As a naturally-born affected, you'd long since moved past the phase of existence comprehension that Carmine was at now, but it wasn't hard to relate. Even if you had eventually learned to deal with a world where the vast majority of humans were colossal mega-beings compared to you, the knowledge of just how small you and your affected brethren were (and just how massive unaffected were) never truly went away.
Anneli had a hand on her hip, and a playful smile on her face. "Say, Carmine, you're looking like a cute snack right now! I see being tiny hasn't diminished your sex appeal!" She winked flirtatiously.
Inez crossed her muscular arms. "Not what you expected, is it, sister? I can't lie, I'm tempted to go next."
Carmine's jaw began moving slowly, like she was trying to say something. You walked over to her and put a supportive hand on her shoulder. Finally, words came to her. "H-How...how...how l-long..."
"How long?" You asked.
"How long do I have to do this?" Your cousin asked meekly, and you were startled to see tears in her eyes. She really was having her whole worldview destroyed, and it was breaking her more than you thought it would have.
You turned towards Sophie. "Just for one hour, right, Sophie?"
The scientist nodded, and skipped over to the control console. "Yep, that's what I set it to! I'll show you all, just for peace of mind, but I figured we'd still get some fun data even at one hour of time." She tapped a few buttons. "So, that's why we...why we...uh...wait. Wait, what?"
You frowned. "What's wrong?"
Sophie's face grew pale. "U-Uh, n-no, no. That's not right. That's not...how did...how did that...? But I checked it, I double-checked it!" Sophie's tone rose in pitch, indicating clear panic.
Carmine stiffened, and you too felt yourself beginning to feel a sense of dread. "Sophie, what's wrong?"
The Small Wonders scientist ran a hand through her wild hair. "Th-The...uh...timer is wrong. It's...not right at all. S-Someone tampered with it, or something. It's not right, it's, like, really not right."
Inez cleared her throat loudly. "It was me."
Everyone's heads whipped to face her.
She shrugged. "I thought one hour wasn't enough time for my lovely, but oh-so-entitled younger sister to learn a proper lesson from this experience. I thought she could use a bit more time at this new perspective, maybe finally realize she can't coast by on other people's charity and gullibility for the rest of her life." She jerked her head towards Sophie. "I saw you use the console earlier, miss, so I knew what button to press. I added an extra zero. Carmine should have ten hours, yes?"
Anneli winced. "Oh, fuck, Inez! You added a zero too? Fucking shit!" She kicked at the ground. "I-I did too! I had no goddamn idea you'd done it too! I just thought it would be funny! I-I wanted to see a cute tiny Carmine for longer, so I added a zero too! Does she...does she have to stay like this for a hundred fucking hours now?"
Brinley began giggling. "So, like, I have no idea what we're talking about, but are we all confessing to pushing buttons? Because, like, I totally did too, and it's so funny that I'm not the only one!" She giggled louder, even as everyone else in the room stared at her in horror.
Gently, patiently, you spoke to your wife. "Brinley, babe...what did you do?"
"I pushed the same zero button as Inez and Anneli did! It made such a funny noise, and since they both did it, I thought it was fine!"
You felt your foreboding sense rise. "Babe...how many times did you press it?"
"Like, a whole bunch." Brinley nodded, smiling wide. Finally, she then paused. "Wait, like...should I not have? I thought, like, that was my role. You and Carmine were gonna be tiny to play the game, and the rest of us pushed buttons to play the game? Is that not what's happening? Was I, like, not supposed to push those buttons?" Your wife began to look scared, tears springing to her eyes as they were often so quick to do.
You turned to Sophie. "Sophie...how long will Carmine be stuck in this tiny body?"
The scientist looked exceptionally frazzled, and like she'd rather wither into dust than answer your question. Finally, she eked out the answer. "Um...one million hours."
You recoiled as if slapped.
With a numb, hopeful look on her face, Carmine stammered. "Th-That's...a while. But...not too long, right?"
Sophie shook her head. "It's...one hundred and fourteen years. You'll be a tiny the rest of your life."
Like a switch had been flipped, Carmine passed out, faster than you could catch her falling body.
*****
You cradled Carmine in your lap until she came too, eyes fluttering open.
"Hey, Carmine." You said soothingly. "Rest, please. And then we'll start trying to--"
Carmine's peaceful expression morphed into fury. "You fucking bitch, Allegra!" She screeched.
Lunging upwards, Carmine tackled you onto the floor, and began clawing and slapping at your face. Her sheer fury temporarily overwhelmed you, allowing her to rain blows upon you while you struggled to defend yourself.
"You tricked me! You manipulated me! You wanted this, and now my life is fucking ruined!" Your cousin screamed, her face red with fury.
Finally, you got your bearings, and easily subdued Carmine. She wasn't very strong owing to her sedentary lifestyle (her effortless curves coming about mostly because of blessed genetics), while you were a trained therapist with four decades of physical experience surviving your hectic life. It was child's play to flip Carmine onto her back, sit on her stomach to prevent her from getting up, and hold her hands down. She looked at you in frustrated confusion, clearly never in a million years envisioning a scenario of her inch-tall cousin physically overpowering her.
"I'm sorry!" You exclaimed. "I didn't want this at all, I didn't plan this! I'm sorry!"
"No you're not!" Carmine hissed. "You're so happy, aren't you? You're so thrilled that I get to pay for all I've done to you! You think this is some big karmic thing, you bitch!"
"God, Carmine, enough!" You yelled. "You hate me, I get it. But here's a surprise for you: I don't hate you. You might not believe me, but I don't hate you. I seriously wouldn't have wished this fate upon you, at all."
Carmine's protests grew weaker, and she began to sob.
"Look, Carmine...I'm sorry. I am. But what I'll do now is promise you, with all my heart, that I'll help you get through this, okay? I'm not going to abandon you, alright? Trust me."
Carmine cried louder, and you went back to hugging her, wondering how this day had gone so far off the rails that you were now consoling your life-long mortal enemy, who apparently was now going to be a tiny for the rest of her days.
Behind you, your three giantess friends and family members watched. Brinley's eyes were red from crying (your wife, perhaps rightfully so, blaming herself) her lower lib wobbling. Anneli also looked extremely concerned and worried. Inez was much more unreadable, but you could still see a hint of familial compassion for her little sister on her face.
Finally, Sophie broke the silence. "So, uh...obviously there's a lot to hash out, and Small Wonders is prepared to assist however we can. But for starters...who is going to care for her now?"
Carmine sniffled louder at the mention of having to be 'cared for'.
1) You volunteer, promising to not leave Carmine's side. Carmine begins shadowing you 24/7 as you teach her how to live as a tiny.
2) Before you can say anything, Carmine blurts out that she wants Brinley to care for her. It's at that moment that you finally realize the years-long truth that Carmine has a crush on your wife. But a bigger issue than that is the literal crush that Carmine is surely about to be on the receiving end of once she realizes asking your ditzy careless wife to care for her was about as big a mistake she could of made.
3) Before you can say anything, Inez speaks up. Proclaiming it her sisterly duty, she assigns herself as Carmine's new guardian. However, knowing Inez (and her views on tinies), she's about to give Carmine a pretty rude awakening when it comes to just how strict she can be with her 'strength and endurance training'.
4) Before you can say anything, Anneli speaks up. She demands to be allowed to be the one to care for Carmine. You can see the blush in her cheeks, and recognize that Anneli is at least partially motivated to do this because of her crush on Carmine. But you do seem a genuine look of resolve on your best friend's face. Here's hoping that resolve is enough to overcome Anneli's typical lazy, slobbish, forgetful behavior.
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