Zoe awoke in her bed, to find that her room had entirely changed. Instead of living in her own quarters, she was lodging with three other maids - a sheep and the two dog girls from the mall. Her twin size mattress was on a cheap bedframe, and she had the most dreadful sheets -
Just then, she saw the lights flicker, and heard Mistress's voice boom. "Let's go girls, eight AM, time for work!" Eight AM? She hadn't been up that early since she was in high school. When she tried getting out of bed, she fell straight to the ground.
A moment's later, Mistress was standing over her, in her pyjamas. "Is anything wrong Zoe?"
"It's just -" She covered her mouth. She was squeaking yesterday, but these squeaks were even squeakier.
"Punishment for yesterday. Sorry, but I had to drive the point home." She tapped on the ray gun. "I can change you back when you're up to manage the house."
"Y-yes mistress!" Zoe saluted with her paw. She stumbled to her tiny dresser, and picked out a simple dress. "M-m-mistress? How young did you make me?"
"Only seven." Seven? She was the size of a toddler! And why would someone employ a seven year old as a live-in maid?
"What we doing today?"
"We're gonna help some people out"
---
Marcy looked in her garage - she had a garage now - and saw a car. She tried turning it on, but realized she still didn't know how. In the distance, she saw an orange cat-woman start running her way. "Mistress! I'll get that for you!"
Tabby helped fasten Zoe into her car seat - a rear-facing car seat, to her protestations - and got behind the wheel. Marcy, with no other people to talk to, started idly chatting to Tabby.
"Why do you work for me? I'm sure you could get paid more somewhere else."
"But you guys are my family. I've known everyone there for years, we're like brothers and sisters."
"What about your actual family?"
"I make enough to put food on the table - especially with Robert's tech job, that's a big help."
Marcy looked at the gun's settings, finding Tabby's entry for age. She saw a warning, but clicked away. In an instant, she saw the years melt away. Her fur became more vibrant and less grey, her face was free of wrinkles, and her physique improved. Her mood even improved - she was talking to Mistress like she were an old friend, not just a Mistress.
Tabby was going on about her favorite band's new album, when she mentioned that "Uncle Robert" was going to take her to a show. Marcy had to interrupt.
"Uncle Robert? Isn't he you're - "
"Yeah, my uncle. He lets me live there, and this maid job pays my rent."
Marcy finally read the warning. Subject has child aged twelve (12) years. Transformation to age twenty-six (26) will cause paradox, necessitating reality changes. She turned to Tabby again. "What, uh, happened to his wife? The kid's mother?"
"Oh, I think she died. Or there was a really messy divorce. Either way, Uncle Robert doesn't like to talk about it."
Zoe and Marcy both gasped. The gun could create new, traumatic experiences? It didn't just expand houses, it rewrote history? There's no way that could be ethical.
Tabby pulled into a drive-through. Mistress ordered a burger, Tabby ordered a fish sandwich, and Zoe got a side of fries. When she got to the window, they saw Chris, from their graduating class. Chris had been in bands waiting to make it big for the last decade. After he handed off the food, he was hit by the tell-tale beam of light.
Within seconds, Chris had become a squirrel - one wearing nothing but a red polo with her name tag on it. Tabby parked so that everyone could eat without getting their fur messy, allowing Kris to come bounding towards them. Marcy stepped out of the car, since the squirrel obviously had something to say about transforming.
Marcy was surprised when Kris just came up to her and hugged her, saying "thank you thank you thank you" and asking how the gun worked. After a quick explanation, Kris had one more question: "Who's the baby?"
"That's Zoe - wait, weren't you her boyfriend way back when?"
"Yeah!" She opened the back seat, tickling her under her chin. Zoe wanted to be mad, but she couldn't help but laugh.
"She used the gun without my permission, so I had to punish her a little. Speaking of which - " She aimed the gun at Zoe. The small rat started to grow from a tiny 2'6" to a slightly less tiny 3'10". Her fur got thicker and darker, and she could feel her voice deepen. Reality was slower to change - she was still in a car seat made for infants, and her dress still had a childish design.
"What's up babe? How was work?" Tabby said as soon as she noticed Kris.
"Nothing much. How's Mistress been treating you?"
"Just fine!"
Zoe felt the need to nudge Kris. "You know she's not our age, right? She was in her late 30s until - "
"You know that's not true. She's my girlfr - "
Tabby was hit by another ray of light, and she started getting younger again. Her face got rounder, her body got pudgier, her hair was done up in a ponytail - she was now 15 years old.
"I'm so glad you're teaching me to drive, Mistress. It's really an honor." She looked at the backseat again. "Who's that squirrel? She's cute!" Kris was mortified to see her own girlfriend reduced to a teenager with no memory of her. She snatched the gun from Marcy, and tried to fire it at her, but instead she got an error; Device cannot be used on owner. In the time it took her to read it, Marcy was able to grab it back.
Within minutes, all three of the maids were strapped in the back seat of the car, all of them reduced to the age of 10. Kris still had her memory, and Tabby was hugging her 'girlfriend.' Marcy again realized that she couldn't drive, and restored everyone to the age of 26 (with an understanding that Mistress would never use that setting again.) The drive back home was spent in silence, Marcy thinking about the reality changes.
How did Kris have an entirely new relationship enter into his life? Why did he think Tabby was 26, while also knowing that Zoe wasn't seven? The gun was more confusing than she thought...
When they returned home, Marcy invited Kris and Zoe up to her personal study, offering both of them a release from employment, but neither of them felt like they could take Mistress up on it. Something in Kris and Zoe told them that serving Mistress was their greatest desire, and that the best way to do that would be to be her maids.
It was such a long morning that Marcy didn't notice it was only noon when she fell asleep. She also forgot that her girlfriend was coming in later that night...