Walking the Catwalk pt. 6 & Challenge Results

Sarah wasn’t doing anything to hide herself as she sat on the ground in the three-way intersection with her back up against the wall, her shoulders shaking. Her breathing was ragged and deep as she tried to recover. When Delia found her, she sighed, certain that she’d found another woman in crisis. Instead, when she drew closer, she realized that the sounds she heard from the woman were not the sobs she’d expected, but a quiet giggle.

“Sarah?” She whispered

The other woman looked up, and Delia was surprised to see an almost drunken smile on the woman’s flushed face.

“Hey! Delia!” Sarah greeted her joyously, making no effort to keep her voice down. Delia tried to signal the other woman to be quiet, but she was clearly not paying a great deal of attention.

“Keep it down. Are you okay?”

“I. Am. Fantastic. I got a little overheated, and it was driving me a little crazy, but then, Boom!” Sarah explained, giggling a little bit as she gesticulated to show the magnitude of the experience. She seemed to be shaking off her daze from the experience finally. However, she was still being significantly louder than Delia was comfortable with, and she looked around at the connecting hallways, worried that she would see a drone coming to check on the noise any second.

“So, you’re not hurt?”

“Farthest thing from it. I’ve never felt anything like that before. I felt like my brain was going to come apart at the seams. I felt like some kind of wild animal. And then it was… I don’t even have the words to describe it.”

“Umm, glad you had a good time. Do you need help getting up?”

“Yeah, I guess I should at least try. Though, there’s a pretty good chance that we’re almost out of time anyway. A drone passed by a few minutes before you did. Didn’t seem to care about the noise I was making. It didn’t even have one of those detection cones.”

“You think C2 turned them off?” Delia said, reaching down a hand to help the other woman to her feet.

“That’s my guess. I think he wants us to go all out in the last few minutes. Or it’s because there aren’t many of us left. I’m pretty sure Jenna already got out, not sure about the others.”

“If you’ve seen Jenna, then it’s definitely just the two of us. I know Serena, Daisy, and Jacqueline all found cards.”

“So, it’s just you and me fighting for last place? Then what the hell are you doing helping me out like this? You should have just left me.”

“Just not in my nature, I guess. It’s coming back to bite me tonight. I could have swooped in and grabbed cards from Serena and Jacqueline, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, especially with how much this thing is tilted against them. Thought I had a decent strategy, too. Even grabbed this thing of bolts in case I needed a distraction, but I guess they’re useless now.” Delia said, pulling out the case and showing the other woman.

“Anybody ever tell you you’ve got some pretty crappy luck?”

“It’s been mentioned,” Delia said, sighing in defeat.

“Tell you what. Since it’s just you and me, how about we race for the last card, fair and square? I’m pretty sure I know which direction it’s in. I’ll show you, and then we can have an old-fashioned race for it. But no letting me win. I won’t be going easy on you, so don’t you dare go easy on me.”

“Deal.”

The two walked together, Sarah leading the way. Both of them were trying hard to hide the embarrassment of feeling the growing vibrations between their legs and knowing that the other woman was feeling the same thing. Delia told Sarah about her encounters with Serena and Jacqueline. Sarah took a moment to hug the other woman in gratitude when she told her what she’d done for her boyfriend-turned-girlfriend and tried her hardest to keep the disgust she felt at Daisy’s actions off her face as Delia relayed what Jacqueline had told her. She restrained herself from piling on the accusations towards Daisy, knowing that her former boss had an inexplicable soft spot for her sister, despite the horrible way that the pink-haired woman consistently treated her loving sister. She’d still been shocked to learn that Delia had been able to fire her sister from the shop. Instead, she told Delia about her brief encounter with Jenna.

“It was like she was trying to be a superhero or something, leaping into action to try and save me. Maybe we should see if her clothes thing will let her wear a cape.”

“She seems to be taking this whole situation quite well. Part of me wishes I was still that young and vibrant, but I was never as vivacious as she was. It makes me happy to see, though. She was such an unhappy kid for a long time.”

“Really? That’s difficult to imagine.”

“Her mom leaving hit her hard. Bella wasn’t much of a mother to begin with from what I’ve heard, but I think Jenna blamed herself for her leaving.”

“I didn’t know she left. I always assumed she’d died until the robot said that Jacqueline was divorced.”

“They don’t talk about it much these days. I’m sorry, it was before I met either of them and I’ve already said too much.”

“I’ll keep it to myself, but sounds like we’re going to be in close quarters for, well, ever if the robot’s to be believed.”

“A good point. How are you, by the way? We haven’t spoken for quite a while.”

“I was doing great. I was getting into a good position to make some moves at work, was getting close to having enough money to start looking for a house, and I was getting a good gym routine. Of course, now, all that’s gone and I’m stuck freezing my ass off in slinky underwear for the rest of my life while my boyfriend got gender swapped.”

“How are things with you and Serena?”

“She’s my rock, you know? She got me through my mom’s death and all that fallout. I don’t know how much I’m going to be able to help her with what she’s going through. She’s always been the solid one, and part of me really wants to run to her so she can tell me it’s all going to be alright. But this time, she’s the one who’s dealing with the big change, and I don’t know how to be solid for her.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out. You can always come to me if you need someone to talk to. Just because you and I haven’t been changed as much doesn’t mean that we didn’t just have our whole lives overturned just like everybody else.”

“And, what about Aaron?”

“We need to all remember that, no matter what label C2 puts on him, that he's had his life stolen just like all of us. I trust him to do the right thing. Though I can’t say I’d know what that looks like if I were in his place.” Sarah seemed to contemplate that, but didn’t respond.

They finally reached the room that they were looking for, the matched vibration between their legs reaching a fever pitch. The room in question was a giant sorting room with hundreds of conveyor belts of all sizes moving everything from small parcels to large storage crates. A fleet of robotic arms scanned the items and then routed the items between the different belts, while drones of various shapes and sizes darted through the belts, grabbing items and then flying off through an open ceiling far above where they could see what looked like sunlight. The walkway in the room was a solid circle around the circumference of the room, which was the size of a basketball court. Several small platforms looked like the basket from a cherry picker attached to the walkway, but their real point of interest was a large bank of screens on the opposite side of the room that seemed to be showing the status of the various components. The card they were looking for was clearly visible attached to the center screen.

“Alright, you ready?” Sarah asked, taking position facing the left side route.

“As ready as I’m going to be,” Delia said, facing right.

“Ready, set, go!” Sarah yelled, and the two women were off. Delia took off and immediately knew she was at a disadvantage. The other woman was younger and fitter, and Delia was exhausted from her long trek, where she’d been moving significantly farther and faster than the other woman for most of the challenge. Sarah took a huge lead as she passed the midway point shortly after Delia hit the quarter mark. In the end, though, it was not the differences in their bodies that decided the contest, but the differences in their wardrobe. Delia’s suit, though it was more constraining than Sarah’s nightie, featured a pair of adjustable boots that fit her feet like well-fitted sneakers. Sarah, on the other hand, had only been given a strappy pair of flats that didn’t provide nearly the same support or traction. When she reached the three-quarters mark of their short race, the front lip of the sole of her shoe caught the walkway she was running along and pulled her feet out from under her. She hit the ground heavily. She quickly scrambled to her feet, but it wasn’t enough to make up for her fall as Delia made up the gap in the time she was getting to her feet.

Delia, seeing the other woman fall, had to resist her instinct to check on the other woman, remembering Sarah’s insistence that they both do their best. She kept running and reached the card with Sarah only about ten feet away, still running her hardest. There was a final flash of light, and both women disappeared.

Aaron had been watching the proceedings closely. He’d been frustrated trying to figure out exactly what was going on since, after C2’s sudden departure, the audio did not return to the screens, forcing him to watch the various interactions without being able to hear what was being discussed, something that was especially challenging when Daisy and Jacqueline had had their conversation. He’d had to guess at what was being said that had caused such an intense reaction on Jacqueline’s face. When the final pair closed on the card, the flash seemed to leap off the screen into the room where he was watching, as C2 and the six women reappeared. The women all seemed to be various levels of disheveled, with Jacqueline and Daisy standing out as looking especially soaked, though their suits dried rapidly. Jenna immediately honed in on the pair of couches where Aaron was sitting and flopped face-first in slow motion onto the one that C2 had abandoned. Aaron could see the vibrantly-colored bruise on her back. He was about to start asking C2 about getting her some medical care, but C2 wasted no time in starting his monologue.

“And with that heartwarming but underwhelming bit of sportsmanship, our first challenge comes to a close. Let’s see the results and how they impact our VP totals.”

Serena – 1st Place: 4 VP + Boon Transformation

Jenna – 2nd Place: 3 VP + Boon Transformation

Daisy – 3rd Place: 2 VP + Penalty Transformation

Jacqueline – 4th Place: 1 VP + Penalty Transformation

Delia – 5th Place: 0 VP + Penalty Transformation

Sarah – 6th Place: -1 VP + Penalty Transformation

Serena: 4 VP > 8 VP

Jenna: 0 VP > 3 VP

Jacqueline: 0 VP > 1 VP

Delia: 0 VP > 0 VP

Sarah: 0 VP > -1 VP

Daisy: -8 VP > -6 VP

“We’ve got one more contestant in the danger zone while her girlfriend races off to a significant lead over the other contestants. We also had several of our contestants who picked up some rewards and penalties for capturing or being captured by my drones. Let’s look at those. First off, our winner, Serena, will receive a downgrade on her next transformation, which we’ll be getting to shortly. The downgrade won’t be enough to make her boon a penalty, but it will add some sort of hitch to whatever boon she receives. What that means for Serena will be revealed after our vote has a winner.”

“Next up, Jenna has received an interesting penalty after a mad dive to try and capture one of my drones, only to miscalculate and give herself the colorful injury she’s got on her back. The penalty she received is called a meta-transformation, which is a transformation that, instead of changing you, changes the rules of the game itself for anyone who has it. For example, let’s take a look at the Gambler transformation.”

Gambler – Whenever Jenna receives an audience-voted transformation, she will roll a ten-sided die. On a 1-4, the transformation will receive a downgrade. On a 5-8, the transformation will receive an upgrade. On a 9 or 10, the transformation will remain in its base form.

“Well, that should be fun. Jenna’s second attempt at capturing a drone went significantly better, and she managed to capture a drone, though she wasn’t quite fast enough to keep it from capturing Sarah. For her bravery, she’s been awarded a credit for half off a transformation upgrade from the BP store. She can use that any time after we reach the ship. Let’s apply that now.” He fired a golden bolt at the woman lying face down, and the ripple went through her, leaving no trace.

“Jacqueline and Daisy both managed to avoid the drones enough that they didn’t receive any penalties, but also didn’t get any rewards.” Jacqueline, who had been crouching next to Jenna, inspecting her wounds, looked up slightly at that revelation, but found that she wasn’t remotely surprised that the other woman had lied to her about having a penalty.

“Delia managed to capture a drone while creating a distraction to allow Serena to take the top spot and managed to get herself a reward. Meanwhile, Sarah earned herself a penalty when she was too overheated to notice the drone that Jenna was trying to save her from. The result is that, when we get to the next challenge, Delia will receive an advantage while Sarah will receive a detriment. We’ll discuss that more thoroughly when it’s time for the next challenge.”

“Before we get to the transformation options for everyone, let’s see who our audience thinks was the most valuable player for this challenge, with another big stack of BP on the line. Let us know who you thought had the best performance.”

Challenge 1 MVP Poll (Ranked Choice - Open till 8/2/26)

“While we wait for our results, let’s see how our Master fared on his gambles. Since our contestants don’t know, this season on Harem Hotel, the Master will be earning BP by placing bets on how well he thinks everyone will do on the challenge. We’ll save you the math, but based on those results, Aaron is receiving a payout of 1885 BP, which is pretty far below the average of what he could have earned. I guess he’ll have to rethink how he bets during the next challenge.”

Aaron: 0 BP > 1885 BP

“That’s all for this week. Next week we’ll be back with our next set of transformation options.”