Small Changes

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Small Changes

Post by Flippity-Floosy » Sun Jan 22, 2023 2:47 am

A preemptive gesundheit to you all! Yes, it is inevitable that you will sneeze this year.

Now, this is a story I started a year ago and really need to finish since I'm only four chapters in. Decided to edit it in order for it to flow better, but I hope I can get it on here for some time.

Will warn you, it might take AGES after I drop these four chapters in to work on the next chapters to come with the story. Just know futuristic and eventual. Will warn you that there is SOME SM, but its definitely not the draw of this story. I won't go on for too long and will just upload what I have for the time being!

May or may not add tags later, will see!

-----

Prologue


A man dressed in a pristine white suit stands in the spotlight



“Good evening to all of our future patrons,” He says with a practiced smile captured by dozens of cameras.



“I am Dr. Lee Ji-hu, or for my more western audience, Ji-hu Lee, CEO of Newtons’ Lab Inc. It is truly an honor to be here and stand in front of you, especially as we enter a new phase to mark Humanity’s advancement in bioengineerical innovation that was once thought impossible. Something that our diligent scientists and staff have been working on for nearly a decade and can finally showcase the fruits of our labor to the world at large.



“You see, it is humankind’s unique gift to create and innovate, something not even the second most intelligent animal on this planet is capable of. We have learned to clack rocks to make fire, turn sticks into bows, and forge iron from the ground below our feet into swords. We have learned the art of documenting our findings for future generations, building upon the discoveries and knowledge from the past until we have now reached to the point we are today. Even now, our potential for what we are capable of seems truly limitless, only bound by our imaginations.”



Dr. Lee’s smile widens as he reaches into his chest pocket, seeming to have withdraw something into a closed hand.



“But now we of Newtons’ Lab Inc. are proud to say we have done the unthinkable! Many of you believed we had reached the pinnacle of humanity’s triumphs when we had eradicated 80% of all life-threatening diseases on the planet. Even more of you believed we had soared to new heights, literally and figuratively, when we had terraformed half of the moon and pockets of Mars.



He holds his hand out in front of him, the smile on his face broadening.



“However, I can say with full confidence that many of you would have never believed…”



He opens his hand fully for all the nations to see.



“...that we had created new life.”



Upon the hollow of his hand there is a doll. An incredibly lifelike doll that was only a few inches tall. A doll that had looks as though it was coming to life, slowly standing up in the palm of his hand, her long fuchsia hair cascading down her back as her bright green eyes looks around in childlike wonder.



Millions upon millions of eyes are captured by the sight of the extremely small humanoid, clad in a simple white dress, moving and turning on its own like a regular human being. Too tiny and fragile to be a person, yet far too human-like to be a robot.



Dr. Lee takes a moment to allow the sounds of pure amazement and awe that had ballooned up to simmer down before he went on. “This, ladies and gentlemen, is Amelia. She is only one of many of these new lifeforms we have produced within our labs.” Dr. Lee smiles down compassionately to the tiny creature in his hand. “Say hello to everyone, Amelia.”



The tiny figure snaps out of her reverie before smiling brightly and waving her hand in the air emphatically for the cameras and the captive audience of the globe to see. “Hello everyone! It’s really nice to meet you!”



Cameras continued to flash and zoom in on the miniscule figure. Countless people from every nation glue their eyes to their screens. News stations remain attuned to the incredible showcasing of scientific advancement.



Dr. Lee continues on, completely and utterly aware of it all. “Now, Amelia. Would you be so kind to answer some questions for the world to know? I’m pretty sure they are all so curious to know about you.”



The young woman looks up to the relative giant that has her borne her aloft and nods her head enthusiastically. “Mhhm! Mhhm! Of course!”



“So, Amelia…” Dr. Lee says leadingly, gesturing towards the cameras, “If you would be so kind, tell them: What are you?”



“I’m a Minutian!” She says with quite a bit of pride, putting her hands on her hips and sticking her chest out.



The sounds of endearment that had arisen from the unseen audience can still be heard when Dr. Lee goes on to the next question.



“And what exactly is a Minutian, Amelia?”



Now the rose-haired woman looks a bit befuddled, not knowing how exactly to answer that.



“Well, um… we’re, uh… we’re tiny people.” She says, continually looking up at him for affirmation. When he gives her a gentle nod to go on, she goes on to elaborate as best she can. “I mean, um… we’re not human… Oh, but we do look like humans! We can eat and sleep and talk and do everything a human can! Well, er… almost everything a human can. Since we can’t open a door or take on big animals or things like that. They’re waaaaay too big!”



Dr. Lee stifles a chuckle before gingerly patting her head with a fingertip. “Thank you very much, Amelia.”



He walks across the stage with deliberate slowness, watching as all eyes laid upon him, or more importantly, one of their creations. “As you all can see, Amelia is neither a run-off-the-mill rodent who only acts upon instinct nor a robotic imitation whose will is consigned to that of a code. No, she is a true flesh and blood lifeform made in the image of man.”



He continues to pet the girl’s head with genuine fondness. “We have christened these lifeforms Minutians, made obvious for their size. As you can see, they are quite diminutive, most only as tall as one of your fingers. Despite their tiny stature, we at Newtons Lab believe they will become a boon in our society. A way for us to look into our own human nature, and in some ways, to start anew.



“These Minutians can help us in the field of technological advancement, medicine, sociological studies, the workforce and, of course...” he smiles down to tiny being who was beaming up at him, “...as lovable domestic companions for us to cherish and adore.”



He carefully ferries the tiny minutian to his shoulder, waiting for her to perch herself near the collar of his suit before he goes on. “Despite how small they are, we truly believe they will be a big impact in our daily lives. In due time, just as our ancestors before us had paved the way to our today, we shall pave the way for our children for their tomorrow.”



With a broad wave of his hand, he indicates the crowds in the masses ahead, and those beyond. “For it is what motivates us humans to move forward and impart our intrinsic value to others. In the great cosmos, we shall grow more than just the meager blip we once were.”



His smile, unfailing and sanguine, draws the world in as he says. “After all, it is what makes us closer to becoming something more. Wouldn’t you all agree?”



-----------------------------------------------------------


It was hard not to stare.



Elmer G. Hobbs had seen a lot in his long life in his near fifty-year career as a renowned journalist turned talk show host, but he supposed the old adage: seeing is believing was more true than ever before.



Dr. Lee Ji-hu sat on the velveteen chair across from him. The Korean man had traveled all the way from the Julington Territory within the Jezero Crater of Mars, where his current residence had been set up, all the way back to Earth after agreeing to a live interview.



To be honest, Elmer thought Dr. Lee looked, or rather was, far too young to be a CEO of an international scientific laboratory. Sure, he was aware that the man had been a genius, skipping numerous grades and entering college at the precocious age of twelve, and graduating with a Ph.D before he had turned twenty-one. It was all in his dossier and online for all to see. But usually to earn the right to become a CEO of such a grand scale bioengineering industry required several decades of experience, and went beyond just having the rudimentary understanding of science, business, and ethics… unless, of course, some shameless nepotism of course was in play.



But, somehow… some way, the man before him had gained the title of CEO at only twenty-seven, and was probably in his early thirties at most right now, if that .



Of course, his age and intellect was only the second-most interesting thing right now about him.



What was truly holding his attention more than anything was the tiny little humanoid woman bouncing in her seat upon the scientist’s shoulder.



He had seen the broadcast, of course. As did well over a billion people as well, so intellectually, he was aware that she was supernaturally small in stature. But to see the actual little minutian who had captured the world’s attention in person was an entirely different experience.



She was an energetic little thing, swinging her legs back and forth, moving side to side to the tune of her own beat. Appearance wise, she looked to be only as old as his granddaughter, maybe only in her early twenties, or maybe only eighteen, but her mannerisms reminded him of someone that was probably no older than ten. Wearing a simple white sundress and hairband, she had a rather innocent look in her relatively large eyes, her demeanor happy and content.



Again, it was hard not to stare.



“She is something else, isn’t she?”



It was with that when the host was shaken out of his staring before meeting Dr. Lee’s knowing smile. He was sincerely glad the camera drones were still in standby given how much his eyes had been glued to the tiny little figure on the scientist’s shoulder.



Elmer cleared his throat and leaned further back in his chair. “Y-Yes, she most certainly is. I couldn’t help but think that she reminds me of a… well…”



“A child?”



“For lack of a better term, yes.”



Dr. Lee chuckled, putting his elbow on the armchair of the seat. “You’re not the first. Did you know that she started off as a blank slate?”



Elmer shook his head, although he shouldn’t have been too surprised. “I hadn’t. I figured that was why she reminded me of one of my youngest grandchildren. He’d just turned eight last month.”



The CEO crossed one leg over the other, getting comfortable. “I actually named her after a sentimental novel written in the eighteenth century by Henry Fielding. The book wasn’t particularly fantastic in my opinion, but it highlighted the aspect of feminine intellect. Of course, the book’s attitudes of gender intelligence are quite outdated, but it was definitely fair for its time.”



He brought a finger up to gently stroke the tiny minutian’s head, who in turn, leaned into the touch like an affectionate puppy. “However, the potential for these creatures' intellect to be on par with a human is not so far-fetched. Of course, that remains to be seen.”



Elmer’s eyebrows rose into the thick fringe of his hair, “So, what you’re saying is that they are potentially sentient?”



“Mr. Hobbs, take no offense, but I believe you are potentially making the common mistake of mixing up sapience and sentience.” Dr. Lee said with a gesture of his finger. “Minutians are, without a doubt, absolutely sentient. As are Asian elephants, some octopus species, dolphins, pigs, crows, ravens… many animals feel a variety of emotions and some are capable of some level of empathy.” He brought up a second finger. “Now, sapience is another matter. Those same animals I just listed might have some degree of decision-making prowess and self-awareness, but none have even remotely reached the level of sapience of humanity. Of course, the same could be said for sentience as well.”



Dr. Lee held his arm forward, an open palm held out towards Elmer. As if on cue, Amelia immediately stood up from her perch on the scientist’s shoulder and carefully climbed down his shoulder before fearlessly running up the length of his inner arm. Elmer watched, absolutely enthralled, as she agilely made her way from the drop of his elbow and climbed the incline of his arm to hop into his palm, going back into a stand to grab his ring finger with one hand while waving to him with the other.



Dr. Lee laughed genially at the stunned expression on the elderly man’s face. “Want to hold her? I can assure you that she doesn’t bite.”



Elmer’s eyes flashed back and forth between the doll-like woman to the scientist holding her up, truly torn as to what to do. He swallowed before tentatively reaching a shaky finger up towards her, not knowing what to expect.



The pink-haired woman-child looked at the approaching digit with a tilt of her head before smiling broadly up to the older man and grabbing ahold of his fingertip with both hands. “Hello Mr. Hobbs! I’m Amelia! Nice to meet you!”



Elmer blinked in astonishment. Those tiny hands together were small enough to fit on a single fingernail with room to spare. And their touch was so featherlight he almost couldn’t feel them through his weathered skin.



He almost forgot to speak before he remembered himself. “Oh, um, yes, it’s very nice to meet you too, er… Amelia.”



He felt a slight pressure under his fingertip as the tiny minutian made a small grunt and it was only then that he realized that she was essentially trying to give him a handshake. He belatedly obliged her, dipping his finger up and down before withdrawing it away and to his side, nearly toppling her over with the motion.



“I don’t believe I’m ready just yet, for anything more until my segment, Dr. Lee. You know… these old hands of mine.” He said with a practiced laugh, the residual feel of the tiny woman's hands making his hands still jittery with nerves.



“Of course, Mr. Hobbs,” the young scientist said in understanding, lowering his hand to his lap for the minutian to disembark from his palm to his knee. Once she had situated herself, she carefully sat down, staring up at the two humans that loomed over her curiously, listening to their thunderous voices from above.



Dr. Lee leaned back up in his chair, mindful of the tiny being on his leg. “As I was saying, sentience and sapience are two different things, but they are incredibly linked to one another. No doubt correlated. In any case, the question for whether they possess the level of sapience as humans is still under current study.



“You see, there are many components to classify certain levels of sapience. It is an amalgamation of sentience, intelligence, wisdom, moral sentimentality, judgement… the list goes on, Mr. Hobbs. And it is easy to conflate certain aspects of one as the other. It is why we cannot make snap judgments until we can truly classify one species intelligence as another. As well as why we don't determine some levels to one more than another. For example, a chimpanzee is no doubt a fairly intelligent ape, but despite sharing over 99% of our DNA makeup, their intellect is nowhere near on par as a human being. They are still swaying on trees today just as they did millions of years before.”



“But these minutians… they look just like us," Elmer's eyes were fixed upon little Amelia who was still looking up at him with an innocent smile on her tiny little face. "Wouldn’t be too much to wonder if they could think like us too?” he asked, reaching for his mug of lavender-chamomile tea.



Dr. Lee wrinkled an eyebrow. “Aren’t these questions you would like to save for the show?”



“For the most part, I can wait for the answers, but let’s be honest… many of our viewers are going to have very pressing questions about the development of these creatures, especially regarding the ethical dilemma of how they were made in the first place.”



Lee Ji-Hu managed to stifle a laugh, for the sake of the tiny minutian who was now looking up at him in confusion. “I take it you’re assuming that we’ve delved into the realm of human experimentation?”



Silence.



“Well… have you?”



“No, Mr. Hobbs. Not in the way you’re thinking, anyway.” Dr. Lee steepled his fingers under his chin. “I can assure you that human involvement in their development was completely consensual and safe. We are still bound to the CSCE like any other lab. The idea of doing something as heinous as to put someone at such a horrible risk would be detrimental to our image and would undermine our efforts. We’re not monsters, Mr. Hobbs.”



His smile was unusually wider than it should have been. “Oh no... we’re certainly not monsters.”
Last edited by Flippity-Floosy on Sun Jan 22, 2023 8:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Small Changes

Post by Flippity-Floosy » Sun Jan 22, 2023 3:33 am

Chapter One: Awakening

When she woke up, all she saw was white.



The ceiling, the walls, the floor, the minimalist furniture around her... almost everything around her shared the same color scheme of unblemished white, stainless and bright. A simple room composed on a monochromatic scale. The only things that had any color that stood out were the light gray covers that were over her, a series of black-inked numbers over a platinum door, a tiny gray machine situated above said door, and a broad silver panel that was situated to her right.



She wiped at her eyes, trying to adjust to the staunch brightness of the room.



"Where... am I?"



That was the first thought that came to her head.



She didn't remember ever coming into a room like this.



She brought a hand to her head, squinting. Actually, now that she thought about it, she didn't remember anything before she woke up.



What was she doing before she fell asleep? How did she get here? Why couldn't she remember?



These questions circulating around her head were suddenly drown out by a scratchy sound that erupted from the small machine above the door on the opposite side of the room.



A male, excitable voice followed out.



"Ah shit, where did I put it? I thought it w-there! Alright, alright." came the voice, youthful, British and panting a bit with a somewhat rushed tone. "You're finally awake! About time too! Thought I'd have to reinitialize the program from the beginning."



She blinked, worried. What was going on? Who was that?



There was an itch at the back of her head... as though trying to permeate her mind. Something told her that she should've known the answer to that question. That she knew. But, for some reason, it just remained there, just barely out of her thoughts. Like answers to a test she was studying for, but just couldn't seem to recall for some odd reason or another.



The voice continued, a warmth emanating from it. Each time the voice spoke, a red light on the machine seemed to blink in tandem with his words. "Hello Number 171. Did you sleep well? Do you feel alright?"



She tilted her head in confusion. How was she supposed to answer a question like that?



Wait...did he call her Number 171? What did that mean? Did the number have any meaning at all?



And... did she have a name?



Of course she would, wouldn't she? Why couldn't she recall it though.



She blanched.



Actually… who was she?



The voice chuckled, amused. "Ah, sorry about that. I'm sure you're plenty confused right now. Judging from your expression, I'm guessing you don't even have the slightest clue as to what's going on, do you? Which is completely fine and normal. Trust me, you're hardly the first to react in such a manner. Well, in any case, I can't really dally for too long here."



A hydraulic sound whistled to her right, as a seamless door that she hadn't known existed half a second ago slid down and revealed a single white dress, akin to a hospital gown in simplicity, hanging on a metal bar.



"Before we begin; however, how about you slip on that outfit over there? You're kinda... indecent." the speaker let out a nervous chortle before he forcefully cleared his voice. "It shouldn't matter, given what you are, but I'd probably be given strange looks by the others if I had you parading around in nothing. Anyway, the clinical trial will begin for you the moment you get out of that little bed of yours."



The machine cut off abruptly and she was again left in a rather uncomfortable silence.



She felt... odd.



There was the sense of fear, sure; a fear that would have been natural for anyone who'd awakened under such strange and vague circumstances, but for some odd reason, it was numbed to some degree. She couldn't help but find it rather peculiar that she didn't feel inclined to scream or huddle in a corner.



Maybe it was because she couldn't remember anything before awakening, or because something else was at play. But regardless, whether it was from her confusion, and a bit of curiosity, but whatever it was, she felt that it would have been in her best interest to comply. Although the owner of the voice didn't come off as threatening, there was always the possibility that it would change the longer she stayed in her bed.



Warily, she arched a leg over the side of her bed, unwrapping herself from the gray sheet that had laid over her. Although, once she stood up, she realized that to call what she was lying on as a bed was a bit of a misnomer; as it didn't really seem like a bed in the traditional sense. It was a curved, mechanical chamber, with a somewhat plush cot-like interior, it's exterior seemed to be made of some sort of metallic fiber with a white glass base that connected with the floor. Upon further inspection, looking past the gleam of the white glass, she could see numerous wires and a greenish-blue liquid streaming through them.



Looking back at where she had laid, she saw three pulsating blue nodes around the upper center, brightening and dimming every other second.



She looked at them befuddled. Whatever apparatus that was connected to the chamber she'd been lying on seemed to serve as more than a place to sleep on.



She decided to shake herself away from bed-pod machine. The voice had given her an objective, and she didn't want to test their patience.



She hadn't noticed before, having been covered underneath a sheet, but she really had been completely nude. And now with the knowledge that she was being watched, she figured she should remedy that completely.



She walked towards the dress and eyed it for a bit. Aside from a string that hung off towards the side, there was nothing special about it. It was short sleeved and feathery to the touch, but otherwise bland. In fact, it was so white and featureless, it would've easily blended into the room anywhere.



She slipped it on over her head, finding it fitting her quite well; the hem ended slightly above her knees. She grabbed the string that was hanging from one of the loops on the side and tied it around her waist, making it into a secure ribbon on the side.



The voice returned.



"Excellent! Comprehensive and motor skills appear to be within expected parameters. Hell, you were even examining you're B.R.S! Glad to see you're curious! A great sign that you're capable of using your brain!"



She blinked. What was he talking about? Expected parameters? B.R.S.? She had no idea what to make of what he had said, and it only served to feel even more unease and confused.



There was a rustling sound coming from the machine before the voice returned. "Alright 171. This may be sudden, but it is very important that you answer these questions to the best of your ability, alright? You won't be penalized for whatever you say. I need you to be completely truthful with me if you feel something is wrong or that you find it hard to answer. Can you understand that?"



She nodded without even thinking. It was a natural response that came to her, even though it felt alien at the same time.



“Okay. First question,” the voice said, his tone becoming a fair bit more serious. “How do you feel?”



It was a simple enough question. One that she simply could’ve answered with a simple “Fine.” And yet, she didn’t know how to answer it.



Physically, she didn’t experience any sort of pain of any sort. Emotionally, she was a bit fearful yet collected. Mentally, she had no idea what was going on. In a way, it truly was a loaded question.



She guessed it was taking her quite a while for her to answer since the voice elaborated with a small chuckle. “Well, I guess in a way, that’s a silly question. You can’t recall anything, can you. How about this? Are you hurt? Do you feel any pain?”



At least that was an easy question to answer. “N-No. I don’t hurt anywhere.”



The voice answered with elation, startling her. “Excellent! Basic vocal and language installation can be marked off as successful. You even have a bit of her Yorkshire accent too! That’s just too adorable!”



Adorable? A strange way to describe her own voice.



Still, this was how she sounded like? It sounded natural to her yet it also sounded so strange. Did she always speak like this? Was there a way she could know?



“Alright 171. Sorry, I got a bit off track. In any case, next question: do you remember anything before you woke up?”



That question had been much easier than the last. “No… I don’t.” Which was true. She couldn’t even recall her own name, let alone anything about herself before her eyes opened.



There was a sound of scribbling and scritching, and a mix of taps and ticking, which was when it occurred to her that her observer was writing and typing on something. Whatever she said was being recorded and documented most likely. For what, she didn’t know.



“... I see,” the voice answered belatedly. She had the feeling that he was expecting such an answer given that he didn’t have as much to say about her response than he did with her last ones. “Well, that’s not particularly shocking. All within expected parameters. Either way, don’t let it bother you.” The scritching stopped. “Let’s move on.”



The way he transitioned from the last question was brusque but polite enough that she hadn’t even questioned it.



There was a sound of something whistling on the other side of the room and a panel on the wall parted and opened, revealing a mirror. Her own befuddled expression immediately caught her off guard and she reflexively jumped back from the small startle.



The voice sounded amused. “Relax. Don’t be scared. It’s only a mirror. Nothing more. Simply walk up to it and tell me what you see.”



She blinked, forcing herself to calm down before she complied, taking tentative steps towards the mirror, a bit wary of the room she was in and what else may be hiding behind the walls.



She looked at her reflection.



She didn’t know what to say actually. She looked healthy for the most part, that was a given. Her skin was quite pale, as though she rarely saw the sun, and her hair was long and brown, going straight down and reaching the center of her back. Her eyes were a bright teal and wide, no doubt in wonder of her own appearance.



She was on the thinner side, not quite lanky but not far from it, and the gown she wore only emphasized how undefined the muscles in her legs and arms were.



“Now tell me,” the voice returned. “What do you see?”



She looked back at the blinking light before looking back at her reflection. “Um… myself?”



The voice laughed again. Whoever was talking to her seemed to have a naturally jovial disposition it seemed. “Oh 171, you really are a riot. Of course, you can see yourself! I meant describe yourself. Do you think you’re pretty? Average? Kind? Decent?”



She twiddled her thumbs, an involuntary action really, as she felt a small bout of nervousness creep up. “I… I, um… I look okay I guess. Um… I don’t know.”



The voice responded, cheerful as ever, “Well, 171. I think you look absolutely adorable. But that’s okay. You have already passed your optical evaluation, and I’m glad to see you can recognize yourself.”



There were another wave of sounds going on from the other side of the speaker before there was a sound of a mechanical chirp. The voice was quiet for a few seconds before it returned.



“Alright 171! You passed the first round of tests! Seems like you seem to be in good shape. Of course, this is only the first round. We’re going to do a bit more in a bit, but first, I’m going to ask you to do something for me.”



Before she could even ask, the numbers on the door glowed a bright green and the door itself slid open, revealing a short, dark hallway and a second opening that was brightly lit at the end.



The voice came back, but while friendly, carried an air of authority that was a bit more pronounced than before. “171, I need you to walk out of that room and to the exit of your own accord.”



She seized up and and held her hands to her core, trembling. Now the numbness of the fear she had before began to disappear and she felt the true extent of her fear well up. She didn’t know what to expect once she walked out. She didn’t even know why she was so afraid to leave such a featureless room in the first place.



But she was truly terrified.



“Don’t be afraid,” the voice said soothingly; apparently it was evident that she was still being watched and that her frightened reaction had been duly noted. His tone was just as soft as it went on. “I won’t hurt you. Everything will be alright. Just come on out.”



For a moment, she felt like defying the voice that had been issuing out questions and instructions to her since her awakening. She felt like she shouldn’t leave the small room she had become familiar with, that what she might see once she left would be something beyond her comprehension.



But the voice had sounded so earnest and kind, and it was clear that she seemed to have endeared herself to him despite not knowing what to expect.



So, with slow and wavering steps, she walked forward, exiting the room of light and entering the dark hallway, the light at the end leaving nowhere else to go.



When she passed the threshold of the first door, it immediately closed and sealed behind her, making her flinch and leaving her with the only option to keep moving forward.



Her bare feet lightly padded on the floor as she walked closer and closer to the exit, the bright light growing more and more until she was completely out of the hallway, basking under a more yellowish light.



There were a lot of things to notice.



The ground from underneath her was completely smooth and made out of glass. If she had looked down, she would have seen that she was suspended on a surface that was over ten times higher than she was. Another thing was the enormous floating screen suspended in the air on the right side of her, digits and letters arranged in a way that was hard to read from her perspective.



And then, there was the giant, easily well over twenty times her size in height, that was looking down at her with a smile from on high.



The giant had a full head of scruffy blonde hair and blue eyes behind a pair of black rimmed glasses and a very light scattering of freckles. Wearing a blue button down, dark trousers and a lab coat, the first word that jumped out to her was scientist.



Well, actually, the first word that jumped out to her was gigantic, with scientist being second.



His blue eyes were trained on her teal ones, and it took every ounce of courage for her not to make a run for it.



He crossed his arms over on the desk as he leaned down to take a closer look at her. “Hello 171,” he boomed; at least now she was able to put a face to that voice. It was fitting. “It’s nice to meet you face-to-face. You have no reason to ever be scared of me.”



As he said that, one of his arms extended forward, his hand reaching out and corralling around her from behind before she could even take two steps back. She rapidly turned her head left and right, her eyes flitting around wildly in all directions to search for an escape, her panic rising before his thumb reached up and ever so gently rubbed the side of her head and the crook of her shoulder.



She didn’t know what to do or how to respond as he gently stroked her head and began to lightly shush her. However, her rapid heartbeat began to slow down as she recognized that the giant wasn’t showcasing any desire to harm her. It was a bit eerie how quickly she was calming down, unnatural even.



As if something inside her was telling her to not remain afraid.



However, she couldn’t help but let out a small gasp when the hand behind her turned and rotated to scoop her up.



She was borne aloft in the center of his palm as he brought her up to his face, his expression softening upon seeing her terror resurface once more. Fingers as tall as, if not taller than she was, curled slightly over her like an awning and a warm thrum, his heartbeat, beneath her reminding her that this being was as very much alive as she was.



He whispered, for her sake. “Think carefully, 171. Do you know my name?”



It was against all logic. She was now meeting this giant for the first time. She didn’t even know her own name, let alone should have even known his. ‘



And yet, the moment he asked that question, she knew the answer to it. Pronunciation and spelling. It literally sprouted up in her mind within a second.



William Henrick.



“William... Henrick?”



The giant smile brightened once more as one of the enormous fingertips behind her gently patted her head. “Yes, yes! That’s right!” His second hand came up to her side, and she found herself cushioned in both palms. “That’s right, 171. I’m William,” he said, looking down at her tenderly.



She blinked, confused. “I don’t understand…” she mumbled, holding a hand to her head. “I don’t know why I know that.”



“That’s because I already programmed that information into you.”



She looked up. Shocked. “P-Programmed?”



He nodded, the simple action seeming so grand at his incredible scale as his face had taken up her entire vision. “Yes, programmed. I have supplied everything you need to know about me into you already. In fact, you probably know more about me than you do yourself. Don’t you?”



Shockingly so, she did.



He was William Henrick. Born March 17, 2103. Currently thirty-three years of age. Worked at Newtons Lab Inc. for 6 years before leaving to work for an independent medical agency. Now working to create an ocean on Mars. Graduated with a bachelors in biology, masters in medical sciences, and Ph.D in biological engineering. Has a still living mother named Miranda Henrick, his father deceased in 2117 due to an aneurysm. An only child.



Widowed for three years.



His wife…



Her name had been Joy Henrick nee Joy Winston.



She had been his world.



“Do you know what her name was?” he asked, brushing her hair with a fingertip.



“Joy…” she instantly answered, the fear ebbing away until she could no longer felt afraid of him. “She was… your wife.”



He brought her closer to his face, so close that had she reached out, she could touch his nose. His voice was quiet, and a bit sorrowful. “Yes… that was her.”



And then there was that fateful question. The one that had been nagging at her since she realized she had no memories. “And I’m… what am I?”



“Well, technically, you’re a minutian. But…” he pulled her away from his face and sighed. “You’re also something we could never have. You’re my ch…” he paused. “My creation. One of a kind and something unique.” He brought her back closer to his face. “I’m sure she would’ve loved you. I’ll never know for sure.”



She tilted her head, flummoxed. “I’m… special?”



He cradled her even more between his hands. “Very special. More than you could ever know.” He chuckled as she looked at him with doe-eyed wonder. “Of course, I can’t keep calling you 171 forever. You do need a proper name.”



He brought her down to chest level, absently stroking her hair with a finger as he absently stared out into empty space. “It’s strange really. When it came to names, it wasn’t so much the names themselves that were hard to come up with, but who would decide the name in the first place.” She didn’t know to what extent she was talking to her and to what he was talking to himself. “She won, of course, but in the end, it… didn’t matter, I supposed.”



He looked back down at her. “Well, until now, I mean.”



She could only stare as he went on. “I was always crap at coming up with names anyway, hence why she won in the first place. Plus, she was always so sure that we were going to have a daughter. In the end, she picked a name out of a box and fell in love with the name immediately.”



Suddenly, she had an inkling of what was her purpose. How valuable she was to him. Her reason for being.



His voice was at its softest when he brought her back up to his face, his eyes looking at her with absolute compassion and adoration.



“So 171… how does Keva sound?”
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Re: Small Changes

Post by Flippity-Floosy » Sun Jan 22, 2023 4:04 am

Chapter Two: Morning Routine

Keva jogged down the cavernous hallway, her flats soundlessly padding down the wooden floor as she made her way to where she knew her creator was probably sleeping.



She had taken a fifteen minute head start, waking up just as the sun had peaked over the horizon, the sky a mix of fuschia and orange when she had hurriedly left her little dwelling next to his bed and descended down the ladder he had installed for her on his nightstand, hopping the last inch before swiftly making her way to where she needed to be.



She knew her creator’s schedule by heart; this Tuesday morning, he had a conference to attend and he needed time to get ready. But knowing how much he stayed up until the midnight hour, cooping himself up with his projects or just doing the things humans needed to do, he had a habit of falling asleep right at his desk, dead to the world and too far from his alarm clock to register its sound. She surmised he was lucky he had her to wake him up when he did, he would be out of a job at the rate he was going.



“After all…”
she thought to herself, stopping at the corridor of another hallway to catch her breath. “I’m his greatest creation!”



After huffing for a solid minute to rejuvenate herself, she continued her jog, picking up the pace a bit to reach the white door at the end.



As she made her way to where he was, the world loomed over her, fixtures such as the paintings on the wall and the furniture on the side towered over her like buildings, not that she ever saw that as anything unusual. At around three inches tall, about the average size of a minutian, the world had always been a huge place to her. It was merely her normal.



Nonetheless. The journey she always made from the bedroom to his study was always quite a feat that took it out of her for a bit each morning she had to do it.



After a couple of minutes more of jogging, she found herself right at the door which was slightly ajar. She let out a sigh of relief; it made a world of difference whenever she didn’t have a screaming match with the AI interface to open the door for her, with her screaming herself raw just so her voice could be heard. While he did say he was going to tamper with the volume sensitivity settings whenever he had the time, her creator had been so forgetful lately, no doubt from the greater workload he had to deal with in the past few months.



When she went into the study, she saw the mountains of books, datapads and papers all over. She sighed, just as messy as usual. And while the cleaning drone would have this place tidied up in no time, she knew far too well that it would just be back in this state by the end of the week.



But nonetheless, her master was in view in the distance, sitting in his chair with his head in his arms on the desk as he snoozed, his shoulders and chest rising with each slow inhale.



She shook her head before she made her way towards him, occasionally climbing over the book covers or datapads or leaping over an obstacle in her path. She made sure not to disturb any of the papers scattered on the floor as best she could and even made a running leap to heft herself up on a book that was thicker than she was tall.



When she finally was close enough to the sleeping giant, only a precarious half a foot away from the chair he sat in, she cupped her mouth and yelled as loud as she could. “Master! You have to wake up! You have a meeting this morning!”



As expected, he didn’t react, still deeply asleep. Even after she tried again for a second and then a third time, he hadn’t even roused a single bit from his rest.



She huffed. Well, there was only one way to go about it then.



She took a few moments to stretch her arms and legs, preparing herself up for the exercise.



After feeling she was ready, she ran up to his closest foot and clambered over his enormous leather shoe, using his laces as a foothold. Wringing her hands as she faced the long black column that was his pant leg, she took in a deep inhale before she gathered a handful of the fabric and began her ascent.



The climb to his knee wasn’t particularly too difficult, definitely less strenuous than it previously had been the first few times she’d done it. His dark pants supplied plenty of places to grip and the slightly inclined angle he had his leg at allowed her to climb up much more easily than when he sat normally. Once she crested the top of his knee cap, she carefully got to a stand, wavering a bit in place with a small “woah” before she steadied herself.



She wrung her hands out again before holding her arms out straight at her sides, using them to help her balance as she slowly made her way from his knee to his thigh. While his leg was obviously wide enough to accommodate her well enough, it was still like crossing a rounded bridge without a railing. She had fallen off before in the beginning when she had tried it the first time. At least then, her master, amused and amazed by her boldness at the time, had been wide awake and had caught her before she hit the ground. However, he was currently sound asleep and falling off would be an absolute disaster. So she took her time, moving at a painstakingly slow pace and forcing herself not to look down as she made her way towards the enormous moving cliff and ceiling that was his hunched over torso.



She narrowed her eyes. This was the tricky part.



She obviously couldn’t climb his shirt from the front; it was far too dangerous and she didn’t have enough upper body strength to rappel her way across to the desk. So, the only option that presented itself was for her to work her way around to his back and climb up from there.



So, wary of her rather hazardous position, she climbed the part of his pants leading to his hip and got a hold of the belt that was a little over half as wide as she was tall. The buckle tilted a bit, making her grip harder but held steady as she pulled herself halfway up before grabbing at the fabric of his shirt. Exhaling, she pulled herself up further until she felt her feet land on top of the strap. Using the strap as a bit of a foothold, she sidled her away from the front to back, going by a “one, two” count in her head as she tried to keep her eyes focused on above.



Once she was aligned with his spine and was looking up the mountain of his hunched back, she pushed off the belt buckle and grabbed fistfuls of the linen fabric of his button down shirt. The shirt was far more taut than his pants, but she managed to make do as she slowly made her way up towards the broad platform of his shoulders and the back of his head.



After a minute of steady climbing, she managed to reach the collar of his shirt and swung her legs onto his left shoulder, lying down to take a moment to breathe. She felt a bit winded, but the hard part was over. Well, the hardest part was.



Getting to a crouch, she weighed her options. She could now easily climb down his arm and get to the far sturdier desk to try to wake him up, or take the more reckless yet effective method of climbing the top of his head and try to wake him up that way.



Then again, when she had woken her master up that way, he hadn’t realized where she was and nearly sent her flying. He had not been happy that she had endangered herself that way and even now she could hear him chastising her in that concerned but loud voice of his.



So instead, she walked down the length of his arm and to the back of his hand, faced with the side of his head, where she was level with his cheek and the side of his nose; his eye just slightly above her head.



Knowing full well that it wouldn’t hurt him in the slightest, she clapped her hands on both sides of the bridge of his nose and called out, “Master! Wake up! You have a meeting at 8:00! You have to wake up!”



His eyelid cinched a bit as he let out a sonorous groan before his massive head nestled back into his arms, his massive face disappearing from sight.



She frowned before letting out a frustrated moan. At this rate, he’d be late and his boss would be angry with him. But not if she could help it.



She hobbled across his arm and hopped into the crook of his inner elbow. With a bit of exertion, she grabbed at his hair and yanked, yelling directly in his ear. “Master, you need to hurry up! Wake up! You’re going to be late and miss the meeting!”



All she got in return was another groan and a yawn in response. With her facing his ear, she didn’t immediately see his other hand make its way towards her from behind until it came up from right behind her. She let out a small startled cry as the gigantic fingers gently wrapped around her, enveloping her in warm flesh before whisking her away from his face.



“Five more minutes…” he murmured sleepily, depositing her at the other end of his desk before turning his head away, placing his arm back in its previous position before drifting back to sleep.



Regaining her footing from the sudden movement, she looked back at her master with a bit of annoyance. After all the work it took her just to reach him, there was no way she was going to give up so easily.



So, she ran right back to him, easily vaulting over his wrist and finding herself right at his lopsided face once more. She placed her hands under his eyelids, rubbing them fervently. “Oi! You gotta get up now, master! You’re running out of time!”



This time, she did get a reaction she wanted from him. His eyes began to slowly open, staring out blankly for a second before they zeroed in on her. Of course, his face was so large to her, she could only see the one half-lidded eye right above her head looking down on her, her dark, pouting reflection shining in his pupil. “C’mon… Keva, it's early,” he mumbled, barely coherent. To her, his voice sounded like low thunder, even when he was speaking quieter for her sake.



She clapped a hand under his eyelid once more, giving him a stubborn frown. “Did you forget you have a meeting at eight? Do you know what time it is? It’s past 7:30 already!”



The enormous orb above her shot wide open the moment the words left her mouth and she nearly fell forward as he straightened up, his eyes going from her to the holographic analogue clock situated in the corner of the room.



“Shit!” he hissed, shooting up to his feet. To Keva, it was like a living mountain suddenly doubling in size.



And then, he rushed out of the room and went straight to the bathroom, crossing the huge distance that had taken her nearly half an hour to cross within mere seconds. She could only blink, shocked. Humans were so incredibly fast for their enormous sizes. With one step from him was about two dozen of hers and no minutian in the world could match their speed.



Still, her job was done and so all that was left was for her to wait on the desk as her master quickly got ready. She sat at the edge of the monumental desk, idly swinging her legs back and forth as her creator washed up and quickly got dressed. She passed the time looking outside the window on the right side of the room, watching the birds fly around and the trees sway in the wind.



Her master emerged in wearing a suit and his normally messy hair mostly slicked back, clumsily tying a navy-blue tie around his collar as he made his way back in the study. “I have to stop conking out at my desk. How many times has it been now? Four? Five?”



“Seven, actually,” Keva answered, getting to her feet and looking up at her creator with a smile. “I think you should ask for a vacation. You deserve one.”



He let out a sardonic laugh, finally getting the tie just right. “Right… like they would give me one anytime soon.” He held his hand out, palm up on the desk. “Think they’d rather let me wither before they’d give me a break.”



She obediently stepped up into his hand and walked into the center of his palm, holding her arms out as he slowly lifted his hand to his face. Even after all this time, she always found it hard to keep her balance when he held her like this. The skin under her was just too soft and uneven and while he always did his best to not jostle her, he was never completely still.



Once she was sure she had her balance, she put one hand on her hip and gestured in a pointing manner. “They’ll work you to the bone at this rate. No one should be made to work so many long shifts everyday.” She crossed her arms, trying to give him a stern look. “You need to look after yourself, master.”



He smiled and let out a chuckle. She suppressed a sigh. Even when she was trying to come off as strict as possible, he always found her attempts to be serious as adorable. The curse of being so teensy, as he called it.



Nonetheless, he did take her words to heart. “I know, Keva. Eventually.” he said in acknowledgement, lowering his hand to chest height. “And I wish I could take you along this time too, but these people I’m meeting with are from another company and I don’t know how they’ll react to having a minutian listen in on their conversation.”



“I can wait in your office,” she eagerly offered, raising her arms up for emphasis. “I can put your documents and utensils in order! Or… something!”



Her master looked up in thought for a brief moment, giving her a sliver of hope, before dashing it with a shake of his head. “Not today, Keva,” he said apologetically, his eyes softening with genuine guilt as he watched her deflate. He reached up with his other hand and laid a single fingertip on her shoulder; the entire pad of his index finger larger and wider than her arm. “Actually, I probably won’t be in my main office for half the day. The meeting’s going to be pretty long, and I’ll be in the lab for the majority of the time.”



“I… I’ll be very quiet! They won’t even know I’m there! Please?” She begged, clasping her hands in front of her in an effort to sway him. And for a moment, he watched his expression falter more before he let out a long suffering sigh. She knew the answer before he even said it.



“Sorry, Keva,” he brought her back up to his face once again. “But how about this? Friday, I should be out a bit earlier since I got quite a lot of work already done. I’ll let you come with and we’ll go somewhere. I’ll let you even pick.”



She tilted her head curiously, “When you said you’ll let me pick…”



“Park. Restaurant. ‘Live Set Diorama.’ Your choice.”



She dwelled on it for a moment, looking at him suspiciously. “And you won’t change your mind at the last minute again?”



He rolled his eyes and let out a dramatic sigh. She wouldn’t let it go, would she? For a being that was no bigger than a mouse, if even that, she sure was pretty bold. He didn’t recall implementing that into her personality when he was creating her. Not that he’d have it any other way, of course. “Yes. I promise” He drew an X shape across his chest with his free hand. “Cross my heart.”



Her demeanor brightened instantly, as she gave him a big grin. “Alright, I’m going to hold you to it. Master or not, a promise is a promise!”



He snickered; if his mother saw just how he let his minutian talk to him, she would, as his American friend would say, “have a conniption.” And yet, his mother coddled her almost as much as he did. “A promise is a promise.”



He slowly knelled down to the ground and carefully laid his hand back down for her to climb off. “Now, I’m running extremely behind and got to get moving. I’ll try to be back before seven, but I can’t make any promises.” I should have some extra fish and chips in the fridge.”



He gently patted her head with a finger before standing up to his full height, casting her in his shadow as he loomed far above. “Don’t get into trouble while I’m gone,” he said playfully.



She waved both arms up to him, giving him a big smile as she shouted. “You don’t either! Have a good day at work!”


He gave her an adoring smile and waved back before he turned and walked away, his thunderous footsteps sending tremors under the minutian’s feet. Soon enough, he disappeared from sight before hearing the familiar hiss of the front door sliding open as he stepped out.



Now all alone, slumped a bit, knowing it was going to feel like a long day without anyone else with her. She began the long trek to the kitchen area, walking at a much more leisurely pace now that there was no need to rush.



Of course, before she even made it to the door’s threshold, she heard the familiar buzz of one of the cleaning drone’s approaching. She looked up in time to see the platinum-chrome robot roll right in through the center. While it was considered little by human standards, it was easily six times her height and as bulky as a house to her, making her take a few startled steps back when it passed right by her to begin its cleanup session.



As it disintegrated dirt and used its pincer arms to replace the books where they belonged, she left the room and went down the hallway, keeping close to the walls. It was pure instinct actually, even though she knew that she was alone and that even when her master was home, he always watched his step, making sure she was never in danger of being harmed by him by a careless motion.



Still, the few times he had guests over, seeing the humans walk by, dominating her sight as they stomped by with shoes that could easily crush her without any one of them even knowing before it was too late always made her heart clench in her chest. Humans were just way too big.



Well intuitively she knew it technically was the other way around, finally reaching the titanic kitchen and making her way to the ladder that he placed on the furthermost table leg in the stadium sized room.



She was very, very small.



Exactly 6.985 centimeters, or 2.75 inches tall, to be exact; the slightly above average height of a female being biologically set to being one-twenty-fourth the size of humans.



When she went to the “Live-Set” dioramas to meet up with other minutians or when one of his guests brought another minutian of their own, she would feel not so small until a human would appear and blow any illusion right out of the window.



When she made it to the ladder of the table leg, she began her ascent, swiftly going up what felt like five stories of steps before hauling herself on top of the table. She made her way to the bowl of fruit and turned to the enormous skyscraper of a refrigerator east from her.



Unlike the AI that operated the doors which barely registered her voice unless she screamed to the top of her lungs, the fridge’s AI volume sensitivity picked her up much more easily when she shouted. “Hey! Call in the Revo Serve bot!”



There was a sharp ding sound before the bottom of the fridge opened, revealing a round robot that floated out, propelling itself up to her level and stopping directly in front of her.”



“R16843B2G03 registering voice… Keva.” came the monotone voice of the robot before it was replaced by the artificially friendly, “How may I be of assistance to you, Keva?”



Keva smiled. Now why couldn’t the other AI be as accommodating to her like this one? “Please retrieve and warm up one ounce of milk please.”



“Acknowledging request…” the robot’s optics flickered for a couple seconds before going green in confirmation. “Request acknowledged. One moment please.”



The robot opened the fridge and grabbed one of the cartons of milk in the refrigerator. Then, no doubt placed in by her master, it reproduced a doll-sized cup (well, to her, it was still too big) from its lower compartment as it used one of the inbuilt metal straws to siphon exactly one ounce of milk from the carton and spurt it out into the cup. Then, opening its core center, it placed the cup in the microwave portion of its body. Its eyes went orange, signifying the heating process before it returned to normal, a tray lifting from its center to place the cartoonishly small cup of milk on the tabletop.



“Enjoy your meal, Keva!”



She walked over to the tray, stepping over the edge and making her way to the cup in the center. She used both hands to grab the cup, knowing it was far too much even at its lowest setting and feeling a bit of guilt that she knew she wouldn’t be able to finish all of it until she remembered it would barely be a drop for the humans.



She walked back to the pool-sized bowl of fruit and slid down to a seating position, taking a sip of the cup of milk as she let her mind wander.



Days like these always felt so long. It was sometimes a struggle to pass the time.
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Re: Small Changes

Post by Flippity-Floosy » Sun Jan 22, 2023 4:46 am

Chapter Three: Stories

William practically busted through the glass doors of the building, picking up the pace as he rushed to the elevator. He quickly pardoned himself as a young woman made room for him to press the eighth floor button and waited impatiently for the doors to close. The smooth rise to the floor felt longer than it really was, lasting only seconds which felt like hours before the clear doors opened and let him out. When he made it to the conference room, his heart dropped when he saw that the rest of the fourteen chairs had been filled and that. While he was on time, he was most certainly the last to arrive.


“And there he is now,” A shortly, portly man with graying hair, freckled and pinkish skin and bright blue eyes chuckled as he took his seat.


“My apologies,” William said, quickly moving his hands from the tabletop as a small robot floated over to him to place a teacup in front of me. “I’ve been so busy lately with the project that I actually nearly overslept.” He turned to the robot and nodded. “Hibiscus tea. Thank you.”


A thin, middle-aged Sikh woman with a chuni, bronze skin and dark eyes had finished taking a sip of her own tea before she spoke. “Three minutes before the start.”


Another man, with a full beard and mustache and a noticeable birthmark next to his hazel eyes, laughed heartily. “As if any of us have been getting sleep in the past few days,” he turned to another man, who didn’t even look to be in his thirties yet, “Especially our little newlywed here.”


A young man, with lightly tanned skin and slicked back hair and the brand new wedding ring on his left hand, groaned. “Please, is that really appropriate to take that to the table?”


The bearded man, whose placard read as “M. Friedman,” continued to laugh. “Oh c’mon… tell me ‘bout that honeymoon! Give details!”


The young man, who presumably went by Mr. Harford judging by his placard, pinched the bridge of his nose. “Frankly, I’d rather not.”


“Leave him be, Mr. Friedman,” said the Sikh woman, Mrs. Majhi, coming to the younger man’s rescue. “You truly are a nosy man.”


Friedman shrugged his shoulders. “Guilty as charged.”


The short, wide man, Brooks, let out a humored yet subdued hum. “Alright everyone, let’s settle down and get started. That way, hopefully we can all get home a bit earlier tonight.”


The chatter of the boardroom quieted down as everyone came to attention as the leader of the board, Garrett Brooks, Project Manager of the Mars Initiative Program, pressed a button and activated a wide hologram that materialized from the center of the enormous glass table.


“First of all, I would like to thank you all for coming today to discuss Terraforming Project A-17.” The hologram in the center reformed itself in the shape of Mars, rotating around and showing a particular area highlighted in a bright blue hue. “Our drones have now completely mapped out the Chryse Planitia region in its entirety and we believe that it will be possible to create an artificial ocean in its place rather than a standard biome instead. One spanning at least 800 kilometers centered between Tempe Terra, Lunae Planum, Xanthe Terra, Margeritifer Terra, Arabia Terra, and Planitia.”


The hologram zoomed in and geologically presented a sprout of water in place of the Chryse Planitia. “It would serve as the most optimal region once the weather and temperature regulating machines have been erected and made functional and patterns stabilized to truly begin the project. As it stands to reason, it would be an ongoing project that has an estimated completion time of sixty-three years, in which I’m sure most of you probably would be retiring at that point or passing along your titles.”


There was a bit of humor in his statement. It was amazing that many decades ago, the thought that everyone would be returning rather than most of them being in their graves was now a possibility thanks to the extended human lifespan now ranging all the way up to one hundred and fifty years, with a few even reaching one hundred and eighty. Being a centenarian was now no different from reaching one’s sixties or low seventies. Whether they remained on the board or in the company for too long didn’t negate the fact that they would possibly see the fruits of their labor in their lifetimes.


One of the board members who was already approaching centenarian age, snorted. “Pretty sure my wife would kill me before I croak before I get her a boat ride on a new sea.


A small laugh echoed around before things quieted down at Brooks behest.


He continued, “Despite this, we have contacted Anemoi Manufacturer for the placement of their weather machines in order to create the conditions to adequately maintain conditions to support oceanic salinity and future aquatic life.” He turned his head and turned to William. “Mr. Henricks.”


William nodded before grabbing his datapad to adjust the holographic screen and bring about a list and categories for the rest of the table to see. “As you all know, the grand-scale gravity manipulators, weather and temperature machines are only one part of the equation to allow an ocean to not only exist but to supply aquatic life at a base form such as zooplankton and algae.


“In general, artificial seawater requires a pH between 8.0 to 8.3 with 35 ppt of salt. Salts including Sodium Chloride, Magnesium Sulfate, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Bromide, Potassium Phosphate, Potassium Iodide and numerous other mineral salts to maintain salinity. Also, due to the depth of the area in general, ocean pressure can be adjusted to adequately match one of Earth’s granted, matching the Bathypelagic Zone of 3,000 meters. Suspension and Dissolved particles will need to be processed at a large scale and can take at least up to twenty years, even with the help of the drones and gravity manipulators.


As William went on, he occasionally glanced up to see the board members and other scientists were listening in with various degrees of interest. While Mrs. Mahji and Mr. Brooks listened with rapt attention, Mr. Friedman and a few of the members in the back looked not too far from nodding off to sleep.


Thankfully, after near twenty-some minutes of talking and explaining, his portion finally came to an end and he sat back down to allow Mrs. Mahji, Director of the Marketing and Finance, to talk about the financial aspect of such a project, and the absolutely astronomical funding needed to pull it off.


Half the board spoke and explained their portion of the project before they reached a temporary recess where they could leave to finally take a long-needed lunch break.


William went to the food hall and ordered a peppered chicken, broccoli and rice meal from one of the stands and took a seat at one of the food court table’s to begin eating.


Not long after he began eating, he heard a voice call out to him, “I’m surprised you’re not taking the time to take a power nap.”


Will looked up and watched as one of his friends and coworkers, a tall man named Reese came over to his table and sat across from him with his own meal, giving him an incredulous smile. “Figured you would use the forty-five minutes to sleep before getting right back into it.”


William scoffed. “Trust me, if I hadn’t skimped out on breakfast, I probably would’ve. If it weren’t for Keva, I would’ve overslept.”


“Keva…?” He knitted his brows in confusion before his face widened with dawned recollection. “Oh, your little mini!” He glanced at Will’s pocket and squinted. “Is she with you?”


“Not today,” he took another bite out of his peppered chicken. “I figured that some of the members wouldn’t really like having a minutian there for no reason.”


Reese shook his shoulders and took a sip of his drink. “I don’t blame them, really. I still don’t see why everyone’s likes having one these days.” He snorted before taking another sip. “They’re practically glorified living designer dolls. Kinda creepy how much they look like us.”


“Oh, don’t say that,” a sing-song voice said from behind as a short woman with dark skin, black curly hair, light brown eyes and a vibrant smile sat down at the table with them with a vegetarian dish in front of her. It looked like she was offended on his behalf by the quirk in her smile. “Reese just can’t recognize cute when it's in front of his face.”


Reese gave her a mild defensive look. “Of course, you’d think that, having… what? Six of them?”


“Seven now…” she pulled out her phone and had an image displayed in the air as a flat holographic image of a child-like minutian that had bright red hair and relatively big green eyes. “Her name is Ginger! My daughter wanted one for her birthday and so I got one for her. I couldn’t help but think I had to get her one that was about her age, so I did! I didn’t know whether to choose a girl or a boy, but she kept saying she wanted a younger sister though. Still, the young one put a dent in my wallet but just look at her!” She said, practically shoving the picture into Reese’s face, who instantly backed up. “Isn’t she the most adorable thing you ever laid eyes on?”


Reese shook his head and went back to his food. “I mean, if it were a human, yeah. But having one of those uncanny things scurry around my floor… ugh… I don’t even see why anyone would want a child minutian anyway.” He held his thumb and forefinger apart in front of the two. “They’re like… this small. Smaller than you’re pinky. I’d lose track of it on the first day, guaranteed.”


“Aww, your loss…” Charlotte said before turning to Will. “At least Will can appreciate minutes for what they are.”


By then, Will was halfway finished. He smiled at Charlotte and nodded in agreement. “Sure can. You know, Keva woke me up after I overslept this morning. If it weren’t for her, I’m pretty sure I’d have a demerit.” his smile widened as he remembered the little scolding he received from the tiny minutian. “You know, she wasn’t happy with me for leaving her behind. I actually promised to take her out somewhere Friday night.”


“Heh, you make it sound like it’s an actual date,” Reese scoffed, taking a bite of his lunch, finding the idea of a tiny artificially-created being having such sway over a human ludicrous. It was like taking your hamster to the beach with you. Weird.


Will, knowing full well Reese’s mild disdain for minutes for years, simply ignored him. “I told her she gets to pick. To be honest though, I’d rather take her to a ‘Live Set’ if possible. There’s a New York themed one in London that’s now opened. They even got their own little Statue of Liberty from what I heard.”


Charlotte looked absolutely giddy at the prospect. “Oh, that sounds just too cute! When do you plan to go? I might just bring my own little ones with me to go too! I know Cinnamon and Paprika definitely would enjoy spending more time with Keva!”


Will finished the rest of his lunch after a couple more bites. “Now hold on, it isn’t set in stone yet. I told Keva that I’d let her choose.” He deliberately ignored Reese rolling his eyes as he went on. “I’ll bring up the New York themed one though. And I think she misses Cin quite a bit. I’ll let you know.”


“The Chryse Project,” Reese intervened, obviously wanting to change topics, “So far, what do you got?”


Will got the picture, and although he didn’t really want to shift the subject away from Keva and Charlotte’s minutians, he might as well humor the guy so that all of them could be included in the conversation. “Long. It’ll take up over six decades to pull it off. And probably longer before the whole meeting comes to an end.”


“Well, you’re creating an entire ocean on a different planet, not making a reservoir on Earth,” Charlotte put in, taking a spoonful of her coleslaw. “Ms. Mahji was telling us all about the costs and for the price of it all, we might as well just make a brand new country.”


“Still, I think it’s actually kinda interesting,” Reese said, twirling his drink in his hand. “An ocean on Mars. I got some family up there in the Schiaparelli Circle. They usually always come down to Earth to go to the beach since my nephew’s obsessed with going oceans on Earth. Now he’ll be able to go swimming in one on his planet rather than fly down here each time.”


“I wish they had one on the moon,” Charlotte said. “It’d be a nice sight to see… just a bit of blue on that thing.”


“I’m actually shocked we were given the okay on the whole thing,” Will said. “The Gravity manipulators alone would require at least one decade for us to have put up. The actual ocean part is going to take ages.” He rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms above his head. “And that’s not even getting into the marine biology part of it. Maybe I should’ve switched majors back in university.”


“You went to Bristol, right?” Charlotte asked, “Saw your degree in your office.”


Reese answered for him. “Yup. And even got a spot in Newton’s when he graduated!”


Will’s face darkened.


Newton’s…


It happened in a blur. The monstrous things he did…


The experiments he conducted…


The lives he shattered…


The screams before they-





They couldn’t know…


Even he refused to look back at the things he’d done…


He looked up and forced a smile. “Well, to be honest, I definitely like this place better. Friendlier atmosphere.”


Thankfully, it seemed that neither of his coworkers noticed the change in his demeanor and went on.


“Well, still, my oldest daughter has been thinking about going there once she graduated grade school. I might need some tips to give her so she can have some clue how to get in.” She sighed and finished her water, “Incredibly bright girl but gets flustered so easily unless she knows what she’s going into.”


Will’s face softened as he prepared himself to leave the table. “Well, first things first about getting ahead, you gotta take chances and do things others are afraid to do sometimes.”


He vaguely heard Charlotte laugh in the affirmative when he waved them away and went to the trash can to dispose of his tray and empty cup.


Fortunately, no one seemed to notice the more haunted look on his face as he walked away.




-----


William made it long after the sun had set, and through the entire ride back, he was absolutely anxious. His body moved mechanically as he made his way to the door and slowly pushed it open, his trapped mind reeling in a relentless loop of memories that forced to him never move forward. Never forget.


Even though it had been several years now, he could still remember their faces. Some their names.


Some their screams.


As they writhed in their restraints and cried for help at the top of their lungs before he plunged them right into the…


“Welcome home, Master!”


He perked up, and right at the partition that separated the entryway to the foyer, was Keva, waving her arms up at him with a big bright smile on her tiny little face.


He felt his heart finally release the tension it had been holding as he knelt down and gently scooped her up into his hands.


That tiny little voice pulled him back to the present, saving him from his poisonous thoughts. She could never truly grasp the extent of how much he appreciated her, especially in that moment.


“Thank you, Keva,” he replied back, bringing her to his chest in a close to a hug as he could manage with someone so small.


She returned the hug as much as she could manage, extending her arms out to their apex against the center of his chest before looking up. “Do you have any idea just how boring it is by yourself?”


“I can imagine,” he said, slowly pulling her away so as to not make her fall out his grasp. He shifted her into the palm of one hand in order to use the other to close the door. “In fact, more than anything, I wish I brought you with me today. I know Charlotte would’ve loved to see you. You know, she had another minutian?”


She absolutely beamed. “Ms. Charlotte has another one?” She immediately stands up in the center of his hand and grasps her hands in front of her, looking absolutely eager to hear more. “Is it a boy? Girl? Are they nice! Did you meet them? Did you-”


“Hold on, hold on,” he said, chuckling as he pat his finger atop her head to make her settle down. “I haven’t even had the chance to meet her yet. But her name’s Ginger. Oh, and she’s a child.”


Her smile somehow became wider as he lifted his hand to his shoulder for her to situate herself. “So it is a girl! Almost all her minis are girls! I think Mace and Fennel are her only boys.”


He waited for her to get into a comfortable position before he started walking towards the kitchen. “Well, this one’s actually her daughter’s minutian. And like I said, she’s a child. I don’t know if she was synthesized that way or actually the age she appears.”


Directly under his ear, she didn’t even have to raise her voice all that much to be heard. “But if she was synthesized like me, then there’s still a lot we can talk about!” Then she brought a hand to her chin. “Then again, if she’s actually a child minutian, wouldn’t she be older than me?”


“Very likely,” William said, reaching for a cup from the cupboard with his opposite arm and filling it with water from the fridge. “I only made you several months ago. By the way, Charlotte wants bring Cin and Rika to go to the New York Live-Set if you decide to go. And while I didn’t say we set it in stone to go to a Live Se-”


“Yes, let’s go!” Keva piped up and cut him off, practically wiggling in her “seat.” For a split second, he wished he was in front of a mirror so he could see her move; she was just outside his line of sight when he tried to her movement, too close to his neck to see under his peripheral vision. “And Ginger too! And since you promised, we definitely gotta go!”


He downed half the cup of water before he responded to her, “Well, I’m glad you made your choice. Guess I’ll call Charlotte and know that we’ve got the okay then.”


He refilled his cup a bit more before making his way to his study, moving at a slower pace whenever she was on his shoulder. He went straight to his desk and carefully sat down as to not jostle her as he clicked a red button underneath the tabletop and made his holographic interface pop up into the space above, displaying a set of numbers and paragraphs that he was pretty sure made no sense to the little minutian on his shoulder.


He worked and typed in comfortable silence. Keva situated herself into a lying position, her legs idly kicking up in the air back and forth and she watched him work, occasionally humming to herself as he would read articles or proofread one of the research grants that had been documented, pre-approved and budgeted. Fortunately, he had only a few things left to do and that he would be finished within the hour.


He was about thirty minutes in when he heard Keva pipe up. “Hey, Master?”


“Hmm, what is it?”


She straightened up a bit and stretched. “I know you’ve been working on that big ocean project for a while. Have you ever been to one?”


“Many times,” he said, his eyes still on the screen. “Growing up, my family lived Falmouth for many years until we moved to London.” He snorted, “Well, I guess you knew about that.”


He looked up in thought then went on, deciding to tell him things that weren’t preemptively implemented into her head.. “Well, my father had a boat and he would take me fishing and snorkeling whenever he could. He would even take us after school sometimes when the weather was really good after I finished.” He took a break from typing as he reflected on the memories of taking to the seas when he was still a kid. “One time, I had gotten in trouble in class for messing around in the hallways and even got one of the maintenance drones broken when I knocked it down the stairs. Didn’t think they were that fragile.


“In any case, my mom was furious since maintenance drones are pricey and it came out of their pockets, so they wound up having to use the money they were going to give to my teacher to go on a field trip to the Horniman Museum. So, instead of being able to go with the rest of my class, I just wound up staying home and crying and whining about not being able to go on the trip.” Looking back, he really was a snot-nosed brat. He wondered just how his parents put up with him given just how much he pitched a fit for not owning up to his own fault after a debacle like that.


“What’s the Horniman Museum? Did you get the chance to go afterwards?” Keva asked, pushing herself up into a seating position.


“Oh, now I’ve been to it more times than I can count,” he leaned back in his seat, making sure that Keva was in a safe position to do so beforehand. “And it’s a huge big museum with a whole bunch of things. From gardens to relics.” He turned just enough to see her and flash her a friendly smile. “ I’ll take you one day.”


He went back to his previous memory. “In any case, I stayed in my room, crying my eyes out that I was the only one who couldn’t go on this trip and staying in bed all day. Then, my father came in and sat down next to me. I was expecting him to lash into me for costing them so much money for breaking that robot, but instead, he asked me to get out my pyjamas and get ready to go on a boat ride.


“At first, I kept telling him that ‘I don’t wanna go, I don’t wanna go,’ and then he said that I have to go whether I like it or not and that I can’t bring anything but myself. So, I drag my feet and get ready and then we get to the docks and on the boat, where he takes me to this place in the middle of the ocean and tells me to get the fishing rod. And since he only has one rod, I’m the only one fishing while he’s sitting back in his boat, resting.


“Now, looking back, I realize now that that was supposed to be my punishment, but watching the fish swim from underneath the boat and all the waves go around quietly. And then, I caught my first fish when he was asleep,” he laughed a bit at the memory, “Woke him right up! And he stayed awake all the way through after I caught my second!”


William looked down wistfully, taking a moment to imagine himself back at eight years old, feeling the wind against his face and the teeter-totter of the ocean as he yanked out the fish with all his might, the first thing he truly was proud of even after all these years. “We live in a society that’s so dependent on technology nowadays that this was probably the first time I actually realized just how much patience went into doing the things my dad did even when the bots started taking over commercial fishing. And even when his company was mostly ran by robots, he still chose to catch fish by hand when even mom thought it’d be easier on him to just get a desk job. As a kid, I never realized just how much work went into things because I always took it for granted. Never even figured that the maintenance drone was made from a company that didn’t use assembly lines at all, but actual human workers who had to build it by hand. I mean, the thing was practically over sixty years old and still doing its job after being constructed by people who are probably old enough to be my great-grandfather!”


He leaned forward, going back to typing at his computer. “I guess for you, there’s not really a moral to this story, but for me, it was my wake up call that I needed to appreciate the things around me and just made me realize just how grand the ocean really was. Even now, the idea that we’re going to make a new ocean from scratch is… almost unthinkable to me.”


Throughout the telling of the rest his story, Keva had remained quiet and attentive and her eyes seemed to gleam with wonder. “Wow… that’s the first time I heard about that story. You didn’t put that knowledge into me at all when you made me!”


“Well, I only gave you some rudimentary information, Keva. Not my whole life story. That’s my own to tell.” He shifted in his seat as he worked. “Besides, it wouldn’t be fun to share information if you already knew everything about me.”


“I guess that’s true…” She said, going back into a lying position, “Still, no wonder you like the ocean so much. I think your dad knew that would make you take better care of things. Still, it’s hard to imagine you as a child.”


“Well, I was a snot-nosed brat at the time. Can’t really say I was all that good a kid until I got my act together when I turned eleven. Had a bit of a wake up call when a good friend of mine called me out for being a pompous ass,” he said in a not-quite-bitter laugh. If he could go back in time, he’d most definitely slap himself upside his own head for being such a nuisance.


“I can’t really imagine you as someone mean at all,” she said, repositioning herself once more to situate herself next to his neck, leaning against it. “I mean, you’re always so nice to me and everyone you meet!”


“Well… I wouldn’t call myself mean at the time exactly,” he said, reaching a finger up to give her a playful yet light poke, feeling her minute hands on his fingertip. He heard her giggle with the motion. “Just… unappreciative. Many kids are. Especially since my family was fairly well off.”


“Still,” she said, going on, “I can see why you work so hard with the ocean project so much. Especially since you’ve been around it for so long.” She yawned and folded her arms in her lap, her half-lidded eyes staring out at the bookcase filled with tablets and books all about aquatic life and Earth’s oceans. “I’d be too afraid of being washed away…”


He hummed, sensing her about to prepare to fall asleep on his shoulder. “Well, don’t worry. I might take you to a simulation just for minutians. That way you wouldn’t have to worry about that happening,” reaching back up to brush the hair on her head, he smiled fondly at the feeling of the warm little body against his neck and went back to researching. “Go to sleep, Keva. You deserve it.”


Keva didn’t say anything, already looking like she was about to nod off, and several minutes later, he felt her breath slow down as evidence that she had entered a comfortable sleep.


He glanced at the time on the bottom of the holographic monitor’s clock in the left hand corner, seeing it as 22:13. It really was late, and he had already accomplished enough throughout the day. Maybe it was his turn to get some shut-eye as well.


Not wanting to wake up his adorable little creation that was resting on his shoulder, he slowly and steadily got to a stand, making sure to keep his shoulder as straight as possible as he rose up. Resisting the urge to immediately stretch, he walked to his bedroom, waiting only a split second for the lights to automatically come on.


Reaching his other hand over his shoulder to gingerly worm his fingers under Keva, working her into the palm of his hand without disturbing her too much, he went to his nightstand and smoothly slid her into her little bed in the center.


Pinching the equally tiny sheets and blankets between his fingers, he draped them over her as she snoozed, watching her turn and curl up underneath them.


He couldn’t help but look adoringly at her for a few minutes.


She truly was his masterpiece.


And probably one of the few good things to manifest from the atrocities he committed to bring her about.


Keeping the memories at bay this time, he got into his pyjamas and slid into his own bed, bundling up under the covers.


He slid an arm onto the interface on the boardside of his bed and turned the lights off remotely, closing his eyes as he soon followed suit into the realm of sleep.


—--


Although he would never admit it out loud, he was beyond terrified.


Matthew writhed against the restraints with all his might, trying to twist his wrists out from the metal bindings, but they held fast and only served to make his wrists burn with exertion and friction.


The wrappings across his mouth that essentially gagged him kept him from screaming, only the panicked grunts and muffled cries emitting out. Not that the sound could ever leave those four walls.


Frantically, he tried to pull and kick, sweat building up on the metal slab he was strapped to by his wrists and ankles as the single light bore directly down on him from above in the dismal room, nearly blinding him.


A door opened somewhere, a set of footsteps that grabbing his attention.


A dark silhouette appeared over to his right, dressed in what looked like a lab coat.


He couldn’t make out their face. The light shone too brightly in his eyes to allow him such a luxury.


Or was it a curse?


They silhouette spoke, the voice clearly masculine and enigmatically polite. “Now, now… settle down. There’s no need to hurt yourself in such a manner. It’d be in your best interest to remain still.”


That only galvanized him to struggle harder. If he could’ve, a plethora of muffled swears screamed out against the gag.


“Mhmdafugaryou!?”


Who the fuck are you!?


“Watdaheyoudotomeh!”


What the hell did you do to me!?


There should’ve been no way for the man to make out what he said, but judging from the small laugh that echoed around the room, it was obvious that he figured he put two and two together. “Now, come on… does it really matter what my name is? I’m just some stranger to you, to be honest,” his voice picked up an edge as he went on. “But you, Matthew Walsh, definitely have become an icon, haven’t you?”


“Watareyadalkinabout!? Lemmego lemmego!” Matthew cried out, trying to turn over to see the man, but only able to turn his head to level with the man’s waist as he pulled out a tablet and glanced at the information on it.


“Let’s see here,” the man said, looking at the pad with mild interest. “Inmate number: 20048575, Matthew Walsh. Age 27. Born in Phoenix Arizona, May 17, 2107. Current height: 5’11. Current weight: 187 lbs. No history of having any spouse and currently unmarried with no immediate relatives.”


Matt continued to strain and yank against the bindings as the man standing over him continued to read his file aloud unperturbed by his desperate struggling, as though he was simply reading instructions on how to make a cake.


“Sentenced to life after committing first degree murder of ex-girlfriend and her brother, as well as for three counts of manslaughter during evasion of police on June 26, 2126.” he put the datapad down on a table and jot something down on a piece of paper. “My, my… quite the history you have here. It’s a shame that you’re life’s essentially come to an end at an age so young. Shame really.”


“Mhm mhm mhmbhm!”


As though having an epiphany, the man in the lab coat finally seemed to take notice of his predicament. “Ah, yes! The gag! I guess we don’t really need it anymore, do we? Here, I’ll get rid of it for you.”


Matt wanted to get away from the reaching hand, but when the man simply untied the cloth and threw it to the side, he stilled for only a split second before going into a tirade. “You motherfucker! What the fuck did you do to me!? I’ll beat your fucking face in!” His face darkened with rage as he noticed the man seemed unamused by his threats. “Did fucking Ramirez put you up to this shit!? Is that it!? What do you want!? Money!? I already told him, I’m not a damn sn- ”


“Seriously, there’s no need to make such a huge fuss over the past, Matthew,” the man cut in with a dry laugh, pressing a button under the slab that made the metal bindings around him tighten in an instant, ignoring Mathew's cry of pain. “And also no need to shout. I’m being civil with you right now, aren’t I? I sincerely want to keep it that way.”


Infuriated by this stranger’s flippancy and condescending attitude, he gritted his teeth in rage and glared as hard as he could at this guy who was treating him like he was a damn child. “Fucker, I’ll kill you! Why are you keeping me like this!? What the hell do you even fucking want, you son of a bitch!?”


“Well, how about you let me explain what’s going on before you give yourself an aneurysm.” he replied with a wry smile, which only infuriated him more.


The man lifted the light away, making him blink and shudder a bit from the change in brightness before looking back up. With his eyes finally adjusting, he could make out the man in question that was standing over him.


The man was a tall, thin and rather young guy with dark brown ruffled hair, darker brown eyes and a deceptively friendly face. He had an exceptionally pale complexion, telling of someone who didn’t often see the light of day and spent most of their lives behind walls.


If he had the ability to break the cuffs on one of his wrists, he would’ve easily reached up and strangled his stupid, frail throat right then and there.


“So Mr. Walsh, would you be so kind to let me explain why you’ve been brought here? I’d most appreciate that,” Mr. Son-of-a-Bitch said so patronizingly, it made Matthew wish he could rip his teeth out one by one. “You see, your circumstances are particularly interesting as you’re dead to rights in the eyes of the Law and have no family members or friends particularly close to you.”


A smirk wormed its way on the man’s face as he gave him a look so cold, that it froze Matthew’s insides. The words that left his mouth were even more chilling.


“In other words, no one’s coming for you.”


Matthew suddenly found it hard to speak as terror gripped his throat like a vice, which only allowed the other man to continue without interruption. “As such, you were deemed as a perfect candidate for this particularly experiment that you’ve been volunteered for.”


“I-I didn’t volunteer for shit!” Matthew hissed, losing the fervor he initially had a minute ago. He couldn't exactly hide the tremor in his voice.


Mr. Son-Of-A-Bitch laughed. “Oh, of course you didn’t. The prison system did on your behalf. I doubt most people would voluntarily choose to participate in this experiment. Nonetheless, you are here, and with you on board, we can commence the experiment without too much of a hitch.”


Then the man grabbed some sort of apparatus with numerous wires and buttons all over it. At first he couldn’t make it out due to his position on the operating table, but when he brought it closer, he recognized it as some sort of helmet of sorts made of chrome and glass.


He felt his stomach quench with dread and lower lip begin to tremble with fear as he yelled out, “What is that!? Don’t fucking put that on me! Get away from me asshole!” As the man reached towards him, he wildly shook his head around, making it hard, trying to stay out of reach of the reaching limb. “Stay back! I’ll fucking bite the shit outta you! I’ll kill you!”


The man only paused for a second to issue a “tut tut” before deftly grabbing his chin, forcing it up and holding it still. The grip was so surprisingly strong, forcing him to look up at the face of the man who was keeping him there.


Still holding Mathew's head up to an uncomfortably angle, Mr. Son-of-a-bitch looked Mathew in the eye, bemused. “You really are pretty obstinate. Understandably so. Still…” his eyes narrowed as he smiled wickedly down at the captive man, “I wonder if you’ll be so headstrong after the transition.”


Matthew continued to tremble just as he felt cool metal clamp down on top of his head, forcing him to look through a mosaic glass as the sound of something locking in place around just as the grip on his chin disappeared.


Three seconds later, there was a whirring sound that indicated what was on his head had been activated, leaving him unable to hear what was going on around him.


It was so loud, he couldn’t hear the man issue out directives into the command input or press the buttons at a computer that was out of his sight behind him. He was too panicked to see the force field-like grid erect around him, making his whole world encased in a sheen of translucent blue as everything outside became muted, separating himself from the rest of the world.


“Hey wait! Stop it! Stop this! STOP!” Matthew’s yells became shrieks as the whirring increased in volume, nearly deafening him. “I’m sorry! If this is for killing them, I’m so-”


Then came the pain.


An intense agony that swept over his body that was so horrible he couldn’t even hear his own blood-curdling screams. It was as though he was on fire, every nerve completely encased in invisible flames. A migraine so terrible that he thought his head was splitting in two. He couldn’t even breathe.


Then, just as quickly as the pain came, he couldn’t see anything. Anything but a world of white as his consciousness faded away.


And soon everything became black.
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Re: Small Changes

Post by Flippity-Floosy » Sun Jan 22, 2023 5:28 am

A/N: Heads up, a bit of SM towards the end.

Chapter Four: Luckless

Cammie could tell that the woman wasn’t impressed.


She sat nervously in her chair, trying her best not to fidget as the interviewer drew her finger down the hovering holoscreen above her desk, wordlessly examining the rather meager amount of bullet points of her past work experiences and her (nonexistent) certifications. She could feel her lips becoming clammy as she held her other hand tightly in her lap, trying to outwardly suppress any expression of the massive anxiety she was feeling.


Without taking her eyes off her portfolio, the other woman asked. “So, why should we hire you, Ms. Alvarez?”


She tensed up. With the way that the woman had asked, even Cammie had to think about that question.


“Well, despite my age, I’m actually a pretty good machinist and engineer so… I’d like to say that I’m pretty good with my hands. I’ve been tinkering with all kinds of gizmos, doodads and gadgets since I was a kid and I’ve done several odd jobs with helping build a bunch of things like drones, scanners, cars-”


“What kind of cars-”


“Muscle cars! Buicks! Electric… um, y’know, but still, only a handful of people know how to fix them up to this day!” Cammie piped up, before suddenly inwardly kicking herself for interrupting.


“Breathe… breathe…”


“So, um… yeah. I mean, I think I’ll be a huge asset to the company. Plus, I’m a great learner and will pick up the ropes very quickly!” She remembered to smile, hoping the involuntary quirking at the edge of her lips was all in her head.


The woman seemed to mull over her words only for a moment before her finger glided further down on her file, not immediately responding to her… plea? Defense? She didn’t know what to call it at this point, but calling it an answer sounded far too weak for the response to the question asked of her.


The woman’s finger lightly scrolled down the file and Cammie bit her lip when she saw backwards letters that read the education section of her resume. “It says that you hadn’t finished your secondary education until you were twenty, am I correct?”


Cammie swallowed, hoping the other woman hadn’t noticed her nervousness before responding. “Um, yes. You see, I had to leave school when I turned fifteen to take care of my little siblings since our parents had…” she paused, not wanting to go into a ramble,” ...well, I really needed to find work to support us, so I didn’t really have a lot of time for school until a bit later.”


To her surprise, Cammie swore had gotten a glimpse of humanity when the woman seemed to look away to give her a sympathetic nod before looking back at the holoscreen.


“Speaking of experiences, do you have any of their references?”


Cammie twiddled her fingers a bit. “Well, I have one. The guy- I mean, my supervisor back at the carshop I was working at, Mr. Nilsson. I would’ve had another but unfortunately, he passed away after his company went bankrupt, and there wasn’t anyone else who worked there... besides me, o-of course!”


After a tense few seconds, the woman, Mrs. Felder if she recalled correctly, turned away from her portfolio to look her in the eye, her voice professional and even. “Normally, I would say to await a call back from us but I think it’s best to be completely honest with you, Ms. Alvarez. On a personal note. Self taught or not, most tech companies aren’t going to be willing to hire anyone without any credentials of some kind. And there’s a rather substantial gap in your work history.”


Cammie clammed up a bit, the words rushing out of her mouth. “I… I understand what you mean. And I know that my paper doesn’t make me look like a good fit, but trust me! I’m actually pretty good at what I do! Wait, hold on.”


She held out a finger as she fished around in her purse to find something. After several seconds, her eyes lit up before she pulled out a round, mechanical orb with a tiny screen on one side. “Check this out!”


She placed the orb onto the desk, trying to ignore the woman’s bemused expression before she pressed a tiny red button located at the top.


The sphere rolled around on its own as a set of orange optics blinked to life on a screen. A second later, it sprouted two digitigrade legs, followed by two paw-like appendages and a set of feline ears tipped with an antenna between them.


It let out a small jingle before it meowed. A voice reminiscent of a cartoon mascot character came out, /Good afternoon, meow! It is 4:53 P.M.! And I take it Cammie’s interview is underway!/ It turned to Cammie, its expression framed in a cheerful emote. /Good luck, Cammie! Good luck!/


Cammie smiled at her little invention, gently poking it to face Ms. Felder. “I call him Lionel, but I haven’t really known what to make of him yet. I made him a few years for fun. He has facial recognition, basic empathic capabilities, can remember up to 2,000 commands including doing taxes, relaying news, setting reminders in a schedule… truly multifunctional and can be taken with you anywhere!”


The tiny mechanical cat danced in place for a moment, its optics flashing in all sorts of expressions and shapes before looking back up at the interviewer who was staring down at it with an unreadable expression.


Cammie awaited Ms. Felder’s response with trepidation, expecting some sort of reaction to her little robot this time. But to her chagrin, the silence was beginning to drone on to her, and Cammie began to grow antsy from the lack of words.


After several terse seconds, Ms. Felder finally spoke, and immediately Cammie felt her heart sink.


“I’m afraid it’s imperative that I ask: Is this your best or am I to believe this is just an example?”


Cammie’s smile slipped off her face, suddenly feeling very ashamed and anxious. “Well… like I said before, I’m always ready to learn.”


Ms. Felder let out a sigh, unambiguously a bit disappointed. “Ms. Alvarez, as... cute as this little cat of yours is, please note that this isn’t a toy company for you to advertise. We’re looking for something that truly defines the new century. This is something that could have been found in the last one.”


The woman’s eyes and tone unexpectedly softened afterwards as she raised her hand to shake the dejected interviewee’s. “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid you’re not exactly ready for this position just yet. Maybe in time, but not at the moment.” The woman paused for a moment, glancing up before going on. “However, I might be able to refer you to the metallurgy department or even see if there is an open position for the one in coding.”


Cammie took her hand and shook it with a sad smile, “I… already had.”


She stood up from her chair, carefully scooping and depositing Lionel back into her pocket. “Thank you for the opportunity though. Take care.”


And with that, she walked out of her eighth unsuccessful interview that month. She shrugged her shoulders once the doors slid closed behind her.


At least they were up front about it this time.

----------------------------

The trip to the fourteenth quadrant felt like it was slower than usual, almost agonizingly so. With the small mechanical cat in her hands the only thing to keep her mind off of how she was going to tell the rest of her family that she had failed once more to land another job, she sat quietly in her seat as the airbus soared through the skies and above downtown San Diego to her local stop to one of the artificial islands a bit further out on the coast.


From above, she could see that the clouds were beginning to dominate the skyline, congesting together and darkening the horizon. It was probably going to rain soon.


The mechanical cat in her grip stood up on its hind legs and let out a whirring, sad mewling sound, eyes framed in sympathy. /It’s okay, Cammie! You did your best! You’ll get it next time!/


Cammie smiled down to her little robot, gently thumbing the top of its head affectionately. “Thanks, Lionel. It might take several ‘next times’ before I get the job though.”


/You have to keep trying! Don’t give up!/ The cat’s eyes lit up into an array of shapes from stars to flowers before lifting its arms up in a cheer. Cammie’s eyes softened; no matter how many people turned him down, she was genuinely proud of her creation’s AI. It was as though she had her own little encourager, something she really needed.


“Don’t worry, Lionel. I don’t really have a choice at this point anyway,” she said with a half-hearted smile, gently poking at the robotic cat’s ears. “But I appreciate it.”


The rest of the ride went by rather quietly, with her looking out the window at the titanic skyscrapers far below while absentmindedly petting Lionel. The bus would lower and stop from time to time, allowing people to get off at some of the raised sky platforms before moving on to another stop, none of them paying any heed to the woman in the rather weathered suit. After several minutes, she was the lone passenger in the automated air vehicle that finally went to the pacific ocean to its final destination.


After an hour-long ride, she finally heard the synthesized voice of the bus finally announce they were approaching Jessup’s Harbor Stop when she blinked herself back to reality, stopping herself from nodding off. She looked back out of the window and saw the small island that was her home.


She quickly made sure she had everything as the airbus made its descent, and once it had reached the platform, she disembarked and paid the fare with a flash of her ID. After walking past the shops and venues, she made it out of the station.


The Cheyu Isles were a humid artificial archipelago connected by massive bridges, forming a massive leaf-like shape from an aerial view. Established in the latter half of the twenty-first century, it was an island created for the sole purpose of providing more land to farm on with several polders and lakes when food grew scarcer during the 2060s, but when more people relocated to the moon and the new major arcologies, along with the accelerated growth of plant life through ecological science, it was now more of a tourist trap and spot of land left for the farmers or drone mechanics to reside.


She walked through the metropolitan area of the Origa Island, passing through the bustling crowd with her mind still clouded from the failed interview.


So, when she felt a tap on her shoulder, she nearly jumped from her skin and spun around, startled.


She was greeted by Winona, who was grinning from ear to ear. “Hey there, chica!”


She gave her a half-hearted smile back and hugged her friend. “Hey, Winnie! How are ya?”


“Obviously better than you are,” she answered quickly. Cammie almost flinched. Leave it to her friend of nearly ten years to look past her smile and read her like a book. “Don’t tell me… the interview didn’t go so well?”


Cammie broke off from the hug and sighed. “It’s the eighth one this time too. The interviewer didn’t even bother to say there would be a callback. She was up front about me not being a good fit.”


Winona balked. “Are you shitting me? What a bitch!”


“No, no… she was polite about it. Kinda,” Cammie put her hands in her pocket to keep them from shaking. “At least, she tried to offer me another position in the metallurgy department and coding. But I already got turned down by both of them.”


Winona huffed. “They’re just blind and prissy pricks, anyway. If they saw half the things you’ve patched up and put together, they would’ve begged you to join them. Hands and knees.”


Cammie laughed. It was a hollow laugh but it helped. “Maybe. I dunno. I think you’re the only one who thinks I’m cut out for this.”


There was a low rumble of thunder from above. When both women looked up, Cammie noted that the clouds had now overtaken the sky.


Before Cammie could say anything, Winona said looked at her with a clap on the shoulder. “Look, I’m gonna give you a ride home, but first we’re gonna eat. My treat,” she gave her a sly smile, “And I’m not going to let you try to pay me back until you land a job. Understood?”


This time, Cammie’s small laugh was significantly more genuine. “Alright. I’ll hold you to that.”

-------------------------------

The ride to Barilmill’s Cafe was short. Winona parked her hovercraft in one of the commercial helipad lots and they both took the stairs down to go to the main streets before heading inside the cafe right across.


In a world so modernized with technology, Barilmill was quite traditional in many ways, looking more like a cafe from the later twentieth century or early twenty-first. The tan and caramel walls adorned with paintings and wooden windows and the cluster lights hanging overhead made the whole place cozy and warm, with only a few people around, either typing away on their own computers, chatting away on their phones or talking with one another.


The only thing that stood out was the android dressed as a barista giving them a warm plastic smile as it took their orders.


Once Winona had her caramel frappucino and Cammie her french vanilla cappuccino, they took a seat at a booth situated in the corner of the cafe.


However, once they sat down, Winona’s eyes lit up suddenly. “Oh my God… Cam, looks what’s on the table!”


Cammie quirked an eyebrow before looking down, her eyes widening upon seeing the tiny, little person with azure hair, matching blue eyes and a white button shirt and bow tie and pants. He was waving up at them with both hands, smiling brightly at them from between the napkin dispenser and salt and pepper holders.


“Hello! My name’s Elio and I will be your attendant today!” He said with a cheerful smile, bowing at the waist.


Winona squealed as she sat down, reaching for the tiny minutian to pet his smooth blue head of hair with a fingertip. “You are just too cute! Since when did they start having minutians at this cafe? You guys weren’t here a month ago!”


To their surprise, the android manning the counter had spoke up, turning in their table’s direction. “Ah, I see you have noticed the minutian at your table,” it said, no doubt programmed to respond to such a thing. “As of two weeks ago, in order to make your experience at the cafe more enjoyable, we have been licensed a number of specifically trained minutians to attend to a tables. They have been trained to add sugar or seasoning to your food of purchase, bring napkins to you or, if you’d like, engage you in conversation. If, by perchance, you don’t desire to have one at the table, we can remove them upon your request at any point in time, or you may register your name in the database to have no minutian at your table in the future.”


“Oh, how could anyone not want one of these at their table?” She scooped the tiny little minutian up, not quite hearing his little cry, and pressed him to her cheek, cuddling him. “Seriously, they are the cutest things ever!”


“Oh… U-Um…” Little Elio stammered, pinned against the soft cheek and her fingers.


A recorded voice ushered out from a formerly unnoticed sensor on the table. “We would like to ask our kind patrons to refrain from removing any minutians from their assigned table, please. Our minutians are licensed by the Newton’s Corporation and carry a hefty price. Any damage or harm done to them will be accounted for should circumstances apply.”


Bashful and red-faced, Winona slowly lowered Elio back to the tabletop, where the tiny blue-haired minutian stumbled back on his feet. Cammie couldn’t help but notice that her friend looked like a kicked puppy.


“Sorry! Sorry! I didn’t know,” she pouted defensively. She collected herself well enough going on. “But seriously, this is an amazing idea! Now I gotta come here every chance I get.”


Cammie looked down at the little creature looking around at both of them and smiled down at him. “He is cute.”


Winona gave Elio a few fingerpats on the head, cooing a bit before straightening up and looking Cammie in the eye. “Okay, change of topic. How’s Daniela and Felipe doing?”


Cammie fought the urge to groan. The incident of last week still fresh in her head. “Felipe’s still the same. Last week, his teacher called me on my cellphone to tell me that he got in another fight again.” She dragged her hand down her face, “and get this: it was all because of a girl.”


“A girl? Like, what, a crush?”


“Not even. Actually, I don’t even know,” she moaned with a sigh. “For all I know, it was probably a friend of his. But apparently, she got into it with a few people during lunch time and he decided to join in the fight.” She took a sip of her drink, before continuing on. “Getting so sick of his shit. And the same hijo de puta was in the center of it again.”


“The same guy that was trying to cheat off him?”


“Yup, that guy. His ass should’ve been expelled ages ago.” She put one elbow on the table, making the minutian stumble a bit, and propped her head up on her hand. “But at this rate, Felipe’s gonna be the one out of there if he doesn’t get his shit together.”


“No, I agree, That has to suck.”


“Abuelita’s also getting tired of it too. And he’s fifteen. He should know better by now.” She took another sip of her cappuccino and took a swig. When she pulled away, a few drips of her drink landed on the table. “Oh… oops-oh wait!”


She looked at the tiny minutian on the table and gave him a kind smile. Although it would only take her a moment to get a napkin for herself, she wanted to give the tiny little creature who had been waiting so patiently on standby a chance to do something. “Elio, would you be so kind as to get me a napkin please?”


“Most certainly!” the little minutian answered enthusiastically, jogging to the napkin dispenser. Cammie and Winona watched with interest as he made his way to the dispenser, finding the action too cute. With two hands, he grabbed one of the brown napkins and with a few grunts and tugs on his end, managed to peel one sheet out of the little box, almost toppling over from the effort.


He ran to Cammie's little mess and knelled down, draping the cappuccino droplets with the napkin. “I’ll clean it up for you!”


“Oh, you are just the sweetest thing ever!” Winona cooed, watching as the tiny humanoid wiped the spot on the table to the best of his abilities. “They trained you so well, didn’t they?”


“Yes ma’am,” he answered politely with a nod. “All of us were taught very well and will always do our best!”


“God, why do you guys have to be so damn cute and expensive?” she said with a whimsical air. “If I could, I’d take you home with me!”


The minutian took a wary step back, looking a bit worried as he spoke up. “Oh.. um, I-uh I wouldn’t advise that, ma’am. We’re not allowed to go home with patrons.”


“Oh, I know that, sweetie,” Winona said, petting the little minutian on the head once again. Winona missed it but Cammie caught the little flinch the blue-haired man did when his finger laid upon the back of his head. “I’m just saying…”


Winona pulled away and looked back at Cammie. “Back on topic, I know your brother doesn’t want to get kicked out of school on stupid shit like fighting over and over.”


“Yeah, I talked to my abuelita about it and she said we could probably see about having uncle Jorge talk to him as a cop. He needs the sense knocked into him and apparently, he doesn’t like listening to either me or granny about it.” she spat acidly; the fact that he had no idea how much her and their abuelita were sacrificing to keep him in school was frustrating her to no end.


“Daniela still doing fine?” Winona asked, sipping her own drink.


“Dani’s okay. She’s just sad that I won’t make it to her dance recital,” she said with a regretful sigh. She’d been hoping to see Dani on stage with her classmates but unfortunately, she had an odd job for the day, fixing up a vintage hovercraft and selling the unneeded parts, and she’d be able to make probably four hundred dollars if she played her cards right.


The fact that it coincided with her little sister’s recital was the only true downside of the gig.


“Aww, you have a job that day? Can’t choose another?”


“Unfortunately no,” she said sourly. “We’re behind on bills. They already threatened to cut off our electricity. Had to sell some of my things to keep the water on last month.” She slouched in her seat, looking positively stressed. “Seriously, Winona. I can’t keep going on like this. I need a job. At first, I was trying to get something in the tech field. Y’know, something I’m good at. But at this point, I just need something. Anything.”


Winona gave her friend a compassionate and sympathetic smile. “Oh god, Cam… I didn’t know you were that bad off.” Her expression became more stern. “Why didn’t you say anything? You know I’d help if I could!”


“I know you would, Win. I really do… but this? I can’t just keep borrowing money from everybody to stay afloat. We’ll become burdens!”


“Um, says you! And you only!” Winona said with an edge in her voice. She pulled out her phone and rapidly keyed in a few things. It only took a few moments for Cammie to realize what she was doing.


“Winona!”


Winona held a hand out and cut her off. “I don’t wanna hear it.”


A ding sounded from her phone and when she looked at it, she saw the notification that $500 had been deposited into her account, gifted by a “Wi$hb0n3 Lady” at 6:43 pm.


She looked at her friend with several mixed emotions, mostly grateful and angry. “Win! I can’t pay you back anytime soon! I don’t even have a job!”


“Who said anything about paying me back?” Winona said coyly before giving her a serious look. “Look, Cammie. I’ve known you since we were in elementary school. You’ve had my back since fifth grade and I’ve seen all the shit you had to go through ever since. Right now, I’m doing pretty good, financially. Hell, had you not fixed my craft and referenced me, I dunno if I wouldn’t have gotten my job!”


She pointed at her friend, her finger almost close enough to press into her chest. “And so let me help you get yours. My place isn’t hiring anytime soon, but there’s a job fair in San Diego this Saturday. I’ll give you a ride there myself.”


Cammie just sat there, stunned. Winona had always been a good friend, as far back as she could remember. It was hard to believe this was the same girl whom she had protected from bullies back in school; she was so bold now.


Even after everyone had gone on with their lives, doing whatever they were doing, she had remained one of the few constants in her own life.


Wiping away the wetness in her eyes with one hand, she gave her friend a heartfelt smile. “Win… I owe you one. I really do.”


Winona returned the smile, giving her friend a warm look. “Well, let’s wait until you get that job first. We’ll talk about payback another day.”

-------------------------

When Matthew woke up, the first thing he noticed was that he was cold.


Upon looking down at himself, he realized why. Aside from a featureless pair of briefs, he was pretty much naked. His clothes were gone, from his shoes to his shirt. Nothing to help him retain heat.


Also, upon looking down at his arms, he realized something even more peculiar.


His tattoos were gone.


From the expertly crafted sleeve he had printed from the wrist up to his shoulder, his tiger and dragon tattoos were gone without a single trace.


He pushed himself to a stand and turned his arm this way and that, aghast.


He didn’t recall signing up to have his tattoos removed. There weren’t even any laser marks or anything. And his arm felt no pain whatsoever that such removal had been done overnight.


His eyes went from his arm to frantically look around, trying to figure out where he was.


The room was seemingly made of glass, entirely featureless. There were no windows or doors. Whatever the light source was that allowed him to see was somewhere from outside the room, overhead. But nonetheless, the only thing he could see was the reflection of himself from six different angles.


“What… the fuck…?” he mumbled, bewildered.


Nothing made sense.


He was in a room that had no (obvious) doors or windows or any way out. Whatever these walls were looked to either be opaque or a two-way glass. He wouldn’t have any way of knowing. And he was in nothing but a simple pair of briefs.


Then he remembered.


The restraints. The slab. The scientist. The machine. The pain.


The pain. The pain.


“WHERE THE HELL AM I!?” he bellowed, panicking as he started to bang against the glass, head turning wildly to see if anyone or anything was coming from the outside. “You sonuvabitch! Where the fuck are you!? I know you’re watching!” he pounded on the glass with the glass with all his might, going red-faced with exertion. “Where are my damn tattoos! Where are my clothes, you sick lump a’ shit!?”


“Ah, I see you’re awake now.”


Matthew froze, gripped with instant terror.


He recognized the voice, that derisive and pompous son-of-a-bitch's voice, but hadn’t expected to hear it so suddenly.


Also, it was far louder now, sonorous. As if coming from loud speakers with the volume turned up or something like it. It made his ears ring.


“You…” he whispered, taken aback before collecting himself, anger resurfacing. “I know you’re watching you fucking freak! What the hell did you do!? Where the hell are you!?”


The man laughed, and it was like thunder. It was so loud, it easily drown out his voice.


“I’m right here, Mr. Walsh. Close by. And as to what I’ve done to you? Well…” the man’s voice took on an ominous edge. “Perhaps more than what was thought possible.”


There was a loud scraping sound that filled the air, and Matt could have sworn that the ground vibrated underneath his bare feet. “Oh, right. I guess Matthew Walsh is not what you’ll be going by for a while. Now, you'll be known as Subject 1434. I suggest you get used to it. No one here is going to designate you by your old name.” His voice, reverberating against the glass walls, took on an eerie cheerful tone. “Well, take it as a blessing of sorts. Now no one will know you as the serial killer you are.”


“You asshole! Show yourself, you fucking coward!” Matt roared, resuming to banging on one of the glass walls. “I’ll kill you! I’ll rip your throat out!”


There was a loud deep sound that seemed reminiscent of a snort. “Interesting. I genuinely would like to see you try, given your current stature. I say it would definitely be quite a feat,” the man said snidely. “Well, don’t fret. I’m going to take you out of there soon enough. Now just sit tight while I finish up my documents.”


There was several thumping sounds, some reverberating all around his glass prison as the doctor did something from outside, completely ignoring Matt’s attempt to break the glass.


That only served in infuriate him more. “Damn it! Don’t ignore me, prick! Lemme out right the fuck now! I swear to god, I’ll rip you apart and kill you! Don’t fuck with me!”


He fruitlessly continued to hit the wall with all his might, yelling all kinds of threats and swears at the top of his lungs. The thumping stopped before Mr. Son-of-a-Bitch let out an echoing sigh.


“Sheesh, you’re animated.”


Before Matt could let out a loud retort, a loud BANG sounded off from the side of the wall, scaring the ever living shit out him so badly, he jumped back and tripped over his own two feet. His back hit the clear floor hard, as he scrambled away and pressed his back to the opposite wall, terrified.


“Settle down now. I did say that once I finished these documents, I’d take you out, didn’t I?” the man chuckled, a harsh sound that boomed heard all around him. It was like he was in a literal echo chamber, but the only voice that bounced off the walls was the scientist responsible for him being trapped here.


He slid down the wall, his legs failing him as his teeth began to chatter.


Matt was a lot of things.


Brash. Unruly. Strong. Ruthless.


But one thing that he hadn’t considered himself since he was a child was fearful.


And yet, he was shaking in his figurative boots. More terrified than he had ever been before.


So caught up in fear, he hadn’t made a move until the man on the other side of the glass said, “Done! Now then…”


Before Matt could even decipher what was going to happen next, his glass prison quaked then shifted.


He let out a cry before falling forward onto his stomach with an “oof!”, his face just barely prevented from banging against the ground.


He flipped on his back, reeling a bit as he tried to keep low as the whole room shook and turned. It was like riding an elevator caught in an earthquake.


Then, the ceiling lifted.


It was so sudden, that Matt hadn’t immediately made sense of what happened until he realized that it had literally just disappeared just like that.


Then there was a shadow immediately overtook everything in the glass room and something that would’ve made Matt wet himself had his bladder had any substance inside it.


Above him was a giant hand.


A giant hand that was reaching in for him.


Eyes wide under the all encompassing shadow of the hand that was closing in on him, he stood frozen as the immense appendage prepared to grab him, fingers as long, if not longer than he was prepared to extract him.


As they got closer and closer to him, he could only let out a loud, ear-piercing scream that would only be heard by one.
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Re: Small Changes

Post by Flippity-Floosy » Mon Jan 23, 2023 1:28 am

Chapter Five: Live Set

Friday felt like it had taken forever to arrive, but the awaited day had finally came and she had been more than ready for her master’s return.



Keva had meticulously picked out her outfit for the day, a turtleneck knee-length white dress with a checkered teal and black wool shawl and a pair of black flats and stockings. With a plastic white flower positioned in the side of her hair and her silver tracking bracelet-style device secured around her wrist from outside her sleeves, she was already prepared to go when William had stepped through the threshold and immediately set his sights on her at the partition between the foyer and hallway.



He couldn’t help but chuckle as he closed the door behind him. “Impatient are we?”



Keva only smiled brightly up at him in response as he knelt down and extended his hand out and laid it next to her, allowing her to step into his palm and be lifted off the floor.



“Are you that excited to see the new Live-Set?” he asked with a tilt of his head.



“Not as excited as I am to see Charlotte’s new minutian,” she replied, leaning against his fingers and clasping her hands together. “Now… when are we gonna go?”



William returned the smile, unable to help but find her enthusiasm utterly endearing. He was admittedly tired, but he had made a promise to the little minutian, and had planned to see it through. “Once I give Charlotte a call and get changed. Don’t worry, we'll be heading out before you know it.”



“Don’t take too long,” she told him as he took her down the hallway and set her down on the kitchen table. She continued to call up to him from the tabletop. “It’s Friday, and we don’t know what the max capacity for this Live-Set is! I don’t want us to get there and get turned away because it’s full!”



Her master gave her an amused look. “Alright, alright. Just wait there for a bit. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”



With that, he made his way to his bedroom. Taking off his business clothes, he threw on a practical navy-blue jumper and a pair of jeans and white trainers. Upon calling Charlotte, he found out that she was already on the way to the Live-Set with all seven of her minutians with her. It looked like Charlotte had been looking forward to the event as much as Keva was.



When he exited the room, he went back to the kitchen to gather up Keva, who was practically bouncing on her feet in excitement to get going.



“I take it you’re ready to get going?” He held his hand up to be level with his front pocket. He waited patiently as she positioned her legs over the side of his palm per routine, her legs hovering over the lip of the pocket.



“You bet!” she said, prepping herself up for the drop as she pushed herself off the hand with a small “hup!” and slid down the opening of the pocket, disappearing from sight for a moment before climbing up the sides and popping her head from the lip. “Let’s get going!”



William gave her an affirmative hum as he reached over to grab his leather jacket from the back of one of the kitchen chairs and do a once-over to see that he had everything needed. With no reason to waste another minute, he made his way back out the door and to his red and white-striped hovercraft, the doors lifting vertically as he slid into the seat.



“Pocket or seat?” he asked, the door slid back into place and he held his hand up to the ignition. The computerized sound of his data’s read and acknowledgement beeped before the craft turned on, the buttons lighting up around the control panel.



Keva’s answer was instantaneous. “Pocket!” She answered loud enough for him to hear above the whir of machinery. No doubt she didn’t want to waste a single second from hopping right out upon landing to make their way to the Live-Set.



“Alright,” he said, the vest restraint lowering down until it secured around his front and a bright neon-red [OK] flickering on the HUD screen on the glass before a map and compass took its place. He grabbed one of the throttle levers and control wheel and steadily allowed the craft to lift up vertically and turn around in a one-hundred and eighty degree spin as he glanced at the altitude indicator screen. Once he reached a height of around 1800 meters, he propelled forward at a relative cruising speed of 750 kpm.



From so high above, all of Nottingham looked like green and yellow-brown squares on the ground, the city a mix of silver and gray spots intermingled with tiny pinpricks of lights. Air traffic was fairly busy yet manageable as he flew through the clouds and rotating air markers that dotted and hovered along the sky, flickering red to manage traffic.



After two minutes, he set it to autopilot, took his hands way from the control wheel and relaxed. At the speed they were going and the course already set, they’d probably reach London within fifteen to twenty minutes. Half an hour tops.



Barely feeling the tiny adament rustle Keva produced from his front pocket, he reached up and pulled it slightly open with a finger, peeking in. “You alright in there, Keva?”



Huddled at the bottom of the recesses of the pocket, she looked up and gave him a thumbs up. “I’m fine! Just getting comfortable is all… actually…” she slowly gathered herself up, holding onto the fabric on both sides of her to keep her steady from the swaying pocket, she looked back up at him with a pleading expression. “Can I look out, really quick? Since you’re in auto mode?”



With a sigh, he carefully reached into his pocket, careful not to press against the tiny woman against him as he gently gripped her torso and thighs between two fingers. “Alright, but next time, just choose the seat, okay?”



He placed her in the palm of his other hand and held her to the dashboard to step on. “Careful. If you start sliding or fall off, I’ll have to take you down from there.”



“Okay,” she replied distractedly, walking carefully to the window before her to stare at the outside world from beyond the clouds, pressing her hands against the glass.



She always loved seeing the world from this altitude. The sky was more blue and more vast from way up, and everything seemed so serene.



But most of all, it was the change in perspective that captivated her the most.



Whenever she was in the sky, it was amazing how the world from below looked so small for once. The veritable forest of grass that she could get lost in easily and the inconceivably high buildings that rose so high that it made her head spin were now near microscopic from such a height. It was hard to imagine how huge the world was for someone as small as her, but from so high up, it became easier to sometimes grasp it at times.



After several minutes of skygazing and watching the world below go by, the indicator that they were within London’s borders sounded and William reached out to sweep her into his hand and slide her back into his pocket. “We’re getting close,” he said, switching the autopilot off and getting a hold of the controls once more, “Hang on tight.”



He started the descent, angling the craft towards the west, where London’s skyscrapers began to become distinguishable from right below. At 500 meters, he lowered until he could see one of the bright neon signs that indicated the “NYC Live-Set” was straight ahead.



Lowering more and more until he had his craft extend its wheels out beneath and he swiftly readjusted his controls to ground-mode and began driving down the road.



Within no more than five minutes, he could see the standard, segmented dome structure of a Live-Set from the distance. He lightly patted his pocket as he drove the craft towards the parking lot not far from it. “We’re almost there, Kev. Hold on.”



He felt Keva grow more animated in his pocket, no doubt she was growing more excitable. He couldn’t help but think about how long she had been cooped up in the house for the past week, it was no wonder she had been looking forward to going out and about, especially with other minutians at a LS.



In what felt like no time, he had pulled up into the parking lot and parked his craft in an adequate space. Stepping out from the car and looking ahead at the numerous lines waiting outside the entryway of the structure, he opened the lip of his pocket and gently brought Keva out into the open for her to look out. “Welp, we’re here!”



He saw her reaction coming from a mile away, but nonetheless it put a smile on his face when she immediately gripped one of his fingers and gasped at the sight of the dome from her vantage point.



“It’s huge! And there’s so many people!” She chirped eagerly. She got on her tippy toes to get a better view. “I’ve never seen a Live Set so big!”



William was focused on another matter ahead, “And it has such a long line too. It’ll probably take us quite a bit for you to get in.”



“Then what are we waiting for!? Let’s get a move on!” She shouted excitedly, pointing forward between his fingers.



Will barked out a laugh as he held her to her shoulder, waiting until she was nestle right at his collar before he started walking forward, “Aye aye, captain!”



After a minute of walking, he remembered to call Charlotte, who more than likely was already here and somewhere in line, if not, had already admitted her minutes into the structure already.



Drawing his phone out and to his ear, he dialed and waited for her to pick up. She responded right after the second ring.



“Will! I’m guessing you’re here?”



“Yeah, Keva and I just got here about two minutes ago. We’re on our way to one of the lines ourselves.”



Charlotte seemed to have just as much exuberance on the phone as she did in person. “Great! Heads up, there’s a fifteen minute wait but the line moves pretty fast, all things considered. I just had mine go inside thirty seconds ago!” Her voice went up even higher in with unmasked excitement as she went on, “Did you know they have a capacity for ten-thousand minutians!? That’s almost as big as the Tokyo LS in Osaka!”



He quirked an eyebrow, not that she could see it. “Just how many Sets have your minis been to?”



“Let’s see…” There was a pause on the other side of the phone for a few seconds. “Maybe around… twelve? Thirteen?”



His eyes widened with shock. “Damn… that many!?” He had only taken Keva to about three at most, usually visiting the same ones every once in a while Then again, Charlotte had had her minutians for a much longer time than he had. Two of them, if he recalled correctly, she has had since she was child in school.



“Well, only Mace and Anise had been to all of them. During summer break in college, I remember just going on a splurge to take them to as many as possible. Oh, wait… I think I see you! Turn to your right!”



Will did so and he immediately saw his coworker coming right up, dressed in her daytime clothes in khakis and a frilly pink blouse.



He placed his phone back into his pant pocket as she drew up, removing her own phone as well. “Hey Will! Oh…!” Her eyes immediately laid upon the tiny little minutian sitting upon his shoulder. “And hello there, Keva! How are you, darling?”



“Good afternoon, Ms. Charlotte!” Keva greeted with a big smile, “It’s been a long time! How are you today?”



“Even better now that I see you,” she cheerfully responded, looking back to William and giving him a ‘Can I?’ look. Will nodded in approval, and watched Charlotte squeal in adoration as she held her hand underneath Keva’s feet.



Immediately knowing what she wanted, Keva pushed herself off his shoulder and landed on the extended fingers of Charlotte’s hand.



Once she was situated in the center of her hand, Charlotte held her to her face and looked down at her. To Keva, her entire face took up her entire vision when it was so close.



“You look so cute in that dress!” the human woman cooed, drawing a gentle, manicured finger down the length of her dress. “Did you pick that out yourself?”



“I did!” Keva did a small curtsy with the skirt of her dress and twirled around, allowing her hair, shawl and dress to flow. “Master took me to buy more outfits last month! He always lets me buy my own clothes!”



“Charlotte looked shocked as she flashed her eyes back to Will. “Really now? You let her choose her own outfits?”



Will only shrugged, not really seeing it as such a big deal. “Of course! I mean, why not? I only bought her first few outfits for a while until she asked me if she could buy certain things. Ever since then, she’s been choosing her attire.”



“Your master gives you a lot of freedom, doesn’t he?” she asked, petting Keva’s head, She didn’t expect an answer, as she went back to speaking to William. “I told all of my minis that you were bringing Keva there. Cin and Rika will be waiting around the elevator for Keva. They were so excited when I told them she’d be there!” She looked back to Keva with a grin, “And guess who else is with them?”



“Ginger?” she asked expectantly, her eyes wide with hope.



“Ah, so Will already told you about her? Oh, you’re going to absolutely love her, Keva! She’s a sweetie, just like you!”



Charlotte brought Keva to her lips and gave her a gentle kiss on top of her head before handing her back to William, who promptly placed her back on her shoulder.



“I’ll tell ya, I’m glad you came when you did. It’s reaching near max capacity now,” she pointed out, looking back to the dome behind her. “If you came only thirty minutes later, they’d probably have to be put on the waiting list.”



“As if Keva would allow that,” Will snorted in amusement as he moved forward in the line. “She was already dressed and ready to go by the time I got back and practically demanded I hurry up when we just got out of the craft.”



Charlotte giggled and gave the little minutian a conspiratorial smirk. “Will should be glad he has a pet that keeps him so accountable.”



As the line moved, Keva only watched and looked around as Charlotte and her master eased into casual conversation.



The whole structure was far more monolithic than any LS she had ever seen. While all Sets were mind-bogglingly massive, given that they housed entire town to city-like dioramas that were scaled to her size, this one was easily either large enough to easily larger than a whole human-sized city block!



And, of course, she couldn’t help but notice the other little minutians that were all around in line with their human owners. She saw several tiny minutians either in their human’s hands or on their shoulders, with even a few of them even sitting upon the top of their owner’s heads, hilariously enough. A particular little human girl who didn’t look any older than seven or eight had hers sitting right between her little twin buns on the top of her head. Only twice did she sit on her master’s head, seeing the world from a human-perspective for a few minutes.



Then, she spotted a woman with a purse-like mini-carrier strapped around waist and felt a chill.



She knew some humans kept their minutians in a carrier, but the idea of being in one made her feel more uncomfortable than it should. Her master had never had her in one, and she imagined that he never would, but from time to time, she would get a glimpse of the tiny box structure the minutians in there were kept in and it always came off to her as a horribly claustrophobic experience to imagine herself in their place. She couldn’t help but feel bad for the minutians forced into them; being trapped in a small space just seemed like a punishment, even when the humans didn’t mean it that way.



She was glad that her master didn’t notice her sudden discomfort, she didn’t want to worry him. Nonetheless, she huddled up closer to his neck and breathed out. They were almost to the front of the line anyway, so there was no need to worry for too long. Soon enough, she’d be inside the Set and so would the minutian inside the carrier.



The line moved steadily enough, and soon she beared witness to seeing the woman taking her green-haired minutian out of the carrier and placing them on the tiny elevator that would take them inside the Set, so she forced herself not to dwell on it for too long, especially since Will was right up there at the front where the station attendant and clerk were waiting.



Once Will was up front, the station attendant gave him a plastic smile in greeting. “Hello and welcome to the New York Live-Set! How many do you have with you today?”



“Just one,” he said, indicating with his head to Keva on his shoulder. “And she already has a tracker of her own.”



“Excellent! May I see your ID please? And have you ever registered with any previous Live-Sets before?” As the woman spoke, she reached under the cabinet to draw out a tablet, pulling out a contract form for signing.



“Yes, under my name.” Will reached up to his shoulder and waited for Keva to climb back into his hand.



The gave a cursory examination of his ID before looking into the database for his name. Once she was satisfied, she handed him the tablet and gave him a quick rundown of the same main rules and regulations of the LS, which he had heard over two dozen times.



Completing the contract within less than a minute with his electronic signature, she was swiftly charged and sent a tag number.



“Your minutian Keva will be registered as KH023. The information will be sent to your phone once she is inside the structure. Please remember that your minutian must be picked up within a twelve-hour time frame and that all charges will be sent to the account upon pick-up. However, would you like to allot some credits for your minutian to use?”



“120 credits. No wait… 150.”



The woman put it into the tablet before looking back up once more. “And would you like a personal surveillance bot to follow your minutian and stream her activities through to your phone?”



“Do you mind, Keva?” he asked, looking to the newly rejuvenated minutian who was eagerly shifting around in his palm. Even though he almost always wanted to see her inside the Set, and could still watch the going ons of the inside through the general surveillance drones, he realized at some point that she sometimes desired her privacy, and while he may own her, he still wanted to grant her at least that little modicum of decency.



Thankfully, she shook her head. “I don’t mind! I’m pretty sure you wanna see the inside too!”



“Alright,” the woman said, typing it into the tablet. After a moment, she looked back up and gave him a smile. “Alright, since she has a tracking number of her own already in the registry, she’s good to go!”



She nodded to the attendant who took him to one of the three little elevator entrances on the side of the massive structure.



The attendant pointed the first elevator before taking out a dispensary box and plucking out a raisin-sized drone between two fingers, running a number through the keypad strapped to his wrist and clicking a button.



The tiny drone’s optics came to life with a bright green glow before it levitated out between his fingers and into the open elevator, hovering at standby.



“Just place your minutian inside and you can watch her activities from inside at any point in time during her stay. Please remember that she must be picked up by 4:23 AM at the latest. A late fee of £20 will be charged for every extra hour.” The attendant turned to look at Keva and flashed her a friendly smile. “I hope you enjoy being in ‘New York!’”



“I will!” she shouted excitedly, disembarking from Will’s hand after he held it at the elevator entrance. She stepped inside it and waved at her master, who returned the gesture with a smile.



His face took up the entire entryway of the elevator. “I’ll let you know when I’ll be coming back for you. Have a wonderful time, Kev.”



“Thanks, master! I will!” Her words reached him just as the elevator doors shut and with a beep of confirmation, it began to simultaneously descend and rotate around.



She glanced at the surveillance bot next to her and immediately spotted the camera already trained on her. While she wasn’t sure if her master was already watching or not, she waved just in case and flashed a big grin right before the elevator stopped and doors opened.



When she stepped out, she once again was able to imagine what it was like to be a human.



There were countless buildings all around that were scaled to a size she could comprehend now, with tiny obviously-mechanical birds flying around them in their programmed pattern. Automated rail links and monorails zipping around in the distance that were just right for people her size. Trees and grass, which she knew were either altered to bonsai-tree height or fake realistic constructs, were along the parks and sidewalks where numerous minutians just like her were walking and talking to and fro with one another.



Of course, the simulated sky was a bright blue, making it appear as though she was actually outside rather than inside a massive diorama. It almost felt like the sun was against her skin with the regulated warm temperatures.



She enthralled with the sight before her, she almost didn’t notice three minutians come up from the side, calling out her name.



Her smile widened even more when she saw two familiar faces, as well as a very little one that was trying to duck behind the taller minutian shyly as they closed the gap.



“Long time no see, Kev!” said the other, pale-skinned woman with bright purple hair styled in an angled bob, equally purple eyes and a short black and white gothic-lolita dress and decor boots. If there was one minutian that really embodied the nature of looking like a “living doll,” it was Paprika.



The other woman, a taller minutian with orange-brown eyes, tanned skin in a lilac prairie dress, short leather ankle boots and a sunhat over her long white hair that was drawn into a long braid, was smiling and already drawing Keva into a hug. “The mistress told us that you were coming, but it feels like ages since we’ve seen each other.”



“It does feel like it’s been forever,” Keva agreed, returning Cinnamon’s hug before giving one to Paprika. “My master has been so busy lately that even he hadn’t been able to take me out much.”



“Same with ours. Charlotte has been staying out longer and longer at work. It’s driving us nuts,” said Paprika as she walked around Cinnamon and prodded the little redheaded minutian-child forward towards Keva. “Hey, Ging, c’mon and introduce yourself! Keva doesn’t bite!”



The girl took a startle step forward, wounding in front of Keva once she got her balance.



Apprehensively, she raised her head up to Keva, timidly glancing away for a moment before she quietly uttered a small, “H-Hi…”



Keva bent at the waist and smiled gently at the smaller minutian. This girl was probably barely even five centimeters tall! With bright red frizzy hair, big green eyes, and a white turtleneck sweater under a green and white plaid overall dress and green ballet-styled flats, she looked incredibly cute even by minutian standards.



Keva resisted the urge to hug the adorable little girl and gave her a small wave. “Hello! I’m Keva! I take it that you’re Ginger?”



Fiddling with her hands, Ginger slowly nodded. If what her master was anything to go by, which was always the case, it was no wonder Ms. Charlotte and her daughter had taken to her so quickly. Her timidness was so adorable, she wanted to protect her.



“Well, Ginger, I’m very happy to meet you,” Keva exclaimed and held a hand out.



Ginger eyed it warily for a moment before extending her own hand out and gently placing it in Keva’s for a small handshake. Very rarely did Keva feel like the big one.



Keva congenially shook the hand and straightened up. Indicating with an open hand, she pointed to Cinnamon and Paprika. “Cin and Rika are my friends. So are Mace, Fennel, Saffron and Anise! We’ve known each other half a year!” She trailed off for a bit, looking to Cinnamon, “Speaking of, I have to know… was she made in a lab that way or…?”



Cinnamon laughed, knowing what Keva was trying to find out. “Yes, she was synthesized as a child. She's only one and a half months old.”



Keva promptly pumped her fist up into the air, shouting out a loud, “YES!” in jubilance. “Ah ha! I knew it!”



Paprika had a wide grin as she watched Keva’s little dance. “Are you that happy that you’re no longer the baby of the bunch?”



“You bet,” she replied without missing a beat, calming herself down as to not startle Ginger. “Now you guys can’t rail on me for being the youngest anymore!”



Paprika gave a hearty scoff. “You’re hardly that much older than her. You’re not even a year old yet. I don’t think you have that much room for celebrating.”



“Don’t care! I’m no longer the youngest,” she responded by playfully sticking her tongue out to the purple-haired woman, not even bothering to deny her claims.



Cinnamon shook her head with a smile before looking down at Ginger, who immediately went to huddle up against her side. “Ginger, Keva is going to come with us to look around the city. You don’t mind her coming along, do you?”



Ginger shook her head and mouthed a silent “no” before Cinnamon took her by the hand. The white-haired woman looked at Keva, “Don’t feel bad, Keva. She was like this with us in the beginning too. Just give it some time.”



Keva didn’t take any offense whatsoever. “No worries! I’m pretty sure we were all like that when we were created. I know I wasn’t any different for the first month.”



“Well, I’m eager to get going,” Paprika said, taking several steps forward. “Mace and Anise went to mock-Central Park and Fennel said he was going to see the Statue of Liberty. I say we join him!”



Cinnamon turned to Keva, asking, “Well… are you up to seeing the statue?”



She shrugged her shoulders and walked up behind, not paying heed to the drone that was following from behind her. “Not so much seeing the statue. I’m pretty sure it’s like looking up at a human, anyway. But I wanna experience the boat ride! My master and I were just talking about what it’s like to be near the ocean several days ago!”



Cinnamon and Ginger came up from the rear, and soon all four were walking behind Paprika. “Is there really a boat ride there? I know it’s based off New York, but the mistress said that it’s not quite exactly like the city since New York is just that big.”



“Master showed me a video of the place on the website and there really is a ferry that’ll take you to an island with the statue, so I think so.”



“Then that means it’ll be our first time on a boat too!” Paprika pointed out, slowing her pace. “By the way, this is Ginger’s first time ever in a Set.”



“Oh, that’s right. How are you enjoying the sight of a city like this, Ging?” Cinnamon asked the little redhead.



“Um…” she started shyly, looking up and around, before looking back at white-haired woman. “I dunno.”



“Well, its her first and we haven’t done anything yet,” Paprika said as they began nearing the

“Grand Central Station” at the forefront. “Give it some time. She’ll really like seeing everything once she’s used to the place.”



The motley crew of women continued to walk and talk, blending into the crowd of minutians wandering about.



As they walked, their eyes looked around at the different stores and restaurants, all manned by minibots similar to the one that was following behind Keva. Conversations floated around them in jumbles; some about their masters, some about what they did earlier in the day, some about the Live Set they were in. For Ginger, they were all new and strange.



As young as she was, this was the first time she had ever seen so many people her size all gathered in one place. It was so surreal. Aside from her new “siblings,” she was mostly used to seeing the enormous titans that were humans more than anything. Her primary mistress, Shannon, a girl of only eight years old, was short by human standards and yet was big and strong enough to move the dollhouse around her room so they could play house together.



But here, there were so many minutians that they could never fit inside the house together! They would completely fill up Shannon’s room!



Keva glanced at Ginger, smiling. No doubt she was awed by the sheer number of people just like her just like she had been when she had been brought to her first Live-Set. Granted, the Venice-Set wasn’t anywhere as large as this one, and had far less people, but being surrounded by others your size was always a lot to take in. Well, in Ginger’s case, close to her size.



Getting to the ferry didn’t take as long as they had initially thought it would, and feeling the boat sail across the ocean was an experience that wasn’t particularly as foreign as Keva had imagined it to be. It was similar to whenever she was carried around by a human, particularly her master, or like the sway of the hovercraft he piloted. Nonetheless, the sight of the water and the smell of brine and salt in the waters were a pleasant smell, and seeing the statue approaching in the distance was enough to keep her excited.



When the ferry docked, they carefully got off the boat and onto the wooden platform, looking at the statue in the distance.



“That’s the statue? It’s not as big as I imagined,” Paprika commented with a frown.



In a way, Keva could agree with the sentiment. or a species that was used to humans towering over them like the buildings in the L.S., the statue of Lady Liberty didn’t look all that impressive from a distance.



“But think about it this way! This statue is how big it looks to humans just like how humans look to us,” Cinnamon pointed out as she grasped Ginger’s hand, “Meaning, the real statue has to be absolutely enormous! Plus, we can actually go inside it!”



“Well, still, if my master’s watching from the camera on the drone…” Keva started, glancing at the surveillance bot behind her that had been floating behind her the entire time, “...they get to experience it in the first place. I don’t have any of my master’s memories of ever being in New York.”



Cinnamon raised an eyebrow, “Master’s memories? What do you mean?”



Keva shrugged, “Oh, you know. How when you wake up with all that knowledge and then remember something your master had done in their life. Like, I knew my master’s name when I woke up.”



“Wait, what are you talking about?” Paprika interjected with an incredulous look, “Are you saying you knew who your master was when you woke up?”



Keva blinked, puzzled. Why were both women looking at her like that. “Um… yeah? Didn’t you?”



“No,” Cin said with a shake of her head. “I’ve never heard about such a thing. I mean, I was a breeded minutian.” She turned to Paprika, curious, “Did you wake up knowing anything?”



She also shook her head, prodding at the barcode on the back of her neck. “Nope. We ‘ Custom-Maids’ are programmed to know how to speak Japanese and English and ask questions, but otherwise, I didn’t know anything about Charlotte until she purchased me. And they don’t implant that into you.”



“I didn’t know anything either,” came the small voice of Ginger which drew the attention of the older minutes immediately. With all eyes on her, she quickly looked back down shyly, clutching a bit closer to Cinnamon than usual.



“So, what you’re saying is…” Paprika said, her eyes knitting together skeptically, “that you knew everything about your master upon the First Wake?”



Suddenly, Keva felt she was put on the spot. She thought that every artificial minutian had an idea of who their masters were once their minds caught up, that it was normal. So the fact that Cinnamon, Paprika or Ginger had no such recollection or experience of such a thing was very telling. “Well…um… yeah? Not everything, but... sorta? I mean, my master is also my creator so, maybe… that’s why?”



“...Well, that kinda makes sense,” Paprika conceded with a sigh. “I mean, if you were made by him, then it makes sense that he’d have more freedom installing information into you. Still, I’ve never heard of someone already knowing about their creators. But what do I know? We only know a handful of other minutians.”



With a clap of her hands, she turned and went forward. “Well, let’s talk about all that later, let’s get to the statue! I’m sure we’ll run into Fennel if we hurry.”



The matter put aside for the time being, everyone continued to make their way to the statue, the waves crashing behind them at the dock.



Keva was lagging behind though, her mind still on the new revelation of hers.



She shouldn’t be as shocked as she was, she guessed. As she had said, her creator was also her master, so it only made sense that she’d know a bit more about him than the average minutian. Unlike Cinnamon, who had been specifically bred for her looks, and Fennel and Anise, who had been created by the popular Swiss company, “Yuletide,” and the others who were mostly blank slates upon waking up, Paprika was manufactured from the ‘Custom Maid’ corporation in Tokyo, which was famous for already having preset knowledge implanted into their creations, from different languages to their lab’s information, with the options for implementing personalities into them even once they had been purchased. Costing several thousand pounds, she was easily Charlotte’s most expensive minutian; and yet, she seemed puzzled that her knowing about her own master was such a new thing.



Maybe she was overthinking it since, as she said before, the most obvious answer was her master making her on his own.



Still, she thought it was more common than she initially thought.
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Re: Small Changes

Post by gtquik702 » Sat Jan 28, 2023 12:04 pm

This is an incredible story! Such a unique idea

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Re: Small Changes

Post by Flippity-Floosy » Sun Feb 05, 2023 4:05 am

gtquik702 wrote:
Sat Jan 28, 2023 12:04 pm
This is an incredible story! Such a unique idea
Thank you! It was literally a bit of a daydream I had mixed with other stories I read in the past. Definitely need to update this badboy badly.
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