Chapter #8Matt, The Living Yoga Mat (Part Two) by: Unknown Tabitha was counting the hours until she could get off the clock.
It wasn't like she hated her job or anything. It paid decently well, and all she had to do was scan the items coming off the production line with her little Tiny Locator Device wand. 99.999% of the time, the wand would beep green, and the item got a pass. And in the extremely unlikely event it beeped red to signify a tiny in disguise, all Tabitha had to do was drop the unlucky miniature dude or dudette into a nearby tube to send them up to the rescue department for saving (which, Tabitha had to admit, was the real dream job in the factory given the 'important' but extremely infrequent work load).
Tabitha scanned the first of the three blue yoga mats that had just came down the line, then the second, and then the third. She then tossed them all into the nearby packing box, which only needed two more mats to hit quota and be taken out to its destination at the shipping center. Craning her neck, Tabitha saw one more such blue mat bouncing along the conveyor towards her. A fifth wasn't in sight yet, causing Tabitha to sigh with exasperation.
As soon as the fourth mat reached her, Tabitha grabbed it in one hand and her TLD in the other...and yet she slumped before scanning it.
Her partner frowned. "What's the matter, Tabs?" She asked in her perpetually bubbly (and equal parts annoying and cute) voice.
"Do we...really...have to scan every single item?" Tabitha groaned. "I mean, do you even get how low a percentage of tinies end up in the machine? It's, like, one in a trillion ever since our factory opened up!" She looked pointedly at her partner. "Surely you get that, right, Claudia?"
Claudia shook her head. "I get being exhausted, but this is important work, Tabitha." Claudia continued working as she spoke, like a perfect machine in how she delicately handled each item while scanning, just on the off chance she had a poor tiny in her midst. "We have to be diligent. Especially these past few weeks."
Tabitha winced. Her partner had a point. In the factory's entire existence, only two tinies had ended up turned into clothing on the line before being bought out by Just Jacobs a renovated a few months back. In the past month alone, ten had slipped through, at minimum. Small compared to the thousands of items produced a day, but noticeable for sure. It was clearly sabotage, and judging from the CTC receipt found in Claudia's locker, she was the most likely suspect. Which, Tabitha knew was goddamn ridiculous. Claudia was the biggest bleeding heart Tabitha knew, and the girl loved tinies more than life itself. She was being framed, Tabitha was sure of it.
Tabitha sighed again. "Yeah, yeah, Claudia. I hear you. Still, it just gets boring."
"Maybe, but I like to think of what we're preventing." Claudia smiled. "Take the mat you're holding right now, for instance! Could you imagine if it was a tiny? I mean, how would we know without scanning it right now? If we sent it off into the wild world, the odds of that tiny ever being rescued are basically impossible! And can you even fathom a life of constant crushing, pain, and humiliation? Would you like to live as a yoga mat?"
"I get your point, and no, I wouldn't. I mean, unless it was as yours, I guess." Tabitha smirked, and grinned wider as the flirtation produced the desired blushing response in her partner.
"T-Tabs, come on! Focus, alright?"
Tabitha chuckled and moved to put you into the box. "Keep being cute, Claudia."
"Wait! Did you scan that one!"
Tabitha glanced down at the mat in her hands, her eyes passing right over the almost invisible but still slightly present left eye and nose of your poor trapped self. "Yeah, sure. I've been scanning all of them, even while complaining."
"Just making sure!" Claudia giggled, in that cutesy voice that made Tabitha both roll her eyes and feel heat in her cheeks.
Tabitha then moved you towards the almost-full box of similar blue mats. For a split second she wondered if she actually had scanned you or not, but quickly figured she'd probably done it by the power of muscle memory alone. Dropping the issue, she set you down into the box, then turned to find that the fifth mat had arrived while she'd been chatting with Claudia. Scanning it and coming up negative, Tabitha set it down atop you, then sealed the box up with tape and hefted it onto the factory line, sending it trundling off to the shipping center.
She then got back to work, slightly invigorated thanks to her chat with Claudia. Her partner was right. A tiny would be in veritable hell if they slipped through her and Claudia's safety check, and Tabitha wouldn't wish a lifetime of unaware use as an object on any tiny.
*****
Jenna's jaw dropped open slightly. "Wh-What...what do you mean you can't find him?"
Reagan put on her best contrite face. "Just what I said. I can't find your brother anywhere in the factory, and no one else is fessing up to seeing him either."
Jenna ran a hand through her hair. "B-But it's six o'clock in the evening! I have to go home, and I texted him to meet me in my office an hour ago to go over what we found today!"
"It's...possible he got lost in the factory." Reagan suggested. "Or, maybe he fell victim to our mystery saboteur." Reagan's comment provoked Jenna's furious eyes to glare at her, and the black-haired girl raised her hand in supplication. "Maybe not, boss, but it's worth considering. I wish I knew more, but I've been in the back storeroom all day, like I told you I would be. I haven't seen Matt since I dropped him off at the factory entrance like you asked."
Jenna rapidly blinked back an oncoming wave of tears. "S-So he might've...might've been turned into product? And have the supply vans already delivered today's shipping?"
"Yeah." Reagan nodded. "They went out at 4:00."
Jenna moaned and held her face in her hands. "Then we'll just have to question everyone again tonight, before they go home. Unless you have any leads, Reagan?"
"I wouldn't know too much." Reagan shrugged, then made a show of stroking her chin. "I didn't spend much time looking at who was on shift today. That new-ish girl whose name starts with a 'T', the one girl with the glasses. Oh, Claudia was on the factory floor today. I know that much."
Jenna's complexion darkened, just like Reagan knew it would. "Claudia, huh?" Jenna shoved her chair out from her desk and stood. "Then let's start with her, Reagan. Maybe we'll finally squeeze some answers out of her."
"I hope so, boss." Reagan hid her smirk with a cough. "I hope so."
*****
At some point in transit from the Just Jacobs factory to wherever you were being delivered or shipped to, you passed out into sleep. Somewhat humiliatingly, it was a fairly comfortable sleep, as despite your painful contorted and frozen body, you were still nestled between a soft blue yoga mat on top of you, and a soft mat underneath you. When you awoke, though, you couldn't feel either mat, and though you were still in utter darkness, you knew that you were in a box alone and defenseless.
The two girls on duty had failed to properly scan you, and because of their mistake you were now nothing more than a yoga mat being delivered to a buyer for what might very well be years and years of use unless Jenna could somehow track you down, or some freak accident spilled Full Length solvent onto you. And the odds of either of those seemed crushingly slim, though you chose to still hold onto hope for the time being.
After an undetermined amount of time, the ground around you shook, and there was the muted sound of a box being torn open. Because your ears had been mangled, your hearing was touch-and-go, but your eyes and (horrifyingly) your nose still functioned well enough. Or rather, perhaps it was better to say 'eye' given your right had been ruined by the Just Jacobs logo branding. Even your left saw the world through a sheen of blue thanks to every inch of you being dyed. Yeah, you were in a horrible state.
Finally, light shone in from above as your box was opened, and when your vision cleared you saw the sight of your new owner, who proceeded to speak.
1) "Nice, this looks super comfy! And maybe this time mom and Juli won't keep stealing it!" It's Riley, and she's bought you to serve as her new yoga mat for home workouts at your house.
2) "Ah, and here's mat number twenty! That makes a full set! Oh, I hope our new students love to use these!" It's Lihua, getting you and your blue mat brethren ready for a packed Focused Fitness class.
3) "Sweet, my mat came in! Hope this thing's ready for a beating!" It's a girl you don't know, but as soon as you spot the OGP sorority pin in her hair, you realize you're now property of one of the twisted Weston sorority girls!
4) "God, but ain't that a pretty blue! Hope this thing is as nice as Syd claims." It's Dodger, who bought you to serve as padding behind her desk at school as she frequently likes to go barefoot and wanted something comfortable to walk on as she teaches!
5) *Writer's Choice*   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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