In the six months since what the higher ups were calling the ‘Olivia incident’. I had undergone some extensive training about the heat seal technology and what it meant for my time as consort at Micro Inc. It wasn’t pretty.

I had spent the six months at one of the extended stay facilities because they didn’t want to risk killing me when they reversed the shrinking process. Between training exercises and strength workouts I had gotten myself back up to a 115lb weight resistance. The minimum was 125, but the execs said that they would waive the requirement if I could endure the training day. That was a big if. I knew what training day was. It was the period before a consort got put on the market that the staff at one of the stores would test your limits, both physically and mentally. They could do whatever they wanted to a consort and push them as far as they wanted, which sometimes meant past the point of genetic repair or death.

I knew it might come to this, relive the worst 8 hours of my life or be done in the entertainment industry and go into an early retirement, and at my age that wouldn’t be half bad. But, there was also the issue with being 6 inches tall and having the serum heat sealed into you. It only worked once and they could unshrink you but it was painful and usually caused permanent damage, or death. you wouldn’t believe how many times over the last couple of months my only two options were something super shitty… or death. it was fucking ridiculous.

I sat in the hospital exam room inside one of the warehouses that micro inc had constructed as a small city for the consorts and spec ops divisions. The health advisor came in and sat down across from me, with a folder that was thicker than a medical textbook. It was a middle-aged man who had scars running down the side of his face and I knew they had gone down the left side of his body. It was what happened when pushed past the point of genetic repair. He walked with a limp, a side-effect, of from what I had been told was a couple of kids jumping on him repeatedly while on a trampoline. Like me he, had been heat sealed, but it had been too late. 10 surgeries later he looked like hell and was stuck at the size of a doll for the rest of his life.

He smiled from across the table before pulling out one of the small blue folders in my stack of a file and dropping the book of file onto the floor.

“Keyla? I assume?” he asked.

“The one and only.” I smiled tightly at him.

“HA Beckoff, but you can call me Richard.” He stuck out his hand for me to shake. It was something that should’ve been done while he was standing up but I could assume by looking at the scars that he was in constant agony already. I shook his hand.

“Pleasure to meet you Dick,” he winced and then chuckled.

“Ah yes, the old nickname. You can use that too, I don’t mind. They’re trying out a new drug, it helps with mobility but not so much the pain. Regardless, lets jump into the task at hand. You want to be reinstated as consort but first have to undergo resistance training again is that correct?”

“Yes sir.”

“You do understand that, that is against recommendations? Correct?”

“Yes sir.” I said again and mock saluted him.

“Okay. Well, here’s the deal. We can’t give you a better suit. even the ones that are militia model will crush with anything more that 115lbs. The testing of the serum treatment on you failed. The nano-bots center located in your fouthth vertebrae was already at its maximum capacity and was replaced when you went under the needle 5 months ago. You’ve healed nicely and in theory you could go back out in the field but are just to weak. You have a physical density cap of 85lbs. yes you were able to improve that with strengths training and according to your chart in great physical shape…”

“why do I feel a but coming on?” I ask. My hands had grown clammy just listening to the symptoms and I knew what he was going to say.

“But, you know how the suits work. You’re the expert.” Dropped off.

“Yeah, I know the suit is good by itself for 50 and then it depends on the consort. Since the density is inverted it means I only help the suit with 42lbs of weight. Which means at 93lbs things start to break.”

“Going into training day that gives you the 2 hour cap of 115lbs. an average employee weighs in-between 135 and 165. That takes your time window to just under 50 minutes. And you want to withstand 8 hours? These are conservative estimates. You know how it really is. I ran a simulator of your density against actually data of a suit during the day and…” he paused and then looked down at the blue folder before back at me “ and you’re dead in 15 minutes. Micro Inc has given you every available enhancement they can and if you want to go through training day again they’ve allowed it on the grounds, that it would be a suicide mission of your choosing. If there is the off chance that you survive they said you could join an experiment program where they infuse the bones in your body with carbon fiber. The reason why they won’t now is because it’s the only thing left right now that has a higher chance of killing you. Do you understand what the risks are?”

For a minute I thought my heart had ceased. The tightness in my chest said I understood what was being proposed. I knew the odds were not in my favor and for the umpteenth time in the 6 months I wished that Olivia had just killed me. “What are my other options doc?” I asked as my face flushed and I took a deep breath to stop myself from crying.

“Since your body is to weak undergo the change back to normal size the only other path that is open right now is retirement. They have trade schools that you can go to and you could become a director of something or join the small works division. Your life isn’t over because of this Keyla, you just won’t be in the entertainment district anymore. There are more things to do when youre small. Services to those around us that big people and machines can’t do..”

“No. Doc. Just no. I don’t want another job. I know that those jobs are just as dangerous as the entertainment industry. Yes they aren’t as difficult physically but if I’m going to be stuck small I’m going to be in entertainment or not at all.”

“Then, I guess. I’ll schedule for a training day. They have a session starting in 3 hours as that’s when the next shift change. Are you going to contact your next of kin?”

“I don’t have anybody left to talk to doc. There isn’t anything left for me outside of these walls and that suit!”

“I’m sorry. That was my mistake. I’ll let them know that you’re ready. I just want you to know that just because you’ve gone through this before you aren’t getting any special treatment. They won’t be kind to you.”

“I expect nothing else doc. I can take this, I’m certain of it. just depends on the person I get I guess...”