Uh... you do have a plan, right?

First things first: I need to check the remote. If I want any hope of putting this Julia business to an end, I'm going to need all the help I can get. And more help means more attributes. Obviously, I'm not even going to attempt to pull out the remote once I'm in there, so I decide to instead do it now while I'm standing outside her door. I take it out and start repeatedly pressing the green button to try and lock-on to my sister. Dang, how did Violet manage to hit Bianca on her first try? It feels like it takes me at least twenty attempts before I manage to get it right. Well, whatever. The important thing is that she does have a new attribute ready. Fingers crossed it's a good one.

- SELECTED TARGET: JULIA ANDERSON -

New Attribute Unlocked

PRETTY PRETTY PRINCESS

The target will start wanting to wear progressively girlier outfits, growing an especially strong fondness for frilly, colorful dresses. In addition, the target will no longer grow any body hair below their neck.

It looks like I might be playing dress up with my little doll fairly soon. The cutesy outfits are only going to make her look even younger than people already think she is, but I can't say the idea of her dolling herself up isn't appealing (pun not intended). And the thought of Julia's body being completely smooth is just... stop it, Matt! That's not why you're doing this! Ugh...

Honestly, I'm still not sure what I'm going to do when Julia starts acting more sexual. I know it's going to happen. I happens with everyone I use the remote on. Hell, Julia's first attribute ensured that she would find all kinds of sex stuff to be fun. But still, I'm not sure how I feel about it. I mean, she is super hot, and imagining her in a cute dress with a big smile on her face as she begs for my cock is...

I need to cut it out. At least for now. I can figure out what I want to do about that later. Right now, I'm on a mission. And unfortunately, it doesn't look like this new attribute is going to help me at all. This thing is basically entirely focused on her physical appearance, not her mindset. I was really hoping for an easy out this time, but no such luck.

Now there's nothing else to do. If I want this to happen, I just have to do it. I put the remote back in my pocket, take on last breath, and open the door.

When I step inside, I find Julia laying on her bed looking at her phone. However, the second she notices me, she jumps. Not really unexpected since we never barge into each others rooms, but turnabout is fair play, sis. If you go into my room without asking, you forfeit the right to your own privacy.

"What the hell?! Get out of my room! I don't want to talk to you!" Julia yells before looking back at her phone.

"No, Julia. We need to talk," I tell her.

"Unless you're ready to tell me what's going on, I don't want to hear anything you have to say. You know the rules: I didn't let you in, so you need to leave."

"Is that so? Well, I don't believe I gave you permission to go into my room while I was out of the house."

"Wha... how did you...? I mean, I don't know what you're talking about," Julia stammers. My god, Julia. You are the worst liar I think I've ever met.

"Don't bother. Michelle already told me," I explain, which only makes her more upset.

"Stop messing with my sister's head! She never would have helped you before, and you know it!" She huffs.

That's a fair point. I can't act like Michelle isn't acting totally different than she used to. At the beginning of this whole ordeal, I wanted to try and hide all this stuff from Julia, but it's clear to me now that that was never an option. The changes the remote makes are just way too drastic to hide when you live under the same roof. Still, I can't just give up at this point.

"I already told you: you don't understand," I say.

"And I already told you: I don't want to hear your excuses! Goodbye," Julia responds. With that she goes back to what she was doing on her phone, albeit with a much more scrunched up face.

"Hold on! I wasn't done yet!" I tell her, but she just ignores me.

For a brief moment, I'm hit with a sense of... is nostalgia the right word? No, that would imply that I like this feeling. It takes me a second to place why this situation feels so familiar, but then it hits me: this is just like how Michelle and I used to fight. The constant raising of voices, the back-and-forth lying, the attempts to ignore each other. The only difference is, this time, there's no one in Julia's place to break the two of us up...

I watch her for a moment as she becomes fully engrossed in what she's doing on her phone. For a brief moment, it's almost looks like she forgets I'm here.

"What are you even doing on that thing?" Without thinking, I walk over and snatch Julia's phone right out of her hand.

It take me a second to realize what I just did. I guess my brain was on autopilot based on how I would normally react if this was another fight with Michelle. When I look at the screen, I realize it's some kind of game. Even more interestingly, it looks like it's a game made for little girls. The game is covered in different shades of pink, images of flowers, and a bunch of cute-looking characters.

"Hey! Give it back!" She yells as she jumps to grab her phone back.

"I didn't know you liked to play this stuff," I tease. Again, I'm not really thinking before I speak. I'm still in my sibling fight mode.

"So what? I think it's fun. And I needed a break after all that time I spent searching your room. It was basically like doing chores! Now give it!" Finally, Julia manages to take her phone back.

Huh. That was interesting. It seems like Julia wasn't considering what she was saying either. For one thing, she just confirmed that she was in my room, and she was looking for the remote. I also find what she said about chores interesting. Julia never used to complain about chores, so to hear her whine like that is unusual. I wonder if her increased desire to play games is also causing her to find work more boring than she normally would. Perhaps that's something worth keeping an eye on.

"You really want to talk to me? Fine! Then let's talk!" Julia says, raising her voice again and pulling me back to reality. The small girl crosses her arms and gives me a nasty look. "So? I'm waiting?"

She's... waiting? Uh... hold on a second... what am I even supposed to say right now? Shit! Did I not think of what I was going to say before I came in here? I'm such an idiot! I told myself I was going to put to stop to this, but I never actually came up with how I was going to do that! I mean, what am I supposed to say? I can't tell her that all of these changes are in her head. Mom and Michelle are way to far along for that. Less than one day ago, Mom couldn't speak a full sentence without barking. And Michelle literally ratted out her own sister a few short hours ago.

If I really want Julia to stop worrying about all of this, I need to come up with a reason why the two of them would be acting so weird. But I've got nothing. I was so focused on confronting her about her sneaking into my room, I didn't think through how to defend myself if she retaliated.

"See? You don't have anything to say. Not that I would believe whatever lame excuse you came up with. Now get out and let me play my game in peace," Julia scoffs and turns around to go back to her bed.

Wait... did she just say...? What if I tried to...? Would that even work? No, there's no way that-

"It's all a game," I suddenly blurt out.

Instantly, Julia freezes. She turns back to me. Clearly, that caught her attention.

"What did you just say?" She asks.

I probably shouldn't have said that. I've been acting way too impulsively ever since I came in here. Still, maybe this could work? If nothing else, she didn't ignore me. And I can't exactly take it back now, can I?

"I said it's a game. Mom, Michelle, and I are playing a game. That's why we're all acting different," I explain.

I use the term "we" very specifically. Maybe if I can convince Julia that I've been acting weird too, it might make this idea more believable.

"Bullshit. You did something to them."

"Of course I did. I was the one who asked them if they wanted to play. They've both been so stressed with work, I figured it would be a fun way for them to relax when they got home."

"You're making this up."

"No, I'm not. It's a real game."

"Oh yeah? Well if it's so real, then surely it must be something I've heard of. So, what game is it?"

Crap. I didn't think that far ahead. Considering that I came up with this plan literal seconds ago, I haven't exactly had time to flesh out all the details. What am I supposed to say now? I'm in too deep to take it back at this point. But what kind of game can justify acting like a horny dog or a sex ****?

"It's... um... we're playing..." Think, Matt! Think! "uh... we're playing... house...?"

Julia raises an eyebrow.

"Isn't that a game for little kids?" She asks.

"Isn't the game on your phone for little kids?" I fire back.

Immediately, Julia's face goes red. Haha! I got her there! Was this a good lie to come up with? Oh, hell no. But is it convincing enough for Julia? As crazy as it might sound, maybe. I can already feel more questions coming, but if I can think quick on my feet, there's a chance this could work.

"That still doesn't make any sense. How are you supposed to play house with people that are already your family?" Julia asks.

"Well, obviously we have different roles than we do in real life. I'm the man of the house, Mom is my pet dog, and Michelle is the maid," I explain. "It took a little bit for us to fully get into our roles, Mom will still slip in and out of hers sometimes, but I think we're all staring to get into it and enjoy ourselves."

Did I just spin that in a way that actually kind of makes sense? It kind of feels like I might have. I look up at Julia to see her trying to process this information. She's probably trying to run that idea through everything that's happened to see if it checks out. After a moment, she looks at me again.

"But aren't you supposed to pretend to be related when you play house?"

"You can, but like I said, we're already family, so that wouldn't be a big enough change. Mom and Michelle wanted to pretend to be something drastically different than what they are in real life."

"Well... uh... then what about that redheaded slut you brought home yesterday?! The one who can't keep her clothes on! She's weird and she doesn't have anything to do with the game!" Julia points out.

"No, Rose is playing too. That's actually part of the reason I brought her here in the first place. She's... uh... she's..." I mumble as I try to come up with a good explanation. When an answer does hit me, I pause. Oh god, I'm not really about to say this am I? "She's my... wife..."

I really hope Rose never finds out what I just said. Something tells me that if she knew I referred to her as my wife, she would never let it go. Still, with how much attention she gives me, it's certainly a believable lie.

"No... no, no, no. You can't be telling the truth. There's no way... Aha! I know! That little thing I caught you with last time! That's what you've been using to change everyone!" Julia says.

"You mean the thing you were trying to steal while I was gone?" I ask, which causes her to wince. "That's just a dumb toy. It doesn't do anything."

"Then why did I see Mom's name on it?"

"Because we use it to keep track of the rules. If you hadn't jumped to conclusions, you might have seen that it says she's supposed to act like a dog, along with a few things she has to do to fit that role."

"But... but... you used it on me too. You admitted it."

"Did I? Or did you just convince yourself of that?" Alright, time for the real gamble. "Be honest, have you noticed anything different about yourself since that day? You keep saying you're going to get to the bottom of this, but have you gotten any closer? I don't think so. And why is that? Because there's nothing to get to the bottom of. The fact that you haven't changed is proof of that."

Julia starts to say something, but stops herself. She looks down at the ground as she tries to come up with any other potential holes in my argument. I can think of a few myself, but she's too shaken up to think clearly right now. I do feel bad for gaslighting my own sister, but I know this will be for the best in the long run. Or at least, I hope it will be.

"So... this whole thing has just been the three of you playing house?" She finally asks, still in disbelief.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you, but you never listened to me," I reply.

Time to hold my breath. This is the moment where I find out if this actually worked or not...

"I... you... but... that's...." Julia stutters, unsure of what she wants to say. She then looks up and me with her big green eyes. "Why didn't you guys let me play?"

YES! I did it! I can't believe it. I had to twist her brain into a pretzel and **** her PLAYTIME attribute, but it looks like she actually bought it. Or she's at least coming around to the idea. I doubt she's fully convinced yet, but with a bit more work, I might be able to get her back on my side. And now I don't have to worry as much about hiding Mom and Michelle's new personalities from her (though, I still won't do anything sexual around her for right now). In fact, seeing them follow the roles I made up might help reinforce the idea that this is a game into Julia's mind.

I can't help but breath a sight of relief, even if only a brief one. Now I just need to do a bit of cleanup and I should be done.

"We didn't know you wanted to play. I've only been doing this to help Mom and Michelle stop stressing out so much," I say.

"Of course I want to play! I love games! And I'm stressed out too! School is soooo boring," Julia pouts.

"Well, if you want to play house with us, I don't think anyone will mind. What do you want to be?" I ask.

"Um... I don't know..." Julia whispers while trying to think. "Maybe I could pretend to be a little girl and you could be my Da-"

Julia suddenly stops herself as her eyes go wide. Her hands shoot up to cover her mouth. No way. Was she seriously about to say what I think she was about to say?

"Uh, I'm not feeling well all of a sudden. Let's talk about this again later. Can you get out of my room, Da- I mean, Matt?" Julia asks frantically while trying to open the door and shove me out of the room.

Not being prepared for her sudden push, I stumble out into the hallway, only for Julia to slam the door in my face. The last thing I see before it closes is her bright red face, clearly hot with embarrassment. And maybe just a bit of something else, but mostly embarrassment. I can't believe she almost said it a second time at the end there.

Still... I think I won? It's hard to be sure, but I believe that was a net positive for me. She almost backed me into another corner there for a second, but I think I might be on the right track to dealing with her. I'll just have to keep this whole "game" thing in mind when I interact with her in the future. And I wonder if she still wants to play after that. I would assume so, based on her first attribute, but after an accidental slip like that, who knows?

Thinking about that moment again, I feel a sensation in my pants. I look down to see I'm starting to get hard. Am I really getting turned on by that? I'm such a pervert. Sometimes I wonder if I'm just as bad as Violet. Well, I suppose I do have a whore waiting for me in my bedroom. Might as well not let that money go to waste...