Back to Where it all Started Surviving on Short Notice chapter 10 by deleted_user

Evelyn's eyes narrowed, her sadistic grin faltering for a split second into something sharper—recognition mixed with amusement. There, peeking out from the lip of her purse like a minuscule rat, was the tiny figure she'd thought disposed of. Experiment 015—Chewchew, as she'd mockingly renamed them—had somehow survived the gas, the dog, the fall, and now dared to spy on her latest acquisition. The audacity of it all sent a thrill through her. But survival wasn't enough; this little pest needed a lesson in permanence.

She strode forward with deliberate slowness, her heeled boots thudding against the lab floor like seismic events. The new volunteer—now Subject 016—squirmed futilely in the vial clutched in Evelyn's hand, her shrunken form about the size of a Barbie doll, still disoriented from the beam's effects. Evelyn ignored her for the moment, her focus locked on the purse. With a gloved hand, she reached down and plucked the tiny intruder out by the scruff of their neck, or what passed for it at their diminished scale. They dangled helplessly, no bigger than an ant in her grasp, their limbs flailing in panic.

"Well, well," Evelyn murmured, her voice a booming whisper that vibrated through the air. "Look who's decided to play hide-and-seek. I thought Milo would have turned you into fertilizer by now, but here you are, stubborn as ever." She held them up to her eye level, squinting slightly. The gas had worked better than expected, shrinking them further overnight, but not quite to oblivion. No matter; she could fix that.

Subject 016 pounded weakly against the glass of her vial, her wide eyes fixed on the scene unfolding before her. She couldn't make out the details of the tiny figure Evelyn held, but the scientist's casual cruelty sent chills through her miniaturized body.

Evelyn chuckled, a low rumble that shook your body in her fingers. "You know, 015, you've given me an idea. Why waste you on the dog when you could be... educational? Let's see how small we can make you before you become truly invisible to the world." She carried both captives to the shrinking machine, its panels humming ominously as she inputted new parameters. The "durability" setting was maxed out—after all, she wanted results, not instant obliteration.

The green beam flashed again, targeted precisely at your chest. You felt the familiar nausea, the world expanding around them in a dizzying rush. When it cleared, you were even tinier, perhaps a millimeter tall now—near microscopic to the giantess above. Evelyn peered down, but even with her enhanced lab glasses, she could barely discern your form on the table. "Perfect," she said, satisfied. "Now, for some company."

She retrieved a small wire cage from a drawer—about the size of a hamster habitat, with mesh sides and a secure lid. Dumping Subject 016 inside first, she watched the young woman tumble onto the soft bedding at the bottom, her doll-sized body scrambling to her feet in confusion. Then, with a pair of tweezers, Evelyn carefully scooped up your shaken body or at least where she thought you were—and deposited you into the cage as well. To her, it was like handling dust; she couldn't even confirm if she'd gotten you, but the machine's logs assured her the subject was intact.

"There," Evelyn said, latching the cage shut and placing it on her desk amid stacks of notes and glowing monitors. "You two can get acquainted while I prepare the tests. Participate nicely, and maybe I'll consider regrowing you... someday. Resist, and well, let's just say the cage has a direct line to the incinerator." She loomed over the enclosure for a moment, her face a vast, blurred eclipse, before turning away to her work, her heels clicking into the distance.

Inside the cage, the world was immensely blurry at your new size. Subject 016—her name was Mia, as she'd introduce herself soon—sat huddled in the corner, her knees drawn up to her chest. She was about 6 inches tall relative to the normal world, her skirt disheveled and her sandals kicked off in the fall. The cage felt like a prison cell to her, the mesh walls towering like skyscrapers. She wiped tears from her eyes, trying to process the betrayal, the shrinking, the madness of it all.

That's when she noticed the movement—a tiny figure, no bigger than a doll to her, stumbling across the bedding toward her. You cautiously approached her large feet, now insect-sized in comparison to Mia, you waved arms frantically, "Hey! Hey, down here! Can you hear me?"

Mia blinked, leaning forward. She saw the humanoid shape—naked, battered, but unmistakably a person. "Oh my God," she whispered, her voice a gentle boom to your ears. She reached out tentatively, her hand enormous yet careful, scooping you up onto her palm. Up close, you were like a living action figure. "You were shrunk too? What happened to you? What did she mean about the dog?"

You steadied yourself on her skin and explained as best you could—the pills, the shrinking, the police raid, the escape from Milo at Evelyn's house, hiding in her purse. Your voice was tiny and high-pitched, but Mia listened intently, her eyes widening with horror. "That bitch," Mia muttered. "She tricked me too. Said it was a quick study for cash. I needed it for tuition... and now this."

As you talked, a tentative bond formed. Mia shared her story: a college freshman, dreaming of biology (ironically), with a family back home who probably thought she'd flaked on them. You opened up about your own dashed grad school hopes, the weeks of torment as a lab rat. Laughter crept in unexpectedly—Mia giggling at the absurdity of hiding from a terrier, you joking about feeling like a speck in a snow globe. It was gallows humor, but it humanized this hellscape, and before the terror of Evelyn's "tests" you needed a plan of escape. But first, maybe some rest might be the best thing for you both right now?