Halfpint

Printer-friendly version
Halfpint
A
Wyld Logo
Universe Vignette

by Saless

Working Wyld, A Wyld Introspective
by William Parker

April, 2022

Employment is one of the many areas where Wyld encounter massive discrimination. Few Wyld are able to find work above minimum wage level, if that. But there is one case that turned this trend on its head...

November, 2013

Robert Kemp was an aspiring 'wrestler'. At eighteen he managed to get a job as an extra, getting a few minutes of screen time in from time to time but not minding his small parts since he was working with his idols.

He was just beginning to get more exposure when he went Wyld on national television. In Calivada.

Robert knew what happened immediately. He went from being a six foot three muscle bound young man to a tiny four foot two. All his muscles were gone in an instant. And just when he needed them the most.

As soon as they realized what had happened several of the wrestlers moved towards him menacingly. Realizing his life was over if they caught him he made a run for it. His size made it relatively easy for him to slip between them and out of the studio before anyone else had a chance to react.

He kept running until he ran out of breath in some anonymous alley a few blocks away. There was no sign of pursuit so he took a moment to see what going Wyld had done to him.

Or her, as it turned out to be.

She didn't have a mirror, but she seemed to be a child. She was horrified at the loss of the strength she had spent years building up. And her gender, her humanity, and her chance at realizing her dreams. She began to sink into depression but the sound of a siren shook her out of it. The siren was only an ambulance but it spurred her to move on.

As she walked she realized that she was naked. She'd only been wearing shorts and those must have fallen off during her escape. She kept to the shadows as best she could and kept an eye open for something to wear.

Before long she noticed a car approaching very slowly. Figuring she'd been seen she started running again. The car sped up; convincing her. After dodging down several tight alleys she lost her pursuit and hid behind a dumpster to catch her breath.

Once recovered she searched the dumpster but only found a half-eaten sandwich. Not being that hungry yet, she threw it back and wandered on. Before long she saw the same car again and hid. This pattern continued for a while until she finally crawled inside a barrel and fell asleep.

When she woke she continued her wandering, picking up a discarded jacket along the way that nearly reached her knees. With this small bit of protection she continued wandering the city without a goal in mind. All she could think about was that she needed to keep moving and stay away from people.

Eventually she was forced to find her meals in the dumpsters and chided herself for her earlier hesitancy. Lacking any identification or money she had little choice. Her small size allowed her to find difficult to reach hiding places to rest in without being disturbed. It wasn't until her second day on the run that she ran into any trouble.

She was just coming out of her latest hiding place when she was grabbed and dragged to her feet by a filthy homeless man. He screamed incoherently at her and pushed her against the wall. Terrified, she kicked him as hard as she could. The blow landed between his legs and lifted him into the air. Staring uncomprehendingly upwards she saw him fly up, smashing into the edge of the roof of a nearby building before continuing onto the roof itself! She never saw if he got back up.

The thought I'm super strong?! kept going through her mind as she ran like her life depended on it.

When she finally stopped she was in another filthy alley. Seeing some wooden crates stacked against the wall, she decided to test her theory. Not wanting to break her hand if she was wrong, she kicked one of the crates as hard as she could. Her foot went right through it like it was made of paper. Turning to another she picked it up and found it seemed to weigh nothing. She threw it against the wall and it shattered into a thousand pieces.

Laughing almost hysterically she proceeded to destroy everything else in the alley. Nothing seemed too heavy. She did discover that it still hurt if she dropped something heavy on her foot. Oddly enough, punching the wall didn't hurt at all and left a nice sized hole.

Tired from her experimentation she slumped against the wall to rest. She didn't even notice that same car from before park nearby. A man got out and approached slowly. Worried she would run away, he announced himself while still dozens of feet away, "Hello."

Startled, she jumped to her feet and took a defensive stance. She knew now she could defend herself still. Maybe even better than before. He didn't seem hostile, though she noticed the car and suspected he had been following her before, "Who are you?"

"My name's Paul. I work for the studio. I was just going to offer to get you out of the country but now I think I can offer a job on top of that." he said.

"Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"I don't hate Wyld like so many around here. My nephew went Wyld a few months ago and got lynched. I'd rather not see that happy to anybody else. Besides, we're moving our operations to Hawaii and you'd fit in nicely." he replied.

"What?! Why are you moving?" she asked.

He smiled wryly, "Wyld aren't the only ones finding Calivada to be a hostile environment. The government has such strict control of the media that we can't get our shows on any stations based here. We're in danger of getting shut down entirely. Besides, Wyld would really spice up the show and what better place to find them than in Hawaii?"

"And you want me?!" she said.

He nodded, "Of course! Think about it. We'll have all these big, muscular guys mixed in with Orcs and Ogres and who knows what else. And in the middle of all these big macho guys we'll have one little girl who can break any of them in half!"

She thought about it and realized it probably would be pretty impressive. She didn't like the description of 'little girl' but guessed it probably fit well enough. She still didn't know exactly what she looked like but knew she was tiny. She had some curves and some small bumps for breasts but she was just a skinny kid otherwise. "How would I get there?" she finally asked.

He stopped to think about it before saying, "I think our best bet is for you to pose as my niece. We'll have to get you some clothes and a fake ID but that shouldn't be too difficult. Are you in?"

"What the hell?" she said, figuring she could always bash her way out of any trouble she might find herself in.

So she left with Paul. Before long they had seen someone about ID and she was taking a shower and getting her first look at her new body. She was indeed tiny. She looked like she was just starting puberty. There was nothing of Robert Kemp left except for the blue eyes. Her dark brown hair had turned blonde and her features had changed drastically. She briefly considered trying to contact her family but decided there was little chance she could convince them of who she was.

Paul put her up in a hotel for a few days while he arranged transportation and got the ID. Once that was done they boarded a plane for Hawaii.

There were several wrestlers, camera crew, and others she recognized that she used to work with on the flight. When they arrived they didn't tell anyone she was Wyld and continued the niece fiction so her first appearance on the show would be a complete surprise.

The writers for the show liked the idea and wrote it into the show. So for her first appearance she was just the niece of a studio executive who 'wandered onto the set'. Only when one of the wrestler went to pick her up she picked him up instead! She threw him out of the ring and said, "That's fun!" in as childish a manner as she could manage. And so, Halfpint was born.

Her career wasn't particularly long, as they often aren't in that business. The novelty of a super strong child wore off pretty quickly. Her acting skills were rudimentary so she moved on. Ironically, her exposure as 'Halfpint' led to her getting a job as a model. At first she was being photographed carrying ridiculously large or heavy objects but her ability to appear child-like and innocent was what ultimately secured her place in modeling circles.

Many of you reading have no doubt made the connection. But for those who haven't I'm writing about Tessa Kemp, the famous Wyld model. Although she initially lost her job when she went Wyld it ultimately led to her getting that same job back and then moving on to an even more lucrative career. Now she's one of the most wealthy Wyld in the world with clothing lines, TV appearances, books, etc. She could well continue to model for many years to come since she doesn't appear to be aging. Nine years after going Wyld she's still that skinny little girl she first saw in the mirror.

Although Tessa's story was ultimately a positive one for most Wyld things are not so pleasant. But her story also brings up another issue; identity. How do you prove who you are if no one sees you go Wyld and your appearance is nothing like it was? This is an issue that continues to plague even the most Wyld friendly governments.


The End

Author's Note: If you are interested in writing in the Wyld universe you can find the universe rules here. If you have any questions after reading that, feel free to send me a private message. More authors are always welcome! ^_^

up
148 users have voted.
If you liked this post, you can leave a comment and/or a kudos! Click the "Thumbs Up!" button above to leave a Kudos

Comments

Interesting... The wage

Interesting... The wage discrimmination seems rather stupid, considering they're pretty much discrimminating a whole generation. Anyway, don't they have laws against something like that?

Thank you for writing,
Beyogi

Halfpint

Bet she'd make a great Dorothy Gale [Wizard of Oz], Alice [In Wonderland], and Annie [Lil Orphan Annie] as well as Supergirl or Mary Marvel.

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

: D

Extravagance's picture

This chick is badass! =D
Nicely done. ^_^
*HuggleSnugglePurrKiss* <3

Catfolk Pride.PNG

Wyld Discrimination?

Similar to Beyogi's comment:

>>4/2022; Employment is one of the many areas where Wyld encounter massive discrimination. Few Wyld are able to find work above minimum wage level, if that. <<

Even in Cascadia or Hawaii/Japan? That doesn't make sense. I don't remember when all older teens started to go Wyld, but don't some go to college? Aren't firms willing to hire well educated young adults to expand or replace the employees that retire? Those below 30 are often the most creative, the mathematicians and scientists that develop and test new theories, the musicians that invent new music, etc.

How many countries in the world are there that do not discriminate against Wyld? I'd guess that a significant fraction of "first world" countries would not discriminate.

Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Renee

It can be possible, even if it's under the radar.

I mean, even today in America companies are required to be EoE, but there are still those who reject people due to certain beliefs and whatnot. Hell even today women tend to make less than men.

I had a good friend, he's about 6'3", a good 270, and upon first glance, he looks quite intimidating, but in actuality he's just a big ol' Teddy bear. While working together however our boss always got onto him, said he was bad for company morale, didn't know how to approach customers etc. etc. Now imagine the same person was an eight foot lizard monster. The point I guess is, even if they may hire you you're still subject to discrimination. More likely Wyld are more suspicious, targeted more often for minor faults, and most likely fired easier.

So even if policies from countries may prohibit discrimination, that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.