James stood there, her ears down, her tail curled between her legs, panting loudly. What had gone wrong? She knew she hadn't been
recognized by anyone on staff. She hadn't sent her application in from her home computer. She'd even gone the extra mile and faked all the
medical records. That DNA sample wasn't hers, so...? Then she realized the obvious. The transformation process couldn't just overwrite your
DNA with some standard template. Everyone of the same species would come out looking identical, or with just a few different models per
species anyway. It would have to scan you somehow when the process started, and make changes from there.
She worried a bit just how the hammer was going to come down. They hadn't tossed her back out right away... were they just going to lead her
along for a bit, make it extra humiliating? No, no... If they were going to take that route, she wouldn't have been called in like this already.
They'd have watched her squirm for a while, tested her commitment to her disguise. If there was one thing James understood it was how to
mess with somebody's head. Apparently they thought she'd punished herself enough, trying to slip by as a female. She new she could look
forward to having her nose rubbed in that at every opportunity. It's not like she wasn't used to being called a bitch now and then. Irate crybaby
gamers had a pretty limited pool of insults, but in the correct context like this it carried a bit more sting. Naturally, she'd have to stay female
longer than she had expected now too. All that stuff about about testosterone and 'gender change syndrome' was clearly just Harry trying to
mess with her, but she recognized the tone with the rest. 'You have been caught cheating, and as punishment we are going to confiscate your
equipment.' It's just that the equipment in question this time was something a bit more personal than some ill-gotten loot in a videogame.
Still, things could be a lot worse, couldn't they? In a certain sense, this was just fast-tracking her plan. The rest of the cadets she'd entered with
were going through drills and training exercises except for that one female they pulled aside. Well, that other female. Katie apparently. James
did have a legitimate edge in experience. She knew a good chunk of the park like the back of her paw... well, the old one anyway. She was
experienced with this sort of body, and she knew what most of the other species were capable of. She also had some inside information they'd
love to have. All those imitators she'd attracted. "Just don't go fingering your friends," she remembered Max saying. Ha! What friends? She was
the Lone Wolf! She didn't need anybody! Come to think of it, Max might even be a bit of a ticking time bomb. James had always kept a strict
policy never to really hurt anyone. Just scare'em enough to make a good chase of it. The way Max talked though, sometimes she had to
wonder...
Just as she'd restored her self-confidence enough to get her tail wagging, Zack arrived, staring at her with his face a mixture of amusement
and contempt. More of the former than Harry had had at least. "Well, well, well!" he said, pacing around her as she found herself slipping back
into a submissive posture. "Look at the big bad wolf now! I have to say, I never would have figured you for the type." She kept her head down
the whole time, but she could feel him just towering over her. Harry had seemed a lot bigger too, but that didn't make sense, did it? As a wolf
she had several inches on all the huskies in the park, and she'd never really compared them to each other, but the females had to be about the
same size, right? Some weak little girl couldn't ever handle herself in a fight, they'd have to be built like a man, powerful and muscular. Was it
just psychological? All this embarrassment making her feel smaller? Had whatever scan caught her happened so early they'd customized her
body to add to the humiliation? She'd have to compare herself to one of the females later.
"So what was it you tried getting people to call you when you thought you'd actually pull this off? Goldie was it? That certainly is a pretty coat to
match it too. Just had to make sure you stood out from the crowd, huh? Well, it suits you a lot better than any of the other options. You don't
look like much of a James now, or whatever it was you put on your application. Frank? Fred? Something like that? And you are certainly not a
'lone wolf' anymore. Not with me acting as your babysitter until we're sure you're going to be a well-behaved little bitch for us. So let's make it
official. From now on, you're going to answer to Goldie. Do you understand that Goldie?"
He was clearly enjoying himself with all this, but she could hardly blame him for it under the circumstances. Getting angry would only just
make things worse. The important thing to do now was to prove she'd play ball. No matter how she was treated, she had to be friendly and
enthusiastic. She just nodded at this latest twist of the knife.
"Young lady!" barked Zack. "In this organization, we do not give a meek little nod when we are addressed by our superiors. We say 'sir, yes sir!'
Now let's try this again. What is your name?"
"Sir, Goldie, sir!" replied Goldie, as enthusiastically as she could. She'd heard the huskies discuss things often enough to know they didn't really
practice this sort of militant formality, but she had to earn his approval... and not just to keep out of trouble. The canine loyalty built into every
husky was starting to sink in. Zack was her superior in the pack, and was he was taking a special interest in her no less. Making sure he knew
she was a good loyal pack mate was gradually working its way towards being the most important thing in the world to her. Well, behind proving
the same to Harry. He was pack leader, and it was starting to bother her more than she'd admit that she did not meet his approval.
"That's a good girl," replied Zack, "but we don't slouch here either. Back straight! Square those shoulders! And you always look me in the eye
when I'm talking to you!"
"Sir, yes, sir!" She immediately complied. Obedience came so easily like this, it was almost like cheating. She wouldn't have to fake her way to
earning everyone's trust. If someone said jump, she'd just jump. No need to think about it, almost like putting herself on autopilot. She had to
look up a little to meet Zach's eyes, so being smaller couldn't all be in her head. The eyes themselves were a bit surprising too. Usually when
she looked someone in the eye, it was to psyche them out. She'd watch them go wide with fear, or narrow with contempt. Here though, it was
the other way around. She was just trying to project her sincerity at those harsh blue discs, hoping they'd look at her a bit more kindly.
"Good girl. Now, since that's still a new body for you, let's put it through its paces. Why don't you show me all your old stalking grounds, see if
you recognize any old friends, and hop to it! There's no way in hell you're getting put through the usual combat training anytime soon. You're
going to have to prove yourself before that. In the meantime, we can't have you getting soft, so we're going to jog until I'm getting tired, then
it's going to be pushups and jumping jacks for you. Gotta get you used to that upper body strength and how those pert little attention grabbers
you're sporting now handle vigorous motion somehow, don't we?"
"Sir, yes, sir!" Goldie's tail wagged a little. That had been a hint of friendliness in his tone, hadn't it? Was her enthusiasm winning him over?
++++++++++
Naomi had snatched the phone from Charlotte's grip as soon as she realized who was on the other end, eager to hear how Harry was handling
things. "You know, it's about time someone tried putting my theory into practice! I bet you see results overnight. And hey, maybe this will
finally convince you and Zack to finally upgrade! Come on, let's make a bet on it, if the creepy little dirtbag outshines the other recruits, you
follow her example, what do you say?"
Harry jokingly agreed he would on the condition she come try life as a man and see how it didn't turn her into a monster if 'Goldie' fell back
into her old habits. She stopped smiling when she heard what he was really calling about though.
"There is no way in hell that sort of thing would go on under my watch. You can't be soft with management like that. Just say the word and I'll
march back in there and set'em straight."
"No, no, I've got this. Just enjoy yourself out there... and put Charlotte back on the phone already, would you?"
++++++++++
Vinny grinned to himself as he counted down the days until the start of the tournament. Messing with the locals was getting to them. A few
local bucks had already agreed to compete, hoping to take the brothers down a peg. If they egged that "Lord Jeremy" there into agreeing to
compete on their terms, the rest would jump in. That would make for a very appealing new gender ratio at the end of the day, and odds were
very much in favor of most of the converts coming from the locals.
Half the new pledges hadn't read what they were agreeing to, and the locals never saw the paperwork to begin with, but the park staff was
going to enforce things anyway. In just another 7 days, they'd be holding a double elimination tournament, locking antlers like proper bucks.
Anyone eliminated in the first few rounds was going to lose their horns. He'd gotten funny looks from the park, but with everyone agreeing up
front not to welch out if they lost, and his 'generous donation,' the park had agreed to enforce it, reprocessing the biggest losers as does,
making sure the winners all got a nice 'prize' at the end. He'd also gotten the park to agree to a few enhancements. The original designs of
these bodies hadn't really been made expecting everyone to be butting heads at high speeds after all. A little skull reinforcement was just a
good safety feature. It would give them an edge over the locals but no one was forcing them to compete. Vinny wasn't quite sure they'd be held
to the reassignment clause by the same token, but their herd mentality should at least let them leave the choicest original does to the victors.
What really had him smiling though had nothing to do with the park. Well, almost nothing. Chad was so confident he'd come out on top of all
this, he hadn't exempted himself from the pledge. The Fraternal Order of the Stag's leadership would fall, for the next year at least, to whoever
came out as champion of the tournament. If he dropped out early enough, he was even sworn to become a doe. The one bit of real corruption
Vinny's money bought him was a bit of extra physical enhancement, just for himself. It wasn't a huge edge, but it was enough to get one over
on Chad, particularly since there may have been an 'oversight' in arranging his extra 'safety' features. With how he was laying out the brackets,
Chad should be out of the running after the first two rounds, and after years of having to put up with his arrogant macho jock routine, Vinny
knew who he'd pick for his little 'slave' once things were over.
++++++++++
Elsewhere, the rest of Terry's usual crew were wondering how he was faring.
"Do you think the park is really as bad as Terry thinks?" asked Chuck, his usual cameraman for these projects.
"Not a chance," replied Wendy. "All those people sticking with their forms are just members of the furry crowd would be my guess. For Terry it's
just going to be a long camping trip. I suppose there's a chance he might get a little more in touch with his feminine side, and I'm hoping he
learns to eat properly, having a stomach for two months that can't handle red meat. You?"
"You're probably right. Still feels weird being cut off from all communication like this though."
"Well," said Wendy, "I think they offer some kind of one-day guess passes, don't they? Pretty sure there's enough wiggle room in the project
budget to check in on him. Weekly would get a bit pricy but, two week check-ins seem reasonable. Let's see, today's Friday, he's been there
since Saturday. So, some time next weekend? Grill him with some questions on how it's going, come back and do it again when it's been a
whole month, then maybe once more around day 45?"
Chuck shook his head with a smirk. "I'm not sure he'd be happy to see me like that. Masculine pride and all that. So were you thinking of doing
the bunny girl thing too if you pay a visit, or what?"