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Bloodthirstybutcher
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Clinical Trials

Post by Bloodthirstybutcher » Thu Apr 08, 2021 4:50 pm

This was originally going to be the end of a much longer story that i ditched. I thought it might work better as a shorter Twilight Zone/Black Mirror type scenario. Enjoy!



Clinical Trials

by BTB


The first thing Megan noticed was the pain.  She felt groggy, almost drunk... finding it hard to even open her eyes.  Every muscle, every tendon, every bone in her body ached.  Even her teeth felt strange, like when you've chewed on the same piece of gum for far too long.  Her skin felt numb and tingly at the same time.  She continued trying to open her eyes, but every time she did she was met with blinding white light that forced them shut again.

She was laying flat on her back on a hard, smooth surface.  Wherever she was, she felt cold.  The air as well as the surface beneath her.  She felt her bare skin against whatever she was laying on, realizing she was naked.  Megan tried to sit up, but found that her wrists and ankles kept her from doing so... she was restrained.  Even as much as the bright light made her swimming migraine worse, her eyes abruptly opened in a panic.

Megan struggled to focus, but through her foggy vision she could barely make out some kind of plastic restraint holding her arms and legs to the floor.  Everything else past her limbs was little more than a bright white blur.  She tried wiggling herself free, but her restraints were too strong and her muscles simply hurt too much.  She couldn't remember how she got there and the thought made her even more afraid.  Had she been abducted by some sicko?

"HEEEELLLLOOO?!"  She screamed.  "IS ANYONE THERE?!  PLEASE HELP ME!  HEEEEEELLLOOOO?!"

There was no response, only the sound of a low electrical hum.  Megan continued struggling with her holds, working her arms back and forth to try and loosen what felt like adhesive on her skin.

"PLEEEEASE?!  WHAT'S HAPPENING?!  WHERE AM I?!"

"Ah, I see you're awake," a woman's voice echoed all around her.  

She sounded muffled and metallic, obviously from an intercom.  It was incredibly loud though, and seemed to echo through what felt like a much larger and cavernous space.  Wherever Megan was, it was much bigger than she had initially thought. 

"HEY!  HEEEEY?!  PLEASE, CAN YOU HELP ME?!  MISS?!"  Megan cried out, surprised to have gotten a response to her pleas.  There was a brief period of silence accompanied by the ambient drone of blinding lights and idling machinery.  She continued trying to adjust her sight, now being able to make out vague shapes in the space around her.  "HELLO?!"

Just then, an abrupt whooshing sound along with what sounded like steam escaping startled Megan with its suddenness.  A massive yellow form appeared in the distance and closed on her fast.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck...," Megan chanted in fear, terrified that the gigantic object was about to run her down.  She tensed up, trying to force herself out of her restraints.  She closed her eyes, awaiting the inevitable impact.

"Hello there, miss.... Humphrey," the same woman's voice echoed through the room.  This time it was very much inside with Megan.

Megan opened one eye, and then the other.  The giant yellow circus tent-like thing had stopped.  It towered above her and just enough of her vision had returned to make out that it had stopped at the edge of whatever surface she was strapped to.  It was obvious that there was more of it below the edge.  Megan followed the faint line around her, realizing then that she was on some sort of elevated platform. The thing  began to move again, leaning over Megan and snapping her attention back towards its imposing presence.  

Eyes.  It had eyes... and Megan couldn't believe it, but they looked human... female even.  It was a suit of some kind, like a hazmat suit, and some giant of myth was wearing it.  Megan thought she was losing her mind... and then it spoke again.

"... and how are we doing today?"  The woman inside the suit asked.

Megan gaped at the building sized person, unable to speak.  The giant woman stood back up straight and started writing something on an enormous clipboard.  Megan's eyes darted around the room.  The previously blurry objects around her were much clearer now.  Giant glass canisters, a computer the size of a movie screen, pens and syringes, all blown up to incredible proportions.  She looked back to the giant woman, begging for answers with her eyes.  The woman simply stared back, like she was looking right through Megan.

"I don't understand...  what's happening?!  Where am I?!  Who are you?!  What...," Megan rattled off question after question until the giantess raised a single gloved hand.

"I'm Doctor Whitfield, Rebecca... but you can call me Becky if you like," the titanic female said before writing something else on her clipboard.  She was probably in her mid forties, brunette.  A thick pair of square-rimmed glasses made her eyes seem even larger than they already were.

"Doctor, please... what's going on?!  Why am I naked?  Why am I tied up?"  Megan continued.  The massive room continued to come into focus.  White cabinets, white walls... she could swear it looked like a doctor's office, only it was the size of a warehouse.

"Take it easy, Ms. Humphrey?"  Doctor Whitfield said calmly... almost bored.  Like an aging musician playing their only hit for the five thousandth time.  "I apologize about the tape... we had too many accidents early on from subjects panicking and going over the edge.  It's strictly a safety precaution."

Megan looked to her wrists again.  Tape?  Did she say tape?  Sure enough, her bonds couldn't be anything but pieces of scotch tape, just much wider and thicker of course.  The serrated edges from the dispenser's blade were even visible.  Her heart pounded harder and her breathing quickened more than it already had.  

"No... no... it can't be... it's not possible," Megan said, trying to deny what she already knew to be true.  The objects around her weren't large at all, in fact they were quite ordinary.  She was the one who had changed.  "D-D-Doctor?  How... d-did this h-happen?"

The giant woman set her clipboard down next to Megan for a moment and looked at her with a smile.  "Urgh... paperwork... am I right?" She said rolling her enormous eyes.  "I don't know why they have us fill this thing out anyway, I'm just going to have to type it all in later.  The kind of money they spend around here and they can't get me a tablet."

Megan couldn't believe her ears.  Her entire world had been upended and this woman was complaining about data entry.  "Doctor please... what's going on?  Why am I here?"

The doctor continued to ignore Megan's questions.  She turned her back on the tiny woman and began rummaging through one of the drawers.  When she returned, she placed a pair of plastic pen-like cylinders in her pocket and then leaned over Megan.  The frightened and confused girl recoiled at the size of the face approaching her.

"Alright, Ms. Humphrey... I need to perform a few tests now.  I apologize ahead of time, they're not going to be pleasant, but I assure you they are necessary."

"What?  What do you mean?  What kind of tests?"  Megan's voice quivered in fear.

"Strictly procedural for a subject such as you," the woman said coldly.  She pulled one of the plastic pens from her coat pocket and uncapped it, revealing a swab underneath.  "Now, Ms. Humphrey... there's another reason we have you taped down.  This is going to be uncomfortable, but I need you to hold still please... I need to take a vaginal swab."

"WHAT?!  NONONONONONO...," Megan tried harder than ever to free herself, but the tip of the swab came in fast.  She clenched and gasped as it entered her.  Deeper and deeper it went.  "Please... stop...".  

The giant woman halted her penetration, only to begin twisting the swab inside of Megan to collect as much material as possible.  The tiny woman screamed as the rough, dry cotton rotated inside of her.  She'd never felt so violated in her entire life.  Almost as soon as the misery had begun, the doctor removed the offending swab from Megan.  She placed the cap back on and then sealed it in a plastic bag, marking the outside with a series of numbers and Megan's name.  Megan already had tears streaming down the sides of her face from the shock, but began to fully sob.  The doctor wrote more information down on the clipboard next to her.

"You're doing such a good job, Ms. Humphrey.  Just hang in there, only one more to go."

Megan's eyes shot open, "what?!"  Before she could fully react, another swab entered Megan... this time though, it was inserted into her anus.  Megan's eyes nearly bulged out of her head as she yelped.  "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!   STOOOOOOOOOOP!   UUUUURRRRRRGGGHAAAAAAAAH!"

As previously done, the doctor rotated the swab inside Megan's rectum, eliciting screams of pain and horror from the poor woman.  "I'm sorry, Ms. Humphrey.  I really do hate this part of the job," she barely emoted as she removed the cotton tip from Megan's orifice.  "I assure you it is necessary."

Megan's already sore muscles relaxed as the tip moved past her sphincter.  She resumed her sobbing, desperately trying to understand what was happening to her, and getting nothing but vague answers.  "Please... stop... please... let me go!" She whimpered.

"If it's any consolation, Ms. Humphrey, you're a bit larger than most of our subjects.  This part of the examination is so much harder on them."

Megan's eyes opened again, "what?  Th-th-there's others?"

"Of course there is," the doctor answered, seemingly amused by Megan's question.  "Now just one more test while I have you strapped down and then I'll free you, ok?"

"No please...," Megan begged, only to be ignored once again.

The doctor reached beyond Megan's shrunken form and her hand returned with a scalpel and slide.  She set the coffee table sized slide down next to Megan's side and then lowered the scalpel.  Megan lost all control.

"NOOOOOONONNNONNONO... PLEASE DON'T CUT ME!"

"Please hold still, Ms. Humphrey.  I don't want to nick you."

Megan froze in terror as the cold, sharp edge of the blade found her stomach.  She braced herself for its bite.  The blade flicked to the right, dragging lightly across her skin.  Again and again and again.  Then the blade lifted away.  Images of Poe's Pit and the Pendulum flashed into Megan's mind.

"Just need some skin scrapings is all.  Nothing to be worried about," said the doctor.

"For fuck sakes lady, you could have warned me!"  Megan shouted, now angry as much as scarred.

"Yes... sorry about that.  Slipped my mind.  You do enough of these tests and sometimes the monotony and repetition, well... you kinda just run on autopilot.  I apologize for my lack of professionalism."

"The fuck?" Megan said.  Were there really so many others that this woman is just going through the motions?  With every second strapped to the table, more questions arose.

The scalpel fell again, interrupting Megan's thoughts.  The doctor slid it down either side of each of her tiny limbs, freeing her of the Scotch binds.  Megan leaned up, feeling the dizziness return.

"Alright, little lady, on your feet," the doctor ordered.

Megan looked up at the woman and then strained to stand up.  As soon as she did, she toppled back onto her side.

"Careful, Miss Humphrey.  Are you ok?"

Megan held her head, but nodded.

"Experiencing any dizziness?"

Megan nodded again.

"Any other symptoms?  Pain? Nausea?"

Megan furrowed her brow and glared at the doctor's massive face with disgust.  "You mean other than the chimney sweeper you just shoved up my ass?!"

"Please Ms. Humphrey... I assure you this is important.  There's no need for that tone."

"Yes... everything hurts.  My muscles, everything.  I feel like someone is jackhammering against my skull."  Megan tried standing again and this time she held her balance.

"Mmmhmmm... good.  It's very common for subjects such as yourself to experience these symptoms.  Having your body compress in on itself, its only natural that there's some discomfort afterwards.  The pain usually goes away within a matter of hours.  I have some supplements that will help."

Megan began peeling the remaining tape from her shins and wrists.  It proved difficult and hurt like hell.  When the last piece finally gave, she rubbed at the reddened areas like a prisoner after having their cuffs removed.  She realized again that she was nude and quickly tried to cover herself with her arms.

"Excuse me, Doctor... could I maybe have something to cover myself?"

The doctor looked away from her clipboard for a brief moment to barely address Megan, "please, Ms, Humphrey, I'm a doctor."

Megan slumped a little and looked away, "I guess that's a no then."

The doctor continued writing silently, allowing Megan a chance to really let things sink in.  She gazed around the room, taking in her new situation.  She walked cautiously to the edge of the table and looked over.  She felt like she was leaning over the edge of a building, but it was nothing more than simple examination table.  She shuddered and backed away.

"Alright, next we're going to check your height and weight, please step onto the scale," ordered the doctor.

Megan approached the enormous digital scale on the corner of the table and climbed on top of it.

"Mmmhhmmm, thank you.  You can go ahead and step off now," the doctor said, hardly even looking away from her clipboard.

Megan climbed back down off the scale and then stood still, patiently awaiting the next hoop to jump through.  The doctor retrieved a ruler from the other counter and dropped it down behind Megan.

"Mmmhmmm good.  You really are quite a bit larger than the usual subjects.  I suppose someone got their dosage wrong."

"Wait... someone did this to me?!"  Megan asked in surprised horror.

The doctor gave her the same amused look from before.  "Of course.  People don't just shrink on their own.  You're a funny one, aren't you?"  She resumed her note taking.

Megan was more confused than ever, "I just thought... the hazmat suit... I'm not sick... or contagious?"

The doctor chuckled a little at that question, "no... not yet anyway."

What the fuck did that mean?  Megan had had enough.  If her situation wasn't bad enough, this woman was being cryptic as shit, and she'd had her fill of it.  "HEY... LADY... WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!  WHY AM I HERE?!  WHO DID THIS TO ME?!"

The doctor finally set her clipboard down and explained, "you're here because we're developing a vaccine.  We're very close to a cure.  You're going to help us with that."  The woman crossed her arms across her chest and looked down on Megan, literally and figuratively.  "There, does that answer your questions?"

Megan hung her head somewhat shamefully.  This woman was a doctor, she was only trying to help her... and all Megan could do is shout at her for trying to do her job.  "I... I'm sorry.  Thank you," she said, sheepishly.

The doctor looked at Megan with confusion painted all over her face.  "Wow.  Never had one thank me before.  Huh... guess there's a first time for everything."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, which Megan was determined to break.  "So... how small am I anyway?"

"Well... like I said, you're larger than most of the other subjects.  When they come in, they're usually around four to five inches in height.  You're standing at a whopping seven and three fourths inches tall."  The doctor chuckled to herself a little, "I guess that makes you a handful, quite literally."

Megan obviously didn't see any humor in her situation.  Eight inches... no... less than that.  When you're shorter than a Barbie doll, those quarters of inches start to matter.  Megan began to tear up again.

"Hey... hey now.  Don't cry... listen, we're just about finished here, and then I'll take you to your room and you can take it easy the rest of the day."  One of the doctor's hands disappeared underneath the table and returned with a gigantic syringe.  "I just need to give you a quick injection first."

"Oh fuck no!" Megan yelled and took off running.  She didn't think about where she could go, because there wasn't anywhere to run to.  If she jumped off the table, she'd most certainly die.  It was just pure animal survival instinct taking over, like the tiny creature she was now.  She didn't get very far before a gigantic gloved hand wrapped around her body and lifted her back towards the awaiting spike.

"Now, now... don't do that.  It'll be over before you know it," the doctor said as if she were chastising a child.  "Just a vitamin cocktail to help with your symptoms."

"No, please don't do this!  Doctor please...," Megan pleaded.  She quickly found herself nearly upside down and a cold wet pad being wiped across her buttocks.  The smell of alcohol filled the air around her just before the gigantic needle punctured a vulnerable upturned cheek.  Megan screamed in pain.  She could feel the fluid inside the syringe getting pushed into her gluteus maximus.  It was quick at least, the doctor not wanting to torture the tiny thing any more than she had to.  

The doctor got up from her stool and carried Megan towards a door opposite the one she entered from.  The sound of her heels hitting the floor echoed through the space.  The new room was sparse.  Completely white.  Only a dark windowed area with a narrow desk and chair occupied the room.  She sat down at the desk and released Megan from her grip.  

Megan rubbed at her aching rear, lifting her hand to inspect how much blood she was losing.  She gripped her cheek harder to stop the flow.  "What the fuck, Doctor?!  You could have really hurt me."

"Please, Ms. Humphrey, you're being a tad over overdramatic," the doctor scolded.  She pressed a numeric code into a keypad built into the desk and suddenly a small door opened behind Megan.  "Please step inside Ms. Humphrey."

"What?!  No... fuck you.  You're not putting me in a fucking cage, goddam-," Megan's protests were cut short as the impatient doctor simply shoved her inside with little more than a flick of her wrist.

Megan fell backwards onto her bruised backside.  The door came back down and Megan found herself briefly in the dark.  Lights flickered on above her as more than just the large window provided the small space with light.  The doctor sat on the other side of the enclosure, continuing with her notes.  Megan threw herself against the glass and began pounding.

"HEY!  HEY!  YOU LET ME OUTTA HERE NOW!"

The doctor looked up briefly and then began typing something at a computer, just out of Megan's sight.  A hum began to fill the small space, like machinery just warming up.  Another door opened in the ceiling, releasing a robotic arm that began to lower.  Megan looked back to the doctor in fear.

"Please... what... what are you gonna do?"

"Just hold still, Ms. Humphrey, and it'll be over in a moment," the doctor said through the intercom.

A drawer popped open in the wall, filled with various glass cylinders... cartridges actually.  The robotic arm moved towards it and then self loaded a canister.  A needle dropped from underneath it.

"Oh fuck...," Megan screamed.  She darted for the corner to avoid the sting of the giant hypodermic.  The robotic arm followed her, but was unable to keep up. As long as she kept running, Megan thought, she wouldn't get stuck with that thing.

"Please, Ms. Humphrey... we can't continue work on the vaccine until you're injected.  Please just cooperate.  Please don't make me gas you.  It just prolongs the entire process."

"FUCK YOU, YOU SADISTIC BITCH!  GET ME OUTTA HERE!"

The doctor shrugged her shoulders and began typing again.  A pale mist began filling the small hermetically sealed chamber.  Megan continued to dodge the needle, but felt light headed.  The gas worked fast and within seconds, Megan collapsed on the floor.  The last thing she saw before passing out was the needle penetrating her abdomen.

It was hours later when Megan finally came to.  She felt groggy again, but this time she turned over and vomited.  She had a new sore red spot on her stomach to match the one on her ass.  The aching she'd experienced the first time she awoke paled in comparison to the tortures the doctor made her endure.  She pressed herself against the glass to steady herself as she climbed to her feet.  The room on the other side was empty, the doctor having left to attend to other matters while Megan was out.

Megan began pounding on the glass again, desperate to be let out.  "Hey... HEY... please... I feel sick.  Something's wrong."

The door swung open and the less than amused looking doctor entered.  "Nice of you to finally join us again.  Now we're completely behind schedule because you couldn't just cooperate."

"Please... I feel sick... help me," Megan pleaded.

"It's too early to feel the effects of the virus yet.  You took a hypodermic to the stomach, that's all your feeling right now."

"Virus?  What?  What virus?  What are you saying?"  Things just kept getting weirder and more frightening.  Megan was losing any and all ability to cope with it.  "You said... you said you were working on a way to make me normal sized again.  Why did you inject me with a virus?"

"The doctor seemed confused by the tiny woman's questions, "I'm afraid you misunderstood, Ms. Humphrey.  We're working on a vaccine for the virus.  The miniaturization process is quite irreversible."

Megan began to cry, pounding her fist against the glass in frustration.  "Please!  Can't you just be straight with me?!  What is happening?  Why are you doing this to me?  Doctor... Becky... it's Becky, right?  Please..."

The doctor leaned into the microphone.  She paused for a moment... was she actually feeling sorry for this one?  Somehow, even after all the subjects she'd experimented on, was this one little woman actually stirring emotions in her?  "I work for a group of very powerful people, Ms. Humphrey.  Very rich people," she began.  "And what do very powerful and very rich people want more than anything?  More.  More power, more money, but most of all... more time."

"What are you talking about?"  Megan moaned as she held her aching gut, sobbing.

"After covid, the fear of future, more deadly pandemics struck some very influential people with the kind of uncertainty they were not used to.  These are people that control governments, buy and sell wars, manipulate economies to their liking.  They wanted assurances that they'd survive long after the rest of the world died."

"Doctor... Becky... please, what is this place?"

"A large group of these men got together and made a pact.  They created this place so that we would be free to experiment at will.  We made progress, but there's only so much to learn from animal testing... we needed human trials.  Problem is... volunteers are few and far between when it comes to some of the deadliest pathogens known to man."

"Becky... what'd you do to me?"

"The Russians had the miniaturization tech first, and The Group paid wildly for it.  It made it much easier to house and hide large numbers of subjects for extended trial periods.  First we used derelicts, drug addicts, people on death row... but we needed more, and much healthier specimens.  That's when The Group created The Allotment."

"Becky?"

"People are approached randomly and asked a simple question, "how much would it take to make a family member disappear?'  Families tend to search for loved ones for years... unless they're responsible for their disappearance.  You probably wouldn't be surprised at the high numbers people ask for, but the low ones... well, you wouldn't believe how little their own blood is worth to some.  The Group pays either way."  The doctor concluded, "and for what they pay us, I don't really care what their methods are."

Megan slumped to the floor, completely at a loss.  "It doesn't make any sense... why me?"

"Someone you considered a loved one wanted you gone, Ms. Humphrey."

Megan lifted her face to look the doctor in the eyes, "but I don't have anyone."

"I'm sorry?"

"I'm alone... an only child... and my parents... my parents died in a car crash five years ago..."

"A husband?"

Megan shook her head.

"This doesn't make any sense."  The doctor rolled her chair towards the computer to pull up Megan's profile.

"You live in Springville, correct?"  The doctor asked.

"Yes," Megan replied.

"Your name is spelled M-E-G-H-A-N H-U-M-P-H-R-Y?"

"Yes," Megan was too distraught to notice the H at first, "wait... no... there's no H."

The doctor next tried to confirm Megan's address, but she had no idea where the one on file was.

"Oh shit-," the doctor quickly cupped her hand to her mouth, but it was too late.

"What do you mean 'oh shit'?  Becky?!  What'd you people do?!"

"Oh nonononononono," the doctor began frantically typing.  She pressed a large red button on the desk and talked into a skinny microphone, "I need to talk to someone in 'acquisitions'... RIGHT FUCKING NOW!"

After a few agonizing seconds, a male voice came over the loudspeaker, "Department of Acquisitions, how can I help you?"

"I need you to pull up the file for subject 032167... Humphrey, Meghan... with an H."

"Yes, I have the file in front of me, what seems to be the problem?"  The voice asked.

"I think one of your fuck-up agents nabbed the wrong person."  The doctor looked back to Megan, whose eyes were filled with hurt and terror.  She realized she had left chamber's intercom system online and that Megan had heard everything.  She shut it off and looked away.  It didn't make any difference... Megan's tiny, sensitive ears could hear their entire conversation through the glass anyway.

"That's impossible, Doctor.  We're very thorough," the voice replied.

"Well look at the woman in the profile and check the camera feed inside the injection chamber.  Does this look like the same person?!  This is sloppy... and we don't do sloppy.  Someone needs to answer for this."

There was a few minutes of silence and then the man's voice returned.  "We're looking into the situation."

The doctor hesitated before she could bring herself to look at Megan.  The tiny woman had slid down the side of the glass and was crying on the floor, staring at the doctor with absolute anguish in her eyes.  No, the doctor thought, this was not a desirable situation, indeed.  And above all else, she was getting upset with herself for empathizing with what was nothing more than another subject.  No different than the others really.  An inconvenient state of mind, to be sure.

She pressed down on the chamber's intercom button again, "Ms.  Humphrey... Megan, I'm going to send you to your room now so you can rest."

"Please... Becky...  can you fix this?"

"Please go to your room," the doctor said as she averted her eyes towards the desktop, mostly to avoid seeing the look in Megan's.  She typed another code into the pin pad and yet another door opened on the opposite side of the chamber.

Megan placed her hand against the glass and continued to plead with Doctor Whitfield.  "Doctor?"

"Please, Megan... you need to go rest now."

Megan slowly stood up.  She lowered her head and began to walk across the chamber.  Her eyes never left the doctor, who in turn couldn't bring herself to look at the tiny woman.  Megan examined the entryway to the door for a moment and then reluctantly stepped inside.  It was an even smaller room, circular in shape, about the size of an elevator.   The door slammed shut behind her and the entire room took off down a long corridor.  Megan fell flat on her ass as it sped off, making the pain in her backside smart even worse.  

There was light at the far end approaching fast.  When she reached it, Megan found herself in a long, gigantic hallway.  Again, everything was white and bathed in harsh, blinding light.  What appeared to be glass compartments lined either side of he hallway.  At this moment she realized she wasn't inside a tiny elevator, but some kind of high tech pneumatic tube system.  Megan's mind flashed to her childhood when she'd often wonder what it would be like to ride inside the container at the bank drive through.  Now she found that she was little more than a deposit herself.

The canister made a sudden downward turn, sending Megan toppling again.  It stopped and sealed itself above one of the glass compartments with a hissing sound.  The bottom of the canister opened up, dropping Megan into the cage where she crumpled to the floor.  The ceiling sealed closed with another hiss and the canister took off above her.

Megan struggled back to her feet.  She couldn't stand up straight because her compartment, or rather her cell, was clearly meant to cage smaller creatures than she.  It was sparse, only a sponge in one corner with a packet of tissues sitting on top.  Presumedly it was to be her bed and bedding, but it was far too small for her to lay on.  There was also a protrusion in another corner that she quickly realized was her toilet, connected to a tube so her excretions could be easily collected and studied.  The walls were clear, even the ceiling and floor.  The two cells to her sides were empty, but beneath her there was a blonde woman sitting on the end of her sponge bed.  

She was nude as well.  Smaller than Megan, the results of proper dosing of a subject with the shrinking catalyst.  She was leaning forward, clearly sobbing into her hands.  And below her was another woman, and below her another... and another... and another.  On and on until the many layers of glass began to fog Megan's view.  Even past the two empty cells to her right and left, there were others.  Some were crying, others were clearly sick in their sponge beds.  Megan imagined the sponges made for easy clean up after these monsters were done with their 'subjects,' a thought that made her shudder.  Across a wide expanse, almost like a glass canyon, was another wall.  Segmented like her side... each housing a tiny man.

Megan dropped to her knees and and began knocking on the glass to get the little blonde's attention, "hey!  Hey down there!  Can you hear me?!"

The little woman looked up for but a moment, only to bury her face back in her hands again.  Just below her was an African American woman who was staring at Megan, shaking her head with her finger to her lips.  Another chill went up Megan's spine.  She crawled on her hands and knees over to the sponge and sat down on the end.  She rested her elbows on her knees and began to weep into her hands, almost mirroring the woman below her.

"This isn't happening... this isn't happening... this isn't happening... wake up Megan...," she chanted over and over again, hoping to god that it was true.  As if being reduced to doll size wasn't enough, the mystery of what she'd been injected with clawed at her mind.  Minutes turned to hours, but no real way for her to tell how long she'd been in the cell.  Nothing to occupy her mind with except the fear.

Then, after god knows how long, a loud bang filled the open space followed by the sound of footsteps crossing the floor.  An enormous, familiar face filled Megan's view.  It was Doctor Whitfield, only now she wasn't wearing her bulky, awkward hazmat suit.  She peered around inside Megan's containment cell and then jotted down a few more notes.

"I apologize about the cramped space, Ms. Humphrey.  I'll be sure to get you another sponge to sleep on.  We pride ourselves on keeping our subjects as comfortable as possible," the doctor said through a built in speaker in the front of the enclosure.

Megan looked up from her tear soaked hands with a burning hatred in her eyes.  She leapt from the edge of the sponge and attacked the glass that separated her from the doctor, calling the giant woman every expletive she could think of.  The doctor only heard faint muffled sounds.

"I can't hear you, Ms. Humphrey.  You need to use the intercom button below you."

Megan hadn't noticed it in her rage, but there was a rectangular protrusion at the bottom of the speaker.  She slapped it with great force and continued berating the giant woman in front of her.  "You fucking bitch!  You... you fucking people... let me outta here right now!"

Doctor Whitfield ignored Megan, this was hardly the first time she'd been yelled at by a subject, and most certainly wouldn't be the last.  Just part of the job.

"Now, Ms. Humphrey... we will not tolerate any more outbursts like this, so get it out of your system while you can."

"Fuck you!" Megan replied eloquently.

Once again, Doctor Whitfield ignored Megan and made another note on her trusty clipboard.  "Please place the collar you've been provided around your neck, Ms. Humphrey."

"Collar?! You can't be serious?!"  Megan looked around the cell and found the collar sitting behind the tissue packet.  She picked it up and slammed it against the glass.  "This?  You want me to wear this?!  I'll tell ya where you can shove this..."

"Ms. Humphrey, if you do not comply I will be forced to flood your cell and flush the contents."

"You wouldn't dare" Megan replied.

Doctor Whitfield sighed and then lifted her phone to her face, "Shawn, please give 031267 her only warning."

A few seconds passed and then the roof hatch opened again, releasing a torrent with it.  The force of the inrush sent the tiny brunette spinning throughout the cell.  The small space began to fill quickly and before she could fully react, Megan found herself gasping for breath at the top of the cell.

"Please... please stop...," she cried out just before the last few bubbles of air were forced out.  Megan pounded on the glass ceiling, terrified she was about to drown.  She looked to Doctor Whitfield for help, but all she got was an indifferent gaze.  Megan pressed herself up against the glass, pleading with her eyes as she released the last breath she'd taken before being submerged.  The doctor raised the phone to her face again and suddenly the flooded cell began to drain out the back.  Megan took in one giant breath of air as soon as the she could.  She looked back to the doctor again to be met with the same look of indifference.  Megan's anger was replaced by fear.

"I do hope you're ready to comply, Ms. Humphrey.  Please know I take no pleasure in doing what I just did.  You have to know how important our work is.  Now please place the collar around your neck.  It'll allow us to monitor your vitals."

The last of the liquid warning drained out of the cell and Megan was left a sobbing wreck face down on the floor.  She wrapped the collar around her neck, feeling defeated... feeling like a slave.

The doctor looked at the tiny woman with genuine concern, something she'd thought she'd lost over the years... compassion for her subjects.  Getting attached was not something she could afford herself, knowing how little time many of them had left.  "I do apologize, Ms. Humphrey.  I know you're not supposed to be here.  I assure you the matter has been corrected and the guilty party will be joining the subjects over there," Doctor Whitfield said as she thumbed towards the male side.

A soaked Megan slowly crawled towards the front and weakly hit the intercom button again.  She propped herself up against the glass with her back to the doctor, no longer wishing to view her tormentor.  "What do you mean the matter is corrected?  Huh, Becky?  I'm still in this tank... I still have whatever it is you injected me with incubating inside me."  Megan looked slightly over her shoulder and then down toward the little blonde, who was now staring right at her.  "Can't you fix this?"

Doctor Whitfield took a moment to collect her emotions, wanting to stay as professional as possible... as was her nature.  "As I've already explained, the miniaturization process is permanent, and as for... the other... for that...," she stiffened her lip and fought back against the pain in her jaw that always seemed to precede the welling of tears.  She thought about it briefly, unable to remember the last time she actually cried.  "I've been instructed to read a statement...

"This corporation is deeply sorry for our inadvertent acquisition of you, said aquiree.  Please know that your sacrifice will benefit the whole of mankind and will not go unrewarded.  Your case will be a blemish on the integrity of this company for years to come.  Subjects such as yourself are hard to come by, and your service here is appreciated more than we can adequately express.  A large allotment has been authorized to be deposited in the bank accounts of your immediate family.  We cannot make up for our mistake, we can only assure you that no further mistakes will be made in the future.  

Megan slammed the side of her fist against the intercom button again, "you've got to be fucking kidding me."

"Ms. Humphrey, please watch your tone."

Feeling tired and drained, physically and emotionally, Megan reluctantly complied.  "I told you I don't have any family."

"In the event no family is available to receive said allotment, the subject may select a charity of their choosing," the doctor continued.

Megan could only shake her head at the absurdity of what she was hearing.  "Is there a paramilitary group I can fund under the condition that they burn this concentration camp to the ground?"  She snarked.

"Ms. Humphrey!  I would hardly compare my work to that of... of... Nazis!  You best watch your tongue," the doctor said sternly.  "I'd be more than happy to give you another swim!  Remember, you weren't bought and paid for like these others and are far more expendable."

"Ah, Frau Whitfield... have I struck a nerve?" Megan prodded, not really caring what the consequences were at this point.  She still refused to face the doctor and kept her eyes locked with the woman below her.

"What I'm doing here, what WE are doing here... it's important. We may save the world someday... why can't you understand that?"

"Nothing more than a pretty Mengele in a pair of pumps," Megan pressed harder.  "I may be on this side of the glass, but you... you, die Ärztin, are in quite a state of denial."

It'd been a long time since one of the subjects got under the doctor's skin like Megan had.  She thought about flushing the tiny brunette right there, but held her calm.  She was a professional after all.  Still, her heart did ache for this girl in a way she wasn't prepared for... and to be called out by someone in her lowly position felt insulting...

...even if deep down she knew it to be true.

Once again, the doctor stiffened her lip and began penning something furiously on her clipboard.  She was finished with this conversation, determined not to let what was little more than just another subject continue to antagonize her.  As she scribbled something hard on the clipboard she gave Megan instructions.

"From now on, you will be referred to as Subject 031267.  Memorize it."

"Kind of a mouthful, isn't it Becky?  You can just call me Megan if you like," Megan chuckled to relieve the fear pulsing in her chest.  "Even if you're running a death camp here, you can still give us the dignity of treating us like human beings for what little time we may have left."

The doctor felt hot all of a sudden.  She was letting Megan get to her, and she knew it.  "I... uh... I expect you to ring out your sponge near the drain.  I will still be sure to get you a second one, as I promised.  The Kleenex sheets are sealed well, so there should be little water seepage."  She finished scribbling on the board and slid what looked like a card into the lower corner of the glass.  "I will be in here daily to check up on you.  You will be expected to comply with every test, is that clear?"

"Ya, mein fuhrer," Megan replied.

The doctor was nearly in tears at this point.  Forced to stare at the back of the tiny woman's head while she continued to belittle her.  Why couldn't she just understand?  Why did she have to make things so hard?  This wasn't her fault, she only doing her job.  

One person... and she was that, after all.  A person.  Not a subject, not an experiment.  A human being.  One person... less than eight inches tall, had made her question her entire philosophy in a single afternoon; made her feel... small.

Megan finally turned around to stare down the now visibly upset doctor.  She raised up on her knees and pressed a single hand on the glass and the other on the intercom button.  "You and this company can save the altruistic bullshit, Becky.  No amount of your blood money is going to any charity.  You and I both know this.  It just looks good on paper, doesn't it?  I'm a bonus.  Nothing more than a little extra credit for the book keepers.  A happy convenience."

The doctor could no longer hide the emotions she'd worked so hard to suppress.  A single tear rolled down her cheek and splashed against the immaculate floor.  

"And as for your delusions of 'saving the world,' do you really believe anyone but the people you serve will ever benefit from your work?  You're fucking kidding yourself, Becky.  I think you've swallowed so much bullshit over the years that you've grown to like the taste."

Megan paused for a moment, as if a lightbulb had turned on inside her head.

"You have a chance to do a good thing here, doc.  Me... and everyone else here may be doomed, but you can make it right with one person."

The doctor wiped her face with the palm of her hand and adjusted her glasses.  "I don't... I don't understand, Megan."

"Meghan Humphrey," Megan replied.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know who she is, but don't you think she just earned a stay of execution... of sorts?"  Megan's voice no longer taunted.  She was very serious.  If she was doomed to die, maybe she could at least save someone else from the same fate.  She slapped her hand on the glass and stared deeply into Doctor Whitfield's eyes.  "Promise me."

The doctor placed her enormous hand on the glass, "I... I'll see what I can arrange."

Megan slapped the glass again, "promise me, goddamnit!"

"Yes... yes I will."  The Doctor pulled her hand away only to cover her eyes under her glasses.  "I'm so sorry, Megan.  I'm so sorry this happened to you... I mean... that we did this to you."  She removed her hand from her face and placed both on either side of Megan's cell, letting her face come close to the glass.  "I can't make any promises, Megan, but we are very close to a vaccine.  Very close.  Maybe..."

Megan raised her hand and looked away in insult, "just stop... don't do that.  So what?  You cure me and then what?  I become a lab rat for the next thing that comes along?"

The doctor removed her glasses and sobbed openly in front of so many others that she'd been so cold to.  The subjects on either side of the hallway couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"Just save her.  Save her and maybe... maybe you can still save your soul."  Megan tuned around and sat with her back against the glass again.  

The doctor tilted her head towards the ceiling, subconsciously trying to let the bright lights dry her tears.  She wiped her face and replaced her glasses.  She took one more look at Megan and then spoke, "the vi... the virus needs to gestate for a week before we can begin trials.  I'll be back in the morning to begin testing."  And with that, the doctor stormed down the hall and out out the door.

Megan sat for long period of time against the glass.  She stared blankly at the wet sponge that had settled into the middle of the cell.  She felt sick, but not from the virus.  She knew.  She knew what was on the card that labeled her prison.  Whatever she'd been infected with was written on it, but she was too afraid to look.  After what felt like hours, Megan finally mustered up the courage to accept her fate.

Backlit and in reverse, the card read:

Subject 031267
Age: 24
Strain:  Zaire
Contagion:  Ebola

Megan almost began to laugh, but it devolved into deep, tearful wailing.  What little hope she had just evaporated.  Her legs gave beneath her and she collapsed onto the floor.  She sobbed like she never had before in her life... alone... and with no escape from an inevitable living hell.  She buried her face in her elbow and weeped against the floor.  Then... a knock...

Megan sat up surprised.  The little blonde woman in the cell below was looking up at her.  Her eyes were full of tears, but also empathy.  She raised the palm of her hand above her head and pressed it against the glass.  Megan gave the woman a sad grin and then mirrored her hand's placement on the floor.  

Two prisoners on death row... not quite touching... trying to comfort one another through the transparent barrier between them.  Both terrified of the future speeding towards them like a runaway truck.  Neither wanted anything more than to hold the other, something that simply couldn't be.  Protocols and what-have-you.

The Group's books would record no anomaly that year.  Though torn away from her life for her own protection, a certain Meghan Humphrey would get to live out the rest of her days... completely unaware of she who took her place.


The End
"People like Coldplay and voted for the Nazis, you can't trust people, Jeremy."

-Super Hans, Peep Show

MrWitness
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Re: Clinical Trials

Post by MrWitness » Fri Apr 09, 2021 4:13 pm

Thank you! It is a nice piece of writing art! The only thing is... it's soo short. But anyway, I'm glad you shared it.

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Bloodthirstybutcher
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Re: Clinical Trials

Post by Bloodthirstybutcher » Fri Apr 09, 2021 6:58 pm

MrWitness wrote:
Fri Apr 09, 2021 4:13 pm
Thank you! It is a nice piece of writing art! The only thing is... it's soo short. But anyway, I'm glad you shared it.
Thanks for reading it! I think sometimes it’s better to go too short than too long, which is usually my problem. Lol
"People like Coldplay and voted for the Nazis, you can't trust people, Jeremy."

-Super Hans, Peep Show

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