Nope, not a tour

C2 appeared next to the wall opposite the window he’d created, the one showing the planet below.

“Let me introduce you to your new home.” The robot announced and, once again, the wall next to him became transparent.

This time, while the large purple gas giant loomed as an overwhelming presence in the background, it was the objects in the foreground that drew the eye. First, and most obvious was the massive structure. It was composed of half a dozen rings attached to a central tubular shaft which was the size of a large skyscraper, though several times longer than any Earth structure was tall. The rings, rotating around the central shaft, were lined on their inner surface with transparent skylights which revealed the lights of a thriving city. Several dozen ships were attached to the rings, docked to the rings’ outer edge, while several larger ships had attached themselves to the central column at gaps between the rings. Whatever the structure they were on was, it appeared to be floating between two of the rings, though it followed the rotation of the ring above.

“Look at that thing. It’s like a whole city just floating in space.” Jacqueline observed.

“Why aren’t we attached to it at all? Is this room just floating here?” Sarah asked.

“Look at all the different ships!” Serena said, awed. “That one. God. It’s beautiful.”

In the gap between the two rings was a ship, one the size of a small cruise ship. It was reminiscent of a scorpion’s stinger or an ornate spearhead, with a central prominent point that curved into wings that came to their own points like a crescent moon before sweeping back to where a pair of engines could be seen. On the middle of the craft’s top surface was a large dome that would have appeared to be a cockpit on a smaller craft, but was nearly two hundred feet from end to end, the insides invisible with the interiors darkened. The whole vessel had a sleek, almost organic feel to it. It was black and white and the whole thing was covered in elaborate swirling patterns of glowing etchings, as though the whole ship was a massive art piece that had somehow fled its museum.

“It almost looks more like some kind of magical vessel than a space ship.” Delia observed.

“Behold the space station Terminal Insigne, in orbit around the planet Fegeris VII. Don’t worry, there won’t be a quiz on that. We won’t be staying here long. And there is your ship, courtesy of Harem Hotel: Intergalactic. It is a Zephyr Class Luxury Cruiser, complete with all the bells and whistles including a full complement of cutting edge weapons, a faster-than-light drive, and a luxurious multi-dimensional interior that has been adapted to your needs. Technically, this craft is from another galaxy which is even more advanced than this one and where it is considered a pleasure craft, but we determined that its capabilities fall just below this galaxy’s 95th percentile for functionality in most categories, putting it on par with the more powerful craft available here. So, don’t get worried that we’re sending you off in a ship that’s a piece of junk, but keep in mind there are still a few kids on the block with better toys than yours.”

“Now, normally, this is where we’d pop over and I would give you a tour and assign sleeping arrangements, and tell you all the first round’s date night order. But, unfortunately, it seems I’ve misplaced the keys to your vessel. Whatever will we do?” C2 said in mock distress.

“Which gives us a perfect opportunity to give you all a Special Challenge! Now, before we get much further, let me be clear that, since this is a special challenge and none of you have had a chance at a date night yet, I won’t be eliminating those of you coming in with a sub-zero score. So, those of you worried we were about to see our first elimination can feel free to unclench. In addition, this challenge will not result in a full slate of transformations, but instead is limited to a Boon transformation for the contestants who come if first and second, and a Detriment transformation for the contestants who come in fifth and sixth, as well as some transformations that may be found at random as the challenge progresses.”

“This challenge is a fairly straight forward scavenger hunt through the ring above us. This ring is the station’s primary recreation hub and is filled with a wide array of shops, restaurants, hotels, casinos, and similar places for the station’s visitors and residents to unwind and unburden both their minds and their wallets. Hidden throughout this ring, which you’ll find roughly comparable to the size of the Las Vegas strip, you will find that I have hidden a series of cards that are visible to the contestants and the contestants alone. These cards will only be found in public spaces, and will not require any trespassing, destruction, theft, or subterfuge to access. So, don’t go getting yourselves in trouble and blaming the cards.” A floating image of a holographic card, roughly the size of a large tarot card with an elegant patterned edge and an icon of a ringed planet with “HHI” in the middle appeared next to C2 as he continued to explain.

“The cards come in two main types. First, there are emotion cards.” C2 said, this time four holographic cards appeared next to the first and each turned to reveal a simple golden face icon. There was one smiling with laughter, one sobbing with sadness, one with a serene and peaceful look, and one glaring with rage.

“These cards are the goal for the challenge and the winner is the first to find one of each, at which point the cards will combine to create a Key card.” As he described it, the four cards with faces seemed to melt together and a new card with a golden key on it was formed. “The game will be over as soon as all six Key cards are found, or one hour after the fifth Key card is found, or in the worst case scenario when three local days have passed. In addition to the Emotion cards, there are three other types of cards that we’ll collectively call Surprise cards. The first of these are Hindrance cards.” C2 said. Another holographic card appeared and flipped over to show a black icon of a cartoon bomb.

“These cards will apply a temporary effect to the person who finds them that will make the challenge more difficult. These effects will last until the end of the challenge. The next type are Rewards.” Another card, this time, flipping over to show a green star.

“These cards will give rewards that may include VP and BP bonuses, Boon transformations, and other rewards that will give players an advantage going into the next round. And, finally, we have Penalty cards.” A final card appeared, this time rotating to show a red skull symbol.

“These cards are the flip side of Reward cards and will instead give you something you might consider negative, including giving you an extra Detriment transformation vote for this round, or giving you a disadvantage in the next challenge. However, none of the Penalty cards will cause you to lose VP or BP.”

“There’s no dodging cards or getting rid of them either. Once you spot a card, it will automatically reveal itself and you’ll be stuck with whatever the cards gives you. Luckily for all of you, once you find a particular type of card, you will not be able to see any more of them and once you put together a Key card, you’ll be done with the challenge and won’t see any further cards.”

“So, now, the question I’m sure you’re all asking is, where can these cards be found? That’s where knowing the Master comes into play. As I said, this ring is a recreation and entertainment district, and you’ll find that many of the amenities here are familiar to you and to our Master. The question you’ll have to ask yourselves is what do these places make the Master feel? In places that would make the Master happy, you’ll find the Happy cards. In places that bum him out, you’ll find Sad cards. In places that relax him, you’ll find Serenity cards. And, finally, in places that would anger him, you’ll find Rage cards. As for the Surprise cards, you’ll find those anywhere that the Master would find stressful or uncomfortable.” At that, Delia and Jacqueline shared a glance.

“The Master will be sequestered during the challenge, for reasons you will likely identify quickly, but you will each have the opportunity to send him three questions over the course of the challenge which he will be **** to answer as completely and honestly as possible. He will also be compelled to match the specificity of the question. So, if you ask ‘What’s a place that make you happy?’ he will be compelled to be as vague as possible with his response. You will also be able to message each other for help, since some of you know him better than others. If we get to the three day mark and five key cards have not been found, the rankings will be determined by how many Emotion cards each player has found and when they last found an Emotion card.” He explained.

“In addition to the first place finisher being granted a Boon transformation, they will also receive 10 VP, with each subsequent finisher receiving 2 VP less. So, second place gets 8 VP, third gets 6 VP, and so on. While you’ll only find cards in this ring, you are free to explore other rings. However, you will find it impossible to leave the station by any means other than the ship we have provided. Once the challenge has ended, all contestants must make their way to the ship within one hour of the challenge ending, so don’t get too far. I suggest that, if you have any tasks you would like to complete before we leave the station, you wait to do so until after the challenge unless it is urgent as we will be staying docked to this station until our next challenge. But if there’s something you think you need, your terminals should provide payment as necessary.”

“Any questions before we get going?”

“What’s with the red suits? Should we take this as an omen?” Jenna asked

“Nothing quite so dramatic. Your suit colors are related to your role on the crew. As captain, Andrew wears black. The rest of you will find your uniforms turn red until you’re assigned a specific role, and those of you who are assigned to Security will be keeping the red even after that. Any other questions?”

“You keep talking about Boon and Detriment transformations. What’s the difference?” Delia asked.

“While we here at Harem Hotel believe that, ultimately, all transformations will be beneficial for you in the long run, we appreciate that not all of our contestants share that belief. As such, we have several classifications for transformations. Detriment transformations change a contestant in ways that may be undesired or limit you in some way, generally with an erotic twist. Boon transformations on the other hand generally provide some significant ability, change, or benefit that would be considered generally positive, usually without significant drawbacks. For example, Jenna’s Low Gravity Spinner transformation would be a boon if she was granted the complete ability to control the effect on her personal gravity or if your Corset Queen transformation gave you your enhanced waist without requiring you to wear a corset at all times. We also have Punishment transformations. These are used when a player significantly violates the rules, but we don’t feel it’s quite enough to warrant elimination. Elimination Exit Packages include a number of Punishment transformations combined. Boon and Detriment transformations have varying levels; ****, Major, Moderate, and Minor, but Punishment transformations are always ****. For reference, most of your transformations and transformation options were all Minor Detriment transformations. The exception being Serena and Jacqueline’s options which were all Moderate out of necessity.”

“You call this Minor?” Daisy scoffed, grabbing at her tail and ears.

“Indeed, the transformation changed your appearance, but didn’t instill a significant compulsion or biological change. By the standards of our transformations, they are relatively minor. Moderate changes might just be more dramatic changes to your appearance or might make changes that affect your physiology and identity, like our two contestants who crossed the gender fence. Major changes can be more potent versions of Moderate changes, but can also include changes that include ongoing changes. For example, if Serena’s Dream Girl transformation made it so she constantly changed her appearance to match Sarah’s dream girl. **** changes can combine all of these and change the fabric of reality itself, altering history and even the rules of reality. For example, if we made it so that you and your family had always had cow features, essentially creating a whole new race within your species. We don’t pull those out very often. In case you’re wondering, the transformations involved in this challenge will all be Minor but will start ramping up in the transformation round following the next challenge. Any other questions?”

No one spoke up, horrified at the concept of transformations even more **** than what they’d seen so far.

“Very well, good luck everyone. The challenge begins now.” There was a flash of light and everything in the vicinity, the room, the contestants, Andrew, and C2 all vanished. The only thing left, floating in the space where the chamber had been, was Delia’s abandoned toothbrush, which disappeared itself in another flash.

Author's Note: The rules of this challenge changed suddenly shortly before I was going to publish, so there's definitely high probability that I forgot to fix something. Hope I've been consistent enough that everyone understands the rules.