Lili was tempted to stick around for a while and see if she could gather any more information, but she didn't want to make TFCams suspicious; also, she had the tracking device on her. While it wasn't supposed to be active until tomorrow morning at 7 AM, there was no guarantee that some sort of passive tracking wasn't going on. Instead, Lili decided to stop by the grocery store and head home.
Unlocking the door to her temporary apartment, which she had rented a month ago while establishing her identity as Lilian Burns, Lili was greeted by a large black nose.
"Hullo, Bart, where you lonely?"
Lili had wanted to adopt a dog for a while, her prior beloved pet having passed away some time ago, so when she started creating Lilian Burns, she decided it would be a good opportunity to go forward with it. She would just keep the dog as her pet after the story investigation was finished. At the local shelter, she had come across a rather large but good-natured black dog who looked like he had some lab and maybe wolfhound in him. As he was a bit older, his muzzle just starting to show a bit of gray, despite his friendly demeanor, the shelter was having trouble adopting him out. Something about his sweetness attracted Lili, despite his age and rather pompous name.
"Bartholomew Thaddeus, that's a bit formal. How about I call you Bart instead, woud you like that?"
Bart responded with a wag of his tail, and the two had been roommates since. Although he was a large dog, since he was older he was a bit more sedentary, so the fact that she was in an apartment didn't appear to be an issue. Besides, once the story was over, Bart would come back to her house with her, and she would make sure to pamper the old gentleman silly.
Bart seemed more interested in her scent than usual today, sniffing at her as she entered. Lili brushed it aside, assuming it was the smell of the groceries. After dinner and a shower, she settled down on the couch with Bart to start looking through the employee handbook from TFCams.
"Introduction, About TFCams, Employee guidelines...boring, how about we get to the interesting stuff?" Lili asked Bart, who looked up at her, his head on her knee, and wagged his tail.
"Here we go: Transformations."
It's normal to be surprised at your first transformation, but rest assured, it will never take place in a situation which could put you or those around you in danger. You will receive a 30 second warning on your device that an auction has been completed and a transformation is about to take place. As certain transformations could have unwanted effects on the transformee's clothing, TFCams will reimburse all unintentional damage to clothing caused directly by a transformation taking place. However, as the perception filter will subliminally influence all around you to accept your transformed state as normal, any new clothing or other items purchased to accomodate transformation which are not regarded as necessities will not be reimbursed. However, certain items may qualify for tax deductions. Please keep all receipts on hand, as our in-house accountants will be able to help you determine what expenses are considered work-related.
"Weird...It seems like some strange dress-up fetish show they take too seriously. Maybe there wasn't really a story here after all. What do you think, Bart?"
Bart's tail thumped against the couch cushions. Lili skipped ahead when something caught her eye. She remembered the list of transformation authorizations she had signed.
Mental Transformations. If you approved mental transformations, your psyche will be changed to match the result of your transformation, both in instinct and in experience and desires. This may result in some memory alteration for the duration of the transformation. If you did not approve mental transformations, your psyche and memories will remain unchanged; however, please be aware that certain instinctual varations which are intrinsic to the relevant transformation may be applied in order to add to the degree of realism. The transformee will be conscious of these instincts and will have some degree of control over them; however, certain instincts which are considered biologic imperatives to the transformation cannot be overwritten by the transformee.
"What the heck?" Lili squinted. "Oh well, guess I'll figure it out tomorrow."
After a good night's sleep, Lili woke up early the next morning and took Bart out for his walk. Getting ready for work, at 6:50 AM Lili slipped the smartphone tracking device into her purse and headed out the door to work, wondering what the day would have in store, and hoping that all the effort she put into this story would not be in vain.