Ben and Jenna held each other as tightly as they could despite the slippery fluid still coating their bodies. It was obvious now that the fluid was a lubricant meant to allow their smooth passage out of the original enclosure and through this tubing. They travelled at an unknown speed with little but the sound of rushing air and the occasional squeak from where parts of their bodies briefly touched the tube around them.
Visible through the tubing was a vast facility filled with machinery and a handful of people going about their work. Something didn't make sense to Ben and Jenna (aside from the overall experience thus far)... the scale of everything and everyone seemed wrong. It all seemed just too big, but they found it difficult to gauge anything with certainty as they continued their flight through this unknown.
Jenna was the first to have her confusion resolved as they passed through a stretch of the tube which happened to run beside a workstation of some sort. She was shocked to see a Man's face blur by at a scale that was unmistakeable. His head seemed to be the size of a billboard, if not bigger. It was hard to tell exactly from the brief proximity and their constantly changing perspective, but the man was definitely huge! That couldn't be, though. The facility would have to be immense enough to be seen from space!
Realisation dawned for Jenna. It was themselves who were off scale, not the surrounding environment. She shared this revelation with Ben, her voice an almost imperceptible whisper in the rushing air. Ben brought his head up from where it had been positioned beside his girlfriend's. He locked eyes with her to attempt to confirm that he hadn't imagined what she'd said. There was certainty in her gaze. They themselves were tiny, and passing through industrial machinery inside of a factory complex.
They felt a change in the airflow and tilted their heads to view the tube ahead of them. They were coming up to the side of a machine, promptly finding themselves plunged into pitch black as the tube entered an opening in the side of the monolithic structure. In a moment, they felt themselves simultaneously emerge from the tube and come to rest on a smooth surface. They had no time to fully register the pleasantness of the calm air around them, nor the relative warmth of the surface they were laying upon, as it suddenly tilted forward.
They slid, still unable to see anything within the dark machine, and could only curse this whole situation as they felt a new change in their surroundings. Coming to rest again, Ben dared to release a hand from his grip on Jenna to allow him to feel the surface they were on. Whatever they had just slid across had definitely been metal, but this new surface felt smoother and didn't seem to be as hard. A distinct scent of warm polymer had washed over them as they had come to rest.
The couple were jerked sideways as they began moving again. They emerged from the total darkness into another area of the machinery. The new section was bathed in a dull light from a grubby viewing panel that seemingly occupied an entire wall beside them. This light enabled both Ben and Jenna to see that they had slid into a large polythene bag. The part of the film they were laying upon seemed firmly stuck to the conveyor belt below them, not budging at all with their movements. Close inspection revealed it was being held firm by suction from hundreds of tiny holes in the belt... each creating slight dimples in the film where the pressure difference made the plastic want to reach into the vacuum below.
A thin tube of metal protruded from an apparatus into the bag, and loomed just above the couple's reclined bodies. The apparatus was following their movement along the conveyor belt. The tube had an opening at its tip which was jetting a continuous stream of air into the bag, the purpose of which was clearly to keep the bag inflated as the shrunken couple had passed into it.
Both Jenna and Ben looked towards the open end of the bag, the metal tube and flow of air keeping it wide open with the sides fluttering slightly in the breeze. They were about two body-lengths from the opening. The tiny couple felt they had an opportunity in that moment to escape the current situation. They released each another and attempted to scramble out of the opening, only to discover they could not gain any purchase on the plastic due to still being covered in the slippery oil.
With mutual grunts of frustration they continued their efforts, unwilling to be so easily rendered immobile, floundering around until their opportunity was unceremoniously denied to them. The rod above them suddenly retracted into the apparatus at the open end of the bag. The polythene around them, no longer supported by the protrusion and airflow, gently descend on top of them. It quickly took to the contours of their bodies as it draped over them. The oil on their skin seemed to encourage the smooth and flexible film to fall about them, leaving almost no gaps at all as it settled over them.
They looked ahead through the transparent plastic to see another part of the apparatus proceed to take hold of the once wide open end of the bag. The bag was pulled taut over their bodies as the vacuum holding the plastic to the conveyor, and the apparatus at its end, engaged in a brief tug-of-war. Another component of the apparatus then rushed forward to a point only an arm's length from their heads, and clamped down over the plastic. It held for a few seconds, then retreated back revealing that the bag had been sealed where it had been compressed. The apparatus then removed some of the excess plastic above the seal line before disengaging and retracting back.
The couple were silent and still for several moments as they took stock. The bag, loosely draped over their combined forms, gave no resistance to them rolling over onto their backs. Both raised their arms slightly to keep the plastic from falling onto their faces. There was enough air trapped with them that they were at least able to create a space over their heads for comfort and breathing... but creating this little void brought the material tighter around their legs and lower torsos. In a split second both realised that they were now sealed in an apparently airtight enclosure. Panic overtook them.
The tiny couple flailed their limbs as they tried to get a grip on their translucent prison's flexible walls. They both instinctively screamed for help as they tried with all their might to breach the material. Were they normal sized, tearing the thin plastic would have been effortless, but in their reduced state the plastic seemed as impregnable as a curtain of chainmail. Even if the oil slickening their hands was to suddenly vanish, it was unlikely they would be able to tear the material.
Time seemed to slow as they struggled with unbridled viciousness against their containment. Hours could have passed, but the couple wouldn't have known. Ancient survival instincts proving more than capable of overriding higher thought. When their muscles finally refused any more abuse, they collapsed back and just managed to pull each other into a close embrace. With bodies quaking from extreme exertion, Jenna and Ben faced the terrifying reality of impending suffocation. Bright light flooded over them as they emerged from the dulled environment of the machine. Neither really noticed as they awaited the dizziness and lethargy of carbon dioxide poisoning.
Eventually, as mental chaos gave way to beleaguered calm, the shrunken couple's senses began to register the sounds and vibrations around them. They were uncertain of how long it took for suffocation to occur, but both were convinced that they would have noticed some change by now... the taste of the air going foul at least. They were dumbfounded to discover that they were still breathing normally. Many minutes must have passed by now... yet they weren't gasping for air?!
The plastic was all around them and seemed to have no holes to allow exchange of air. It didn't add up. Ben tilted his head enough to allow his face to come into contact with the plastic. As the flexible material made contact with his lips and nose he attempted to breathe deeply. The film clamped around his face and halted the intake, as he expected it to. He held his nerve and waited. His focus morphed into bewilderment as time passed. There was no sense of shortness of breath, no building sensation of burning in the lungs that usually accompanied holding one's breath. He felt perfectly aware, too... no dizziness or increasing stupor evident at all.
After nearly a minute, Ben felt perfectly fine. He blew out what little air was in his lungs, lifting the plastic from his face in the process. Jenna had also taken notice of how they both seemed to be completely fine. She had been watching Ben's actions closely, and had come to the same conclusion. Neither of them seemed to actually need to breathe. The diminutive couple relaxed from their embrace, rolling onto their backs once again.