Subject Echo

Aubrey pulled her cardigan from her shoulders, shivering as the air-con washed down over her now exposed skin. Stepping to her desk, she slipped up into her gaming chair. Swinging her bare feet, Aubrey shimmied the seat closer to the desktop. Grabbing a wide ruched fabric scrunchie from beneath the monitor, she pulled her long black hair into a loose ponytail. Letting her eyes fall on the screen, Aubrey tilted her head. Ciri leaned proudly against her sword, loose tails of silver hair framing her face. ‘Should I try it? Wales-Con is next month…” She mused, gathering the locks of her hair behind her and pulling the strands inside the scrunchie. ‘Time for that later…”

Letting out a long slow sigh, Aubrey let her gaze fall to the desk. The small platform she’d placed there earlier lay flat, the lid to the package her roommate Leigh’s new trainers had come in. Grinning Aubrey picked up a small audio recorder in her right hand. 

Leigh was laying still, her chest rising and falling slowly as she slept off the effects of the ray. Leigh’s body stirred slightly, her eyes fluttering open. Her chest froze, Aubrey watched in mute fascination as color seemed to sink away from her skin. She tried to move, tensing her limbs, trapped completely in her makeshift bonds. “What in the—” Leigh whispered finally turning her attention to Aubrey, craning her neck to look into the larger woman’s eyes. 

“Subject regained consciousness at…21:27.” Aubrey said softly, speaking into the small audio recorder in her right hand. “Wakey wakey sweetie, how do you feel?” Aubrey purred, letting each vowel cook for a moment as she spoke. “Do you know what year it is?” With her left hand she lifted a transparent plastic pen, slowly moving the shaft like a wand above Leigh’s face. “Follow the pen tip please.” 

“Aubrey!?” The little woman squeaked, her black Converse twisting and jerking in their restraints. “How!? Why!? What happened to you? You’re so big!”

Breaking, Aubrey kicked her feet. Bicycling them in space beneath the desk, Aubrey danced in her seat before taking a deep breath. Returning her focus to Leigh, Aubrey shook her head. Lifting the recorder again, she smirked. “Subject refuses to answer questions, appears disoriented and confused…” Pressing her chin forward, Aubrey arched an eyebrow. 

Lowering the uncapped pen, Aubrey drew the ballpoint along her roommates’ hips. Her pink singlet slipped up, revealing a flat little tummy, belly button obscured by the waist of her shrunken jeans. “Aww, sweetie… nothing happened to me. You got smol!” 

“T—that’s impossible!” Leigh whined, yanking her limbs with all her reduced might. Her athletic physique twisting and contorting, deforming the plastic of the band-aids. “Wha—how!? Why!?”

Gently pressing the hem of the singlet over Leigh’s left breast, Aubrey felt her cheeks flush. Heat boiling just under the surface as she let her eyes trace the lacey filigree of Leigh’s bra. “Oh, the…how…would go over your pretty little head.” She snarled, letting her eyes dart over to the door to her bedroom. The pistol shaped device sat in her umbrella stand. “As for why…you know me. Curiosity. Boredom…knowing you ate my last Twix…” She grinned. “…I didn’t really need a reason did I.”