"Well, it's about the Just Jacobs factory." Jenna began. "I've heard about reports of some of our customers finding real tinies instead of Tinex in the products that ship from there. Someone who works there must be sabotaging us, and I want you to help me find out who."
Your sister was wringing her hands as she spoke, and it wasn't hard to see why. She was the owner and manager of the Just Jacobs brand, after all, having been in control of it since she was gifted it by your mother all those years ago. And in the intervening time, Jenna had ballooned the fashion line to truly incredible heights, to the point where she'd just secured ownership of an entire clothing factory about five months back. Production had tripled since then, as had the brand's fame, the wealth income, and presumably the stress.
And that stress was now reaching a boiling point if the rumors your sister had heard were true. If it came out that the leader of the FTTF was running a clothing factory that had a history of tiny abuse going on, she and her organization could very well be discredited and ruined. Society was already extremely fickle when it came to being accepting of affected in the world at large, and no doubt the sharks at the CTC would smell blood in the water and jump at the chance to blow the scandal out of proportion and destroy everything Jenna had built.
You gave your sister a thumbs-up. "No problem, Jenna. I hate that that's been happening, and I swear that we'll get to the bottom of this."
Jenna smiled warmly, her eyes sparkling. "Thank you so much, Matt. God, what did I ever do to deserve having you as a brother?"
"I know, right? I'm basically perfect!" You preened with joking affect. Chuckling at your sarcasm, Jenna jerkily tapped the gas pedal, causing you to flop around in your seat as you hadn't braced yourself yet. Your sister's laughter rose, and she winked mischievously at having gotten you back as she pulled the car out of the driveway and headed off to the Just Jacobs factory.
It felt good to have a normal relationship with Jenna, like a true brother-and-sister duo. It felt like everything in the world was right to have your pranks centered around little quips and pratfalls, and not Jenna doing something cruel and inhumane with you. And, having gotten that sibling relationship wrong for so many years, you and Jenna both had a lot of catching up to do when it came to goofing off and pranking, even if your busy adult lives didn't always give you the chance to still act like kids.
The drive to the factory passed pretty quickly, and Jenna gave you the lowdown on all the information she knew so far.
Apparently, the incidents had started being reported about three weeks ago, and the currently tally of tinies that ended up on the production line and molded into clothing appeared to be around ten. Nine of those tinies had been safely caught before being shelved in stores thanks to Just Jacobs reliance on scanning their products with Tiny-Locator-Devices, which could detect tinies. The devices were prone to malfunctions, however, and one unfortunate man slipped through as a thong, got purchased by an oblivious woman, and was only saved after a week of, as he described it, 'extremely prolonged use'.
The weird part was that none of the affected who'd ended up turned into clothing and almost sold could explain what had happened to them. Their stories were eerily similar, too. They'd each been either working at, visiting, or just hanging around the vicinity of the Just Jacobs factory, whereupon they grew sleepy and passed out. When they woke up, they were already trapped in boxes being shipped out to clothing retailers across the country, molded into their new forms and doused in Full Length. The critical middle step in this heinous plan was missing.
Jenna had run out of avenues to pursue further information, having spent the past few weeks pouring over hours and hours of security footage to no avail. The cameras in the factory were good, but even they couldn't magically zoom in to thousands of times magnification. If there truly was an unaffected going around tormenting these tinies by drugging them and dropping them onto the line (as Jenna was suspecting), it was impossible to tell from the cameras. Which was why she'd begun resorting to individual interrogations with the unaffected staff.
Pulling up to the factory, Jenna retrieved you from your seat and cradled you in her palm as she strolled through the parking lot. You gazed up at the massive rectangular building, still struggling to comprehend that your sister had really made it far in life to own something so crazy as an entire clothing production line. The imposing stature of the building was also a little scary, though, given that there was a very high likelihood that nefarious deals were happening inside.
In the pleasant opening lobby, Jenna was greeted by a woman with a wan, tired smile.
The woman had pitch-black, close-shorn hair that stood out in stark contrast to her almost sickly pale skin. It certainly matched her heavy black eyeliner and lip-gloss, however. She had bags under her eyes indicating that she hadn't had a good night's sleep in quite a while, and that seemed to gel with her smile not quite reaching her eyes. She was quite pretty, though, with her standout feature being an exceptionally busty chest that seemed to burst from her trim black Just Jacobs tee and overalls. The straps of her overalls were almost comically pushed to the side by the swell of her bust.
She had a nametag around her neck that read 'REAGAN, FACTORY SUPERVISOR'. For some extremely faint reason, the name 'Reagan' was tickling a dusty corner of your brain.
"Morning, Mrs. Jacobs." Reagan nodded politely. Her voice was dry, and a bit monotonous. "Here for more interviews?"
"I am, yes." Jenna replied tiredly. "And while I'm doing that, I have someone who will be walking the factory floor to keep an eye on things and do a bit of digging. Matthew Jacobs, my brother." Jenna held you out closer to Reagan.
Reagan stared down at you, and while her smile didn't waver, her eyes clouded a bit. "That so? Nice to meet you, Mister Jacobs. I'm Reagan, the supervisor of the factory, and your sister's perpetually-sleep-deprived little gopher."
Jenna winced. "Oh, Reagan, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to--"
"I'm kidding, boss. I knew this would be a busy job when I signed up. Besides, I find it pretty fulfilling work."
"Well that's good to hear." Jenna smiled, and then she stifled a yawn.
You furrowed your brow. Reagan had almost seemed to add emphasis to her use of the word 'fulfillment', and you didn't like how her eyes had honed in on you as she'd said it. She was giving off a pretty bad aura.
And yet, a second later, you found yourself gently dropped into Reagan's firm, calloused hand by Jenna, who looked contrite. "Sorry, Matt, but these interviews fall under employee confidentiality laws. You can't sit in on them. Reagan will show you to the factory, and then you can explore and do some investigating on your own. She's my best employee, so she'll take good care of you."
Reagan's smile dipped. "Well, I can certainly take him to the factory, but then I've got some shit to handle. Er, s-stuff. Sorry, boss."
Jenna waved her hand. "That's fine, Reagan. Matt can handle himself. Anyway, I'll see you two later." Your sister gave you a nod, and then wandered off, failing to hold back another yawn.
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