Breaking the Bad News Shrunken First Semester chapter 5 by VirtualFootprint and maximally

Max rolled over, yawned, and stretched. His arm touched something cold and hard, and he sat upright, confused. Dazed from sleep, it took him a moment to remember his new shrunken stature… and still another to realise this wasn’t the clothes drawer he’d fallen asleep in. “Where am I?” He muttered.

Looking around, he found himself surrounded by glass on all sides. Beyond, he could see a computer monitor, various books and a half-eaten bowl of refried beans all resting on the same wooden surface as his prison. “So, I’m in a jar on Kaley’s desk.” She must have moved him at some point. She’d even moved the panties he was using as a blanket with him. But what for?

There was movement across the room. Kaley opened the door to her room, and the pair immediately locked eyes. “Oh. You’re awake,” she said, sounding oddly stiff. “That’s… good. Did you sleep well?”

“Uh, yeah. Not bad.” He smiled. “I was more tired than I thought. It was a pretty stressful morning, to be fair.”

“Yup.” Kaley closed her door and came to sit at the desk beside him. She set some equipment she was carrying down and began typing at her computer.

“I mean, I guess I must have been pretty out of it, to not even notice you picking me up and moving me, right?”

“Right.” She nodded, without further explanation.

He scratched his head. “...uh… Kaley?” He asked. “Is everything okay? What happened at the seminar?”

The giantess froze. She half-turned toward him, avoiding his eyes. “I… have to break my promise, Max.”

“Huh?”

“I can’t help you grow back to normal.” She looked at him now, and he could see the guilt written clear across her face. “I mean – not forever! I swear I’ll do whatever I can to help you, eventually. But it might be a long time before I start. Years, even. I have… a priority.”

Max was stunned. She’d been so enthusiastic about restoring his height just a few hours earlier. “What happened at the seminar?” He repeated, more nervous.

Kaley sighed. “They were talking... about shrinking technology. And how, in the next few years, it’s only going to become more and more widespread. Soon, women everywhere will be able to buy their own tinies for personal use.” She looked at him. “And the way they were talking about “personal use”? It was barbaric, Max. Living people, used as sweat rags, stress toys, disposable entertainment. Like they were just things.”

“Shit.” Max muttered. There wasn’t much else to say. “So, what can we do to stop it?”

“We can’t.” She stood up. “Unfortunately, I believe these people are right. The rise of shrinking technology is inevitable. All I can do is try to provide an alternate service – offer products with the same functionality, but also safeguards, actual consideration for the wellbeing of the tiny inside. The thing is…” She fidgeted. “The thing is, to make those products, I’d need… a test subject.”

“Okay. So what does that have to do with…” Then it clicked. “Wait. Wait, you mean –?”

“For what it’s worth, Max, I really am sorry.”

The next thing he knew, Kaley was clamping a lid down over the rim of his jar. There was an opening in its centre with some kind of attachment; outside, he could see the giantess holding the other end of a long plastic tube. Max looked at her. Then at the half-eaten plate of beans. Then back to Kaley, pulling open the back of her leggings.

“Are you kidding me?!”

BBRRAAPPP

There was a moment of stillness. Then, the opening in the lid above rattled – and a hot, foul-smelling wind blasted out. The fart quickly filled every inch of the jar and began swirling in a thick cloud around Max, tainting his every breath with the scent of cheesy girl-fart. He fell to his knees, coughing and hacking.

Outside, he could hear Kaley talking. “Okay, looks like the delivery works…” The blonde muttered. She picked up the jar and studied it, sniffing the surrounding air. “And no leakage, as far as I can tell. Seems airtight, that’s good.”

“Kaley…” Max groaned weakly.

“Oh – sorry!”

There was a beeping sound, then a whoosh, and mercifully the stink began to dissipate. Slowly, though. Max was still barely holding back dry-heaves as he stood shakily, and looked up to find a small air vent, three vertical slits, that had slid open in the lid above.

“Are you okay? That wasn’t too bad, was it?”

Max turned to the side of the jar, at the giantess peering in at him. “What – what is this?” He asked, pinching his nose.

“It’s a, um. A Gas Absorber.” She explained, blushing. “This was the first product they showed at the seminar. It’s designed to completely contain a woman’s… you know. Then the smell is inhaled by the tiny inside.” She adjusted her glasses awkwardly. “B-but their version was insane! It didn’t have any air holes, so if the user wasn’t farting enough they’d just suffocate! Not to mention the opposite problem, where if the user was too gassy the levels of fart in the chamber would rapidly increase to potentially toxic levels.”

Max shrugged wearily. “Sounds bad.”

“Right?” Kaley nodded. “So my first idea was to add this sliding vent. I activate it manually, with this switch, see? But it’s really just a rough prototype, proof of concept more than anything. The more sophisticated version will have a sensor to monitor the concentration of fart in the chamber, and will adjust the vent accordingly. Basically, the user farts, the vents close, the tiny inhales, and once they’ve absorbed enough of the smell the vents open up again.”

“That’s great, Kaley,” Max replied, without much enthusiasm. “And it works like a charm, too. Test complete. So, can you please get me out of here?”

She looked uncomfortable. “Um… not yet. Sorry. Like I was saying, I also want the vents to open when the fart concentration in there gets too high… and I need at least a rough idea of when that is. So for this next test, the vents are staying closed.”

With another beep, the air holes slid shut, sealing Max in with the lingering traces of her first fart. He glanced fearfully at the plastic tube outside. “L-listen, Kaley? Can we please just talk about all this?”

“Of course! Right after the test, okay? I’ve been holding these in for a while.”

FFRRRAAPP

The gas barrelled ominously down the tube like the rumble of approaching traffic. Then it erupted from the nozzle above, blanketing his very limited airspace with the pungent aroma of rotting eggs. Max was more prepared this time, and bracing himself he managed to stay on his feet, but the stink was still enough to make his eyes water.

POOORRPP

And this time, the farts would keep coming. Already he could feel himself getting woozy, light-headed. Even pinching his nose didn’t help – when he opened his mouth to breathe, he could actually taste the gas on his tongue. Smelling giantess farts was bad – eating them was no improvement.

“How’s it going in there, Max?” Kaley called out. Her voice sounded more distant than before, somehow. “That’s thirty seconds and two farts in, so far. You’re doing great!”

FFRRRRPPPPTTT

“Nuuuhhh,” Max groaned. Thick, beany stink forced its way up his nostrils and clung to the back of his throat. The inside of the jar had become a haze, a rancid cloud without an exit. He staggered up to one side of the jar and put his palm against the glass, the once cold surface now sickeningly damp and warm.

PUUFFFF

“Just keep... breathing. Nice... slow, that’s it. Soon… over... soon.”

Max didn’t know when, but at some point he’d ended up back on his knees. The smell was beyond foul. He was certain there had to be no oxygen left, that every breath entering his lungs now was pure, undiluted fart.

“I’m done,” he croaked. “Kaley, I’m – ” he doubled over, coughing up gas. He couldn’t talk, he couldn’t see. His entire reality was beans, cheese and rotten eggs. “I have to get out.” He began to crawl, struggling desperately to reach the far side, with no plan in mind for when he reached it.

BBRRAAP

PORP

BRRUUFFFFFFF

He didn’t make it. Three quick farts burst out of the lid in rapid succession, the final fetid nails in the coffin. With one final whiff Max collapsed, escaping into unconsciousness with the scent of Kaley’s bowels filling his lungs.

His last waking thought was almost a prayer. “When I wake up, please let it be somewhere with fresh air.”