Honey, I Shrunk the Egos

Back Home at Last

Chase Brody was still feeling relieved and happy as he got out of the Uber and headed up to his apartment, though, as he unlocked the door and swung it open, his mood shifted. With a deep sigh, he looked over the small mess that had been left behind in the wake of his shrinking and being whisked off to Los Angeles. Making his way inside, he scooped up his clothes and set them on the table, beside the recording equipment that had been left out, as he realized that he'd fallen behind on videos. They'd all been so worried about getting out content on Jack's channel that he'd never thought of Bro Average. He had rent and child support to pay after all. His face suddenly lit up as the realization washed over him. His camera man, and his ex must have called! He'd been missing for days, they must have been worried! His smile faded to a frown. They must have been worried. He felt a little bad about not contacting them at all, until he checked his phone and found no messages. None at all. No voice mail, and not even a text, from either of them. "No one noticed?" Chase leaned against the counter, staring at his cell phone, then placed it back, closing his eyes. He suddenly missed being ten centimeters tall even more, and having Sean, Signe and Robin constantly worried about his safety.

After sulking for a moment, he forced his eyes open and looked down at the pizza box on the floor. "Guess I should have asked Signe to tuck that away for me, huh dude?" He chuckled, not sure if he was talking to himself or the pizza, or if either of those were even good options. He leaned down, opening the box and frowned at the two and a half slices. Who wasted pizza? Picking up a full slice, he held it close to his face and gave it a sniff, recoiling at the sour scent. "What a shame." He mumbled, before noticing the patches of blue mold growing on the cheese and promptly dropped it back into its box. It was a little past its prime, even by Chase's standards. Picking it up, he tossed the pizza in the trash and dumped the box into the recycling.

Grabbing his phone again, he texted his camera man. { Yo bro! Sry I didn't text. We need 2 make vids. Hit me up. Plz. }. Taking a deep breath, he leaned over, staring at a calendar on the fridge. It wasn't his weekend with the kids until NEXT weekend, but man, did he have some stories for them. His kids were likely the only people in his life that he could share the adventure with, who wouldn't think he was crazy. Setting his phone down again, he looked around the room. He'd even settle for the Host narrating his life with snarky comments at this point. Anything to make this place feel less lonely. His phone vibrated and he grinned, grabbing it, assuming it was his camera man responding, but hoping his ex was asking him to babysit.

It was neither. He'd received an email from... trust.googleplier@gmail.com. Suspicious. He opened it with a sigh and smiled at the link to a discord server. Perhaps he didn't have to feel so alone after all.

In another part of town, Dr. Schneeplestein was arriving at his office. He may have had questionable ethics, but no one could dispute that the workaholic doctor didn't put in the effort. As he walked through the door, his nurse, who also happened to be his receptionist, let out an audible sigh of relief. "Dr. Schneeplestein!" She gasped, offering him a weak smile. "Where have you been exactly? What... what happened?"

"Vhat? I left you ze note..." The doctor walked forward, leaning over the desk to stare at the computer. "Did you not get it?"

"Oh. I got it." She muttered. "I have shrunk, going to America... is not really an explanation. What does, I have shrunk, even mean?" The woman asked.

Dr. Schneeplestein chuckled, shaking his head. "You know vut it means. You saw! I vas ze tiny man." He held his hands out, showing off his approximate shrunken height between them. The nurse paled, eyes wide and the doctor rose an eyebrow. "Are you alright?"

"That... no." She gasped. "No, no no. That wasn't real. It couldn't be real. There was a gas leak... I was sure of it..." She glanced towards the surgery suite.