Cocoon and Butterfly

Exe left the library in high spirits. As a gamer, a model and someone who made her living more or less as a hot chick, it was pretty far removed from her natural habitat; more her new roommate’s thing than hers. But the way she figured, if a show that was clearly this intentionally perverse bothered to include one at all, there was probably something in it worth checking out.

That revelation had come after she’d buffed her intelligence by a couple points, however. She’s taken them from her breasts and sexuality. As it turned out, she couldn’t buff any one stat by more than two points. And while taking a (literal) load off her chest was actually kind of comfortable, the deduction to sexuality had been a mistake. Her mind was sharper, faster, and retained information better. But she was horny and easily distracted as well. Worst of all, since Leah had already fucked with her stats once, this redistribution was the last she was allowed until the challenge had been concluded.

Still, the tradeoff had been a fruitful one. There was gold in the library; knowledge about the game and its system that she was fairly sure the rest of the hens would never bother to check. Maybe that roommate of hers, but she doubted Megan would be much more than the homebody she’d thus far proven herself to be.

The home to which she was a body was Exe’s destination now. To get to it, one had to follow a tunnel that jutted out and down from the main lobby, sinking into the earth toward a pair of double doors that served as its entrance.

It was therefore impossible to miss the padding of feet that approached her from behind. In this un-oft-beaten path, you knew when someone was coming.

She turned to find Loretta approaching her, and marveled at how impressive this woman was; strikingly pretty and obviously confident, even clad as she was in a simple floral sundress, her presence was nothing short of commanding.

“Hello,” She said as she approached. “You off to your room?”

“Sure. Can I help you with something?” Exe asked, working to maintain a smile.

“No. But we were having a little get together over drinks by the main pool, and I wanted to invite you and Megan to join,” She said. “Way we figure, we’re all stuck here together, so it might be a good way to get to know each other.”

Exe had to stifle a laugh. If these ladies wanted to sing kumbaya, that was their business, but Exe didn’t think it’d be very good for hers. How could none of them see this for what it was? It was a contest, not a social retreat.

“I’m pretty tired,” she said instead, “Maybe another time.”

She turned to leave, and got no further than a few steps before Loretta giggled.

“Something funny?” Exe asked as she turned around to study here.

“Sorry about that. I giggle a lot since they messed with my head and all,” Loretta said. “You just reminded me of my husband, that’s all.”

Now she was just confused.

“Your husband? A…Congressman, right?”

“That’s right. He’s good at politicking too,” Loretta agreed with a smile. “He knows how to get a crowd going for him better than just about anyone I’ve ever seen. Gives a terrific speech. I can testify personally that he can talk the skirt off of just about any woman he’s ever met, and he’s not bad with men either.”

“Oh…” Exe said, relaxing. A smile crept onto her face. “Thank you, then. That’s a…very flattering comparison.”

Loretta just continued, ignoring her.

“Course he’s not a very good Congressman. He’s never passed a damn thing. Never worked on a bill. All his colleagues hate him,” She said. “Truth be told, I don’t even think he likes the job. He just keeps running because of the attention and power it gives him.”

Exe crossed her arms beneath her breasts, her look turning sour.

“I see. Not friendly enough for you? Is that it?”

Loretta smiled. Despite her words, there was genuine cheer and good humor in it.

“Folks like you and Hunter tend to think you’re the protagonists of every story, but you’re not anymore than he is,” She said. “If you really wanted to win this game as badly as you think you do, it would behoove you to remember that you’re just one player of many, and that nobody likes a stuck up bitch.”

Exe stepped back as if Loretta had slapped her. In a way, she sort of had. For one of the few times in her life, she was at a loss for words.

Loretta turned and left.

“Anyway, you’re welcome to come join us,” She said over her shoulder, “Tell Megan she’s invited too.”

“Hey!” Exe shouted at her as she watched her go, though she had no idea what to follow it up with.

She balled her fists and made a low growl. Loretta was so far up the ramp that led down to their room that only the backs of her thighs were visible, Exe flipped her the bird so hard it made her arm ache. Only when she was sure she was out of earshot did she let her frustrations out in a loud, wordless huff.

*****

As much as Megan hated everything else about this hotel and the situation it represented, she adored her room.

All of the girls had unique and interesting suites. But she suspected that one she shared with Exe was the most unique and interesting of them all. The narrow hallway one entered through, as well as the bathroom, closet and changing room built off it were unremarkable. But the rest of the suite, which consisted of a living room, bedroom and observation room, were walled exclusively in plexiglass, and set under the sea.

Megan sat on her bed, watching sea life weave between the reef that surrounded her little home away from home. She didn’t have to think when she did this. She could simply observe in quiet serenity.

Or could, anyway, until the door to their suite slammed. Despite hearing a muffled conversation outside, and thus knowing someone was coming, she couldn’t help but jump at this with a squeak.

“Uh, hi…” She called out to whoever it was. Probably Exe, but nothing was certain here.

There was no reply, only the sound of shoes getting kicked aside and an angry growl that made her wince. A moment later, Exe came stomping into the room.

“Everything okay?” She asked, mostly out of politeness.

“No. And I don't want to talk about it.” Exe immediately shot back.

She retrieved her laptop from beneath the bed, opened it, and took a seat on it. Megan’s eyes kept darting between her and the fish as she sat on her own. The two sat in silence for what felt like a long time.

Her skirt was riding up again, and she pulled it down. That only made her shirt ride down, which threatened to make her boobs pop out. She shifted around, hoping to find some happy medium but that only made it worse.

Finally, Exe sighed and turned to her.

“Don’t you have someplace to go?” She asked.

Megan blushed, still squirming to get comfortable and mostly failing.

“Not really,” She admitted. “Honestly, these are all more Jake’s friends than mine.”

“Well they’re all getting drinks or whatever. Can you go socialize?”

Megan fidgeted with the hem of her skirt.

“I don’t really drink,” She said.

Or socialize much, for that matter she could have added, though it was clear Exe didn’t really want to get into it with her.

“But I could go someplace, I guess. I don’t mean to be a bother.” She said instead.

Exe gave her a look, her expression softening somewhat.

“I’m sorry. I’m in a bad mood,” She said. “I’m not going to hit you or anything. Just…can you not fidget so much?”

Megan blushed again.

“I’m sorry! I can’t help it,” She said. “None of my clothes fit since my transformation and I’m really uncomfortable.”

Exe examined her for a moment as she squirmed, as much out of the awkwardness of the situation as her formerly comfortable cord skirt pressing against her thighs. She supposed her new body was supposed to be sexy. To Megan, it just felt ungainly.

Exe sighed, then jerked her head toward her laptop.

“Come here,” She said, swiveling it slightly so Megan could see, “Don’t worry, I don’t bite. Not literally, anyway…”

Megan scooted over the bed and leaned in. It put pressure on both her skirt and her blouse, but she could see what Exe was showing her.

On the screen was what looked like some sort of online shopping hub. There were categories of things, and prices written in BPs, whatever those were. Some cost BP, others seemed to give BP back to the purchaser. The selection Exe had up now was labeled “Clothing”.

“You can buy new clothes from the show’s store,” She said. “They have physical stores off in the village, but they’re probably closed, as late as it’s getting.”

She tapped the screen.

“What you want is this, though.”

Megan leaned in.

Well Fitted
Blessing, Enchantment, Transformation
Duration, 7 Days
BP Cost: -2,500
All clothes in player’s inventory fit comfortably regardless of transformations.

“Oh…that would be nice,” Megan agreed. “But I don’t think I have any BP.”

“You do,” Exe corrected. “We’ve all been given a 5,000 BP balance to start. We basically use it for all our shopping here. It’s your default homepage as soon as we log into the network, too, so you can’t miss it.”

At this, Megan felt a flutter of excitement.

“Can they really do that? Make all my clothes fit?”

“Can they make your tits and ass huge?” Exe asked facetiously. “I wouldn’t doubt much of what they can or can’t do with us.”

“Fair point…” Megan admitted. “I’ll go get my laptop.”

“Don’t bother,” Exe said, entering something in.

Immediately the tight, constrained pinching Megan had felt from her clothes since the transformation lightened. She let out a gasp of mixed surprise and relief as the cord skirt, blouse and the panties beneath them conformed to her dimensions. Her stockings, stretched across her shaplier, less willowy legs now fit perfectly and were back to darkening them. The only unfortunate part was her bra. It had broken during the change (Megan really hadn’t had much of a chest before) and her breasts were now pressed bare against the white silk of her sleeveless blouse. But apart from that, she finally felt comfortable.

“Oh my god…” She said, startled, then realized what had happened. “Oh my god, thank you! You bought that for me?”

Exe shook her head.

“I loaned that to you. Pay me back through your phone,” She said.

“It was still really sweet. Thank you so much!” Megan insisted.

“You were making me uncomfortable, fidgeting around like that,” She said, though Megan thought she seemed more uncomfortable now than she had a minute ago. “Now we can both hang out a little easier.”

Megan nodded.

“Fair enough. I’ll pay you back right away.”

Exe gave her a funny look at that, but turned back to her laptop. Megan pulled up her phone, navigating through the shopping page. It was very intuitively designed. She was kind of impressed. A moment later, she’d transferred the funds from her balance to Exe’s.

“You know, you should really take your time to learn some of this stuff,” Exe said. “I don’t think any of the other girls have bothered to, and there’s a lot of really useful things we can buy or sell or whatever.”

Megan nodded.

“Thank you for telling me about it.” She said politely, before adding. “I don’t think it matters much in my case. But it’s good to know if it can help someone else.”

Exe was giving her that weird, befuddled look again.

“Why wouldn’t it matter?” She asked. “Don’t you want to play the game?”

“To seduce my own brother? Not really,” Megan said. “Besides, it wouldn’t work anyway. Jake’s a good guy.”

Exe considered that, clearly thought about saying something, then shrugged.

“Still, I’m glad I’m comfortable. So thank you again for that,” Megan said.

She paused.

“May I ask you something?” She said.

“Sure. What’s up?” Exe asked, though she was now back to watching her laptop instead of the person talking to her.

Megan bit her lip, opened her mouth, paused. She collected her thoughts for a moment before speaking up again.

“Why are you helping me?” She asked. “I mean, I don’t want to sound ungrateful. I really do appreciate it. But I was under the impression that you were out to win at all costs and all that.”

Exe set the laptop aside with an annoyed little grunt.

“I do, but partly because you’re Jake’s sister, I’m not too worried about you as real competition.”

Megan shrank a little at that.

“I suppose that makes sense.”

Exe regarded her, then rubbed the bridge of her nose beneath her glasses.

“Okay, I also felt a bit sorry for you. Your whole deal sucks,” She said. “Although for what it’s worth, I think you’ve got the wrong idea about this whole thing.”

“What do you mean? What whole thing?” Megan asked, drawing a bit tighter again.

Exe sighed again. She seemed to do that a lot, like a teacher trying to communicate with a particularly slow student.

“I really shouldn’t be giving you advice, but you’re looking at this as a contest to seduce Jake. And it definitely is at least partly that,” Exe explained. “But it’s also a popularity contest. There’s points for being best girl, points for positive audience reactions to stuff on social media or whatever, and points for winning contests.”

Megan wrinkled her nose.

“If you perform well in a contest, isn’t that definitionally not a popularity contest?”

Exe barked a laugh at that.

“Of course it is. Haven’t you ever watched a talent show? American Idol, The Voice…something like that?”

“Not really,” Megan admitted.

Exe shook her head.

“Some people vote for the best performer, but even more vote for the person they like most,” She said. “Guarantee you that’s gonna happen when we head out to transform people.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Megan said, looking down at her lap, “But I don’t see what this has to do with me.”

Exe put two fingers under Megan’s chin, and pushed it up until their eyes were meeting. She sat back on her bed.

“You say Jake’s a good guy. He wouldn’t touch you even if you tried to seduce him. You might be right,” She said. “So don’t bother with that.”

“Well…if that’s the point of the game, how can I still win?”

“By seducing the audience Make them like you,” Exe said. “Forget your brother.”

Megan nodded. Unless the audience was into brainy, awkward girls who only really came alive to gush about biology, old literature or science fiction, she sort of doubted she was any more likely to do that than to win Jake over as anything more than an affectionate older brother. But she decided it was good advice all the same. It at least represented hope, which is something she’d been completely devoid of since the measure of this game had been laid out for her.

“I’ll think about that,” She said. “Not sure how to do it, but I’ll think about it.”

“Well, getting out of this fucking room would be a start,” Exe said, “You’re gonna get eliminated fast if you decided to be a homebody.”

Throughout this lecture on the merits and customs of reality shows, Megan observed that Exe herself seemed to be thinking things through; as though she were calculating what she was saying as she said it. The apparent conclusion of this then came out.

“Come on,” She said, standing up, “We’re gonna go hang out with the girls after all.”

“Oh, no, really…I…” Megan began to protest.

But Exe grabbed her wrist and hauled her to her feet. She let out an “eep” of surprise, but ultimately followed along. She didn’t want to go, but she didn’t want to argue, either. Not when she felt she was maybe, finally making a friend.