You gaze out at the enormous phone's rear camera fearfully as the shopper shows you off to her friend over the phone. The mechanical lens is inhuman and unfeeling, and you know nothing about the human on the other end other than the fact that she's a sorority girl whose sorority owns a pet hamster. Both of these things considered, the experience is not unlike staring a killer robot down. A gigantic killer robot. "I'm not sure, Megan..." The voice over the phone says in contemplation. On the one hand, the 'giant' girl browsing through the store seems level-headed enough. On the other hand, she doesn't realize that you're anything more than a novel chewtoy at the moment.
Vicky pauses as she assesses the little toy-thing she's observing over the phone's video-chat app. So many things to consider.
It certainly looks lifelike. Is it even a toy? She's half inclined to think it's actually a real person , but such a thing should be impossible. Then she gets to thinking of what it would be made of. Would it be safe for Nibbles to chew it up? What sort of machinery could be inside of it? She shudders to think of Nibbles tearing it in half as he is oft to do with his chewtoys, only to ingest metal in the process. She shudders at the thought. On the other hand, wouldn't it have to pass certain safety inspections to get put on sale at all? And Nibbles would just adore chasing it and pouncing it and chomping it down to a little nub! She perks up at the thought and finally prepares to give her permission.
"How much does it cost, Megan?"
"Just $5.99"
"What the crap? For something that neat? Buy it, Megan. This is gonna be the best Hamster toy Nibbles has ever seen."
"Got it. Ha. You think he's gonna hump this one too?"
"Ah...I dunno. He'll probably just chew it to a nub."
"Maybe we should bet on it? Ha. By the way, you gonna pay me back for this?"
"Oh sure It's just $5.99. And yeah, I like your idea. If someone catches Nibbles acting like a horndog on it I pay for your meal next time we eat out. If he eats it first. Now. you got the pet food, right? And the doggy diapers? Paper towels and..."
"Not quite . I'm still going down the list..."
"Ah...sorry I put so much on the list"
"It's ok. By the way..."
Not good. Megan's betting you'll get screwed by a hamster the size of a dire bear. Vicky's betting it'll just rip you to shreds first. You start to regret shrinking to anything under three inches. You begin pounding your fists against the plastic and screaming for help, but by now Megan has averted her gaze for you and is just absent-mindedly holding your package. She swiftly dumps it down in the shopping kart, right between the doggy diaper pack and the hamster food bag.
More and more products crash into the cart, sometimes flung, sometimes carefully deposited, by Megan's mighty hands, which is pretty much the only part of her body you can currently see.
You ride around in the kart for about half an hour, nervously awaiting purchase before your moment finally comes. You are brought onto a similar conveyor belt as before. Another cashier, this one a black woman. You gaze up at her figure fearfully as she brandishes the barcode scanner. Neither her nor Megan seem to be paying your calls for help any heed.
You hear a ding. Your barcode has been scanned. You feel your heart stop for a moment and time itself seems to freeze as you contemplate the significance of this. You're about to be formally declared as this long-haired sorority girl's property. To the rest of the world you truly are just a thing. A toy . An object.
A sudden surge of motion shakes you out of your somber contemplation. You are dropped into a plastic bag haphazardly, a bag of chips soon tumbling in right alongside you but moments later. The crumpling of the chips bag is particularly grating on your tiny ears, and the addition of a second chip bag causes the plastic bag to bulge, your little container winding up mashed precariously against the side. The cashier finally finishes ringing up the goods and Megan is permitted the chance to swipe to pay. With a single swipe and signature, the deed is done. You are Megan's property. Or rather, property of her sorority. You can only hope someone will save you from the hamster.
You're escorted out to her car and after a fifteen minute drive dominated by a classical music program airing on campus radio, you finally arrive with her at the sorority. Your container is one of the last ones to get lifted from the car. Megan grabs the bag and carries it into the building. You are immediately greeted by the RUFF RUFF RUFFing of a dog, but cannot see it right away. It's only when you look down and notice its figure through the bagging around you that you finally catch a glimpse of it. A chubby bulldog, short but strong and heavyset for its size. You do NOT want to deal with this little giant, that's for sure. Your bag is set down on a great round-table in the sorority common area, and without paying you any more heed, Megan tosses your container out of the bag and onto the table, allowing it to skid to a halt near the center. You're knocked onto your back in the process, and are left staring up at the ceiling through one of your plastic prison's walls. "Hey Vicky! The chewtoy's lying on the roundtable. wanna see it?"
You hear thudding. More thuds. A female face , surely that of Vicky, descends into view. Vicky's a Causasian, around 20,middleweight, with short black hair, and is wearing a black t-shirt themed around a metal band she's a fan of. Her lips are pierced. A small streak of her hair is dyed a vibrant green. Although you can't really see it from your angle, she happens to be wearing bluejean pants.
She silently assesses the 'chewtoy' with a slight smile.
The current situation is quite volatile. You're at a sorority, no doubt one full of young women who are perhaps just as likely to be your savior as they are to be your slayer. You're also currently slated to get brought into a hamster's cage, which may just be inescapable depending on whether it's wire or plastic. There's also the presence of the bulldog, sure to complicate things if you ever manage to get to the floor and mount an escape attempt . You ALSO know nothing about the surrounding college campus... how you communicate with Vicky will be of UTMOST importance
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