“Here you go, Eliza. It’s from Madam at the dining hall. She wants you to go over there and have a proper meal for a change.”
“Oh… Thanks.”
Eliza sluggishly reached out for the plate Claire had brought her. She had dark circles under her eyes, her hair was flat and limp, and her clothes looked like she hadn’t changed out of them in at least three days. Her colleague, James, was lying under the desk—or, more accurately, he was stretched out, sleeping. At first, Claire had thought he was dead.
“So, wanna take a bath, maybe?” suggested Claire. “I can wash your back and hair, if you want.”
The last time Eliza had bathed was probably when she’d last changed clothes. As another girl, Claire felt her friend had crossed a line with this lack of hygiene.
“I’m working on my research, and I’m right at the homestretch. I don’t have time for distractions.”
“Oh.” Claire quickly backed down. Pestering people wasn’t her style. “Is there anything I can help you with?”
“Give me your black hair,” James said, rising up from underneath the desk.
“No,” Claire replied, making her voice as sharp as she could muster.
James—the assistant with a handsome face and a sordid past—used to be a serial haircutter, forcibly snatching girls’ hair in broad daylight. Now, however, he had been reformed and was serving as Eliza’s research associate. Claire got the feeling he might relapse any moment, though.
“You know,” Eliza began, “I was analyzing the homunculus creation process, and everything seemed sound right up to the part where you need to use a woman’s hair as a catalyst. James said he needed about one hundred and ten pounds for the recipe, but in fact, only about a quarter pound would suffice. It’s not the raw material used to form the homunculus, after all—it’s just the catalyst that triggers the chain reaction.”
“A quarter pound? How much is that?”
“In terms of length, maybe a foot?”
“Huh? That much? If I give you that, my hair will stop at my shoulders.”
Claire grabbed fistfuls of her black hair—a mane she was rightfully proud of—and took a few steps back.
“It’ll do wonders for your split ends,” Eliza assured her. “I’ll even prescribe you a hair growth potion. That freak over there will get on his knees and beg. So come on. Do it. Hurry!”
“Please! I’m begging you!” James chimed in, already on the floor.
“But… I can’t just…” Claire was torn. She couldn’t say no when asked so fervently; that was just the sort of person she was.
“It doesn’t have to be right now, of course,” said Eliza. “We don’t actually need the hair until much later in the process… Anyway, would you mind moving that graduated cylinder over to the pedestal in the back of the lab? It’s too heavy for the two of us to move without some extra machinery, but you could use some of your fancy super-strength to get it done fast, couldn’t you?”
“Please… Could you not bring that up? It makes me sound like a monster…”
Super-strength—or, to be exact, temporary muscle amplification—was one of Claire’s intrinsic skills, alongside her signature, Restoration. The amount of amplification a person could work their spirit into producing varied, but in Claire’s case, her potential muscular gain was off the charts. Even as a toddler, she could tap into strength dozens of times what was normally possible. At this point, she had no problem bench-pressing several tons at once.
So Claire placed her hands around the graduated cylinder, which was big enough to fit a grown man, and turned around.
“Wait. Wasn’t that freak over there really strong, too?” she asked.
At one point during his head-shaving rampage, James had defeated Claire, Yessica, Sophie, Iona, Cú, and even Earnest. He had to be at least semi-champion level.
“Oh, that guy can’t do anything without his bandages. He was relying on his own inventions to boost his physical power.”
“Oh, really?”
“They’re not bandages, but autonomous cloth-based armor.”
“Let’s just go with ‘bandages,’ okay? The other name doesn’t really roll off the tongue.”
Claire was having trouble following, so she went ahead and started moving the cylinder. It was heavy enough that several adult men might struggle with it, but for Claire, it was a breeze, even with her slender arms.
When she placed it on the specified pedestal, there was an audible click, and a circular ring on the pedestal’s surface lit up.
“Oh, it’s working. I can hear it humming… The light’s on, too,” Claire said.
Eliza and the freak weren’t paying attention, however. They were engaged in some kind of technical discussion.
Taking a closer look, Claire noticed an opening on the front side of the cylinder. It was just big enough for a person to shimmy their way through.
Wait, hang on! Are people meant to go inside this device?
“Um, do people go in this thing?”
No response. The other two were too busy inventing to notice her.
The round light on the pedestal pulsed, the rhythm growing stronger one second then weaker the next as it expanded and contracted, almost inviting her to climb in. It was more than enough to make Claire give in to her impulse.
“Here goes!” She stepped inside.
Hummm…
The pedestal beneath her feet began to rumble. The noise grew louder and louder, and then the ring of light began to spin.
“Huh?”
Claire wondered if maybe this hadn’t been such a great idea after all. It was time to get out. She attempted to escape, only for the opening to close with a whoosh. She was now trapped inside.
Claire banged on the glass, but Eliza and James were turned away and couldn’t hear a thing. Only when she started slamming much harder did they finally notice.
Claire waved her hands. “I’m stuck in here,” she said, smiling as she waved.
All color drained from Eliza’s and James’s faces. They started shouting and running frantically from side to side, bumping into walls, desks, and equipment as they did. Then, all of a sudden, they stopped. They stood bolt upright and brought both hands to their cheeks before letting out strange, guttural cries.
Um… Did I do something really bad?
Claire’s mind was starting to grow hazy. The objects around her began to shrink, and shrink, and shrink. Her head hit the top of the cylinder, and then she felt herself being pressed from all sides. Everything hurt, and for a moment, she feared she’d be crushed to death. Then the glass shattered, and she was free. Moments later, the ceiling came rushing toward her, and she went through the same experience all over again.
Her body now filled the entire laboratory, pushing everything else against the walls. Eliza and her weirdo assistant had shrunk down to the size of newborn puppies. At this rate, they’d be flattened. So Claire strained her limbs, struggling to retain control of her body. The room burst around her as her body broke through the building’s walls.
She was free…but she was now a giant.