Consciousness came gently until you remembered you weren't in your hotel room and slept in an employee's "home" which gave you a start. Looking around you saw a lean young 20 something man drinking coffee, "Who are you!?!"
The man looked to you and smiled reassuringly, "You're awake. Good morning Alex. You must have been asleep when I told you, my name is Lucas."
"No, Lucas is much older and... heftier, and this is his room. So who are you?"
Lucas gave a giggle, "Oh? Oh, right! Do you remember the Maturation Station from yesterday, how I said it's for employee use only? Yesterday I was on bartender duty and that was the age and body type I was assigned for the role in that establishment. I... I hope that doesn't change things between us."
"Oh, no, I still think you're a great guy but did we... did I?" Does this make you gay? What came over you? What will your friends and parents think? You thought you wanted a wife and kids one day but do you? Are you in a relationship now? Shock, worry, and horror washed across your face as you tried to reconcile who you thought you were and the acts you committed, "... I should probably go."
A hesitant look crossed Lucas' face, "I... I should fill you in on a few things before you go, we can walk and talk if that would be easier for you... you should probably get dressed first, there's the bathroom."
You swung your feet out of bed and grabbed your clothes from the floor. Recalling you were naked you covered your package with the wad of clothing and scampered into the bathroom. You put on your shirt and then your underwear and shorts, realizing that your waist is smaller and the shorts expanded from your 21-year-old frame to whatever you became yesterday... but they didn't shrink down to your current size after things wore off.
You glanced in the mirror to check your hair for bed head and gasped to see you had a 5 o'clock shadow. Not only that, your body hair was more suited to... someone Lucas' age than yourself. The surprise escalated as you realized you were still a bit taller and your voice was deeper than usual, and glancing at the treasure trail leading up your stomach, you still had abs and were more athletic-looking all around... you calmed yourself down recalling that this was a week of summer fun and you still had plenty of time to get stuff... into... and out of your system, you just had to get back to normal by weeks end. You're sure this place deals with this kind of stuff all the time, they probably have some detox kit for the ride home. You put your socks on your hairy feet and exited the bathroom to find Lucas sitting on the bed waiting for you.
"Are you okay?" He asked cautiously.
"Yeah," feeling self-conscious in 100 different ways as you had to hold up your shorts, "I thought everything from yesterday would have worn off by now and was surprised to still be 18 or so and growing a beard..." you chuckled nervously...
Lucas chuckled and scratched his wrist, "Wear off? Yeah, so, true to its name the Bearded Boy will give boys a beard. But to make you feel better, you look like... 15 or so, but, hairy." Another nervous chuckle escaped, "But there is a lot of bigger stuff going on and I need to tell you about it before I take you back to the park... do you want to sit down, stand there, or maybe go for a walk? I really need you to hear what I'm about to tell you and it won't be easy. So I want what's best for you, but I need you to tell me what that is."
Your fear response goes into overdrive, "My parents they're okay right? My sister? What's happened?"
Lucas set his coffee down on the nightstand. "No no, this isn't about anyone but you, and you're okay right now. right? So breathe and calm down."
You sat down next to Lucas partially to steady yourself and partially to keep yourself from pacing with all the nervous energy you suddenly had... Lucas passed you the pillow you slept on which you instinctively clung to. "So Alex, you know this island as 'The place without rules right?" after you nodded Lucas continued, checking in periodically "So where everyone agrees that all things are fair game, the person who figures out how to force their rules on everyone else wins... right? Well, someone did that a long time ago and it's still happening today."
Countless switches pulsed on and off in your brain, "How can I help you? What do we need to do?" you asked earnestly concerned for your new friend's well-being.
A flood of different emotions washed over Lucas' face. "I... it's not..." his face landed on empathy or sadness, you couldn't quite tell. "Tell me you enjoyed yesterday... tell me that was one of the best... Freest days of your life."
"I think so. Uh, yeah, I guess..."
"Hold onto that. Don't let it go." Tears were welling up in Lucas' eyes but he pressed forward. "I know how this will sound, but everyone here, everyone who visits, becomes a slave. You, me, everyone who works here, everyone who visits this place, we're all slaves. I don't know how, but most people become some kind of animal. Drinking the drinks, eating the food, smoking, and I think the hotel does something to the bed or the sheets. Normal people, like you and me... turn into donkeys, dogs, wolves, in some cases big cats, boars, bears, bulls, and more... You asked me yesterday about the animal-themed souvenirs... there aren't any, those kids have now become those animals."
"No," you chuckled, "We ate, drank, and smoked as much as them, probably more, we were big guys and they were just kids..."
"Yeah, we did... but employees are immune to the animalism effects of the park. If not you'd have turned into a bear from the drink I gave you. Or maybe a boar or bull from the meat on the sandwich you ate after. Maybe you would have made it to the cigars and cigarettes we smoked and turned into a donkey. Regardless, you wouldn't be human now, I'm sure of that."
"Uhh, but I'm not an employee." you countered.
"This is the place with no rules, but I didn't serve you alcohol and sent you to the Employee's Maturation Station instead... It messed with your body, your mind, and stopped the animal transformation that all our indulgences would normally cause."
You groped in your pocket for the Pleasure Island ID card you were given showing you were 21. It was completely different now. It had a picture of you before the transformation, displaying your overeager grin and all. It now said Pleasure Island Employee Id. It no longer looked like a state id card, it had an employee number with a list of jobs showing a 0 next to each one.
"I don't understand."
"It takes an awful lot of people to run this place. Fix the rides, cook the food, serve the drinks, catch, feed, take care of, ship, and slaughter, the animals, do the staff's laundry, rebuild things that get damaged, and so on... Why pay for employees when you can take some of the kids, magically or whatever that machine is... turn them into professionals, and have them do all the dirty work."
"I... I won't! I CAN'T! This is crazy! My parents know where I am, know where we all are. This will be shut down soon..."
"I thought the same thing but I've been here for a little over a year and a new batch of kids still come every few days."
"I'll run away! The next time a boat comes I'll tell everyone to go back on the boat, that it's not safe."
"It's happened before, there's security between the front gate and the boat. Nobody will listen and you won't be seen again."
"I'll just hide then, save myself, then when I get back I'll send help." You said trying to not sound as defeated as you were beginning to feel.
"That's what my trainer tried. I saw them make it to the boat, but the boats keep coming. As I said, the Station somehow stops you from transforming into an animal. But I don't think the effect of the Station lasts as long as whatever it is that transforms you into an animal. So if you stop working for too long, or actually manage to run away... I think you just end up an animal before you can get to anyone for help..." Lucas took out his ID card and showed it to you. A similar expression of wonder and excitement plastered on his young face.
"Wait, you said you've been here a year. In this picture you're just a kid but you..." you eye'd the 20 something year old up and down.
"Oh, yeah, I turned 15 in June. The Station is really good at making you an expert at something... but its not so good at bringing people back after sending them through puberty. Everyone usually ends up looking 20 within the first few days of working here depending on the jobs they get assigned... Speaking of, we should get our assignments for the day, I can set you up as my trainee, and we can get you into some clothes that fit."
"Wait, I'm..." Your brain halted trying to finish 6 sentences at once... a slave, an employee, going to become an adult in 3 days, never going to see family or friends again, safe from becoming an animal, stuck supporting an evil and terrifying system...
"Yeah, I know, its a lot. But oddly enough, assignments are fun. C'mon, I'll show you how to use the Station." Lucas got up and began walking to the door.
Not knowing what else to do, you followed holding your shorts up so they didn't fall down.