As they pulled up in front of the gates of a large walled compound in the woods, Sidney’s eyes went wide.  “This is where Ray lives?”

“Yeah,” answered Duncan.  “He’s loaded after being at the ground level of one of the winners in Silicon Valley.  Burned out on that, came back here to retire.”

“And his retirement included running a strip club?”

Duncan grinned broadly as the gates opened to let them in.  “Everyone’s got a dream.  Though it wasn’t just a strip club he was after.  He’d heard rumours of magic happening at the Blue Vixen, and wanted a piece of that.”

“He bought it after you showed up?”

As they progressed up the winding drive, Duncan shook his head.  “Long before I got involved.  Apparently one of the previous Moonstone owners danced there, and made a splash.  She didn’t share the wealth with the other girls, or really unleash the true power of the Moon.  But it was enough that Ray got involved anyway... and got lucky.”

“Could we not use that phrase anywhere near the context of you turning into a woman, please?”

“Are you going to be Auntie Donna?” asked Courtney.

“When the Moon rises, sweetie.  Just about dinnertime.”

“Yay!”

At the top of the driveway, Ray was waiting in a polo shirt and shorts that showed off his fur.  He waved to Duncan cheerily.  “Hey, it’s good to see you here under less fraught circumstances.”

“Hiya, Ray.”  Duncan hugged the lynx-patterned felinoid warmly.  Courtney stared at him wide-eyed, and Victor waved cheerfully and toddled over to hug his leg.  “Victor seems to like you.  I suspect Courtney will as well.  I don’t believe you’ve met my wife Sidney, before, either.  Sidney, Ray.”

“Pleased to meet you,” said Sidney, eyeing Ray suspiciously.  “You look male.  I thought...”

Ray chuckled.  “I can show off, if you like.  Duncan here left me bi-modal, though mostly male.”

“Show off?” asked Courtney.

“Okay.”  Ray took a deep breath and his chest and hips expanded while his wait tapered enough that the waist of his shorts rode down to his hips.  He scrubbed at his face, smoothing out the fur over slimmer cheeks, then loosed shoulder-length hair from its ponytail, completing the transformation.  “What do you think?” she asked in a lilting voice.

“Did you...  How?” asked Sidney.  “The Moon isn’t up for another hour, Duncan said.”

“Inflatable bladders, mostly.  I’m pneumatic.  And I’ve been taking a few shifts at the club, for fun.  I puff up a little more for those.  Ana likes dancing with me, and she...  Oh, come on.  You really should meet her.”

At the door of the house Ray got pounced by a feline woman with matching coloration.  The ensuing kiss went quickly from scorching hot to, “Hey there are kids here.”

Ana backed off from the kiss with smouldering eyes that promised fun later.  She tugged her crop-top back down before pulling away from Ray.  “Mmm, haven’t seen you female in weeks, snookums.  What’s the occasion?”

“We have company.  Duncan, Sidney, and their kids Courtney and Victor.”

Courtney waved to Ana.  “Hi, Miss Kitty Lady.”

Ana giggled and crouched in front of her.  “Hello, little kit.  Actually, it’s Mrs Kitty Lady.”

“Hi, Missus Kitty Lady.”  Courtney accepted Ana’s hug with a huge grin.  

“Mrs?” asked Duncan.  “Did Ray make an honest catgirl of you, finally?”

Ana nodded, showing off a sparkling ring that made Sidney coo as well.  “We had a marriage commissioner come out to the estate once we found out...”

“Found out what?”

Ana looked over at Ray with a huge grin on her face.  “We’re going to be parents.  Still trying to figure out how to get an ultrasound done without freaking out the technician.”

After a round of congratulatory hugs, Duncan offered to have a look once the Moon was up.  “I made you two as healthy as can be, I’m sure your kittens will be fine.”

“Kittens?” asked Sidney.  “What is going on?”

“Look at them.  They’re cat-people.  And they’ll breed true.”

“Duncan!  Did you just create a new species?” asked Sidney, incredulously.

Duncan took a shallow bow.  “I do believe I did.  Likely more than one, I think there’s a bunnygirl that would like kits of her own, too.”

“Erin and Sandy want kittens, too,” said Ana.  “By each other, of course.”

“Can I be a kitty later Daddy?” interrupted Courtney.

“Yes sweetie.  After dinner you can be anything you like.  You might find that mermaid is fun, there’s a great big swimming pool here.”

“Duncan...”

“Aw, c’mon Sidney.  It’s about the only place that she can be a mermaid without attracting attention.  You should try it, yourself.”

“Who’d look after Victor?”

Ray chuckled at the little boy who was still clinging to her leg.  “This cutie?  I’m sure any of the girls would be thrilled.  Especially Ana.  Come on, we’re going to set up a picnic dinner by the pool.”

Despite Sidney’s concerns, all of the other residents of Ray’s place were decent.  Not exactly dressed – Isolde was wearing a black bikini that barely contrasted with her black scales, and Vanessa was swimming about the pool with only a shell-styled top covering her breasts.  Her mermaid tail showed nothing untoward, so Sidney’s protests were quelled.

Nissa stood out from the others as the only human, and as the most dressed due to a floral wraparound skirt covering part of her blue one-piece swimsuit.  “Hey, Donn... sorry, it’s Duncan like this, right?”

Duncan chuckled.  “For a few more minutes, anyway.”  He nodded toward Ray.  “I made certain promises about my next visit to this place, and I’m sure Ray hasn’t forgotten.”

Ray grinned broadly.  “No, I have not.”

“Duncan, what are they talking about?”

“Once the Moon rises, Ray gets to decide what I look like.  Going by past experience, that’s likely to be a multi-armed snake-woman.”

“I don’t know,” mused Ray with the sort of predatory grin that only a feline can truly manage.  “We could use a petite blue vixen in our serving staff.  And Unit Kate would like company...  Oh!  I have the perfect answer.”

Duncan grinned back, unconcerned.  “I can’t wait to see what you come up with.  How is Unit Kate doing, anyway?  I’ve seen the others at the club from time to time.”

Nissa went off to fetch the robot.  While they waited Ray described how she’d spent almost all her time in robot mode.  The only time she’d be human was during Doctor Sakurai’s visits.

Isolde grimaced at the mention of Arwen.  “She still tries to get me to think like a human.  Bah, this is much more fun.”  Little Izzy, her doll-sized self that had the mass ratio to fly flitted into the room and circled around the succubi’s head.

Sidney shrieked about the “bat” and muttered something that included “flying rodent” as it settled and perched on one of Isolde’s horns.

Courtney asked to get a closer look, and giggled to see that it was a little version of Isolde.  “Little Bat Lady!”

Isolde gave her a dark look that just made Courtney giggle more.  “I’m not a bat lady, I’m a succubus.  Can you say that?”

Courtney’s comical failures made Isolde start to laugh, startling the others.  “Okay, okay little one.  That’s enough.  Bat-wing lady is fine.”

“Bat-wing lady!”

Isolde smiled, and flared her wings wide, making Courtney laugh and clap her hands.

Duncan turned to Ray and asked, sotto voce, “Were you aware she was good with kids?”

Ray and Ana shook their heads.  “It’s promising to see, though.  We were worried...”

“I can hear you, you know,” said Isolde.  “Kids don’t understand sarcasm.”

“And the smile?” asked Ray.

Isolde posed before them.  “This body gets two reactions.  Lust, or revulsion.  That a child might find it wondrous is...”  She smiled again, showing few of her pointy teeth.  “Amazing.”

Nissa and Unit Kate returned to the pool bearing trays of food.  Duncan rushed over to help them set the trays out on tables.  There were cold cuts, various kinds of bread, a tureen of soup, large platters of sliced vegetables, cheeses, and fruit.  

As the others ate, Duncan watched Unit Kate.  “Thanks for bringing all this out,” he ventured.

The robot’s featureless ovoid of a face turned toward him, the glowing blue line of its optical sensor flickering briefly.  “This Unit is made to serve.”

“Nothing else?  No pleasure in a job well done.”

“This Unit is made to serve.”

Duncan sighed.  “Not much of Kate in there, is there?”

“There is no Kate in Unit Kate.”

Duncan chuckled softly.  “So sure about that, hm?”

Unit Kate turned to the table to start clearing off soiled plates.

A few minutes later Ray approached Duncan.  “Can you feel it?”

Duncan chuckled and nodded.  “I know where the Moon is at all times.  She rose moments ago.  I take it you want to make good on my offer?”

Ray nodded eagerly.  “May I have some Moon juice to change you with?”

Duncan pulled power from his stash at home, and let a trickle of it flow to Ray.  “But of course.”

The opal half-hidden in the fur of Ray’s forehead began to glow, and he sighed happily.  “You make this seem so easy.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get there.  Just keep practicing.”  Duncan laughed as that practice cost him two feet of height and gave him blue fur.  “Turning me into Cobalt, are you?”

“As step one, yes.  I might need help with step two, I’ve never turned anyone into a robot before.”

The petite indigo vixen danced around Ray, and pulled her daughter into a spin.  Courtney giggled.  “Auntie Daddy Fox?”

“Daddy bot soon, I think.”  Donna said, nodding to Ray.  “See what you can do on your own.”

Donna acquired a metallic sheen, all her fur smoothing away into shiny blue metal.  She also stopped moving, and when Courtney patted her father’s leg, a hollow ringing sound could be heard.  “Daddy?”

A crystal formed beside Ray.  “Did you intend to turn them into a hollow statue?”

Ray made a face.  “Hey, this is harder than it looks.  And I’m a software guy, I have no clue what goes inside computers.  Or robots.  Sorry.”

Dia chuckled chimingly.  “Or brains, it seems.  You erased theirs.  It’ll make it easier to replace them with an AI module.  Should I bring their minds back so they can be passive riders, watching the AI do whatever but truly unable to do anything about it?”

Kate’s eye-slit had compressed to a single brilliant point, focussed on the crystal.  “You can do that?  Please?”

The crystal smiled.  “Thought that might get your attention.”