My ear itches. For an instant I think on scratching it, but the itch goes away and I decide not to move. I’m too relaxed for that. I’m in paradise. Literally. I’m in a wide stretch of paradise, to be precise.
The Caribbean is barely deep enough to wet my back, but this works well enough to refresh me as I work on tanning my glorious body. After a pretty hectic morning, I think I deserve a break. After all, a girl needs to indulge from time to time, no matter her size, doesn’t she?
The sunrays are just perfect, so I’m in no hurry to move. I think I’ll stay around for a while. As I relax, I start thinking about what I will do next, though. I mean, I can do just anything I want. I can get to any size I want, visit any place in the world I want and use my powers to get anything I want. This is great, of course, but it also means that anything that happens is entirely up to me, which can be kind of stressful.
Should I visit some other continent? As a model, I’ve always wanted to visit Europe. Paris, Milano, London, … I’ve often dreamed of working in some of the fashion shows there. I guess I could visit the three cities in a single day. I’ve heard that Europe is not so big. I also want to take a dip, or at least get my toes wet, in the Mediterranean.
I’d like to visit Asia too. I’d love to see Japan, visit the Great Wall, even if I know I can now easily step over it, or see the beaches and bays of Vietnam and Thailand.
Asia is a little bigger, so I may need to plan on spending a weekend there.
Now, a part of my mind I did not think it existed kicks in. I think I could call it sense of responsibility. After some thought, I realize it’s not really that. I would be worried if it were. It’s probably megalomania, which fits much nicer.
Anyway, I realize that for all my shows of power and all my rants about being the goddess of this world… I have not really formally taken over it.
I know it really makes no difference. And I’m not big on formality. But I feel that I ought to do at least something. Should I visit Washington DC? I probably should. The question is what do once I get there. Well, I’ll probably think on something…
My train of thought is interrupted when a voice other than mine speaks inside my mind.
“Victoria O’Neal” the voice says. Well, that’s my name. It makes sense that any inside voice in my mind knows how I’m called. The fact that there is a voice inside my head is what freaks me out.
“WHAT THE FUCK?” I ask aloud.
“Miss O’Neal, this is Secretary of Homeland Security Paul Carson”
That was really the last thing I was expecting to hear.
“WHO THE FUCK IS THAT AND WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY HEAD?” I ask, really upset.
The voice needs a couple of seconds to come back:
“Miss O’Neal, I’m the Secretary of Homeland… I’m the responsible for the security of the citizens of the US. My name is Paul Carson. We implanted a speaker system inside your ear… sort of an earpiece, if you may”
I never had a very good temper, and being all-powerful has only made it worse. I sit down in a rush and look around. There is no one. Then, more pissed off than I’ve been since I woke up, I say in a very loud voice:
“YOU’VE DONE WHAT? YOU PUT SOMETHING IN MY EAR?”
I remember the itch and get even madder. Somehow, the damned microbes got into my ear and put something in there! How dare they?
I’m not worried about voices in my head anymore, but I’m incredibly pissed off at the fact that someone has had the guts of doing this. My first impulse is to bring my finger into my ear and scratch anything that might be in there out. I control myself and wait for the fucker to reply. I want to hear what he says.
“We had the need to communicate with you…” the voice says.
I interrupt it, still in a loud tone:
“AND WHY DID YOU THINK THAT I WOULD HAVE THE NEED TO COMMUNIACTE WITH YOU?”
“We want to negotiate” the voice says.
I cannot prevent letting a laugh out. My voice then says what my mind is thinking:
“NEGOTIATE? WITH YOU? WHY THE HELL WOULD I WANT TO NEGOTIATE WITH MICROSCOPIC PEOPLE?”
“We thought… we thought you might agree on coming down to a more… manageable size” the voice says.
I laugh out loud again.
“YOU GUYS HAVE BRAINS THAT ARE JUST AS TINY AS YOU ARE” I say. I know… it’s a pretty lame reply. But with my size and power, I really don’t need to elaborate my puns too much.
Without waiting for a reply, I start standing, water from the Caribbean raining down my 10-miles tall body. I somehow notice the change of pressure and need to wait a couple of seconds to adapt, which kind of annoys me, but I’m feeling as powerful as ever right away and I forget about it.
“LET ME GIVE YOU A HEADS UP” I say aloud. I don’t know where the tiny man that is talking to me is located or how he is listening to me, but I’ve assumed that I can be heard, and so far this has seemed to be true. I guess that it’s a safe enough assumption for someone like me whose voice has the power of God’s. “I KIND OF LIKE THIS SIZE. I HAD SOME DOUBTS AT THE BEGINNING, BUT AFTER THE MORNING, I REALIZED I LOVE IT. I MAY TRY SOME OTHER SIZES LATER, BUT WHEN I DO IT WILL BE TO WHATEVER SIZE I WANT AND AT WHATEVER MOMENT I WANT”
It takes the voice a while to come back. It seems nervous when it does. It finally says:
“But… are you willing to talk?”
I’m about to send it to hell when I have a different idea. After a second of evaluation I decide it might be entertaining. And it’s not as if I had anything else planned, after all.
“I MAY AGREE ON TALKING TO YOU. BUT THIS IS A LITTLE IMPERSONAL. LET ME KNOW WHERE YOU ARE. I’LL COME TO YOU. IT WILL BE FASTER THAN IF I WAIT FOR YOU, ANYWAY” I say in a confident tone.
I can notice that my words have had an impact. The voice does not immediately come back. Finally, it says:
“We can talk just where you are. And we thought that your current location might be the safest one, considering…”
In interrupt it.
“YOU DID NOT UNDERSTAND. I DON’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT. I WANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE. NOW!”
The delay in the answer is getting annoying. The content is even worse.
“I’m afraid I cannot disclose my current location”
I do not reply. I just look around and find a suitable enough spot. Without further word, I start walking on the ocean bed. It does not take me long to stand right in front of a massive city that I guess is Miami.
I know I’m being observed. Whoever was talking to me and whoever was giving him instructions are probably expecting me to issue some threat or to demand something. I don’t.
I just let the pressure build behind my eyes and then let go my two most powerful beams of energy through them yet. They hit an area in the center of the city which is immediately vaporized. That’s far from what I intended for them, though.
Much like the alien’s main weapon in Independence Day, the shockwave is way worse than the first impact. A wave of fire and destruction starts expanding from the initial point of contact, swallowing buildings and infrastructure alike. After a while my attention is switched from the destruction front and into the cloud of dust that begins to form over the spot formerly occupied by the city of Miami. I love its mushroom shape.
I don’t know how, but it would appear that I’ve somehow become an expert in the art of judging the necessary dose of my awesome powers. The amount of energy I applied to the beams was just the right one to finish the city and its metro area without going much further than that.
I can hear some shock through my “earpiece”, but no discernible words.
It’s me that re-starts the conversation.
“SINCE YOU ARE STILL TALKING, I GUESS YOU WERE NOT IN MIAMI. NOW, WILL YOU TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE OR DO I NEED TO FINISH A FEW MORE CITIES OFF FIRST?”
“No! No, please” the voice comes back, pleading.
I smirk. I’ve won. Again. My smile widens when I realize that there is no way I will lose at anything ever again.
“SO, TELL ME PAUL. WHERE ARE YOU?”
“I’m in DC. In Washington DC”
“COOL. I WAS PLANNING ON GOING THERE ANYWAY. WAIT FOR ME THERE PAUL. I’LL WANT TO HAVE A WORD WITH YOU. IT WON’T TAKE LONG FOR ME TO GET THERE” I say.
“Please, could you just walk…”
“SHHHHH” I interrupt him. He shuts up and I think for a second before going on: “I DON’T WANT TO BE ANNOYED. LET ME LAY SOME GROUND RULES OUT. FROM NOW ON, YOU MICROBES WILL ONLY SPEAK TO ME IF I SPEAK TO YOU FIRST. EVERYTIME YOU FAIL TO FOLLOW THIS SIMPLE RULE, I WILL DESTROY A CITY. UNDERSTOOD?”
There is no answer.
“I SAID… UNDERSTOOD?”
“Yes, it’s understood” the voice says.
I smile evilly again.
“YOU KNOW, YOU GUYS MIGHT HAVE EVEN MADE ME A FAVOR. BEING ABLE TO TALK TO YOU FROM TIME TO TIME WITHOUGH HAVING TO GET SMALLER WILL DEFINITELY COME HANDY!”
As I finish saying that, I wade around the crater that was formerly the city of Miami and start walking along the coast. It’s not that I want to avoid too many casualties, but following the coastline will be the easiest way to get to my destination.
“I GUESS THAT YOU WILL BE TRACKING ME ANYWAY. THAT’S ALRIGTH. I MAY NEED SOME DIRECTIONS” I tell them. And then, I take a deep breath in and relax as the breeze bathes my body while I wade along the Eastern Seaboard.
After the initial anger, I cannot but thank the microbes for what they’ve done. Being able to talk to them will only open possibilities for me. I wonder which new types of games and tortures I can make up now that I’ve regained this ability!