Icebreakers (and Wet T-Shirts)

“Franklin? Are you alright?” shouted Evie as she moved briskly down the stairs toward the slumped-over man. It wasn’t until she was kneeling in front of him that she realized she was no longer in the museum and no longer with the crowd she had left behind. “Trudy?”

The short-haired blonde grimaced as she replied, “Hey, Evie, he’s ok, he just hit the wall pretty hard. Sorry you had to get wrapped up in all this.”

“He wasn’t anywhere near a wall when he fell,” the younger woman questioned, “and what are you doing here? I’ve never seen you in a dress before, didn’t think this was your kind of thing.”

Confused, Trudy asked, “Um… where exactly do you think we are?”

“The gala…” Evie paused as she finally swept her gaze around the lobby. She took in the combination of subdued, angry, and outright terrified expressions on the other women’s faces before settling on the only one who seemed calm and collected. “Where am I?”

“Welcome, Miss Haverbrook. You are our final contestant to arrive, so allow me to officially welcome you all to Harem Hotel!” Terra announced, happy to have everyone assembled at last.

Evie reached for the panic button hidden in her bracelet, only to find it was no longer on her wrist. While that should have alerted her bodyguard that she was in trouble on its own, the fact that she was in an unfamiliar place meant that she must have lost consciousness for a while, so who knows where help was at this point. Remaining calm, as she had been taught, she turned back to the woman who seemed to be in charge and told her, “If you know who I am, then you’re aware of my family’s resources. They’ll pay ransom as long as I’m not hurt in any way. I can give you my mother’s contact information if you don’t have it already.”

The Host smiled, “Oh, don’t worry, Miss Haverbrook, I can assure you’re in no danger. You’ve been chosen to be a contestant on our show! A privilege that no amount of money can buy, or avoid for that matter.”

“No danger, after what you did to us?” Adrienne scoffed from her place on the floor, not having the strength to stand after her temporary transformation. “After you just threw him across the room.” Several of the other women joined her in showing their disbelief.

“No danger as long as you follow the rules. An important one is that **** against Harem Hotel staff is strictly prohibited. Grounds for elimination in the case of contestants,” Terra explained. She turned to Franklin and made a mark on her notes. “For the Master, any repeated attempts will likely come with consequences for the members of your harem. You’ll have to find a different way to play the hero, Master Porter.”

A soft glow surrounded Franklin for a moment, and he felt the pain in his back recede before it disappeared completely. He sat up fully, looking into the eyes of the newest arrival. “Genevieve…”

Terra spoke over what was sure to be another empty apology. “I know you were both looking forward to spending time with each other at the gala. Luckily, now you’ll be able to get to know each other a lot better. Now, please get up so we can start going over the basics. There’s a lot to cover at the start. First off, just for consistency, if you could please introduce yourself, Miss Haverbrook? Your name, occupation, how you know Franklin here, and the last sexual activity you participated in. You as well, Miss Porter. In all the commotion, we didn’t get to that.”

Seeing the young heiress look down, blushing, Zelda spoke first, “Zelda Porter, 19, college student, he’s my brother, none unless you count jilling off to Henry Cavill.” Franklin just sighed, used to his sister’s bluntness but knowing it wouldn’t help the nervous socialite. He caught the younger girl’s eye and whispered, “It’s OK, no one’s going to judge.”

Evie still looked nervous. “My name is Genevieve Haverbrook. I’m 18 and attending St. Catherine University. Franklin is an acquaintance of my family. I…”

Terra motioned for the girl to continue, readying her pen in case a push was necessary, but Evie finished in a rush, “I let a girl go down on me at school.”

“Catholic schools, you gotta love em,” Claudia whispered Lyra, who gave her a sour look.

Zelda offered her brother a hand as he got to his feet. Franklin moved to the front of the group, standing in front of his sister and the two younger women he had only known from their profiles before the night had started. Trudy and Evie stuck close by his side as Adrienne and Lyra stood apart. Claudia moved closer to Dara, trying to get the bespectacled woman’s attention discreetly.

“You’ve been looking around this whole time, see anything interesting?” the thief asked the scientist.

“Not really. There are a lot of doors, but none of them seem to lead outside. That’s odd if this is supposed to be a hotel. They all have plaques on them, with letters. The front desk has a line of letters on that gold trim, too,” Dara whispered.

Claudia turned her eyes to the desk, huge and oddly empty, and saw the line of letters that Dara had pointed out.

CCCXXXIII CCCXXXIV CCCCXLIII CCCXLIV CDXXXIII CDXXXIV CDXLIII CDXLIV

Roman numerals, she noted before the Host drew everyone’s attention.

“As I’ve said, the nine of you have been chosen by our wonderful audience to be the contestants on this season of Harem Hotel. This season of the multiverse’s most beloved reality dating show is especially focused on audience participation. In fact, each of you were chosen by the audience, beating out at least one, and in many cases two, other candidates. Congratulations.” Terra said, giving a small clap.

“No chance of switching places with one of those other candidates?” asked Adrienne.

Terra scoffed, “Sorry, the audience’s decisions are final. You’re all here to win the affections of the Master, Franklin Porter, and to become the queen of his harem. To that end, you will each have time to spend with him, both together and one-on-one, and you’ll be provided with a wealth of resources to tempt, entice, and otherwise reveal your best sides to dear Franklin.”

Franklin felt several pairs of eyes on him and turned to the Host. “So what? I’m supposed to pick who I like best?”

“Not exactly, Master Porter, although your favor will certainly go a long way in deciding which of our contestants is victorious.” The host went on explaining, “On Harem Hotel, each contestant will have a running tally of what we call VP, or Victory Points. You can earn these points through certain amorous activities with the Master, in special competitions, and by garnering special attention from the audience itself. At the end of our competition, any contestant with 100 or more VP will be considered a winner, and the contestant with the most VP overall will be declared Harem Queen.”

“What happens if you don’t reach 100 points?” asked Zelda, already pessimistic regarding amorous activities.

“Then your position in the harem will be quite a bit less desirable and quite a bit more restrictive,” the Host responded simply. “Most of you already experienced some of the more… **** measures that may be taken if a contestant finds themselves uncompetitive.”

Evie looked around at the other women as they bristled at the statement. “What does she mean?” she whispered to Trudy.

The trainer started to whisper back before she was interrupted as the Host continued speaking.

“Don’t worry, ladies. As I said, the audience will make the final decisions about such things. As long as you can capture their interest and stay on their good side, you have nothing to fear. They’ll even be helping you out each round of our competition by picking out special gifts for each of you,” Terra said with a smile.

Claudia raised an eyebrow, “Oh? How sweet of them. What kind of gifts, exactly?”

“Transformative gifts, of course,” the Host announced. “They're the bread and butter of every season of Harem Hotel. Each round, you’ll each receive a magical transformation decided by the audience. Whatever they think suits you most and will help you appeal best to the Master.”

In a shaky voice, Kennedy asked from her spot behind Franklin, “Do… do you mean transformations like what happened before?”

Terra smiled warmly and replied, “Nothing as harsh as that, I’m sure. You’d be surprised how often the audience will choose something that our contestants end up embracing. Magic can do some amazing things. I’m sure you can imagine a few possibilities, Miss Hart.”

Lyra crossed her arms, “How is this audience supposed to know us well enough to pick what we want? If they thought that I would be interested in competing for him, they obviously don’t have the best judgment.”

“That’s the fun, isn’t it?” Terra replied. “Though you have a point. A brief pitch, an introductory vignette, and a short interaction might not be quite enough. Let’s have a bit of fun.”

The Host motioned for the group to follow her as she made her way over to one of the many doors that lined the lobby. Franklin recognized it immediately, “That’s the room I started in. What could we possibly do in there that would qualify as fun?”

The Host stopped in front of the door, its plaque displaying letters like all the rest. “Each of our rooms can be rearranged for an assortment of accommodations, Master Porter. Allow me to show you.” With that, she tapped the plaque with two fingers, and a screen appeared.

Room CDXXXV

Undefined

Unlock Condition: Host Approval

“You can view this information by pressing on the plaque of any door. Many will be like this one, waiting to have their use defined from a variety of options. The conditions to unlock them will vary. It could be anything from having a certain amount of VP, to winning a key in a challenge, to purchasing the rights with our special in-house currency, Bonus Points, that you’ll be able to earn in several ways that we’ll get to in just a bit.” Terra took her pen and wrote on the screen, and the screen flashed as it accepted her input.

“Different rooms will provide different benefits, allowing you to shape the Hotel as you explore more of it. You and the audience, that is. There are even a few special rooms that could be real game changers if you can reach them,” teased the Host.

Several of the contestants seemed curious about what the Host had said, looking around the lobby at the still-closed doors and wondering what game-changing could mean.

“To start us off, what would a luxury Hotel be without a pool?” Terra asked as she opened the heavy wooden door, revealing a large, seemingly outdoor space. An Olympic sized pool dominated the space, but it also featured a diving pool, jacuzzi, and a deck full of sun loungers.

As she crossed the threshold into the new space, Terra’s clothing shifted, the ornate gown becoming a black one-piece swimsuit with gold accents. She looked over her shoulder at the confused group. “Come on in, the water’s fine.”

***

The Master and Contestants looked on in confusion before launching into several questions.

“How is this here? It was a small room before.”

“Shouldn’t there be another door over there? Based on the size of the space in relation to the lobby, this should take up the entire side.”

“We’re outside? Do you think the fence is climbable? We could make a break for it.”

Terra let them exhaust their questions before responding. “Magic, remember everyone? Our rooms are the size they need to be to serve their purpose, even if that requires a bit of… specialty engineering to make possible.”

Dara stuck her head back through the doorway, comparing the lobby to the pool area, before shaking her head. She looked around the pool, noticing more doors. One was on the side opposite the entrance that looked like a gate in the fence, another stood behind the tiki bar that stood near the sun deck that could be mistaken for a supply room, and the last was behind the jacuzzi. Each had its own plaque. She wondered how large the hotel was.

“No, you won’t be able to climb over the fence. We take security very seriously here and wouldn’t want any uninvited guests after all.” Terra explained before moving to the side of the pool and taking her place in the lifeguard’s chair. “Now, to give the audience a little more information about you lovely ladies, we’re going to play a quick game. You could call it an icebreaker.” The Host brought up a new page on her clipboard and quickly made some notes, and 9 floating platforms of ice appeared in the pool. “If you’ll each take your places, we can get started.”

Trudy looked at the Host in disbelief. “In this dress? You can’t be serious.”

Smiling, Terra added to her notes. “Of course, you’re right Miss Webber. Let’s get everyone in some more fitting attire.”

Each of the women felt their formal dresses start to shrink and shift, losing their color and moving up their bodies. They were each left in a pair of bikini bottoms as they found their dresses replaced by simple white t-shirts. Their reactions varied from shock and embarrassment to anger and exasperation. Kennedy shrank back at being so exposed. Adrienne and Lyra looked furious. Trudy actually let out a sigh of relief of being out of the corset and heels.

“There, now, places please,” Terra repeated as she scribbled on her notes. Each of the contestants was picked up and floated over to one of the icy platforms and placed down. Thankfully, their heels had been replaced by flip flops that were remarkably effective at blocking out the cold. Either that or the ice was magic, they supposed.

Franklin found himself standing poolside in a pair of black swim trunks. He looked up at Terra, “Everybody hates icebreakers, you know?”

Terra laughed, “I’m sure they’ll like this one. The rules are simple. We have a few questions from our audience that you’ll be asked, some for specific contestants and some for the group. If you delay in answering them, you’ll find the platform you’re on melting a bit until you get your answer out. If for any reason you refuse to answer or don’t answer truthfully, you lose a chunk of your platform entirely. If you slip off your platform, you’re out and will be giving the Master a nice preview of what you have to offer.”

Lyra scrunched up her face. “What kinds of questions?”

“All kinds, but this is Harem Hotel,” Terra responded with a laugh.

Zelda looked down at the water before asking, “Do we get anything for lasting the longest?”

Smiling, Terra replied, “That’s our gamer. Indeed, whichever contestant is the last woman standing will be granted a few bonuses. Let’s say, 3 VP, 5BP, and a key to one of our multipurpose rooms. A nice head start on your competition.”

Terra turned to Franklin and held out a sheet of paper, “Would our Master like to do the honors and start asking some questions?”

“Do I have to?” He asked.

“I gave you some of the lighter stuff. If you prefer, I can get straight into the more personal questions,” said the Host with a coy look.

Sighing, Franklin took a look at the questions he’d been given. Some of them were already pretty personal, he thought. Choosing a lighter one, he asked, “What’s your favorite animal?”

With some relief, Trudy and Evie both quickly announced, “Horses.”

“I have a pet lizard named Dusty,” said Ira, before Kennedy said, “Cats. I had two growing up.”

Adrienne blushed before saying, “Dogs,” earning a smirk from the Host.

“Virtual ones, honestly,” said Zelda, “Far less cleanup and no smell.”

“I’ve never had a pet, but I admire birds,” admitted Claudia. “Flying would be a dream.”

Lyra answered, “Cats. Big cats, like leopards.”

Finally, Dara said, “Butterflies.”

Terra raised an eyebrow, “Oh, looking forward to your own metamorphosis?”

“No. Their lifecycle is fascinating, and there’s a lot to learn about how environmental changes can affect biochemical processes.”

Franklin chuckled at the scientist’s response. He looked over the list before asking, “Zelda, what’s your favorite video game?”

“I don’t know if I have a favorite, really. I like action games. I play Pokémon. Was hoping they were going to announce the next gen soon. I’ve been on a Souls-like kick for a while, played Silk Song. Bioware’s older stuff. Metroid Prime. Let’s see…”

Franklin interrupted, “Zel? You should probably keep your answers more succinct. Your platform is melting while you ramble.”

Looking down, Zelda said, “I have a soft spot for Breath of the Wild.”

“I’d hope so,” said Terra with a smile.

“Trudy, when did you realize you wanted to work with animals?” Franklin asked, sticking with the contestants he knew best.

“I always wanted to. My Dad sold tractors and farming supplies, so I ended up seeing a lot of farms and liked to watch the horses. My parents would get me riding lessons every summer for my birthday.” She smiled at the memory.

Franklin continued down the list, trying to find less invasive questions for the other contestants. “Lyra, what’s your favorite Greek myth?”

The redhead raised an eyebrow, “Huh? Odd question. Most of them aren’t exactly kind to mortals, especially women, but I like the stories of Perseus, Antigone, and Atalanta. I prefer real history, like Hydna of Scione. She was a diver who swam 10 miles in a storm to sabotage Persian ships.”

Terra smiled, “When you were a girl, you would have had a much different answer, except for Perseus, of course. You quite liked the Clash of the Titans remake. Was Sam Worthington your first celebrity crush?”

“No!” Lyra responded, only to feel a crack under her feet. “Ugh. I was 13,” she admitted.

Franklin did his best to stifle a laugh before taking pity on the redhead. “OK, everyone else, first celebrity crush?”

“Does Leon Kennedy count?” asked Zelda, getting a thumbs up from Terra.

“Orlando Bloom. And Keira Knightley,” said Trudy.

Evie blushed, “Zac Efron.”

“Chris Evans,” said Kennedy, to which Adrienne commented, “I preferred Robert Downey Jr.”

Ira said, “Jensen Ackles.”

“Russell Crowe,” Dara said. To which Trudy asked, “A Beautiful Mind?” The bespectacled girl answered, “Gladiator.”

Claudia smiled, “Adrien Brody.” A crack appeared in her platform, and she hastily added, “And Taylor Lautner.”

“What’s your… favorite painting, Claudia?” Franklin read from the page, wanting to keep the thief on the spot as long as he could.

With a sly smile, Claudia responded, “There are far too many to choose just one, but I love the Baroque artists, Artemisia Gentileschi most of all. I have a… copy of her Corisca and the Satyr in my apartment in Naples, just a few blocks from where she likely painted it.”

“Just a copy, huh?” Franklin muttered, but Claudia’s platform remained steady. He turned to Adrienne, seeing that there weren’t many questions listed that weren’t about her fetish or relationship. This didn’t surprise him, as her introduction had focused on that almost entirely. He asked off the cuff, “What kind of law do you want to practice, Adrienne?”

The multicolored-haired woman was surprised at first, before answering, “Corporate and business law, mainly. I could see myself in administrative law as well. Accountability is important.”

“Of course, agreed,” Franklin said, recognizing the double meaning. He turned to Kennedy, asking, “Why did you choose social work?”

The girl, who had been trying to hide herself as much as possible, brightened a bit as she replied. “Oh! I like helping people. Especially people who need it. I want there to be someone there whenever someone is struggling, just to help them find the right next steps, if nothing else.”

Franklin smiled back before asking Ira, “What are you studying?”

“Um… still general studies for now. I’m taking a bunch of different classes to see what feels best. I’ll have to decide soon since I’m almost done with my universal credits, and my parents would kill me if I didn’t graduate on time,” Ira finished, glad her indecisiveness counted as an answer in this case.

“I get that,” Franklin told her, “It took me a while to settle on non-profit management. I was kind of coasting on the vague idea of business in general before that.” He caught Evie’s eye and asked, “How about you?”

“I’ll be studying business administration. Mother says it’ll make the board take me more seriously when I take over the company someday,” the heiress explained.

The only contestant he hadn’t questioned was Dara, and Franklin looked over the page before sighing and simply asking, “How have you been?”

It shouldn’t have been a difficult question, but Dara looked down and watched her platform shrink bit by bit as she tried to put it into words. “Alright, I’ve just been focusing on work. It was a bit of a rough start with everything that happened. Virtual labs and rotations were strange, and it felt like I wasn’t getting the necessary experience. I really wish I were done by now. How about you?”

“Oh… great. No complaints, until the whole ****, of course.” Franklin said with a shake of his head.

Terra cleared her throat. “Alright, let’s dig a bit deeper now. Miss Hart, when did you first discover your fetish for hypnosis?”

Kennedy blushed bright red, but one look at her platform as it started to melt spurred her response. “It wasn’t any one thing. I mean… you see it a lot in cartoons and movies, right? Aladdin, Jungle Book, Robin Hood, someone at Disney really liked hypnotic snakes.”

“I suppose that also explains the cock worship,” Terra said with a giggle. “Miss Katsaros, we didn’t see much about your fetishes in the introductions. What do you dream of when you think of your perfect man? What would he do to you?”

“I don’t have any fetishes,” the redhead announced confidently, only for her platform to crack down the middle. Quickly stepping to one side to regain her balance, she blustered, “I don’t… I just dreamed about meeting an interesting guy, who’d want to travel with me, seeing new sights, discovering new things. Are you saying adventure is a fetish?” Lyra looked demandingly at Franklin, even though Terra had asked the question.

The Host responded, “It can be, or you might need to examine some of the underlying desires wrapped up in those dreams.” The Host then turned her gaze to Claudia, a grin growing as she asked, “Tell us, Miss Mancini, why do you think you and the Master didn’t work out?”

With confidence, Claudia answered, “My work simply didn’t give us time to truly get to know each other. By the time we could have really connected, I was already off to the next job.”

With a scoff, Franklin followed up, “And what do you do for work?”

“Acquisitions.”

Frustrated, the Master shouted, “Cut the crap. You stole a painting from the Museum after using me to get access.”

“You did WHAT?”

With a yell, Lyra whirled around to face the thief. Unfortunately, this caused her to slip when she stomped down on the edge of her shrunken platform, and she ended up in the pool. As she surfaced, she glared daggers at Claudia, and then at Franklin, even as the t-shirt she wore turned transparent from the water.

“You ASSHOLE!” Lyra yelled. “Why didn’t you say anything when we found out the painting was gone?”

“Because I didn’t really know anything. I didn’t know who she actually was, where she’d gone, or how to find her. All I’d be doing was risking my job,” Franklin said defensively.

“Good! You deserved to be fired if you let some bimbo steal a priceless painting!”

Claudia smiled, “I wouldn’t say priceless, we found quite a good price for it, actually.”

Lyra turned to confront the thief, but the Host cut her off before she could pull the other women into the water. “I’m sorry, Miss Katsaros, but questions only. No direct intervention is allowed. Please take a break on one of the sun loungers. We still have quite a few contestants to go.”

The fiery redhead looked like she was going to ignore the Host’s suggestion, but she saw her pen hovering close to her clipboard. She huffed and made her way to the seats, still sending angry glares towards Claudia and Franklin.

“Well, that was unexpected but fun. Let’s continue,” the Host said, turning her eyes to the quietest contestant thus far. “Miss Meeks, you’re awfully young to be on an erotic role-playing forum. When did you first get involved in that scene?”

“Oh geez… I liked role-playing games, like Dragon Age and Baldur’s Gate. Then I looked at getting into Dungeons and Dragons. It sounded fun on podcasts, but I was from a really small town, and there really wasn’t anywhere to do that but online. It was fun, and then… well… one thing led to another.” The unexpectedly shy girl trailed off, but her platform stopped shrinking, indicating the game was satisfied.

“Ah yes, the classic corruption pipeline parents always worry about,” teased the Host. “Don’t worry, young Miss. There are several like-minded individuals here, not just the Master. Wouldn’t you agree, Miss Ainsleigh?”

“Of course, but people’s fantasy lives don’t have to define them entirely,” the lawyer spoke quickly and confidently. “People should be free to enjoy what they want, as long as it’s not hurting anyone.” She turned toward the Master, “And free to stop.”

Franklin set his jaw and nodded. “Of course.”

The Host leaned forward and questioned the woman further. “Indeed, and is that what you have your Routh, Miss Ainsleigh?”

Adreinne narrowed her eyes at the Host, but didn’t hesitate for long before answering, “No.” Her platform remained almost entirely intact.

“Well, perhaps we can do better here,” the Host replied with a smile. Moving on, she asked Zelda, “How about you, Miss Porter? Do you have any experience with that kind of role play?”

Unperturbed, the still tired-looking woman responded, “Nah, not really. I generally take care of myself.”

Terra seemed disappointed, “Well, I see we’ll have to expand your horizons. Perhaps you can learn a bit from Miss Haverbrook. How did your dalliance come about, Genevieve?”

Evie blanched, “I can’t tell you that!” Her platform cracked at her denial, but she persisted. “I won’t. We promised to keep it secret. It was only once.” Her ice continued to melt, and with a frustrated huff, she held her head high and stepped off, splashing into the water.

Franklin tried not to stare as the heiress wrung out the water from her braid, but he did say, “Good for you, Evie.” The young woman nodded back at him before leaving the pool.

Terra looked thoughtfully at the youngest contestant. Well, didn’t get much out of her, but at least the audience knows she’s bicurious. She turned her attention to Trudy, “Are you also the type not to kiss and tell, Miss Webber. Tell us, did you and Franklin’s sister ever experiment like Miss Haverbrook and her mysterious paramour?”

Trudy rolled her eyes, “Yeah, we fooled around. We both ended up preferring men, though.”

Her nonchalance threw Franklin off a bit, who couldn’t help the scenes that ran through his mind.

“Your turn, Miss Li,” the Host continued the game. “You and the Master seem an odd match, I must say. How did you get together?”

“We were both at a party at the student docks. Someone bumped into me and knocked my glasses into the water. Franklin dove in and found them for me,” Dara explained, her hand rising to touch her glasses as she recalled that night.

Franklin shrugged, “I didn’t want you to be unable to see.”

Dara smiled, “And I told you I had a spare pair back in my room. You could have gotten hit by another boat, or caught a cold.”

“Eh, it was worth it,” Franklin replied with another shrug.

Terra mimicked a swoon. “How romantic. To think it would all be lost under the crushing weight of reality. Thank goodness for Harem Hotel.” She looked over the seven remaining contestants before deciding, “Okay, how about some quick questions for the group. Last one to answer gets a little extra motivation. Have you ever had a sexy dream featuring Master Porter?”

Adrienne very quickly responded, “No.” At the same time, Kennedy, Dara, and Claudia answered affirmatively, with a blushing Ira agreeing shortly after. Trudy was flustered, and didn’t get her answer out before Zelda said, “Not that I remember.”

Trudy felt her platform crack beneath her, a third of her space floating off.

Terra teased, “Your hesitance answered the question anyway, don’t you think?”

The trainer didn’t hesitate to flip the host off as she made sure her feet were set.

“Next question. Each of you will have a roommate, or two, each round of our show. Which other contestant would you like to room with the most?”

Again, Adrienne was quick to answer, “I don’t care.”

Quicker this time, Trudy said, “Zelda.” The lazy girl responded, “Yeah, that’ll work.”

Kennedy and Ira, after briefly catching each other’s eyes, named each other as well.

Dara hesitated, looking over to see Trudy eyeing her warily, and Zelda looking on with barely concealed contempt. This allowed Claudia to interject, “Oh I’d be fine with anyone, I’m sure Lyra and I could talk all night about art.”

Dara’s platform cracked. Not being the most athletic of the contestants, she felt her foot sliding out from under her, and she tumbled into the pool. As she popped back up, she didn’t show any embarrassment, simply checking to make sure her glasses hadn’t been damaged in the process.

Then Adrienne’s platform cracked as well, although it was a much smaller piece. She looked over at Terra and shouted, “What the hell?”

“Oh, so now you care?” Terra responded. “Good faith participation is expected, Miss Ainsleigh. Real answers from now on unless you want to show us your doggy paddle.”

The Host then asked her next question, “If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?”

The unexpectedly deep question gave everyone pause. Embarrassed, Kennedy softly said, “My body.” Ira followed her with, “me too. My weight… and height.”

Adrienne responded, “I would change what job I took when I got out of law school. Lord knows I had other offers.”

With a similar tone of regret, Trudy said, “I wouldn’t have dated Danny Hudson, or anyone like him.”

Zelda just shrugged, and Claudia knew she could keep her footing safe if she answered frankly. Instead, she simply said, “I’m content with where I’ve gotten. One can’t be obsessed with the road not taken, right?”

Terra rolled her eyes, and both the thief and the gamer shifted their feet to avoid the cracks. Not quite quickly enough in Zelda’s case, as her lethargic response saw her missing her footing and falling backwards into the water. She trudged over the edge with her already messy hair now waterlogged and covering half her face.

Franklin pointedly ignored his sister’s body as he scolded, “You hadn’t lost much of your platform at all, Zel? You probably could have used the head start, don’t you think?”

“Cut me some slack, bro. I’m working on like, three hours sleep in the last two days,” she answered, before making her way to the loungers and slumping over.

Terra chuckled, “Hopefully the brisk water helped perk you up. Only 5 contestants left, any questions you want to ask, Master Porter?”

Franklin looked at the competitors remaining. Trudy had the least remaining space. Ira and Kennedy were looking at the water, each looking like they wanted anything else than to be on display. Adrienne just glared back at him. Then he saw Claudia, and the decision was easy.

“Do you regret thieving at all?” He asked the blonde.

Claudia sighed, “I do not. I certainly don’t relish the thought of others being harmed by my actions, which is why I take steps wherever possible to not leave a trail. Perhaps I shouldn’t have left you that letter. You may have been none the wiser when the situation came to light. Perhaps I misread the situation, and you weren’t looking for a bit of short-term fun with Tiffany. Was I wrong?”

Franklin was glad he wasn’t standing on melting ice, as he hesitated to respond. After a long pause, he **** a neutral expression on his face and asked Claudia, “Who do you work for?”

The thief gave a bitter smile, “A consortium. The kind of people who can help cover my tracks.” Looking up at the Host, who was waving her pen to indicate she should continue, Claudia demurred. “I suppose that’s as far as I go. If this whole magic show is real, maybe I’ll tell you someday, when it’s not dangerous for you to know.” Saying that, she placed her hands on top of her head and stepped off her platform. When she surfaced, her aura of confidence remained, as she leaned over to give Franklin a good view, while holding her hairpiece in place.

With a wink, the blonde bombshell made her way over to the rest of the contestants, watching intently to study the rest of the competition.

Terra tipped her hat to Franklin. “Well, that was well done, Master Porter. Care to choose your next target?”

“I don’t have one,” Franklin replied, looking over the four remaining contestants. “I’m not looking to embarrass any of them.”

“Very well, then I suppose it falls to me,” said the Host, before she caught Kennedy in her sights. “Ms. Hart, what’s a fantasy you have that you haven’t told anyone, not even Master Porter during your roleplay sessions?”

Kennedy rubbed her arm as she tried to think of an answer. “I don’t… I’ve been pretty open about the stuff I like, but I guess… I’d like him to show me off? In public, I mean. He could give me triggers that make me act sexy.” She looked down to see her platform still shrinking, so she added, “I want people to watch me and feel jealous.”

“That’s wonderful, thank you for your honesty,” praised the Host. “Miss Meeks, same question. Any fetishes or fantasies you’ve been keeping to yourself?”

“Geez, besides being dominated and spanked and branded and used as a toy and…” Ira trailed off, becoming increasingly red as she rattled off her fetishes. Seeing the bemused looks on Adrienne and Trudy’s faces, she looked down and continued. “That’s online stuff, I don’t know if I’d even like it in real life. I guess I’d be willing to give it a try, as long as it’s safe, and Frank… Franklin always said he only did things safely. I’d let him try tying me up, I don’t know about spanking though.”

The pale-skinned girl kept talking in circles as her platform shrank. Terra was about to remind her of the question when she finally blurted out, “A threesome! We’d never talked about that before.”

Terra smiled, “Excellent. Hopefully, you can balance on that tiny block until we get back to you, but let’s ask Miss Webber. What can you imagine Master Porter doing to you? What secret fantasy do you keep buried in your heart?”

Trudy sighed and looked at Adrienne and Kennedy’s still sizable platforms. Having seen the lawyer’s willingness to answer any question and the slim girl’s rush to keep her ice from shrinking, she came to the easy conclusion. “Screw this,” she said as she did a cannonball into the water. She surfaced with her arms crossed, trying to cover her breasts. Fortunately for the audience, it seems the t-shirts were enchanted to prevent such obstruction.

Terra let out a laugh, “Well played, Miss Webber, though it’s only a matter of time before everything gets revealed.”

Adrienne set her feet, ready for whatever the Host asked. Terra smiled back at her. “Alright, Miss Ainsleigh, we know what your biggest fetish is, so tell me. What is it about pet play that gets you all aquiver? What makes a grouchy lawyer want to be someone’s pet?”

“I’m a lawyer, not a psychologist,” Adrienne joked. “It’s a fetish, who knows why they develop. I like it cause it’s hot. Giving yourself to someone, totally, being taken care of, being played with, even being made to look silly, it’s all just sexy to me. I don’t have to worry about anything when I’m playing, or at least that’s how it was supposed to be…”

Kennedy watched the other woman, who until now had been gruff and abrasive, as she described feelings very much like her own. She noticed that even talking about it was bringing a hint of pink to the lawyer’s face and felt her own flush in sympathy. She imagined herself so put together, yet still having a fantasy life like the black-and-white-haired woman described.

Adrienne finished describing her fetish with her feet still firmly planted, before turning to Terra and asking, “What else you got?”

The Host praised the three remaining contestants. “You’ve all done well, but it looks like we’ve almost determined a winner. A question for the group, then. If you could ask the audience to write a transformation for you, specifically, what would you like them to include?”

Before any of the contestants could start speaking, Ira let out a yelp as her platform started shrinking and she fell nearly straight down into the water. Franklin walked over to make sure she was all right, offering her a hand out of the pool and trying to balance how he looked so as not to make it obvious he was staring or to seem uninterested in the self-conscious young woman.

That left him very close to Kennedy as well, who got distracted watching him chivalrously help out her fellow contestant. He looked so much like what she imagined from his description, with his dark hair and piercing blue eyes. When he caught her eye, she could almost feel herself falling into those crystal blue pools, feeling a bit woozy all of a sudden.

Franklin smiled at the shaggy-haired girl and mouthed, “Answer.”

Kennedy jerked her head back as she remembered where she was, and the motion made her overcorrect and slip off the back of her platform, even as Adrienne was saying, “Just don’t give me any permanent dog parts, please.”

Franklin grimaced in second-hand embarrassment but kept one hand in Ira’s as he offered the other to Kennedy. The embarrassed redhead begged him with her eyes not to stare, but he slowly reached down and took her hand, smiling at her gently. “C’mon, let’s go sit down. Thankfully that’s over.”

Clapping, Terra congratulated the winner. “Excellent work, counselor. Who would have thought the lawyer would win the honesty contest? Wonders never cease.”

Rolling her eyes, Adrienne responded, “Hilarious. Can I get changed now?”

“Right right, I suppose we don’t need this ice anymore either,” Terra said, marking out a line in her notes and sending Adrienne falling into the water as her platform disappeared in an instant.

____________________________________________________________________________________

“We’re still accepting submissions for transformations for any of the contestants if you have suggestions."

Click here to leave suggestions!

"They can be simple or fully written out, for one or multiple contestants. We’re also asking if the Master should get transformations this season, too, so if you are passionate about that one way or another, make sure to click the link and vote."

- The Imps