Commercial Break (Worm / Slut Life) (Borderline SFW)

[Jonakhensu]

A little surprised Taylor didn't hit on the "obvious" exploit of pairing Strength Booster with Mandatory Injection/Permanence, maybe even High Concentration. Maybe she was put off by the word "Experimental"?

Click to shrink...

Mostly the word "Drug" made her more or less skip the entire section, and Cindy got the impression Taylor wouldn't be interested in talking about it. Of course, once she's been on the show a while and works with the Scientists, she may be more open to trying them. On the other hand, some of the side effects aren't worth it. A strength and fitness booster that might cause atrophy and strength loss? Despite what some people here are saying, I can't see Taylor risking that. Especially since it says "side effect" not "after effect".

A possible complication with your finalized CYOA for Taylor: you have seven people inhabiting a three bedroom apartment:

Click to shrink...

Hm, yes, it does look like they've overlooked that. Well, that should make the first day interesting, when they have to divvy up the rooms. Besides, one of those rooms has a portal to a tentacle pit in it, so I doubt that'd be anyone's first pick... though Taylor might get stuck there since it's her pit.

Ah, makes sense to me. BTW, the Frost C ability seems to me like it's also ripe for exploitation, although I guess it would have also needed Aqua C to really be massively OP.

Click to shrink...

I had overlooked this expoit. Well, time to modify the Magical Girl CYOA... again.

Roommate Tetris a-go go?

Click to shrink...

I hope not... I hate 3-D Tetris.

I think she mostly was actually put off by the word "drug", but the other two didn't help, and for once Cindy didn't try to explain why exactly it would be a good thing (IIRC, she listed a few sex-related options she liked that Taylor didn't want that much anyway, and forgot to list the Strength Booster that Taylor would have at least considered).

Click to shrink...

There's a difference, at least in my mind, between listing items a person knows nothing about and going into an entire section that is both unneeded and that the person explicitly said she wanted nothing to do with - twice. If Taylor hadn't been able to balance her contract and needed the extra Credits, then I could see Cindy bringing the drugs up again.

That said, the possible side effects are canonically a thing (I think for the Strength Booster they have to do with becoming much weaker? forgot the details), with Permanence an unlucky initial draw might well keep the side effects forever, and Taylor knows she isn't particularly lucky. So even if offered she might well have turned it down anyway.

Click to shrink...

Most of the side effects were at least somewhat logical. Others were not, and at least one is "You don't want to know what the side effects are."

It's also possible there are actually 4 rooms, but you can only upgrade 3 of them for some arbitrary reason. In Jonakhensu's own version of the CYOA, the rooms are mostly standardized to two people to a room, and the room counts are specified with the the standard apartment having 2 bedrooms (for 4 inhabitants), and the deluxe apartment having 5 bedrooms (for 10 inhabitants).

Click to shrink...

I'm pretty sure they only have three bedrooms. That said, they also have enough empty rooms that one could easily be re-purposed. And, of course, you can always have a deluxe apartment with three people sharing a single bedroom... for some reason.

Of course that is not the version Taylor got to use (if she had, I suspect she'd have gone with a maze, for the cheaper access to more rooms alongside various options of decreasing the price some of which might prove helpful for training, and the main drawback being largely negated by her power), so at present we don't know the room count breakdown to figure out the split of roommates.

Click to shrink...

The Maze option has only existed for about a week, so Taylor still wouldn't have had it available. Additionally, while she might not have an issue with living in a maze, she does plan on keeping it and having roommates. Mazes can be pretty hard on any wanted guests, as well.

 

[Jonakhensu]

Preparation 2.1

---

Director Patience Warner sat at the head of the table, surveying those before her. "Today begins a supremely great work," she declared grandly. "Like our predecessors, Einstein, Archimedes, West, and Hawking, we will be broaching uncharted territory. Before us stands an entirely unexplored field of study, ripe for SCIENCE!"

The others around the table cheered. After the initial upset of the Mad Scientist selection meeting, things had calmed down. Of the ten initially interested scientists, only six remained. The others had found other projects they were better suited to or more interested in. Only these five, led by Director Warner remained.

"True," Professor Daniel Akkeman agreed. "It has been quite some time since we last had such an opportunity."

"Yes, but that leads to the first major question," Doctor Hugo Beutal began. "Where should we start?"

"That should be fairly obvious," Major Clemency Holst replied. "First we need to see about getting her off of Earth and to Babnockorty."

"I believe Captain Andreyasn volunteered his services in transporting Miss Hebert and her computer," Janitor Albert Schwaz commented. "Provided the conditions on one of the planet's alternates is suitable, I don't think we should have any difficulties."

"That is assuming the computer doesn't need to be in close proximity to work," Analyst Borislav Cuypers added. "It would be a shame to get her off of Earth only to have her drop dead when the computer decides to stop working. Computer Science may be one of my specialties, but I'm not confident I wouldn't miss anything terminal."

"And we thank you for your honest assessment of your skills," Director Warner said. "Fortunately, Professor Farnsworth has given me the contact information for an individual he claims has the skills we need."

Leaning forward, Analyst Cuypers asked, "And who is this individual? Perhaps I've heard of them?"

Director Warner winced, and answered, "He calls himself Hackerman."

"I'm going to ignore his atrocious naming tendencies and ask the important question," Major Holst decided. "Is he good enough?"

"According to Farnsworth," Director Warner began, "Hackerman managed to hack his way into the future, using a computer with 256 kilobytes of RAM and a 7.66 megahertz processor."

"That's inconceivable!" Cuypers exclaimed. "Computing power hasn't been that low since the nineteen nineties!"

"Yes," Warner said dryly. "I do believe that was the point." Looking around the table, she added, "He will, of course, be using much more powerful equipment this time. Now, he should be arriving within the next day or two, so that we may begin. Captain Andreyasn is on call, and, barring any emergencies on his end, will be available with an hour's notice." She looked around the table before concluding, "Once we have her situated, I want each of you to come up with topics to test. We only have her for four hundred and forty four hours once the show starts, so make sure we have something set up to monitor her between sessions or that can easily be done before she begins the show. We'll meet again once Hackerman has done what he can to discuss our options. Dismissed."

---

"Ready to get out of here?" Cindy asked as she and Taylor stood before the portal.

"Yes," Taylor replied emphatically. "I can't wait to see the sky again or feel a fresh breeze."

"It is a bit cramped up here," Cindy agreed.

"I'm a bit worried about all the bugs, though," Taylor admitted, some nervousness showing through.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Cindy said. "The orb weaver is happy under your bed, the crickets are all in their box, the millipede's back in its box, the bee hive has its tub sealed, and the ant enclosure has its lid on, right?"

"Yeah," Taylor said, "and I have my spider eggs with me, just in case. But I meant I'm worried about all of the bugs out there." She gestured to the portal. "I mean, there's going to several orders of magnitude difference in the number of bugs, right? What happens if I can't handle it?"

Cindy nodded in understanding. "That's a valid concern. If that happens, I'll get some of the guards to help me carry you back up here and we'll keep working on your capacity. Worst case? We'll have to tranquilize you for a little bit to bring you back up here until you recover. I think you'll be fine, though."

"If you say so," Taylor said doubtfully.

"You've gone from what? A single spider to more than a thousand insects in less than a week?" Cindy asked.

"Around there," Taylor agreed, figuring that the redhead didn't care about the exact number.

"Right," Cindy continued firmly. "This won't be any different from when I brought the ant colony. Now, let's get going." Taking hold of Taylor's arm, she guided her through the portal.

"Woah!" Taylor exclaimed as she crossed the threshold and lost her equilibrium. Cindy caught her before she could fall, and she soon had her bearings back. "That was weird," she opined.

"Maybe, but you seem to be fine," Cindy pointed out. "What happened?"

"The loss of all my insects and feeling so many more new ones all at once was really disorienting," Taylor explained. "I don't think it'd be as bad if I had more insects with me." Gesturing to the pocket holding her egg sack, she added, "I think having the eggs on me helped ground me somewhat, but they don't really have much presence yet, so it doesn't help that much."

Cindy considered that for a moment before coming to a decision. "We're definitely going to have you bring some more bugs back with you when we leave. See if that helps any."

"Right," Taylor agreed. Looking around, she asked, "So, now what? I mean, I appreciate being out in the real world again, but what are we out here to do?"

"I can answer that," Richard Johnson replied as he strode up to them. "Good to see you again, Taylor."

"Nice to see you, too, Richard," Taylor said with a smile. "What's up?"

"Well," he began, "since you're planning on taking up a proper gun, I figured you should actually learn how to shoot it before you try to magic one up."

"Luckily, my boss agreed," Cindy added, "so he scheduled some time on the range for you."

Giving the redhead a shrewd look, she asked, "This is going to be recorded and added to the show so that everyone can laugh at my failures, right?"

"I wouldn't put it like that," Cindy hedged, "but that isn't an entirely inaccurate assessment."

Clapping a hand onto Taylor's shoulder, Johnson said, "Don't worry too much. We're not letting you use the big guns right away. We'll start you off simple, with a .22 and work our way up from there."

"That's a kid's gun, right?" Taylor asked.

"Not quite, though it is a decent round for a child to start with, since it doesn't have much recoil," Johnson corrected. "But it's still a perfectly suitable hunting rifle for small game, as it won't render a rabbit to flinders."

"Oh, that makes sense, then," Taylor replied with a nod. "Think I can try out some of the hand guns as well?"

"I don't see why not," Johnson agreed with a large grin. "It's always good to have a hold out weapon, after all. Hell, maybe we should look into getting you some practice in with some knife work as well."

Cindy sighed as she followed the two towards the range. "I don't know who's going to love her more," she groaned quietly. "The military types or the self defense gurus."

---

Jacob Tricher stood at the end of a table in the sole spot of light in the room, waiting for the meeting to start. After a solid minute passed, he sighed and asked, "Are we going to have this meeting or not?"

A light above the furthest chair around the table flicked on. Seated there was a heavyset man with a visor strapped across his face. "The meeting will commence," he intoned.

Jacob rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Really, Uncle?" he asked. "Must we do this every time?"

"The protocols must be observed," a thin man with a rather large nose exclaimed as the lights above the other six members of the council clicked on.

"That is correct," Jacob's uncle, the chairman of the committee agreed. "And you should refer to me accordingly."

"You've all seen too much anime," Jacob opined under his breath. "Fine, then, 'Chairman Keel,' may we proceed?" Under his breath, he muttered, "Seriously too much anime. Your last name isn't even Keel. I've met a few of the bastards, and I don't know why you'd want to be compared to one of him."

"We can hear you," another man commented idly.

"Your attitude toward protocol notwithstanding, we are ready to begin," 'Chairman Keel' decided. "What do you have to report?"

"As directed, I did the evil recruiter act with Taylor Hebert, and then proceeded to brag to Cindy Matos, one of Slut Life's former contestants who was convinced to sign on with the company. She has filed an ethics violation report against me for my behavior."

"Was it deserved?" the sole woman at the table asked.

"Considering I got her to sign it through emotional blackmail and without presenting her with any information about what she was signing up for?" Jacob asked rhetorically. "It was definitely deserved. That was a case of outright fraud, and I still feel disgusted for doing it, even with your assurances that it wouldn't be noticed and that it was necessary."

Tricher grimaced and continued, "That said, I can think of plenty of places where doing worse would have gotten me nothing more than a gently worded warning. With Ross, the only reason I haven't been fired is my connection to the Chairman, here. He's not happy about being stonewalled, but he knows bigger things are going on that he doesn't know about, so he didn't tell Miss Matos that the original contract was fraudulent. We're lucky he didn't, because she would have told Miss Hebert, even against orders, and that would have ruined all of your plans."

"There are more branches than you think that would not condone that behavior," the woman replied, "though I understand you haven't visited many of them."

Jacob shrugged. "I'll have to take your word for it." This had actually been one of his better assignments. All he had needed to do was act like an egotistical ass and use any number of tricks to reach and maintain an impressively high recruitment standard. Playing the jerk was definitely significantly less stressful than being one of the only halfway decent people in the department.

"And how did Miss Hebert take your manipulations?" another man around the table asked. Jacob had never bothered trying to learn any of their names, and they'd never made an effort to give them. Besides, based on his uncle, it was unlikely any name they provided would be their real one.

"About as you'd expect," Jacob replied. "It's a good thing she's under Ross's care, or she'd be a definite liability, and I'm not sure if a mind wipe would work correctly on her, assuming they somehow tricked her into signing up for it. It definitely could have ended badly for the company, especially if her abilities are as potent as her file claims." Shuddering slightly, he added, "It also makes me glad I met her on the quarantine station, rather than on the surface."

"And how has she reacted since?" 'Chairman Keel' asked.

Shaking his head in slight disbelief, Jacob replied, "I don't know how she did it, but Matos convinced her to sign up to be a recruiter, rather than take the easy path."

"A sympathetic ear is sometimes all you need," the woman replied. "I haven't had a chance to look over her contract. Did she pick anything particularly interesting?"

Jacob nodded and said, "As predicted, returning home was one of her driving motivations, and Matos presented a work around for the difficulties that the modified contracted caused which should suffice, though it would leave her on her own for a year before we could make use of her. Miss Hebert elected to take the Society Membership as well as both 'Was it all a Dream' and 'New Home' options. Applied correctly, she should be transported back to her hospital bed with all of her memories."

"That doesn't sound right," Jacob's uncle said worriedly. "What does 'Was it all a dream?' do?"

"As far as I can tell," Tricher explained, "it is a variation of New Game+, without providing the option to retain your memories."

"That's definitely not the standard procedure," the man with the nose commented. "We always allow contestants to keep their memories, if they choose to, even if they don't sign the final contract. Where there any other irregularities?"

Jacob shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I didn't look through all of the details of the contract itself, just the parts Miss Hebert selected."

"We will need to look into this more closely," 'Chairman Keel' stated. "Considering everything else we've done to the girl out of necessity, we should at least make sure she was given all of the options we had planned on giving her." Looking over the notes he had been taking, he added, "We will have to keep an eye on Miss Matos. She may become either an asset or a liability in the future." He looked to his left, where another man made a note in a folder before continuing, "Do you have anything else to report?"

"Yes, I do," Jacob replied. "Miss Hebert's primary motivation currently, beyond going home, is to be a hero. To this effect, she has signed up to be a magical girl."

"Which type?" the woman asked curiously.

"Emotional, Will-based, I think," Jacob replied. "If memory serves, she should be getting empowered as soon as they finish with her modifications."

The woman smirked. "That is definitely a good choice for her. It might even allow us to use her services sooner than we could otherwise, depending on what choices she makes. I'll need to speak with a few people about the possibilities."

"Do you think she'll make a good troubleshooter?" another of the men asked.

"Possibly," Jacob replied. "I'm not sure if she'd be the most diplomatic choice, but once she has some experience under her belt and a decent swarm on hand, she should be a force to be reckoned with."

"And she would be a good choice for dealing with any insect related issues," 'Chairman Keel' added. "Do you foresee any issues with utilizing her in this fashion?"

Jacob nodded again. "As far as I can tell, she has two main motivations. Getting home to her father and becoming a hero. While we can probably play on her being a hero in some situations, I doubt she would be interested until she has at least gotten back to her father."

"That is reasonable," the hook-nosed man said. "Everyone needs some amount of downtime to decompress and reconnect with those they care about occasionally."

"Yes," Jacob's uncle agreed. "It would be best to wait until after she returns home before calling on her for any specific tasks. Provided they don't also fall under her remit as a magical girl as well, of course."

"On that note," Jacob interjected, "I was wondering if I could go on a vacation after this. Playing the jerk is always tiring, especially when I need to keep it up for years to build my cover, and I'd rather not be around now that Taylor's got access to a decent swarm."

"That is a reasonable concern," Jacob's uncle acknowledged. "We only have a few more questions before the meeting is over. After that, we will see about the details of your vacation."

"That's fine," Jacob replied with a sigh of relief. "Alright, shoot."

"Do you believe that she will be suitable for the position we have in mind for her?" 'Keel' asked.

Jacob shrugged. "You know a lot more about her than I do," he said offhandedly. "Pretty much anyone on our side would help stabilize the clusterfuck in that corner of the multiverse. That said, once she knows what's at stake, I think she'll do whatever she can to help. At the very least, I doubt she can make things any worse. And that was before she decided to become a Determinator."

"What do you think of her chances of recruiting others?" the woman asked.

"If the reports I've read about her world are accurate," Jacob began, "she shouldn't have any trouble getting people to sign up, just to get the hell out of there. It'll be more interesting to see how many she can convince to come back when they're done."

"That is a fair point," Jacob's uncle agreed. "Since we have finished our questions, I suppose it is time to move to the next matter at hand. Dewey, what type of vacation are you looking for?"

"Damn it, Uncle Humperdinck," Jacob whined. "Do you really need to use my first name? You know I don't like it."

"It's the name your mother gave you, so it's the name I'm going to use," Humperdinck snapped. "Now, answer the question." Both men ignored the snickers from the others in the room.

"Fine, fine," Jacob said. "First, I don't want to be anywhere near Taylor once she's out and about. She's mad at me for a damned good reason, and I don't want to be covered in bees. I don't care if they're stingless. Leave the Nicolas Cage impersonations for somebody else."

"That seems reasonable," the thin man noted.

Another shadowy figure sniggered. "No, not the bees! Not the bees! They're in my eyes!"

Rolling his eyes, Jacob continued. "Hell, it doesn't even need to be a real vacation. I just want to be somewhere where I can act like a normal, decent guy instead of being the biggest asshole I can and actually do some good… without needing to fix anything about wherever I am."

"You could always sign up for a run of your own," the woman suggested. "As Miss Matos said, it may give you a certain amount of respectability among other recruiters and contestants."

"And prevent me from working undercover ever again," Jacob noted.

"Not necessarily," Humperdinck mused. "How do you feel about transhumanism?

---

"That was fun!" Taylor declared as Cindy led her down the street.

Cindy shook her head. "I still don't know how you improved your aim so quickly."

"Oh, that was easy," Taylor replied. "All I needed to do was put two gnats on the gun and have another where I wanted to shoot. Then all I needed to do was line up all three and I could hit wherever I wanted, or at least close to it. Richard said my consistency will get better with practice. I still need to learn how to compensate for the recoil and how to not jerk the gun, after all."

"That's cheating!" Cindy declared.

"If you aren't cheating, you aren't trying hard enough," Taylor retorted. Looking around, she asked, "Where are we going, anyway?"

"Well, since you didn't pick New Identity, we like to do interviews before you go through any changes," Cindy explained. "Something of a before and after thing. So, we're heading to one of the studios. We've got a few people whose only job is to conduct entry and exit interviews."

Nervously, Taylor asked," What kind of questions would they be asking?"

Considering for a moment, Cindy replied, "Oh, you know, the basics. Favorite foods, favorite drinks, any hobbies, why you decided to join Slut Life, stuff like that."

"So I should tell them I was emotionally blackmailed by an asshole of a recruiter?" Taylor asked innocently.

Cindy winced. "We'd really rather you didn't. Granted, it'd probably get cut during editing, but they prefer to leave as much in as they can." Giving Taylor the puppy-dog-eye treatment, she requested, "Can you skip that bit and mention wanting to be a hero instead?"

Resisting the, admittedly compelling, pout, Taylor asked, "Why should I? It's what happened, after all."

Cindy shrugged. "I didn't think that would work. While you were practicing with those guns, I was talking to my boss. Apparently, the higher ups authorized me to offer you some compensation if you leave Tricher's part out of it. I'm not sure I would take it, but they told me to make the offer."

"So another bribe?" Taylor asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Is it anything good?"

"Possibly," Cindy replied. "I'm not a magical girl, so I can't be sure, but they said something about adding a bit of extra power to the ritual, which would enable you to get an extra tool out of it."

Taylor's eyes widened and she sucked in a breath in shock. "That's a pretty big deal," she stated. "Do you think I could get more out of them by refusing unless they give me more?"

Cindy shrugged. "I'm not sure. It might work, or they might decide to just cancel or pre-record the interview and cut out anything they don't like instead. As is, they should be sending it out live."

"Fine," Taylor decided. "I won't mention anything about Tricher."

Cindy gave Taylor a quick hug. "Thanks, that'll make things a lot easier around the office."

"You're welcome," Taylor said with a sigh. "Now come on, I want to get this over with before I change my mind."

---

"Good evening everyone, and welcome to another episode of Meet the Contestants!" the show's host, Vernon Gallagher, announced. "Today we have a very special contestant for you all to meet. Coming all the way from a mostly unexplored corner of the multiverse, we have Taylor Hebert, from Earth Bet!"

Amid raucous applause, and blushing furiously from the attention, Taylor made her way to the provided seat. Forcing herself to calm down, she sat and said, "Thank you for having me, Vernon."

"And thank you for coming," Vernon said cheerfully. "We always enjoy meeting the new contestants before they get started with their transition from civilian to celebrity. Your show is scheduled to begin in a few weeks, correct?"

"That's what they tell me," Taylor said. "Apparently, it depends on a few factors, but that's what they're trying for."

Vernon nodded. "Now, for our standard first question, why did you decide to become a contestant on Slut Life?"

Taylor and Cindy had discussed how to best answer this question while walking to the studio. "Well, my home is a bit of a shit hole… I can swear on air, right?" she asked.

"Go ahead," Vernon replied, waving off the concern. "You're a contestant on a sex-based reality show. It'll take more than a few bad words to bother our censors."

"Oh, good," Taylor said before continuing. "Anyway, Earth Bet has been going downhill for decades. We have more villains than heroes, with more appearing all the time. I've wanted to be a hero since I was a little girl, so when I was given the opportunity to become a better hero, how could I not take it?"

"Very civic minded of you," Vernon agreed. "Now, we'll come back to that and your plans for the show in a bit. First we'd like to get to know you a bit better."

"Sure," Taylor said gamely. "What would you like to know?"

"We have a standard list of questions that most people find interesting," Vernon explained. "Nothing too personal, mind you, just a few basic details. First, do you prefer tea, coffee, juice, or milk?"

"I typically prefer tea," Taylor began, "but it also depends on the time of day and the season. Juice is definitely better on a hot summer day, for instance."

"Do you have a favorite animal?"

"Not particularly," Taylor replied. "I like both cats and dogs, but spiders and insects have started to grow on me a bit. It probably has something to do with being able to control them."

"Can we have a demonstration?" Vernon asked curiously.

"Sure," Taylor said with a shrug. "Just… don't freak out, alright?"

---

"Liana, come watch this!" Meagan yelled without looking away from the screen in front of her.

"What is it?" the dark magical girl asked as she came up and looked over the other girl's shoulder. "Is that Taylor?"

"Yeah, she gave an interview earlier today," Meagan replied. "I thought you should see this part."

"Sure, what's it about?" Liana asked.

"About why you're going to be apologizing to the girl as soon as you can," Meagan said with finality. "And taking any punishment she decides to give you."

Liana blinked. "It can't be that bad," she commented. At Meagan's level look, she sighed. "Fine, I'll play it." Scooting around the chair and settling in Meagan's lap, Liana hit the button to begin the video. Twenty minutes later, after the video had finished, the magical girl gulped. "I definitely owe her an apology," Liana decided. "Though I think I'll wait until she's off planet before I give it."

"Fair enough," Meagan agreed.

---

After Taylor was safely back on the space station with her insects and a collection of new ones she'd picked up along the way, Cindy found herself back in Bob Ross's office to discuss the interview Taylor had had earlier in the day. For the first time in years, the live show had been cancelled halfway through, with an edited copy put out for broadcast shortly after the recording finished.

"They actually had to censor her?" Ross asked incredulously. "What did she say?"

Coughing into her fist to stall for a moment, Cindy answered, "Her insect demonstration was deemed too creepy for all viewers, so it was cut out of the aired interview. It's up on the website, though. That led to asking about how she got the ability to control them without being a psychic or magical girl."

"And that led to discussing Trigger Events?" Ross guessed.

"It did, including her own," Cindy replied. "Which, in turn, caused the show to go to a quick commercial break while they cleaned up Vernon Gallagher's vomit. They stopped broadcasting live after the second time. I'm not sure why they thought handing Taylor a pair of earplugs and a blindfold before showing footage of her in the locker was a good idea."

"Huh… I thought he had a stronger stomach than that," Ross mused.

"Just be glad they cut out any reactions from the audience," Cindy commented drolly. "We nearly had a stampede of people trying to make it to the bathroom in time." Shaking her head, Cindy continued, "That lead to more discussion about the state of her world, including the Endbringers. All in all, the studio decided they needed to cut a lot of the footage so it'd be suitable for general consumption. They did put the whole interview, including cleaning up the vomit, on the Slut Life website, though."

"Oh?" Ross asked, even as he started pulling up the page. "How's that going?"

"It's gone viral, what with it being something Slut Life deemed too extreme to show," Cindy said bluntly. "Apparently, it's become something of a challenge to watch the entire thing."

"That is a first," Ross agreed. "Let's see what the comment section says..." He skipped the video and started reading, gesturing for Cindy to come around so she could look as well. "If you don't cry, you're not human."

"I take offense to that. Just because I don't have tear ducts...," Cindy read. "Looks like it's from a naga."

"I'm a dragon, and I cried," Ross read.

"Oh, I recognize that username," Cindy declared. "That's Smaug."

"Isn't he going to be one of her owners?" Ross asked, despite having read the contract.

"Yes," Cindy replied. "I think there's a good chance he'll mother her after watching that."

"A dragon acting like a mother hen," Ross pondered. "That might be good for our ratings, just from the novelty of it."

"Probably," Cindy replied. "Moving on to the next one… the Crimson Fucker says 'This was HELLARIOUS!'"

"He would think that," Ross groaned.

"You know who he is?" Cindy asked.

"Unfortunately," Ross replied. "Don't worry about it. It's above your pay grade."

"If you say so," Cindy replied with a shrug. Looking at the screen, she read, "Looks like the Intergalactic Psychic's Association has released a statement that this 'Simurgh' or 'Ziz' is not a member, and that they'd never condone its apparent actions."

Ross nodded. "It makes sense that they'd want to distance themselves from that. I like the next one," Ross added. "It's not everyday you see a dark cult denounce something as an 'utterly depraved empowerment ritual.'"

Cindy looked at the time and winced. "While I'd love to sit here going through these all with you, I need to get going."

"That's fine," Ross replied. "It's enough to know that Miss Hebert is gaining quite a bit of respect just for surviving that hellhole. Have a good night."

"Thanks," Cindy said. "You too. Don't stay up too late looking at all the silly comments. And don't watch the interview before bed. Or right after you've eaten. You'll regret it if you do."

"I'll keep that mind," Ross called after his subordinate as she left. Turning back to his screen, he laughed at the next comment. Dethklok dubbed the interview 'Brutal.' He froze for a moment as a thought came to him, before he hurriedly worked to find a way to preemptively ban the heavy metal group from traveling to Earth Bet.

 

[Rakizael]

Dethklok MUST have an Earth Bet tour now!

 

[RageKnight]

Dethklok MUST have an Earth Bet tour now!

Click to shrink...

I will pay souls to see that show. Not money or live no SOULS.

 

[Dman123]

"Probably," Cindy replied. "Moving on to the next one… the Crimson Fucker says 'This was HELLARIOUS!'"

Click to shrink...

This is the best! I could not stop laughing!.....Oh the rest was good to.

 

[selonianth]

"Moving on to the next one… the Crimson Fucker says 'This was HELLARIOUS!'"

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Well, it's plus an 'e' but don't think I don't know Alucard when I see him.

 

[beow]

I think its funny that no one has commented on the fact that agent who signed taylor up through blackmail is not actually not a total asshole and has some survival instinct.

 

[TheEyes]

A little annoyed about the "twist" that makes Jacob retroactively not an asshole but someone pulling what's apparently a precog or time travel-assisted, years-long Xanatos gambit, solely to bring Taylor into the fold. It seems too much like the universe is twisting around in order to make it retroactively okay that Taylor was forced into Slut Life. In some ways it sort of sucks the suspense out of the story, because we now know there's a giant powerful conspiracy with either time travel or precog backing dedicated to making sure that Taylor comes out of this experience better off, as part of a larger plan to save Earth Bet or something. I'd much rather we never find out that Jacob is secretly a nice guy playing a role until much later, if we ever do.

I do like everything before and after the Jacob bit, though, from Professor Farnsworth and Hackerman to Taylor's venture into the real world (although the vomiting in response to explaining the Locker Incident was probably a bit overwrought; having to edit the interview because of "dead air" when the host sat gaping after Taylor's interview would probably work better).

 

[Tortoise]

Some typos:

The orb weaver is happy under your bed, the crickets are all in their box, the millipede's back in its box, the bee hive has it's tub sealed, and the ant enclosure has its lid on, right?

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its

As predicted, returning home was one of her driving motivations, and Matos presented a work around for the difficulties that that the modified contracted caused which should suffice, though it would leave her on her own for a year before we could make use of her.

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"That is reasonable," the hooked nosed man said.

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She's mad at me for damned good reason, and I don't want to be covered in bees.

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for a damn/damned good reason

We always enjoy meeting the new contestants before the get started with there transition from civilian to celebrity.

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they, their

Which, in turn caused the show to go to a quick commercial break while they cleaned up Vernon Gallagher's vomit.

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AFAICT if "in turn" is separated by commas it should have one on both sides.

Ross nodded. It makes sense that they'd want to distance themselves from that. I like the next one," Ross added.

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Missing a quote

 

[The Unicorn]

Great chapter, I really enjoyed seeing more of the society that formed Slut-life. Interesting that rather than being completly open they seem to have simply flipped our society's attitude regarding sex and violence - being completely open about sex but having violence heavily censored. I can't help but think that would be much more healthy than what we do in RL.

I hope Jacob doesn't play a significant role in the story, but given the way he was seemingly about to be convinced to sign up for a SL run I expect his session will run along with Taylor's and they'll meet up during it.

 

[Jonn Wolfe]

Well, this was a surprise. Jacob's not an ass, and they specifically wanted Taylor? Something tells me someone over there read Worm and hated the bullet ending.

The thought of a male dragon mother henning is both amusing and horrifying. Good job on that combination!

Also, there's no way The Crimson Fucker ISN'T Alucard. *snorts*

 

[Jonakhensu]

Dethklok MUST have an Earth Bet tour now!

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I will pay souls to see that show. Not money or live no SOULS.

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Feel free to write it. Chances are, they would miss the correct Earth Bet and end up in a different one. Either way, I don't currently plan on having it happen.

Well, it's plus an 'e' but don't think I don't know Alucard when I see him.

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Well, I definitely misremembered the way he spelt that... as did all of my beta readers. Or they decided it wasn't enough of an issue to bother with. Either that, or a different Alucard in a different part of the multiverse already got "theCrimsonFuckr," so this one had to settle for Crimson_Fucker."

A little annoyed about the "twist" that makes Jacob retroactively not an asshole but someone pulling what's apparently a precog or time travel-assisted, years-long Xanatos gambit, solely to bring Taylor into the fold. It seems too much like the universe is twisting around in order to make it retroactively okay that Taylor was forced into Slut Life. In some ways it sort of sucks the suspense out of the story, because we now know there's a giant powerful conspiracy with either time travel or precog backing dedicated to making sure that Taylor comes out of this experience better off, as part of a larger plan to save Earth Bet or something. I'd much rather we never find out that Jacob is secretly a nice guy playing a role until much later, if we ever do.

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That twist was decided months ago, though it looks like I either didn't word things correctly or you're reading into things too deeply. There was no time travel or a precog involved. Tricher was just set up there to wait for someone they'd pull this on, and Taylor just happened to be the first notable one. Even if he was being a jerk about it, he was still getting high recruitment rates without resorting to fraud, at least until Taylor showed up.

Some typos:

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Thanks, they've been fixed.

reat chapter, I really enjoyed seeing more of the society that formed Slut-life. Interesting that rather than being completly open they seem to have simply flipped our society's attitude regarding sex and violence - being completely open about sex but having violence heavily censored. I can't help but think that would be much more healthy than what we do in RL.

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The attitude of 'sex bad, violence good' is, as far as I've been able to determine, primarily an American view. Still, in a society where nearly any fetish can be sated consensually, I think they'd be more upset about non-consensual bullying and the like.

I hope Jacob doesn't play a significant role in the story, but given the way he was seemingly about to be convinced to sign up for a SL run I expect his session will run along with Taylor's and they'll meet up during it.

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I can safely promise that Jacob's run on Slut Life will not intersect with Taylor's, except in that it happens at the same time. They will not be on the same planet for their runs, as Jacob has requested.

The thought of a male dragon mother henning is both amusing and horrifying. Good job on that combination!

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Thanks. I have a few fun plans bouncing around involving Smaug, and I'm looking forward to exploring them.

 

[Jonn Wolfe]

I almost forgot! *facepalm*

Excellent Job getting Taylor to talk about her Trigger Event on camera. The more she talks about it, the better off she'll be emotionally as she puts it behind her. It would not surprise me if someone offered Taylor free therapy sessions due to that. She damned well needs it, like any other Traumatized Person. Lots of positive feedback for her from those who've seen that interview can only help her.

That's something I hate about Worm in general... the fact that every 'natural' powered person is an emotional wreck. (Non-Case53 Cauldron Capes don't count.)

They're effectively Walking PTSD Landmines and a hair's breadth away from completely losing their shit whenever they confront similar conditions to their trigger.

Sorry for the bit of a rant. Heh. It's one of MY hot buttons, so to speak.

 

[MissileTeatime]

Jacob's right, they have seen too much anime. Unfortunately (?) for him, I love it.

I already don't like Vernon, but it's not his fault he shares a name with the Evil Step-Father.

 

[The Unicorn]

The attitude of 'sex bad, violence good' is, as far as I've been able to determine, primarily an American view.

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Feel free to blame them on infecting the rest of the world, but while they might be more extreme about that then most, it's pretty prevalent in many countries.

 

[selonianth]

Well, I definitely misremembered the way he spelt that... as did all of my beta readers. Or they decided it wasn't enough of an issue to bother with. Either that, or a different Alucard in a different part of the multiverse already got "theCrimsonFuckr," so this one had to settle for Crimson_Fucker."

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Lol, I just happen to be a MASSIVE TFS Hellsing Ultimate Abridged fan.

 

[Jonn Wolfe]

Well, I definitely misremembered the way he spelt that... as did all of my beta readers. Or they decided it wasn't enough of an issue to bother with. Either that, or a different Alucard in a different part of the multiverse already got "theCrimsonFuckr," so this one had to settle for Crimson_Fucker."

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I'm trying to picture two Alucards meeting and conversing.

All I got was a paired "Fuck You." before they go for a walk together.

 

[TheEyes]

That twist was decided months ago, though it looks like I either didn't word things correctly or you're reading into things too deeply. There was no time travel or a precog involved. Tricher was just set up there to wait for someone they'd pull this on, and Taylor just happened to be the first notable one. Even if he was being a jerk about it, he was still getting high recruitment rates without resorting to fraud, at least until Taylor showed up.

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Well it certainly wasn't foreshadowed in any way, if that's what you meant by "[wording] things correctly". But the plan in general just makes no sense unless some sort of precog or time travel is involved.

Consider what you're implying. Tricher is being set up as a deep cover agent, acting like a smarmy bastard to everyone he tries to recruit and generally trashing both his reputation and the reputation of Slut Life as a whole, for years. He is doing this just on the off-chance that someday he'll be called on to give the hard sell to a naive teenager or young adult who is sheltered enough to want nothing to do with selling her body for a ton of money, but also dedicated enough to her word and easily enough swayed by a well-meaning but also kind of dumb "good cop" to follow through and give an enthusiastic performance after she's already feeling betrayed by Tricher? How often would you find a prospective contestant with that tight of a personality profile that you'd be willing to have someone spend years in deep cover on it, unless you had proof, via time travel or precog, that it would happen?

 

[Ack]

Well it certainly wasn't foreshadowed in any way, if that's what you meant by "[wording] things correctly". But the plan in general just makes no sense unless some sort of precog or time travel is involved.

Consider what you're implying. Tricher is being set up as a deep cover agent, acting like a smarmy bastard to everyone he tries to recruit and generally trashing both his reputation and the reputation of Slut Life as a whole, for years. He is doing this just on the off-chance that someday he'll be called on to give the hard sell to a naive teenager or young adult who is sheltered enough to want nothing to do with selling her body for a ton of money, but also dedicated enough to her word and easily enough swayed by a well-meaning but also kind of dumb "good cop" to follow through and give an enthusiastic performance after she's already feeling betrayed by Tricher? How often would you find a prospective contestant with that tight of a personality profile that you'd be willing to have someone spend years in deep cover on it, unless you had proof, via time travel or precog, that it would happen?

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Note that SL has a Secret Society that has access to time travel.

I don't find it so odd that someone made use of this.

 

[TheEyes]

Note that SL has a Secret Society that has access to time travel.

I don't find it so odd that someone made use of this.

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Right; I mean we already were made aware of the time travel since Taylor signed a contract that'll send her back to the beginning as soon as she's done with her run (possibly with a month or two added on so she can keep get her affairs in order at her apartment, provide for her siblings, and to ensure that QA can travel with her between Earth and Babnockorty whenever she wants to travel to and from Bet and her new apartment. I'm just saying it kind of sucks the suspense out of things since it's been made so clear that the fix is in on Taylor, what with the Society obviously spending some of their time travel messaging budget to ensure that exactly what happened was set up to happen.

 

[Malbutorius]

Just because he was acting out the role of an asshole doesn't make the action any less of an assholish thing to do, if anything it makes it even worse.

 

[torac]

I think it is a bit extreme to have people vomit from a mere description. I mean, unless Taylor's locker scene has changed significantly here, I cannot see even a fairly graphic description causing me to vomit, and I don't have the most fortified of stomachs compared to some others. Heck, even if it was worse here, I'd see Taylor refusing to talk in such detail about it, or having a breakdown as more likely than people vomiting.

Or did they show records of what happened? Live footage of the event? Did the bring out a crust of slightly coagulated rancid blood filled with all manner of vermin and other contaminants?

 

[Czlyydwr Llrngwl]

Plus, well, Pornworld. There's gonna be a decent segment of the population for which humiliation, confinement, and scat are sexy, not horrific. Note that I very much do not want to meet any of them on screen, except possibly as a one time "and the security guys hustled the creepy stalker fan out of there doubletime, because the insects were getting agitated. All the insects. In a rapidly increasing range," type incident.

edit:
(looks down at post number) I won, I won, I won, I won! ... What did I win, Al?

 

[Jonakhensu]

Excellent Job getting Taylor to talk about her Trigger Event on camera. The more she talks about it, the better off she'll be emotionally as she puts it behind her. It would not surprise me if someone offered Taylor free therapy sessions due to that. She damned well needs it, like any other Traumatized Person. Lots of positive feedback for her from those who've seen that interview can only help her.

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There's been mention of psychiatric care as part of Advanced Health Care. Whether Taylor decides to use it or not is up to her.

Jacob's right, they have seen too much anime. Unfortunately (?) for him, I love it.

I already don't like Vernon, but it's not his fault he shares a name with the Evil Step-Father.

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I basically thought to myself, "How would the Secret Society that secretly controls everything would act? They'd probably try to have fun with it." Thus, Seele Council knockoff.

It probably doesn't help that I was thinking of that Vernon when I picked the name. Kind of annoying how one person or character can ruin a specific name for years or generations to come.

Well it certainly wasn't foreshadowed in any way, if that's what you meant by "[wording] things correctly". But the plan in general just makes no sense unless some sort of precog or time travel is involved.

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Which part wasn't foreshadowed? Tricher not being a jerk or that there was more going on in the background? Because there's been discussion about the latter, and Tricher was only seen in three scenes, none of which were from his point of view, so I'm not sure how you'd foreshadow his true intentions while he's still competently acting like an asshole.

How often would you find a prospective contestant with that tight of a personality profile that you'd be willing to have someone spend years in deep cover on it, unless you had proof, via time travel or precog, that it would happen?

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Considering they're dealing with an infinite multiverse and are actively looking for new places to recruit from and new recruiters? I'd say the probability would quickly approach 1 over any decent time scale. Besides, Tricher has a very high recruitment rate. He's been pulling this for years. This was just the first time someone higher up decided the recruitment was more important than keeping him in place.

I'm just saying it kind of sucks the suspense out of things since it's been made so clear that the fix is in on Taylor, what with the Society obviously spending some of their time travel messaging budget to ensure that exactly what happened was set up to happen.

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I'm not sure what additional suspense not having the scene would have caused, considering we were at "Taylor got tricked into the show on false pretenses." Other than "When will Taylor find out and go Carrie on everyone?" I'm not sure what 'suspense' you're looking for. And that scenario is incredibly unlikely, based on her actions in canon. Of course, if that's what you are looking for, might I point out that Taylor doesn't know any of this yet.

Just because he was acting out the role of an asshole doesn't make the action any less of an assholish thing to do, if anything it makes it even worse.

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Quite right. Now, of course, the questions become did the ends justify the means, will Taylor agree to that assessment if she ever finds out, and what will happen if Tricher and Taylor ever meet again?

I think it is a bit extreme to have people vomit from a mere description. I mean, unless Taylor's locker scene has changed significantly here, I cannot see even a fairly graphic description causing me to vomit, and I don't have the most fortified of stomachs compared to some others. Heck, even if it was worse here, I'd see Taylor refusing to talk in such detail about it, or having a breakdown as more likely than people vomiting.

Or did they show records of what happened? Live footage of the event? Did the bring out a crust of slightly coagulated rancid blood filled with all manner of vermin and other contaminants?

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I added a mention of showing the scene to the audience, so it was a bit more graphic than it had been originally. For the in story viewers, at least.

Plus, well, Pornworld. There's gonna be a decent segment of the population for which humiliation, confinement, and scat are sexy, not horrific. Note that I very much do not want to meet any of them on screen, except possibly as a one time "and the security guys hustled the creepy stalker fan out of there doubletime, because the insects were getting agitated. All the insects. In a rapidly increasing range," type incident.

edit:
(looks down at post number) I won, I won, I won, I won! ... What did I win, Al?

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First, you win one internet. I think that's how that works...

Yes, there is a segment that likes humiliation, confinement, and scat. The part that changes it from sexy to horrific is that Taylor didn't want to be there. In one of the parts of the Slut Life universe where things are generally pretty positive, I can easily see consent being a larger part of the culture. When you can easily fulfill any fetish, forcing your fetish onto another is all the worse.

 

[The Unicorn]

Note that SL has a Secret Society that has access to time travel.

I don't find it so odd that someone made use of this.

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I think you meant it would break SoD if the upper ranks didn't make at least semi-regular use of it, or is that just me?

 

[Nightmare723764]

I think you meant it would break SoD if the upper ranks didn't make at least semi-regular use of it, or is that just me?

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Either or really. I would think a secret society would make use of an advantage like that on at least a semi-regular basis. Using it daily would be too much in my opinion.

 

[SystemSearcher]

Either or really. I would think a secret society would make use of an advantage like that on at least a semi-regular basis. Using it daily would be too much in my opinion.

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Unless they can actually do view-only time travel. Why not make use of it at every useful moment when you can just put in coordinates and time and just take a looksy via a screen, with no fear of paradoxes?

 

[Guardian54]

I think you meant it would break SoD if the upper ranks didn't make at least semi-regular use of it, or is that just me?

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The problem is that they end up butting heads in the past with ever-larger jumps to muck around with each other, and crap happens.

So most of the time the time machine simply refuses to work as multiversal timeline causality prevents it from working, or they just don't think of it all that often, or both.

 

[Czlyydwr Llrngwl]

It depends on how much they like pudding cups, I'd say.

 

[The Unicorn]

Unless they can actually do view-only time travel. Why not make use of it at every useful moment when you can just put in coordinates and time and just take a looksy via a screen, with no fear of paradoxes?

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Watsonian: While they can do time travel it's not as easy as you describe, so doesn't get used on a daily, or even weekly basis.
Doylist: Time travel used that frequently would break the story and make it incomprehensible.