Eostre had explained that while the figure was chosen by the mind of the zapped as their 'ideal woman', it was the owner of the zapper who chose the style of animal chosen and whether they were a doll or a statue (along with their pose, size, material, base and title).
You hadn't seen any finer controls beyond 'doll' or 'statue'. You wondered if the thing read your thoughts somehow, or if given all the paper work you filled out, if they'd programmed each zapper with that person's particular tastes.
Turning someone into a statue, self aware or not, was not something you were quiet ready for yet, but you'd now seen first hand what would happen you tried to play pacifist here.
So you turned this man into a doll, his shape and persona based on his ideal woman, while the other details were yours. While you didn't have an EXACT favorite animal, you had had preference for African beasts, and you'd been focusing on a lioness last time you thought about it.
The programmer stood with his legs locked together and his arms stiff at his sides as he dropped the zapper, his face looking straight ahead. By the time his clothes finished dissolving, he'd already lot his nipples, belly button, and other things, his skin turning a brownish gold color as it became plastic. He grew taller, a pair of plastic breasts ballooned out of his chest bigger than his head. His figure gaining muscle as his waist thinned and his hips widened. His feet became digigraded paws with plastic claws, as did his hands but with thumbs, and slightly different colored parts on the underside to symbolize rubbery 'pads.'
A long tail grew out of his tailbone, ended in a tuff shaped piece of plastic that swayed like a garden hose. His hair completely vanished, leaving a smooth golden head as his ears moved to the top of his head nice and round, his face twisted into a feline muzzle with sharp plastic teeth, his eyes looking almost painted on if not for how they moved. Tiny plastic whiskers twitched.
Inside the programmers mind, her line of consciousness never broke, and none of her memories faded, but several fundamental realities were engraved hard into the foundation of her existence!
She was a doll, a toy, a plaything, an object, and therefore, not objectively nor legally a person. She existed to be owned. A strange sense of total liberation came from this, all stress of self-determination or existential dilemmas faded away. She didn't need to worry about any of that. Her Owner would take care of it. She would serve and obey to the best of her ability! She was a doll, she was as her Owner made her!
The lioness doll looked around to make sure there was no one sneaking up on her Owner before kneeling.
"Owner, this doll is ready to serve and obey!"
You startle again, and take a step back as the shock of what you'd done to another person fully hits you. The lioness doll merely politely awaits for you to say to say something.
"Uh, what's your name?"
She looked up at you with a smile. "My name is whatever you decide it is Owner."
"D-Do you remember what your name was?"
"Yes, Owner, would you like me to share?"
As much as you hated to admit it, you were going to need a level of detachment if you were going to survive this game. If you thought of what was before you as having once been a human being, it was going to eat you alive.
"No, doll, I don't. From now on your name is Leona," you said in the best stern voice you could.
"Unless you decide to change it later," Leona replied with a smirk.
"R-right. Was there anyone else here?"
Leona shook her head as she stood up ready to serve. "No Owner, the human I was created from spent more of the game panicking, and had fled this way hoping he could somehow simply 'wait out' the game. You were the first other contestant he had seen in a while."
As Leona stood, you couldn't help but admire her body's plastic perfection, born from a non-existent human's ideals. The light shinning off her flawless golden surface. She was ready to do whatever you asked of her. And she was legally your property. You remembered the 'terms of ownership' Eostre had mentioned, physical harm of any sort whatsoever would render the ownership nullified and you imagined you'd likely end up as part of the island's doll collection, and Eostre had promised the island WOULD find out if he violated terms of ownership. It reminded you of owning a pet.
"Would you like me to carry your supplies for you Owner?" She offered of her own idea.
"Yes, thank you Leona," you nodded. Your mother had always said being rude to things lead to being rude to people. You had to think of how you were going to survive this. "Leona, can you still use your zapper?"
"Let me check Owner," Leona knelt down and picked up the video gamy looking weapon. There was an ugly sound 'beep' as a digital X across the display. "I'm sorry Owner, but it doesn't look like it. Well, the human who owned it no longer exists, so it makes sense."
You guessed maybe that Leona had to create her own disassociation to her former live, though from what Mimi had said, she simply didn't give a damn about her old life.
"I supposed it would create way too much of a late game imbalance if you could build up an army."
"And since they mentioned viewers and gamblers Owner, it's unlikely anyone would want to bet on a one-sided fight," Leona suggested.
"Wouldn't it create an imbalance anyway if someone with an army of dolls could use them as a mobile shield?" You asked.
Leona put on a thinking pose. "That's true Owner. I would suggest avoiding relying on me when fighting other contestants, there might have been some unspoken rules to keep me or a large number of my sisters from helping you in lopsided way."
"But wouldn't they have TOLD US that?"
Leona shrugged. "You are a PLAYER owner, I am an object. Does a player in a video game need to know the rule 'block do not move unless hit by the player'?"
"But wouldn't you automatically KNOW then?"
"Not if it's being kept from my conscious mind as a 'hidden mechanic.' It could also be they also just announce it over the speakers like they did the siren."
"But you're on my side right Leona? You want me to win."
"OF COURSE I want you to win Owner! I don't want my owner to cease to exist! I'll serve and obey a NEW Owner as much as you, but that would be then, this is now. But if they told me you'd be disqualified if I didn't comply with my senior sisters' demands, what COULD I do but comply?"
You nodded. Wondering what 'hidden mechanics' existed to keep one player from dominating the end game with an army of dolls.
+++
"YEEEE-HAAAA!" Shouted the jock, wearing a t-shirt and jeans, with very shirt blond hair. He leapt over the rock his opponent, a middle aged man with a five-o'clock shadow, but that didn't matter in a second. Before he even landed, the jock zapped the middle aged man.
In the flash of light, the man stood up straight, his body becoming a mature but petit form of a naked plastic blond poodle doll. Her 'fuffy' tail, ears, and fur, being plastic that was somewhat softer than the rest of her, but but was ultimately all naught but a solid piece, as devoid of 'finer details' as any doll.
"This Doll is ready to serve Owner," the poodle doll said in a calm formal voice, nodding her head she cross her hands in a v-shape at her waist.
"Dangit!" Cursed the jock. "I was hoping for one of those blow-up doll shaped ones!"
"This was the ideal woman the human I was made from desired Owner," the doll said calmly. "I'm sorry I don't meet your expectations."
"LIKE! GREAT MOVE OWNER!" Skipped over a blue Rough Collie, her figure attractive, but cartoonishly exaggerated as the jock had seen of some the dolls from the seaplane-hotel. In her hand was solid plastic figurine dark gray cat woman laying on its base, in a quiet lewd pose.
The jock ignored her.
"You just stay still darlin', might as feel up the goods."
"Of course Master," the poodle girl assumed an 'at ease' pose like a soldier, pushing her chest out.
The didn't get the chance as he was zapped from behind.
In a flash of light, a white tigress stood, combining both strength and alluring as he ceased to be, and became 'she' but more technically 'it'.
A one armed man in an old army crawled out of the tall grass.
"All of you, keep your eyes outwards, inform me if you see anything!" He barked before the tigress could even get out.
"Nothing behind us Sir," said a plastic tigress but with black fur and white markings opposed to the white tigress the jock had become. She came out behind the one-armed veteran, looking behind.
"Yes, Owner," the three dolls chorused at once and did so.
"Call me 'Sir', not Owner."
"Yes, Sir," The poodle and collie echoed.
"Yes Owner, I mean Sir," the white tigress stuttered a bit.
"This here is Alpha," the the the veteran gestured with his head. He looked each of the naked dolls in turn.
"You're Beta," he told the collie.
"Gotcha, Sir," replied Beta with a smile.
"You're Charlie," he said to the poodle.
"Yes, Sir, I am Charlie," said the poodle matter of fact.
"And you're Delta," he finished with the white tigress.
"Master, I mean Sir, is Delta a name?" The white stripped doll replied confused.
"It's your name for now. I'll change it if I get out of this alive," set the veteran sternly.
"Yes Sir, I'm Delta," replied Delta at last with a bow.
"Beta, leave that statue here, they'll just collect them when the game is over I reckon."
"Yes, Sir," replied Beta, the collie putting the lewd posed cat figurine on the rock so she'd have a good view and wouldn't get lost.
'I'll be cheering for you Sir!' Thought the figurine mentally saluting.