Harper took a sip of her coffee, placed the mug back on the table, and reached out with her freshly manicured fingers to pick up another object.Her car, a brand new metallic blue Audie A6, was the subject of a test conducted by the scientific research department.
They aimed to shrink matter to facilitate the easy movement of freight and cargo.
Storm Industries was a century-old significant player concerned with global logistic operations.
The company was founded by Harper's great-grandfather in the 20th century and passed on from generation to generation. It was in the hands now of Harper's father. But due to his ailment, he is unable to carry out his role as CEO, so Harper assumed the role in his stead.
A thing that pleased her very much as it placed her in a position of power whereby she could decide the company's strategic direction.
Harper recalled the scientific department head's plea for more funding in her father's days. During the meetings, Dr. Gero would drone on about how his team was close to achieving a massive scientific feat never seen before by humankind.
He claimed that it was possible to shrink down matter, hence cargo as well, thus immensely reducing the costs to a fraction of what was needed for conventional shipping. Filled intermodal containers with prized possessions could dramatically be reduced in size, allowing Storm Industries to transport immensely more cargo per voyage.
It would give the family Storm a competitive edge over their rivals, thus exalting them to a monopoly globally.
Storm Industries could benefit from an astronomical profit margin since they could offer lower rates than anybody else.
A big chunk of this sum could come from a so-called Exclusiveness Fee, for Storm Industries would be the only one offering such a service.
It all sounded too good to be true. If Harper was able to pull off something like that, she could prove to her father for once and for all that even she - a privileged brat - could be a successful businesswoman nonetheless. Maybe even more successful than all of her predecessors combined.
Harper could think of no reason as to why she shouldn't grant Dr. Gero the fund he requested for his research.
Something else also tempted Harper to go along with this course of action—a reason she didn't share with anyone but her diary.
As a child, young Harper had an obsession with the small life of insects. It gave her a sense of control to know that she was the one who decided if an insect would be allowed to live or get trampled beneath the sole of her sneaker or the press of her thumb. Especially the ants in her garden suffered the brunt of her creative wrath.
One day, when Harper was only an eight year old sprout, hundreds of ants in her garden teemed about all frantic among the trampled corpses of their conspecifics after the heavy footfalls of a humongous human child assaulted their nest. The vibrations of Harper's delighted laughter whipped their panic up a few nudges when she used a magnifying glass to burn every scurrying ant she could target to a smoking carcass.
Next to the sadistic element of this enjoyable pastime, Harper reveled in her control over her little queendom. She was the overlord of the garden, untouchable, and had the final say in all matters.
If Harper wanted to uproot a certain plant and place it somewhere else, it happened. If she wanted to dig a hole just because she felt like it, it would be done. If the need was there to roll out the hose to drown out a nest of ants, it happened. And if these insects would have had brains big enough to make them realize that it was a mere human child of gigantic proportions who was responsible for all the death and destruction around them instead of some insuperable natural phenomenon, and they would have a say about it, then they could all kiss the underside of Harper's mud-caked descending garden boot.
Living out these inclinations was a blast for young Harper. The only downside was that these insects were too dumb to do much beyond buzzing around. How awesome would it be to command these insects to carry out chores and errands for her? Often, Harper wished that these tiny bugs were small people whom she could control and make do her bidding. But, unfortunately, those daydreams remained just that—daydreams.
And this is where Dr. Gero's project provided hope. The moment Harper caught wind of the possibility of shrinking stuff, she immediately pleaded with her father to grant Dr. Gero all the supplies and funds he needed for his project. To the chagrin of Harper, her father did not see the benefit of it. He found Dr. Gero's ramblings about shrinking objects as big as a house to mere things that could be picked up and carried with one hand blabberings that would not look out of place in one of L. Ron Hubbard's fantasy novels.
'Fortunately' for Harper, her father became seriously ill and could no longer perform his task as captain of the ship. So the company's authority was handed over to his daughter, Harper.
And here was Harper, a petite young lady with delicate hands and a dazzling smile framed with dark curls, holding her car - she used this morning to drive to work - pinched between her finger and thumb.
She chuckled heartily, the vibrations of her laughter punctuated with absurdity. Harper could hardly grasp the fact that this was the same car her dad gifted to her for her 18th birthday. The thing was barely bigger than a Lego block!
She rotated it while holding it up to her eye, seemingly to convince herself that it was not some trick. But it was not. She knew it. Harper saw it with her own eyes when Dr. Gero's machine shot it with one of its laser lights before it dwindled to a pathetically small size. There was only one more test to be done. A strained expression formed on Harper's face as she looked intensely at her miniature car, clenched between her finger and thumb. A faint moment of effort was all it took for Harper to pulverize her car to a pancaked piece of metal.
A thrill ran through Harper's body as she watched the car crumble with a pinch of her fingers.
She imagined the destruction she caused to whole buildings that were merely handheld-sized. Harper closed her eyes and shivered with pleasure at the thought of the sheer panic her hand could trigger when emerging above a miniaturized city to wrap its fingers around one of its majestic skyscrapers to rip it loose from its foundation.
Before she could continue her reverie, the buzzer on her desk went off, swiveling Harper's head to the side with annoyance.
Her guest, or better said, her guinea pig, had arrived.
Now that it was proven that Dr. Gero's invention worked on inanimate objects, it was time to test its capabilities on an organic being.
According to Dr. Gero, the machine is already applicable to animals, but it has yet to be tested on a real-life human.
Harper had offered a homeless guy one thousand dollars if he was willing to participate in a test project.
And yes, it's completely safe, Harper had assured when the homeless guy began prying about the risks of participating in such a project. It's merely a formality. The project has been tested with humans before, Harper lied.
She'd also lied about the fact that various animals had utterly exploded when shot by Dr. Gero's invention. But the mad scientist had assured her it was merely a matter of a few adjustments before the issue was put to bed.
"Show him in," Harper spoke through the intercom.
Moments later, a middle-aged sleazeball shuffled in, sporting a bald head and an unkempt beard that looked like it hadn't been washed for years.
"Good morning!" Harper gave him the warmest smile she could manage while disgusted to be in the same room as this rancid bloke. "Mr. Dockside, if I'm not mistaken? Please, take a seat. What can I get you, coffee, tea? Or do you rather prefer some soda?"
A terrible odor drifted through Harper's office, smelling of old odor, booze, and something else she could not define when Mr. Dockside sauntered in and plunged on the couch. "You have any beer?" his voice sounded raspy like a heavy smoker's. He shamelessly slammed his military boots on a side table, knocking a vase of flowers over.
Harper felt the tendency to scold the guy for his appalling behavior but held her tongue. Within an hour, the guy's body would either explode into a hundred pieces, or he'll be shrunken down to the size of a bug. In any case, Harper was sure Mr. Dockside would soon face her wrath.