The Process Forum - Four Types of Reactions (Mini-GTS/Slow/18+)

Chapter 2

Zayne arrived at Palladian early the next day, but when he got there he found Bella already hard at work. She had loaded the centrifuge for him, and the machine was filling the room with its characteristic noise. His girlfriend was standing with her back to the door, her attention completely focused on the experiment she was running. He resisted the temptation to sneak up behind her and play a game of 'guess who' ? although, he mused, if he startled her it might cause her to spill more of the drug on herself. Instead he put his bag down on the desk and walking into her field of vision, waving hello. She smiled, and blew him a kiss.

He unpacked his things, pulling out his sketchbook. Usually he did this with an air of dread, but today he was excited. Zayne lifted his pencil, and immediately a drawing of Bella began to take shape on the page before him. Bella, dressed in her lab coat, carefully mixing the contents of a pair of test tubes. God, she could make anything look sexy.

Zayne heard the refrigerator door snap shut, and he looked up. Bella was walking away from the unit with a self-satisfied expression on her face, brushing her hands clean. She strolled across the room, and sat down on the desk across from him.

?Did you just load that batch?? he asked, loud enough to be heard over the machinery.

?Yeah,? she replied, kicking her legs as they dangled over the side. ?You looked like you didn't want to be disturbed. It's no big deal. One of those things might've been too heavy for me before, but now....? She pulled back the sleeve of her outfit, flexing her muscle. ?No sweat.?

?Thanks. But you don't need to do that. It's MY job, not yours, and I'd feel bad if I was getting paid just to come in here and doodle.?

?I thought getting paid to doodle was your long-term career goal,? she teased.

Zayne set his pencil down. Turning, he peered up at her, not saying anything. He kept this up for almost a full minute, looking unblinking into her eyes. Bella could only stand the attention for so long before a dark red flush began to spread across her cheeks. ?What? Why are you staring at me like that??

?I just want to make sure I get your face exactly right,? he told her. ?It's a little daunting, you know ? trying to draw perfection.?

?Aw!? she gushed, hugging her arms to her chest.

?Also,? he added, unable to resist. ?It's fun to make you nervous.?

They spent an uneventful night in the lab. Bella would come over in between machine cycles to sit with Zayne and watch him work. Around three in the morning, he insisted on testing one of the batches for her. ?Since you helped me out earlier,? he explained. She removed her goggles and snapped them down over his face. After reminding him how to run the reaction, she stood back and let him do it himself.

?This batch looks good,? he told her when the tube failed to turn silver.

?Yup, everything's in order,? she confirmed. ?You're not too bad at that, you know? You have good hands for chemistry ? nice and steady.?

?I'm sure you can think of a few things you'd RATHER have me do with my hands,? he quipped, already moving out of her reach before she could punch him.

Five a.m. came, and together they walked out into the parking lot. Zayne got in his car and followed Bella back to her place. They pulled into her driveway, and he unloaded a duffle bag of his stuff from the trunk. ?Just put that anywhere,? she told him, opening the front door. ?Do you want something to eat??

?No, I'm fine. Want to just chill out on the couch for a while?? he asked.

?Sure. Just let me get out of my work clothes. Do you want to change too??

?Nah.? He pointed to the t-shirt and jeans he was wearing. ?One of the benefits of being a test tube jockey is the total lack of a dress code.?

?Suit yourself...or rather, don't suit yourself. Sorry, that was an AWFUL pun. I'll be right back.? She went upstairs, carrying her handbag along with her.

Zayne sat down on the couch and closed his eyes. It had been a productive night of drawing. He had managed two sketches, and while neither was as good as the one he had done in his meditative state, at least he was making progress. Maybe, if he kept at it, he could actually make something of himself.

A few minutes later Zayne heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He turned to see Bella standing before him, a strange expression on her face. She was wearing the same white bed shirt that she had the previous evening. The garment was large enough that its bottom edge came down perhaps a hand's length past her waist. It was not large enough, however, to justify going without pants. And yet, in an apparent miscalculation, that was exactly what Bella had done.

?Hi,? he said, looking her up and down.

?Hi,? she replied, and tackled him.

Her lips were locked on his before he had time to react, and then she was shoving her tongue down his throat. He kissed her back, struggling to keep up ? he had never seen her so aggressive before! Bella grabbed ahold of his shirt, and unceremoniously yanked it off of him. She spent a moment caressing his bare skin before her hands made their way down to the bulge in his jeans. Zayne moaned, still trying to get his bearings.

Abruptly she stood up, and took his hand. ?Bedroom,? she growled, and pulled him to his feet. He had no choice but to follow her. Upstairs, she removed his pants and pushed him down ? hard ? onto the bed. Panting, she climbed on top of him, and without even the pretense of foreplay she thrust his cock inside her. She cried out at the top of her lungs, her voice thick and sensual. Again and again she impaled herself upon him. To Zayne it felt like he was some prize thoroughbred, and Bella was riding him to victory in the biggest race of his life.

Reality became a blur of images and sensations. A hot, sticky liqueur was dripping down his leg. There was a wet slapping sound, and a woman's voice screaming. A wondrous pair of breasts, barely contained by a white t-shirt, were bouncing up and down in front of him. As those breasts swelled larger, they were beginning to fill out the shirt, causing it to gradually slide up along....

Wait.

Zayne forced himself back from his ecstasy-induced delirium. No, he was not imagining it. Bella's top, hopelessly baggy on her only moments before, was starting to look like a much better fit. If he watched carefully, he thought he could actually see the top of her head inching upward with each passing second. And her bosom, without question, was expanding much faster than the rest of her body ? he guessed that she was easily a Double D by now.

She looked down at him, her face contorted by an almost boundless amount of pleasure. In her eyes was an unmistakable message ? 'I know, that you know, that I know.' In that shared moment, any question he could have wanted to ask her drifted away into the ?ther. This was not a problem to be solved; it was a fantasy to be enjoyed.

A renewed sense of passion flowing through him, Zayne began to thrust himself into Bella for all he was worth. He took hold of her waist, lifting himself as high as he could off the bed to grind even deeper inside her. With a roar she came, collapsing on top of him in exhaustion. A moment later he joined her, and the two of them lay clutching each other while wave after wave of euphoria rushed over them. And through it all he could still feel her body continuing to pulse larger against him.

?Can you move?? she asked him after a while.

?I...think so,? he replied uncertainly. They gingerly disentangled their limbs, and she helped him to his feet.

Bracing for the worst, Zayne turned to look at his girlfriend. He found himself staring directly at Bella's lovely, smirking lips. She was a few inches taller than him at least, and if possible even sexier and more curvaceous than she had been before.

?Well? How do you feel?? she asked.

Zayne blinked. ?Ah, isn't that my line??

?Oh, I feel fine. Fan-fucking-tastic, is the word that comes to mind. You have no idea. What I want to know is....? She sighed. ?I know you told me you were okay with the IDEA me being taller than you. But that was just on paper. Now that it's happened, and I actually AM bigger...is it a problem? How does it feel??

By way of response, he reached out and groped her cantaloupe-sized breasts, squeezing them between his fingers. ?Pretty great, I'd say.?

She pulled back to punch him, but apparently thought better of it. ?I'm being serious,? she said.

?So am I. You made your case for getting taller the other night, and I agreed with you. Besides that, you KNOW it makes me excited when you grow.?

Her eyes twinkled. ?What about when you have to endure my endless cute nicknames for you? Little guy, short stuff, and so on??

Zayne laughed. ?As long as you say it with a smile on your face.?

She grinned at him impishly. ?And if I still had some growing left to do? What then??

?Really?? he asked incredulously. ?You STILL think it might happen again??

She nodded.

He thought for a moment. ?Well, to be honest...I would probably like that. There's something infectious about all the fun you're having with this. And besides that, you've demonstrated that there are other...benefits.?

?I'm SO glad to hear you say that,? she said, beaming. ?Now, if you don't mind, I think I'd like to know exactly how much taller than you I am.? She pointed at a tape measure resting on her bedside table. Zayne noted that she had been ready for this sudden, unexpected growth spurt ? had she somehow known it was coming?

Bella's height turned out to be six feet, two and a half inches. When he told her this, she replied haughtily that any self-respecting scientist would insist on using metric. He did the measurement again, which came to one hundred eighty-nine centimeters.

The two of them took a quick shower, and crawled into bed together. She snuggled up behind him in a spoon position, wrapping her arm around his chest, and pulled him tight against her. For a moment this felt a little awkward ? usually he would expect to be the one holding the girl this way. The sensation soon passed, and he drifted off to sleep in her warm embrace.

Over the rest of the week, the two of them fell into a routine, of sorts. Each day they would get up, have breakfast together, and go to work. Zayne would sketch, and Bella would watch him. At the end of the day they would go back to Bella's place. She would go upstairs to change, only to come back down in one of her sexy outfits and pounce on him. They would make sweet love ? and this no one would make the mistake of calling routine.

And each day, in the throes of passion, Bella would grow a little bigger. It was never much more than an inch in any one session, and in fact as the days passed her growth seemed to be slowing down. Still, it gave Zayne cause for alarm. For one thing, the bed was starting to become a bit crowded. The same was true of the shower. Bella was forever accidently pushing the small of his back into the soap dish, and as much as he tried to laugh it off, this could be rather painful.

There was also an issue with their sex life. Zayne was accustomed to taking charge in the bedroom, both because he enjoyed it, and because most women expected it. This was no longer the case with Bella. She was never as rough as she had been that first night, possibly because she was afraid she might hurt him. Or, more likely, it was because she understood the fragile nature of the male ego. No matter how gentle she tried to be, however, there was still no question that she was the dominant sex partner. But, as she once put it, ?I rule with the consent of the governed.?

Whenever Zayne tried to take the initiative she would play along, and allow him to have his way with her. Even so, it was painfully obvious that he would not have been able to do this without her permission. Even at six two she had outweighed him, and with each passing day the disparity between them was growing more pronounced. And to top it off, Bella was becoming far stronger than him as well, with her muscle tone increasing in direct proportion to her size. It took a healthy, well-adjusted outlook on life to come to grips with the fact that your girlfriend could easily take you in a fight if she ever really wanted to do so.

All the same, Zayne was as happy as he had ever been. Bella never used her advantages in a way that he didn't enjoy ? on the contrary, he loved the added twist it gave their romantic life. It also didn't seem to have affected her personality in any way, with a few notable exceptions. She was a little more outgoing than she had been, and for some reason she seemed to take a perverse joy in surprising him with glimpses of her sculpted body at unexpected moments.

He wondered sometimes if it concerned her that she had yet to stop growing. Bella had long since passed her stated target height of six one, and she was still getting taller. But from the way she behaved, it was clear she didn't mind. And if she enjoyed it, he could enjoy it as well. She was an amazing woman, and the bigger she became, the more beautiful she was in his eyes.

Chapter 3

Friday came, and Bella couldn't find anything to wear. “Come on babe, we're going to be late for work if we aren't out the door like...now,” Zayne prodded.

“I'm...nggh...trying!” she replied, trying to squeeze into the biggest shirt she owned. When they'd gone shopping, Bella had had the foresight to purchase extra large clothing, things that she could grow into. While her current height was still barely within the range she had planned for, she had not, unfortunately, anticipated her expanding bust line. It looked to Zayne as though someone were trying to shove a pair of beach balls into a pillowcase.

With one final tug, she pulled the shirt as far down as it would go. It left much of her midriff visible, and the material was stretched dangerous thin around her neckline. Still, it was good enough to go outside without fear of being arrested for indecent exposure.

“That doesn't look very comfortable,” Zayne said, peering at her skeptically.

“I'll be fine,” she grunted, waddling toward the stairs. “Let's...just go.”

He moved to block her path, and she stopped directly in front of him. It could be a little intimidating these days, standing this close to her. After their latest romp the previous evening, Bella had been measured at just over six foot six (“Two meters even!” she had insisted.) The top of his head was now just about level with her nose. If this kept up much longer he could expect to spend even more time than usual staring at her breasts.

“Here, let me see if I can't fix that shirt for you.” Zayne reached up, and got a grip on the strained fabric near her collar. With a sharp tug he pulled down, and the garment ripped. She immediately began to breath easier, and there was an additional benefit as well – the tear revealed a tantalizing glimpse of her cleavage.

Bella did not look happy. “That shirt wasn't cheap,” she said, glaring at him crossly. “You...are going to get it later.”

“Double entendre?” he asked with mild interest.

Her expression didn't change. “Probably.”

They arrived at the Palladian and got to work managing the centrifuge. After the first batch had been loaded, Zayne settled down to draw. His sketches had noticeably improved over the course of the week. Bella had told him that all he had needed was some inspiration, and certainly that was part of it. More importantly, he was now going about his craft without feeling the need to prove himself. When he picked up a pencil, he no longer had to wonder if something good would result. He knew.

Just after midnight, Zayne was putting the finishing touches on another of his works. This one was a cityscape – he had taken particular time to get the textures on the foreground buildings just right. The drawing also featured a gigantic Bella, five hundred feet tall if she was an inch. She was kicking over a skyscraper, an expression of wrath of her beautiful face. In a fit of inspiration, he had decided that she should also be breathing fire. Suddenly, he felt a pair of powerful hands grasp his shoulders.

“Interesting,” observed Bella, giving him a firm massage. “Are you trying to tell me something?”

“Who can guess the artist's motivations?” he answered cryptically. “Although we DID just watch Godzilla last night.”

She considered this. “Alright, I suppose you're off the hook. Hey, I'm going to unload this next batch, okay?”

Despite his objections, Bella had been insisting on emptying the centrifuge for him a least once every night. Zayne wasn't quite sure of her reasons for doing this. Probably she was just trying to be nice to him, to give him some extra time to practice his drawing. Or maybe she wanted to show off her new-found strength – those trays could be pretty heavy after all, and there WAS something rather enticing about the way her arms bulged when she lifted one high into the air. In any case, he had long since come to the conclusion that the issue wasn't worth arguing over.

“Okay, if you want. I guess I'll just go ahead and take my lunch break now, then.” He stood up, cracking his knuckles. “I'll be back in thirty minutes or so.”

“Don't keep me waiting,” she purred, bending down slightly to plant a kiss on his forehead.

Zayne walked out into the hallway, humming tunelessly. He had only taken a couple of steps before he heard a familiar voice call out to him from the direction of the elevators. “Ah, Williams! Just the man I wanted to see!”

He turned, and saw his boss walking toward him. “Oh, hey Mr. Peterson,” he answered, trying to smile. “You're here pretty late. That's the second time in as many weeks, isn't it?”

“More like the fifth,” he answered wryly, covering the distance between them. “I just got off a marathon conference call. We were discussing...well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about actually. Do you have a minute?”

“Sure, I guess. Do you...ah...mind if I eat while we talk?”

“Fine, fine.” They walked down the hallway toward the employee lounge. For the first time Zayne noticed how tired Mr. Peterson looked. The man's suit was wrinkled, and the knot on his tie was uncharacteristically loose. His eyes looked bloodshot and unfocused, and periodically he would scrunch up his face as though stifling a yawn.

“So, how's life in the lab?” he asked Zayne, holding the break room door for him.

“Good. Dull,” he said evasively. He wasn't quite sure what his boss wanted to talk about, and he wanted to feel out the situation before he said anything he might regret.

“Dull is...good,” Mr. Peterson said, setting his briefcase down and taking a seat at the small folding table. Zayne pulled a couple of bills out of his wallet, and purchased a sandwich from one of the vending machines. “What about Ms. Lambrie? How have the two of you been getting along?”

“Fairly well. She's a nice lady. Really seems to know her stuff. Very professional.” That seemed innocuous enough, at least.

“Ah yes, professional. That was the word when we scouted her.” He closed his eyes, sighing. “Do you know why I'm here, Mr. Williams?”

“No, I don't,” Zayne replied truthfully, taking a bite of his lunch.

Mr. Peterson sighed again. “I'm here because Loss Prevention has been blowing up my phone all week. They've had me running around like a chicken with its head cut off, putting out one fire after another. Those damned bean counters.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “At least, that was what I thought on Monday. But now....

“Do you have any idea how much it costs to make PT-2715?” he asked suddenly. Zayne shook his head. “Well, let's just say it's a lot. Each batch represents a significant capital investment for Palladian Technologies. And that's okay. You have to spend money to make money, and this stuff is GOING to make money. We've got nine different patents on the thing – the manufacture method, the delivery system, the enzymatic...thing....” He trailed off, staring into space. “This stuff is going to make or break us.

“And God damn it, we're leaking it like a sieve!” he exploded.

Zayne flinched. “Well, I might be able to explain that,” he said quietly. “You heard about the accident....”

“What? Oh, that. Yes, Ms. Lambrie made a full report.” The man looked at him apprehensively. “How's your knee, by the way? No lingering pain, I trust?”

“My...knee?”

“Your knee, yes. When you tripped over that broom, Bella said you banged it against one of the desks. I know she iced it for you, but she said there was still a lot of swelling, and that you were walking with a limp. I take it that it's no longer an issue?”

“N-no. I took it easy over the weekend.” Zayne's mind was racing. He took a deep breath to calm himself. “By the way, what exactly did Bella end up putting on that report? I didn't get a chance to read it – maybe she missed some details.”

“Ah, let me see. I think I have it on me....” Mr. Peterson opened his briefcase, and shuffled some papers around inside. “Here we are.” He scanned the page quickly. “Accident Date: 22nd September, Approximate Time: 3 a.m. In accordance with his usual duties, Mr. Williams was carrying a Model GF-7 tray loaded with Product code 75423...are you sure you want to go through this?” he asked, looking up impatiently.

“Just get to the part where I fell,” Zayne said, feeling himself break out in a cold sweat.

“Hmm...okay.... Mr. Williams fell, tripping over a broom that was presumably left in the aisle by the janitorial staff. He was unable to maintain his grip on the tray, and the product was considered a total loss. The contaminated product was disposed of without incident, in compliance with documented procedures. Mr. Williams also sustained an injury....”

“On my knee, yeah. I think I've heard enough.” It felt as though he had just dunked his head into a bucket of ice water. Bella had lied to upper management about the accident. Was she worried about her job? Or did she fear that the company would turn her into some kind of lab rat if they found out she'd been exposed to the drug? That was all well and good, he supposed. But why had she pinned all of this on him – and why hadn't she told him about any of it?

“So what's the problem?” Zayne asked, keeping his voice even. “You know what happened to the missing stuff. And sure it's not cheap, but it was just one batch.”

“The company isn't particularly concerned about that one-time loss, as significant as it was. Thirty-six vials down the drain we can handle, as long as we KNOW they're in the drain. The thing is, another half-dozen vials have gone missing. That may not sound like much, when we produce close to eight hundred of them a day. But the problem is, they could be anywhere. The distributer may be shorting us on our reagent orders, or we could have a problem with the equipment.”

He looked at Zayne darkly. “Or worse, someone could be stealing, and selling them to a rival corporation. I deal in worst case scenarios, Mr. Williams. And so, that has to be my working assumption.

“With that in mind....” He produced another paper from his briefcase, and slid it across the table toward Zayne. “I need you to sign this. It's a Consent to Search form. Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we're going to begin a point by point inspection of every step in our manufacture process. Our procedure in these cases is to have every person in the departments affected sign one of these before we start. It basically says you attest that you aren't at fault here, and that you'll cooperate in any way you can. And that you understand the penalties if we find out you're responsible.”

“Just out of curiosity, what WOULD happen if I was stealing?”

The man gave him a dirty look. “You'd be terminated immediately, and criminal charges would be filed.” Mr. Peterson lowered his head, rubbing his temples. “Look Williams...Zayne. You seem like a good kid. Don't screw around with this stuff. There's a bus coming, and trust me, you don't want to dive in front of it.”

Zayne signed.

“Thanks.” The man put the document back in his briefcase, straightening his tie. “Would you mind sending Bella in when you go back to the lab? I need to get her signature on one of these as well.”

Zayne froze. “Have you...talked to her lately?” He had almost asked if Mr. Peterson had SEEN her.

“Not since I introduced you two, no. Why do you ask?”

There was no telling what reasons Bella had for trying so hard to keep her part in the accident a secret. But whatever they were, if Mr. Peterson found out that she was almost two feet taller than the last time they had met, everything she had done would be for nothing. “Well, it's just that she's been working really hard lately, and hasn't been in the best mood,” he said, talking fast. “Personally, I think it has something to do with her home life. Anyway, I'd hate for her to take the implication that our department is responsible for the loss the wrong way. Might be bad for morale. Tell you what...why don't you let ME get her to sign?”

Mr. Peterson looked uncertain. “I'm...not sure I'm allowed to do that.”

“Come on, let me help you out here. All you need is her John Hancock, right? I can get it, no fuss, no muss. You can go home a little early, maybe get some sleep. What time do you have to be back here tomorrow anyway?”

He scowled. “Eight in the morning. On a Saturday. It oughta be against the law.” He handed Zayne the document. “Alright then, you take care of it. Just make sure to slip it under the door of the Legal department before you leave.”

“I will,” he said, breathing a mental sigh of relief.

“I suppose I'll be taking off then. And don't worry. If you haven't done anything wrong, you don't have a thing to worry about.” Mr. Peterson stood up from the table. He nodded, and walked out the door.

Zayne waited until he was sure the man was gone, then bolted back toward the lab, his heart pounding in his chest. It was high time he got some answers from Bella. What was behind this complex web of lies? A possibility occurred to him, making him stop in his tracks – what if SHE was the thief, stealing the drug and ferrying it to another pharmaceutical company? Surely getting exposed herself wasn't part of the plan. And neither was getting into a relationship with her co-worker.

Unless she was just an amazing con artist, playing him like a fiddle, making sure he was too distracted to ever discover what she was really doing.

Zayne shook his head, trying to clear away these morbid thoughts. No, there was no way it could be true. He knew her better than that. Well, whatever was going on, the sooner he could get the story straight from her mouth, the better.

He opened the door to the lab, and let it shut silently behind him. The centrifuge was running again, and Bella hadn't heard him enter. She was holding the last vial in the batch, getting ready to load it onto the tray. He saw her hold it up to the light, examining its contents. And then, to Zayne's horror, he watched as she slipped it into her handbag.

----------------------------------------------------Reaction Out of Equilibrium---------------------------------------------------

The final act of Four Types of Reactions will begin...Sunday.