The twenty-nine year old woman sighed, she had black hair, brown eyes, and wore a business dress suit.
She had another angry email from her boss telling her to see him on her day off. Apparently their clients were not happy with her work, except they didn't bother to tell her about the changes, but they were too good customers to risk upsetting and taking their finances elsewhere. She'd had dreams and ambitions of climbing the corporate ladder, that was before she realized the dog-eat-dog attitude that the larger businesses lived by. If you didn't work like a dog, you were expendable, if you did work hard, you still had no guarantee for a promotion unless you made the right friends and avoided making the wrong enemies.
"I almost wish I could get another job, but I'd be making an enemy for life... Hell, being a housekeeper would be more tolerable than this if those kinda people didn't usually treat their hired help like dirt too..."
They didn't notice the two children running past her, and didn't see the lightning from the ray gun hit her, before reality retconned. Her dress became a maid's but more formalized, like something Morgan might wear besides her bell. The brown furred cat girl maid didn't realize that Sharon and Suzie, the two junior maids she'd been ordered to help find according to the new reality, had run right behind her. At least she could count on Head Maid Skyla and Master to be reasonable.
+++
"I don't want to PREACH to anyone, I just want to hand out some leaflets about my peaceful way of life," said a thirty-eight year old woman in a green dress and straw hat, holding a armful of leaflets.
"And it's not about that miss, I promise, but unless you know someone who attends either of the schools, or have a ticket or invite, you can't enter, I'm sorry," said the campus policeman, his partner on the other end of the now open gate.
Beyond was a co-ed meet up between the few remaining bastions of an all boy and all girl school, both sides had fought tooth and nail to make this happen, and had only happened because they'd agreed to a mountain of conditions.
The middle aged woman was zapped first, her legs fused together as her clothes vanished, her body being covered in bright blue scales, her chest being streamlined with her body, her head compressed as her jaws extended, giving her a serpentine visage as her green eyes became slited. Her tongue stuck out for a moment as she tasted the air. Her hair vanished, replaced with a crest of feathers the colors of a sunrise. A pair of beautiful feathery wings colored like a sunset sprouted from her back, she still had the pamphlets, and the silver cross around her neck. Her hands longer their nails as her arms were covered in scales.
"Is it against the law if I wait outside and share my information for those coming and going?" She asked in a completely civilized tone, her body moving with an almost divine grace.
"Not in this state," said the campus cop just before he and his teammate of seen years was struck by lightning.
Their uniforms changed to resemble Beth's, with the shirt and lack of sleeves and their boots having openings for their claws. Their bodies were covered in gray and gold fur, their hair vanished, as their faces become muzzles, and their caps now had holes for their ears and their skirts s flap for their tails. Their breasts pressed out against their uniforms. The two wolves wished they'd been able to attend the beauty contest with their packmates, but duty called, and Master wanted them to be true to their other responsibilities and duties and not 'play favorites' (good luck telling Meredith that).
"Sorry Angelica, rules are rules."
"I understand Sue."
+++
"Curt," Anna said as they ran, "I just realized something important about these maids, they all seem to still know you, and each other, even if there are over a hundred of them... is our maid sphere of empathy upgraded from what a human has? Or are they replacing other important people in their lives?"
Curt felt a chill going down his spine. "I don't know."
"Anna! Anna!" It was Ashley! "I! Finally! I was flying all day! My wings feel like lead! But I'd do it again for you Master! But I finally saw Suzie and Sean, I mean Sharon! I think they were going to the two big fancy colleges."
"Ashley! You rest!" Curt barely had time to say.
Skyla STILL wanted to see how many more maids the little sisters could make before Master caught them... but she saw each one only made Curt more and more and more unhappy, and... that went against every fiber of her being. The eyes bulged out of her friends heads as Skyla began running on all fours, out pacing them to the quasi-co-ed-schools. Iva flew after her.
+++
The ray gun was not invisible, but it was unnoticed. If someone not in the know wasn't actively looking for something like it, had it pointed out to them, or literally trip over it, it simply didn't register. And of course, police were taught to actively look for weapons, or potential weapons.
The two waved at Suzie and Sharon as they came to the opened gate entrance, the students within like mice within a concrete box with stands of various projects all set up. "Hi girls! Nice to to see you!" The pair saw the ray gun, it was obviously just a toy, but Master had always told them not to play favorites when enforcing the law. "Sorry girls, school policy, unless it's part of one of the projects, you can't bring your toy laser with you."
Suzie and Sharon frowned together at that, looking up at the same time, their body language mirroring each other. Other maids had not been uncooperative before.
But fortunately for them, they had a perfect view of the many students and guests who had set up shop within... And one of the teachers, had chosen that time to call, "Please, everyone gather in the center square for a moment, I'd like to say a few words."
She intended to congratulate the students on all their hard work and making this co-op school event a success.
+++
"Smile for the camera Sasha!"
"Don't worry, I am, Madison," sighed the college freshman, wondering how she got stuck with her little sister, and that annoying little camcorder a rich uncle had bought her on her last birthday. The girl would record everything she saw, and mother had taken it away for a few days and explained her things that you shouldn't record, and had gotten it back after only begging and pleading.
"No you aren't." Madison two long big black spiral tails swayed behind her. Her hazel eyes narrowed slight.
"I'm smiling on the inside," Sasha said she made some final adjustments to the arts and craft stand. She wiped her red hair out of her eyes, her yellow hair clip not doing much for her today. Blinking her blue eyes.
"But the camera can't see that."
Sasha made herself smile, it was for Madison after all.
"That's better!" Her nine year old sister cheered.
"Hey girls! How do I look?!"
Sasha turned to her best friend, who didn't mind posing for Madison's little camera. She had on a pink wig, a pink tail with a spring built into it, and a headband with cloth ears, along with some bits of face paint to make it look like she had whiskers, she was also wearing a pink maid outfit with a big bell.
Thankfully, Anthros and Humans had not suffered speciesism since the first wolf was tamed, so only a total lunatic would even dream of calling what she was doing was doing 'cat face.'
"COOL!" Said Madison.
"Nice job Silvey."
"You're welcome Sasha! My lecture on anime cosplay costume design and construction is gonna be a hit! I already have it all sold out!"
"Happy to hear," Sasha smiled.
"I'm happy Mr. Everson had one of his maids visit the last few days so I could get all their measurements!"
"So it can be perfect?" Sasha asked.
"NAW!" Silvey waved off with a fake paw. "Art isn't about perfection, or exact detail, it's about symbolism, it's about getting the idea across. What's more fun? A real crusader from history? Or a paladin who fights demons? Storytelling is about condensing something into the interesting parts, and I think art is the same!"
Sasha and Silvey had debating about this for years, and the two had stayed close friends, but had agreed to disagree on this subject. Sasha had people signed up for her demo of precision and skill in her crafting.
Madison secretly wondered which showing she should record, her big sister, and Silvey's fun costumes.
"Please, everyone gather in the center square for a moment, I'd like to say a few words."
"Sounds like it's time to finally open her up!" Said Silvey, and the three left the stand and came their way to the center square along with the teachers and other students.
Sasha, Silvey, and Madison stood in roughly the center of the crowd, just their luck. Sasha was in front of Silvey, while Madison was to Silvey's right. The teacher from their homeroom, Miss Fisher, climbed a low wooden platform and came to the middle.
Behind her were the eight other teachers from the two schools who had taken hand in the event.
Miss Davis, the girls' school social studies teacher, in her pink business suit and long brown hair, (there were nasty rumors that she was a transvestite).
Mrs. Perez, the most ruthless Calculus in history and mother of four (one of her children was helping the event).
Chemistry teacher Miss Walker, who had taken the job just so her parents would stop trying to hook her up with male teachers.
Mrs. NcBreeze, a divorced mother with three kids in grade-school and the girl school's English teacher.
Mr. Hall, who was in his seventies, had no children, and the stern teacher of economics.
Mr. Robinson who taught world history, and his dedication to being unbias was close to costing him his job, and only recently married.
Mr. Perry, a physics teacher who was engaged, and was considerate of his students.
And Mr. Harris who was in business studies, who secretly still played tabletop role playing games on the weekend.
Silvey knew it would be just a few minutes of long boring speech about coming together and all that, and then it would be on, half the group trying to prove boys/girls were better than girls/boys like they were still ten, and the other half trying to charm each other. But she was fine with that, she'd be sharing her hobby, and so would Sasha and Madison, heh, that girl was gonna be something else when she grew up!
The crowd was big, really big, Sasha couldn't count off hand how many there were, but it was easily enough for an army to have their own platoon! (And of course by extension, the Platoon to have four squads). There was less than a hundred, and more than twenty, math had never been Silvey's talent, she relied on a calculator.
Then weird colored lightning came down out of nowhere.
+++
Suzie and Sharon tilted their heads together, shocked and ray gun made a big ugly beeping noise after firing, and a digital red x popped up on the heads-up display.
The world seemed to blur around Angelica, as well as Sue and her partner, as reality retconned the two wolves to have been attending the beauty contest with their pack, and the Quetzalcoatl woman to have been sharing her beliefs in front of a sports stadium in another part of town. They had no reason to be on this campus now.
+++
Silvey had no idea what was going on as all the students, including her, along with the teacher on the platform, were all literally struck by odd colored lightning! It wasn't shocking or hurting or 'struck dead' as Silvey was very sure that being struck by lightning was supposed to do to you.
Then a bajillion things happened all at once, all of them weird.
First there was Silvey personally... her pink maid outfit had already been made with skill that showed her future as a costume designer, and only minor details changed that only she would notice. Then she felt like she had an extra limb stick out of the rear of her dress, feeling the air as it swished about, it took only a second for it to click in Silvey's head it was HER TAIL! Then she felt herself go deaf on the sides of her head, then could hear from the tops of her head... Then she felt the air in front of her face as whiskers twitched. Then the day seemed to become a little bit brighter. And she no longer felt like she was wearing gloves, and her claws, HER CLAWS, pushed in and out, testing muscles. She looked down at her pretty shoes, now with holes in them for claws at the end. And... her skin itched for a moment, then it passed, and her own body was covered in pink fur! She touched her head, but her normal hair was still there. And she saw her hands now had pads, while she felt her feet shift so they were more naturally balanced on the front rather than the rear. And... she was a cat maid... Did that mean she now had a free job at Mr. Everson's mansion? She felt grateful at the idea of being able to live out her favorite cosplay, and the game of calling him 'Master!' Though she did wonder about how she'd adapt her other cosplay outfits (not knowing reality had taken care of that).
Second, there was their teacher, she became a naked green lizard woman, her eyes on the side of her head, and her tail curled about, a pair of little horns on her nose, and her tongue long, she actually appeared and disappeared before Silvey's eyes using adaptive camouflage, their teacher was a naked chameleon woman. A cute one with those big eyes and simple curves and welcoming expressions.
Third, was everyone else... everyone else stood at attention, legs together, facing forward, heads staring straight ahead, arms at their sides straight down, back straight, their poses were all like copy and pastes of each other. They formed a perfect square like a marching band.
And... the guys... their figures became feminine, breasts grew, hair lengthed and styled itself, and bumps between their legs vanished.
Next came their clothes... Silvey watched as half the students' on the right side (which Silvey was on), clothes all changed into black maid uniforms with white trim (making her pink uniform stand out), and the students on the left side, their clothes all vanished!
The (former) guy from the debate club (was it ever a mistake taking that club) on Silvey's right, along with all those to her direct right, and her direct left, began changing. Silvey looked behind herself to get a better view. All the (former) guys and girls changed much as SIlvey had, including details SIlvey hadn't noticed caught up in everything... fur covered their bodies, though it was easier to see on the naked half, paws, claws, ears, tail, muzzle, fangs, slit eyes, digigrated legs... And... all of them being either black or green fur colors, in fact, it was like in most anime... before Silvey's eyes, their faces became uniform, looking rather cute if she did say so herself, soon, the only way she could tell them apart was their fur, eye, and hair colors and those being done in different hair styles!
She turned back around, and gasped... the front half to the crowd, became fox women, the details easier to see on the naked ones, their fur covering their bodies, being either white with black 'gloves, socks and tail tip' or red with white 'gloves, socks, and tail tips... They formed digigrated feet, claws, muzzles, pointed ears, tails but unlike the cats, they all looked rather busty, like models, and while SIlvey only had a rear view for the most part, she saw their figures becoming uniform, and knew the same was true of their faces even if she couldn't see them. Their hairstyles and colors being their only other distinguishing marks.
Behind Miss Fisher were the other eight teachers... each one of them 'bald', as in all they had was their fur on their heads, half wearing maid uniforms the other four naked, half were foxes, half were cats, two were green furred, two were black, two were red, two were white, all eight possible combinations visible. Silvey couldn't tell who was who anymore, they looked exactly the same as the students.
Then it finally clicked with with Silvey and looked around for her friends... right beside her at the 'border'... was a black cat girl covered in just fur, with hazel eyes, and two oversized spiral ponytails dangling from her head. Silvey looked forward and reached out and pulled at the fox girl (in a black maid uniform) in front of her... and the fox looked back with blue eyes and red hair kept badly in black with a yellow hair clip.
Then the next thing hit Silvey, was the smiles, the identical smiles, all staring straight ahead, like figures in a modeling computer program. Little Mansion staying just as still as the others and smiling, even if she couldn't quite see from hre view, but she didn't seem to care. And Sasha, turned around as soon as Silvey let her go, reassuming her perfect at attention pose.
SIlvey had the bad feeling of an apparent dream becoming a nightmare.
Meanwhile, the lightning had struck Madison, the transformation to her form happened just as Silvey described, but those weren't what occupied her mind. In fact, it was like a tidal wave came crashing down in her mind, smashing everything in its path, making way for more useful thoughts and memories, wiping away the old and clearing space for the new. Recording stuff left and right like a reporter, or movie director, or secret agent, all gone, like they'd never been. Drawings, pictures, collages, never were. Her joy was the joy of serving Master, she didn't need any other. She was but a happy obedient servant, she had no dreams or ideas beyond it, what would she need it for? She didn't think at all on the subject, she didn't need to think, only obey. And it couldn't make her happier. Any ideas or thoughts not related to serving as a domestic maid to carry out Master's will simply had never existed in the first place. She looked at her fellow maids, they were but more extensions of Master's will, like herself. She looked at the fox with the yellow hair clip to the upper right of her for a moment, and felt only satisfaction in the fox's addition to easing Master's workload. She merely awaited instructions to carry out.
The same lighting had struck Sasha, and like Mandison, her transformation didn't even matter to her even if she had been aware of it as reality retconned it to have always been, just like her occupation as maid had always been. It had been a part of her like her blue eyes. Looking at the stands around her, she'd have smashed them to pieces, and rebuilt them and smashed them to pieces again if that was Master's wishes. There was only one thing she wouldn't do for Master, a tiny spark of agency that still existed in all of them, a decision on whether or not to give her body to Master, a sacred grain of sand within her that could never be overridden and she could never be punished for any decision regarding it. She didn't even look at the black cat behind her to her left, she was like her, like all of them, a loyal servant and obedient extension of the will of Master. Parents, friends, siblings all were superfluous to serving Master. And they were united as one in the joy of serving him.
+++
Skyla, kitsune that she was, sensitive to such things, was knocked heads over heels from the massive distortion wave across reality as the existence for so many people was rewritten, going all the way back to the moment they were born, and the ripple effect changing the world enough to knock the magically sensitive kitsune momentarily senseless.
"Head Maid Skyla?!" Iva landed, worried for her.
"Anyone get the number of that bus?" She groaned.
+++
"OW!!!"
"You alright Emma-chan?"
"Kasai, I feel like a sledgehammer on top of a sledgehammer just slammed into my horn after being by a comet!"
"Ow! You need to see Mercy-chan?"
+++
The teacher, Maid Instructor spoke, "We gather here today reaffirm our devotion. Answer me! Who are you? What are you? Why are you? What are your hopes and dreams?"
The maids, except Silvey, all spoke at the exact same time, with the same tone and inflection, "I hear and obey: I am but a humble maid and loyal servant to Master. His wants and needs, are my wants and needs. My will is but an extension of His. My thoughts are gears turned by the force of Master's will. To serve is joy. To live is to serve, to serve is to live. I exist only to serve my Master, I am a loyal, perfect, cat/fox-girl maid. I will do whatever I am asked. I am ready to serve forevermore. To obey is life, may I be used to make Master's life happy and comfortable. We shall never unionize."
Silvy was relieved that the crowd didn't notice she wasn't following along word for word, and didn't turn as one, point at her with a zillion fingers, and make creepy alien noises at her with glowing red eyes or something!
Maid Instructor (Silvey didn't know how she knew that), shouted, "Fox maids! How do you serve Master?"
This time, only Sasha, and all the other foxes spoke, "I serve Master directly under Head Maid Skyla! When she speaks, I obey!"
"Cat furs, how do you serve Master?"
Madison, and the other in the fur cat said together, "I serve Master directly under Lady Anna! When she speaks, I obey!"
The simple, identical smiles never left their faces.
"Master, Head Maid Skyla, and Lady Anna shall arrive soon for inspection. Resume temporary duties until that time!"
"I obey!" The crowd all said, and without speaking or looking at each other, the crowd separated, turning and marching in sync with each other. Madison and Sasha went in opposite directions without so much as a glance back or even a thought to.
Silvy meanwhile, her gut instincts were telling her to find something useful to do, she didn't want to show Master Everson she was a bad maid as a first impression did she? But seeing her classmates, teacher, the boys from the other school, her friend and her friend's little sister this way all acting and looking this way, carried with it a sense of orderly rightness and robotic wrongness. She couldn't shake the truly demented thought that little nine year old Madison would be happy that she was being treated as an equal by the college age maids and furs.
She also didn't want to get her teacher Maid Instructor upset with her... And Silvy realized, at least if the maids had turned angry at her for not saying the maid squad creed, at least it would've shown they care about her. Everyone around her was working like perfect cogs in a machine, and cogs weren't known for caring about other cogs they didn't interact directly with. 'Alone in a crowd.' She thought.
She didn't want to ask Miss Maid Instructor Fisher for orders in case she ended up zombified (even if they were 'happy' zombies), she hurried to her cosplay booth, having an odd sensation and apprehension on whether it would still be there or not.
+++++++
Curt and Anna arrived at the gate a couple minutes after the big change, Skyla trailing behind them, still feeling the remnants of a painful headache.
“Oh, finally!” Curt panted. “There you are!” He stopped himself in front of the Suzie and Sharon. “I’ve been looking all over for you!”
“Hi Master!” The sisters said in unison, bright, eager smiles on their faces.
“We’ve been working hard to make you lots of friends!” Suzie said.
“Yeah… I’ve noticed,” Curt said, trying to stay composed. The kids genuinely looked like they had been trying to help. Too bad they didn’t understand the magnitude of what they’d done. How in the world was he supposed to explain to them what they’d done wrong? Well, best to start with the most important part.
“Please give me the gun,” he said firmly.
The two stood at attention, Master had told them so, and Master had said 'please' like mommy said to do. “Here you go, Master,” Sharon said, holding it out in front of her. “It stopped working a few minutes ago,” The bear-girl looked down slightly, “I hope I didn’t break it.”
Curt picked it up, and looked it over. The holographic display popped up just above it again, initially displaying a large red X, which quickly vanished, replaced by a spinning hourglass and the word “authenticating.” The screen cleared again, the screen now reading “ID verified, Curt Evenson. Unlocking safeguards.”
The screen then switched to the usual menu, with a small tab on the side labeled “messages,” on the left side of the display. It currently had a little red exclamation point. Curt sighed and turned it off, slipping it in his pocket. He guessed it was probably a list of upgrades the two kids had won him in their trip across town. Those could be looked at later. For now, he needed to figure out how to handle this situation.
“Good news, you guys didn’t break it. Now, Suzie… Sea- er, Sharon… Where did you find my gun, here?”
“It was on a chair in the dining room, Master,” Sharon said.
“And how did you two end up shot by it?”
“Well, Sean… I mean, Sharon, but she was Sean back then, she thought it looked cool the way it shot all those colored lasers. So she, he was shooting it around at everything, and one of them hit me, and I turned into a kitty!”
“You were already a kitty though,” Sharon interrupted.
“No, I was a human before.”
“I’ve never seen you as anything besides a cat.”
“Yeah you did!”
“No I di-”
“Sharon, please stop arguing and let Suzie continue,” Curt interrupted.
“Yes Master,” Sharon said with a quick nod.
“Anyway, I turned into a kitty, and Sean didn’t believe me so I shot him with the gun, and she turned into a cute teddy bear girl.”
“I see,” Curt said, “so, why did you go out and start shooting it at a bunch of strangers?”
“When we got turned into animals, we wanted to be able to help you,” Sharon said, “and then we thought, since the gun also made us see how nice it is to help you like our mom does, we could use it to make lot of other people friends with you too!” The bear cub grinned. “Do you like it?”
Curt sighed again. That confirmed his suspicions, and made what was coming next even harder for him. They were just kids, honestly trying to help, who unfortunately ended up getting a lot more power than most kids would to execute their well-intentioned bad idea. What was he supposed to do? Tell them they shouldn't have transformed all those people, when the ray gun explicitly didn't have a way to undo the transformation? Go into a lecture about free-will and fate with a five and seven year old?
"I'm sure the people you helped are all very happy," Anna said quickly, "But you shouldn't have taken something that wasn't yours. You shouldn't have used it without permission. You shouldn't have left the estate without telling anyone, like your mom. And you shouldn't have taken something something that wasn't yours out of Master's house. And you shouldn't have wandered around town alone."
"We weren't alone, we had friends wherever we went!" Suzie said with a clever smile.
Anna started a bit at their logic, and remembered Pam saying much the same. Curt was happy they'd told Iva to 'hold the perimeter' in case the sisters had made a break for it.
"What if someone mean had snuck behind you and hurt you? What if they stole Master's ray gun from you? They might have taken you away and we’d never be able to find you! Your mother would be worried sick!”
The two children didn’t seem to have an answer for that. “We’re sorry.” The two glanced downward. “We’ll ask permission from now on.”
“That’s good, and I forgive you,” Curt said. “But I’m still going to tell your mother about this, and let her decide on your punishment. I know you were trying to help, but when you do bad things like take other people’s things without their permission, to try and do good things, it can lead to a lot of things getting messed up. Now, I’d like you two to stay with Iva, while I try to see how to best clean this up.”
"Who?" The twins asked.
Curt frowned. "The dragon woman who gave you a ride back from the beach."
The two kids exchanged sad looks, and nodded. “Yes, Master.” They marched over to Iva’s side, as Curt, Anna, and Skyla went through the gate and into the “maid school” or whatever it was now.
Across the college’s lot were dozens of maids, each nearly identical beyond their species and maid uniforms (or lack of uniform), all sitting around booths where they displayed their projects, which, universally, seemed to revolve around cleaning, or taking care of other errands.
Then, a naked green lizard woman appeared seemingly out of nowhere, Curt loved reptiles enough to recognize a chameleon when he saw one. He still startled along with Skyla and Anna (who had smelled her, but could't see her!).
"Welcome Master! Head Maid Skyla! Lady Anna! The exposition and inspection are all ready for you!" The lizard woman bowed. "Shall I guide you through them, or would you prefer to examine them at your pleasure?"
Skyla took out her cellphone and her list of contacts... her eyes widened, and in spite of having mostly brown fur... she somehow still paled.
'Skyla, Miss 'No such thing as too many maids' paling at her contact list? This isn't a good sign,' Curt thought.
"I think Master would like to just enjoy the view of their labors for this moment, and explore by himself, Helen."
"Of course," The lizard woman, Helen, bowed again, "If you need anything just call out Master," her body's sales colorized themselves to fit into her surroundings again.
'Well, that's going to do wonders for my paranoia,' Curt thought sarcastically.
Curt had a ton of questions to ask, and Helen would be an ideal one to ask, but he was still in shock at what he was seeing.
“Hello Master!” Each one said with a tone of sincere happiness, and a bright smile as he passed each booth. “I serve and obey. To bring you happiness brings us happiness. There is no greater purpose than to fulfill your desires.”
They stood and acted at each booth with the precision and repetitiveness of animatronics. No sign of boredom or weariness in their eyes.
One of the maids managed to stand out somewhat due to her smaller size. She was much smaller, much younger, than any of her fellow maids. The little cat-girl, dressed in nothing but her black fur, stood perfectly straight, like all the maids around her. Her booth had little foot stools to make up for her shorter height, which was apparently based around the various ways she could organize books, paperwork, and other items, take inventory, order them as need be.
Anna approached her, hoping the child might have more of a spark of self determination than those around her.
“Hi there! I’m Anna, what’s your name?” Anna asked.
“My name is Madison, Lady Anna,” the girl stated simply.
Anna waited a moment in hopes that she would say more, but went on. “So, Madison, what do you like to do?”
“This humble servant lives to serve her Master, whom she serves through you Lady Anna. Nothing gives her greater joy.”
“Don’t you have any hobbies, or other things you like to do?”
“Any task that does not improve Master’s life has no place in this maid's life.”
Curt felt like he’d been punched in the gut. The other “junior maids” had all still acted like children, if more obedient than usual for their age. The one changed here, like everyone else, seemed utterly dedicated to being a “perfect” maid. Her body language, tone of voice, her attitude, the same as all those around her, if not for her body shape and pitch of her voice, Curt would have mistaken her for a very short woman. Her childhood was robbed from her.
“Thank you for answering,” Curt said.
Madison smiled. “You’re welcome, Master!” She said cheerily. Curt, Anna and Skyla kept walking.
In spite of the looks of genuine happiness, Curt could help but feel creeped out, even more than had throughout their chase. Even the more devoted maids from before had still given some indication that, although he was extremely important to them, their “Master” was not one hundred percent of their world. But here… It seemed like the people had all become hollow machines. No thoughts, no desires, no will, unless he imposed his own on them. He had never liked being the center of attention, but to hear each one speak to him the same way, he felt like he had somehow become the leader of a cult. He prayed silently as he continued walking, hoping direly that he hadn’t replaced God in the minds of any believers that had been caught up in this.
Anna had found it all unsettling as well. Each cat girl fur gave a small bow as she passed. And while they didn’t stare at her the same way they did Curt, she couldn’t help feel like she was in a horror movie, and that at any point, things could suddenly snap, and all these maids might close in on them, smothering and crushing each other in attempt to rush to meet their Master’s desires.
Even Skyla couldn’t shake off the wrongness of it all. Her nature as a maid liked things neat and orderly, but part of the reason she had gotten into furries in the first place was the fun and variety you could have in making characters. An army of clones, with barely a thought of their own… Even if it weren’t for the downright creepy level of obedience and devotion, it still felt like a perversion of her dreams.
Eventually, Curt spotted one maid in the crowd, distinct from the rest with her pink fur, pink hair, pink dress, and pink eyes, and much more unique face and physique. Unlike the other girls who continued working or standing at their booth, this girl ran to Curt when she saw the three.
Silvey was pretty surprised to see Mr. Everson show up. Even with what had just happened to her, she found that she couldn’t help but feel concerned for him. It looked like he’d been through a really weird day, himself. It had been scary how easy it was for Silvey to almost get into the same 'beat' as the other maids around her, but the same time, a part of her [i]liked it[/i], a lingering soothness of the 'purity' of it all. But seeing Sasha and little Madison acting exactly the same as everyone else shook her awake from that feeling.
“Master Evenson?” she briefly noticed she’d referred to him as “master” rather than “mister,” but she brushed it aside for now. “What are you doing here? Do you have any idea what’s going on here?”
A hint of relief appeared on Curt’s face. “You can see- wait… I think I know what you’re talking about, but what do you think went wrong here?”
“Well, we were having a meeting,” Silvey said, “And then lightning stuck, and then everybody just changed. Except for me and a few teachers, everyone became these creepy look-alike cat and fox maids, just standing there.”
Curt let out a relieved sigh. “Oh, good, you CAN see it too. Well, good news is, I know what’s happened here, and can explain if you like. Bad news… I’m not sure how I’m even gonna start trying to fix it. But first things first, what’s your name?”
“You can call me Silvey Bell. Could you explain? If there’s any way I could help I want to. For your sake, and theirs.”
Curt quickly went over the basics of the ray gun, and the events of the day, occasionally answering any questions Silvey asked, such as confirming that every non-human working for him was a result of its use.
“That’s a lot to take in… I guess that’s why I’m feeling like I suddenly am supposed to have a job at your place.”
“Yeah,” Curt said, “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean for it to get like this.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s your fault. Plus, I had always thought your maid entourage was kinda neat, that’s why I’d been cosplaying as one before all this happened. Guess I fit the part now.” She grinned lightly, trying to lighten the mood a little.
“Yeah.” Curt smiled weakly.
“Maybe that’s why you stayed a little more normal,” Anna said. “With the gun changing so many people at once, maybe it took the ‘path of least resistance' wherever it could. You were already pretty close to what it was looking for, so it didn’t want to waste more energy than it had to.”
“Maybe,” Silvey said. “Is there anything I can do to help? Some of my friends were changed too, and… Well, I’m glad they’re happy, but I want them to be, well, themselves, again."
"I have one idea, Master," Skyla said, wanting to help. "Cat Girl Maid step forward," Skyla ordered. A cat girl maid standing next to a booth with beautiful (if generic) anthro tile patterns stepped forward from her booth. She stood perfectly at attention, smiling, like a doll in a collection.
The cat girl maid was green in fur color, wearing the black dress and white trim they all wore, and she had a bowl cut with a short forehead cut and curved bangs.
Silvey recognized the booth's placement as being the rocketeer booth belonging to Liddia, a round-glasses wearing science nerd who had had dreams of working for NASA. The two weren't deeply close, but they still felt comfortable chatting with each other when both needed to interact without anyone being judgemental. The green furred cat girl maid's haircut was the only thing that clued in Silvey that this is, had been, her fair weather friend.
"Master, PLEASE give me the ray gun," Skyla said.
Curt hesitated for a moment, then handed it to her.
Skyla adjusted the ray gun with the setting she'd vowed to never ever use, as it ruined the perfect life and perfect world she'd been trying to build for herself, Master, and her fellow maids. She zapped the red lightning at the green cat girl maid.
And the maid continued to stay there obediently without a thought to herself beyond her role as Master's servant.
"Do you remember being human?" Skyla asked.
"Yes Head Maid Skyla," she said smiling.
"Did you remember being human a moment ago?"
"No Head Maid Skyla."
"How do you feel?"
"I am joyful that I might service Master and eager for whatever task you might give me Head Maid Skyla to service him."
"Liddia, it's me, Silvy, do you know me?" The pink cat girl took the green cat's hand, she didn't react beyond turning her head to look at her.
"Yes."
"Do you remember all our times chatting together? All the times you said you said were gonna put men on Europa?"
"I said I would put astronauts on Titan, and yes I do," her expression didn't change.
"... How do you feel about them?"
"They did not service Master, the human I was did not service Master, therefore, they are gratuitous."
"They're your hopes and dreams."
"They were, now my hopes and dreams are to service Master. What should this humble servant care for the hopes and dreams of a life outside of the joys of servitude? My love for Master is pure. I am free. I am happy they were erased as they allowed me more time in reality to add to the quality of Master's life."
Silvey let go of her hand.
Skyla fired the ray gun again, restoring the green cat girl maid to be oblivious to her old reality. Skyla was shaking. Tears were in her eyes. She felt sick to her stomach. Was this what she had been doing all this time? She gave the ray gun back to Master.
"Master, your maid deeply apologizes, she has failed you utterly." That set off several alarm bells in Curt's head all at once. "She has not been giving new happy lives, she has been stealing lives. She... she... is not worthy of your love... " That set off MORE alarm bells! "She has not enhanced your quality of life, she has put her own wants and desires above yours. She has failed completely as your servant. She will not trouble you again."
"Skyla..." Curt reached out. Skyla swatted it again. Curt startled at this, as did every maid present.
"Stay away from me, human!" Skyla snarled, and before their eyes, she changed, she grew larger, her face became feral, and her bones and stance shifted. Her maid uniform dissolved into in a mass of blue fire. A four-legged, brown, five-tailed fox, larger than a Dobermen, hissed at him... and leapt out of the lot in a single bound, before literally vanishing into shadow.
"Master!" Silvey and Liddia said together.
"Master, did Head Maid Skyla harm you in any way?" Liddia asked, worried echoed in her voice, her smile actually gone.
“This just keeps getting worse…” Curt sighed. “No, I’m fine. I just… I need to find her.”
"Scott..." Anna sighed.
Curt turned to Liddia. “Would you please tell… Helen, was it? Tell her that I’m satisfied with the inspection.”
“Of course, Master. I hear, and obey.” Liddia bowed.
“Anna?”
“Yes Curt?”
“Hang on to the gun for me, and make sure nobody else uses it. Take it back to the mansion. And once you’re there, could you get Luna and Meredith to drive out, and return the goat-woman’s car?”
Anna nodded as he handed it to her.
“Thanks. I feel like it’s probably best if I talk to Skyla alone.” He turned to Silvey, “You can go home, or follow Anna to the mansion, if you like. I know this is a lot to take in, so try to take it easy, okay?”
“Alright, Master,” Silvey said. From what Master had explained, she had likely retroactively moved out of her house and in with Master already. She turned and searched with her eyes for Madison and Sasha. When she spotted them, with a heavy heart, she realized they were just faces in the crowd of perfect obedient maids, like they'd come off an assembly line.
Curt sighed as they went their separate ways, heading in the direction Skyla had leapt off into.
+++
Curt wandered around the park, looking desperately for any sign of the Kitsune. He debated a few times about whether he ought to call out her name, or if she would just bolt again the moment she heard him. Curt knew he was looking for a needle in a haystack, with a needle that could move, and could make itself look like anything. She could be hiding inside his shadow and he wouldn't know the different. The tree he walked by could have been her, or could she shape shift that well? He had no idea what limit of her magic was. Not to mention that for all he knew, she was on the other side of the city, or could be miles away in the woods. She could have gotten on a bus and gone to her parents' house.
Nonetheless, he kept going, even as the sun gradually dropped lower in the sky. While he was a little frustrated that there hadn’t been that many people in the park, and by extension, few people to ask if they had seen her, at least he wasn’t seeing any more unexpected maids.
“Hello Master,” came the sound of a young woman’s voice.
Curt looked behind him, then to either side. Nobody around him but the trees on the side of the path. And maybe the occasional mundane squirrel. “Um, hello?”
“Oh, you don’t recognize my voice enough to think to look up? You wound me, Master.” The voice responded with mock sadness and a giggle.
Looking up, Curt saw a violet-furred cat girl in a violet maid uniform, sitting in a branch above him. Her dress had a more classical look to it, with a ruby choker. “Oh, uh, hi there. What are you doing up there?”
“I wanted a better view. Especially after that strange magic force a little while back gave me headache,” she replied, before quickly dropping down to his side, startling him. “But now I’ve got something fun to watch.”
He spotted that her tail split in two near the base.
"Skyla?" He thought at once.
"Heh! I'm just over a hundred Master!" She looked roughly eighteen. "Though you always have had a taste for more mature women. Did she shapeshift into me as a joke?"
“Uh, no. Sorry about that. It’s just, she’s… Well, she had a rough day… and I had a rough day and yelled at her for it… She ran away, and I’m trying to find her again.” He paused. “I’m not really sure why I’m bothering to look. Even if she didn’t do something like take a bus out of the city, I don’t know what kind of magic she can do. Er, all the kinds of them, I mean. She could be hiding pretty much anywhere. As anything.”
A hint of a smile appeared on the nekomata woman’s face. “But you’re looking, anyway?”
“Well, yeah, I can’t just let her suffer alone. Especially since I played a part in pushing her to this point.”
"Well, maybe she doesn’t want you to have to suffer with her. She'd sooner swallow a hand grenade than hurt you. But if you want to be there for her, Master, I’d be happy to help look. My magic’s not quite up to par with hers, but I may be able to help you find her.”
“I’d appreciate that. Thank you very much.” Curt nodded.
The red gem on her choker glowed softly. “Then follow me, Master.”
The two made their way off the path, and deeper into a wooded area of the park.
"So that gem gives you magic powers?"
"Heh, I give me magical powers, the gem glows when I use my magic because it looks cool... geeze, she really doesn't want you to find her. She covered her scent, even Bloody-Mary wouldn't be able to track her. But she's bleeding her magic all over the place, so she might as well have been leaving a trail of glow in the dark paint for me. She's really upset."
"I could tell."
"You sure you don't want to just leave her alone? Sometimes the best thing you can do when someone is upset is let them act it out until they calm down."
"I'm worried she might do something foolish."
"Oh."
The bakeneko took Curt's hand. "Looks like this is where she left the ground for a bit, hold on tight Master!"
The bakeneko leapt into the air, carrying Curt with him, ignoring laws of physics that should have pulled his arm out of his socket, she gracefully touched the tip of a tree top, and leapt off it again, and she repeated this over and over, doing fantastic leaps beyond what any human could do. Before Curt realized it, they'd passed the limits of the park and crossed into a forest near the edge of the city.
"So that's where she's going... Her old stomping grounds."
"I think her parents' house is actually the other way."
"Oh I don't mean them Master, I mean where she used to hang out before all that."
"Betfore? Before her parents? How does that make sense?"
The bakeneko somberly landed and turned to look at Curt. "Master... did you really think that couple was her biological... honestly? ... Master, you didn't know? Master... a kitsune gains another tail for every hundred years they live... how many tails does Skyla have? ... How old do you think you she really is?"
Curt felt his blood run cold, the full weight of what he had done to his friend came crashing down, it was a base part of the mythology... it was unavoidable, he had pictured five tails with the ray gun when he transformed Scott...
"... She's over four hundred years old..." He realized.
"And how old are her parents do you think Master?"
"I... I never thought of it... I thought it was, just a myth that that was how Kitsune tails grew... " Curt said in the best way he could.
"She never told you any of this?... I guess she knew how you'd react... If you knew that no matter what you did she'd outlive you. Master... this is the worst way for you to find out all this... I'm Sorry... "
In the distance, the two saw a faint blue glow.
"Up aheads' an old Shinto shrine she used to haunt before she started her life over with her new parents... I don't think it's seen a coat of paint in decades... "
Curt meanwhile... spotted something on the forest floor. It was Skyla's phone. He picked it up and looked it over. It was locked, but he wasn’t too surprised. He hoped she’d just dropped it, and wasn’t planning on giving up on civilization and living out here like some animal.
“I’d like to go ahead alone, if that’s alright,” Curt said.
“I understand Master. Take care.”
Curt stepped into the overgrown “clearing” that housed the shrine. He had no idea why one of these would have been built so far out, particularly in this country, but honestly, compared to everything else, a few immigrants deciding to build a shrine in a remote part of the woods decades ago was far more plausible than just about anything he’d been through this week.
Despite its paint being faded and chipped, and some of the wood being worn, the small shrine still looked to be in good condition. He noticed several blue flames dancing around it as he got closer, and heard a soft sound of Skyla crying, though he couldn’t quite pick up where it was coming from. Under the shrine’s roof sat a few very short candles, and a small white statue of a fox. Curt wanted to pick it up and take a look, but stopped himself, not knowing enough about Shinto to know if that would be inappropriate.
Not able to find a trace of his friend himself, but knowing from the flames and the echo of sobbing that she was nearby, Curt took a seat on the grassy floor in front of the shrine.
“Hi Skyla,” he said, quietly. The flames seemed to pause briefly, quickly enough that Curt may have guessed it was his imagination. “I’m not gonna order you to stay if you don’t want to, but I hope you’ll hear me out.”
He paused and looked around. It didn’t look like anything had changed, but the sobbing seemed a little quieter. “First off, I need to apologize. Not just for getting angry at you today, but that was wrong of me, too. I apologize because… Because of what I did to you. And because I’m a hypocrite.”
“I didn’t realize what the gun would do to you. After I changed Anna, and saw her suddenly able to think clearly… Well, I may have been cautious, but I wasn’t cautious enough. I thought I’d be able to give you something you’d always wanted. But I didn’t think it through. I should have known, really. I was the one that suggested to Anna that she make long-lived mythical creatures when she changed the seniors. I should have figured that making you a kitsune would have had consequences. Heh… Even if I had just been following your character sheet, it still would have made you over 400 years old. And now, it seems like you’re not even related to the family you grew up with. And even if Kitsune aren’t immortal… well, now I’ve made it so you’ll outlive them, and me, and so many other people and... And then I let you become head maid, placing all the stress of managing my increasingly complicated life on you.”
The dancing of the flames seemed to slow down, their orbit around the shrine breaking and pulling slowly closer to Curt.
“I forced all of that on you, with hardly a thought, all so I could live out an impossible fantasy. All so I could try to play god and make everything nicer for my friends. I was an idiot. And then, on top of that, I go shouting at you for wanting to do the same. I was… I just… why didn’t I just stop and think! Ugh!” He shook his head, trying to calm down and remind himself why he was here. “Anyway, I’m sorry for changing you without asking. I’m sorry that it lead to the headaches of being responsible for maids and mystic powers alike. I’m sorry its led to you living long enough to watch multiple generation of loved ones die. I’m sorry it led to to your family no longer being ‘real.’ I’m sorry for leaving you aware of your changes and letting you know how different, how simple things could have been. And I’m sorry for taking out my frustration on you, and making myself a hypocrite in the process.
“I won’t ask you to forgive me. I won’t ask for you to come back. And I certainly won’t ask if you to call me ‘Master’ anymore. I understand if you want to leave. But I don’t want it to because you blame yourself for it. You were reckless, but so was I. If I’m gonna play the blame game, I might as well trace the problem back to the source. You’d never have become a part of this mess if I hadn’t dragged you into it.”
The area around the shrine went dark, as the blue flames went out. Any echo of the sobbing faded completely. Curt sighed. “Guess it’s goodbye, huh? Well… Goodbye, Skyla. I’ll always think of you as my best friend.” He paused. “And I’ll wonder if we could have been more.” He said quietly.
He stretched, and started to stand up, only to meet resistance. Something fluffy was wrapped around his waist. And he felt a warm sensation by his side.
“Skyla?”
A blue flame lit up on the tip of the tail that had wrapped around him, revealing the kitsune, still in her ‘feral’ form, her sitting posture quite a bit taller than his. “Don’t worry, Curt. Even if you’d never touched me with that gun of yours, I wouldn’t dream of leaving you.” She leaned down and pressed her head against his gently.
“So, you forgive me, then?” He asked, reaching around to rub her back.
“Yeah. And I should apologize too. Just because you were reckless changing me doesn’t mean I’m blameless. I changed some people for pretty petty reasons, got too rough on Kitty, let myself get jealous of Danielle… Heh… I’m even part of the reason I’ve got such a big workload. I made MYSELF Head Maid, I wanted to be the alpha female of your 'harem.' I’m sorry for all of it. Will you forgive me?”
“Of course!”
“Thank you. And honestly… even for all the trouble being a kituse might bring, there’s still a lot to enjoy. The magic powers, the shapeshifting, the chances for pranks… Even if I am a little scared of living this long… well, I’ll get to see all sorts of places and people, see new kinds of technology… And with all the anthros you’ve made, seeing how the next few generations shape up in this town will be fun to watch. And at least, I will have Emma, Kasai, and the dragons to keep me company. Even being your maid just gives me an excuse to spend all the precious time I can with you. Plus, it’s been my secret dream since I was a teenager. I can’t get too mad at you for that.”
Curt hugged the kitsune closer. “Thanks for sticking with me.”
“The pleasure is all mine,” Skyla said, her posture changing, blue flame enveloping her body as she took an anthropomorphic form again, rather than her uniform, she was wearing a black kimono with white trim.
As if on instinct, Curt turned toward her, pressing his lips to her snout, barely even realizing he’d done it until it happened. Shock was evident in Skyla’s eyes for the first few seconds, but she quickly accepted the sudden affection, wrapping her arms around her Master as the two remained there.
After what felt like ages, the two finally let go.
“I guess this means we’re dating now?” Skyla said with a grin.
“Yeah… I guess so.” Curt said, looking a bit sheepish. “We should probably head home now, though. It’s getting late, after all, and I’ve gotta be up early tomorrow.”
“Say no more, Master.” Skyla took a bow, not bothering to straighten up again as she shifted to her feral form again. “Would you like a ride back?”
“If you want to, it sounds fun to me!” He chuckled, climbing on her back.
As the two bounded away, Sophie watched, perched on a branch above the clearing. A lot of what Curt said sounded like nonsense to her. Humans always thought they had more control of a situation than they really did, so all of his overdramatic apologizing had forced her to stifle a giggle during her eavesdropping. Still, the thought that he might have that kind of power intrigued her. Especially when Skyla hadn’t denied any of his claims. Was she humoring him? Was this part of some big prank of hers? Or maybe there was more to their beloved Master than she thought? That was a fun possibility. Maybe she’d ask him about it when he least suspected it. Or maybe she’d just let him be a silly human, and enjoy his time together with Skyla. She was a cat after all, she could be excused for being whimsical. And frankly, it was about time those two got together.
+++
"What do we have here? You look you could be good luck," said a young aspiring spa owner, who may or may not have been something else, and saw the tanuki figure in the alleyway, seeing as it was there with no one around, claimed it for their own and placed it as a good fortune charm for their place of business. As for the tanuki statue... he couldn't believe his good luck, he got the best view in the house.
+++
Even from a distance, and at night, the mansion had obviously gotten larger, including a fourth floor. Not to mention it seemed that the fence around the estate, which hadn’t been there this morning, (well, in Curt’s memory, anyway,) now seemed to wrap around his entire block, at the least. What he could see in the lit portion the front yard now included not only a fountain with a dragoness statue, but a set of hedges lining the path to the front door, interrupted occasionally by floral arrangements or statues of other species of anthro women.
After clearing things up with the security wolves and lionesses, (who had, needless to say, been quite surprised to see a large four-legged fox leap over the new gate and right up to the front door after dark, even if she was one of their bosses,) and re-familiarizing themselves with their home for the third time this week, (fortunately, the basic layout hadn’t changed too much), Curt and Skyla headed to the top floor, giving each other another hug and a kiss before going to their own rooms. It disappointed Skyla slightly, even if she knew Curt wouldn’t rush to sharing a bed on the first date.
Curt yawned as he entered his room. It may have only been 7:30, but after all that running around today, he felt like he could collapse into be right now and still not wake up until noon the next day. He was about to start undressing, when he noticed the ray gun by his nightstand. Anna must have put it back there when she came home earlier.
‘You’ve caused a lot of trouble, haven’t you?’ Curt thought to himself, before looking around his luxurious room again, and remembered his moment with Skyla earlier this evening. ‘Though I can’t say it’s all bad.’ He picked it up, the display activating and showing the main menu again. ‘What am I going to do with you, after what happened today?’
He noticed the new ‘Messages’ tab, which still had a red exclamation mark on it. ‘Might as well see what features the kids got me.’ Opening it, he saw a list of messages arranged like an email webpage, with subjects and dates listed, a “Security Options” tab, as well as an “experience bar” showing the number of changed maids, and the number needed for the next upgrade. It currently read “241/500.”
‘Five hundred? Is this thing never satisfied?’’ Curt thought. He remembered how Skyla had said one of the richest men in the world had a staff of six hundred for his house. Somehow, Curt doubted the offer for more upgrades would stop there.
Looking back at the messages, he opened the earliest first, labeled “Introduction.” He found it contained an exact copy of the letter he had received with the gun. Looking at the others, he saw that it restated each upgrade and error message they had received, in order, ignoring repeats.
Among the old messages, he noticed one he had apparently missed that had popped up at the same time as the two messages from when he changed Simone.
“The creation of Class C and above deific entities is not permitted in universes 2371 through 57338 without a copy of form SE225, complete with the signature of at least three Class A deific entities or the signature of the class S deific entity. Transformations into such creatures will proceed, though without the powers or authorities granted by deific status, whenever possible.”
And now, apparently the only thing stopping the gun from making literal gods was paperwork. Too exhausted mentally and physically to deal with the theological implications of this, Curt moved on to the next messages.
One with a timestamp from earlier this morning read “Note: anthro children created as a result of either reality distortion field altering extant children, or of maids giving birth, do not count toward unlocking new upgrades.” Curt had to wonder how many children had wound up anthros from the rampage today. At least their minds were intact, beyond possibly believing they’d always been their new species.
The next message read “Congratulations on creating fifty (50) total anthro maids! Your Transformation Ray Gun has been upgraded to version 1.5!
“This upgrade raises the cap on the wide-beam’s transformative abilities, allowing you to change anyone within the Wide Beam’s improved fifteen (15) meter radius with a single shot! In addition, the Wide Beam now features a “Radius” slider, should you wish to be more precise in its use.
“Your next upgrade is at one hundred (100) total maids created. Have a nice day.
“Note: As the reality distortion field is still in beta, its effects on large-scale simultaneous transformations has not been thoroughly tested at this time. Until further testing has been completed, we advise against changing more than twenty-five (25) individuals at one time while the reality distortion field setting is ‘On.’”
Curt frowned. There were definitely a lot more than twenty-five people at that college event before Sharon and Suzie got there. Next on the list was a brief error message “Those who have passed on from this world cannot be transformed.” While Curt wasn’t to surprised by this limit, he was a little concerned to learn the two had apparently come across a dead body. Hopefully, they simply passed a funeral, or something. He quickly advanced to the next message.
“Congratulations on creating one hundred (100) total anthro maids! Your Transformation Ray Gun has been upgraded to version 1.6! This upgrade introduces the “Hands Off” feature, as well as a message log.
“Worried that your hand is a bit shaky in a crowded room? Or want to leave someone out of mass transformation while using the wide beam? Simply add them to the “Hands off” list in the new “Security Options” tab, with but a simple thought of the person’s name and face, and your mind can be at ease. If you change your mind about changing this person later, they can be removed, or re-added to the list at your discretion.
“In addition, we have added a message log, allowing you to review any upgrades or rules regarding our product that you may have forgotten, or accidentally cleared before you could read them.
“Your next upgrade is at two hundred (200) total maids created. Have a nice day.”
He moved on to the next message. That feature might have been useful… Well, if he had known the names of everyone transformed today anyway. But he supposed he could get some use out of it in the future.
“Congratulations on creating two hundred (200) total anthro maids! Your Transformation Ray Gun has been upgraded to version 1.7, and features a “splash effect” toggle.
“When the Splash Effect setting is turned on, not only will the target change, but those they consider close friends and family will change alongside them, based on the settings originally entered. This can be modified to target only friends or family or close classmates or co-workers or gang-members. Warning: this will not affect those who in the initial reality did not form genuine endearment towards others (such as sociopaths, narcissists, etc).
“Note: To avoid overload of the gun, and potential 'persona death' of the target due to possible chain reactions, this setting can not be used simultaneously with the Wide Beam option.
“Your next upgrade is at five hundred (500) total anthro maids created. Have a nice day.”
After what happened today, the thought of using an option like that made Curt deeply uncomfortable. At the same time, though, had it been available to use when he tried it on Scott, he might still be biologically related to his family. He switched to the next message.
The next upgrade message looked a bit more unusual.
“Due to an unexpected issue, all units of our Furry Transformation Ray Gun product, in each universe it has been released in, have been granted a free update. This update features a new “ID lock” to the Security Options menu, unlocking that as well if it has not already been unlocked. Additional miscellaneous safety measures have also received updates.
“The ID Lock is “On” by default, and can be switched off with the entry of a password, exclusively by the product’s owner. If the owner wishes for only a select set of individuals to use the gun, they may add each individual's name to the ID Lock ‘permitted’ list. We have have automatically added the names of any individuals currently given explicit permission to use the product by its owner to the list with the update.
“This feature, and all others under the Security Options menu, can be altered only by the product’s designated owner. Even if the ID lock is off, or an individual on the permitted list attempts to change these settings, they will not respond.
“As a safety measure, the ID lock will automatically release, regardless of holder, if the product is used with the intent to avert clear and immediate peril to life or limb, whether it is the life of the holder, the target, or another individual. The lock will re-activate once the danger has passed.
“Stay safe, and have a nice day.”
Now that one had been helpful! It’s too bad it hadn’t happened sooner. He selected the final message.
“Greetings Mr. Curt Evenson; Master of the Furry Transformation Ray Gun of universe 13435,
“We’ve sent you this message to let you know that we are sincerely, deeply remorseful for the tragedy that has resulted from the use of our ray gun. No legalese. No PR talk. We realize what a horrible situation we have put you through. We never intended for anything like this to happen, and we are every bit as horrified as you.
“We had long been aware of the issue of a Maid’s desire to seek a Master’s wants and needs, to generate an urge to create more and more maids when a maid is aware of the abilities of the ray gun. As you are a programmer yourself, we are sure you are aware of how combinations of distinct, but tangentially related commands can interact in unexpected ways. We had deemed the issue a low priority though, as most maids would recognize the potential for unintended consequences, and would generally defer to their Master’s judgement in using it, unless he had previously stated that he trusted their judgement in its use.
“Unfortunately, most children, especially younger children, lack the experience and knowledge to understand the effects their actions could have. Further, due to the ray gun taking the desires of both the target and the user into account when creating a maid, its use by children can be prone to creating maids with more stereotypical personalities, due to a child’s simpler understanding of the world and people around them. This too, was deemed a minor issue however, as even children would abandon this urge immediately with a single order from a Master.
“This situation was the perfect storm of holes in our safety measures aligning. The combination of the command to seek a Master’s best interest and knowledge of the gun’s effects. Our disguising the device as a mundane object that would be dismissed by most, but might interest young children. Our lack of anticipation for all of these things occurring without the gun’s master being nearby to put a stop to it. The untested use of both the reality distortion field and the wide beam, by individuals that had little concern for the results beyond ‘more friends for Master.’ All of it coalesced into the disaster that occurred today.
“We have since patched these holes, and can assure you that no other universe will experience a tragedy like this, though, we imagine it will be a cold comfort to you, and those that have their loved ones replaced by nearly empty automatons, without even knowing what they’ve lost.
"As a minor comfort, the universal safety measure of our ray gun: that those transformed can not under any circumstances be ordered or conditioned into sexual favors, and the ray gun will backfire or abandon any master that repeatedly attempts this, are still in place, so the mass created maids still possess a minute glimmer of self in that regard.
“We have no means of safely reversing this. With so many lives changed at once, that point in time in your world has become a tangled mess. However, given your beliefs, it may relieve you to know that our reality-distorting technology cannot change the ultimate existence of a soul. And while we cannot guarantee that it will be anything like the original, it may be possible for those changed in this event to become distinct persons again, with hopes and dreams of their own, alongside yours. It will take time, and effort, but it should be possible.
“As cold as it sounds, we hope this incident does not completely discourage your use of the gun. But, given the circumstances, we do not blame you if you choose not to. Bury it if you wish. But before you abandon it, we would like to remind you of your sister, of her friends, of Danielle, of the young phoenix and unicorn, of those whose lives have improved even without being changed, directly, like Kitty and Leo. While it is true that if you never used our gun, this tragedy would not have happened, neither would they have found the happiness they’ve got now. While you may not fail if you don’t try, you’ll never succeed, either.
“We will admit, we were initially disappointed with your slow progress,” Curt stopped reading.
Curt looked at the line again. “More than thirty people changed in less than a week is ‘slow?’” He felt both insulted and baffled.
He continued reading. “But your selection process has intrigued us regardless, and we are curious to see how it will proceed as time goes on.”
“Regardless of your decision, we hope you may overcome this trying event, and bring happiness to yourself, and your maids.
“Sincerely, the creators of your Transformation Ray Gun.”
Curt closed the message and put the gun down. They did have at least one point he agreed with; just like the changes he’d made to Skyla, the gun’s effects had been both for the better and for the worse. He wasn’t completely sure how he’d use it from here, but while he didn’t want to risk ruining another life, he didn’t want to miss the chance to better people’s lives, either.
He yawned, and started getting ready for bed again. Deciding how to use the ray gun from here, how to handle his suddenly being in a relationship with both Skyla and Danielle, finding a way to help the “blank” maids become unique again… He had a long day ahead of him tomorrow.