Eventually, the duct ended at a vent. Through it I could hear the sound of traffic and feel the cold night air. It was my way out.
I squeezed through the gap and dropped onto concrete. It looked like I was in a giant, long chasm, but I knew it was just a dark, New York
alleyway. I had no idea what to do next. How was I going to survive in New York at only four inches tall?
'Need a hand?' said Runt.
I yelped. To my surprise, he looked regular size. Or rather, he was my height. He still wore his suit, but he looked different. Fuller figured,
healthier, and even a little older. There was stubble on his chin and his hair was thicker. Not so much a teenager, more a young man.
'You!' I snarled. 'I've had enough of this. Change me back, now!'
Runt sighed. 'No.'
I took a swing at him but he calmly stepped out of the way. I tripped and fell on my face. I was naked, dirty and bruised, lying in the gutter.
'Why is this so difficult for you to understand?' Runt asked, genuinely bewildered. 'Listen. I'm a chaos demon, right. I get power by causing
chaos. I cause chaos by interfering with destiny, fate, God's plan, whatever. If I change you back to yer old self, I lose that power I got, get it?'
'Why can't you just change me back and do it to somebody else?' I whined.
'It might do if they complain less,' he shrugged. 'Alls I ask for is to change you into something at least every couple'a days. Maybe more often if
I'm peckish. The only rule is I can't change you into something you were before, because then I don't get no power. That's like eating celery for
me. But I'm giving you the choice here, you know. There's not so many chaos demons that'd do that. Some'd just make you a slug and leave
you. This is actually quite a cushy deal for you.'
I slowly got to my feet. 'How is this good for me.'
Runt gasped in aggravation. 'Think about it! You can be anything you want. Or anybody you want. Go anywhere. Do anything. And there're no
consequences. I just got you out of jail. Soon as I change you again, they'll never ever find you. You can do as much crime as you like and have
it not matter.'
Part of my brain was still wired up to see all crime as inherently wrong. But another, darker part of me had raised its ears. I said nothing but
kept listening.
'A whole life without consequences. And no limits. Smoke all you want, I can get rid of lung cancer. Drink all you like, I can give you a new liver.
Hell, you can do things that no other human could ever dream of doing. Fly. Swim. Fuck. Whatever. A life of vice. An IMMORTAL life of vice.
You'll never age more than a few days, so you'll never die. And I'll be keeping my eye on you to prevent accidents. I'm your own bone fide
guardian angel!'
Finally, I got it. I remembered my old life, boring, sad and without future. Why was I clinging on to it so tightly? Because it was familiar?
I couldn't say I exactly trusted Runt. But if I had no choice, there were at least a few things I could thing to do with the life he was offering me.
'Anything I want?'
He smiled. 'Anything. Where d'you want to start?'