Hard Hitting Questions

Mark and Ellen walked down the hall that Cassandra had indicated, finding the bowling alley fairly easily. After swapping out their shoes, Mark spoke up, “If you want to get set up on a lane, I’ll grab some snacks and drinks. I was thinking nachos and cheese and root beers, but I will grab you whatever you want.”

“Those sound perfect.”

So Mark went and grabbed the refreshments when he heard Ellen exclaim loudly, “What in the holy heck is this!”

Mark hurried over to her, but seeing nothing obviously wrong, slowed a little, not wanting to drop the food and drinks. “What’s wrong?”

“Look at the bowling balls and pins!”

So he did. The balls were a light cream color. Yep, those are images of the girls. Of course, the holes are where the nipples and vagina are; where else would they be? Next, he looked at the pins; the ones in their lane were currently all modeled after Ellen topless in various states of arousal. Looking to the lanes on either side, he saw the same thing for Allie and Sam.

“Cassandra? Please tell me, there’s a way to have a normal bowling experience, because you aren’t going to convince me for one second that there isn’t some enchantment on the balls, pins, or both.” Mark could practically hear a sigh from nowhere in particular. The pins and balls in their lane turned to normal bowling pins and balls. Though Mark did note that none of the other lanes changed. “Thank you, Cassandra.”

Over the loudspeakers, Cassandra spoke, “Seriously… is it really too much to ask? To just pick up your phone and text me even?”

“Well, the service down here is atrocious. How would I be sure you even got the text?”

Cassandra just sighed over the speaker system. “You know, for someone who talks about wanting to establish and respect boundaries, you ignore mine fairly often.”

“Cassandra, how about this. I’ll respect your boundaries about the phone when you respect mine, particularly the one of not being **** from my home. Just food for thought.” To which Cassandra did not reply. “Still, thank you for changing the lanes, Cassandra.”

“You’re welcome.” There was an audible disconnect sound over the speakers.

Ellen looked at Mark, “You really are bothered a lot about being on the show, like the rest of us aren’t you? Like, I mean, I know you said you weren’t happy about it and everything, but I sort of figured it was like a token protest. But you really would send us all back to our own lives if you could, wouldn’t you?”

“Well, on the first day we got here, I would definitely have said yes to that. I’m not sure I would send everyone back now. It would depend on how you were sent back. If you mean to your old selves prior to the show, with no transformations, I would say most but not all of you. If you meant like right here, right now, as you are. I think that would honestly be a bit of a messed-up thing to do to most of you. In either case, I would ultimately let each of you choose.”

“You would actually ask some of us to stay?”

“On the show? Hel—Heck no. With Allie and me? Yes, I would.”

“Sam, right?”

“Honestly, not just her, but yeah, she’s at the top of the list.”

“If you don’t mind answering, who else?”

“Laura, Merida, and Flora.”

“So half of us. Chloe, Aubrey, Talia, and I, you wouldn’t ask?”

“I’m only getting to know you today, really. I like what I’ve learned so far. But to the point of asking you to be with me? In this weird relationship? No. Talia, before or after I made the changes, could probably find someone more compatible for her. Maybe after I finish the changes, that wouldn’t be true, I don’t know, though. Chloe, I honestly don’t know if she likes me or not. I think she isn’t more upset with things because she can be with Aubrey. It might just be that I haven’t had the chance to be around her that much, but right now it doesn’t even seem like I’m second fiddle to Aubrey, to her. Rather, being with me is the price she has to pay to be with Aubrey. Which doesn’t feel great, to be honest. Aubrey, I feel like she sees me more as ‘the father of her future kids’ rather than who I am, though I am hopeful that will change. She actually said she had simply considered settling for one of her guy friends, so she could have kids. Now, she’s settling for me because she has to. I’m happy she can make the most of the situation and turn it into a positive, but…”

“But you don’t really want to ask someone to be with you if they are simply settling for you and not wanting you. I get that. I’m glad you wouldn’t ask me. Not because I don’t like you, but it means you’re treating me seriously. You’re right, we don’t really know each other, and I don’t think I would want to be in a relationship with so many others involved, normally. Would you feel comfortable telling me why those three? Because the reason for Sam is obvious, also, let’s start playing. I also promise I did not pick our names for the scoreboard.”

“Sure, I don’t mind explaining. Also, what about our names?” Mark looked up at the screen showing the frames. It displayed two different names above the ten squares.

Master Schlong

Boobalicous

Mark sighed, “Okay, well, out of everything to be a crude joke, that at least is relatively normal. I don’t think they were ever this lewd when I played previously, but that didn’t mean there weren’t some sexual puns or innuendos in either team or player names.”

“Oh? Like what?”

Mark got up and found a ball his size, and positioned himself to throw. “Well, in a charity tournament for an animal shelter, one team was the ‘Red Rockets’, another was the ‘Pussy Cats’, and ‘The Couch Cushions’.” As he finished, he went and threw his first shot.

“Okay, I get the first two, but explain the last one. Also, nice job, you got a strike.”

“Thanks. And the last one needs a bit of context.” Ellen went ahead and got up for her own turn as Mark was talking. “See, the team consisted of four, thirty-something housewives, all with breasts at least as large as Aubrey’s, and some were coming close to your current size.” Ellen lined up herself and threw. “They would get all these horny young guys hitting on them. One of them complained that they were just a bunch of dogs wanting to hump the couch cushions. The rest thought it was so funny that they made it their team name.”

“Okay, that is actually pretty funny,” Ellen threw her second shot, knocking over the last two pins to pick up the spare. “You’re up. Now, you said you were going to explain why Laura, Merida, and Flora.”

Mark got up and lined himself up for another shot. “Well, Laura has earned my respect, and while casual sex isn’t really my thing.” Mark threw his ball. “She is hot as h— I mean, she is very attractive, both before and after her transformation. If she was open to having a relationship, even an open one. I would at least be willing to give it a try. Alternatively, she might be the kind of friend who Allie and I could occasionally have a threesome with if she didn’t want a full relationship.”

“Okay, and nice you got another strike.” Ellen offered Mark a high five, which he reciprocated. Ellen then got up. “Makes sense, I guess. She does seem fairly open to having sexual encounters with friends. Why Flora?” Ellen threw, and it looked like she would get a strike, but the last wobbly pin stabilized.

“Well, it was mentioned that I asked her out back in college. I really did like her. Not just like, oh, she’s really pretty. She was insightful and engaging in class discussions, funny, and we shared a few common hobbies. Also very pretty.” Ellen threw again, easily picking up the spare. “Yesterday with her was the first time I felt relaxed here, like truly relaxed. No anxiety at all. I have had days like that back home with Allie, but I was around Flora for the first time in a long time, and it just felt natural, easy. I liked that. The fact that she’s bisexual also helps. Allie and I had talked about bringing in another person; we just wanted it to be someone we would both be with.” Mark got up for his turn again.

“Do you feel relaxed with me?”

Mark stopped lining up his shot at the question and turned to face Ellen. “Yes, actually. I do now that I think about it. Though I will say I am still a bit anxious, but that has literally nothing to do with you and more to do with the elevator ride and the show in general.”

Ellen chuckled at that, “More than fair. I’m still concerned by what happened in the elevator, and I’m also concerned about the show. Less than yesterday, though, so thanks for that.” She smiled at him. “Now take your turn.”

Mark turned back around and threw again. “So yeah, I would ask Flora if she would want to continue to have a relationship together or at least try.”

Mark got another strike, and Ellen just had to comment, “I thought you said you might be a bit rusty?”

“Well… I don’t recall my exact average, but it was somewhere around 235-250 after the first few months. Julius was really good. I think he has bowled like five perfect games. One of which was actually back when we were playing together. He taught me a lot, corrected my form, and showed me the key things to do. So, when I said I might be rusty, I meant that I might not crack 200 points this game.”

“Oh, so it was a setup for a humble brag.”

“It was not, just because my rusty is someone else’s good does not make it a humble brag. A humble brag would be like me saying, ‘Oh, I hope you don’t mind if I suck a bit. I’m a bit rusty, and I might not be able to get more than 200 points’.”

Ellen got up and looked at Mark skeptically as she picked up her ball. “But isn’t that like what you just did?” She threw the ball and got a strike.

“Nice job. And no, you asked a question, and I answered.”

“Fine, O’Rusty Schlong, it’s your turn.”

Mark’s lips turned into a line at that. Okay, that was funny, but you can’t let her know that. He went up to the line and threw and got a seven-ten split.

“I guess maybe you are a little rusty. My apologies. Now what about Merida?”

“Well, Merida is a little more complicated.” Mark wanted a moment to think, so he lined up to the far side of the lane and threw fast diagonally across the lane, picking up the spare off the split.

“Okay… I’m starting to think you’re hustling me here, and that you did the seven-ten split on purpose just to show off.”

“Hustling? We aren’t betting anything? And if we started now, that wouldn’t be me hustling you, since you’ve seen, I have game. I also did not do the split on purpose. As for Merida, well, she was my first crush, and the memories we are both getting, well, they make things more complicated.”

Ellen lined up her shot and again just missed the strike. “How so?”

“Well, she’s told me a few of her new memories, like moving to the college dorms together with the help of her dad, and apparently, our wedding. Most of mine have been more sexual, but I can still feel the intimacy and love the other me has for her, at least for a bit when I get them. And I have gotten one or two romantic memories too, which I don’t know. I really want that. Like a lot, now. It isn’t like a compulsion or anything. But imagine you’ve never had a fresh baked chocolate chip cookie, warm, fresh from the oven, soft, the chips still a bit gooey. And then you get a memory of having tried one, but it’s like a dream, just out of reach. It’s like that.”

“Oh, goodness. Now I want a cookie like that. But, yeah, that would be extremely tantalizing.” Ellen threw again and picked up her spare. “Okay, I've got to ask you a lot of things, so far, now it's your turn. Also, your turn in the game.”

Mark got up again and thought, What should I ask? I mean, I know a bunch about her career. But not much else. “Okay, this might be jumping in the deep end. But it sort of clashes with the image of you I have built in my head, so I figure that this would be a good place to start.” Mark went ahead and threw his ball. “What is it about bondage and submission you like so much?”

“Seriously, another strike? I hate you a little bit right now. That is also a rather invasive question right off the bat.” Ellen got up with a cute little pout, more annoyed about the game than the question.

“If you don’t want to answer it, that's fine, like I said, it might be jumping in the deep end.”

“No. It’s fine. In fact, breaking whatever false image you have of me in your head was actually one of my goals today. Getting you to see me, for me, and not just who I play in films.” Ellen lined up her shot and threw. “Don’t get me wrong, a lot of the roles I’ve played definitely reflect a part of myself. I get typecast a lot as a beautiful nerdy girl, because I am beautiful and do have some interest in things like fantasy and sci-fi. But it isn’t all of who I am. As I said, I was bummed that I didn’t get the Black Widow role over Scarlet. I would have loved to play a skilled, sexy femme fatale. So sure I’ll answer.” Ellen got another strike.

“You complain about me being good, but you aren’t that far behind me yourself.”

“I never said I wasn’t good or rusty. Unlike someone. But as for both being tied up and being submissive. I mean, I don’t know exactly. They are turn-ons for me. Like, why do you like dominating women? Why don’t you like penises? If I had to put it to something in particular. I guess the idea of giving myself to someone, so completely, just feels really nice. Trusting them to respect me and treat me well, but also control me.”

“Okay, that’s a fair point about fetishes, you like what you like, can’t really help that. For your questions. I would say that I like having power and control, also somewhat the flipside of your reason. I find the idea of someone giving themselves to me like that really appealing. That they would trust me like that. As for penises, I just find them unattractive, like mine is fine. But the idea of one inside me or touching someone else's is just revolting to me. Though I am really glad that isn’t the general reaction all women have to seeing one. That would suck.”

Ellen giggled. “I mean, plenty of straight women do think a penis looks horrible. What about you, with vaginas? Do you like the way they look?”

Mark got up and thought about it, throwing his ball. “I guess I haven’t really thought about it before, but a little? I think.” Mark missed one pin, quickly threw again, and picked up the spare. “Like if you asked me to pick features on a woman I liked, it wouldn’t come to mind first, but it would be on the list.”

“Oh, you have a list, do tell.” Ellen said, moving to take her turn, but shot slightly off because Mark answered, getting a partial split, leaving three pins up.

“Well, I am kind of a whole package guy first and foremost, but I would say in general it would go: small waist, good looking face, perky breasts, style of dress, shorter women, long legs to torso ratio, fit but not overly muscular women, a nice smackable a—butt, and a trimmed crotch. But like I said, it's how their whole frame comes together.”

Ellen took her shot but couldn’t pick up the spare on the split. “Darn it. So were you disappointed then with Laura’s transformation? I thought they were supposed to appeal to your tastes?”

“Don’t get me wrong, Laura, looks like a warrior goddess now. Absolutely ten out of ten.”

“But…” Ellen added, sensing there was a but coming as Mark walked up to take his turn.

“But, if I could shrink her down to be my height or shorter, preferably shorter, but otherwise keep her frame, I would like that a lot. I love her muscles, bigger breasts, and youth. Her legs are to die for. But yeah, I would prefer to be taller than her. I actually think that is why she is only 6’7” and not over 7’0” tall. I actually thought the transformation would have made her much taller than she is. But no, I am not disappointed with her transformation; she looks good like that.”

“So… If you became a Greek Adonis shooting up to 7’0” tall, would you want her shorter then?”

Mark thought about that as he threw his ball. “I don’t know, maybe just a tad shorter, like an inch or two. See, as I mentioned style of dress was one of the things high on my list. If I were to break that down, while heels aren’t at the top of that list, they are the reason that shorter women are the next thing on my list of turn-ons. So if I were 7’0” tall and she was just slightly shorter, she could wear like 2” or 3” heels, and I would still have a decent height difference.”

“I swear, if you get your ‘old average’, I’m going to be a bit annoyed. So it isn’t short women per se, but being taller. Well, maybe you’ll get lucky and will get something to make you taller. I would actually talk to Laura about her changes tomorrow, by the way. Physically, I think she changed the most, even with Allie and Flora getting new ears and a tail, and Aubrey being able to control her hair. I think it might be weirding her out a bit.”

“Did she actually say anything, or is this just a vibe? I’d like to know so I know how to approach the topic.”

Ellen responded right after throwing her ball, “A vibe mostly, Talia said something that made me think Laura had talked to her about it and was getting used to it, but it was a big change.

“Okay, thanks, also good job on the strike. I’ll ask about it tomorrow.” Assuming I have time between all the sex.

“Well, we seem to have gone off on a tangent. You were asking me questions, but we seemed to be back on you telling me stuff about you.”

“Right, my bad. So let’s see. I guess, ideally, what would you like in a romantic partner?” Mark asked right before throwing the ball.

“Oh, too bad you missed one. But for a partner… Hmm. First and foremost, I would want someone who respects me for who I am. Supports my acting career, but also my desire not to have my personal relationship in the spotlight. I think I would like kids eventually, but I’m not sure. Someone who is gentle and loving but also willing to tie me up and dominate me in the bedroom. It would also be nice if we actually had common interests and they were handsome as well.” She paused as Mark threw his ball, watching his butt as he moved, and picked up the spare. “Honestly, so far, you seem pretty much like my perfect match, Mark. I really had my doubts on the first day when Cassandra said we were compatible, in another timeline. But I could see how that is possible, if we met under the right circumstances.”

“Your perfect match, huh?”

“Please don’t get an inflated ego; that is a turnoff,” Ellen said, going up and taking her turn getting a strike. “But, I mean, if someone asked me to describe my ideal partner physically. You would be a decent approximation for a sketch artist to have drawn. Like maybe I would have said some minor corrections, but around eighty to eighty-five percent accurate.”

“Oh? What would you change? Not that I’m going to go and do that, mind you, but I would still like to know.”

“Mostly little things, which normally I wouldn’t bring attention to since you couldn’t change them really, but magic is a thing, so maybe you can. Would you actually like me to be brutally honest or gentle?”

“Brutally honest please.” Mark said, getting up to take his turn.

Ellen waited for him to throw before starting to speak. “Well, your nose could be a little smaller, chin a little wider. Normally, I prefer black hair or redheads. I think you would look better in black, though. You could be a bit more muscular. Maybe two inches taller? Lastly, did you know that one side of your face is like a centimeter lower than the other, like your whole face, lips, eyes, eyebrows, and your ears, which are also not the same shape? One ear is significantly bigger, and the difference in height of your face is most pronounced there. You almost always have your head tilted ever so slightly to compensate for it, too.” Ellen stopped noticing Mark’s expression.

Mark’s shoulders tensed a little, cringing, and he was slouching more, not looking directly at Ellen. His face was flushed, and he had instinctively moved one hand up to his larger ear. He looked really uncomfortable. “Mark, I’m so sorry. You said brutally honest, and it all just spilled out when I got going. I really do like how you look.”

-1 VP Emotionally Hurt the Master via insulting appearance (+1 Master Specifically asked for Brutal Honesty, no shift in points.)

“It’s fine, Ellen. I was actually fine until you got to the end. I noticed that myself, and have been really self-conscious about it since I did. It does bother me.”

“Mark… I’m sorry. As I said, I would never have brought that up specifically to a partner in the outside world. Maybe a colleague who was considering plastic surgery or something, but never anyone else. The hair and muscles would have been literally the only things I would have told you if you asked me to be gentle, since those are things that you could do something about. No one should be made to feel ashamed of their bodies. I’m so sorry that I made you feel that way.” Ellen got up and went to hug Mark. Which helped him relax a bit.

+1 VP Hug the Master

“Thanks, I’ll be okay. Just give me a minute. Take your turn, and we’ll continue to talk.”

So Ellen got up to take her turn. She didn’t notice Mark walk off a bit as she threw her ball and watched as she got a strike. When she turned around, she saw Mark standing there a little bit better and had his arm outstretched with some food in a loose paper wrapper. “I got us cookies. Welcome to the Darkside.”

She walked over, smirking at his joke, took the large warm cookie in one hand, and placed her other hand on his cheek, looked into his eyes for a moment, and kissed him. She pushed into him, sliding her hand from his cheek around to his back, deliberately pushing her breasts up against him, while he slid his free hand around her waist. They continued to kiss just standing there for a while. Then Mark stopped, kissed her on the top of her head, and just held her for a minute.

+2 VP Kiss Master on the Lips

“Thank you, that made me feel a lot better.” Mark said.

“I enjoyed it too.” Ellen replied as she rested her head on his chest. “Now I believe it is your last frame.” Ellen just watched Mark as he took deep breaths and lined up each of his shots. Looking more centered after each one. Then she pouted slightly as he turned around. “You just had to finish with three more strikes to get your average range, didn’t you, Master Schlong?”

Mark just chuckled, “Hey, I would watch it. Next thing you know, you’ll be in a superhero movie like you wanted, but your hero name will be Boobalicous. Actually, that isn’t a horrible name for a porno. ‘Boobalicous takes on Master Schlong’.”

“You aren’t suggesting that I’ll be a pron star, are you…”

“You know, Talia asked a similar question when she realized the implications of the audience watching this, and what we do is live-streamed. I’ll tell you the same thing I told her. No, I don't think you’ll be a porn star. Porn stars get paid to be filmed having sex.”

“Oh… OH NO. There’s going to be a sex tape of me out eventually because of the show isn’t there?”

“Probably not in our world. Cassandra said they didn’t actually live-stream directly to our universe. I had to read erotic fiction, not watch the season live.”

“Oh, so there will just be more smut about me online.” Ellen thought about that for a moment and then squinted at Mark, “Speaking of which…”

“Ellen, I’m going to stop you for a second. Do you really want the answer to that question?”

She thought for a moment and continued. “How much smut about me have you consumed? Like, how much have you masturbated to the thought of me? And did you ever imagine me while having sex?”

“Okay, well, I did ask you to think about it. A lot. I’ve read and viewed a lot of smut and porn with you in it. And I masturbate frequently, or at least I used to. That might not be a problem for me so much anymore. I have never imagined you in place of my partner, though. I actually don’t think I’ve ever imagined it was someone else.”

“I’ve never been in porn. How would you have seen porn with me in it?”

“Deep fakes, drawings, hentai, lots of hentai. Especially of you as your characters. Sorry if that makes you uncomfortable.”

“I see… I mean, I know that stuff like that is out there. Thank you for being honest about it. I’ve had a boyfriend or two that I found reading and looking at stuff like that after saying they didn’t. I’ve actually read some of it and liked it. Like, normally you have to pretend you are the character in the story, but they are actually writing about me. Now most of it is just depraved bullshit, though. Maybe… maybe someday we could read something about me together and act out the scene?”

“Sure, I may or may not have a decent list of stories to suggest as options.”

“Just how much smut did you read? Actually, don’t answer that.” Ellen walked over to finish her own final frame. Barely missed a strike on the first throw again, but picked up the spare. She finished her final throw with a strike.

“Good finish. Was this a good game for you or a normal one?”

“I don’t go bowling a lot. I've done better, but normally do a little worse. So, a good game overall.” Ellen got really serious for a moment, “So important question for you now. Do I get a second date?” she teased.

Mark couldn’t help but laugh. “Of course you do. This was fun.”

“Well, I would say let's go shopping, but I was actually trying to be frugal myself already. Hoping to save for the library. I’m glad you asked because I was trying to figure out how to explain that I didn’t want to spend my BP if I didn’t have enough. I also didn’t want to get too big for the challenge, if I could help it. So I was thinking of increasing my size soon and then doing some right after the challenge, so I would have lost some breast sizes by the second challenge, so I’m still at a manageable size for physical activities.”

“That’s smart. And I’m glad to hear you actually wanted the library. I felt a little guilty about asking you like that, and was super glad to see everyone willing to chip in.”

“Yeah, I’m pleased by that too. I was really concerned I would be broke afterwards. So what do you want to do, now?”

“Well, we could just head back to the suite, or maybe check out the library you're going to be buying. I wonder where it is?”

“Let’s try and check out the library. I bet we can ask Freya or Cassandra where it is, and by we, I mean you.”

“Sure, Hey Cassandra?”

“No. Pick up your phone.” Cassandra’s voice came over the loudspeaker.

“Are you willing to let us go home if we want? Because I’ll make that trade. Oh, how about this: sell me one of Laura’s favors, and I will sincerely do my best to at least text you, if I need you barring emergencies.”

~Pop~

“You know… I’m almost tempted to accept that offer. Almost. Tell you what, I don’t want to sell them to you, but I also really want this shtick to end. So here’s my counteroffer. One, Ellen, you need to use your boon, right now, at least five sizes all at once, the audience will love it. Which, by the way, is the max you can do at once. Two, you must actually use the favor by the end of the second challenge to request something of Laura, and it must be equal in scope to the value I place on the favor. Three, and you can’t tell anyone else that this is part of the deal, you as well, Ellen: You tell Laura that you don’t mind Laura casting whatever magic she wants on you tomorrow.”

Mark thought about it and pulled out his phone to check what spells Laura had. So Induce Impulse is the only one I really have to worry about, but if I know she’s casting that on me, then I should be able to ignore it better. “Assuming Ellen is okay with this…” Mark looked at Ellen, who thought about it and nodded. “I have two additional stipulations to accept the deal. Don’t worry, they are fairly small, and if you aren't trying to trick me, then they shouldn’t be a problem. First, is that Laura isn’t able to gain any new magic spells until after our date. I’m not having you try to use the last favor to get her to get another spell, and use it on me.”

“That is acceptable… What’s the second stipulation?”

“You teleport us directly outside the library from here. I do not want to take the elevator, and the ceiling in the hall looks like it's 200 ft tall.”

“It is actually 100m tall.” Cassandra clarified.

“Right, and this is subbasement 3, meaning we either take the elevator or climb 300m of stairs. We also don’t know where the library is. Which we want to go to.”

“Well, that’s fine, I can agree to those terms, but I need both of you to shake on it. And Ellen to actually increase her size.” Cassandra extended her hand. Mark shook it. Ellen hesitated for a moment, but they also shook it. Then she increased her hip/butt size five times, gaining ten inches. “Well, Mark is my butt smackable now?” She was sticking her butt out directly at him, but far enough away that he couldn’t without getting up.

+750 BP For increased Hip/Butt Size x5 (50/100/150/200/250)

3275 BP-> 4025BP.

Mark took in a deep breath, “It looks great, Ellen,” then he smirked, “Why don’t you bring it a little closer and we’ll find out how smackable it is?”

“Uh… maybe later.”

“Cassandra, before you go, how do I know how big the favor needs to be?”

“Just think about it, and you’ll get a rough estimate. Now, do you need a minute, or can I teleport you?”

Mark looked at Ellen, and she just nodded that she was good. “Okay, teleport us.”

~Pop~

A moment later, and a bit of nausea. They found themselves in the lobby of the Rose-Crowned Court.

“Yeah, teleporting takes some getting used to. Sorry about the queasiness, it will pass in a second.”

“Okay, why are we at the palace?”

“You asked me to take you to the library. You know, The Master’s Library? Where did you think it would be with a name like that? It’s the largest set of doors in the east wing. Though I will say that. Unless you spend BP, Ellen can’t touch or read any of the books. Mark, you can, but you are limited to an hour of reading a day. That will be lifted if and when Ellen or you buy the Library. Also, Ellen, you and those you give permission to will be able to use the portals in town to come directly to the library if you purchase it. But you can’t leave the library except through the way you entered it, no matter what. This is to prevent people from trying to use it to disturb the Master. Well, enjoy you two.” Cassandra left.

~Pop~

“Well, I feel dumb. Of course, it would be here. Well, let’s go see what it looks like.” They walked down to the end of the hall to find a massive set of double doors intricately carved with golden filigree and arched by a set of golden feathers down each side, with an ornate bird’s head at the top. “Well, this is ostentatious. I am actually surprised after how tame the Master’s suite was. Well, let’s go in.” Mark opened the doors to reveal a massive library. “Wow, I figured it would be big. I’ve been to the Library of Congress, but this dwarfs that by a lot.”

“I know, look at that hallway on the side over there. Am I hallucinating, or does that look like the horizon? Like the ceiling is definitely going below the ground there right?”

“Yeah, I think you’re right. but that doesn’t make sense. The horizon would be a few miles away.”

“Three to three and a half, depending upon some things, but yes. Mark, this place is huge. Actually, wait. We aren’t on Earth, right? I mean, it is still long, don’t get me wrong, but maybe the planet is smaller? So the horizon would be closer?”

“Honestly, I’m going to put it under magic since the inside is bigger than the outside. Maybe the hallway doesn’t have an end, and it’s just aesthetic to look that way.”

“Maybe… Mark? Look, I don’t mean to sound like a downer or anything, and I’m definitely buying this place, but… Do you really think we will be able to find something in all this?”

“I don’t know if we’ll find what we are looking for or not. But the fact that the TF mentions books about the show means that they have to be actually findable. Findable in a useful time frame, too. Otherwise, what’s the point? The audience would be pissed at Cassandra if she made it so that you couldn’t find any books about the show or the other contestants, before the show ends.”

“That makes sense. I really need to start thinking of this more like reality TV. Like it’s one thing if we leave something unresolved. It's another thing entirely if the show runners introduce something and it leads to nothing, but a waste of time when actually pursued. Actually, that makes me really hopeful.”

“About what?” Mark questioned.

“Helping ASTRID. Think about it, if it were truly hopeless. Like 100% hopeless from the get-go. Maybe they let this play out for a short bit, a couple of episodes, or the like. But I doubt that it would be allowed to play out for a full season, unless it is at least possible. Sure, we might fail or be unwilling to pay the price. Those narratives are compelling still, if sad and depressing. But, if it was never possible in the first place, especially when the point of the show is building you a Harem? I’ve worked with plenty of directors. I haven’t done a reality show, but I know people who have. This is a side plot that Cassandra has introduced, intentionally. She didn’t need to include a person turned cybernetic robot in a fairytale-themed show. That clashes. She could have kept ASTRID in the background, not to expose us to her. The facilities are all fantasy on the outside, but the inside is a mix of the two, half fantasy and half sci-fi. So I think you’re right, there is a way to help her. I don’t know if the info is in here or not, either. But… We’ll look.” Ellen then made a face.

“What’s wrong, Ellen?”

“Well… I just realized how much I’m going to have to use my boon… because Talia’s estimation was very much an underestimation. I need 6000 more BP, and at 750 BP per five size increases, that’s forty size increases in total.”

“Crap. Sorry. That is a lot, though.”

“Yeah, and thanks. I’ve noticed you’ve been trying to swear less, already. So thanks.”

“How about we grab some lunch, and then we can watch a movie or two and relax.”

“Sure, we are watching ‘Pitch Black’ by the way, I was serious about that. If it was good enough to be alongside ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ as your favorites, it has to be at least decent.”

“Okay, but what if it is, like one of those things that I like a lot but others don’t?”

“Still doesn’t matter, it can’t be that bad, if you rate it that highly. Who’s the lead?”

“Vin Diesel came out… early 2000s? Not sure exactly when. But a while ago. My understanding is that it did poorly at the box office but was later successful.”

“Oh, it’s a sleeper film.” Seeing Mark’s confusion, “That’s the term for what you just described. It’s different from a cult classic, as the reason it didn’t do well is usually either little to no publicity leading up to the film, or it was released alongside a far more popular film, so no one went to see it. Then maybe years later, it becomes widely popular. Whereas a cult classic just gets picked up by a dedicated group of fans, but tends not to ever break into wide popularity. A film can be both as well.”

“Alright, well let’s get some lunch, I’m starving.” Mark said, taking Ellen’s hand and walking back to the suite.