I heard there was a secret chord, that David played, and it pleased the lord

Mr. S clapped his hands together. He had quite a bright smile on his face, not that anyone could quite make out any specific features of it, and his equally-undecipherable eyes were sparkling mirthfully.

Nick shivered. He didn’t like the cheeriness in this man’s expression, and he couldn’t imagine that anybody else did, either. No, they all looked quite nervous about the situation, and Nick couldn’t blame them for a second.

Mr. S didn’t seem to notice, or more likely, he just didn’t care.

“Now then, you ladies have been through quite a lot today, so I have no intention of putting any further burden on you,” Mr. S assured the contestants, his voice oozing with condescension. “With that in mind, we should get to it! Let’s not waste any more time, let’s get those transformations settled, shall we now?”

When he finished, Nick felt the stage rumble slightly. It passed as soon as it came, but it left him with an uneasy feeling in his chest- like something very wrong was going on here. As if the island itself was shivering at the producer’s presence.

“Now… it’s been a while since I’ve done this, so forgive me if I’m a little rusty,” Mr. S said, stretching his fingers out in front of him like he was trying to get rid of a crick in his back. Nick could almost hear bones snapping.

Then the producer stood up straight and turned his eyes upon Dani.

“We’ll start with Ms. Montenue over here,” he purred. “Given that she was one of our two victors.”

Dani gulped, looking tensely at the producer. But with everything she’d been through up until this point, she wasn’t going to be intimidated.

Besides- the transformations she’d been given this round weren’t the worst things ever. She could make do with whatever she got.

“Your vote was fairly straightforward,” Mr. S informed the tomboy. “Not a lot of drama in that one. The transformation you’ve been given is… Down Bad.”

He gestured to the screen, where the text of Dani’s transformation appeared.

• Down Bad: As a siren, it is in Dani’s nature to be sexually arousing. Her feathers will now have a stimulating quality to them, and anybody who gets tickled by her feathers will find themselves getting more aroused the longer they remain in contact. [NOTE: This applies to feathers that are plucked as well.] (Siren)

Dani frowned. That definitely wasn’t an issue for her. It might make things awkward at night, but she could deal with that. Although she would have liked the outdoor one.

What did bother her was that there was no sign of action from the producer’s part. No grand flourish, no wave of the cane. Did he have some other way of giving her the transformation, or was it-

“Waaah!” Dani suddenly felt unsteady on her feet, like the sand beneath her was shifting. Her eyes shot down to see the beach rumble and roil, and then a burst of light erupted from beneath her, swallowing her whole.

“Dani!” Carly sprung to her feet and rushed to Dani’s side. Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin reached her first, already on alarm.

“What did you do!?” Vivian demanded, her eyes fierce. Kim growled and clenched her fist, bristling. For once, the two of them were on the same page.

Mr. S rolled his eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic,” he scoffed, shaking his head. “She’s fine. Look!”

The light died down and Dani stumbled back, collapsing in the beach chair. She had a dazed expression on her face and she shook her head, looking numbly at her friends.

“I… sorry, I just…”

“There’s nothing to apologize for,” Mr. S assured her. “You’re just a little dizzy because I had to use my own strength as the producer to give you your transformation, that’s all. It’s much easier to focus things through my cane. Now then, next is…”

He turned his eyes upon Ella, who jumped.

“W-wait!” Ella held up her hands. “If… if you go too hard, then… then Cinder might-!”

“I assure you, it’s quite fine,” Mr. S said with a laugh, and gestured to the screen. “Now then, for you, princess, the audience decided- quite fittingly- that your transformation would be… A Princess’s Modesty!”

The screen shifted to display the text of the transformation.

• A Princess’s Modesty: A princess must always remain chaste and modest. With that said, on Harem Hotel these are difficult goals to aspire towards. Whenever either alter finds themselves embarrassed by a sexual occurrence and feel they’ve behaved immodestly, they will receive a spike of arousal that may compel them to repeat the behavior again. [NOTE: If repeated too often they may no longer find themselves embarrassed, so this may have diminishing returns. Use sparingly! (Or don’t.)] (Faerie Tale)

Shame blossomed across Ella’s face and she felt her body start to heat up. “Th-that-!”

“A perfect transformation for a girl like you!” Mr. S chirped, and the ground beneath Ella’s seat erupted in a flash of black light that lasted only a moment, before receding and leaving a dazed and confused young woman to sink into her chair.

Fortunately for Ella, she was wrong- Cinder did not, in fact, take over.

“I’m next, right?” Sylvia leaned forward in her chair, her eyes sparkling. Now that she knew Dani and Ella were fine, there was no need to be worried about them!

“Yes, you are,” Mr. S said, turning to her.

“Let me guess- Fudging It won, didn’t it?” Sylvia chortled, knowing her old audience all too well. “And by a mile, I’ll bet!”

Mr. S blinked. “…Yes, it did,” he confirmed.

Sylvia made a triumphant fist. “Aw yeah! THAT’S what I’m talking about! Woohoo! Oh yeah, oh yeah! Awesome!”

“…But I won’t be giving you that transformation.”

“…HUH!?” Sylvia was broken from her triumphant cheer and looked at the producer with an expression of stunned betrayal. “Wh-what!? Why not?!” She demanded. “That one’s perfect for me, and I know the audience loved it!”

“Oh, they did, and if it was a runaway success, maybe I would have let you have it,” Mr. S said. “However… there is something that needs addressing. Sylvia, you are aware that the round is almost over, correct?”

Sylvia blinked. “Uh…”

“By the end of the day?”

“Right…”

“And have you gotten done everything that needs doing?” The producer pressed.

She stared blankly at him.

Mr. S cleared his throat. “I believe you have a transformation you can only use once a round, isn’t that right?”

Realization dawned on the white-haired girl. “Oh yeah! Fuck the Voters!” She laughed. “I almost completely forgot!”

Dawn shook her head in disbelief. “How do you forget a transformation that useful?” She muttered under her breath.

Sylvia frowned. “…Wait, what does that have to do with my transformation now, though?” She asked, confused.

Mr. S walked to the edge of the stage and leaned down, looking her in the eye. “Sylvia, as a host, you were fairly capable and competent. Save a few minor errors here and there. But since becoming a contestant and getting aged down like this, you’ve become… hmm… what’s the word… …Flighty, I think that’s a good description.”

Sylvia stared dumbly at him. “Eh?”

“You have a transformation that only works once a round, and you’ve neglected to use it at all, even though there were times it could have helped you in the challenge,” Mr. S pointed out. “Not to mention your last transformation, which lets you upgrade one transformation for each contestant each round?”

“Yeah, but I did all those!” Sylvia pointed out.

The producer shrugged. “Needless to say… I find myself wondering what would happen if I gave you this transformation, giving you even more influence over other transformations, allowing you to adjust them even more… you might get so overwhelmed with your options that you spend all your time upgrading and fudging and playing with other transformations… and not nearly enough time focusing on what really matters.”

He pointed behind him, at Nick. Sylvia followed with her eyes and then looked down sheepishly. “Well, that’s…”

“I would like to see better from you, Sylvia, so I’m not going to give you even more tools to distract yourself,” Mr. S said. “Instead, I’ll give you the transformation that only lost out by a couple of votes, The Nose Knows. Perhaps with that one, you might be more attune to the others around you, and the needs of your ‘Daddy’ as well.”

Before Sylvia could say anything she was engulfed in a brilliant black light as the text of her new transformation played across the screen.

• The Nose Knows: Sylvia’s sense of smell will be enhanced to the point where she will be able to sniff out changes in other people’s hormone levels and thus be able to discern their moods, whether they’re aroused, angry, tired, sad, or any other emotions that are impacted by a person’s hormones. (Empathy)

From there, Mr. S moved with such swift fluidity it was like he was fog. His attention was on Carly next. “Ms. Granger, as for you…”

“Wh-what?” Carly was immediately on her guard. Usually she was pretty chill about these, but after the dressing-down Sylvia had just gotten…

“You had a very close vote,” Mr. S said, smiling broadly. “Very close indeed. But- the more fun option won out, I think. Free Sample!”

• Free Sample: Part of being adventurous means trying out new things that you’ve never thought of before. With this transformation, any time Carly touches someone, she will temporarily acquire one of that person’s fetishes! Whether it’s footplay, BDSM, maid costumes, Carly will acquire a taste for it! Only one fetish can be acquired at a time, and if the current fetish is not indulged, it will fade after a couple of hours like nothing ever happened! (Adventurous)

Carly shielded herself as the light swept over her next, leaving her tired and exhausted and physically-unchanged. But as she staggered back to her seat, Marley made sure to scoot off and give her some space.

She’d rather not have her sister copy any of her fetishes. Not that she had any.

“Now, after Carly, we come to Gina,” Mr. S said, turning his attention to the punk girl. “And your transformation vote was anything but close. And I’m glad- the audience has a very fun one in store for you.”

Gina shivered when he said that. “Um… like… fun as in… plenty of stamina?” She asked, even when knowing exactly what he meant.

The producer shook his head and gestured to the screen, which displayed the transformation clearly for her to read. “No.”

• Surrender Your Body: The most total act of submission that a submissive can give their partner is to surrender even control over their own body. With this transformation, the master will have complete control over Gina’s body. If he wants her to be turned on, then she will become sexually aroused. If he wants her to feel nervous and shy, then her heart will start pounding. Even her reproductive functions can be controlled at will. [NOTE: Of course, the master can temporarily relinquish his claim over any or all controls over her body, in which case they will return to their normal function until further notice.] (Submissive)

Gina gulped and the color drained from her face. Not that you could tell, because she was swallowed by the light a second later. She flopped back in her seat, pale and exhausted, and just stared vacantly ahead.

She didn’t… feel any different (other than the draining) but something had definitely changed, right? It had to have.

“Gina… this is a test,” Mr. S said, almost sounding considerate of her. “A test both for you… and for your master.”

Gina’s eyes flickered over to Nick, and she saw the worried look on her face. Her first thought was how touching it felt, seeing him so concerned for her.

Then Mr. S appeared to block her view.

“You’ve come a long way, Gina, but what you and your master need most is to truly- and honestly- talk about your boundaries.” The producer smirked. “No choice now.”

He snapped his fingers and was done with her, leaving the stunned girl to contemplate the weight of the transformation she’d just been left with.

“Moving on, we have Morgana,” Mr. S said, turning to the goth girl. “And while this vote wasn’t exactly close, there was definitely one that the audience en masse seemed to reject. Overcast. Now, it would amuse me to give you that anyway, but no- your transformation is a test for you, as well, in a manner of speaking.”

Morgana gulped. She didn’t like the sound of that.

And when she saw the screen, she didn’t like the look of it, either.

• Am I What You Always Wanted?: It’s hard for any woman to be a man’s perfect fantasy. Even with a transformation. But it’s very easy to become what you believe to be a man’s perfect fantasy! Morgana will be able to temporarily transform her body and mind to become someone right out of her fantasies! But she has a very active imagination… [NOTE: The results will be as tumultuous as Morgana’s esteem. The more intricate and complex the fantasy, the shorter it lasts.] (Fantasy)

“You’ve been opening up more to Nick, and showing him your real self,” Mr. S noted as the light swallowed the goth girl whole. “Now it’s time to let him see you become the person you’ve always wanted to be. Within reason, of course. Can you keep your worries and insecurities from dominating your thoughts, I wonder…?”

“Uh… she’s not really listening right now,” Kim pointed out. The light around Morgana died down and the dazed goth girl collapsed in her seat, not having heard a word of the producer’s.

Mr. S blinked. “…Oh.”

He didn’t let that bother him, though, and happily moved right along. “Well then, it doesn’t matter. Vivian, you’re up next.”

“Eh!?” Vivian squeaked, surprised at how quickly he had moved past what was clearly a very important transformation for Morgana.

“Your transformation will be Checklist,” Mr. S informed her, adjusting the screen. “Apparently, the audience believes that, after your behavior this round, it would benefit you to have a bit of a humbling. Or, if you want to look at it another way, you’ve been given the opportunity to live up to the expectations they have for you. If you’d like to make friends here, show them that you can be a good friend and help them out. Wouldn’t you agree?”

• Checklist: It’s important for the manager of a harem to ensure that all the needs of its members are being met. Each round, Vivian will receive a checklist with individual tasks designed to aid other members of the harem, and will feel compelled to complete the tasks listed out to help her fellow harem sisters. (Harem Manager)

Vivian held her breath. As the light wrapped around her and transformed her, she couldn’t help but wonder how this was any different from her previous coping mechanism of trying to buy the friendship of others with gifts and favors.

Maybe it wasn’t, and that was part of Mr. S’s sick game.

Chuckling, he turned next to Dawn, who frowned, leering back at him from behind her glasses.

“Let me guess,” she sighed. “Acing the Dismount?” It made sense that the audience would want her to get a few more degrees of sexual competence.

“Actually, no,” Mr. S said, amused by her wrongness. “The audience thinks that what would suit you best is Showing Off. And I can’t say I blame them. Take it from someone who has poured over the data, but your nights of having sex with the master are some of the most popular in the season! The audience quite enjoys you… cutting loose.”

Dawn’s face turned red. So red that she was glad no one could see how embarrassed she was as the light from the transformation wrapped around her.

• Showing Off: It isn’t enough to just be better at sex than the other girls (which she isn’t) she has to prove it, too. Whenever Dawn is having great sex with the master, she will be compelled to let everyone in earshot know it, losing all filter and being as loud as possible, and loving every minute of it. (Competitive)

Nothing physical about her changed, obviously, not that it mattered with the temporary transformations she had that had already altered her significantly. But those would go away. What wouldn’t go away, apparently, was her newfound love of moaning at the top of her lungs during sex, and trying to one-up whoever else was around to hear.

Given her other transformation that urged her to get into sex competitions with other girls in Nick’s harem, and Dawn could see a lot of awkward times in her future. (Not that she would turn down the option of competitions or anything. It was still better to win and prove her dominance, duh.)

“And then, of course, we have Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin,” Mr. S said, turning to the assassin who was halfway back to her seat. She turned to look at him, a sly smile on her face.

The producer smiled right back. “I think you’ll find this one most enjoyable,” he said, gesturing to the screen. He read it aloud for good measure.

• The Daily Grind: Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin will receive a new fascination with her ass, along with enjoying the feeling of rubbing it against other people, particularly giving lap dances. Grinding up against someone will result in a massive burst of pleasure to the point where she can even cum from it. (Dancer)

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin nodded. It was definitely one she saw herself enjoying, that much was clear from the smile on her face.

Nick felt a shiver when she turned to look at him, right before the light swallowed her. Oh, yeah, she had plans.

When the light faded, the assassin was the first woman to actually remain steady on her feet. Using her natural grace, she returned to her seat and sat down, as the producer moved on to Kim next.

“Now, Kim, you have the dubious pleasure of the audience being split right down the middle with you,” Mr. S informed the student.

“Huh?” Kim wasn’t sure what that meant.

“Two of your transformations were so close in the rankings that a single vote was all it took to make the difference,” Mr. S informed her. He clicked his tongue and shook his head. “A shame, too… it would have been nice for you to get both of them, but alas, you’ll only be getting one today…”

Kim gulped. Two of her three transformations were awful! She couldn’t stand either of them! And it had been that close to a tie?! Oh please, please don’t let the tie be between those two, please let me get the studying one!

A studying transformation might have been a pain in the ass, but it was only one night out of the round. Way better than having to masturbate every morning, or be considerate to everyone at her job.

Mr. S seemed to relish in the panic on her face. “And so,” he crooned, “by a single vote’s difference, the audience decided to give you… …Cram Session.”

• Cram Session: In order to ensure that her night with the master goes off without a hitch, Kim will feel compelled the night before to study up on sexual activities and other sexual topics in the hopes of doing her best for him. She’ll take copious notes, which she will be allowed to bring with her into the bedroom! (Student)

Nick had never seen Kim look more relieved than she did in that moment, as her worst fears were narrowly avoided. She was so relieved that she hardly seemed to notice the way the light swallowed her, leaving her exhausted in her seat. It hardly mattered given her current situation.

Mr. S turned his attention to the next girl in order. Only two left to go.

“Now we have Amelia, the stepmother,” he crooned. “The teacher. And unlike our little hard-studying schoolgirl over there, the audience was quite sure about what they wanted you to be getting. Home Visit!”

• Home Visit: On a random evening, Amelia will make a surprise inspection of the Master’s Suite, to see how things are going between the master and whichever contestant is spending the night with him. She will observe them having intercourse and provide feedback, and will not leave until the act has been completed to her satisfaction. (Teacher)

Nick recognized the look of slight disgust on his stepmother’s face all too well. She was good at keeping it to herself, but it was obvious that she was quite against this transformation. But there was nothing she could do about it. The light engulfed her, and she was left with a transformation that was less a transformation, and more accurately described as an obligation she would be forced to meet.

And one that she clearly was disdainful of.

“And that just leaves our beautiful Rose Beausoleil,” Mr. S crooned, turning to the final contestant, the girl who had yet to receive any transformations.

Rose tried to look composed, she did. But it had been such a long day, and she was so exhausted, that she found herself feeling absolutely wrecked.

“Come on,” she groaned, shaking her head. “Please don’t tell me… they didn’t…!”

“Oh, I’m afraid they did,” Mr. S said with barely-contained amusement. “In fact, out of all the transformations this round, this one received the biggest percentage of votes by far, at 66%! That means a whopping two-thirds of the audience thought that you would be just perfect… with fox ears and a little tail.”

Rose looked like she was about to throw up. “W-wait-!”

No waiting. Mr. S didn’t even give her time to read the words he summoned on the screen, as the light wrapped around her body, bathing her in darkness.

• Youko Ono: There’s nothing more seductive than a demonic fox. As atonement for her sins against foxkind, Rose will receive the curse of the demon fox, and become a youko with fox ears, a fox tail, and spiritual powers of seduction and mild transformation. (Seductress)

When the light finally faded, Rose was standing there completely changed. And Nick had to admit, as distressed as she appeared… she really did look cute like this.