Chapter 3

Vanessa had cried as she was pulled back into her seat with Tammy still in front of her as the nurse and security guard walked out of the room and to the one next door with the door shutting tightly behind them. She felt hurt, pained at Tammy’s words as though it were nothing but her carrot on a stick. The entire chip ceremony had already been so unceremonious that Vanessa felt like she had no method of getting her emotions out. She cried, but she didn’t know what to cry about anymore.

“Wh-What happens to all of my stuff…” Vanessa asked through whimpers as she tried to calm herself down. Her bicep throbbed in pain, a constant reminder of the computer chip now a permanent part of her body.

“Don’t worry. Clothing, bedroom items, and smaller things like technology, makeup, and personals are all being sent to your new home,” Tammy explained simply.

Vanessa didn’t even push the elephant in the room, feeling as though Tammy wanted for her to ask the obvious question. “And…” She felt her heartbeat slowing down again, pressing right against her bloated gut, “where am I going to live?”

Tammy hummed, moving the slightest bit in her chair. “You’ll have a nice townhouse. We’ll be placing you in the local neighborhood Lipopod. Mainly female population… you’ll be walking distance from six restaurants, seven bakeries, three ice cream parlors, four fast food locations, two bars, an Adephagia office for monthly check ins…”

Crossing her arms over her petite chest, Vanessa scoffed. “What? It’s only food?” She sniffled, turning her head away.

“You’ll be grateful by the end of the year.” Tammy flipped the page. “It’s just what’s in the neighborhood. You’ll still have access to transportation, a car, and regular phone apps for things like taxis. If you want to go to the mall or to the gym, no one is stopping you.”

Vanessa glanced back at Tammy. “Gym?” She began to turn her body back. “I can go to the gym?”

Tammy nodded, clearly bored now. “Yes. Regular exercise and activity isn’t illegal. We encourage everyone to maintain a regular day to day life outside of their work.”

Vanessa sighed, feeling like the hope in the back of her head was dark and dim. But she knew herself. She was a hard worker. She would abstain from gaining more than needed and she’d be back, living her normal life, before she knew it on her 30th birthday.

“Anyways, I’ll be handing you a pamphlet with some more information. We’ll be sending you, as well as others to your new neighborhood and you’ll have the rest of today to rest and get acquainted with your new living situation.” She handed over to Vanessa a large, thick pamphlet with a morbidly obese woman on the cover. She had a bright smile across her moon-shaped face while her massive quadruple chins made her seem like a shapeless blob. “You’ll have official enrollment tomorrow at 9 in the morning. Buses will pick you up at 8:30 if you don’t want to take the subway or car.”

Vanessa stared blankly at the image of the woman on the cover of the pamphlet, taking in every dimple, cellulite mark, fold of fat, and stretch mark covering any exposed area of skin. She wouldn’t end up like this 500 pound woman, proud to be nothing but a disgusting cow.

She wouldn’t.

---

Getting onto the small SUV-bus with a few other women her age, all of them quiet and saddened at the news of their new future, Vanessa was driven to her newest neighborhood.

Looking out the window, passing by various other company-homes by other food brands, Vanessa at least felt relieved that her living situation seemed rather nice and pleasant. It was nothing compared to her regular life in her family’s mansion, but at least she wasn’t wallowing in a filthy studio apartment like she knew other cows did.

With nothing on her but her cellphone and the small things in her hand-purse, Vanessa felt awkward and uncomfortable when she left the bus and realized all the other girls around her also had massively bloated stomach. All of the women in this neighborhood were her size and height.

They all seemed to be nearly 6 feet tall if not more, all of them were practically skin and bones, and they all had boyish figures. None of them had breasts larger than a B cup, their rears were completely flat, and they all had gaps between their thighs like canyons. Some looked a little more worse for wear, others seemed to be more prideful of their appearance, and some were somewhere in the middle when in came to their appearance. But they all wore dresses meant for the graduation, all of them slowly walked towards their individual homes as they were each handed their house keys, and all of them seemed terrified of what would come.

Vanessa felt the same as she was handed keys to her home: 1546. It was identical to the rest in the small, closed neighborhood.

It was gated, every house with a small lawn, a small driveway, and beige walls with a white door.

Walking in, Vanessa shivered at the sight of an empty living room with a few boxes that had her name labeled on them.

Locking the door, she carelessly dropped her things and rushed to the boxes in hopes of finding something to keep her sane. Ripping the tape off of one, she found it to only be her clothes. Three more boxes were the same, everything there with nothing missing. Another box held her makeup and small items. One box held books. The other held some blankets and pajamas.

She ripped open every box that had been left, hoping to find something from her parents.

A letter? A note? Maybe even a gift so that she would know that they were supportive of her and that they wouldn’t forget about her in her new role (one that was only temporary in her mind).

But when she ripped through the last box and found it to only be filled with her expensive shoes, she dropped to the floor and cried again.

Barely any tears came out as she realized her parents hadn’t bother giving her one final goodbye.

---

Vanessa hadn’t bothered making her bed. It was a cheap bedframe and mattress and although her parents had packed some linens, she didn’t have the energy to touch it.

She just slept on the bare lining until an alarm clock on her table woke her up at 8 in the morning.

Shouting, body shaking from her nightmare she realized was her reality, she shot out of bed and realized she hadn’t even changed out of her graduation dress. Stripping it off as quickly as she could, Vanessa rushed to the living room to grab an outfit from the moving boxes before slipping on kitten pumps and running out the door of her home.

She’d barely locked it before heading out of the neighborhood to find the first subway entrance she could to head to her new job. She was a cow, yes, but she would fight it to the very end and that meant showing face in public while wearing the clothes fit for the model she would soon be after passing the next 8 years.

---

Stopping at 8th street crossing Blue Parkway, Vanessa realized she wasn’t the only one taking the subway as a newfound cow. A few women Vanessa vaguely recognized from the day prior were also there. Not all of them were dressed as well as she was, but they all seemed to be unwilling to give up so easily. None of them wore loungewear, none were messy or unkempt, and some even wore mascara and lipgloss.

Vanessa quickly pulled her phone out of her purse as she followed the guide of her map. The pamphlet had briefly mentioned that the phone that came with her new role would be her guidance at work. Her assignments and future tasks would be listed on the device for an easier understanding.

And right now, it was telling her that she would take two lefts, one right, and enter the offices of the Janice Hostings company.

Janice Hostings, although Vanessa wouldn’t recall due to being a child at the time, was actually one of the heavy hitting companies involved in the creation of the Adephagia law. They claimed innocent reasons, but really they just wanted an opportunity for free labor to taste test their products.

Since the creation of the law, they have flourished greatly. What was originally a modest line of 25 variations of snack cakes and donuts multiplied over itself to their now 137 products. Each one was properly market tested with intense examinations for each flavor. It was even rumored that one product in particular, their Bouncing Blueberry Biscuits, were responsible for the sudden disappearance of almost 300 young women. Some liked to joke that those co-eds were trapped in blueberry hell, while others said they were sent to farms to become berries themselves.

What a silly thing to joke about!

But, Vanessa wasn’t exactly in the mood to laugh as she walked towards the building and got into line behind 19 other women her age.

Each one was scanned, their phones functioning as working I.D. cards, before being allowed into the building.

As Vanessa walked in, the heels of her shoes clicking with every step, she realized that the office space was shared. On the nearby wall, the plaque showed all the various floors of the highrise; 3rd floor, accounting… 10th floor, sales… 17th floor, services… 37th floor, kitchen…

She swallowed thickly, quickly turning her head away and whipping her hair as a polite employee guided each girl to one of six elevators in the hallway. Vanessa was in the third group of women, given a single elevator all to herself as the employee scanned her personal card and the elevator closed without pressing a button.

As the machine went up, Vanessa squeaked and nearly jumped out of her skin when a small tv turned on. Music…?

The screen came to life, showing a male C.E.O. in a suit and tie with a bright expression over his face. “Here at Janice Hostings, we like to focus on…”

Vanessa scoffed, crossing her arms and trying to block out the audio as best she could while watching the number go up. 27… 28…

“... of course, with her special recipe for fruit fillings…”

32…33…

“... we pride ourselves in fresh flavors straight from her garden…”

35… 36…

Almost there…

But then the elevator went past floor 37. In fact, it went past floor 40. And 45. And 50.

“What…?”

“... and with these simple ideas, we encourage you to find yourself in our wonderful range of treats…”

The door opened at floor 70.

“... because remember: you are, what you eat! So always stay sweet.”

Outside, two women in lab coats were waiting for Vanessa. One quickly grabbed her to pull her out of the elevator before it closed while the other began to speak.

“We’re so pleased to have you here with us, Vanessa.” The woman’s voice was kind but empty. She knew the routine well. “We’re going to have to taste test some of our regular, pre-existing snacks today as a way to figure out your taste buds.”

They walked down the end of the hall before passing through two door flaps and into a laboratory. It seemed to share it’s space with a test kitchen, but it also looked like it wouldn’t be used today with how many snack cakes were on a long metal table.

“You see, we need to figure out what you like and what you don’t.”

Vanessa shouted when the woman holding her pushed her into a chair and locked her wrists and ankles into place. “I-I don’t like sweet stuff!” She shook her head wildly as her body was pressed against the cushioned chair.

“Sorry, precaution.” The woman didn’t even pretend to be apologetic, completely ignoring Vanessa. “So, we’re going to need for you to try out our entire line offering. You’ll be here until 5 pm, so don’t worry about feeling too full. It would be absurd to make you eat all of this in a few minutes or something like that!” She giggled wildly as she grabbed a checklist and clicked her pen. “Now, tell us, do you want to start with…” she pointed the pen to each flavor, “Blueberry, apple, peach, pear, or custard cream?”

Fresh tears pricked Vanessa’s eyes, forcing her to remember that she hadn’t put on waterproof mascara that morning in her rush to try to ‘prove the system wrong’. Now all she could do was nibble at her lower lip as she kept shaking her head from side to side. “I-I don’t want this! Please!” She begged, sniffling pathetically as her body shook in fright. Just last week she’d considered herself a force to be reckoned with, a woman with a bright future.

But now, the sight of a pile of pastries was enough to make her sob.

“I hate when they don’t choose.” One scientist said before grabbing a small apple pie the size of her hand. “But that means I get to.” Reaching over, she pinched Vanessa’s nose tightly and forced her mouth open before shoving the entire pie into her mouth, keeping her hand in place to prevent her from spitting it out.

As Vanessa gagged, struggling to chew and swallow the entire pastry in one go, the other scientist laughed to herself as she grabbed another apple flavored pastry. This one, a dense strudel.

“Please, picking apple first? Talk about unlucky.” She snickered, taking her turn to shove the decadent strudel into Vanessa’s mouth the moment she gasped for air. “You know, if you just picked a flavor, this would’ve been so much easier for you.”

“Only 135 more to go…” Said the lab partner as they began to enjoy themselves all while Vanessa begged to be let go.