Scientific progress goes BOINK!

Lara stood on the smooth surface of the desk, gazing up at the looming glass dropper that towered above her like something straight out of a bizarre sci-fi episode; drawing ever closer to her quivering form. The pink serum within glistened under the fluorescent lights, a mysterious concoction of trial and error, hope and desperation.

Her heart pounded in her now tiny chest as she reached up, stretching her frame as far as it would allow.

"This...this has to work, right?" she whispered, eyeing the droplet forming at the tip.

The last formula had only made things worse, leaving her standing barely taller than a measly standard coffee mug. If this attempt failed...she shivered at the thought.

She wondered if she’d soon be small enough to get lost in the fibers of the carpet beneath her; a thought that made her breathing begin to speed up. It would certainly be a veritable jungle at that size.

And yet, a darker thought crept in—how much smaller could she get before she simply vanished from the human eye into the vast and terrifying world of microorganisms.

What, then, if she shrank even more? She shuddered, and shook her tiny head, as if to shake away the thought itself.

"Please, hold still, Lara," Marcus murmured, his massive presence looming over her. His fingers tightened around the dropper, his eyes locked onto her tiny form with a mix of concern and fascination, and...perhaps a bit of something he'd never felt before.

Was it...lust?

"We don't know exactly how this will react..." he all but whispered to her.

Her body burned with anticipation, nerves mixing with a thrill she couldn't quite place.

The idea of becoming microscopic was terrifying...but deep down, a part of her wondered what it would feel like. Would it tingle? Tickle? Be pleasurable? She squeezed her eyes tightly, slowly releasing a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"Only one way to find out..." she whispered, steadying her tiny form.

The droplet finally fell, though it felt like it took a lifetime to land, which it did with a surprisingly cold splash across her exposed skin.

For a moment, a heavy silence hung in the air.

'Oh!' she gasped.

Her vision blurred and swirled. A strange heat seared through her veins, pulsing with every frantic heartbeat in her little chest. She staggered, gasping as the world around her seemed to loom ever larger by the second.

Marcus’s voice thundered from above. "Lara! You're—" he shouted, his voice quickly fading away as she dwindled.

She looked down, eyes widening in horror. Her feet were already sinking into the desk’s smooth surface, the wood grain stretching beneath her like an endless plain.

"No!" she screamed, stumbling back. "No, no, no—"

Suddenly a divine fire coursed through her mind and body, drawing it taught, and nothing but this pure bliss, joy effervescent, mattered to her. Wave after wave she rode it; writhing in the never-ending throes of white hot pleasure as she grew ever smaller.

Was this paradise?

 Surely.