Little Things
Part 2
Anita had always been a very curious person. As a kid, she’d ask the questions no one knew the answers to and so, as an adult, she decided to go find the answers herself. Her curiosity never died, in fact, it only grew inside her until, here she was — many hard years of researching, experimenting and trial-and-error later — staring at what she could only describe as her greatest achievement yet — a human being the size of her finger.
“can u open glass”
“No.”
“can i open suit”
“Definitely not.”
“cmon doc”
She sighed and clicked a few buttons on her tab. The glass cylinder around Lohank clicked and rotated open.
She watched as a now thumb-sized Lohank walked out. She couldn’t make out the expression on his tiny face, but she was sure it was one of wonder.
“wow nevr thought anything could look lyk this”
“How are you feeling, Mr. Lohank?”
“little dizzy but im ok”
“Of course. That is normal. Your body constitution has just been completely rearranged.”
The idea of shrinking oneself had been one Anita had hypothesized a while ago. However, she had never gotten the funding her research needed. Everything changed the day she got a phone call from the Director of the Capitol. He had come across her blog and was very interested in her research. An army of tiny men, that’s what he had said he wanted when he granted her all the money and space she needed to continue her research on what he called, a super-soldier.
“hey doc, i dont feel very gud”
It had been 18 months since she got that phone call and The Director was growing impatient. Of course, none of that mattered to her. All she wanted was to find the solution to this one problem she had been chasing for half her life. She’d do anything to finally be able to achieve her goal. What did The Director know of all the issues she faced anyway? The idea of shrinking a human being, to the common eye, may seem simple. But, in fact, it violates many very basic principles of physics. She had stayed up many nights hypothesizing and testing out multiple theories.
Today was the day though. The day she finally got it right.
“docc, somthing doesnt feel right”
Coming back to her senses, Anita looked up from the glass tablet she held to find Lohank sweating and turning very pale. She panicked and checked all the monitors. The pressure levels in his suit were high and his heart was beating at an unusually high rate. There didn’t seem to be any issue with the connections or his suit though, so she wasn’t sure what was wrong.
“The pressure level inside your suit is too high but everything else seems alright. What’s the matter, Lohank?”
“cant breathe”
“But can you see any indication of what’s wrong? Everything is in place from the outside.”
She rechecked all her calculations and all the screens seemed to say nothing was wrong. She couldn’t for the life of her understand what was happening.
“doc dis crack suppsed 2 b on my suit”
Crack? On his suit? It had taken her 3 weeks of high precision modelling to make that suit. How could it possibly be cracked? But, if it were indeed cracked, he’d have to be breathing regular atmospheric air as opposed to the low-pressure air she provided him through the suit. And his shrunken organs and cells wouldn’t be able to handle normal air.
“life rly is beautiful uh doc”
“Yes it is Lohank.”
“the other inmates always said i wud die a small guy didnt think it wud come tru”
“Don’t worry Mr. Lohank, I won’t let you die on my watch.”
“it isnt ur fault doc”
“What isn’t my fault? LOHANK! No! Mr. Lohank can you hear me? MR. LOHANK!”, Anita cried out, just as Lohank collapsed on the floor, all 2 inches of him.
No, this could not be happening. She had come too far to have it all fall apart in front of her eyes today. This was supposed to be the day it all worked out.
“Mr. Lohank! Please wake up. Argh! Why is this happening right now!”
The monitors started beeping, his heart rate was dangerously low. She reached out and picked him up in her hand. She debated whether she should pump air into his lungs but she knew she’d break all his organs if she tried. She saw his lips moving. It seemed like he was repeating one word over and over again. He had said he didn’t have any family. Could he have been lying? She wanted to help him, but alas, all she could do was stare, as his heart rate slowed to a stop and he stopped moving in her hand.
Anita knew she should feel more remorse over Lohank’s demise but all she could think about was how once again, her hard work had failed. The Director would undoubtedly be furious. But how could his anger be greater than her own sorrow and disappointment?
She went to her supply closet, pulled out the box she had stored there and tossed Lohank’s body in with the others who had come before him.
All her previous human test subjects had failed. But Lohank had succeeded. If only she could keep the suit from cracking while it was being shrunk.
She knew what had to be done and she was more determined than ever to start over again.
She knew, her next big step was small.
