Chapter Four: Afterglow
The latest Kiyone's cubed form was set onto the digitizer. For a moment the card-sized policewoman's moaning could be heard. Then she was gone, processed. Washu would head back later and set her in the appropriate place.
For now, she sipped her coffee.
At first, it had been fun. However, having to cube and digitize Kiyone, Ryoko, and Ayeka once every two weeks or so had become a chore. Washu would admit to herself that she enjoyed having power over others. She liked controlling things, but that rush only took her so far.
Besides, this situation had all the makings of a snowball lie. Sooner or later, she was going to have to find a way to fix them. She sat down in her seat and was about to begin work on finding a cure. It would help if she knew where to start. Usually, her matter manipulation would be enough to reverse any physical changes.
But something about expansion energy defied those standard rules. Washu had to find out why. And she had to do it while keeping what was happening a secret. Tenchi was thinking about moving to Jurai. Once they were there, things would become much more difficult, so she needed to figure out a solution.
And she had to do it while taking care of the endless loose ends. The alternative was admitting what she did, and that she didn't have a clue how to fix it. But that was unthinkable.
"There must be a way to make this process more efficient," said Washu. "But that would need some kind of automated system. And how am I supposed to make something like that?"
"Um, excuse me, Washu." said a voice.
Washu jumped out of her chair and turned around. She'd locked the doors when Kiyone came in, requesting the usual help. So how was the buxom blonde, Mihoshi, standing right there? Sooner or later Mihoshi would screw this up, wouldn't she? She always appeared suddenly.
"Oh hello Mihoshi, how can I help you?" said Washu.
Mihoshi beamed. "Well, um, Kiyone was spending so much time here helping you. I was thinking that maybe I could help you as well, y'know. Where is Kiyone anyway?"
Right, Washu had been so burned out she had forgotten to make the Kiyone clone. Opening her console, she pressed a button to create one out of sight and smiled nervously. "Oh, she's around here somewhere — part of the experiment. You helping me with the experiment sounds like a great idea. Let me think of an experiment, and I'll be right with you."
"Washu!" cried Ayeka.
Here they went. The violet-haired princess stormed in; several cups sizes bigger than normal. Though given the number of Ayeka's in existence right now, that was arguable. Technically she had a cup size several hundred times smaller than usual for an Ayeka. Technicalities.
"Oh, Ayeka," said Washu. "What seems to be the problem?"
"You know what the problem is, Washu!" said Ayeka. "Your solution to this is taking way too long!"
Blah, blah, blah, rush the genius, why don't you. Sure, Washu hadn't been working very hard to find a solution. But she would have started work on the subject if everyone hadn't kept bothering her. "...All right, all right. I'll-"
"Washu!" said Ryoko.
Here she came, down from the ceiling to land, bouncing. She'd been especially annoyed by it all, lately. It had started when Ryoko realized her new body didn't help her chances with Tenchi.
"Hello, Little Ryoko. Are you having problems too?" asked Washu, putting on a smile.
"Your damn right, I'm having problems!" said Ryoko. "When are you going to fix this?"
"Yes, Washu, this has gone on long enough!" said Ayeka.
And just like that, a chorus of angry rants began. Washu opened her console and looked at it as they continued. Automatically she analyzed their data and made a copy of Ryoko; then she looked to Ayeka. Who did these people think they were?
Washu was the greatest scientific genius in the universe! She'd made more advances in technology than anyone else before her! Trillions of people lived hundreds of years longer. And here these ingrates were getting on her case for keeping a collection!
She pressed a button. And then she realized that she had copied herself as she had been, not Ayeka. Quickly resetting, she copied it.
"All right! All right! Calm down, everyone!" said Washu. "We'll try a new experiment."
"A new experiment?" asked Ayeka. "What kind of experiment?"
Something that gave Washu a greater understanding of expansion energy. She couldn't just try the same thing over and over again an expect results. "It's obvious that my method of shrinking isn't working fast enough for you. So why don't we try a different approach?"
"All right," said Ryoko, crossing her arms. "Sounds good to me."
"This had best work, Washu." said Ayeka in an annoyed tone. "I've endured enough humiliation as it is."
"Wow, can I try it too?" asked Mihoshi enthusiastically.
Washu couldn't afford to leave Mihoshi as a witness. So she'd have to compress her with the others. "Of course you can, Mihoshi. This was what I had planned from the start. Now hold on a minute while I hold you in place."
She typed the command to bind them almost on reflex. None of them resisted or showed more than casual irritation. This was practically an everyday event for them at this point.
And once again, Washu was going to betray their trust.
"Why is it necessary to hold us like this?" asked Ayeka.
"You don't want the machine making any mistakes, do you?" said Washu, which means that she wouldn't want to miss adding another person to her collection.
Collection. That was what she had called it. It had been a moment of clarity, in a way. Washu had never been a people person. Her understanding of the universe and how little the suffering of one person meant had made her... callous.
Too callous.
She had to fix this. However, right now, she had to make sure there were no witnesses. And the Kiyone clone was one such witness. She hadn't even existed for a day, and she was going to be put straight into eternal bondage. The idea was both appealing and depressing.
"What's wrong?" asked Ayeka.
"Well, I was just thinking that I might as well get a full set as long as we're here," said Washu. "Kiyone."
The Kiyone clone woke up and made her way forward. She rubbed her head. Completely unaware that she had not existed until mere moments ago. "Washu, what happened?"
"Well, I completed my treatment of you," said Washu. "But I just came up with a new treatment. One that might just create a permanent solution to your problem." A lie of omission. She'd made a lot of those.
"Why didn't you mention this before?" asked Kiyone.
"It didn't come to mind," said Washu. A lie was a deliberate attempt to deceive. So even if she hadn't said anything false, she was still lying. "Now stand over there by the others."
"I hate this," muttered Kiyone as she walked forward.
"Quit complaining," said Washu. Then she pressed a button. She watched as metal tubes lowered down from the ceiling. At their ends were gas nozzles. "Now, take those tubes in your mouths."
As soon as they did, the nozzles drove into their mouths. They slithered down into the bodies of the girls as Washu watched. They struggled in surprise. They hadn't been expecting this. However, they didn't realize Washu was betraying them.
"Mmph!" said Ayeka.
Washu had been ignoring all this until now. She'd made a habit of going ahead with whatever experiment she was doing and not taking no for an answer. She'd taken that to its logical extreme.
And she couldn't stop now. She focused on the rush she felt at having power over them as she activated the gas. Instantly it began to dispense into their bodies. Their breasts began to grow outward at an alarming rate. Kiyone, Ayeka, and Ryoko all began to expand much more quickly, while Mihoshi lagged behind. The usual blushes and groans came from them.
"Now you're all probably wondering what I'm doing," said Washu, enjoying the sight despite herself. "Well, I'm pouring expansion energy into you. However, it is in gas form. So right now, as it works through your body, it is making you very buoyant."
Bigger and bigger they got. But in addition to the growth of their hips and breasts, their entire bodies began to balloon outwards. They got larger and larger like a hot air balloon being filled. As they did, they were lifted off the ground. The arms struggled to hold them in place as their arms and legs were coming by their ever-expanding body.
Interesting reaction. Washu had enjoyed changing them. And she didn't have time to feel guilty right now.
"MMPH!" cried Ayeka.
"MMPH!" said Ryoko.
They were blushing. So were Kiyone and Mihoshi. "Enjoying yourselves, are you?" asked Washu. "Still, I'd better let you down now." She pressed a button and the arms detached. The ballooned girls rose into the air until they hit the ceiling and were stuck there.
"Or let you up," said Washu, feeling a bit of amusement.
"Washu! Washu how does this help?" asked Ayeka.
"Well, it gives me more information on expansion energy and its uses," noted Washu. She had actually gotten a lot of information on the subject.
"You call this a use?!" cried Kiyone.
"Wow Kiyone, this is fun!" said Mihoshi, bouncing around to knock the others.
"Reverse the process Washu, reverse it right now!" cried Ryoko.
Washu scanned over the reports, noting the changes, and looking for patterns. She also observed the obvious. "Hmm, from the looks of things, your bodies have undergone a physical transformation. You're like living hot air balloons. Reversing the process could be difficult.
"Oh well. Live and learn.
"Don't worry ladies; your schedule won't be disrupted." She pressed a button, and masks came down and set themselves to the girl's faces. Instantly they began to suck, and as they did, the gas was withdrawn. Their bloated bodies became smaller and smaller until they were normal. However, they did not stop. As the last of the gas was drawn out, the bodies went flat.
The four girls floated down toward the ground, like leaves in the wind until they landed.
The fun had gone out of all this. Washu would have had to be a sadist to continue enjoying this since she couldn't hide from her actions. And she wasn't a sadist yet. "I'm just letting a bit of the hot air out of you girls." The line was said in a dead tone. But Washu enjoyed their helpless expressions despite herself. "Of course, without air inside you, you collapse. I'll put reversing it on my to-do list.
"For now, why don't we get you ladies folded up." She pressed a few buttons.
Instantly arms came forward to begin folding the girls up. They couldn't speak. Couldn't say anything. They were folded smaller and smaller. Then all four of them had been compacted to about the size of a deck of cards. Washu found that interesting. "Hmm, interesting. The material is not only stretchable, but it is also easy to fold. You girls will be easily stored. The possible uses of expansion energy truly are endless." Trying to look at the bright side here. "But I wouldn't want you ladies to miss any appointments."
Walking over to them, she picked the four deflated girls up. Summoning some rubber bands, she tied them tightly together — no hope of falling into a mess now. Bringing them over to the digitizer, she set them down. She quickly typed into her console, creating the pleasure field to keep them entertained. Then she activated the digitizer. "There we go. Nice and safe."
Four more people to add to her collection. Washu created four more clones to replace them and put on a mask.
"Washu, what happened?" asked Kiyone as she awoke.
"Oh, nothing. The experiment we tried didn't exactly work out," said Washu. "We'll have to try again later." If she was going to understand how expansion energy worked, she would have to do more experiments with it. "...In fact, why don't you girls come back tomorrow?"
She shepherded them out. Then she sat down and thought. "Hmm. If I'm going to be working with the girls regularly, I'm going to have to free up more time in my schedule for other work. Speeding up the rate of my experiments will make it harder to analyze the data.
"I should put my full focus into finding a cure. However, I can't do two things at once." She paused as she looked at her console. She had a perfectly preserved reading on herself a few minutes ago. Ready to be given form as a clone. "Or maybe I can."
A good leader never made anyone do something they weren't willing to do themselves. Washu pressed a button, and a clone of herself formed before her...
Washu was the greatest scientific genius in the universe! She'd made more advances in technology than anyone else before her! Trillions of people lived hundreds of years longer! And here these ingrates were getting on her case for keeping a collection!
She pressed a button. And then she realized that she had copied herself as she had been, not Ayeka. Quickly resetting, she copied it.
And then Washu realized she was a clone. She opened her eyes and saw herself. She calculated. After a moment, she judged that her previous self had decided her workload was too great. She had created her.
She was a clone of the true Washu, created to help her.
Clone Washu felt a twinge of resentment. She'd just been thinking about her collection. But it wasn't her collection. Any more than this was her lab. She was a copy created from a digital memory of what Washu had been five minutes ago.
But that didn't mean she had to be the same.
Judging by the tired look on first Washu's face something had happened in that time. They were different already.
"Hello, can you hear me?" asked the original.
"Yes. I'm you, aren't I?" said Clone Washu.
"We're both me," said Washu. "And I need your help to fix this. You understand?"
Fix what?
Did she mean their collection? They'd worked hard to put that together. Or rather, Original Washu had worked hard. But Clone Washu had a vested emotional interest in it. Just like she had a vested emotional interest in Washu's experiments.
"Of course, Mistress," said Clone Washu.
"Good. Now, I want you to investigate expansion energy," said Washu. "The girls will be coming by regularly, and I want you to do experiments with them. While you're doing that, I'm going to focus on the original line of research. I'm going to find a way to reverse the use of expansion energy. You'll give me all the data you find. It should speed things up.
"You got that?"
"Of course." Reverse it? Part of Clone Washu suggested that this was what they had planned from the beginning. But then, it hadn't really been her. Her emotional connection to Kiyone, Mihoshi, Ayeka, and Ryoko was nothing more than a copy.
It had no real value. Clone Washu had never even met those people, even if she felt like she had. Still, she decided to focus on the mission. "I think we ought to try some experiments on Sasami. It could help with-"
"No!" said Washu. "Look, I know we had the idea to experiment on her, but she's just a kid. This kind of fun isn't for her."
This would interfere with the mission. "But she has unique qualities. It could be a valuable source of information-"
"Drop it." hissed Washu. "Now come on, we've got work to do."
Clone Washu fell silent. It was obvious that they weren't equals here. Far from it, Clone Washu was a mere extension of the original Washu. She was meant to fill in for her, not act on her own. "Of course. Mistress."
Clone Washu would play along, for now.
Her fake memories told her she had quite enjoyed the experiments so far. And since she didn't really know any of these people, she could do whatever she pleased to them. This might not be so bad.
Author's Note:
Well, this got dark fast. Less focus on the expansion and more on Washu's mental state. Though I suppose you could argue it was dark the whole time. Perspective really does count for a lot. For someone enjoying this for the fetish fuel, things have been all fun and games.
Now Washu is gradually beginning to realize that what she was doing is wrong. Washu is more or less the audience surrogate of the person here for the fetish fuel. She's the one who's using a flimsy excuse to have her fun.
So when she stops having fun, it changes the nature of the story.
In theory, at least. Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.