Whatever hope that buoyed Derrick’s heart failed as the computer beeped an angry beep. The pharmacy tech, a young man who looked to still be in highschool almost idly clacked away at the keyboard, each series of keystrokes resulting in a similar, unfriendly noise from the computer.

“Could you try it again?” Derrick asked pre-emptively.

Already he could feel the ire of the people behind him building. Derrick pulled his shirt back into place on his shoulder and leaned on the countertop. He ignored the sighs and grumbles from behind him, and the eye-rolling in front of him.

“It looks like your insurance isn’t going to cover this ‘script.” The pharmacy tech said, growing equally bored and irritated with Derrick.

“Alright, look…” Derrick said, pulling his wallet out. “I’ll just pay for it today, how much is it?”

A few more clicks of the computer. A few more sighs. A few more grumbles.

“A thirty day supply, four doses a day, two hundred and fifty dollars per dose…with tax, that’ll be thirty two thousand seven hundred dollars, sir.” The pharmacy tech said.

Derrick felt his legs waver out from underneath him. The world seemed to slough away into a spinning morass, but he managed to keep himself upright on the counter, catching himself with his hands.

“Wait…” The pharmacy tech said.

Derrick perked up, hope welling up inside. Even the thought of a clerical error, a mistake, or anything.

“Do you have a loyalty card?” The pharmacy tech asked. “It’ll be thirty one thousand, sixty five dollars, reflecting your five percent discount.”

Derrick’s head hung down, his cap falling from his head as it did.

“Sir? I’ll need to ask you to step aside so I can assist the other guests.” The pharmacy tech said.

“How about just a single day’s dose?” Derrick asked. “Can you sell me that? My doctor said they can’t get any more free samples for the month and I’m already out.”

Already in the pharmacy tech’s hand, like a magician pulled out of some kind of hidden sleeve, a tri-fold brochure on glossy paper. The tech slid it across the table, a discreet offering.

“You can either appeal the decision with your insurer, which usually takes something like six to twelve months, or…” The pharmacy tech tapped the brochure. “The manufacturer offers assistance programs, you can reach them using this, they usually get back in touch within a few days.”

With one last push of the pamphet toward Derrick, the pharmacy tech made it absolutely clear, if unspoken, that Derrick should take the offering and step aside. With the brochure clenched in hand, and the feeling that his belt needed tightening, Derrick shuffled away from the counter and back out to his car. As he sat down, the heat of the summer being replaced by an oppressive wave of vision-shimmering oppression that was slowly eroded by the steady hum of the car’s air conditioning. Derrick was relieved that his feet still felt at ease on the pedals, that his hands reached the wheel, even though he’d moved the seat up a notch this morning.

The pamphlet in his hands unfolded, from a family enjoying a picnic on the cover, to some models smiling on the interior. Bold font assured him that ‘Help is available’, followed by less reassuring tiny font that spelled out the reality of the situation. Outlined were basic requirements, stipulations, restrictions, and provisios that may prevent someone from being enrolled into what was apparently called ‘OligFam’, the assistance program being offered by OligPharm, the manufacturer of the anti-reduction drug, Amplidine. The drug Derrick needed sooner than later, and could not afford even if he had ten years to work in his current job.

All in all the pamphlet said very little that was concrete. Income limits were mentioned, but not defined. Resource restrictions were noted, but again, no number was printed. Even through all the text setting out vague exceptions and rules, Derrick couldn’t be sure that he hadn’t met one of the exclusionary rules, and he certainly couldn’t decipher if he was eligible otherwise, which seemed to be the designed intent of the pamphlet. Instead, in bold font, larger than any other text in the entire document, a phone number shined through, with the instructions outlined below it to call in to submit an application.

Although his hands were beginning to sweat, Derrick punched in the number and was immediately connected to a robotic voice, thanking him for calling OligFam, the Amplidine assistance program offered by the caring staff at OligPharm. What followed were a series of banal prompts, basic questions, only to become a steady stream of intrusive questions. Derrick hesitated when the mechanically polite voice asked for his home address, but given how short he was on options, he provided it after the second prompt, and when the voice asked for his Social Security Number, he had no reservations left. The phone call ended, seemingly abruptly, as the voice thanked him, assured him that someone would be in touch within forty eight hours, and then bid him goodbye.

Derrick sat back against the seat and clenched his eyes. As moisture ran down his forehead, then down his cheek, he convinced himself that it was all just sweat from the heat. Wiping away the excess, Derrick began the mundane task of driving himself home.

The rest of his evening was unremarkable, save for the repetitious checking of his phone for nonexistent updates from his application. If there was an upside to a congenital shrinking condition, Derrick told himself as he drifted to sleep, it was that his bed was far more spacious than he'd paid for. 

Derrick awoke with start. His doorbell was jarring under the best of circumstances, but being pulled from his dream of calm seas by the buzzing klaxon letting him know someone was at his door made it all the more alarming.

Although the bedsheet didn't impede him, Derrick still fell from his bed with the absence of grace that came from being unfamiliar with the distance from his bed to the floor. After recovering, slightly, realizing he was prone on the hardwood floor of his own bedroom, and recognizing the buzzing-ringing as his doorbell and not some hellish wasp in his dreams, Derrick finally found the wherewithal to call out.

“Coming!” Derrick shouted. “Coming! Just give me a moment!”

Derrick scrambled to his feet and fought to wrap the bedsheet around his waist, tripping once over the sheet, before climbing back to his feet and making his way to the front door. The doorbell continued to sound, his visitor clearly eager to have an audience with the king of his four hundred and eighty one square foot, one-bedroom, one-bath castle.

As he swung the door open, he immediately regretted not taking the time to get dressed. Standing in his doorway was a woman in a grey skirt and blazer. Her red hair surrounded her head like a mane, and her eyes regarded him from behind rimless rectangles with a mixture of disgust and mocking humor.

Behind her another woman stood, an overly large case held by the single handle in both her hands. This woman kept her relatively dull black hair in a bun and fought to keep the case off the ground and her thick black glasses from falling off her face.

"Mr. Scleretti?" The redhead inquired.

For a moment, Derrick was stunned. The woman in front of him had to be nearly six and a half feet tall. He quickly checked to see if she wore heels only to be dismayed to see flats. It was on recognizing her footwear that Derrick also came to his own dread epiphany, that the woman in his doorway was likely no amazonian in business casual, but that his own height had diminished considerably.

"Hello?" The woman said to Derrick's almost blank downward stare. "Are you a… Mr. Derrick Sandoval Scleretti?"

"Uh, yes! Yes, I'm Derrick. How can I help you?" He said, startled back to matching her gaze.

"And did you place a preliminary application with OligPharm, the manufacturer of Amplidine, to join the patient assistance program, OligFam?" She followed up.

“Yes, I placed the call yesterday…” Derrick said, adjusting the sheet so it covered more of him. “When the insurance company wouldn’t pay for my prescription. Who are you?”

At his affirmation of his identity, and the call he’d placed. The redhead’s eyes lit up. She extended a hand down to him the green, almond nails glinting in the light.

“Good morning, my name is Amanda Chamberlain, I’m an application processor and counselor with OligFam.” The woman said, clasping Derrick’s hand and shaking it vigorously.

As she shook his hand, Amanda pushed forward, crowding her way into Derrick’s home with not so much as an invitation. Her relative size to Derrick made the act of simply walking in through the open door an almost entirely uncontested event. Derrick himself was pushed somewhat gently aside as she strode in.

“And with me today is one of OligFam’s medical evaluators, Kirti Narayan-Noles.” Amanda indicated the woman struggling with the case, who was already halfway into Derrick’s home behind her. “We’re here to complete your application for the OligFam program, and see if we can’t get you eligible for assistance with your Amplidine prescription.”

“Come on in…” Derrick said, more to the woman carrying the case, who at least nodded in acknowledgement as she passed him. Derrick couldn’t help but notice that even though she seemed shorter than Amanda, she was still taller than Derrick, significantly.

As Derrick shut the door behind Kirti, he watched as Amanda was taking in her surroundings, while Kirti had already set about with her case on the coffee table. Whereas Amanda seemed to be taking in everything all at once, Kirti was much more focused on squaring her case before pulling a number of devices and supplies from it. She had already taken a seat on the couch as she was setting up.

“Um… what are you doing?” Derrick asked to both of the women now in his home.

“First thing’s first…” Amanda said, without even turning back to Derrick. “You’ve clearly been skipping doses…”

“Can’t skip what you don’t have…” Derrick muttered under his breath.

“So we’ll need to ensure you’re not going to wither away on us.” Amanda said. “Provided you consent to the interview and associated evaluation, Kirti here will be administering a complimentary maintenance dose of Amplidine, and you’ll be provided with seven additional doses to get you through the next couple of days while we process your application.”

“Yes!” Derrick shouted. “Of course!”

“Come over here, please.” Kirti said, snapping a neoprene glove into place as she did.

Now that she was sitting on Derrick’s couch, Derrick at least felt a little more comfortable with Kirti’s height advantage, a feeling of comfort which was almost immediately erased as she stood up when he approached her. The dark skinned woman had enough of a friendly demeanor that Kirti herself wasn't deeply intimidating, but her relative height, and the odd device she held in her right hand did make everything scarier.

"Because we can't wait for the normal pharmacokinetics of the Amplidine pill…" Kirti explained, while guiding Derrick to sit on his own couch. "We'll need to administer this nasal inhaler."

"Okay…" Derrick said, reaching up for what was apparently an inhaler.

"Actually… I'll need to administer it directly. And you're not going to like it." Kirti said.

"What do you mean?" Derrick asked with building trepidation.

"Amplidine's nasal inhalation formulation is deeply unpleasant…" May explained. "but needs to remain in the patient's lungs for approximately ninety seconds to be effective."

"O…okay, I'll j…just hold my breath." Derrick said.

"You won't. I've been told it's like breathing in 'hydrochloric acid on fire'." Kirti said, a tinge of pity flashing across her face. "And each dose of the inhalation formulation is roughly twenty six times the cost of each pill, so we cannot waste it."

"I… okay, so how do I take it?" Derrick asked.

"You're going to breathe out, I'm going to shove this…" Kirti shook the device in her hand. "Up your nose, you're going to breathe in as deeply as you possibly can, and then…"

"And then?" Derrick said, sounding more pathetic than he wanted to.

"I'm going to hold my hand over your mouth and nose for ninety five seconds while the medication sets in." Kirti said.

There were a few moments of silence as Derrick processed what he'd been told. He looked from Kirti to Amanda and back, but found no alternatives, slowly nodded his head in resigned understanding.

The sight of Kirti approaching, looming over him, a device in one glove hand and the other reaching toward him was unnerving, but he managed to remain still. Her left hand reached around and grabbed him by the back of the head.

Since he had begun to shrink, Derrick had done everything in his power to avoid most physical contact with other people. Derrick hadn’t been the tallest person, but having already lost some inches, being reminded of his losses was painful. The medical examiner’s hand, clutching the back of his head with surprising ease only reinforced the apprehension in Derrick. He could feel his heart trying to beat outside of his chest, and his own breathing become shallow and quick.

“Okay, let’s start breathing out, and in together.” Kirti said. “In…”

She drew in a deep breath, even going so far as to mime the action so that Derrick felt prompted to mimic it. Derrick kept drawing breath, until he could draw no more, a bit humiliated that Kirti was still taking her breath.

“And out…” She continued, pursing her lips and pushing her breath out.

Derrick let his breath out similarly, his eyes locked onto Kirti’s.

“Keep going.” Kirti said, the inhaler moving closer to his face. “Good, now hold it. When I push this into your nose, you need to breath in as deeply as you can through the nose.”

Derrick felt as though he might pass out, but without warning, the medical examiner crammed the cone of the device up into Derrick’s nostril, simultaneously pinching the other nostril shut. With everything he had, Derrick sucked his breath in. The torrent of electric fire that rushed into Derrick’s lungs and begun to spread almost instantly as though he had seized a downed power wire.

“Keep going!” Kirti shouted. “All the way in!”

In that moment, if it hadn’t been for Kirti staring him in the eyes, he would’ve done everything in his power to exhale, to let the seeming poison in his chest out. But he maintained. Derrick wanted to scream, and just as he felt he would, the cone popped free of his nostril. Without delay, Kirti’s gloved hand clamped down over his mouth, pinching down on his nose between her thumb and hand. Even if Derrick has been aware of his diminished size, the sudden clarity of an unaffected woman’s hand easily shutting off his air supply only exacerbated the fear and pain welling inside his chest.

“One…” Kirti said.

If the sensation of drawing in the breath was fire, being forced to keep it inside him was like the sun raging inside his chest. He could still hear Kirti talking, counting up, but it didn’t matter. Even a few counts from one, Derrick wanted to let go, and tried to shake off Kirti’s grip. The dark skinned woman’s grip on the back of his head, and over his face, however, was unshakable. Derrick’s vision began to blur with tears.

“Sixteen…” Kirti continued.

By twenty Derrick couldn’t bear it. He reached up and tried to pry Kirti’s hand from his face. Had her hands grown? Were the fingers from her other hand creeping into vision? Still her hand didn’t budge. Darkness began to replace the edges of his sight, and the tears came unrestrained from his eyes. All the while the searing pain in his chest radiated out, burning his throat, his arms, and even as his vision faded, his eyes.

“Sixty seven…” Kirti continued.

Clenching his eyes gave Derrick a brief glimpse back into the world through his tears. He saw Kirti’s unchanging expression still looking into his own eyes. He realized he’d lost his grip on Kirti’s hands, and even his own will to remain upright had been burned out of him. The only stopping him from collapsing to the couch in heap of coughing were Kirti's hands securely latched to his head.

"Eighty five…" Kirti continued.

The darkness crept over the last of Derrick's vision and the fire that had begun in his lungs threatened to consume him entirely.

"Ninety!"

Derrick spewed forth a breath even as Kirti had already moved out of the way. Almost paradoxically, everything felt worse as Derrick coughed and sucked in new, more painful breaths. He felt Kirti’s hand on his shoulder, suddenly aware that he was no longer upright, but collapsed to his couch as he hacked and weezed. Her hand kept him from collapsing even further to the floor. Slowly, painfully, a sense of normalcy returned to Derrick’s respiration, and with it his vision began to return.

“Are you going to be able to wrap this up any time soon?” Amanda asked with more than a little impatience in her voice.

As sure as Derrick was that she was asking her coworker, when his vision cleared enough to see the redhead’s face, she was clearly gazing down at him from where she sat on his coffee table, with her arms and legs crossed, miming her impatience. Her foot bobbed idly in the air as she waited for Derrick to compose himself.

“I, just a moment, let me get a glass of water.” He said.

“Yes, if you must.” Amanda granted, even though Derrick hadn’t asked a question.

Derrick gathered up his sheet, and proceeded into his modest kitchen. He turned on the kitchen tap and then realized to his dismay that he’d have to go back out of the kitchen again to get a chair to stand on to reach the cupboard containing his glasses. Opting for the less humiliating option, Derrick instead began searching through the dirty dishes in his sink and dishwasher, both of which were at a more manageable height. He didn’t even notice the shadow looming over him. The first sign he recognized that he wasn’t alone in his kitchen was the tapping of a foot on the linoleum floor.

“We have a schedule to keep, Mr. Scleretti, what is taking so long?” Amanda said from immediately overhead. The toe of her foot tapped louder and louder.

“I…uh, I can’t reach my glasses.” Derrick said, more intimidated than ashamed.

“Fine, which cupboard?” Amanda asked, albeit with a heavy sigh.

Derrick pointed to the appropriate cabinet behind Amanda and the OligPharm representative immediately turned and procured a glass. Without waiting for Derrick's input, she filled it with water from the tap, and crouched down to set it on the floor, next to where Derrick still knelt next to his dishwasher.

"If you're just about done wasting our time, we'll need to get your application finished." Amanda said. "I'm sure you've got things you want to be doing too."

She didn't wait for Derrick to answer, returning to his living room, and leaving him on his kitchen floor, next to a half filled glass of water, and a still running tap. Derrick drank the water, a little less leisurely than he’d originally planned, but he did take the time to more adequately secure his bedsheet into a makeshift toga. He turned the tap off and left the three quarter empty glass on the counter. Returning to his living room, he found Kirti setting up a small medical panel and Amanda having made herself comfortable reclining on his couch, her feet up and crossed over the arm of the couch with a tablet in hand.

“So what do you need to know?” Derrick asked.

“Sit here.” Kirti ordered. “I’ll run a few basic tests, while Amanda finalizes the application process.”

Derrick sauntered over, where Amanda refused to budge, so instead he sat on his coffee table in front of her and adjacent to Kirti. Kirti began immediately. Derrick was a bit caught off guard when Kirti’s hands produced a nasal probe attached to a small consol, and an ear thermometer. The probe found its way up Derrick’s left nostril with less gentleness than he was accustomed to from medical professionals. The ear thermometer similarly was buried into his ear.

With both a nostril and an ear clogged, Kirti’s gloved hands found their way to Derrick’s neck and his wrist, measuring pulse. It was in this state, his throat in Kirti’s hand, probes and sticks in his orifices, that Amanda began the application interview.

“Finally, now, you’ve already provided us with the basics of what we need.” Amanda outlined. “But the next part is largely a legal process.”

Derrick couldn’t really acknowledge, but Amanda continued anyway.

“So, under the conditions of the OligFam programs, you agree to submit data from financial institutions, social media companies or platforms, and civic entities, referred to as ‘data’ herein, as required or requested by the OligFam program. Do you consent to these data terms?”

“Y…yesh.” Derrick enunciated.

“Good.” Amanda continued. “Additionally, you agree to submit to physiological or mental examinations, measurements, or tests, referred to as ‘tests’ herein, as required or requested by the OligFam program. These tests can include both conventional tests, as well as the collection of samples and tissue. Do you consent to these test terms?”

“Ugl…ugkay.” Derrick managed to work out.

“Finally. You agree to submit your name, likeness or personhood to OligFam program for the purposes of marketing or licensing, relinquishing all hold you had to name, likeness, or personhood for the purposes and ends of the OligFam Program.” Amanda outlined. “Do you agree to these terms?”

“Yes, I do.” Derrick agreed, as Kirti’s hands came off him.

His respite was brief, as Kirti returned with stethoscope, and another instrument that Derrick didn’t recognize.

Dozens and dozens of questions followed from Amanda, each requiring Derrick to waive some kind of autonomy or privacy. As Amanda outlined each section, Kirti accompanied the questions with more all too personal examinations. At the morning ran into the early afternoon, and Derrick’s stomach began to growl, he was even instructed to pause the process to take a single pill of Amplidine, as part of the maintenance routine. Once back the questions, poking, prodding, and groping resumed unabated. After several hours, Amanda finally seemed to be wrapping it up.

“Great, last one. You understand that application or acceptance into any of OligPharm’s OligFam programs is not a guarantee of any payment, service, or reward.” Amanda outlined.

“I… wait, even with all this, even if I get into the program, there’s no guarantee that I’ll get Amplidine out of it?” Derrick protested.

“Stay still.” Kirti said, the stethoscope on his chest pushing him back into a rigid upright posture.

“These are the terms.” Amanda said, turning the tablet toward Derrick. At the bottom of the tablet, following an intense block of text detailing what she’d just been over, a line with a box for a thumbprint after it. “Do you submit to these terms?”

Kirti pulled her hands back, and set about replacing her tools, leaving Derrick to feel unsteady as he considered the tablet screen in front of him. Derrick could still feel his pulse in his neck from Kirti’s timing. He could feel the sweat forming at his brow. He didn’t dare to look up, over the tablet, where Amanda still relaxed on his couch.

Instead he knew what he had to do. He reached out with his right hand and placed his thumb on the rectangle, much larger than the thumbprint he left. As the tablet registered his thumbprint, his name filled into the line next to it automatically. The tablet’s screen darkened, and a simple box appeared over the rest of the contract with two words. Thank you.

“Wonderful!” Amanda said, shooting up from where she sat. “With that we can begin processing your application. Thank you for your time, Mr. Sclerreli.”

She stood up so quickly, Derrick found himself a little dizzy watching her stand up next to him, but he had little time to consider as Kirti caught his attention with the most important thing in Derrick’s life, a prescription bottle.

"This is eighteen total doses of Amplidine." Kirti said, setting the amber plastic on the coffee table next to where Derrick remained sitting. "This is enough for the remainder of today and the next four days."

Derrick picked up the bottle and considered the bright yellow tablets inside. They were identical to the ones his doctor had provided when he'd first been diagnosed a couple of days ago.

"And what am I supposed to do after that?" Derrick asked.

Kirti had already packed up the remainder of her things and had quickly ducked out of Derrick’s house from behind Amanda.

"We'll be in touch before then." Amanda answered from the doorway. "The OligFam program has multiple levels. That can mean discounted or even free Amplidine."

"And if I'm not accepted?" Derrick asked, sinking back into his couch.

“Well, if you don’t get accepted…” Amanda said.

She braced herself against Derrick’s door frame, and reached down awkwardly as she balanced poorly on one leg. With some lacking grace, she peeled her flat off, revealing her stocking clad foot. She stood up, still precariously balancing on a single foot, and glanced at the insole of her flat, shaking the shoe gently before smiling. She turned the shoe to display the insole to Derrick.

There, having tumbled from the toe into the heel of Amanda’s flat, looking more pathetic than Derrick imagined such a mant could, was a tiny, naked woman. Covered in the sweat from Amanda’s foot, a bit of lint and grime, and moving with the sloth of someone who had just been clutched under the nyloned toes of a woman dozens of times her size for at least the hours that she had spent interviewing Derrick. The tiny woman let out a pathetic, mewling attempt at speech, but was far too tiny to be heard.

“If you don’t get accepted, we’ll be back to…check in.” Amanda promised.

She didn’t bother to say goodbye, instead slipping her flat back on, and stepping outside the door and shutting it in one fluid motion. James spent a few moments just soaking in dread at what he’d seen before he desperately reached for his phone to set regular alarms for the four doses of Amplidine he’d need to take per day.