Madison stood up from the bed, stretching slightly before announcing, “I have to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” With that, she left the room, the door closing softly behind her. Cindy watched her daughter leave, her mind racing with desperation and urgency. As soon as Madison was out of sight, she turned toward Krysi, grasping at the faint hope that the young girl might be the voice of reason.
“Krysi, Greg and I… we need your help,” Cindy began, her voice laced with a quiet desperation. She looked up at Krysi, hoping to see a glimmer of understanding in her eyes, something that could pierce through the nightmare she was living.
Krysi’s gaze settled on Cindy, a mix of curiosity and bemusement playing across her face. It wasn’t often that a Little spoke to her with such earnestness, especially not someone she had once looked up to. “Yes, Cindy?” Krysi responded, though there was a slight edge to her tone, a hint of something darker. Seeing Cindy Wessen—once a figure of authority—reduced to this state was unsettling, but there was something oddly satisfying about it, too.
“Oh, Madison told us about you guys not wanting to eat your pellets,” Krysi continued, a smirk tugging at her lips. “I’m sure it’s an adjustment, but let me get some for you now if you’re hungry.” The condescension in her voice was sharp, cutting through Cindy’s thin veil of composure.
“NO! I mean, no thank you, Krysi,” Cindy quickly corrected herself, trying to maintain a semblance of politeness, even though every fiber of her being recoiled at the thought. She despised having to be so deferential to a teenager, but she knew she had to be careful. “Madison thinks we’re actually Littles. You know us, Krysi. You know me. We just need you to explain to her that we’re people. We aren’t actually those… filthy little things,” Cindy pleaded, her voice trembling slightly, hoping to reach the girl’s humanity.
Krysi’s expression remained unchanged, though a flicker of something—disdain? amusement?—passed through her eyes. “It’s so weird seeing you like this,” Krysi mused, her voice more reflective than empathetic. “I’ve never seen a person work so hard to invalidate their own rights, but I guess it does prove a level of validation to know even a Little wanted these rights passed.”
Cindy’s heart sank. “Krysi, please,” she implored, her voice breaking as the weight of her situation pressed down on her. “You have to understand. It’s only now that I’m realizing I was wrong. We need you to tell Madison that we’re still people… we aren’t common Littles.”
Krysi looked down at Cindy, disappointment and a trace of pity in her gaze. The woman who had once commanded so much respect now seemed pitiful, clinging to a reality that no longer existed. “Why would I waste my time telling Madison that? You’re just another nobody now, not worth any special treatment. The only reason you even matter is because Madison owns you. I thought you already knew your place—that’s why you always acted like her little pet,” Krysi said coldly, her words landing like a slap across Cindy’s face.
Cindy’s breath caught in her throat, her anger and fear bubbling to the surface. “Krysi! What has gotten into you? You will not talk to me like this. You listen here—” Cindy’s voice rose, fueled by a desperate attempt to reclaim her authority, but before she could finish, the collar around her neck tightened, cutting off her words. “No,” she whimpered, powerless against the device that controlled her every move.
Krysi’s eyes gleamed with a cold satisfaction as she watched Cindy struggle. “What was that, Little? Looks like you just answered your own question. I’m a person—no collar here, as you can see. But you? You’re just Madison’s little pet, and that cute little collar says it all. It’s important you remember your place, Cindy. Just like you always preached: a Little’s job is to serve. Didn’t you once say, ‘How would a Little know what to do without a person telling them?’ Isn’t that right?” Krysi sneered, her voice dripping with mockery. “Actually, let’s test that out. Cindy, SIT.”
Cindy’s mind raced, her thoughts a chaotic jumble of disbelief and desperation. The command hung in the air, heavy with the weight of her new reality. She had seen Krysi interact with Littles before, heard the same commanding tone used on them, but never imagined it would be directed at her.
Before she could process what was happening, Krysi’s finger pressed down on her with just enough force to make her legs buckle, sending her crashing to her knees on the hard surface of the desk. The impact was jarring, and for a moment, the world seemed to spin around her.
“Krysi,” Cindy began, her voice trembling as she tried to regain some semblance of dignity, but Krysi’s finger flicked against her chest, forcing her upright, leaving her sitting on her knees in a pose of utter submission.
“There, that’s a good Little. That’s how you SIT,” Krysi said with a satisfied smirk, her giggle only adding to Cindy’s humiliation. “Now stay like that until you’re spoken to again or told to do something else. If you can manage this, maybe Madison won’t sign you up for classes with Mrs. Archer,” she added dismissively, turning her attention to the computer screen as if the conversation were already over.
Cindy remained where she was, trembling with a mixture of anger, shame, and despair. The reality of her situation was sinking in with crushing finality. She was no longer Cindy Wessen, the respected mother and community leader. She was just another Little, forced into submission by a teenager who had once looked up to her.
“You’re a Little now, Mrs. Wessen. That’s how you’re going to be treated from now on, and trust me, I’ve been nice because you’re a newborn Little,” Krysi continued, her voice almost conversational. “Madison was telling us at lunch how she’s been struggling to connect with you—probably because you still see yourself as her mother, as a person, as an equal. But you taught us all about Littles, their place, and how they should act. I want to believe this is just you being overwhelmed, not you pretending to be something you’re not. Because honestly, you of all people should know your place by now.”
Cindy’s tears welled up, but she forced them back, refusing to give Krysi the satisfaction of seeing her break. But the reality was inescapable: she was trapped in this nightmare, and there was no one coming to save her.
Nail in the coffin right there. She brought it on herself. She tried one last time and failed. She’s now what she feared most. A slave to her daughter and a low member of society. Sad.
Damn this was sad to see honestly but she did this to herself and now has to find some balance that can help her get some respect and dignity in her new life and I’m still not sure how Madison doesn’t view Cindy has her mother still I get your old life being died and grieving but now it’s starting to feel like it’s becoming a “hahahaha your not a person or my mother your nothing” kind of thing and it’s feel kinda out of pocket but this feel like the moment where it build up to some huge emotional climax of emotional trauma and pain for Cindy at this rate but great chapter granted it’s a sad one but still great
Agreed. It seems like this is all just one massive punch down. While I can understand that she did it to herself even with the beliefs how can you change so instantly. I feel like I’m the real world there’s be a moment of realization and hesitation. There must be serious animosity present for such a flip of the switch without a though. I know this is like day 2 or 3 but still.
I think that’s true for the animosity, but the other crappy thing is that Madison’s justification is that it’ll help her parents adjust to their new life better. though we are seeing a lot of conflict internally from her that kinda tells me she isn’t too certain if that’s the best course of action anymore
Beliefs can change quickly though. If lets say your friend kills someone. So your opinion of them would change instantly.
Plus its not so much changing as this how they were taught to treat littles. While littles aren’t normally people you know. It does happen. so it makes it awkward but they are trying to treat them as tehy would any other littles.
There needs to be some understanding though. While I still believe the world of Smallara is much more harsh in regards to their feeling of littles than what would be considered rational, at the same time it’s her parents and despite their teachings there should be a level of understanding. While if a friend of mine killed someone I’d very much change my opinion of them but it would also depend on a lot of other factors. Was it intentional or accidental? Could it have been avoided? Was it in self defense? While I would always now know they could kill my perception would be relative to the circumstances. While I know our world is harsh, the likelihood of such harsh treatment could only be made in an easily swayed society without a foundation to work off of. I doubt people from certain racial and religious groups would be on board so quick as would people who might’ve had their loved ones affected. While our world has propaganda I feel like Smallara as a story is to the real world what The Boys show is to our world. I like the story but the reduction in societal mental capacity is noticeable and especially with how littles can speak and act just like people and the only real differences being biological youd end up setting a precedent that would be in the realm of eugenics which is heavily frowned upon already. But it is fictional and this there’s always going to be alterations to maintain the entertainment aspect.
I do think one point that is overlooked often that factors in a bit. Is that its not that they have a reduced mental capacity the country in general isn’t as free.
the government in this world has more control and affect over a person’s daily life then u.s. government has over the average Americans life in the real world.
The president while not a monarch has more centralized control. The government has more control over the media and what is presented and what is reported on.
So its a different system. We saw in smallara prime the congress and senate was placed underneath the power of the presidency along with the judicial branch. So things are more unified as well.
Which since the current president doesn’t believe in little rights and this is really the era in which little rights are founded and people opinions and beliefs are formed has a high degree of influence in how things will be.
So its created a world where the people don’t believe littles are equal, the science supporting they are different was used as the basis to convince the general public. They don’t have access to other information. While there are people who believe otherwise they aren’t anywhere near the majority.
So it creates a different atmosphere to me. I do think your example of the boys is a good one as well. It takes place in our world but its more what if and things are different. You aren’t supposed to assume events that happened in our world happened in there’s as they developed differently.
The fact that the US is more centralized is a massive bit of info that I never really knew about and may have missed. That would heavily imply more government trust and less political turmoil while also a different history of the US where such it’s possible to say the Federalist party won out in the early 1800s instead of the Democratic-Republican party. The fact that the president and government can have such massive control of the media makes a lot more sense in why people are the way they are and does make this US seem a lot less free even minus the smallara aspect. I wish we could see what the history of this Alternate US is like that could allow citizens to be so ok with this.
The perspective i wrote this from is they don’t have knowledge of how we do things in the real world. So the norms and concepts we have jsut don’t exist to them to the point they weren’t even idea’s.
So to them the government having a high degree of control is normal. They don’t know the press or media to be any different. To them the media isn’t restricted its just how the news is done.
So they don’t ever view it as how can you be okay with this as to them there is no other system.
It would be like saying how can you be okay with democracy. You could be using this better form of government. Right now, democracy is the best form of governmetn we know of. There probably is a better system but we don’t k now what it is. It hasn’t been thought of. Thats very much how it is in there world.
They don’t have anything else to compare it too. So they aren’t allowing anything as nothing has been presented that would be better.
All of the government stuff is why I’m more pro-generitech than most other readers. The gov could have gone through preema tech and things would be flat out awful for littles in the united states. For all their faults, Generitech and the people they higher generally seems to have littles interests at heart and I bet Chloe’s parents aren’t big fans with how the gov handles information regarding littles
Preema tech would be horrible. i can only imagine McKenzie and Madison taking there parents in for a memory wipe.
You see peeks of it in Daytons story but internal littles of generitech are treated very different. Store littles are treated to government standards as tehy are meant for sale.
But internal littles are another story. You see thomas has a house, he gets paid fairly, he has advancement opportunities, etc. He has a life being a training litlte is his job it doesn’t define who he is.
that isn’t necessarily true for everyone. But internal littles of generitech are generally happy.
Well if you are a little who hasn’t been infected people would generally think less of you but its easier to hide unless you tell them.
Greg and Cindy didn’t know and obviously no one else knew they were vulnerable so its more of a shock to them.
to be fair Madison has still calls her mom despite being a little. She told Krysi she could her Cindy and not Mrs. Wessen as she is a little.
Cindy did champion this belief though. That there is a line between little and person that should not be crossed. So I wouldn’t say its out of pocket when its what Cindy’s belief was/is.
1) “We aren’t actually those… filthy little things” damn it Cindy, you’re not helping your own case.
2.1) “prove a level of validation to know even a Little wanted these rights passed.” sadly enough, it fucking would be.
2.2) “a Little know what to do without a person telling them” digging her own grave.
3) I thought you already knew your place—that’s why you always acted like her little pet,” what pray tell does she mean by that?
4) “I’m a person—no collar here, as you can see. But you? You’re just Madison’s little pet, and that cute little collar says it all.” No it doesn’t collar’s can come off and be put on, there’s plenty of evidence she’s a little but that’s not it.
5) I already don’t like littles taking dog commands, but this one was just extra brutal towards her. And then to be told to wait until addressed again is so rough. (She’s also kneeling not sitting)
6) ““Madison was telling us at lunch how she’s been struggling to connect with you—probably because you still see yourself as her mother, as a person, as an equal.” Sadly these details should be helps Cindy connect with Madison despite the situation, unfortunately Cindy’s teaching have prevented that.
1) I had forgotten about that line. I agree with you. It doesn’t help her case that is for sure.
2.1) Especially to people who are convinced this is the right way to do things. To then have a little who is directly affected by these rights being one who fought so hard to put them into place would be a level of validation for people who had doubt.
3) shes talking about the past couple days. As from there perspective the parents gave up there home and everything to madison and Mckenzie, became there littles, and were seemingly okay with it. Granted they are hearing everything through madison. But from what they know Greg and CIndy were all okay with being Madison’s pet.
4) CIndy can’t take it off though. THe intent was more that a person would have the ability to remove a collar nd she doesn’t. THe lack of personal freedom equates to her station and place is what I was getting at there.
5)that Kneeling pose is called “The little sit’ So when someone tells a little to sit. That is how they are expected to sit.
6) yup, that is exactly what you were supposed to take from that part. That in a normal situation those things would be strengths, virtues, that thelp a person connect. However, Madison ahs been taught differently so cindy showing those traits is actually driving them further apart.
1) it’s shooting herself in the foot, she’s clearly trying to be an exception to her rules, not change her rules, which makes her a hypocrit not a changed person.
2.1) my thoughts exactly it’d be used to say “deep down littles want this too” making her the figure head of her own downfall.
3) oh, I was looking to close at the word “always”. Looks like Maddie’s brave front isn’t just for her parents, sound like her friends saw it too.
4) I see, my point was that it’s not a natural thing, someone decided to put it there, it was literally forced onto her (and that’s happened to human’s as well) so it doesn’t work as proof, it’s clos we to “planted evidence”
5) that looks lit it’d get really uncomfortable after a while, I’m glad Jordan at least gets to sit normally.
6) I’d say most of the times littles would be better off if they were left in the guardianship of someone they were family and or friends with prior to infection, as they bonds and connections would already exist, they exist here as well, and Maddie’s trying to break them and make new contextual ones.
Telling her to sit…. Perfect lol