Once they could be studied, it was found that the little machines Irene had been infected with were keyed only to her DNA and inside anyone else they stopped replicating after a few generations. Without pumping out the helium, those infected will inflate almost as big as Irene does, though after a while they will deflate when the nanites cease to funtion. A pump will aid in deflation or control the inflation. To operate, the nanites require a lot of energy which they get from consuming adipose so those who are repeatedly exposed tend to slim down very nicely.
After the initial shock of being inflated like a helium balloon wore off, Irene's co-worker decided that she rather enjoyed the effect that the outgassed nanites had on her. Why not use them for a little fun? So the following summer, she convinced Irene to go on a little vacation. In their hotel room each morning, with her portable pump Irene would capture enough helium and nanites to dose her friend before heading out.
But without ankle weights or watches, they had to be careful and not stay out on the beach for too long...
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Irene is ©Throwaway261
For several days after the lab accident and fearing she would lose her job, Irene was able to hide her condition by slipping into a supply closet every hour and using a vacuum pump to keep herself looking somewhat normal. That seemed to be working until she was held up in a video conference all morning long, unable to leave. While she successfully concealed her swelling with the tactical use of her lab coat, what she didn't know was that the nanites in the helium she was outgassing had saturated the small room and her coworkers had each ingested a rather large dosage of them.
And then, later in the afternoon...
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Irene is ©Throwaway261
Yet another late night working alone in the lab that ends in disaster. Doesn't anybody ever read Luther's Laws of Bodyinflation??
This is the "cute as a button but flat as a board" barista from the story Rising to the Occasion upon whom Mr. Smith tests his inflation ray.
Two reluctant co-workers are sent to a weird seminar and wind up having their horizons expanded.
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From Dragon-6860's story Raising Spirits.
