ALWAYS FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS
By Minimizer
Chapter 23
Sandi went down the stairs as quickly as she could, lugging the aquarium as she went. "They're gone!" she called out as she placed the rectangular glass prison in the middle of the coffee table.
Steve walked over to peer inside at the blue towel and discarded rags that lined the floor. "You sure they didn't just shrink out of sight?" he asked with a chuckle.
"No, look! See the thread going down the outside? They made a rope and climbed out!"
He studied the thin strand carefully. "I'll be damned," Steve replied, shaking his head. "I wouldn't have thought they'd be able to pull that off. Well, who cares? They're too small to be any threat, and they can't go anywhere in the building that we can't find them, anyway. Besides, the way this stuff obviously works, they'll shrink to invisibility soon enough." He let his eyes survey the assembled group of tiny people, and as he did Tricia gave a shudder and shrank a little bit more. Tears flowed from her eyes as she looked up at Bob, who had partially surrounded her with his bulk. He didn't touch her though, for fear of becoming so aroused that he got smaller again himself. Presently, he was the tallest man left in the group at somewhere around two feet high, but even then he knew he stood no chance against the gigantic Steve.
"Who are you talking about?" asked Ben, about half a foot smaller than Bob. He held his T-shirt over him as if it was some kind of shield, but even as he did he shivered and shrunk another half inch or so. "Damn! This isn't the first time you've done this, is it? Who else did you use that shit on?"
"None of your business," snapped Steve. "You can't tell me what to do any more, little man. Now, all of you, into the aquarium before you get so small I can't find you in the carpet!" With that, he ripped the tiny thread free from its fastener and cast it aside, then started plucking up his tiny captives and dropping them inside the glass cage. Some of the people, like Beth and Laura, were so tiny he had to make an effort not to crush them by accident. Others, like Carol, were almost the size of Barbie dolls, and squirmed most deliciously in his hand.
Three, however, were too large to fit inside the cage. These were Ben, Bob and Melissa. "What about us?" asked Bob angrily. "You gonna stuff us in there, too?"
"Not exactly," replied Steve with an evil grin. He suddenly reached out and grabbed Ben's shirt, forcing him back and up against the ground. While the much smaller man struggled, Steve wrapped him up in his own jacket and tied the arms together. Then he picked up a pair of discarded pants and used these to bind Ben's legs. "That ought to hold you for a bit," he chuckled, returning to the aquarium to cover it securely with the black metal lid. "Okay, Sandi, I think you know where to go from here," he added with a wink, reaching out for the cowering form of Melissa.
"You know it, lover," she giggled back, grabbing hold of Bob and forcing him on top of the squirming two-foot-tall girl.
"No, please!" she screamed, struggling to get away, but her fighting only sent chilling tingles up along her body at Bob's touch.
"Oh, God!" he yelled out as he rapidly hardened. "Ohhh…I'm so sorry, Melissa, I can't help myself! Trish, please forgive me!" His voice seemed to rise in pitch as he screamed in the direction of the aquarium. "I can't help myself! Oh--ohhhh!"
"Frank!" Melissa shouted. "Oh, Frank, I wish this were you! Oh my God, this is unbeliEEEvable!"
She gave a squeal and began to gasp as Bob finally surrendered to the drug and began to make love to her right there on the carpet. Realizing it was safe to release their prisoners now, Steve and Sandi let go and sat back to watch eagerly. After a moment Sandi crawled over and began to massage Steve's back, and he reached over to put a hand on hers. "This is great," she whispered in his ear. "This is the coolest thing I've ever seen! Look at how small they are, and they're just going at it oblivious to anything else. I can't wait to see how little they get!"
"I know," he told her. "It's making me hot all over again! As soon as we make sure the others are too small to escape, you and I should have another go."
"Yeah," she breathed, kissing him along his neck. "I know what you mean. I can't wait!"
Inside the aquarium, the little people were all scattered around, in various states of emotional distress. Carol, tallest of the group, was crying and occasionally babbling poor lost Larry's name. Pete and Marcy, oblivious to the danger of physical contact, were huddled against each other, talking softly, apparently not caring that they would, every few moments, shrink another few tenths of an inch. Adam, Karen, and Laura were quietly talking in the corner, paying no attention to the rest, but not touching each other. The rest all had their faces pressed up against the glass, grimly watching the action below.
"I forgive you, Bob," Tricia muttered under her breath. "We'll get them back somehow! Do what you have to do! I still love you!"
"Oh, my God, this is making me hot just watching!" gasped Frank, trying to hide his expanding manhood with his hands. He turned away, red with embarrassment, and collapsed into the towel at the bottom of the aquarium. "I wish that were me down there, God damn it!" he cried bitterly, even as he shuddered and shrank a little bit more.
"We'd better not look," said Bill sadly. "Like Ben said, any time we even get slightly turned on, we lose a little more height."
"Yeah, well, I think you and I have stopped," Judy told him, touching his arm softly. He felt a shiver go up his back, but didn't get any smaller. "See what I mean? You and I only had a little bit of that stuff. We just shared a shot, remember? You think this might be it for us?"
"Could be," he told her. "If only there were some way out of here! We might be able to go find help, while those assholes are busy with their peep show."
"I can help," said Tricia suddenly, standing up and walking over to them. She was at least head and shoulders higher than both of them and seemed totally unconcerned by her nakedness. She also looked totally calm, as if she'd come to grips with her present situation. "I think I can get you up to the top, and if you go out behind the light, you should be able to get loose. I'd come with you, but--but I want to be with Bob when they put him in here, no matter what happens, you know?" She hung her head sadly.
"Yeah, I know," said Judy comfortingly. Reaching down, she wrapped herself up in a piece of discarded rags, even as Bill did the same, unknowingly putting on the very piece of fabric Rich was wearing earlier in the evening. "I like your idea, Trish," Judy went on, trying to get comfortable in the rough clothing. "I'm just glad they didn't turn on the lamp up there. It'd be too hot then."
Tricia nodded and moved over to the side wall of the aquarium. There, she gave Bill a boost up to the edge. From that position, he pulled himself up and hooked his arm over the dark fluorescent bulb that stretched across the roof overhead. Once in place, he helped Judy up as well, and the two were quickly outside. They lowered themselves down the outer edge, out of Steve and Sandi's view, dropping quietly to the coffee table without too much trouble. From there they slipped down to the carpet and ran over to hide underneath the couch.
"Now what?" asked Judy, looking out at the immense room that surrounded them.
"I don't know," replied Bill sheepishly. "I haven't thought that far ahead."
Ben Collins watched in horror as his two friends Bob and Melissa were forced together and compelled to have sex right in front of their giant captors. Not to say that sexual acts were all that big a surprise or embarrassment to him any more--hell, he watched Pete and Marcy make out twice in the kitchen less than an hour ago! What was wrong about it was that they weren't really willing. Melissa and Frank were engaged and madly in love, and it must be torture for Frank to watch his fiancée taken right in front of him like that, especially while helpless to prevent it. Bob, on the other hand, was more of a free spirit, though lately he affixed himself to Trish almost exclusively. He didn't seem to mind watching her dalliance with Beth earlier, but then, neither had virtually everyone else in the room. He probably wasn't taking this latest incident well, but from where Ben lay entrapped in tied-up clothes, he couldn't really tell. All he could see was the floor, the underside of some furniture, and the two naked bodies writhing on the opposite side of the coffee table.
To his dismay, Ben realized the frenetic sex taking place before his eyes was turning him on. He was hard as a rock, and considering how tightly he was wrapped up at the moment, his erection had nowhere to go but up against the unyielding cloth. Every time he breathed, it seemed, new shivers rode up his shaft and into his groin. Though he tried to shut his eyes, he could still hear the involuntary lovers' moans and gasps, and that was enough.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Melissa climaxed with a loud and piercing shriek. Ben opened his eyes by reflex and saw her arching her back underneath Bob. Then, as Ben's eyes grew wide, she started visibly getting smaller. He felt his own body stiffen even further at the sight. For some reason he couldn't explain, the sight of her dwindling away turned him on unlike anything he'd ever seen before. Bob, still inside her and thrusting away madly, began to grunt and groan with ever-increasing passion as she closed about him, and for an instant Ben imagined that was him in that position. This was all he needed, and for the first time in his life, without any manipulation by his own hand or the female body, he came.
Even as he scrunched up his face at the overwhelmingly pleasurable sensation, the tingling that accompanied it warned him of what was come. His body shuddered and began to shrink, even as Bob orgasmed on the other side of the room and began to do the same. Ben felt himself gradually dwindling, and as he did, the impromptu straitjacket about him loosened and fell away. He stood up, pulling his legs free of the oversized knotted pants, and wiped himself clean with a dangling chunk of fabric. By the time that was done, the shrinking was over.
Climbing out of the pile of clothes, he looked around at a much larger world. How small was he now? He had no idea, but from the size of the couch next to him he figured about four or five inches. He heard Sandi and Steve exchange a couple of words, then watched in horror as they lifted up the exhausted, doll-like forms of Bob and Michelle and carried them out of sight, probably to join the others. They would come for him next, of that he was sure.
With a sinking heart, Ben reasoned he was now the only one left who was free. If anyone was going to do anything about Steve and Sandi, it would have to be him. He had no idea how to do it, or where he could possibly go to be safe from them, but he knew he had to try.
Steeling himself, he turned and began to run.
The four escapees all spun around to find the source of the voice, but saw nothing. "Did you all hear that?" asked Michelle after a moment, her hand over her pounding heart.
"Yeah," Rich replied warily. "It was pretty weak, but I heard it. Well, whoever you are, if you want to know what I'm planning, I'm going to find whoever made this stuff and kick their ass! Releasing something this dangerous into the public? How the hell did they get this past the FDA, anyway?"
There was a laugh from somewhere nearby. They all spun around, looking to see who was there, but it was like the voice came from empty air. "The fine people at the FDA would have heart attacks if they knew about this product," the thin, almost mechanical words replied. "My clients do intend to sell it at some point, but not as a publicly marketed item. In any case, I won't bore you with the details now."
"Well, where the hell are you, then?" demanded Barb, who was now standing and walking around on the rough tile surface of the hallway. She squinted and seemed to focus on something very small that was sailing around in the air perhaps a quarter inch above her. "Are you that flyspeck moving around up there?" She pointed at it, but it was moving too quickly, circling around and among them with amazing swiftness.
"What flyspeck?" Rich started to peer around, but couldn't see anything. Michelle, too, was oblivious, but suddenly Samantha's tiny eyes widened and she gave an excited shout.
"I see it!" she yelled. "It looks like a little bug! Right there!" she started pointing and following the thing's flight around Rich, until finally it dropped down and settled in her hand.
Melissa and Barb both peered down as best they could, while Rich turned his head to try and see what the fraction-sized Sam was holding. Whatever it was, though, it was simply too tiny for them to make out, although Barb could definitely see something there at her new size. "It looks like a tiny insect," she muttered, "but it's so small!"
"It's not an insect," Sam explained. "It's a little spaceship, I think."
"Not exactly." The voice came directly from the miniature vehicle in Samantha's hand, loud enough for them all to hear, but not so much that she had to wince from the volume. "This is a microscopic robot, something we call a nano-drone. It's equipped for flight, as you've noticed, but it can only stay aloft for so long before landing to recharge its power cells. I use these things to observe what's being done with the company's product in the field. And, of course, to rescue those foolish enough to misuse the formula."
"Like me," said Sam with a sigh.
"Yes, but don't worry, Samantha. No one ever follows the directions, do they?" The mechanical voice laughed, an odd and unnatural sound. "You're far too big to rescue at the moment, in any case, but I've already saved a couple of others. Observe."
At that, the top of the little drone slid open, and two incredibly tiny forms stood out. "Oh my God!" gasped Samantha, leaning over to peer at the microscopic figures carefully. They looked like little pinpoints with just barely notable arms and legs. The two, a man and a woman, were waving at her and might have been speaking, but if so she couldn't hear a thing.
"What? What is it?" asked Barb, trying and failing to see what was going on.
"Two people," Sam called up. "Two really, really, teeny tiny people!" She shook her head and looked up at the others, almost laughing. "Now I don't feel so bad! Look at me, I'm a giantess!"
"God," said Rich, "if they're so small you can only barely see them, how tiny are they?"
"A couple dozen microns," said the hollow voice in the air. "When I found them, they were much larger, but after a few minutes they shrunk down to what we know is the maximum reduction threshold. If not for the safety of the drone, they'd be quite vulnerable to bacteria and the like at their size."
"Damn," muttered Sam. "And I thought I was having problems with dust mites! But how did they get so tiny?"
The speaker didn't answer right away, as if whoever was talking was taking a moment to confer with his tiny guests. Finally, the mechanically amplified voice announced, "They were forced to this state by your associate Steve, I'm afraid."
"That bastard!" muttered Rich angrily. "Damn him to Hell, anyway! He's got to be stopped!"
"We'll get him, hon," Barb told him, hugging his leg. He gave a little shudder, and shrunk just a little bit in her grip. "Oh, sorry!" she gasped, letting go and pulling away in fear.
"That's all right," he told her. "I don't like being so much bigger than you, so I was kind of hoping I'd join you down there."
"Well, then, kiss me, and I'll see if I can help you along." Barb laughed as he did so, then lifted her into the air, holding her little body up against his chest. She began to massage his pectoral muscles, and he obligingly shrank a tiny bit more.
Michelle rolled her eyes and looked back down at Sam, who was trying to keep her balance on Rich's occasionally dwindling shoulders. Finally, she just sat down cross-legged, still holding the little nanobot carefully in her hands. The microscopic people had by now fallen over from all the shaking, and together they crawled back into the bug-like machine and shut the door again.
"Hey, who are they, anyway?" asked Sam curiously as the two disappeared from sight. "I can't even recognize them, they're so tiny, although I must admit they're kinda familiar."
"Their names are Travis and Christie," came the reply. "I'm sure you know them. They certainly recognized all of you quickly enough."
"Yeah, I know who they are," Sam replied. "Some of the nicer people I've met here at school. What the hell happened to them...as if I couldn't guess?"
"Steve and Sandi used the potion on them independently, in order to derive pleasure from watching the resulting size change. Not too surprising--it's the usual pattern."
"Sandi? Sandi Douglas?" muttered Michelle, narrowing her eyes and scowling. "So, that's the bitch he was seeing! Oooh...that just burns me up! That little hussy! After we get back to normal and you beat the crap out of Steve, Rich, I want you to help me do the same thing to her!"
"Don't worry," replied Barb, looking up at her towering friend, "you won't need him. The two of us can take care of that ourselves."
"Yeah, that's nice and all," squeaked Sam, "but there's still one thing I want to know. Who the hell are we talking to right now, and where did you come from?"
The voice chuckled again. "Well, Samantha, you know me, even if you've never heard me speak before. Up until now, we've met only on the Internet. They call me Duncan Idaho."
Rich laughed at that, and Barb and Michelle both turned to look at him from their respective points of view. "What, you know him?" Barb called out.
"No, no," Rich replied. He was now only about twice Barbara's size, and she had her arms and legs wrapped around him. Although nothing sexual was happening, Barb was still caressing and kissing him repeatedly. A little embarrassed, Rich went on, "Err, that's a character from a book is all."
Sam just shook her tiny head. "That may be so, but I know that name for a different reason. You all don't know this, but I bought the shrinking formula from a company I heard about on the Internet."
"So?" Michelle asked, not understanding why that was important.
"I never talked with them directly," she replied. "I was given their contact information by someone I met online, and the pseudonym he used was Duncan Idaho!"