Devi was an eighteen year old undergraduate student from Kerala, India.  Interestingly this province of Southwestern India was one of the few places on Earth that had in ancient times developed a matriarchal, matrilineal society.  That old female controlled society had long been largely supplanted by the much more dominant patriarchy in India and around the world, but this fact – not lost on the knowledgeable Aria – intrigued her and increased her interest in her as a potential partner in her endeavor. 

Devi also had a lot of similarities to Aria:  she was tall at about 5’11”, had Indian heritage and was interested in genetic engineering.  She was also professionally driven and very bright, just like Aria.  Also like Aria, she was single, vegetarian and she followed a form of Hinduism – although it was a different branch than Aria had followed – she worshiped Kali.  Kali is the fiercest goddess in Hinduism – she bore a trident and was known to kill demons.  Kali was the ultimate manifestation of Shakti – feminine power – in the material world, and that appealed greatly to Devi.     

Devi was heartbroken when her half sized embryo that Aria had implanted miscarried.  She wanted to name him Chauti das, Hindi for “little servant.”  She so wanted him to be born and had looked forward to it so much that when he miscarried – it was like her world collapsed.  She was depressed.  What happened?  Was it her?  She wondered if it was somehow her fault, was her womb defective?

Aria tried to console her of course, but it was little help.  For months she sulked.  Then in early December 2213, she got a call from her professor, advisor and mentor – Aria.  Aria asked her to come over to her house for dinner – she naturally accepted this kind invitation.  She was surprised though; Aria was known to be very private and rarely opened her home to even her favorite students and colleagues.  Why was she opening up to her?

That night, Devi drove up to her professor’s house following her directions.  Aria lived in a secluded area about 20-30 minutes outside of New Haven.  She had a large house surrounded by woods.  She came up to the antique looking door and rang the doorbell.  An intercom was activated and she heard Aria’s voice – “Is that you Devi?”  “Yes it is Professor Rao” she replied.  “Great I will come meet you at the door right away!” Aria boomed.

Aria welcomed her in and brought her to a very hip dining area she had with sunken seats around a long table.  Red decorations and mahogany wood dominated the scene and it was dimly lit, almost romantic – Devi began to wonder what Aria’s motives were – she hoped nothing strange was going on.  She loved her professor but not like that – she may be a virgin and single but she was straight.  She figured she would find out soon enough what Aria was thinking and took a deep breath and tried to relax.

Aria served them both some vegetarian Thai food, with tofu, rice and noodles.  She also had some plumb wine she served them both.  After serving the food – Aria continued the conversation:

“Devi, you know I am so sorry about the miscarriage – I really want to make it up to you.”

Devi replied, “Oh professor, that’s quite alright – it was very depressing to lose him, but eventually I will recover – these things happen.”

Aria:  “Please Devi, why don’t you just call me Aria, there is no need for you to be so formal with me, you make me feel old – I am only 23 for crying out loud – only five years older than you I might add!”

“Oh, okay I am sorry Aria, I just have so much admiration for you that I tend to be a little formal.”

“That’s okay Devi, but please call me Aria.  Devi…. Let me finish explaining.  You are probably wondering why I invited you here right?”  Devi silently nodded her head yes, her piercing large brown eyes fixed on her mentor.  “Well, as I have told you many times, I wanted to cheer you up and make up as much as I can for your loss.  Tonight I intend to do just that… But first before I let you in on my little secret, I think you should drink this wine and we should discuss a little --- emmm --- background.  Does that sound okay with you?”

Devi’s curiosity was heightened, ‘little secret?’ – this sounded very interesting indeed.  “Of course Aria” she replied. 

Aria laid back a little in her cushioned sunken chair and began to sip some of her wine.  Devi followed her example and relaxed a little.  “Devi, you know besides genetic engineering, I have always taken an interest in history… Do you like history to Devi?  We seem to have a lot in common.”  Devi quickly and enthusiastically responded “Why yes professor!  I love history and archaeology, I watch the documentaries all the time and I once thought of going into one of those fields before I settled on genetics!” 

“Wonderful Devi!  Wonderful….  Well as I was saying I like history a lot and one thing that struck me from an early age is how much horrible and needless suffering has been caused by selfish men… I mean, don’t get me wrong – women can be downright bitches sometimes, but on the whole they are much saner decision makers than men.  Who does the most crime?  Men do… almost all serial killers and rapists are men.  Worse are the male leaders responsible for the World Wars and billions of deaths over the centuries. Have you ever wondered why men have had such power in human society for so long?”

“Yes I have Aria, but I thought things were better now right?  Aren’t we making progress towards an egalitarian world?”

“Well yes and no Devi, yes and no…. We women have come a long way but men still hold most of the power positions.  Have you noticed how tensions have started to surface again between the powers?  And anyway, I have come to the conclusion that even if an equal society had been achieved, it would not be sufficient to bring true peace…. No, we women need to be in control....  Men must be stripped of all their power over society…”

“Wow Aria… I had never thought of it like that, but now that you mention it… that makes a lot of sense… but how?”

“I was just about to get that Devi!  But first I need you to promise me your absolute confidence and secrecy.  What I am about to tell you must not be revealed to anyone else, anyone at all.  Do you understand Devi?” 

Devi replied “Why yes of course Aria…  I won’t tell a soul, I swear… you have my word.  Please tell me!”

Aria leaned forward and her voice softened… almost as if to whisper even though there was nobody else there to hear it… “Devi, you might not be too surprised to find out that my interest in sexual dimorphism is not only an academic one….  I am looking for a practical impact on society.  Think about it - men only dominate because they have been on average larger and physically stronger than women…  What if that was reversed….”

Devi suddenly realized where this was going… “Wow Aria!  What an amazing idea!  You want to shrink men worldwide!?  I thought this was just a limited study!  How cool is that?  I am imagining a world with half sized men and I think I like it!”

Arias soft red lips quickly formed a large smile on her face and she lightly chuckled…  “Oh Devi, you are really going to love my plan… I don’t just want to shrink men by half … I mean I had initially planned to do just that, but then after some experiments with mice I realized that half sized men might have some trouble procreating.  More importantly though, I decided that was not dramatic enough to totally remove them from power and subordinate them to women… No they had to be shrunk more than that!”

Devi’s eyes widened in anticipation.  She shrieked in excitement – “Aria Aria!!!  How small are you planning to make them?!” 

“Hold your horses girl!  I was just getting to that!  I am planning to shrink them to….. roughly….   four inches tall!”

Devi’s jaw opened wide in shock, she slowly stuttered…  “But…  but…. Aria is that even possible?  That is so small!”

“Oh it is possible Devi, it is most definitely is possible….  Think of dogs – what have we humans done to them – ever think of difference between a Great Dane and a Chihuahua?  Moreover, I have already done it with one baby!”  With that she silently pointed to her left breast… “My little baby Adam is right there, but you wouldn’t know it would you?”

Devi was in awe.  “Oh Aria, you had an engineered baby of your own!  And he is that small!  Please show him to me… please please please!” 

“Certainly Devi, let me show you Adam…”  With that she gently lifted her left braw cup and carefully lifted her little baby from her left nipple.  He was almost a toddler now; they developed quickly at this size.  He was about an inch tall and was sleeping in her palm, undisturbed by being removed from his home.  Aria brought her palm up to Devi’s face. 

Devi’s eyes lit up when she saw Adam in her mentor’s palm.  “Oh my God Aria!  He is so beautiful!  So wonderful!”  Devi paused - staring at Adam she was entranced…  “Aria, can I have one!  Please oh please!”

“Yes you can Devi, yes you can…  I already have a perfect zygote for you that I have been working on in secret and we can implant him in your womb tomorrow, he is from a French couple, they were geniuses so he will be very smart as my Adam will be.” 

“Oh thank you Aria!  You have made my day!  But – are you sure its going to be okay?  I miscarried with the last one and..”  Aria interrupted her by putting her index finger of her left hand on Devi’s lips.  “Hush Devi, nonsense, there is nothing wrong with you, you are perfectly fertile and capable of bringing this baby to term, and you were just unlucky last time…  I know, I was monitoring you…”

Tears welled up in Devi’s eyes, they were tears of joy.  “Aria…. Thank you so much… I am so happy!”

Aria and Devi talked through the night.  They were so much more than professor and student now – they were the closest of friends and also were co-conspirators…

Devi’s imagination was running in overdrive, she wanted to probe her friend further on her plans…  “Aria, what do you plan to do with Adam as he grows up?  When and how do you plan to bring about your plans?”

“Well Devi, that’s a very good question.  Now what I am about to tell you might sound strange, but let me preface it by reminding you that although in some ways I may seem like Adam’s --- well emmm ‘mother’ --- I am not genetically his mother.”  Devi had an idea about where this was going but she let her friend and mentor finish her thought.  “Well so, I may have had him in my womb and given ‘birth’ to him, but we are genetically as different as any two people can be.  The only thing I contributed was the modifications to his Y chromosome that I engineered.  So… em… if I were his genetic mom, I would have a different plan – but he isn’t and - before I unleash this on humanity I need to make sure the new tiny males will be fertile… So I will see if Adam can impregnate me naturally…”  Aria stopped and watched for Devi’s reaction.

Devi at first was a little taken aback but then she was excited…  Her eyes widened and a naughty smile formed in her light tan face framed by shiny black hair.  “Wow!  Does that mean I can do the same with my ‘baby’ Aria?”  Aria nodded yes with a broad smile on her face – “Yes Devi, not only can you, I insist that you do exactly that!  I insist because by increasing our sample to two, this means that if we can both become pregnant with our tiny little boys, then we will really know this plan can succeed!” 

Devi was so enthralled, this was going to be a lot of fun.  Aria described how she had made other changes to try and ensure that the tiny men could be inserted vaginally, successfully impregnate his mate, and live through it.  Aria hoped that the modified men could hold their breath for as much as 30 minutes, or even longer – though she had no intention of pushing the limits too much with Adam when the time came.  She also described to Devi how the stronger bones and other changes meant that the pressure of the vaginal walls squeezing the little man would not maim or crush him. 

Devi was so excited, and amazed at the genius of Aria’s plan.  She slept over that night and helped care for Adam, she even kissed him with Aria’s permission.