At night the towering skyscrapers of the city rose out of the neon underbelly like a black hi-tech forest. Among these light-studded monoliths swung a lone feminine figure like a modern-day Tarzan, scanning the city for a place to settle on, she was on a mission. She was the infamous corporate spy known only as Io, feared for her skill at stealing corporate secrets and despised for her contributions towards competing corporations in cutthroat world of hi-tech electronic, chemical, and biological engineering industries. There were many prices out there for her head, and the corporations often waged wars of litigation against each other to weed her out of hiding, but to this day she had still managed to stay out of the corporations’ reach, reaping the benefits of her exploits for herself.
Io wore on her body the most advanced design in stealth suit design; the skin-tight dark-grey outfit covered her entire body save for her eyes and radiant ponytail of red hair. Her name was bestowed upon her due to it sharing the same color as Jupiter’s moon Io, and her motives as unpredictable and treacherous as its foreign and extraordinary surface. Within her goggles the advanced HUD display began to alert her in sharp blue lettering of her destination: Teradyne BioChem HQ.
From her exploits hacking into their database, Io discovered that Teradyne had found an old formula for some sort of synthetic rubber substance that according to reports ‘defied the laws of physics.’ These words were enough to convince Io to seek it as a prize and sell it to the highest bidder. Teradyne was probably the most advanced and revolutionary multinational Biochem firm in the world, and any goodies from them would mean business.
As she clung tightly to the nylon rope Io reached over to her right wrist, pressed a button embedded into the stretchy shiny fabric, and instantly she disappeared from sight. Since the nylon rope was made with a fabric programmed to have a limited lifespan, as Io approached the cold glassy exterior of the Teradyne HQ she let go of the rope as it began to spontaneously disintegrate. The transparent superspy somersaulted through the air and then pointed her legs forward. Io’s feet landed perfectly flat onto the vertical surface and stuck to it like glue as Io crouched down and then stood back up, cushioning the landing force. The special adhesive on her suit’s booties allowed her to walk effortlessly up the skyscraper.
The main lab of the building was a huge space within colored a deep metallic blue. All along the walls on each of the five levels were various chemicals in special glass storage cylinders. Each chemical had its own special color; some were indistinguishable from others while others were ridiculously gaudy. Below these shelves in the middle of the room were the workstations where the scientists working for the company would labor and do their research. In the middle of the labyrinthine layout was a tall white cylinder storage unit for the ‘special’ subjects.
Up far above one of the ceiling tiles began to loosen itself. It released itself from its seal and got lifted up behind the other tiles. Above the ceiling Io turned off her cloaking device and began to scan the entire room with her special goggles/visor. To her surprise she didn’t detect any laser security systems, pressure sensors, or any other mode of protection. She was suspicious of the room not having any protection whatsoever so she gave herself a mental note to enter the room with care.
She scanned for any security cameras planted in the room. She could detect any kind, even the ones that were hidden behind ‘fake’ holographic walls. There was nothing, the whole room was devoid of any security whatsoever. Io knew something was waiting for her in there so she had to make her move nice and quick.
Io had a feeling that the substance she heard about in the Teradyne files was in the tall storage cylinder below her so she immediately flung herself downward from the ceiling and prepared herself to land on top of it. She touched down with the skill of a gold medal gymnast she even spread her arms out with grace just to imitate them as she landed. Quickly she then somersaulted over the edge of the cylinder and landed right in front of the access door. On the right of the door was a small number pad plus a face identification indentation, this would allow the scientists with access privilege to open up the storage. However, Io was going to take the easy route here as she grabbed a small needle attached to a chord from her goggles and unraveled it. She spotted a data transfer port, plugged in the needle and the pre-programmed software in her headset initiated its program. The console numerical buttons flashed green, the door was unlocked.
Swiftly she opened up the cold steel door and within she saw a clear cylinder similar to the ones lined up around the room, but inside appeared to be some thick drab substance. On the cylinder was the name of the substance…
PRODUCT #445A, SPECIAL POLYMER/RUBBER – “FLUBBER”
“Flubber?” Io thought. Usually they give this some boring Latin or Greek name of some sort. Io just shrugged her shoulders and grabbed the Flubber. Just as she prepared to jump back onto the top of the storage cylinder she heard a sharp hiss and then felt a uncomfortable little prick on her right buttock. This caused her to drop the Flubber, the pristine glass cylinder it was in shattered into a thousand sharp pieces, allowing the strange stuff within to break free. It began to bounce up and down like a rubber ball. She winced in surprise and immediately grabbed the offending object off her rear; it was a small metal dart!
“Oooo, ouch. At least it didn’t hit you in the back though, that would have hurt!” A suave and sinister voice beckoned to the right of Io. She turned around and sneered from under her mask at the tall man with the shaved head.
“Allow me introduce myself…” As he said these words the lights within the room all turned on, illuminating everything in blue light. “I am Winston Tang, director of security for Teradyne.” Io noticed that Winston held a small Glock-esque gun in his right hand, she assumed it was the gun that fired the dart.
“And you just decided to knock me out?” snarled Io.
“Oh no, that wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining about what is about to happen to you.” Winston grinned as her pointed to the mass of Flubber that was now bouncing quite high.
“Notice that? Most rubber balls tend to lose their bounce after a few seconds, but Flubber just keeps bouncing higher and higher! Its somehow is able to produce kinetic energy on its own and exponentially increase it with controlled and spontaneous catalysts!” Winston gazed upon the ball of Flubber as it soon began to reach the ceiling. Soon it was hitting the ceiling, bouncing off it, and the off the ground again back to the ceiling. Winston turned around and began to walk towards a console.
“Apparently someone had invented this substance back in the mid-Twentieth Century, it’s just that for some reason he never reported its discovery.” Winston pressed a button on the console and whispered into what looked like an intercom. Io knew he was calling up some backup but before she could jump away a strange warm feeling began to overcome her senses.
“Feeling a little warm there? I decided to turn up the heat in here.” grinned Winston. “Also he not only managed to make Flubber into a solid, but he created a gaseous form as well.”
“Is that what the heat is?” Io gritted her teeth in frustration and fear at her tormentor.
“No, that’s just the air conditioning. But since you’re probably a smart gal, you do know what happens to gasses when they are heated, right?”
“They…” Io grunted a bit as she felt herself begin to get cold “Gas expands?” Io was grunting and trying to concentrate, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling in her body.
“Bingo! And if you think normal gasses get wild when they’re warmed up, wait until you see what happens with Flubber gas!”
Io’s eyes widened with fright. “Did you just!?...”
“Yup, I shot a dart with a Flubber gas canister attached to it. There isn’t much in there, but when things get hot, there’s going to be a lot more coming!”
Finally Io let out a groan of shock as she suddenly felt a strange growing sensation in her abdomen. Sweat began to pour down her face and drip off as she looked down and noticed that her stomach was expanding. She gasped with fright and stumbled backwards at the shiny grey balloon belly inflating in front of her.
“You, you bastard!” screeched the enraged Io.
“Hey watch it there, you don’t want to get even hotter now, don’t you?” Winston just playfully shrugged his shoulders as Io’s belly grew larger and rounder. The dull hiss within her began to spread to other parts of her body causing her legs and arms to noticeably grow thicker. All she could do was gasp and groan as her movements became slower and more exaggerated. The pressure in her body caused her to develop a waddle as her legs were forced outwards due to the increasing air pressure within them. Winston caught a glimpse of her huge round buttocks as she turned to the side and the turned back towards him.
“Hah hah, if only I could get this on tape!” chucked Winston.
“Rggghhhh, wh, why?” whined the helpless spy girl.
“Well come on. You’ve got a huge price on your head from practically every major corporation and conglomerate out there. You thought someone out there would have NOT had something in for you?” Winston chuckled some more at the now massively bloated Io, her entire body now looked like a huge beachball with two lumps on the top that were breasts. Her puffed up arms and hands flailed wildly in the air as she murmured and protested underneath the two bulging cheeks masked cheeks.
“Not only are we going to get quite a few nice and comfy mergers out of your capture, but I’ll be getting a handsome raise to boot. Not too bad eh?”
Now Io’s body was now practically a huge dark grey sphere with tiny flippers for arms and legs. Somehow she had still managed to still stand upright with incredible balance.
“Unfortunately you’re essentially a guinea pig for us now. We’re going to study the effects of the Flubber gas on your body. Sorry.” He casually laughed as he walked up to the huge blimp that was now Io. Reaching over to her head Winston took off her goggles and peered into her dark and deep orange eyes, half-concealed by her huge puffy cheeks.
“Let’s see how high you can go.” Winston grinned as he pressed his hand firmly against her taught and round chest and gave Io a nice hard push. She grunted a muffled scream as her back hit the ground and caused her to bounce up at least ten feet into the air. With each bounce the globular Io flew higher and higher into the air. Soon both she and the much tinier Flubber ball were almost bouncing in unison to and fro from the ceiling.
“Heh heh, my kid would be having the time of his life if he were here.” Winston laughed and clapped his hands at the sight of Io bouncing up and down furiously like a possessed oversized basketball. Behind him a door slid open and a bunch of workers dressed in silver hazmat suits marched into the room. They walked towards the bouncing Io and formed a circle around her. All of them crouched down and placed their hands out at their sides. Winston carefully watched and timed Io’s bounces. He raised his arm up into the air and when the time came he swished it down and yelled, “NOW!”
With impressive precision, all the silver-suited workers caught Io and ended her infinite bounce. Carefully they placed her down onto the ground and began to roll her to the other side of the room where a large sliding door opened up for them. It was barely big enough for them to fit Io through, but they got in. As the now-imprisoned and inflated Io began to fade into the dark corridor, Winston began to follow her. Just before he walked through the huge door he reached out his left hand and caught the bouncing Flubber ball and slid it into his coat pocket.
“Stay put.” Winston whispered as he pursed his lips and shushed the ball.