Curt got another beeping from the way gun. Checking it, he saw he had another message.
The 'progress bar' was listed at 301/500 for the record.
'Thank you for your patience, there are 24 hours remaining before the 'fallout' from the mass maidification burns itself out. It should be safe now to use the 'modification' options for your ray gun on existing maids.'
And Curt saw a clock with 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 40 seconds.
Curt checked the clock, the 'fallout' should run its course around the time Simone was giving her performance. Curt couldn't wait. AFter everything that was happening, he would be happy to have control over who was zapped and who wasn't.
Speaking of which, Curt went to the hands off option, and apparently reading his mind, Kitty's profile came up, and he added her to the 'hands off' profile. He hoped this wasn't where she suffers some cliche accident and dies because he couldn't zap her in time... He had to get his mind off such morbid things! Next came Randy! Marceline had asked in particular for him to be 'spared' for the sake of Randy's girlfriend.
He added Leo's son, Hal Foster next, and then tried to add David but got a message 'subject is already outside the context of this device's abilities.'
'Secondary anthros can't be changed? Good to know,' Curt thought.
He also made doubly sure that Skyla and Anna knew about this option on the ray gun, better safe than sorry.
He did have one thing he wanted to do as an experiment, he considered asking Silvey to attend, but he didn't want to get her hopes up for nothing.
Going to Skyla's office after some searching, he found her at her best, looking over profile after profile of the maids created. Along with some other paperwork and listing on her computer. She was back into her uniform rather than her swim suit.
"Hello Master... would you like a list of the local businesses within the maid district radius you DON'T nominally own? And yes, it is legally listed as 'The Maid District' and has longer than you've been alive. Looks like maids have been a "proud community tradition" going back two generations.
"I wonder if by the end of the 48 hours, if everyone in the maid district will either work for you, or have a friend or relative who does. I just hope all the social positive feedback from everyone in our little gated community keeps the second generation anthros well behaved citizens. And apparently we rent out space on the estate for public and private events."
'These secondary transformed, they're not bound to maidhood like us. That means they can be criminals, killers, and all the rest. With the nature of people, it's inevitable...' Then Skyla heard a part of herself say, 'And if they don't behave, that's what good fortune statues are for. Or just use a pretty glowing flaming of fox fire in their eyes to give them an attitude adjustment.' Skyla shook her head of the tempting thought.
"Oh, and I just told Anna, apparently the animal shelter has been greatly improved from how it used to be and she's the nominal owner in terms of paper work. Do you think we'll be getting human maids and nudists due to just them being social norms?"
"Let's NOT think about that, thank you very much!"
"As you wish Master, I won't bring it up again."
Before, Curt would have been worried or disturbed at the 'something for nothing' position he'd been given at this point, but at this point, he'd learned to just accept this and move on. "Skyla, there's less than 24 hours left for the fallout, and apparently I can use the modify again. I want to see if I can use it to give the blank maids some more sense of self. Oh, and apparently secondary anthros like David can't be changed."
"... I'll send an email to Anna, and so you'd like all the blank maids together this evening?"
"Yes, not Silvy, if this doesn't work, I don't want her feelings hurt."
"Understood Master. Oh! And we have maids listed as 'retired' due to old age. Guess we're not immortal, well, besides Emma of course."
"Let me guess, they're at the same retirement home Emma and her friends were?"
"Exactly."
"That's actually, a relief, knowing they CAN retire, and aren't going to work for me until their dying breath."
The black humor part of Skyla wanted to say 'or yours', but the thought of Master's death was unbearable enough as is.
"Also Master, I thought I'd say that while the blank maids are... well, mentally identical, apparently there are eight who serve as 'squad leaders' for eight each. Which isn't that different from the rest of staff, like I said, Kitty is the head of the maids related to groundskeeping, Janet for cooking, Morgan for financial... and one quarter of the blanks answer to me directly, and another quarter answer to Anna directly... Oh! And also now, most of the district's police department as now maids... Don't panic! They seem to be pretty much autonomous. ... What worries me is that I might have started this whole maid thing two generations back with some of the girls now listed as 'retired', and of course Kasai and the other mythic, and I wouldn't even know it!"
Curt sighed. "I'm sorry you don't remember."
"So am I kinda..." Skyla sighed. Curt wondered, was she ASKING HIM to let her forget the old timeline? "Oh the bright side, at least this will keep things from dissolving into a mess. Sun Tzu said controlling a large army was no different from controlling a small group, it was simply a matter of dividing up their numbers."
"Uh, Skyla, you wouldn't have happened to have been alive when..."
"I'm old Curt, but I'm not THAT old. Remember? Besides, Sun Tzu was CHINESE. Kitsune are JAPANESE."
"... So I really own in name that many businesses?"
"Well... you hold a controlling interest... naturally most of the maids hold shares of various sides... except for the blank maids... They don't own ANYTHING if it doesn't relate to serving you. Their legal foot print is almost non-existent. They've gone through life with being your maid their being their only reason for living. Want to watch an our-tube video posted by genuine proud parents of them walking in lock-step as toddlers?"
Curt shivered. "Does it say what their first word was?"
"Yes, but I think you can guess what it was... You can look at the life of one, and it's the same for all of them, stopping only by their different ages."
"Skyla, have Morgan begin to gather the paperwork to have the 'maid school' shut down as quietly as possible."
Skyla startled. "M-Master? Is that really necessary?"
"Even if other people aren't going to end up 'blank maids', I don't want more people ended up indoctrinated."
"And your will be done Master, but if I may, I think the school merely needs some reformations, there ARE students at the Maid Academy, as it's legally listed, who aren't blank maids, and aren't of the 'live to serve' mentality. And there are some human maids who get their education there as well now who just are. Apparently it's a center for instruction of domestic service in the tri-state area. Though Kitty is apparently still my personal apprentice... Looking over my files, it looks like I had her tested out against the blank maids once."
"... " After the drama Skyla and Curt gone through over the school, Curt didn't think Skyla was looking for an excuse to keep the school running at least. "I'll consider it if we can get Instructors who aren't going to try to turn their students into zombies."
"Thank you for your consideration Master."
+++
Curt had Skyla sent out an email to the rest of the maids to give him space with the Blank Maids in what counted for now as the 'backyard' of the estate. The less he had to spend explaining everything to everyone the better.
Curt stood on a wooden platform disturbingly like Maid Instructor Helen Fisher had used when the blank maids had been 'created,' but he might as well use it while it was there.
As the 71 blank maids, marched into position, Curt noticed how they were all lining up exactly as they had when first zapped.
Curt noted how the blank maids seem to smile just a little bit wider when marching in step, like witnessing their own uniformity actually made them MORE happy.
'Well, at least that's ONE THING that makes them happy besides serving me,' Curt thought.
"Master! I exist but to serve you! I am ready to obey, now and forever more!" The 71 of them spoke in one voice. Looking up at him with 71 identical smiling faces. Madison, Liddia, and Sasha, just pieces of the whole.
Curt set the 'modify' to 'aware of previous timeline,' and fired, and not a single one of them changed their expression, body language, or posture.
"Do you remember being human?"
"Yes Master," The Blank Maids answered as one.
He used the 'modify' settings again, setting 'species' and 'maid/nude' to 'target's preference.' And he fired... and... nothing. Not a single one of them changed. They just kept smiling at him.
Curt frowned. He'd really hoped that would work.
He stepped down and spoke.
"White fox maid step forward." The nearest one did so. "What is your name?"
"Alexis, Master," she said the same the rest did.
"Are your preferences really a white furred vixen in a black maid uniform?"
"This maid have no preferences Master, she exists but to serve you."
"But you REMEMBER don't you? Your life before you were zapped?"
"Yes Master, the life of the human of the old reality who this humble maid was."
"THEY had preferences didn't they?"
"Yes Master, they did."
"Then why didn't you change?"
"Because they are not the preferences of this humble maid."
It hit Curt like a stack of bricks. Just because they remembered the old reality, didn't mean that they had the favorite animal of who they were in the old reality. Those animals weren't THEIR favorite animals anymore!
"All of you. I order you. Be individuals," Curt said.
"Yes... we are individuals." They say in the exact same tone, inflection, and expression.
"I think I've seen this movie..." Curt sighed. Well, he knew it couldn’t be THAT easy.
"Oh! You're role playing with the ray gun again?"
"AH!" Curt gasped. Mareline the adorable spider woman had snuck up behind him, having upside down from a web line of a nearby tree before turning right side up. "Marceline! Don't do that! And what are you doing here? I ordered the rest of the maids to stay away!"
"You did?" Marceline took out her pager and looked. "OH!" She disconnected her web line and immediately deeply bowed to Curt. "Sorry Master! I was practicing my music when it came! And I'll try not to spook you like that again! It's my nature as a spider, but I'll do my best! I swear!" Then she went back to her normal jovial attitude. "I promise not tell anyone about you trying to role play with the 'gifted' maids! But I really don't think they're the imaginative types."
Curt remember Marceline interpreting him telling her about the ray gun when first zapping her as role playing. "Oh, okay, thank you."
"But you really want to role play with these girls, you should play to their strengths. Maybe role play robot transformations with them? They're already close, so why not take the next step?"
Curt saw all of the Blank Maids grin at Marceline's suggestion of robot transformation.
"Master?" Alexis asked. "Is there a robot transformation setting on the ray gun?" She sounded, excited. "I, and so all of us, would love be cleansed of these annoying remaining individual traits! And we wouldn't need to eat, sleep, use the bathroom, we'd be even more efficient servants for you Master!" Alexis' eyes, and those of the other maids, sparkled at the idea of being turned into furry androids.
These girls were excited at the idea of being made into robots? Of being made MORE identical?
"No it doesn't!" Curt said. And all the blank maids an identical disappointed look on their faces before going back to their natural bliss of servitude.
"Oh well, if those are the game's rules," Marceline shrugged. "Though I wonder if Skyla could do that... " She put a furry claw to her face. Curt could actually SEE the collective gears turning in the blank maids' heads.
"I think a fully functional robot that could do everything a maid could do would be a lot more complex than a statue!" Curt said.
"I guess you're right, if that's how her magic works I guess." Marceline said.
Curt resisted the urge to tell her she'd used 'guess' twice. “Plus, I’d hate the thought of a bunch of cold, thoughtless machines just hanging around.”
+++
Meanwhile, in another world, Mark was coming back to his new home after finishing up another concert with his bandmates. The door to his home slid open like an airlock on a space station in a sci-fi movie.
“Hello Master!” A humanoid robot with smooth, white, plastic skin, five fox-like tails, and a pair of triangular ears on his head greeted him. He picked up Mark’s bags with his tails as he continued. “How was your concert?”
“Oh, it was great!” Mark said. “The people love hearing Cherry’s voice.”
A robot modeled after an anime girl, with a long, red ponytail smiled. “Yes, it was a lot of fun! But don’t sell Kara, Randy, or yourself short, Master.”
“Of course! It wouldn’t be the same without everyone working together,” Mark nodded to a pair of human-shaped clockwork robots, one “male,” one “female,” who were capable of folding themselves into a self-playing guitar and bass, respectively. “I’m gonna take a little rest. Take it easy and enjoy yourselves.”
“You too, Master,” His band said, as the door to his room automatically opened, revealing quite a bit of ahead-of-its-time tech that hadn’t been there earlier that morning, as far as Mark remembered. Not that he was that surprised, at this point.
Mark smiled to himself as he flopped onto his bed, and adjusted his watch, a holographic UI appearing as he did so. A little sliver of worry popped into the back of his mind, seemingly without any particular cause. Nonetheless, he wanted to address it. He went to his window, opened it, and adjusted one of the settings on his watch. Even if it pained him to undo his favorite part of a transformation, he wanted to be sure of something.
“Hey Curt,” He called out to the yard, “Could come here a second?”
“Yes Master,” A deep voice replied, as a tank like clockwork dragon moved from its resting place in the driveway, and raised its head to the second story window. “How may I help you?”
“Just something I wanted to ask you,” Mark said, hitting “save changes” on his watch’s menu.
The mechanical beast in front of him blinked its purely-for-show eyelids a few times, as if it was suddenly remembering something. It then gave a wide, toothy grin. “Well, this has been an interesting week. I assume your question is for ‘human-me’ then?”
“Yeah…” Mark said, looking a little surprised. “You don’t seem to mind the change.”
“Why would I? This is probably the closest I could ever come to living out my biggest fantasy!”
“I just had this sudden feeling that, if I hadn’t changed your mind, you’d hate being a ‘cold lifeless machine.”
“I’ll admit, being a robot dragon specifically may not have been what I’d fantasized about, but I certainly don’t feel lifeless...” The robot dragon pointed his head to the sky, releasing a flame from his mouth. “Or cold.” He grinned. “And frankly, I’d be insulted by that kind of talk now. It’s kind of ironic, actually, when you think about it, because the real trouble with a lot of machines is actually keeping them cool, when you consider how much waste energy winds up as heat that can-”
Mark sighed as Curt went on. He could appreciate Curt’s analytical nature, but it could lead to him going overboard on tangents (a trait being a robot probably amplified). Still, it was reassuring to be reminded that just because his friend was a robot didn’t mean he was mindless. He wondered where that thought even came from.
+++
"Step back in line Alexis," Curt said.
"This servant obeys." She did so.
What were the name of Silvy's friends? Oh right!
"Sasha, Madison, Liddia, come forward."
As one creature the Blank Maids separated, and the three called for subparts linked up in front of Curt, smiling.
Marceline looked down at Madison, "Cute like a china doll." The blank maid made no reaction.
'Time for an experiment,' Curt thought. While it was dangerous for say the dove girl, certainly not every person changed had been suicidal.
"Sasha, Madison, Liddia, I order you to act like yourselves from the old timeline."
"Oh! I can't wait to take photos of everyone at the mansion!"
"Hmmmm! Master may I help fix up your clothes?"
"Master may I suggest donations into the space program?"
They said... their expressions changed, but their eyes... exactly the same. The way Madison moved... it was like a short woman play acting a child.
"AGH! Master! Order them to stop please! It's like seeing corpses being puppeteered on strings!" Marceline, the spider woman actually scurrying back from them! A look of revulsion and unease on her face. "At least when the bees do it you can tell they're doing it with FEELING!"
Curt sighed. "I cancel the previous order."
The three stopped at once and went back into their 'at attention' pose. If even Marceline could tell, then there was no question about Silvy being about to tell.
Curt adjusted the ray gun again, and zapped the blank maids, turning off their awareness of the existence of the old timelines. 'They'll just act out their old selves like puppets putting on a show. That's not living. And it would be a mockery to Silvy.'
Curt wondered if the holders of the ray guns in other realities had problems like this.
--
In a neighboring universe, stood a large pink doll-house like castle. Inside, the human Anna reclined on a sofa, playing video games. Her ripped and handsome lizard man brother at her side, taking care of the paper work for her to keep the castle running.
Naked, well endowed, muscular horse men went this way and that keeping the quasi-fairy tale castle in shape, along with dragon men butlers, and cat men in various states of naked verses wearing butler uniforms, and many other of Anna's favorite creatures. Her pet cat having their own private room and free roam of the house.
Ash and Mikey were hanging out in their private chambers, sending out invites to a video game tournament for 'special needs' kids like they'd been, but wouldn't be soon. Scott the kitsune still recovering from his break down, but Curt was supporting him.
"Madam, I mean, Anna," Curt said, "Sean Sr. and Kitty have finished moving in. Though I think after the tournament they'll likely have moved in earlier with how the castle is growing."
"Tell them I'm really happy for them! And tell Sean 'Jr.' and Suzie that they're free to use the 'classic' game room." Sean might not have been the real father of Kitty's kids, but he'd been more of a real father than their birth one had been.
"Yes Princess! Do you want me to answer your latest love letters Victor just delivered for you?"
"No! I wanna answer them myself! And I like reading them! Oh, Curt, can you tell me that word there?" She pointed at the screen, showing a dialogue box of one of the characters.
"That's 'periodically' Princess, 'periodically.'"
"Okay! Thanks!"
+++
Back in the universe where Curt was the owner of the maid ray gun...
"This room is as pink as me," Silvey thought looking at her room at the estate for the first time. She'd found it purely on instinct.
Pink wall paper (with kitty mascots), pink rug, pink curtains, pink draps for the bed, pale pink wood, pink pillows, pink bedsheets, pink roses, pink crystal chandelier. The pink wooden changing blind. The computer was covered in pink stickers. All complimenting Silvey's own bubblegum pink hair, fur, maid uniform, eyes, claw polish... And there was the pink make up at the vanity mirror. About the only thing not pink were the collection of plushies, and her cosplay supplies and tools.
Silvey KNEW even she would have thought all this pink was eye-damagingly excessive. "But... I LIKE IT this way now!" Silvey couldn't deny that she wouldn't change a single thing! Everything was perfect! That it looked like the room out of an anime or a doll commercial didn't bother her in the least, in fact, she felt HAPPY that her room was those things!
Silvey went over to her computer, she found her password was the same. Her desk top now had a pink kitten as the background. She looked up her blog site... it was a lot more pink than before too... but her cosplay pages were all pretty much the same... but the ones that had been for Sasha, Madison, and her other schoolmates who had been transformed were replaced with jobs for others people, most of them fellow maids, making a spider woman look like a bipedal giant robot had apparently been a challenge. In fact, she had a lot more exposure than in the old time line. She also still had her old webcomic reviews, though before, she'd stopped after a month. now it seemed she'd done them for three years, and finished with a 'thanks for everything' sign off post!
She checked her personal video journal... Her 'new' pink feline face looked back at her.
"Nya! Hello me! It's me! It's time to show off to Master how good at costume making I am! Instructor Fisher is vexed at my uniform still, but Master says I'm free to wear whatever color uniform I want! She says I'm the opposite of a model student at the Maid Academy, but Sophie and her 'rebel' students say that's a good thing! NYA! My parents say I stick out like a sore thumb at the Academy, but Nya! I say that's the fun part! NYA-NYA! ... Still working on Sasha and Madison, this humble servant of Master swears! I'm gonna get them to enjoy other stuff besides keeping house for Master if it kills me! Nya! Madison's just a kid, she needs to let herself go. I'm not out of schemes to break them out of their 'we are one' attitude yet! They keep trying to get me to be more like them, and it doesn't work! Part of the fun for me! Selena's worried about me getting 'assimilated' but NYA! she's worried over nothing! Nya! If I can crack those two, I'll target Liddia next! Heh! Instructor Fisher would be SOOOOO mad!" Herself on the screen broke down into uncontrollable giggles before finally turning the video feed off.
Silvey's eyes dilated, and a smile grew wider and wider on her face.
"I've become themed anime cliche, and I don't mind. Guess that makes sense if the change isn't just in the present, but retconned reality. Nya! What the Meow is the point of remembering a reality that no longer exists? Nya!"
Silvey let go of the pain, and let her new self flow, who always tirelessly tried to get the 'silly dolly-maids' (her nickname for them) to smile about more than just Master! (It was what Master wanted too after all!). She checked her personal planner, and saw she had couple costume designs to finish up for kids in the talent show tomorrow night (her own little donation to things). She happily looked over to her closet, took out the mostly completely costumes, and got to work! She wondered if she could get Master to order Sasha to attend, Silvey could imagine her squirming in her chair, wanting to clean 'something' or get something for Master! Heh! It would be fun!
+++
Skyla sighed, she didn't have time to stop for dinner tonight, with the changes in the command structure, and lacking the retconning memories of nearly the entire staff, she had to relearn all of this by hand! It didn't help that new staff were still being added. But maybe it was tapering off now that there were less than 24-hours to go before this 'fall out' burned itself out. But she was Head Maid, like it or not, and she had to stay on top of things and stay aware of all maid activities even as reality was rewritten in front of her!
At least the new 'platoon leaders' of the various maids made things easier for Skyla to handle the horde. As much as she loved creating new maids, even now (even if the blank maids had shocked her trigger happy attitude out of her), she had to submit to Master's remark that the number of maids could really get out of hand at this rate! She literally now commanded an entire battalion of maids!
As for the Estate itself, it was now basically the entire block. It had sub-buildings, dormitories for maids, the gardens, the sports centers, a daycare center, and still growing. "We're going to be our own personal gated community! ... "
There was a knock on the door. "Head Maid, this lowly servant has brought you dinner."
"Come on in," Skyla said. The door opened, and in came a brown furred fox maid in a gray uniform with a yellow bow, holding a silver tray. Her eyes were downcast, and never once made eye contact. The teenage girl left the tray on Skyla's desk and stood there looking at the floor, her hands together, her tail and ears both wilted.
"Are you okay?" Skyla asked.
"This lowly servant is in good health Head Maid," she said, still not making eye contact.
"... Is something wrong?"
"Nothing Head Maid, this lowly servant is sorry she has left you uncomfortable."
"Look me in the eyes."
The fox girl startled, but obeyed, slowly, haltingly. Skyla noted she had blue eyes. "What's your name?"
"This lowly servant is named Jennifer." She looked like a rabbit caught by a cat rather than a fox.
Skyla frowned, and Jennifer nearly flinched. Skyla stood up from her disk. "Okay, what's wrong? If this is about that mugger that's decorating the spa, it was SELF-DEFENSE! And defense of Master! I am NOT going to turn maids who might have left the turkey a little dry into fortune statues! You have nothing to worry about Jennifer."
Jennifer looked ready to panic. "I am sorry Head Maid! I knew none of those things! I'll never speak of them to anyone I swear!! And did I bring you turkey? I'm sorry I knew you ordered-"
"Stop! That's an order!"
Jennifer became rock still.
Skyla sighed. She stepped around her desk till she was face to face with Jennifer. "Now then. What's with the attitude? You're walking around egg shells with me, and acting like you'll be thrown out with the trash if you so much as eye-twitch wrong. Why? Explain to me."
"I am but a lowly servant. I am but mud underneath your shoe. An unworthy creature such as this should be grateful for the honor of serving a servant of Master. She is but furniture. And just as easily replaceable. Servants should always know their place. Anything less than perfection should be met with disposal. There are always more where they came from. Servants are the pollywogs of the lower class, they exist but to serve the wealthy and powerful, and daring to question that is criminal. Master's superior breeding, superior status, superior intelligence, superior morality, superior will, are all self-evident, and this lowly servant knows that if she cannot match those standards without a word of thanks, then she but vermin infesting this house. Servants are like touch-pad phones, or clothes, but much less valuable, like classmates. As Head Maid, you are the highest of us inherently inferior creatures, and your duty is to eliminate any weak links, if you do not, then you've failed in your duty to Master."
Skyla thought, 'I'm willing to build Curt's personal utopia piece by piece, but even I think that's laying it on thick! The blank maids aren't this self-deprecating with a smile! What the heck is with this girl? ... The transformation is a combination of the target's views and thoughts and the zapper right? So a guy who think an air-headed bimbo was an ideal maid would end up one right? ... Well, it's a question worth asking.'
"What's your last name Jennifer?"
"Western."
Skyla startled. "Western, as in the Western family? That Western? The well off family in town?"
"My family is honored that I might serve the Evensons..."
Skyla knew better than to stereotype anyone by their relatives... But the Westerns were a well off exclusive family.
'She explicitly mentioned 'classmates' as not that valuable... Sweet Amaterasu. ... Okay, I think Marceline wrote a few stories like this. So she thought of servants as less than people, and more like furniture, and so the ray gun made her into how SHE defined what an ideal maid was?... No wonder she's a total mess!'
Skyla didn't think. She hugged Jennifer, and wrapped her tails around her kindly.
"H-Head Maid-"
"That's Head Maid SKYLA... " Skyla gently stroked the maid's back. "We all serve Master after all, if I was angry, I'd let you know it. We're all fellow maids here. Yeah, I keep things going, and as your Head Maid I expect respect, and I expect you not to slack off, and to do what your told. But kiddo... You do love Master right?"
"Yes. I believe I am of use to him, even though I am a lowly servant, and I hope that he acknowledges my usefulness. And he is therefore, useful to me, for helping my family's status."
'Geeze, how twisted was this girl's definition of love before she got zapped?'
"Jennifer, listen to Head Maid Skyla." Skyla seriously considered just hypnotizing her with a blue flame and rewriting her brain to make her less messed up... but after what happened with the Blank Maids, she didn't want to accidentally leave Jennifer a drooling vegetable or something! "We all love Master. Not because of how useful he is to use, because we WANT to help him have a happy comfortable life. And Master loves us, as much he can, not because of how useful we are to him, but because he wants US to be happy too! Love is... complex. I guess you can't just break it down dear into something simple and easy... But I do know, love isn't about using others like they're just objects. You're not an object, I'm not an object, Master isn't an object. We're his faithful servants, not slaves! I want you to remember that Jennifer, you are a servant, NOT a slave!"
Skyla blinked, she felt something. She pulled Jennifer back and looked down on the teenage girl, and saw she was crying.
"Y-yes, Head Maid Skyla."
Skyla patted her on the back. "Just let it dear, just let it out."
Skyla just let the girl sob for a while, finding some soft spot to sit down and let the crying run its course.
"Jennifer... as Head Maid, I'm telling you to take the next couple days off... You do have school don't you?"
"Yes but-"
"No buts. Regular school, not Instructor Fisher's maid boot camp. With other girls your age. Socialize. That's what Master would want, believe me."
"... Yes Head Maid Skyla, I obey," Jennifer whispered.
"That's a good girl."
Skyla just let the fox girl rest for a minute, then Skyla's phone buzzed.
Skyla let Jennifer go, and checked.
Skyla's eyes wider, her skin grew pale underneath her fur, her mouth felt dry, she suddenly lost her appetite and felt queasy.
"Head Maid Skyla?... What's wrong?"
"Grandma... "
+++++++
"Hey Anna, whatcha doin'?" Misty asked looking over her shoulder.
"Oh! Just checking the work schedule for everybody," Anna said, laying on her bed, scrolling through her smart phone.
"Why?" Ashley asked.
"I... I want to know what my responsibilities are." When Skyla had mailed Anna with the message that the animal shelter was owned in Anna's name... it got Anna thinking. She thought of the times she'd tried to cook for Curt in the original timeline, only for things to end in a kitchen full of smoke. Ashley and Misty had had problems too, but now that their heads were clear, they were expected to help around the house, and were listed as helping Janet on a regular basis.
Anna's mind was cleared... she was on the maid mailing list to serve Master the same as the rest... But she wasn't actually listed for any work in any of Skyla's schedules. 'I'm legally list as one of my brother's maids but... I don't have responsibility... well, there was still Noni, Anna still took care of her pet cat. Anna supposed in this new reality they were building that it was owning a pet monkey was for humans. ... But that was it.
"I'm like one of those upper class girls who doesn't have a real job..." Anna whispered.
"What's wrong with that?" Ashley asked. "Look at all the great stuff you have! There's no way you're gonna have time to enjoy all of it!"
"... And now I get why my brother wishes the estate would stop growing already..." Anna said.
"Ashley," Misty said. "Anna COULDN'T have responsibilities before, we couldn't... now that we can... wouldn't it be wrong for us not to?"
"I... didn't think of it like that," the songbird girl said.
"Speaking of which..." Misty said. "I hadn't thought about it either... but don't you think the three of us should have been in college by now? I mean, we're finally free... But we're still just living at a bigger home..."
Anna admitted, she HADN'T thought about that! With the ray-gun, and the constant new surprises, her education had been the last thing on her mind!
Anna was derailed from this train of thought when she got a message on her phone.
"Wanda? Whose that?" Anna said to herself, and saw Wanda was listed as part of the 'maid net'. The ID picture was a surprisingly cute weasel woman in her early twenties.
Ashley and Misty at the same time heard similar beep-beeps from their phones in their neighboring rooms, Anna figured they'd gotten the same message, and they decided to cut out the middle-man and see what Anna's new message was.
'HI EVERYBODY! I'm finally doing it! I mean it this time once and for all! I'm going to propose to Jax! Right now I mean! As soon as I finish this text! Wish me luck!'
"That's so sweet!" Misty said.
"I hope he says yes," Ashley added.
"What kind of woman tells everybody ahead of time she's going to propose to her man?" Anna said.
Then a new text from 'maid-net' showed up.
A picture of a cute otter girl in the same kinda revealing maid outfit as Wanda. Gia. It said,
'Go get'em girl! Just like I told you!'
Then another message.
'Oops! Agh! I didn't mean to send that! That sounds so wrong! Delete! Delete! Just let'em know how you feel already Wanda.'
'You got it Gia!' Came Wanda's response.
Anna giggled at the antics of two best friends.
Then lightning struck Anna.
"What if the fallout causes Jax to change?!" The idea of breaking up another couple was unbearable to Anna. How many more couples HAD been lost due to the fall out magic and the sisters' rampage?... Anna sincerely didn't want to know.
"Where's the ray gun? Where's Curt?! Right! Backyard! The blank maids! Ashley! Out the window! Fly me there!"
"But I don't know if I can carry someone-"
"NOW!" Anna hissed.
"I obey Lady Anna," Ashley said without thinking, Misty opened up the window and Ashley flew outside, leg claws waiting, Anna didn't hesitate and scurried out, Ashly caught her, and flew in a beeline to where Curt had been meeting with the blank maids.
Ashley however was apparently not used to carrying an adult woman and she flew and slowly began to descend, but it didn't matter, Ashley got her most of the way there, and Anna leapt the rest of the way, flawlessly landing on her feet and scampered to her brother. The blank maids were marching in synch back to their duties like figures on a grandfather clock.
Anna spotted Marceline headed off to another part of the field, but didn't really care right now.
"CURT! GIVE ME THE RAY GUN!"
Curt startled, and fumbled with it, and Anna simply snatched it out of his hands.
Anna instantly had access and scrambled as she looked for the 'hands-off' option and found it. As she thought about Jax, not even knowing his last name, he profile for: Jax Washington appeared.
And just like that, his name was added to the 'hands off' list.
"Anna, what happened?"
"... One of our maids was going to propose to her boyfriend... I realized the fallout might change him, so I added him to the 'hands off' list before that could happen..."
"Oh. I see." Curt remembered Anna's experience with Susan.
Her fellow cat Misty came a bit later, Ashley walking besides her, her wings sore.
"Hey. Anna... " Misty panted. She held up her phone. There was a new message.
'Wanda: 'HE SAID YES!!!!''
Followed by hundreds of 'Congratulations!' from the fellow maids.
Anna smiled. That was one bullet dodged at least. But the creeping horror dawned on Anna.
'How many families are going to never exist because of the sisters' rampage? Where Sharon and Suzie going to have a little brother or sister?! Does that make me a killer?
'How many are never going to exist because of the fall out?! Did the person Meredith used to be have a girlfriend? The ray gun only protected children who hadn't been erased from time because they were already in it...
'If I say this to Curt or Skyla, they'll just be hurt more! Ashley and Misty don't deserve to get pulled into all this after finally being able to have full lives! I... I... '
Anna shook the ray gun violently.
"Anna what are you doing?!" Curt gasped.
"HEY! YOU! I know you're watching! Somehow! Someway! What this gizmo does or whatever! I want men who ARE going to be fathers to be protected too! YOU GOT IT?!"
Anna panted.
Curt place a hand on his little sister's shoulder. "Anna... we've all made horrible mistakes... But..." Curt sighed. "We've got to learn from them, not dwell on them." Curt hung his head, thinking of Skyla's family.
Ashley and Misty hugged Anna, not knowing what had triggered her like this... and honestly a little scared to know.
A beeping came from the Ray Gun.
"Attention! Free upgrade! To your particular universe! New possible toggle available. Men who are destined to become fathers in the future will be automatically registered as non-viable subjects."
Then was a bold red message. "WARNING: The use of this toggle means the acceptance of the existence of fate. Do not use unless you are willing to accept there is such a thing as destiny."
Curt didn't see what Anna chose.
++++
Skyla was absent from dinner, Janet and her helpers did an excellent job as always. Both Curt and Anna had gone early to bed.
Curt dreamed of dolls he made, that all acted alike, thought alike, and were alike, but that wasn't really what was wrong with them, what was wrong with them how was EMPTY they acted. They were like robots.
And whenever he told the dolls to do something special, they'd all do the same thing. He told them to live, and they were like actors on a TV sitcom. Even when he separated them, it was like they were all unconsciously linked together.
He looked down at his hand and realized he'd been handing them out scripts, no wonder. And he told the dolls in his dream, "Figure it out for yourselves."
Next morning, when Curt awoke to the sound of his alarm.
"If you just tell someone how to live, then it isn't living," Curt thought. Even if the blank maid may or may not be connected in some unconscious hive mind or something, he still wasn't giving up on getting them to act like a PERSON instead of a zombie slave.
"Maybe if I assign them to things that require individuality and creativity."
He checked the ray gun, only 12 hours to go before the fallout wore itself out. There were also no new transformations since he last looked. He'd hope that would be the end of it, but the ray gun did say that time wasn't up yet. "Maybe everyone being asleep in their beds lead to less chances of the 'fallout' spreading?"
Realizing a question he should have asked from the start, Curt learned '47% of men in the united state are said to have fathered a child' according to the internet. "At least I won't be completely drowning in estrogen."
But it was silly to think all men everywhere would vanish but him, given the second generation anthros were immune. Curt considered just listing every person in the phone book on the 'hands off' list, but that felt excessive, and perhaps some part of him was still excited seeing a world full of humanoid animals where racism might be dead.
Still no sign of Skyla at breakfast, this was a little worrying, but there was mountains of paperwork Curt imagined he had to go through with the fallout changing not only people but the mansion itself.
Curt messaged Skyla.
'Maybe it would be saner to wait on the paperwork until after things settle down, otherwise it might all be irreverent anyway.'
Skyla response was, 'Thinking about something very important.'
Meredith was still his personal assistant at work. But while he saw her come to him with his paperwork, files, lunch, water bottle, right on time, he also saw she had a clipboard. She formally listed off duties for the day in keeping the mansion ship shape. She walked by Kara the mantis, a blond cat woman in a pink uniform with a blue apron called 'Cindy', the brown fox girl in the gray uniform Jennifer, Rose the skunk girl, a kangaroo woman named Rosane, and Gia and Wanda. And a friggin' nude Apatosaurus named Jackie who was taller than Cassidy!
Then she stopped in front of trio of maids, a busty Cheetah, a black jaguar, and a cougar.
"Tabitha? Diana? Heather? You're supposed to still be on vacation!"
"Uh? Oops?" The Cheetah, Tabitha said like she'd caught her paw in the cookie jar.
"Master said you were to take two weeks off and that is what you will do!"
"Yes Squad Leader!" They said at once and turned around and left. Meredith put the clipboard away and happily ran up to her Master, the mouse girl looking happy to see him.
"Ready for another day at work Master?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," Curt said.
Curt wondered if him being at work would change more people, and just staying home... Certainly with his insane level of wealth now no one would dare question it. But... Curt didn't want to let this rule his life... Or maybe he really was just not wanting to miss out at seeing workmates of his transform knowing they were likely to anyway! And if no one did change at work, then it would remain a nice contrast to everything else.
+++
"Remember girls, it'll be straight to school, and straight home! No hanging out with friends. No stopping by Whitney for ice cream! And then straight to your rooms, no stopping in the game room, and only coming out for the bathroom or dinner."
"Yes mother!" The two said together, not wanting another spanking. Their mother, while unhappy they'd taken something of Master's without permission, she personally felt it was Lady Anna's own fault for leaving it out where children could get it (foolish given how many junior maids lived at the mansion).
What made her genuinely upset was that her babies had left the estate without permission, without telling her, and had gone all the way to the beach, and then to the Maid Academy, without supervision! The Maid District might have been wonderful, but there always tourists this time of year, and not all of them were going to be good.
She was also upset that all her fellow maids kept assuming that it was one of the other maids nearby who was watching them! Her personal mentor, Head Maid Skyla had given a profuse apology in person, as had Pam. And Master Curt, generous as always, had told her to take paid time off if she wanted.
Kitty admitted, dumping extra chores on her children often had an opposite effect, since all of Master's maids, including the juniors, were either diligent, dedicated, fixated, focused, devoted, or just plain workaholics.
Susan had also expressed her disappointment in the girls, and told them there wouldn't be any 'free ride' for a good long while. Both Kitty and Susan determined to make sure the girls didn't forget this lesson.
+++
A part of Vicky would have really liked to work at the estate with Master, but Master had told her last week to keep doing her regular job, and so Vicky would keep to her duty as a mail vixen!
Most of the post office's work was automatic, like gears in a machine, so they didn't really interact with each other. As a mail delivery vixen, Vicky wasn't in a position to 'infect' the others at the post office.
Vicky didn't really interact with most of the people she delivered mail to, either. She did, however, occasionally have packages to deliver, a number of which required signatures, and today she had quite a few.
She smiled as she pulled up to the address written on the first one, where a three year old kid was waiting by the mailbox just as eagerly as he had been the previous four days she’d driven by.
“Is it here? The model airplane mom ordered for me?” The boy asked.
“Well, I DO have a package for an “Ethan Strauss,’” Vicky responded.
“That’s me!” The boy said, holding out his hands. As he did, they grew little black scales and talons, while black feathers covered his arms, spreading over his back from there. His clothes began to unravel and vanish as red feathers grew on his chest. Her mouth stretched forward into a yellow beak, while feathers covered her head, and her ears shrank away.
“Here you go,” she handed her the package, and a handful of letters. “Make sure your parents get those, too.”
“Yes mam!” Said the girl that had only seconds ago been a boy. She bowed politely, (though her politeness didn’t hide her continued excitement) as her legs became thinner, and grew black scales much like her hands had. She turned around to head head back inside, Her toes grew longer, talons replacing the nails, while one toe on each foot moved to the back.
Vicky smiled to herself as she drove on. It was always fun to see how excited little kids like Ethel got about mail.
Her next package was delivered to a stay-at-home mom, whose clothes soon became a black dress with a white headband and apron, while her skin grew white fur, with patches of black on her back, while her head recieved a light brown color. At the same time, her mouth stretched into a snout, and her ears grew wide flopping down the sides of her head. The foxhound woman’s tail wagged as she took the package. Ironic as it would seem, she enjoyed getting to see Vicky from time to time.
Meanwhile at nearby school, a girl in the fourth grade classroom, who was struggling to avoid falling asleep, grew fur in a pattern just like her mother’s, while a tail slipped between the bars holding up the back of her seat. The teacher called out her name and the girl woke with a start, her ears flopping about as she shook herself awake.
After that was a package for a man who was working the late shift this evening. He grew light brown fur all over, as his hands and feet became paw-like, and a fluffy tail grew from his backside. His bedy slimmed slightly as he became a she, and her clothes disappeared as well. Her mouth grew out into a snout, her nose becoming wet and her teeth sharpening, while her ears become those of a jackal.
And last on her route was an elderly woman, who rapidly began to look younger, shrinking down to the size of a toddler. Sandy fur covered her body, replacing her vanishing clothes, as her feet became cloven hooves, a long, thin tail swished behind her, and her face stretched into an equine muzzle. Reality blurred around the toddler unicorn as she signed, the pen no longer in her hand, but held aloft in a light red aura, similar to the one that currently surrounded her spiraling horn.
Vicky was glad for these little moments to interact with the other maids on Master’s staff, even if they were brief.
+++
At one of the local news stations, Armanda, the reporter who had become an incredibly fit armadillo woman last Saturday, popped into the break room. As she chatted with a few other reporters, a few of them began to change, as well.
One woman’s clothes vanished as she gained brown fur, her feet becoming much longer as they gained paw pads. Her ears grew far longer, becoming those of a hare as they moved to the top of her head, and the front of her skull pushed out a little, while her nose grew wider, and cute whiskers formed on either side of it.
Another gained brown and gray feathers, her arms becoming wings, and her hands and legs gaining scales, as her clothes reshaped into a red maid’s uniform that barely contained the sparrow’s sizable new chest.
Two of the male reporters remained unchanged, though the third grew hundreds of pale blue scales over his body, with a patch of white on his front side. His waist narrowed, and hips widened as he became female, her clothes vanishing completely. Her hair faded as well, giving her a “bald” look, and a long tail grew from her spine, as her chest ballooned out.
Meanwhile in another part of the station, the doe camerawoman (who went by the nickname “Bombi” for her stunning figure) greeted one of her co-workers while they were gathering their equipmentment, who bagan to change, too. His clothes vanished, replaced by grayish brown fur, as his body grew bigger. As her sex changed, signaled by the growth of a heft bust (though still nothing compared to her doe co-worker’s) her feet shrunk into hooves, and her fingers fused into three digits per hand, with hoof-like armor. A short tail poked out above her bigger behind, while her face grew longer. Her nose, in particular, stretched out and drooped down in front of her mouth, becoming the most recognizable trait of a tapir.
The two happily chattered about the joys of working for Master with each other. The station was quite popular in the maid district, and often covered the charity and community events Master hosted, though he rarely appeared on TV himself. He had always been a bit camera shy, and even if the maids at the station felt he deserved the fame, they were respectful of his desires.
+++
The students in the Kindergarten class were all enjoying themselves now that math was over, and free time had started. Well, aside from Suzie, who was feeling down over being grounded.
The friends she hand changed last Saturday, however, were free to do as they liked. The Peryton maid was sitting at a table with a bunch of other students, coloring. A boy beside her, drawing a picture of his family, had his clothes become a purple maid uniform, as he grew gray fur, a canine snout, pointed ears, and a fluffy tail, becoming a wolf girl. A girl on the opposite side, drawing a picture of a castle, grew black and white fur, and rounded ears, and paw-like hands and feet, becoming a nude panda girl. Another boy, drawing a superhero, began to grow long, bony protrusions from his wrists, a membrane forming between their “fingers” and his torso, becoming a set of bat wings. He grew brown fur, large, triangular ears, and a nose that rose up to a point, clothes vanishing as he became a girl. The last human girl at the table, making a flower, grew a long, bushy tail, gray fur, and rounder ears. Her two front teeth grew much longer, while her feet became paws, and her hands gained pads. The young squirrel’s pants turned into a yellow maid dress.
The young monkey maid was playing hot potato with some of the other kids, each one obviously changing as they took the ball. Whether they were boys or girls before didn’t matter as the cascade of reality spread. It went from the monkey’s hands, to a little lioness maid, to a black lab in a dress, to a nude persian cat, a nude skunk, a black bear maid, and a green western dragoness maid that had just entered her toddler years.
Suzie’s Paraceratherium and Triceratops friends had, before the changes to the rest of the classroom, seen the antics of the other children as chaotic. Having been more affected by the maid mentality than most, these two had been making an effort to neatly sort anything the other kids had left behind. But now that the rest of the class considered themselves maids, as well, and the messes weren’t nearly as bad, the two were unsure what to do with themselves. But, when one of the remaining human girls invited them to play house, it was impossible for them to say “no.”
As the two “extinct” maids served their classmates invisible cups of tea in front of plasticware they had instinctively arranged into the proper position, their “guests” became Jr. Maids as well. One grew round ears and a cute little mouse snout as her body was covered in white fur in place of clothes. Another had her feet clench into hooves as a ropey tail dangled behind her through the hole in the back of her new dress, while her face grew out into the muzzle of a young calf. A third grew brown fur, with stripes of grey, black and white on her back, while a fluffy grey furred tail, her clothes vanishing as her mouth and nose grew into the short, pointed snout of a chipmunk. The last one grew a good bit bigger, her skin turning gray under her new dress, her ears growing wide, her arms and legs growing thicker, and a comparatively short, thin tail, ending in a tuft of hair forming behind her. Her nose grew out longer, almost as long as her arm, and far more flexible and easy to control. The little elephant girl picked up a teapot in her trunk, pouring out more invisible tea for her fellow Jr. maids.
Lastly, the teacher changed as well, growing brown fur and long, paw-like feet as her clothes merged into a black and white maid’s dress. Her jaws stretched forward, her nose moving with it, becoming a rabbit’s snout, with cute little whiskers and adorable long ears. A little puffy cotton tail poked out the back of her dress, before a pair of antlers grew atop her head behind the ears. The Jackalope teacher was quite happy with all her students; every last one of them was so considerate, tidy, and caring. She couldn’t ask for a better class. The future looked so promising.
Suzie could only watch in surprise as these changes happened, and spent some time looking around for a sign of the toy gun they’d used, to no avail. Still, she was happy to see Master was getting even more friends, and they didn’t even have to break the rules this time.
+++
Sharon’s second grade class had just been released for recess. Like her younger sister, the little bear girl wasn’t happy about being grounded, but she was glad to at least be out of the stuffy classrooms for a while.
She watched from the sidelines as her four mythical maid friends, which she had changed last Saturday, ran around and played with the other students. All of them were treated no differently than any other kid by their peers, and they, in turn, were all enjoying themselves and having fun like any other kid there.
Stella the sphinx flew over to a group of her human friends who were playing on the swings, hovering beside the swingset as her friends tried to push themselves higher.
“I’ve got a new set of riddles today,” Stella said with a confident smile. “Feel free to speak up if you think you know the answer. The first one’s a classic.”
“Wait, I thought you said you had a new set?” One of the boys said with a grin. Stella rolled her eyes.
Sharon blinked. It was hard to tell while he was moving, but did the boy on the swing have sharper teeth? As she watched him, it became clearer, due to his jaws stretching longer in front of him, his teeth becoming large, sharp fangs, while blue scales covered his head. His black hair grew down to his shoulders, as his face started to look a little girly.
Sharon couldn’t believe it! She looked around for any sign of Master, or his special gun, but didn’t see anyone on the other side of the schoolyard fence. She smiled, looking back at the swinging boy as his, no, her clothes were changed into a black dress, a long tail covered in smooth blue scales slipping out a hole in the back, while her hands and feet both grew claws. The T-rex maid continued swinging back and forth, her rhythm not changing a bit.
“Anyway, here’s the first one: A box without hinges, key or lid, Yet golden treasure inside is hid. What am I?”
“A vault that opens on the side?” A girl asked, as she began to quickly change too, growing bright red feathers over her head, body and arms, while her legs and hands gained brown scales. Her mouth extended into a short red beak, while her hair was replaced by a crest of red feathers. Her clothes vanished, leaving the new cardinal unhindered as she let go mid-swing to flap into the air herself.
“Sorry, that’s not it,” Stella shook her head.
“Oh, I’ve heard this one!” A boy said, speaking up as he grew orange fur with black stripes. “It’s an egg, right?” The boy-turned girl said through a feline jaw, filled with sharp teeth, as her ears grew rounder, her hands and feet became more paw-like, and a striped tail sprung up behind her as her clothes wove into a dress.
“That’s right!” Stella said. “Here’s the next one: I have hundreds of legs but can only lean. You make me feel dirty so I can feel clean. What am I?”
“A cockroach?” The last girl said, as she started to grow sand colored fur, her body growing wider as her clothes became a pink dress, her ears grew larger and rounder, her cheeks became wider, and her mouth grew into the short snout of a hamster.
“They don’t even have ten legs,” Stella said.
“Oh, right,” The hamster maid said.
Sharon stopped paying attention as the hamster finished her change. The little bear cub was surprised, but happy to see more kids becoming Master’s friends, even if she couldn’t figure out how it was happening this time. Hopefully whoever was doing it now had asked first, though. She wouldn’t want Master to worry about his things missing again.
She turned to watch her kappa friend playing as well, as one of the friends she was chasing around and down the slides suddenly grew a longer neck and pale green scales, while his jaws grew longer than the rest of his head. His arms, legs, and body all grew thicker, his clothes changing to match as they became a yellow maid uniform, to match the brachiosaurus change into a girl.
As the new dino maid bumped into another girl at the bottom of the slide, the human began to shrink, as she grew pale pink fur, her clothes vanished save for a new diaper, and she seemed to regress to infancy. Her feet clenched into cloven hooves, and a long, thin tail, ending in a puffy pink tuft, swished behind her. Her face stretched forward into an equine snout, while her hair reformed into a mane. Finally, two cones rose from her forehead before twisting into a spiral horn. Despite only really being strong enough to crawl by this point, the new unicorn girl was still old enough mentally to keep up in class, having enough coordination to write and speak (though she had a little trouble with her “R”s).
One of the unicorn’s friends picked her up to help her reach the top of the slide again, and began to change as he carried her, growing yellow scales as he grew bigger in much the same way the brachiosaur maid had. His clothes disappeared as he became a girl, while a thick tail grew out behind her. Two rows of large plates grew on her back, continuing down most of the length of her tail, while four spikes grew out near it’s tip, forming the stegosaurus’ thagomizer. Reality blurred around their tips momentarily, and a set of thick bandages had now been retroactively wrapped around her spikes by her parents, to avoid accidentally hurting the other kids.
As the stegosaurus and unicorn bumped into another kid at the top of the slide, the boy began to slim down as light brown scales grew over his body, with a darker brown diamond pattern forming on his back. His head flattened slightly, taking a triangle shape as his mouth pushed forward, two teeth at the top of his mouth growing far longer and sharper than the rest, while the tip of his tongue split down the middle. Her pupils became slits as she went from male to female, and as she started down the slide, her legs joined together, becoming much more flexible as they became an extension of her spine. Her new snake tail ended in a collection of hollow segments that made a distinct rattling sound when she shook them.
The last child waiting for their turn at the slide had her clothes vanish, replaced by clay-red scales. A bony growth emerged from both of her wrists, a membrane forming under it that connected back to her torso, forming leathery wings. Her hands and feet grew claws, as her mouth extended into a long, narrow beak, while a large, pointed crest formed atop her head. When her turn on the slide finally came, she flapped her wings as she went down, using it to give a running start to her flight around the playground.
Sharon turned her attention to the griffin and pegasus girls, who were playing dodgeball on opposite teams with the rest of the unchanged class. Not that that lasted long, as each time the ball got bounced to a new person, they changed too. The griffin girl’s team quickly gained a cream-colored cat maid, a triceratops, and an owl, while the pegasus had a dolphin and butterfly maid, alongside a cute little crocodile in nothing but her scales.
Sharon smiled to herself. She wished she know how this was happening, so she could help Master make more friends, but with everyone in her class becoming a Jr. Maid, she was still feeling pretty happy with how things were going.
+++
Susan and her panda co-worker at the bus station had both been dealing with the typical stressful monday commutes, just as oblivious as anyone else to the changes to people and history in their city.
Despite what one might have suspected, the two naked anthros had not been that significant a vector for the spread of the changes, due to a significant portion of their route being outside the area of effect, and a good number of the riders that did commute through the area of effect having already been changed, or naturally immune.
Nevertheless, there were still those the drivers (and other passengers) had an effect on, throughout the day.
On the panda’s bus, a businessman had his suit and tie replaced by a very formal-looking dress, while growing a mop of long white fur, a black, wet nose, and wide, pointed ears, becoming a highland Terrier. Another lost his clothes as he gained white and brown fur, hooves, a prominent chest and a pair of spiraling, screw-like horns on the top of her head, being a anthro gazelle.
A middle aged woman on her way to work soon had a black and white uniform atop white fur with black spots, her ears becoming wide and floppy while she grew a canine snout, becoming a dalmation.
A teenage boy who had been skipping school soon found himself growing a very impressive bust under what was now a very showy maid uniform, while she grew brown fur, pointed ears and a fluffy tail. As soon as the coyote girl finished changing, her image on the bus seemed to blur for a moment, and she was suddenly back in school, studying diligently.
On Susan’s bus, an elderly woman had become a dalmation as well, her clothes vanishing. A female college student, meanwhile, grew brown fur, and a bushy tail with black and gray stripes, becoming a ring-tailed cat.
A young man on his way to visit his mother in the hospital grew green scales, with thicker plates on his front side, as well as numerous small ridges on his back. His clothes ceased to exist as he became female, her waist narrowing slightly, while a small pair of breasts grew on her chest. Her mouth stretched out into a long, wide snout, his teeth sharpening into dozens of fangs, before being joined by even more teeth. Her eyes seemed to grow a little wider, giving her an oddly adorable look even when her pupils became slits.
Another young man’s body slimmed down as his sex swapped, dark gray fur growing over her form, save for a patch of white over her throat, as a slender, fluffy tail grew behind her, sticking out the back of her new dress. Her toes rounded out to become paw like, while they and her fingers grew little claws on their tips. Her ears became triangular as they moved up her head, and her nose turned brown and wet, while her face grew into a short, cute snout, becoming a Beech Marten.
The final rider to change that day was a young woman just getting off her late shift, her clothes fading away as as chestnut colored fur sprouted over her skin. Her jaws grew forward slightly as her teeth sharpened, and her top lip seemed to split under her nose, giving her a feline muzzle. Her ears became rounder, and moved up the sides of her head, while her feet became longer and thinner, her toes curling to form digitigrade paws. A two foot tail grew out above her rear, laying by her side as the new Borneo bay cat took her seat.
None of the passengers who rode at the same time as these changes, nor the drivers, ever noticed anything odd going on, remaining content to go about their daily commute as normal.
+++
At a nearby hospital, a young alligator woman stopped at the reception area to ask where her mother might be staying. The receptionist began to grow gray fur over her whole body, save her hands and feet, as she explained where to go, her front teeth becoming longer inside her growing jaws, while her ears became rounder. The naked gopher woman gave a friendly wave as the alligator went on her way.
The changes began to spread as the gator passed a nurse in the hall, who began to grow thick, armor-like scales on her back, and a long curling tail behind her. Her head grew longer and thinner, like an anteater’s while her fingers and toes both grew claws. Her scrubs remained in place while she was on the job for practical purposes, but off the clock, she went nude.
The pangolin nurse spoke briefly with a few other nurses on the floor, before all of them moved on to attend to their patients, transforming as they went. One becoming a busty weasel, another a cute grey-furred fox, and the third became a busty, long-furred siberian cat, each one dressed in a set of scrubs designed to resemble a maid’s dress and apron.
While the drastic differences in biology in the citizens of the Maid District would normally be a problem for doctors, the perception filter, and changes to reality, caused them to be able to determine the solution for an ailment with the same degree of ease and accuracy that they would have doing the job for any human. And there was the little fact that the ray gun cured any disease or deformity the person had in the old reality.
One of the weasel woman’s patients, a college football player recovering from a broken leg, retained his fit physique even as her became female. Brown fur covered her body while her hospital gown vanished, her hands and feet both growing leathery pads, while her fingers and toes gained retractable claws. A tail snaked its way out the back of her spine, and her hair grew down past her shoulders as the cougar’s ears became larger, and slightly triangular, while her mouth was molded into a feline muzzle. The world seemed to blur as she vanished from the hospital, reappearing in her college’s calculus lecture room, her injury having never happened, being part of the women’s soccer team instead.
The weasel maid, no longer having a reason to be helping out in that room, was retconned into assisting an older man, suffering a hip injury. This man was a grandfather, and thus couldn’t have been changed. But the male doctor that had been going over his treatment options began to change, instead. Long, thick, white and gray fur grew out from his skin, starting in his chest, and spreading out from there. His hands and feet grew soft pads, and small claws while his manhood inverted under her clothes, and her chest grew slightly. The fur on her head was tied back to keep it out of her eyes as her nose grew larger, turning black and wet. The sheepdog kept calmly speaking to her patient all throughout her change, her voice changing to become more feminine, though still somewhat low.
Not long after their conversation had ended, the fox nurse was racing to assist the doctors in treating an elderly woman who had experienced a heart attack. As the nurse quickly passed around the needed tools, the woman on the table began to grow black feathers on her upper body and arms, while white feathers covered her head. Her mouth stretched into a yellow beak, while her ears shrank back to become holes in the sides of her head. Her hands were covered in yellow scales, while the bones in her fingertips grew out into talons. The feathers stopped at the lower half of her body, where light brown fur grew, instead. The woman’s feet curled into hooves, while a hair-covered horse tail formed behind her.
The whole room in the hospital blurred, the doctors and nurses being moved to other parts of the building, where their services were more needed, while the hippogriff woman was suddenly back at home, wearing her favorite black dress. Her son, who she’d moved in with after her husband’s death, changed soon after, having now been born as a hippogriff boy, and his daughter, in turn, inherited the mythical species, while his son took more after his human wife.
And speaking of the hippogriff’s daughter-in-law, in a family of anthros, she began to stand out as an oddity, which reality took steps to “correct.” The woman’s feet were pressed into hooves, as agle-green fur spread up her legs. Her clothes disappeared as the fur spread up the rest of her body, covering her chest, back, arms, then head. Her breasts and butt both grew, while a tail that looked like it was formed from several pieces of seaweed swished behind her. Her fingers began to merge as keratin formed around them, forming three-digit hoof like hands, but with webbing in-between. A pair of gills formed on her torso. Her hair grew longer, taking the same seaweed-like appearance her tail had, while her face pulled forward into a long equine muzzle. Like her mother-in-law, the woman now considered herself a happy, humble maid to their wonderful Master. Her son continued to take after his mother, even with this change to reality, becoming a young kelpie boy. (Thankfully, neither of them felt an instinctual need to drown whoever touched their backs.)
Back at the hospital, the cat nurse was helping to tend to a man that had been badly injured in a car accident, and since fell into a coma. As she monitored his vitals, the man’s body started to slim down as he wounds disappeared, growing gray fur, with a patch of deep red on his belly. His hips widened and his chest blossomed outward as his sex changed. A long, thin tail grew out above her rear as her toes became more dexterous. Her ears became rounder and wider, and her mouth became that of a monkey’s. The world seemed to blur as the naked monkey woman was now back at home safely, having noticed an incoming car and stopping just in time to avoid a collision, while the cat nurse was instead filing paperwork from previous patients.
The alligator woman had, in this time, found her mother, who was soon due to have an operation for a kidney transplant. The two shared encouraging words and a hug, and as they seperated, the mother began to grow bright green and red feathers over her arms. Her hands grew black scales, and her fingers, talons, while the feathers covered her arms completely, forming a set of wings. The feathers continued to spread, her ears shrinking down, while her nose and mouth become a round black beak. A crest of feathers formed where her hair had once been, while a set of tail feathers fanned out above her rear. Lastly, her legs grew black scales, and her toes grew longer, a talon growing from each one. The parrot and alligator anthros appeared to vanish, before each one appeared back in their own home, in perfect health.
The pangolin nurse, meanwhile, was working with a young boy, who was scheduled to undergo radiation treatment in a few moments. In spite of their best efforts, however, the boy’s cancer showed no signs of improving, and things had been looking increasingly grim.
Neither the nurse, nor the boy, nor his family noticed as he began to grow red scales, his teeth sharpening as his jaws grew longer, allowing room for more, his nose pushing out along with it, though flattening to nostrils on the side of his snout. His hair vanished,his ears shrank back into holes in the sides of his head, and the pupils of his green eyes became narrow slits. Her clothes reshaped themselves into a blue dress, with a white apron and lace headband, a hole opening in the back to allow a scaly tail to stretch out. Her toes grew longer, each one growing a sharpened claw, with an especially large, hooked claw forming on each of her big toes.
The world seemed to blur, and when it stopped, the raptor jr. maid and her family were back at home, enjoying each other’s company, blissfully unaware of the fate they had averted. The raptor maid’s mother hugged her child tight, equally as unaware as she was changed into a maid of the same species as her favorite animal in this timeline: her daughter.
Back at the hospital, the staff were thankful for a relatively slow day.