Rebellion

“Now we go through a quick exercise to get you all off on your way to being good little harem additions,” Leah said. “That means we’re going to…”

“No.”

The voice rose up sharply from the women behind her, and Leah turned back to them. She found Amelia standing and staring up at her.

This was not supposed to happen. While these women weren’t bent to their will, they were, simply by virtue of being brought here, supposed to be compliant enough that they would play ball. Either that system wasn’t working, or this one was simply too willful for it, but either way, Leah didn’t like what she was seeing at all. She liked the murmurs of the women around her even less.

“I beg your pardon,” she said in the most reasonable tone of voice she could.

“I said no,” Amelia repeated in an equally measured manner. “I won’t play, and I want you to take me home immediately.”

“Not an option, I’m afraid,” Leah said. “Nobody’s here because they want to be. That’s half the fun.”

“It’s not fun to me,” Amelia said, crossing her arms beneath her chest. “And if there are activities you have planned for us or whatever, you can skip them. I won’t participate.”

In a way, Leah admired the little Italian-American girl before. She’d read all their bios, and pegged Amelia as one to watch out for early. And some of the others she worried about were now nodding in agreement; AJ in particular looked like she was about to stand up to join her, and Farra was watching intently. It was like the spell was fading over all of them because one of them was standing up.

Whatever she felt about her, Leah couldn’t allow this to happen. If this production failed, the hand of the entire network would fall on them, and none of these people had any idea just how dangerous or unpleasant their lives could get if they successfully derailed the show. And, as its overseer, she knew the hammer wouldn’t just fall on them. Her big, pretty ass was on the line right alongside them.

Still, the show would hardly be off to a great start if her opening act was eliminating a quarter of its contestants. She needed some diplomacy, some way to reel them back in.

It was Hannah who came to her rescue. Just as AJ started to move to join Amelia, Hannah caught her by the wrist, then pointed at herself. The two made eye contact for a moment, and Leah could see that Hannah’s eyes were wide and almost pleading. AJ caught what was in them, looked down down at the skimpy bikini Leah had magicked her into, and finally seemed to understand. She took her seat without a word.

It was a private enough exchange, but not one that went unnoticed. Sharp eyed Farra watched it intently, and seemed to sense something of its underlying meaning. She continued to observe, and put a light hand on her son’s wrist as if to head off anything rash he might do as well.

Good. Very good. Now Amelia stood alone. There could be time to divert this before it got too ugly.

“I don’t think you understand just how high the stakes are, love,” Leah said carefully. She stood at the edge of the pit, glowering down at Amelia. “You don’t _get_ to say no to the game. And that’s not just me telling you that. We have power here. To do things that are impossible. That wasn’t just a boast in the rules and introduction we showed you. We can change minds, bodies and lives here. Do you understand?”

“Oh, I get what you’re claiming,” Amelia said, “I just think you’re full of shit. I don’t think you can do any of that stuff.”

Well, that would be easy enough to disprove. She could change enough about this woman with the flick of the wrist to put the fear of god into her.

But now that this seemed to be moving away from a cast wide insurrection, Leah wondered if that would be for the best. Why leave even the seed of doubt when she could show off every ounce of what they were capable of right here and now? If it scared some of them straight, or galvanized some of them to win, so much better. There was value not just in nipping this in the bud, but cutting the flower off entirely where everyone could see it.

Still, fair was fair.

“You have one last chance, love. Fall in line or get pushed out of it.”

“I don’t want to be in your fucking line in the first place. Not for him,” Amelia said, pointing at Jake.

“Leah, just her go, man,” Jake said. “She doesn’t want to play, let her go.”

“And then what? Rachel gets to leave? AJ? Ryan?” Leah asked, then shook her head. “No, if I could just let her leave, I’d either have to let everyone else or lose everyone else’s cooperation.”

She drew herself up to her most imposing and wheeled on Amelia.

“No more games,” she said flatly. “If you want to leave, I’ll let you. But it’ll be as though you finished in last place. Lost every challenge. With _every one_ of the harshest changes that entails. Accept that, or sit down and play nice. I won’t ask you again, and the results of this choice _will_ be permanent.”

“Fuck you!” Amelia spat.

Leah folded her arms and nodded. Pity, really, to be losing one so early, but every reality show needed a good object lesson anyway.

“What you need to understand about how this game works,” she said mildly, “is that the first step is to put you on a ‘track’ of changes. They’re all going to get one, of course. You have to kick a cycle off in a show like this after all. And we have a few potential ones lined up for everyone.”

“What are you talking about?” Amelia said dismissively. “If you were going to do something, you’d be doing it.”

Her confidence actually seemed to be growing, the little fool.

“For you, I have a hunch that Woman in Uniform would have won,” Leah continued ignoring her. “A little package of my own invention that included a manner of sub-paths, each altering your behavior bit by bit.”

Leah held out her hand, twirling a little finger around. It was an unnecessary gesture; pure theatrics to show that these were her changes. As she did, Amelia’s clothes restricted around her body, her skirt turning into an absurdly short business pencil, the blouse constricting around her breasts as her bra disappeared. Her bare feet were suddenly clad in stockings, and a pair of black high heeled pumps. Finally, a blazer appeared over the ensemble, giving her the look of a sexy secretary.

Now, Amelia’s eyes were wide.

“You might have made some secretarial position for the harem, had you actually played. It’s a fetching look on you,” Leah said, “But since you _quit_, I rather think a much _baser_ position befits you.”

Now, the clothes shifted again, merging into a single garment; a corset that pushed up her huge breasts and cinched her waist, a skirt flowing out slightly in black and white frills. An apron appeared on the little black dress, and a white lace hairpiece formed on her head as her hair piled into a bun. The hose on her legs transformed into delicate white stockings and garters.

“How are you doing this?” Amelia asked, and attempted to yank the hairpiece off. “Change my clothes back immediately!”

Leah chuckled. She was descending into the pit with Amelia now, moving to circle the woman who’d chosen to be her prey.

“You think clothes are the extent of what we do here?” she asked. “No, we do bodies as well.”

Amelia’s legs lengthened, giving her a few extra inches in height. Her already sizable breasts swelled as well, pushing against her corseted top until a deep valley of cleavage formed. Her ass expanded, and soon the hem of her skirt left its bottom swell exposed. She tried to pull the skirt down over it, but it was no use. Too much posterior, not enough fabric, and the gesture nearly made her breasts slip free of the top.

“Okay, you’ve made your point!” Amelia said, a slight pleading tone entering her voice. “I’ll play, alright?”

Oh, it was much, much too late for that.

“And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. We meant everything we said about changing your minds too, you know,” she said. “And that’s where the _really_ **** changes happen. The kinds of things you get when you finish last in the ending rounds.”

“Leah, stop it!” Jake said, standing up.

She threw a hand backward, knowing she was forcing him to sit down and watch.

“Like taking your ability to say no from you,” Leah said. “A good maid obeys, after all. And you’ll obey _unconditionally_ from now on.”

“Leah, I…” Amelia said.

“Stop talking,” she responded.

The mild manner was gone from her tone, replaced by ice. Amelia’s mouth closed, and eyes widened. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

“Touch your nose.”

Amelia did.

“Bend over. At the waist, love. Let’s get a good look at that behind of yours.”

Amelia did, revealing a white lace thong buried in her curvy round butt. Leah gave it a light, playful slap. Amelia gasped, her eyes rolling back and knees inverting inward slightly.

“Orgasms on command. Triggered when your masters or mistresses fondle you, of course.”

She let Amelia recover herself for a moment. Her posture changed, growing straighter and more formal.

“This one requires some explanation. As you do your job, you’ll have to put on a show from now on. Show off that body of yours,” Leah added. “Your stride will be sexy too, and while you’re still good for cleaning, well… I think you’re going to find that you decorate the place better than most anything you’d polish.”

Amelia’s mouth dropped open in shock as she felt the next change in her head. Leah grinned.

“You can feel that, can’t you? Your thoughts shifting?” she said. “Speak up. Show them what the last change really was.”

“Que m'arrive-t-il ? Ma tête!” Amelia said, clapping her hands to her mouth.

“Don’t worry, love. You still understand English just fine,” Leah said. “But you’ll never speak it again. You’ll never even think it again.”

Amelia got down on a knee, looking up at her.

“Je vous en supplie! S'il vous plaît, retournez-moi!”

“Oh, get up,” Leah said with a disdainful roll of her eyes. “I gave you ample bloody warning.”

On command, Amelia began to rise to her feet. Leah placed two fingers beneath her chin to help her along.

“Besides, I’m not _so bad_,” Leah said. “You’ll get your wish after all. You won’t be part of the harem through the game. You’ll work for me. For the hotel.”

Amelia bit her lip and nodded.

“I’ll even be a bit merciful. I’ll let the winner decide your ultimate fate. Maybe they’ll see fit to change you back,” Leah said. “Now, be a good, quiet little mouse, and turn around for me. Would you, darling?”

She nodded frantically and did, facing the contestants. Leah stood behind her and over her shoulder, raising her voice to address them.

“This didn’t have to be,” she said. “Nor do any of you need to suffer like this.”

Megan was the one to speak up first. It was a bit of a surprise; one of the only corners she’d expected no resistance from at all.

“You said we’d be placed on tracks, right?” she asked. “Doesn’t this _technically_ mean that we’ll all get changes like this. Just, y’know… slower?”

Leah shook her head.

“This is what coming in last every round would look like. Compete, and do it honestly, and it’s very unlikely to happen to you. Most of you can end up in pretty favorable positions.”

“Oh fuck you!” AJ spat.

Leah ignored her.

“And if the right one of you wins, you can of course turn everyone else back to normal.”

This did seem to give them some pause. Several exchanged looks among themselves. Others nodded along. Leah had little doubt that each was running her own mental calculation as to who would do good with her win, and who would take advantage of it.

Good. Distrust drove shows like this.

It was Farra who rose to speak up next.

“So… what happens now?” she asked. “Before the interruption.”

“Now,” Leah said, “you all get put on your tracks. Don’t worry… _most of you_ won’t get anything too **** this round. Nothing that bad, at any case. But, it will ultimately be up to the voters.”

“Voters?”

“Audience,” Leah said.

This was only partly true. She exercised some veto power over how the girls ended up. But it would be a largely organic process.

“For now, we’re going to take turns seeing who gets what,” Leah said. “Let’s start back at the very beginning, with you, Emily.”

A small TV folded up from the table at the lounge’s center, and options began to appear for the opening tree of changes onto which each contestant would be placed.