Nathan was alone, as usual, finishing the last design delivery of the day. His boss wouldn't stop messaging him on WhatsApp, constantly asking for new designs. According to his own words recorded in the chat:
"You're a machine! You outshine everyone in this company. I hope to meet you in person someday, man. 👌"
—Heh… I doubt that will ever happen, boss— Nathan thought to himself.
"Ughhh…" He stretched his arms while sitting in his desk chair. "They should be arriving soon... I really want to meet someone else who was part of the experiment. At least that way, this house won't feel so empty..."
A year and a half earlier, Nathan had participated in a unique experiment. In exchange for taking part and becoming a test subject, every participant would receive a compensation of over €5,000.
At that time, Nathan had been struggling financially because his father had been hospitalized multiple times for months due to severe respiratory issues. Nathan couldn't find a job anywhere, so he decided to sign up for the experiment. The description sounded so absurd that he thought it was just some marketing stunt to draw attention to the company running it.
"Tin Human will take humanity to the next level! Modify your body structure to have the physique you desire, without the effort required to achieve it!"
At first glance, it seemed ridiculous, but it got even worse when he read the effects of the experiment: the test subjects would be genetically transformed and modified to shrink their bodies to a size comparable to a LEGO figure. This sounded like nonsense—just another one of those experiments that only sought attention with statements like, "The experiment didn't go as expected, but we're seeing progress! Little by little, we are moving toward the future!" or some other bullshit like that.
However, technical details aside, the experiment worked—too well, in fact. The company soon found itself in trouble when they realized that reversing the process and returning the subjects to their original size was far more difficult than anticipated. The test subjects were terrified by this realization, so the company decided to offer compensation while they worked on a solution.
All 23 test subjects who had participated that day were each assigned a random number to maintain their privacy. Nathan was Number 156,956. As compensation for the inconvenience, the company decided to pay the rent for an apartment indefinitely until they could restore them to normal size. Rent, food, electricity, water—everything related to maintenance was covered by the company.
However, they ran into problems finding landlords willing to house tiny people in their apartments. Many subjects ended up becoming roommates in apartments specially prepared for them, even though the apartments were enormous in comparison. Others, including Nathan, ended up living alone in a giant apartment, with no one else aware of their existence except for the landlords, the company staff, and their families.
"It's been so long… I just want to interact with someone other than Mrs. Lila. She's nice, but she's so damn annoying when she starts rambling about some nonsense she saw on TV..." Nathan said aloud.
"Ugh, I insisted she bring me someone else who was part of the experiment. I hope my new roommates are good people and not too traumatized..."
Nathan clicked on his chat with Mrs. Lila, looking for the information they had discussed a few weeks ago.
"Oh right, I forgot… three roommates." He sighed. "I'm actually surprised three women agreed to be part of Tin Human. I don't know why, but I always figured this would be the kind of stupid thing guys would do as a joke or just for the hell of it. Interesting..."
A few hours passed. The sun began to set, and Nathan was watching an Illustrator tutorial on his computer, taking advantage of the free time now that he had finished his work for the day.
Suddenly, the loud and thunderous doorbell rang throughout the house.
"Nathan!!! My dear!! Your roommates have arrived!!!"
That shrill, ear-piercing, loud voice could only belong to one person—Mrs. Lila.
"Coming in a sec!" Nathan got up from his chair and stretched as he walked through the gigantic apartment. He stopped at a safe distance from the front door—about two meters away, to avoid any harm.
"You can open it now, Lili!"
"Lili" was Nathan's affectionate nickname for Mrs. Lila (she had actually asked him to call her that).
"Perfect!! Watch out, okay?"
As the giant door began to open, Nathan's danger instincts kicked in when he heard a woman's voice asking: "Watch out for what?"
That voice didn't sound like it was coming from the ground or from someone tiny—it sounded loud and from a much higher position than Lili.
Nathan feared the worst—and his fears came true.
Lili fully opened the door, revealing three very tall women standing behind her, each dressed differently, all with serious and expectant expressions.
Nathan looked up in terror. This was not what was promised.
"Ta-da!! Welcome, ladies! This will be your new palace! Hehehe!"
"Oh, hi, Nathan!"
Lili cheerfully greeted Nathan, looking down at him.
One of the women, dressed in sportswear, frowned.
"Who are you saying hi to, ma'am?! Where's our roommate? Is he hiding to prank us or what?"
"Oh, silly! Hehehe, my bad, I forgot to mention! Look, there he is—your roomie!"
Lili pointed toward the ground, directly at Nathan.
At first, the women didn't understand what they were looking at. One of them, wearing formal clothes, stepped forward, adjusted her glasses, and crouched slightly.
"What is that? A toy or something…?"
Nathan instinctively took several steps back.
The woman's eyes widened completely when she realized what she was seeing.
"WHAT THE FUCK!!!"
She jumped back in shock, colliding with the woman in sportswear.
"HOLY SHIT…!" she hyperventilated.
The third woman, dressed casually, stepped back and asked:
"What the hell is wrong with you!?"
"Look down! I-it's a guy!!"
"What are you talking about...?"
She approached Nathan, ready to crouch down, but the moment she saw his tiny form, she straightened up in complete shock.
"No way… He's real…?"
The woman in sportswear pushed past her friend and crouched right in front of Nathan, resting her hands on her knees.
"You guys are idiots, huh?"
She smirked and reached out a massive finger toward Nathan while glancing back at her terrified friends.
"It's just a toy. What are you so scared of?"
The giant finger loomed just inches away from Nathan, casting a shadow over him.
"Hey, careful!!!" Nathan smacked her finger away.
The woman fell backward onto the floor in shock, making the ground tremble beneath Nathan's feet.
"W-what the hell!? That little bug just hit me!!" she yelped, holding her finger.
The casual-dressed woman asked in disbelief:
"No way… It can talk too…?"
Lili burst into laughter, wiping away tears.
"Oh my god, this is priceless! Hahaha!"
She stepped between them.
"Okay, okay, let's all calm down! I already told you your roommate would be like this. What's the big deal, my dears?"
The woman in sportswear stood up, facing Mrs. Lila with frustration.
"Are you kidding me!? You told us our roommate was short, that's it!"
"Well… jiji, he is short."
"THIS ISN'T SHORT!" She glared down at Nathan. "You can barely see him!"
The casually dressed woman replied, "Well, I can see him."
"Ugh, it's just a figure of speech! From up here, he looks like a tiny speck on the floor!"
The tallest woman, the one in formal clothes, the first to get scared, stepped forward and addressed Lila in a cold and direct tone.
"You told us our roommate would be short."
Nathan shouted, looking up at Lila so she would turn around.
"And you told me you were bringing in people who had participated in the experiment!"
The casually dressed woman raised an eyebrow at the word experiment.
"Experiment? Ohhh…" She turned to Mrs. Lila. "Wait, you asked us if we had done any experiments at university, right?"
Nathan snapped, furious.
"What!? Lili, seriously!? You know I was referring to the Tin Human experiment!"
Lila's eyes widened as realization dawned on her.
"Ohhh… My bad, dear! I thought you meant some science experiment or something that university students do."
"Are you kidding me… Ugh! Whatever! I'm not living with these women!"
The woman in sportswear got angry and stepped closer to Nathan. The sheer size difference made him freeze in place.
"Hey, listen up, little guy! You better shut your mouth. It took us forever to find this apartment. If anything, you should be the one to leave. You're in the way."
"What!? No way! They're paying for me to live here! I'm not going anywhere!"
"Excuse me!?"
The casually dressed woman chuckled nervously, trying to ease the tension.
*"C'mon, let's all calm down…" she knelt down slightly to see Nathan better. "Okay, I think we got off on the wrong foot. First of all—hi! My name is Hori. And you?"
She looked down at Nathan with a warm smile, but he still felt a bit intimidated. It had been so long since he had seen another person at normal size—besides Lili. And unlike her, Hori was way too close for comfort.
"I… I'm Nathan."
The woman in sportswear scoffed.
"Tsk… whatever."
"Shhh! I'm talking!" Hori snapped at her, then turned back to Nathan with her friendly smile.
"Nice to meet you, Nathan. So, have you been living here for long?"
"…Long enough to not want to leave…"
"Hmm, understandable…"
Hori seemed understanding, but Nathan glanced at the other two women—they did not look happy about the situation.
Lili took the opportunity to escape.
"Well! Now that you're chatting, you don't need me anymore!" She quickly stepped behind the door. "See you later, group!"
She slammed the door shut.
The woman in formal clothes sighed, while the one in sportswear muttered under her breath:
"Damn old hag…"
Fifteen minutes passed.
Nathan was now on top of the living room table, which had been prepared with small stairs in the corner so he could climb it easily. The Tin Human company had installed them.
In front of him, seated on the couch, were the three women—two of them looking very annoyed. Only Hori seemed somewhat uncomfortable with the situation.
From Nathan's perspective, Hori was on the right side of the couch, the woman in formal clothing was in the center, and the one in sportswear sat on the left.
Silence filled the room until Hori finally spoke up.
"Alright… um, since my lovely roommates are too deep in thought… I'll introduce them."
The woman in formal clothing interrupted.
"Not necessary. My name is Marina."
Nathan instinctively looked at the woman in sportswear, waiting for her to say her name. After a brief moment of silence, she grumbled:
"Jita."
Nathan felt immense pressure. Now that he had three giant women staring him down, he had no idea how to act.
Fifteen minutes ago, his anger had given him the courage to yell at them, but now… he felt completely defenseless.
"N-Nice to meet you—"
Jita cut him off immediately.
"Look, first things first, little guy—I don't trust you one bit. I wasn't even comfortable with having a guy as a roommate, but this? This is a thousand times worse."
Hori leaned forward, looking at Jita in disbelief.
"What do you mean!?"
"Oh, come on, Hori, don't act clueless. You must have thought about it too."
Jita turned to Nathan, looking at him with disgust.
"This thing is dangerous."
Nathan tried to respond nervously, but Marina spoke up.
"It's obvious. We can't feel safe in this apartment. I'd rather find a new one."
Hori quickly intervened.
"Okay, now you're both overreacting."
Nathan finally found his voice, as the accusations shocked him.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa—hold up! What do you mean you 'can't feel safe!?' I don't understand! I'm literally the one stuck in a helpless situation here!"
Jita suddenly burst into laughter.
"Pfft—hahaha! Oh my god, he's actually playing the victim now!"
"What!? No! I'm serious! What the hell are you talking about!?"
Marina sighed, adjusting her glasses.
"Ugh, I don't know if you're pretending to be dumb, but let me spell it out for you—we can't trust someone as tiny as you. You could easily take advantage of your size to do… inappropriate things."
Nathan was speechless. He was deeply offended.
"Excuse me!?"
Jita continued.
"Mhm! Bet you'd sneak into our rooms at night, peeping at us—or I dunno, maybe even stealing from us."
"Wh-what!? Are you serious!?"
Nathan turned to Hori, expecting her to defend him. But he was shocked to see her avoiding eye contact… meaning she had thought about it too.
"No way… Hori, even you!?"
Hori sighed.
"Look, I completely understand your frustration. And I apologize. Honestly, I think you're the one most affected by all this right now."
Jita tried to butt in, but Hori shushed her.
"Shh! The thing is, I can see both sides here. They have a point—we don't know you. We don't know if you'd… you know, actually do those things."
Marina adjusted her glasses again, exhaling sharply through her nose, almost like a laugh.
Nathan took a moment to think. He wasn't sure what to do. These weren't the roommates he had expected—but honestly… he was so tired of being alone.
Maybe… maybe he should give this a chance, even if he had no idea how it would turn out.
"Ugh… Look, I get it. And I won't lie, this is the last thing I needed today… but still, I'll try my best to be… a good roommate."
Jita scoffed.
"Oh, great, the classic 'good guy' speech."
Nathan sighed.
This was going to be a long, long week.
To be continued...