Hard Choices

As the votes came in, it became clear that Ali was staring down the barrel of another tie. Three options were vying for it, though, mercifully, that one that would leave her merely mindless eye candy didn't seem to be getting serious consideration.

"Ah ah," Jack said, waving a finger. "Can't have you watching now. It spoils the reveal."

The monitors behind him flicked off, at least to Ali's eyes. In truth, he'd simply hexed her such that she could no longer see it.

"Okay!" He said after some time. "There was, in fact, a tie for first place. So just like the last round, you'll be getting three options this time."

"Joy." Ali said dryly, though she couldn't help being aroused at the possibilities. Insomuch as she valued her own intelligence and didn't want to lose it, this was her primary fetish.

"Let's start with the easy one on you," He said. "Groupthink!"

Ali felt no change to her own head as the transformation took place, but any woman sitting in the front rows of the audience did. They were just close enough to fall under the influence of a new corona of invisible energy that spread from Ali. And in the wide open like this, it extended about 50 feet in all directions.

All of the women within that 50 feet found their own minds dulling. For some, they simply felt a little giggly and airheaded, but most experienced a 15-25 point drop in IQ. One unfortunate woman, a pretty redhead in her mid twenties, pouted as she lay her head on her husband's shoulder, unable to really understand what was happening around her anymore. Luckily, she'd be as good as new in a few days, as would most of Ali's new, unintentional victims. But a few would take weeks, and two nearly a year to recover.

It was all totally random. Ali felt her own mind flooded with information, intuitively understanding how many women were impacted, and how severely and for how long each would change.

"This fucking sucks!" Ali said. "I'm a walking IED of bimbodom."

"I wouldn't worry too much," Jack said mildly. "Your radius stops at any walls surrounding you, so as long as you stay indoors most of the time, you can minimize your casualties. As noted in the description, the intensity and duration are randomized, so I imagine it's only a matter of time before the women you interact with frequently are permanently bimbofied."

"Does it stack?" Ali asked. "Like, if I get around someone who's still shaking it off, does it make them even dumber?"

"No. It only affects women with unchanged intelligence. Hence why Chrissy here's okay. Isn't that right, Sugarbee?"

"Hehe! I'm a dummy already!" Chrissy said with a vacuous giggle.

"But I wouldn't worry so much about others," Jack said. "You're not done yourself yet. Because our second ranked change was Prettiot."

Ali immediately felt the knowledge and intelligence being sucked out of her head, her brain draining like a bathtub. She felt all her education and practical learning suck right out of her mind, along with the brainpower she'd need to ever relearn any of it. She'd soon find that reading so much as a stop sign was completely beyond her, or that her ravaged mind would now find devices like smart phones and computers far too over-complicated for her ravaged mind to understand. If a word more more than a syllable or two long, she no longer knew it, and never would.

"Nooo..." She pouted, folding her arms under her chest. "How'm I spose to like, do stuff now?"

She'd been thinking of work. Of communicating of...anything, really, at least that she valued. But then that empty tub of her mind began to fill back up again. Instead of all the things she used to know, however, what she knew now was purely sexual in nature. Positions, clothing, shopping, makeup, hair care...anything she needed in order to make herself sexy. She might be unable to use a smartphone to look up anything on the internet, but she could use it as well as anyone to put up cute selfies or show herself off. Money would be beyond in her in the context of her sales job, or a lease structure, but she'd have a great mind for value when shopping for clothes, makeup and sex toys. And although she was no virgin, she now knew far more about those things and the act of pleasing others than she ever had before.

In short, between the fact that she made other women dumber simply by being near them, and her own newfound stupidity, she'd be relying on men to do things for her from now on. And she'd been amply equipped to seduce them into doing them for her.

"Well, don't get too down now. Because you did have one more change that can help you along," Jack said. "Here it is."

A bunch of letters, she assumed the description and name of her final change, appeared on the screen. Ali made a frustrated huff that sounded more cute than irritated.

"No fair," She said. "You know I can't like, read that stuff now."

Jack made a show of slapping his forehead.

"Of course you can't! How insensitive of me!" He said. "Oh, I'm sorry, you probably don't know that one anymore either. I was very mean, just now."

Ali doubted he was sorry about that at all.

"Here, let me give you something to help. Chrissy!"

Chrissy brought over the thick, dark rimmed hipster glasses that Ali wore on a regular basis. She had no idea how they'd gotten them (She'd been wearing contacts when she'd been kidnapped for this show), but she recognized them as her own right away.

"The last change is four eyed," Jack said. "It means that when you wear glasses, you'll actually be even smarter than you had been before!"

Ali's eyes went wide, and she snatched her glasses eagerly from Chrissy's hand. She slipped them over her face, and found all the knowledge she'd lost in the previous change rushing back into her mind. Her IQ spiked, now higher than it had ever been, and Ali had been a bright young woman. It was a dizzying sensation, going from a dumb, beauty obsessed bimbo one moment to a genius the next. But she was relieved to have her brainpower back.

"Oh thank god..." She whispered.

Then she felt the draft and shivered. She'd been so caught up in the sensation of incoming brilliance that she hadn't even notice that she now stood naked before the audience. With a shriek, she moved to cover her bare breasts and naked crotch with crisscrossing arms.

"Of course, there is a catch," Jack said mildly. "You only get to wear two things at a time. So you get to choose. Take off the glasses and lose your brain..."

Jack made a motion, and the glasses lifted off her nose. Immediately, her brainpower slowed back down to a crawl, and she become useful in the non-beautifying arts. She let out a soft moan of mixed arousal and sadness as she felt her mind wither away. At the same time, the romper reappeared over her body, covering it.

"Your comfort..."

The glasses slipped on, and with them, her intelligence soared again. But this time, her heels vanished out from under her. Per the Well Heeled change, she found her feet arching up as though she were wearing 4 inch pumps. The began to cramp as they were held there, but try as she might, she couldn't stand flat footed or do anything other than shuffle around on the balls of her feet. This was more than comfort, whatever he had to say. She was struggling to even keep her balance, and clutched desperately to the slim podium in front of her.

"Or your modesty."

Now the heels reappeared. Ali had never been especially good at wearing heels, but the change made them feel perfect and natural. She settled back on them, relieved to have her balance again. But it had come at a cost, because now she was naked again. And with only the glass podium in front of her rather than her hands, she presenting her whole body to the audience. She covered herself with a yelp.

"So darling, what will it be? You've got a long way to go before you open up all of the punishment boxes, and I doubt you want to stand on her toes for the next hour or two," Jack said. "So what will it be? Your brains, or your body?"

Ali looked down at herself. A rosy blush was infusing its way into her peaches and cream complexion. She hated being exposed like this, and even more hated the way her traitor body showed her evident arousal at the whole situation. But he was right about how painful standing like that would be, and she wanted her wits about her.

"I guess I'll stay like this," She said with a sigh.

"Excellent choice! Now...your next box, please?"

She chewed her lip for a moment, then picked one. Mercifully, it opened to reveal a reward; the dove and olive branch that symbolized harmony; ability boosts that would help her live her life outside of the game more easily with the changes made to her. The options began to avail themselves.

1. Distressed Damsel - Ali will find that if she flirts with men, she can get them to do any favor she asks. This will be extremely humiliating, but at least it will be successful now that she'll often find herself so incapable.

2. Public Indecency - Ali can no longer get in trouble for any act of lewdness she commits in public. Though others might frown on her for them, she can not be harmed, arrested or even punished for any lewd sexual displays or acts she commits anywhere.

3. Call and Dismiss - Ali gains the ability to summon or dismiss high heels, one piece clothing items, and glasses at will, allowing her to cycle between her limitations anywhere and at any time. These each can take any form she desires so long as they stay within the limits of her fashion mandates.

4. Undo Button - Ali can reverse changes made to someone, either through her Groupthink corona or any future curses she picks up during the game, with an opened mouth kiss to their lips. If she can convince them to do that, of course.

5. Brain Burgle - For up to 1 hour each day, Ali can absorb the intelligence her bimbo corona steals from others, with or without her glasses. This effect can only last for up to 60 minutes each day, and she can end it early to preserve time for later. This does have the effect of making the intelligence loss in the affected targets permanent.

https://strawpoll.com/polls/e2nav6lpegB

Ali grimaced. Though several of them were potentially useful, they were also humiliating. And as much as she'd like an ability to boost her brainpower while still keeping her modest or mobile, she wanted no part of anything that could render the changes she was causing permanent.

For now, though, all she could do was wait on the voting.