Wendy Wonka always said the Inventing Room was perfectly safe… which usually meant it absolutely was not.

You were the only human worker she trusted, the one person allowed to walk among the glittering pipes, spinning cauldrons, bubbling brews, and chrome tubes carrying experimental candies that definitely weren’t ready for children. The Oompa-Loompas— all of them tiny, cheerful girls dressed in bright white overalls — bustled around without singing this time. Wendy had ordered no songs unless absolutely necessary. It saved time.

You were inspecting the glass tubes that carried the juice for the infamous three-course-meal gum, the same invention that once turned Violet blue. Most tubes were clear and clean… but one looked odd. A strange swirling crack pattern wrapped around it, almost decorative.

You leaned closer.

“…Huh. Is that supposed to be there?”

You tapped the tube once with your knuckle.

PING.

Then— CRACK. Then— KSSHHHHHHHHH!!

The entire section of glass exploded outward, blasting you with an enormous wave of glowing blueberry-purple juice. It drenched your face, your clothes, everything— and the effect was instant.

Your skin flashed blue so fast you didn’t even have time to gasp.

Your belly bulged outward. Your legs stiffened. Your arms puffed like inflated gloves.

And before you even understood what was happening—

BWOMP–BWOMP–BWOOMP!

Your entire body swelled into a perfect round sphere, smooth and enormous, lifting your feet clear off the floor. Your head sank backwards into your swelling shoulders, then deeper into the rounded surface until it was almost completely swallowed by your own inflated shape.

“BLUEBERRY EMERGENCY!” squeaked an Oompa-Loompa girl as she slammed a giant red button. Sirens began wailing all through the Inventing Room.

Four more Oompa-Loompa girls rushed to your side, each grabbing one of your hands tightly— or rather, where your hands had sunk halfway into your round body.

“Don’t panic! Don’t panic! Ohhhh, Wendy’s gonna flip!!”

You tried to speak… but all that came out was a muffled “Mmmph!” since your face was pressed into the glossy blue surface of your own inflated body.

Then your weight shifted.

One of the Oompa-Loompas slipped.

Your huge round form teetered… wobbled… and—

ROLLLLLLLL— THUNK!

You rolled right off your own feet, landing on your belly-side and immediately continuing forward like a runaway blueberry boulder. With your head pressed fully into your round blue surface, you couldn’t see anything except the floor rushing past and the shiny curvature of yourself.

“STOP THEM!!” shrieked an Oompa-Loompa girl.

Three of them dove forward and tried to brace you, but you rolled over them like a giant exercise ball, squeaking and scrambling.

“EEEEP—!!” “NOT AGAIN!!” “THEY’RE SO ROUND!!!”

Finally you came to a slow wobbling stop, bobbing slightly like an inflated beach ball. Your arms and legs were completely swallowed by your round body now, leaving only small impressions showing where they used to be.

The Oompa-Loompas gathered around you in a frantic circle.

“Okay! Okay! They’re stable!” “Nobody panic!” “…Well we’re panicking but THEY shouldn’t!”

One girl patted your round surface comfortingly.

“It’ll be fine! Probably! Maybe! …Okay we need Wendy, like, now.”

And there you lay: Blue. Perfectly spherical. Unable to move. Unable to see anything except the floor.

Just another day in Wendy Wonka’s factory.