Warren stared at his most recent work for a moment, then settled into a frown. Something about his most recent works of arts felt... off. That wasn't to say that his works didn't perfectly express what they were meant to; they did that perfectly fine. Warren just felt like something was missing from his works. He frowned, tapping his foot and pondering exactly what could be missing.
Suddenly, an idea struck him. Warren quickly grabbed his scepter and took off down the street, heading back towards his apartment complex with an inspired look on his face. Once he arrived at his apartment, he paused for a moment. The place was so clean that it seemed like its brick walls were sparkling. All of the papers that had been on the floor in his main room had disappeared, neatly filed away into that filing cabinet he bought years back for that same purpose but never used. All of the unfinished paintings that Warren had started on were each framed and stacked in a neat pile in the corner of the main room.
"Wow..." Warren breathed as he walked to the kitchen, now a little curious. The kitchen of the apartment literally sparkled, every square inch of the cheap tile floor scrubbed and polished until it shined. The walls, which were once splattered with oil stains and small splatters of food from Warren's unsuccessful attempts at cooking, now gleamed with the pure white that they originally were. The stove top, which Warren had deemed unusable due to said failed cooking attempts, gleamed the shiny white it had been when he first moved into this apartment. Every single food-encrusted dish in that leaky sink of his was cleaned and neatly stashed into the drying rack, placed so perfectly that each dish seemed like they belonged there, and the sink itself was looked as if it were brand new. The counter tops, once cluttered with spices that Warren had never bothered to put away, were now completely clear, save for one heaping plate of delicious-looking pancakes that looked to be cooked to perfection.
Warren passed through the kitchen in silence, taking the unfamiliar sights in, before spotting the caretaker he had left behind to do the work. It was an eerily beautiful sight. The care-taker stood where she was perfectly still, almost as if she was a piece of art herself. She wore her perfect smile that perfect complimented her perfect plastic skin, her hands at her side with her back ramrod straight. She seemed to be carrying a plunger in her hands, but even the toilet-tackling tool seemed tactful in her flawless grasp. After Warren stared for a few moments, he nervously cleared his throat, and stood up straight.
Instantly, the care-taker spun to face him. "Hello Creator,” she stated, every word seeming to be tinged with her perfect smile. “I have concluded cleaning your apartment and have laid your breakfast out on the counter. How else may I service you?" Though her demeanor was unearthly, the care-taker’s voice was soothingly smooth.
Warren blinked in disbelief, then shook himself out of his daze. "That will be all for today," he responded, putting as much authority into his voice as he could. "Excellent work." The care-taker's smile widened, and then she went still again, once again a work of art. Warren stared for a few more moments, then gasped. "That's perfect!" he shouted, spinning on his heels and practically sprinting out of his front door. He knew exactly what his pieces were missing!
A few minutes later, Warren arrived at his destination: the apartment directly above his. He paused for a moment, listening for the tell-tale sign that his vertical neighbor was in. Within moments, Warren began to hear loud bumping music blast from behind the door, as well as the sound of loud chatter. Warren smiled. His vertical neighbor had guests. Perfect.
Warren took a moment to brace himself, then took a step forward and knocked on the door. There was a loud thudding noise, then the sound of footsteps approaching the door. The door was jerked open, only to be held back from opening all the way by its chain. A few mumbled curses came from behind the door, and then it finally opened.
"I told you," growled Warren's vertical neighbor, "I don't have your- oh." Warren gave a weak little wave and squinted at his neighbor. The woman standing before Warren was young, somewhere in her early twenties, and she stood at around 5' 7" with piercing green eyes and a... unique style of hair. Her hair was styled in a floppy mohawk that drooped to one side with low shaved hair on either side. Though her floppy mohawk was a dyed green as piercing as that of her eyes, it was easy to tell what her original hair color was, as evidenced by the auburn hairs that lined her scalp beside her mohawk. This woman was Trixie, one of the biggest troublemakers in the whole apartment complex.
You see, Warren didn't really know Trixie on a personal basis, but her reputation exceeded her by a mile. Trixie was known throughout the apartment complex for breaking almost every single rule, yet still managing to keep her apartment. In fact, Trixie seemed to be breaking one of the rules at that moment. Warren sighed. Trixie's eyes were puffy and red, and he could smell the strong scent of weed drifting from her apartment behind her. That meant that Trixie had actually broken two of the apartment complex's rules, namely the rule that prohibited smoking and the rule that prohibited tampering with fire alarms so that they couldn't detect the smoke.
"Who the hell're you?" Trixie said, her words slurring slightly. Warren gave her his brightest smile and said, "I'm actually live directly beneath you. I was hoping I could come in and have a word with you?" In response, Trixie stared at Warren for a moment before breaking into a smile. "Sure," she responded, spinning on her heels and waving Warren in. Warren frowned, but followed behind her. He hadn't expected it to be that easy.
Trixie brought Warren to her main room, where two other women sat on the couch. The two women looked to be around Trixie's age, so Warren gathered that they were Trixie's buddies from college or something. “That one’s Gem,” Trixie rambled, pointing at the woman closest to the door, “And the other one’s Tina.” "Ooooo~" the woman closest to the door cooed, sitting up in her seat slightly. "Look who we've got here!" Gem was tall, probably standing at around 5' 11", with skin the color of milk chocolate. She had deep brown eyes and straightened black hair that draped down to her shoulders. "Is that who I think it is?!" Tina said, clearly excited. Tina was a bit shorter than her friends, standing at a short 5' 3". She also had black hair, though hers was naturally straight and styled in a long braid that reached down towards the small of her back. Her skin was paler than average, almost milky in color, and she had eyes that were a piercing blue, making it clear that she was wearing colored contact lenses. Both women had puffy red eyes at the moment, so Warren could infer their state of inebriation well enough.
At this point, Warren frowned. "You all know me?" he questioned. Gem let out a sharp bark of a laugh and giggled, "What, do you think we're stupid or something?" "Who wouldn't know you?!" Tina shouted excitedly, her high voice easily carrying over the pumping music. "You're the guy who makes all those sculptures, right?!" Warren paused, then slowly nodded.
"The more important question," Trixie began, stomping towards Warren, "Is why you just up and decided to come here of all places." “W-well-” Warren began, taking a cautious step back. Trixie stopped, then peered at Warren, her eyes narrowing. “Ohoho…” Trixie sang, a mischievous grin rising onto her face. “I think I know what you’re here for.” “Y-You do?” Warren said, taking another nervous step back. Trixie stalked towards Warren, swaying her hips in an obviously exaggerated motion, and stopped just inches from his face. Warren leaned back a little, trying his best not to breath in her herd-induced odor. “You want me, don’t you?” Trixie purred, resting her hand on Warren’s chest.
At that, Warren paused. “Absolutely not,” he stated matter-of-factly, his face shifting to a slight frown. “Ha-ha!” Tina giggled. “You just got completely rejected!” “Don’t just turn a girl down like that,” Trixie pouted, turning away and crossing her arms huffily. “You could hurt her feelings.” Warren rolled his eyes, then crossed his arms. “If that’s the case, what did you come over for?” Gem asked, tilting her head curiously. “Do you wanna smoke!” Tina chimed in, less asking a question than making noise for the sake of it.
"No, no, nothing like that," Warren explained, physically waving away the notion. "There's this project that I'm working on, and I need some help completing it." "Ooooooh," Gem breathed, slowly nodding in understanding. "So you wanted to come and recruit us as models, right?" Warren gave her a smile responded with, "Something like that, yeah."
At this point, a lazy smile had found its way onto Trixie's face. "Ah, what the hell," she murmured cheerfully. "If you're up for it girls, let's do it!" "Heck yeah!" Tina cheered, pumping her fist into the air and leaping off of the couch. "I'm in if they're in," the dark-skinned woman responds, getting up from her comfortable position on the couch. Trixie got off of the couch and joined them, standing next to her friends with a cocky smile on her face. "So, what's next?" Trixie asked.
Warren stared at the three for a moment, then closed his eyes. Yes! He was right! These three women in particular weren't destined to become art, but they were just as necessary as his works for his vision. With a grin on his face, Warren raised the scepter and pointed it at the three women, allowing it to work its magic.
The gem on the top of the scepter glowed, and the bodies of the three woman stiffened. The three snapped to attention, facing straight forward with a distant look in their wide eyes. And then their bodies began to change. It began the same way for all of the women. Their skin seemed to tighten, then clear up, every scar, blemish, and wrinkle on their bodies disappearing within seconds. Soon, their skin reached plastic perfection. This was about the point where their changes diverged.
For Tina, the staff kept the majority of her features, like her pale skin, petite height, and long braid of hair. Her eyes were made to be solid blue and reflective, and her nose was smoothed down to a little nub. Tina's clothes, a well-fitted graphic tee and a plaid miniskirt, seemed to shrink to fit her body, exposing her now exaggerated figure, and change color, going from their original palettes to a pure white. Waxy white wings sprouted from her back, spreading wide behind her, and her hair switched from its natural black color to a platinum blonde. Tina's face was drawn into a bright smile, and her transformation ended.
For Gem, the majority of her body was changed. To begin with, her height was changed, going from her 5' 11" to a towering 6' 5". Her shoulder length hair seemed to harden, rigidly maintaining its volume and shape, while her deep brown eyes darkened to a reflective black. Gem's body slimmed down as well, but retained some of its mass in its legs, arms, and bust, giving her that athletic look while still making her look wondrously curvy. Gem's clothes, a pair of jeans and a tank top, shrunk to fit her form, then shrunk further forming a two-piece bikini set that left nothing to the imagination. Her face was pulled into a pleasant, yet lazy smile, and her transformation concluded.
For Trixie, hardly any part of her body remained the same. As soon as her skin reached polished perfection, it began to change color and develop patterns. Specifically, scaly patterns set into a shining bronze. Only her belly seemed to remain the same color as the rest of her skin, but it still developed that scaly pattern. Trixie's hands grew grew dull claws as the scales spread to them, as did her feet. Her clothing, a sleeveless jean jacket with a long-sleeved shirt underneath it and a pair of artfully torn jeans, had almost completely disappeared, save for a strap of cloth that wrapped around around her newly exaggerated breasts. Her face grew a snout that still held a bright grin, and her piercing green eyes had gained reptilian pupils. Her once floppy mohawk had risen into a rigid green crest with a gradual change to that shiny bronze of her skin as it got closer to her scalp. Finally, Trixie's body sprouted a scaly tail about half her size that matched her mohawk's color gradient, and her transformation completed.
Warren took a step back and admired the scepter's work, appreciating the subtle and glaringly obvious differences between each care-taker's design. "Perfect," Warren decided, a grin coming to his face.
In unison, the three care-takers spun to face Warren and chimed, "How may I service you today, Creator?" Warren stared for another moment, marveling at how unique yet similar each of the care-taker's voices sounded, then cleared his throat and began to speak.
"You," Warren said, pointing at the care-taker formerly known as Tina, "Your job is to guard, maintain, and explain the piece Hope Given Flight." Warren shifted his finger to point at the care-taker formerly known as Gem. "You are to do the same with The Burden of Atlas," he continued, now shifting his finger to point at the care-taker formerly known as Tina. "And your task is to do the same with Love Intertwined." The care-takers's smiles all brightened as they unanimously answered, "At once, Creator."
With that, the care-takers moved out, each work of art moving with so much grace they seemed to be gliding across the ground. Warren watched as they left, then broke out into a wide grin. With those three by their sides, his creation would seem complete. Warren exited the now vacant apartment and started down the stairs, thinking as he went. Every single person who lived in the city was to become a piece of art, whether it be a sculpture, a carving, a casting, a tapestry, a fountain, a painting, or a care-taker to maintain them. Warren arrived back at his apartment at his apartment and settled down to eat the plate of pancakes that his personal care-taker had prepared. After all, he had a long day ahead of him. The only question now was what he created next, and where.