"So great leader, what's next? You gonna face fuck us until the delivery boy shows up?" Carmen said, playing with the tassels on her pillow and licking her lips.
Mike took a breath, then sighed.
"Look, about that. You're all lovely, but you're... well, none of you are really my type. Physically."
There was a beat of silence. Then another.
When Mike finally peaked an eye open, and all the girls were just staring at him. Finally, Carmen spoke again.
"So?"
"Whattaya mean 'so'?" Mike said, a bit of heat rising in his neck.
"So what Papi?" She gestured out to the other girls, "who here thinks our master would be hot if he wasn't our master?"
Mia gritted her teeth, rubbing the back of her neck and looking away. Afi cocked a head to one side. Only Lilly raised her hand.
"Really?" Carmen said
"W-well, I mean, I don't want to hurt his f-f-feelings. He s-seems like a sweet young man."
"Sweet ain't sexy," Carmen said, clapping a hand on Mike's thigh before turning back to him, "but it doesn't matter. Because we can change that. We're all here because you can give us what we want, and we can give you what you want. How we look, how we act, what sex used to be like, it's all phooey."
"Really, phooey?" Mike said, side eyeing her.
"What I'm saying, Papi, is that it's what's on the inside that makes you, and us, perfect for each other. All the rest of it is just to make that part shine. It's why we have these changes. Make us into your loveliest little sex toys. I'm certainly not gonna mind."
Mike turned to the others, and received only nodding. His shoulders relaxed, his jaw unclenched. He put his hand over hers, the one on his thigh, and gave it a squeeze. Then he leaned in, and gave her a kiss. The only kiss he'd had in the last four years. And she leaned right into him.
Then he clapped his hands.
Theme: Youth. Target: All of them. Counter change: Lilly
Lilly shot to her feet, something between a shriek and a giggle escaping her mouth. She began to pace around the apartment, little fluttering laughs filling the space. Mike almost felt bad that he had to pit his own idea against whatever she was cooking up.
All slaves are now 19. They'll never get any older, so they'll never have to go through menopause or get gray hairs or have joint pain! But they can still learn and grow mentally.
Or
All the girls are now a year younger than their master. Their lives and histories up to this point will still have existed, they're just physically de-aged, or aged, as the case may be.
"Papi, you make it too obvious," Carmen said with a chuckle, "if you don't start calling us slaves we'll always know which option is yours."
Mike was still reading over Lilly's suggestion. He hadn't even considered eternal youth as an option. Though he was a little worried.
"You know being 19 isn't all it's cracked up to be right?" Mia said.
All heads turned towards Mia. All heads shook.
4-2, the 19 year olds win out.
This time, Mike had to cover his eyes for fear of going blind. The room was engulfed in so much purple it felt like he could hear it, not just see it. When it was done, he was blinking spots from his eyes and trying to figure out where that dull whine was coming from.
Despite the lightshow, not that much had really changed. The girls were all a little thinner, a little lankier. Smile lines and crows feet had softened back out. Afi and Mia barely changed at all. Carmen's arms were thinner, but she'd kept the belly.
It was Lilly who was the most startling. What was in her place could have been her daughter, if they all didn't know better. But it was also unquestionably her. Those same dinner plate eyes, that same tufty blonde hair. The same belly and the same nervous hands.
"Woah," was all she could say.
"That's so weiiiiiiiiird," Carmen said, "I've got like, two sets of memories!"
"What?" Mike raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah yeah yeah! Like, I can remember, just before I came here, I was out for my mid-morning jog before I have to clock into work. But I also remember graduating highschool, like, last year. It's so fresh, oh my god!"
"Woah," Lilly contributed, looking over her hands.
"Shit, do you still have work? Should we contact them?"
"Not anymore Papi!" Carmen replied, her voice filled with just enough youthfulness to change the feeling entirely, "my parents have been bugging me to move out, so I guess they got their wish!"
Mike turned to the others. Mia shrugged.
"My memories have also been altered," Afi said, not bothering to turn her head, "much of my time with my husband has been erased."
"Is that... I'm sorry," Mike said, reaching down and resting a hand on her shoulder.
"It's nothing to apologise for. It was a loveless, neglectful partnership. He wanted me for the sake of it. I suspect he was gay, though honesty was not often present between us."
"Why didn't you leave him?"
"I have now," she said, reaching her hand up and placing it upon Mike's, "so if you are going to own me, own me. Don't lie."
Mike slipped his hand out from her. Shifted it across her shoulder, weaving fingers around her neck. He gripped, tight enough to make her notice without cutting off her oxygen. Pulled her head, her body backwards. And then leaned down to kiss her.
When he pulled away, her breathing was heavy. A moment of eye contact. A nod. Release.
"C'mooooon, enough with the sweet shit!" Carmen was kicking her feet now, causing her running shoes to strike the wooden floor, "you're not abusing our holes so there must be more to change! Let's go already!"
This earned her a shoulder tap, almost a slap, from Lilly, puffing out her cheeks. Mike chuckled despite himself.
"Now that you lot don't age, we have plenty of time to get the non-stop orgy started. But I want to get as much out of the way as possible first," he said, flopping back onto his pillow, "now, I know we kind of brushed past it earlier, but aren't there places y'all need to be? Lives and shit that you had before two hours ago?"
"Well duh, but what's it matter?" Carmen replied, flopping onto her back and kicking her feet into the air.
"It matters-" Mike said, reaching over, grabbing Carmen by the front of her sweatshirt, and yanking her back into a seated position. Inches from his face, "-because you're all now mooching off me. And I don't know if any of you can guess how much a solo gamedev with no games makes, but let me give you a headstart: it ain't much."
He released her clothes and pulled back. For once, she had nothing to say, just a few mouth movements and some blushing. Mia, on the other hand, had stars in her eyes.
"You make games? That's so cool! Oh my god! I'm not really that good at art but I'm sure I could do something! Do you need marketing? PR? I think I could do that!"
"Maybe if I ever actually make a game," he replied, somewhere between a grin and a grimace, "for now, I think the benefit of having a bunch of lovely slaves is that I should, y'know, benefit."
"A-a-are you going to wh-wh... make us have sex for money?" Lilly said, eyes wide and hands over her mouth.
"Unless you could score exclusively lesbian clientele, that's a no. As long as you're mine, my dick is the only one you'll get to play with," he replied, earning a surprising number of nods, even though Lilly looked a bit crestfallen, "earning money’s one thing, but you weren’t all destitute before you arrived, right?"
They all shook their heads.
“Well then, let’s cut to the chase.”
With that, he clapped his hands.
Theme: Property. Target: All of them. Counter change: Afi
Mike tried to enter a change that he’d had in mind, transferring all the money and objects his slaves had owned to himself. However, when he tried to submit it, he got an error message.
Change cannot be applied
He tried again, using different wording. Same message. He clicked his tongue.
“Is- Is everything Ok master?” Lilly asked, matching his expression with a worried one of her own.
Change cannot be applied
“I don’t think I can do it,” he said, staring at his wording as it hung in the air, “I wanted all of your money to just belong to me, but it won’t let me do it.”
“Daaaamn, you were gonna steal from us? Cold Papi, cold,” Carmen said with an exaggerated head shake.
”Couldn’t we just give you our money?” Mia said, furrowing her brow, “I’ve still got my phone, I can just transfer you.”
Mike tried another attempt and sighed. So much for the easier route. He cancelled the change, feeling the magic fizzle and fade away. Afi’s eyes scrunched.
“I guess so. Wanted to get around taxes and shit. Plus, it’d’ve been nice to also teleport your stuff here. Shipping won’t be cheap,” Mike huffed, “alright everybody, open your bank apps and send me everything you’ve got. We’ll see what we have to work with.”
He produced a piece of paper and scratched down his bank numbers. Without so much as a word of disagreement or complaint, the slaves all fished out their phones and began tapping away. Now that he was asking them to do it, rather than just magically taking it, he felt a bit bad. He was just about to tell them to keep some for themselves, just in case, when his phone buzzed four times.
He pulled open his banking app. What once had been a meagre two thousand had ballooned into 400,000 dollars and 85 cents.
"Holy shit."
Carmen peaked over his shoulder and gave a whistle, "damn. I was trying to save for a house, but I didn't have that much."
"Yeah, we should... probably figure out a place to live longterm," Mike replied, gazing around the room and its bare, undecorated walls.
"I dunno, it's- it's homey! Just needs a little touch up is all," Lilly shuffled off her pillow, moving over to pat a bit of wall, "I reckon this'd be a great place for a painting. Or a photo! Oh- oh! You could- it- it could be me! And then everyone who comes over would h-have to stare at m-my naked body!"
"Or we could just keep you naked all the time so they get the real deal," Carmen said, leaning over and smacking Lilly's butt.
Lilly yelped and blushed again, leaning further into the wall to cover her face.
"I will sleep on the floor if it will save you space master," Afi said, running her fingers over the wood, "even so much as a dog bed would suffice."
"While I love the can-do attitude girls, I'd at some point like to get all four of you on the bed and fucked into unconsciousness," Mike said, earning a number of sharp intakes of breath from the room, "but I can't do that with a queen bed. So-"
The intercom chimed right beside Lilly's face, causing her to leap back from the wall. A string of her drool rocketed into the air, splashing down on the bedroom door now behind her. Mike ignored that pleasing display, getting to his feet and buzzing the delivery driver into the building. He then wandered downstairs, grabbed his food, and returned.
"Sir... shouldn't I have gone to get it?"
"Oh, shit, sorry Mia," he replied, pulling the meals out of the bag and passing them out, "force of habit. Next time you'll get the door, promise."
She nodded, eyes a little downcast as she took her large black coffee and rice bowl.
For the first time since everyone arrived, the apartment was quiet. Aside from the sounds of chewing or gulping. He was astonished at how comfortable it felt. Normally he'd be getting antsy with the silence, especially around a bunch of strangers.
But they were so bare to him. So vulnerable and so honest. There wasn't room for doubt in his assessment of them, even as he could feel his anxiety trying to scramble for something. He did feel a bit shitty about not commanding Mia, but he almost had to laugh at the way that thought looked. He felt bad because he hadn't ordered around a woman he'd just met? What the hell was happening?
No, despite his best efforts, this was comfortable. Comforting, even. Watching everyone eat the food he'd gotten for them, wrapped in skin he'd de-aged for them, living the starts of dreams he could fulfill for them. He thought back to what Lilly had said, when she'd introduced herself. Talking about all the ways she wanted to be abused, made to feel lesser, made embarrassed. She'd capped it all off with the desire to be safe.
Looking around the room, at each of these women. Scared, or insecure, each in their own right. Like him. Coming to this eagerly, but not without their own history. Their own baggage. They wanted this because it offered, above all else, a kind of safety. A kind of care, and a strange form of attentive compassion.
They would look after him, like he would look after them. He smiled into his rice. He liked the sound of that.
Next chapter