We came in through the front door this time. There were several people of various sizes hanging around, but none of them took any notice of us at first. I recognized Cloudwalker and Snowtiger right away, as their avatars were rather distinctive, but didn't see Talon anywhere.
As we stood there looking around, a woman dressed up as Supergirl flew past us. She was only about four inches tall, and looked like she was fleeing someone, but only in mock terror. Immediately after she zipped by, a normal-sized man hurried past us, wielding a butterfly net and swinging it at "Superbabe" ineffectually. "Come back here, you!" he yelled. "You won't escape me this time!"
"This is so cool!" said Heather beside me. Check that, her name was Dollgirl, I reminded myself. As long as I was online, that's how I'd have to refer to her.
"Yeah, well, you haven't seen anything yet," I replied. "On the second floor, there are some private rooms where you can try whatever you like."
"Wow!" she replied. Her avatar's face didn't move or react, but I could tell from her voice that she was almost breathless with excitement. "I wish I'd found this place years ago!"
"Just don't go downstairs," I added. "That's for rough stuff, I think."
Before she could reply, everyone's attention in the room was suddenly drawn towards some activity up along the opposite wall. I looked over there and saw they were all looking at a woman who was slowly growing. She was wearing a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders costume, and her head was already bumping the ceiling. Her handle was "Texy," which for some reason I found rather amusing.
"Oh, help me, someone!" she called out loudly. "I accidentally drank something that's making me grow!"
There was a flurry of interest as her avatar steadily expanded in size, sitting down on the ground and letting her long legs stretch out in front of her. A couple of people in the room climbed up onto them, enjoying the view of the slowly growing cheerleader. Still, not everyone was amused. "What is this, the GTS room?" muttered a woman named Zev. "I thought this place was for shrinking, not growing!"
"And why isn't she coming out of her clothes?" muttered someone named Vulcan, who was dressed up like a World War II British bomber pilot, complete with leather jacket and goggles. "I want to see those shorts splitting open!"
"Come on, you know this is the entrance room," explained a man named Bond007, who looked just like a young Sean Connery in "Dr. No," including his trademark tuxedo and martini glass. "Besides, this'll be fun. You'll see."
He walked up next to the giant woman, who by now looked like she was close to twenty feet tall. I wondered what would happen if she kept growing until she was too big for the room. Would the simulation be able to handle her head bursting through to the level above?
Well, it didn't matter, because I wouldn't have a chance to find out. "Here," called out the secret agent avatar. "I have a shrinking potion that'll reverse the effects." With that, he held up a glass vial that I hadn't noticed before. Probably another virtual prop, I thought.
The gigantic Texy took the little bottle and popped it open. "Oh, thank you so much!" she said enthusiastically, hurriedly downing the vial's glowing blue contents. Almost immediately, her growing stopped, and then it reversed itself, causing her to steadily shrink. "I'll be glad to get back to normal size!" she said. "I didn't like being so big!"
Dollgirl and I watched in fascination as the immense woman got smaller and smaller in front of us. It was very much like watching Beth return to her usual proportions after I used the casino's restoration machine. However, this time she didn't stop when she reached normal size. Instead, she kept right on getting smaller!
"Hey!" yelled the surprised Texy as her head dropped below our shoulder level. "I'm still shrinking!"
"Sorry," replied Bond007, shrugging his shoulders. "I must have given you too much formula. Oh well, it'll wear off eventually!"
We crowded around as Texy steadily got smaller and smaller. "Oh, no, how tiny am I gonna get?" she cried, looking up at all of us in fear. Her voice was beginning to sound weaker as she shrank. "Please, someone, help me!" she begged pitifully.
"I've gotta get me some of that stuff!" said Dollgirl next to me. "This is the coolest thing ever!"
Bond007 kneeled down to watch the miniature Texy steadily dwindle in size. When she was small enough, he picked her up in his hand and stood up so we could all see. She was about six inches tall, and still visibly shrinking. "Do something!" she yelled up at us in a tiny, pathetic little voice. "I don't want to shrink any more!"
Of course, her protests were just an act, but everyone seemed to be enjoying it. Many among the audience where laughing and I heard a few cheers, too. Texy dwindled ever smaller, pacing around in Bond's palm as she shrunk, continuing to beg for help until we couldn't hear her squeaky little voice any more.
After about another thirty seconds or so, she had almost vanished entirely. Several people were peering forward, staring into Bond's hand to look at the tiny cheerleader, who couldn't have been more than a quarter of an inch high by now. "Well," said the secret agent, "I think you've stopped shrinking, my dear. Hopefully the effects won't be permanent. Come with me and I'll see what I can do to help you."
The little speck on his hand jumped up and down excitedly and Bond007 walked off, carrying the ant-sized woman with him. I nodded with understanding as he started up the stairs and disappeared from sight. It seemed this was the SW Clubhouse's version of foreplay.
"That was awesome!" said Dollgirl breathlessly. "I want to try that! How can I do it?"
"I'm not sure," I answered. "I guess you just find someone who wants to roleplay with you." Almost as an afterthought, I added, "Someone other than me."
As if on cue, we were interrupted. "Hello," said a bystander, whose name was Tallguy. Unlike a lot of people in the room, his avatar was rather plain, wearing a simple shirt and slacks and a black leather jacket, as though he belonged on a motorcycle. "I couldn't help overhearing," he said amiably. "Do you really want to RP? If so, I'll be happy to help out."
"RP?" asked Dollgirl. "Oh, roleplay! I get it! Sure! I'd love to! This is my first time here!"
"Really?" He emoted a curious expression on his avatar's face. "I'm still fairly new, too. Have you had the tour?"
"Oh, no, my friend Ashley here was showin' me around," said Dollgirl.
I winced. In her excitement, she'd used my real name! Oh well, I thought, she wasn't as used to keeping secrets as I was. Besides, no harm done. After all, Ashley was just an alias anyway. "We just came in, really," I insisted.
"Well," said Tallguy, "down here's a public area. The second floor is for private stuff. You want to get shrunk here, or up there?"
"I don't care!" replied Dollgirl breathlessly. "Just shrink me down and play with me some! Whatever you wanna do is fine with me!"
He smiled at that, as I'd suspected he would. She'd basically given him carte blanche to do whatever he wanted to her, which I suspected is exactly how Heather liked it. Idly, I wondered how far her interest really went on this subject. Was she the sort who'd enjoy the torture rooms in the basement? I hoped not, because I expected she'd be telling me all about this later on, and I didn't really want to know what kind of sick stuff went on down there.
"How about you?" Tallguy asked me, pulling what looked like a can of soda from his jacket. On the side, a logo identified it as "Shrink-Ola," another obvious prop he'd probably created with a button somewhere on his own VR screen. "You want some of this, too?"
"Not me," I replied. "I have a meeting to get to. I just wanted to show Dollgirl the place."
"Okay, whatever," said Tallguy with a shrug. If he'd been hoping for a menage a trois, he didn't sound all that disappointed. "Well, here you go, Dollgirl. Tell you what, I'll let you run around out here for a bit, then we'll go someplace more private, okay?"
"Sure!" she replied. Happily, she took the can of Shrink-Ola, popped the top (with a realistic sound effect), and guzzled down the contents. After finishing, she made a hiccuping sound and dropped the can. Then she started to shrink.
"Ohh!" she gushed. "It's just like it's happenin' for real! Everything's gettin' bigger!"
"No, my dear, YOU'RE getting SMALLER!" laughed Tallguy, starting to roleplay immediately.
"Oh, no!" she yelled, giggling as she enjoyed the play-acting. "You mean I'm SHRINKING...? Oh my God! Someone hellllllp meeeee!"
"There's nothing anyone can do!" chortled Tallguy, staring down at her rapidly dwindling form. "In no time you'll be so small you can fit in my hand! Ha ha haaa!"
"Nooo!!" yelled Dollgirl in mock fear, but it was obvious she was having the time of her life. She took off running, heading out of the room and into the nearby kitchen, laughing all the while. Tallguy pursued her at a leisurely pace, having no trouble keeping up with the shrinking woman in front of him, and probably enjoying the chase.
"Hey!" I called out, following along behind them. "I'm going to go now, okay? See you later!"
"Bye, Ashley!" yelled the tiny form of Dollgirl from underneath the kitchen table. "This is so much fun! Thanks for showin' it to me!"
"Sure," I replied. "Don't stay here all night! You know you have to study!"
"I know, I know!" she answered, dodging playfully out of the way as Tallguy reached down and tried to grab her. "Catch you later!"
I didn't leave immediately, but watched for about another half a minute. Dollgirl shrunk until she was about three inches high, and scampered around underneath the table and among some other obstacles along the floor. Finally Tallguy managed to capture her, and held up his prize with a grin of satisfaction, twisting her around in his fingers. She pretended to be terrified, but I could tell from her voice she was enjoying the hell out of this.
After taunting his tiny captive, Tallguy turned away, walked past me, and headed up the stairs, laughing evilly all the while.
Well, I hoped Heather would have a good time up there, I thought as I disengaged the connection.