Duality - Chapter 22 (Novel Commission for Code-Shark101)

TAGS: Anthro, Transformation/TF, Slice-Of-Life, Milk/Lactation, BE, Hyper, F/F

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The whiplash was strong enough that Linda’s neck almost broke, and the sudden change in tone was powerful enough that both her and Beth immediately began laughing again, a much-needed change of pace from what they had been used to so far. It didn’t last long though; the question itself was bound to get a horrible answer in return, and indeed, the full panda was quick to point out that she’d been feeling utter garbage ever since they first told her what she was supposed to be going through. Having tits the size of a warehouse and no way to vent them was less than ideal, and coupled with the reduced food intake and her inability to really do much of anything but lie there and feel it all, over and over again for the whole day… it was a bit too much for her to handle.

“I’m not gonna last another day, much less a week, much less two!” Linda declared with utmost confidence, “Rue, please, there has to be another way!”

“Not in the timeframe we have. I’m sorry, Linda, but I’m out of options here, we’re out of options here; the Board isn’t going to authorize any further experimentation and you two are lucky they’re even allowing me to do this at all. I’ll try my best to make it as tolerable as I can, but right now? Right now we’re about as stuck as you are.”

The panda gal huffed, crossing her arms over a small section of her chest and sinking her head into them. She wasn’t sobbing, but she wasn’t happy either, and the other two women realized it was best to just leave her be for the moment; Rue quietly suggested that she and Beth should have a chat elsewhere, and though it weirded them out slightly, they chose to crawl over to another part of the enormous pair of breasts they were on, far enough away that their owner wouldn’t be able to hear them. They discussed a great many things, most of which retreated on old ground and were more meant for Rue to reaffirm her belief that yes, this was the only way, and yes, Beth needed to be there for Linda’s own sake, something she was happy to find out Beth herself had come to the same conclusion on; the half-panda hybrid explained how she’d been keeping bottles of milk for her own consumption and how they had decided on simply getting rid of them, as well as the odd awakening they had undergone ever since their transformation. They were, as they said, “fully focused” on getting Linda through this ordeal, to their last breath.

For Rue, this was wonderful news, as her certainty regarding anyone’s ability to stick to the schedule was at an all-time low; even the staff associated with the project hadn’t gone through with the exercise regiment she had laid out, and in fact told her they had no clue how to get it done without seriously disturbing Linda, hence why they were waiting for Rue to show up. At least the diet was being controlled, and the plugs were working as intended; both her and Beth could practically feel those mountainous milk factories bloat with each minute they spent sitting on them, and Adams could only hope that they would stop before the top of their curvature reached the ceiling and the panda gal was given very little room to breathe, let alone exist in. Hopefully; the projections didn’t seem to indicate they’d get there, even in the worst of scenarios, but Rue had learned to expect surprises when it came to that project…

Still, the fact that Linda was still perfectly lucid and seemed well enough that a heart-to-heart conversation and some emotional venting managed to calm her down, then perhaps things were going to be… if not fine, then at least acceptable. Rue asked Beth to stick around, and offered to pay for her meal herself, to which the latter denied and stated she’d “take care of it” herself. Knowing better than to insist on any point with either of those two, Dr. Adams nodded and called for the crane to bring her back down; it was time to start organizing the first round of physical exercises.

As expected, Linda didn’t take well to them, though everyone involved, Beth included, suspected it was less because of her stated reasons and far more because the panda was just outright lazy; after so long carrying her breasts around and growing used to not having to move too much, suddenly having to mimic being on a bicycle or performing long series of stretches didn’t exactly jibe with the sort of lifestyle she envisioned for herself. Additionally, the panda (rightfully) questioned what it would even do to her, as no amount of physical exertion would ever do anything to the size of her tits when they were literally the size of multiple airplane hangars; Rue merely nodded along, then reminded her that unless she wanted Rivtech to kick her out, she was still going to try and get two push-ups done, as insane and impossible as that sounded. This, more than anything else, set up an hostile environment between the two women, though Linda did eventually apologize for acting like a “stuck-up baby” after her temper died down. Adams, knowing as well as she did that she couldn’t blame her test subject for what was going on with her body, told her no apologies were necessary; only her continued dedication to the regimen.

The rest of the day proceeded in accordance to plan, which at that point was literally the best thing they could hope for, and indeed the best-case scenario; that this held true didn’t evade notice, and though most of the staff were relieved about the lack of sudden surprises, they were still unsure about what the future might hold. The next few days would be critical, and any misstep was sure to end up costing them dearly; still, with Beth there to help, and Linda learning to shut up about her having to try and squats against her chest, things were looking bright for once.

Even when they inevitably became worse, it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve possibly been; the fact that the new orders would eventually lead to Linda struggling immensely with the strain placed on her body wasn’t at all a surprise, and everyone had been mentally preparing for when the wave of complaints would arrive and be there to stay. And while such a thing did come to pass, it wasn’t anything that more sedatives didn’t solve or, barring that, getting Beth to climb up to where Linda was so that the two of them could find some way to resolve things without the use of drugs… all while the attendant staff kept a close eye on them via the CCTV network, just to make sure the half-panda wasn’t feeding the full one some of her own milk. Beth’s newfound milkiness had been a source of concern ever since it came into reality, though to her credit, the newest hybrid was dealing surprisingly well with it; only once had there been a spillage incident, and that one was entirely the fault of the equipment, not the user, and Beth herself insisted that everyone she produced and removed from herself be immediately destroyed, lest it fall into the wrong hands. Rue, as well as everyone else involved in the project, were more than happy to abide by her wishes, considering the… results.

What Rivtech was doing with Linda was not necessarily the result of the soulless corporate environment born out of the minds of executives far away from the realities of their actions, but rather a rather complex process of damage control; while the previous teams had been busy trying to contain Linda’s unfortunate growth spurts, another, smaller group had been assembled, away from the main one, and tasked with attempting to monetize that “milk issue” that had arisen from the panda’s many growthsplosions and passive production. This task force was dissolved within a month, as it quickly became clear that not only was Linda’s milk extremely addictive to anyone who drank it, but it ran the risk of severely harming hormone production, seemingly at complete random, thus completely ruining the company’s plans to expand their pharmaceutical production. Thus, Rue and her team were more than happy to discard Beth’s particular brand of cream before Rivtech could ever get their hands on it, lest they end up creating some sort of human subspecies by complete accident.

The biggest change that came with the new plan was, of course, Linda’s size. The two conjoined warehouses turned out to be an even better decision than first anticipated, because she’d end up needing them before the second day was out. Even when taking into account the plugging, the sedatives, the psychological help from Beth and even the reduced caloric intake, both of the panda’s colossal mounds had continued to swell with their lactic productivity, taking up so much room that it had become effectively impossible to go around them, as the pressure they exerted against the walls was so high that anyone caught between those mountains of flesh and the metal plates would inevitably be injured by their crushing grip. Up above, the halfway mark to the upper ceiling was quick to be reached, with Linda slightly panicking about the possibility that she might end up smushed against it, an idea that took several hours and a concerted effort by both Beth and Rue to dislodge from the panda’s head; as it turned out, the longer they went, the more fixated Linda became on her own inability to proceed, a paradoxical belief given the blatantly obvious and observable. Yet, with every minute that went by, Linda became more certain that the next one would be the last one; she’d explode, she’d burst, the plugs would give in or a great number of other things would all happen at once or one at a time, depending on how she was feeling. The end result, however, would be the same: a final explosion of size so grand that no building would be able to hold her.

This, more than anything else, was the focus of Rue’s attention from the moment the idea crystallized within her main test subject’s brain, for she knew that the longer it was allowed to fester, the more likely it was to become reality. Linda was already starting to resist the sedatives she was given, forcing the team to resort to stronger ones and potentially risk an addictive response, but even the short moments where she wasn’t actively dosed with something meant to calm her down would be enough to send the whole experiment spiralling out of control unless they successfully put a stop to her quasi-apocalyptic predictions. It was important that Linda be convinced that things were going to be fine, that she was going to make it, and that all she needed to do was keep breathing and eventually it would all be over; the goal was no longer to make her smaller, but to simply stop her from getting any bigger, and that would happen any moment now. The panda was actively encouraged to forgo the future and focus purely on the moment, on how she was alive and well now, in a constant present that stretched out for as long as Beth was there to help keep her focus; remove the half-human from the equation, and panic was quick to set in, forcing the smaller of the two to be on constant watch, lest her partner go completely off the rails.

But there was a silver lining to it all, even if it was purely a tentative one: despite everything, despite the growth and pain and complaints, despite the amount of room being insufficient and Linda’s steadfast belief that she was “growing into a trash compactor”, her milk production was slowing down. Not necessarily by any significant amount, but just enough to fit into the calculated projections that had, by that point, been stamped onto at least five different PowerPoint presentations and ten physical copies for safekeeping; it wasn’t nearly enough that they could rest easy, or even expect it to stop, but it was the first time in months that things had gone entirely according to plan… which itself indicated that whatever manic method Rue had used to come up with her conclusions, it worked, and everyone there was well on-course to finally reaching some form of proper conclusion to that saga.

That said, Linda was still producing milk at a truly staggering rate compared to what would be considered normal, and thus continued to fill up the warehouse to the point where temporary catwalks and small lifts had to be assembled hastily in order to allow the project’s staff to access every part of the panda’s body that wasn’t already squishing itself against the walls; reaching the warehouse in itself became more difficult with time, given that Linda’s sheer size meant she was starting to invade the service lift, and if not for the unexpected help of a dozen or so forklifts all pushing in one direction, she would’ve completely blocked the way in by the start of the third day. All of this took a significant toll on her mental health, which was just about the one thing that wasn’t going according to the plan set forth by Dr. Adams; no matter how many sedatives were given or how much Beth tried her best to calm her down, it was clear that Linda was not reacting well to what was happening to her. At her very best and most controlled, she was still reduced to begging for someone to milk her, tears flowing freely as she declared herself “too full” and expressed nothing but utter dread and terror at the prospect of having her tits blow up from overfilling, even when everyone present told her that it wouldn’t happen. At worst… the noise-cancelling headgear was brought back for those times, and only Beth would be allowed direct access to the colossal panda, often for upwards of an hour before she calmed down enough that normal procedure could carry on.

Much to Rue’s surprise (and immense relief), Beth herself was holding steadfast in her decision to be there for her partner. She was obviously affected by their outbursts, as was everyone else, but while Adams sought refuge in her office and the interns and assistants all took turns not being there, Beth refused to leave Linda’s side, firm as a rock and as unflinching as steel, one hand always on top of the panda’s head, another on her cheek, ready to whisper sweet nothings into their ears and let them know that everything was fine, everything was going to be fine, and they would both be leaving the compound to live a normal life afterwards. Linda wasn’t sane enough to really internalize anything she was told, but there was a certain something flashing in her eyes that Beth chose to interpret as being a spark of understanding; somewhere, deep beneath the moaning and complaining and crying and sobbing and who knew what else, Linda was still there, and Linda knew what she was being told. It was the only explanation Beth could come up with for why, despite the constant source of fear and pain, the panda never went any further than verbally complaining about things, when reasonably she should’ve done something far more drastic by that point; clearly, the only solution to that non-dilemma was that, at some level, Beth was getting through to her… so she was going to keep getting through to her, even if it meant skipping a meal or going a whole night without sleeping.

Day three was the worst of the lot, but it was the turning point that Rue was expecting it to be. With milk production slowing down overall and the expansion process beginning to halt, it looked as if things were finally going to reach some sort of positive milestone, even if there were a great number of issues that were still left unresolved, such as, but not limited to, the greatest elephant in the room: how to shrink Linda down. Truth be told, Adams had no plan for that; the whole stress-testing procedure had been her Hail Mary, the one last thing she had to give to the project before giving up entirely, and her attention had been so focused on making that work that never once had she thought about what would happen afterwards. The one goal in mind was to keep Linda from growing even more, and whatever happened next was, frankly, not really a priority for either her, Rivtech, or the future of that research line; now that something had finally gone according to plan, however, the relief that the good doctor felt upon knowing that her calculations were correct began to be overridden by the looming realization that she had absolutely no clue where to go to from there. Would they just keep Linda in observation and wait to see if something changed? Perhaps they’d start milking her slowly and stop the moment any growth or lactation overdrive was noticed, or maybe they’d throw caution to the wind and allow her to experience a climax at that size. Who knew? Certainly not her.

As the third day reached its end and the final few inches of Linda’s bust were added to her body, Rue locked herself in her office with a stack of papers on one side of the desk and a mug of extra-strength coffee on the other, with orders given not to disturb her unless her attention was absolutely required. Several stories down below, the unending complaints coming from the panda’s by-then tired throat had also begun to diminish, though it was difficult to tell whether it was because the pain was going away or she was simply too tired to continue. Shortly after a very sparse dinner that, as usual, left Linda feeling hungrier than before, she confirmed the latter hypothesis by collapsing from exhaustion, not to wake up until several hours past the usual time; Beth would remain faithfully by her side until she was certain her partner was sound asleep, only then allowing herself to gently snuggle up besides them and go under herself. In perhaps the greatest capstone that the research time had ever been shown, the moment they held each other in their arms was the instant the churning simply… stopped. Like a switch being flipped, the noises trailed off, the reverb dying after a few moments and the whole warehouse complex becoming deathly quiet. And, for once, it didn’t stop being quiet a few minutes later; first ten minutes, then twenty, then thirty, then sixty, and nothing came back. The churning had stopped, sometime after nine o’clock at night, and suddenly things were going to be fine.

The fourth day dawned, and Rue had been up for so long that she had stopped counting. The stack of papers was missing, replaced with a similar amount of crumpled-up sheets bearing the scribbles of a madwoman who couldn’t get her brain to listen to her; no matter how many times she attempted to drum up a workable idea, an hypothesis that she could follow through and use for the inevitably shrinking period, nothing came up. Nothing but a single, repeating idea that kept intruding upon her headspace no matter how many times she tried to kick it away: go back to the original notes.

The first researcher assigned to the project had been around when the panda had been just that: a panda. No massive, warehouse-filling pair of breasts, no problems with excessive lactation that defied all known physics, no contamination of other test subjects by sheer presence or addictive milk; rather, these were the notes taken by someone who truly believed that they could fully reverse the genetic damage caused to Linda, not to mention someone who had written down several potential paths that they could go down after the initial growth spurt that kickstarted this whole misadventure to begin with. Rue had convinced herself that she didn’t need to see them, that her own ideas were enough and going back would only lead to more damage being done, like it always had. But as the hours passed and her brain came up dry for new conceptualizations, it became harder to deny that maybe there was some merit in looking to the past for answers to the future; if nothing else, at least Simmons wasn’t an incompetent buffoon picked purely for his usefullness in internal company politics.

That said, there wasn’t a lot there that she didn’t already think of herself; having spent the better part of three or so hours going through every note that Simmons left behind on what to do going forward, the best that Adams could really come up with was to just remove the plugs and see what happened afterwards. Might result in Linda shrinking, might lead to another episode, it was hard to tell, but something had to happen… she just didn’t know what. At the very least, her actual plan had come to fruition without a hitch, and she could be happy for that (after she had a good night’s rest, at least); Rue could very much walk up to the Board of Directors, shove the results in their face and demand a pay-raise, and there’d be a non-zero chance she might actually receive it! Still, it was best not to start the party just yet; the fourth day was about to start, and they now had the most important twenty-four hours ahead of them. If the slowdown period was a success, then the stabilization one had to be as well; Linda had stopped, now she had to remain still.

Several stories down, the panda woke up. For the first time in what she believed were years, she felt… fine. Not good, not great, not necessarily pleasant, but fine. There was no unyielding pressure trying to make her explode from within, no immense heat that threatened to boil her as her milk turned to steam, no sense of impending doom born from the realization that her body was going out of control, just… fine. She still felt like absolute garbage, but it was the sort of malaise that came with sleeping the wrong way, or having exercised far too much when one’s body wasn’t ready for it. Bad, but could be worse, and that was its own small victory, given the sort of condition she was in. Linda recalled her actions for the previous couple of days, seriously regretting every life decision that led up to them and hoping that, if nothing else, then everyone present could agree to simply never bring it up again, lest her embarrassment swallow her whole. And with this came the recollections involving Beth, and the realization that she’d been there the whole time; in fact, looking to her side revealed that the half-human hybrid was still there, sleeping soundly, even if her stomach was grumbling loudly at the lack of nourishment. That complete idiot had stuck with her throughout the worst of her growth process, forgoing rest and food for the sake of keeping her on just the right side of sanity to allow her to push through to the other side, and despite knowing she could leave her alone after she fell asleep, Beth nevertheless insisted on remaining there, enveloped by breastflesh on almost every side.

She was an idiot. But… she was her idiot. And it was unfair to say that Linda regretted her every life choice, because at least a couple of them led to her meeting Beth, and a life without that precious idiot of hers would just not be a life at all. The panda felt like crying again, but knew better; the time for crying was over. Now was the time for recovery.