She jumped at the voice that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. She looked around quickly before realizing that the voice originated from the new window on her screen. The window showed a black leather chair at a black desk that stretched out of the window's viewing range. A keyboard was just visible at the bottom of the frame.
None of these things had spoken to her, however--that had been the man seated in the chair. He was a young guy, probably about 22 or 23, and despite the fact that a notation in the upper-right corner said "Lab Cam," he looked nothing like a scientist. He was dressed in a blue and gray surf shirt and jeans, kicked back in the chair with his sneakers on the desk to the left of her view. He wore glasses and his hair looked as though he had just pulled it back and let go. Whatever his manner was, it was NOT "coolly professional." The only thing that gave away his position was the white lab coat over his shirt. The coat looked out of place on his otherwise laid-back outfit.
"Hello there," he said, "my name is Ryan Bailer, and I'll be your scientist this evening." He grinned at what he apparently thought was funny and continued. "Call me Ryan. And your name would be...?"
"Deanna." She didn't know what to think of this. It had said two-way streaming video, but still.
"Nice to meet you, Deanna. It's ok if I call you that, right?" He smiled reassuringly.
"What? Oh, yeah, sure. Sorry, I was just lost in thought." She still couldn't believe it. Was he really able to see her every move? Good thing I didn't wear my robe up here, she thought. He was staring enough at her as it was. "I thought my letter was from some guy named Jameson."
"Oh, Charlie? Well, he's the project head...mainly because he's our link to the corporates. But, he doesn't do any actual WORK on the project. He just gets our funding and lays down our deadlines, and gets half the credit when we're done. This camera, though, is MY brainchild. I came up with the original concept, as well as some preliminary design work, and I've been in charge ever since. Anyway, I'm overly eager to beta-test my baby, there, so if you don't mind, can we get started, Deanna?"
She was beginning to accept the idea that he could see her. She wanted to see what the transmission delay was, though, so she reached up and started flipping her earlobe.
"What are you doing that for?" Unbelievable--there was almost no delay!
"Oh, nothing," she blurted out, blushing. She hated to make a fool of herself--especially in front of guys. And, despite his somewhat overly relaxed demeanor, this guy was kind of cute. She stood up from the chair and leaned in close to the camera lens. "So, what do you need me to do?"
Out of the corner of her eye she saw him shift slightly in his chair with mild surprise as his viewscreen was suddenly filled with her face. "Well, turn up your computer's speakers, so you can hear my directions. I'll need you to back up until I can get a good line on you for a good picture." She turned up the speakers and began to back up. "Ok...a little further...a liiiiiiittle further..." With a faint THUD she stepped back into the wall. "Ow!" She bent over to rub her now--sore heel and swore. "Ok, now stand up...back against the wall...yeah, that'll do it. Perfect! Ready to go, Deanna?"
She swallowed hard. "As ready as I'll ever be."
"I've got you lined up...now, do you see that little red laser-light underneath the main lens? It should just barely be visible if you look directly under, and it should be lit up." She could, in fact, see it, and she told him so. "Good, then! That's what we use for our 'flash.' He typed in a few commands on his keyboard. "Here we...GO!" On that word, he pushed a small red button next to the keyboard.
She felt a strange tingle surging through her entire body as the camera took the picture. It felt almost like a mild electric shock, only it didn't hurt. It did not last long, and she opened her eyes almost immediately. "What the HELL was that???" she demanded.
"What the hell was what?" he replied. Suddenly he slapped his forehead. "Oh, you mean the tingling? That was from using the laser as the flash. I hope you didn't mind."
"No, I..." She started to say that it had almost felt good, but she was suddenly disturbed by an odd look on his face. Almost a sinister one.
"Now, this might seem like an odd request, but trust me. Do you have any tape measurers nearby? In a drawer or something? If you do, I'd like you to go get one. It's for the next phase of testing."
"Yeah, sure, there's one over in the other desk. I'll be right back." She walked over to the desk across the room. She felt strange the whole trip--almost as though her jeans were a bit large, and her bra didn't seem to be sitting quite right. As she searched through the drawers, she unconsciously pulled up the waistband of her jeans a few times. "Got it!" She returned to the wall where she'd been standing. Something still felt odd, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
"How tall are you, Deanna? Just curious." He got that weird unsettling look on his face again momentarily before returning to innocuously questioning again.
"Five-seven. Why do you ask?" She was really off-guard now...why the hell did her height matter? Some kind of referencing for the camera?
"Are you sure about that?" No doubt about it--definitely some combination of mischievous and sinister.
"Yes, I'm positive! I've been five-seven since the 11th grade!"
"Why don't you drop the tape measure for me and check your height? I have to be accurate about these things, you know."
"Ok, fine." She dropped the tape from the top of her head to the floor. As she raised her arm, she thought it odd that her T-shirt sleeve seemed to slide down a bit from her elbow. "Happy now? Five feet, seven in..." She trailed off as she looked at the number.
"Five feet, THREE inches, you mean," he finished, as the mad-scientist grin broadened across his face. "Congratulations--not only have you helped me test my camera, but you're the first person in history to shrink!"
"Shr...shr...no, that's impossible! People don't just SHRINK! This is some kind of trick!" She had to know how he had done this, and she had to know now! She looked down at the T-shirt, which had clung to her and been showy with her curves a minute ago. It now hung loose, the bottom of it slightly past the waist of her sagging jeans, which had themselves seemed painted on not five minutes ago. "How is this possible?"
"A trick? You think it's a TRICK? Well, I'll show you what's possible and what's not!"
