Julia tinkered with a small canister. It looked like a capsule, though it was clearly made out of an old 2-liter bottle, as there was still a cap on one end. The only major change was that it was split in the middle, hinged together, and had a push-button clasp. It was currently open, and sitting in a larger chamber with some familiar HDTF-related gadgetry attached. She had a sparkle in her eye as she soldered wires and adjusted settings. It was clear she was in her element, enjoying the rare opportunity to get down and dirty with the mad science part of mad science kink.

Samantha and Lexi marched in, each looking like the first coffee of the day hadn’t yet kicked in.

“Hello ladies!” Julia said chipperly.

“Hey, Julia,” Samantha said, rubbing her eyes. “What’s got you so happy?”

“Just getting back to an old project. Making good progress, now that we’ve got so much experience with the HDTF and its capabilities.”

“What’s the project?”

“Oh. I don’t know if you two know this, but the HDTF was originally for food storage and transport. That was before… well, before I ate my boyfriend and stuffed Sammy here inside me.”

“Really?” Lexi said.

“Sure. Things went off the rails a little once we found some of the more… distracting side effects. But this here?” She thumped the side of the container. “This is what is going to help save the world.”

“What’s it do?” Sammy asked.

“It’s very simple!” Julia said with a smile. “You see, I’ve been fiddling with the isotope effect, and I’m fairly certain I can charge up certain polymers with sort of a one-time HDTF effect. And one of the major expenses of rolling out an HDTF packing plant is the cost of the packing part. But I worked a way to also contact-charge food items to attract them into the container.”

“… I’m not sure if I was supposed to know what that all means. It sounded like words I should know. But you sort of lost me,” Lexi said.

“An example should clarify,” Julia said.

She turned off the device and pulled out the capsule. With a ginger motion, she clicked it shut, then paced over to a laundry basket heaped with apples.

“Okay, here’s the deal. The capsule is charged in the device. When it is engaged, it will pop open. There will be a harmless static discharge that will give the affected items an opposing charge to the capsule’s interior and subject it to the standard compression-style HDTF effect. As a result… Watch!”

She dropped the capsule on the pile of apples. It bounced once and sprung open. As brilliant flash of electricity bathed the apples in light. A moment later, as if drawn up by a tornado, the apples swept out of the basket and packed their way into the capsule. There shouldn’t have been room for more than three apples in the capsule, but before their eyes easily two hundred plump, ripe apples squeezed into what had seemed to be a flimsy container. When the apples were entirely inside, the halves snapped shut. For a few seconds the capsule looked like it had bizarrely distorted, flattened fruits in it, but as the HDTF’s effect continued to influence them, they slowly slid down to a properly proportioned by tiny size. They were barely the size of peas when they’d finally stabilized.

“And there you have it,” Julia said, plucking the capsule from the ground. “A bushel of apples, packed into the space of a soft-drink bottle. Like all things influenced by the HDTF, most chemical processes have stopped, so they will not rot, the will not even ripen. And when the time comes…”

She unscrewed the cap of the capsule. Apples started to fall out two or three at a time. They popped back to their proper size with a rubbery wobble. It took almost two full minutes of careful jiggling and shaking to get all the apples out, but when she was through, they were back in the basket without so much as a bruise.

“Say goodbye to food waste. Say goodbye to expensive shipping fees.” Julia said, placing the capsule back in the machine. “Since they don’t seem to be willing to give a Nobel prize for physics to someone whose creation is chiefly used for incredibly inventive hanky-panky, I think this earn me and Brit our places in the pantheon of great scientists.”

“That’s amazing,” Samantha said. “And it looks so easy to use!”

“That’s the idea. Minimal training and—” Julia began.

She was interrupted when the machine produced a microwave-like chime.

“I guess that means it’s done?” Samantha said, reaching into the device.

“It is, but be careful, because—”

“Yeeowch!” the redhead yelped.

She dropped the capsule. It struck the ground and clicked open between herself and Lexi. Another flash of light filled the area, then Samantha yelped a second time. The canister leaped up to her abdomen and thumped into her. With a soft squeak of flesh sliding against the plastic of the device, she started to slide into it. It was slower than with the apples, and far more interesting to watch. Her body compacted and contorted, slipping belly-first into the tiny container. When she’d more or less folded backwards and had slid to roughly her breasts and knees into the device, her sheepish giggling was muffled by Lexi’s butt succumbing to the attraction and squishing right onto Samantha’s face. Her voice now muffled, and Lexi’s face now blushing, the pair continued to compact inside until, with an unassuming click, they were locked within.

Julia sighed and picked up the capsule. For the first few seconds, the transparent sides were a mish-mash of flesh and clothes squished against it. Lexi’s face here. Samantha’s belly button there. Wiggling feet, firmly-pressed breasts. Slowly they started to become less squished and more recognizable, until Samantha and Lexi had shrunk down to about a foot tall each. They were both still terribly cramped in the capsule, and hopelessly entangled with one another, but aside from being smaller they were otherwise themselves. They were shrunken, bottled, and stuck in a 69 position with each other, but themselves.

“The capsule is a little hot when it’s been freshly charged,” Julia explained. “Might want to give it a minute before you pick it up.”

“Good to know,” Julia said.

Julia gave the bottle a light little jostle. Both girls inside giggled. This was the HDTF, so the pair were hypersensitive, and they hardly needed an excuse to get naughty. It took a bit of squeaking and squealing against the plastic enclosure, but they were able to slip each other’s pants off and make good use of their close quarters.

The scientist of the group set her two friends down on the counter and stroked her chin.

“I… I may have come up with a theme for this year’s Halloween party.”

~~~

A week and a half later…