Odds and ends.

Entering the mall, the pair looked around. Caroline spotted a fitness center and immediately strode towards it, with Lisa following close behind.

"Oooh, I'll bet we can get some good stuff in there. What do you think? Maybe steal some of the muscles they've worked so hard on?" Lisa asked eagerly.

Caroline shook her head. "This isn't for me. If I'm gonna have a servant, I might as well have a hot one."

As they stepped into the lobby, the clerk smiled at them. "Hi, welcome to Maceo's gym! Are you interested in a membership?"

"Take this woman's mind from her," Caroline instructed Lisa. She eyed the startled clerk's body. "And her tits. They're not as nice as these but they're better than the ones I gave you."

"What are you- oh," the woman said. A brief expression of shock crossed her face before it went fully blank. Immediately afterwards, her chest deflated at the same time that Lisa's swelled. She stared at them uncomprehendingly, her mouth still open.

Lisa, meanwhile, gave her new chest an appreciative squeeze. "Not bad! What should I do with her mind?"

Caroline shrugged. "You can destroy- actually, no. Let's hang on to it for now. We should get her out of here before anyone notices her condition."

Caroline took the employee (Renee, according to her nametag) by the hand and led her from behind the counter to a door marked for employees. She followed with docility, her glassy eyes never focusing. In the back was a small breakroom, a few desks with obsolete computers, and a bulletin board with schedules and notes. Caroline led her to a closet and gently pushed her inside. "Stay put," she told the meat puppet as she closed the door behind her.

"Now what?" Lisa asked curiously as they entered the lobby. A man was standing by the counter, impatiently waiting.

"Finally!" he said with irritation. "I've been waiting ten minutes! What the hell kind of a gym doesn't have any employees working the front desk on a Saturday morning?"

"No, you haven't." Caroline said matter-of-factly. "You haven't been here more than two minutes."

His face turned red and he sputtered a reply. "Are you fucking telling me how long I've been sitting in this fucking room? I don't care if your shift is over, lady, I'm gonna-"

"Take his testicles."

He gasped, then grabbed at his crotch. "What the FUCK?" he practically screamed.

"And his voice. We don't want him attracting any attention."

The man turned to run, but before could get to the door Caroline had made Lisa take his ability to move or signal for help. He was now frozen in place, his face locked in a weird grimace of shock.

Lisa looked pointedly at Caroline. "I never took you for someone to revel in cruelty," she said. "Not that I can disagree or even actively wish you would do otherwise. I guess taking your emotions really turned you into a monster, huh?"

Caroline shrugged. "I'm not reveling in anything. I'm learning about your power. This man seemed like an ideal candidate to try it out on."

"And the vegetable in the closet?"

Caroline sighed. "I'm not being intentionally cruel. I just don't have the kind of built-in revulsion to cruelty that I used to. I only did that so we could gain entrance to this place, not out of any malice. And I honestly wanted to see whether this guy would be more scared or angry without his balls."

His breathing was shallow and rapid and a line of sweat had appeared on his brow. "Looks like scared," Lisa remarked. "So what are you going to to do with him now? Someone could walk in-"

"Give him back everything and take his memory of everything since he walked in."

The man's eyes widened, then closed for a moment. When they opened, he scowled. "Have you been waiting here long? I swear, this place is so unprofessional."

The two ignored him and headed into the workout area.