The area was dark as Mat slowly pushed himself onto his hands and knees, his tiny eyes scanning the area around as he tried to regain his senses. The walls were different, but the toe-markings were the same... It was darker than usual, and instead of being dry or muggy it was actually fairly pleasant. The indentation made by the owner of this particular piece of footwear's big toe had a slight pool of liquid, but the smell was not horrible. It was water, not sweat.
There was no dirt or grime on the insole of the shoe to speak of, and while there was still a slight musk to the air - It wasn't overpowering... Almost hardly detectable. Slowly he got to his feet, staggering up once more as he took in a deep breath of the oddly fresh air. The light coming from outside of the shoe was a dim and ambient tone. He was smaller than usual as well, judging by the indentations in the ground he couldn't be much larger than a centimeter at max. While the walls were made of a strange fabric mesh, he still wasn't confident he would be able to escape even if he wanted to.
"Two new species discovered today..." Karin mumbled as she entered her quarters holding a pad of paper she had been scribbling down her research on. She wore a long, white laboratory coat that had several pens in the pockets along with a few little sample-sized vials. "Hopefully my 'colleague' on the lower decks pulled their weight today so I don't have to do all the work."
She was busy gathering things, too busy to check her water slippers before putting them on. Mat lazily walked toward the opening of the shoe, his situation already leaving him somewhat [REDACTED] and memories from past incidents didn't help that. He stood in the opening, bare, as the Scientist stepped over to him. Her foot slid over the opening as her thumbs gripped the side. The jarring motion threw Mathew to his back as he watched her sole slide over his tiny body.
The ball of her foot pressed into his face, dragging him forward on his back as she slipped her heel into her footwear. He could feel her grumble through the skin of her foot as it pressed into his tiny body as well as her pulse. Her foot shifted as the pressure teased him... Not crushing him though, just fluctuating off and on as he was pinned between the sole of the water-shoe and the arch of the scientist's foot.
"Now where would I have picked up a pebble?" She lazily grumbled to herself as she slipped her other shoe on, sitting down on her bed. The room was far from clean, and outside the port-hole style window you could see nothing but water. The occasional fish swam by the window itself and seaweed danced in the distance - She was in an underwater research facility, on an alien planet. "I don't have time to worry about that..."
With that, she stood up and shifted her weight. Mat felt everything as the soft skin on his front became rock hard. His head was forced to the side as the pressure increased, his mouth forced open by her weight. He felt his body crackling as he held his breath to try and keep from crushing instantly... He was successful, but it wouldn't be long before he perished. Karin took hold of her research papers and began to walk toward the door, shutting it in her wake as she felt the 'pebble' in her shoe slide around between each step.
Mat slid down her foot near her heel. The pressure was intense as she stepped forward, crushing his tiny feet with ease. He let out a tiny scream of pain as he looked down his body the best he could to see the skin of Karin's sole press up against his front. The walls of the shoe were poor at keeping light out, so he could see everything this time from his vantage point. The pressure rolled up his body, cracking his tiny hips and [REDACTED]. His side split, spewing out a bit of his little intestines next to him as she took a step. The air was forced from his lungs as his tiny ribs cracked and popped, causing blood to spurt out of his mouth... That was only a few steps in. He slid forward beneath the ball of her foot next. The pressure was more constant there, cracking his tiny skull. White fluid came from his nose and ears, mixing with blood as the cerebral-spinal fluid around his tiny damaged brain oozed from cracks inside of his head.
Karin was oblivious to his plight... Frustrated at the pebble, but she didn't stop to fiddle with it. She was doing time-sensitive research, an extra minute to worry about trivial things could put everything in jeopardy. The pebble slid up between her toes to her relief...
Mat shook, his body pulverized by her few steps as he safely tucked between the scientist's digits. He couldn't speak, he couldn't scream... All he could do was wait until he died. His tiny body was pressed against her skin still, his intestines still beneath the ball of her foot being smashed down into a thin and flat spaghetti-like pile. His life was excruciatingly long though... Her toes would squeeze at him idly as she did her research, he was a thing to fiddle with after all. Hours passed as the day went on, and finally Karin began to make her way through the station once more.
She held a small and empty vial in her hand as she walked, the 'pebble' dislodging from its position. In a single step, Mat slid back down to the arch of her foot. Karin instinctively grumbled an annoyed grumble as she felt his tiny body there, however - this time it was different... The pebble 'Popped'...
"Hmm?" She said curiously, standing in the hall. The thing she though was a pebble flattening now caught more of her attention... She rested her hand against the wall, balancing on one foot as she used her free hand to tug her footwear off. Mat felt his body break beneath her, his arm ripped from its place between her toes as well as his leg. When he slid, his arm came with him for that final moment... 'Squish'...
Karin looked to the sole of her foot curiously to see what appeared to be a humanoid creature... The fauna of the planet had been showing more human-like DNA traits recently, so while the idea of a tiny human underfoot wasn't entirely shocking - it was somewhat concerning. Perhaps a precursor to human cloning?
"Hmph..." She grumbled as she took the vial from her pocket, balancing on one foot as she scraped Mat's still sentient remains into the glass container. She quickly replaced her footwear and turned around to return to the lab, "Looks like I have more work to do..."