Inconveniently Small
The girl ran toward the starting point. After finishing my meal, I returned to the test subject's room. The white-haired girl reacted the moment she saw me. Her vacant gaze, which had always drifted toward some far-off place, was now locked onto me. That single, subtle difference was shifting my perception of her. I picked up the microphone and tried talking to her, but no answer came back. I didn't feel particularly disappointed. It was just that being in this room had become a little uncomfortable. The girl watched my every move. Just like I did. She stared at me all day long through the transparent glass wall. When I lost myself in a daze, it became impossible to tell whether I was watching her or she was watching me. At the sound of the alarm announcing the end of the workday, I packed up my things and stood up from my chair. Her eyes were still fixed on me. "Bye." I offered a casual farewell, but the girl showed no reaction whatsoever. Giving her one last look, I switched off the microphone and left the room.
My shortened legs were incredibly inconvenient. It made the hallway feel twice as wide as before. In fact, my sense of direction was slightly off, causing me to wander around a bit before finally finding Dr. Hebrum's lab.
"Anything unusual?" Hebrum was sitting in his chair, eating a sandwich. I approached him and handed over the folder I was cradling in my arms. "Nothing special." "I see." Hebrum casually flipped through the documents I gave him, tossed them onto a corner of his desk, and went back to focusing on his sandwich. "I'm leaving now." I said goodbye and slipped out of the lab.
After dodging the busy staff members for what felt like ages, I finally reached the employee dormitory. I checked the number printed on my keycard and headed to my room. It was spacious enough for an adult male living alone, complete with a television and a computer. Under these conditions, not being able to go home wouldn't be much of an inconvenience. Since I could no longer contact my friends by phone, I would have to reach out to them via an internet messenger. I didn't really have any luggage. The clothes I used to wear in my original body no longer fit, so I tucked them away in a storage box and changed into the clothes and underwear Dr. Hebrum had provided. This young girl's body didn't really inspire any particular feelings in me.
I stared at my reflection in the large mirror hanging on the bathroom wall. A girl with long, flowing white hair, dressed in a lab coat, stared back at me with a disgruntled expression. Lightly tapping the employee ID card hanging around my neck, I headed to the cafeteria.
People's eyes locked onto me. I suppose it was a strange sight to see a young girl wandering around the research facility. If not for the clothes I was wearing and the employee ID card around my neck, I surely would have been pinned down and dragged straight to a lab. Watching the guards flinch every time I came into view, I went to order some food.
My shortened height was incredibly frustrating. I hadn't realized it earlier because Lamonax had pressed the order button for me, but the touch screen was positioned quite high. It looked like I would have to jump just to hit the confirmation button. Standing high on my tiptoes, I reached up and leaped. With a light bounce, my white hair fluttered. The sensation of it tickling my cheeks felt foreign. My outstretched hand failed to reach the button. I was just a little too short.
"Sigh...!" Letting out a heavy sigh, I frowned and jumped once more. Stretching my body as much as my short legs allowed, my hand shot upward with renewed momentum. Tap! I made contact. Though the recoil of my desperate leap caused me to faceplant right into the touch screen, my hand had successfully pressed the confirmation button. Grabbing the receipt printing from below and the square pager, I headed to a table.
"Look at you, ordering all by yourself." As I slumped into a chair and toyed with the pager, a voice drifted over from beside me. "Lamonax?" I hadn't even noticed him approach, but he was already sitting in the seat right next to mine. "Want a lollipop?" "Uh... thanks?" Lamonax pulled a small lollipop from his pocket and held it out. Bemused by his playful smirk, I took it from him. My pork cutlet combo would be ready soon, so I planned to eat the candy after my meal.
"Wow. This really is a bizarre feeling." *Plop.* Lamonax's massive hand landed on top of my head. Feeling the heavy weight, I reached up and slapped his hand away, prompting an immediate apology. "Ah, sorry about that. I just felt this urge... You know what I mean, right?" I smoothed down my hair with a disgruntled expression and nodded. I understood what he was getting at. Having someone who looked exactly like the test subject he managed sitting right next to him and eating lunch... Even though he knew we were different people, habits weren't easily broken.
"Do you just go around patting that test subject's head too?" I asked Lamonax while smoothing down my ruffled hair. He blinked his large eyes, falling into deep thought. "Hmm..." "Why aren't you answering?" "Probably not?" "Then why did you pat mine?" "Uh..." He seemed to ponder for a moment, then placed his hand on my head once again. The heavy weight made my head wobble. "Hey!" "I don't know how to put it. You just look incredibly cute, so my hand moved on its own." I slapped his hand away hard at his playful laugh. My own hand was the one that ended up hurting, but at least I managed to get his hand off my head.
"Seeing someone who always looked like they'd given up on life suddenly inside a kid's body... it's a fresh look." "So that's how you thought of me." "Want another lollipop?" He offered with an awkward laugh, and I snatched the candy from his hand. While we were talking, my pork cutlet combo was delivered.
"Your taste buds haven't changed?" "Doesn't seem like it." I stabbed my fork into a piece of the pre-sliced pork cutlet. The crispy, shattering breadcrumbs heralded the happiness that was about to follow. I stuffed a massive forkful of cutlet into my mouth, feeling the hot steam spread across my tongue.
"You're staying at the employee dorms starting today, right?" "Yeah." "Can I drop by tonight?" I looked up at him while chewing on the mouthful of pork cutlet. My face contorted at the strangely unfamiliar vibe he was giving off. "Why are you being so clingy?" "Me?" "Yeah." "Did I really give off that vibe?" "You didn't used to, but you do now." "That hurts. I'm just trying to get closer to you." "You used to be so aloof, and now you're all talk." I stuffed the remaining cutlet into my mouth, grabbed my tray, and stood up. "Are you into this kind of thing?" "What?" Lamonax's voice spiked, clearly caught off guard by the sudden question. Smirking playfully at his flustered expression, I walked away quickly. My bouncy footsteps felt light. A surge of joy washed over me at the thought of having gotten one over on him. I tossed my empty tray into the dishwasher and quickly slipped out of the cafeteria.
Feeling the lollipops rustling in my pocket, I reached in and pulled one out. It had a lemon printed on the wrapper and a long white stick protruding from the bottom. A candy that would have looked tiny to my original body now seemed remarkably large. I peeled off the wrapper and popped it into my mouth. A refreshing aroma burst forth. My newly sensitive tongue shuddered at the unexpectedly intense flavor. Sour. It was way too sour. Shivering from the sudden wave of saliva flooding my mouth, my body went limp, and I slumped right onto the floor. "That little bastard..." What Lamonax had handed me was no ordinary candy. Wiping away a stray tear, I glared back at the cafeteria entrance. Still, I didn't spit the candy out. The subtle sweetness that followed the sour kick was actually quite soothing.
Back in my room, I tossed my lab coat onto a chair and sat down in front of the computer. Even with the chair raised to its maximum height, the desk was still awkwardly high, prompting me to bite down hard on the lollipop. With a sharp crunch, fragments of candy scattered inside my mouth. "Ugh...!" Another sour bomb exploded, sending my salivary glands into overdrive once again. Overwhelmed by the sourness filling my mouth, I grabbed the remaining lollipop from my pocket and threw it into the trash can. Since the bin was empty, the candy hit the bottom with a loud clatter, making the lid rattle.
Knock, knock. Just as I was debating whether or not to spit out the sour mush in my mouth, a knock sounded at the door. I climbed down from my chair and headed over. "Who is it?" I reached out and cracked the door open to ask, but at that exact moment, a massive hand suddenly wedged itself through the gap. Startled by the abrupt intrusion, I took a step back, and the door swung wide open to reveal Lamonax. "Ta-da~" Lamonax stood there with his arms full of snacks, chips, and candies. "How did you find me?" "Huh?" "I don't recall ever telling you my room number." "I asked Dr. Hebrum, of course." Lamonax's shameless response made irritation flare up inside me. Leaning against the wall, I crossed my arms and glared at him, but he only offered a sheepish grin. "Can I come in? This stuff is actually pretty heavy." I didn't know what he was playing at, but he was the only person in this facility I could talk to without filtering myself. Although his unusual behavior was a bit concerning, he wasn't a bad guy, so I decided to let him in. "Come in." "Thanks!"
Lamonax quickly made himself at home. Since all the employee dorms had the exact same layout, he naturally walked over to the mini-fridge and began stocking it with the drinks he had bought. "Where should I put the snacks?" "Just leave them anywhere. My stomach's shrunk, so I won't be able to eat them right away anyway." Having someone so much bigger than me hovering around was incredibly distracting. I bypassed his looming figure and sat back down in front of the computer. Lamonax dragged another chair over and sat right next to me. "What's your angle?" I asked, propping my legs up on the desk. The white plastic stick in my mouth bobbed up and down. "My angle?" "Dr. Hebrum asked you to do something, didn't he?" At my question, Lamonax's gaze drifted sideways. "How did you know?" "How could I not? Your entire attitude is completely different from usual." Lamonax avoided my eyes with an awkward smile. "So, what is it?" "It's nothing major, really. He just told me to keep a close eye on you and make sure everything is fine, Jeff." "Hmm..." I looked away as he mumbled his excuse. I had a feeling that was the case.
I stretched my leg out to press the power button on the computer tower and mindlessly moved the mouse. The basic specs weren't bad, so it would probably run most modern games without a hitch. Launching the messenger app from the desktop, I typed in my ID and password and left a message for my friends, telling them I was going on a trip for about a week.
"Won't everyone find it weird if you suddenly go on a trip, Jeff?" "Stop snooping on my messages." Come to think of it, Lamonax had a point. Since I was someone who rarely enjoyed going out, a sudden trip was bound to raise suspicion among my friends.