Daniel blinked and tried to shield his eyes from the bright light that he found himself in. The platform rose into a room similar to the one that had transformed him into a cake. This room was white on all sides. One wall had a green door. To his left was a series of mirrors. To his right, an observation window. Daniel could see people in lab coats running about in a panic.
"Heh, they must not have expected to see me. Maybe I'll get some answers." He rubbed his cupcake hands together madly.
The green door opened, and in walked none other than Doctor Laura, calm and pleasant as ever.
Daniel leveled a cupcake at her. "You... you bitch! What have you done to me? What's going on here?" His face was twisted in a rage.
She responded, hands folded behind her back. "Daniel, this is very unusual. I will do my best to explain, but you've caught me unprepared. Let's see..."
"What we do here is all legitimate. People come to us when they wish to be transformed into something else. We hand them the paperwork, to cover ourselves legally. 97 percent of the time, there are no problems. The subject fills out the proper forms, they enjoy the duration of their transformation, and in exchange we study the effects the transformation has had on the human body with a simple exit medical examination. In this way, we improve our technology and techniques, and people are able to enjoy a new form at no real monetary cost. The research is supplied to our financial backers, and we receive funding for another year. It's all very win-win, you see."
Daniel couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Then what happened to me, to Robin? To all the rest?" He gestured behind him.
Doctor Laura adjusted her glasses and began to walk slowly around him. "Well, that's where that other 3 percent comes in. If the paperwork is not filled in properly, our machines can not accurately change a human being. For some odd reason, all of these 'failures' become dessert food items. We call it the 'Wonka Effect'... We are still working on that. However..."
Doctor Laura's face darkened. "If you had bothered to read all of the forms you so flagrantly signed off on, you would have known all of this already. You would also know that you have given up your rights as a human being, for in the event of a disaster such as this, you would have become a cake. Or something similar. And cakes, of course, have no rights. They become property of our corporation, and we are free to do with them as we please."
"Change me back! Change Robin back!"
Doctor Laura completed her circuit, and stood once again in front of Daniel. She sighed. "I wish I could. But in the event of a malfunction such as this, our equipment has no detailed procedure to reverse. Your DNA was scrambled and lost. What happened to you, slowly turning into a cake in this way, was a fluke. Specifically, about a 1 in 300 chance."
Daniel growled.
"I told you, we're working on it. It's much better than it used to be. However, it also means that you, as a recent transformee, have less time until completion than Robin had. Your hands have become cupcakes, and you now have a pair of breasts."
Daniel blushed. His arms slowly began rise of their own accord, and it took a conscious effort to keep them lowered. What was happening to him? He glimpsed himself in the mirror. He could see four more strawberries working themselves out from his torso. Two in front, below his navel, and two below the small of his back. Why couldn't he feel them? He had felt everything else. Daniel began to worry.
"Even your sprinkles and roses. These factors could not have been predicted, but we do our best to help. That's what the cooler is for. To preserve and extend your lives for as long as possible. Cakes don't last very long at room temperature..."
Doctor Laura was right. Since his arrival, Daniel had been feeling the effects of the heat. His frosting was beginning to soften, and he could feel himself stiffening up. It was becoming harder and harder to move his arms.
"Daniel, I will be blunt. You do not have much time left. If you are getting stiff, it is not due to the heat. It is because soon, you will be transformed entirely into a cake. You will have no humanity left. Your flesh will be made of baked cake dough. Your blood will be frosting. Your skin will be frosting. Your face may disappear entirely. It may not."
Daniel licked his lips. They were still flexible. He could move his neck, but just barely.
"What happens after that, even we do not know. You will be preserved in the long term storage cooler, together with Robin if you wish... You will not be eaten. That would be inhumane." Her face broke into a smile. "However, if you don't mind, I'd like to observe your final changes in person. I've never been able to, you see."
Daniel's stiffening arms held themselves up at each side. He was no longer able to move them. His breathing had started up again and his white breasts heaved. He suspected that this was physiological and completely unnecessary. It soon ceased. His strawberries finished growing; he was now little more than a beautifully decorated human shaped cake. Hairless, legless, earless and motionless.
He spoke his final words. "With... Robin... Find a way to..."
Doctor Laura nodded in sympathy. Two attendees in lab coats came with carts. Daniel was lifted onto a cart, unable to move himself. He knew everything that was going on around him, and could see and think.
This was the answer to his question. The question he had been asking himself for over a month. His greatest nightmare was coming true; he was stuck, alive, immobile. The human that had been Daniel was now a Vanilla Strawberry Cake.