Ominous Signs

Felix remembered that, yes, he had a secretary, and that it was indeed Austin. They may have been in the body of a bimbo, but they were still an insufferable jackass. Big tits couldn't make up for how infuriating Austin was to deal with on a daily basis, much less what he did to mom.

"I've already gone over Austin's many duties with her," Vizrokoth paused for emphasis. "And she will be explaining them to you."

Vizrokoth then shoved Austin forwards. Austin looked a mixed of terrified and humiliated, with frazzled hair, and eyes worn out from crying. It took at least a solid minute of pouting and muttering before she finally said, "I'm your secretary, dear Sir, please let me explain my duties."

Felix almost winced hearing Austin's tone, as it was the tone of every corporate PR person saying bullshit that nobody, including the person saying it, bought into. Even as a high school senior, he had heard far too much of this, and hated the idea that he would have to listen to this tone every single fucking day. The answer that followed did not help much in that regard.

"Every morning after breakfast, I will be presenting your schedule for the day, answering any questions you had about the Harem Hotel season, any requests from contestants, receiving any orders you have for contestants, and..." Austin trailed off, and then swallowed before continuing, "Carrying out any requests you have of me."

The last part was through gritted teeth, and even more **** than the rest. Felix knew the only reason Austin were here was because Vizrokoth had escorted him here after explaining his duties, and whatever the heck this demon did to get Austin to behave. That same demon gave him a look, and said,

"Austin, prepare your presentation, I have something to talk with Felix about." Vizrokoth motioned Felix to go with her to a corner of the room.

"Felix, I expect to deal with Austin for at least five minutes, unless she does something rather egregious." Vizrokoth whispered to Felix in the corner.

"What counts as egregious?" Felix asked while straining to keep his volume low. "Insulting my mother? Denying that he-"

"She Felix," Vizrokoth interrupted him to emphasize. "She needs to remember that she forfeited her masculinity for her crimes. Otherwise, if she does something else obnoxiously terrible, her transformation will come into play, as it will for more minor offenses."

Felix sighed, nodded, and went to sit on the couch. The master bedroom didn't have a desk anywhere, and so the only place to sit was this giant couch that faced a blank concrete wall. He had no idea why someone would setup a room that way, but he wasn't a demon of uncertain age with the power to alter reality itself, so whose to say. He motioned to have Austin give her presentation.

"Today, you have a date with Noah starting at 6:00 PM." Austin said in the flat tone of a kid begrudgingly doing a school assignment.

"... anything else?" Felix asked, hoping to coax more out of her.

"No..." Then it happened. Austin, for no discernible reason, giggled.

Vizrokoth winked to Felix and then left. She had left him alone right when he discovered the way Austin was going to get bimbofied, and quite possibly turned into a drooling idiot long before they got out of here. And while he could be into bimbofication porn, he suspected dealing with someone that dumb on a daily basis would get annoying.

"Anyway, like, I wish you could just let shit go man." Austin said in a suspiciously high pitch voice. While Austin already had a higher pitched voice, this one sounded more bubbly like... a bimbo's.

"Austin, do you realize you just got dumber?" Felix asked, waiting for a reaction. It did not disappoint.

"Wait, WHAT?!" Austin immediately became focused again, and her voice lost any of its bimbo affect.

"I suggest you finish the report unless you want to be a drooling idiot." Felix said while emulating one of his teachers when he screwed up an assignment.

Austin nodded frantically and tried again. "Okay, okay, lunch is from 11:00 to 1:00, and while food is available outside those hours, there will often be reasons you shouldn't go there because of random activities or transformation related distractions. Otherwise, your date with Noah lasts from 6:00 PM to 8:00 AM the following day. And... to my knowledge, there are no other activities that demand your presence."

In Austin blurting out anything they could think of, Felix caught something. "Wait, transformation related activities? Why would I be required to do that?"

"Well... technically, we're in a transformation related activity right now," Austin said, slowing down a bit. "A lot of transformations may require you to interact with the harem member, especially if you don't want them to lose VP or suffer a consequence... like what happened to me."

Felix took a breath and then asked, "Describe to me if, in any manner, you feel dumber."

Austin bit her lip, and focused. "Well, I don't... wait..."

Her eyes lit up with realization. "Wait, my memories of being a corporate executive feel super vague and cloudy now. Even parts of college..."

Austin trailed off, becoming scared, and also, angry. Felix decided to cut her off before she could say something she might regret.

"Alright, you are going to find Cameron, or anyone who will tolerate you, and get them to help you figure out how much dumber you are," Felix said in a much sterner voice than he remember using with almost anyone before. "Otherwise, you can go."

Austin frantically nodded and then fled the room. Checking a nearby clock, Felix had just about managed to cross the five minutes mark. He sighed in relief, as while he could care less what happened to Austin's intelligence, he remembered a detail about the elimination rules that bothered him. The contestant who got eliminated would be replaced by someone close to them, but who would that be for Austin? He really didn't want to find out...

Cameron had started to get a real handle on the bunker they were all in. They had figured out the center for this bunker everyone was inside of, at least on the main floor, was the meeting room that the demon had dragged them to twice now, and seemed to have the ability to swap at will. That room had four entrances, and everything in the facility they could access was through one of those entrances. For instance, through the southern entrance to the meeting room was the bedrooms all the contestants slept in, and where the mess hall was, while through the northern entrance, one could find a stairwell, the master's suite, and... a door that hadn't opened yet.

That last discovery had caused Cameron to become even more curious, and explore elsewhere. The western part of the bunker was, after a brief look, way too complex to explore alone, with strange rooms such as an obstacle course, and what looked like a maze full of mirrors. When she explored through the eastern part of the bunker however, she discovered...

...a brand new room. Cameron quickly rushed off to find any contestants she could to share her discovery with, and soon had rounded up everyone except Austin, who apparently was stuck in a meeting with Felix. Together, they saw that the bunker now had an indoor garden, albeit one that still had concrete floors, walls, and a ceiling, presumably reinforced given where they were.

"The only things here were kiosks and a massive metal door." Hailey said while looking around the new room.

The garden itself was mainly full of what Noah said looked to be hydroponics, or plants grown in water. They were in rows upon rows of racks full of plants, with artificial lighting somehow providing all the nourishment the plants needed. The plants were hard to identify, but they weren't plants for food as they initially thought, or if they were, not growing anything they could identify.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" The demon said behind them.

Everyone turned around hearing her voice, and that very much included Cameron. For all of Cameron's instincts to please the powerful, they really didn't want to be near this demon whenever they could help it, and Cammy was in full agreement.

"This place was used for experiments in botany by those who used to be here," the demon said. "I chose to repurpose as a bit of nature you could enjoy on a date with Felix, and otherwise a place to see plants, even if you're still inside."

The demon teleported away again. After a few moments in shock, the group split up. Noah seemed to shrug, and chose to explore the garden they were inside of. Hailey followed them, perhaps viewing Noah as the closest thing she had to a friend in this bizarre place. Z went back into the bunker, and Winters soon followed. That left Cameron alone, and looking at a nearby clock that showed it had just turned 11:00, she decided it was time to go back to the mess hall.

Upon entering the mess hall, Cameron got a happy surprise because they saw Felix was there as well. He wasn't eating anything yet, just sipping a soda while staring off into space thinking about something. When they got closer, Cameron realized he was... agitated. This made them realize exactly who Felix had been dealing with.

"Austin?" Cameron asked while sitting next to him.

Felix just nodded. Cameron sighed before continuing, "I tried to tell you this morning, but you need to know that... Austin is my dad."

Cameron wasn't the type to let an issue fester with someone they wanted to get close to. Cammy knew that, if she wanted Felix to trust her, and to get right back to the friendship she wanted to have with him, he had to know. Both had seen how secrets caused damage, especially when they inevitably came out, but how they knew was different. Cameron had used secrets before to rupture a relationship, and in the process, become someone's new buddy.

"Did you know?" Felix asked, a hint of rising anger in his voice.

"Of course not Felix." Cameron said while hugging Felix, although really, it was Cammy doing it. In this moment, she chose to put herself in the driver's seat, and deal with the consequences her other parts had with it later.

"My father is a piece of shit, and in my version of events, I cut him out of my life long before anything he did to your mother." Cammy continued to assert control over her shared body in a way she hadn't previously.

"Your version?" Felix asked confused. "What do you mean by that?"

Cameron paused before answering. The male, original part of Cameron was angry at being sidelined like like this, but Cammy thought it was for the best. She thought Cameron was too manipulative and fake to get back into Felix's good graces, especially in the high stress situation everyone was in now. The part of Cameron that had manipulated their way into a fraternity had always been on easy street, not anything as intense as this game they were now in. She was able to convince the male half of herself to concede a bit using that argument, along with that Cammy would be better at building trust with Felix.

"My transformation gave me another set of memories, remember?" Cammy asked.

Felix nodded in response. "I kind of remember the other set but they don't seem real."

Cammy was hurt hearing that, but Cameron reminded her that, until Felix had gotten here, the set of memories where he only knew of Cameron as a guy were the memories they had. She grudgingly accepted that, and didn't let Felix see her sad for too long.

"Well, in the memories where I'm known as Cammy, I found out about what a sexist jackass my dad was and just cut him out of my life," Cammy said. "Heck, I even got my mother in that version to divorce the shithead."

Felix nodded hearing that and then... sighed. "Well, you should know that Austin got dumber while in our meeting, and I told her to find you."

Cameron raised their eyebrows at Felix changing their use of gender wording. This caused him to respond with, "The demon told me to refer to Austin as she, because it's part of their punishment."

That was a good enough answer for both sides of Cameron who nodded hearing that. "Alright, I can deal with that and..."

Cameron saw Austin in the distance, with a pleading look, which made them sigh as well. "And it looks like they're here."

"Do what you want but whenever they fail to do something that's in their duties, and that very much includes things I told them to do, they get dumber," Felix said. "And I don't imagine a drooling idiot whose still an asshole will be fun for anyone to deal with, especially their roommate."

They nodded, and then went over to Austin. While Cameron was frustrated by this chore, all sides of them knew that it was for the best. After all, regaining Felix's trust was worth a lot of headaches, and besides, Cameron was very aware of the headaches an idiot could cause...

Noah was thrilled to explore the hydroponics garden, and initially didn't really pay attention to Hailey. While the racks of plants were unfamiliar, it put her mind at peace to see the plants growing, and flourishing. Some of them looked like gorgeous flowers, others looked like they grew something similar to strawberries, albeit less appetizing from strange growths. The demon had said they were botany experiments, but for what? And if not here, where did this place gets its food?

Previously, Noah would've been willing to chalk up that food to magic, however, exploring the hydroponics garden revealed something very different. At the other side of the room was rows and rows of giant metal tanks, tall enough that they went to the ceiling. Upon closer inspection, saw wording all over them, and the word, "Fermentation," came up many, many times.

"What are these?" Hailey asked, catching up to Noah.

"I think these are fermentation tanks," Noah said. "More specifically for precision fermentation."

Noah had heard of the technology, and experiments about it, but looking at the tanks... she knew this was far, far more advanced than she had read about before. All of the food in this facility could've been made by these tanks, judging by how large each one was, and judging by various pieces of machinery near them, had the ability to do things the ones on Earth couldn't.

"What's the big deal about that?" Hailey asked, and the question knocked Noah out of their stupor.

"Where we're from, it's a mostly experimental technology that..." Noah paused looking at Hailey and decided to quickly simplify her explanation, "It's the closest thing we have to Star Trek replicator technology in real life."

Hailey eyes went wide hearing that, and she then looked at the tanks very differently. "Wait... so all the food at the buffet, the demon didn't just magic that into existence?"

"Maybe not, but if it is from these tanks, I don't know where this stuff comes from." Noah said, her mind filled with questions...

Winters had been having a very... strange couple of days so far. Kei Winters was in the driver's seat, and had continued to exert themselves, but the encounter with the demon had caused enough fear for Benjamin Winters to assert himself. Granted, that was to hide in their room like a child, but it was more agency than he had while in this new body for the entire time they had been there. Kei Winters tolerated this brief burst of agency from her male counterpart, but only to further assert herself and her needs.

After a brief period of crying, Winters suddenly stopped, and went to find the showers. Kei Winters had asserted herself again, and that included cleaning her body. They hadn't been able to shower since yesterday, and she now felt sticky, including under her boobs, all of which needed to be dealt with. While the demon hadn't explained directly where the showers were, every restroom had included a pamphlet explaining where the showers, laundry, and the rest were.

Downstairs, Kei Winters found everything she wanted. Towels, a laundry room for her current clothes, and most of all, all the stuff she could want to clean herself. Benjamin Winters didn't even understand what half of the stuff was, while Kei Winters stripped, and started a downright luxurious skincare routine. Then, she showered, enjoying one of the best shower heads she ever had in her life, and all the stress of her time here just got washed away.

When Winters next opened her eyes, she saw a sight that was unpleasant: Noah trying to clean their new slime body. Soap though had very odd effects on the goo that made up their form, and while the water did manage to wash out some of the crud they had picked up, their body absorbed the water in a way that looked like a sponge repeatedly filling and squeezing itself out. Noah also seemed scared she would get sucked down the nearby drains, which slowed things further.

"Sorry, I..."

Kei Winters sighed before saying, "You can't help how your body works, so don't apologize for it."

That response somehow humiliated Benjamin Winters even further. He knew that Kei Winters was disgusted, and yet, it seemed like she was already getting over it. Nor was she scared of Noah's new form at all, which Benjamin Winters was, and, most of all, she didn't have a shred of embarrassment from someone seeing her naked. The level of confidence was itself an argument for Kei Winters to be the one in control, and to be making all of the meaningful decisions. But if that continued, what space would there be for Benjamin Winters to exist at all?

What could a slime girl do to get ready for a date? The question was bugging Noah as the minutes counted down to the start of her date with Felix. There was no way for her to dress up, point on makeup, or any of the other things girls were stereotyped as doing to prep for a date. She had tried to shower earlier, and while she had some success, it didn't make her feel any cleaner, or smell better. Did her body somehow clean itself? Or did her body just not get affected by dirt and grime the way human bodies did? Everything she had learned in biology suggested her current form should get constant bacterial infections, but then slimes didn't make any logical sense anyway because of the lack of tissue differentiation. She shouldn't have been able to move, talk, or even think, yet she did all these things, and felt better than she ever had in her prior, human body.

Noah chose to meet Felix just outside the master suite. If she couldn't prepare for a date with him, it was better to just rip the band aid off, and show him what she really looked like. He had spent a lot of the day in his room, making her wonder if he had more to do than the contestants? She pondered these thoughts while the clock ticked down to 6:00 PM, and right when the clock landed on that time...

Felix came out. He came out wearing the clothes he had on earlier, which was a basic T-shirt with comfortable looking shorts, nothing fancy. Noah realized she still wasn't attracted to men, but judging by Felix's awkwardness, he didn't really want to do that kind of thing yet anyway. Besides, while her body may have been of a cartoonishly voluptuous woman, she was still rather unsure of what sex would be like in this strange new body of hers.

"Alright, lets go." Noah said while holding out her hand.

He took a second to process the idea, but Felix did take her hand. Noah then lead him to the buffet for dinner, where they pigged out on fried chicken and fries together, while she talked about anime with him. It was like all the bullshit with Zachary, and her own cowardice when she was a human, had never happened. At first, Felix didn't quite participate, just listening to her talk, but eventually, he joined in, and it did feel like the weight of everything that happened for the past couple of months, much less the last day, was just... gone.

When they finished dinner, she brought him to the new garden Cameron had discovered earlier. It was here, surrounded by the closest thing this place had to nature, that Noah chose to rip the band aid off.

"I was a coward, Felix." She said this while showing him a particular section of flowers in the facility.

Felix understood what she was talking about. It took him awhile to say anything, as they both stared at the plants.

"Were you scared of Zachary?" Felix asked. "Or was it someone else?"

"Zachary," Noah said, "Although I never got it as bad as I did with you, I think... I was too scared of losing what I had."

Felix looked curious hearing that, so Noah continued. "I liked my life too much. School was a breeze, I was killing it with D&D, people adored my ARPG guides, I was one of the best players in the world at Diablo, and so on. I was too scared of what would happen if Zachary, or heck, Vice Principal Smith, retaliated."

Noah could hear Felix taking big, deep breaths to control himself. Then he broke out into tears, and almost collapsed to the floor. Turning to face him, she really realized how much she had hurt him in a way she never had before. It was one thing to avoid someone, and bury yourself in video games, anime, friends, all the rest, but when confronted by how she had hurt him, it was much worse.

"What I did to you was wrong," Noah said while sobbing herself. "And I wouldn't blame if you hit me, or let me get eliminated because you couldn't forgive me for my cowardice. But you should know I'm sorry, and I promise that isn't just because of where we are now."

"... There is a part of me that hates but... I can forgive under one condition." Felix said.

"Name it." Noah said without hesitation.

"Don't ever be a coward like that again," Felix said. "Not just for me."

"Of course." Noah hugged him, while she cried into his neck.

Achieved Forgiveness: +5 VP x Level of Harm* = 15 VP

The rest of the night passed like a blur. Noah continued to lead Felix around the hydroponics garden, which included showing him the fermentation equipment she had seen with Hailey earlier. She told him about what she had told Hailey in regards to the possibility that it supplied the food, not magic, and what, if any, implications that might have.

Eventually, seeing that it was late, Noah and Felix went back to the master suite. It was there she wondered how specific the demon was going to be about whether they shared a bed, given her condition. That was when she chose to do something... interesting.

"Alright, Felix, try not to get freaked out," Noah said. "I'm about to do something kind of gross."

Felix was about to ask what when he saw Noah flatten herself out into a pancake and slide underneath the bed. The lack of screaming suggested her plan at least partially succeeded, as she once again prepared for rest. She'd find out the following morning how whether she managed to avoid traumatizing Felix...

*Level of Harm in this case is a 0-5 scale, that refers to how much a contestant harmed the master before the show. Note the show runner hasn't brought anyone who wasn't at least a 1, and will not count forgiveness she feels wasn't genuine.