The next day Dan drove Steve down to the dairy. Well outside the city limits, Steve marvelled at just how big it was -- both in the amount of land covered and in the... well, "fortifications" didn't seem too much of an exaggeration. There was a forty-foot concrete wall, topped with barbed wire, all around what amounted to a good-sized ranch, complete with watchtowers, searchlights -- the works.
"Is it a dairy or a prison?" he joked nervously. "Do they have killer cows or something??"
"Nah, the wall is to keep trespassers out, not the livestock in," Dan explained. "Maybe I didn't emphasise just how serious they are about their industrial secrets. Plus, you know, the employees like their privacy too."
Steve shook his head. This was starting to get a little creepy.
"Mary's Mare Dairy,'" he read off the sign on the front building as they pulled into a small parking lot. He eyed the accompanying picture of a busty bust of a brown horse girl with a white blaze and black mane. "What?"
"Yeah, their marketing could use some work. We've suggested they switch to 'Mary's Mares.'"
"That's not what I meant," said Steve, exasperated. "They milk horses? Who drinks horse milk?"
"You'd be surprised. Not just mare's milk; there's a growing market for fermented mare's milk, or 'kumis.' They also produce that here. Anyway, let's go inside."
The front door was guarded by an intimidating guy in a brown security uniform. This did nothing to alleviate Steve's unease. However, inside it was pretty cozy, almost homey.
"Good morning!" greeted the lady at the desk. She was blonde, freckled, and wore brown over-alls over a white blouse. "Welcome to Mary's Mare Dairy. Do you have an appointment?"
"Yes," replied Dan, putting on his professional manner. "I'm Daniel Moore, and this is my friend Steven Taylor. Are you Madison?"
"Yup!" she responded. "I believe you said your friend was interested in a job?"
"Once I find out what it is," Steve quipped. She smiled brightly.
"Well, come back into my office and sign the forms. Then I can tell you all about it!"
She seemed unusually eager. If anything though this made Steve feel even more nervous. Like the down-home decor and friendly attitude were designed to make him lower his guard. Still he found himself sitting across from Madison at her desk, an array of papers spread out before him.
"Sign here, here, here, heeere and -- here."
In addition to the non-disclosure agreement itself, Steve noted the "waivers" that Dan had mentioned. He tried to read through them, but the legalese made his head spin, and he felt Dan's growing impatience. All he could gather was that he was agreeing to settle any disputes with the Dairy via arbitration and that he released them from all responsibility for transformations while on their property. Which... okay?
After completing the forms, he pushed them back across the desk. Madison hummed as she reviewed them. Then she asked him to wait a bit as she made copies, which she gave back to him.
"Okay! All done! So, what questions do you have before you begin?"
"Um... what kind of job is it?" he reiterated, anxious and a little irritated that she seemed to take for granted that he would work for them.
"We turn you into a mare and milk your boobs."
He sat and stared at her for so long that she giggled. "I'm not kidding, Mr. Taylor! Ms. Mary, who founded the Dairy, was a geneticist who developed the technology to combine human and animal DNA via -- well, never mind. But you've probably heard of Dr. Marion Swift?"
Steve shook his head.
"No? I guess not everyone follows that kind of thing. Anyway, he was both brilliant and, well, kinky. When his university cut his funding, he signed up with a billionaire -- can't tell you who, they're a 'silent partner' -- to fund his research, which culminated in his own transformation into an anthropomorphic mare, and then the construction of this facility to supply exotic milk to said partner and his equally kinky cronies. Now we're established enough to start commercial production -- and we need lots more mares than just the dozen we've got.
"So that's where you come in! We inject you with the serum; you turn into a 'well-endowed' horse girl; and we assign you a milking stall, a personal maid and an apartment. You pump out sweet milk for two four-hour shifts, at $60 an hour, and the rest of the time you do whatever you want. Provided of course that you don't leave."
Steve's head spun. "D-Don't leave?"
"Well, yeah. The public isn't ready for the truth yet, so unfortunately we can't let any of the girls leave. But our apartments are swanky and the rent is very reasonable -- so by the time America is ready to accept that animal people are here to stay, you'll be stinking rich and can retire to live the high life."
Steve shook his head. This was unbelievable. "Are you for real?"
Another giggle. Madison turned her desktop screen to face him, showing several photographs of anthro mares -- one reclining on a sofa with milking cups hooked up to her expansive breasts, another of two leaning on a fence, apparently chatting, and a third posing with her hands behind her head, making her boobs look even bigger than they actually were. All of them naked.
The screen changed to show two other photos. On the left, a figure of a tall, somewhat stooped but handsome brown-haired man in a lab-coat, wearing a tired smile. "Dr. Marion Swift" was written at the top, and "Before" at the bottom. To the right, a much taller and much more confident humanoid mare; hands on her ample hips; heavy, round boobs proudly thrust out. From her silky black mane, brown coat and white blaze, she was obviously the model for the company's logo. "Ms. Mary Swift" read the superscription, with "After" below.
The screen flicked back to another image, this one showing an empty "stall" with sofa, milking machine, television and reading table stacked with a few magazines and... a dildo? Then it went back to the initial set of three images.
Are THOSE for real? But he didn't voice the question. What would be the point of such an elaborate hoax? Yet he couldn't just buy it, either. Helplessly, he looked at Dan. His friend was leaning across the doorframe, arms crossed, face smirking.
"Killer deal, isn't it? I can't wait to see how you turn out."
"I..." Steve shook his head, still in shock. He looked back at the pictures. If this was for real, then that would be him. Or rather, her. An animal girl producing milk for others to consume. He shivered.
Regardless of his feelings about the transformation and milking, $60 an hour was nothing to sneeze at. "You... you mentioned rent? You charge people to live here?"
"Think of it as contributing to the upkeep of your home. Rent is a flat $500 a month. Lunch and supplements -- to keep you lactating all day -- are provided free, as is medical care. Breakfast and dinner can be purchased at a couple different on-site restaurants. Or you can order out -- it's delivered to our 'catering office' so outsiders don't see you." She handed him a chart that broke down the costs paid back to the Dairy versus the salary and benefits.
He stared. The rent was half what he was currently paying. The food was relatively expensive but given the amount of money he would be making -- Madison wasn't kidding about him becoming filthy rich.
"Ms. Mary wants her girls to share her life of comfort. And if the idea of having big boobs constantly stimulated doesn't turn you on now, it will once you're hooked up." The girl winked. "I'm just waiting for a replacement secretary so that I can be transformed myself. Oh! -- and I almost forgot. The expansion bonus -- if you sign up in the next six months, you'll get to pick out the furniture and appliances and stuff for your Dairy apartment, upgraded free from the basic default supplied. It's a great deal!"
Okay... He tried to calm down so he could think. The money and perks were great. But he'd be stuck on this ranch or whatever it was for an unknown amount of time. Being, effectively, "livestock" as Dan had put it. There was also something... shady about the secrecy. Even if he understood the need to keep the public in the dark, he couldn't shake the image of a bunch of rich dudes getting off on the idea of former humans being reduced to their milking mares.
He swallowed. A trade-off. Was it worth it? Could he trust them? Maybe they had other jobs -- she mentioned every mare would get a personal maid, and that they needed a replacement for her position. Or was he -- perhaps -- a little turned on by the idea of being hooked up to a milking machine like an animal?