TF list:
1: Connie (Connor) Simmons. Eastern Dragon, Red scales, white mane. Confidant. Organizer, personal assistant.
2: Lara Jones. Tanuki. Confidant. Graphic designer, creative team head.
3 Courtney (last name not listed). Cat turned robot. Pink and white. PR.
4: Billie. Silver vixen statue. Changes poses when not observed.
What to actually call the park was still weighing on your mind. The pose-changing living vixen statue out front got you thinking about perhaps going with a fox mascot, and naming the park after her. “Vivian Vulpine’s Wonder World?” Mmm… No, that name could use some work.
You also considered how your two current flesh and blood staff members were both mythical creatures, and wondered if maybe making your mascot a legendary creature might draw some more attention. Though maybe that would be seen as trying too hard.
You put the thought aside for the time being. You needed to get a few attractions up, so you’ll need quite a lot of people, too. Mechanics and maintenance, operating the places, admitting guests and making sure the lines are orderly… and that’s before possibly changing people into rides or decorations. That last one still kinda weirded you out, even compared to Lara making your PR lady into a robot. But there was no point in putting this off.
“Connie, Lara, I’m gonna go recruit some new workers, do you want to come with?” You ask.
“Of course, Johnny,” Connie nodded.
“Sure thing Master,” Lara added. “I don’t have a lot of designing to do yet, so might as well, right?”
“Wait!” Courtney’s robotic voice rose as the three of you were about to leave. “Did you say you were going out to recruit people?”
You turned around. “Yeah, why?”
“Because there’s really no need for that,” she said. “I’ve already started drafting up job ads for when the attractions are ready. There’s no need to get people yourselves, when we can bring them to us! Besides, isn’t it a little early to hire park associates and operators? What we really need at this point is a construction crew.”
You realized you hadn’t set Courtney to be a Confidant. Well, that was gonna make things a little trickier, given she was apparently the one in charge of spreading the word about the park at the moment, including want-ads. The unusual nature of your “hiring process” would mean that asking for people with actual, job-relevant skills would discourage people that could be perfectly fit for the job after one or two little adjustments. People that would, arguably, need the job you’re offering more. But how to explain any of that...
“I was kinda thinking it’d be a good idea to... get some positions held in advance,” you said.
“Owner, the park is, at minimum, ten months away from being able to run. And that’s a rush job! There’s no way most of your applicants will have realistic plans that far ahead.”
“But we need them to get this park going just as much as the buildings and rides,” you insist.
“But Owner, what would they DO?”
Connie stepped between the two of you. “Now Courtney, I appreciate your concern, and under normal circumstances, I’d agree. But the benefactors investing in our park insisted we gage the interest of potential employees. Please, go ahead and make the ads, and send them out whenever they’re ready.”
“If that is the case, Ms. Simmons, then I’ll take care of it.”
“Oh, and don’t worry too much about qualifications in the ad,” Connie continued. “Say we’re hiring all positions. We need every person we can get.”
“Are you sure about that? I mean, I can see the benefactors wanting to see how many eligible employees are local, but surely there must be some minimum standards they have.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve been with Johnny for a while,” she pointed back at you. “He has ways of seeing people’s hidden potential. Trust us.”
“Of course, Ms. Simmons.”
You said your goodbyes to Courtney, and got into the car with Connie and Lara.
“So Johnny, where to?” Connie asked.
“I was thinking under the Whitmoor Street Bridge,” you replied. You had often seen homeless people camping out there on your way to work, and you figured they’d probably need the new job, and the skills your little toy would provide them with to make them ideal employees. Granted, until you could pay them, they probably wouldn’t be much better off, but as long as you got the park into working condition quickly, that shouldn’t matter for long, right?
As you pulled up to the old bridge, you could already see a few makeshift tents, and a handful of people, most of them older men, though there are a few younger guys, as well as a woman and her five-year-old son, all of them wearing worn-looking clothes. You felt a little weird about possibly changing a kid and having them work at your park, but on the other hand, working at a theme park had basically been your dream job as a kid, so it might not be too bad for them. You hoped.
You already had an idea for your first attraction, something which could hopefully stand on its own for a bit, if it takes a while to build the whole park. Now you just had to get your employees ready.
You got out of the car, just off the side of the road, and approached the camp, Connie and Lara following you.
“Hey there!” You gave a friendly wave, though most of the people around you just gave you a quick, disinterested look, and went back to whatever they were doing. “Any of you guys looking for some gainful employment? I’ve got hundreds of positions that need filling.”
One of the older ones, hair gray and skin sunburned, rolls his eyes at you. “Sure you do. And Gregg’s finally been able to keep away from the bottle for more than an hour at a time.”
“I know it sounds too good to be true,” Connie said, “but we really do have a lot of openings. In fact, if Johnny wants, you could even start right away. I’m actually surprised he hasn’t already shown you what’s on offer.”
Taking the hint, you held down the button on the penlight, and waved it over two of the older men. The first man’s grey hair began to turn a bright golden color, with more and more gold fur covering her increasingly feminine face. Her eyes lit up and turned a light brown color, while the skin on her nose turned a deep black, becoming cold and wet. Beneath it, her jaws began to stretch and grow, pulling out into a snout about half the length of her head. Within that, her teeth became sharper, and her tongue longer. Her ears grew out longer and longer, flopping down by the sides of her head.
Golden fur continued to spread down her once-worn-down body restoring a vibrant, lucious look, even as she gained feminine curves, her waist widened, and her chest swelled up. Her feet bent up into digitigrade paws, they, and her hands, gaining little leathery pads to ease her walking. Her clothes, save for a leather belt, vanished once her fur covered her from head to toe, making her new female physique all the more apparent. The remaining belt gained pouches and straps, which were quickly filled with all sorts of "handy-lady" tools that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Lastly, a fluffy tail sprang out of her back, already wagging.
The other man grew short, dense fur in a light grey color, which rapidly covered over his body as his clothes disappeared, again, save for a belt. Her chest began to swell, and her hips widened, while her torso became shorter and rounder. The fat and fur continued down her arms and legs, her hands and feet gaining pads and claws, while her feet stretched out longer. A long, bushy-furred tail slowly stretched out behind her, while her face was covered in fur, and stretched forward to become a short snout. Her nose turned a pale pink color, with dozens of little whiskers growing from its sides, while her ears became larger and rounder, moving up the sides of her head. Finally, a handful of small cleaning supplies appeared in the chinchilla’s belt.
Connie checked her phone, and, thinking quickly, made a pitch, “As our new mechanic and janitor, Charlotte and Avery, have just shown, we’re serious in our offer. So serious, we’re paying for their tools, too. Welcome to the team, girls!”
“Glad to be a part of it!” Charlotte said, her golden retriever tail wagging.
“Any other takers?” Lara asked.
The woman raised her hand. “Yes, I’d like to know what-” you quickly moved to shine the light on her and her son, the moment she said yes, accidentally interrupting her question. Oops. Well, she was volunteering now, you supposed.
The mother’s skin began to turn a deep black color as it became firmer, gaining a thin layer of hair. Her arms and legs became thinner and longer, with a segmented look. Her lower body began to shift and twist back, as a second set of legs started to grow behind the first. The new legs bent into an arch, gripping claws forming on the tip, while her old feet shrank back to become a matching pair of claws on the end of her original legs.
As her torso stretched back behind her into a spider’s abdomen, complete with spinnerette. A second set of limbs steadily stretched out from under her arms, forming her seventh and eight limbs, ending in clawed, five-fingered hands. Her head became covered in the same black chitin as the rest of her body, her ears shrinking back into holes in the sides of her head. Her eyes turned a solid red color, and two horizontal slits appeared in her forehead, opening up to reveal a second pair of eyes, about half the size of the first. Her teeth sharpened, while a pair of tiny mandible-like extensions formed on the sides of her mouth.
Her son, meanwhile, had similarly grown a new set of arms, legs, and eyes, with claws, mandibles, and a pronounced spider’s abdomen, while at the same time switching sex. Unlike her mother, however, her new, chitinous skin was a deep purple color, and her eyes were a bright blue color. Her hair grew out into a little set of pig-tails.
The adult spider smiled. “Oh, I’m feeling better already! I’d be happy to accept your offer!”
“I wanna work with mom!” Said the little spider girl.
“Good to hear!” You turned to Connie. “Let’s welcome the first two actors for our park’s haunted house.”
Connie stole another quick glance at the PDF on her phone. “Welcome Patricia Wilson, and,” she looked at the younger one, “Michelle. We hope you enjoy your new occupation.”
“A haunted house?” Lara asked you in a whisper.
“I thought it’d be a good place to start,” you whispered back. “And I think the kid could make for a cute friendly mascot, while the mother could maybe be our Haunted House’s main ‘villain.’”
“Oh, sounds like fun, I can picture the poster already!”
You looked down at the penlight again. With the amount of employees you’d need, you probably shouldn’t worry about getting permission from each one. It’s not like anyone was going to complain, after all, but you still felt a little hesitant.
“Any of you here fans of vampires?” You ask.
Nobody responds.
Well, you know what you have to do. Another quick flash over two men results in their clothes vanishing, and brown fur rapidly covering them. Their bodies slim down, though their hips and chests swell a little, signaling their change of sex. Claws stretched through the tips of their fingers and toes as their nails vanished. A small tail poked out above each of their rears.
From the back of their shoulders grew new limbs, stretching out to form a new set of arms, with far-longer fingers, between which formed a black membrane, completing the two’s new wings. Their ears began to grow larger and wider, coming to points at the tips. Their teeth sharpened into fangs, while their noses swelled and turned up, flattening in the front, nostrils flared wide.
“Welcome to the team Oliva, Samantha,” Connie said, “I’m sure you’ll make for an intimidating pair of vampires.”
Deciding not to beat around the bush with it this time, you just flashed the penlight on the three remaining guys, who all stood upright as their bodies were covered in pitch-black fur, their clothing fading nearly as fast. Thin, fur-covered tails stretch out behind them, while their jaws pulled forward into short feline snouts, their teeth sharpening, their noses turning black and shrinking, whiskers growing alongside it. Their ears rose to triangular points, able to swivel around to pick up sounds better, while their irises turned green and their pupils narrowed in the sunlight. Their hands and feet gained soft pads and retractable claws, their feet in particular stretching longer and narrower as their toes curled into paws. Finally, they grew hefty chests and wide hips, their waists narrowing as they became female.
“And three lovely black cats!” You announce. “You guys were practically made to play the part of a witch trio."
“Nice to have you, Valarie, Jasmine, Elsa,” Connie nodded.
5.Charolotte. Golden Retriever. Mechanic/maintenance.
6. Avery. Chinchilla. Janitor.
7. Patricia Wilson. Spider, black skin, red eyes. Haunted House actor
8. Michelle Wilson (daughter of Patricia). Spider, purple skin, blue eyes, pigtails. Haunted house actor.
9. Olivia. Vampire Bat (brown). Haunted house actor.
10.Samatha. Vampire Bat (brown). Haunted house actor.
11. Valerie. Black cat. Haunted house actor (Witch).
12. Jasmine. Black cat. Haunted house actor (Witch).
13: Elsa. Black cat. Haunted house actor (Witch).
“Now, what do you say we head back to the park to finalize things?” You suggest.
There was a chorus of “yes” and ”sure” from the new recruits, but Connie pointed out a small problem.
“We’ve only got room in the car for one more person.”
Right, you probably should have thought about that ahead of time. “I’ll call a Supa driver or two to pick up the rest.”
“An expensive option,” Connie said, as she walked back up the hill where you’d parked the car. “But I guess we’ll work with what we… have?”
You followed her gaze, and see, parked behind your car, a bus, currently a plain white color without any ads or logos. Feeling in your pocket, you suddenly realized you had a set of keys that weren’t there before.
“Looks like there won’t be an issue after all.”
When you came back to what had been the empty lot, you found a couple new surprises.
Your welcome center was a touch larger, now, with a room for tools and cleaning supplies. While Connie helps take care of the paperwork, (much of it mercifully processed for her already,) you took interest in a larger, but rather nondescript building positioned behind the welcome center. A little sign by the door reads “on-site employee housing.” Curious, you stepped inside, and saw it had enough bedrooms and bathrooms for each of the formerly homeless employees, with a couple common rooms, a dining room, and a kitchen. All sparsely decorated at the time, but definitely better than tents or boxes.
It eased your worries a bit, to see you’d actually be improving at least a few people’s lives. Now, what to do next?
"Boss, would you like me to turn our newest employees into free roaming animatronics? No need for sleeping, lunch breaks or bathroom breaks, and can perform 24-7."
You startle a bit and the grinning tanuki in the eye. "I... I can't really fault your logic." You breathed in deep. "And Connie suggested the same thing."
"Could have fooled me with how she reacted before."
"But robots are getting easier and easier to do. I want to use flesh and blood anthros where I can."
"Was that your vision back before you got a macguffin that let you warp people's perceptions?"
"First, macguffin refers to something that itself doesn't actually do anything, and exists just to set the conflict in motion. The word you're looking for is 'plot device.' And maybe I'd have gone with robots before instead of suited actors. But when IS the last time you saw a living breathing anthro during a theme park vacation?"
"Just saying feeding and housing an army of life time employees is gonna require a lot more infrastructure."
You sighed at this. Then got a beeping on your phone. You checked your messages. It was a 'No-Reply" with the rest of the address ... filled with impossible shapes used as letters.
'This is a public release patch for your object of revision across all applicable timelines:
Should a converted person have dependants, said dependents will be compelled to visit the park at the earliest opportunity and offer themselves for employment. If said dependants are incapable of arriving under their own power, then fate itself will intervene so they arrive at your property in a timely manner unharmed.
'If said dependants are non-sapient property, IE, pets, they will either be taken in by immediate friends or family, or be brought with the dependant and become legal park property. Please note, non-sapient pets cannot under any circumstances be granted sapience by the object of revision, and must be trained as entertainers by a park employee or transformed into objects of use to the park (IE animatronics) by a mythical employee. Note that animal animatronics will not be any more sapient nor more intelligent than their organic counterparts.'
You blinked as you looked at the message. Was all this really necessary? Could staff not just be allowed to leave their kids or pets at home and take care of them at the end of the day like they would in a normal nine-to-five? Did this mean everybody was living on-site? You could understand it for those that didn’t have a home already, but this?
“Something wrong, John?” Connie asked.
You answered, "I got another message from whoever or whatever gave me the penlight to begin with." You showed her the message.
"Hmmm, well at least that makes things easier on your conscience if you need someone fast."
"That isn't the point! Shouldn't they just be able to go home to their families after work like normal people?"
Connie blinked as if this only now occurred to her. She shifted nervously. "Well... maybe it's just one of those 'standard disclaimer' things... it does say 'across all timelines' (a friend from physics class now owes me fifty-dollars), maybe this is to cover something some OTHER YOU did, and they want to make sure it doesn't happen again. Maybe it's just a safety net in case you recruit someone from say Japan, and it enables their family to move here."
You took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. You put a hand to your forehead. "Okay. That makes sense."
"Also, it could just be for people who are turned into park attractions. They can't exactly clock out and DO live here on site."
"Oh. Right. That."
"I don't see what the big deal is," Lara said, the tanuki sitting on the front desk kicking her legs like a child. "We're the one park in history that doesn't need to worry about zone permits or buying out land. We can expand as we please and get new employees out of it."
"We still need a FUNCTIONAL park for us to survive, or we'll be the world's biggest abandoned lot!" Connie snapped back.
“Seeing how this place upgrades on its own, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that once we get enough recruits.”
You said, "I wonder why the effects of the lot didn't provide a haunted house from scratch."
Lara grinned as only a tanuki can. "Maybe cause you want the 'authentic' look so bad... You were able to create a dragon and a shape-shifting tanuki, why not other things that are supernatural? Too bad they stopped offering a million dollars for any supernatural feat done under lab conditions."
"What are you saying?" You asked.
In a puff of smoke Lara was wearing glasses and playing a saxaphone. "A haunted house has gotta have 'soul' man!"
"Hmmm... you have a point. Connie, get the new park actors together, tell them we'll be discussing their roles once the haunted house is built."
"Yes sir."
Thankfully you still had some hours left before afternoon completely became evening. And your bizarre benefactors had thankfully placed the lot in a location with decent traffic of all kinds. It was amazing really this empty lot hadn't been bought up... But if these beings could do basically magic, and create beings who could do magic, who was to say that anything here had even existed before you'd read the letter? You tried to remember what had been here before, but all you could recall was indeed an empty lot.
If this was all part of some cosmic lottery, had this been retroactive set aside for you? Did it matter?
Once outside, Lara following, you focused on the first human you saw. A college girl texting away on her phone. Whatever her life had been before, it was about to be repurposed.
You flash the penlight at her, and she stands at attention. She smiles as her body turns literally ghostly white, her eyes becoming solid white themselves as her body is covered in white fur, her clothes vanishing. Her tail, paws, and head resembled a fox's, but she had nice long legs, she was taller, her tail was shorter, more muscular, she was a coyote. You did appreciate the irony of picking a daylight hunter over a nighttime hunter. You could have gone with an owl or a mouse, but you remembered what Lara had said about needing general appeal.
She turned transparent as you watched except for an old looking locket around her neck. She didn't so much walk towards you as glide along the ground.
"Master, I am ready to become the foundation to your haunted house," she whispered, like her voice was coming from some deep chasm. You were in awe of skipping the whole dying thing and transferring someone directly to the spirit world. Could she be said to be dead if she hadn't actually died?
She didn't wait for a reply as she floated to a spot in the lot. She didn't so much 'lay down' as she rotated her position mid-air and floated halfway through the ground. Fom the spot spread a huge concrete foundation. A sculpted stone skeleton appeared where she was floating. Then the concrete square sank down into the earth, creating a basement. Then metal pipes and wires spread out like veins, wooden frame work stretched out like bones. Floorboards filling in, carpets appearing and rolling out, antique furniture fading into existence. This was all obscured as the walls filled in, (with plenty of secret passageways and 'employees only' sections). covered in siding like skin, reading up and up. Looking like a beautiful southern mansion before aging a hundred years in a second.
"Am I going to have to do this for every building?" You wonder to yourself.
Lara said, "LIkely just the ones that have a 'personhood' to them. Would get super annoying to do it for every, ride, shop, and outhouse."
The result was a weather-beaten-looking-but-still-up-to-safety-codes mansion. When you stepped close to the building, dark clouds formed above, and there was the sound of crying wolves, screeching cats, banging windows, and ominous thunder. The faint image of a ghostly coyote woman appearing in the corner of his eye only to be gone when he looked directly. Startled you took a step back, only for things to be instantly clear skies again.
"Did you see that?" You asked.
"See what?"
A quick test showed that only people near the house could perceive the extra creepy atmosphere.
"A real haunted house! We're gonna have tourists for sure!" Lara grinned.
A quick peek inside revealed a “dusty” entrance hall with paintings that eyed you as you passed, and a bunch of plaster skeletons arranged standing in a line waiting for a ticket next to where the actual line would form.
Connie had the crowd of haunted house actors ready to check out their assignment. All of them stared up in amazement, not really questioning where it came from in less than an hour.
The little girl spider Michelle declared, "COOL!"
"It's beautiful," Patricia said.
The ghost coyote appeared once you were in range.
"I'd say may you rest in peace Claire Belle, but you seem to be happy as is," Connie said, keeping up her job of telling you the names of the new employees... did she count as an employee if she was a living ghost?
"Thank you Miss Simmons." Claire mimed a curtsy and whispered. "Master, with your permission, may I help my fellow performers get into their roles to entertain our guests?"
Claire has asked permission... and you thought that should be encouraged.
"Go right ahead."
"Come within, your true purpose awaits," she whispered, her voice echoing more than usual. Like they were in a dream, the haunted house player marched within, their eyes glassy and their bodies limp.
You and your confidants looked at each other, then followed.
Within, Claire floated above the other performers, whose eyes never left her.
"Olivia, Samatha, the aristocrats who have hoveled in this house's upper floors for a century, may your mortal and undead lineage serve you well." Claire said.
The vampire bats' fangs grew longer, their eyes glowed red, the skin under their fur turned paler. A jeweled cravat appeared around each of their necks. Their reflections faded from the mirror near them.
"She made them real vampires?!" Connie said in alarm.
"Not vampires Miss Simmons, dhampirs, it would be trouble for the park if they could never go outside during the way and to provide a constant supply of blood," said Claire matter-of-factly.
Olivia and Samatha flew up to the upper floors not giving the others a second look. Next Claire directed their attention to a crystal ball.
"Look inside Valerie, Jasmine, and Elsa, your future lies within."
The three entranced black cats did so, looking closer and closer, then they were developed by moving shadows, which fell away to reveal the otherwise still naked black cat women each wearing a witch's hat and black cape. They turned to face you. Jasmine in the middle holding the crystal ball. Valerie with a faint glow in her right eye, and Elsa in her left.
"Master, we witches have made a pact with a forgotten minor spirit of fear, in exchange for its magic,the tamed terror our guests experience will be offerings to it," Jasmine said as the three bowed to you.
That left the Wilsons... you suddenly remembered outside the sign had said 'Wilson Manor.' You did say you wanted them as the villain and mascot of the attraction.
"Patricia, Michelle, though you've taken western names, you are truly Jorōgumo yokai," whispered Claire. The spiders stood stock still at attention as wisps of shadow adorned them in ancient Japanese jewelry. Spider webs spread out, even more so than you'd imagine in a haunted house.
Patricia turned and smiled at you like you were a mouse. "Welcome to my home, I do hope you'll stay as, excuse me, for dinner!" She showed her many fangs. "As my other guests have!" From the ceiling dropped several cocooned bodies! She loomed towards you.
Michelle took your hand, "Don't worry! I'll help you through the house!"
She took your hand, and away you went, she led you through the maze of the mansion that felt bigger on the inside than the outside, Patricia always right behind you, laughing evilly. Michelle led you upstairs, where the vampire bats waited.
"Oh my, guests! Please sit down! Have some tea!"
Not sure what to do, you did so, only when offered the tea, you saw the blood, and yelped. The bats screeched, spread their wings, and bared their fangs. Michelle pulled a curtain, making them hiss smoking and leap back into their coffins. Patricia burst from a secret passage in front of you and you ran again.
Down the spiral stairs you went into the darkness. In the dark you saw Claire dance to classical music, only for her to turn into a skeleton and laugh at you, you ran harder.
Then came the witches as you entered a hallway, Patricia behind you, the witches swoop down above you. They sprinkled some confetti on you, you ran through the door, everything on the other the side looking like you were now the size of mice.
"You're bite size now!" Jasmine laughed, looking gigantic behind you. You all ran into a mousehole. Finding mice crying for help caught in various kinds of mouth traps but the witch's paws right behind you. Finally you stumbled out... right into a giant spider's nest. Patricia lowered herself.
"Even if you escape, I have placed an invisible thread on all of you, I can pull you back into my web anytime I want little bugs! Bwhahahahah!"
Michelle said, "Sorry, mommy isn't so bad, she's just hungry, and you look so tasty, but I like you, so I'll help you out!" A platform began to rise you up out of the nest, as spiders and web covered skeletons began to climb after you. Just as the horde was about to reach you...you spilled out of the basement door of the mansion.
You startled when you found all the performers surrounding you.
"How was that for a performance run master?" Patricia bowed.
"That was... acceptable," you said, your heart pounding.
"Totally remembered it was a show," Lara said, her fur standing on ends.
Claire said, "We'll be sure to mix up the sketches for each run so guests will want to try the ride more than once."
"We've got a winner," Connie said.
"Just tone it down for the very little kids, we don't want to, heh, scare away potential guests," Lara said, shaking a bit.
"I understand," Patricia said. She crafted a spiderweb in her hands. "Tanuki surpass kitsune in shape-shifting, my kind surpass kitsune in illusion."
"I dunno," you said, your inner nerd taking over. "I heard tales of kitsune who made a man think he'd spent years in a mansion when he'd really been gone a much MUCH shorter time underneath the space of his own house."
"I'll take that as a challenge Master," Paticia smirked.
-
"That... was an experience," you admitted.
"Next time, maybe something a little less terrifying for an attraction," Connie suggested.
"We... do need to balance out our appeal," Lara admitted.
You were sitting right outside the park, sitting on some benches drinking some sodas.
"Well... I can't say it won't be the talk of everyone once we have a couple more attractions."
"Maybe go for another classic," Connie suggested. "Once we have the basics, we can spread out our niche."
After the epicness of the haunted house, you decided to experiment with something lower key.
You spotted a man walked across the street wearing a hoodie with his hands in his pocket looking downwards. You pointed the penlight and flashed. His clothes instantly vanished. His body morphed into the brightest white and the deepest red imaginable with black 'gloves and socks', her figure lovely but not exaggerated. Her animal features came in, and she was another fox woman. (Why not? Foxes were popular.)
She didn't so much walk as dance, evey motion both having in slow motion but her body itself moving at normal speed, she moved in a beeline toward what would be the main entrance to the park and the fountain containing Billie. She had her eyes closed to the entire time. The rest of reality didn't exist to her. Only her dance and the beauty it could bring mattered. Her image began to look... pixelated.
'Mona' as her profile listed her, leapt, and dove straight into the ground like it wasn't even there. The three of you rushed to see that a giant mosaic of Mona now lay between the entrance to the lot, and Billie's fountain. Another quick test confirmed, yes, like Billie, her pose changed when no living eyes were upon her.
'Thinking people walking on you are gonna notice you more than me?' Billie taunted.
'It's not the number of people. Those who notice me will feel all the more clever for it.' Mona responded in perfect calm. You actually heard the works of art speak to each other.
"Guess it gets easier each time," you said.
"Everything is practice cousin, so of course it gets easier," Lara said.
"We have a basic alarm in case someone breaks into the help center at least," Connie said checking her phone. "So we at least don't need to stay here over the night."
"But the lot doesn't have a fence yet," Lara said.
"It's not like this is a high crime area, or no sane person would come for a vacation here."
"So cousin, what attraction is next?"
"I was thinking the classic of the classics."
"The rollercoaster?"
"The OTHER classic. The merry-go-round!"
"Wow... though won't that take a lot of converts? Want me to lure some humans here myself?"
"That would feel... too mean spirited. Right now at least I can chalk up people who end up here to fate... which at this point I can safely say I believe in."
"If ya got a license to rewrite reality, it's safe to say typical morality wasn't built to handle it."
"I just want to still HAVE some kind of morality once this is over," you said.
"So I guess you won't want me to cause a bus to break down right near us then." Lara asked.
"I wouldn't," you said matter of fact.
"Oh well." Lara shrugged.
"Let's just go to the park," you sighed. "Maybe we'll spot some more hobos. Then let's go get lunch, or is that early dinner now?"
"Was waiting for you to suggest that!" Connie remarked. "Steak for me!"
"Fish and salad for me!" Lara said.
You personally could just go for a sandwich.
---
When you get to the park, you see happy couples, old ladies feeding birds, joggers, kids playing, but what really drew your attention was the picnic tables.
Your best guess was that it was a family reunion. There were roughly twenty-four people there of three different generations: children, adults, and the elderly. And it was binary, with opposing table setting at different tables and with two different styles of clothes. And at the center was who you figured were the patriarch and matriarch, and they were not happy. they were arguing. You could hear what they were saying.
"When is the last time you did anything but work?"
"When is the last time you did any work?"
"Do you even remember what Tricia's birthday is?"
"It's 'when' her birthday is, not 'what' her birthday is, and all you do is pick out her presents, I'm the one who buys them."
"Exactly. Do you even know what she likes?"
You and the confidants cringed at this. And you weren't alone. Members of the family were glaring at each other, others pretending the argument wasn't even happening, some looking on mortified, and the rest looking away sadly.
"This is too much Johnny, please make it stop," Lara said, her grin gone as she hugged herself. Oh right, Lara's parents were separated, divorced, in all but paperwork.
You thought back to the jogger, just how causal you were about it. Your vision meant everything, your vision was everything. But you didn't want to become some hollow shell that just mindlessly transformed every potential guest to your theme park.
You noticed a little girl crying behind a tree away from the family, but still glancing back. None of the family was taking notice of her. Before you could take a step forward, Lara was right next to her, the short-stack tanuki woman looking concerned instead of grinning.
"Hello there little Miss," the tanuki bowed a bit. "Is your name Tricia?"
"Uh-huh," the girl nodded. "You're really furry."
"Thank you," Larra said, "... Is that your mom and dad... talking?"
The girl hesitated, but nodded.
Lara took a nearby leaf, and it poofed into a origami ballarina dancer, twirling as a song from a music box played. Tricia's eyes focused on the cantrip. The paper ballerina fluttered around Tricia and she laughed. The laugh was cut short by the noise of the argument.
"Do your mom and dad talk loudly a lot?"
Tricia nodded.
"Tricia, my name is Lara.And as you can see. I'm not just a raccoon, I'm a magic raccoon. And I can grant wishes."
"Oh! Like a genie?"
"Sort of. But I can grant only special wishes. Tricia, would you like your family to stop fighting? To always be together, and to always be happy?"
"You could do that?"
"Yes!" Lara nodded. "But only if you really really wish it!"
Tricia looked back at her family, then to Lara, "Yes, I really really wish it!"
Lara clapped her hands, "Then let's shine a light on that big wish!"
Lara had captured you perfectly, you either used the penlight, or you broke Tricia's heart further, and hurt Lara in ways you knew she'd already been hurt. You didn't know if you were relieved at her excuse, or worried at her manipulation.
You flashed the penlight at Lara, and her family.
Immediately the noise stopped.
Tricia stood up, as did the rest of her family. Tricia's tears dried, and she smiled blissfully, as did the rest of her family. They began marching in synch, nothing being said to each other, they didn't need to, they knew where they needed to be, what they needed to be.
Nobody paid the crowd mind as they left the food, the plastic plates and forks, paper napkins, their personal possessions all behind and forgotten, they didn't matter anymore.
You and the other confidants followed. Tricia and the family's skin turned smooth and shiny, like polished wood, their hair turned to one solid piece, becoming just as smooth and shiny. Their eyes became large beautiful polished glass.Their faces solidified into those peaceful smiles, and still they marched with only one care in the world, where they all knew they needed to be.
As they approached the lot, they formed into rows of three, with Tricia at the front with her parents flanking her. And still they marched perfectly in step, a bliss of flawless order.
As they crossed into the lot, passing the haunted house, their clothes morphed, some completely vanishing, others had beautiful detailed saddles adorned with costume jewelry, fusing with their bodies and becoming part of them of the shame polished material. Not that any of them needed to worry about modesty anymore, their bodies were as devoid of finer detail as a girl's doll.
Ticia's body turned a bright pink, as her face elongated into that of a pony, her hair became a wooden mane, and her fingers morphed into sets of three armored fingers. Her lower body then grew, expanding, gaining a tail an extra set of legs, her size increasing, until she was an adorable neon pink anthro pony centaur, her mane and tail a bright bubblegum blue, stars and sparkles adorning her flanks.
Her mom and dad underwent similar changes, her mom turning bright white with golden mane and her father deep black with a silver mane and a long beard. The wooden centaurs leading the rest of the forming herd in a large circle until they came up to the rear, the entire herd now going in one big unending circle.
A boy behind Tricia, her cousin, turned neon blue with a bright red mane, the centaur boy's flanks having swirling flames like a race car. A pair of child sized steeds for the younger guests.
The rest of the family followed suit, their upper bodies becoming humanoid animals while their lower bodies expanded out into fully animal forms, taking the template of the centaur and expanding it outward.
Tricia's auntie became a zeba, her maternal material growing larger and larger as her stripes appeared along her mohawked body.
A woman and her baby morphed into a fiberglass anthro kangaroo, with her joey being one of the faux 'passengers' sometimes seen on ferries-wheels.
Her husband became-eagle on his upper half, and the lower half a lioness, she quickly became a giffin centauress.
Next was a teenanger became a big chested bright purple and gold antho-dragoness-taur. His mother became a huge white polar bear-taur that could carry three people!
There was one collage-aged man who became a beautiful spiral colored skunk-taur maiden. His aging parents became a pair of fox taur maidens bright red and black, and bright blue and white with faux tribal patterns painted onto their fur.
Another little girl became a sparkly white kitty taur with pink hearts adorning her body. Her younger brother became a gold and blue wolf-pup-taur with pirate skulls. While their big brother (by about a year) became a bright green monkey-taur... resulting in her looking like a big hairy spider with six 'arms.'
One of their parents became an incredibly curvy hippo-taur, while the other a horse antho centaur of a palomino breed.
One teenage girl became a beautiful silver and blue dolphin-taur with a non-anthro lower body. Her brother became a great white shark-taur woman.
The older generation became classical equines, inspired by the horse breeds of the best racing horses around the world.
The last person, who you didn't see much of before their change, was covered in plain brown and white feathers with black ones around her neck. A white head with a pattern of brown feathers and a white and black beal. And a crest of bizarre feathers looking like tiny puffs atop sticks. Her hands became claws and her lower body became that of a feathered fowl, with large leg long claws at the center of the body... Seeing the patterns on the end, you realized she was a peacock... female peacocks had dull colors to avoid attracting predators.
A rotating platform appeared underneath them, adorned with tiny lights. Golden spiral poles grew from their bellies and backsides, connecting with the base platform. As their poles rose up, they collected into a brightly decorated canopy. Carousel music began to play as the ivory central pillar formed, covered in mirrors, bright lights, and engravings of various anthro centaurs.
The carousel steeds ceased moving their poses, their poles riding them up and down as they went in their endless parade. Tricia's pose was that of a prancer.
On a guess, you looked away, and indeed saw once you looked back that the steeds had changed their poses.
'This is wonderful Lara! Thank you for granting my wish! Thank you! We thank you!' Tricia's mental voice came to the tanuki with an echo, the minds of the various steeds joined together in the merry-go-round, filled with eager anticipation to carry guests on their first ride of eternity.
"You're welcome," Lara said with a smile.