You were a young adult who was moving to a new town for work reasons. The company you were working for read your performance review and decided to transfer you to a different branch in a different town. Packing was fairly easy as you didn’t have much in the way of worldly possessions, but the emotional baggage that always came with moving out of your hometown was a much heavier burden.
Of course, you didn’t expect the company to pay for transportation. You were grateful nonetheless, and it at least meant that you would have help loading and unloading your heavier furniture. Your possessions were loaded into a U-Haul, while you loaded yourself and a backpack with a change of clothes and whatever other essentials into a van. They even paid for a chauffeur and everything! It felt so generous and luxurious, but also a tad suspicious.
“You’re going to love your new home,” the chauffeur, a young woman, said, “It’s spacious, air conditioned, features state of the art kitchen appliances and bathroom fixtures, and even has an indoor jacuzzi! It’s a reasonable distance away from your new office and the supermarket, and it’s part of a fairly nice neighborhood to boot! There’s plenty of restaurants and entertainment, as well as hobby shops and parks you can unwind in. Plus they have festivals around the holidays!”
“This all sounds amazing,” you admitted, “but what’s the catch?”
“Well the town is a bit strange compared to what you’re used to,” the driver explained, “It changes its residents to ‘fit in’ with it. Everyone who lives there shares a few key traits with each other. You’ll probably see what I mean when we get there.”