Liftoff (Inital Polls)

[String Theocracy by Milli]

ELEECE snapped her hands and the lecture room was rearranged. Katie and the six competitors found themselves seated in a couch large enough to fit all of them comfortably. The armrests bore the host's face. “This season of Harem Hotel is a space adventure through the galaxy.” A spotlight focuses on Katie, “Captain Ajax, congratulations on both your new harem and the Labrys. This very ship is yours now and forever.”

“What the fuck does being in a harem mean?” Pandi asked, raising her hand.

“That's for the captain to decide with all of you, but given the word harem it probably will involve intimate activities. Now I need to move on to the game itself.” ELEECE waved her hand as four duplicates of the host walked on to the stage and formed a rectangle with their bodies. A silver membrane quickly flowed to fill the empty space and became a screen. Headshots of each of the contestants appeared under a headshot of Katie. “Each contestant has two currencies Victory Points (VP) and Bonus Points (BP). BP is your currency for your items to affect the state of play. To get more BP there will be bounties posted and your placement in the audience popularity poll and the end of each week. Captain, you will just receive a stipend for your own expenses. Your goal as contestants is to have the most Victory Points by the end of the competition. You can gain VP through any combination of challenges and intimate acts between yourselves, though you will only get half the points regarding actions not including the captain. Each week, every one of you will have a day to take the captain out on a date of your own design. Once each of you has had a date, there will be a challenge. Be careful, performing badly in challenges is one of the two ways to lose VP. The other way would be to harm the captain emotionally. Elimination awaits anyone who is at negative points.” ELEECE faced the contestants with a deep frown, the first time any of them had seen her without a coy smile. “You don't want to be eliminated. There are worse things than ****.” With that warning lingering in the air, the host’s smile returned to her face.

“How does someone win this game?” Mickey asked as she leaned forward towards the stage.

“The game ends when you all gather the Ten Toys of Power, Artifacts of Orgasmic Energy!” The screen is filled with ten silhouettes of what are presumably sex toys.

“And how do we get those?” The botanist continued.

“After doing legwork on the planets you visit and winning challenges!”

“So at the earliest, it will take us ten weeks.” Mickey started rubbing her temples as the enormity of the task before them was laid bare.

“Exactly! Don't feel too bad, time is dilated, so you won't miss anything when this is over. Plus, the final winner gets a wish. There are caveats of course: you can't wish to cause anyone harm, you can't separate yourself from the harem, and you can't undo any transformations that have happened to you throughout the show!

The couch inhabitants all sat in silence, each trying to absorb the information that was about to become their new life for the foreseeable future. Katie had hunched over, trying to shrink herself as much as possible. God, why am I still excited for this? The others didn't sign up like I did. The captain's spiraling was interrupted by Miri and Pandi tickling her. “This isn't your fault, dumbass,” Pandi consoled. “They literally went out and asked for each of our permission for the game and didn't explain any of this shit.”

“And if you're feeling guilty about how this is making you hot and bothered, then you are just going to learn how to please six other women,” Miri whispered into Katie’s ear, poking her best friend’s cheek with her finger.

“Thanks,” the captain looked up and into her friends’ faces.

Noticing that Katie was looking up, the nudist perked up, “Ah, good, Captain Ajax, you're still with us, I'm explaining the Harem Hotel Signature piece: the transformations! Each of you, barring the captain, will receive two transformations a round from a set of six. These will be the results of two polls of the audience. The first of these will be the species poll. You can't have a space opera without hot aliens.” ELEECE winks, “The second is the individual poll. Whichever transformation wins the species poll is then applied to one seventh of the population as a trait, the way all humans have skin. The winner of the individual poll becomes something like hair color, something that varies by individual. The transformations come in three sets of two themed paths. The audience is given a poll on which of these will be given to you. The third and fourth place results will roll over to the next poll, while the bottom two will just be sent to the shop for your perusal.” ELEECE clapped her hands twice; the captain and her harem’s clothes were replaced with matching blue and pink skintight catsuits.

“What was that for?” Pandi exclaimed.

“Given that your transformations are coming up, I just took the liberty of giving you some clothes that won't tear. Don’t worry, all your things will be in your rooms and resized once we get through this. Miriam, you are up first.” ELEECE points to the screen as words appear.

Miriam Chitose
Honey Trap: Miri’s breast will increase in size by two cups, and she will begin to lactate Honey (Beezy Body)
Queen Bee: Bees have a sense of social hierarchy, and now Miri will too; she will be more deferential to contestants with more VP than herself. Conversely to those with few points, she will be more authoritative. (Beezy Body)
Flexibility: Miri was a cheerleader in high school, and now we are giving her that flexibility back and then some. (Cheerleader)
Uniform: The crop top and mini skirt are more of a stereotype than actual reality, except from now on Miri must wear clothes in some variation of that ideal. (Cheerleader)
Like an Open Book: As a writer, Miri knows that there are plenty of words to describe emotions. Now she will be displaying them; any emotion she feels will appear on her skin in prose form. (Paperback Writer)
Mightier than the Sword: Words can shape things beyond what people can immediately see. Writing words on Miri’s skin will cause her for to change to reflect the words (Paperback Writer)

“So Miriam, which two would you prefer?”

Miri takes a moment to stare at the board, swaying in her seat, bumping up against Katie and Carla. “Since I'm **** to choose, I guess Flexibility and Mightier than the Sword. Those two seem like they would have the least impact on my life.”

“Any preference on which of those becomes species-wide?”

“Flexibility, let's make some parts of aging easier for everyone.”

“Captain, of course you get an appeal to the audience, so what do you want for Miriam?”

Katie shrugged, “I really don't have a preference here, so I'll go with what Miri wants.”

“Moving right along, Carla, here are your options,” the host said as the text changed.

Species Poll

Individual Poll

Carla Medici

I'll Try Anything Once: Every day, Carla will be given a desire for a specific sexual act. If she completes it, she will gain BP (Experimentation)
Make a Bet: Once a day, Carla can challenge another competitor for BP, if they accept, both parties are given a random challenge to perform (Experimentation)
Battery: Carla sex stores energy in her breast and ass. She can use this energy to replace her food and water needs. People view having sex with her the same way one would view charging a device (Free Use Energy)
Generator: Sex with Carla will restore energy instead of depleting it. Having sex with her will be viewed as something similar to eating or taking a nap. (Free Use Energy)
Tentacles: Carla's arms and legs are replaced by numerous tentacles, each as dexterous as a hand. The tips of which are new erogenous zones. (Sea Monster)
Jellyfish: Carla's hair is replaced with hair tendrils that produce an aphrodisiac she can inject into people. (Sea Monster)

“Both the free use ones!” Carla said without any hesitation. “Make me a perpetual fuck machine.”

“Well, Captain, what do you think?”

“If she wants it so badly, I can't find a reason to disagree, even if I'm more partial to tentacles myself.”

“Pandi your turn.” New options filled the screen.

Species Poll

Individual Poll

Pandi Carter-Patel
Too Hot To Handle: Pandi radiates waves of lust and heat. The more she covers up, the more the waves build up until they explode outward, supercharging everyone’s libido. (Exhibitionism)
The Weight of Shame: The more clothes Pandi wears, the more sensitive she becomes. (Exhibitionism)
Moaning from the Void: Pandi will start hearing voices from interdimensional beings. She can ask them for advice, but they always have a price. (Outer Limits)
With You in the Dark: Pandi becomes a being of shadows. This allows her to move between shadows at a faster rate than walking. However, being in direct sunlight without some kind of cover becomes extremely arousing. (Outer Limits)
Cut from a Mountain: Pandi's height and strength drastically increases. (Wild at Heart)
Beastly Allure: Pandi gains an assortment of predator animal traits and mild aphrodisiac pheromones. (Wild at Heart)

“I don't like any of them,” the trainer said, shaking her head. “Mountain and Moaning, the latter is completely optional, but I'm not happy about it.

ELEECE turned towards Kaite, “I defer to what Pandi wants, nothing really speaks to me here.”

Species Poll

Individual Poll

The screen flipped to the next contestant's transformation.

Mickey McKinney
Green is Go: Mickey will shrink in height, becoming a shortstack, but in return, she gains an innate sense of how to take apart complex machinery. (Gremlin)
What's that on the Wing of the Plane: Mickey will gain the ability to selectively remove herself from people's perception. It is more effective the fewer people are present. (Gremlin)
Behold my Invention: Mickey can make an invention that can temporarily impart a transformation. At the end of the round, Mickey can spend BP to keep the device around. (Mad Science)
IGOR: Mickey has a robotic assistant. When assisting Mickey any project will be completed at quadruple speed. (Mad Science)
Nanomachines Girl!: Mickey is at least partially composed of nanomachines. This allows her to shift her body's proportions at will. (Mechanical Heart)
Get Connected: Mickey can connect to and act as a wireless communication network. While acting as a wireless network, she gets more aroused the more things are connected to her. (Mechanical Heart)

Mick grabbed her chin lost in thought, taking her time to consider her options before she finally spoke. “Wing of the plane and Nanomachines. The ability to disappear and change my body would be interesting to have. The nanomachines hopefully would be the one that gets globalized. An entire group of people with the ability to disappear at will sounds dangerous.”

“That’s all well argued and I can’t really find a reason to disagree.”

Species Poll

Individual Poll

“Noel its your turn.” The host exclaimed.

Noel Almendra
Devil on Their Shoulders: Noel will gain a compulsion to encourage her fellow contestants to indulge in their transformations. (Corruption)
Demon in Training: Noel gains imp horns, wings, and tail. Each has the sensitivity of an erogenous zone. (Corruption)
One with Everything: Noel feels every sexual contact another contestant makes at a lower level. (Mystic)
I See Time: Noel sees images representing a person's five most recent sexual encounters. If she touches them, she will experience the encounter from the person's perspective. (Mystic)
Pet Roulette: Everyone loves cat, dog, and bunny girls, but why be just one? Each new day, Noel will cycle between being a cat, dog, and bunny girl. (Pet)
Affectionate: Noel's sense of personal space will become something similar to a pet. She will not have a problem lying against or sitting on people she is comfortable with, to the point that she does it unconsciously. (Pet)

“Devil and Affectionate. No preference which is which. Both of those don't change me too much.”

“Any rebuttal Captain?”

Katie squirmed a little on the couch causing both Miri and Pandi to slide over slightly. Face in hands she gave the reply she wished to hide. “Pet Roulette and Affectionate”

Noel slouched forward so she could see the captain’s face, “How much do you spend on Arknights each month?”

“Fuck off!” The captain threw a pillow at the reporter. It completely missed, but before it hit the floor an arm from one of the doppelgangers making up the couch became animate and placed it on the piece of furniture before returning to its previous state.

Species Poll

Individual Poll

“Now we come to our last contestant, Odie, here are your options.”

Odie Fairbanks
On Tap: Odie begins lactating alcoholic beverages. The type depends on her diet. (Brewmaster)
Esoteric Mixology: Odie gains the ability to mix drinks with transformative effects. She needs to get the ingredients herself. (Brewmaster)
Flip the Switch: Odie gains the ability and compulsion to switch people into a Bimbo Mode; the Captain is not immune. She should be careful if she goes too long without flipping someone her switch will flip. (Mind Over Matter)
Telekinesis: Odie gains some telekinetic abilities. Normally, about as strong as she is, it gains strength as she grows more aroused. (Mind Over Matter)
Hentai Physics: Odie's body takes on the properties of a hentai character: Ability to take absurd insertions, no fears of dehydration, ridiculous stamina, etc. (Toon)
Ink Suit: Any clothing Odie wears becomes painted on, able to be washed away whenever it would be considered "funny". (Toon)

“I guess for the species I would want it to be On Tap. Let’s make **** cheaper for everyone. I guess Telekinesis would be fun for me.”

“How would a species that makes their own **** lower prices?” Mickey retorted, “Honestly it would just create new markets everywhere. Look how snippy the French are about their champagne."

“We wouldn't have to pay for my tit booze.” Odie shrugged.

“I’ll acknowledge that,” the botanist conceded.

“So Captain Ajax your take.”

Once again Katie fidgeted as her desires were broadcast in ways she could have never expected. “I would like an entire species able to Flip the Switch.” The entire harem stared at Katie, eyes wide in shock. “I’m sorry, I just really like the idea of just putting all my complicated thoughts away for a little bit.”

Species Poll

Individual Poll

“There is no need to apologize, Captain, this is for you after all.” The panel flipped one last time to a smaller list. “As you can see you have less options Captain Ajax. Instead of your Transformations representing a species they represent technological advances. While what you receive will be more advanced, a similar transformation will become a procedure that is as easy to access as cough drops currently are. In light of this any harem member can buy the publicly available version for a measly 50 BP. So what are you most interested in?”

Katie Ajax
A Captain is Everywhere: Katie is given a separate body for each contestant. (Captain)
Mix and Match: Katie gains the ability to mix and match body parts and access to a catalog of exotic examples to buy from. (Modular)
Comfort Zone: The captain radiates an aura of calm that is only enhanced when someone is in physical contact with her. (Plush)

Captain Poll

“I like the Mix and Match, it seems like there could be a lot of fun things to try there.”

“Well there you have it, audience. Have fun and don’t forget the Best Girl Poll!”

Best Girl Poll

Polls Closed