A Tense Breakfast

Beholden to the academic calendar and living with a toddler, Michelle was used to waking up quite early. And so, she arose to the magical brightness of Olympian interior design despite the sun not yet shining through the balcony door. Most mornings she would check her email and go over paperwork after getting dressed, but, for better or worse, she no longer had any work to check. And knowing she would be joining the others for breakfast in a couple hours, she didn't really have anything to do in her room at that point. So Michelle left her sleeping roommate and headed out to explore some of the mountain.

With no map or directions, Michelle wandered aimlessly. She came across plenty of shops, some temples, the bathhouse, and the arena. Adjacent to the arena was a training room, and Michelle figured this was as good a time as any to get a workout in.

Upon entering the training room, she discovered someone else had the same idea. Michelle expected to see a wrestling map and some track and field equipment, which there were, but the facility had apparently been upgraded with more modern machines. She saw Kristie in the midst of a workout running hard on a treadmill. The athlete must have been here for a while, because her face was drenched in sweat, and she had three used towels hanging off the right railing. Michelle, wearing a plain t-shirt and pants decided to stretch while waiting for her acquaintance to finish.

After a few minutes, the treadmill beeped and slowed down, forcing Kristie to slow her pace. She was breathing heavily as she got off the machine and wiped her face. Turning around to put the towels in a basket, only then did she notice she wasn't alone. "Oh, hey, Professor."

"Good morning, Kristie. Care to join me? I'm sure you know stretching is good both before and after exercise."

"You're not also gonna make a move on me, are you?"

Michelle looked very puzzled. "What?"

"Never mind. Sure, give me a minute." Kristie drained a bottle of water and then stood next to Michelle on the map. The younger woman copied the older woman's motions as they stretched out their legs.

"Nice to see I'm not the only early riser," Michelle commented.

"That's what it takes to be a college athlete."

"It appears we both want to continue our routines from our old lives."

Kristie had been on autopilot doing the same stretches multiple times a day for three months, but she looked over to Michelle. "You must really miss your family, huh?"

Michelle pursed her lips. She did miss Marcus's comforting hugs and the smell of him grilling any day with a temperature above 55 degrees. She did miss Damien's infectious smile and how eagerly he played with a container full of plastic dinosaurs. But really she was disturbed by the implications of their lives going on without her. "It's only been half a day, but yes, I do miss them dearly. Do you have any family?"

"Well, yeah, I got my parents back in the Toronto area. My dad is a dentist and my mom is a yoga instructor. I'm an only child, though we do have a pet dog. I miss Chuckie more than I miss them."

Michelle smiled at the not-so-small detail. "I don't think we can get out of here, but we must be able to get back to our family somehow."

"Beats me," Kristie replied, as they started squatting. "Hey, did you hear about a group breakfast or something? Late last night Veronica asked me to join."

"Yes, she asked me as well. It was out of nowhere, just knocked on my door."

Kristie chuckled. "I can relate to that."

****

Hector slept until around 9 AM, the time he usually wakes up except on Mondays and Wednesdays when he had an early class. He went to the bathroom and put on deodorant before getting dressed. Knowing what was coming, he dressed in a monochrome t-shirt and joggers to feel comfortable but also look more presentable in front of his harem. Hector then walked over to the dining room table and waited for the eight women to arrive. Nine place settings were already arranged, and a short servant with tawny hair named Gabrielle told him the dish would be Greek omelette casseroles.

As Hector waited patiently, he saw Penelope walk in first, looking more cheerful than the previous night. Carla was right behind her and had a disgruntled look on her face, which Hector hadn't seen before. "Good morning, you two. Something wrong, Carla?"

Carla didn't realize what expression she was showing. She calmed her features before replying. "Just a lot on my mind, dear." That seemed to satisfy Hector's inquisitiveness for the moment.

At that moment, Kristie and Michelle walked in, looking wide awake. Both of their hair was tied back after taking showers, and they seemed more friendly with each other despite not being roommates. Michelle addressed the growing group. "Good morning, big day ahead."

Sophie entered the room and responded before anyone else could. She had her typical neutral expression. "Big day indeed. Where did you run off to this morning?"

"Oh, good morning, Sophie. Kristie and I got a workout in. I hope I didn't disturb your sleep."

"No, no, I was just surprised to see an empty room. I hope you'll still have energy for the challenge."

Penelope piped up after sitting next to her sibling. "We don't know what the challenge is. It might not take much energy at all."

Sophie jumped on the point. "Exactly. We don't know, and maybe it will be a strenuous physical activity."

Hector wanted to wait for everyone to arrive before getting into it, but he didn't want to cut off the conversation either. He didn't want this to turn into a business meeting, and he for sure didn't want the group to think he was more in charge than he really was. Fortunately, Molly and Alexis walked in a few minutes later. Molly seemed a little anxious but curious to see what would happen, while Alexis had her arms crossed and wouldn't look at anyone. She took the seat next to Penelope before someone else grabbed it.

Hector was ready to talk, but the second all nine sat down, the servants entered in a synchronized manner and put down a dish in front of each member. The omelette had feta, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, spinach, peppers, and some herbs. The smell was wonderful, and Hector was relieved it covered up some of the rose aroma. But Gabrielle also placed a pot of black coffee, which just confused his nostrils. "Dig in, everyone!" He should have expected the other servants to also be weirdly chipper.

The group did start eating, and the casserole was perfectly made. Everyone seemed to like it, but they reacted to different aspects.

"It's no fair only Hector gets actual service and a table to eat," Kristie grumbled.

"Could I get this coffee with a pump of pumpkin flavor?" asked Carla to no response from the servants.

"As delicious as the food is, it seems you get what you get," Veronica supplied.

As they continued eating, Hector figured this was as good as time as any. He cleared his throat and felt a little nervous. "Thanks for joining me this morning. I hope you're enjoying the meal. I know you don't want to be here, and I don't want that either, but there are some nice perks."

Alexis threw her hands up and interrupted before he could get to his main point. "Oh come on, you definitely want to be here."

Sophie agreed. "Yeah, we all saw how excited you were yesterday."

Hector had the decently to look slightly ashamed. "I meant that I don't want you to be here in this position. You don't have to believe me, but I assure you I'm not choosing to be here, and I didn't bring any of you here. I know just about the same amount that you do."

Alexis looked away dismissively. "Whatever, perv. I'm only at this table because my best friend asked me, not to hear you out."

Penelope turned on her for that comment. "Well then as your best friend, I want you to hear him out. Hector is innocent in all of this."

Alexis seemed to take Penelope's words in, but only for a few moments. Hector put a hand on his sister's shoulder. "Hey, it's all right. I don't expect everyone to believe me right away, but maybe this will help." Right in front of their eyes, Hector took the form of a woman before even putting his hand back at his side. The group saw a stunning woman who radiated more confidence and the proportions to match. "You might think Hector has his head up his ass, but believe Erica. I've been changed against my will just as you have."

The reactions were mixed. Molly, still bothered by her new figured, softened as she saw her best friend also look completely different. Michelle and Sophie, who were not easily surprised, were both shocked at the immediacy of the change. Kristie seemed to have trouble wrapping her head around Erica and Hector being the same person, as she had not experienced her own transformation yet. Carla, unsurprisingly, raised her eyebrows and smirked, liking what she was seeing. Alexis, though, didn't seem to budge. "As if I'm buying that. There's no way your brain is any different."

"No, I haven't noticed my opinions shift, but I have some understanding now of what it means to be a woman."

"And I have some understanding of what I am doing here," Carla added unhelpfully.

Molly decided to intervene for the first time. "Alexis, remember what I said last night. We each have fantasies of our own, we just happen to know Hector's--I mean, Erica's. Maybe the challenge today will reveal those."

Alexis frantically shook her head. "No, I'm not entertaining this. I'm going to punch something. Be happy it's not you." She directed the last comment at Erica before rushing out of the room.

Erica looked put out, but not to a great extent. "Well this went about how I expected."