Maybe you thought that I'd turn into someone else

“Kill him.”

“Please! It was just a mistake! I-I’ll give back the money, I won’t bother you ever again, please!”

“You need to send a message to anyone who would try to steal from the organization. Kill him.”

“You-you don’t want to do this, please, you’re just a child! My daughter is the same age as you, she-”

BANG!

“Well done. Dispose of the remains.”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin turned the body over and stared into the lifeless eyes of the man beneath her. The rain flooded the alley, drawing a river of red towards the gutters. She looked down at her hand, soaked sticky in thick, dark blood. It stubbornly clung to her glove in spite of the downpour.

A silent gasp escaped her lips as she flung herself up in bed. Her dream pounded in her skull as a burning reminder of her actions, and she looked down at her hand. The black leather glistened in the morning light, untarnished. The thick scent of iron in the air was replaced by that of soothing sweets.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin took a deep breath, and silently released it. She climbed out of bed and looked down at the figure beside her, of the slender dark-skinned woman dressed in orange.

She tapped her chin thoughtfully, wondering why the other girl would possibly choose to dress back up in that outfit when she had a closet full of other clothes she could try on. Perhaps, like her, she had an unusual attachment to those garments.

“What the fuck are you staring at, huh?”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin took a step back and reached for her waist, only to remember that her umbrella had only existed in her dream. Here in the real world, it had been confiscated by the host.

She narrowed her eyes into a glare and raised her arms in a defensive stance.

But the dark-haired girl she’d just been sharing a bed with wasn’t looking for a fight. Wearing a scowl that was just as frustrated, she sat up in bed.

“Nothing to say? Oh, that’s right, you can’t,” she spat. “Why the fuck were you looming over my bed like a fucking ghost? Creep.”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin’s lips twitched. She regarded the other girl with caution as she got up, not sure who she was dealing with. While the uneducated assassin was certainly no expert on Cinder and Ella’s condition, one of the few things she knew how to read was body language. She could tell that the fierce-looking woman in front of her was different from the frantic girl, and while she didn’t know the source of that difference, everything down to the way they held themselves and the way they spoke to her signaled two distinct individuals.

That was strange. But she had seen a lot of strange things in her line of work.

“It’s what I get,” the other girl spat, shaking her head. “Taking a risk and getting some sleep. Bet that’s why Ella has such a problem sleeping all the time, with you creeping around.”

As if Ella wasn’t plagued by enough problems, her chronic insomnia kept her up at night. In part due to the tormenting voice that kept bouncing around in her head, making things so much harder for her all the time.

Not that Cinder could recognize that.

“Looking for a fight?” She growled, glancing down at Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin’s raised fists. “Well, sorry. I’m not gonna go for that sort of thing.”

Cinder had several problems with the assassin, but none that she was willing to get physical over. Not when she knew that Ella could be endangered.

Instead, she shoved past the short girl and headed out the door.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin blinked. Then a smile stretched across her lips and she skipped after her roommate. The thoughts bouncing around in her head that compelled her to follow the violent girl were a secret only for her.

“What the fuck do you want, huh?” Cinder barked, looking over her shoulder at Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin. “Leave me the fuck alone!”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin held up her hands to show she didn’t mean any harm, as she so often did to lull foes of the organization into a false sense of security. But Cinder obviously didn’t trust any of that. She leered warily at the slender girl, and then muttered something under her breath and headed for the lounge area.

Of course, the assassin followed her.

The lounge was empty. The lights were on and the faint scent of coffee lingered in the air, but beyond those bare hints, it was devoid of human presence.

Cinder stood awkwardly in the center of the room, and shifted from one foot to the other. Her eyes scanned the lounge from behind her bangs, sharp and untrusting like a wounded animal. In contrast, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin didn’t have a care in the world-

Well, with one exception. Her clothes were starting to feel a little uncomfortable, especially around the chest. Like they’d shrunk a bit overnight.

While the assassin lacked a traditional education, she wasn’t a fool. She knew that the discomfort she felt was from the nanomachines that were slowly inflating her breasts every day. While they weren’t monstrous by any means, she could feel them gradually swelling in size, getting ever so slightly bigger than they were the day before.

She pulled down the zipper of her jumpsuit to give her breasts some room to breathe. Already that felt much better. Perhaps the girls at the clothing store had been correct, and she might need a bra. She never had in the past; because of her slim frame and her small chest, her jumpsuit provided more than enough support for her needs. But her breasts were getting slightly heavier by the day.

It was interesting, but not her greatest concern.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin ignored her swelling chest, and walked over to the Bounty Board. This was the thing the host had mentioned before- the board where people could do tasks in order to get BP. And that BP could be used to buy things.

How unusual.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin had never used money before. Everything she had was provided to her by the organization. When she needed something else, like ice cream, she would just steal it. That was fine, since it wasn’t like she was stealing from the organization, not like several of her targets had. Stealing from civilians was acceptable so long as it was done discretely. But she couldn’t do that now.

So she would need to acquire money of some sort. How much did she have? She retraced the previous days and recalled seeing the long string of symbols that represented her “name” beside 4100 BP. But she had no way of knowing if that was a lot or not.

But she could always do with more.

Problem: Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin could not read any of the words written on the flyer.

Solution: Get someone else to read it for her.

Without hesitation, she ripped one of the papers off the wall. The flash of light surprised her, but she ignored it, and went over to the other girl. She practically shoved the paper into the irate Cinder’s hands with an insistent expression on her face.

“Huh? What the fuck is this?” Cinder growled, uncrumpling the paper. “Wait, you’re fucking kidding me, is this one of those ‘bounty’ things that witch told me about?!”

Last night, Dakota had popped into their room to explain the Bounty Board mechanics to Cinder, and also to give Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin a follow-up. After all, she could never be too sure what the silent girl managed to pick up in a conversation.

Cinder had mostly dismissed it as something not worth her time, but apparently, the assassin had decided to start claiming some bounties. Hopefully not any that resembled the kinds of bounties she used to collect.

“You want me to read this to you, is that it?” Cinder muttered.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin nodded cheerily.

“…Fine. Okay…” Cinder sighed in resignation and scanned the paper.

SPEND 24 HOURS WEARING A SOAKED TOP (NO BRA)

REWARD: 500 BP

“…That’s what it says,” she finished. “No clue what that means though.”

As if to answer the question, a bucket of water materialized above the Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin’s head, and tipped over, spilling its contents all over her.

…Or, well, almost.

With reflexes that defied human ability, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin leapt back, avoiding the cascade. Her intuition had sensed danger and her body responded, and she landed on the carpeted floor as dry as a desert as the water splashed up and onto Cinder’s shoes.

“Hey! What the fuck?!” Cinder spat, stumbling back like she’d been struck.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin was on high alert. Her eyes were wide and her pointed ears twitched as she looked around for more threats.

“…Ah for fuck’s sake… I should have expected something like that…” Dakota’s disembodied voice echoed in the air, and the assassin raised her head and squinted.

“Okay, mute girl, if you want the 500 BP, then let the bucket pour on you this time, alright?” Dakota ordered, and another bucket appeared in the air, wobbling threateningly.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin paused, eyeing the floating bucket cautiously. Then she relaxed and nodded, and a smile returned to her face.

“Good.”

The bucket tipped over, and this time the assassin allowed herself to be soaked. Her leather jumpsuit immediately stiffened and clung to her body, highlighting her figure even more as her hair stuck to the back of her neck. She looked completely drenched in a matter of moments, the bucket holding far more water than its size suggested. But the pale girl didn’t seem to mind, and wiped her bangs away from her smiling face.

“You’ll like that for the rest of the day,” Dakota informed her. “If it looks like you’re starting to dry, I’ll do it again. Work for you?”

With a silent smile, the drenched girl nodded cheerily. The bucket popped out of existence.

Cinder stared incredulously at the short girl, wondering what the fuck was wrong with her brain. “What, so you’re fine with just getting soaked all day? For a measly 500 BP?”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin nodded and shrugged her shoulders, clearly not seeing what the big deal was.

Cinder thought she was crazy. She thought that for a lot of reasons in fact, but this was definitely another piece of kindling added to the fire.

Still… 500 BP is 500 BP. That’s quite a tidy sum. And it’s not like I have a lot on hand. She’d started the round with almost nothing, and Ella had spent a good chunk of that nothing on nice frilly clothes that made Cinder want to wretch. When she took a look in her closet last night, she’d seen nothing that she could bring herself to put on.

So prison jumper it was. Not exactly where Cinder wanted to be in life.

There’s still one bounty left… if I claim it, I might be able to make some money. I can buy some actual clothes with that, and whatever’s left over, I can leave for Ella to enjoy herself with, Cinder decided, walking over to the Bounty Board. Only problem is, I don’t think I’m going to like what I’ll have to do… it’s probably going to involve doing something gross and sexual with that guy, right?

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin had gotten off lightly, with just a bucket of water dumped on her head. Cinder could probably handle that… although the “no bra” part would be a pain.

But if it was something more serious… something that involved actual sexual contact with that guy… well, she wasn’t exactly okay with pimping herself out to that creep.

At least then, Ella won’t be involved with anything. Cinder wouldn’t enjoy it, but if it would help Ella, then she would make the sacrifice for the sake of her other self.

To her surprise, though, the flyer on the board didn’t seem to involve anything of the sort.

“…Huh.”

She read it over just to make sure she was reading it properly.

TOUCH ONE OF THE TRANSFORMING MIRRORS IN THE HALL OF MIRRORS

REWARD: Varies

“Transforming mirror? What the fuck is that?” Cinder wondered. “And why isn’t there any reward stated? ‘Varies’? What kind of shit…?”

She could feel Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin’s eyes boring a hole in her back, and after only a moment’s hesitation, she snapped up the bounty.

It’s not like I have to do anything with it. If it seems like it’s going to be a problem, then I’ll just toss it in the trash. What was it she said? If I don’t complete the bounty within 24 hours then it’s forfeit? Well, I’m fine with that.

Cinder shoved the crumpled-up paper into her pocket and headed for the elevators. Now I just need to find this fucking “Hall of Mirrors” place. Should ask one of those faeries floating around.

As she entered the elevator, she quickly realized she wasn’t alone.

“…What the fuck do you want?” Cinder growled, turning to the assassin who had popped into the car with her.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin tilted her head to the side and smiled. A small puddle was starting to form at her feet. She pointed down.

“Yeah, I’m going down. …Right, there’s only one elevator. Forgot.”

Cinder sighed and leaned against the wall as the elevator began to descend. Talk about awkward. The only thing worse than being stuck in an elevator with a stranger was being stuck in an elevator with a stranger who didn’t talk, but would still stare at you.

The elevator couldn’t reach the ground floor fast enough.

“Okay, you go off to breakfast,” Cinder said, shooing the annoying assassin away. “I’ve got business to take care of.”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin looked curious, but she didn’t press. She gave a silent chuckle and shrugged, then skipped off down the hall.

Finally, Cinder was left to her own devices. She stormed away, looking for a faerie who could tell her where she needed to go. But her glare wasn’t exactly drawing them to her.

“Fucking finally!” It felt like Cinder had been wandering around the damn hotel for hours. It hadn’t been that long, but she didn’t exactly have the best sense of time.

After finally cornering one of those pesky pixies, Cinder had demanded to know where the Hall of Mirrors was. The faerie was happy to guide her in the right direction, and sent her to the Amusement Park.

The frustrated girl felt a twang in her heart the moment she crossed the threshold. She recognized Ella’s yearning, and knew that the other girl must have been **** for something like this. She could understand why. They had never been allowed something as nice as an Amusement Park before. Maybe, when this was all done, Ella might like to come back here.

But Cinder was in the driver’s seat right now, and she had business to accomplish.

She walked into the Hall of Mirrors, and immediately felt uncomfortable. All she could see was herself. Her own miserable face staring back at her, and the orange jumpsuit she was wearing served as a further condemnation.

“Fuck… stupid fucking judging things!” Cinder clenched her fist and flexed her fingers open and closed, resisting the urge to break the mirrors to pieces. She doubted Dakota would stand for that, and she doubted even more that it would accomplish anything of merit.

No… the mirrors would probably just repair themselves. Cinder was quickly becoming aware of the kinds of tricks that the host pulled, and she wasn’t a fan. Not at all.

“Let’s just get to it already,” she muttered, and walked forward.

Immediately, she bounced into her own reflection.

This was going to take a while.

After what felt like another hour of navigating the maze, Cinder turned a corner and arrived in a room that was completely different from the labyrinth she’d just wandered through. This room had actual walls, for one, even if mirrors still hung from them. Something inside told her that this was the heart of the maze.

“So is this where I’m supposed to be?” Cinder called out into the void as she stepped deeper into the room. “These the ‘Transforming Mirrors’ or whatever?”

Her impatience had only grown thanks to the annoying maze. As she walked over to one of the mirrors, she saw a sign standing in front of it.

The sign read “500 BP”.

“…Huh.” Cinder looked up to see a reflection of herself staring back at her. Only, she didn’t look the same at all.

She was wearing a bright blue dress with a gossamer cape over her shoulders. Tiny sparkles covered the garment, looking almost like glittering snow. Her hair was longer, and pulled into a braid.

A shiver rolled down her back. She definitely didn’t like that look.

“So they’re trick mirrors then,” she realized, looking down at the sign. “So that’s it, then? I touch one of these, and what, my body changes?”

She took the silence as a confirmation.

Rolling her eyes, Cinder walked over to the next mirror. This one had a sign in front of it that read 1000 BP!

“So I’m guessing this is what ‘varies’ means,” she muttered, checking out the sign first. “Depending on which mirror I touch, that will determine how much BP I get?”

She looked at her appearance in the mirror and immediately recoiled in disgust.

The woman staring back at Cinder was DEFINITELY not Cinder. Her hair was bleached blonde, and she was wearing a bright pink dress. …Well, “wearing” wasn’t exactly the right term. It would be more apt to say a cartoonishly-bloated body was squeezed into that outfit so tightly that it looked ready to burst apart at any second. The Cinder she saw in front of her had gotten a few… “modifications” to her figure.

Cinder looked at the vacant-eyed stare of her curvaceous counterpart, and fought back the urge to throw up.

“Fucking disgusting, this show is fucking sick!” She muttered, her face reddening as she turned away from the mirror. “1000 BP for that? These things have to be temporary, that amount of money is WAY too low to butcher yourself like that.”

Just the idea of turning herself into some sex doll made her feel nauseous. Cinder had no time for looking so… perverse!

She looked at other signs and tags. The BP changed by increments of 500, apparently. The next one she spotted was another 500 one, and this one, while a little better, still wasn’t exactly her cup of tea.

Cinder had been hoping to find a wardrobe change that would match her ideal style, but whoever had set up these mirrors seemed like it wanted to deny her that. Instead, she found herself looking at another outfit she’d never be caught dead in. She was wearing a red and snow-white robe, something akin to a kimono or a hakama (not that she would know that, of course) with her hair brushed straight like Ella’s. But the facial features she saw weren’t like Ella’s at all; her eyes still had the same sharpness they always did, but tempered with a polite smile and a peaceful air about her.

No, that one wouldn’t do, either.

She went to the next mirror, and was surprised by what she saw. This one was 1500 BP!

One look told her exactly why.

A cheerful woman in a maid costume stared back at Cinder with a pleasant grin, looking ready to serve. But it wasn’t at all like the costume she’d been wearing the night before, no, this maid costume had been cut to look incredibly revealing and slutty. Like something that had stepped right out of some old man’s sleazy fantasies.

Cinder had half a mind to smash that mirror in particular.

“Like hell I’d go for something like that!” She roared in disgust.

Still, 1500 was the highest reward she’d seen yet. And it wasn’t close, either.

Grumbling to herself, she kept looking, but all the others were in the 500 or 1000 range. There weren’t any that… wait.

2500 BP!?

Cinder couldn’t believe what she was reading. It was an astronomical amount of BP; more than she had on her, hell, it was more than she’d started with! What kind of sleazy, deranged outfit would she have to wear to make that much money!?

She raised her head, almost dreading what she was about to see.

But… it wasn’t actually that bad?

“Huh… is that really it?” Cinder wondered, taking a step closer.

Now, there was no question that the clothes Cinder’s mirror counterpart was wearing were things she would never be caught dead in. A bright red blouse with a plunging neckline that revealed a hint of cleavage, and some gray sweats. But compared to her other options? It was still fairly conservative, and at least they were in her colors. And no massively-deformed body proportions, either.

What really stood out to her though was the face of her other self. She was smiling. She looked happy… but there was a fakeness about it. Like someone had a gun to her head, to **** her to smile. Not that anyone could **** Cinder to do anything.

It was tempting, it really was. But she couldn’t actually transform herself into that, right? Looking all nice and cheerful…

Well…

But 2500 BP was a lot of money… she could buy a lot with that.

And it was probably temporary. So as long as she remained in control, Ella wouldn’t have to know. This was all for her sake, anyway.

Making a decision, Cinder went along with it. She reached out and touched the mirror, and it flashed bright.