Lana held me in front of her and opened her fingers, letting me drop out of her hand. My body retook its usual shape once out of her grip, and I felt the wind rushing by as I fell. I landed hard on the wooden floor, dropping into a squat on impact. Nothing was broken, and the only physical sign I had fallen was a tingling in my feet that quickly faded. Quickly I stood and looked up, amazed at how much farther it looked than the fall that broke my arm when I was a kid.
“Subject shows no adverse effects after falling equivalent of roughly 130 meters,” Lana boomed into the recorder. “However, it must be noted that, due to short actual distance, speed at impact was nowhere near terminal velocity. Will need to devise a method to test to measure at desired conditions.” Lana clicked the tape recorder off and looked down at me, her stony demeanor giving me a chill.
Standing on the floor between Lana’s feet was an experience I could not have prepared myself for. The toes of her black suede flats inclined upward slightly, so even their tops were over my head. Her shoes themselves were tremendous, about as long and wide as a boat while the curved instep promised a challenging climb. To most people her legs were long and slender, but to me they were fantastic, colossal towers wrapped in nylon with a corduroy wrap binding them at the top. Above them, her black turtleneck was like a starless night sky, with the rolled fabric at the top drawing attention to her slim neck. Long, curly ropes of jet-black hair touched the sides of her glasses, and her thin lips were drawn tight while she regarded me.
“When I click the recorder off again,” she began, “take off running away from me in a straight line as fast as you can. Avoid obstacles in the most expedient fashion, but the results will be the least tainted if you go over them. It may take a while to finish, but do not stop until you are stopped. To minimize miscommunication, hop twice if you understand.” I gave her two quick hops, surprisingly reaching her ankles each time, and she brought the recorder back to her mouth.
“Beginning test for increased speed and endurance,” Lana said once it had started recording. Subject will sprint for as long as possible. Due to subject’s small size, researcher will pursue in lieu of vehicle. Pursuit is intended to detect and deter any slowing of movement rate, as well as elicit a fear response, if subject is still capable of one. Researcher will begin pursuit at rate of one half-step every two seconds, timed with a metronome set to 60 beats per minute, with an increase in pursuit speed if necessary, which will be recorded. A two second head start will be given to the subject to allow escape from researcher’s gait.” She clicked it off again, and I began sprinting away from her.
I ran faster than I ever had before, pumping my legs as hard as I could. The wood grain was almost a blur as I ran along it, and though the gaps between boards were about half my height I crossed them without leaping or slowing down. By the time of the first metronome ping I was halfway to the end of Lana’s coffee table, and I felt I could still go faster. There was an incredible well of energy inside me, more than I had ever known before, and I had barely tapped it.
The metronome’s second ping rang out, followed by a loud crash. Tremors ran through the ground, but I was moving so fast that my gait was not affected. I risked turning my head to see how close her foot had landed. Lana looked like she had frozen mid-step, the tip of her forward foot falling just short of landing on me. Glancing to her other foot, I saw her flat flared around the toes. She was already poised to take another step toward me, and the only thing holding her back was respect for the test she had designed herself.
I turned back forward and continued my all-out sprint, trying to forget about the gigantic woman who could step on me at any moment. Two seconds later the ground quaked again, a little weaker than it was last time. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw that Lana’s shoe had landed slightly further back than last time. Unbelievably, I was outrunning a human colossus whose very shoes were several times my height. Admittedly she had put several artificial constraints on herself to control how fast she could go, but I still felt a sense of accomplishment by doing it.
Several more earth-shaking footsteps later I reached my first obstacle: a pencil that had been discarded on the ground. Without thinking I placed my palms face-down on the top facet and vaulted over it. I landed on one foot a decent distance away and immediately resumed my run without skipping a step. The pencil rumbled as it rolled after me, but Lana’s next step brought that to a halt as an earthquake emanated from it.
While I was putting space between myself and Lana, I was getting closer to something we had not planned for. The lacquered, wood grain baseboard of her wall was getting closer with every rapid step, and the test seemed far from over. Just before slamming into it, I planted a foot against it and sprinted off to the left. It felt like my momentum transferred immediately, and in just two steps I was back to my previous pace.
Click. “Subject demonstrates problem-solving and independent thought.”
A tremendous black wall slammed down in front of me, making the ground tremble when it hit. There was a small gap at the base, but even at my size I would not be able to slip through it. I slapped my hands onto it and jumped, stepping against the wall to the side so I could get more altitude. My feet landed atop the new barrier and I kept going, my feet almost gliding over the black, fuzzy ground. When I reached the ledge I leapt off, landing back on the ground poised to resume my full-out sprint. “Additionally, subject displays quick reflexes and agility,” Lana observed, then clicked it off again.
Lana let me get ahead of her again before taking another step, signified by the loud thump of her foot. By now I should have been slowing down, but my body felt just as fresh as when I started. My muscles were constantly regenerating as I ran, stitching themselves back together at an astounding rate, and my lungs were processing oxygen at a volume that should not have been possible. Even though I was smaller than Lana’s nose, I felt like a superhuman.
I was coming toward a cabinet standing in the corner. There was a narrow gap between its legs and the wall, just wide enough for me to fit through. Without hesitation I plunged in, breaking through old cobwebs and kicking up dust. Despite the dim lighting, I had no problem seeing and turned this corner just as sharply as I had the last one. A cloud of dust persisted around me, but aside from a little irritation it barely affected me. Not even my breathing was hindered.
When I emerged from behind the cabinet, I was in a short, narrow trench between her shoes and the wall. After watching me go by, Lana activated the recorder again and dictated, “After brief loss of visual contact, subject re-emerged with no indication of hardship and has not slowed down. Resuming pursuit at an accelerated rate of one half-step every 75 beats per minute.” Previously I had barely been putting distance between us, and I suspected that was about to change.
Lana’s next step landed close enough for me to feel the air rushing from beneath her shoe as it came down, and the quakes rippling out from the impact caused me to stumble. I quickly recovered, however, and resumed my course. Her other foot hit the ground to the side, its toes coming to a rest beside me. In a panic I tried to run faster, but there was no way. Since the start I had been running at full speed, and no matter how much I wanted them to my legs would not move any quicker.
A shadow fell over me, and Lana’s shoe came down. Her hard sole slammed into my back and forced me to the ground, then pinned me against the floor. She pressed down with as much weight as she could muster, trying to flatten me. Despite what must be her immense weight, however, I was fine, and her shoe slightly curved around me. The only discomfort was a slight feeling of pressure on my back.
“Subject ran for 15 minutes at an equivalent rate of 45 kilometers per hour, showing no signs of slowing or fatigue,” Lana recorded. “Test was only concluded when subject got caught beneath researcher’s shoe due to an increase in pace. Additionally, despite a converted burden of almost 40 tons, subject has not been flattened or crushed, and can be felt through five-millimeter shoe sole.” Her report finished, Lana stopped the recorder.
Lana’s shoe moved from atop me, and she stood astride me looking down. I got back to my feet and stared up at her, still finding it incredulous how much bigger than me she was. Even more incredibly, I did not feel the slightest bit fatigued after that. Had she not stopped me, I could have run for hours, and I suspected she thought the same. If anyone was getting tired, it was her.
“That ought to be a sufficient demonstration,” Lana declared. Now that I was no longer distracted, her rumbling voice hit me in full. “There are other tests to run, and I can’t spend all day chasing a tiny test subject around my apartment.”
“Could we take a break from the tests?” I shouted up at her, hoping she could hear me.
“Your voice displays the characteristic high pitch one would expect from someone so greatly reduced in size, but is sufficiently amplified to be perfectly audible,” Lana observed. “I’ll have to make a note of that prior to the next test.” She paused a moment, then asked, “Do you think you need a break? Do you feel tired? Fatigued? Injured?”
“Well, no,” I answered. “But it’d be nice to have a few minutes to relax.”
“I agree,” Lana replied, “but we don’t have the luxury of time. If I can get these results submitted to the funding organization and prepublication by the end of next week, they might reverse their decision. We have to get all the data we can before then.” She stepped to the side, nearly clipping my head with the sole of her shoe as it moved over me. Whatever the next test was, it would at least start with me on the ground.