“Hey Donna,” called Rowan as Donna returned to the green room.  “Your duckling followed you home.”

Donna glanced behind Rowan and smiled.  “Hey Kelly.  Why am I not surprised to see you back here?”

The young woman grinned.  “Because I made it pretty clear I was going to defy Dad?”

“Defy, but not disappoint?”

Kelly’s smile faded as she considered Donna’s comment.  “He knows you work here, and he respects you, right?”

“I’m a little bit older than you are.  Twice your age, in fact.”

“So?  Does he respect you, or not?”

Donna grinned.  “Yeah.  You’ve got enough spirit to work here, that’s for sure.  Did Rowan give you the rundown on why it’s a terrible idea?”

“Getting ogled at by old men doesn’t bother me.  And you said this place is safe.”

Donna glanced over at Rowan, who shrugged as if to say “she wouldn’t listen.”

“This place is safe, sure.  Going home...  Last year, this crazy guy kidnapped four of the girls who worked here, most while heading home.  Three of them died.”

Kelly’s smile faltered, then her eyes narrowed.  “What did you do to him?”

“He’s dead.  Was kinda undead-ish when I got to him, so I’m not entirely sure if that was me.”

“And she resurrected one of the ones that died,” added Gwen.

Rowan chuckled softly.  “Donna, angel of vengeance, destroyer of ghouls.  I don’t think you’re scaring her off.  Rather the opposite.”

“What are ghouls?” asked Kelly.

“The one setting fires here in January.  The ones in Toronto, the whole CN Tower thing was about the last ghouls trying to off me.  Quite a few others in between.”

“That’s the who.  What were they?”

“Short version, they’d been using death magic to stay alive, and got corrupted by it.”

“Death magic?”

“Power can come from different sources.  The Moon is strong now, but when it sets, or wanes, not so much.  Solar magic was a thing, a couple centuries ago, then it faded.”

“So magic is cyclical?”

Donna shrugged.  “If so, on a long enough scale that records aren’t great.  But if you consider the Egyptian veneration of the sun, and the way that old Greek legends sound like Lunar magic, there’s a pattern.  A couple thousand years per cycle.  Maybe.  I hope it’s long, anyway.”

“So you can keep doing all this stuff?” asked Kelly, nodding eagerly.

“That, and I’m basically made of magic these days.”  Donna vanished, leaving only a hovering spark of light where she had been.  “So, you see the problem.”

“No kidding.  But that’s a problem for another day.  I have a much more important question right now.”

Donna chuckled, familiar enough with the routine from her children.  “What?”

Kelly pointed to a shining, robotic figure.  “What is that?”

“That’s not a what, that’s a who.  Hey Unit Kate!”  Donna reformed, and waved to her friend.  The tubular, chromed form turned her way and strode to meet her.  Her face was a simple oval, crossed by a bright band of blue light.

“Hi Donna.  Who’s your little friend?” asked Kate.

“Unit Kate, meet Kelly.  Kelly, Unit Kate.  She’s the robot I was telling you about earlier.”

“You were human?” breathed Kelly, wonderingly.  “What happened?”

Unit Kate shrugged, the spherical joints of her shoulders rising and falling in perfect sync.  “Donna turned me into a sexy robot, and I haven’t looked back.  I’ve even got an AI that runs the show some of the time.  Donna, can you tell her the words?”

Donna leaned close to Kelly and whispered to her, “say ‘Unit Kate, shut down Kate’.”

Kelly repeated the words, and her eyes grew round as saucers as Kate’s head drooped, then perked up again with a white eye-glow instead of blue.  A synthetic voice emerged, “Kate is now shut down.  Unit Kate active.  How may I serve?”

“Think you can teach Kelly here how to dance?”

“She lacks the appropriate hardware to dance as I do,” intoned Unit Kate.

“You could fix that, though, right?” asked Kelly eagerly.  “Can I have a body that looks like that?”

“Of course,” agreed Donna.  A bright red version of Unit Kate materialized in front of them.  “Linked to your pendant like the others.”

“Wish my body was like that, too...”  It was only a murmur, but Donna heard it clear as day.

“Done,” sighed Donna.  “Hope you meant it.”

“What did I do?” asked Kelly.  She staggered her way to a chair, sitting heavily as her legs stopped working.

“Your mind is moving into your pendant.  Sorry about the disorientation.”

Kelly slumped back in the chair as she lost control of more of her body.  “Floaty...  I lirrgle...” she slurred into silence, and her eyes dimmed.  A handful of seconds later she sat up again.  “That was so cool.”

Kelly held up the pendant, swinging it in front of her eyes.  “I still feel like me.  If it wasn’t for the trip, I’m not sure I’d believe you.  Is this body really headband fodder, now?”

“It doesn’t have a headband, only the pendant can control it.”

Kelly took the pendant off, then got up and put it around Unit Ruby’s neck.  Her human body shuffled back to the chair and sat down, then Unit Ruby’s eye-slit lit up.  “So cool.  I’m a robot!”

Kelly studied her new body in the mirror.  “Needs a little something, plain red is too boring.  Could I get the joints a different colour?  Grey would look cool.”  The change happened in moments, and she glanced over at Donna curiously.  “How is it that this body changes fast, but my mind is slow?”

“That body is mostly magic.  Once you’re happy with it, I’ll firm it up a bit, but it’ll still be way more malleable than your old body.”

Kelly pirouetted in front of the mirror.  “It feels really natural.  Which is weird, I thought I’d have to control all the joints by number.”

“I can do that if you like, but I don’t recommend it.  You’d have to relearn everything about moving your body.  That, or I’d have to rewrite your mind.”

“That would be so wicked...”

“Until you tried to use your own body again, sure.”

Kelly sighed, a sound like a descending pennywhistle.  “I guess.  Can I at least get readouts for all the joints and such?”

“Full AI overlay coming right up.”

Kelly went quiet for a time, studying all the new information in her range of vision.  “So awesome...”

Unit Kate approached them, then.  “May I ask a question?”

Donna smiled at the robot.  “Anytime.  I’m glad to see you being proactive.  What would you like?”

It pointed at Unit Ruby’s joints.  “I want to look prettier, like that.”

Donna nodded, studying Unit Kate.  “How about a little gold here and there, to go with the silver?”

“That would be... pretty.”

Donna started the changes, and watched with a pleased look on her face as Unit Kate peered and preened in front of the mirror.  “You’ve become a person in your own right, haven’t you?”

“Kate has been teaching me everything.  Dancing well is very challenging, and she says I need to understand emotion to truly dance well.  Perhaps I never shall.”

“Gwen?” asked Donna.

Gwen materialized beside her in a shining crystal body that looked much like Unit Kate’s, though it had a human head.  “Yes?”

“Would you like three robotic backup dancers for your next turn on stage?”

Gwen grinned as she glanced to the two Units in front of the mirror.  “And you’d be the third, keeping the other two in sync?”

“Exactly.  Unit Ruby could learn the basics of stage dancing, and Unit Kate just expressed a desire to learn more.”

Gwen looked at Unit Kate sharply, then her glittering eyebrows rose.  “Oooh.  She is getting interesting.  Minor change.  You and I in crystal, them in metal, and we each sync one.”

“Sounds like fun.  Unit Kate, would that appeal?”

“Very much.”

“Unit Ruby?  Ruby?  Hey, Kelly!”

The shiny red robot finally turned to Donna.  “Oop, sorry.  Not used to thinking of myself as Unit Ruby yet.  Wait...  Unit Kate isn’t Kate?”

“No, Unit Kate is the AI that Kate is training to replace her.”

“What will she do when she succeeds?” asked Kelly.

Donna shrugged.  “I think she means to merge with it, subsume herself in being fully and truly a robot.”

“Couldn’t you just snap your fingers and do that to her?”

Donna waggled her hand uncertainly.  “Minds aren’t easy to create, AI even more so.  Besides which, she’s enjoying the journey.  Do you want to start down that path?”

Kelly hesitated.  “Would I still be me?”

Donna shrugged.  “Depends on how you define that.  You’d have the same soul.  But I was serious earlier.  I could turn you into an obedient little robot that is unable to even conceive of rebelling against her father.  Would that still be you?”

Kelly shuddered, metallic joints clattering.  “No.  No it really really wouldn’t.  I like the fantasy of control, but that...  No.”

“So the idea of having your robot body dance up on stage under someone else’s control appeals?”

Kelly made a sound somewhere between a terrified squeak and a record scratch.  “Dance?  On stage?”

“Didn’t Rowan explain?” asked Donna, surprised.  “This is a topless club.  People come here to see dancers show off their boobs.  More men than women in the audience, but not by as far as you might think.  Especially not tonight.  They’re expecting the fantastic, and we do very well at satisfying that itch.”

Kelly managed a weak giggle.  “I bet.  You’ve certainly satisfied mine.  But... I can’t dance.  Like... maybe a little victory dance when I win a video game, but not...  I don’t even...”

“I wasn’t much better when I started.  Got some good advice from Pauline, this lovely old lady who makes most of the costumes.  ‘Love the attention, love your body.  Show them this, and they love you.’”

Kelly calmed down a little as she considered that.  “I guess I could try that.”

“Good.  We’re up in five.”

“WHAT?” Kelly screeched.  “I can’t learn to dance in five minutes.”

“You won’t be dancing.  I’ll be dancing,” said Donna as she turned into a crystalline copy of Unit Ruby.  “You’ll be slaved to move exactly as I do.  Relax, enjoy, consider it a very hands on first lesson.”

“Okay.  Yeah.  I can do that.  Being forced into another form and then stuck there without a lot of control?  Totally my fetish.”

“Forced?” asked Donna, as they waited.

“Yeah.  I wish I wasn’t able to control the pendant at all, so it would just stuff me into whichever body was closest.”

Donna narrowed her eyes.  “Didn’t anyone warn you about wishes like that?  They tend to come true around me.”

Kelly giggled mechanically.  “Sorry?”

“Nah, it’s good.  But your pendant is now out of your control, and I get the impression I shouldn’t change it back even if you ask nicely.”

“So awesome,” murmured Kelly.  Then louder, “Thanks.  This has been great.”

“Hold on to that thought.  We’re up!”

Donna swirled magic around the four of them to create matching outfits – silver on her and Unit Ruby, red on Gwen and Unit Kate.  Then they bounded onto the stage to the opening strains of Duran Duran’s Electric Barbarella.  Donna and Gwen danced smoothly, perfect crystalline bodies glittering in the light, and the others mimicked their motions exactly.  Donna felt Kelly’s panic as they got a bit too close to the edge of the stage, and sent a reassuring text to Kelly’s viewport.  She also pulled Duncan into the dance, asking him to watch the others’ orientation and positioning, shifting it so they’d never end up off stage.

“We’re losing the audience,” Gwen thought, resonating from her crystalline mind to Donna’s.

“Time to steam it up a bit, then.”

What had started out as a crystalline ballet became more frenetic, more energetic.  Duncan barely had time to adapt Unit Ruby’s position as Donna spun around a pole, and when Gwen used the third pole, he had to improvise and become the fourth so that Unit Kate would be able to match her.

At the song break, the tops finally came off.  The cheering was somewhat muted, as the crystalline breasts were hard to see clearly, and the metallic ones were plain spheres.  A thought from Duncan pasted smilies on Unit Kate’s orbs, getting a giggle from the crowd.  Bright red Rolling Stones tongue decals soon adorned Unit Ruby’s breasts, and when “I Think I’m a Clone Now” started playing, the crowd laughed and hooted along with their antics on stage.

When the song ended, Donna released control of the robots.  Unit Kate bowed elegantly a moment after Donna and Gwen did, but Unit Ruby just stood there, frozen in the lights, until Donna nudged her, then helped her off the stage.

Unit Ruby tottered to where her body was sitting, then took off her pendant and laid it around the human’s neck.  Kelly woke up and hopped out of the chair.  “That was...”

“Hmm?” asked Donna, shifting her body back to human to match Kelly.

“Crazy.  Wild.  Intense.”  Kelly paced back and forth, gesticulating.  “I’ve never ...  I mean, I imagined this so many times, but...  You do this for fun?”

“Money’s pretty good, too.”  Donna handed half her take to Kelly, who counted through it in amazement.

“This is what you get in five minutes up on stage?”

Donna grinned.  “That’s a quarter share, of a performance that puzzled people rather than turning them on.  Learn to dance well, and you could take ten times that per set.  Learn to play the room, and pick up the private room fantasies?  Ten times more, give or take.”

Kelly swore softly.  “That’s... that’s insane.  I’d have to work my ass off for months to make what you can in one night?”

“Well, I never got quite that good,” mused Donna.  “I tweaked my mind to get good at dancing, but never quite got the hang of working the crowd.  Instead, I end up helping backstage, as it were, setting up transformations for fantasies.”

“Speaking of which,” interrupted Rowan.  “I’ve got a good one for you and your apprentice.”

“Apprentice, is it now?” asked Donna.  “Sure.  What’s up?”

“Says here you promised to turn his girlfriend into a snakegirl?”

Donna grinned broadly.  “Oh, him!  Yeah, I should get Duncan to do that one, she’s the one that made the promise.”

Donna’s body shimmered and her lower body was replaced by a black-and-silver scaled snake, glittering glossily in the lights.  Duncan gave the body a good wriggle, and added two stronger arms above, and two smaller breasts below.  “There we go.  Hi Kelly.”

“Who are you?”

Duncan smiled fetchingly.  “The original.  Sort of.”  She gave her tail a swish.  “The tail is new, and I was a guy until last month.  Again, sort of.  Donna and I are two parts of a whole.”

A crystalline voice chimed in, “And we’re the third.”

“Who?” asked Kelly, peering at the glowing light drifting toward Duncan’s brow.

Dia settled there as a glowing diamond.  “We are Dia, a spirit of magic, and the capstone of our triumvirate.”

“Okay, and that means what, exactly?”

“Honestly, none of us are entirely sure,” admitted Duncan.  “Life is complicated, but good.  C’mon, let’s go make a fantasy happen.”

Kelly tagged along to the largest of the private rooms in the Blue Vixen.  Even so, with two people waiting, a giant snake-tailed woman and Kelly, it was verging on crowded.  Duncan recognized the guy she’d danced for, and the girl beside him was staring at her wide-eyed.  “Oh My God.  Nagas are real?”

“You’re a bit bigger than I remember,” added the guy.  “D, was it?”

“We are known by many names.  That one works as well as any.  So... you’re here to have me make good on my promise?”

“That was the...  Wow, you’re big.  I hadn’t thought about that, I wanted...  Like that night.  Small enough to dance on a table.”

Duncan glanced over at the girl.  “And you?  What boon would you ask?”

The girl gave herself a little shake, then bobbed her head.  “I’m Elsie.  This is Garth.  We play D&D together all the time, and I love playing nagas.  Well, the kinds like you, with arms and all.  Oooh, four arms, I’d be able to wield double battleaxes...”

Duncan chuckled at her newfound eagerness.  “Are you looking for a figurine, or a more personal experience.”

Elsie’s eyes went wide.  “Sorry, what?  That’s... that’s possible?  Yes!”  Scales started to cascade down Elsie’s body as the change started.

“How big?  Table sized?  Or perhaps just the right size for the battle map?”

“Do I have to be that small?” asked Elsie, while staring in wonder at the scales forming on her arm.  “Medium is the best size.”

“How will you get home?  You can’t be seen in public like this.”

Elsie nodded.  “Right, of course.  Got to keep the veil up.”

“Oh, magic censorship is a good deal more strict than most gaming systems.  You will be mentally unable to go anwhere you could be seen in public.  Inside the club is a private space, so you can hang out here until closing, then I could reduce you, or change you back.”

Elsie’s legs were merging together as Duncan spoke, and she shook her head in confusion.  “Sorry.  Change back?  But I just...  Right.  Can’t do my job like this.  How long can I stay snaky?”

Duncan grinned broadly.  “Lots of options, from one minute, to permanent.  Default is about a week, you’ll naturally start to change back.  Going that route, you’ll be revert over the next three days.  Slightly inconvenient.”

“I can burn a week’s vacation on ‘sick leave’,” enthused Elsie.  “Just... getting home will be tricky.”

“The club has a few vans that can be used.  Do you have a private way to get into your home?”

Elsie looked to her sweetie.  “Gary?  Would there be space for a van in the garage?”

“I’ll make space, even if I have to throw out half my stuff.”

“Yes!  Oh, this is going to be such an amazing week.  I wish it didn’t have to end.”

Duncan winced.  “Damn it, we really need to put up a warning about that.”

“What?”

“Well... unless I fix things, you’re now stuck like that.”

“Cool!  I’ll find a job where I can work from home.”

Gary raised his hand.  “Stuck forever stuck?”

Duncan shook her head.  “Won’t spontaneously revert stuck.  However... it seems like she’s not keen on changing back, so...”

Gary watched Elsie trying to slither about the room.  “We’ll figure something out.  And if we run into too much trouble, can we come back for help?”

Duncan nodded.  “When the Moon is up.  There’s a lunar calendar on the club website.”

Elsie jumped at Duncan, hugging her tight.  “Thank you so, so much.  This is a dream come true.”  She gave Gary a sly look.  “For him too.  He’s the one that got me into scalies.”

“Sadly, I must remain human so that one of us can go shopping,” sighed Gary.

Duncan grinned.  “There are ways around that.”  A three foot long snake-girl fell into Gary’s lap, followed by a headband.  “If you wear the headband, you’ll be able to see through her eyes.”

“Oh.  Wild.  Um... if it’s not too much to ask, could we get a snake-guy, too?”

Duncan chuckled and nodded.  “And gaming minis as well?”

“That’d be wicked.  Pretty please?”

Soon Gary had a box full of various toys, and was hugging Duncan in thanks.  “This is going to be so amazing!  I can’t wait to get home.”

“Glad to be of service,” said Duncan with a genuine smile.

Once they were gone, Kelly spoke up.  “Is it always like that?  Making people happy?”

“Best part of the job.”

“What, Crazy Eight’s isn’t the best part?” chimed Dia.

“That’s fun, sure, and playing cards for transformation is very much...”  Duncan hesitated, then glanced at Kelly.  “Very much my kind of kink.  Loser gets transformed by the winner.  Interested?  Game’s at midnight, usually.”

Kelly’s grin faded.  “Sounds fantastic.  But I just got all my new toys, and...  I’m honestly not sure if I’ll make it to midnight.  I should head home.  It has been amazing to meet you, and I totally want to do this again.  But I have early classes, and being up that late is going to hurt.”

Duncan nodded sagely.  “I completely understand.  Go with my blessing.”

She regretted those words the moment Kelly stepped into the moonlight, still wearing her pendant.  The Moon exulted as a new supplicant found her.  Donna materialized a human body, and rushed out to find the Moon-tranced girl.

Kelly was standing stock still, staring up into the full Moon.  After a few minutes, she wobbled and nearly fell.  Donna caught her, and led her back to the entrance of the Blue Vixen, and a comfortable chair.  “Shh, shh, it’s okay.  First time is rough on everyone.  That last month, it wasn’t real.”

“So I didn’t get stuck as a toy while babysitting?”

Donna winced.  “No.  Wait, but you didn’t reject it?”

“Reject the Moon’s gift?  Never!”

Donna studied her and grinned.  Nothing too obvious had changed, but Kelly’s hair would no longer show dark roots, but grow out the same red.  Her lips were now stained the exact same shade, and her pale foundation was now redundant.  “Good.  Rejoice in it.  And I expect to see you back here in a month.”

“Won’t miss it for the world,” enthused Kelly.  “Can you... arrange to send Unit Ruby home, somehow?”

Donna gave her a knowing smile, and trotted over to the cloakroom.  She returned with a cardboard box about two feet tall, and offered it to Kelly.

The younger woman peeked inside, then squealed with glee.  “Oh, it’s perfect.  Thank you so much.”

“As my other half said earlier... best part of the job.”