Chapter 6

            "What do you think Brent?" Emma asked as she held one of the stall's brightly colored outfits in front of her body.

            "I think you'd need another breast and two more arms to make the outfit work." Brent replied, giving his fiancé a peck on the cheek.

            "Maybe that's just the transformation I need.  Though you'll have to get them as well.  You promised matching transformation."

            "I said linked, not matching.  If you get extra breasts, I get extra dicks or something like that."

            Emma leaned in and whispered in Brent's ear.  "Oh, don't deny it.  You'll kill for a big pair of hooters of your own.  I know all about your fetishes mister."

            Brent blushed slightly but it was true.  Emma knew all about his genderplay fantasies.  In fact that was how they'd met.  Brent had lost a bet (on purpose) and had spent a Demon's Eve party serving as a maid.  His friends had tried to make the situation worse by making the outfit super sexy and Brent had enjoyed every moment of it.  Emma had been at the party as well, dressed as a dom, and it had been love at first drink order.

            "We'll have to come back to this shop later, after our changes." Emma remarked, pulling Brent out of the stall and back onto the crowded street.

            "Yes dear." Brent replied with playful exasperation.  He knew how much Emma liked being in charge, a fact that was a huge turn-on for him.

            The pair passed by stalls selling food, clothing, and even transformed furniture, until something in a stall down the block caught Emma's eye.  "This way." she proclaimed, tugging Brent along.

            The stall they stopped in front of was mostly composed of a long stage with a boxy machine in the center.  On either side of the machine was a sort of chair or shelf for a user to sit on.

            Barking the machine was a strange proprietor who appeared half man and half woman.  Literally half and half.  The left side of his…her…its body was masculine, with firm muscles, short hair, and even some stubble.  The right side was all female, with long hair, make-up, and a single plump breast.  The outfit it was wearing was a similarly symmetric, almost harlequin, combination of a suit and a hooker outfit.

            "While our next set of users prepare backstage, let bring those of you just joining us up to speed.  Behind me is the great GET machine.  GET stands for Gender Essence Transfer and this machine does just what it says.  As you may or may not know, all humans are born with varying amounts of masculine and feminine essence inside him.  While these skew toward their birth sex, it is possible to have a man with high feminine essence or a woman with high masculine essence.  This changes their outlook on life, their body type, even their personality.

            "With this great machine it is possible to adjust the amount of gendered essence in the body, transferring it between two users.  This allows for the creation of hyper masculine or feminine individuals, those with 80% or more of their respective essences in one gender of the others.  Even with our best technique some of the drained gendered essence remains, so it's nearly impossible to end up with someone 100% of a single gender.  And honestly, I think our users enjoy having a bit of their old essence left.  You'll understand what I mean in a moment.  But first, please welcome out to the stage Shane and Alma."

            A man and a woman walked out from backstage, both naked.  Shane was of average height and skinny build, with short black hair.  Alma had short and plump, with coffee skin and a bob haircut.

            "Shane and Alma here will be undergoing our standard hyper couple transfer.  That is to say, Alma will be passing her masculine energy over to her husband Shane, while Shane's feminine energy will flow back into his wife."

            Two assistants, both baseline humans but dressed in the same odd outfit as the barker, appeared and began fiddling with the chairs on either side of the machine.  As they worked the barker explained, "Each user of the GET machine will have a set of input and output essence nodes on their body.  The type and location of these nodes is important, as it affects how the essence is removed or add to their bodies.  Due to the nature of the essence transfer process, the part of the body with the output node will remain with the largest concentration of that essence in the body.  For example, say Alma was transferring her feminine essence to her husband via her breasts.  Instead of shrinking away, as would be the case if she put the probe somewhere else, her breasts would remain the same size or possibly even grow larger as her remaining feminine essence was concentrated in her breast tissues.

            "The same effect works on the input nodes.  Flipping the example, if
Alma was receiving her husband's feminine essence directly to her breasts, then they would be the most affected by the transfer.  In practical effects, she'd become very busty indeed.

            "Let's see, how did this pair pick for their node choices.  For Shane…it looks like the technician is attaching the input probe to his penis." As Brent and Emma watched, one of the technician's slid a fleshlight looking contraptions over Shane's full hardness dick.  "This is one of the most common choices for our male users.  As for the output probe…it seems Brent is going with the anal probe.  Apparently Alma likes her men with a bit of a bubble butt."

            As the crowd chuckled, the technician attacked a phallic column to the seat of the chair.  Shane lowered himself onto it, wincing as he went.  On the other side of the machine, Alma was already seated as her technician attached dozens of circular probe patches on strings to her legs.

            "Let's see, what did Alma pick to for her points.  Input to her vagina, another popular female options and one necessary if she's going to be able to take Shane's enhanced package.  Masculine essence out through the legs is a surprise."

            "I'm a runner." Alma explained.  "And I've always been jealous of my husband's legs."

            "Well, you'll certainly have the build to run after this.  The distributed probe that my assistant is hooking up affects the body shape and muscle mass of regions they are attached to.  This can be as small as a single limb or as much as the entire body, with the effect diluted by how much area is covered."

            Alma's assistant gave the barker a thumbs up and rose to stand behind the machine.  The assistant on the other side signaled he was done as well and he too moved to work the controls on the back of the machine.

            "Here we go folks.  Just a few last minute checks and then we can begin the transfer."  A hand stuck out from behind the machine, flashing a thumbs up.  "And it seems we're good to go.  Can you give me a countdown, starting at ten…"

            The crowd dutifully did so, counting back until they reached zero.  As they did there was the click of lever being pulled and the GET machine exploded in lights.  It's two occupants began to twitch as if under assault by hundreds of tiny electric shocks.  A trail of blue lights ran across the GET machine toward Shane, while a similar line of pink light streaked out toward Alma.  They met in the middle and passed each other.  It was only after the lights reached the far side of the machine that the changes began.

            It was hard to tell at first, but after a minute it was clear that Shane was growing larger while Alma was growing smaller.  Not all of the woman was shrinking at the same rate though.  If anything her breasts and backside were getting bigger, while her naked legs grew thick with muscle.  On the other side of the machine Shane was growing more muscular as well.  His butt grew thick and fat, elevating him off the seat by several inches.

            After about five minutes the techs shut down the machine and undid the probes.  The barker had the newly changed couple stand onstage beside him and loudly went through all their changes.  Seeing the pair standing side by side it was easier to compare the results of the GET.  Alma seemed to have lost around four inches of height, which had been found by Shane.  While her legs were a toned runner's dream, her wide hips and heavy breasts would make running very far a challenge.  Alma's face had undergone some minor changes - -a straightening of her nose, plumping of her lips, etc, and her former bob haircut now fell halfway down her back.

            Shane, meanwhile, was sporting a nearly foot long erection from his crotch.  No longer skinny, his body was thick with muscle and body hair.  He looked to be sporting a two month beard and the slight balding he'd had before was completely gone.

            Eventually the barker let the couple head backstage to get dressed once again.  Due to their changing sizes, this was most likely going to be a challenge.  As the pair left the stage the barker said,  "Let's give a big cheer for Shane and Alma.  Now, who wants to go next?"

            Brent and Emma shared glance lasting only a few seconds before both raised their hands high in the air.  "Ah, it seems we have another eager pair of users." the barker chuckled.  "Why don't you two come up here and we'll get you started on the process."

            Brent and Emma scooted around the side of the stage.  They were met by the female assistant, who led them behind the curtain.  Backstage there was a bench and a set of lockers, a makeshift changing area.  The male technician was there, assisting Shane as the larger man tried to fit back into his clothes.

            "Do you need an explanation of how the GET transformation works?" the female tech asked the couple.

            "No, we watched their full transformation." Brent said, pointing at Shane and Alma.

            "Perfect.  In that case, do you know what kind of hook-ups you want?  I assume we're doing a standard couple's transfer."

            "Actually," Emma cut in, "we were thinking of doing a reverse of their transfer.  So I end up with all the masculine energy and my fiancé ends up with all the feminine energy."

            The tech gave Brent a raised eyebrow, as if expecting him to complain about this upcoming feminization.  Instead, Brent added, "How about placing the output probe on my dick.  I need retain something to keep the missus happy.  And I'd like my essence input directly to my breasts.  I really like how hers turned out." Shane gestured to Alma, whose shirt, despite tenting hugely in the front, now fell almost to her knees.

            "If you're sure." the tech said.  "We don't get a lot of changes like this.  Just be aware that due to the amount of essence that needs to be transferred, the effects will be much larger than you saw in the earlier transformation."  She turned to Emma.  "And for you Ma'am?"

            "I too share my husband's breast fixation, so I'll have my output probe there to retain them.  As for the input…hmm.  Can you do a distributed muscle probe web like you did for Alma, only over my entire body?"

            "Sure.  Let me go get the machine set up.  Meanwhile, we need you two to strip down.  You can place your clothes in one of the lockers." She gestured at the wall of metal shelves before slipping back to the stage.

            The pair began taking off their clothes and setting them on shelves.  Emma paused to tweak her fiancé's diamond hard nipples.  "You're going to look so hot with a big honking pair of tits."

            Brent knew Emma was bisexual, a fact proven by the extra women they occasionally invited into their bed.  The thought of him gaining breasts was probably making her as hot as it was making him.  And while Brent was straight, he had a fetish for strong, dominant women.  He wasn’t worried about the change making Emma too masculine.

            Five minutes later, the pair found themselves onstage with the barker and his assistants.  Emma gave Brent one last kiss on the cheek before being led to the far side of the machine.  The male tech instructed Brent to sit on the seat and spread his legs wide.  Brent was already hard in anticipation, so the fleshlight that the tech slipped over his dick had no trouble staying in place.  The Tech then attached two clips to Brent's nipples.  They bit with a jolt of pain before releasing a flood of endorphins. The tech checked the connection, before nodding and moving away to the rear of the machine.

            Brent could hear the barker riling up the crowd, but his brain was too excited to understand the words.  He could feel the energy of the crowd rising as the transformation countdown ticked to zero.

            Brent started as an electric zap arced into his penis and nipples.  His whole body started to tingle, like a limb that had gone numb after being slept on wrong.  The tingles ebbed and flowed like the tides, running back and forth between his upper and lower torso.

            Brent was desperate to reach up and feel if the changes had started, but he'd been warned by the tech to stay still during the procedure.  Jostling one of the clamps free could, at best, interrupt the process or, at worst, lead to an uneven flow of essence into his body.  So Brent was forced to sit there and try to only feel his changes.

            Brent closed his eyes, hoping that cutting down one sense would sharpen his others.  His whole body felt strange.  Like bits and pieces were moving, shifting into new locations.  Things that had once been heavy were becoming lighter and vice versa.  Brent could feel a tickling sensation on his neck and realized his hair was growing longer.

            Brent enjoyed the sensation of his body changing for several minutes longer.  He didn't open his eyes until he felt the pinch on his nipples from the clamps being released.  Opening his eyes and looking down, Brent had to blink a few times for his brain to comprehend what he was seeing.  The female tech earlier hadn't been joking.  Doing the essence transfer this way had a huge effect, as evidenced by the massive mammaries hanging off his chest. They were so large that they blocked Brent's view of anything below them.

           The tech returned and crouched between Brent's legs.  Had the man always been that big?  He looked like a giant now.  How was that possible unless…Brent had shrunk.  Shrunk quite a bit.

            There was a tugging sensation between Brent's legs and tech was finally able to remove the penile probe.  This allowed Brent's member the freedom it needed to come into view.  The transformed man stared agog at the arching column of flesh.  He couldn’t see the base to be sure, but his dick had to be well over a foot long and thicker than a can of soda.

            Brent tried to get to his feet and was nearly knocked over by his radically changed center of gravity.  The mountainous breasts on his chest tipped him forward, while the weight of the hair tugging down his back pulled in the other direction.  The bones in his hips must have changed, as every step was an exaggerated swagger that swung his padded rear side to side.

            Brent turned just in time to see Emma come around the other side of the machine.  If Brent had lost height than she had found it, his fiancé now stood head and shoulders over the barker and positively towered over Brent.  Emma looked like a professional bodybuilder, every muscle group on full display.  Despite this, she still carried a feminine hourglass shape.  Her breasts were proportionally larger than before, making them titanic on Emma's huge frame.

            The next few minutes were a blur as the barker called for the transformed couple to stand beside it onstage and went through their changes.  Eventually the pair found themselves backstage.  Brent had seen a full length mirror that before and he hurried over to see what he now looked like.  When he finally did so Brent froze, his brain overloaded at the image.

            In short, Brent looked like a sex personified.  A tiny personification of sex, as Brent estimated he'd lost nearly a foot of height.  His breasts would have been abundant on a normal sized woman, but they were almost obscene on his less than five foot frame.  Too big and luscious and perky.  The torso beneath slimmed down to a waist so narrow the old Brent could have wrapped his hands fully around it, before exploding out into well padded hips and thighs.  In between these thighs was Brent's dick, now softened to ten inches or so and
accompanied by a pair of apple size balls.

            But the oddest change for Brent was to his face.  There was no hint of the old, masculine Brent.  Instead the feminine beauty staring back at him was like the combination of all the women Brent had ever wet dreamed about in his life.  There were strong hints of Emma's features, but her nose had never been so small and cute, her lips bee stung and plump, her eyes so large and inviting.

            Surrounding Brent's face was a forest of golden blond hair.  Turning to the side, Brent was amazed to see the yellow locks curled all the way down to his ass.  No wonder his head felt so heavy, it was a miracle all that hair hadn't broken Brent's neck.

            Emma came up behind Brent, knelt so she could press her head against his, and cupped a huge breasts in either massive hand.  "Ooh, you did turn out good." she said while nibbling on Brent's ear.  "Better than I ever imagined.  I'm going to have so much fun playing with you, my little lover."

            "Little is right." Brent admitted as Emma drew back to her full height.  His fiancé's breasts were perfectly situated to rest on top of Brent's head.  "I'm small enough for you to pick up and carry like a purse."

            "That an…intriguing idea." Emma purred.  "I'll have to look into it.  But first, we need to jury-rig some clothes so we can continue walking around the Festival.  Although," Emma licked her lips, "the thought of your walking around naked like that for the rest of the day is making me so wet…"

Chapter 7

            Kirk lifted his finger slightly, just enough to glance at the cards underneath.  An avatar of breasts and a staff of anuses.  Not normally a good pairing.  While both were high cards, the off suit didn't match what was currently on the table.

            The dealer, with four eyes on her face and four more rising from stalks along her hairline, flipped over the Lick.  The staff of vaginas.  Now Kirk had a pair.  He tossed in a call as the bet went around the table, willing to at least wait out the Suck.

            There were four players left at this semifinal table, down from six.  Only two would make it to the final round.  The player to Kirk's left, the one hesitating on whether to bet or call, was the worst off of the remaining players.  Kirk wasn't sure if the twitching was a long ingrained habit, or something the man had picked up with his transformations.

            It wasn't until after his second round win that Kirk realized there were transformation agents in the drinks the waitress' were serving.  While all they seemed to be doing to Kirk was make him look younger and buff, some of the other players at the table were showing off more noticeable transformations.

            The man to Kirk's left was starting to grow a thin coat of grey fur on his exposed skin.  His eyes were getting smaller and his chin and nose more prominent, giving off a ratlike vibe.  The man on Kirk's other side had gone through almost a polar opposite change.  Like Kirk, the man had bulked up considerably.  He kept tapping his feet against the legs of his chair, causing a sharp retort like someone in tap shoes.

            The woman on the other side of the ratlike man was the most transformed for their table.  Her red dress struggled to contain the extra pair of breasts running down her torso, and orange fur that matched her fiery hair was starting to escape from the edges of the garment.  Kirk was pretty sure she was turning into some sort of fox.

            If the pattern held, Kirk was pretty sure he'd be gaining some animalistic traits soon as well.  Hopefully he didn't only continue to grow bigger, or soon he wouldn't be able to sit in a chair.

            "All in!" the rat-like man blurted, shoving his chips to the center of the table.  The foxy woman called, while the other male at the table folded.  Did he want to stay in?

            Kirk lifted his cards again, as if they would suddenly reveal new information.  What the heck, he had enough chip to try this.  At the very least he had to stop the foxy woman from taking all the rat's chips.  She already had fifty percent more than anyone else.  Kirk put decent odds on her winning the tournament, but he at least wanted to give her a challenge.

            "Call." Kirk tossed his chips to the center of the table.
 
          The many eyed dealer discarded a card and revealed the Suck.  The avatar of dicks.  Now Kirk had two pair, leaving him feeling much more confident.  By the rat man's sweating, it wasn't a card he wanted to see.  As always, the foxy woman was unreadable.

            Rat man was all in, so Kirk and the woman waved off raising.  The dealer discarded another card before, with gasps from some of the watchers, revealed the avatar of anuses.  Kirk's heart beat faster when he realized he had a full house.

            One by one, the trio revealed their hands.  The rat man had nothing.  He was one card off from a straight, which still wouldn't have beaten Kirk's hand.  The woman had the last avatar card, but her second was the five of breasts.  Three of a kind only.

            Kirk let out a whoop as the dealer pushed a huge pile of chips his way.  He was now in the lead.  Was it only his imagination, or did Kirk feel even bigger at that moment?  Still grinning as the dealer pushed the button in front of him, Kirk tossed in the small blind.  He was one fire and going all the way.

Chapter 8

            Brent and Emma strode down the Festival streets.  Their cobbled together outfits had been fine for a quick lunch, but now it was time for new clothes.  Brent was wearing a t-shirt that draped over him like a tent, a pair of sandals tightened to the last notch, and nothing else.  His new frame was so small that all other clothing fell right off.

           Meanwhile Emma was wearing a wifebeater that was almost indecently tight, her nipples easily visible through the fabric.  Luckily her feet were still small enough she could use an abandoned pair of shoes, but Emma was forced to wear a pair of stuck together skirts like a mismatched kilt.

            "This way Brent, I think I see a clothing stall." Emma said, leading the way forward.  Being so short Brent couldn't see anything but other people, so he dutifully followed Emma's perfect ass through the crowd.

           When they finally arrived, Emma could see that the stall was indeed a clothing store.  Though perhaps clothing display was a better description.  There were a dozen or so outfits, each cordoned off with rope and illuminated by spotlights like they were invaluable movie props.

            "Welcome, welcome to the Fashionista's Dream." a saleswoman said as they stepped into the shop.  The woman's face didn't betray a hint of surprise or disdain at the couple shoddy clothes as she said, "Let me guess.  Recently transformed?"

            Emma nodded.  "Just before lunch.  With the size changes we underwent, our old clothes didn't fit anymore."  The large woman looked around the meager options on display.  "Although, I'm not sure what you have here will fit me either."

            The saleswoman chuckled.  "You don't need to worry about that sweetie.  You see, all the outfits we sell here are transformed."

            "You sell transforming outfits?" Brent asked, confused.  "What do they change you into?"

            "No, no, you misunderstand me.  The outfits we have on display used to be normal people just like you and me.  Through our patented processes we converting them into living outfits, to allow them to live out their fabric dreams."

            Brent was still confused.  "How does that work?  Are they still sentient in there?"

            "Much in the way a person who undergoes a ctf is still sentient." the saleswoman explained patiently.  "For most of our products they are fully passive, only able to see and feel what directly happens to them.  For our permanent options, they are also able to tap into their hosts' senses as well."

            "Permanent, as in you're stuck wearing them all the time?" Emma let out a low whistle  "That has to be expensive."

            "Actually, they're cheaper than our removable options.  Most of the cost of the transformation is subsidized by the person who became the outfit.  Being worn full time is a major burden, not to mention a more complex transformation, so we charge more for it.  A removable outfit transformation costs less to undergo, but to recoup our costs we need to charge more for their use.  We've found that, due to the price, it's actually easier to rent our removable outfits out for parties or special events instead of selling them.  That way our customers, both clothing and human, get to feel special when they go out.  Those that want the sensation of everyday wear go with our permanent option."

            The saleswoman paused, "I'm sorry, I tend to get carried away when I start talking about our outfits."

            "I can see why.  You want to either wear them or become them." Emma guessed.

            The saleswoman smiled nervously.  "I want to become a permanent outfit.  There's no way I could afford the change up front, so the company is letting me work off my tab until I've earned enough to justify the transformation.  I'm so close, I just need a handful of good sales or referrals this weekend and it's off to a life of fabric for me."

            The woman's face was almost pleading, revealing how desperate she was to experience a flattened existence.  "Well, we'll see if there's anything we like.  Come along Brent."

            The floor space of the shop was expansive and the pair spent quite awhile walking from outfit to outfit.  The types of outfits on display were amazing in both the variety and complexity of styles.  There were simple bodysuits in a wide variety of colors and apparent fabrics.  There were biker outfits, wedding dresses, even fetish gear.

            At one point Emma lost Brent among the displays.  When she found him, her fiancé was practically drooling over one of the displays.  It was a sexy princess outfit, but one created by a very perverted mind.  The torso of the outfit was a bone-crushingly tight pink corset with white trim.  Below that hung a wide, floor length skirt with a cut-out running down the front.  This revealed a tighter skirt underneath, one that left the manikin's crotch bare save for the glint of shiny metal.  The inner skirt ran down to the knees, where it was replaced by a pair of white stockings and nearly ballet level heels.

            Above the corset there was a collar that wrapped around the neck, with ribbons flowing down over the breasts to connect it to the corset and the bands around the upper arms.  These bands were tightly linked by further ribbons to the corset, limiting movement.  Even more ribbons fell from the bottom of the armbands to link into the tops of elbow length white gloves.

            "Find something you like Brent?" Emma asked, even though the answer was obvious.  Her fiancé's dick was rock hard and starting to leak pre-cum as he stared at the outfit.

            Emma glanced at the display's information card before continuing, "Are you sure about this Brent?  This is a permanent outfit.  If you put it on, you'd be my cute little bondage princess forever."

            Brent quivered and for a moment Emma through he was going to cum all over the dress.  Showing superhuman restraint, Brent said, "Please Emma, please make me you permanent little bondage princess."

            Emma rubbed her chin.  The thought of Brent wearing that dress made her very wet, but she wanted to make her fiancé squirm a bit before she gave in.  "I don't know, it looks expensive.  We better go ask the nice saleswoman."

            As if summoned by magic, the saleswoman appeared beside them.  "The sissy princess, an excellent choice.  In fact, you remind me a little of the man who became that dress."

            "Wait, you're telling me that dress used to be a man?" Emma said, flabbergasted.

            "About as much as your boyfriend here." the saleswoman replied, gesturing at Brent.

            "Fiancé." Emma corrected.  "How much would that outfit cost?"

            The figure the saleswoman listed off was expensive, but not unreasonably so.  Especially when one factored in the cost of not needing to buy clothes for several decades.  "Ok Brent, I think we can afford to get you your dress.  We just need to find something for me first."

            "I may be able to help with that." the saleswoman said quickly.  "You see, the man who became the outfit your fiancé is lusting over came in here with a companion.  A more, shall we say dominant woman.  She was very similar to you, actually."

            "Is she on display here?" Emma asked, thinking back to some of the black leather outfits she'd seen earlier.

            "Not exactly.  She asked to be left in a proto-transformed state, her final form determined by the person who chose to wear her.  An exorbitantly expensive options, one we almost never get takers for.  But she wanted to be able to mold herself into the proper outfit for the purchaser of her companion's outfit.  A bit of a wildcard buy, but what do you say?"

           Emma looked over at Brent.  She'd already decided to buy him the dress.  Having a matching outfit, one that used to be linked to the one Brent wore, would be icing on the cake.  "We'll take them both."

            Brent let out a girlish squeal of excitement.  "Excellent." the saleswoman said.  "If you follow me into the back changing room, I'll have your purchases brought right over."

           The couple followed the saleswoman to a curtained off area in the back of the shop, where they were instructed to disrobe.  Slipping out of his oversized t-shirt, Brent squealed, "I can't wait to put on that dress."

           Emma admitted to herself that she couldn't want to see him in it either.  See, then screw.  Though reversing the order was tempting, Emma suspected there wouldn't be enough time.  Besides, having them both dressed in their permanent outfits would make their first lovemaking in their new forms more enjoyable.

            The saleswoman came back a moment later, pushing the princess outfit on its stand.  Little wheels had been added to the bottom to make the transfer easier.

            "How do I put I on?" Brent asked excitedly.  "It looks so complicated.  Do I have to wait until you take it all off the manakin?"

           "No, transfer for these types of outfits are quite simple.  I just need you to come stand beside it."

            The saleswoman took Brent by the shoulders and positioned him in front of the dress, back firmly pressed against the fabric.  For about ten seconds nothing happened, then without warning the dress animated.  The dress must have split down the middle behind Brent's back, as the loose ends opened wide and then engulfed him like the jaws of a ravenous beast.  White and pink fabric flowed everywhere as the princess dress pulled itself off the manakin and flowed over its new host.

            It took about a minute, but eventually the fabric stilled.  The dress had shrunk slightly to fit Brent's diminutive figure; it now appeared so well tailored as to be painted on.  The corset tightly gripped Brent's minuscule waist and lovingly cupped his huge breasts.  The flare of the skirt obscured his large backside, while the slit in the front gave a peek at what was hiding underneath.  Emma finally understood what the glimpse of metal she's seen earlier was.  The chastity belt had been flat metal on the manikin, but now it held Brent's dick and balls in a tight metal embrace.  Emma hoped this wasn't a permanent feature, as she had plans for that part of her fiancé's anatomy.

            Brent tried taking a step in his new confined existence and stumbled, nearly falling on his face before Emma caught him.  The large woman wasn't sure if it was Brent's inexperience with high heels that made him unsteady, or the fact the inner skirt bound this thighs tightly together down to the knees.

            As she helped Brent upright, Emma noted an addition to the outfit she'd missed before.  There was a heart shaped opening on the top rear section of the skirt, leaving Brent's cute bottom on full display.  Something Emma gleefully planned to take advantage of later.

            "So love, what do you think of your new dress?" Emma asked.

            "I love it.  It hugs me so tight in all the right place.  I can't wait to go out and show it to everyone."

            Emma couldn't help but smile at Brent's enthusiasm.  His giddiness was almost rubbing off on her.  Turning, Emma saw the saleswoman had returned with another cart.  One it sat a stone pedestal, with a sphere of swirling blackness sitting on top.  The orb was nearly three feet in diameter and appeared to be made of a highly glossy material.

            "Here is your purchase Ma'am." the saleswoman said as she pulled the cart to a stop beside Emma.

            "How do I put it on?" Emma asked, unsure of how to wear a sphere of black something that probably weighed as much as she did.

            "All you need to do is push your hands inside, and the proto-fabric will begin merging with your body."

            Emma did as instructed, pressing her hands against the inky surface.  There was resistance to her action, as if she was pushing against the skin of a water balloon or giant block of jello.  But as her hands breached the surface the black substance suddenly came alive.  Abandoning its spherical disguise, it rushed up Emma's arms and engulfed her entire body.  Emma had to fight the primal instinct to try and scrape the substance off.  Even if she had it would have been a useless gesture, the black material flowing like a liquid as it wrapped itself around her.

            As a familiar heat grew inside her, Emma realized that the orb wasn't just covering her skin, it was making internal changes as well.  Emma could feel an alien presence guiding the change, the remnant of the dominant who had changed herself into the outfit.  As the black substance started to flow up her face, for the first time Emma worried she might have made a mistake with this purchase.  The blackness covered her eyes, sunk into her ears, even tunneled down her nose.  Emma expected a coughing fit, a natural reaction, but there was nothing.

            After about a minute of blackness, Emma found her vision returned.  Surprisingly, it was even sharper than before.  Emma found herself staring at her reflection on the changing room's wall and her heart nearly skipped a beat.

            Emma's new body retained its previous muscular physique, but now crossed it with aspects of a giant reptile.  Her skin was jet black scales with dark purple edging, glossy as latex fabric.  Emma's torso was cylindrical, more serpentine than before, snaking out to three times its previous length with the addition of a tail.  Emma still possessed her original limbs, in fact she's gained several additional pairs.  A new set of arms grew out halfway between her initial pair, while a second set curled out further down her tail.  Said tail also bifurcated at the end, ending in two additional sets of arms.

           Holding one of her upper set of arms up, Emma saw her hands had changed as
well.  A thumb on the opposite side brought the number of fingers up to six, and all digits ended in sharp tips like a bird's talons.  Even the set of limbs Emma still thought of as her legs ended in such hands, though they were much larger than the others.

            Finally able to tear her gaze away from her changed body, Emma's eyes rose to take in the changes to her head.  Overall it still looked human, though instead of hair Emma had another pair of arms growing out of the back of her head.  The black scales rounded away Emma's ears and left only the outline of her other facial features.  She didn't know how sight was possible when the eyes doing so were nothing but black bumps.

            The only exposed skin on Emma's body was a cut-out around her chin.  Even then thin black lines zig-zagged to her lips, which were now the same black as the rest of her skin.  Emma opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out, half expected it to be black as well.  It wasn't, but the pink organ stuck out eight inches further than before the change.

            Deciding to practice moving her new limbs so she didn't fall over like Brent, Emma closed her eyes and tried to trace the connecting to each of her new arms.  With so many Emma was worried it would be too complicated to control them all, but instead she found a secondary thought process guiding her own.  She tried taking a step and the rest of her limbs swung appropriately to counterbalance the weight.  Experimenting, Emma found she could use more than one set of her lower arms to aid in locomotion.

            "Wow Emma, you have so many hands." Brent said as his reptilian fiancé scuttled over.

            "She's going to be a handful alright." the saleswoman quipped.

            "No, not a handful." Emma mused, her mind seizing on an idea.  She wasn't really the woman she was before, so why not take on a new name that fit better with the new her.  "I'm Hanzie."  Emma practically wrapped herself around Brent, using her extra limbs to feel every part of his body.  "And you, my dear, are my perfect little Princess."

Chapter 9

            "Cliff, remind me again what we're doing here?" Marcie asked as she peeked through the small gap in the curtain.  The room beyond was packed with people.  There was an elevated walkway that ran from the curtain through which she was peeking out of to the center of the room.  There it split off in a half dozen different directions, each new path leading to one of the six cylindrical transformation machines arrayed around the edges of the room.

            "Well, you've heard of Festival Lights and Candelabras, right?"

            "Of course I have.  There's one of each over there."  Marcie pointed to the far side of the space behind the stage.  A large cart was parked there, waiting for the start of the show.  On it sat both varieties of Festival transformation.  The two Festival Lights were two foot diameter breast-like spheres covered in what a green and white tree and cookie pattern.  Nipples bigger than Marcie's fist were pierced with rings wide enough for her to crawl through.

           The two Festival Lights flanked the Candelabra.  From her research on the Festival, Marcie knew Candelabras were much less common than Lights.  While dozens of women would be transformed into Lights each year, only five or six Candelabras were made.  Part of it was the fact that women were more willing to get transformed than men.  Another part was that, unlike Lights, Candelabras lost all sense of personality and identity with the change.  They became little more than objects, identical save for a small designator on their base..  Finally, there was the fact Candelabras became property of the city after their transformations.  They didn't get to go home to their families, instead they were sent to other worthy institutions between Festivals.  It was considered a great honor for a sister city to receive a Festival Candelabra to host.  Some sent volunteers specifically to receive the change, but due to the identity loss it was impossible to know if it was their volunteer who was returned after the Festival.

            The change left the volunteer looking like an old fashioned, multi-candle lamp, at least one on a giant scale.  From a flanged base a single phallic, brass colored column rose in the center, with three curling brass dicks branching off on either side.  The seven tips, supposedly from a legend about seven transformed warriors, lined up in a row spanning nearly eight feet across.  When the Candelabra was horny the brass glans glowed as if they concealed candles inside.

            "You see, becoming a Festival Light or Candelabra is a big commitment." Cliff continued.  "So last year the council tried to come up with transformation that, while not as severe, still held the same essence.  That way more people would be willing to get the transformation, Wasen's reputation would continue to grow, blah blah politiciany  stuff.  My father's on the town council, which is how I got involved."

            "And you're going to undergo one of these lesser transformations?"

            "Yep, into a Candelabro."  Cliff rolled his eyes.  "The name is kinda dumb, but it's hard to find something similar to Candelabra.  Unlike the female version, which is still Festival Lite, but with a T and E instead of GHT.  Speaking of which, here comes my sister now."

           A pair of women approached Marcie and Cliff, both wearing loose robes tied at the waist.  One was a rather plump, dark skinned woman with black braids, while other was pale skinned with shoulder length sandy brown hair.  Holding out the hand to the latter, Marcie said, "Hi, I'm Marcie.  You must be Cliff's sister."

            The woman gave her an annoyed look.  "Yea, I'm Casey.  So what?"

            "Wow Case, tone it down a little.  Marcie's just trying to be nice."

            "Yea, well can she be nice somewhere else?  It's supposed to only be showrunners and volunteers back here."

            "Relax, will you.  I invited her back here to show her around.  It’s not like she's going to go running around messing things up.  Not like the time you and your friends messed up the tree crafting ceremony.  Speaking of which, where is your third wheel?  If Beverly doesn't get here soon she'll miss the show."

            Casey rolled her eyes.  "She'll be here, you know how bad Bev is with time."

            As the two woman strode away Marcie whispered to Cliff, "What was that about?"

           Cliff shook his head sadly.  "Despite growing up in Wasen, Casey's never been a fan of the transformed."

            Marcie blinked, confused.  "Then why is she volunteering to become a Festival Lite?"

            "A combination of parental direction and peer pressure.  Being the children of a town council member, there was a lot of pressure for Casey and myself to involve ourselves in the town legacy.  I went off to school to study business management so I could help our father, while Casey went off to study poetry because it had nothing to do with Wasen.  I think she's only here because father threatened to cut off her tuition if she didn't volunteer."

           "Her friend certainly didn't look pressured."

            "Rhonda and Bev also have parents who are on the who's who list around town and likely received similar parental pressure to show up today.  Only, they both like the transformed and transformations so it probably wasn't a hard sell.  Those three do everything together, so while Casey's not fond of what she's about to do she'll still do it to keep up with her friends."

            Cliff and Marcie passed the time talking until the show began.  A cockwoman, her phallic torso covered with dozens of Festival Light-esque breasts, strode out to center stage to warm up the crowd.  A transformee with multiple breasts and a pair of cock tails followed, pushing the cart with the Festival Light and Candelebra.  Cliff explained that they were Gretchen Nichols and Addicus, the town's Festival committee head and the Avatar who had brought the town's first transformation machine.  The new machines they would debut today were also designed by Addicus.

            After Gretchen went into a long speech on the historical significance of the Festival of Lights in Wasen, the pair retreated off the stage to make space for the transformation show to begin.  One of the other males, who Marcie had seen but not talked to, shrugged out of his robe and stepped out beyond the curtain.  Like a model on the catwalk he strode out to the juncture of the seven legs of the stage.  After pausing to let the crowd thoroughly examine naked body, the young man continued on toward the first machine.  It reminded Marcie of the iron maidens from the era of Mad Kings she'd read about in history class.  The transformation machine split down the middle, the doors opening to reveal a cavity for the young man to step inside.  He did so and they shut, leaving only the volunteer's face visible as the machine went to work.

            "That's the machine for the lesser version of the Candelabro transformation." Cliff explained to Marcie.  "There council couldn't settle on one new design, so they came up with three of different intensities.  The show will do the male and female lesser changes first, then move onto the moderate and major changes."

            "What severity are you?" Marcie asked as the changed young man exited the machine.  His skin was a metallic bronze from the neck down, as if he was a statue come to life.  The only other change Marcie could see were the twin dicks as his crotch.  Fully hard, they were on the upper end of what was possible for a normal human but nothing extraordinary.

            "'I'm doing the moderate change.  While I want to be a part of our traditions, I also want to be able to help be a part of the town in the future.  I was worried I wouldn't be able to do that if I transformed too severely."

            Marcie nodded and glanced across the stage to see whether Rhonda or Casey would be the first to change.  The pair seemed to be arguing, though quietly enough that Marci couldn't overhear.  Finally they held out their hands and made rock-paper-scissors gestures.  Rhonda shook her head and undid the clasp on her robe, handing it over to Casey before she stepped to the curtain.  Marcie couldn't help but notice that Casey didn't look any happier that it was Rhonda who was going first.

            The lesser Candelabro returned backstage and was replaced a moment later by Rhonda.  The plump woman worked her body as she moved up the stage, emphasizing her plentiful rear and heavy breasts.  Rhonda turned right where the other volunteer had turned left, ending up at a similar looking transformation machine.  Rhonde stepped inside, allowing it to enclose her up to the neck.

            "You look good bro."  Marcie pulled her head back and turned to see Cliff handing a robe to the other Candelabro.

            "I feel good." he replied.  "Though I worry I'm going to be permanently hard down below.  Not sure what that's going to do to my wardrobe."

            Studying the perfect musculature of the Candelabro, Marcie privately thought that most people wouldn't mind if he walked around naked.  Had his muscles looked that good before he went into the machine?  Marcie couldn't remember, and she hoped the answer was no.  The thought of Cliff with a body like that was making her drip indecently down below.  She'd already made up her mind to ask him out after the show, and the fact he would soon look like a ultra muscular statue only reinforced that desire.

            "Well, looks like I'm up next." Cliff said, undoing the catch on his robe.  Marcie's heart skipped a beat as she took in his naked body.  While still a virgin, the net had fully prepared her for what a male body should look like.  And Cliff's looked damn fine.  Perhaps she still wouldn't be a virgin by the end of the day.

            "Like what you see?"

            Marcie realized she'd been paying a bit too much attention and blushed.  "Maybe."

            Cliff gave her one of goofy smiles and handed over his robe.  "Good, then you won't give all the credit to the machine when you see it after."  With that he stepped through the curtain just as Rhonda came passed through in the opposite direction.

            The transformed woman's skin was rubbery and patterned just like a Festival Lights'.  From the neck down Rhonda appeared to be wearing a black bodysuit streaked with white shooting stars.  Her breasts seemed to have grown another cup size or two, but that was the extent of the changes.  Spotting Casey, the Rhonda strode off her way as if intent on finishing their previous argument.

            Casey was town between watching Cliff's naked backside prance down the stage and finding out what the two women were arguing about.  She tried to do both, moving to a curtain gap closer to Rhonda and Casey.

            "She's still not here?" Marcie head Rhonda exclaim exasperatedly.
 
          "No, and I've tried calling her five times.  If she doesn't show up soon, we're going to be in big trouble.  Dad warned me what he'd do if things didn't go off without a hitch.  I don't want to have to move back home…."

            "Look, you need to get out of your robes and get ready to go onstage.  I'll keep calling."

            Annoyed, Casey slipped out of her robe and stalked to center stage.  She stopped partway when she realized Marcie was looking at her.  "What!"

            "Nothing." Marcie blurted, embarrassed at getting caught looking a second time.

            "Do you like what you see?  Before I lose it turning into a freak?"

            "I don't think you'll become a freak.  I think you look nice now, and will look nice afterward."  Feeling suddenly emboldened Marcie added, "Unless the machine permanently sticks your personality in bitch mode, then you might have a problem."

            "Why you…" Casey started, only to pause when the curtain rustled behind Marcie.  "We'll talk about this afterward." she promised, before hurrying out onstage.

            Marcie turned around, excited to see the changes the transformation machine wrought on Cliff.  It took all her effort not to drool as she took in his changed body.

            Much like the lesser Candelabro, Cliff's skin was a glorious bronze.  But while the lesser version covered only up to the neck, Cliff's entire body looked to be made of metal.  His hairline was only distinguishable by the slightly darker metallic tone.  Cliff sported twin crotch dicks, only these ones were the size of Marcie's forearm.  Could she even fit one of those monsters inside her?  In addition, two more dicks sprouted from Cliff's chest.  They crowned his well defined pecs, covering where the nipple would be.  Even half the size of his others, they would be quite the handful if used correctly.

            "You like?" Cliff asked as she came to a stop beside her.

            "Very much." Marcie responded.  Feeling naughty with a bronze paragon of sexuality beside her, Marcie reached up and fondled one of his breast dicks.  The golden tip glowed faintly at her touch.

            "You know, most women don't want to see a guy's dick until after the second date." Cliff teased.

            "I'm so horny right now, I might need one of these inside me before we even make it to the first one." Marcie admitted, before her brain caught up with her mouth.  When it did, she blushed nearly crimson.

            To Marcie's surprise, Cliff looked embarrassed as well.  "You mean that, you want to go out with me?  And…maybe more."

            "Yea.  I've had a great time with you this afternoon.  And you're even hotter after this change.  I… I was more worried you wouldn't want to go out with me."

            "Why wouldn't I?  I've had a great time today too.  I told you earlier I found you attractive, even if and when you…." He cut off as Casey stormed back through the curtain.

            Much like Cliff's change had been a more extreme version of the lesser bro, Casey's change included everything that had happened to Rhonda and more.  Her hair was gone, leaving the rubbery skin to cover her entire body.  The base color was white, with wooden paint brushes painting festive cityscapes all across her body.  Casey's breasts, which had been modest B cups before, were now several cup sizes larger Rhonda's.  They stuck out of her chest like a pair of watermelons, the areas where the areolas and nipples would be indented into twin vaginas.

            Casey spotted Rhonda talking with Gretchen and strode over.  "Please tell me Bev is finally here."

            Rhonda shook her head.  In a disapproving voice Gretchen added, "The town council put a lot of faith in you and your friends to pull this off Ms. Carson.  You've left us up the creek and no mistake.  Where are we supposed to get a last minute volunteer to fill in for Ms. Brooks?"

            "Um, I'll do it."  The words were out of Marcie's mouth before her brain realized she'd actually said them aloud.  Everyone backstage turned to look at her, most with looks of surprise on their face.

            "Master Carlson," Gretchen addressed Cliff, "Who is this young woman and why is she back here?"

            "Gretchen, this is Marcie.  We met earlier in the day and I've been showing her around the Festival.  I know you didn't want guests back here during the show, but I really wanted to let her seem me change."

            "Thinking with your little heads instead of your big one."  The cockwoman snorted.  "But we were all young once.  And in this case your indiscretion might have saved us some trouble."  Turning to Marcie, Gretchen continued, "Are you sure you want to volunteer for the major Festival Lite change?  Are you even aware of what it entails?"

            "No." Marcie admitted, "But I assumed it was a more severe version of the change they went through." she gestured at Casey and Rhonda.  "Painted skin and even bigger breasts."

            "There more to it than that, but we have scant time.  If you truly wish this transformation, we need you out of your clothes and ready now.  Terrell will only be in the machine a little longer."

            As Marcie started pulling off her shirt, Cliff leaned in and whispered in her ear.  "You don't need to do this for me.  I don't want you to change yourself just because my sister can't corral her friends correctly."

            Marcie got her shirt over her head and started fiddle with the clasps of her bra."I'm not doing this for you.  I always planned to get changed at the Festival, extremely changed.  This is opportunity literally falling into my lap."  Bra off, Marcie began pulling off her pants.

            Cliff still looked dubious.  "If you're sure."

            Marcie paused her disrobing to give Cliff's breast dicks a pump.  "Besides, if the changes makes me complimentary to your new body…well that's just icing on the cake."

           The look of stunned surprise on Cliff's face was priceless.  Marcie could have enjoyed it all day, but she didn't have the time.  Kicking off her shoes, the young woman slipped out of her jeans and panties.  Her socks and necklace were last and then Marcie was backstage in her birthday suit.

           It was only then Marcie realized how horny the situation was making her.  Here she was, about to walk naked into a crowd of people before turning herself into a sex freak.  It was a moment she'd been dreaming about for year, abet not quite with these details.  But the rush of knowing she'd committed, that she was about to change, almost gave Marcie a micro-orgasm on the spot.

            The curtain parted and the major Candelabro stepped through.  Marcie only had a moment to take in his changes.  He looked similar to a Freyan cockwoman, a massive penile shaft on legs, though without any balls.  Six additional dicks encircled his waist, curving upwards to reach roughly where a normal human's shoulders would have been.  All seven dick tips glowed golden, leaking small streams of white cum down their sides.

            Before Marcie could take in more details she found her feet leading her out beyond the curtain.  The world was suddenly very bright, both from the overheads and the cameras in the crowd snapping away.  Without thinking, Marcie felt her body react like she was a model strutting down a catwalk.  She paused at the central juncture, flaunting her ass and breasts, before turning and continuing on to the machine that would change her life.  It was larger than the others, both in height and diameter.  There was no humanoid outline - the machine was a solid cube of chromed metal.

           As Marcie approached the cube the front split open to reveal the hollow inside.  She could see what looked like a seat arrangement, padded in some kind of rubber.  Marcie gave one last excited wave to the crowd before she slipped inside.

            The rubber felt cool on her naked backside as Marcie settled into the seat.  Her heart began pounding like a jackhammer in her chest as the doors to the transformation machine closed, sealing the young woman inside.  Now trapped in total darkness, Marcie waited for something to happen.  Her lower body was trapped fairly tightly by the machine, with only an inch or two of clearance, but she was able to reach out with her arms and barely brush the metal walls of the machine.  Would they eventually close in, crushing her malleable body into a new shape?

           There was a hissing sound, followed by the feeling of hundreds of aerosolized droplets landing on her naked skin.  This was it, the big moment.  She'd no longer be boring old human Marcie.  In a few moments she'd be Festival Lite Marcie, boob paragon.  The thought of that was causing a heat to grow through Marcie's entire body.

            A heartbeat later Marcie realized that the heat rising in her body wasn't just mental.  It was the transformative potential seeping through every cell in her body, readying it for the upcoming changes.  It wasn't until her body felt hot enough to spontaneously burst into flames that the walls around her began to move.

            In the pitch black it was impossible to see what was happening, s Marcie was reduced to touch.  She felt cool rubber, slick with additional transformative fluid, press against her head and shoulders.  The sensation was unreal as Marcie's head began to sink into her torso, sending her senses spiraling.

           Like a burst pocket of magma, Marcie felt flesh pour from her chest and begin filling out the mold.  More and more flesh poured out of body, far more than could have ever been squeezed in before.  With her mind struggling to understand the flood of sensations, it was impossible for Marcie to estimate just how big her new breasts were growing.

           As the transformation came to its head Marcie felt the skin over her entire body begin to heat up.  She surmised this was the final aspect of the change, coating her skin in a rubbery holiday themed coating.  The transformation concluded with a full body orgasm that nearly knocked Marcie's mind into the next province.

            With a hiss the walls of the transformation machine opened, letting in blinding light .  Reflexively Marcie tried to shield her eyes with her hands, but nothing seemed to be working properly.  Her senses still askew, Marcie clumsily climbed out of the machine.  Everything around her seemed oddly sized, as if she was looking at the world from a lower angle.

            By some miracle Marcie managed to make it backstage without falling off the platform.  Cliff was waiting for her and the bronze skinned man's eyes grew wide when he took in Marcie's new form.

            "What?" Marcie slurred, the words seeming to echo inside her mind.  "Do I look that bad?"

           "No, you look amazing.  Here, come sit down.  You still look a little out of it from the transformation.  Gretchen was sure that doing the major changes like the others wouldn't be a problem but Terrell was listing as drunkenly as you were on the way back.  It takes the mind a little while to reorient after a change of this magnitude."

            As Cliff assisted her onto a closed prop crate, Marcie asked, "Can I…can I see the change?"

            "You haven't…" Confusion slid across Cliff's face, only to evaporate an instant later.  "Oh, right.  You haven't been taught how to set your mana sight yet.  I'll have to remember to have Gretchen stop by after the show and give you some pointers.  Wait here a moment, I'll try and find something."

            Cliff hurried off, leaving Marcie to the comfort of her new existence.  Her body still felt delightfully warm and happy, sensations she hoped would be long lasting side effects of the change.

            Eventually Cliff returned pushing a full length mirror on wheels.  When he finally got close enough for Marcie to see her new reflection, her jaw dropped.  Or would have, if she still had a head.  On some primal level Marcie had understood she'd been headless since coming out of the machine, but it wasn't until she saw her reflection for the first time that things finally sank in.  The top of Marcie's body was now smooth skin from shoulder to shoulder.  Shoulders that glided smoothly down her sides, the arms they once held as missing as the young woman's head.

            But the biggest change, both in size and impact, were Marcie's breasts.  They were, to put it simply, huge.  Each was a sphere nearly three feet in diameter, blocking most of her torso from view.  Each was covered in the same light blue skin as the rest of her body, with giant white snowflakes acting as plate sized areola.  In the center of each breast was a vagina easily double the size of the one between her legs.  They looked big enough to take even Cliff's enlarged phalluses with ease.  Heck, they could probably swallow one of the man's arms with some lubrication.

            "So, what do you think?" Cliff asked.  His face betrayed nervousness about what Marcie had done for him.

            I think I'm a walking sex idol.  But Marcie didn't say that.  She wanted to express that in a method other than words.  Instead she said, "I think that if you don't find us somewhere private in the next ten minutes, I'm going to do something scandalous in public. Preferably with you."

           "There are some storage rooms on the second floor that aren’t being used right now."

            "Perfect." Marcie got back to her feet, enjoying how her body shifted to accommodate the massive weights that seemed to float in the air before her torso.  "Lead the way Cliff, and I'll give you an afternoon you won't ever forget."

Oh, this is great!

I voted Annabelle, because the prospect of continuing with her was too fun to pass up, but Marcie was my favorite TF in the family.

As usual, I really love the incidental and background changes here.  This setting is such a delight.  I particularly loved the art exhibit chapter, as a fan of inanimate TFs.  Any chance of us seeing the paper machine that was mentioned?

Awesome story!

You sometimes make us wait, but you never disappoint. Great work!