“The hell is all this?” Felix looked at the items on their desks and let out an exaggerated groan.

Mirrors and makeup kits. With all sorts of assorted brushes.

“Take a seat, girls!” Natalie instructed. Sally and Hunter were the quickest to sit down, with Cat and Felix eventually picking their spots, leaving one empty spot open.

It took a moment for Hunter to register that she had access to a mirror for the first time.

The first mirrors Hunter could find since she’d been forcibly transformed. With nervous anticipation, she shakily adjusted the mirror to point at her new face.

Holy shit.

They’d really done a number on her.

Hunter was immediately drawn to her lips. They were thicker than ever before, and extremely kissable. She ran a finger over them, taking in every detail as she shivered at the touch. Her cheeks were incredibly pronounced, with the shape of her face being much more rounded instead of angular. It was almost as if she had been given a face from a template, with only small touches from Hunter’s former face showing through. She was staring at a face that was completely alien to her. With her previous forays into shapeshifting, she’d typically kept a familiar facial structure with a few twists. This was on another level.

She liked it from a voyeuristic perspective, though the thought of wearing this face for the rest of her life was a terrifying prospect. Hunter glanced around the rest of the room, noting that the other interns were staring at their reflections, transfixed. How many of them were having the same thoughts?

None of the other interns made a sound at first. She didn’t see any outright horrified reactions, which was definitely curious. Hunter wondered who would crack first.

It ended up being Felix, letting out a “Holy fuck.”

“Hey!” Natalie took a few steps closer to their desks, commanding their attention. “Proper ladies do not swear. Do I make myself clear?” 

“Natalie, what the fuck are you doing? Why did you give them mirrors?” a familiar voice rang out through the opposing wall.

“Uh-oh.” Hunter knew what was coming.

A door presumably to a staff room opened, and Lori emerged from the back, wearing a scowl and a cute business suit. She was holding a makeup mirror, gesturing at it angrily.

“Lori, I thought we agreed you wouldn’t directly join in,” Natalie groaned.

“Yeah, then I realized what you’d done! Holy shit, what a terrible idea.”

“What's wrong with the setup? Besides, they need the mirrors to put the makeup on successfully anyway.”

“You’ve RUINED the mirror scene!” Lori seethed as she set the mirror she was holding down on the unused desk.

Natalie put her hands on her hips, waiting for Lori to continue while refusing to say anything.

“You spoiled the opportunity to have them dramatically look in horror at who they've become! Now it’s all centered on their fucking faces, without taking in the entire picture all at once. There’s no feeling of proper emotional weight to this because now we have to transition into learning how to do makeup in a silly manner. Well done. Really fucking well done. I love having a stunned woman apply lipstick to her face that she can’t move because her jaw is on the floor as she examines herself for the first time. What a lovely coupling of things to do at once!’”

Cat, Sally, and Felix took the opportunity to stare at Hunter, their eyes demanding an explanation.

“Lori’s on their side now,” Hunter commented, feeling more than a little jealous that Lori could effortlessly insert herself into the lead role and take control.

“Oh, we’re doomed.” Felix’s shoulders slumped.

“No, we’re not.” Hunter took turns looking each of the interns in the eye. “If anything, we have the advantage. I know her, and I know her weaknesses.” She grinned. “Play along for now. She’ll slip up eventually.”

“God, the things I have to do to earn my basic human rights,” Felix grumbled.

“Just wait until you have to get back in the job market,” Cat snarked.

A small bell dinged, causing the interns to snap to attention. They stared at Natalie, who looked like she was desperately attempting to keep the remaining shreds of her authority intact. Lori looked annoyed as well, definitely furious on the inside that her first chance to be the feminizer was with someone who didn’t appreciate the craft as much as she did, and had spoiled something important she had planned.

If Hunter wasn’t focused on protecting herself as well as the other interns, it would almost be entertaining, watching the two of them stuck working together.

Natalie took a deep breath and let out an order, in a manner that made Hunter positive she was reciting a script. “Now, ladies, we’re going to make you into experts at decorating your cute little faces. You will get so good at it, you’ll be able to pick up any man you want while you’re out on the town!”

“Or woman. In fact, only try to impress women,” Lori added.

“How is that fair?” Natalie rolled her eyes.

“Okay, you're actually right. Half the time a man, half the time a woman. I’m sorry, I was exclusionary, straight trans women have too much to deal with and I shouldn’t add to that. Fuck, I’m not accounting for gender nonconformity…”

“What are you talking about?” Natalie asked.

“Aw, fuckin hell.”

***

Then came the makeup training. Both Lori and Natalie would call out instructions, then take turns patrolling the desks and assisting the interns. Unsurprisingly, Lori used the opportunity to personally have a hand in Hunter’s training.

At first, Lori was a bit shaky as she helped Hunter. She had stumbled over her words a couple of times, and occasionally went silent even when asked for further directions. Hunter knew her girlfriend well enough to understand that this was Lori’s first time actually attempting to be the driving, dominant force. She certainly talked a big game, now she had to walk the walk. 

As time went on, Lori’s demeanor gradually became more confident. She started to anticipate where Hunter was at both emotionally and physically before Hunter even knew. It was like watching a hidden talent emerge from deep within her girlfriend, a truly beautiful and intimate sight.

With Lori’s help, Hunter applied a lipstick the same shade as her ruby red nails, then smoothed it out and applied a red lipliner, followed by a coat of lip gloss to really make her lips pop. It was uncanny how glamorous they looked. Hunter certainly wouldn’t have paid as much attention to her lips if it weren’t for Lori continually giving her affirmations.

“You look so kissable right now…so scrumptious and delectable…” Lori made a show of licking her lips.

“I’m going to kill you,” Hunter said while failing to suppress her smile.

“Well, you did say you were willing to learn how to do your makeup a while back…” Lori pointed out.

“At the time, I imagined it would be under less stressful circumstances.” 

“Oh, live in the moment, babe.” Lori dipped a wand into a container of mascara. “Now, we’re going to really make your eyes pop. I’m thinking we give you big doe eyes. For a sweet, innocent, yet unmistakably sexy woman. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

Hunter’s thoughts rapidly disintegrated into static. “Mmm…”

Lori took her sweet time applying the mascara and eyeliner, mostly so she would have an excuse to stay by Hunter’s side. Once she finished one eye, she made Hunter do the other one as she peppered compliments about how well-behaved and obedient Hunter was.

Hunter marveled that it only took a few well-placed positive affirmations to get her to comply with Lori’s directions. Of course, she likely would have complied anyway so as to lull Lori and Natalie into a false sense of security, but Lori’s style was one that made her target an active participant in the process in a constructive way. In many ways, this was just as intoxicating as having the finer bits of being feminine imposed on her.

It still was imposed on her, but Lori’s methodology made Hunter feel even more vulnerable. After all, what excuses remained when she was actively participating in the transformation, and enjoying the positive attention at the same time?

“You know how hard it is for me to not ruin your makeup by kissing you right now?” Lori grinned evilly. 

“Oh, wouldn’t that just be terrible?” Hunter looked at her girlfriend and batted her eyelashes with a sly grin. Two could play that game.

Lori was visibly trying to hold herself back from jumping Hunter. “You’re getting good at this.”

“Hopefully good enough to stop them,” Hunter said quietly while glancing at Natalie, who was in the middle of lecturing a very defiant Felix. 

“Would you stop me?” Lori asked curiously.

“If it comes to that,” Hunter said while staring right through Lori. She had to know that Hunter was serious.

“Huh.” Lori took a moment to ruminate on those words before Natalie called her name out, evidently struggling with Felix enough to need an extra hand. Lori gave Hunter one more tender look before leaving to join them.

Without Lori to distract her, Hunter once again stared into the mirror. Lori was right about her eyes being big and innocent…it was actually a really cute look for her. The curls of her blonde hair only served to enhance her newly natural facial features, though she did go out of her way to put some blush on her cheeks and foundation across her face. The result was unbelievably stunning, as if she were prepping to model some brand new and expensive designer clothing.

It took an active effort for Hunter to pull herself away from the mirror’s magnetic influence, because she knew that she would rapidly become addicted to trying on new looks and new styles if she got too distracted. The seductive allure of becoming the impossibly perfect supermodel was starting to tempt her, and she couldn't let herself get too deep into the fantasy.

Hunter glanced at Natalie and Lori. They were busy trying to get Felix to pretty himself up, only for Felix to repeatedly protest that there was no way he would ever participate in the fucked-up transformation class willingly.

Then she glanced at the doors, to see if there was any way of getting around those. They seemed to require a badge to scan in to unlock, but didn’t appear to have any magnetic properties to force themselves back closed.

And it just so happened that Lori hadn’t closed the door all the way when she’d angrily stormed out of the staff room. This was Hunter’s chance.

She looked over at Cat and Sally and subtly moved her chair over, leaning forward so both of them could overhear.

“I have to sneak into the staff room. Can you two cover me?”

Cat enthusiastically nodded, while Sally shrugged. Both of them had been taking the makeup lessons somewhat seriously and had done a decent job with getting it the way Natalie had requested.

“I could maybe help,” Sally said. 

“Sally, please, I need you right now,” Hunter said. “You still want a chance at your former body, right?”

“I guess."

“Okay, I’ve got an idea. Sally, I need you to distract Lori and Natalie.”

“How should I do that?”

“Start talking about how you're happy to be a woman now so you can finally spread your legs and get pregnant and be a good, docile mother for your twelve children. I guarantee that will cause both of them to lose their minds.”

“I mean, that’s all technically true.”

Hunter rolled her eyes. “I’ll shelve my thoughts on that for later. Um, good, you’ll be more authentic, then. Cat, can you keep watch and warn me if they start getting quieter?”

“Sure thing!” Cat smiled.

“Let’s get to work.” Hunter moved off to the side while Sally walked up to Natalie, Lori, and Felix.

It only took a few seconds of Sally talking to make Lori let out a shrill “WHAT THE FUCK!?”

Cat gestured for Hunter to go for the door, and she wasted no time in slipping through, noticing that Lori hadn’t left the door open after all. A cleaning robot had gotten itself wedged in between the door and the wall. Hunter was careful to not let the door fully close after she had snuck through. The last she heard from the main room was Natalie and Lori starting to raise their voices at each other.

Hunter took a small moment to collect herself and looked around the staff room, hoping to find any sign of Luna. Unfortunately, there weren’t any obvious indications of any connections to the AI in the room.

“Shit,” she muttered, fearful that she'd made too many assumptions.

At the very least, Hunter decided to use the opportunity to search a little more carefully, noting there were many more makeup kits, and a few other implements that raised a few questions, including a couple whips and several paddles. She wasn't happy to see any of those items, cringing at the obvious ways they may be used with her...or against her.

Then she saw a curious looking device attached to the center of a table. It didn’t look like any technical device she was familiar with, and as she approached it, she noted that it seemed like it was humming. A small little pedestal was on the table, connected by a cable running into a wall.

“If I know my sci-fi…” she mused. “This is a holographic interface that AIs use when they want to communicate with others.”

“Yep!” A small, pink figure materialized in front of Hunter, hovering over the pedestal. “Wow, you’re good at this!”

A wave of relief instantly washed over Hunter. For the first time since she'd walked into the NewU building, she had done something right. 

The figure was in the form of a woman wearing some rather revealing clothing, with hair tied up in a ponytail. This was definitely the preferred form of that AI.

“Luna?”

“That’s me!” Luna’s holographic form clapped her hands together. “I’m so glad you found me, Hunter! I was beginning to think we wouldn’t ever talk again!”

“Let’s uh, keep it down, we don’t want to alert the others,” Hunter said nervously, checking the doorway just in case.

“Gotcha!” Luna mimed zipping up her lips.

“I’m gonna cut to the chase here. Luna, I really hope I can trust you because I need to get myself, the other interns, and probably you out of here as soon as possible. Can you give me anything to start with?” 

“I could…” Luna wiggled her hips as she dramatically put a finger to her lips. “Though to start I think you should, like, find out about what we’re actually doing here at NewU.”

Hunter felt her nerves already calming down. “Sure. What can you tell me?”

Luna smiled. “Alright, here’s the full scoop! You’re part of the brand-new, NewU Housewife Program! Isn’t that exciting!”

Housewife program?

Oh, no.

No wonder they hadn’t done anything related to being a secretary yet. Housewives…it made sense. All of the tasks had been themed around domestic support…ordering packages online, dressing up in frilly little maid outfits and cleaning…all of the cookware in the original intern area, too.

Lori was going to freak out. Hunter surmised she didn’t know yet, considering she wouldn’t have been able to keep the secret from the rest of the group.

Then the door creaked open, and Hunter quickly spun around, fearing she was already caught. 

Nope, it was Cat. She walked in with her head down, and started talking.

“Hey, Hunter, I just want you to know I’m transgender, too. I’ve already known I was the whole time and wanted to get a free transition, and I’m sorry for holding it in so long. I had resolved to be quiet and go through everything without raising any suspicions, and then you came out and I felt like I could trust you.” Cat looked up and then stared at Luna’s holographic form. “Um, am I interrupting something?”