We don't hate being micros - Chapter 4
We don't hate being micros
Chapter 4
by Jevin
Eyes stare towards Veir whom remains frozen in place for a moment. Even Din stares towards the wolf with a confused look. It's not too long before a grin appears on Din's face as he speaks, "He says we can make micros larger, Veir. Stop slacking off", the comment winning a few smirks and chuckles from around the classroom.
Veir smiles sheepishly but stays silent, settling back down into his seat and looking towards the board as if ready to learn
"Are we finished?" Mr. Evdred asks, staring over the rim of his glasses towards the wolf for a moment longer before starting to write on the board. Veir wraps his fingers into a fist to hide his ring, feeling especially vulnerable. Could the giants have figured it out? His heart thumps quickly in his chest and he stares off into space while thinking to himself. His focus is only broken by Din who, once again, gives him a nudge, "Veir! Comeon, we're about to start the experiment. Get your stuff out to take notes."
Din watches as Veir does so, noticeably more timidly than he normally would. He begins to worry a little but doesn't show it immediately. Meanwhile, the microhusky stares at the hand that clasps around the ring. He realizes what he's looking at and lowers his ears a little. After watching for a moment, he squirms from under Din's fingers and goes over the lick Veir's, swaying his tail again while the wolf gets his stuff out.
"It'll be alright, sir" The husky states, nodding up to Veir with a smile. "I volunteered for this because I want to try being a giant. If it works, then maybe things will get better..."
A smile creeps over Veir's face. It's small, but he does nod back to the husky, "Yes, maybe. I hope so." He rubs over the dog's head while Din finishes writing the notes from the board, "Is that what you're worried about?"
Veir looks to Din again but hesitates. Din catches it, but when Veir nods again, "Yea, I... Don't want to see them hurt" Din simply smiles, deciding not to push it any further for now "Of course. We'll be careful, right little guy?" He rubs over the husky's head again and the micro dog smiles, "Yep!"
"The technology works by tricking the body." He draws out a diagram, "Once we've injected a special type of chip to modify genetic data, we use a medium to apply a phase modulated signal to the body above the area where the chip is injected. Using this medium, and depending on the strength of the signal, the body will grow. The technology is still being developed so we will not be making the micros larger than a foot or two but imagine what will happen if we are able to bring them up to our height?"
Relaxing a little at the thought that the giants are still developing the technology, Veir tries to focus more. It dawns on him that he isn't even quite sure how his ring works...
The teacher begins to pass small devices around the class, "We will be using these to track the signal strength we're pushing through the chips pre-implanted into the micros. They will also tell you where your and others' micros are relative to your position; every signal is unique so no excuses if one comes up missing. Keep track of your micros."
Veir looks down at the device given to both him and Din. Turning it on, he watches it boot up. Two spots appear on the screen, one flashing bright red and the other a dull red. He pulls it up close and frowns a little while Din takes the medium which will be placed over the chip to apply the signal. He notices Veir frowning and tilts his head,
"What're you looking at, wolf? Something cool?" Veir looks to Din for a second then smiles, "Oh, no, just seeing how many micros are around..." He looks down again... 'why are there two spots so close together?' He looks to the husky for a moment and frowns. He notices the other dots, all of them dull. The bright dot is the only one of its kind in the room. 'Does someone have two micros?'
"As you increase the strength of the signal, the spot that represents your micro will flash more brightly" Mr. Evdred speaks right on cue. Veir's heart sinks as he realizes what's happening. The wolf moves the hand with his ring finger a little bit, watching the bright red dot on the screen. It doesn't move much but it -does- move. He feels his pulse increase and it takes all of the control he has to keep himself from hyperventilating. They can see him. He's standing there broad as daylight on this thing.
"Din? I'm not feeling well" Veir speaks, "I-I'm going to go to the nurse's office... Please take notes for me, okay?" He sets the device down and gets up, gathering his stuff quickly.
"Veir? What's wrong? You looked fine a moment ag-" Din blinks as Veir pulls his backpack up and starts walking out of the class quickly, "I-I'm going to the nurse's office!" He annouces to Mr. Evdred as he moves out of the room.
Din looks on after him, worried, 'why is he acting so strangely?' The rabbit sighs and looks down at the device, picking it up. His head tilts a little as he sees a bright red spot moving quickly in the same direction that Veir started walking in, away from the dull red spots that represent the microhusky and the other micros. He looks more closely and then out the door at Veir as he runs down the hall. A frown comes over his face, 'what does that mean...?'
Veir's walk turns into a run. He's not sure why he's running, but the thought of being found... He shakes his head, he doesn't even want to think about it. He keeps running, leaving the school and continuing to run until he's halfway home. Here, he stops, breathing roughly and shivering .
'I've worked so hard to keep this a secret. I-I don't even know if I can be in the school anymore after today. It really is only a matter of time before we're found. They can see us with those things. We're not hidden once they figure out what's going on...'
He cringes and feels his stomach lurch, 'dammit dammit dammit all' he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes for a moment, trying to calm down. Looking around, he realizes he's close to his parents' home. He breathes deeply once more and then starts walking there, trying to regain composure. When he finally arrives, and after a short few knocks, he's facing his mother who seems a bit surprised to see him,
"Veir!" She smiles, opening her arms to give him a hug. Veir swallows but smiles a little bit, hugging his mother back and swaying his tail. He feels weak; it has been a hectic day. It feels nice to embrace a loved one. Once the hug is broken, he looks towards her with worried eyes, still breathing a little heavily from how rushed he was just moments before, "I think we need to talk, mom. In Biology today... We used a device that could sense our cloakers..."
The female wolf pulls Veir in and closes the door behind him, "You're certain?"
Veir nods softly, "I saw it. It couldn't have been anything else."
"It was only a matter of time. We should get the word out. Did anyone else notice?" She asks, watching Veir's expression become unsure,
"Maybe. I don't think they'll understand what it meant immediately but... But if anyone saw me leave then maybe."
Veir's mother nods gently, "It's okay. We knew this would happen. Lets warn everyone."
Din finishes the experiment by himself, thinking about the bright flash the entire time. He decides to try and replicate it using his micro. By increasing the signal strength, the husky does indeed grow but the flash is never quite as bright as the one he saw following Veir. Din frowns again, trying to wrap his mind around what this means. 'The teacher said it's impossible. We haven't come far enough and yet... Is this machine broken? Or... Is Veir...? Somehow?'
By the end of the school day, Din can't stop thinking about it. He has to figure it out...
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Heavy boots thud against the floor as a large fox trots into the room. George can only look up from his position on the floor. He shivers but doesn't move, even as one massive, heavy boot slams down right in front of his body. He nearly pisses himself but, somehow, he holds it in
"What do we have here? Didn't I catch you a few days ago?" He kicks gently, pressing the wolf doen beneath the thick, rubber sole of the boot. George shudders, feeling his courage begin to shatter but, just in time, Veronica walks in,
"Hey, hun.." She smiles, pecking Robert's cheeck. "I see you have found our son's new pet. He picked him out himself. He wanted to show you how well-behaved the micro is, so he had him sit right here and wait for you."
Robert tilts his head, rubbing his boot down over George, causing the wolf to cringe when the heavy treads dig into his body. He coughs gently and then leans to lick against the rubber sole of the boot to appear more submissive. The taste is terrible, but it did cause Robert to smile widely, "I see. Hmm, it doesn't look like a bad little micro. He's even licking before I had to ask. Not bad..."
The boot shifts a little bit and robert moves to sit on a nearby chair while Veronica settles onto a couch. Robert whistles and taps his foot, not even looking to George. Watching the little wolf hesistate, Veronica gives him a little kick with her own foot, giving George enough incentive to run over to the fox's boot again,
"Good boy, now sit"
George sits towards the boot with a shudder. It's huge. The tip of it comes up to his chest when he's standing up. Now that he's sitting down, it's even a little taller than he is.
"Give it a kiss"
George leans and kisses the boot tip, keeping his ears down. At least it has been tolerable so far...
The fox shifts and begins to pull his boots off, sliding his hot, musky paw out and settling the socked appendage down before George. The smell is powerful and the wolf cringes. It takes some willpower to keep from turning his head away and, as if to add insult to injury, the fox brings the moist sock forward and presses the wolf down beneath it, grinding gently and letting some of the dampness soak into the lupine's fur.
George gags a little but manages to keep it down to one. The toes shifting around his head eventually get a bit of a grip and the fox's mainpad presses into his chest, pinning him to the floor and holding the wolf in place. George squirms lightly, whimpering softly as each breath he takes is filtered through the sock, giving him a heavy smell of the musky scent of the working fox's foot.
After a moment of holding the wolf there, Robert smiles and lets up on the tiny lupine "Not bad, not bad. A little noisy but I think we can work that out of you. You'll learn to enjoy it. Now, remove my socks, little one..." The fox's legs move so that they rest in front of him. Soon enough, George has worked himself up onto his feet and is grasping the edge of the sock covering Robert's ankle.
George pulls down hard, struggling with the huge sock. It's surprisingly hard and he has to run around Robert's ankle several times to peel the lip of the sock down. Thankfully, the smell starts to become easier to bare as the vulpine's feet cool in the open air. He hears a little giggle and can see Veronica enjoying from the distance.
Encouraged by the fact that Veronica is giggling and not worried he redoubles his efforts until he has peeled the sock all of the way down to the heel. Here, he swallows and looks up to Robert with a worried expression. Robert only watches expectantly, which makes George nervous
"S-sir... I... I can't pull it lower unless you... lift your foot."
Robert frowns slightly, "You didn't even try."
George swallows and doesn't question again, deciding to grasp at the Achilies tendon and try to pull up. Robert, not being completely unfair, does lift a little bit, giving the wolf all of the chance he needs to finally pull the sock from beneath the heel. Within moments, he has it off but it took all of his energy. After one sock he's already collapsed on the floor, lungs burning, muscles aching.
A shadow casts over him and Roberts paw hovers over his body. His toes wriggle slightly, splaying out and then closing, teasing the worn wolf and making George whimper again. George begins to stand only to have that paw slam down and force the air from his lungs. It feels like one of his ribs snapped but, luckily, it didn't. He wheezes and whines loudly, "P-please sir! I'm sorry!" He shouts quickly, winning a little smile from the fox who lightens his pressure over the wolf,
"We can fix that. You'll just have to be whipped into shape, that's all. Now, kiss." He speaks, pressing his toe over the wolf's muzzle and watching as george presses his lips to the musky toepad. The smell has strengthened again but still not nearly as bad as it was before. He kisses the black-furred black-padded paw and pulls back,
"And then clean."
The wolf complies again but more hesitantly this time. The taste of the pad is salty and even a little dusty. It dries his tongue and makes him cringe but he doesn't stop. George keeps licking until the large toe glistens from his work and the fox seems to be pleased. He wipes his toe into the wolf's fur and then sets it down next to the little wolf.
George doesn't move. He waits, staying there until Robert finally nods, "You may live. But, be warned, that if I ever hear you step out of line I will not hesitate to punish you. Do you understand? And you'd better stay out of my way. You little ones do feel nice underpaw." He smiles a little and then flicks the wolf with his toe.
George acks! Tumbling back and away from the giant. He's hurt, out of breath, he smells, but he's alive. He pants and holds his smile back.
"Go to Terry's room, George. We'll talk about your responsibilities in the morning." Veronica speaks, smiling as the wolf quickly runs off. She moves over and settles down next to her husband, "I love you, hun..." He blinks and then smiles back, "I love you too".
George is happy. He enters the room to see Terry seemingly sleep atop the bed. It doesn't matter to him, though. He simply climbs the comforter up into the bed and stands infront of the young fox. Terry opens his eye and peers at George, "George!" He grabs the wolf and hugs him firmly, "Can I keep you?"
The wolf grunts and winces but smiles towards the kit and nods quickly, "Y-yea, I think you can keep me."
Terry smiles widely and lays down again, holding George to his chest. "We're going to have fun tomorrow. Get plenty of rest, alright?"
"Alright" George replies, trying to get comfortable. Despite the condition, and the fact that this child is squeezing the life out of him, he's happy. 'I haven't had place to call home since I left Cameron. Who knows? Maybe this won't be so bad... I hope Cameron is alright...'
"George?"
"Yes?"
"You stink."