Putting on A Show

Zachary took several calming breaths as he sat on a comfortable couch, tilting his head back with his eyes closed. Fuck. Zach found himself clenching and unclenching his right hand, and he could hear his knuckles pop as he did so. What am I going to do about her?

Zach spent several minutes just sitting and cooling off. Time passed, and he didn’t move until Pita came and tapped him on his shoulder gently. “Master Blackstone…” Pita politely waited for him to open his eyes and look at her before saying anything.

Zach looked at the small demoness and asked, “What is it, Pita?”

“You’ve been up here for a while now. Your women have asked me to check if you were planning on rejoining them or not.”

Zach nodded. “I’ll be down in a minute. Thank you for letting me know.”

Pita bowed while floating in the air. “It’s a pleasure to serve.” Pita turned around and made her way towards the escalator.

Zach said, “Pita, wait a moment.” Pita stopped and immediately turned to face Zach with a curious expression. “Earlier… when you mentioned your wish. You would really want to join my harem?”

Pita nodded enthusiastically. “Indeed. You wouldn’t be a perfect match for me, but I think I would quite like you as my Master.” Pita waited for Zach to ask more, but saw he was just uncomfortable. So she bowed again, “If that’s all, I’ll wait for you with your women.” Pita turned and floated down the escalator.

Zachary didn’t take much longer before he went down the escalator to join those on the second floor. At the foot of the escalator waited Lynn. She said, “So, the others are backstage getting changed.”

“Backstage?” Zach asked curiously.

Lynn looped her arm into Zach’s and led him over towards a modeling platform, with a catwalk that led backstage. He found a comfortable chair waiting for him right at the edge of the stage. A slightly less comfortable chair was next to his, and Lynn sat down next to him.

Zach asked, “Aren’t you going to model anything?”

Lynn smiled hearing that. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“Hmm… I wonder? Would I like to see my girlfriend strutting around in skimpy clothes? Hmm… That’s a tough one.” Zach replied.

Lynn was pleased to hear his response. “Well, you just might later, but unlike the others, I don’t really need to buy anything. Xin’s wardrobe is about 90% useless to her now, assuming she wants to keep her intelligence. Maybe we can salvage some more of it, but we aren’t that hopeful. Piper and Melinda both have entirely new body proportions. Heather… well, you’ll see what Heather is getting. Besides, we aren’t spending all our resources just on clothes.”

The next moment, music started to play. It had a synth-like sound to it with a steady beat. Pita took a seat to the side of the catwalk to watch the production.

Zach leaned over and asked, “What about Caroline? You didn’t mention her?”

“She’s not taking part. I think she went downstairs.”

The next moment the lights of the store dimmed slightly, making the lights from the catwalk draw their attention. Xin walked out from the back. She was clearly nervous and was not matching her steps to the beat of the music. She reached the end of the catwalk and did a nervous little twirl, showing off her outfit. It looked like a cyberpunk take on a schoolgirl’s outfit.

Lynn whispered, “That doesn't preserve her intelligence completely, but the effect is fairly minor.”

Pita was off to the side shouting encouragement over the music that Zach couldn’t properly make out. As soon as Xin finished her twirl, she hurriedly headed back up the catwalk. Melinda started towards him just before Xin disappeared, and Melinda clearly knew the assignment. Her hips swayed with every step, accentuating the bubblegum-pink latex nurse’s outfit. It clung to her curves like a second skin, and only went down to mid-thigh. She was wearing matching latex thigh-high stockings and gloves, along with stiletto heels.

Lynn was watching Zach’s expressions out of the corner of her eye more than the people on stage. She really tried not to become jealous, but she had never seen Zach look at her like he was looking at Melinda now. It’s okay, it’s okay. Zach even said he’d love to see me doing this too. Plus, he deserves some eye candy. Lynn managed to rationalize the problem away just as Melinda reached the end of the catwalk and leaned forward slightly, showing off her ample cleavage.

Lynn was both annoyed and slightly impressed when Melinda seemed to effortlessly turn around while also moving in such a way as to let Zach see up her skirt, showing she wasn’t wearing anything underneath it. Melinda was smirking to herself as Zach couldn’t help but stare at her ass as she walked back, even as Piper came out in her skin-tight cosplay.

When Melinda was finally out of sight, Zach finally turned his attention towards Piper and was impressed by the quality of her outfit. She was dressed as Raven, and the leotard clung to all the right places. She also had the air of someone comfortable showing off like this, but she lacked the natural talent that Melinda had possessed.

At least that’s what Zach had thought at first, but as she reached the end of the catwalk and did a flourish to cause the cape behind her to fan out, while raising up the hood of her cloak, he noticed her entire face was flushed. Zach smirked to himself as she walked back and did a quick check of her stat page and found that she did have a bit of an exhibitionist streak. Meaning, as she stepped out on stage, her libido had spiked.

Next was Heather, and Zach’s mouth hung open in absolute shock at seeing her like this. It wasn’t that it was sexier or more form-fitting than Melinda’s outfit, but the simple fact that it was Heather wearing it that shocked him. She had picked out a red and white dress straight out of the 1950s, and was wearing a polka dotted neckerchief She did her best not to look directly at Zach and Lynn, while remaining calm. She did a slow turn and, looking over her shoulder, finally met eyes with Zach for a moment as she began to walk away.

Lynn poked him in the side with her elbow. “You might want to pick your jaw off the floor.”

Zach shut his mouth, then quietly said, “Come on, can you blame me? She’s never worn anything even remotely like that before.”

Lynn rolled her eyes. “Yeah, and we both know why. By the way, this will take a while.” Lynn slipped her hand into Zach’s, so he wouldn’t forget she was sitting right next to him.

Zach asked, “How much more are they getting?”

Lynn shrugged, “Heather, I think, is only modeling one more outfit; the others are modeling quite a bit more.”

As Lynn had said, they continued to come out one at a time. Xin, for the most part, was just getting some standard uniforms that looked at least a bit different from one another, but she also modeled a preppy girl’s outfit with a sweater wrapped around her shoulders, with knee-high socks, that Zach thought looked really nice on her and surprisingly normal, if girly. He was also pleased to see Xin seemed to be gaining a bit of confidence as she kept coming out. Xin’s final outfit had been her showstopper as she came out in a super revealing outfit that Zach had seen people wearing something similar at anime conventions but he didn’t immediately recognize the anime. It was black with a bit of red, except for one large yellow eye-looking thing on one shoulder. It had thigh-high boots with a large heel and garter belts attached. A super short skirt that covered essentially nothing. Her midriff, sideboob, and underboob were exposed, and her top clung tightly to her body, with long sleeves and gloves.

Zach was surprised the shy girl would actually come out in that outfit and thought she might need some help after this, but looking at her face as she posed at the end of the catwalk, while she was a bit embarrassed, the flush of arousal that he had seen a few times on her had actually vanished.

Lynn saw his confusion, and as Xin strutted backstage, Lynn said, “We thought it might be the case. Looks like we were right. If Xin deliberately shows off for you, that can lower her arousal.”

Between Xin’s appearances, Melinda and Piper had come out to model their selections as well. Melinda had come out in a couple of different nurse outfits, but most of her clothes looked more normal. The nurse outfits were actually designed like sleepwear, which Zach guessed meant that she had decided to go with his idea that she shouldn’t wear them all that often and simply put up with being groped. The first time she came out in normal clothes was a tight pair of jeans and a top showing off her midriff. As she turned around to let Zach get a good view of her ass in the jeans, Zach felt the urge to stand up and smack her ass hard. Melinda stifled a moan, from his smack.

As she came out in more regular clothes, she had planned on stopping a few feet further from the end of the catwalk, but her feet just kept on carrying her to the edge. Fortunately for her, Zach managed to resist smacking her butt more, except for the very last time when she came out in tight leather pants.

Piper hadn’t come out in anything as daring or sexy as her initial cosplay, rather focusing on more practical clothes that fit her new bust. That was until her last outfit, though calling it an outfit wasn’t exactly accurate. It was lingerie, a vibrant purple bustier, with matching panties, garter belt, and stockings.

Lynn frowned as that had not been in her selection when Lynn had agreed to sit out of this show. If I had known she was going to be showing off like that, I don’t know if I’d have sat out of this. Lynn tried calming herself. It’s fine… I’ll just put on a private and more intimate show this evening.

Piper, for the first time, actually seemed embarrassed on the catwalk, and when Piper saw her mother had just come up the escalator and was heading towards them, she practically sprinted backstage.

Zach and Lynn looked over their shoulders in the direction Piper had been looking when her eyes had gone wide and she had sprinted backstage. Caroline came over to the frowning, but didn’t say anything as she looked towards the stage to see Heather coming out in her last outfit. Zach was once again shocked to see Heather wearing her current outfit. He had asked a long time ago about roleplay and various sexy outfits to spice up their sex life, but outside of some lingerie, Heather was never really into the idea. So to see her in a stereotypical French maid outfit with a short skirt and stockings, while even carrying a feather duster, short-circuited something in his head.

Reaching the end of the platform, Heather even curtsied to Zach, did a spin, and then walked back.

The music stopped as soon as Heather was backstage. Pita was clapping enthusiastically to the side. Lynn saw Caroline’s frown and said, “I take it you don’t approve, do you?”

Caroline continued to frown, “I understand the modeling, even if I don’t care for it. I even understand Piper’s decision to model something… so revealing. You’re right; I very much don’t approve of what Heather just wore, because she isn’t Zachary’s maid.” Caroline turned to Zachary, took a deep breath, and tried her best to be conciliatory. “Zachary… about what I said before.” Zach immediately narrowed his eyes prepared for her to try and defend her words. “I’d like to eventually talk about why it upset you so much. I want to avoid doing or saying something like that again, but that requires actually understanding the root cause. We don’t need to talk about it right now, but preferably sometime soon.”

Zach nodded, “Okay.” He was honestly slightly surprised by her tone and position, as he had expected her to try and justify her words. Maybe she still will, and is just trying to put off the issue.

The four models came out from backstage. They came out with shopping baskets holding their selections. Zach asked them, “So, how much does all of your clothes shopping bring the total of the trip to right now?”

Piper replied, “Just under 7k. That’s excluding Melinda’s purchases since she isn’t contributing to Xin’s membership.”

Zach looked at Melinda. “You sure I can’t convince you to help?”

Melinda nodded. “Yes. Besides, with the discount, mine is only a thousand BP. Plus, if I want to get the enhancement to your production volume and all these clothes, I can’t afford the extra cost for Xin to be the one to pay.”

Piper pursed her lips. “What if we covered the extra and bought a second enhancement as well? Would you agree then?”

“A second upgrade?” Melinda thought about that. That would bring it to the point that I might actually be able to manage the semen requirements… “I want something else as well. I want help getting at least to the gold membership next round. Xin, if you’re willing to do that, then I’ll contribute.”

Piper said, “Fine, I’ll help you with that instead of her. With the membership, Xin should keep her BP for the better stuff. Besides, this really helps my mom and me too.”

Melinda nodded. “In that case, we should be a bit under fourteen thousand.”

Caroline said, “I found enough to get us to twenty. I did pick out some clothes, and I think we should get a beneficial upgrade to Zach’s Just-Ice transformation.”

Zach, Lynn, and Xin all raised a curious eyebrow at that. He asked, “Why?”

Piper said, “Apparently, experiencing it once was enough to make her want it to be less awful.”

Zach’s face turned pensive. I guess it makes sense that it triggered after I got angry with her. “Was it really that bad?”

Caroline nodded. “Before I removed my skirt and pulled up my top, it felt like I had been plunged into a frozen lake. Even then it was still chilly, and that’s with Heather sharing part of it.”

Melinda asked, “Are you sure we should do that?” Everyone turned to her, confused why she would have an objection to the plan. “I… I just mean we don’t know what a beneficial upgrade would look like. It might not be beneficial to us, but rather beneficial to Zach. No offense, Zach, just I think most of us would prefer not to give you the power to ice us out at will, for instance. Right now, you have to think we’ve done something wrong. Which isn’t the same as simply upsetting you. It could do plenty of other things too, maybe let you control the temperature, maybe it will make it colder to force our compliance. I just don’t want us rushing this.”

Zach said, “How about this, then. We get Xin to gold membership first.”

“Why?” Lynn asked.

Zach shrugged and kept his mouth shut. Lynn recognized his expression of I’d like to tell you, but I’m not allowed to.

Lynn said, “Let’s do that.” Pita instantly appeared in the middle of the group. “HURRAY! TO THE CHECKOUT!” Pita started pushing them excitedly towards the escalator.

They rang up all the clothes and agreed upon upgrades for Zach.

Pita beamed as the BP was deducted from their accounts.

-750 BP Heather -> 3250 BP
-2000 BP Piper -> 4000 BP
-750 BP Caroline -> 2750 BP
-4000 BP Melinda -> 0 BP
-3000 BP Xin -> 8500 BP
-2500 BP Lynn -> 2000 BP

Zachary felt a little odd as the upgrades took hold of him. He felt like the crotch of his pants was a little tight now. He tried readjusting his pants, but to no avail. Pita said, “Master Blackstone, please allow me to assist you.” Pita waved her hand and his pants adjusted in size to give him a bit more room in his crotch. “There you go, all better. The rest of your clothes will be seen to shortly.”

Zachary asked, “What just happened?”

Pita tilted her head to the side, confused at his confusion. “Your semen production just quadrupled. There’s bound to be some growth from that down there.” Pita then ignored everyone and glomped onto Xin. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now it sounded like there was more you’d like? I can take you to the gold member’s floor and show you around.”

Xin nodded, “I’d like that. Zach, would you join me?”

He nodded and turned to the others. “We’ll be right back.” Everyone found seats to get comfortable while the three went up to the third floor.

Xin was surprised by how small the third floor layout was. It was also rather gaudy, with a reflective gold-plated ceiling. There were a few couches near a check-out counter as well as terminals similar to those on the first floor, and three hallways branching off the main room.

Pita headed over to the terminal first. “This terminal is an upgraded form of the ones on the first floor. It has improved options for many things, as well as an expanded selection, and more details on options that might not have been as clear on the first floor. As I know, you were looking at upgrading Master Blackstone’s transformation; we can use that as an example.”

Pita brought up the beneficial upgrade option for Zachary. It showed all his transformations. Then she selected Just-Ice. Unlike on the first floor, which just showed an add-to-cart message, the terminal displayed a text box and prompt asking for details on what specifically she would like to upgrade about the transformation.

Xin said, “So, I could ask for it to be upgraded however I want?”

Pita scrunched up her face. “Eeehh… not exactly. If you ask for something that isn’t deemed beneficial, it will just reject the option. Also, it won’t just take an explicit suggestion. Let me give an example here. Caroline wants to make this less harsh; that’s likely not going to happen. At least not how she wants it to. If you tried to make the cold less intense, you would get a rejection. Now, if you wanted a way to end the cold more quickly, that would be possible. What wouldn’t be possible is specifying how to end the effect faster. It would tell you as such, too.”

“But it won’t tell me how it will be achieved either?” Xin asked, to confirm.

Pita nodded. “Exactly, but Melinda was also correct: if you upgraded it from the first floor, it could upgrade it in a way you might not like but would, without question, benefit Master Blackstone in some manner.”

Xin let out a low hum. “I see why you thought getting to this floor would be helpful. Why didn’t you just tell us, Zach?”

“I literally can’t.” He replied. “Not until it becomes public knowledge. If you don’t share the info with those downstairs, I can’t either.”

“I’m going to assume that the platinum membership has a similar upgrade, then. Pita, what’s down the hallways leading off this area?”

Pita pointed down each hallway one at a time. “That is the transformation forge. Where you can ask for a custom transformation to be made, but only for yourself, and some limitations apply. That is magical clothing and accessories. We do business with some of the best magical craft individuals in the multiverse. You’ll find many of their lower-end or flawed items on this floor. Don’t mistake my description for a knock on their quality, though. The last hallway is a training hall. You can pay for private lessons in many things.”

“Private lessons?” Xin asked. “You mean like your cooking class?”

Pita nodded vigorously. “Exactly, and before you ask, many have uniforms associated with them, and upon successful completion of the course, you are allowed to keep the uniform, and all of them will let you keep at least 90% of your intelligence, and may even boost your intelligence significantly.”

Zachary said, “That’s actually why I was hoping you’d get access to this floor.”

Xin said, “I see… Okay, I’m going to be a minute. Could you wait here?”

Zach found the request a little odd but nodded and took a seat. Xin hurried down the escalators to chat with the others. Pita sat on the arm of the couch. “You know she’s going to go talk to the others about you.”

“Pita… you’ve actually done a lot recently to make me like you more. I suggest you not try to induce paranoia in me towards them.”

“Just making conversation. Honestly, I think it shows strength that you’re not worried about them talking behind your back. A lot of men thrust into your position gain a taste for the power and start worrying that they might lose it. They worry that the women who already wronged them will do so again. As you said, they become paranoid and wield their power like a club, instead of a scalpel.”

“And you think I wield my power like a scalpel?” Zach asked, clearly confused, as he didn’t feel like that was the case at all.

Pita snorted out a laugh, “Lucifer, no! On the scale of club to scalpel, you’re maybe a machete or a tactical knife, but you’re learning and refining your usage. You’re exercising control over the most important thing. Yourself. I have great hopes for you Master Blackstone, assuming you can handle the truth when it comes out.”

“What truth?”

Pita leaned in with a mischievous smile. “That everyone in your harem is here because their actions brought you harm. And I don’t mean some tangential harm, where what they did set in motion a long chain of events. I mean their actions were at most a step or two removed from the harm done to you.”

Zach frowned.

Pita smiled. “Let me be clear: I’m not talking about whether they deserve to be here; I’m talking about whether they hurt you. And they all have.”

“Bullshit. Lynn hasn’t done anything of the sort.”

Pita gave him a wry smile. “If you’re so certain, if you truly believe that, why not prove it, put any doubts about it to bed, because you have to realize that everyone else is wondering it too. Why is she here? What did she do? You’ve been told she’s been acting out since this began. You could prove it was just stress, but you’re worried, aren’t you? You're worried that your closest friend is —”

Zach reached out and grabbed Pita by the throat. “Shut up.”

Pita’s eyes fluttered in pleasure. “Oh! Harder, Master Blackstone!”

Zach shoved Pita away from him.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes until Xin came back up the escalator. Xin found the situation between the two to be tense. Xin asked, “Did… did something happen while I was downstairs?”

“Nothing to be concerned about,” Zach replied. “So what did you all decide?”

“We’ve decided to hold off on upgrading your transformation. Both so we can better understand it, but we also couldn’t really agree on how it should be upgraded. I’m taking Piper’s suggestion and upgrading my Crescendo transformation. Heather also wants you to approve the transfer of all of her BP to me. She says she put in the request already.”

Zach checked his phone and saw he had a notification about the transfer request. He asked, “What is she having you buy?”

“She would prefer I not tell you. I told her I wouldn’t unless you insist. She did say to let you know that it wasn’t what you declined yesterday, whatever that was.”

Zach asked, “You’re fine with what she wants?”

Xin frowned. “It should only affect her, and I understand why she wants it. Lynn is helping Heather purchase it.”

Zach’s eyebrows shot up. “Lynn is helping purchase it?”

Xin nodded.

Zach went ahead and approved the transfer. “In that case, I’ll let it happen just to see what it was that got the two of them to agree on something.”

Xin went over to the terminal and queued up the prompts. She put in the requested prompt for Heather and had no issues, but when she tried putting in her own request, it kept returning an error message with a loud buzzer sound. Xin grew frustrated as the buzzer sounded for the fourth time. “RAAGH!” Xin kicked the terminal.

Zach moved over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “What are you trying to get?”

Xin growled in frustration. “I just want this to be more manageable, but apparently I can’t decrease the buildup, or the amount of arousal retained, or put a cap on it, or make it so I can actually take care of the arousal on my own. I’ve been rather generic, too. Like a method to reduce arousal without involving another person.”

Pita kicked her feet in the air as she sat on the counter. “Would you like help?”

“Please!” Xin sounded desperate, like she would take any real help offered.

Pita said, “Just checking: your issue is becoming a horny mess, and if Zach isn’t available, you’re at the mercy of the others?”

“Mostly the horny mess part. Enough of the others will listen to me if it gets bad. The problem is I’ve had to play for someone essentially every day when I haven’t been able to do stuff with Zachary. Even then, sometimes I’ve needed to play for others. It’s too much.” Xin collapsed on the couch.

Pita said, “Hmm… Well, I can tell you there is absolutely no way you’re going to be able to take care of the problem yourself. I can make two recommendations. First, ask for an upgrade that allows others to sub in for Master Blackstone. Second, and I don’t actually recommend this, you could ask for something that alters the way it builds up and really hits on your night with Master Blackstone.”

Xin furrowed her brow. “Why would you recommend against that? That sounds exactly like what I would like.”

Pita stared at Xin, then shrugged, figuring she might as well explain. “Imagine how horny you were this morning. Then add all the arousal you will feel between now and your next night with your Master.”

Zachary said, “Yeah… I had to literally command you not to move to get you under control.”

Xin said, “That… that’s a good point.” Xin got quiet and meekly asked, “So… would you even be okay with her other suggestion? I mean…” Xin sort of just trailed off.

“You mean, would I find that cheating? Xin, you aren’t my girlfriend. You’re—”

“But I’d like to be.” Xin blurted out before her brain could process the words properly. She went scarlet and covered her face. Zachary just sat there stunned for a moment. Xin recovered first and lowered her hands to see his expression. He just sat there with his mouth hanging open. “I… I know we talked about it on my night with you, and that you said you weren’t sure, and I didn’t really answer your question then either, if that’s what I wanted, but…” Xin took a deep breath and swallowed to clear the saliva in her mouth. “If I have to be with you, I want more. I’m willing to work with you, and whoever else you want to be with to make things work, but if you’re insistent on having only one girlfriend or wife, then I’m going to fight for that spot, even against Lynn if I have to.”

Zach was flummoxed. “What… where did this come from?”

“I’m just making the best of a forced situation.”

Zachary said, “I’ll be honest, I don’t know how I’d feel about it. I do know I found the pictures you and Piper sent me of your activities together hot, though. If I have a problem with it, we can discuss it more later. I won’t hold it against you unless I tell you in the future not to do that.”

Xin got up and put in the request for someone to be able to sub for Zachary. It was accepted, but she’d have to buy the upgrade to see the exact effects.

Xin went over to Pita and confirmed the purchase of two beneficial upgrades.

-3250 BP Heather -> 0
-1750 BP Lynn -> 250 BP
-5000 BP Xin -> 3500 BP

Domesticated: Heather grew up in a conservative family where she was expected to be a mother and homemaker, not a breadwinner. Now Heather will be unable to work a job and will be a stay-at-home wife. Finding cooking, cleaning, and tending to Zachary’s needs is her purpose. In addition, she will no longer be in control of her finances; Zachary will be, as the man of the house. [Housewife]

Upgrade: Heather wants a bit of her freedom back. She’ll be allowed to work now, but most of the money will still be controlled by Zach. In addition, she’ll only be able to work in fields that are stereotypically thought of as for women, like nursing, teaching, housekeeping, or child-raising. Heather will be trusted with a small weekly allowance based on her income, where she can make minor purchases without Zachary’s direct permission. Here on the show, we will provide her with opportunities to work, to earn more BP. She can earn up to 500 BP that she can spend each round without consulting with Zach.

Crescendo: Xin is a talented musician because her parents insisted she learn, but she doesn’t like to play for an audience. Now her arousal will slowly build over time, with only two ways to decrease it. The first is through intimate acts with Zach, and the second is to play music for others, which will transfer her arousal to those she plays for. [Musician]

Upgrade: Xin has been a horny mess for a while now. To alleviate this problem, Xin can get sexual satisfaction from her Big for the day as a substitute for Zachary. The Big will be slightly more willing than normal, and Xin will find herself slightly more willing to follow their instructions if they do.

Zach heard his phone chime twice and Xin’s once as the purchases were confirmed. They each read over the upgrades, though Xin didn’t know the exact result of Heather’s upgrade and wasn’t going to ask.

Zach was pleased to see both upgrades. Xin was slightly less enthused about her own upgrade. She said, “Great, so this is useless on some days, and I’ll have no clue which days that will be the case.” She sighed and said, “I guess two out of five days on average is still a notable improvement.”

“Why two?” Zach asked, curious where she got that number.

Xin replied, “Well, Piper has shown she’s willing to help like that, and I think Lynn would too.” Zach gave her a curious look and motioned for her to go on. “The others? Not happening with Heather. Period. Not after what she did. Melinda and Caroline are straight, and I don’t see them up for helping.”

Zach shrugged. “You might be surprised it does say they would be more inclined to assist. Plus, if they can really act as a stand-in for me, then that means it doesn’t require sex. When you sent those pictures, that worked. They could help indirectly.”

Xin pursed her lips. “Maybe, now we have why everyone came with us today.”

Xin turned towards Pita, who had been waiting impatiently and was practically vibrating with excitement. The moment she turned towards the demoness, the little imp glomped onto Xin. “You are my new favorite! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Pita bounced up and down while hugging her. Then she started dragging Xin towards the final set of escalators to the fourth floor. Zach followed after her.

It was designed much like the previous floor. Pita quickly said, “So, it isn’t really all that different, except all the options up here are even better. Better items, better lessons, more customization!”

Pita quickly brought up the option Xin was looking for, which was Caroline’s Like Mother Like Daughter transformation. When Xin examined the terminal, she saw some suggested upgrades and what they did. Zach stepped next to her. “This is why I was hoping to get to this floor.”

Pita said, “As a note, Xin, you won’t be able to share the details or make suggestions about what you can see up here to anyone else. Not unless they are a platinum member too. It’s different than the gold membership that way.”

“Oh…” Xin said, “So there isn’t really a reason for me to go back down and talk to them then.”

Pita shrugged apologetically, “Sorry, but those are the rules.”

Zach asked, “Did they give you something as a prompt for the previous floor?”

“No, because they thought I would get more info. I do know they essentially wanted it weakened as much as possible.”

Zach asked, “Pita, could we get something that would allow for some changes to happen to one of them but not the other? The transformation is just supposed to make them more alike, not identical.”

Pita floated behind the cashier’s counter and started entering something into a computer there. After a minute of typing, Pita gestured to the terminal. “This is what I could find.”

Zach read over the options and pointed to one. “Xin, this one.”

“Caroline isn’t going to be thrilled about it.”

“She’ll be happy that it helps. Even if it gives me a bit more control over them. It’s the best overall.”

Xin looked over the other options. “I have to agree, at least if we assume one very important thing. You’re going to be generous in using it.”

“Which I am.” Zach retorted.

Xin held up her hands defensively. “I’m not saying you won’t be, but I feel like it is worth pointing out that it’s only best in that case. Otherwise, it doesn’t really do anything at all.”

Zach said, “You’re the one who has to actually make the purchase. It’s ultimately your call.”

Xin knew bait when she heard it, and simply selected the option Zach had picked out.

-2250 BP Piper -> 1750 BP
-2750 BP Caroline -> 0 BP

Like Mother, Like Daughter: Any physical transformation Caroline or Piper undergoes, so will the other. [MILF]

Upgrade: Zachary may select transformations to turn off or reduce the effectiveness of up to half their total shared effects. Any conflicting or problematic effects will only apply to the original.

Xin asked Pita, “Can you tell me what it means by problematic effects? Like conflicting, I assume is like if one of them had breast growth and the other had shrinkage, but what is problematic?”

Pita replied, “Well, yes and no on the conflicting. It’s more than that. Let’s say that the old cow becomes a cow-lady for real. Before, Piper would also become a cow-girl. She still will unless Zach prevents that, but let’s say that Piper got a cat-girl transformation. Before this, they would have been cow-cat-girls.” Pita visibly shuddered at the thought. “Utter abominations, if you ask me. Now though, Caroline would be a cow, and Piper a cat. As for problematic, the easiest example is if Caroline’s physical age were reduced significantly. That option would have been limited such that Piper would need to remain eighteen after the same reduction. There are actually quite a few other things, but now you don’t have to worry about them, as that is automatically taken care of.”

Xin said, “Well, thank you for your help today, Pita.”

Pita gave Xin a big hug. “No, thank you.”

Zach said, “Shall we go join the others?”

Xin replied, “If it’s all the same, I’m actually going to go look at the lesson catalogue.” Xin didn’t actually wait for a response and headed off down the hallway.

Zach glanced at Pita, gave her a polite wave goodbye, and headed down to meet the others.

Upon reaching the first floor, Caroline asked, “Why did Xin just buy this option? She was supposed to come talk to us.”

Zach said, “Look, we can’t talk about the platinum level benefits exactly; we can’t even use that knowledge indirectly. You’ll just have to trust that Xin and I did the best we could.”

Piper put a hand on Caroline’s shoulder to calm her. “How about we assume, that the guy who can literally do whatever he wants with us and isn’t, isn’t going to be a dick about this?”

Caroline said, “You’re right. Sorry. So Zachary, can you do something about these?” Caroline gestured towards her breasts.

Zach rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “I could, but is that really what the two of you want the most? While coming down here, I looked at the options. While it says half, things aren’t equal. That half is of a totality of changes.”

“Meaning?” Caroline pressed.

“Meaning, would you rather have smaller breasts or a libido linked to your daughter’s? And don’t forget that Piper is entitled to some of the reduction too. So maybe she’d like not to constantly lactate.” Zach noticed both Piper and Caroline had small wet spots on their shirts. Something the two of them hadn’t noticed or were ignoring until he drew attention to them.

Caroline pursed her lips. “I suppose you have a point. Can the three of us talk in private then?”

Zach was about to say, ‘sure’, but Lynn looped her arm around his and said, “I’ve already been generous about sharing my time with him today. I have plans for this afternoon.”

Zach smiled, but put a hand on her shoulder. “Lynn, we shouldn’t be long. I need to do this, and I need to do this now. I don’t have long before I can’t refund Piper’s points. I need an hour, maybe two at the tops. After that, I’m all yours for the afternoon.”

Lynn pouted, “Ooookay…” Lynn let go of his arm and then started pushing him out of the store. “Well, get going. The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll finish.”

Zach chuckled at her antics and was glad to see Piper and Caroline following after him.