“C’mon, take the shot!” called out Scott as he tossed the basketball toward his friend Blake.  However, rather than catching it, Blake remained standing in the garage, his eyes glued to the tiny TV his dad had hooked up to the wall.  “You know, neither of us is going to make the team next month if we don’t actually practice a little,” said Scott, somewhat annoyed.

                “Dude.  Come watch this,” said Blake, a deathly serious look having crossed his face.  Groaning and rolling his eyes, Scott was nonetheless intrigued by the ghostly expression of his friend, and so he rushed toward the TV for a look.

                What could possibly be going on to have made Blake’s expression change so quickly?  A bank robbery?  A murder?  A terrorist plot?  What?  Dashing into the garage, Scott looked at the screen, and did a double take, blinking a few times in confusion.  It was the five o’clock news, and standing next to the reporter was none other than Judy Stevens, his own mother.

                “This is Elizabeth Stinger, reporting live with Channel 18, your first choice for the evening news!  I’m standing here today with Judy Stevens, one of the headliners in our city council’s voice in Washington during some of the more recent legislative changes being made regarding legal use of the Techilogic Corporation’s highly controversial matter reduction device, or… as it is more commonly known, the shrink ray.  Good evening, Judy!” said the reporter, pointing the microphone toward Judy.

                “Good evening, Elizabeth, it’s great to be here!” said Scott’s mother, smiling widely for the camera and pushing a thick blonde lock out of her eyes.

                “Just for our viewers at home who haven’t been keeping up these past few days: today, President Callahan signed into effect what was previously known as “The Shrink Ray Bill,” which proposed the legal use of the device on organic matter by approved, licensed holders, with certain dependents under the jurisdiction of said holder.  And… as many will already know, that bill was born in one of the city council’s meetings about three years ago, from none other than the mind of Judy Stevens.  Judy, could you explain to us, in layman’s terms, what this new law will mean for the nation, now that it’s in effect?”

                “Certainly, Elizabeth,” smiled Judy, taking the mic.  “As most people probably already know, the portable matter reduction device, as well as the standard matter reduction device, have seen use in a variety of industries since their invention four years ago.  The devices have allowed cheap, safer transport of goods, nearly endless storage capacity resources, and, most importantly, have nearly put an end to hunger and thirst around the world!  However, it was illegal to use the devices on living matter… specifically designed to protect humans from danger, the devices were all implanted with chips to alert others nearby as well as the authorities whenever tissue was detected.  As it still is today, the unauthorized activation of a device by an unregistered user for utilization on a human being was illegal.  However… what our bill and… now a new law… changes about that, is that now, through a licensing process, any person with a clean record could, conceivably, purchase their own device and acquire legal permission from any parties wishing to have the device used on them.”

                “So… what you’re saying is, a person could give consent to be shrunk by a user?”

                “Correct,” continued Judy.  Scott’s eyes bugged out as he continued watching the garage TV screen.  While he knew his mother was extremely active in civic matters, and he knew she had been working hard with the council on some project for the last few years, she kept to herself with these things, and Scott never had really been interested in politics.  All of this was a little much to take in.

                “Now, Mrs. Stevens, let’s continue.  As I understand, there’s a second stipulation to the law worth mentioning to our viewers?”

                “Yes.  Yes, there is,” answered Judy with a sly smile.  “There is also a dependents program in place specifically designed to give more protective control to those people with charge over another.  Say… a parent or other legal guardian and a child, a teacher and a student, even, in certain circumstances, a management head and an associate.  There are, of course, legal dealings that must take place to define a user’s dependents, but once done, the user is given legal permission to use the matter reduction device on these people, regardless of necessarily getting consent.”

                “Now, for any viewers at home who are feeling a little… unsure about the ethical issues involved here…” continued Elizabeth.

                “Yes, we’ve already had to face some of those questions.  As I said in a previous statement, there are a variety of stipulations on the user once a dependent has been shrunk, namely that they become responsible for any and all… challenges they face.  In, the end, though, it’s all for the greater good.  Say, a parent, with a child they’re having trouble difficulty disciplining, now has a completely safe alternative to time outs when they are simply at the end of their rope.  It opens up a variety of doors for healthful raising of children, as well as more efficient work done at schools and businesses that implement it.”

                “Thank you, Judy, for all the hard work you’ve done to make this happen, and thank you for talking with us,” said the reporter.

                “Oh, it was my pleasure,” smiled Judy, crossing her arms.

                “We’ll be hearing reactions from others here about the new law, after these messages,” finished Elizabeth as the program cut to a deodorant commercial.

                There was silence in the garage for a moment.  Slowly, Blake turned to face Scott, his face looking grim and concerned.

                “Dude.  What the heck?”

                “Yeah… I… I don’t know anything about that,” answered the 12-year-old Scott, feeling entirely surreal about all of this.  One thing was for sure: his mother had hid these goings-on from him and his siblings pretty well.  While he had heard flashes of the news regarding this bill, which was receiving a lot of coverage as it moved up the ladder in DC, he hadn’t heard much of its origins, and even when his mother had gone on one of her frequent weekend trips over to the capital of the nation, he always assumed it was just under the pretense of general work for the council.  Never would he have dreamed his mother would be at the center of something so major in the nation’s legislative history.

                “No, really, I mean… what the heck?” growled Blake.  “Do you realize what that law means?”
                “Yeah… yeah, I guess.”

                “What do you mean, you guess?” continued Blake, getting more and more heated.  “I don’t give a crap about the beginning part, but the ending?  The dependy-whatever stuff?”

                “Yeah… I heard…” mumbled Scott, still completely lost.

                “Your mom just gave every parent in the country the right to shrink their kids if they want to!”

                “It’s not that simple, man, you heard her… they have to get a license, and…”

                “If they don’t have a record.  How hard will that be for so many of the people in this country to do.  Seriously, can you believe this?”

                “Those things are expensive.  Most people can’t afford them,” continued Scott.

                “Fine.  You’re right.  But you know what the bottom line is?”

                “What?”

                “OUR parents can.”

                “Our parents don’t even own one of those things, Blake,” said Scott with as much self-assurance as he could pretend to muster, despite a queasy feeling that was developing in his stomach.  “And I don’t see any reason why they would pick one up now.  Really, what could they possibly even do with those things?  Really…”