Dining in the Lylat System

Turgid Espionage Action (Part 2)

DINING IN THE LYLAT SYSTEM

Episode 4: TURGID ESPIONAGE ACTION (PART 2)

Written by: ARTHUR C. SNARK

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"Feeder's log, addendum. Krystal and I were at the University of Corneria to visit Lucy Hare. To make a long story short, Lucy and I ended up tied and bound at Leon Powalski's mercy. I didn't know where Krystal was, but I feared the worst."

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On the sixth floor of the Phoenix Center for the Sciences, Krystal sat trapped in Dr. Lucy Hare's office. A black cord wrapped around her midsection and bound her to the chair. She wore a white skirt and a black top, but her top had rolled up, exposing her stomach. An elephant named Maisie had tied her there. Krystal hadn't seen what Maisie did with Fox, but she feared the worst.

Krystal's eyes scanned the room. It was lit only by the moon shining outside the window. There must be something she could use to escape. The desk before her was empty, save for a mason jar and some scraps of paper. Behind her was a bookshelf lined with books. Aside from that, the room was pretty sparse.

Outside the window, Krystal saw the moonlit Saturday night sky and a barren, green-hilled campus. She was up on the sixth floor, with a pretty good view.

While calculating her options, Krystal's eyes rested on the desk, drawn to the mason jar. It was full of purple liquid and had a straw in it. Masking tape was slapped onto its side with "SWELL" written in marker.

SWELL... she knew what that was. That was the stomach-expanding formula Lucy had been testing. It allowed her to eat without end by stretching her stomach. Krystal recalled one story Lucy had shared: in an experiment, someone had taken more than they should have. Their stomach ballooned quickly on its own, without any food. Enough to rip a shirt, if she remembered right. Could that kind of force snap her cords?

Lucy wasn't there to answer, so there was only one way to find out.

Krystal pulled herself and the chair towards the desk with her feet and spun her side to the desk. Her bindings prevented her from bending over, but she could just barely arch her neck far enough to seal her lips around the jar's straw. She sucked, gulping down half of the jar. It had a bland, almost watery, taste, with sugary hints. Hopefully this was more than the prescribed dosage, and hopefully her stomach would blimp up and snap her restraints.

Shortly, she felt a pressure in her gut. She felt full, but not heavy. A strange force pushed on the walls of her insides. The word "balloon" entered her awareness.

The pressure mounted, and looking down, she could see its effects. Her stomach grew further outward, rolling above and below the cord. Her belly groaned and the cord creaked.

Her stomach expanded, claiming more inches of her lap. It advanced sideways as well, widening her waist. Krystal sweat. The bite of the cord worsened as her stomach inflated. She endured the pain as each second stretched into hours. The cord whined, but it showed no signs of snapping. Krystal began to regret this plan. She bit her lip, trying to distract herself from the pain in her middle.

Finally, she felt ready to scream--but instead, a belch erupted from between her lips. It was loud and dry, almost a violent gaseousness. Suddenly, the cord wasn't piercing her any more. She looked down, and the cord had fallen onto her lap. Her stomach had deflated to its normal size. However, in the process of inflating, it had pushed the cord hard enough to stretch it. She noted the way the cord now frayed. She breathed a deep sigh of relief.

Krystal leaned forward and freed her arms, then threw the cord over her head and to the floor. It was time to find Fox and Lucy.

Carefully, she opened the door and looked into the hallway. Its white tile floors and off-white walls were bright under the sterile ceiling lights. Down the hall, she spotted one beaver guard walking away from her. Krystal stepped as lightly as she could over to the closed elevator doors. Unbeknownst to her, her belly took to swelling again ever so slightly.