Breakfast

The next morning Marcos had found his wardrobe full of clothes, all matching his new style of course. He looked for something that felt at least a little masculine but there wasn't a single pair of pants or shorts to be had. Not even leggings, it seemed Isla really wanted him in a skirt. He finally decided on dark opaque tights and the longest skirt he could find. He felt weird wearing shirts with bands or shows he didn't know, or with writing he couldn't read, so he settled on a plain black crop top. He felt his self pulling him towards a make-up bag on the counter but stopped himself. They wasn't who he was, at least not yet he thought ruefully.

He heard Sarah sigh and asked her what was wrong.

"I don't know. I just don't know how to not look exactly like Stephanie. I know I can't cut my hair, but I could still try something new couldn't I?"

Sarah had found her own clothes had been replaced with Stephanie's typical attire. She wasn't sure why the clothes she had been wearing hadn't transformed, but she figured Isla must have been hoping for another flashing incident.

"I might actually be able to help. I don't know anything about style, but Mali does. I can remember watching make up tutorials and practicing on myself over and over trying out new looks. I could try using her memories to help you. I have to warn that Mali's style is, well, you know." He said, referring to his transformation.

"Yes actually that's perfect. Stephanie would never wear makeup like a kid. Er, sorry. No offense."

"None taken. Remember I'm actually quite a bit older than you. I wouldn't dress like this if I had the choice. Now let's see what we can do."

Sometimes later the two of them entered the great hall. Sarah still looked like Stephanie's twin, except for the bright red, orange and pink eyeshadow, the pigtails and the fishnet stockings she had borrowed from Marcos. She also wore a white blouse and plaid skirt from her own new clothes. She'd never dressed like this before and felt incredibly self conscious, but she held Marcos's hand for support as she tried to push past her misgivings.

They were the first to arrive for breakfast. The food smelt amazing. There were staff at a dozen different food carts with different offerings. Soon they sat down at a table ready to eat. Marcos had found humitas and picarones while Sarah had opted for a heaping pile of pancakes drowning in maple syrup.

They saw Valerie come in alone. "Where's your roommate?" Marcos asked her.

"In bed. She doesn't want to walk here. Those boots are really killer. Plus the whole naked thing. Anyway I did promise to bring her back something. Oh, are those pancakes? I was worried Isla's free food was going to be like another trick, like half a orange slice and a single blueberry. At least this cruise has decent food." Valerie replied. Valerie got her own pile of pancakes and sst down with them.

Stephanie and Jenny were next. Very clearly not walking together. Stephanie got some food and left, choosing to eat alone. Jenny sat down with the others with only a half an orange slice and a single blueberry. The others looked at their overflowing plates and back at her. "What? This is plenty of food. Don't look at me like that. Anyway, where are Yaz and Beatriz?"

Yaz and Beatriz finally arrived, looking terrible. They sat down with the group. "Never again." Said Yaz as she stared blankly at the food she'd brought. "Ok, that's a lie, but not again for a while."

Marcos looked at Bea, concerned. "Bea are you ok, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Beatriz gave him a small smile. "We are just a little hungover. Yaz thought it would be good to get to know each other over a bottle of tequila."

"Ah, good idea Yaz. Speaking of good ideas, do you know what you are doing for your date tonight?" Valerie asked.

The only answer Yaz gave was to drop her head to the table and groan.

Eric woke feeling more refreshed than ever. His bed was the most comfortable thing he had ever slept on. His contentment was interrupted as he opened his eyes to see Three standing right above him.

"Ah. What are you doing?" He asked.

"Just watching you. I sensed you were about to wake. I didn't know what you wanted in the morning so I brought you coffee, and the newspaper."

Eric sat up and saw the steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the paper bundled up in the other.

"Oh uh thanks. Maybe just wait outside the room until I'm actually awake next time." He asked. She had actually wanted to spend the night in his room. Not in his bed, just standing beside it in case he needed anything overnight. He'd had to convince her that he wouldn't need anything.

Eric took a sip of the coffee. It was perfect, of course it was.

He took the paper from her and unfurled it. Harem Hotel Gazette, Issue #1. He scanned the headlines

Yaz and Beatriz get blackout drunk #BFFs

Jenny does braless jumping jacks, replays now streaming on HH+

Foiled in the act, Alexandra up to 2" heels

Sarah and Marcos with #LifeProTips

Stephanie bonds with the crew for hours

"What is this? This some sort of joke?" Eric put it down as asked.

"Oh no joke Master. I had the girls run this off overnight. It's the latest from the ship. You can read about what your girls were up to last night. It's all 100% factual, the Twos aren't capable of editorializing." She offered. "We also have a live feed on your television if you would prefer."

"What? No. I don't want this newspaper. Or any live feeds. I'm not going to spy on them." He said exasperated.

"Oh. Of course master, right away." She grabbed the newspaper and went to take it away, but she hesitated. She actually looked really sad. He didn't mean to hurt her feelings. "I am sorry Master, I really shouldn't ask twice, I just worked really hard on this. Maybe you could just read one article? Oh, I know. You don't want to spy on the girls, read this one." She pushed the paper back into his hands and pointed at one section. "I wrote that one, no spying involved."

Eric sighed and looked down where she was pointing.

Crew Profiles

Captain Isla

Our captain is the most beautiful and well respected captain on this ship. This is her first voyage on a boat, but when asked if she was nervous she said 'Get out of my face'. What confidence! All of the crew look up to her, literally of course, she said she had to be 2" taller than us.

Three

Editor of the cruise newspaper, executive assistant to the Master. The only one who gets to spend every night at the Master's side. She is obviously the most beautiful of the crew after the captain. Would do anything the Master asks. Anything

Two

All eight of them are so bland they are practically indistinguishable. They have learnt some interesting behaviour since their first interactions with the contestants. One had to be sent to the brig for threatening Captain Isla with scissors. Another keeps slapping her fellow crew members on the bottom. One of them keeps bragging about how many jumping jacks she can do. All in all, an odd bunch not worthy of serving the Master.

One

There are 427 of these brainless bimbos on board. Each one refused to provide a comment for this story. Captain Isla insists they all have a job to do, but yours truly isn't sure what that is.

Eric finished reading. Three was standing over him expectantly. "You wrote this? Good job, it was really," he racked his brain trying to think of something nice to say. "Uh, you really captured the essence of the crew. And this coffee, truly amazing."

"Wow you really think so? Thank you so much Master. Do you think I could keep making newspapers for you? I promise, no spying on your harem anymore. Just hard hitting investigative journalism."

"Uh, ya. No spying and you can bring me another paper tomorrow." He said.

"Oh thank you thank you Master. Tomorrow's paper is going to be even better. Unless you need anything else, may I be dismissed? I have to get started for tomorrow." Eric sent her off and looked around the room. The sun was steaming in front the balcony making the room bright. He had a wonderful coffee and was super cozy in bed. This would be a perfect morning, if it wasn't all part of a reality show to twist his friends into his Harem of course.

Well, Eric thought, I should get up and go join the others for breakfast.

A bit later he had showered, shaved and was ready to join the girls. Before he could leave he was intercepted by Three.

"Hello Master. Before you go I just wanted to show you something. This tablet is to help you spend your BP. You can use this to sort by category, or BP cost, or unique options for each girl. You can do almost anything with it. Isn't that neat?" She asked, handing it to him.

Eric groaned. He didn't want to have to make these decisions concerning the girls. However he really didn't want Isla do it either.

Maybe he could just buy one big thing. He sorted by BP cost

Eliminate a player -5000BP

Add Three to your harem -5000 BP

Give Beatriz a starting transformation -5000 BP

Eliminate Alexandra's key from existence -5000 BP

He kept scrolling. These were all horrible. "Is there anything here that doesn't make me a monster?" He asked out loud.

"Master you could not possibly be a monster. All of these options are perfectly acceptable. If you are concerned about how the others feel about how they are impacted, well I can tell you how I feel. I would be so honoured if you added me to your harem." Three sounded so genuine, as always.

"Uh thanks Three, but no. I can't do any of these. Maybe I just have to do more small ones. Is there anything here that isn't life altering?" He asked.

"Oh Master, I have the perfect idea for you. Here." She borrowed the tablet and clicked a few things and gave it back.

Send gift basket to player (name) - 100 BP

"A gift basket? That doesn't sound so bad. Fine, I'll start with this."

Eric 5000 BP -> 4200 BP

Eric finally made his way down to the great hall. Everyone except Alexandra and Stephanie were there chatting at one of the tables.

Yaz noticed him first. She sat up straight, "Oh hi Mr. Stuart. Are you joining us for breakfast? What can I get for you?"

"What, oh Yaz I'll just help myself thanks. You stay seated." Eric wasn't used to Yaz behaving deferentially towards him. He helped himself to some waffles and whipped cream and sat down with them. "So does everyone have nice rooms at least?" He tried to start small talk, not really knowing what to say.

"Ha." Beatriz laughed. "it's a dorm room. Like literally. Single bed. Concrete walls. Cheap carpet. Smells like beer and poutine."

"Poutine? At least it doesn't smell like lube." Jenny interjected. When everyone looked at her she blushed, "they filled out room with sex toys. Also more Japanese stereotypes." She sighed.

"Wow, I guess ours could be worse. The decor is a bit garish, and they put way too many mirrors, but at least we had a double, and no sex toys in sight." Sarah added.

Valerie said nothing. Her room was actually pretty nice. She could imagine staying in a bak converted to a hotel just like it.

"Wow I'm so sorry. This is all my fault." He Eric put his face in his hands and sighed.

"You're fault. How do you figure that?" Yaz asked. "I mean, yes you didn't read the rules beforehand, but it's not like you had any hand in any of this. I signed up to get younger, and to try a different life. Bea here was tricked by Isla, I suspect pretty much every else was tricked too. What part of the deception is yours? What rule did you come up with?"

"Well, none, but this is for my benefit right? Shouldn't I hold some of the blame since I am the beneficiary?"

"Are you? They didn't create this out of the goodness of their hearts for you. This is a show. We, all of us including you, are the product. They are selling you as much as us. Now stop arguing and just eat your waffles. I have a killer headache and need to get ready for our date." Yaz said.

"Right. Our date. Uh, what are we doing?" Eric asked.

"I'll let you know beforehand. For now, let's just eat breakfast."

After breakfast Valerie was walking back to her room with some food for Alexandra. Eric had told them she usually ate cereal for breakfast back in law school so Valerie brought corn flakes and a plate of berries. Valerie put the password in and the door swung open.

Alexandra was still lying in bed, but now she was wearing a t-shirt and a skirt. Specifically, Valerie's shirt and skirt. The shirt was a bit tight on her, and she'd obviously not taken a bra, but Valerie was glad her roommate wasn't going to be naked all the time.

"Hey that's mine!" She said, entering the room.

"I know. I am sorry. I had to." Alexandra replied.

"Ya I know. How'd you do it anyway? I remembered to take my key with me"

Alexandra held up a small black tool kit. "I bought some lockpicks. Had to get those freaks to bring it to me. But it was worth it to get something to wear. I'm sorry, I know it will cost BP to replace it. I will try to pay you back. I only took a couple outfits."

Alexandra 1800 BP -> 100

"Ya, I'd appreciate that. Jenny told us at dinner how much they made her pay for new bras. I'm not looking forward to having to go shopping. I might also need new clothes soon if my transformation kicks in."

Valerie started towards Alexandra with the bowl when suddenly she tripped. As she fell the bowl flew towards Alexandra and Valerie's shirt caught some metal in the doorway.

RIP! SPLAT!

Valerie stood up. Her shirt was completely ruined, shredded to ribbons. She looked at Alexandra, her shirt was soaked in milk making it somewhat transparent and corn flakes were all over her. The berries has scattered all over the bed spread and Alexandra making tiny coloured dots everywhere.

"Oops"