Part 1 of The Growing Diver Saga.
Brianna was a professional deep sea diver known for being able to reach the darkest depths. Hiring her was the obvious choice for the research group - they wanted materials collected from the deep so it was a no brainer.
The group of academics were sketchy on the details in her brief. They told Brianna they were wanting to find some rare species of squid and sent her some locations to explore. They told her to collect any evidence of their presence but said no more than that. Brianna took her boat to each location and dived as far as she could, not finding anything. That was until she neared the end of her list of spots to explore.
As she dove deeper and deeper she found the location given to her was of a deep trench. Normally she wouldn't go too far into places like this but she was determined to find something to bring back. As she pressed on into the dark she got the feeling she wasn't alone. Then, all of a sudden, she saw a tentacle suddenly skirt the edges of her torch's beam. She followed where she had seen it heading and soon enough, she saw it - a squid.
As she approach the squid in the dark something didn't seem right. It looked like it was only a few feet away but as she swam towards it she didn't seem to get any closer. It was only after a while that Brianna realised that the squid was much further away than she thought - and much bigger. Those bastards at the research group had sent her out to find giant squids without telling her. She thought better of collecting a sample straight from the squid and started to swim back but the torchlight had already attracted its attention.
She watched it unfurl several of its gigantic tentacles and send them seeking in her direction. She swam as fast as she could but it was no use, they were already closing in around her. She felt them wrap round her and tighten. As she fought to escape her diving suit ripped. She held her breath as she watched a tentacle pull away her breathing tank and torch. She was left in the grasp of the tentacles with no light and no air.
Brianna felt a current of water flowing around her - she was no doubt being dragged deeper by the squid to some sort of nest or lair. She realised in her panic that she could see something in the dark - a green glow. The glow grew brighter as the squid dragger her towards it. In the glow Brianna could see drums with a radioactive symbol on. 'Great', she thought, 'Even if I do somehow escape I'm going to end up with radiation poisoning.'
Soon the squid came to a stop right next to the radioactive waste. This was no doubt where it called its home. Brianna at first assumed it was due to the heat the waste gave off, but then another theory popped into her head. Had the squid gotten so big from the radiation? She wasn't much of scientist, unlike those boffins that had sent her to this watery grave, but she figured that made sense - its what happened in Godzilla at least.
Brianna didn't have long to think about the implications of giant squids being man made - she was slowly slipping from conciousness. The grasp of the squid got tighter as she found she could fight against it less and less... but then the squid's grasp suddenly felt weaker. Brianna felt like she could push against it more - and more. In the dim green glow she couldn't see much but she was certain the tentacles of the squid looked smaller. Had she been grabbed by another squid? She looked closer and realised that she could see the squid shrinking before her very eyes.
She had no idea what was going on but felt like she had been given a second wind. She pulled on the dwindling tentacles, bringing the squid's body closer to her. She fumbled for the knife she normally kept on her waist but discovered she had lost it along with the rest of her suit - all she had was the bikini she kept on beneath. She decided she would have to make do with her bare hands, she worried it wouldn't be enough but soon discovered that the squid was now much smaller than her. She wrestled with it, trying to keep its sharp beak away. After a few moments of wrestling the squid disappeared. She looked around her trying to see if it was trying to sneak up on her but could see nothing. It was only after a few moments she spotted a tiny squid swimming away from her, no bigger than her hand. Surely the squid could not have shrank that much?
Brianna looked back at the radioactive drums - they seemed quite small and glowed dimly now. She must have been dragged away from them when wrestling with the squid she decided. There was no explanation for what had allowed her to hold her breath this long but she didn't want to push it and started to swim up. She mustn't have been as deep as she thought because she reached the surface much sooner than she expected. She took in a deep breath, sucking thankfully on the glorious air. She didn't care that she inhaled several gnats in the process.
Her boat was no where to be seen, her underwater adventure must have taken her some distance. Thankfully she could see land on the horizon. Normally the distance would have been daunting but she was still feeling the effect of whatever had given her that pick-up in the depths of the sea.
She neared the land much sooner than expected, but as she approach the shore line something seemed wrong. She could see a city on the shore, but she found she was approaching it much quicker than she thought should be possible. It was only when she could start to feel land under her feet that she started to piece together what was going on.
Brianna fished in her teeth, she could feel one of the gnats she'd inhaled when she first surfaced still stuck in there. She managed to poke it loose and inspected it on her fingertip. What she saw confirmed her suspicions, on her finger wasn't a gnat but a tiny seagull. The squid hadn't shrunk down there - she had grown! The radioactive waste must have made her big - just like it had done with the squid.
She was still coming to terms with this revelation as she stepped ashore. She wandered through the city looking down at the tiny buildings below in awe. She realised that with her new size all sorts of new opportunities were open to her. She could fight off an army, control a city - or dive deeper than any human had ever done before.
As she pondered these possibilities Brianna came to a decision - she was going to pay the research group who'd sent her on this job a visit.
Meta: This one turned out really good if I do say so myself - and I have no idea how. It may be because both the cut out and the scene were high enough quality with no noise they went together really well. I never intended for her hand to rest of the building by her waist but it just lined up that way when I positioned her behind the first layer of buildings. I just had to add a few shadows after positioning her for it all to work. I wanted to add a tiny person for her to be looking at but didn't want to spoil it. Likewise, I found it hard coming up with a story for this collage as I didn't want to spoil such a good shot with a poor story.
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