The Subject

"When I think of all the students I could have taken on, and I chose YOU! ... What the FUCK was I thinking? I must have been..." Willover's rant was flowing on.

Tanya clenched her teeth, balled her hands into fists. She turned sharply, and for the first time, shouted at the doctor. "Would you just for once shut the FUCK UP!!?"

The words shocked her almost as much as they did Willover, who looked as if she'd been shot. The fire went out in her eyes briefly...and Tanya saw something there, the same look that her little Cassie had in her eyes the night she came to realize that she was helpless and in the clutches of her giant mistress. She cleared her throat to break the tension, "There's blood in the cage." Tanya said calmly, ignoring the moment.

Dr. Willover seemed to ignore it, too as she immediately strode across the room, pushing Tanya roughly out of the way. She put her reading glasses on the bridge of her nose and peered down into the empty cage. On the floor of the cage were the barely perceptible scratches made by the tiny feet of the animal. Some were deeper than others, and as they crossed the cage floor, they became stained with dark red smears. At one end of the cage, near the wall, was a small puddle of blood, about half the size of a dime. Dr. Willover's voice was calm and cold, now. Her rage at Tanya had ebbed, replaced now by the almost robotic-like working of her mind as she pondered the mystery. "Something... attacked it?" She said to herself. "But what?" She continued to stare into the cage, ignoring Tanya now, utterly involved in this new cipher.

"Why don't we ask security if they have a copy of the tapes from last night?" Tanya asked. Her answer was silence.

Willover's eyes narrowed as she sunk deeper in thought, interrupted finally by the electronic whistling of her cell phone. She answered it almost absently, and then listening, suddenly brightened with awareness, the mystery obviously taking a back seat to the voice on the other end of the conversation. "Yes, of course, I'll be right there." She said and snapped the phone off. "Go down to security and get a copy of the tapes from last night." Willover said, oblivious to Tanya's suggestion of the same. "I need to go to...a meeting for a while." She stripped off her lab coat and slipped into her jacket. "Review the tape and make note of anything unusual." She strode to the door, then turned, "Oh, and try to make the notes legible, will you?" She said, snidely.

"Oh, and Fuck you." Tanya snarled smartly at Willover's back, knowing that the woman couldn't hear her.

She fumed about the lab for a minute or two, fighting the urge to open her purse and give the tiny occupant a rectal exam with a No. 2 pencil. No... It wasn't Cassie's fault. She realized that now. The tiny woman, while an exact duplicate (though scaled down) of Dr. Willover, was definitely NOT Dr. Willover in the least. At first, to be sure, she did act like a smaller version of the incredible red bitch, but something about her changed over the past few weeks. Something that Tanya couldn't put her finger on. It was no longer fear driving the small woman to obedience. No, it was almost like... pleasure. Tanya shook her head. She didn't have time for such thinking. She looked into the cage, puzzled by the mystery it held. Where the hell had that dog gone?

Tanya reviewed the footage again and again. She had downloaded it into the big computer on Willover's desk, and was using a simple multimedia program to watch the events that the security cameras recorded. Now and then, she looked up from her work to watch her tiny charge wander about the cages. She let Cassie out of her purse to look about the table where the subjects were held, thinking that she might enjoy the interaction with something that was scaled to her size. The tiny naked woman went from one animal to another, talking, petting... Tanya was amazed at how unlike Dr. Willover the miniscule copy was. She sighed. If only she could figure out how to break the size barrier in the cloning process, her next experiment would be a normal-sized version of Cassie. She suddenly found herself daydreaming about making love to her little subject. However, her little subject was a normal sized woman. The caresses of her lover, the kisses they would share... still there was something to be said about the feeling of that tiny body pressed against...

Tanya shook herself awake. She turned back to the computer, rewound the video. She needed to at least have some clue before Willover returned. She'd locked the lab door from the inside, to give herself ample time to hide Cassie when the Doctor returned, so she felt comfortable enough to give the computer screen her full attention. She tapped the keyboard, the image ran forward, slowly. She focused her eyes on the area where the dog was. It was a grainy image. She was able to boost the gain a bit through computer trickery, but as she magnified the image, she lost the detail again. She could just make out the vague shape of the tiny dog, now larger in magnification. It was pacing the cage quickly, as if agitated. Suddenly, it seemed to begin to jump around wildly, finally coming to rest in the area where they found the largest spot of blood. She couldn't tell what the dog was doing, just that it was thrashing about. She stopped the video, entered several commands into the computer. The image cleared, slightly, enough that she was horrified by what she saw in the frame frozen there.

The tiny dog seemed to be tearing at it's own insides! It's belly was exposed, a nasty tear across it's midsection. The tiny snout was wet with blood. Tanya advanced the video. The dog continued to tear itself to pieces, wildly kicking and biting at the hole it made. Blood flowed freely now, and parts of its internal organs began to pour through the hole. Tanya gagged, saved from vomiting only by the next event, which was a dull flash of light, like a muted strobe. When the light faded, the dog was gone, leaving the cage exactly as Willover had found it. She watched again, forcing herself to study the imagery. Something had driven the dog mad, that was certain. Wherever it was, it was most certainly dead. But what the hell was the pulse of light? And where did the carcass go?

She was puzzling over the situation when she heard Cassie's voice call to her. "Tanya?" The tiny woman was standing in front of the cage where the dog had been kept. "What is this all over the cage?"

Tanya turned away from the grisly video, walked over to where Cassie was standing. "What's what?" She peered into the cage, but saw nothing that she hadn't seen before.

"There's something all over it." Cassie peeped from the tabletop. "Over here... and here, all around it." She gestured to the table around the cage.

Tanya could see nothing and told the tiny woman so. "I don't know what you're looking at, but there's nothing there."

"What do you mean there's..." Cassie snapped her fingers. "Get the UV light from the cabinet over there." Cassie suddenly ordered. Tanya smiled at how like Dr. Willover the miniature woman was. She retrieved the light. "Shine it here... on the cage."

Tanya turned on the dark light and directed it to the cage. She gasped. On the cage, and in a circular pattern on the table surrounding it, was a film of... something. Invisible to her, but very clear in the light's blue white glow. "Omigod..." Tanya breathed.

Cassie matter-of-factly stated, "I hypothesized that because my optic sensors are so much smaller, that I was able to see in spectrums beyond visible light. It's something that I've been thinking about for the past couple of weeks but now I've finally have a chance to prove it." She said. "Umm... Could you turn the lamp off now, please? It's... hurting my eyes."

Tanya complied with a gentle, "Oh... sorry. So what the hell is it?" She asked the tiny figure.

Cassie crossed her arms across her chest and sighed, "I'm not sure. You should probably get a sample and run a spectroanalysis."

Tanya gathered up the tools to do so, a cotton tipped swab, and a slide. She set the objects down when suddenly a tiny scream cut through her. She spun, expecting to see Cassie in trouble, but instead found her safe at the edge of the table. The scream had come from the miniature chimpanzee... subject No. 2. It was beating itself against the bars of the cage, throwing itself to the floor. It's tiny fists smashed into it's own face, pulling out tufts of hair. Again and again it screamed, blood running from self-inflicted wounds. Finally, it threw itself into the bars with a crash, and landed on the floor of the cage. Tanya slowly approached the cage. The tiny chimp was breathing, barely. She extended her hand slowly, thinking that perhaps she could somehow comfort the small animal. Suddenly, there was a brilliant flash and a dull, far off thud of air rushing, like a muted thunderclap. A tingle caused Tanya to snatch her hand back. The chimp was gone.

There were long moments of shocked silence, finally broken by Cassie. "The film's... there now, too."

"Omigod..." Tanya choked. She looked down at her watch. It had stopped, frozen in the moment of the flash that took the chimp away. "It... It exploded." She breathed. "It blew up at the nuclear level. It's molecules totally dispersed. That's why the film is there. For some reason, the clones' molecules are reacting to create some sort of... energy. When the charge builds to critical mass, the particles disperse!" She was speaking only to herself now... "The flash is actually a tiny EM pulse. That's why my watch stopped. Damn!"

She was feeling very proud of herself, and her solving of the mystery... but for only a moment. She suddenly turned, fear filling her eyes. She looked down at the tiny redhead standing on the desktop before her.

Cassie returned her gaze, bravely looking straight into Tanya's eyes, "How long do I have?" The small woman asked solemnly.

Tanya didn't know how to answer the question.

Part Six

05/13

Dr. Willover:

Upon careful examination, I have hypothesized the following in the matter of the disappearance of Subject 01: Because of some flaw as yet unforeseen in the basic make-up of the subject, or in the process of creating said subject, a rapid degeneration on a molecular level occurred, which I observed firsthand in the demise of Subject 02 at 4:05 PM this evening.

The subject becomes agitated, then violent, prone to inflicting wounds upon itself. My own tentative assumption is that whatever is happening to the subject on a molecular level, first drives it insane. Then, I presume that there is a build up of magnetic energy, perhaps bio-electrical (see fig. 01) which results in what could be measured as a nuclear detonation of the subject, in which the atoms themselves are torn apart from within. This was further evidenced by the fact that a film or spray of molecules surrounds the last position of the subject, which I was able to see and photograph with the use of ultra-violet light. (see fig. 02)

Spectroanalysis of this 'film' is being done as I write this, the computer should have the data processed by early A.M, and I believe will show the basic make-up of two carbon-based objects, one being Subject 01 and the other being Subject 02.

However, this is all theory, as yet unfounded, and I believe will take much more research before a viable conjecture can be made. I am merely making such assumptions on the evidence I was able to study i.e., the enhanced security video (FILE No. 532.58) as well as my own firsthand account of the termination of Subject 02. If you have any questions, please call me. I will be in early AM to continue the research.

Tanya Vale

Tanya had left the notes, as well as the cover letter on Dr. Willover's desk. Composing them had afforded her a moment or two of peace from Cassie's question. The truth was, she had no idea how long it would be before the tiny woman went insane and finally destroyed utterly, leaving barely a trace of her passing. Subject One was two weeks older than Subject Two, yet the two had detonated within hours of one another. Time didn't seem to be a factor in the clone's life span. What was it then? Agitation? Heart rate? The amount of brain activity? She didn't know, and it was making her head throb with guilt, frustration and shock.

She was finding it hard to think about anything, let alone an answer to the enigma. She went home, drew a hot bath, and tried to relax in the warm water. She decided to allow Cassie her freedom. Given the possibility that the tiny woman was going to die at any moment, Tanya couldn't bring herself to put her back inside the glass cage. The diminutive Cassie sat on the edge of the fiberglass tub, her little toes making circles in the water. Neither woman, large nor tiny spoke. Each was filled with her own miasma of thought. Tanya with the guilt and sorrow for the crime of being a God, Cassie with the problem of facing an encroaching mortality.

Tanya closed her eyes, unable to look at the little woman for whom she had so many confused feelings. Had Dr. Wolper been right? Was she really in love with this Lilliputian version of Dr. Willover? How could that be possible? It wasn't as if she were the real Dr. Willover, not truly. She looked like her for certain but her attitude even her mannerisms were all skewed. This tiny creature wasn't even human! She was only a clone in the aspect that she was a replica of a living being. She wasn't a woman, she was... "A subject," Tanya breathed, and for a moment, she heard Dr. Willover's voice echoed over her own. She had treated this tiny creature as a test case, with no more feeling or sense of humanity towards her than she would a petri dish full of bacteria, or a test tube. She had finally managed to do exactly what Dr. Willover had been chiding her to do. She had become a cold, calculating scientist, her emotions replaced by logic.

Her throat felt as if it were going to close, her breath caught in her chest as the weight of remorse crushed in on her. The tiny woman was just that. A WOMAN. A real human being with emotions and characteristics and thoughts. But Tanya had viewed her as a toy, a means of vicarious revenge upon that redheaded cunt. The small woman Tanya had named Cassie was no more guilty of Dr. Willover's crimes than a child was guilty of crimes committed by its parents.

Yet, it was her need for revenge against the woman that had caused her to create the clone. She resented the condescension, the belittling at the hands of Dr. Willover when all she had shown the woman was kindness. She knew now, though, that it was a kindness born of lust, not love. She had wanted to fuck Dr. Willover from the day she laid eyes on her, and she resented that power as well. She had never considered homosexuality before, and the idea that the Doctor could stir such powerful lusts within her angered her. This feeling, coupled with the obvious disdain that Willover felt for Tanya was what had driven her to operate the machinery that night. She needed an object to bear the brunt of her frustrations, both sexual and emotional, and the means to create a helpless version of the cause of both was too easily attained to be ignored.

Something now had changed. Had been changing, she knew. Her hatred of Dr. Willover was still a dark flame but her lust for her was ebbing. Her need for revenge was gone. She now saw the Doctor for what Cassie had shown her to be. A scared, tiny creature, trapped in a world that would surely trample her underfoot if she didn't pretend to be larger than life, more important than the very air around her. Somehow, Cassie, in her smallness, had lost those qualities. She no longer showed the outrage that she showed at first. She seemed to accept, even appreciate her station in life and with that acceptance, Tanya was allowed to see the Willover that could have been, if only someone had taken the time to show her how to ask for and accept the hand of another. It was this version of the Doctor that Tanya now admitted she was falling in love with. Not Cassandra Willover, the Crimson Tide...but this tiny woman called Cassie, who, in her inhumanness, showed more humanity than Tanya had ever seen in anyone else, large or small. And she was going to die.

That fact was a dark stain on all Tanya's thoughts, now. She had been brought into a world for reasons that Tanya was ashamed of, to be sure, and would never have any hope of a normal life in a world that could not accept her. But the thought of losing her...more, the thought of her losing any hope of a life, of an existence, however strange...Tanya sighed heavily, and blinked away an unbidden tear to look at her tiny creation.

Cassie smiled at her. The strength and bravery that the tiny woman showed despite her situation or future made Tanya's heart burst. She almost said something, the words caught in her throat and then were gone. Cassie, still smiling, slipped from the edge of the tub where she was perched, slid into the warm water and vanished beneath Tanya's thigh. Tanya didn't move. She felt the tiny woman slide under her leg, her breath catching as she felt her open womanhood caressed by the small body, and watched the water part as Cassie climbed up out of the water onto Tanya's exposed belly. She looked as graceful as a mermaid beaching herself on the shore.

Cassie knelt on the soft wet skin of Tanya's stomach, her little knees spread apart to each side of her belly button. Tanya closed her eyes, unable to watch the tiny woman, but felt the miniscule hands, the miniature fingers caress the flesh of her stomach, sending tiny shocks of electric fire spreading out through her body. Tanya's breathing became deeper. Cassie half-crawled, half slithered up the landscape of Tanya's abdomen, pausing at her breast bone, stretching herself out across the hillock of first one breast, then the other, giving the swelling nipple of each a tiny kiss. She continued to slide upward, her hands, her little mouth exploring the giant body of her caretaker. Tanya's throat, her neck, her chin, all received gratefully the tiny kisses of her lover.

Cassie slid herself up over Tanya's chin, her small legs spreading themselves wide over the mouth of her lover. Tanya felt the warm pulse of heat on her mouth, the slight tickling of downy soft hair, smaller than a postage stamp against her upper lip. Her lips parted slightly, she could smell the slightest hint of the tiny woman's sex as she breathed in. Her tongue slid out gently, Cassie's petite pussy meeting it with a lover's kiss that made Tanya's sensed reel. The taste of the little woman's sex on her tongue was enthralling. Her cares washed away as if swept off by the tide of heat and emotion rising in her. She made love to the small woman perched delicately on her mouth, barely moving for fear of throwing her off.

Tanya's hands reached up, her thumbs pressed gently against the grape-sized swell of Cassie's breasts, hot and wet under her touch. Cassie's nipples pricked the pads of her thumbs. Tanya thrilled at the tiny hands grasping for her touch, the small hips moving slowly against her outstretched tongue. She tasted the increasing wetness flowing from her tiny lover, let it trickle down her tongue and into her throat. She for a moment wished that Cassie were large enough to accept her fully, but the thought faded at the feeling of the tiny opening spreading wider, the very tip of Tanya's tongue entering the little woman. Cassie's hips began to thrust, her hands clutched at Tanya's thumbs, urging them to press harder against her tiny breasts.

Tanya held herself as still as possible, fighting off the waves of erotic desire that were building in her at the sounds of Cassie's passionate squeaking. The tiny wetness on her tongue became hotter with each thrust, and each thrust of the Lilliputian's hips became more forceful. Tanya was sure that Cassie's orgasm was imminent, and was lost in the feeling of her wee lover's passion. And so it was, so lost in Cassie's pleasure, that when the tiny woman came, her wetness flowing like rain into her mouth, Tanya was taken completely by surprise when her own orgasm rocked her body. She bit her tongue, her body shaking to repress the scream that wanted so desperately to escape her lips. She felt herself let go, her own womanhood in a release like none she had ever felt before.