I dunno yet, and I can't know, because to know, is to invest

Carly was confused by the way Vivian was looking at her. “You want to invest in something else? What are you talking about?”

Vivian’s conspiratorial expression fell away and she looked at Carly in confusion. “…You don’t know?” She asked.

“…No.” Carly shook her head, completely oblivious.

Marley sighed and rubbed her temples. “Come on sis, I know everyone says I’m the smart one, but you can’t really be this dumb. She’s talking about your newest transformation!”

She turned and looked at Vivian just to confirm. “You are talking about her transformation, right? Stream Donations?” Boy would Marley look like an idiot if that wasn’t the case.

“Oh! That!” Carly brightened. “Wow, I mean, I didn’t forget about that, but it’s like… I just figured nothing would come of it, you know?” She scratched her cheek. “I mean, I took the photos, and that was nice, had some good times with Dani over that, but… nobody really gave me any BP for it, so I figured ‘whatever’.” She shrugged.

“…No, yeah, that’s what I was talking about,” Vivian said, nodding. “I’m really curious about the limits of that transformation myself.”

“Limits?” Morgana scrunched up her face in confusion. “What do you mean by the limits? Are there limits?”

“Yeah there are,” Sylvia recalled. “Remember?”

She pulled up the transformation so Morgana could look it over.

• Stream Donations: Nothing shows you’ve made it as a content creator quite like receiving money and gifts from your simps- err, subscribers. Starting now, other contestants will receive spicy pictures of Carly each morning, and in exchange they may donate BP to a pot set aside to buy her a gift. At the end of the round, or if total donations for the round reach 10000 BP, whichever comes first, she will receive a gift commensurate to the amount of BP she managed to earn. [NOTE: Carly’s own BP cannot be used towards this end, but she can provide favors to other contestants in exchange for donations.] (Content Creator)

“Oh, so the donations max out at 10000 BP?” Morgana noted. “I see…”

“Yes, precisely,” Vivian said, nodding. “And 10000 BP may seem like a lot, but with the amount of money floating around right now, it really isn’t. So I’m very curious to see just what will happen when we put in the maximum amount of money…”

Unlike with Rose’s money-based transformation, which apparently didn’t have any limit to how long it could make her hair grow, this one did. Was that due to Dakota having learned from her mistakes? Or would something special happen when they reached 10000 BP?

Vivian was dying to find out, and she would be happy to help Carly get that far. Borrowing some money from Rose was no big deal at all!

“Well, hey, if you want to give me some money, I’m not going to complain about it,” Carly said, shrugging. “But you’re sure this is okay?”

She half-expected Vivian to say something like “Yes, but I want a favor in return” or “As long as I get to make use of your prize, too” or something else that would make this seem like a worthwhile proposition to the heiress.

But Vivian didn’t say anything of the sort.

“I’m just curious, that’s all,” she said. “Believe me, I’ve spent way more money entertaining myself. …I mean, presumably,” she added with a laugh. Vivian still hadn’t quite worked out what the conversion from regular currency to BP was, if there was any. But that wasn’t the issue right now.

Carly glanced at her sister, who shrugged.

“Hey, since when do you ever listen to my advice?” Marley pointed out.

That got a laugh from Carly.

“Fair enough,” the cosplayer admitted. “Alright then, Vivian, you’ve got a deal! I’ll take it!”

“Great!” Vivian chirped. “I’m not going to give you everything, though. Just the 5000 BP Rose gave me to experiment with. Not a fool, after all, I’m gonna need the rest as a foundation to repay my debt. So we’ll have to find other backers for this little endeavor to 10000.”

Carly nodded. That made sense.

Vivian made the transfer.

Vivian: 7200 BP – 5000 BP = 2200 BP

Carly’s Donations: 0 BP + 5000 BP = 5000 BP

“So did that do anything?” Morgana asked, looking curiously at Carly. “Do you feel any different?”

Carly pondered for a moment, then shook her head. “Not really, no.”

“You won’t collect anything until the end of the round,” Sylvia pointed out. “Or until you get to 10000 BP. Speaking of…”

Sylvia had quite a stash of BP herself. 9500 BP, to be precise, and it was burning a hole in her pocket. 5000 BP would barely be over half of it!

She could make that purchase.

Marley could sense what Sylvia was planning, and interceded. “Whoa, hold on a sec, are you sure about this?” She asked, stopping Sylvia before she did anything wild. “What if you need that BP for something later?”

Sylvia blinked and looked at Marley in confusion. “What do you mean?” She asked.

“Well… you know, Dream Alley and stuff,” Marley pointed out. “Or to upgrade a transformation, or… I don’t know! You’re the former host! You know better than we do how important BP is! Are you sure you should just give it all up?”

“I think Marley is right,” Carly said. “This is a little different than with Rose; she had a ton of BP to spare. You’ve got plenty, but your date night is still coming up. This could wipe you out.”

“…Yeah, I guess so,” Sylvia sighed.

“It’s okay, you were just trying to help!” Vivian said with a cheery smile. “No harm in that! But I think what we should focus on, instead of a big purchase, is a bunch of smaller investors, don’t you think? That might be best.”

“Dani would probably give some, right?” Morgana mentioned. “I mean… she doesn’t really have a lot of need for it…”

Carly shook her head. “Dani’s only got 5600 BP herself,” she pointed out. “And she always scores pretty low in the polls. I don’t want to ask her if I don’t have to.” It was the reason she hadn’t really been focusing on that particular aspect of her transformation. She knew if she brought it up, then Dani would want to help, and she didn’t want to do that.

“What we need is a big ticket investor, then,” Vivian said, stroking her chin thoughtfully. “Someone with a lot of BP at their disposal, without a lot to do with it…”

A wily grin spread across her lips. “And I think I know just who to ask!”

Another day, another dollar. That was one way of looking at things. Kim lounged back in the hot springs and yawned. For once, she was enjoying her time off. Starting work early in the day meant she was finished by lunchtime, and after a nice workout (Dani hadn’t showed up for some reason, but she didn’t question it and just went through her usual routine) Kim was finally enjoying some much-needed rest.

She was so relaxed, she didn’t even notice the hot spring door slide open.

“See? I knew she’d be here!”

A certain annoying voice, though, that did catch Kim’s attention. She sat up, her eyes wide, and raised her head to see Vivian walk out of the changing room, a towel wrapped around her slender figure.

She wasn’t the only one though. It was like an ambush! Carly and Marley came in right behind her, with Sylvia taking up the rear. Unlike Vivian, who was tastefully covered, and Marley, who was trying very hard to keep her curves modest, Carly and Sylvia were both as naked as she was. Kim shifted awkwardly on the rocks, looking suspiciously at the sudden influx of women.

With what Vivian had just said, this definitely wasn’t a coincidence. The only question was, what did they want with her?

“Can I help you?” Kim asked, looking suspiciously at Vivian.

“Sorry to intrude,” Marley apologized. “We’re not here to cause a scene, no matter what Vivian might be suggesting…”

“Yeah, if it makes you feel better, we could have brought in Morgana, too,” Sylvia chirped. “But she had enough socializing for one day and went back to her room. You know, after she put her clothes back on, of course, my girl!”

Kim blinked. Put her clothes back on? What the heck’s going on here?!

Did this have something to do with Dani and her bounty to make a bunch of girls orgasm? …No, couldn’t be, Dani was nowhere to be seen.

And the cheeky smile on Vivian’s face told Kim that this was all her idea, somehow. So she was the focus of Kim’s stare.

The heiress didn’t seem to mind the attention. She walked right over to the edge of the spring and crouched down.

“We were wondering if you could do us a real big favor, Kim,” Vivian said, smiling.

Well, that was ominous. Kim looked suspiciously at her.

“What kind of favor?” She asked.

“The kind that involves investing some BP, that kind,” Vivian informed her.

Kim scraped the inside of her ear with her finger. Had she gotten some water in there while bathing in the spring? Because she could have sworn Vivian was asking her to invest some BP.

“…You’re kidding me, right?” Kim asked incredulously. “Vivian, YOU of ALL people are asking me for money?”

The audacity!

“Well, technically, I’m not the one asking,” Vivian clarified, shaking her head. She looked over at Carly. “The money’s actually for her. You know, for the pictures? I know you got them,” she said, winking at Kim.

Kim responded to the wink with a sulky expression. “Yeah, I got the pictures,” she said with a sigh. Honestly? She’d been a little jealous. Having done a photoshoot of her own, Carly’s photos were amazing. There was a clear difference in quality- and Kim was fairly sure that the models were the source of it.

“Well great! So if you wouldn’t mind-”

“Still, no.”

Kim turned and looked at Carly. “Sorry, but I’m not sure I should go around spending money recklessly,” she apologized. “I need to keep my BP for a rainy day, you know? I mean, between Dani’s date tomorrow, and my date with Nick the day after that…”

“No, I totally get it!” Carly said, holding up her hands. “This wasn’t my idea, it was Vivian’s. She said you had the money to spare.”

“Well, you do,” Vivian said, just a little defensively. “You’ve got the most BP out of anyone now, since Rose invested.”

Kim perked up when she heard that. Rose had given away her BP? How much? That was surprising, given what she knew about the actress and how hard she worked to get as much BP as she possibly could.

Vivian continued, “And since Gina’s otherwise occupied with Dani, I figured it would be safe to ask. But if you’re not interested, that’s fine!”

Kim looked blankly at the heiress. That had almost been too easy.

“…What’s your game?” She asked, squinting suspiciously at Vivian.

Vivian looked confused. “Game? What do you mean?”

Kim stood up in the water. “I mean, I expected you to put up more of a fight than that,” Kim replied. “You seem totally fine with not getting any BP. I thought you’d be a lot pushier than that.”

“Vivian’s trying to turn over a new leaf,” Sylvia volunteered. “Apparently, her date with Daddy didn’t go very well, so she’s trying to prove she can be a good person by helping others! Isn’t that just the sweetest thing you’ve ever heard?”

Kim snorted and rolled her eyes. “Wow, that’s… that’s really something,” she said. “Yeah, I heard about that… well, I’m not gonna say you can go fuck yourself, because it looks like you really are putting in the effort. But I’m not really in the mood to make any investments right now.”

She looked apologetically over to Carly again. “…Again, sorry.”

“No, no, it’s fine!” Carly held up her hands and shook her head. “Like I said, it’s REALLY not a big deal, seriously!”

Kim nodded pensively. As long as Carly was okay with it, then she didn’t need to feel bad.

But…

“Well… okay, maybe just a little,” she said finally. She DID have a lot of BP, after all. “Is 1000 BP enough?”

Carly’s face lit up with surprise. “You mean it?”

Kim’s red cheeks were less due to the hot spring and more due to other things. “W-well, I mean, you really have been working hard, so, like… and also, I mean… you’re letting me tag along with Dani on her date for a threesome. You didn’t have to do that. So… it’s like a thank you, I guess.”

“Aww, Kim! Look at you! Expressing gratitude through money!” Vivian gushed cheerily. “I’m so happy for you!”

Kim gave her a withering look.

“You sure?” Carly asked. “If you’re up for it, then yeah! I’d love that, Kim, thanks!”

“Sure thing,” Kim nodded, and she made the transaction.

Kim: 11500 BP – 1000 BP = 10500 BP

Carly’s Donations: 5000 BP + 1000 BP = 6000 BP

“Alright, and that’s 6000!” Marley said, patting her sister on the back. “Way to go!”

“Great work, Carly,” Sylvia said, nodding in agreement. She turned to Kim. “Hey, before we go, one more thing.”

Kim raised her eyebrow. They were leaving already? What a relief.

“Do you want to try upgrading one of your transformations?” Sylvia asked. “You know, for one of your upcoming dates with Daddy? Maybe to help your threesome along?”

“Uh…” Kim didn’t even know how to answer that. Other than a flat-out “No” of course.

“…I’ll think about it?” She said, still not sure. It was a rather unexpected question, to say the least.

Sylvia grinned from ear to ear. “Well, great! Just what I was hoping for!”

And with that, she skipped after the others, leaving a very confused Kim wondering just what she was missing out on relaxing in the hot spring like this.

…Well, whatever it was, she doubted it was worth trading a nice, long soak for. She sat back down and sank beneath the water, blowing some bubbles with her sigh of relief.

…

“So that’s 1000 BP secured from Kim,” Vivian said, tapping her chin. The girls had put their clothes back on, and were headed back down the street. Their business in the Shopping District had concluded, and now they were heading back to the elevator to find other contestants to shake down for money. “Who do you think we should ask next? Dawn’s got a lot, but she’s busy with Rose… Gina and Dani are off… well, you know what they’re doing, so that only leaves…”

There were a few people left who they could ask, but none of them had much BP to spare. It wouldn’t hurt to ask, though.

“We could see if Amelia and Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin might be interested in pitching in,” Carly suggested.

Vivian made a face. “Teach? You sure? I don’t know…”

“She probably wouldn’t be doing much with her BP,” Marley agreed. “It wouldn’t hurt to ask.”

“Good point,” Sylvia nodded. “Not sure about Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin, though. That girl is hard to read!”

For Sylvia, that was true for a lot of people. She had difficulty judging the way others thought.

Before the group of girls could go anywhere, though, Carly’s watch beeped.

“Oh hey!” Sylvia heard it before anyone else did. “Carly! Your watch!”

Carly stopped walking and looked at the device on her arm. “Hey, yeah! It’s pink again! I think that means I can use it again!”

“Are you sure?” Marley asked tensely. “I thought we were focusing on going to ask the others for investments?”

She was more worried about what the resulting transformation would be. After all, both times Carly had used the watch, the transformations she’d gotten had led to Marley turning back into slime. Which was a little annoying.

“That can come later,” Vivian said. “Carly should really focus on using the watch whenever she has the chance.”

“Really?” Carly was surprised to hear that. “Why?”

“Because it’s got time deadlines,” Vivian pointed out. “If you use it now, it wears off, and maybe you get one more try later today. But if you just keep it active without using it…”

“Yeah, I get what you mean,” Carly agreed, nodding.

“Great, then let’s do this!” Sylvia cheered. She was just as excited to see what the watch had in store next.

Marley sighed. She was the only one who had reservations about this whole thing, apparently. And that wasn’t surprising. Sylvia was always happy to run headfirst into transformations, and Vivian had a pondering mind that liked to experiment in order to properly gauge the boundaries she was working with; it was part of her risk-assessment mindset that had served her so well in the business world.

And her sister was the kind of girl who was easily swept up in anything that sounded like it could be fun, like this.

So even though Marley would like to object, she knew there was little point. And besides- she didn’t want to seem like a spoilsport.

“Okay… good luck, Carly,” she said warily. With any luck her sister would turn into some kind of fish-mermaid person, right after leaving the hot spring. That would be nice and ironic.

“Don’t worry, sis,” Carly said, looking at Marley with a reassuring gaze. “I promise, I’m gonna control myself this time, okay? I know the last few transformations I was messing around and ended up turning you into slime, but I won’t do that this time, alright?”

Marley really wanted to believe her. The look in Carly’s eyes was one filled with absolute honesty, after all.

But she also knew her sister had a bad tendency to mess things up without even meaning to. It was just the way she was.

“Just be careful, okay?” Marley begged. “That’s all I ask.”

Carly nodded. “You got it!” She said, winking at her sister. “You can count on me! I’ll be as careful as can be, sis!”

Somehow that wasn’t reassuring.

Carly began fidgeting with the watch, while Marley braced herself and prepared for the worst. Then her sister spun the dial, and slapped her hand down on it, hard.

A bright pink flash of light filled the street, and Marley had to shield her eyes from the burst. When she finally lowered her arms and opened her eyes, she was stunned by what she saw in front of her.