We entered a bedroom, and I closed the door.
Although he doubted my claims, Matthew was clearly curious. "Let me see your...device...What was it you called it?"
"Molecular transformer," I said.
"Your 'molecular transformer' then," Matthew repeated, with more than a hint of skepticism.
I carefully retrieved the small Palm-Pilot-like device from my pocket. "Here it is."
"So tell me again, what can this thing do?"
"It change the dimensions, size, mass of things - inanimate and animate," I said.
"You mean it can make things grow - or shrink?" Matthew asked.
"That's right," I said, unable to suppress a smile. "Want to see it work?"
"Uh, well, yeah...sure.... Show me how it works," Michael replied hesitantly, probably wondering whether I was madman or, more likely, was just playing some kind of practical joke on him.
But before I could answer, the door suddenly swung open, and in came Anton, one of Bob's coworkers. Anton was a huge, former frat boy - loud and macho, but also "bi-curious" enough to "check out" Bob's party. It was immediately clear that the immense guy - probably 6'8" 260 - had had a few too many beers.
"What's up guys?" Anton bellowed, slapping me hard on the back and catching me off balance. I stumbled to the floor, but was able to avoid dropping my precious transponder.
"Sorry, little guy," Anton said, reaching down to help me up from the floor. "Didn't mean to knock you over. Sometimes seems like I'm too big and strong for my own good." Anton's apology was insincere at best - more of an excuse to draw attention to his very impressive height and beefy build.
Shaking with embarrassment and anger, I stood up, and immediately decided that the first test subject for my device would be Anton, not Matthew.
"We'll see what we can do about that," I thought, quickly punching the buttons on the transformer.
"What's THAT thing?" Anton said, grabbing my arm in a vice-like grip.
I'd have to act quickly. I aimed the transformer at Anton and pressed the "Enter" button. An LED at the end of the device flashed for a moment, briefly making a small, red circle of light on the center of Anton's massive chest.
Although the brief flash was barely noticeable, its effect was immediate. Anton felt as if he had been punched hard in the chest, the wind knocked out of him. This time it was Matthew and me who helped Anton, sitting him down on the end of the bed.
I stared at the fallen giant, still doubled over, looking for the first signs of a change. I had set the device for three consecutive, rapid changes lasting 60 seconds each. I had also set the device so that Anton's clothes would change with him.
Amazed and delighted, I watched as phase one kicked in. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, at first, Anton began to grow less beefy. It was as if his muscular body had been placed in an anti-gym and was being deconditioned. In the first 60 seconds, he lost 45 pounds, his weight falling to just 215 pounds. His bone structure remained that of a very big man, but there was a lot less muscle on it.
At that point phase two kicked in: Anton's weight continued to fall, but now his bone structure changed. As he dropped pound after pound, his shoulders and hips narrowed, along with every other major bone in his body. The once-muscular Anton quickly became lankier and lankier as his weight dropped to 210, 205, 200, 195, 190, 185, and 180. Finally recovering from the blow to his chest, Anton slowly sat up.
"What the fuck...did you do to me?" Anton croaked, still winded, very disoriented, and as yet totally oblivious to the changes that were taking place in his body.
"Take a look," I said, motioning to a full length mirror on the wall across from the bed. Anton did as he was told and saw a very tall, skinny man sitting facing him. "Who...who's that scrawny guy?" he asked, totally confused. The guy looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place him.
"Keep watching, big fella," I said, knowing that it was about time for the final stage of the changes to take place.
And, as if on cue, tall Anton's build-changing weight loss stopped momentarily before the third transformation phase kicked in.
Anton watched spellbound as the skinny guy sitting on the bed began to shrink, losing a bit over an inch of height every 2 seconds. In the first 10 seconds, Anton's height fell from 6'8" to just under 6'3" - he was still very tall but no longer remarkably so. The next 10 seconds transformed him from tall to average height - 5'9". Since the shrinkage was proportional, Anton now weighed barely 115 pounds, making him significantly slighter than even Matthew's slim boyfriend Danny.
At that point Doug sat down on the bed beside Anton, which finally shocked Anton into realizing that the shrinking man he was watching was, in fact, himself.
"NOOOOO!" Anton yelled, and jumped to his feet, hoping to somehow escape from this freakish dream.
"Not so fast, big guy," Doug said laughing, grabbing the thin man's arm. Anton struggled hard at first but was easily overpowered by the man he had clumsily knocked over just minutes before. Doug's size and strength advantage quickly grew as Anton continued to diminish.
The struggle went on for about 15 seconds, ending when Doug forced the now 5'0" 75-pound Anton back down into a sitting position on the end of the bed. Far from huge, Anton was now a remarkably slim, little - and rapidly becoming tiny - guy, smaller than the puniest twink at the party.
As the height loss continued, Anton felt his heels and then insteps and toes rise off the floor, leaving his feet dangling in the air. Though still a 28-year-old man, Anton was now boy sized and becoming still smaller.
Finally, after a minute, the shrinking stopped, leaving tiny Anton just 4 feet tall. Doug reached down and took the little man's hand in his, then placed them on his bulging crotch. "Let's have some fun, big guy," Doug said with a sinister grin.