I was gritting my teeth as I broke my sleep. I could feel the soreness in my jaw, tenseness that had built up in my mouth. It hadn’t been a particularly stressful week - that was just the way I was feeling at the moment. There was too much going on in the general world for me to feel normal. I rolled off my bed, a few feet away was the energy drink I’d left half of from last night. I took a long sip from the metal container, then waved my hand over the mirror. It lit up, displaying the time in the top left, allowing me to see how miserable I looked. My yellow hair was pulled back into a ponytail, my eyes with dark red circles underneath them. When I got done seeing myself I took note of the weather report, it was lit up in bright blue illuminate letters, rain, dark clouds, high particulate matter in the atmosphere.

I was still wearing my jeans, so I felt around in my pockets. I had a breathing filter there so at least I’d be able to go outside and pick up a few things, even if it was just to help me sleep that night. The time was 7:05 AM. I clicked a few panels on the mirror and the shutters opened on the windows, revealing the bright lights of all colours that spread and twinkled across the horizon. I felt the space behind my ear and tapped. Out popped a small memory card like device, it was my CIRTech chip. Sometimes it acted up and needed placing back in, so after I tapped it out I placed it back in. My brain felt like it had lit up with more information, some of the grogginess had worn back and I remembered the night before. I had been out dancing, inhaled some drugs from a dispenser of some girl I’d met, thrown up a few times and been questioned by the police 2-3 times.

My interface was back online, I could recognise objects a little clearer and my central nervous system was being sped up. The grogginess and teeth gritting had all been side effects of being off my chip - without it my body was on regular pre-evolved human systems. Slow, poor performing. The light from outside suddenly became a huge bright white. My head twisted and I saw the advertising board had switched.

“PRESENT - FUTURE. FIND YOURS WITH ULCORP”.

Meaningless jargon. There was a photo of some heavy, towered mechs that looked ready to flatten a whole country. They had been advertising these sort of things since I had been born - but I’d never seen any of them, nor any proof they existed or worked. It just seemed like a strange marketing strategy, god knows what would happen if you went to work on one of these non-existent mechs. Just as quickly as it came it switched again, a darker advert. Perhaps this one hadn’t paid for a brighter pixel setting on their board. I grabbed a brown jacket and zipped it up over my chest. It was a snug fit, black lines on the trim, a neat hood. I left my hair as it was and stuffed my hands in the front pockets, moving towards the door of my apartment. Inside the pocket I felt an inhaler, so I lifted it out and took a quick hit of whatever was inside it. It helped calm me down, I opened the door and walked out.

—

When I stepped out the building I was coughing immediately, I forgot to put the filter on before I went outside. I had a few harsh coughs and it felt like smoke filled into my mouth. I felt in my pocket and slapped the filter between my lips and sucked in fresh air. The coughing subsided, I headed across the street and walked into the fresh produce store. It was well kept, short aisles and not the murky lighting that outside was currently experiencing. There was a lot of green across the branding, so it was easy to see what was generic bullshit and what might actually pass for fresh. I picked up a couple of packs of flavoured noodles, some lemons and a pack of cigarettes. I was about to join the back of the checkout queue when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned and saw June. We had been to a few relaxation pods together, but I wouldn’t really call her a friend. She was smiling at me, which I returned with a glare.

“Lil! Why the need for all the sadness?”

Do I want to have this conversation? No. Poverty, war, the fact that my head still feels awful despite the amount I spend on a subscription for my health. The lack of pay, the addiction to tobacco. I could go on. I have a million reasons to be sad, but I swallowed it and avoided setting out the demons for her. “It’s one of those weeks”. I was already turning away when she continued on.

“Do you need a little hack-hack on that brain of yours?”.

“I don’t think I can afford another half-broken update, but thanks”. Was she not getting the hint?

“I have a better idea” her smile was starting to irritate me. “I’ve been to this clinic the last few weeks, instead of editing my chip they gave me a classic human experience!”

Classic human experience. Like my hangover.

“No pressure at all Lil, but here’s the address”. She grabbed my hand and was already pressing hers to it before I could resist. The reader in my hand vibrated a little as it authorized her and stored the information in my contacts. Creed Clinic 504 Westborough. I mustered a half smile and managed to say “Thanks”.

—

The apartment had the smell of the same energy drink when I got back. I turned out the filter and checked the air levels inside, threw my shopping to the side of the bed and cracked my knuckles. My apartment was a good space, enough for me to stretch around in with a small cubby holding the bed. To the right of the door was a desk, the monitor of which was built into the wall and was able to be hidden away with the access interface. The traditional option of keyboard was tucked away underneath it.

I had a few mails to read through, one was a notification of payment due, a few spam messages, advertisements. I flicked through and noticed I’d been compensated 149 Cee-Coin for a piece of digital art that had been sold. That meant I was going to keep eating for a few more weeks at least. My mind went back to the ‘classic human experience’. I needed a bit of a break, but the whole idea of something new and different sounded like the typical fads that had been thrown around the city time and time again. Like when someone invented frost yoga - yoga inside of industrial freezers. Sounds like an easy way to get your organs harvested to me.

The log in my head noted Creed Clinic was located half a mile away. I could jog past, check out the area, see what kind of sketchy neighborhood it was in and who was hanging around there, then bolt it out. At the very least I might get a story or two to tell. I zipped my hoodie up again and pushed open the door of the apartment, I heard the clack of the lock behind me as I was walking to the elevator.

—

Jogging with a filter on made it easier to get the right amount of oxygen flowing through your body. I felt vibrant and peppy as my head log recorded the levels of speed I was reaching. I did a few circuits near my apartment, then followed my navigation towards the clinic. The rain was light but accompanied with the dark clouds it made the whole city appear dim, with strong distorted lights passing through the disturbed air. I stopped at a crossroad, checked the traffic and jogged across. I could see a row of shops, illuminated by dim streetlamps, a couple of people in dirty overalls were stood chatting at the end of the street. I identified a couple of the shops, places I’d seen to buy furniture, discuss rent. It seemed a pretty average part of town.

Creed Clinic had a large rectangular sign with it’s name spread across in gold lettering. It shimmered in the light, there was a big cartoon like figure of a doctor at the end holding a thumb up to me. I wasn’t sure how any of this would relate to what was inside - June didn’t seem to imply this was an actual medical facility where I’d be meeting a doctor. It was starting to look more and more like a front for some kind of drugs. Two men in suits suddenly walked out the door, one was a tan suit, the kind that would get way too dirty in this part of town to warrant ever wearing it. He held the door for the second, who was wearing a more modest dark blue, with matching tie. They shook hands and one seemed to tell a joke because they both had a laugh, before heading off down the opposite end of the street.

I moved closer to the door. There was Kanji down the side of the window, it spelled out something I couldn’t quite read. Often people in the city could read multiple languages, if for no other reason than having a language chip installed. I posessed no such power in intelligence or cheatcodes, so I was none the wiser to what this meant. Despite my intention to not proceed, I had been drawn further to this building. Now that I stood in front of the door, it made sense to go inside and investigate.

The walls were dark, they didn’t look freshly painted but seemed well kept. There were a couple of lamps in front of a desk, which gave the only real light source in the room, aside from a couple of monitors. I squinted a little as my eyes began to adjust to the lower light. I saw on one of the monitors it gave the particulate levels of the building, which seemed healthy enough to remove my filter mask. As I took my first breath I could smell the scent in the building, like the soft cherry blossoms in bloom. It was intoxicating compared to the bitter acidity of the city. At the desk was a short woman, waiting for me to approach.

“Welcome to Creed Clinic, I’m Sofika, can we be of service?”

I looked for a menu or something. A way to know what I was getting into.

“What kind of service? I’ve never seen somewhere like this before”.

She held her hands together, I could see her bow tie at her neck aside her tuxedo-like jacket.

“We at Creed aim to remove some stresses with modern city life. Our services are personally tailored to you, with each being unique to what we can get from you. If you’d like to try it, we have someone free in four minutes!”

That didn’t give me a lot of opportunity to learn more.

“How much?”

She smiled. “You can pay whatever you like after the session is over! If you hate it, pay us nothing, but I sincerely doubt you will”.

She doesn’t know me, clearly. I accepted her offer anyway, I was booked in with Natasha for in four minutes.

—

When my session time came around, I was led down a corridor that began behind some bead curtains. There were doors on either side, with soft dark grey carpet under my feet. My friend from the desk showed me to a door, then pointed to my feet. “We don’t allow shoes inside”. I nodded and slipped them off, leaving them at the door. She pressed her palm to the doorlock and it clicked open, pressing down on the handle and gesturing me into the room. “Enjoy”.

The room was pitch black. I couldn’t see anything. I could feel the continued soft carpet on the floor, so I moved a few more steps into the room. The door had shut behind me, I didn’t even hear the hum of any computer systems in here. A glow began in front of me, but the darkness was almost giving me vertigo. I couldn’t see up or down. The glow was a deep red, I could see a silhouette being made out with it. Then, a soft and feminine voice almost whispered into my ear.

“Welcome”. The brightness grew around the silhouette and revealed a woman with soft facial features, deep purple eyes and a wicked smile. Lipstick that matched her eyes puckered a kiss towards me, that didn’t manage to quite reach. There were lines reaching down symmetrically from her neck to her chest - thick cable lines that were embedded in the skin and held augmentations. I could see the glint behind the purple that gave away the further augmentations in her eyes. Her hair was blonde, two front curves spreading down to below her ears with the rest tied back.

I tried to reach out for her, to see if she was real or just something I was imagining in the dark. She dismissed my hand and pressed it down, before reaching up to hold my cheek. “Sweetheart, do not worry, just relax and trust me”. Her words had a hypnotic quality to them, blessing my ears and giving me soft prickles at the top of them that extended a soft electricity down my neck and ears. Her other hand reached around my head and she popped the CIRTech card out of me. I felt a slight panic as my functions became less heightened and more akin to my default modes. She had a reader in her palm that she slotted it into.

“Mm, I see, I see. I can see things here even you can’t see you dream of”.

I was feeling groggy, a little dazed. She grabbed me still and was in the process of telling me it was okay.

“This might feel a little better”.

She had grabbed another card, slid it into my head and I felt it booting into my system. The sensation was strange, I was suddenly without the ability to use one of my senses - touch. I had lost the feeling of her, lost the feeling of my feet on the carpet. Like I was floating. When the chip booted fully, the room grew a little lighter. Her face was lit up in front of me. She looked at me, smiled a little. Her lips came close and she pulled me into her as she planted them on my forehead. I felt another funny sensation as my touch returned back. I was looking up at her with her still embracing me. Her arms were wrapping me with ease, it felt a safe place.

She let go and moved back. I saw now that she had been crouching to hug me, she stretched up and moved into being stood, and I felt the scale between us suddenly became evident. If I looked straight forwards, I saw her chest looking back at me. She was locked into a tight black synthetic tank top. It rose up to the middle of her neck, small circuit-like patterns ran across it, with a zip heading down the middle that was held together at the top by a large, hollow diamond. The shoulders looked like they were reinforced with some kind of carbon steel. My gaze moved up and I saw her bite at her lip. It dawned on me that I knew her name - so it came from my lips “Hello Natasha”.

Natasha stroked along my shoulder and up to my neck, I felt that tingle hit me again. She brushed a strand of my hair to the side and pulled me close to her. My face met with her clothed breast, it was quite a rough surface but made up for by the way the breast supported my face and brought comfort to me. I instinctively brought my arms up and wrapped them around her back.

“Oh silly me”. She said, as she moved her hand up to the diamond and pulled the zip down - exposing her flesh and cleavage to me. I moved and nuzzled towards it, where I could now smell the sweet rose scent that was coming from inside the top, released to me now. As my cheek touched to her breast, I also felt the warmth and soft pleasure it allowed me. I felt calm and relieved. Natasha moved me back a little, with seeming ease, then kissed me on the forehead again. The familiar vertigo feeling returned, my eyes closed for a moment and when I opened them I was looking up. Looking up to Natasha’s chest. Her bare cleavage was unzipped and bulging out. My face had been there moments ago, but now I had to look up and long for it. I wanted to stand up and get back there instead of being lied down.

“You are so much cuter this size”. Her words were a little confusing. This size? I was just lied down. I tried to move to stand and get back to the comfy place. I moved my hands and my legs to try stand, only for it to hit me that I was stood. Natasha was stood too, her form was looking bigger by the second. If I reached up I could just about touch her chest, but she smirked and batted my hand away from touching. She sat down, crossed her legs and beckoned me over to her. I approved of her methods, walked over and tried to hug her. She turned me around and sat me in her lap. Her fingers ran through my hair, she lied me back and my neck sat on her cleavage.

“Sweet little plaything, just relax”. I was relaxed. I don’t think anything could remove the sereneness of this moment. The sights and angers of the city were draining from me and I was present - here. In Natasha’s arms. Being stroked and comforted by her.

“You never have to be afraid of anything again, you have me now”. Strong promises. They met my ears and just helped. I was warmed inside, my heart was slowing and I could almost fall asleep as I was. Natasha leaned in - the purple lips filling me with an extra warmth as they tapped my head again. I could feel it happening again, I would be even smaller.

The dizziness passed, I saw her face in front of me, but I was not on the ground. I tapped beneath me. My hands met comfort, warmth, not carpet. I was sitting down and realised I was sitting in her palm - my back up against her fingers. I was truly tiny, at the whim of this woman I didn’t know, yet I trusted her. Maybe it was just the chip messing with my brainwaves, but she made me feel safe. Safe in this impossibly big, violent and crazy city. Safe in a place where I was never sure if I could make rent. I opened my mouth “Please be careful, Natasha”.

She was already moving her finger towards my lips. The finger that was the size of my body. I took the hint. Natasha moved me to her chest, she leaned back and gently put me down on top of her breast. I was sat, she was lying back. I couldn’t make out what she was lying on but she seemed rather comfy herself now. She brushed some of her hair out of the way, tucked the inside of her top up towards me, tapped me down it and adjusted the lights of the room. The inside of her top was a lot smoother, comfier. My head was still out but my body tucked in, under the cover and safety. I slid to near her cleavage. The rose smell relaxed me, soft tones meeting with the slight sweet smell of her sweat coming from between her breasts.

I tried to look up at her, craning my neck a little. I could see her eyes were closed, the breath from her nose was coming over me like a gentle breeze. I let my body become a bit looser, slid down and enjoyed the warmth. I was going to try to speak to her, but doubt she would hear me, instead I closed my eyes. I was thinking of those beautiful purple eyes as I slowly drifted off.