The owner of a strip club on the lower levels

You reach a small conference space and are directed to a queue of rat folk. You shuffle along and are out true a few interviews asking quick questions about various skills. A few interviewers as to take photos of you. Some want some simple writing tests. After the gauntlet, you sit down on one of an array of plastic chairs set out in rows to wait for an assignment.

Beside you a rat teen slouches on a chair unbothered and board by the goings on. You're anxious and start up some small talk in an attempt to distract yourself. "Hey so you seem chill for being auctioned off"

The teen glares at you uninterested in talking "Why would I care"

"Well it kinda like being sold to a company that's kinda horrifying"

The teen shrugs "Whatever, they can't make you do something illegal and if the job sucks I just drag my feet until my debt gets paid off. Then I take a month off before they drag me up to get a work assignment, you do a bad enough job and they credit you the debt just to get rid of you seems like a good plan to me"

"Don't you want to get out of here do something with your life?"

"Like you?" The surly teen looks away hoping that you'll finally stop bothering them.

Deciding that the kid isn't going to be a helpful distraction you settle in to just fidgeting in your chair until your name is called.

"Sandy 6329 room 20, Sandy 6329 to room 20" a distorted old speaker calls you. You've gotten more used to being called Sandy but you still hesitate eventhough you expected to be called.

You proceed to one of the many joining interview rooms, inside a sun glass wearing rat man sits gnawing on a unlit cigarette, and next to him a very prity rat woman in a casual but rather skimpy outfit stand next to him with a clipboard and pencil.

"Sandy? The woman asks

"Uh yep"

"Need to take some measurements arms up" she pulls out a tape measure and marches over to you. "Up" she commands.

You comply and she pulls the tape around your chest, marks down some measurements on her clip board moves to your waist then hips.

"Size" the sun glass wearing rat calls over.

"38H, she can share costumes with Jenna"

"Nice, give a preview lets see how they sit"

The rat woman quickly tugs you shit up pinning your arms with your top.

"Hey what the hell, get off me" you squirm violently.

"Nice nice she's fine shit, ok Sandy your hired"

You break free and get your shirt down felling humiliated and threatened "What the hell is wrong with you"

"Hey needed to see the goods, congrats your the newest entertainer at my club. How'd you get in financial trouble girl with those assets you should have come seeking out some club jobs." He leans back in his chair arms out.

"I never thought I'd be forced to do something this humiliating"

"Oh great she's a prude," He puts his hand over his eyes "Fuck. Well the customers will like watching you walk around anyway, Marisa teaching miss stuck up the ropes is your problem. Show some enthusiasm Sandy the big monies in tips. Mar' how many more we need to see?"

"She's the last"

"Thank fuck, ok Sandy you got anything else going on today? Lets bounce. Mar' can get you set up in the club early, the girls seem to get lost on their first day a lot, Names Carl, 10034." Your new boss gets up and pulls on a rather ugly leather jacket he must think is cool looking somehow. Standing the rat man is about a foot taller than you, tall by rat folk standards. He wraps an arm over you shoulder and pulls you along as he leaves not waiting for agreement to his plans for the rest of your day.

The address of your new workplace is apparently on sub level -145 just barely above the bottom of the Zeta complexes pit. The Warrens are a really slummy place at the best of times but the lowest levels are the worst of the worst. All the discarded refuse making it to the bottom creating a distinctive sent, every leak and drip slowly concentrating to a dank slime staining the walls and producing an air of persistent dampness. Abandoned and broken housing units provide ample locations for criminal organizing.

Carl seems oblivious to this excitedly chattering about his plans for expansion and what a steal the rent is for his club. Marisa marches along in front paying you no attention probably just happy that her boss is intruding on your personal space rather then hers. You keep trying to distance yourself from the rat but as you reach the lowest level you don't mind the tall rat man being between you and the denizens of the lower levels.

Following a maze of paths on level -145 you reach a double door with covered neon signage along the wall. A stained break resistant case protects the image of a rat woman striping of her panties, the flicking light creating a two frame animation of the clothes on and off. The name of the club "Ass and tail" lit up consistently next to the neon stripper.

A burly rodent who looks more like a hamster than a rat stands by the door trying to look imposing and lets you in. The club is dominated by three long stages that push into the centre of the space seating facing each of them. A few long polls per stage reach down from the ceiling. Along the sides several booths with padded seats surround large low tables, conataners and detritus from the previous day still clutter them up waiting to be cleaned up. allong the front wall a long a bar faces the stage, few rat girls move back and forth cleaning up.

"Here we are hypest spot in the warrens on the up and up baby" Carl exclaims, the stains on the floor, location and mess tell another story. "Mar' you show her the changing rooms and get her all dolled up, bring her out for a test see what we're working with."

"Whow hey slow down I don't think I'm comfortable with whatever your planing, how about I just help clean up for today jut put me behind the bar"

"Nonsense babe look at you your probably a natural, and the bar tenders need to get their tits out when we open too, really boosts sales"

Marisa grabs your upper arm an a hauls you along to the back rooms via a semi obscured door near the bar. The already some what dank den of depravity is way more ramshackle in the staff areas a couple dingy offices are back here and a large locker room with tables and mirrors along one wall. A mess of costumes, clothes, makeup and garbage are strewn across the table. Marisa walks up to one of the lockers and starts shifting through tossing out some clothes on full body hanger a fishnet top, scanty bra, stockings, a tiny slip of fabric that you think might be panties based its location on the hanger, and a pair of long fishnet gloves.

"Ok toss that on, and I'll get some makeup"

"Look I really don't know how, or want to be a stripper"

She rolls her eyes, "Ya whatever you can sweep up if you want but your never getting your debt cleared like that, I don't think you'll be any good as a dancer anyway. I keep telling Carl to screen for athletic talent but you've listened to the guy he doesn't listen. Look I get you're the kinda girl that think she's way above this but this kind of work pays way better than subbing toilets and way less likely to get your self killed than getting in some gang shit. Just play along, zone out that's what I do. Look you wouldn't be here if you had better opportunities and it not like your being asked to work the back rooms just show your tits."

"There are better ways, higher education skilled work I was going to Uni how did I get into this."

"Hah, well i've never been to school but I can tell you the economics of that don't work out for rats, you get more if what you want is rare or hard to get, and rat clan labour is in high supply and the other clans restrict access in anyway they can, no mater what you're offering the game is rigged down here, now stop stalling start dressing up. Just imagine you might like it."

You think about it for a bit but this is probably the easiest way to just move on and prove your not suited to strip on the stage. As you puzzle with the slutty netted clothes you decide to ask "Why doesn't your clan leadership do something about it organize against the exploitation, promote some controls to limit overpopulation? Honestly I don't think ive seen condoms in the shops down here"

"Oh I think they're in on the whole thing, like profiting from it you know." As she shares her conspiracy theory she helps get your top and bra off and pastes a couple x shaped nipple covers on you. "They get to sell cheap labor they keep the crime rate high so they can put people in debt make their living precarious so they'll do anything and then they make too many kids since birth control is discouraged maybe some rats make it out but most of us stay in the grind and the clan legal structures make sure no one can have fair legal representation out side the clan."

"You've thought about it a lot it sounds like" you say trying to lace up a spripery corset layer over top the rest of the lingerie.

"Not here cus I'm stupid, like I was telling you jobs easy and you make more than scrubbing toilets so give it a go. Here don't pull that so tight you want this to come off." She fidgets with some of the lingerie. "Good now sit by the mirror so you can watch me do your makeup, I'm assuming you don't do much since you went to interview without any. You the tomboy type growing up?"

"No actually untill a month ago I didn't have any kin traits and I was male,"

"Huh I'd heard about the change in mixed kin some girls who work on the street end up with mixed kin kids, usually just means they have a funny little bald baby for a few years. You put a new meaning to late bloomer." She is dusting a thick layer of green dust over you eyelids and around the eye blending it with the thin fur and smoothing the edges. "So how is it doing it as a man and a woman what's better?"

"What?" You spluter while she dusts the contours of your face to accentuate features.

"The sex dumbbell what's better? Omg are you a virgin that would be a tragedy no point of comparison."

"No, no I just haven't done it as a girl that's all," you had some experience in highschool but it was mostly awkward and embarrassing, once resulting in a break up that you don't like thinking about.

"We'll get on that I'm curious, lots of clients to pick from,"

"Wait are we being whored out?"

"No no you can take clients to the back room if you want. You negotiate what you want to do. Quick way to make money but I don't anymore, one inconsiderate client and you're pregnant then you can't dance, then less tips and then you're stuck as a whore for months to make ends meet. Didn't like it, very uncomfortable."

"You have a kid" you ask as she decides what to do with your hair. It was short when you transformed but you needed a cut then and its only gotten longer in the last month.

"Ya gave her up to the group home, thought about trying to raise her but the homes are where I grew up and it's hard to take care of a kid without being some rich rat guys girl. Carl keeps trying to induct me into a harem he doesn't have and as you can see," she gestures at the stained and slightly damp room "he's not exactly the rat business magnate that he thinks he is.Ok let's show you off."

She pushes you to a door that walks into one of the stages.