"Bailey, I'm so sorry to keep you waiting," I say as I re-enter the lab 10 minutes later. "I ran into a colleague on the way back from the men's room. And we got to talking…"
Bailey sits by my desk, smiling. "Hey, no problem, Doc. After all, I was the first to arrive late."
There's something in his voice that seems a little odd, though. A tinge of excitement, perhaps?
I look at Bailey, and then look at the clock. 5 o'clock already. I better keep this quick.
"So, Bailey," I say, sitting at my desk. "Let's discuss what I'll need you to do for this job."
I begin running down the list of tasks, from setting up my lab in the morning, to typing out my notes, to helping me observe experiments, and finally to cleaning up the lab at night.
"How does all that sound to you?"
Bailey nods. He sports a huge smile, while fidgeting a little in his chair.
"Everything ok?" I ask.
"Everything's awesome, Doc!"
Bailey fidgets some more in his chair. I notice he looks a little different. It's funny how much looser Bailey's lab coat looks when he's sitting down.
Bailey catches me staring at his chest. "Like what you see?"
I blush. "I'm so sorry. I don't know…"
But I don't finish my sentence. "Doc, don't be sorry! I mean, isn't this everything you had been working for?"
I'm very confused, "What are you talking about?"
Bailey smiles. "Let me show you, Doc. Come over here."
I get up from my chair, and walk around the desk, as Bailey stands up. But it's a different Bailey. He seems shorter. The lab coat looks bigger on him.
"Check it out, Doc!" Bailey says, spinning around. "It works, your solution works!"
I look over, and see an empty vial on the book shelf next to Bailey. "Bailey, did you drink that?!"
"Sure did, Doc! Sure did!"
"Why?"
"Doc, I could hear earlier in your voice how sad it seemed that it'd be years until you could test on humans. I know about the laws you need to abide by. But I thought I'd speed things up a bit. No law is keeping me from choosing me to be your guinea pig!"
I was dumbfounded, as Bailey continued to dwindle in front of my eyes.
"Now, look at me, Doc! I'm shrinking!…"
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