Trust Machines - Career Day

A large group of teenagers was milling around outside the mall, under a large banner stating that it was ‘Career Day - New Options, New Ideas’.

“Why exactly are we here at opening time on the first Saturday of summer?” asked one girl from a small cluster of friends.

“Because none of us made the cut even for the local college, Kate.  You know that as well as I do.  Do any of us have prospects?”

Kate sighed, and shook out her blonde, uncombed hair.  “Your cousin Gary got worse grades than us.  Why isn’t he here?”

“Because he’s apprenticing to be a plumber.  Can’t outsource getting your toilets unplugged.”

“Bah.”

The doors opened, and the little group filed in with the others.  A few stores past the entrance the mall opened out into a large function space.  Sometimes it was used for flower shows, or to display cars.  Today it was ringed in tables, with a variety of earnest-looking local business owners ready to explain the jobs the had to offer.  Most years, the ‘second chance’ career day was pretty thin pickings.  Rumours had been going around their class that this year would be different, that there were enough businesses interested to get Career Day moved from the gym to the mall.

It certainly looked that way today.  The group of five friends followed the lead of the one guy in the group to a table where a dark-haired woman was standing in a tigh, form-fitting black maid’s outfit.  As they got closer, she grinned at Oscar.  “Hi, Welcome to Lexi Maids.”

Oscar looked her up and down, obviously liking what he saw.  The outfit was slick and shiny, and looked like it belonged in a fetish video, not here in the middle of a mall.  “What’s the deal with the name?”

The woman (whose nametag said ‘Hi, I’m Cindy’) grinned.  “We tried going with Sexy Maids, but... well, you can imagine how that went over.  So we mixed latex and sexy together, and...” she shrugged.  “People figure it out pretty quick, usually.”

Oscar flushed.  “Ah.  So what’s the deal here?  Looking for more people to clean up houses and such?”

Cindy shook her head.  “Not at first.  At Lexi Maids you start at the bottom.”  She picked her duster off the table and shook it out.  The vanes puffed out to twice their size.  “Julie here has been my duster for the past three months.  Normally she’d get promoted about now...”  Cindy ran a hand along the latex of her outfit with a squeak to show what she meant.  “But she decided she liked being a duster so much she’s signed up for a full year.”

Oscar and the others stared at her.  “You’re hiring people to be... things?  How does that even work?”

“Janet and Veronica both get a very basic salary, rather lower than minimum wage.  But they also get a cut of my tips, and given how Veronica makes me look, those can be pretty good.”

“But you can’t make a living off that kind of money, can you?” protested Kate.

“Not normally, no,” agreed Cindy.  “But they get changed for a month at a time.  So they have no costs for the month.  Everything they get is pure profit.”

Another girl spoke up, “But isn’t that illegal?  You can’t pay less than minimum wage.”

Kate rolled her eyes.  “Didn’t you pay any attention in civics class?  The local labour board has ruled that people transformed into objects by the Venn Machine aren’t subject to the minimum wage.  It’s not like they can do a day’s work...”

“Exactly,” said Cindy.  “A lot of areas are experimenting with the idea, to see if it’ll reduce unemployment.”

“But what’s in it for you?” asked Kate.  “Even if you’re paying them less, you still need to make a profit off whatever they do for you.”

Cindy posed in her outfit.  “My clothes are sexy, but also comfortable and durable.  I get a lot of extra tips, so I feel it’s worth it.  And Janet here,” she shook out the duster again, “she sweeps up every scrap of dirt way faster than any other duster I’ve ever tried.  Totally worth what she gets paid, and then some.  I can clean a room in half the time I used to.”

“Do you offer... trial contracts?” asked a soft-spoken girl who’d come up behind the group.  “I’m not sure I could spend a month as a duster, but maybe a day or two?”

Cindy handed her a card.  “Show up any time, our offices are upstairs here in the mall.  We’ll set you up for a three-day trial shift, and if it works out you’ll be on the team.  We always need more dusters.”

“Thanks!”

Oscar stared at the girl skipping off to the next table.  “Just like that?”

Cindy nodded.  “Just like that.  Want to be a sexy maid’s duster?”

Oscar blushed, and Kate poked him in the side.  “Uh, I think my girlfriend might object.”

“Darn tootin’ she does.”

Kate dragged Oscar away from the table, skipping past several boring looking ones to fetch up at one that had a spread of lovely smelling ginger-molasses cookies laid out.  A thirtyish man was standing behind the table, accompanied by a cute girl who didn’t look much older than Kate or her friends.  The banner on the table read ‘Guilt-Free Bakery’.

“This looks interesting,” said Kate. “I’ve heard of you guys.  All your treats disappear after a few days, right?”

“That’s correct,” said the guy behind the table.  “Dawna here spent the morning as a large sack of flour, and is part of all the cookies you see before you.”

Kate’s hand stopped an inch short of one of the cookies.  “You bake... people into these?”

“Yup,” said Dawna cheerfully.  “Normally he lets us stay as ingredients all day, so we get the full experience.  Kelly is the sugar, and Carmen is the molasses.  They’ll feel every bite... I just got to feel the baking.”

While Kate sputtered, one of her friends spoke up.  “What does that feel like?  Is it like a sauna, but worse?”

Dawna shook her head, smiling.  “No, it’s like a sauna, but better.  So warm you can feel yourself melting, but it’s not painful.  It’s really intense, but that’s not my favourite part.”

“Mary, what are you thinking?” asked Kate, appalled.

Mary shrugged, and picked up a cookie.  She nibbled on it, and smiled.  “It’s delicious.  Is this your favourite part?  Oh, that means you’re missing out today...”

Dawna looked over at her boss, and shrugged.  “We all have to take turns at the counter, too.  Can’t spend all day as cookies and cakes every day, or we...  Anyway.  Actually, my favourite part is the sifting.  Eric’s a sweetie and lets me be flour all the time.  Most girls switch it up, sugar, molasses, cream, eggs...  Anything that adds a lot of calories disappears after three days.”

Mary looked over the cookies, and started to smile.  “You know, these would be nice with a sprinkle of granulated sugar on top.”

Eric looked her over, then nodded to Dawna.  “Go ahead, I’ll manage until you get back.”

“Oooh, you’re not going to be disappointed,” said Dawna as she led Mary toward the Venn Machine near the mall entrance.

The others just gawped at their receding friend. “Is she really going to...” asked Kate.

Eric nodded.  “She’ll be a bag of sugar for eight hours, and get sprinkled on the cookies.  If she likes it, I’ll hire her on as an ingredient slash clerk.  It’s hard to find willing volunteers.”

“How’d you get started with this, anyway?” asked Oscar.

“Now there’s a tale...  My wife, then my girlfriend, got a little jealous of all the time I spent baking.  I was joking when I offered to make her into flour so she’d be with me, but she went for it.  Well, one thing led to another, and I baked up a batch of Babs-cookies before I changed her back.  The cookies didn’t vanish... until eight hours later when they crumbled away due to the loss of the flour.  I realized then what an opportunity I had, and changed my bakery name to the Guilt-Free Bakery.  We’ve got five stores already, and are hoping to expand further.”

“Wow,” said Kate, wonderingly.  “Does your wife still... participate?”

Eric laughed wryly.  “No, there was an... incident.  I got really busy one day, and used up over half of my ‘special’ flour.  When I went to change her back, all I got was her clothes.”

The girls all gasped.  “She disappeared?” squeaked one.

Kate sighed.  “Silly Nancy.  You know what happens if you try to change back less than half of a person.  They still change back on schedule, wherever they...  Wait, where did she reappear, if she was part of cookies that had gone all over the city?”

“Back here, in the mall, right inside the Venn Machine.”

“And naked,” added Kate.

“Yeah,” Eric said ruefully.  “I was waiting outside with her clothes, but I still had to hire on new ingredients after that.  We’re always very careful to avoid such incidents now.”

Dawna came up carrying a five pound bag of granulated sugar.  “Telling that old story again, boss?  He is good about making sure we don’t accidentally show up naked.  But there have been a few dares...”  She grinned at Eric’s blush.

“Is that... Mary?” asked Kate, pointing to the bag.

Dawna nodded, and opened the top.  She sprinkled some over the cookies, then held it out to Kate.  “Would you like a taste?”

Kate shook her head rapidly.  Then noticed out of the corner of her eye that Oscar had a half-finished cookie in his hand.  “You’re eating Mary!”

“And she’s delicious!  You heard her, they like this.  Think about it... you’d be eating food that actually wants to be eaten.  And you can eat as many of these as you like, and not gain weight.”

Kate snorted.  “You’d like that, wouldn’t you.”

Oscar hugged her tight.  “I love you just the way you are.  You’re cuddly.”

Kate snorted again, and dragged him on to another table, their reduced group tagging along.

Oscar stopped in front of the Fantasy Escorts table, drooling.  Nothing Kate could do would budge him.

“Are you really hiring?” asked one of the other girls.

“Janet!  You’re not seriously thinking...”

“I just want to know my options,” protested the brunette.  “I’ve heard of them, my ex used to visit them a lot to get turned into...”  She blushed.

The woman behind the table took that moment to speak up.  “Yes, we’re not just a traditional escort service any more.  We offer all sorts of Venn mediated services.  If you want to be a special something for that special someone, we can arrange for the transformation and delivery.  It’s a huge market.”

“But you don’t need volunteers for that,” said Kate.

“No.  But there are still lots of people who want human company... or semi-human company.  Our ‘date with a mermaid’ package is becoming quite popular this season.  Janet, was it?  Do you think you’d like to be paid to be a mermaid for an afternoon?”

Janet bit her lip.  “Does it involve sex?”

“We are not in the business of arranging assignations,” said the woman primly.  But then her expression got mischievous and sly.  “However, anything agreed upon between the escort and her client is up to them.  If you’re willing to go the extra distance, the clients can be... very generous.”

“I just bet they are,” snarked Kate, “after you fulfill their wildest fantasies.”

The woman grinned, and spread her arms wide.  “Hence the name.”

Kate shook her head.  “No.  I’d rather be a feather duster.  Come on, Janet.”  She strode on.  Behind her back, Janet hesitantly accepted a card from the woman, and tucked it out of sight.

The next table they stopped at was due to Janet.  “Look at the sparklies!” she exclaimed, staring at a small display case holding two incredibly jewel-encrusted necklaces.

The narrow-faced man behind the table smiled, and gestured to the younger man beside him, equally narrow-faced.  “My son crafted these.  He had quite an eye for art, don’t you think?”

“Wait,” asked Kate.  “Why are you displaying jewelry at a job fair?”

Janet gasped happily.  “They’re people?  You turn people into diamonds?”

The younger man answered, “Not just diamonds.  Whatever stone suits them... I think you’d look best as a giant emerald, for example.”

Janet squealed and clapped her hands together.  “I love emeralds!  I can’t afford any, but they’re just so pretty.”

Kate put a restraining hand on Janet’s arm.  “Wait.  Think about this.  Just what are you selling here, Mister?”

“Trenberth Jewelers is expanding its jewelry rental business, and can offer incredible pieces like this at rates a fraction of what renting ‘real’ jewels would cost.  We’re not selling people, just... leasing them out for an evening.  Sometimes longer, depending on the client.”

“Ooh, so in addition to being so pretty, I’d get worn to fancy parties?  Where do I sign up?”

Mr. Trenberth set a contract on the table. “Right here, if you’d like.  We are offering a significant bonus if you’re willing to be a display piece in the store, rather than just being on our roster as a volunteer.  Display pieces get first priority on rental...”

But Janet was already signing.  “Done!  When can I get changed?”

“Right now, if you wish.  Thomas, if you’d be so kind?  We could use an emerald necklace to set off the ruby one we acquired earlier.”

Thomas led Janet away to the Venn Machine, with her chattering away happily beside him.

Kate watched them go, watched as Janet stepped inside, and shook her head.  “How long did she sign up for?” she asked, resignedly.

“One month.  We are very careful with our employee pieces, and make sure they have at least three days human between shifts.  Any less, and their decision to sign up might be biased by the experience.”

Oscar nodded.  “That sounds like a good approach.  Does everyone do that?”

Mr. Trenberth shook his head, his narrow face acquiring a disapproving frown.  “Not everyone is so careful.  I’d stay away from the Euryale Gallery folks, they’re doing one-year contracts with immediate renewal clauses.  That’s crazy.  Those kids might get stuck for years.”

“Isn’t that... illegal?  That sounds like slavery.”

“Slavery applies to people.  Objects are... just things.  Be careful what contracts you sign.”

Kate gave him a fierce look.  “I’ll be watching out for Janet.  Treat her right.”

“But of course.  Oh, look, here she comes now.”

Mr. Trenberth fetched a gorgeous wooden display case from under the table, and Thomas laid a diamond-encrusted necklace with an enormous emerald pendant within it.  All three of the remaining companions could not help but admire the brilliant beauty of the piece.

“My god,” breathed Nancy.  “She’s so beautiful!  Are you really set on the month-long contract thing?  I... don’t think I’m ready to be an object for that long.”

“We can take your name and add it to our daily-only list... but there are a lot of girls already on it, so it might take some time to get to you.”

Nancy sighed.  “That’s OK.  Bye Janet, I hope you have fun.”

They drifted past several tables, including the one for the Euryale Gallery.  There were six beautiful marble sculptures sitting on the table, all female, all just over a foot tall.  Another was being carried to the table as they watched, and the gallery owner was offering trial three-day contracts to anyone interested.

Further along, a clothing store was looking for living mannequins.  They had a couple of volunteers on display, sitting on the table as display busts, but with their heads still living and human.  All three of them agreed there was something creepy about the outfit, and it wasn’t just the talking heads.

“Instant Tuxedos?” asked Oscar as they approached a table with a harried-looking man behind it.

The owner, a short, balding man smiled up at him.  “A new venture.  Instead of having to wait a week for your tuxedo to come in, you can drop by and have one ready the very next day.  We’re dreadfully short on volunteers, there’s a huge wedding tomorrow...”  He looked at the three hopefully.

“Are you just renting them for the day?” asked Nancy, softly.

“Yes.  You’d be changed today, spend tomorrow being worn, and back to normal by Monday at the latest.”

“Okay.  Do I need to sign anything?”

The man handed her a slip of paper.  “No, we pay in advance as you step into the Venn Machine.  So you’ll have cash in hand when you change back.  My nephews are waiting by the machine, they’ll take care of you.  Thank you!”

Nancy gave her friends a jaunty wave, then headed out toward the Venn Machine.

“Wow,” said Oscar.  “Just the two of us left.”

“You’re not seriously considering this, are you?”

“I’d rather be... doing something.  Anything.”

The next table had a card on it in fancy script saying simply, ‘Four’.  That confused them until they looked up and saw the woman behind the table.  She had four arms, and grinned when she saw the dawning realization on their faces.

“You’re from that new restaurant!” exclaimed Oscar.  “The one that only hires...”

“Cute girls with four arms, yes.”

Oscar frowned.  “Isn’t that kind of discriminatory?”

She pointed at the Venn Machine at the mall entrance.  “Venn Machine’s there.  We’re located only two blocks from it.  Knock yourself out.”

Oscar looked at Kate.  “Give me a hand?”

Kate grinned.  “To turn you into a four-armed babe?  I think I can be persuaded... Scarlett.”

Oscar blushed, but led the way to the Venn Machine.  “Do you have to use that name?  Those were... private times.”

“If you’re going to go to work as a girl, you’ll need a girl’s name.  And you know we both enjoyed your times as Scarlett.  I was thinking, Scarlett with four arms and four boobs might be even more fun to play with... I could get into this,” mused Kate.

Oscar set the Venn Machine for three days.  “I guess you’re right.  I’ve spent enough nights as Scarlett to be familiar with that body, and waitering... I mean waitressing can be demanding.  Hit me.”

Back at the ‘Four’ table, Scarlett posed for the owner.  “Think I could work in your restaurant now, Mrs. Summers?”

The woman nodded.  “Call me Shelly.  You’ve got the look we’re going for, in spades.”  She looked over at Kate.  “Have you ever considered a career in Venn design?  You have a knack for it.”

Kate blushed, and shrugged.

“But looks aren’t everything.”  Shelly then rattled off a series of four dishes, and asked Scarlett to repeat them back.  She did so flawlessly, earning a smile.  “Good so far.”  Shelly pulled a serving tray with four empty plates on it from under the table.  “Walk around the table carrying this, then serve it.”

Scarlett picked up the tray as if she’d done it a thousand times before.  And she had, as Oscar, though usually he’d been bussing the tables, not serving.  Still, she put a good wiggle in her walk as she rounded the table, and served out the dishes efficiently, naming each one from the original order.

Shelly was busy scrawling on a piece of paper.  “Here, take this to the restaurant.  We’re woefully understaffed due to opening our new location, your shift starts now.”

“I...  Thanks!”

As Scarlett turned to go, an astonished Kate still standing and watching the exchange, Shelly called out to her.  “A word of advice.  Those hooters of yours will get you good tips like that... but after eight hours, you’re going to really wish you were wearing a bra.”

Scarlett stopped cold.  “Where am I going to find a four-cup bra, never mind one in my size...”  Her voice trailed off as she stared at her girlfriend.

Kate held up her hands defensively.  “What are you looking at me like that...  You can’t be serious!”

“I’d like to offer you a position,” said Scarlett, grinning.  “The hours will be long, but the work should be pretty easy.  Maybe even fun.”

Kate started to grin.  “What’s the pay like?”

“Hm... how about half my tips?”

Kate looked her boyfriend’s sexy female body up and down.  Between the flaming red hair and the more than generous breasts, and curvy hips, she knew Scarlett would do well.  “You have a deal.”


Three Months Later
Kate only spent the first two weeks as Scarlett’s bra.  She soon figured out that if Oscar was wearing a loose-fitting sports bra under his shirt before Kate transformed him, Scarlett would emerge with a perfectly fitting bra.  

Kate didn’t mind.  Between salary and tips, there was enough money for the two of them to get an apartment together, and it had left her free to pursue Shelly’s suggestion.  The other waitresses were tipping her well to give them forms almost as hot as Scarlett’s, and word of mouth had spread.  She was busy most mornings changing waitresses from half a dozen restaurants so they could be ‘extra cute’ for their shifts.  She’d even started picking up some work in the evenings for the same girls heading out on dates.  Those ones she’d make a little extra sexy, since they weren’t competing with Scarlett.

Oscar did get the odd day off as a guy, but given how Kate had reacted to Scarlett’s new body in bed, he almost never slept as one.

Janet had called them after her month as a gorgeous emerald necklace.  She’d been worn four times, and had been giddy with excitement over it all.  If Mr. Trenberth had allowed it, she’d have gone back to being ‘sparkly’ the moment she changed back.  As it was, she’d needed a place to stay for a few days.  Kate and Scarlett had agreed to take her in, as ‘Oscar’s bedroom’ in their apartment wasn’t seeing much use.

Mary spent most of her time in a bag inside the Guilt-Free Bakery, or out on the display shelves.  Every so often the boss would shoo her off for a couple of days to ‘remember what being human was like’, and she would do so with ill grace.  After a fight with her parents over her choice of careers, her belongings ended up in a storage locker and she would spend a few nights every third week or so at Kate and Scarlett’s as well.

Nancy had a harder time settling into a routine.  The tux place was always busy on the weekends, but during the week there wasn’t as much demand for tuxedos.  She’d quite enjoyed being worn, and the pay was quite good - she got just under half of the rental fee.  It just wasn’t working out to be enough to live on except by staying at her parents’ place.

One night a little over three months after Career Day, all five of them were sitting around Kate and Oscar’s kitchen table, each and every one of them in their normal form.

“The gang’s all here,” said Kate with a grin.  “I haven’t seen you three together in months...”

“What can I say?” said Janet.  “I’m loving my job.  There’s a client who wants to rent me for the next year, and I’m seriously thinking about it.”

“Really?” asked Oscar.  “Won’t you be... well, not really you any more, after a year of being like that?”

Janet smiled back at him.  “No.  It’ll take me a while to remember I’m supposed to have hands and feet.  But I’ve been getting better at bouncing back, each month it comes a little easier.  I’m not worried.  Plus I’ll make a bomb doing this, more than any job I could hope to get would pay for a year.  When I see you guys again, I’ll be loaded.”

“We’ll miss you,” said Kate, leaning over to Janet to give her a hug.

“You’ll get to use your spare room more often...”  Mary and Nancy were doing their best to look elsewhere.  “Wait a minute... you guys are doing it too?  Who’s going to sleep where tonight?”

“Well, I haven’t asked yet,” said Nancy.  “But Mom’s making noises about turning my bedroom into a sewing room... so I’m going to need to figure something out soon.”

Kate sighed.  “But you only work two days a week, if that.  I guess if you helped out with the rent some...”

Nancy pouted.  “I just wish there was a dress rental place, too.  Being a tuxedo is OK, but... I...”

Kate laughed.  “I remember that night.  Trust me, I’ve found being worn by a woman is...”  She stole a glance at Oscar, who was blushing.  Then her eyes went wide.  “Wait a minute, that’s it!”

“What’s it?”

“Why are there no dress rental places?” asked Kate rhetorically.  “Because dresses are all custom made to fit.  Tuxes are easy to re-tailor, but your place is using you to avoid even doing that.  So Venn-made dresses...”

“Could be rented out for a fraction of the cost of normal ones!” shouted Nancy.  “Yes!  I’ll do it.  I can spend my downtime as a dress in your closet.”

“Wait... what?” sputtered Kate.  “You think I’ll be running...”  She looked around.  Everyone’s eyes were on her, expectantly.  “What?”

“Come on, sweetie.  You’re the brilliant one here, already making money using the Venn Machine.  Why not expand further?”

“But wouldn’t I need a storefront, and... all that complication?”

“Not necessarily,” said Oscar.  “Most of your business would be conducted at the Venn Machine, like now.  If you had a nice catalog book of dress designs, and maybe a webpage, you could visit people and show them what you can do.”

“Yeah,” piped up Nancy.  “You just take their measurements, then I turn you into a copy of them, and you turn me or whoever into the dress.  Easy peasy, just like they do at Instant Tuxedos.”

“But where would I get a sample book?” protested Kate.

Nancy grinned.  “We’ll go down to the Venn Machine right now!  You can turn me and the others into lots of fancy dresses, and Oscar can take pictures.”

“Hey,” protested Janet.  “I’m supposed to spend these days human.”

Mary added, “And I’m pretty good with a camera. Janet could model your dresses.”

Oscar coughed into his hand, and got a glare from Janet as a result.  “What?” she asked.  “You don’t see me as a model?”

“Not without Kate Venning you first.  And if we’re going to do that, I may as well model as Scarlett.  With only two arms, though, I think.”

“Four arms would really show off the custom work we can do,” said Kate with a grin.  “It’d give the catalog a really unique look.”

“And then we can have a girls’ night out afterward!” exclaimed Janet.  “It’ll be a memory to treasure while I’m spending the next year as someone’s precious necklace.”

Kate looked at Oscar, who nodded.  “I could go for that.  I know you promised me a weekend as Oscar, but this sounds way more fun.”

And it was.  Kate ended up with a memory card full of images of dozens upon dozens of dress designs.  Most of them were being worn by Scarlett, and to do so Kate had been turned into Scarlett’s blonde-haired twin.  At the end, Kate got dragged into modelling beside Scarlett for a few snaps, with Janet behind the camera and Mary as the second dress.

“Are you going to change Mary back?” asked Janet once they were done.

“Hm...”  Kate looked over at Scarlett, then grinned.  “Nah.  They’ll be back to normal in the morning.  This way they can sleep in my closet, and you get the spare bedroom.”

Nancy went on to spend many nights in Kate’s closet, and the name stuck even when Kate leased a narrow store-front inside the mall.  Nancy was the first of the Venn-employed to use Kate’s Closet as a cheap place to stay when not ‘working’, but far from the last.  Word spread, and soon dozens of people were spending nights and often days in her shop window.

Some nights, Kate and Scarlett would enter the mall after hours.  (As a shop owner, Kate had the required access code.)  They would sit among the dresses, admiring Kate’s handiwork and drinking wine.

“I wonder what it would be like to stay here with them,” mused Scarlett one night.

Kate giggled.  “I’ve wondered that so many times.  You’re not working tomorrow, right?  I’ll put you in here for the day.”

“Aww, by myself?  I’d want to be with you, maybe as a two-piece.”

“It’s a date.  Nancy’s been spending some of her days as my assistant when she’s not a dress or a tux... I could let her run the place for a bit.  Can you get the time off work?”

“I’ve got days and days of leave built up.  Not a problem.”  Scarlett texted her boss, and dropped her phone back in her purse.  “Done.”

Once Nancy was restored, and had the idea explained to her, she grinned.  “Can I use your apartment, too, and sleep in a real bed again?”  Kate nodded.  “Sold!  How long can I take over your life?”

“Just a couple of days... for now.”

Nancy grinned. “I’ll make this as fun for you as I can, then.  I’ll wear you out dancing, that’s the best part of being a dress.”

Afterward, Kate and Oscar agreed that it had been fun, especially the dancing.  When Nancy told them that she’d rented them out for the following weekend, they both grinned.  “Really?”

“Yup.  I lined up a dozen new rentals over the last few days.”

“Wow,” mused Kate.  “That’s better than I usually do.  I should just let you run the place.”

Nancy dug behind the counter and set a merchandise contract in front of Kate.  “Just sign here, and I’ll take you on.  One month minimum.”

Kate sucked in a sudden breath, looked guiltily over at Oscar... then signed.

“Kate!” exclaimed Oscar.  “What about me?”

Nancy put another contract out.  “I’ll make sure to rent you out as a couple.”

Oscar stared at the paper for a long time.  “No, I like my job.  I’d be missed, and I’d miss it.”

Kate linked arms with Nancy.  “C’mon, let’s go get me turned into merchandise.”

Oscar tagged along behind them to the Venn Machine, mind reeling.  It had been one thing to wear Kate as a bra, but to watch her become someone else’s dress?

As Nancy was setting up the Venn Machine, Oscar asked, “What will I do without you, Kate?”

Kate smiled at him.  “Oh, you’ll be alright.  Nancy will take good care of you.”

“But...”

Kate put a finger on his lips.  “You’ve always wanted a threesome.  Make sure Nancy’s wearing me, and you get one.”

“I... wait, really?  You’d be OK with that?”

“In a minute, I’m going to be a thing.  Owned.  I’ll hardly be in a position to object.”

Nancy grinned.  “I’ll make sure you have so much fun, you’ll want to stay that way.”

And she did.