“Make sure to use the chem trays when carrying any thing made of glass.”
This was freshman chemistry lab. The T.A. kept hopelessly droning on about the necessary safety precautions and Megan didn’t seem to care. Megan was a freshman, about 5’6”’, average build, blonde hair, with green eyes. She had taken labs before, and as far as she was concerned, she didn’t need to hear the safety lectures again.
“Make sure to always keep your goggles on and keep the acetone away from …” the T.A. continued.
Megan kept playing with her empty beakers and flasks just trying to pass the time. When this lab was completed, she could go back to the dorm and have some fun. After what seemed like an eternity, the T.A. finally stopped talking and let them begin the lab. Megan began flipping through her lab packet, reading the protocol of the experiment for the first time. As far as she can tell, they had to alter the mean generation time for a string of bacteria. This would cause the sample to grow considerably until it could be seen with the naked eye. The growth would stop on its own, but not after a considerable number of rapid cell divisions.
Megan was not impressed though and said, “What a stupid lab.”
Megan followed the lab manual as best she could; mixing the necessary chemicals into a large beaker situated in her work area. When she was confused, she would just watch the person next to her. She kept thinking about what she was going to do that night and not about the experiment. Megan wasn’t even carefully measuring the compounds she was adding to her solution. The experiment called for some of the flasks to be cleaned between chemicals, so Megan walked over to the fume hood to pour acetone into the flask. The purpose of the acetone in the lab was to clean out the proper equipment, but the T.A. had also said that mixing any acetone with the final solution could be dangerous.
As Megan poured the acetone into her flask she spilled a small amount on her hands. At first it felt just like water, but the clear solution caused her skin to feel very cold, with a pleasant tingling sensation; a feeling which Megan liked. She decided to keep a little of this chemical for herself to mess around with it back in her room. She poured some of the acetone into a flask and returned to her work station. She went about putting the finishing chemicals into the beaker. When she was done, she called her T.A. over to check her work.
“I think I’m done with the mixing.”
The T.A. noticed the small beaker of clear liquid on the table.
“Did you make sure you deluded the solution with the distilled water?”
The T.A. gestured towards the beaker of clear fluid. Megan quickly panicked. She didn’t want the T.A. to suspect that she was stealing any of the chemicals so she decided to play along.
“No, I was just about to add the water.”
Thinking it couldn’t do any harm, Megan dumped the acetone into the solution, which immediately began to bubble.
The T.A., realizing that acetone was just added became frantic.
“Oh my God! That was acetone! Everyone has to get out of the lab and into the safety room!!
Everyone, including the T.A. began to run for the safety room. The safety room was located in the center of the lab and was made out of a type of plexiglass. It had its own separate air supply, telephone, P.A. system (connected to the whole building), and more than enough room to accommodate all the students. It was used whenever there was a chemical spill that could require a specialist to clean up. No liquid, gas, or solid could penetrate the walls of this room.
Everyone was inside the safety room except Megan who was in shock and embarrassed. The substance was still bubbling, but it seemed harmless enough. The T.A. came over on the P.A. system.
“You have to get in here! If any of that solution gets onto your clothes, it can kill you!”
Megan, now realizing how dire the situation was, began to run towards the safety room. Before she got far though, the beaker exploded sending its contents all over the room. Some of this fluid made its way onto Megan’s body. The room went silent. None of the students or assistants knew what to expect. Megan was screaming out of shock, but after a few seconds, she realized that nothing seemed wrong. A minute went by with nothing changing. Everyone in the safety room was watching Megan, and everything seemed okay. Megan was now calm and found the whole event rather humorous. After all, everyone thought there was going to be a catastrophe. Megan started to laugh, but all of the sudden she was struck with a sudden peculiar feeling in her body. She looked down in moderate alarm only to notice that her stomach was beginning to swell. Her belly was slowly bulging under her shirt, causing it to stretch. Her eyes grew wide as the expansion commenced. Megan’s jeans were becoming tighter and tighter because of her growing midsection. Finally, a button popped off of them and flew across the room. Her shirt, no longer able to contain her inflating stomach, began to let in poke out underneath. It was at this moment Megan finally realized what was happening. She was going to explode.
The chemical solution was causing her own cells to divide at a heightened rate. Her insides were growing and it would only be a matter of time until her skin reached its limit.
Her stomach kept growing until it was the size of a beach ball. At that point, however, her stomach stopped inflating. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief; the solution seemed to have run its course. Suddenly, the growth moved itself into Megan’s breasts. They both began swelling, quickly reaching DD-cups. Her shirt ripped at the seams, no longer able to contain her massive upper-body. Her bra was also immensely strained and it too snapped revealing Megan’s huge inflated tits. Her breasts continued to grow until they were both the size of over-inflated basketballs. Her arms stuck out at her side and began to inflate giving them a rotund look. She looked nervously back and forth at her arms as if trying to struggle, but it was no use.
Her butt and hips began to swell, stressing her already stretched jeans. Her thighs became much larger, causing her jeans to tear. The expansion quickened a little because the clothing had constrained it previously, but it soon found its earlier, slower pace again. Her body flowed out of what little clothing remained. The students watched in horror as Megan slowly kept inflating.
Soon Megan had expanded so much that her bloated body was wedged between two of the lab tables. She now was the size of a small truck and her skin was becoming very taut. Everyone knew the inevitable was quickly approaching. The chemical reaction was supposed to stop on its own, but it showed so signs of slowing down yet. Megan kept telling herself that she wasn’t going to burst, but deep down she thought it was all over.
No one knew if the reaction would stop, or if Megan would explode. Everyone wished for Megan’s safety, but all the students were glad they were behind a protective barrier in case she did burst.