Untiger
Tiger?
You blink a couple of times, and if you had hands you would rub your eyes. Here you have already been transformed into a tiger and dropped into a maze of rooms where it looks like you're supposed to pick a second transformation (or perhaps learn some biology), and either by instinct or blind luck - you certainly didn't think about it! - you have found the one door offering a transformation you have already gone through. Weird...
So is this door going to do nothing to you, or...? Only one way to find out! You rear up on your hind legs, and with a defiant roar you charge at the door labeled with your current species.
A split second before you hit the door it occurs to you what a good idea it would have been to make sure the door is unlocked and swings inwards before trying a stunt like that. Turns out there was no need to worry - right before you hit it, the door disintegrates in a shower of sparks, and as you fly through the shining cloud you feel a strange ripping sensation all over.
You have barely time to register that you are standing in some kind of corridor before you notice that you are standing on two legs again, and there is a mirror conveniently placed to your left. You turn around and take a look at your new self.
Or rather your old self. Looks like two similar transformations cancel out each other! Whatever the cause, you are human again, even clothed - but not in the clothes you were wearing earlier. Instead you are wearing some kind of gray uniform.
The booming voice speaks again: "Congratulations, you won the first round. Now move on."
The doorway behind you is still open, so it looks like you can just go back in the panthera room and pick a different species. Yeah, right!
At the other end of the corridor is a big door marked with a number 2. Second round? Halfway between the two doors (or at least doorways) is an open side door with a couple of windows on either side, and as you approach you notice the smell of cooking food and the sound of cutlery in use. Must be a cafeteria or something.
You feel hungry, and not just because of the smell.
Getting a bite to eat and some rest before you surrender to the madness of the mansion again sounds like a good idea.
Reaching the doorway and making a turn, you see a room filled with tables and chairs. A handful of people all in gray uniforms are sitting at various tables and, as you guessed from the noises, eating.
A young man, about your own age as you remember it, is sitting near the door with a half full glass of juice. Seeing you, he waves at you and says "Hi, you made it too?"
You walk over and notice that he looks strangely familiar. A vague memory of coming to the mansion together on a dare... or something... flashes through the back of your head.
"Yeah," you reply as you drop into a vacant chair. "Found out more than I have?"
"Well,you obviously figured out that two similar transformations cancel out. Unfortunately there is no exit from here, so we have to go through more transformations on the way out. And I guess it gets more complicated if transformations start layering. Turn into one thing, then another, then a third, and you can't just cancel out one of them any more."
"What about this place?"
"R&R area. Not part of the game. You can stay as long as you like before going on or back. Food is free, or at least they don't charge you until you're back home. This is 'time-out', so you won't get any transformations sprung on you. In fact the only magic in here is... her."
"Who?"
Your new or old friend points at something behind you just as you become aware of approaching footsteps. Turning around, you behold an apparation.
It is not a human, but not an animal either. Behind you stands an anthropomorph skunk girl wearing a waitress uniform, with a notepad and a pencil in her hands. She is quite pretty for being a nonhuman.
"Can I take your order?" she asks with a friendly smile.
Recalling what your friend said about free food, you proceed to order your favorite lunch with a few extras, resisting the impulse to add 'and you'.
As the mephitous lady finishes taking down your order and skips off promising to return soon, you turn to your friend and mutter, "Wow..."
He nods. "You can say that again. She's really something, huh?"
"Yes... you said she's magic?"
"Well she wasn't born like that! But she's going to tell you about it when she returns... with a question."
You don't really know what to say about that, so you remain quiet as you realize that you seem to have exhausted a rather short list of conversation subjects. Looks like neither of you remember much from before the mansion clearly, and the future is too uncertain to discuss any strategy. You have just come up with the idea of suggesting that you continue together, when you are interrupted by that peculiar footfall again, and the waitress returns with a
heavy tray.
Funny. You don't have a watch, but you could swear she left just a few minutes ago. But here she is back already, with a specially prepared meal that normally takes half an hour to get ready. Either time works funny here, or the cook is prescient.
"Will that be all?" the waitress ask after depositing the tray on your table. Momentarily distracted by the suggestive tone of her voice, you look over the tray and find that everything looks and smells just like you want it. You nod as you pick up a fork. "Yes. Thank you."
Still she stands there, and you wonder if she's expecting a tip, when she suddenly blurts, "What about a job?"
Much as you hate being interrupted when starting to eat, curiosity gets the better of you. "What kind of job?"
"Mine."
You put down the fork and look curiously at her. "You don't want it any more?"
She pulls out a chair and sits down after turning it sideways to make room for her tail. "Well, as they say, it's a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live here. You see, I am a player in the game just like you. When I came here the old waitress offered me her job, and now I have to stay until i get someone to take over. You won't get paid but you'll get board and lodging, and a vague promise of some help with the game and a surprise bonus when/if you get out."
"And now for the good part," your friend mutters. The waitress scowls at him and sighs.
"Yeah, the 'good' part. You not only get to do my job... you get to be me."
"Come again?"
"Hello?
Transformation Mansion, remember? I wasn't born like this. When I accepted the job I got transformed into the old waitress' likeness and she became whatever she had been before. If you take the job I'll be my old self again and you will be 'me'. Something about visual continuity..."
Now that's a different story, you think. You had kind of looked forward to being human for a while... "How long have you been here?" you ask.
Before the waitress can reply, there is a shout from one of the other tables, and she jumps to her feet and grabs her pad and pencil. "Duty calls!" she says quickly. "Think about it while you're eating, okay? It looks really tasty, shame to let it get cold."
And with that she is off to take and fill more orders, leaving you with an unanswered question. Two unanswered questions actually - one only she can answer, and one that you have to find the answer to yourself...
Written by Won-Tolla on 28 June 2007