A Little Change of Perspective: A Diaper Dimension Story (Chapter 30 - Complete)

[Baby Billy]

It will be interesting to see if Paul went with them of his own free will or they force him to go.  There are many outcomes that could come from this depending who took him.  Could be anyone in my mind from the free little group to friends of Sophie's mom or the people working for Sophie's boss.

[LostBBoyBear]

Hey everyone! Sorry about the delay. I wrote the whole chapter over the weekend in between my other summer activities, but when I started editing it, I realized it wasn’t striking the exact tone I wanted. I think with this new update, it should be in line with more of what I think works for the story and what I was originally hoping for.

Now, moving on, it’s no coincidence that something big has now happened in the story. With chapter 15, we are now basically at the halfway point. There’s still lots of story to tell (about 30 chapters total in this story for perspective), so I hope everyone is still having a good time reading it.

Also, as a reminder, the poll for my next story is still going on. As a reminder, as usual, I will post my decision of my next story during my final chapter of this story. Until then, feel free to comment here or personally message me what you want to read next. I like all the choices I am presenting, so choose what you want. For those not sure of the choices, just refer to the beginning of chapter 2.

Lastly, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter!

Chapter 15: The Helpless Searching; The Desperate Accepting

Panic. There’s really no other word for what entered my heart in the following minutes after I read that note. “We have him.”

For any caregiver of a Little, it represented the worst scenario imaginable. Time was of the essence, like in any child kidnapping, but where children faced harm, death, or rescue, the platitudes of a Little kidnapping were far much more reaching.

That’s not to say that a child being kidnapped is nothing, but after the Great War had ended, those types of kidnappings had dropped to less than 100 worldwide by now. For Littles, though, it was estimated that one in six would be kidnapped at some point.

‘Oh shit. Oh why? Where is he? Paul?’ My scramble to make sense of what was happening. I saw his bed had been unmade, but I still tossed it around, desperate that I would still find him. As bad as it may sound, I was hoping I would find him unconscious or sick again under his bed when I searched there. At least then, he wouldn’t be gone. I could fix him or make him better in those cases, but still, even as I tore though his closet and searched under every diaper or book, he was still gone.  

Fear gripped me next, as I saw the still open window. I flung my head out of it, hoping beyond measure to see some sign that Paul was still nearby. Maybe I could see him being taken away still and get a glimpse of the evil people who had taken away my precious little. Maybe he would see me and have hope. Maybe… maybe I could just scream for him or for help. When I searched outside though, only my screams of “Paul! Paul!” were evident of his existence at all out there. Even amongst the thundering skies and rain droplets hitting the roofs of every building within sight, it still caught the attention of my neighbors. The police weren’t far behind.

“Ma’am,” the lead officer tried to focus my attention as he sat me down in my living room, “please calm down. I know that’s probably not very helpful, but what would be, is your cooperation. I just need some of the facts for my report. It will help us find your Little faster in the long run.”

The police had come straight away. First, just two officers to make a preliminary sweep to ensure it wasn’t a prank, but soon, my entire house swarmed with local police officers and investigators. Each had shown me sympathy and a calming gesture or words of hope. It helped my mind tremendously, but now, they needed answers that only I could provide.

“I know, I know,” I said, still scrambling in my own head over the full measure of what had happened here tonight. One never believes it’s going to be them, but someone is unfortunately always proven wrong, and tonight that was me. “Just… please, find Paul. Find my Little. He’s all alone out there… with just the kidnappers. I don’t know what they’ll do to him.” I thought back to all the terrible scenarios I had seen firsthand at LPS after those Littles had been kidnapped. I don’t think I could bear to see Paul like that. “Please, you need to find him.”

The officer sighed. “We’ll do our best, ma’am. We’ve already contacted the proper statewide and border authorities and a Little alert has already gone out.”

I was glad to hear that at least, but when his questions began, that good feeling began to fade, particularly when another officer held the note that had been left and whispered something into his ear. “You said that he went up for a nap, right?” “How long were you asleep?” “Has there been any tension between you and your Little?” “Why wasn’t your alarm triggered?”

His questions came at me in rapid-fire succession. I tried answering as best I could but being a former LPS agent and still working with them now in an advisory capacity, my own alarm bells began going off after each more pressing question they asked. The officer, once showing me such kindness and grace, was now asking me questions I would expect more to be asked of a suspect… not the caregiver of a kidnapped Little.

“Officer… has something happened?” His moustache twitched at my question. “Is there something I should know? About Paul? Your questions… are…”

“Ma’am… the sooner you answer my questions, the sooner we can find Paul,” he said briskly. I definitely wasn’t feeling comforted anymore, but curious where all this was going to lead and knowing I had no part in it, I let him ask his questions.

“How was the window unlocked?” “How did the kidnappers get to him on the second floor?” “Being his caregiver, why didn’t you check on him sooner when you didn’t hear him move around, especially for his afternoon snack?”

Again, the questions seemed to be directed at me in the most uncomfortable manner possible. Right as I was noting that I wanted him to take his nap, a new occurrence, I began to notice that other local officers were looking at me with strained and curious expressions. If this was a murder investigation, I would have suspected those looks only to be directed at me if I had been found holding the gun or been covered in blood. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, and while my fear and panic gripped my heart tightly, my head burned with curiosity over what had changed.

“Officer… please,” I begged. “I’ve answered your questions, but I need to know about Paul and why you…” I didn’t get to finish.

Like a storm bursting through my door, my already crowded home was infiltrated by dozens of agents, all bearing the ‘LPS’ insignia. My heart dropped for two reasons. First, their presence told me that whatever the locals had found was serious, and secondly, I remembered that Paul, knowingly or not, was an informant. Paul going missing represented a huge issue for everyone involved.

“Alright,” the clearly lead LPS agent barked out. “I’m Agent Scythian. I’m with the LPS. On behalf of the agency, I want to thank you all for your time, but this is now officially our case. Hand over any evidence you may have collected and head out.”

The head officer seemed perturbed, and his police officers remained motionless as he got up from the couch where he had been questioning me and stared down the new LPS agent in front of him now. “Look… Agent Scythian. My officers and I started this investigation and we’re going to finish it. You might be from the government, but we can handle our own investigations… without your help.”

Agent Scythian smiled coyly and cracked his neck once before glaring back. “Look Officer… well, it doesn’t really matter who you are. You aren’t LPS and this is an LPS matter now. It’s as simple as that.” He stepped closer to him and his one inch of height over the officer was used as much as possible. “Now, you can leave with your men willingly and go about helping stop drunk drivers on the highway, or you can spend the night in one of our cells and be charged with obstruction. So, Officer… whatever… what’s it going to be?”

The lead officer’s nostrils flared above his mustache. His eyes squinted in anger, but Agent Scythian just stared down back at him, again using his extra inch of height over him.

“You heard the man!” the head officer finally relented. “Drop what you have, hand it over, and get out of here.” A moment of shuffling and grumbling later, every local officer was gone… leaving me alone with the LPS agents.

Relieved, I stood up and smiled. “Wow. Thank you so much for coming. I really appreciate the effort. So, Paul is…”

“Come with us,” Agent Scythian said back to me with a straight and narrowed face, a little annoyed growl coming through his voice. The whole time, his eyes remained unblinking.

“What?” I felt very confused. I thought these agents were my saviors, but I had seen the current look from Agent Scythian before when I was an agent myself. Any lead agent telling a person to come with them and using that look… it only meant trouble. It usually meant that the Big had done something wrong… very wrong. Wracking my brain, I couldn’t think of anything, but still, I didn’t want to argue and cause a further issue for myself, so without another word, I grabbed my purse and headed out with them. I only hoped that I was wrong about all this.

But again, getting to the car, I was quickly treated like a Big who had done something wrong, being nearly shoved into the back seat, with a single agent that then sat on either side of me. As we quickly sped off, I saw at least half a dozen agents searching my house. I now wondered if I should have put up more of a fight in my own home, or if that would have only made me look guiltier than my reserved silence. Whatever the case, it was too late now.

The vehicle sped through the city, and tiny raindrops still arced over the window and then off the car and into the night. I didn’t recognize either agent sitting next to me, but their complete dismissal of my presence nearly gave me the shivers. I tried thinking of everything that I might have done wrong in their mind, but I kept coming up empty. Then, I saw where we were headed. I guess I should have guessed it, but still, it was a shock to see from this angle.

The LPS headquarters in the city was mostly based on brutalist architecture. I had always thought it showed strength and lacked some of the whimsical or foreboding qualities that other buildings for Littles seemed to always possess. It was just a building for us to work in... nothing more, and for me, that felt like a good thing.

Now though… its staggering columns of concrete and emotionless forms stood in contrast to most of the more ornate or glass and steel buildings surrounding it. Before, I felt safe entering here… a fortress in the modern age for a serious agency tackling critical missions. It was just yesterday that I had worked up on the third floor, but now… a true sense of dread overtook me as the garage soon swallowed us. My only consolation in all this was that I hadn’t been cuffed while in the car. It was small, but it gave me some hope that I wasn’t being charged for whatever I did wrong. As the car door slammed, I knew that hope was small… very small.

As Agent Scythian quickly ushered me out and into the building, that hope continued to shrink. I noticed a few of the agents and support personnel begin to look at me with concerned but questioning glances as we passed by the main bull pit of agents tonight. No one was coming to help… that much was obvious, but I still held out hope for Astrid. Heck, I would have even taken Agent Shelly’s help… especially when I was nearly shoved into a chair in one of our interrogation rooms.

“Okay, look…” I began as I rubbed my butt where it had hit the hard metal surface at full impact. “I just need to know what’s going on. Agent Scythian…”

He leaned forward on the table and scowled at me. “You… well, you’re just lucky we haven’t shipped you off for your court date yet. No matter how you look at this… you screwed up… big time.”

“But how?” I knew that Paul was missing, and that was bad in a way, but still, he had been kidnapped. I couldn’t be charged for something completely out of my control… ‘Right?’

Agent Scythian sighed. “You really don’t know. Well, here’s…”

“Agent Scythian!” Another agent I didn’t recognize quickly burst into the room. Agent Scythian spun around and met head on with them. “In the hallway… now.”

Grumbling but complying, Agent Scythian walked out with the other agent. Even through the closed door, I could quickly hear yelling coming from the other side. Five minutes later, I still couldn’t make out anything, but Agent Scythian returned and seemingly calmly sat down in the chair in front of me.

I could see a rage boiling within him, but I could also see he had the willpower to suppress that emotional outburst from me. “I’m to wait here until further notice… in silence…”

My mind whirled with the possibilities of why. ‘Had I already been sentenced, and he was just to be my bodyguard to ensure I wasn’t going to escape? Had Paul been found? Was I being framed, and they just found the planted evidence at my house?’ I wasn’t sure, but I definitely didn’t want to be shoved around and shut down without a single ounce of objection. “But I need to know…”

“I said silence!” Agent Scythian bellowed, his rage momentarily breaking through his otherwise statuesque form. It was only a moment, but it was enough to keep me quiet… at least for what I guessed was the next thirty minutes.

I tried thinking about anything else to keep my mind off Paul. If I thought of him, there was no way I could hold back my emotions or my questions. If that happened, I knew I would speak, Agent Scythian would get mad again, and what was already a tense situation would only be made worse.

Impressing myself, I actually succeeded for a while in thinking about just about anything else. I thought of the Littles I had been seeing over the past week, that strange flower at the botanical gardens, or even possible future hikes I could take. Paul had been embedded in my life for some time by now though, so unfortunately, nearly every topic I tried to think of, also reminded me of Paul.

Hiking? Do with Paul when I saw him again. Strange flower in the botanical gardens? I went there with Paul, and I wondered if it would have affected him as well in the same way it did with Alice. Seeing other Littles? I couldn’t help but grow morbidly curious if Paul would end up just like them if… when I saw him again.

That last question was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back though. I couldn’t hold my previously quiet reserve back anymore as I felt the tears quickly begin to cloud my vision again. “Please, Agent Scythian. I just want to know…”

“I said to be quiet…” he growled again.

“But Agent Scythian,” I began to plead. I was coming undone. As soon as I thought about Paul, I thought of this building and the dozens of Littles each week who came here and were a broken shell of their former selves. Most were the victims of kidnappings. It wasn’t that hard of a leap to think of that happening to Paul as well. “Please, I need to know. I…”

“I said to be quiet,” he said again, this time more firmly.

But I ignored him. “Please Agent… please, oh please.” I didn’t care how ridiculous I must have looked, quickly getting up from my seat and kneeling down and tugging at his arm. I knew I probably looked like a kid begging their parent to stay up later, but this was Paul who was missing… my Paul. I needed to see him again. I needed at least to hear his voice or that he was okay. I didn’t care about the consequences or what came after… not even my own conviction here. I just needed even the smallest hint that everything was going to be okay.  

“Please, agent,” I begged again. “I need to know something… anything! Please, please tell me. Even just a morsel. I need to know why I’m here. I need to know where my Little is!”

“Get off me!” His voice was definitely raised and angry, but still dismissive as he tried to shake me off his arm. So, still determined, I continued to beg.

“No, please. I’ll do anything around here.” I tried to barter with him. He had to want something… something that could be my way in. He clearly wanted to say something to me when we first entered, but I just had to find the right words to get him to break whatever he was sworn to when he was taken outside by the other agent.

“I…” I could see him begin to crack. I wasn’t sure if it was in annoyance or legitimately wanting to make a deal with me. I didn’t give him the chance to object though.

“Please. I’m begging you from the bottom of my heart. I need to know about Paul. Just… anything!” I felt a surge of strange emotions begin to eclipse every ounce of logic I had in my head. I felt ravenous in my pursuit of knowledge about my Little. I had heard about this happening before, but I never imagined it happening to me… let alone inside the building I normally worked at. I thought my job would give me extra privileges in an investigation when it came to situations like these. To my dismay, I didn’t see that, so I continued to plead my case to the hardened agent before me.

“Please, Agent Scythian!” I was getting about as desperate as I could be. I would have offered him anything at that point. “Please. I’ll…”

“Enough!” he thundered. His voice echoed seamlessly around me. I nearly felt the ground quake as he bolted up and nearly threw me off his arm. I was so stunned by his guttural reaction that I just shut my mouth without a further protest. “Geez! Get ahold of yourself or at least open your eyes. I thought you were supposed to be some kind of former agent?”

“I was… am,” I tried to defend, still rattled from his outburst. “I just…”

“Not another word about what you need.” He sighed and seemed to curse the heavens that he was put into this position at all. “I mean, come on! Shit! Just put it all together, Sophie!”

“I don’t…” My emotions were clearly too much of a mess for me to put anything together myself. This morning… I probably could’ve figure it all out in seconds, but not now. Agent Scythian saw my confusion.

“Fine,” he nearly spat. “I’ll spell it out for you.”

He then took a giant breath of air and looked at me dead in the eyes. “Your story had too many holes in it for it just to be all coincidences. As soon as you started talking and those other cops started looking, everyone knew someone, or something, was lying to us investigators. By the time we came on the scene, it was even more obvious. We know that evidence doesn’t lie, so it kind of narrows the field. More specifically, it narrows it down to you.”

My head was still filled with the pain and anguish of losing Paul, but I felt I was starting to put some bits of evidence together. Agent Scythian clearly thought I was a liar, and I couldn’t let that stand unchallenged. “But I told you the truth…”

Agent Scythian rolled his eyes. “That’s what they all say, but I’ll tell you what… I’ll lay a few bits out for you, and I’ll see if you can catch up, okay?” Wanting to know more and not seeing many other options, I nodded my head.

“Good. Now, your story just felt too good for a kidnapping.” His eyes narrowed and as I slunk back into my seat. Agent Scythian then leaned over the table once more. “This investigation is no longer in my hands, but even I know a few basic things. Just think about it…” He paused for a second. “Paul and you just happened to make up? Then, what about the storm and the noise you heard outside? What about your nap?” He leaned further, his eyes full of hatred and venom. With each question, his voice was getting louder as well, now almost to the point where he was yelling at me.  

“And what about the game? You suggested it, right?” I simply nodded, but my stomach was tying itself into knots. Now that I was hearing it all out loud, the skepticism or distrusting looks I had seen began to make more sense to me. “Exactly. You suggested it, but Paul then just nearly miraculously got better at it… even to the point of beating you? And then your exhaustion, and the note, and…” He paused for a moment. His furry dissipated for a brief moment. “We found his bedsheets nearby, all tied into a rope. What kind of kidnapper would use bedsheets to escape?”

I wasn’t sure, but things were starting to click into place. My interrogation, all the questions, notes of my inconsistencies, and all the other little piece of evidence led to one conclusion in their minds… I had helped Paul escape and maybe even tried to make it look like a kidnapping to throw them off the trail.

To me, it was madness, but to them I had likely grown too close to my Little, admittedly possibly true, but they thought I had helped him escape and staged everything. I knew I didn’t, but Agent Scythian’s anger now made sense. I knew in his mind that I was a traitor to the LPS, and therefore, to the Libertalian government. “I didn’t help Paul escape. Honest!”

“Bullshit!” Agent Scythian cursed back at me, his hands slamming into the table between us.

“Agent Scythian!” a familiar voice boomed. I looked up from my shrinking position in my seat and saw that it was Astrid. “Were you not given explicit instructions not to talk to former agent Sophie here about this case until further notice?”

Agent Scythian had nearly jumped out of his skin when Astrid had called out his name. The fire I had seen in the LPS agent had now been snuffed out. “I… I… she pushed me!” he accused. “She wouldn’t let go of my arm and…”

“That’s enough, agent!” Astrid shouted. “You will collect any of your things from this room and head back to your desk. You will not speak to another person, and you will wait for someone to come collect you for your debriefing. Am I understood?”

I could see the maniacal pull of Agent Scythian, begging and dragging him back to speak further to me with this investigation, but Astrid clearly outranked him. So, he dropped his head to his chest. “Yes, ma’am.” Agent Astrid only nodded, and Agent Scythian walked out, defeated.

With him out of the room, Astrid looked at me and gave me a smirk. “Boy… did you step in it this time…”

“Is it that bad?” I asked my friend, hoping to finally hear something more, good news or otherwise.

Astrid sighed, and from her face, she almost didn’t need to say anything to confirm that something else was going on now… something bad for everyone involved. “Just come with me. We need talk and then maybe go see the head of all this… Agent Aetos.”

I nodded and got up, but my stomach also rankled at the sound of his name. Of all people, our former commander in the field in our early days together at LPS was the last person I wanted heading up this investigation. Further, his involvement in it all truly sent a sliver of fear down my back, especially when I realized that Astrid now knew that Paul had escaped. If her contract with me held in place, as soon as Paul was found, truly kidnapped or not, he would be sent to Dark Cliff Prison. I felt a tear roll down my cheek from the mere thought of that happening.

“Take a seat, Sophie,” Astrid gestured to the seat in her office as we entered after getting off the elevator on her floor. We had received several stares again getting here, but focused on just hearing more about Paul, I ignored them. Still, now sitting in her near corner office, I knew she had received a few promotions since I had last been up here to see her specifically.

“Thank you…” I sat down and looked around her office while she closed the door and went to sit behind her desk. No pictures of family or Littles but knowing her that could have been from a sheer lack or a desire to keep that side of private here in the office. “Congrats on all your promotions.”

Astrid smiled back. “Thank you, Sophie. Lot of work getting here, but it keeps me busy… and informed.” I knew she was implying about the case with Paul. She then opened a folder in front of her. “This is fresh from our investigators… it’s not good, Sophie.”

I knew I needed to defend myself. I could already see the doubt in my friend’s eyes. “I swear I didn’t help him escape. I’ll take one of those new unbeatable lie detectors and I’ll…”

“Sophie, Sophie!” Astrid tried to calm me. “I know you didn’t help him.”

“Oh…” I could feel my blood pressure beginning to lower again. “I know I didn’t but how do…?”

Astrid nodded and tapped the folder. “You were only in doubt to the lowers investigating all this.” She was clearly referring to the police and Agent Scythian. “I want to apologize that I didn’t get to you myself, but we just weren’t sure yet about all this. It could have been a local matter, and we could have kept our hands clean…”

“So, it’s not a local matter then?” I knew by now that it wasn’t, but I just wanted her to say it out loud.

Astrid shook her head. “No.” She touched the file again. “Sophie… the note from the kidnappers… we checked, and we now know Paul made it at daycare.” I could almost feel the air go out of the room.

In a second, I knew that they weren’t suspecting me of helping Paul escape. They thought Paul had escaped by himself, or worse, with others. The notion of Dark Cliff Prison now almost seemed like a certainty. I was crushed.

Looking concerned over my well-being now, Astrid continued. “I know you’re thinking about Paul and what this could mean for him, Sophie. I know its hard… even near impossible, but I want you to put all that out of your mind for the moment. Can you do that for me, Sophie?”

She was right. It was nearly impossible, but I knew she was likely my only lifeline to finding Paul again. Dark Cliff Prison still loomed on the horizon, but for his sake, if I ever wanted to see him safe again, I knew I had to do what she asked. I nodded my head in silence.

“Good. Now, as you might know, we keep an eye on local investigations regarding Littles. It’s a little gray in terms of the scope of our jurisdiction,” she wavered, “but it told us about Paul right away. We just needed to wait while the police gathered their evidence.”

She sighed and then pulled out another file. It had a red banner striped across the front; classified. “I’m assuming you saw all those stares when we walked in?” I nodded. “Right, well we received this report about an hour ago. It’s pretty thick, so in summary, we heard from some underground chatter that a Little has allied themselves with their old suspected anti-Big group…” A tiny breath caught in my throat as I instantly knew where this was headed. “That group calls themselves the Littles Revolution Group… LRG.”

It was the same group that had bombed the mall with Alice, Chloe, Paul, and I after our visit to the botanical gardens. It was the same that Paul was suspected of being apart of when he came to me. I knew what she was implying. “You think… you think that it’s Paul…”

Astrid sighed but ultimately nodded. “I do. Best intelligence out there puts all this together.” She then sighed again and leaned forward with her hands clasped. “He played you tonight, Sophie. He played you so that he could escape.” I heard what she was saying, but my mind refused to accept it as true.

“I know you don’t want to hear that,” she tried to comfort, “but Paul is part of LRG. From what you’ve told us, and our own sources, we know that completely by now. But for tonight… just think about it.” She paused briefly. “It’s a shock, yes, but if you think about it… he played a game with you that tired you out. Added in your chores and you take an inevitable nap. The storm was probably unexpected, but it also provided him with the best cover to hide his tracks afterward. Remember that banging sound you said you heard near the start of it?” I nodded. “That was probably him leaving.”

My mind started to unscramble it all and put it together, but Astrid clearly had more to say. “One last thing…” Her finger pointed to the original file of the investigation. “Your security system… Paul found a gap in it and somehow disabled the rest of it. We think he had outside help, but… it all leads to one conclusion…”

I knew what she was going to say, and I nearly covered my ears, but I knew it had to be said out loud. “Paul escaped tonight. He wasn’t kidnapped, and now, he’s joined with what is basically a terrorist organization.”

It was all bad news. With all this, I knew Paul was headed straight for Dark Cliff Prison or a quick forced regression procedure. Most likely, the next time I saw Paul, he would either be behind bars for the rest of his life, or likely not even recognize me with his ravaged newborn mind.

It was all terrible, but still, he was my Little. That tiny spark of light within my chest still burned for him. Hurt and abused by everything since I had woken up from my nap, but still there. It still wanted Paul to be safe and happy. “Is… is there anything that can be done? Anything…. anything I can do?”

Curiously, Astrid smiled and then leaned back in her chair. “You know… seeing as we go back, I think I can tell you straight up that I didn’t think any of this was going to work out in the beginning. I thought for sure Paul would escape before he gave us any useful intel, or you would snap and regress him all the same.” She then smirked at me.

“But you proved me wrong. Not the first time, but in this case, I’ve never been happier!” I looked at her in confusion and she leaned back forward over her desk. “Look… Paul escaped your custody tonight and that’s not good, but before tonight, whether you realized it or not, he gave us valuable intel that we’ve been using since the beginning of this whole thing. You two seem good together and I honestly think that Paul is a good resource for us… even more so now.”

She said that last part with an ominous tone that I can’t say I cared for, but at the same time, I wanted to know more. “What do you mean by that?”

Astrid then stood up and began to walk over to me. “Well…”

The door then burst open. “Agent Astrid! Not another word!” It was Agent Aetos. Graying now around his temples and getting closer to the wrinkled consistency of a raisin, but still the imposing figure I had once served under here at LPS.

Astrid quickly snapped to attention. “Sorry, sir. I just wanted to give Agent Sophie here all…”

“Enough!” he snapped again. He then glared down at me. “And as far as Sophie is concerned, she is no longer an agent. Her knowledge of this mission ends here. Understood?”

Astrid quickly seemed hesitant, and while she hadn’t changed around him in the years since I left, I had. I quickly popped up myself and glared back at my old supervising agent. “Agent Aetos...” His eyes burned into me. “I understand you may have misgivings about me with this, but I will do anything for Paul. If I can bring him back safely and still use him as a source of information… I will.”

I didn’t really care right then about his use as an informant, but I knew Agent Aetos. He was a salty old geezer that should be relaxing on a beach somewhere by now instead of still at LPS, but I knew how to get to him. I heard the stories about him recently, and while he was still gruff and dangerous to his enemies, I also knew that he had become a bureaucrat. If this went wrong, he didn’t want the blame… just the credit if it went right.

“She wants to help, sir,” Astrid finally said. “If she’s really willing… why not let her? If we do it my way, everyone can go home happy at the end if it goes right.”

Agent Aetos sighed and rubbed his wrinkled temples. “So… you want Project DCI I take it?” Astrid quickly nodded. I could see the hesitation begin to envelop Aetos’ face and I got a bad feeling about the whole notion, but he then waved his hand dismissively at her. “Very well… continue.”

Astrid smiled and nodded before retrieving another stack of forms from her desk and then handing them over to me. “Sign on the bottom of each page marked and highlighted by an ‘X.’

“Non-Disclosure Agreement?” I read from the top. My gut bad feeling was only growing exponentially by now.

“That’s right,” Astrid confirmed. “With this project… I can’t tell you anything about it until you sign the forms…”

I looked back down at the forms. I didn’t hear any option two, and knowing what Paul was being accused of if he was ever caught, I doubted there would be one. It seemed my signing of these documents was my only way to help him, and I did, but… what did all this entail?

The question wrapped around my mind over and over as I reached for the pen to sign. I didn’t want to seem ungrateful, but if even Agent Aetos hesitated, I had to take at least a second for myself, especially with my knowledge about the sometimes-underhanded tactics that were used to take down radical groups opposed to anything with the Libertalian government. It might have been enough to stop me completely in any other circumstance, but now, that’s just when my guilt barged its way through though.

Paul and I had made up, and while I still felt that it was genuine to some degree, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was still truly upset at me and that’s why he escaped. It seemed obvious, yet somehow still too easy. I wasn’t sure what I expected, but regardless, I began to blame myself for the whole mess in the first place. Before I told Paul I had read his journal, even partially accidentally, our bond seemed strong. After, it led to all this. So, wanting to keep Paul safe and worried that I had pushed him into this in the first place, I bent over and signed the documents freely.

After looking them over and making one minor note of where I didn’t initial, Astrid placed them down at smiled back at me. “Perfect. Now, Project DCI…” She paused and looked down at the files still on her desk. “Tell me… what do you know of our criminal justice system?”

It was an odd question, but I figured I should still play along if I wanted to know anything about her proposal to help Paul. “Well, we had jails and prisons, but at some point… they kind of faded away. It’s just speculation after that what happens to most criminals who aren’t assigned work duty.”

Astrid smiled. “Good. Outside of this office, its going to remain that way… no matter what you learn, okay?” Hesitant, I still nodded. “Good. Now, Project DCI is a new initiative that LPS has been given access to. In its simplest terms… you will be shrunken down to the size of a Little to infiltrate LRG as one of its newest members.”

The room remained still for a minute afterward. I could tell Astrid was trying to size me up to gauge my reaction, but even I wasn’t sure what to think of it. It was one thing to want to help your Little, but to become one… it just seemed too unreal. “So… you want to… to me so I can…?” I couldn’t get all the words out.

Astrid still knew though and nodded. “That’s right. We shrink you and you go undercover. You did it before with LPS. This is just that with some strings attached.”

“Big strings though…” Agent Aetos grumbled from the back corner of Astrid’s office.

Astrid sighed. “Yes, yes, but the benefits outweigh those.” She then stared directly at me, and I could see an eagerness I hadn’t seen for years. “If you do this, we can guarantee Paul an immunity for any useful information either you or he eventually shares with us.”

She then eyed me closed and interlocked her fingers. “Look. I can see your hesitation. Perfectly natural, but I’m going to be blunt here. I won’t even go into how this is Paul’s only chance to avoid prison when we find him…” I noticed she said ‘when,’ not ‘if.’ “So, I’ll just focus on the notion that he ran away from you. From your reports, I know why. Do this, and you might just be able to truly reconcile with your Little while helping your country out.”

Her points were valid and hard-hitting. She knew me and exactly where to poke at me to motivate me. Now, I had a few reservations, but only one answer. “I’ll do it.”

Astrid smiled. “Excellent.” She then turned to Agent Aetos. “And do you approve, sir?” I got the distinct impression that right now, despite Astrid seeking approval from Aetos, she was really the one in charge of this plan.

Agent Aetos sighed and walked over to me. “I approve, but first… the risks. You should know them before you fully agree, Sophie.” If Agent Aetos was worried about the risks, I knew I should be as well.

Astrid sighed but relented and pulled out another form. “These are the risks. Because you’ve worked undercover though, the same basic risks apply here… with a few differences.” She then pointed to the first line. “You will pose as a Little in a recently hostile society to Littles. The amount of total time spent in this position will vary, but plan for weeks… if not months.” I wondered what I was going to tell my family about this. Knowing LPS, I knew I couldn’t fully tell them the truth.

“If you run into any trouble with the law or other Bigs, we will likely not be able to help you right away,” she warned nearly robotically as she continued to read the warning document. Instantly though, I knew that with our technology, their help might as well have been worthless in that scenario. “We will also conceal and alter your identity. So, if you forget your code word, either from sheer memory lapses or that you are experimented on or regressed, we cannot guarantee your safety.” Finished, she looked back up at me and awaited my answer.

Now, I had been undercover before and that helped me more than if I was just entering all this business, but with that experience came knowledge as well. Back then, I was posing as a Big in a regression and smuggling ring that ranged all along the Rocky Mountains. It was deep cover and lasted for years. I was nearly apprehended by the local authorities at least seven times. I was able to maintain some contact with my family, via dead drops and video messages, and with all that it was the hardest time of my entire life.

This whole mission, however, would be even worse. There were so many unknowns and I saw a whole list of red items that Astrid hadn’t even mentioned to me. Among them was blurred vision, and that seemed like one of the more minor symptoms if the procedure went wrong.

All that was on top of the mere notion that I was to become a Little again. Maybe still a Big, but to the rest of the world, a Little, size and all. I would have to look up at nearly everyone, be condescended to, possibly be abducted myself, and be okay with possible random panty checks for signs of dirtiness or wetness, just to name a few possibilities of my new life. It was all a terrible fate, and while I generally knew about a Littles’ existence from my time questioning Littles for LPS, it was another thing entirely to deal with the truth of becoming one in all but my DNA.

It was all bad, but again, my guilt washed over me like an immense tidal wave from a tsunami. It seemed to trump all my fears and anxieties of this potential course of action. I felt I could still say no, but I wondered where that would leave Paul.

He was now almost completely confirmed to have rejoined his so-called terrorist organization. I felt that might have been an oversimplification, and seeing his face the day of the bombing made me wonder if that truly was their purpose, but that one event still didn’t shine a favorable light on either Paul or LRG now.

Still, I had read his journal. I had caused the tension between us recently. Sure, one could argue that he had overreacted and that my intentions were pure, but that wouldn’t change the fact that Paul was still gone. He was now considered a fugitive that was at least colluding with a harmful organization bent on changing Libertalia through force. Even if it was for equality of their kind, their actions damned them all… and I couldn’t shake the feeling that Paul was now with them again because of me. Thinking of all that, I only had one answer.

“I’m in.” Agent Aetos and Astrid looked at each other and smiled. I could see that despite their fears, I had just given them the biggest gift they could have ever asked for. Now, only one thing remained: going through with the procedure itself.

[Guilend]

I actually thought you didn't post because the site went down about 10 minutes before your normal scheduled posting. So you're all good.

 

I had an idea she'd get shrunk. There was some hints, especially in the title of the story. While I am not fond of Amazons being shrunk, I am looking forward to not only seeing what happens to her, but what happens when she is big again. Like if she has a fondness for diapers or if she lost some of her potty training during her time as a Little if she'd still have potty problems once she's big. Maybe not as much of potty problems, maybe bedwetting and possibly needing pull ups during the day. I am curious if her status as an adult will be in question once she is big again. Or if she'll be required to have her own caregiver till she's proven that she doesn't have any side effects either from being shrunk or from whatever happened while shrunk.

I wonder if she'll be treated as a Little up till she's shrunk, being told that she needs to get used to it. Like getting her panties checked without warning or going through a "training" course where she has to wear a diaper and stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if that training happens after she's shrunk, but I kind of hope it starts before she is. I doubt she goes straight to the lab or wherever and gets shrunk right from the office. She still needs to tell her family she's going undercover and then probably see a therapist to make sure she's mentally okay with what's about to happen to her. Probably even have to go through a "stress" test to make sure she can handle being treated like a little, like being talked down to, getting her panties checked, and stuff trying to see if she will lash out in violence or not. It wouldn't be good if she's shrunk and has an outburst. She could end up in dark cliff prison as I'm sure if she does that, the agency will not get involved to save her. It would be too much bad publicity and probably prompt an investigation that could prove that they're stepping a little bit out of the scope of their agency's abilities.

[BabySofia]

Unlike Guilend, I did not see this twist coming! I always assumed the Little Perspective was from Paul's side. Looking forward to seeing where you take us in the next fifteen chapters! I presume they are going to grow her back to Big size at the end? 

Thanks for the great chapter!

[Kat5]

22 minutes ago, BabySofia said:

Unlike Guilend, I did not see this twist coming! I always assumed the Little Perspective was from Paul's side

I have also been bamboozled! 

[Guilend]

Omg am I the only one that saw this coming? This whole time I thought it was so obvious. That's why I never said anything. I thought everyone knew. Omg it's literally like only the second time, I believe, that I was correct on my prediction on one of his stories. To some, that's a huge number, but as someone that can usually spot what's about to happen in a story, movie or show, or a rough idea of how it's going to end, that's a pretty low number. My favorite stories are the ones I can't predict with accuracy on what's going to happen.

[LostBBoyBear]

7 hours ago, Guilend said:

I actually thought you didn't post because the site went down about 10 minutes before your normal scheduled posting. So you're all good.

 

I had an idea she'd get shrunk. There was some hints, especially in the title of the story. While I am not fond of Amazons being shrunk, I am looking forward to not only seeing what happens to her, but what happens when she is big again. Like if she has a fondness for diapers or if she lost some of her potty training during her time as a Little if she'd still have potty problems once she's big. Maybe not as much of potty problems, maybe bedwetting and possibly needing pull ups during the day. I am curious if her status as an adult will be in question once she is big again. Or if she'll be required to have her own caregiver till she's proven that she doesn't have any side effects either from being shrunk or from whatever happened while shrunk.

I wonder if she'll be treated as a Little up till she's shrunk, being told that she needs to get used to it. Like getting her panties checked without warning or going through a "training" course where she has to wear a diaper and stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if that training happens after she's shrunk, but I kind of hope it starts before she is. I doubt she goes straight to the lab or wherever and gets shrunk right from the office. She still needs to tell her family she's going undercover and then probably see a therapist to make sure she's mentally okay with what's about to happen to her. Probably even have to go through a "stress" test to make sure she can handle being treated like a little, like being talked down to, getting her panties checked, and stuff trying to see if she will lash out in violence or not. It wouldn't be good if she's shrunk and has an outburst. She could end up in dark cliff prison as I'm sure if she does that, the agency will not get involved to save her. It would be too much bad publicity and probably prompt an investigation that could prove that they're stepping a little bit out of the scope of their agency's abilities.

To be fair, I did add the 'shrinking' tag on the first day I posted this story, but congrats on figuring it out before most everyone else it seems.

I knew that some might not like the shrinking Big side of this story, and I was hesitant at first, but it did two things for my story which I thought were needed. First, it adds some great plot elements which I'm sure you all will appreciate (I'm getting to know pretty well what most people like and a story from a Big's perspective might not be scratching that itch per say). Second though, I knew that while a story could change a Big's initial opinion of Littles around, I also knew that a firsthand Little's perspective would be even more important. 

Additionally, I once mentioned that a few stories needed to occur before I wrote the Dark Cliff Prison story, and this is one of them. By the end, two major plot details will be introduced that must occur before that one. 

That being said, I knew this story might not be everyone's cup of tea, which is why I have chosen the three stories to write next. Each is more traditional or could scratch that seeming itch of what most everyone seems to be searching for on this site. I write what I want, which is one of the reasons I can pump out these stories so quickly, but I also try to alternate between something different and something more traditional with these stories, especially when most seem to be electing for me to continue the DD stories.

Regardless, I hope you and everyone else can still enjoy this story and where it goes next. 

[BabySofia]

8 minutes ago, LostBBoyBear said:

To be fair, I did add the 'shrinking' tag on the first day I posted this story, but congrats on figuring it out before most everyone else it seems.

Hmm... I guess I've grown accustomed to just seeing your name and knowing when I have time I want to read it! 🙂

Looking forward to the rest!

[Guilend]

56 minutes ago, LostBBoyBear said:

To be fair, I did add the 'shrinking' tag on the first day I posted this story, but congrats on figuring it out before most everyone else it seems.

I knew that some might not like the shrinking Big side of this story, and I was hesitant at first, but it did two things for my story which I thought were needed. First, it adds some great plot elements which I'm sure you all will appreciate (I'm getting to know pretty well what most people like and a story from a Big's perspective might not be scratching that itch per say). Second though, I knew that while a story could change a Big's initial opinion of Littles around, I also knew that a firsthand Little's perspective would be even more important. 

Additionally, I once mentioned that a few stories needed to occur before I wrote the Dark Cliff Prison story, and this is one of them. By the end, two major plot details will be introduced that must occur before that one. 

That being said, I knew this story might not be everyone's cup of tea, which is why I have chosen the three stories to write next. Each is more traditional or could scratch that seeming itch of what most everyone seems to be searching for on this site. I write what I want, which is one of the reasons I can pump out these stories so quickly, but I also try to alternate between something different and something more traditional with these stories, especially when most seem to be electing for me to continue the DD stories.

Regardless, I hope you and everyone else can still enjoy this story and where it goes next. 

I'm definitely interested in seeing her inner monologue and stuff once she's shrunk. Up till now I've only read stories where the shrinking is either mentioned or just a random Amazon that was only seen for like a paragraph. So I'm excited to read this. And it would definitely help my itch 😂. I'm also hoping the story about MS G wins 😂 

[LGGrace]

I always thought that Sophie would end up being shrunk by LRG using stolen technology. I was not expecting LPS to shrink her for an undercover operation.  Looking forward to more!

[SGTbaby]

In looking at the tags for the story I was curious about the shrinking but great chapter and twist!! Very much looking forward to more!

[Kat5]

6 hours ago, Guilend said:

only one that saw this coming?

I'm not surprised. After all, you have ... special eyes.

[BabySofia]

6 minutes ago, Kat5 said:

you have ... special eyes.

🤦‍♀️

[Guilend]

1 hour ago, Kat5 said:

I'm not surprised. After all, you have ... special eyes.

You, you're absolutely right. I do have special eyes. It's a superpower that a special someone gave me 

[Kat5]

1 hour ago, BabySofia said:

🤦‍♀️

It's not my fault!

[Guilend]

4 minutes ago, Kat5 said:

It's not my fault!

😏

[LostBBoyBear]

Hey everyone! A bit of a longer chapter here, but I knew I needed to finish all this as a single chapter instead of splitting it into two as I had originally planned. It makes more sense in the grand scheme of things, but for now, you’re just going to have to trust me on this one.

Next, if you’ve made it this far, congrats on making it over the halfway point in this story. There’s still plenty left and I’m sure you all will love some of the twists and turns this plot takes next.

Also, as a reminder, the poll for my next story is still going on. As a reminder, as usual, I will post my decision of my next story during my final chapter of this story. Until then, feel free to comment here or personally message me what you want to read next. I like all the choices I am presenting, so choose what you want. For those not sure of the choices, just refer to the beginning of chapter 2.

Lastly, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter!

Chapter 16: A ‘Small’ Chance

Going undercover was almost like preparing for a long vacation out into the middle of nowhere. Of course, there really weren’t many places that were in the middle of nowhere on our planet anymore, but as I packed up my last critical item from my home, I couldn’t help but feel that way.

Of course, my home still outwardly looked very much as it did, but it was now almost an empty shell, with just my outward furniture and accessories remaining. Just in case, I had placed my valuables and irreplaceable items in a safe and packed up several of mine and Paul’s clothing as well. My family was informed that we were going away for a while and though the police investigation of my house hit the news, it was just chalked up to the notion that Paul had simply wandered off. Being just a Little, most people gave me a dirty look over my lack of care for him when they heard about it but ultimately, everyone not in the know just accepted it.

Locking my house, I knew I needed to make one more stop across town. I was heading into an entirely unknown situation for who knows how long with untold amounts of danger. I was desperate to help Paul, but I wanted to ensure I wasn’t stupid with the whole situation either. So, I soon found myself knocking on a familiar townhouse door.

The door opened. “Sis?” Julian questioned, clearly surprised to see me.

“Hey, Jules… mind if I come in?” He still seemed perplexed but stood aside to allow me inside his more minimalistic abode.

Closing the door, he turned back to me. “Look… I love you coming over here and all, but I think I know you pretty well to know that something’s up.” Wasting no time as usual, he got to the heart of the matter and went even further as he then peered around me. “And where’s Paul?”

The mere mention of his name was nearly enough to bring tears back to my eyes. It was something I knew I needed to work on hiding when I went undercover soon, but for now, I had one last thing to check off my to-do list. “You’re right… something is happening and is very wrong, but I can’t tell you much.” I sighed and took a deep breath. “Do you remember that Paul and I are going on a trip tomorrow… for a while?”

“Yes…” I could already tell he was questioning it. I hated the cover story, but LPS had given me strict orders of what I could say. Even being here with what I was about to do was a violation of that, but I knew it was necessary for my safety.

“Well, that’s not exactly true.” Julian’s eyebrows then arched in curiosity. “I know you want to know more, but I really can’t tell you. Being ABI, I’m sure you understand that. But what I need from you though is a promise.”

“Uh… you’re kind of freaking me out here, Sophie,” he said, his frayed nerves coming through in his voice. “I’ll do it, but are you in trouble? Is there something you need from me? Money, or…?”

“Just promise me something okay?” I quickly interjected. Julian hesitated but still nodded. “Thank you, and as part of that… I need you to take this packet and keep it safe.” I then handed him a large manilla packet that I had sealed last night. “Don’t open it, but if someone ever comes to you and says, ‘Red Starfish,’ I need you to open the packet and follow the instructions for that person, exactly.”

Paul took the packet willingly but blinked a few times as if his brain was still processing what I had just told him. “And that’s it? Just a random stranger?” I could hear his hesitation already. I had another contingency plan in place with my sister and with Maggie and Bill, but I knew Julian could get me the access I needed in case things went bad all over.

“Yes. They’ll probably tell you more, but for now, I just need you to promise me that you will. No more questions asked…” I gave him my deadly serious look and I could tell that Julian knew I truly meant business.

“Okay, okay,” he relented. “I promise.”

“Good.” I felt a little relief once he agreed now. “And what was the word?” I hated to be a nag, but I needed to be sure he remembered the words.

Julian sighed. “Red starfish. I got it, okay?” I nodded and quickly went to hug him. He clearly wasn’t ready for it, but hugged me back, nonetheless. “Just be safe and come home.”

It was a bittersweet moment, especially with the fact that I had no idea how all this was going to go down, but my brother still gave me the last feeling of security I was looking for. So, with that done, I soon left and drove off to the LPS building.

Parking my car in the long-term lot there, I knew that another agent would move it later to a storage facility upstate for safe keeping. Another agent would check on my house and family from a distance, but as soon as I entered the building and checked in, I knew I had to push all that other stuff from my mind. For the moment, I needed to focus on the procedure I knew was coming next.

After handing over my wallet, keys, and phone, and then entering the fourth floor, a nurse soon brought me into a backroom that seemed to be some kind of doctor’s office and lab space mixed. “Please just change into the gown, and only the gown, and the doctor will be with you shortly to explain more of the details.” I could only nod in silence and trepidation as she left.

The gown was clearly disposable, and it rustled against my skin in the worst of ways as I completely disrobed. The nurse said only the gown, and knowing what was about to happen to me in a general sense, I knew my Big underwear would be out of the question to keep on afterward. Right then though, several other questions began to crop up in my mind.

Becoming a Little… it was still a hard concept to fully grasp. Since I had agreed, I had noticed each Little around me more than I ever had before. Even today of the twelve I saw in getting ready and coming over here, only one was independent, and even then… they seemed to be wearing some sort of protection as they bent over to pick weeds from their front garden. So, fearing what my next undergarment would be, I took one last look at my clothing, before depositing it all into the bin marked ‘old life.’

Soon, though, my thoughts were interrupted as a host of nurses and technicians flooded the room. From there, I was poked and prodded in nearly every medical way imaginable. “Just needing to get a baseline result for you as a Big,” was the only answer I got whenever I asked a question.

I could feel my blood pressure rise, which was especially a problem when they were trying to take it. It took a few tries, but I managed to calm myself down for at least a moment. When the monitor was removed and my blood was taken next though, I was sure my blood pressure spiked again. It was all so clinical… so distant. I felt nobody really cared about my presence… just the procedure. I was having some serious second thoughts and doubts over all this, and if weren’t for my guilt with Paul, I honestly might have bolted. Then, another figure entered the room wearing a long white lab coat. I recognized him instantly.

“Dr. Gaber?” I could scarcely believe it was him, but he smiled at me in a way I wished more doctors would. Firm, but caring, and thoughtful without being too overly saccharine. It was the same look he gave to Paul when he was treating him when he was sick.

“Hello, Sophie,” he said with his usual smile. “It’s good to see you again… though I wish it was under different circumstances.” He paused and placed his hand on my shoulder. “I heard about Paul… I’m so sorry about what happened.”

“You’re sorry for him being a traitor?” one of the nearby technicians rudely questioned.

Dr. Gaber immediately snapped his body and now glaring face toward them. “Paul is no traitor. Get that through your head or the next job you’ll be performing around here will require a mop. Do you understand me?”

The technician growled under their breath, but ultimately nodded. “Yes, Dr. Gaber. I understand.”

Still clearly upset by his technician’s comment, he turned back to me. “Sorry about him. I know it can’t be easy dealing with all this, and for the record… I really do hope you succeed in finding him and bringing him back here safely.”

“Thank you. That means a lot.” As before when he had treated Paul, his words lured me into a calmer state than when I had first arrived. It gave me the mental clarity to finally ask a pressing question I had been having for a while now.

“So, Dr. Gaber… all this is… reversible, right?” I had felt so stupid when I left LPS the other day that I hadn’t even asked that most basic question. I had assumed it, and after I realized how bad of an idea that was, I was kicking myself the whole way home. Now, I felt that despite being gowned and prepped, I could still back out if he said ‘no.’

A quick nod from the good doctor though, put my mind at ease. “Absolutely. We’re not sure why, but the growth process can only happen with us Bigs. Littles can’t just suddenly regrow in size with it. I’m pretty sure the government made sure of that, but there’s some bad side effects that don’t affect us fortunately. So, yes, we can regrow you back to this size. You wouldn’t be the first.”

I sighed with relief, but either my curiosity burning or just trying to distract myself, I wanted to know more. “Is there a reason it doesn’t work on Littles?”

Dr. Gaber stopped his turning of some knobs and came over to me. “You know… I’m entirely not sure. The more pro-Big in the medical community in the know about this whole project think it’s our superiority over Littles.” He even shuddered over the notion. “I don’t think that for a second. Purely genetic as far as I’m concerned, and I can actually back that up with the potential side effects for Littles. Cancers, abnormal growths, DNA breaking down… basically a form of radiation poisoning, minus the hair loss. Not too many volunteers to test that theory as you might guess though.”

With his more clinical approach and a few more questions, I now knew everything I wanted to… too much maybe. It was even enough to push through to my nerves and get me to shut me up and let him go back to work.

For the next few minutes, I just stood there as the technicians, nurses, and Dr. Gaber hurried about prepping everything ready for me. Finally, Dr. Gaber turned to me. “Okay… we’re ready for you, Sophie. You can still back out if you want to…”

I could see in his eyes the same fear I recognized in myself. I was glad he made the offer, but ultimately, I shook my head. “No, thank you, doctor, but I need to do this for Paul. If I don’t… well, I don’t want to think about what will happen to him otherwise. As Astrid pointed out, if this goes right, everyone is happy.”

Dr. Gaber sighed but nodded his head. “Very well. Just step inside the chamber over here.” His hand gestured toward an egg-shaped pod that I had just noticed in the room. It was white and had several tubes and wires coming from it.

“That’s it?” I questioned skeptically.

Dr. Gaber nodded. “That’s it. I know it doesn’t look like much but trust me… it packs a punch. There are other ways to do this, but this is ours. It’s… not as painful as the original one out in…” He paused and looked at me with trepidation. “You know… I don’t think I can say that, but just know that this one is better.”

It was nice to hear, and I gratefully took his hand as he guided me into the front of the pod after the door opened. “Okay, just put your feet on the two white spots on the floor,” he instructed. I quickly did so. “Good. Now, I know all this was hush-hush, but knowing your personnel file, you aren’t afraid of the dark or tight and enclosed spaces.” I nodded but that same bad feeling and gnawing in the pit of my stomach returned.

“Well, I’m glad to hear that hasn’t changed.” He then picked up something hanging from a hook on the side of the device. “This is a breathing device. We’ve modified it specially for this process of change to your body. You’ll need it when the tank fills completely with liquid.”

“Liquid?” I hadn’t heard of that part of it before.

Dr. Gaber nodded his head as another nurse stepped in and began placing electrodes over my body. “Yes. We need to fill the pod with a solution to ensure an equal distribution of the matrix we created. Its highly technical, but just think of it as going to the pool.” He then pointed to the two orb shapes on top of the breathing mask. “These even act as little goggles for you.”

“She’s all set, doctor,” the nurse noted as she finished sticking the last electrode on me, this one to my temple.

“Thank you. Begin the warm-up sequence if you will, please.” She nodded and he then turned back to me. “Okay, I’m going to help you with your mask and goggles. Make sure they won’t fall off in the process, but because you can’t speak… just in case…” He gestured over to a tiny remote with a big red button on top. “That’s your clicker. Hit it twice to get out. I’ll hand it to you in case something goes wrong, but really try to stick it out. If the process isn’t finished, we’ll have to go again, and I can’t guarantee a comfortable trip in that second scenario.”

Understanding the gravity of what he just told me, I grabbed the clicker but made a mental note not to click it twice… no matter what. Willing up every ounce of courage in me, I took a breath and nodded. “Okay… let’s do this.”

“Alright,” He paused as he picked up the mask. “And Sophie… good luck.” We smiled at each other and that was the last thing I saw before he helped me put on the breathing mask and then the goggles. Blackness overtook me.

“Okay, Sophie. We’re sealing you in now. The liquid will still allow for sounds to pass to you. Just communicate with a single click. Check it now.” I clicked once. “Very good.” I then heard a loud clang in front of me.

I was in completely silence and without anything to see. Every fiber of my being didn’t want to be there, but I knew I had to do it for Paul. Just as I was easing in though, liquid began to pool around my feet. It rose rapidly.

“Okay, Sophie. That’s the liquid solution now. Are you still okay?” Hearing Dr. Gaber through the speakers in here, I clicked once. “Good. Once the pod is filled, we will proceed.”

I had gone scuba diving before in the keys off Flosus a few years back. Jumping into the water felt a bit like this, but this time, I couldn’t see anything. With my thin paper gown as well, I could feel as the liquid quickly rose up. First above my waist, then faster above my chest, shoulders, and then my chin. As it eclipsed my ears, I can fully admit that I panicked a little. It wasn’t enough for me to click the bail out button twice, but I just hoped with all my might that the mask would hold and all this would be over as quickly as possible.

“Still okay in there, Sophie?” Dr. Gaber’s voice was now more muted through the liquid, but I still clicked once. “Perfect.” The sound went dead for a moment, and I wondered what was going on. I hated not knowing things.

“One final check,” Dr. Gaber said, coming back on. “You can still back out if you want. If you want, just click twice. No big deal. Sophie… do you want to back out? Once for ‘no,’ twice for ‘yes’ in this case…”

I hesitated for a moment. I detested not seeing anything or feeling the liquid seep into everyone of my pores, but in that blackness, I could only think of Paul above all else. I was making a large sacrifice, and it was all temporary, but knowing this world, there wasn’t a guarantee of that or my success. This whole plan was a massive risk, but knowing what I had to do and the consequences of what would happen if I didn’t, I just clicked once.

“Very well…” I could hear him sigh through the speaker. “I’ll see you on the other side. Proceed.”

Nothing happened for a minute, but finally, I started to feel an uncomfortable almost static electricity burst around some of my fingers and toes. It was odd, but I didn’t think anything of it. When it started increasing and then attacking me in my sides… that was a different matter.

I tried to contain myself. To be brave for Paul and for likely the many higher-ups at LPS who were watching, but each jolt just got worser until it arced through my body like a metal spike. Each area would flare in tremendous pain and then go dead for about five seconds before another bolt hit the same spot again. Repeat that in over twenty other spots on my body, and I just couldn’t help it anymore. I screamed.

Of course, nothing audible really came from behind the breathing mask and through the liquid around me, but I began to thrash around involuntarily at this point. I felt nauseous. I could feel my bones bending and snapping back into place. My hair felt like it was on fire. My face was a mix of scraping and what I imagined it melting off would feel like.

It seemed like it lasted for hours. I felt myself going hoarse at one point and my ears popped at another. Finally, though, just when I couldn’t take much more, everything stopped.

The liquid began to drain, but being too weak to move or support myself, as the liquid faded away, I collapsed to the ground. Through my pain, I heard a pop and a cooling breeze all over my body, still wet but singed and fried like a bad sunburn.

“Sophie? Sophie?” Dr. Gaber called out. “Can you hear me? Blink if you can hear me.”

I tried as hard as I could, but everything felt foreign to me. I managed a single purposeful blink, but even that seemed to take too much energy. In seconds, right as I heard. “We did it…” I collapsed.

*             *             *

My eyes began to crack open. An immense light nearly blinded me, and my head pounded with the sound of a thousand drums. Even when my vision began to normalize, everything seemed fuzzy. I had perfect vision, and for a moment, I felt I had a stroke. Before I could register that though, the enormity of the room around me swallowed me whole.

I got dizzy. I tried to cling onto anything or find something to puke in, but it was too late. Rather than puking on myself, I leaned over the railing of my bed at the last second and let loose. Disturbingly, my puke was nearly all a jet black.

“What the…?” I felt a deep and primal fear began to take over me. I was alone, confused, and felt like hell. I had gone through some of the most intense training ever to become an LPS agent. It had served me well and hardened me in some ways back then, but I had never felt truly frightened like I did right then.

I then heard shuffling from outside the door, and it burst open, the same young nurse who had applied the electrodes to me then ran forward into the room and saw me. “Doctor! She’s awake!” Before I had a chance to comprehend pretty much anything beyond my name, she rushed over to me and saw that I had thrown up. Immediately, she pressed her hand against my forehead.

It’s a strange thing to have everything you’ve ever known or taken for granted suddenly change in seconds. The change was the opposite of growing up, so one might expect the sensation to be the same in some sense, but that had taken years. This was near instantaneous. The last time I could see, the world was just normal… or at least the normal I had come to expect. As the nurse ran over to me and then put her hand on my forehead, however, I truly saw just how different things were for the first time up close.  

I didn’t move or clench in fear, but still, her hand alone was massive. Easily, its length was nearly twice the width of my forehead. I instantly felt humbled, though admittedly, my puke on the ground next to her didn’t help matters in how I was feeling currently.

“Hmmm… no fever, so that’s good, but tell me… do you still feel nauseous?”

I tried to get up in bed to face her more directly, but a sudden wave of dizziness hit with its full impact. The nurse saw. “Well, I guess that answers that question…”

From my collapsed state on the bed, I saw Dr. Gaber rush in, followed closely by Astrid. “How is she? Is she okay? Is she…?” I saw his eyes dart to the spot on the floor in panic where I had puked. “Is she sick? What happened?”

“I think she’ll be okay, doctor,” the nurse calmly explained. “She doesn’t have a fever, and I’ll check that officially in a moment, but for now, I think it’s just the vertigo from her change in height. The color is just from the nutrient bath she was in. We’ve seen it plenty at…” Her eyes shot toward me and then back to Dr. Gaber. “Uh… well, you know… Should pass in a week at worst.”

Dr. Gaber instantly looked relieved and then turned to me. “Hey there. Glad you’re awake, but just take it easy for a bit.” He looked over at Astrid. “We will come back another time to chat, okay? And nurse… follow the usual pill regimen… should help speed things up a bit.”

“Yes, doctor,” the nurse nodded as both Dr. Gaber nearly escorted and shoved Astrid out of the room.

I wasn’t sure what to make of everything going on around me, but all I knew was my exhaustion and vulnerability right then. I hoped my exhaustion would go away but being nearly petrified for a moment over the nurse’s hand only, I wondered if the feeling of vulnerability would ever really go away, especially when I was suddenly confronted by thousands of Bigs outside of here when I left to start my new undercover mission.

For now, though, the day went by slowly, and I soon got to know Nurse Debra pretty well. Fortunately, her calming and thoughtful nature blended in well with my recovery from the procedure. It was definitely embarrassing to be helped to use the restroom at first, but as she pointed out to me, like other Littles now, diapers were always an option if I wanted to go down that path. Like Paul had initially as well, I easily let her help me after that.

So, the day turned into night and then back into day. I had slept for a good chunk of it, but by morning, I was feeling myself again… or at least myself in smaller package.

I was getting used to my near alien sensations as I had to traverse the room and get off my bed. Nurse Debra helped me at first, but now, she was allowing and even pushing me to do things on my own. “You need to learn for yourself, Sophie. If you don’t, you’re not going to make it on your own out there by yourself for very long. Remember, Bigs are always watching for vulnerabilities in Littles. Don’t give them an excuse.”

It felt strange for her to speak about Bigs like that, but I knew she was just telling the truth. I had seen it dozens of times myself. It didn’t even make the news anymore like it used to when portal Littles first came over and the amount of craving Bigs shot up. Knowing I was going to be leaving here soon, likely even today, now that I was feeling better, all that was about to become my painful reality.

“Well, look who’s up!” Dr. Gaber exclaimed as he came into my room later with Astrid, just as they had done yesterday. I still felt vulnerable and strange around my former colleagues, now being half of their size, but at least there wasn’t any puke on the ground anymore. “How are you feeling today, Sophie?”

“Fine,” I said quickly, still not used to my slightly higher pitched voice. “I’m feeling much better with the meds you prescribed. Still a little shaky though.”

Astrid seemed worried but Dr. Gaber only nodded. “Perfectly natural, I assure you. It’s just part of the transitional process. I promise… it will fade soon, along with the dizziness and nausea as well.”

“So, is she okay to leave, doctor?” Astrid asked, clearly impatient for me to leave and start my undercover mission as soon as possible.

“Hmmm… chart?” He held out his hand and Nurse Debra quickly retrieved it for him and placed it in his hand. After a few murmurs and grunts after flipping between the pages, he looked back at me. “Well, it seems that if you stay on your meds after, I don’t see why you can’t leave today, but…”

“That’s wonderful news!” Astrid nearly shouted, almost barging past Dr. Gaber. “We need to discuss specifics about your mission and…”

“But,” Dr. Gaber nearly roared, now clearly annoyed from being interrupted, “I will leave it up to Sophie. Not you, Agent Astrid. This is her life now and I’m not going to simply endanger her life so you can get an early lead on your precious investigation.” Both quickly turned to me. “Well, what do you want Sophie? How are you feeling? Are you up to leave here already today?”

It was an honest question, and I had thought about it since I had woken up this morning, but now, I really didn’t have a straight answer for them. “Uh… maybe… I don’t know… maybe I should hear what Astrid has to say and then go from there?”

Dr. Gaber sighed, but Astrid was practically beaming. “That’s what I want to hear. All down to business… just like the old days, huh?” I wanted to point out that I was now half the height of the old days and was doing this mostly for Paul… not her or the agency this time, but I just bit my tongue and listened in.

“Okay, first, we will provide your clothing and some supplies and some seed money to get you started,” she started to explain. “We’ve set up an apartment for you just on the outskirts of the Little section of the city. Should give you a better transition, along with the job we’ve set you up with. Make sense so far?”

Of course, with what she just told me, it opened a whole new set of questions I had, but knowing Astrid, I knew that she would likely want most of my questions I had now to be answered in the field. It meant a delay in my knowledge and basically jumping into the deep end of all this, but it did have the added benefit of ensuring my knowledge was more current than what she could tell me right now. So, I only nodded.

“Good. Because of your job and the supplies that we’ve placed in your new apartment, you shouldn’t have to leave if you don’t want for at least a week.” She eyed my smaller framed body, and I could already get the sense that she was trying to size me up for the new world I was about to take on. “So… does all that sound good to you?”

I sat up in bed and thought about everything she had just told me. I still had my questions, but I felt a sense of ease that so much had been taken care of for me already. It usually meant a tougher assignment when the agency took pity on an undercover agent like this, so that didn’t help my nerves in the slightest, but it was still a solid place to start off regardless. So, knowing that the sooner I started, the sooner I would be done with the mission though, I had one answer. “I’m good to go. Show me the clothing.”

Dr. Gaber seemed mortified, Nurse Debra looked concerned, but Astrid never seemed happier. To her, I was showing my edge of the agent she had once known. After all, I had taken down one of the largest smuggling operations in the entire west of Libertalia the last time I went undercover, so now, her expectations were likely through the roof. It was pressure, but I could handle that. When they showed me my clothing though… I had to object.

“Hell no,” I said bluntly, seeing the bedazzled unicorn shirt and jean shortalls they laid on the bed before me. “The mission is off if you expect me to wear this.”

Astrid sighed. “Sophie… I know this isn’t ideal, but we need you to blend in with other Littles. This…”

“No,” I interrupted her. Through my anger, frustration, or just getting better in general, I was already feeling my strength return. “You call the shots, but I’m pretty sure that I can boast that I’ve been around Littles more than anyone else. I wear this and I might as well wear an adoption sign around my neck. Get me something more… neutral.”

Astrid didn’t like to be told what to do, and I could already see her slightly adopt the attitude towards me she normally reserved for Littles, but I shrugged it off. She knew what I said was practically the law where I still had a say in matters. If I wanted something more neutral to stay safe, that’s what I would get.

So, ten minutes later, she presented me with a new outfit. This one was simply a light purple jersey top and a pair of jeans with a few tiny stars stitched into the fabric. The training pants were unicorn themed, and the sneakers were white with rainbows, but the outfit was just neutral enough to not attract attention, but not so neutral that I would stand out. Littles that tried to look too grown-up were almost always prime targets… nearly more than those dressing too young. “Better?” she asked.

Picking up the outfit and running my fingers along the padded training pants, I knew this was the beginning and I would rather wear almost anything else, but I knew it was the best I was going to get. “Yes… this should be good.” Nodding, everyone left the room. I gave a dirty look to Astrid when she almost seemed like she wasn’t going to budge, but my look was enough motivation to get her to leave.

Curiously, because I had been so dizzy and guided by Nurse Debra before, I hadn’t looked in the mirror yet. As I tied the last lace in my shoe, I went to the bathroom to check how I looked overall and add a few finalizing touches to my look. Fortunately, they did make a Little’s makeup kit. It was cheap, yet still worked for my purposes, but right as I was about to apply it to my face, I noticed a few things that made me drop the kit completely when I looked at myself in the mirror.

“Sophie? Sophie?” Dr. Gaber panickily asked, barging back into my room and then my bathroom to see me still gob smacked in front of the mirror.

“Wha… what did you do to me?” I asked, quickly getting emotional over the changes to my once familiar face.

Dr. Gaber sighed. “It’s still you, Sophie. Just look closely. Only a few changes and all can be undone afterward.” I looked at myself more closely in the mirror, but I had to poke myself a few times just to see if it was still me or not.

I had shrunk, yes, but other changes had clearly taken place. My hair was significantly darker, now more of a dirty blonde look, if not completely brown in spots. My skin was paler, and I was even heavier than I used to be. My face was still the same, but not the same either. To be honest, I felt I now almost looked like a sketch or rendering of my former self. Lastly, my eyes were the same color, but it brought up one last issue I thought would have been resolved by now. Everything was still a little blurry.

Seeing me squinting, Dr. Gaber sighed and reached into his pocket before handing me a single object. “Here… you’re going to need these.”

I took the thick, black framed glasses from him and placed them on my face. Like the superhero, the Blur, the glasses nearly changed my entire look as the world became clear once more. Before, I was cute and outgoing. Now, though, I looked like the epitome of a frightened and frail Little. “Why?” was about all I could make out to question him.

Dr. Gaber crouched down to face me more directly. “It was Agent Astrid’s idea, but I can’t say I disagree with it. With the glasses and the rest of the changes to your appearance, Paul may somewhat recognize you in certain lights, but he won’t make the connection to your old Big self. If anything, he might seek comfort in you as a surrogate of sorts. It’s a long shot, but she felt that this would give you your best chance at success.”

I grumbled about all the changes, but I knew he was right. Additionally, knowing the lives of several free Littles, most didn’t have much of a social life, hence my heavier appearance and paler skin. Plus, most Littles were terrified of doctors, so none of the surgeries or corrective procedures would have likely been performed on me. Glasses were just the usual course for several Littles still.

So, realizing all that, I accepted the changes as best I could and then went about my business as I applied my makeup, went to the bathroom one final time, and then joined Dr. Gaber and Astrid out in the hall. “Come on,” she instructed. “We need to show you where to leave us.”

Following them down a series of corridors and tunnels, we finally came to the last door. It was where I was dropped last time, the door leading directly to a service platform that linked to some of the underground subway stations in the city. If I was lucky, the platform would be empty or too busy for anyone to notice me.

“Okay, you know the drill,” Astrid noted. I nodded and took the backpack from her. “You’ll find your pills, new IDs, cash, and the keys to your new place. Everything else will be waiting for you in the apartment. Further instructions and details will await you there.”

I swung the backpack around my shoulders and Dr. Gaber looked like he wanted to hold me back more than anything, but he just sighed again. “Take two pills a day. We’ve modified them to contain all what you need to recover the rest of the way. Don’t drink with them… actually, just don’t drink alcohol at all. You’re a Little now, with a Little’s physiology, and…”

I clasped his hand and he looked at me worriedly. “I’ll be okay, doctor. Thank you for everything, but I need to take it from here.” He briskly nodded and pulled his hand away. He knew the risks, but he also likely knew that I couldn’t be talked out of this by now either.

Astrid stepped forward and unlocked the door. “Okay… here’s the address…” She then handed me a single sticky note with the address. It was about six blocks away, so it was definitely walkable, even with my now stunted legs. “Remember… the code word is ‘Red Starfish.’ After today, you don’t have that… we can’t let you back in to help you… no matter what. So... good luck, Sophie…”

Nodding at all the implications that her final warning entailed, I turned around, opened the heavy door the rest of the way, and walked out. The door slammed behind me and now, I knew I was truly alone in this scary oversized world.

Still though, I was a former agent, and I knew my top priority was getting to my apartment. As Astrid had noted, once I got there, technically, I didn’t need to leave for a week. I wasn’t planning on staying there that long, but I knew that it would give me the time to recuperate and hunt for leads while getting settled in. So, adjusting my purple backpack, I set off.

Popping into one of the main subway stations, my time was already off to a rocky start within mere minutes. “Spare some change, little lady?” a homeless Big asked me.

“Sorry… need to keep moving…” I tried to keep my head down, but he then reached out for me.

“Pretty lady seems like she’s got the money…” he slurred, the homemade alcohol coming off his breath and nearly knocking me over. “You got somethin’ to hide?”

I quickly moved back to avoid him. “No… just gotta go…” I quickly moved on, but I could already hear a slew of curses thrown my way. I wondered if I should have dressed even plainer, but a quick dusting of my shoes from some dirt down here and ruffling up my clothing and hair ensured that I looked a little more downtrodden, rather than as a Little fresh from a shopping trip. My previous days as an undercover agent and learned instincts were already coming back to me.

Exiting the station, I then ran into my next problem though. Right in front of me and nearly blocking the sidewalk, were a group from the Midas Society advertising one of their newly built shelters. “You look lost, miss,” one of the elder ladies confronted me. “Care for a bed, or a warm shower perhaps?”

Self-conscious, I matted down my hair and shook my head. “No, thank you, ma’am. I just need to be going.”

“Oh!” she said in surprise. “A polite Little! Must have been raised right for once. You from Earth, sweetie?” I tried looking for an exit out of there, but her fellow society members were already blocking two of my paths forward. I could have run away, but I knew that would have just raised suspicions. I couldn’t risk that.

“Yes… It’s a place called… California,” I said, pulling from what I remembered about Paul. It wasn’t much, but I just hoped I knew enough to get me through the day, or at least these women out here. “Please… I just need to get home.” I shuffled to my left, but the woman in front of me was just too large and quick for me.

“Home, huh? That very far?” she questioned, now fully blocking my way. I could already tell she was circling me, like a hawk looking for its next meal.  

“No. Just up the street. Someone is waiting for me though,” I lied. I knew I had to get out of this mess quickly, but remembering my mom’s worst fears, I knew I could play them just right to escape. “Would be a shame if they came looking for me. They just love writing articles in the journals around here about all the gossip.”

The woman nearly jumped back. “No, no. You just go on home, sweetie.” If I hadn’t just narrowly avoided disaster, her reaction would have almost been funny. The Midas Society hated losing money, but above all, they hated reading any kind of negative press about themselves. They would do nearly anything to prevent that.

“But here!” She quickly shoved a flyer in my hands. “Take this. Just in case. We have a shelter downtown for Littles in need. Just think about it, okay?” I nodded and then nearly ran out of there.

Not wanting to get hit in the crosswalk, I just simply pocketed the flyer for now. I could always throw it away later, but again, I had run into a second encounter with a Big that clearly wanted something more from me. I had handled both as well as I could, but I knew that getting off the main Big-heavy roads was the best thing I could do.

Only about three blocks away from Mr. Olivers, I nearly went in there to just take a breath, but I knew that would take me two blocks out of the way from my new apartment. I didn’t want to take that risk, but knowing this area, I knew that if I cut down a single alleyway, I could save twenty minutes walking time as a Little. Still recuperating, my new Little-sized legs were already getting tired. So, I turned down the alleyway I had frequented for years.

The problem was though, I didn’t think of how some places could be safe for Bigs, but not Littles. Halfway down the alley, another Big stepped out of the back of a shop. I instantly saw me. “Hey there… you lost little girl?”

His eyes bulged and shifted all around me. Now, guys were usually much better than women when it came to Littles. Their instincts didn’t burn inside of them, and most were more interested in hooking up with women than adopting a Little of their own. Nowadays though, one of the biggest ways they could prove their worth to their wife or girlfriend was by bringing them a Little. I shook my head and wanted to believe he was just a nice guy, but he soon showed he was anything but.

“No, huh?” He stepped closer to me, and I nearly gulped at the sheer size of his shoe and height compared to me. Even as a Big, he would have been at least a head taller than me, but as a Little, only fear gripped me now as I stared up at the near mountain-sized man in front of me. “Littles who come back here must be lost. Let me help you find your way…”

His eyes flickered over my body once again. I wanted to reach for my weapon, like I had concealed on me during my previous time undercover, but I forgot that as a Little, weapons would have likely only gotten me sent to Dark Cliff Prison. I started to back away and out of the alleyway.

“Where are you going, baby? I think my girlfriend would just love to see you… she would be the best mommy for you… I just know she would be. Come on, honey…” He nearly looked like the Kelsey coyote cartoon, and I half expected his mouth to start salivating over the prospect of nabbing me any second now. “She just needs a chance at it… and with you, I can give that to her.”

“No… no, thank you,” I said, my voice nearly quivering in fear, but still trying to remember my manners. Sometimes for Littles, manners meant the difference between a stern talking to or being regressed. I felt like it couldn’t hurt in this case. “I need to be…” But he didn’t let me finish.

Eyeing me as his prize for his girlfriend, he didn’t need to hear words. He just wanted me, so in a second, he leapt over to me and grabbed me by my backpack. He pulled upward and my feet were nearly hanging off the ground now.  

I didn’t know what to do. My mind raced with all the possibilities. I could scream for help… but I was a Little now. I had to accept that. And with that acceptance, I knew that a screaming Little would only attract more Bigs… not necessarily help. If anything, it could just make my situation worse. “Gotcha!”

He seemed so excited as he spun me around and looked at me with wide eyes. I could feel my doom closing in. I felt the jaws of my existence as a Little already closing in around me. Paul would be doomed. I would be the regressed pet of this psycho’s girlfriend, and that would be that.

But then I noticed one thing: in his eagerness to capture me, he had left himself wide open.

It was a small vulnerability, but it was one I knew I could exploit if I did it properly. So, honing my years of defensive training, I pulled away from him. As he lurched forward at my student movement, I kneed him right in the crotch and then his gut. He doubled over.

Seeing my chance, I yanked down as hard as I could and released myself from his grip. Surprise was on my side, so while he groaned in pain, I summoned all the energy I could muster and ran for it.

My knees felt like they were exploding. My thighs burned in pain. My feet almost felt like I was running on glass. Clearly, I was still healing, but that psycho Big, determined to keep me as his prize, soon sprinted after me as well. Tears now flowing down my eyes, I pushed through the pain.

I wanted to scream. Manage the pain that way, but I didn’t want to draw even more attention to myself. If the police got involved, in this dark alleyway, it would always be my word against him, and that never ended well.  

Still, I pushed through and made it to the other side of the alleyway. I was now in the Littles side of the city, and while Bigs were definitely still here, I could take solace in the notion of strength in numbers. I only stopped once I got to the statue of some Great War Little hero, but when I turned around, the Big had stopped just at the end of the alleyway. His eyes burned with hate, but even he knew that I had won. With all these Littles around now, he would have been outnumbered and could have even been sent to jail if he was seen here trying to get me. It was amazing how just a few feet made such a difference.

Finally feeling relief as he turned away to head back down the alleyway, I breathed out heavily. “Let me guess… first day a bit rough around here?”

I looked over and saw another Little smiling at me and holding out a tissue. I quickly nodded and took this tissue. “You might say that…”

I tried to offer the tissue back, but she just shook her head. “Keep it. You’ll probably need it more than me. Don’t ever let another Big see you cry though… never good, but don’t let them get you down.” She then stood up and gave me a smirk. “Welcome to Aprisium, kid…”

Sitting there at the base of that statue, I could only wave goodbye as she left. I was near speechless over her passivity to everything, but I knew I shouldn’t have been surprised. If my brief time here so far was anything to go by, a Little needed to use their strength, wit, and determination to make it out here for even a second. I looked back at the tiny sticky note that Astrid had given me. It wasn’t far now, but for the moment, I just wanted to sit and take a breath.

Hearing about the difficulties of a Little was one thing, but now living it… I knew was something else entirely. I might have given up the mission right there if I had been doing this for anything else. I could see why some Littles volunteered to go with Bigs sometimes, but for me, I knew I had to stay strong. Somewhere out there in all this mess, was Paul. No matter what else, I knew I had to focus on him, but first, I needed to find LRG. Somehow, I doubted that I would be able to warrant an invitation to it so easily.   

[Guilend]

I swear they want her to fail. No training at all to help her get a custom to being a Little in the field. Her getting away from all those Bigs were pure luck. Especially the last one. I'm assuming the training pants are the cotton training panties and not the disposable kind. I'm surprised her thicker underwear didn't hinder her, since she's not used to wearing thicker underwear. I am curious if she's ever had to wear diapers or pull ups before since she was potty trained, maybe as a punishment from a previous employer, from when she was in college or a punishment from her mother. Or even a date from her friends or maybe while she was in a sorority, if she was. Speaking of sorority, I wonder if she's been spanked as an adult. I'm pretty sure her mother did believe in spankings, so I'm sure she got her share as a child. She should've asked the doc if there's a chance of any complications she might have once Big again, like side effects. He wasn't that clear on that in my opinion. I can definitely see there might be some potty issues, considering her bladder and the muscles that control it went from small to Big. That's not even mentioning what would happen if she was regrown with certain drugs in her system or lasting effects of hypnosis, or just hypnosis triggers. Would it cause the temporary hypnosis or certain kinds of hypnosis become irreversible? I'll be honest, I'm not sure if I could go through with it. The risks are really high. Especially if the person I'm "saving" put themselves in that position, again. I won't keep saving someone every time they do something stupid or that would be my life. Paul understood the risks he took. He made his bed, now he can lay in it.

[Kat5]

2 hours ago, Guilend said:

swear they want her to fail. No training at all to help her get a custom to being a Little in the field.

I feel like it's a matter of difference of perspective. (Joke not intended)

They're big and they don't think that Littles live in a dangerous world. So to Astrid, this is just business as usual. 

[Guilend]

13 minutes ago, Kat5 said:

I feel like it's a matter of difference of perspective. (Joke not intended)

They're big and they don't think that Littles live in a dangerous world. So to Astrid, this is just business as usual. 

Lol yeah, I thought of that as I was typing that out. As someone that strategizes everything, including cleaning the house or just shaving. I hate when people that are in positions like Astrid that are short-sighted. It's my biggest weakness, I try to plan for every problem, no matter how unlikely it is. If there's too many variables then I try to make as flexible of a plan as I can that doesn't have that many points. However my flaw is I can end up in a loop of planning where I try to see all possibilities and it can get either overwhelming and I shut down or I become obsessed or zone out and never do the plan because I've run out of time and end up having to wing it, which happens most of the time that I've become decent at winging it and it's become my motto 😂 

My favorite thing I heard in a movie 

Make the plan 

Execute the plan 

Throw the plan out the window 

Or something like that 

[kerry]

OMG! This was one of the most fascinating chapters I've read in a long time. I acknowledge that I can't comprehend why she would take on this very dangerous mission, with its surely high probability of failure and the horrific things that could result from that failure, for a Little who, let's face it, has been a pain in the butt. He was the one who got himself into trouble in the first place, then he got lucky enough to be assigned to (probably) the only Big in the world who would bend over backwards to help him, then he bitched and moaned when she was just trying to be nice, then he was horrible whenever she made even a small mistake...and then he escapes from her home and reenters the life that had him heading to Dark Cliff. WTF??? 

I would like to nominate Sophie for whatever the equivalent of sainthood is in her world. Honestly, there is no one else who would ever have agreed to do this. It's insane. No matter how guilty she was feeling, this is just too much to ask. And if they are going to ask her to do this, they should have more safeguards built in: seriously, in a place and time when Littles are in real jeopardy, an organization that has spent the time and money to invest in this shrinking technology ought to have more than just an after-the-fact safeword to protect their assets. Why do they not track her and monitor what dangers she might be in? Why do they dump her many blocks from the destination they've given her and make her first navigate Big-infested waters? Why is there no way for her to let some authority know who/what she really is in case of emergency? Is an agency that deals with Littles actually this clueless about the dangers they are in? Is Sophie the only one of their agents who gets it? 

I swear: Paul does not deserve her. At all. And I know, with her incredible empathy, she will probably come to see his side of things, but he doesn't deserve that either.

[Operational Systems]

The myopia was an interesting symbolic decision that plays into the larger themes of your story.  I do hope Paul comes to appreciate what Sophie was willing to do for him, perhaps she can learn to appreciate Paul on a more adult level too.

Still, think she should have abused her new position.  Astrid seems like she could have used a hug.  Just test to see where the instincts are after shrinking.

Her shrinking to enter this foreign society mirrors some of the corruption we see in the Con Stories.  Here her actions are noble, seeking to improve the lots of the littles and rescue her Paul, but one can imagine this technology being used by pro-big movements to trick littles into doing a bit of "family planning".

Pretending to be a portal little is a smart reflex, as she can do that to the other natives, and against the portal littles she can instead rely upon her limited knowledge of the here, but it's going to cause problems at some point.  She's kind of in over her head.

[Kat5]

5 hours ago, kerry said:

Sophie the only one of their agents who gets it?

Yes, I think that she is

5 hours ago, kerry said:

Paul does not deserve her. At all.

I completely agree with you! And it can't be that he doesn't know how good she is to hin, he came to this world to protest mistreatment of Littles in the first place!

5 hours ago, kerry said:

should have more safeguards built in:

I'm confused because there should at least be a tracking chip in her butt or something!

1 hour ago, Operational Systems said:

She's kind of in over her head

She's our size now. Many things are now over her head!

[SGTbaby]

Astrid sure is eager but maybe not in a good way. It feels like Sophie is being set up in a sense. Her knowledge of Littles through work might be beneficial in her assignment but who knows. Looking forward to it!

[Guilend]

16 minutes ago, SGTbaby said:

Astrid sure is eager but maybe not in a good way. It feels like Sophie is being set up in a sense. Her knowledge of Littles through work might be beneficial in her assignment but who knows. Looking forward to it!

I'm hoping that knowledge from work and her time with Paul might be enough to get her through this without too many issues.