike at least half of the Littles own car seats I had seen since visiting the area around us with Samantha a little more. I was hoping to make friends or see some sign that I wasn’t alone. I didn’t…

“I know this isn’t probably your idea of the most exciting day ever, Percy,” Samantha began as she drove down the road and toward the academy, “but can you at least give this a try? For me?”

I sighed audibly and I felt just a little over my tipping point. “You know… at first, I thought this was for me ‘not to be bored’ on the off days, but why do I get the feeling that you just want me out of your hair?” I knew and could tell my words stung Samantha from her face looking back at me in the rear-view mirror, and as much as I didn’t want to be ‘that Little,’ I also didn’t want to be the Little that was more of an accessory and brought out when it was convenient for everyone.

“You know… you’re right,” Samantha then admitted, much to my surprise. “I’ve gotten some calls after some of the lectures on my own at the academy. The other students… well, some feel they are a little distracted by you in the classroom. Of course, you are a joy and a privilege to have there when you are helping me with the lectures and your knowledge about Earth, but…”

“But I’m a Little… and Littles shouldn’t normally be teaching, so it’s weird when I’m there and I’m not doing anything like that…” I finished for her. From seeing her face in the rear-view mirror, I could tell that wasn’t what she was going to say, but I could see the truth in my statement in her eyes. The rest of the car ride was pretty quiet after that, and I knew how it looked, but I didn’t care as I sat back in my car seat and sulked, right up until we pulled up to the daycare parking lot.

The academy was big and while Samantha could walk me to here from where she normally parked, the daycare would have been a bit of a walk by the end, especially if the June heat started to rise later in the day like it was predicted to. Samantha sighed, but still pressed forward and quickly got me out of my car seat and slung my diaper bag over her shoulder.

After taking my hand, I stared back at my diaper bag. Oppy had given it to Samantha as a gift at the party the night of the trial verdict. Oppy and the others had used a different diaper bag to carry all my stuff with them before, but it was a loaner and was starting to show its age. This one was predictably blue, but it at least had a few dark blue accents and seemed to be a little more fashionable than my old one. For now, at least, this one also didn’t have any cartoon appliques sewn onto its sides.

Entering the daycare, Samantha quickly checked me in and chatted warmly with the attendant at the front desk. The building had melded quite nicely with the rest of the academy on the outside from what I could see, but the inside of pastels, cartoon figures on the walls, and toys strew about in the lobby told me all I needed to know about where I was going to be spending my day. Finally, Samantha crouched down to meet my gaze.

“I promise that you’re going to like it here…” I didn’t meet her pleading stare. “Please try… for me?” I looked away about as much as I could. I was pissed with her, and I didn’t want her to mistake that by any stretch of her imagination. She had brought me to this stupid world and now I was feeling like I was being dumped for the convenience of others in a place seemingly hell-bent and determined to make sure I knew my place as a worthless Little.

Fortunately, the daycare workers were highly observant and in a place like this, I suspected that the interaction between Samantha and I right then was not terribly uncommon. Soon, a kindly brunette woman with glasses and comfortable clothing soon approached from the other side of the traditional daycare barrier. “It’s okay, Miss Norris. I can just take him inside from here.”

Samantha seemed heartbroken and while she had redeemed herself a long way since I had come here, I was still very upset with her about coming to this place today. She needed to know that, so I made sure to keep my emotions in check and turned without further incident to join the daycare worker. I was going into the pit of my doom sooner, but admittedly selfishly, I wanted Samantha to hurt right then. I could make up with her later tonight, but for now, she needed to feel the sting of my absence. I wanted her to know that sometimes, there would be consequences for treating me like a Little.

I could see her resolve start to crumble a little, but the kindly daycare attendant just led me to the back without further comment and she was out of my sight. I felt a little bad, but I didn’t have long to ponder it all.

Soon, I was neck deep in one of the most chaotic scenes I think I had ever witnessed. Littles were running about everywhere or crawling or sitting, but each seemed to have a dedicated toy that they would then chew on, try to stick up their nose, or bash about all around them. Immediately, I wanted to break free and escape, but fate had other plans for me.

The daycare worker who had led me in to all this whirlwind then came from behind me after closing the door to the front lobby, sealing me inside, and then crouched down. “Sorry about all the chaos today. One of our main teachers here called out sick. She normally tackles a good chunk of them and keeps them calm.”

“There’s a calm to these Littles?” I asked, knowing full-well that I was in fact talking to a Big who could have very well just lumped me in the same category as all the rest of the Littles around us now. I may have been quiet, but she could have easily justified that I was only temporarily like this. I needed to show her otherwise… that I was different.

To my surprise though, she smiled at my little joke. “Fair enough, but you might be a little shocked then how different this place is when Mrs. Katherine is here normally.” She then looked around and seemed to spot what she was looking for. “I’m Miss Tina, but I have an idea… if you’re willing to indulge me for a moment?”

I looked around behind her and saw a Little immediately squat and puff out their cheeks. No one needed to be an experienced caregiver to know what was happening, so right then, I felt like I had few options. “Okay. I can give whatever you’ve got a shot.”

She smiled even wider as soon as my compliance left my mouth. “Excellent!” She then reached out her arm, and I knew she was meaning to take my hand, especially with the way her face soon conveyed her small mistake with me, but she was also quick on her toes I soon realized. Her handholding gesture soon just turned into one of guidance. “After you, Percy. It’s not that far.”

I wasn’t sure what to expect but pushing through all the clutter and disorganization of the Littles tornado in the main part of the large room, we came to a corner of the room. At first, I only saw a window of escape to the outside world and the main academy lecture halls beyond, but I knew I needed to indulge Miss Tina for at least a little bit.

When I turned a little more, I finally saw what Miss Tina had brought me to, an entire shelf of books. The bottom shelf was clearly dedicated to the younger minded, but almost every other book above those ones seemed to placate towards someone like me. It was… amazing.

I quickly spun back around to a practically glowing Miss Tina. “This is perfect! How’d you know? The academy have a file on me or something?” I asked happily but suspiciously. Knowing their protocols, trials, and punishments by now like I did, I wouldn’t have put anything past them.

Miss Tina laughed. “No, nothing like that. Samantha… she wrote down a whole bunch of things about and for you for us. Most of us Bigs don’t do that for Littles… you’re pretty lucky in that way at least.”

Her words stung my heart the instant they escaped her lips. I had been so cold to Samantha only moments ago because I thought she didn’t care about me in dumping me here for the day. I still felt like that, but I couldn’t deny that growing patch of guilt inside of me. She had a plan for me, and I should have trusted her to look after me like she had been since the trial ended.

Fortunately, the daycare seemed to calm down a little as the morning progressed, but the book nook also had a little cutout room at the bottom of a tree-like structure and my mind quickly switched to the material in front of me. Now, there was also a gingerbread or dollhouse-like structure nearby I could have elected to read in, but after a few Little girls took it over and had a tea party inside, I was glad of my own private tree. It was quiet and comfy, and spending the next two hours inside was actually pretty nice.

I was still a Little in a daycare though. So, while Miss Tina attended to a few other Littles, another worker came up to me. “Hey there, cutie. Percy, right?” I could only nod as I took in the heavy-set woman before me. “I’m Miss Melissa, but I’ve been watching you today. You can’t just sit here all day. You need to get out a little more. Shall we?”

The offered hand she placed in front of the book, her intense eyes, and the way she phrased a few things before made me quickly feel that she was not giving me an offer here. She was telling me I needed to interact… or else. So, with some heavy reluctance, I set my book down and took her hand.

Right then, I was fully prepared to have to deal with regressed Littles for the rest of the day and try to resist any funny business this place tried to pull on me. According to Oppy, sometimes they wanted to trick us Littles into accepting ‘our proper places.’ Shuddering at the thought, I just kept walking, but Miss Melissa soon stopped in front of three other Littles.

“Hello, Miss Melissa,” the skinny redhead woman asked, her grey eyes then looking me up and down. “Who’s the new kid? You bring us another regressed?”

Miss Melissa then tapped me forward on my padded butt and chuckled. “Actually… no, Amy. This one is all still good in the head… and he’s from your all’s neck of the woods.”

Amy’s eyes bulged out immediately and her grey eyes immediately shot down to mine. “Well, darlin’… come over and stay for a while.” I almost wanted to protest being thrust with these strangers, but Amy seemed to not care and pulled me down to sit by her.

After a moment of her almost making a little mind-numbing small talk, Miss Melissa then left. Amy’s face quickly changed, and she stuck her tongue out at her before looking back at me. “Sorry, honey. She can be a real pill sometimes.” She then stuck out her hand to mine, and slowly but surely, I eventually shook it. “Good to meet you, fella. First though… don’t call me Amy. These Bigs think that because my full name is Amelia, my shortened name is Amy. It isn’t.”

She bore a fierce determination, and to be honest, she almost looked familiar for a moment. Still though, if I was going to be with someone who finally seemed more or less on my level, I wanted to make nice with her before bombarding her with all my questions. “If it isn’t Amy, do you have a nickname then?”

“Oh!” She then threw her hands up in the air as if she had just crossed the finish line in a race. “It’s so good to finally hear a valid question from a newbie here. Most call me AE, but my friends call me Millie or Meeley. We’re friends, but if you’re so bold, I’ll even respond to Lady Lindburgh.”

The blood in my veins froze.

I absolutely adored history. It was always fascinating to me, and I knew names and faces pretty well, so that always helped when I was in school identifying all the famous people. Now, I was face to face with a living legend… somehow. “Lady Lindburgh… holy…” I heard that nickname dozens of times before, particular back home at the Air and Space Museum in D.C. in front of the plane she flew. “You’re… you’re…” I just couldn’t make out the words.

Meeley giggled. “Oh boy… another fan. Nice to know a few people still know about me though. I know I was the first woman and all, but what’s it been? 50 years since I crossed the Atlantic?”

I managed to find some spit and my words again. “More like over 80 actually…”

Her face dropped a bit, but then she smiled and flexed the overalls she was wearing. “Heh… I guess you lose track of time a bit here, but I look pretty good for my age then, huh?”

She did. It was one of my numerous questions in all this. With her disappearance in 1937 and even ignoring 50 ovf the past 80 years… she shouldn’t look like… this. Still though… right then, one of her friends shifted about on the floor with his crayons. Meeley quickly looked down at him with a sort of sympathy and despair in her eyes.

“Poor Jimmy…” She then stroked a few of his oddly graying locks of hair. “Used to be all pep and argumentative with anyone here. Great conversationalist and his stories… whew!” She then looked deep into my eyes once again with a seriousness that made me squirm a bit. “Bit of advice, newbie. Jimmy here beat up a kid last year for stealing from him. The other kid got the spanking of his life, but Jimmy… well, you don’t want to end up like Jimmy, okay?”

I quickly nodded and wondered about who he was from back on Earth. Of the three Littles in front of me, apparently each was from Earth, and one was already pretty famous. I wondered if the other two were as well. ‘Uh, Jimmy… are there any famous Jimmy’s…?’ I looked back at the kind Little in front of me. ‘Maybe a Jimmy who disappeared like Melley apparently did...?’

“Oh! Goodness gracious!” The Little that had been snoozing beside Meeley then woke up and gave a long stretch. “Wow! How long have I been asleep, Meeley?”

“Just a few hours now…” She then helped him off the back wall he had been leaning up against and pointed toward me. “DB… we’ve got a newbie here.”

He wasn’t even looking at me yet and seemed to be more occupied with rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “Oh boy… another regressor from back home? What are they? The eighth this year alone? These Bigs trying to build a drooling army or something?”

Meeley shook her head and then forcefully turned DB’s over to me. I waved at the now clearly shocked Little. “Hey… I’m Percy…”

“Holy…” The man they got up from the wall and kind of strangely crawled over to me. It was an odd position to see someone so cognizant in right then, but once he stopped, I let him do his tiny investigations of me… even when he poked my outstretched foot. “You’re real… and from back home too?”

I nodded. “Yep. Virginia. Just got here a few months ago.”

“Oh my… this is huge!” He then wobbled a bit as he stretched himself up on his knees. “You make three for our crew! Yes! We can finally escape!”

My heart leapt for joy. Samantha, Oppy, Harriet, Luna, and even Chelsea were all growing on me every day it seemed like, but still… this new Little could have been my ticket home. It all almost even felt like a dream to me by now. A place where I could wake up and not worry about being regressed suddenly or the fact that I ate too much bran last night could shorten my wait times from feeling something to popping a squat… potty or not. It was almost dreamy. Meeley, however, soon crushed my hopes in a single second.  

“Oh no you don’t, DB!” she chastised her friend before yanking him back by the waistband of his shorts. With them so forcefully pressed against his front, I knew I wouldn’t be alone at least in wearing diapers in the group at a minimum. Meeley then smacked him on the chest lightly. “You’re not going to scare off or recruit the newest member to our group who can actually manage to not drool on themselves!”

DB blushed a bit and rubbed his chest. “Fine! Fine! Probably wouldn’t have worked anyway.” He then looked back at me. “I’ve checked this place up and down, and unless you’re a dirty diaper or a broken toy, you just don’t leave this place unless a Big is right there beside you.”

I squirmed for a second to check the status of my own diaper and to my relief, I was only mildly damp. I had managed to go before Samantha and I had left this morning, and then again just right before Miss Melissa had pulled me along to here. Jimmy seemed diapered, but I really wondered about Meeley now.

The next hour or so was filled with questions about back on Earth. So, just like my lectures here, I was able to use my knowledge and fill all my new friends in. To be honest, I don’t think either of them had gotten a real news bulletin since the 70’s if my eyes were really seeing who I was seeing, so things like computers or smart phones were a bit trick to explain, but both seemed utterly fascinated by the end. For his part, Jimmy just kept to his crayons.

After a while, I finally wanted to ask a question of my own. “You said that I was the most recent coherent addition to your group from back on Earth. Have there been others? Uh, recently?” I didn’t want to just ask right out the gate, but I was trying to find out what had happened to Ditzy or Derek in here. I had just met them after all, and I really didn’t want to be pushy.

“Hmmm… weren’t there two not too long ago, Meeley?” DB asked as I could tell that she was pondering it herself. “Dicey? Misty… something like that?”

“Ditzy?” I asked, still trying to keep my hope subdued that I would see my old friends in here.

“That’s it! That’s her!” Meeley confirmed. “Absolutely she’s in here! Friend of yours, Percy?”

I eagerly nodded now. “Yep! She should have been with another… Derek? Have you seen either of them in here recently?”

Meeley nodded and DB pointed behind me. “Yeah. They’re here today.”

I almost bolted right then to go and find them, but just as my butt cleared the ground, I sat back down in a huff.

“What’s wrong, Percy?” Meeley asked with some concern. “You okay?”

“I…” I soon became a mix of emotions. “I’m not sure…” DB and Meeley leaned in closer, clearly willing to listen. “Well, you see, yesterday… Oppy… kind of like my grandmother here… she got a note from the judges.” I stopped and wondered if I should even tell them. I felt like saying it out loud made it too real.

“Go on…” Meeley encouraged. “We’re listening. Just take your time.”

I sighed and then took a large breath. “The letter told us that Chelsea had chosen Ditzy to stay with her after she recovers. She got sentenced to protocol 2 and had two Littles. We suspected she had to give one of them up because of the law or something like that,” I tried to explain. “We found out she chose, and my closer friend of the two is the one getting the boot…”

DB then patted my shoulder. “That’s rough, buddy, but think of it this way. This place is unusual and dangerous to anyone under eight feet tall. He was talking the other day… that might not be the case tomorrow… You might not have another opportunity to talk to your friend…”

His words stung me fully. Then, as if to confirm my own deepest fears about this place, Meeley nodded. “He’s right… for once. We’ve lasted a long time here, but we seem to be the exception.” It was true. I had only been here a few months myself and I was already wearing a diaper pretty regularly, had a massive urge to give Stripe a hug right now, and most of my meals were served to me from the convenience of a highchair… which I thought to myself with an outwardly straight face. So, at this point, lasting 80 years here felt next to impossible. I had to know more, but they were right, and right then, I knew I had to attend to my other friends.

With a little more encouragement from DB and Meeley, and even a little smile from Jimmy still on the floor, I made my way over to Ditzy and Derek. Both were playing on the ground in various positions but were still very near to each other. As I approached, I felt that Derek was even watching over Ditzy in a way. “Hey…” I said to my old friends.

Both stopped what they were doing immediately and turned around to see who at just clearly called out to them. In an instant, as soon as Ditzy saw me, she quickly dropped the thick plasticky book she had been reading. It only took a cursory glance to realize that it was only mostly pictures. A series of cooing baby babbles later, I was covered in a little drool and dozens of kisses and was currently being tightly hugged by her. “I miss you too, Ditzy…”

Derek on the other hand, only slowly waddled over to me. Without a second’s hesitation though, Ditzy then broke her hug off and then pulled me down to the floor to show me a doodle she had done the other day. I guessed it was a dog. I was wrong…

“Issa mouse,” Derek said slowly. I was almost shocked at how well I could understand him now. “Iss from a show she wikes…” I could see his face cringe for a moment.

“Oh… I see,” I said lying a bit after I reexamined the drawing. I then looked back up at my friend. “How are you? You seem like you’re doing… better.” The man was still clearly a Little and the drool-soaked pacifier clipped to his striped shortalls did little to dissuade me of that particular notion.

“Iss juss wife… life,” he finally said with a bit of concentration. “Can’t complain though…”

“Oh?” I had seen the long-term nursery they had been staying at and it was admittedly a nice place. I didn’t see a single unregressed individual in there, but by now, I just assumed that every place had some downside when us Littles were involved.

“Yeah…” his focus then almost seemingly drifted away into bliss for a moment before snapping back. “Uh, yeah… pwaytime outside is juss da bess. Diapers an’ cwothes awe comfy an’ no compwaints abou’ the TV. You gotta favowit catoon?”

In fact, I did. I couldn’t remember the name of the show for the life of me, but it was surprisingly sophisticated and even violent for a cartoon. It was basically just a crime scene investigator plotline, but even Samantha had gotten into it a few times. Most seemed designed to make Littles out to be babies, but I always found it at least humorous that we were almost never the killer. For his sake though, I just told him about one that Chelsea had actually been watching.

The next 30 minutes seemed to both fly by and creep along. Though Derek’s and I’s conversation went nicely, and I was definitely glad to see my friend, I also had to continually wonder just how much was left of the old Derek. We would go on for maybe five minutes about something, but then he would add in a comment or two that made me question just how much he was back. I couldn’t care about his mispronounced words or even the fact that I’m pretty sure he wet his diaper at least four times while talking to me, but his likes and dislikes… I felt as if I was almost talking to my younger cousin from back home who had just entered preschool.

Finally, I couldn’t take it, and I took my chance when lunchtime was announced. So, after a series of goodbyes and promises to visit again soon, I left the two to be fed in highchairs in the back room. I rejoined Meeley, DB, and Jimmy with some relief. While Jimmy was clearly now in the younger category of Littles and taken first, Meeley and DB at least were around my level to some degree. Today, we stayed together, and I couldn’t have been happier when we even got to eat at these little plastic tables by ourselves.

“Better eat up, kid,” Melley advised me after she noticed that I was largely picking around the cut-up hot dog bites and the odd purple fruit next to it. “You’re going to need it.”

I poked at the fruit and a sweet-smelling juice came out of the almost watermelon-like pulp. In the distance, I could see Jimmy getting taken out of his highchair and to the room clear marked “Nap Room.”

“I’d listen to her if I were you,” DB spoke up after he put his spoon down after examining it closely. I had seen enough prison movies to know that man was figuring out some sort of escape plan with those. “She’s been here the longest and is still sane… well, for her that is…”

Meeley quickly smacked her friend in the arm. “When are you going to learn, DB, that women are just as good as men? You know, I thought you would have learned something the second time around.”

The room then got really silent, and DB almost instantly looked different. If I didn’t know any better, he almost looked like the other Littles around here when they were sad. He was so cocky and confident, but now… a stiff breeze looked like it could knock him over or that he could use a nap or a cuddle right about then. I honestly wasn’t sure, but Meeley looked stunned herself.

“Oh my! DB… I’m so sorry!” she tried to rapidly apologize to her friend after her shock wore off. “Are you okay? I didn’t mean it! Honest! You know me and my stupid mouth!”

DB seemed a little normal after her apology, but something definitely now felt off about him. Problem was, right then, I just couldn’t place it. “It’s okay, Melley. I’ll be okay…”

The rest of the meal was then eaten in silence, but everyone started to perk up when I noticed a few of the attendants walk around and begin taking the finished Littles outside. We were no exception, and as soon as I swallowed my last bite of the sweet but oddly flavored purple fruit, we scrambled outside.

Because of my seclusion amongst Littles however, I really wasn’t sure what to do. Of course, I could have always followed most of the Littles out here and played on my own haphazardly in the sandbox or have gotten pushed on the swings, but those felt like they were activities just for the regressed ones to do. DB and Melley, however, soon began to climb to the top of one of the taller towers of the playground back there.

“Come on, Percy!” Melley announced as she quickly bounded her way to the top.

I was a little out of shape, but I just put one foot and hand in front of the other and continued to climb. From this low angle though, I could quickly tell that both Melley and DB were diapered. It was at that point I think that I kind of just gave up on the whole notion of ever wearing underwear again while in this dimension. Maybe maintain control, but it seemed diapers were just to be my destiny here.

Finally, all three of us made it to the top. Melley was the only one not out of breath and was currently perched on a little stoop at the corner of the tower platform. I could see she was smiling wide as she then extended her hands outward like a bird. “Isn’t it wonderful up here, you guys? I could stay up here all day! Reminds me of my old adventures. So freeing…”

“It’s great… Melley…” DB said while a little out of breath.

I was out of breath myself and just nodded. In that time though, I also looked around at the view that Melley had just been gushing about, and she was right. Though not perched above every building, the at least 20-foot-tall tower was able to clear the back fence and look over the rolling landscape all around us. The academy took up most of the southern and western views, but the small communities and mountains just beyond them to the north and east, were magnificent. I suppose to someone like Melley who hadn’t flown in years, this was the closest she likely ever got now to being back up in the air.

We stayed up there forever, but eventually, we could see one of the daycare workers I hadn’t met yet give us a stern look. Melley and DB seemed to know the routine and began to climb down immediately. Just as we were at the platforms that took up most of the playset’s second level, I saw a panicked look quickly take over DB’s face. In seconds, the previously happy and almost adventurous Little was reduced to a hyperventilating snotty mess.

“DB? Are you okay?” I asked worriedly of my new friend. He didn’t respond.

Melley just looked at him like this was just another Monday, even as tears began forming in his eyes. After a moment, I could see him puff out his cheeks and squat a bit. I immediately knew what he was doing, and Melley did as well. Finally, though, with one last tiny far, it was over.

“Go see Miss Tina or Miss Melissa,” Melley said calmly afterward. “They know what to do…” DB only nodded his head and walked over and climbed down with a bit of a waddle to another daycare worker.

“What was that?” I asked as soon as I knew he was out of earshot. “He just… one second he was all smiles and the next…!” A messing Little was one thing, but DB almost seemed like someone had secretly pinched him. There was no far off stare… no joy or even revulsion… just a scared or even in pain Little.

Melley sighed. “It’s a thing they do here… DB got it bad about two decades ago I guess now.” She then shifted and readjusted to a better seating position on the stairs we had used to get to the top of the tower. “Back then, he was still obsessed with his money. He wanted to escape then as well, but just to snag his money and get out of here. Well, they caught him.”

I remembered back to the academy and their protocols with what they did to Chelsea. From his reaction just moments ago and Melley’s serious face, I guess that whatever occurred next wasn’t good. “Then what happened?”

Melley messed with her hair for a moment and then looked back up at me. “Well, they caught him for the third time. Just like baseball… and so, with his three strikes, he was out… punished. He came back a few days later, but he was instantly like Jimmy. He came back to us about a year later mentally, and it was such a relief… but he was different.” She shifted uncomfortably on the stairs. “He was his old self… but he had a few holdovers as well. Fear of monsters as well as the police, more agitated with small things, and well, you saw just one of the other things just now.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. My eyes had shown me all the power of this place before, but this whole scenario genuinely terrified me. ‘What if that happened to me? I’m a good… uh, just good… but there are always mistakes…’ I shook my head and didn’t want to dwell on all that. “That’s terrible…”

“That’s this place, Percy. Sooner or later, they’re going to get you… they’re going to get all of us.” She then looked down and briefly caressed her own pants which quickly elicited a crinkling sound. “I got popped about 50 years ago… just was able to recover when DB got here. It was tough, but as I said… it’s just this place…”

DB eventually made it back to us, and while it took a minute, he was soon back to his old cheery self. It was nice to see, but his presence and new backstory made me wonder about everyone else here and even myself. ‘How many Littles sucking their toes right now are only temporarily regressed? Am I next? Is this my forever now?’ The thoughts plagued me, even when we went inside and even by the time that Samantha came in that afternoon to pick me up.

By then, I was primed for her rescue of me. I had found new friends, but new terrors as well. So, as soon as the door was opened and fully clear, I ran into and hugged Samantha’s legs as tightly as I could.

“Woah! Easy there, sweetie. Easy.” It took a second, which I know worried her a bit from the patting of my back that followed, but eventually, Samantha was able to peel me off her legs. Realizing something was happening with me right then, so she crouched down and brushed my cheek with her hand. It was our signal again, so I just unburdened my guilt right into her.

“I’m sorry, Samantha… please don’t be mad at me.” Samantha looked expectant of all this, but she then seemed to look at me like she was figuring out a puzzle of sorts. “I was stupid and immature… I was a Little, and the worst kind this morning. You just wanted what was best for me, and I should have trusted you…”

“So… you had a good day, or…?” Samantha questioned me, but her eyes soon narrowed. “Did something happen I need to know about?” I could feel her mother bear fury come out in a split second, likely thinking that someone else had hurt me, so I quickly just shook my head. Daycare was nice… the Littles… I just wasn’t sure how to feel about it all.

“Please just forgive me… I’ll trust you from now on, but please just forgive me…” I felt so pathetic and vulnerable right then, but more and more it seemed, Samantha was becoming my rock in everything. Need something explained from this world? Samantha. Need someone to protect me? Samantha. Had a bad day? Samantha. I couldn’t think of one thing that she couldn’t or wouldn’t help me with.

Then to my relief, after, Samantha only smiled in her genuine, warm, and reassuring kind of way. It was exactly what I needed. “Oh sweetie… you see, I never had to forgive you in the first place. You were only upset and had some big feelings you couldn’t properly deal with. You’re a Little remember, and your emotions just overwhelmed you.”

She then paused and sighed heavily. “I have to admit… what you did hurt me, but once my heart was more open, I just couldn’t get you off my mind all day. In saying that though, I know coming here hurt you as well… maybe even more. So, there’s nothing you need to be sorry about.” To my everlasting joy, she then opened her arms.

I immediately collapsed into them in less than a second and felt her soft warm glow on my skin. I could use a change, a snack, and probably a nap after everything, but right then, I had Samantha, and to me, that was becoming better than anything else in this world… except maybe Oppy’s oatmeal raisin cookies fresh from the oven. I’m pretty sure wars were fought over those things, but still, right now I had Samantha.

After a moment, Samantha pulled me back and wiped a few of the tears on my cheeks away. “I know there were things today that were probably hard, but I’m proud of you for going through with it still.” Her smile then faded a bit. “There are things, Percy… complicated things that may be coming up. I don’t know if I’m always going to be there for you and with Chelsea… well, I wanted a place where I know you could go and be somewhat happy, but more importantly, safe.”

Her words immediately sent off alarm bells in my head, but her comforting smile took me out of my head long enough for her to stand back up and take my hand. She slung my diaper bag back over her shoulder and we exited the building hand-in-hand to her car outside.

There was so much to unpack from today, ranging from meeting the freaking Amelia Earheart to seeing just how much had changed in Derek since coming here. I will definitely bring Stripe with me next time, but still, I had made it through my first day of daycare here. To my relief even, it wasn’t horrible, and around here, I knew just how much that really meant as a Little in this dimension. With all that was in the air though, I wondered just what was next.

[Guilend]

That was amazing. 

42 minutes ago, LostBBoyBear said:

“There are things, Percy… complicated things that may be coming up. I don’t know if I’m always going to be there for you and with Chelsea… well, I wanted a place where I know you could go and be somewhat happy, but more importantly, safe.”

This has me worried, mostly because it has her worried. The only thing I can think of that she could be referring to is part of her punishment? I guess she thinks that whatever that 249 is, is going to fail and she's going to be subject to partial protocol 2? I'm not even sure what that means. I know protocol 2 is regression to like Chelsea as a baby to toddler age, but what would partial protocol 2 mean? Maybe mostly adult with regressed parts added? I'm also wondering if 249 is like a test she's subjected to? Whatever partial protocol 2 means, clearly Samantha doesn't think she'll be able to care for Percy for a period of time so he'll have to spend time at daycare because she won't be teaching or at least not in the capacity to have him help out most days or at all.

[keith60]

I hope there is going to be more 

[BabyMorgan]

Got a good chuckle at the DB Cooper cameo!

[messyman]

2 hours ago, BabyMorgan said:

Got a good chuckle at the DB Cooper cameo!

And Jimmy, Hoffa?

[LostBBoyBear]

Hey everyone! Apologies for the lateness of this post. I was trying to get this out yesterday, since today was busy already, but I just got back too late after the Superbowl to give this a final proper edit. Because of the delay, I will need to pick up the pace a little more to get this story finished before the end of the month, but I also believe that my self-imposed deadline is still possible.

Also, and a bit on the same note, I’m not sure if anyone is new to my writings, but I’m a big believer of the idea that once I’ve started something, I will end it. I might be going a smidge slower with this story, but I promise that it will be completed. That definitely goes the same for this story as well.

Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter!

Chapter 9: Water and Celebrations Cleanse and Level All

The heat and humidity of the more southern area of Libertalia where the academy was, all classified of course, began to set in. The beginning of the month was pleasant enough, and even a few breezes helped move the air along. Now, at the end of June a few weeks later, the breezes had all but left and only the hot moist air remained. As such, when Peace Day came along this year, I wasn’t surprised in the least bit that Samantha and most of the family decided to go to the pool.

“Explain Peace Day again to me?” I asked from my car seat while Samantha drove in front. The academy was off today and while the daycare was an option for me, Samantha had remained true to her word and only took me there when she needed to. So, on days like today when her schedule was wide open from the academy closure, we made sure to spend it together.

“It celebrates the official end of the Height War,” Samantha explained. “It was the last of them, so the day the peace treaty was signed between the different cultures here, we wanted to mark forever afterward.”

“I guess that makes sense…” I had heard of the Height War before. The craters I had seen on my first day were prime examples, but people like Oppy and a few of the other older residents of the community occasionally talked about it to the point where I knew it was a big deal. Curiously, each of them also seemed to give more respect to Littles than those who weren’t alive yet when the war occurred. “Still, I just wish there would actually be peace between the heights. You should see a few of the more helpless Littles in daycare… I don’t think some of them are very peaceful…”

Samantha sighed but just continued to drive. She knew how I felt fully by now and from our little conversations after class, and I knew that she also felt that Littles were being exploited and abused by many Bigs. Things being what they were though, she always seemed to end the argument the same way; defeated and resigned to the fact that things wouldn’t change.

Regardless though, I just leaned back in my car seat and wondered if I would see Melley or DB today. Jimmy was great and all, but to be blunt, he didn’t add much to the conversation these days, but DB and Melley though were rapidly becoming my best friends here. Also, with Derek’s new behavior, those two felt like Littles I could actually connect with. We had even come over to each other’s houses in the past few weeks since we had met, but it also meant that I knew they lived off academy grounds. As such, I knew that the odds were long that I was going to see them today. Still, a Little could hope.

Finally, Samantha parked and got out with the three bags she had packed. I thought she was crazy at first, but after my diaper bag, a pool bag for her, and another just for our outfits and towels, I realized just how wrong I was. Samantha struggled for a moment, but she finally righted herself after getting me out of the car. “Whew! That was a close one. Bit trickier today but at least you can walk…”

I looked around and saw a few other Big with their respective Littles. It didn’t take much effort at all to spot just how much trouble they were having between all their bags and having to either carry their Little or then try and likely fail to set up their stroller. It was almost amusing, but I was just glad that Samantha marched quickly to the front door of the pool house before I let out a snicker in front of them. One just never knew the temperament of a Big they were seeing. If my luck was bad today, one of them could have easily blistered my butt before Samantha even knew what was happening.

Fortunately, though, Samantha just got us checked in, and as usual lately, I followed her into the women’s changing room. We didn’t linger as she wanted to find the family first and set everything down that we didn’t need. I didn’t like that it could mean a delay jumping into the pool, but family was family, and with all the bags straining against her arms, I couldn’t fault her logic.

So, we exited the changing room and soon found all of them perched over by several lounging chairs as well as a single table with an umbrella shading most of the area. “Oh good, you’re here!” Oppy cheered as she saw us walk up to the selected spot. “We ordered the pizzas already, but we’ve got a little fruit out already. How you two set your stuff down and then go change?”

Samantha nodded. “Thanks, and will do, mom. Harriet and all here yet?”

Oppy also nodded. “Arrived just before you all. I think she’s talking to the front desk person or something like that. You know how she is.”

So, after a single nod, Samantha then set our bags down and reorganized them a little bit to make all this a bit easier. Finally, she outstretched her hand, I took it, and we both retreated back to the changing room to get dressed for our hopefully fun day ahead.

Okay… so Samantha and I had been going to the pool since it had opened at the end of May around here. Everything was going great, and I had my full independence and wore just a pair of trunks like I did back home. I wore a swim diaper underneath those, per the rules of the pool, and for those ‘just in case’ moments, but all was good until last week.

Samantha was nearby but talking with a few of her friends from around the neighborhood. Everyone knew I wasn’t regressed, so I was given a bit of leeway. Unfortunately, a new woman strutted in with her own highly regressed Little and started yelling at me and the lifeguards. It wasn’t a big deal by the end and the lady was warned to never do it again here, but Samantha was a little wary for today, so she wasn’t taking any chances. The first change was my outfit.

I sighed heavily. “Does it have to be crabs, Samantha?” I whined a bit as I viewed the outfit that she had purchased for me the other day.

Samantha just held up the two pieces up closer to my body. “Hmmm… they should look really nice on you, but just do this for me today. We don’t want any issues to spoil the holiday, right? I mean… that lady kind of scared you the other day, right?”

I thought back and she had definitely frightened me. I couldn’t do anything but just stand on the side of the pool while she yelled at me for a whole host of things. In fact, my swim diaper was even appreciated a little bit from the fear that began to leak out of me halfway through. “She did, and no, I don’t want to repeat any of that…” I conceded.

Samantha smiled. “Very good. Let’s just get you changed in here and all.”

She then led me to a large empty stall. Despite some of the changes in my life, she still valued my privacy whenever she could, so stripping me down naked in front of all these strangers was gratefully still mostly off the table. She had to change me a few times in public, but that was also just a concession of being a Little here by now I had realized. No Little could escape every indignity of life here under the Bigs.

So soon, I was stripped and then padded in my new swim diaper. I still appreciated the ‘plain’ aquatic-themed swim diapers she had found instead of the cartoon versions most other Littles wore to the pool. Finally, she popped me in my own suit, which though comfortable, definitely did little to hide my diapered state. “Thank you…”

Samantha smiled and then twirled her finger around to give me the signal to face the corner of the stall. This was the second change that the incident with the lady had only accelerated. See… a Little had been kidnapped two weeks after I came under her protection and then another one not long after that. ‘Littlenappings’ were on the rise though still extremely rare, but Samantha had made up her mind. So, starting last week, she insisted I always stay with her if she would be away for more than a minute. I heard everything while in the stall with her since then, but I still had offered to give her some privacy and make things less awkward. Considering the whole issue in the first place, it was a compromise we both could somewhat uncomfortably live with.

“Alright!” Samantha announced not long after. “Let’s get out of here and join the others.” I turned around and nodded. Today, she was wearing a blue one-piece suit with little crabs of her own to match the ones now crawling up my entire two-piece outfit. Once out of the stall, a few Bigs immediately gushed over our coordinating suits.

To both of our elation though, by the time we exited the changing room, the pizza had arrived and the whole family and a few coworkers and their Littles were now serving themselves. Because Harriet had come by herself, she was already dressed, but had saved us two seats under some of the partial shade to the left of the main table. On a sweltering day like today, it was much appreciated.

As I gobbled up my slice of cheese pizza, not even cut up to my own pride, I saw so many people here and as soon as the conversation died down a bit, I spoke up. “There’re so many people here. I’ve never seen it so crowded! Does everyone get off today on Peace Day?”

Harriet smiled and nodded but also seemed hesitant as she finished eating a milo slice, essentially their version of an apple. “For the most part,” she started once she had swallowed. “A lot of jobs are temporarily automated today in effort to get as many people off as possible to reflect and enjoy the celebration of peace.” She paused and looked at the lifeguards and even waited for a siren to pass by from the nearby main road.

“Speaking of which,” she continued, “emergency services can even be limited now due to med bays, a peaceful society with our new growth, and the AI system that most of them use. Speeds up responses and makes any type of processing almost done within an hour.”

I always forgot just how much more advanced they were than us on Earth. Samantha had guessed we were really only a few decades behind at most in our worst area of performance, but when I noticed the differences, they struck me hard. Still, I strangely wanted to find the cracks in all this ‘freedom’ on this holiday. It was my near-fatal flaw in life, but I always had insisted. “Isn’t anyone worried about their job? I mean… if it can be automated today, why can’t they be automated for the whole year? Aren’t any of you worry about your job security?”

A few of their friends from the academy nearby snickered and my clear lack of knowledge in all this, while their nearby Littles looked nervous, but Oppy just smiled like she always did whenever I asked questions. It was small, but for someone who was constantly being derided as just another stupid Little, it meant a great deal to me. “Actually, there was some concern in the years following the policy and the automations, but then laws were written into our constitution that prevented any job from being completely taken over by a machine. In fact, there’s even a law that stipulates a certain percentage for that amount and that a Big should always be sought out first in the job market.”

“Oh… that makes a lot of sense…” I kept on asking my questions, but Chelsea then began to act up a bit. As Oppy had been answering the bulk of my questions, Samantha, Luna, and Harriet could only do so much to keep her occupied under her current mental abilities. So, Chelsea began to make a few noises of her own to entertain herself. It was loud, and it wasn’t long before other Bigs that the family didn’t know from nearby began to look at the regressed Big and judge.

“Oppy,” I whispered after a while, “people are staring. I shaved my facial hair off… is it Chelsea?” I had shaved my goatee off not long after Samantha was released to blend in better. It felt weird at first, but it did lead to less staring by the Bigs. Today though, the staring was back.

Oppy’s previous smile soon faded, and she turned around and quickly glared at the staring Bigs. I had learned a long time ago that her angry glare could freeze the hearts of any who broke her rules or had wronged her or the family. Given her reputation around here, most in the family rarely ever received negative looks about Chelsea anymore. Everyone knew that she was being punished, but everyone knew not to mess with Oppy either. The whole incident with Mr. Jameson had only helped that reputation.

Still though, I had to wonder about Chelsea myself. Today, she was wearing basically a glittery princess swimsuit that did little to hide the bulk of her own swim diaper. Her floaties were particularly hilarious as well, especially as according to Oppy, she had insisted on wearing the massive things even before touching the water once. Still, looking into her unfocused eyes from across the table, I had to ask myself one question; ‘Despite all the evidence to the contrary, is she still in there?’

Not long after lunch ended though, the temperatures rose to a degree that not even the shade could completely protect from. As such, it was time for the pool for most of our gathered group. Unfortunately, this meant two things. First, because Oppy reigned supreme over everyone, everyone had to wait at least 30 minutes before entering the pool and a full hour before any diving or playing around could start up. Second, with the intense yet invigorating sun overhead, everyone had to apply their sunscreen. The Bigs went first and helped each other while a few of us Littles still ate or drank something, but then it was our turn.

“Stop moving around, honey,” Samantha tried to implore me for at least the third time. I really tried my best not to, but she was using a heavier SPF sunscreen, and the stuff could get caked onto your skin if you didn’t thoroughly rub it in. I just simply didn’t like all that rubbing going on with my face alone.

“Come on… just a little more.” I could tell that Samantha was getting desperate for my cooperation to just finish this up so we could go into the pool as a whole family. It would keep us together, but also ensure everyone’s safety in the water.

“It’s annoying… and uncomfortable…” I complained. In truth, we probably would have been done by now, but I just felt all squirmy today… again. It had happened a few other days recently, but I just felt like I had more energy lately. It would dissipate in the afternoon, but I justified it all by thinking that any machine runs out of gas at some point.

Samantha just huffed and tried to resume her role as she moved onto the rest of my exposed skin. It wasn’t as bad as my face, but I suppose in her mind I still squirmed needlessly. I honestly didn’t even really think about it at first, but I quickly saw that our group weren’t the only ones who had the idea to go into the pool. So, I wasn’t the only Little getting sunscreen put on them by a Big, but it also clued me into something. Each Little was squirming just like me.

Now, I knew I was a Little by this society’s standards. I wasn’t freakishly tall, and I was from Earth proper, so I was guaranteed to be a Little over here. It never really bothered me to be labeled like that once it actually started occurring, but instances like today, made me hate the title of our type in this world. I had always insisted that I was separate from all the rest, but at that moment however, I also saw the other Littles… and I was behaving exactly like them in squirming all about the place. Regressed or unregressed, a stranger likely couldn’t tell us apart if we didn’t talk.

Right then, I felt both disgusted with myself and scared at this place in general. It wasn’t anything like a revelation or anything like that, but I was still shocked at how close we were. Any Big seeing me, would likely have just seen another regressed Little. I was terrified of how this place was seemingly getting to me in more ways than one. I wondered just how long I would be here before I cracked or was regressed as a punishment like Chelsea or Jimmy had been. As Melley said, it was just inevitable. So, fearing being seen in such a way for at least today, I tried to compress all my feelings downward and sit still for Samantha to finish applying my sunscreen.

After, as most of the family dipped in the shallower end with Chelsea, I found a few of the less regressed Littles of a few of Big instructors from the academy and played with them. I had to act a little younger and let a few of my inhibitions go, but soon, the splashing and the laughing all covered up my own shame in that moment. It was all so simple, but I knew I needed to take my fun these days where I could find it. It all made staying in this world just a little easier.

Like all things in this dimension though, it couldn’t last.  

The first thing was when I saw Judge Franklin and Samantha arguing briefly by the snack stand. I wanted to get out right then and protect my own caregiver in front of him, but she soon stormed off in a huff back to our area with Oppy and the rest not in the pool right then. I was starting to get a really weird feeling about Judge Franklin, but I just couldn’t quite place it. For now, at least, I decided that vigilance was my best course of action.

The second thing to dampen the mood of the playtime then occurred when one of the more regressed Littles who even required floaties just to be in the pool in the first place, suddenly stopped and waded over to edge in order to get out. We had to help him up the ladder after, but despite our best efforts, it was too late. Right there, the back of his pants soon tented, and a foul smell emanated from his own swim diaper.

“Ewww! Justin pooped!” one of the girl Littles squealed and pointed from nearby at my temporary friend. For his part, Justin just continued up the ladder and toddled off to get a quick change by his own mommy, nearly oblivious to the whole even unfolding behind him at his own expense. I glared at the girl for a moment, but this being Little culture as it was around here, the whole incident was forgotten in moments by nearly everyone. Right then though, as per my luck lately, it was now my turn.

As I had sadly gotten used to, my bladder warning struck me like a thunder bolt and I knew I couldn’t wait long. Panicked, I half-swam, half-waded over to the ladder that Justin had just taken up. I didn’t need any help, but the whole event had delayed me… delayed me just enough that I was near bursting when I got to the top. So, despite my best efforts, even with my little waddle to hold my bladder back just a smidge, all prove fruitless. The floodgates opened and soon, a little trickle could be heard below me.

Now, I was already dripping from the pool, so it wasn’t as big of a deal as Justin’s incident had been all exposed like that. His could have even shut down the pool while mine was more of a mild inconvenience to any Big… but I stopped and stared. If I had been regressed more, I might have even stayed in the pool, but I wasn’t. Tears swam to my eyes, and because I was a Little, our whole party not in the water had been watching my every move. So, when I looked up, Samantha was immediately and quickly walking over to me.

“Percy? Are you okay?” she asked me gingerly while placing a calming hand on my shoulder. “Did you get hurt, sweetie? Show me where it hurts.”

I shook my head in shame. At least a scrape could have gotten me a personal healing kiss to my wound and maybe even an ice cream. “No… I… I had… an accident…” I nearly whispered the whole bit through my shaky voice, but from Samantha’s face, I could tell she now knew fully of what had happened.

Her eyes dropped to the floor and saw the puddle there was much bigger than it should have been. “Oh, I see. Well, that’s okay, honey. Do you want to maybe try and see if you need to go anymore?” I didn’t feel the need, but I was learning to always say ‘yes’ when offered a trip to the potty, so I just nodded my head. “Okay. Just wait right here and I’ll go get your bag.”

I nodded again and Samantha ran off, made a few quiet comments to the family, and then made her way back over to me. One offered hand later and we were in the changing room again. “Okay. I’m going to help you out and sit you on the potty, okay? Your suit might be a little tricky getting off being wet and all.” I only tearfully and silently nodded at her proposal.

Samantha took my signal and, in the stall, dropped my pants and my sopping wet swim diaper to the tiled ground. I knew the cartoon fish on my swim diaper were mostly wet from the pool, but I also knew it wasn’t all just pool water. Regardless though, Samantha soon had me perched on the edge of the Big-sized potty. I then grunted and strained to just try and get it all out and end this humiliation as soon as I could.

To my chagrin, moments later, I heard a single lump splash from underneath me. I had barely felt the need to go, and while part of me knew that I had only gone because I was pushing, the notion of not feeling full worried me a lot right then. It even worried me to the point that I barely acknowledged it when Samantha asked me if I needed to go more, or when I shook my head, and she then tipped me forward and wiped my butt for me. Sadly, all this was just becoming routine. ‘At least I’m not like Justin…’

Still, the thought provided little comfort and I could still feel the tears stinging in my eyes nearly the whole time. The fact that Samantha then pulled my swim diaper back up along with my trunks, both very wet still, did little to help my demeanor. In fact, I was still sniffling and wiping my eyes away when we exited the stall.  

Samantha was washing her hands after she helped me do the same and noticed my depressed state. “Oh, honey. It’s okay. It was just a little accident and I bet someone has already hosed off the area and down a drain by now. No one is upset.”

“But I am!” I protested. “I’m not supposed to be regressed, but ever since those interrogation questions… I’ve just felt my control slipping more and more. What if it starts to affect the… other end?”

Samantha seemed confused for a moment, but her head soon nodded, and her eyes became immediately concerned when she realized what I was talking about. “You’re really worried about that, sweetie?” Without hesitation, I quickly nodded my head. “Oh baby!” Without warning, she then wrapped me tightly in her arms. I saw a few Bigs stare at us as they walked in and out of the changing room, but right then, I didn’t care. I just wanted her comfort.  

After a little bit though, she let me go and seemed like she was thinking hard about something. Then, like she usually did when she had an idea I had noticed, she snapped her fingers. “Okay. Percy, just wait right here and don’t move. I’ll be back in just a second. Call out loudly if you have a problem.” I nodded and Samantha practically ran out of the changing room, likely not wanting to leave me alone for very long at all.

Now, I highly valued my independence, but I was also a Little. Leaving me alone was definitely a sign of her reliance on my maturity, and it felt good, but after the third stare by a woman Big that walked in front of me as I sat on the bench that lasted just a bit too long, I started to become uneasy. Fortunately, right as one seemed ready to pounce, Samantha walked in, but she wasn’t alone.

“Luna?” I asked the recently entered Neko Middle, their tail still swinging about behind them. “What are you doing here?”

Luna approached me and slowly sat down, adjusting their tail so as not to kink it by sitting on it. “Samantha told me about your little problem… after the interview questions that is. She thought you could use someone so as not to feel so alone.”

I looked at my friend up and down, but I didn’t see anything overtly wrong with them. Two cat ears and one tail, but I had quickly gotten used to them since I first saw them attached to Luna over a month ago now. “But you were fine… you got a lower interview question, and you looked safe. Maybe a little out of it for a second, but nothing after.”

Luna deeply sighed. “Well, I’m glad you still think that. I’ve honestly been a bit paranoid about… well, some of the side effects afterward being super noticeable.” I raised my eyebrows in curiosity of what they meant. “You know… anything above level 30 can be pretty damaging if the investigators aren’t careful. Above 40 can give you a whole host of other issues, but I still got whacked. I…” Luna immediately stopped and shifted uncomfortably in front of me on the bench by the sinks.

“Go on, Luna,” Samantha coaxed from in front of us. “Percy won’t judge, and this is a safe space between us.”

I quickly shook my head. “I won’t judge. I don’t think I would anyways, but I definitely don’t have a leg to stand on here. I cuddle with a tiger at night, wear diapers, and just wet myself pretty helplessly outside… al of which only really started majorly after those stupid questions.”

Luna smiled, gave a little stroke of thanks on my arm, and then stood up. They were wearing a two-piece outfit, but I had noticed that it covered their skin a little more than usual as compared to the other suits that I had seen today that looked similar. Plus, it also had a skirt attachment over the bottom piece, but from their Neko cat ways, I had just assumed it was to limit their exposure to water. I was wrong… or at least partially.

With some hesitation, Luna lifted their shirt, unsnapped something at her rear, and then lowered their skirt swimsuit piece. There, right before my eyes, was a swim diaper. Thinner and less babyish than the one that I and most Littles here were wearing, but it was a swim diaper, nonetheless.

“But you… I thought…” I stammered out, unable to tear my gaze away from the purple reusable swim diaper in front of me.

Luna sadly shook their head. “No… I got out of my interview, and I was just a little shaken up. That night though, I almost had an accident. Same thing for the next five nights, but then it happened. I sneezed and a little bit came out during the day.” Seemingly satisfied that I had seen what I needed to, they then started pulling their swimsuit skirt back up.

With their skirt back up and my knowledge increased, I now could definitely see a little padding around her posterior. To be honest, I just thought she might have gained a little weight back there, but also, their tail covered and distracted one’s eyes away from it all pretty well. ‘Lucky…’

“Anyways,” Luna continued, “all that turned into a little more, until…” I could see their cheeks blush a bit. “Well… I needed some protection during the day as well. Oppy got this swim diaper for me specifically a few weeks ago. For Middles and Bigs only but it actually captures any accidents while still letting any pool water pass right on through.”

I felt the sting of jealousy bite around me very keenly in that moment. I knew I was a Little and there were certain drawbacks to that, but this felt almost like a step too far. For a brief second, I was almost even furious with Oppy that she hadn’t given me the same protection previously or even for today, but all those feelings passed. I knew I was a Little, and I had to accept things just how they were sometimes. After all, I could have been a Little and thrown a fit, or like I chose to do, I could just remain calm and show my maturity about it all. Then, Luna surprised me further though.

“You know…” they began, “I never apologized to you properly for what I did back at the con.”

I was shocked. I had forgiven Luna a long time ago by now, but her words were still nice to hear in person. After all, she had been the one to lure me in previously and give me the calm feeling around Samantha at least. I always wondered if my instincts would have been better without Luna reassuring me, but again, all that was in the past now. “It’s okay, Luna. I forgave you a long time ago. It’s just in the past now.”

Luna nodded, but I could still see the regret swirl about their emotions. “Thank you, Percy, but I still needed to say it. Oppy has been guiding me through a few things, and she made me realize just how much of a burden and struggle that was for you afterward. If I can ever help you…”

I smiled back at the saddened Middle in front of me. “Thank you, Luna. I’ll keep it in mind, but only because we’re friends and not because you owe me anything.” I then looked down at the ground and shuffled a little in my wet clothing and swim diaper. “I’m afraid about some of my regressing abilities, or at least my comfort with some things with that now, but still, most days I’m happy.”

Luna patted me on the shoulder. “Well, I kind of know how you feel, but we’ll get through this together. I mean, we already have a wonderful family to support us in all this.” We both then smiled up at nearby beaming Samantha standing in front of us.

“You’re not wrong on that…” I then petted Luna for a moment on the top of her head, and all seemed okay for the time being. I was still losing my abilities in some ways, but Luna was right. Whatever happened, we would get this together with the support of our great family.

With my sprits now lifted that I wasn’t alone with the sacrifices I had made because of the trial, the three of us then exited the changing room together. Luna went back to luxuriate under the bright sun in the lounge chair, but Samantha and I opted to hop in the pool ourselves. It was already the afternoon, and I could already see that many of my former companions in the water were now thoroughly passed out on towels laid out for them by their respective caregivers.

Happy over yet another distinction between us, I watched as Samantha jumped into the water, literally, first. Looking at me, she then opened her arms wide. “Alright. Jump into my arms. You can do it!”

Now, I was always a fan of the water. I was on the swim team at one point, I loved snorkeling and pretty much anything else in or on the water, and I was the second in my troop to first receive the swimming merit badge, but still, I hesitated.

Of course, there were pools made specifically for us Littles and baby Bigs. The shallow water over to my left was now practically empty, but even Chelsea had seemed bored there in the slightly warmer waters. Samantha on the other hand, was now practically in the opposite. In the Big-sized pool, she was standing in the water and only her chest and above was visible… meaning that the water would have easily been over my head. Still, I was no chicken regressed Little, so I jumped.

The cool water instantly engulfed me and splashed a giant wave everywhere. I was nowhere and yet surrounded on all sides. The water poured in all around me, and I felt lost. I was free floating, and I couldn’t feel anything except for the murky depths rising all around me.

Then, I felt two firm hands grasp around me and pull me upwards. In less than a second, the water cleared, and I took a deep breath of my freedom above me. The water clearing out of my eyes, I only saw a slighter wetter version of Samantha smiling right back at me. “Yay! You did it! I knew you could do it.”

I blushed under her praise. It was stupid and immature, and I had jumped into pools twice this depth before and from even greater heights, but still, I couldn’t help but luxuriate in her happiness over my deed. Regardless of my ‘bravery’ though, I still clung onto her shoulders.

We then joked around for a little bit, but I could almost feel a chill directly pierce my spine as I heard a familiar laugh from nearby. I didn’t want to be an alarmist or anything, so it took a second for Samantha to naturally face me in the direction the laugh had come from. When I saw who it was though, I could scarcely believe it.

There, in front of me were multiple people from the academy, but the scariest of all was the three joking and chatting amongst themselves. There, not 30 yards away was Judge Franklin, Judge Grossman, and investigator Taylor. Finally, I couldn’t contain myself anymore. “Samantha? Why are those three laughing with each other? Are they friends?”

Samantha then bounced around and her gaze met the three cavorting with each other. Almost instantly, I could feel her body tense up and her grip tighten around me. “They’re family, sweetie. Aunt and second cousins… I think? Kind of a dynasty there…”

I quickly thought back to the trial with Chelsea and Samantha. Both were guilty to an extent, but it all seemed completely unfair. ‘How could they be unbiased? Was there any collusion to bring down the Norris family? Why was Samantha so tense now? Was it Judge Franklin again?’

The thoughts plagued my mind for a few minutes and Samantha even let me go at one point, but we both stayed in the water and did our own thing still within sight of each other. Finally, though, I looked back at my caregiver and saw her serious expression directed towards the three. She had helped me before, so now I felt like I needed to help her. So, I splashed her.

“Honey, was that you?” she asked, sputtering a little water at the same time.

“What was me?” I asked, trying to play dumb or innocent.

“Hmmm…” Samantha then went back to her stewing, so I knew I needed to hit her again. And I did.

“Percy… there’s no one else here…” I could see that I was getting to her a bit. That was a good thing.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know… must be a rogue wave or something like that…”

Samantha looked at me with the same eyes that denoted ‘I know you’re lying, so fix this, or face the consequences.’ I felt a little guilty about the whole thing, but I knew something was up and I wanted to know what it was. For now, though, I knew I needed to distract her from what she was looking at. So, once again, I splashed her to get her mind off the three she had just seen.

This time though, she was ready and splashed me back with a wave of her own. Needless to say, her wave overpowered mine and completely soaked what little of me was still sticking out of the water. “Got you, you little troublemaker! I’m gonna get you!” In any other scenario, those words could be really bad for a Little, but from her growing smile, I knew it was all just in play.

So, playing along, I swam away from her. “Oh no! I’m really scared!” I kept swimming away from her, but because it was all in jest, despite her clear superiority to me, she never really caught up to me until I was properly trapped in one of the ends of the pool; the diving and slide area, though temporarily closed for the next hour.

“Got you!” she playfully yelled at me as she grabbed me with both hands. “Now, you’re mine!” Using her tremendous strength over me, she then hoisted me out of the pool and nearly tossed me completely free of the water and into the air, before letting me splash back down. This happened a few more times… which just happened to be enough for me to realize that I had trapped myself in the deep end.

Now, as I said, I was a good swimmer, and I loved the water. I had even dived before with shipwrecks and coral reefs, but this felt different. Of course, being a Big pool, the deep end was almost 30 feet deep, which meant that it was a bit dark down there at the bottom. A soft light illuminated it all down there, but it wasn’t much. So, maybe it was because of the darkness, or just the immense depth in general, but I actually became a little scared.  

“Samantha… I…” I was too late, and I got tossed again. I couldn’t help but look down as I splashed back into the water. Right then, the bottom depths of the pool seemed to reach up and try and grab my feet. Monsters could have been down there… my drowning… my demise. All just waiting to take me… forever.

“Samantha! Please!” I cried out. She immediately stopped and her face quickly became serious.

“What is it? Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” she asked, a growing concern laced throughout each of her words.

“No… I just…” I looked back down at the bottom of the pool below us. Even with Samantha’s height, the pool floor seemed miles away. It was almost three times her height… almost five times mine. “The darkness… I… I’m scared…”

Samantha seemed confused for a moment, but her eyes then drifted downward. Like a lightbulb clicking in her head, her arms suddenly lurched out and pulled me in close. Even from the coolness of the pool and intense heat of the sunlight overhead, I could still feel her warmth wrap me up tight. Despite being in nearly the exact same spot, I felt safe now. “Much better?” I only nodded my head and then rested it calmly on her chest. “Good… very good…”

Still clutching me tight, she then began to float away out of the deep end. We had our fun, but clearly, now was the time for being calm. In fact, I even started to feel a little sleepy there, lying on her chest. Still though, I wondered about Judge Franklin and all. He, and probably even his relatives at this point, were clearly a problem. I wondered if Oppy knew about it all, but one of Samantha’s hands drifting gently through my hair quickly shunted my thoughts elsewhere. Good idea or not, for now I rationalized, I should just enjoy this moment. As everything else had taught me here, one never knew when the next jolt in one’s life was just around the corner. For today though at least, I was just content to lie on my amazing caretaker and take in the cooling waters, gentle breeze, and warming sun of the summer.  

[Kat5]

So despite the occasional sense of foreboding from the dread trio partial judgement, this was an absolutely adorable chapter!

[Guilend]

Okay, wow. I don't think I have felt so happy about how things are going and afraid of what will happen next. At this point I think Percy is just trying to pretend nothing is happening so he's not asking Samantha a bunch of questions, like what her punishment entails, what that number is that I can't remember right now that could get her protocol number changed if it failed and what is going on between her and the Judges and I am guessing that family. He can stick his head in the sand all he wants, but eventually he will be forced to face whatever is happening.

[LostBBoyBear]

Hey everyone! Just missed the midnight mark, but that’s okay. I’m working about as hard as I can on this story, but this month has been surprisingly busier than it normally is. It means a few slower postings, but I should still hit my deadline.

As a warning, I discuss a specific product in here that I previously introduced in The Opening. This version is a much more concentrated version of the later weak version introduced by Diamond Technologies later in the timeline. I will go into that later in this story, but I just wanted to give a warning in case anyone thought I was breaking canon within my own universe here.  

Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter!

Chapter 10: Loose Lips Are Inevitable After a Swig of Milk

Things went right on as usual after all that happened at the pool. Everyone still went to the pool of course afterward, Samantha still taught, and I still went to daycare the two days out of the week that I wasn’t assisting her. At this point, daycare wasn’t even so bad, but the days I lectured, I longed for the most. On those days, I felt like my old self and still useful in my new life here. At the same time though, there was not an inch of me that could deny that daycare wasn’t at least a little fun.

Yesterday, Melley, DB, and I had even won a pie eating contest out of the whole daycare. Not the hardest task mind you with our regressed competition, but there were a few Littles who could still eat their way through just about anything. Still though, we won, which meant that we had bragging rights and an extra prize in our bag when we went home for the night, so it was a pretty great day. My new friends and things like that made me not dread every day that I went there anymore.

Today was another day though and the neighborhood at Oppy’s house decided to throw a block party. Nearly everyone was invited, though to my dismay, that number also included most of the upper echelons of the academy, including Judge Franklin. “But why does he have to come?” I complained to Samantha before we left our house. “I know there’s something going on with him… I just can’t prove it yet. But still!”

Samantha stopped wrapping up the fruit salad she had made and looked over at me. “Don’t keep looking, Percy. For me, please. There’s just some things that are happening beyond what I can explain right now. Promise me?”

I looked at my caregiver and I could plainly see the worry on her face. It had been over three months since the trial had ended and I don’t think I had seen a single joyous interaction between her and Judge Franklin, so I wondered why I shouldn’t push. At the same time though, I saw the desperation in her face to do as she asked, so I nodded and made an ‘X’ over my chest. “Promise. Even cross my heart just for you so you know I’m being serious.”

Samantha just smiled and went back to wrapping up her fruit salad. I could still see the worry and her little motions to ease herself back down afterward, but I made a promise, so I let it go… for now.

After our drive, Samantha helped me out of the car. I had resigned myself to waiting for her to help me with the seat these days. Not that I couldn’t do it because my brain was going numb or anything like that, but there was a little fear instilled in me at one point when I got out myself and then was almost hit by a car that didn’t see me. Nothing bad happened, but after being very thankful that I was wearing a diaper that day, I just waited for Samantha to come collect me in the times afterward. In truth though, I think she liked the whole ‘me being reliant on her process of it.

Regardless, as we approached, Samantha struggled a smidge as she carried my diaper bag and the heavy fruit salad, but I had also insisted on helping out, so Oppy gave me the idea to bring hot dog buns as well. They were pretty comically large compared to what I was used to, but they were also relatively light. A few of the Bigs giggled as they saw us approaching, but I just felt useful and different from my fellow Littles… a few of which were just running around in their diapers, most of them clearly used, on the lawn as we walked up to the party nearby to Oppy’s house. To be blunt, I would rather sweat to death a thousand times rather than debase myself like that, but Samantha quickly moved on, so I did as well.

As the party was really only narrowed down to the block here, and a few families and friends of them, my playmates were limited today. The block was old school and old money, so while a lot of the Bigs respected me to a degree, that didn’t necessarily apply to their own Little. As such, I honestly think that Cheslea was able to connect with the Littles around here more than I did. Still, I just liked being outside and enjoying the afternoon air of a dwindling summer day.

So, out of boredom, I stuck around Samantha mostly. She didn’t mind and I was usually pretty quiet around other Bigs, being a little fearful of what their stance on Littles was, so they never really minded me either just standing around. Of course, that also meant I had to hear about the notion that all Littles deserved to be regressed, diapers should be thick, or some such nonsense like that, but still, I just focused on the nearby smells coming from the grill and kept my mouth shut. We were Oppy’s guests after all and there was no way I was going to purposely embarrass her today with some talking back stunt with her neighbors.

Unfortunately, right then, I saw that Judges Grossman and Franklin were here, but conversely, that Judge Hawthorne was as well. I wanted to warn Samantha about Grossman and Franklin, but it was too late as one of the other Bigs shouted, “Dinner time!” Soon, everyone was in a flurry to get over to the main food buffet and help themselves.

Now, Littles were assigned to a small table nearby to eat at their own pace. A few Littles had to have their caregivers stay near them to feed them, but most just mashed into the food without a care in the world, like Chelsea. Wanting to do anything but that, I put on my best lost puppy dog eyes with Samantha, and finally, she relented and let me sit next to her. I could tell a few Bigs weren’t amused, but I didn’t care. In retrospect, I really should have.

As I was downing my own hot dog, which I split into two to eat easier, Judge Hawthorne then spoke up directly to me. “So, Percy, how’s life treating you these days since we last saw you really at the trial?”

I swallowed my hot dog bite, and while I was still nervous around a few of the other Bigs here tonight, Judge Hawthorne had more than proven himself to me on the last day of the trial in chambers. Today, he actually seemed curious about me, rather than as if he was trying to amuse himself as other Bigs had done before. “It’s pretty good. I think most of the academy knows by now, but I’ve been helping Samantha out with her lectures. Keeps me busy most of the week, but there are a few things I miss from back home.”

Judge Hawthorne seemed surprised and leaned closer to me from his own position across the table. “Oh? What could you miss from back home that you can’t get here?”

He had a good point in that most things from back home could be found here as well, but tonight reminded me of something missing in particular. “Well, you all do have a bunch of things that we do from back home. Makes it easier, but its just kind of the small stuff.” I then noticed that many Bigs had stopped their conversations and were now looking at me. “Uh, like the Fourth of July. Celebrates my country’s independence from a few hundred years ago. Lots of fireworks and good food… maybe even going to a baseball game.”

The judge’s eyes seemed to twinkle in fascination. “You don’t say. That sounds very interesting, almost like the Memorial Day you described about a month ago.”

“It’s a little different, Bill,” Oppy spoke up from nearby. Everyone looked at her with wide and curious eyes that she would know anything about the holidays from Earth. I was no exception. “Went there for a mission in their year 1976. Definitely an interesting celebration. We might think of doing something similar to our Peace Day in fact. At least with the fireworks. That’s something that no one should be deprived of.”

The whole table began to murmur amongst themselves, and I looked at Oppy in a new light. I knew that she had gone on missions before and was almost revered by others who knew of her exploits, but she had actually been to Earth. Not only that, but she and this whole society had been coming to Earth for decades by now. It really made me curious how many others had just disappeared like me. At least Oppy seemed to have a moral code like Samantha though.

“Ah yes,” Judge Hawthorne continued. “I remember that mission. You came back and were raving about bell bottom jeans if I recall correctly.”

The whole table snickered, but Oppy just smiled in her typical confident manner. “Hey, don’t knock those things. They were pretty fashionable back then, but you know, I’ve always been dying for some retro bits in our society. Wouldn’t it be something if we had all this technology and yet it all looked like it was from 100 years ago before the last Height War?”

The table seemed to surprisingly agree with her as they nodded their heads about. I was just about to ask a few more questions when Samantha returned and set a glass of milk down in front of me, before whispering into my ear. “You need to drink more, Percy. It’s very hot today. This milk is new on the market, and I’ve been told that it’s very good for Littles by one of the other caregivers here. Give it a try at least. Who knows? Maybe you’ll actually like it.”

I eyed the milk with a little trepidation, but the sweating condensation on the outside seemed to tempt me with every dribble down the smooth glass side. On a sweltering day like today, even with the sun now setting behind the perfectly manicured trees of Oppy’s street, it was still hot. So, without further thought, I took a sip to at least indulge Samantha and try it out.

In a word, it was heavenly. The thick liquid could have just been sluggish and uncomfortable on a hot summer day, but instead, it just reminded me of a blissfully needed vanilla milkshake. Thick and creamy but also refreshing to about every inch of my eagerly awaiting mouth. I wanted more and even felt an odd buzz and pleasant feeling as I did so.

“Good?” Samantha asked with a little smile after I took my fifth gulp of the beverage. I just nodded back as I continued to gulp down the beverage for my sixth time.

Things went on like that for a while afterward. Judge Hawthorne and Oppy seemed to be hitting it up pretty well, Judge Franklin seemed to be making a few snide comments with Judge Grossman, and Samantha seemed to be able to talk to anyone. For myself, I just wolfed down the food in front of me and got Samantha to get me another glass of milk. I would have done it myself, but I wasn’t necessarily trusting my Little abilities with carrying around a heavy thing like that. Besides, as long as I had a caregiver, she might as well care for me, right?

I started to get a bit bored, and I fussed around with my purple fruit once more. It made all these little squishing noises and my plastic fork made funny dimples in its sides. I guess I was too distracted though to even realize that Judge Hawthorne had asked me another question. Or at least that was the case until Samantha placed her hand over mine sternly and then pointed across the table at the old and patient judge. “Sorry…” I said bashfully,” can you repeat that?”

A few Bigs chuckled at my expense, but the judge just warmly smiled back. “Absolutely, Percy. I was just curious about how your government works compared to ours. There seems to be a bit of debate on the matter from the intelligence that we’ve gathered.”

“Oh, that’s easy!” I said, placing my fork down. “Mine’s actually pretty similar to yours, but our leader has term limits. Your current president has been up for, what? Four terms I think I heard?”

“Five,” Judge Grossman corrected, “but that’s fascinating. Must be a lot of turnovers and bad ones if that’s the case. It’s a wonder you all survived on your own for so long.”

“Eh,” I waivered, after sipping some more milk down. “I guess it depends on who you ask, but I’m sure the military gets weirded out every now and then when there’s a change in policy from one administration to the next. I guess an order’s still an order though.”

“Military, huh?” Judge Franklin piped up, quickly switching his attention directly to me. For some weird reason, I didn’t fear him today. In fact, I wanted him to confront me.

Still though, I wanted to keep my secrety edge over the butt face, so I nodded with a slack-jawed smile on my face. “Yep! Biggest one… or most expensive… or biggest budget?” I was having an unusually hard time recalling the facts, but I just pressed forward not caring that much about these people. I mean, what did they really know about Earth? I was the expert after all. “Uh, one of those, but still up there no matter which of them is the case.”

“Sounds impressive,” Judge Franklin said with a sly smile spreading across his face. “Still… must be decades behind our own.”

“Probably…” I had to readjust myself on the seat. For some reason, I had begun sliding off. “I wouldn’t know all that. Total civilian here. That type of question can’t just be learned anywhere.”

“You must know more…” he pressed. “Surely someone of your… intellect would.”

Right then, I felt buzzed… loopy… drunk even, but I hadn’t been that way in months now from any type of alcohol… not since that last dance at the con. Now though, there was an odd feeling coursing throughout me, and I kind of… liked it. I wasn’t sure why it all was happening, but I just felt happy, so I didn’t really think about what I was saying, especially what came out next from my loose lips. I leaned forward and rested my heavy head in my cocked arms on the table. “You know… I know what you’re doing, mister judge, but…” I then grinned, “you’ve got some funny faces to you…”

The whole table went silent. Judge Franklin stared back at me and didn’t say anything for a moment. I think being a judge, he had never heard those words uttered his way before. “Excuse me?”

“Funny faces,” I horrifyingly reasserted. “Whenever you get all mad when you’re talking to Samantha… your eyebrows wrinkle a bit right here.” I then pointed to my own forehead and wrinkled it with one of my fingers. It was exaggerated of course, but everyone got the idea.

So soon, everyone was laughing… except for Judge Franklin, Samantha, and Oppy, but I didn’t see that. I was just happy I was making everyone laugh that I could see. That’s all that seemed to matter to me right then.

Samantha then bent down and whispered into my ear. “Percy… what’s going on? Are you okay? Do you need to leave or…”

“So, Percy!” Judge Franklin then spoke up loudly. My attention immediately left Samantha and went back to the figure sitting across the table. “I think we would all like to hear one of your famous lectures on Earth. From what I’ve heard, they’re the talk of the whole academy. Would you tell us something more? As a treat, perhaps?”

Most everyone then cheered me on. Or, that is, everyone except Oppy and Samantha, but I didn’t see them once again. I only saw the cheering bunch of Bigs begging and pleading for me… a Little. I felt like such a star. My defenses against such flattery were useless. “Well,” I began, “let me tell you about our branches of government.”

I then regaled my captive audience with several stories of our history, government structure, and even some modern events. It wasn’t much, but I started to notice with each fact I gave, Samantha looked even more pained. Still, I couldn’t break off from my stories to these Bigs. Everyone seemed absolutely fascinated with them, and it was a power I just couldn’t give up.

“So,” I slurred after I took another gulp of my delicious tasting milk, my third glass now, “as I was saying… there’s a lot of people divided right now. And all that goes back many, many years, but I’ll tell you… hey!”

Samantha had reached out to grab the butter for her fresh steaming cob of corn on her plate, but one of her beaded bracelets hung a little too loosely now and had knocked into a top-heavy glass of water. I tried to avoid the cascading splurge of water coming right for me, but my reflexes were too slow, and I couldn’t back out the chair due to my Little-sized strength. Soon, the right side of my shortalls was nearly drenched all over.

“Oh no! Oh honey!” Samantha cried out, as she quickly scooted back and then lifted me free and clear of the chair. Her reflexes were impressive, though admittedly a little slower than had been in the past. Just last week, I had knocked over my own drink, but her reflexes then had completely prevented me from getting wet. Tonight though, the damage had been done. ‘Silly Samantha…’

“Oh honey.” Oppy stood up on her own end of the table. “You get him inside, honey, and I’ll clean up here. I’ll join you inside in a minute.”

Samantha nodded and held me in front of her as she then dashed into Oppy’s nearby house. Meanwhile, Oppy and a few others sprang into action and started dabbing up the mess on the table and now my chair. The folding table that had been brought out for the block party dinner was covered with a plastic tablecloth and most of the water had just dumped onto the street, but there was still water all over our previous two spots. Stil though, I wanted to go back.

I actually had Bigs practically eating out of the palm of my hand. Beyond my assisting with Samantha’s lectures at the academy, that was just unheard of for a Little in this society. Maybe I could have even steered the conversation to Little’s rights and been a savior to all my kind here. I could have been a hero. Getting a little frustrated, I knew I needed to confront my clumsy caregiver. “Hey,” I began to yell, “I was just talki…”

Samantha quickly placed her hand over my mouth. I was outraged and I almost wanted to bite her, but then I looked up an into her eyes. She was steadfastly making her way quickly into Oppy’s house, but she looked panicked… scared even. So, for my loving caregiver’s sake, I was a good boy and I remained quiet for the time being.

Inside, she quickly took off the shortalls I had been wearing, being the item to get the most wet, but then Samantha set me down on the floor and stared at me for a long time. I felt a little wobbly just standing there in front of her, so finally, a little bored, I confronted her. “Whatch’a doin’, Sam?”

Her face then looked even more concerned. “Honey… are you okay? Something is going on with you. You seem… well, you almost seem drunk.”

I just giggled at her words, but I guess that might have been a little too much effort for my body and my legs wobbled a little more and then completely gave out from under me. I thudded to the floor, but with my diaper and the soft carpeting underneath, I barely felt it. Instead, I just laughed. I wasn’t sure what was funny, but I just continued to laugh… which is exactly how Oppy found me.

“Something’s happening to him, mom,” Samantha explained to Oppy, who now looked equally concerned at my still laughing form. With their scrunched-up faces, both looked so funny, and I just pointed and laughed.

“I can see that…” She then reached behind her and showed the Tabers milk. Thirsty for more, I immediately went out to grab it. “No, no, honey,” Oppy told me as she held it high above my head.

I began to pout a bit, so Oppy just gave me a book to look at. I did and all the pretty pictures fascinated me, but I was still a big boy, so I listened in to what my two favorite Bigs were saying.

“I think it’s the milk,” Oppy began again. “It’s gotta be. There’s nothing else that was different. No new medications from either of you, right? Skin to skin contact and his different biology could have an effect on him you know.”

Samantha sighed. “Yes, mom. I know. I took Littles biology as well at the academy. It’s nothing like that. I just don’t get it. All… this,” she gestured to me, and I giggled a little, “over some milk? I mean… I think it’s even getting worse.”

Oppy tipped the empty milk bottle back and forth a bit. “I guess so, dear. You just never know what they put into these things. Question now though is who brought it to the block party?”

Samantha nodded her head. “You’re right. We need to figure it out before…”

She suddenly stopped. I wondered why for a moment, but then I thought I heard something that almost sounded like water rushing. Then, both looked right at me with the most peculiar of faces. “Wha’? Why you all lookin’ at me? Do I have somethin’ funny on my face?”

Both sighed and looked back at each other. “I guess our questioning will need to wait. I’m guessing someone could use a change.” Samantha just nodded her head.

I wondered who they were talking about. Cheslea was outside and Ditzy and Derek definitely weren’t here. I missed them… I wanted to see them again. I wanted…

Before I could think of it all any further though, Samantha had already approached me and picked me up and into her arms. “Alright, mister. I think we need to make an exit over at station changing table, huh? Someone’s got a soggy butt!” I was still confused, but she kind of said it in a funny voice, so I just giggled and nodded my head. It seemed like the easier thing to do to make her happy. It felt like my one drive now, so I figured I should just lean into that… even if I still wasn’t sure who ‘someone’ was.  

“You can just use the one in Chelsea’s room, honey,” Oppy pointed out while she bent over to grab my sopping wet shortalls that Samantha had discarded nearby onto Chelsea’s playpen. “Good idea on the whole spilling the water on accident bit by the way.”

“Well, I just had to do something,” Samantha called out back from in the hallway. From my cradling position against Samantha’s chest, I could see Oppy just nod. Meanwhile, Samantha turned back toward Chelsea’s room with my nearby diaper bag that I just noticed that Oppy must have brought inside. Soon, we were deep in her room, and I clung to Samantha for a moment in the dark void now surrounding us and began to panic. I thought my world was ending and that all the evils of this dimension were coming to collect our souls to be eternally punished. I began to whimper, and I felt the hot sting of tears come quickly to my eyes. Samantha quickly noticed though, and like magic, she just flipped the lights on like it wasn’t just the best thing in the entire world right then to me.

“It’s alright! It’s alright.” Samantha bounced and swayed me about as gently and lovingly as she could. It took a second, but my fear of the dark soon withered under her tender care. “There, there,” she cooed while slowing her rocking down a little, “nothing to be afraid of in here. Cheslea loves it and I’m sure there’s nothing scary whatsoever in all this glitter and pink.” Samantha wasn’t lying. If cotton candy and a jewel mine had a baby and then that baby puked, I would imagine the aftermath would look something like what I was looking at now.

Her massive crib, changing table, and dresser were all wood and painted pink, each with diamond accents on their edges. Her nightlight was a princess hugging a large unicorn and even the mobile hanging above the crib was speckled with pinks, whites, and purples wherever there wasn’t a spot of something that sparkled. To top it off, a large unicorn sat upright in her crib and a few princess dolls lay strewn about the thick purple and pink carpeting.

“Iss so… pink…” I had seen her nursery before, but the lights had been slightly dimmed the few times I was in here. ‘Why wasn’t I scared of the darkness when I was in here before? Why do I feel so funny in my head? Why does head rhyme with bread? Head… Bread… Bread! I’m hungry now…’

Samantha just cooed and smiled at me before placing me onto the massive changing table, but I was hungry now. I wanted… needed more food, and the pad was all lumpy in the wrong spots. I didn’t want to be here. I wanted to be back outside with the grownups. I tried to get up.

“No, no, no, baby,” she cooed down at me. “You need to stay still for me. You’re absolutely soaking wet. I need to change you before you spring a leak all over the place! I don’t think Chelsea would be too happy about that… if she could care that is…”

I was hungry. I was uncomfortable. I was… ‘Did she say I was wet?’ As Samantha finally gave up and then pulled a large strap and clicked it into place over my chest, I wiggled my lower half. Sure enough, my diaper squished about, and I could even feel the wetness creep around my groin. It was gross. So, I wiggled around even more.

Samantha sighed. “Well, I guess in your current condition, I shouldn’t have expected anything less…” She then grabbed my feet after a moment and held them tightly. “There. I just have a little squirmer on my hands today, don’t I? Well, I guess I need to pop out my old skills from the last time I took care of someone so young. Not to worry though, I’ve got you! I’ve got all of you right here. Even your toesies wosies!”

I was supremely uncomfortable now, but her smile… her kind words… they helped me out more than I was even willing to admit then. It was all just so nice. Her cooing and her gentle touches all soothed my tired soul. In fact, I was so entranced that before I knew it, my diaper was off, and she had already finished wiping me down. For whatever reason, I didn’t even care today of how exposed I was lying on the changing table like that.

“There. Not so bad for someone so squirmy, but now…” she then reached over and pulled over a new large white object. “I think for today, I’m going to use just a little more caution. We can discuss this later when you, well, for lack of better terms, ‘sober up.’”

I deeply wondered what she meant by any of that, but once again, Samantha lifted my legs up high but then lowered them back down. I was used to the whole routine, but now, my butt landed on something infinitesimally thicker, softer, and comfier than I had ever worn before. This time, I just couldn’t help but revel in the confines of this new garment she was now wrapping me up in.  

Before I could say anything though or express my like of the new material, I was properly sealed up in it and Samantha was helping me back up after unstrapping me. “Alright. That new diaper should hold just about anything you can throw at it. I’ve heard from other mo… uh, caregivers that they’re the best on the market for Littles your size and… mentality. Had it just in case, but it should do the trick.” She turned around, but then immediately snapped back. “Uh, just wait right there for me, okay, sweetie?”

Not really sure what else to do, I just enthusiastically nodded. Samantha only smiled back and left for one moment from the room. I wasn’t sure what I just agreed to exactly, but her smile let me know that she was happy.

In this time though, I suddenly felt very alone and very afraid. ‘Had I done something wrong? Why did she leave me? Where did she go? I must’ve been a bad boy… but no… I was a good boy! Sam told me that all the time! This must be a game, right? Hmmm… that must be it! I need to go find her! Duh!’ So, with a little gusto, I saw the cubbies below the changing pad I was now sitting on and felt supremely confident that I could just climb down and run off to find her and win the game. So, I did.

I was only about a leg length down the side when Samantha came back in. I immediately felt like a bad boy though from the nasty look that soon overtook her face. “Percy! What are you doing? You said you would just stay!” Her wrath was quick and terrible, and I wilted like a flower on a hot summer day. I even began to whimper a little and cower under her anger. I was a bad boy, and I feared the retribution that was sure to come now. To my surprise though, it never did.

“Oh shoot!” She then smacked herself on the forehead. ‘Silly Samantha!’ “Gosh! I totally forgot how Littles are at this age. Stupid me and stupid milk.” She sighed and walked over to me before hoisting me back up and then placing me in a new giraffe-themed onesie. “There you go, honey. I promise I’m not mad. I just made a silly mistake. I think you’re too little like this to understand some of what I’m trying to tell you. That was dangerous, but I’m not mad at you, baby. I promise.”

I was so confused, but her words… at least the ones I could understand, and more importantly, her happy and sorry face seemed to let me off the hook. I was a bad boy, but she was giving me some leeway here for whatever reason. ‘I must be a really special boy for her!’ Still though, I didn’t want to make her mad again, so I just reached around her as best I could and gave her the biggest hug possible with my tiny form.

She seemed shocked at first, but then she just leaned into it fully. “Awww… baby… you didn’t need to do that, but I’m very glad you did.” I nodded and just clung onto her. Then, being the smart Big she was, she picked me up and cradled me gently out of Chelsea’s nursery and back into the main room where Oppy was waiting with all smiles once more.

“Everything okay in there?” she asked as Samantha set me down below both their feet on the floor. “I heard some yelling.”

“Everything’s fine, mom. Just forgot what Littles are like… truly like at this age.” She seemed a little out of breath and still concerned for me, but I just rubbed against her leg in about the only way I could figure to let her know that everything was going to be okay. “Turned my back, and… he was hanging off the edge of the table. But look.” She then gestured down toward me. “No one can stay mad at this one for very long.”

“True,” Oppy then reached behind her and pulled out a single purple elephant. “Here. Give this to him. It will definitely let him know that you’re not upset, but it will also be a good d-i-s-t-r-a-c-t-i-o-n.” Samantha nodded and then handed me the elephant.

I felt like it was my birthday all over again with my new friend. ‘I’ll call you Nurple…’ I then hugged him as tight as I could and then Samantha’s leg as tightly as I could. I was just so relieved that mo… Samantha wasn’t upset at me anymore.

“Good idea, mom. Thanks, but do you think he can’t spell anymore?” Both then looked at me, and Oppy shook her head.

“No, dear. I suspect it’s all just temporary, and he does have a resilient mind, but test it out if you don’t believe me,” Oppy said as she gestured toward me.

Samantha nodded and directed my attention toward her with a little cooing and waving. “Baby, do you know what r-e-g-r-e-s-s-i-o-n spells?”

I tried to rack my brain from every little corner of what she had just spelled. It felt just right on the tip of my tongue, but as much as I strained, grunted, and tried, I only ended up making a tiny little fart. Just a tiny little fart.

Samantha leaned back on the couch and sighed. “Well, I guess that answers that question. I just hope this r-e-g-r-e-s-s-i-o-n is only temporary. I kind of like having a non… well, you know what around.”

Oppy nodded, but to be honest, I lost the plot a little after that. Nurple was just too fun, and I loved how his ear flopped back and forth. ‘Back and forth. Back and forth. So silly. So… wait… what were they saying?’ I then tried to listen back into their conversation.

“I know, right, but mom… I was thinking… about earlier? I think I know who might have…” She stopped and I wondered why but then I saw both women looking at me.

They gave me a bit of a frowny face, but then Samantha just leaned over and whispered something into Oppy’s ear. For her part, Oppy then looked more concerned than I think I’d ever seen her before, even including the trial when Chelsea’s sentencing was first announced. Now, I desperately wanted to know what was going on, but for whatever reason, that almost seemed like next to impossible today.

I mean… it was just so frustrating! Here I was, a lecturer at the academy and expert on all things Earth. I was one of the few not mentally regressed and I had even entertained a whole table of Bigs tonight, but this? All this felt like it was just out of my reach. I was so mad! I was confused. I… I… ‘Crud!’ I was getting emotional again, and no matter how many times I tried to hug Nurple, I could just feel my emotions welling up inside. Sometimes, being a Little was just plain poopy.

Both women stopped whispering immediately and looked at my tiny pathetic form on the floor trying to hug my emotions out into Nurple. “Oh! Looks like someone could use a cuddle, huh?”

“I think so, Sam,” Oppy agreed. “I think he’s still kind of in there somewhere right now. Must be so frustrating. Can you imagine?”

“No, but you know… I think you’re right.” Samantha then picked me up and set me on her lap with Nurple. “Is that right, sweetheart? Can you understand us a bit and are trying to figure out what’s going on?” I nodded my head pitifully.

“Awww,” Oppy cooed. “I think I know just how to fix that… Let’s turn that frown upside down!” She then leaned in, grabbed my exposed foot, and blew right into the sole. In less than a second, I felt little electrical and ticklish impulses surge all from my foot and to the rest of my body.

“Stahp! Stahp!” I squealed. It was no use.

“Oooh! Not enough you say?” Samantha then blew a series of bubbles right onto my tummy. “Who’s a happy good little boy, huh? Huh?”

I struggled against the onslaught. I could barely think, breathe, or even rationalize a single emotion other than pure laughter. In that moment, I forgot about whatever I had just witnessed. If these two women that I trusted more than anything else in this world were laughing and playing around with me, surely, it couldn’t have been too bad or serious to begin with, right?

Finally, though, the two stopped and Samantha just cuddled me close. I smiled and tried to regain my breath from the unleashing of the dreaded tickle monsters upon my form. Nurple and I would have to be prepared for the next round. We both just nodded in our own little worlds right then, and we were so deep into them that I failed to see the whispers going on above my head and the steadily growing more concerned faces of both women.

[Guilend]

Fantastic chapter as always. Note to self, add that milk to my shopping cart on my visit to this dimension.  It might be better then alcohol. Further testing will be required. If Percy wakes up without the side effects of a hangover, other then brain being foggy or even not remembering anything and being a bit sluggish, then I want to start a smuggling operation to smuggle that milk to our dimension, I bet I could make billions from it on the blackmarket. Need a rival, world leader or a mark to be out of commission without a trace? I got Milk. It could shift the tides of war, help topple governments and shift regimes. 

Just now, Guilend said:

I got Milk.

See what I did there? 😏 Yes, I know, you don't have to say it. I'm hilarious 😂 

[Kat5]

Methinks that someone intentionally brought that milk to regressed any, of not a specific, littles at the party out of their belief that they should be regressed.

They will never run out of underhanded tricks, will they?

[LostBBoyBear]

Hey everyone! Completely slipped my mind in the moment, but the last chapter hit the over halfway point in this story, so yay! Everything is still on track to be completed and the story is still holding at 19 chapters. I was also trying to post this earlier, but it ended up being one of the longer chapters so far, and that was even with me cutting out one storyline from it (don’t worry, I’ve placed it elsewhere where it still makes sense).

Next, I hope everyone had a good Valentines/Single Awareness Day. I was originally thinking of writing the last chapter about a love connection with Percy to commemorate the holiday, but then I realized that didn’t quite fit into this story very well. So, I hope everyone enjoyed the regression bit I chose to do instead.

Also, as a warning, I dip a little into something that could be a smidge controversial to some, at least geopolitically speaking. I honestly chose a country at random I had seen in the news that wasn’t completely current, but I just wanted to put that warning in here. There is a reason for all of it, but with everything going on, I felt that popping a warning in here was just the right thing to do.

Anyways, even given all that, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter as well!

Chapter 11: A No-Go Zone

Oh, sweet merciful music of monsters and mudslides! I had gone to a party school, so I knew my share of hangovers, but when I awoke the next morning, after passing out in Samantha’s arms with Nurple on the couch at the party, my head felt like it had been sloppily cleaved into two. Everything was so clear, and so bright and complex. I felt like someone had switched my world from a 1960’s TV at best to the latest and greatest plasma HD TV in the span of five minutes. It was not a pleasant wake-up.  

Fortunately, the feeling didn’t last past breakfast, but it was just enough for me to label it a terrible morning overall. Unfortunately, though, I also seemed to have forgotten mostly everything after walking into the house after Samantha spilled her drink on me, which I now could rationalize was a just a ploy to help me escape with my dignity and with Earth’s secrets mostly still intact from the Bigs there. Actually, about the only thing clear from the rest of the night was Nurple, whom Oppy had allowed me to keep after.

Still, Samantha was able to fill in a few gaps, but I also felt like she was leaving little bits out here and there. I could recall just enough to know there was a missing piece, but not so much to know what the missing piece looked like per say. It was terribly annoying, but like all things in this dimension, I learned that I just needed to move on and try to avoid that incident from ever happening again.

As such, the family even agreed with me and got together later that day and decided that something was up with the milk. From what I could recall at least, we still weren’t sure who had brought the milk, but the family all agreed to spread the news about the ills of what it could do to any unsuspecting Little. Unfortunately, it seemed to be too late for many.

By Monday, the drink had already entered full circulation at the daycare and Samantha had to give specific instructions for me to avoid it all costs at snack time. Other Littles weren’t so lucky, and by the end of the month of July, at least nine other caregivers gave the same instructions for their Littles to avoid the stuff if at all possible. Mrs. Katherine didn’t seem to want to listen, but I rarely saw her while I was there, so I still felt safe while at daycare. It was still yet another example though of how I had to revel in the small victories these days.

Fortunately, by the middle of August, things had calmed down a bit and there was almost a spark of excitement in the air as Harriet was about to enter her final semester at the academy. Also, with the busier fall semester coming up, my lecture times would increase as well. I would still go to daycare on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but the rest of my week was even more full than before. In fact, Samantha and I were even giving a personal tour of the academy to prospective students today.

“Do we get a Little of our own like you once we graduate?” a particular stern and over eager prospective student asked us both, though clearly directing their question more to Samantha. ‘Great… another one of these people…’

Samantha chuckled a little as she usually did with these types of questions. “A little eager are we?” The Big blushed a bit. “Well, I just watch over Percy here in all honesty. I basically only got him by the skin of my teeth and my situation shouldn’t be considered normal. In fact, my sister bent the rules here a little too much and is being punished by the academy. If you wish to see what to avoid at all costs, be sure to stop by our Bigs nursery on your way out. It’s next to our academy merchandise store.”

The Big shuddered a little and retreated into the crowd at the prospect of punishment here. It wasn’t a very well-kept secret by now, and I couldn’t help but smirk a bit at the reaction. We all felt bad for Chelsea, but her effect on prospective and current students was palpable. Judge Hawthorne had even announced that rule breaking was down by at least thirty percent since she had begun her punishment a few months ago.  

“Now,” I continued, satisfied there weren’t any more questions like that, “as you can see, the new wing of this facility, likely to be dedicated to Earth research, is almost complete.” The new wing, as suggested by Samantha earlier in the year, with my support of course, was to be dedicated to learning more about Earth and us humans living there. The material that I had been sharing had become incredibly popular and about 80% of the new student populace wanted to take Samantha’s and I’s course next semester.

“Yes,” Samantha picked up after me, “we are fortunate enough to have our very own Earther here, but it will be up to you all… the next generation to…” She never finished her thought.

Suddenly, alarms began sounding off all around the building. Having read through the manual multiple times, it either meant a breach in the dimensional matrix of the fabric of reality…

I paused with Samantha and once about a minute had passed and the alarms were still blaring, it was a blessing to see that we were both here. We both then looked at each other with a tremendous sigh of relief. If it had been a breach, we would be the last people we would have ever seen ever in existence. This reality would simply collapse onto itself… almost like it had never existed at all. It was a .01% of happening from messing with the portals… but that was one of the big reasons for the alarm.

Now knowing it wasn’t that though, Samantha quickly hurried the prospective students away. “Please! Go to your designated spot as specified on your entrance ticket. It will be in the upper left-hand corner and just stick to that destination for your own safety. Go in groups and stick together!”

They all panicked and hurried away from us while a few first-year cleaners led them to where they needed to go. Once the last was gone, Samantha scooped me up and ran into action. Now, normally, if she was following protocol, I would have been deposited at daycare for my own safety but considering that was at least a 20-minute walk away and she didn’t have the time to do herself or trust anyone else enough around here today to do it, we both knew there was only the one option open to us. So, I tagged along.  

“Hold on, honey! This could get a little rough,” she informed me. I just nodded and clung on close to her as she ran through the hallways while dodging everyone else getting to their own safe destinations.

See Samantha, having been to Earth several times through the portals and even having a Little from Earth that wasn’t mentally regressed, gave her a tremendous edge over nearly every other academy member on staff currently. I was sure a few others back on Earth this very minute had more experience or knowledge about Earth, but Samantha was the complete package, and that was just what was needed right now.

We then passed through a series of locked and security-guarded doors. “He’s with me, now move!” being uttered by Samantha almost became her mantra after saying it so many times to the armed personnel constantly getting in our way. I didn’t have clearance, but Samantha had fully acknowledged that to them and took full responsibility for me. As soon as she got this emergency position, she even sat me down and laid everything out, so I wasn’t scared… at least not yet.

*              *              *

“Now, sweetie… I, uh… we need to talk…” Samantha began after sitting me down on our living room couch. She had just moved out the last of her old grungy furniture that apparently wasn’t advertised as ‘Little safe.’ I was a little incensed about the whole thing, feeling like almost some kind of bubble boy needing specialized furniture, but after feeling the soft new fabric against the back of my thighs after a long day in the park with Melley and DB when it first came in, I silenced any further objections I had to the practice. So, on a day like today with the seriousness in her face, the couch was a tremendous comfort.

“I’m listening, Samantha,” I tried to coax her on after she didn’t talk for at least a minute solid. “Is this about your new extra job? Did you get it?”

Samantha nodded. “I did… but…”

I really wasn’t sure about her current hesitation. At our weekly Sunday dinner with the family two weeks ago, Samantha had been so ecstatic over her new position, but now… the weight of the world seemed to have been heaped upon her shoulders. With Judge Franklin already a mystery in everything since I had seen their intense conversation at the pool last week, I didn’t need yet another mystery floating around in my life.

“What is it?” I pressed. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not too bad. We can…”

“War…” she finally said plainly.

I wasn’t sure if I heard her correctly. It was just a single word, but she was an advisor, so ‘war’ seemed a strange word to hear, so, I needed to clarify. “Uh… Samantha? Did you just say…?”

“War,” she announced morosely again. “You heard me correctly. War…” I was too stunned to say anything back, but I think the word had started to seep into her mind as well, so she finally spoke more after about another minute of near complete silence. “When I went in, they explained that they want me to advise them in portal travel. I knew that… but… they also want me for their new alarm system.”

“Oh?” It had been a persistent rumor around the daycare for weeks now. Miss Tina had even gathered a few things out of the way of a few corners in the main area on Friday in the rumored preparation for their installation over the weekend. “But how…?”

“Does it lead to war?” I nodded and Samantha grimaced back a bit. “The alarm will go off for three reasons you see. The first is a dimensional collapse. The second is if a mission went terribly wrong on Earth and that at least one team member was killed. Lastly, though… is if they came through to our world…”

It felt unthinkable, but I guess anything was possible. “So… war… our two worlds could be at war over something like that? And you would have to declare it?” I immediately started to panic as all the little nuances to such a prospect began to invade my mind. I quickly realized that Earth was puny but stubborn and if there was a war, I would most certainly be caught in the middle.

“Yes… I would advise, but the higher ups would take my recommendation very seriously.” Samantha then rubbed my back and sighed. “But don’t worry, sweetie. I can tell your mind is already spinning like mine was earlier today. It’s all a remote possibility and frankly… I doubt the alarm would ever really go off. It’s just a precaution so the lawyers can feel better. I’m sure all this will turn out to be nothing.”

*              *              *

The alarms continued to sound out even when we got into the main control room. Samantha had taken me in here once when there was nothing going on, but now, several cleaners and investigators scurried about the place. Loud noises were everywhere, and I stuck as close to Samantha as I could… even when she set me down next to her.

“What do you have?” she asked as straightforwardly as she could to the main investigator who was captain of the watch right now.

The man trembled like a frail leaf about to blow away, but then he finally pointed at the screen that showed all of Earth. “We have three teams on Earth at the moment, ma’am. Two are long-term recons, but the third is a training mission for a batch of hunters.” ‘So, no invasion her then…’

Samantha suddenly turned white however, and even had to cling to a nearby desk to keep herself upright. I tried to think of why but then I remembered a small snippet of news from last Sunday’s family dinner. Harriet had proudly announced that she was going on another training mission to Earth this week. It had happened before, but this trip seemed more serious for some reason. We never found out why.  

“You know someone on that team, don’t you, ma’am?” the captain of the watch asked plainly after seeing Samantha’s grave looks.

She nodded back. “Yes. A very close friend… almost family member… is a hunter on that team. What happened to the team exactly?”

The captain of the watch rubbed his balding head. “Exactly? We don’t really know. I mean, it was just supposed to be a training mission. We’ve ran them for years now… even with this being a first contact with this nation… Af…”

Samantha’s eyes went wide, and she lurched at the man before her. “You sent a training hunter team on a first contact mission! Are you insane? What happened to Law 512-D? First contact missions should always been done by experienced personnel.” The man quivered before her, and I honestly felt bad for the man.

“Because that pointless law was revoked!” a booming voice came from behind. Everyone immediately turned to face where the voice had come from, and there, stood a man I had actively tried to avoid at each of the functions that I had been to so far.

Gerald Reddington, according to Oppy at least, was the best hunter the academy had ever produced, but he had also earned a reputation for being ruthless in the field, and now especially in his usage of other academy groups once he took charge of the hunters. Since his appointment, hunters had taken more risks and incident rates had increased, but successes and more spots for recruiters to find their targets had also increased. Samantha had even noted that their presence at the con was one of his more brilliant ideas. Still, though, his gruff demeanor, scar on his cheek, and his 12-foot-tall muscular stature scared the living daylights out of me. So, I quickly scurried behind Samantha.

“Reddington… I might have known you were behind this,” Samantha gritted against the man before her. “Let me guess… it was your recommendation to revoke Law 512-D?”

He smiled down at Samantha and nodded. “That’s right… and judges Franklin and Grossman were more than willing to sign off on its temporary revocation. We’ve made first contact with eight new countries since then, four times the amount we would have before in the same amount of time.”

Samantha sighed and oddly seemed to resign herself as soon as Reddington had mentioned Judge Franklin. That man was really starting to perturb me, but I just kept my ears open to learn more. “Fine… but where did you geniuses send the trainee team this time?” she asked. “Let me guess… Germany? Canada? Indonesia?”

Reddington then pointed to the screen and then to the captain of the watch, who then scrambled over to the monitor and changed the view of the Earth. My jaw nearly dropped when I saw where they had been sent. “Afghanistan,” he noted proudly.

“Afghanistan…” Samantha echoed. She then looked down at me with a worried look and I just nodded to confirm what likely could have been her worst fears at this point. “You idiot… of all the places to send them… a training mission even! I didn’t think your scar touched your brain!”

“Keep your skirt on, Sam!” Reddington bellowed while stepping up to her and clearly asserting his position of physical strength and stature over her. “All this was routine and by the book. Some sketchy intel, but we’ve handled worse. We’re hunters.”

For her part though, rather than retreat, Samantha didn’t shy away and just stood toe to toe with the brute. “You better hope this doesn’t go worse than it already has, Reddington. I’m writing this up and the judges will hear about it.” Without another word, she just turned back to the screens. “Afghanistan… not even Ireland! Why…?” she then stopped herself and I could see she was pushing down a lot of feelings right then. She was a professional after all and there was a good reason she had been selected for this position, other than just her experience or who I was.

With a little shake of her head, she then seemed to just dust herself off and then look directly at the captain of the watch. “Get on the horn with the leader, or whoever is left of the team. Bring them back.” The captain seemed to hesitate for a moment. Samantha quickly took notice. “I mean now, captain! Or do you want to be written up as well?”

The man needed no further prompting and snapped to it. In a moment, he was calling the hunter team currently on Earth in trouble. “Hunter team Alpha Six… come in… Home base is calling you back…” He looked back up at Samantha. “Now, Alpha Six. Immediately!”

There was just a bunch of static after, but a few gunshots over the radio later, there was only one urgent command back. “Open the gate! Open the gate!”

The captain rushed over and pressed a large red button. Samantha backed up and then made sure that I was firmly behind her and holding her hand tightly.

I thought nothing was going to happen, but in mere seconds, a rear blank panel in the room began to hum and vibrate. My brain felt like it was being shaken up like some martini, but the wall soon stood still and glowed an eerie whitish blue. Then, before I knew it, a single figure practically jumped out and collapsed at the same time coming through. The wall then stopped glowing quickly.

“Harriet!” Samantha exclaimed. I tried to rub my eyes to see better, but in all the commotion, I couldn’t get a good look at the figure on the floor. Samantha, however, seemed supremely confident. I didn’t want to get my hopes up.

“Stay back!” Reddington yelled as Samantha lurched forward. I think Samantha didn’t care right then, but Reddington’s large hand and arm were just enough to stop her in that single moment. “She needs to be decontaminated. Protocol, Sam.”

Suddenly, a large blast of blue smoke spurted out of the ceiling and coated the still collapsed figure on the ground. I heard the poor figure laying there soon sputter and cough, but seconds later, a series of vents from below kicked on and sucked all the gaseous substance away. Near instantly, two other hunters, as denoted by their arm patches that denoted such, helped the figure up. My jaw dropped.

I could see that it was Harriet no doubt from this new angle, but it was a version of Harriet that I had never seen before. Her usually gorgeous and flowing red hair was now matted with sand, muck, and what was clearly blood. It seemed to trickle from a single spot on the side of her head, but smeared patches dotted her blackened and dirty body elsewhere. Annoyingly, Reddington still held up his arm to block our path to go help her.

Instead, Samantha opted to figure out what was going on. “Harriet? Harriet… are you okay? Can you hear me? Speak to us!”

Harriet groaned for a moment and then shuffled off the two helping her around. “I… I got hit… but I’ll live… I…”

“And your team?” Reddington briskly asked. “Where is your team, cadet?”

Harriet tried to snap to attention, but then clenched her side in obvious pain. “Sorry, sir… we got hit… I think someone knows about us or we just walked into the worst exit portal ever.”

“What do you mean?” Samantha questioned, the pain from seeing her friend, practically sister, was clearly evident on her face. “Were you all ambushed? Was it a trap?”

“I… I… I don’t know…” Harriet clenched her teeth once more as a nearby cleaner started applying ointment and scrubbing off some of the dirt from her. I had seen it before from the cleaners. Situations where anyone in the academy was hurt would be first attended by the cleaners immediately on the spot. They would ensure the injured personnel were stable and then move them away to the academy doctors on site, or if needed, to the local level one trauma center.

“Recruit!” Reddington bellowed again. “That is an unacceptable answer! A hunter should always know or at least suspect what is happening based on the clues given. So, were you ambushed or not?”

I really wanted to hit the guy, but right then, I think Samantha wanted to hit him more. Only her position as advisor in this whole mess seemed to hold her back. So instead, she took the calmer approach. “Harriet… just think it through slowly. Were they already armed when you got there? Was there a standoff? Were they right there when you exited the portal, or did you walk into them already in the middle of something?”

I feared her next answers above all. An affirmation to any number of questions could spell doom for Earth if they knew about the portal. Earth was violent, so the academy would begrudgingly move on from this tragedy if it wasn’t an ambush for portal travelers specifically. If it was deemed an ambush though, I had no doubt that war would be declared within the hour.

Harriet pondered the question as the cleaner rolled some bandages around her abdominal wound. I could tell it hurt, but Harriet just seemed to push on. “No… it wasn’t an ambush. We were walking and there was a standoff between two other groups. I think both sides thought we were aiding the other, so they almost instantly began shooting at us. We tried to deescalate the whole situation, per our training, but within minutes, Alvarez, Smith, and Flannery went down. Jacobs hung in there but we both got hit and he couldn’t make it to the portal opening with me in time.”

Samantha sighed. “I’m so sorry, Harriet, and I hate to say this, but you can’t go back… not right now at least.”

Now, Harriet was normally a very calm person and good under pressure, but as soon as Samantha finished her duty in keeping the portal closed, she lost it. “To hell with that!” Harriet grimaced from her wounds but stood upright and quickly reached for the portal button to reactivate the entrance and exit behind her. The others tried to stop her, but she was still too quick for them. It was almost admirable in a way.

“Cadet!” Reddington yelled at her. “Stand down! That is a direct ord…”

“No!” Harriet screamed back. “I have a man down, and I’m not leaving them behind. They could still make it! The others too! They were just shot. I can help them! I have to do this!”

“Harriet! No, wait!” Samantha tried to yell after her, but it was too late. Harriet almost seemed to mouth the word ‘sorry’ to her, but in an instant, the portal hummed, activated, and she was gone. The whitish blue glow soon vanished once again from the wall panel.

“Shit!” Reddington cursed while slamming his fist against the desk. “That stupid…!”

“Hey!” Samantha stepped forward, finally shoving his arm off her in his moment of distraction. “Just watch it, Reddington. She went back for one of her own. It’s against protocol, but you know that helping one’s team counts for a lot around here.”

Reddington shook his head in disapproval. “You and your whole family and clan… you all think you own this place…” He then cracked his neck and stood about as tall as he could. “Well, you don’t. Especially not after the stunt you all pulled at the con. There’s a new order coming…” Glaring, he leaned down and whispered to her. Being close by and right under them, I could still hear the conversation. “If you all aren’t careful… you’re going to get left behind… like your sister.” He then stood back up and turned and stormed out of the room.

I thought the two were going to come to blows, but after he left, Samantha just looked relieved. “Whew…” Samantha said, now clearly unburdened by his presence. “I really hate that guy…” She then turned to the nearly permanently stunned captain of the watch. “Captain, what’s her status? Where is she?”

The man stumbled about for a moment, dropped a few nearby papers, and then scrambled over to another monitor. “Uh… uh… she took a portal device… soft spot nearby… so we can track her… there!” His arm then shot out and pointed to the screen. “The one red dot is her… the blue is her team members.”

“Alive?” Samamtha asked, coming through with a little hope at the end.

“Uh… not sure… critical I think, but… I can’t say for sure.” The captain slunk back into his chair and exhaled loudly. “All we can do is wait now, but let me tell you, I’ll definitely be glad when this shift is over.”

Samantha glared at the captain. “Be glad when they’re back!” she practically spat at the man. I almost whimpered right then, but I just held it tightly within me. I could tell she was stressed… so I didn’t want to add to her already high levels.

Then, as Samantha was massaging her forehead with her eyes closed, I saw a blinking light on the screen. Reddington was off sulking or stirring up trouble in all likelihood, the captain seemed distracted more by his own nerves, and Samantha was already having a tough day. Still, the light kept blinking, so I put on my big boy pants and tugged on Samantha’s clothes.

“Not now, honey…” she said as gingerly as she could. From her tone though, I knew she was at a critical stress point, but from reading the manual of the academy, I knew that blinking light was important. So, I tugged again.

“Not now, Percy,” she repeated. “Please.”

I didn’t want to be that Little with her, but Harriet had to the priority over my own feelings of trepidation right now, so, I tugged again. This time though, I quickly pointed to the screen. Right as Samantha almost began to glare down at me, and seeing that my pointing wasn’t enough, I spoke up. “Wait, Samantha. I’m sorry but look at the screen. Just for a second…”

Samantha paused and I guess she decided to humor me. As soon as she saw the blinking light though, her eyes widened. “Oh! Crud. It’s them!” She quickly turned back to me and stroked my cheek. “I’m so, so sorry, sweetie. I should have trusted you more.”

‘Yes, you should have…’ But I also knew I was a Little in a complicated and stressful environment, so I nodded my head. “That’s okay, but can we please bring Harriet home to us now?”

Samantha nodded and pointed to the captain of the watch. “Captain! Bring them home!”

The captain nodded and activated the safety features in place for the dimensional portal in here. If he hadn’t, they would have just been transported to where I came out originally on the platform just beyond the viewing window in front of us. Bigs were smart though and emergency services and quarantine procedures were much quicker to respond here than down there. Oppy told me that the first year it was implemented, they saved six lives that would have been lost otherwise.

The room hummed and buzzed once more as the portal lit up in its whitish blue. In seconds, Harriet came dragging through. From even a single glance, it was clear that her wounds had opened back up, but like some super woman, she also was dragging or carrying back four other bodies: her team.

“Quarantine! Cleaners!” Samantha called out on the microphone connected to both of their main control centers. Soon, the bluish smoke covered up the five bodies that now lay before us, and like before, the vents turned on and sucked it all away. Next, as before, the cleaners hurried in, but Harriet wouldn’t let go of the one body she was still holding onto.

“Come on, Jacob… don’t leave me! Breathe!” Harriet shouted out to the, soon-to-be-discovered final member of her team that came through the portal alive. But even then, fate was cruel, and after exhaling one last breath, his bloodied arm hung limp on the ground in front of Harriet’s lap. A cleaner finally moved in, but just shook their head in sorrow after detecting no life signs from him. Harriet was now officially the only survivor of her team.

Samantha and everyone else just seemed stunned, but she also knew she needed to be there for Harriet. So, after a moment, she went over and tried to help her close friend and mentee out. “Harriet… come on… we need to get you patched up. I’m sure there will be a lot of questions, but maybe right now, we can just get you patched up. Does that sound okay?” Harriet nodded, but the sudden thudding of footsteps stopped the two right in their tracks.

I looked away from the two, and to my horror, Reddington was leading the charge of at least four other hunters and then the four judges right behind him. “I’ll give you credit, Samantha,” Reddington glared from above once he entered the control room, “you are right about one thing… there will be several questions… for you.”

Samantha sighed, but almost as if she was just expecting all this. “Can’t this wait?” she meekly asked Reddington and the personnel before her while still holding Harriet up by her side. It was quite the scene, especially with the clearly blood-soaked bandages barely hanging on to Harriet’s sides.

“Absolutely not!” Judge Grossman announced. “This needs to happen here and now! We gave you a job to do and now, four recruits of this academy are dead!”

Samantha seemed absolutely shocked, but seemingly for the first time ever, in the nick of time, the captain of the watch, actually seemed useful. “It was my fault actually, ma’am. My fault and poor planning.” Grossman seemed intrigued and gestured to the captain to continue. “See what happened was…” The captain then went on to explain the entire sequence of events that led up until now. I could see that both judges Grossman and Franklin were furious, but once he showed the recordings of that room, no one could object that Samantha had done anything wrong.

“Seems you were mistaken, Reddington…” Judge Hawthorne noted plainly to the grizzled hunter leader. “Maybe next time you will be better prepared to handle these situations. Maybe then, you wouldn’t have a team of dead recruits on your hands.”

“Indeed,” Judge Cunnings agreed. “Perhaps we should even revisit Law 512-D?”

“Well…” Franklin interjected, “let’s not be too hasty. I think, for the time at least, that Samantha is innocent of the charges brought before her. No harm done, but let’s review this matter at a later date back in chambers. I assume we can all discuss the mission aftermath more there right now though?”

“Agreed…” Judge Grossman nodded to her colleague. “To chambers.”

Both judges Cunnings and Hawthorne seemed like they were opposed to dropping 512-D so suddenly, but then both only nodded and began walking out first. As soon as the two were clear though, judges Grossman and Franklin, and Reddington all glared back at Samantha. Further, if I wasn’t mistaken, Reddington even mouthed ‘soon.’ ‘Man… I really hated that guy…’

Fortunately, only an hour later, Harriet was mostly patched up and would be healed in about two weeks with their medical advancements. Plus, with the crisis now averted, Samantha was free to accompany her throughout the process, and despite my soggy diaper, I tagged along as well.

“The dean will see you now,” her secretary informed us after we had been sitting out in the waiting room for a few minutes. A little nervous, we all nodded and then walked in.

“Dean…” Harriet began, “I just…”

The dean then spun around and held up her hand. “Nothing more needs to be said about today. It was very tragic, and I believe we all just want to put it behind us. We have sent cleaners in covertly to clean up any remaining issues, but for your information, the judges have just ruled Afghanistan as a ‘No-go Zone.’”

I had heard of that protocol before, but from what I could tell, that had only applied to Antarctica so far, but that was just because it wasn’t worth going there due to the lack of population. Now, there was a country full of potential Littles being put on the list. According to Oppy, it usually only happened during times of war and then was lifted, but this felt different… more permanent now.

Samantha seemed uncomfortable, but Harriet seemed outraged. “What? That’s it? I just lost my entire team, and they get off with a pass and all this just gets swept under the rug? Like they didn’t just die because of a screw-up by someone?”

“Miss Beechum!” the dean yelled angrily as she got to her feet up from behind her desk. Her eyes looked sternly back at Harriet, and she pointed her finger at her to emphasize her point. “Now listen here… this was a tragedy… no one is saying otherwise, but you will follow the rules here and the decision passed down by the judges. If not, I suggest you resign with the grace afforded to you from this event. Are we clear?”

A lightbulb of fury and depression then seemed to go off above Harriet’s head. “Well… I guess I only have one option then. Reddington has his faults, but he’s right about one thing at least. If you feel out of options, choose the best one that leads to the best outcome and go from there. If I’m going to feel useless after missions like these where my whole team is killed and nothing will be done about it, I just have to make the best of the choices I’m given.” The dean smiled but then looked horrified immediately after.

Curious about why she looked so shocked, I turned and shockingly saw Harriet ripping her hunter patch off the shoulder of her academy unform. “I quit.” With that and not even allowing the dean to refuse her, she marched right out the dean’s office and didn’t look back once.

For her part, the dean just sat back in her chair in shock as she retrieved the patch. She almost treated it like a little wounded bird, and I was almost convinced she was more upset of having the patch being ripped off a uniform than from one of her students just quitting their program.    

Samantha seemed horrified as well, but she just stood up and calmly excused herself before collecting a single piece of paper and then running after Harriet in a panic. She was her mentee after all. Unfortunately, though, I couldn’t keep up, so without question as Samantha looked at me, I just raised my arms up and she scooped me into her arms. To be frank, it was more comfortable up here in her arms than waddling with the bulky diaper between my legs. To my chagrin, I still hadn’t managed to go back to the pull-on style diapers since the block party. ‘Stupid milk…’

Finally, we made it to a single wooden door along a long hallway. “She stays at Oppy’s a lot, but this is her main dorm room,” she explained. I nodded and Samantha knocked. “Harriet? It’s Samantha and Percy. Can we talk?”

“Come in…” a frail voice said from inside. Slowly, Samantha opened the door, and we walked in, not entirely sure what we were going to see.  

“Harri… what are you doing?” Samantha interrupted her own self as she walked in. There, sitting on her bed and packing up seemingly everything, was a battered-down Harriet. Even with her freshly washed face, I could tell that she had been crying.

“I’m packing up my stuff. I quit the hunters, Sam… I’m going to resign from the academy in the morning,” she said wearily after packing up another textbook. “It’s just not worth it to me anymore. Please don’t be upset or mad with me…”

Samantha hurried over, set me down on the floor, and then sat in a chair in front of her. I tried to get up on the bed with her, but Samantha stopped me cold before turning her attention back to her mentee. Harriet appeared to be so emotionless and distant right then that I wasn’t even sure if she noticed my attempt to hug her on the bed or not. “Harriet… stop… please,” Samantha begged, but Harriet didn’t, so Samantha eventually had to hold her arms in place in order for her to stop packing.

“Please let go…” the broken woman said in response. I could barely recognize her as Harriet anymore.

“No… I want you to promise me that you’ll sleep on it at the very least. You just went through something terrible, and you shouldn’t be making big decisions like these at a time like this.” Harriet seemed to agree, but still hesitated, so Samantha continued. “I need to get Percy home, but I want you to call Oppy and then call me later tonight. Just talk or have us talk to you. I don’t want you to be alone tonight. Heck, even go over to Oppy’s… In fact, definitely go over to Oppy’s. She’s been through all this before…” Samantha then looked away for a moment.

“She doesn’t talk about it, but she’s lost a lot of people. A lot…” Samantha trailed off for a moment, but then refocused on Harriet. “She can help you… even just listen to you yell about the academy. Promise me that you’ll go to her at least… please?”

Harriet hesitated, but this time nodded. “Okay…” She then put her bag down with all the textbooks already in it. “I’ll go over to Oppy’s tonight. Promise.”

“Good.” Samantha and I then stayed with Harriet for a while longer. We talked about a few things here and there, but I think Samantha was just making sure she was going to be okay until Oppy arrived to pick her up. Harriet initially insisted on driving herself, but after a quick and even gentle hug by Samantha almost made her faint from the pain afterward, she relented.

Samantha then got off the bed. “Okay… Oppy will be here in five minutes. Pack up a few things, but I can always swing by and get more tomorrow for you if you need.” She then handed the paper from the dean’s office she snagged on the way out. “This is from the dean. You have a few days off from the academy anyway… so just relax. I’ll be over to see you tomorrow at Oppy’s but remember to call me tonight, okay?”

Harriet nodded and the two hugged for a solid minute. I could see the pain in both their eyes, but I was just happy that Harriet seemed to be at least somewhat on the mend. I always marveled at the bits of healing technology, but I also knew I was seeing some of the mental anguish release as well from her mind. I knew it would take time, but I felt that she was at least going to be headed down a better path now.

Samantha and I then left her room and made our way back to our car to head back home. Halfway there, I spoke up. “I wanted to hug her…”

Samantha sighed. “I know, baby, but sometimes, people’s problems just need some time to breathe. She loves you like the rest of the family, but right then, she needed space.”

I knew Samantha was right in terms of physical contact, knowing who she was, but I also felt like she needed something more than just people checking on her according to a timetable. “I think she needs a friend right now as well.”

Samantha nodded her head, but then stopped in the middle of the hallway and crouched down to me. “She probably does, and we’re her family, so we’re going to keep an eye on her, but there’s a time and a place for that. Trust me.” She then looked away for a moment and then back to me. “I’ve been where she’s at… bus of recruiters one mission plunged into the river. Out of the seven of us then, only four of us made it out.”

“I’m so sorry…” I said, not really sure what else to say, “I didn’t know…”

Samantha shook her head. “I didn’t want you to… not many people know about stuff like that. The academy puts it behind them to move forward for our society. It’s terrible, but these things happen. Best thing to do is to learn from it and move forward as best you can.” I nodded and just hoped that would be the case for all that had happened today.

Samantha then refreshingly smiled at me in almost a playful way. “You know though, when she’s ready… I’m sure she’ll appreciate a friend when that day comes.”

From what I just saw, I was doubtful that would be anytime soon, but I still felt a nice, pleasant warmth to know that I could be needed to help her out. I had no experience with any of this, but I still cared about her. I still wanted to help, so even with just the possibility, it was a nice feeling to have. “I’ll be there.”

Samantha smiled even wider and gave me a little hug. “You’ll be a great friend to her I’m sure, but I must also just be the luckiest Big in the world to have someone like you in my life.”

I blushed a little as she broke the hug, but I made sure to smile back while I found my wording. “I’m pretty lucky myself too you know.” Samantha smiled once more and after a little tender stroke to the side of my face, we both took off once more.

As we walked, I disturbingly couldn’t help but feel a little hatred toward Earth right now. I was human and I was from Earth, but my friend had now lost her entire team over the actions of a few of us. I was disappointed in humanity right then, but I just had so many thoughts going through my head that I barely had time to process even one of them.  

Looming ever more presently, I was worried about judges Franklin and Grossman, and now even Reddington more than I had been already. There was definitely something sitting just on the horizon of it all, but I just didn’t know what it was. Until then, I just had to focus on myself.

Now, I knew that I was most definitely a Little and I had accepted that for some time now, but I was also starting to feel an odd sensation that Earth was no longer my home. With no hope of getting back there, even if Oppy somehow managed to come through on our deal though, I was starting to get the most peculiar feeling that I might not even want to, but such thoughts were too much for me to handle after a day like today. So, for now, I just focused on holding Samantha’s hand and the nice plate of cauliflower chicken nuggets and mac n’ cheese likely soon to be waiting for me at home.

[Kat5]

Wow, that got intense!

Thank you very much for the chapter, I woke up and checked the for new things to read while drinking my tea and seeing this brought me a great big smile.

[LostBBoyBear]

Hey everyone! I tried to get this out late Saturday, because of something I had going on today, but it just didn’t happen, so apologies for the lateness now. Fortunately, though, I was able to complete a little more of the story after this as well, and I think with a little pushing, I can put out more chapters than just every other day this week and still meet my deadline. With my plan of this story, I only have seven chapters after this one, so it’s still tight, but I believe that it’s also doable.

Also, as a small warning, there is a little violence depicted in this chapter. Please keep in mind that I in no way condone the actions of one Big here and she is only in this chapter to show the bad of this society against the baby-adult Littles.

Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter!

Chapter 12: I Have Become the Dunce of the Rats

I was admittedly a bit of a wallflower back home, but I guess being one of the few unregressed Littles under the roof of a Big, had shone a spotlight on me that I couldn’t shake. So, I decided to play it up a bit and luxuriate in the small fame that I was acquiring. Soon, I was the talk of most parties. I was no longer ‘milk drunk’ as most had started to call it after drinking the still prevalent Tabers milk, but I could still entertain the lot of everyone. As September started to just feel the fringes of the coming Fall, Samantha and I attended another one of Oppy’s block parties.

So, here I was, at yet another block party and regaling the crowd with stories of Earth. “Fall is my favorite season back home. In my area especially, as there’s just so much to do! Apple picking, fall festivals, campfires, camping, driving with your top down amongst the Fall leaves, Renaissance fairs…”

“Renaissance fairs?” One Big suddenly blurted out questioningly. “You mean from the renaissance period? Isn’t that all torture and religious turmoil?”

“What?” I always forgot that they had their own renaissance period, but they always tended to focus on the negatives of that time period rather than the positives as our society often did. “Oh… right. No, actually. Everyone just goes and drinks and eats while they watch jousts and all. Some even dress up! It’s really fun.”

“So, you all just dress up and play make believe?” another woman Big asked. “All while getting drunk? Tsk. Tsk. Just like irresponsible little children”

‘Crud…’ This pitfall of my stories had happened before, especially when I was asked about Halloween. Sure, on the surface level, these events could seem very childish, but they didn’t always have to be. To a Big though, they rarely could see anything else whenever humans seemed to be involved. “It’s not like that… it’s just a bit of fun. Escapism in a sense…”

The Bigs before me nodded and the matter seemed to resolve itself. It didn’t always happen, but I just continued my stories about Earth afterward. As usual though, whenever Judge Franklin had been invited, he always made sure to ask the same question at some point during the night. So, sure enough, he asked right after I finished talking about apple picking. “Tell us more about your government and how it works next, Percy. That’s always very fascinating, right everyone?”

The crowd of Bigs nodded as usual, but to them, it was just another story, and Franklin being a judge meant that of course he would be interested in such matters. I would have told him no outright, except, as promised, I always made sure one of the family members was by my side to advise in such matters. Today, was a more somber and reserved Harriet, still recovering mentally at least from her botched mission. Still, even through all that, I could tell she was uncomfortable with the matter Judge Franklin was asking about. 

So, once again, I evaded the topic. “Maybe, but today I’m talking about fall weather. Maybe sometime in a few months, when it’s more relevant, I can talk about that stuff then.” I always made sure to keep my answers to his questions vague, but I could see his patience was running thin. Each grumble always seemed to send Samantha into a tizzy, but I just calmly moved on each time and tried not to show how truly mystified and scared I was over what was happening behind closed doors. I knew there was a secret by now, but I just wasn’t sure what it was. Still, at least for now, I wasn’t given any state secrets away.

The party continued, and once again, I found myself dozing off on the ride back home. I remembered little bits of the rest of the night, but my eyes next opened fully back in my bedroom the next morning. Not much had changed since I first arrived, though it was now complete with a changing table to help ‘Samantha’s back’ in the mornings with my needed diaper changes. Yes, I had begun wetting unwillingly at night lately, even when I wasn’t scared. By now, to me at least, it felt like just another indignity thrust upon me by this world.

Regardless, after our usual morning routine, Samantha soon dropped me off at daycare and I rejoined my friends, who were both waiting for me. Of course, I also counted Ditzy, Derek, and Jimmy as my friends here as well, but each were on their own path of regression to various degrees, and to be blunt, the cursed Tabers milk only made them worse.

Melley and DB had begun drinking the stuff as well, and I noticed little changes to them, but it wasn’t enough to be completely concerned about just yet. In fact, both had started to cart around their stuffed animals from home as well, which made me feel less weird about bringing my own. I had originally brought Stripe with me on outings before, but after a freak rainstorm in the park three weeks ago almost ruined and flushed him down the street, I decided to opt for Nurple as well. I just couldn’t lose one of my few connections to Earth like that. Never fear though, Stripe and Nurple both still comforted me immensely at home equally and then again especially at night.

“So, did you make it to your party last night with Oppy and all?” Melley asked, smoothing out the fur of the stuffed black dog in her lap.

“I did. Another triumph I think,” I bragged. It felt good to finally have something over these two. I didn’t like comparing myself, but it almost made me feel more confident and mature. “There were even dozens more than usual last night. Oppy even noted that a few were local politicians and big execs from out of town. I think a few of the politicians even went back to the capital and reported on my stories. Isn’t that awesome?”

DB and Melley looked at each other very seriously for a moment and both sullenly nodded their heads. “That’s great, Percy…”

Despite the wording, I instantly felt a shift in their demeanors. Both Melley’s black dog and DBs seagull stuffy’s were now being gripped as tightly as they could. It was the classic Littles sign around here that something was amiss but for whatever reason, speaking it out loud could have just led to trouble. In essence, it was our coping mechanism to deal with being silenced, so I needed to know what was happening with what I had just said. “Okay… what’s up you two? You’re acting a bit squirrelly now… is it something I said? Did you fart? Pee? What? Please tell me. I’m your friend.”

Both looked at each other for a little bit and seemed to gesture as if to tell me something, but Melley only looked at me glumly afterward. “It’s nothing, Percy. We’re just tired… that’s all. No coffee anymore or something like that … catches up with you… You’ll see.”

Melley was good at evading the truth around here. I found that out directly when she had nabbed an extra cookie for each of us two weeks ago and hadn’t gotten caught… even when she was confronted an hour later by Mrs. Katherine, who was notorious for getting the truth out of Littles. Still, I let it go.

And so, the day went on. It felt normal, but then an attendant would mention Earth or praise me for something from last night. I guess my stories were rapidly spreading amongst the Bigs, but each time, Melley and DB seemed to grow sour once more. The aura around them would pass, but each time it started to take longer for them to become their cheerful selves once again. So finally, after Miss Tina praised my behavior from last night in front of the Bigs in passing and Melley and DB both frowned afterward, I knew I had to confront them.

“Okay. Stop,” I said loudly, snapping back to meet my two friends head on. “What’s going on?” Melley started to speak up, but I cut her off. “And don’t lie and say it’s just nothing. It’s not nothing. I might wear a diaper and feel Nurple here in my arms is my lifeline to safety and security, but I still have my mind. I’m not some simple drooling, pants-pooping Little you can just shuffle off around here. I’m your friend and I need to know. So, spill.”

Melley and DB seemed shocked at my sudden confrontation, but once again, just looked at each other and seemed to make several head and hand gestures. A few seemed aimed towards me, while a few others were definitely towards the Bigs. I couldn’t make heads or tails of what they were saying to each other, but I at least could see quickly that DB wanted to tell me and Melley wanted to keep it a secret. Finally, though, Melley seemed to give up her protests and DB turned to me.  

“Look, Percy… what you’re doing is… I mean, have you ever thought about it? I mean, really thought about it?” he asked me intently.

I wasn’t sure where he was going with this, but I nodded my head. “I did. I got a bit milk drunk back in July, but since then, it’s just been basic things. Holidays, traditions, histories, and the like. I’ve made sure it’s nothing catastrophic. Just kind of who we are in general more like.”

Melley rolled her eyes and DB looked shocked. I still wondered what was going on, but I think after a minute of him just getting his bearings back, he got closer to me and leaned in. “But that’s the problem.”

I was immediately confused. ‘How could telling them about Christmas or the Revolutionary War be harmful?’ I sighed. “I don’t think I understand…” I wasn’t mentally regressed, but there were just some days that one could feel like a real dunce around here.

DB seemed hesitant to continue, but Melley was looking impatient now. “Just tell him, DB. He needs to know, and he can make up his own mind after that.”

DB nodded slowly at his other friend’s suggestion. “Well, you’re telling them exactly what they want to know… or at least mostly.” I quickly raised an eyebrow, still not sure why they were acting like they were. DB sighed but still continued. “You’ve met our caregivers, but what you don’t know about them is that they are kind of on the border. Neither liberal nor conservative for the treatment of Littles, but they’re powerful. Old money and government ties and all, so most want them on their side, so we’ve heard things from all sorts of perspectives when they thought we were playing. The bit you need to know is the one that is a conspiracy against us Littles.”

“A conspiracy?” From what I had seen with judges Franklin and Grossman, Reddington, and even Taylor, I always felt like there was a story I wasn’t fully reading all the pages of. There almost seemed to be missing chapters explaining everything, but I thought it was just the Norris family hating Grossman’s and Franklin’s family.  

DB nodded though and snapped me out of my thoughts. “Yep. Right here at the academy, but it’s all over the country apparently as well and growing.” I looked over to Melley, just to confirm that DB was telling the truth, and this wasn’t just another one of his conspiracy theories. I still felt a little burned after he thought that my brand of diapers had tracking devices in them, and I had told Samantha about them… and she threw out three cases of diapers. “It’s against us Littles, but where do the most Littles come from?”

“Here?” I guessed. DB shook his head.

“You would think that, but it’s actually Earth. Here, maybe only 20-30% of the population are Littles these days after the last Height War took out a bunch of them. Even with a population of 5 billion here, Earth’s numbers far outmatch this planet’s own.” It seemed hard to believe and I think DB was seeing my doubt, so he just leaned in to tell me more. “Remember, Percy, Earth’s population with a little time could all be Littles for this society. Every. Single. One. Of. Them…”

I sat back and hugged Nurple against my side. I didn’t want to show my fear at that moment, but I realized just how right DB actually was. Take me for example. I was an average human, and while I might have had a predisposition to this life in some ways, I was still a pretty average human. So, if I, or anyone else here could be turned or made into a perfect Little, Earth stood no chance… but I felt like I was still missing something. “Okay… you have a shockingly good point, but what does this have to do with my talks?”

DB then snapped his fingers and Melley rolled her eyes once more. “Right. Yes. Your talks are the key, you see.” I squinted my eyes trying to see the connection. I still couldn’t, but DB noticed right away. “Look… say you want to convince someone to buy ice cream or a house…”

I was still hesitant about it all, but I decided to indulge my friend. “Go on…”

“Well,” he continued confidently, “if it’s ice cream and that person is on a diet or lactose intolerant, you could be wasting your time. Market the ice cream to a person with a sweet tooth though… and you’ve just made your sale.” I looked at DB waiting for the punchline. “I’m talking about that knowing someone is the key to making a deal or a plan successful. If they know us on Earth, they can use that information and push us around how they want.”

“We would see it pretty quickly though,” I tried to say with vigor, but even my voice betrayed the lack of confidence I had in my own words. Frighteningly, DB was starting to make sense. “We would stop them… I just know it…”

“Maybe… but these are Bigs here, Percy,” he said while gesturing all around him. “They live a long time, are patient, and they have the technology to outdo most of what Earth has right now. They’ve been trying for years, but you… you might have just given them the information they need to finally succeed.”

“I… I…” I stammered unsuccessfully out. I was trying to deny it all, but with each layer of new information that DB gave me, I felt my resolve crumble just a little more. Each party had been full of academy personnel originally, but now… I was seeing politicians, businessmen… all wanting to hear about Earth. I was starting to feel like the biggest fool ever.

“Just think about it, Percy… you saw Chelsea and Samantha in action up close and personal.” I did back at the con for sure. “They lulled you in and took you here. You might be accepting of it now, but they knew just what buttons to press for you and Ditzy, right? Could you really have told Samantha ‘no’ back then when you were under the influence of a single mild drug for only a few days? What do you think would be the effect of these Bigs on Earth if they knew where to hit and they had years to do it? Do you think there would be any area of our society they couldn’t touch? Or even infiltrate?”

All this was too much, and it was hitting me with a force that I never thought possible until now. The Bigs and this academy were learning everything… I wanted DB to stop, but he was on a roll now. I could see the fire in his eyes and the passion behind his words. This wouldn’t be over until I had learned everything there was to know about exactly what I had been doing for a few months now.

“And think what they want for just a moment,” he said pointing both his fingers at his temples. “All this is leading to one conclusion. Control, but that’s too hard right off the bat. What if we were vulnerable and afraid though? Think of a crying Little… I mean, that’s what they think of Earth anyways. So, if the Little is desperate enough though… they could accept anything, right? Maybe even a deal with their caregiver that would have seemed barbaric or cruel otherwise?”

All his ranting and conspiracy theories led here to this one question. If he had asked me a few minutes ago, I would have thought he was just crazy or even too milk drunk. I even saw the discarded sippy cup behind him, but now… I knew where he was going with all this. “No… they wouldn’t…”

“Oh yes!” he shouted with a fierceness I had rarely seen in him before. “One exchange between two peoples… give Earth what this dimension has: technology. Earth would of course accept the deal, being so vulnerable, and in exchange, they would give them whatever they want. Say… something they have in abundance? People perhaps?”

It was all so simple. The path over the next years seemed all laid out before me now. Bigs were smart and resourceful. They could outpace us in almost everything, but they were also from a different reality. If they wanted a job to infiltrate, they would need information… exactly like the information that I had given them.

Right then, I knew that I hadn’t given them state secrets, but I gave them camouflage. I gave them knowledge of summers and falls from back home. They knew what Halloween was and now wouldn’t seem like an alien species or brain damaged when asked what the World Series was. Me… I had given them all they needed to know to get restarted on their plans to take over the Littles of Earth. I didn’t mean it, but as any Little who had accidentally broken a lamp with a misthrow of a ball could tell you, intentions rarely seem to matter in the end. After hearing it all and my part in it, I don’t think it should have been a shock when I started to hyperventilate.

“No, no, no…” I tried to self-soothe. It didn’t work. “What have I done?” The tears began to fall. “I destroyed the Earth! I betrayed them all!” I rocked back and forth and tried to hold Nurple as tight as I could. It didn’t work and I just got worse.

Meanwhile, DB looked at me in shock. His information was meant to unsettle me and get me to stop, but he had been too effective in his narration of events to come. Half was speculation in all likelihood, but it all just made so much sense. So, to someone like me who had taken pride in their skills of information sharing with all the Bigs, all this had come as one large blow… too big though it seemed for my little brain to process at once.

“Oh, crud…” Melley had been messing around with her dog, but then looked over at me. I was almost in a daze by then as I had worked myself up too much, but she could see the issue in all that was unfolding now. While we had just finished lunch and would have normally gone out to play outside while the others took a nap, it was currently raining… and we were inside… during what was supposed to be quiet time.

“Shhh… shhh…” Melley tried to comfort me. It wasn’t working. “Easy there… you didn’t know, Percy. It was an honest mistake… shhh… shhh… you’re going to be okay.”

“No! I’m guilty!” I shot back, snot coming from nose a bit as I did so. I was a bit too loud, and DB saw that one of the attendants took notice of me now. “I was an idiot! I was a Little who was playing a game I had no business in. I wanted to be an adult again! I wanted to sit at the grown-up table, and I felt my admission was my stories of Earth. Stupid, stupid me!” In my frustration, I even began hitting myself.

“Percy… Percy… come on,” DB tried to calm me down, as he saw Miss Tina starting to approach. “I get it, man, but you need to chill. Miss Tina’s coming! Come on, buddy.”

Melley stopped rubbing my back as she saw the kindly attendant approaching rapidly. It was protocol after all for her to intervene, so Miss Tina couldn’t be blamed, but still, it was just really bad timing right then. In retrospect though, from her perspective, I could have been seriously injured or even bleeding out from an untold number of things in here. The Tabers milk was dangerous on several levels, but it induced a quick mental regression in most of its drinkers, and that had only led to a few consequences lately. One Little last week, still not fully regressed, drank a whole bottle and then thought they could fly off the top of the changing table when they weren’t strapped down. So, as such, I could have accidentally drunk some and then stuck my hand in a wall socket for all she knew.

“Percy… Percy… Come on! Come…” He then stopped as I continued to practice my self-hatred. “Oh, hello there, Miss Tina…”

“Hello, DB. Is everything okay here?” she asked, looking directly at me. I didn’t look back and Melley stood up in my place.

“He just figured something personal out, Miss Tina. Bit of a shock I guess, but he’s only a little upset now…” I could tell she was trying to get Miss Tina to go away, and she might have normally. Not being a regressed Little who took a nap though, Melley had forgotten about the golden rule of keeping everything quiet. Beyond medical emergencies, it usually took top priority.

Miss Tina smiled and looked relieved, but nonetheless, reached down to get me. “I’m very glad to hear that, Melley, but it’s quiet time now. The other Littles need to sleep and upset or not, Percy here needs to try and be quiet. I’ll see what I can do but thank you two for trying to help him out.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Melley said dejectedly, now sitting back down after Miss Tina had picked me up. “Thank you…”

“Good girl…” Miss Tina then looked back at me and tried to figure out was wrong. After a few questions and a check of my diaper, she was still perplexed over how she could help me most quickly in this situation. “Man… you were all so mature when you were talking to those Bigs last night. Whatever happened to that cute Little, huh?”

Her comments and actions weren’t helping. Miss Tina was one of the good ones around here, but she just didn’t get it. I couldn’t be consoled right now, feeling like a traitor to everyone I had left back home. I felt I could never go back now, but Miss Tina was persistent.

“Come on, Percy,” she tried to reason with me. “It’s okay to be sad, but you need to at least be quiet right now. Maybe we should go to the quiet room? I think that might be best now.” She then started to tickle me and stroke my face as she began walking toward the back door. “Would that be what you wa… son of a…!”

I shoved her about as hard as I could right then. I was in no mood for anything, and I just wanted to let all my feelings out. Nothing she was going to do here would help that and my emotions just got the best of me. Now, it wasn’t hard or anything, but both my hands went sailing right into her chest.

She nearly dropped me, but she had been walking around a little to calm me down and we were near the changing tables, so she set me down on one of them. “Oh man, Percy,” she said, rubbing her chest where I had struck. “I know you’re upset, but that really hurt.”

I was even stunned by my own actions, and I meekly whimpered, “Sorry… but just please leave me alone… please, Miss Tina…”

Miss Tina sighed in clear sympathy for whatever was happening with me, but just ultimately shook her head. “Thank you for apologizing to me, Percy. I understand, but I don’t think I…”

“What in the world are you doing?” Mrs. Katherine asked, storming over to us. Apparently, she had watched the whole thing unfold from the beginning. The daycare workers each had their specialties, and Mrs. Katherine’s certainly wasn’t soothing Littles though.

Miss Tina seemed shocked. “I was just trying to help Percy calm down. It was nothi…”

“No!” Mrs. Katherine bellowed. “You are the Big here. You need to take charge!” Her yelling was making a lot of people stare and there was no way that she wasn’t disturbing the napping Littles, but being who she was, I doubted she cared.

“I… uh, let’s keep our voices down, maybe?” Miss Tina suggested. Her priority was keeping the Littles happy, including the napping ones. I think Mrs. Katherine saw it as weakness though, as her eyes immediately flared up.

“That’s a no on that front then… what kind of Big do you call yourself anyways?” Miss Tina was about to shoot back, a little angry now herself and the insult lobbed her way, but Mrs. Katherine wasn’t having it. “Just stop talking… I’ll take care of this. I’m sure some other Little needs their nose or butt wiped…”

Before I could even register what was happening, Mrs. Katherine swooped in and plucked me away from the changing table and brought me through the back door. Miss Tina seemed too stunned or scared to intervene. The back door led to several areas from a few hallways, but now, all I could think about was that I was here with the dreaded attendant of this daycare.  

Since I came here, I was warned about several things. Never eat the green paste. Say ‘excuse me’ the best you can if you burp. Chocolate is good, but poo is not food. Don’t swear… the list went on and on and highly depended on the Little, but the one constant from every Little that could still speak was never upset Mrs. Katherine.

At first, I even thought that maybe we were going to the quiet room as Miss Tina had suggested before my last outburst. It was basically for nursing Bigs for their Littles, but it could also be used for timeouts, tantrums, or even if everything was just too overwhelming for a Little. To my dismay though, we turned left instead of right. There, at the end of the hall, I saw a sign listing out ‘Punishment Room.’ I think I peed a little right then and my crying seemed to almost stop suddenly on its own.

“Stupid Little…” Mrs. Katherine growled as we entered the room. “Crying… and for what? You found out about a little conspiracy of the Bigs here? That you screwed up as a human being?” She scoffed a little bit as she maneuvered me around a few items I didn’t recognize. “Geez… if you hadn’t figured all that out by now… I thought you were brave and maybe even a little rebellious… but now? Wait until everyone hears about this…”

I think my stomach fell to the floor right then. Of course, the harshest Big in the academy daycare was in on all of it. My enemies were growing daily, it seemed sometimes, and I didn’t think this day could get any worse, but I was quickly proven mistaken.

Mrs. Katherine’s face soon lit up as she spied a single black bench of sorts off to the side of the large room here. “This room is where I get to employ my special talents, Percy. Fought in the Height War and learned a few skills there… even got a boost in longevity as reward for it…” She then set me down on the bench with my front overlayed on the top and my legs nearly dangling over the side with my toes just barely able to support them on the floor.

“I think that should do. Struggling is good in here… Now, hands,” she demanded. I was a little slow, but I complied, not wanting to make any of this worse. So, very quickly, both were strapped to the sides of the contraption. “Good… maybe there’s hope for someone like you after all here. Adult Littles don’t last long, but compliant baby Littles… I still punish them, but it’s just to remind them of the things their pointless brains couldn’t retain.”

I felt like I was now at the mercy of a demon… a sadist… the devil themselves. I whimpered a little as she then strapped my legs to the bench as well and then suddenly yanked down my shortalls and my diaper. That’s when a terrible realization hit me; I was about to be spanked!

The practice was largely thought of as taboo by most, but I had started to notice a trend of sore bottoms coming from several of the Littles whom I identified as belonging to the more conservative caregivers and members of the academy. Knowing about the conspiracy and her connection to it, and this room alone and her excitement upon entering, Mrs. Katherine was clearly a proponent of it.

“Please…” I whimpered out. My sobbing had ceased, but now, tears of desperation and panic were rolling down my face.

“Hush!” Mrs. Katherine scolded me as she looked in a nearby open cabinet. “Here! Let’s fix that little problem here, shall we?” She then retrieved something from the cabinet and quickly came back over to me and strapped whatever it was around my face, effectively silencing anything I tried to say.

“There. That’s better.” She then clicked back over to the open cabinet. I couldn’t see it very well, especially with my blurry tear-soaked eyes, but I could feel my pulse quicken from the little that I did see.

In there, there were at least seven different types of spanking devices. Paddles, crops, whips, flogs… and so much more adorned the shelving and cabinet area. I knew what each was, but I was never really into that scene back home. I was almost even too scared back at the con to go into the dark room, so right now… I wanted to flee for my life. If this was a dream, I was about to scream bloody murder and wake up, or somehow, Samantha would come barging in and save me. Sadly, the door never flung open and all I heard was a “Aha! Perfect!” from Mrs. Katherine.

I could then hear the clicking of her heels back over to me and I squirmed helplessly as I felt her breath on the back of my neck. “You know… in a way… everyone comes through this room. I was thinking that you were a good boy. Sam even tried convincing me of that… too bad… she’s going to be so disappointed in you for being such a bad boy.” She paused and I could feel whatever she had chosen, start to slide against my bare butt. “Oh well… but I guess I should call today your… initiation.” She then rose back up and I could feel her hand massage my butt a little. “Hmmm… let’s say 20 for today? Can always adjust if needed.”

I tried to protest, but only more drool came out from my gag than anything else. So. soon, the only sound came from the swish of the paddle and the smack as it hit my backside. It didn’t take more than four for me to become a complete mess with my butt very much now stinging and on fire. After 15, I felt like I was going to pass out.

“There,” Mrs. Katherine finally said at the end, a hint of satisfaction in her tone, “all done! What a good boy, especially for one so bad…” I remained silent. I felt broken… disjointed from reality.

Mrs. Katherine just smiled in front of me as she unstrapped me. “Awww. What’s the matter, honey? You shy now?” I still made no reply.

Mrs. Katherine instead only pulled my diaper back up and hauled me up and practically thrust me into the corner of the room with my shortalls still around my ankles. “Now, you be a good boy and stand there with your nose in the corner. I’ll collect you later, but any movement until then, and you’ll get five more spanks with something far worse than what you just got.”

I only nodded my head. I had no willpower to say ‘no’ to her. I was determined to be a good boy and just end this day as fast as I could now.

“Good. Timer starts now!” She then slammed the door and almost every light turned out in the room. Very suddenly, I was standing there, emotionally broken and in pain, with nothing but my tormented thoughts to occupy my time with my nose shoved into the corner.

She retrieved me later and removed my gag. I had no idea how long I was standing there in the corner, but naptime was most definitely over now. Most of the Littles then just stared at me and a few of the Bigs seemed to gossip, but I didn’t care. Just wanting to go home now, I curled up under the tree book nook where I was taken on my first day here by Miss Tina.   

I barely registered anything until Miss Melissa came to collect me. She too seemed concerned but led me to the front. I thought I was going to finally feel relief in seeing my savior, but when I got there, Samantha only looked furious. From out of the corner of my eye, I could see a smiling Mrs. Katherine. Clearly, Samantha already knew about what had happened today… or at least a version of it.

“I don’t want to hear a word out of you, mister,” Samantha said coldly as I approached her. Not having the will to fight back or refute whatever Mrs. Katherine had said, I just nodded and took her hand out to the car.

I could see Samantha was practically fuming the whole way home and I just held onto Nurple as tightly as I could. He seemed to be my only friend right now, and I felt terrified of what awaited me at home. I felt my whole world was falling apart today.

Still, Samantha got us home pretty quickly and we both walked into the living room. It didn’t take long for her to shut the door and confront me in the privacy of our own walls. “I’m very disappointed in you, Percy. Making a racket when the other Littles are trying to sleep? Punching poor Miss Tina? I thought you were more mature than that!”

I wanted to say something… anything, but I felt too shattered by everything happening. So, instead, I just drooped my head in shame and exhaustion.

“Well?” Samantha pressed, clearly trying to get some kind of answer out of me. “Nothing? You’re just not going to talk to me anymore? No anger? Sadness? Happiness? Disgust? No…” Samantha then seemed to trail off. “Nothing… just blank…”

Still looking at the floor and being a little out of it, I wasn’t really sure what was happening, until I could see and hear the quick shuffle of Samantha’s feet toward me. In a second, she was kneeling in front of me and lifting my head up. “Baby… open your eyes and look to the ceiling.” Not wanting to make her mad, I just complied without question.

I then followed a series of very strange questions. I was really confused, but I just answered each. I almost questioned if this was Samantha at all or if she had brain damage when she asked me the date, my name, who she was, and a few others like that. She even searched my head, but then seemed to be relieved afterward. “Okay… no scarring… no drugs… what’s going on, Percy? Just tell me and I won’t be mad. I can see now that something’s up.”

I wondered how much her promise would actually hold, but I thought simple would be better. “I’m a traitor to Earth, I cried, I lashed out, I was spanked.”

Samantha seemed like she was hit by a concussive blast with each blurb that I gave her, but her eyes soon switched to that of her usual understanding ones. “Mrs. Katherine… she lied… she’s…” She then quickly shook her head and took my head in her hands and looked at me with the widest and most apologetic eyes I think I had ever seen. “Oh, baby! Please forgive me. I didn’t know. Mrs. Katherine… she lied, but I should have trusted you. You’re mine… I should have known that you were a good boy and something else was going on. Please forgive me. Can you do that?”

She really didn’t need to ask but hearing it all right then broke the trance I was practically under after Mrs. Katherine’s spanking. The dam that had kept me from reliving all my revelations today and the notion of my traitorous self only in exchange for my own pride, broke completely. It all came rushing back in a single instance and I collapsed into her arms in a heap of despair.

“Oh! Percy! Baby! Shhh… shhh…” She then started to stroke my hair and back to console me as best she could. Unlike Miss Tina though, she just let me cry and cry. There was no limit here… only caring.

Right then, I took comfort in the person that seemed to be rapidly becoming my whole world now. She cared for me in a way that few others ever had in my life, and she almost displayed a near magic ability to always know what I needed in that exact moment. So today, when I had such questions as ‘how long before the Bigs put their plan into motion and bring down human society from the information that I had given them,’ she seemed to know just what I needed. It was a hug and some small ministrations of comfort, but they spoke volumes. I felt I had doomed the human race from my pride and arrogance, but under her care, for today at least, all that seemed to be a long way off. For now, I was just her good boy, and she was my… well, caregiver at least if nothing else. In the end, that’s all we ever really needed each other to be.