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Don't touch! (stereo 360)
🕑 Added 2022-10-21 21:37:13 +0000 UTCTouring old manor houses had somehow turned out more boring than you expected. When the CEO first told you he thought the "history and grandeur" would inspire your team to "great things" you'd bitten your tongue and trusted the old man's decades of experience. Now you were just wondering if he'd be better off being put to pasture.
"When this house was built, the baron insisted there be no views of the outside," droned the guide, an old woman who looked like a fat hen tangled in a tablecloth, "His paranoia about being stung by a bee meant the sight of flowers caused great distress."
The weather outside was a rare display of a perfect summer day, warm and dry with a hint of rain, perfect for touching grasss. Maybe kick a ball around and share some cold beers. Actual team building. Inside these old buildings however the heat was just oppressive. You still had six more houses to trudge through and it wasn't even lunch time yet. Even with your suit jacket off you could feel the sweat gluing your shirt to your back.
"How high do you think that ceiling is?" a voice whispered in your ear, making you jump. It was Dawn. The new girl from HR. If it wasn't for her and her short shorts you would have melted into a puddle of boredom hours ago.
"No idea," you whispered back, "Twenty feet maybe?"
"You'd think a baron would make the rooms smaller so he could feel bigger," Dawn ran a delicate hand over the back of one chair, "Feel more powerful."
"Please don't touch the furniture!" the guide called out, but it was a half-hearted warning.
"Sorry!" Dawn said. She waited until the tour guide turned around then ran her hand over the carved chair back again. Dawn had only been in your team two weeks and you already knew this was exactly the kind of attitude that got her reassigned to you in the first place.
Might as well take the opportunity to team build. "Hang back a minute, Dawn, I want to have a chat."
The rest of the group moved on to the next room and only your boss glanced back to give you a quick nod of approval. The room was suddenly quiet.
"Look Dawn..." you started but she cut you off.
"Sorry, I know I'm being a pest," she said, stepping close enough that you could smell her fruity perfume, "But this is so fucking boring!"
"Yeah. It is. Mind numbing," you sighed and wiped more of the endless sweat from your brow, "But I need to know you can be bored and not start fucking around. Here and back in the office."
Dawn pouted. The way her soft, pink lips moved made you desperate to press yourself against them.
"Oh, come on!" Dawn said, "I'm bored but I'm not an idiot. This stuff is furniture, it's meant to be sat on and dragged about for a lifetime. Longer even!"
She began to bounce around the room, touching anything she could reach.
"Do you think Baron Bronte spent every morning standing next to his chair, holding a plate just above the table so it didn't get scratched?"
"Hey, stop!"
Dawn paused, gave you a mischievous glance, then pressed a single finger against the wall.
"Afraid the wall is going to..." she trailed off as a piece of the wall slid away to reveal a dark and dusty alcove. The hole was just large enough to hold a small sculpture the size of your head. It was carved from some dark, glassy stone and seemed to be a representation of a woman kneeling.
"Whoa," Dawn reached into the alcove as if to pick up the strange figure.
"Dawn, stop! Let's..."
An intense pink light flashed, filling the room and blinding you for a moment.
"Dawn!"
The short, bubbly woman was lying flat on her back. Motionless. You rushed over but even as you took your first step you saw her body start to change. She was stretching. Growing. Expanding like she was a balloon being inflated.
Dawn groaned then sat up and looked around. Her eyes were level with yours for a moment then began to move upwards as she continued to grow. The wooden floor creaked ominously.
"What the fuck?" she mumbled, shaking her head like there was something stuck to her, "Why are you... small?"
All you could do was gape. She was still sitting, still growing and her shoulders were already higher than you were tall. She shifted her titanic body and stood, almost immediately bashing her head on the ceiling.
"Ow!" she fell back to her knees and you could see fear rising in her face, "What's happening?"
"I don't know! You're growing!"
Her head reached the ceiling again, but this time she was still kneeling. Did that mean she'd already doubled in height? It had been only a few seconds!
"Do something!" she yelped. Her growth didn't seem to be slowing. At this rate she would completely fill the room in less than a minute.
"We have to get you out of here before you break something!"
The panic on her face was replaced with a mix of confusion and disbelief. Without a word, she swiped one gigantic hand across a shelf of vases, destroying them in an instant.
"I've got a bigger problem than smashing some antiques!" she growled, "And if you don't help me figure this out you're next."
"What am I supposed to do? Wave my hands and say 'abracadabra' like I'm a fucking wizard?"
A rush of cold chilled you to your bones and the room went eerily dark. You felt some part of reality shift beneath your feet then a moment later the lights came back on and revealed Dawn. She was back to her normal size, sitting in a pile of smashed pottery, looking up at you with her big, brown eyes.
"You did it!" she leaped up and threw her arms around you, "Thank you, thank you!"
"No!" the scream of the tour guide made you both jump. The old woman had a surprisingly powerful voice, "What did you do?!"
Dawn gave you a mischievous glance.
"Well, now that we know the magic word I guess there's no harm in showing you," she said and reached out for the hidden statue again...
