The city is lively at night. Casino neon lights and club searchlights glow and sway in the far distance. The upper floors of the college living quarters are blacked out and silent, but the lower floors are lustrous and rowdy with parties. Inside one particular bedroom, there’s a number of books and papers on the dresser. An open small metallic box toppled over. A woman’s voice is heard over a cellphone speaker.
“It’s been two weeks since the disappearance of 21-year-old Tesla Verali from WSU, with authorities finding no reliable leads. The Verali family is shattered and appealing to the public for information. Adding to all the uncertainty, the two students who first reported her missing, Mira Palermo and Dario Ancona have not been seen or heard from since last Tuesday...”
On the counter, standing just barely an inch tall, a dark-haired tan-skinned woman kneels over a lit cellphone screen. She sighs dejected. “So it’s true. No one knows where we are.”
A sudden beep from the other side of the desk draws her attention. Two other minuscule humans, a man and a woman, finish extending the arms of a mini-drone. The propellers twist slightly with an audible pop.
“See? I told you we could do it,” the man boasts, trying to conceal his bated breath with sheer confidence.
“Yeah, Dario, that only took what – almost a full hour?” his partner replies. She’s light-skinned, with a reddish bob cut.
“Babe, I said we could do it. I didn’t say it would be easy. Tesla, you got the app up?” he asks, wiping sweat from his forehead.
Tesla sweeps her hands over the phone screen, swapping through menus. To think this same device sat in the palm of her hand not too long ago. Now it stood taller than she did, and she had to press down with her whole body to operate it.
“It’s loading”, she says, hopping to her feet. “We need to haul ass, guys, Maryluz could come up here any minute.
From downstairs, there’s the muffled booming sound of drum and bass.
“I thought for sure she’d catch us by now”, says Mira, stepping to a controller placed behind the cellphone.
“Relax”, replies Dario. “She’s probably sucking up to the other designers, trying to get on their good side. She can’t afford to pull away too long.”
Mira is not comforted by his answer. There’s a mix of doubt and fear in her eyes. “Are you sure we have enough time?”
“Mira, we’ve been over this.”, says Tesla sternly. “This is our best chance. Jakob is coming to this party, we know that much. We just need to find him”.
Tesla ponders for a moment. As anxious as she’s been to see Jakob again – how could he be coming to a party, knowing she was missing? She’s conflicted, between the urgent need to alert him to her predicament, and the perception that he may not be all that worried about her.
And to think, of all people, he would be hanging around Maryluz, the one responsible for all this. Hellbent on forcing her way into an exchange group trip to Paris. Shrinking Tesla made sure there was an open spot for her on the program. Shrinking Dario and Mira helped her silence the two voices that suspected her. And now the trail was getting cold.
“Do you understand? The group flies out tomorrow,” explains Tesla. If we don’t get someone’s attention before Maryluz gets on that plane, we’re done for. She no longer needs us. She can stomp us on the curb of some alley and no one will trace it back to her.”
Mira nods her head, anxiously. It’s do or bust.
“Mira. We’re counting on you. Are you sure you can fly this thing?” asks Dario.
“Yes. I mean, it’s way different at this size. But I know what I need to do.”
Mira picks up a cable with both hands and connects it to the cellphone. Tesla plugs the other end to the remote. She and Dario then hop onto the drone. They slip their legs beneath multiple black strings they’ve wrapped around the drone.
“Goddamn,” says Dario, “this is some Mission Impossible shit, riding on a drone with no grips? Maybe this isn’t so bad after all.”
Tesla takes a deep breath, looking to ground herself. “Let’s just do this,” she replies.
Mira places her foot above one of the buttons.
“Here it goes…”. She presses her foot over the button, and within seconds the drone blades start spinning and the drone lifts from the dresser. Tesla and Dario gasp, the gush of wind blasting their hair back. Dario puts his arms forward, bracing himself.
The drone is in flight. Mira begins working the levers carefully, stepping back and forth between the two. First up, then forward, then back up. She keeps her eyes on the phone screen in front of the remote. She can’t help but chuckle delightedly. Their seemingly daunting plan is working.
This would be pretty damn enjoyable if their lives didn’t depend on it.
As the drone approaches the bedroom door, Dario and Tesla’s reactions are the exact opposite. Tesla is thrilled with the adrenaline rush, Dario tries to play tough but is really battling his fear of heights.
Mira tilts the drone forward to the door opening. It squeezes by the space with little difficulty.
“Ohmygodohmygod, fuuuuuck!” yelps Dario, much to Tesla’s delight.
“Okay, guys, this is it. The hard part’s over. Next stop, Jakob” says Mira, seeking to comfort herself more than anything.
Far behind her, a small shadowy figure quietly sneaks through the room opening…
Downstairs it’s loud and crowded, a sea of bodies under flashing color lights, and the rampant blast of drum and bass.
Tesla and Dario look on from the drone, trying to make out the faces in the far distance. Mira drives the drone down, her eyes fixed on the phone screen. Look for those damn blonde-highlight spikes of his, she thinks. The drone travels unheard amidst the blaring heavy music and unseen in the low purple/blue lights. Leave it to Maryluz to throw an over-the-top party.
Seeing they’ve reached the center of the living room, Mira grabs the left-side lever and starts walking in a circle, pushing it slightly. The drone starts to rotate. She’s delighted with her ability to fly the damn thing even at her reduced size, even if it is a full-body workout. She does not notice the shadow figure hop onto the bed to the right of the dresser. A voice is heard from the cellphone speaker – it’s Tesla shouting into the mic.
“OVER THERE! At the end the dining room!”
Sure enough, Jakob stands by the dining room corner, drinking and chatting with his buddies. A large table in the center with snacks and dips.
Mira breathes a sigh of relief. Rarely has she been this happy to see his ridiculous hairdo. She switches to the opposite lever and leans on it, driving the drone forward across the dining room.
Dario notices the concern on Tesla’s face. Jakob seems to be having a really good time. Almost like her absence is not affecting him.
“Lower it, Mira! We need him to see us!” he shouts.
As the drone starts descending, the two notice someone walking in from the kitchen – it’s Maryluz, dressed in a black dress with straps across the neck resembling a pentagram. She carries a drink in each hand. She approaches Jakob, hands him a drink, and swoops her hair back.
Jakob smiles. They cling the glasses together and drink.
“Ugh, give me a break”, Mira groans.
Tesla watches appalled as Jakob and Maryluz lean closer together and lock lips. This son of a bitch. To add insult to injury, Maryluz not only took her freedom, her spot in the Exchange program… and her lover.
Would he still help them? Even if he knew had Maryluz had done?
In the bedroom, the shadowy figure approaches the desk. Mira sees the movement out the corner of her eye and turns. She gasps, recognizing Maryluz’s cat, glaring at her.
“Shit! Why now? Go away! GO AWAY!” she beckons.
The cat hisses and swings a paw at the tiny woman. She flinches and falls onto her back, pulling the lever.
The drone drops rapidly, startling Tesla and Dario. “Shiiit, What the hell is she doing???” cries the shrunken man.
The cat pounces toward Mira again, knocking the remote off onto the chair below. It lands upside down, pressing down both levers. The drone shifts full speed toward the right, knocking Dario and Tesla in the opposite direction. Tesla slips off the drone but her leg gets caught on the strings, leaving her dangling as the drone races across the room. It smashes into the far-side wall, the impact throwing both of them off, plummeting towards the ground below. Their screams are stopped by the objects they collide with – Tesla falling into the salsa bowl on the table, Dario landing between what feels like a pair of fleshy pillows.
Jakob and Maryluz are startled by the sound of the drone slamming into the wall. Maryluz feels something moving on her chest. Looking down, she sees what appears to be tiny legs stuck in her cleavage; she swiftly swoops her hands to toss the object out, inadvertently throwing Dario onto the hard wooden floor.
Dario rolls over, reeling from the impact. He groans painfully, gripping his shoulder. He manages to get to his feet and start walking, much to Maryluz’s surprise. Maryluz drops to her knees to get a better look.
“Hey, Mari, are you okay?” asks a confused Jakob. Getting no response, he realizes his cup is empty. He makes for the center-table.
Tesla surfaces from the salsa, trying to wipe the liquid from her eyes. She’s just realizing where she is before it starts to sting her eyes, making her unable to see.
Jakob pours himself another drink when he sees the chips and salsa bowl. He takes a chip and dips it in the bowl, just inches away from Tesla, who is swimming blindly towards the edge.
Maryluz crawls under the table lighting the floor with her phone, as a frantic Dario dashes to get away from her.
In the bedroom, Mira picks up a pin from the dresser. She starts swinging it at the cat like a sword. The cat initially backs up, but then swings its right paw at her, knocking her off the table.
Jakob dips another chip in the bowl, this time picking up Tesla. He’s looking down at Maryluz, not seeing his shrunken girl scooped in his chip.
Tesla finally manages to open her eyes, only to see Jakob’s open mouth approaching, gigantic and menacing.
And there’s the money shot.
“CUT!”
Other voices in the set echo the same call. “That’s a cut!”
There’s clapping from the crew. Two of the PAs run over to the pool to help the actress playing Tesla.
“Alright, let’s reset for the fall, please.”
If there was ever a picture for organized chaos, this would be it. Bodies running to and fro, adjusting lights, moving cables, helping the camera guy back up the ladder. The attention to detail is meticulous. Giant props of dipping bowls, chip bags, and cloths designed to look like napkins. On sound-stage two, the stunts crew help the stunt doubles up on to this huge replica of a drone. It is a size-fiction fan’s dream. It’s truly a passion project for me – more than most of the crew may realize – but seeing all of the effort going into it, people pouring their heart and soul to making it happen – that is sure worth the chaos and sleepless nights.
We’re never going to actually be shrunken. But this is as close as we can get to living it.
“I want to be ready in ten, people. Back to one!”