The two aspiring Beach Queens would find themselves, unsurprisingly, on the beach after touching down. The locale was as scenic as one would expect for the Net's number one tourist destination: the meeting point put them on the sparkling sands, with the crisp blue ocean a hop and a skip away. Various beach-goers had set up towels and umbrellas around to take advantage of the consistently beautiful weather and work on their tans. The sun was high in the sky, and the few clouds visible were of the friendly variety, bright and sparse.
Many of them, however, were expressing some interest in what would probably become the focal point of the contestants' interests as well. An area had been corded off with red and white flags, with some posts set into the sand as well. An assembly of folding bleacher seating had been arranged on the beach facing the water, and the flags curved from there and out towards the ocean, forming a "U" shape. A few camera stands which had been put up, along with the bleachers and a wide banner with the tournament's name emblazoned on it in pedestrian but eye-catchingly colorful writing, were really the only indicators that a tournament should be taking place here. Overall, it gave the impression of an event still being set up. As such, even though it was occupying a fair bit of the local real estate, there weren't too many standing around gawking at it.
Two Navigators standing nearby would likely strike the two as the right people to talk to in order to get things moving. The first must surely be Surf herself: the Navi was a young woman with fairly short purple hair pulled into a very short ponytail at the neck. She appeared to be Netopian by design, but had worked up (or simply been modeled with?) an impressive tan. She had dark eyes, no makeup, and an easy, cheerful grin, with a bit of a gap in her front teeth and a bit of a big mouth, regardless. She had a fit, lean figure, but only average height. She was wearing a blue-grey wet suit that covered her body from the neck, terminating just before the elbows and knees. A dark navy coloration started below the armpits and began to overtake the lighter color on the way down, becoming the dominant color at about the stomach level. She stood on the hot sand with no shoes of any kind, indicating her feet were probably well-accustomed to the temperature. She was carrying a large board in with a classic sunset pattern across it. It was well waxed, and looked for all the world like an ordinary (if expensive, name-brand) surfboard, with the exclusion of a shimmering network like circuitry occasionally flashing when the light hit it just right. On both the board and the center of her surf suit, her Navi emblem could be seen, showing a brown surfboard cresting a dark blue wave against a light-blue sky.
She was currently engaged in conversation with a shorter, apparently male Navi. The other Navi had a completely white body with apparent seams that gave him a robotic appearance. The features of his face were cartoonish, with no nose at all. His eyes were hidden behind cheap-looking plastic shades in the shape of stars, and his mouth appeared to be basically frozen in a big, open grin. He didn't have any hair, but his head seemed to be built out into a cartoonish approximation of a neat, short black hairdo. His hands were mitten-like, and his feet appeared to lack the definition of actual toes, despite the fact that the ostensibly wasn't wearing armor. The only article of clothing he wore was a pair of red swim trunks. While the trunks would otherwise scream "generic," they appeared to be absolutely plastered with various labels, as though he were a sponsored stock car and not a Navi. His Navi symbol was on his chest: tellingly, it was simply the white letters "AD NET" in big block font against a black background.
No one else was distinct enough or standing-inside-the-ropes enough to immediately command attention. The two would continue speaking even after HunterWoman and Phero arrived, unless they were specifically addressed or the two mission-takers caused a big scene. It would be reasonable to assume Surf and the other Navi wouldn't have any idea who the two were from their names alone.
AD NET Beach Queens Tournament
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In a burst of pink, sweet-smelling, questionably safe for children perfume, Phero transferred to the beach from the GNA mission board, having quickly secured what she figured to be a choice mission. "Ah... What pleasant, beach-y weather," the navi commented idly, swinging her arms behind herself before crossing them behind her hips. Really, she didn't know if the beach had any weather other than this; it was how she'd seen it when she first came here and, again, how she'd seen it the time Dharma went to the beach. She liked the sun, the beach, the people, and everything about the beach. One might wonder if she was secretly an aqua navi, given her affinity for it.
"If I love the beach so much," she commented to herself, seeing as HunterWoman hadn't shown up just yet, "maybe I should be the beach queen after all!" There was nobody listening to affirm or deny that statement, but she didn't mind. Better no company than Dharma, after all, and the president seemed to have her hands full dealing with something on the other side. She just hoped she'd get along without Dharma's guidance better than she had last time... Back at Clusterbuck's, she'd gotten pretty off track and failed to obtain the secret chicken seasoning recipe she was supposed to. "I guess if that recipe was that easy to get a hold of, they wouldn't call it a secret recipe," she thought to herself, again, out loud. She wasn't the type to be shy about talking to herself, but then, her mission partner didn't seem to be the type to be shy about anything, certainly not talking, regardless of to whom.
Phero knew a bit about surfing, but had a hunch it would be difficult to simply pick up and practice... she hoped that their employer's name wasn't an indication of what would be required in this Beach Queen event. Anyone who knew Phero might also have a valid concern that Phero tipping and taking a spill into the ocean would count as some sort of corporate chemical dumping scandal. The navi named after that pastime looked genial and friendly, like Phero's favorite type of person. The prototype chemical tester wasn't quite so certain about the smaller fellow talking to Surf, but then, he didn't look hostile either. Something about the various sponsors on his trunk seemed familiar to her... after a small pause, she remembered that she'd seen similar advertising at a medical expo once that Dharma had been attending... or holding... it was hard for her to keep up some times. With everyone else in their beach gear, Phero decided to get into hers as well, swapping over to her cutesy white-and-pink bikini. The outfit was just a little more provocative than her typical skirt armor and showed off more of her lightly rosey, soft skin, which had been designed scientifically within certain specifications to be as appealing to the average person as possible.
Generally, greetings defaulted to overly familiar rather than playing it safe when it came to Phero; this time was no different, as she moved along the rope to meet the ones she assumed to be her employers. Once she'd reached the closest point without jumping the rope, she began to wave one arm over her head to get their attention. If that didn't get them, she would go a step further, leaning over and calling out to them. "Hello! Surf! It's me, Phero! I'm here for the Beach Queen contest!" she called out, cupping one hand to her mouth. "Can I come over there? Or are you in a business meeting?" Chances were pretty slim that this informal chat out in the open could be called a business meeting, but that was the best name she knew for "important conversation that I shouldn't interrupt," based on her interactions with Dharma and the results of interrupting said meetings in the past.
"If I love the beach so much," she commented to herself, seeing as HunterWoman hadn't shown up just yet, "maybe I should be the beach queen after all!" There was nobody listening to affirm or deny that statement, but she didn't mind. Better no company than Dharma, after all, and the president seemed to have her hands full dealing with something on the other side. She just hoped she'd get along without Dharma's guidance better than she had last time... Back at Clusterbuck's, she'd gotten pretty off track and failed to obtain the secret chicken seasoning recipe she was supposed to. "I guess if that recipe was that easy to get a hold of, they wouldn't call it a secret recipe," she thought to herself, again, out loud. She wasn't the type to be shy about talking to herself, but then, her mission partner didn't seem to be the type to be shy about anything, certainly not talking, regardless of to whom.
Phero knew a bit about surfing, but had a hunch it would be difficult to simply pick up and practice... she hoped that their employer's name wasn't an indication of what would be required in this Beach Queen event. Anyone who knew Phero might also have a valid concern that Phero tipping and taking a spill into the ocean would count as some sort of corporate chemical dumping scandal. The navi named after that pastime looked genial and friendly, like Phero's favorite type of person. The prototype chemical tester wasn't quite so certain about the smaller fellow talking to Surf, but then, he didn't look hostile either. Something about the various sponsors on his trunk seemed familiar to her... after a small pause, she remembered that she'd seen similar advertising at a medical expo once that Dharma had been attending... or holding... it was hard for her to keep up some times. With everyone else in their beach gear, Phero decided to get into hers as well, swapping over to her cutesy white-and-pink bikini. The outfit was just a little more provocative than her typical skirt armor and showed off more of her lightly rosey, soft skin, which had been designed scientifically within certain specifications to be as appealing to the average person as possible.
Generally, greetings defaulted to overly familiar rather than playing it safe when it came to Phero; this time was no different, as she moved along the rope to meet the ones she assumed to be her employers. Once she'd reached the closest point without jumping the rope, she began to wave one arm over her head to get their attention. If that didn't get them, she would go a step further, leaning over and calling out to them. "Hello! Surf! It's me, Phero! I'm here for the Beach Queen contest!" she called out, cupping one hand to her mouth. "Can I come over there? Or are you in a business meeting?" Chances were pretty slim that this informal chat out in the open could be called a business meeting, but that was the best name she knew for "important conversation that I shouldn't interrupt," based on her interactions with Dharma and the results of interrupting said meetings in the past.
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"Yay!" Ah, the outdoors. Even though it was a populated beach, the joining of water and earth was enough of a natural construct that HunterWoman was already in her element as soon as she beamed in...in a manner of speaking, anyway. Notably, even as she arrived, much of her usual outfit was gone, with nothing but her upper body armor, sans leaves, and grass skirt. Considering there was basically nothing covering her hips, it was pretty clear at a glance that, barring Net magic or an extremely skimpy thong that her skirt's waistband could completely cover, one big gust of wind would...well, establish the latter portion of her name. Not that she really gave much thought about such things. "This feels great! Not in a 'just landed a trick shot to bring down my quarry' way, or a 'getting plowed by a totally hot guy' way, but in a 'warm without being too warm, and with a nice little breeze' way!"
With that clarified, she needed to locate everyone else. This was pretty easily accomplished, as she noticed a Navi that most definitely could be Surf talking to another Navi that most definitely was a Navi. Also, there was a Navi that most definitely was Phero, trying to get their attention. She wasn't much for trying so much as 'letting everyone within a three mile radius know you're there', so she immediately started racing over to the conversationally engaged Navis. "HEEEEEEEEEY!!!" She flung herself right over the rope, somehow (unintentionally) managing not to reveal anything in the process, and continued running straight at the presumed mission requester. And she wasn't stopping...as she drew near, the huntress Navi leapt forward, trying to pounce on the other woman. After all, how could you be a beach queen if you couldn't avoid a single telegraphed attack? You couldn't, that was how. But regardless of her success, she'd give Surf a big smile. "Hey there! HunterWoman, reporting for duty!" Which was totally a normal thing to say after basically trying to tackle someone.
With that clarified, she needed to locate everyone else. This was pretty easily accomplished, as she noticed a Navi that most definitely could be Surf talking to another Navi that most definitely was a Navi. Also, there was a Navi that most definitely was Phero, trying to get their attention. She wasn't much for trying so much as 'letting everyone within a three mile radius know you're there', so she immediately started racing over to the conversationally engaged Navis. "HEEEEEEEEEY!!!" She flung herself right over the rope, somehow (unintentionally) managing not to reveal anything in the process, and continued running straight at the presumed mission requester. And she wasn't stopping...as she drew near, the huntress Navi leapt forward, trying to pounce on the other woman. After all, how could you be a beach queen if you couldn't avoid a single telegraphed attack? You couldn't, that was how. But regardless of her success, she'd give Surf a big smile. "Hey there! HunterWoman, reporting for duty!" Which was totally a normal thing to say after basically trying to tackle someone.
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Surf's attention didn't seem to be hard to get, especially since Phero was the only one trying to get it at the moment. She turned to the other Navi and made a grin, then scooped her free arm through the air in the universal "come on over" gesture. "Yo dude! Come hang over here, I'll introduce you to-" she started, before Phero's companion made a much more aggressive introduction, begin a high-speed hurtle towards her partner. "Woah, time out, time out!" Just in time, the Navi would fling her board into the air and, with a graceful motion, vault onto it with a palm, allowing herself to sit on it as it floated. She didn't do that for more than a second, though, touching her feet back down and scooping her board in her arms behind her as she appraised the new arrivals (assuming Phero had made her way over). "You've got a heck of a lot of energy there! I'm guessing you're HunterWoman, and that'd make her Phero... I'm Surf. Not bad, not bad, you two! It's a shame this isn't a modelling thing, you two could totally knock it out. Uh, are you gonna swim in that though, dude? It doesn't exactly look, um... hydrodynamic-"
The other Navi interrupted, stepping forward with springy, exaggerated steps. "I never said it wasn't a modelling thing! Hi there, I'm ADNETMascotMan, but most people just call me MascotMan." The Navi pronounced his name with "Ad" and "Net" as separate words, as one might expect. "It's kind of a mouthful otherwise!"
"Waaah?" Surf responded, her smile falling temporarily as she crossed her arms. "Hold on a sec, dude! We were just talking, and I'd been saying 'I can't wait to show off my sick surf skills and catch some serious waves," and you were going along with it! Were you talking, what, surfboard modeling or something? Wait, I get it... you changed it to modeling just cause these two knockouts showed up! That it, buddy?" Surf ventured, poking at his head in a friendly way.
"Of course not! Well, maybe. Yes and no!" MascotMan responded, still sounding cheery and child-like. "The truth of the matter is, it might be both! Or any, or all. I haven't decided yet."
"... Huh? Haven't decided yet?" Surf responded, seeming a bit more genuinely confused this time. "But, like... hold on a sec. This is a big televised surfing event, right? Ralph was saying-"
"Nope! It's not," the mascot replied succinctly. "We haven't really decided what it is yet, only that we need to get super-big viewership so Morty doesn't, uh... get his nuts cracked! Right, Morty?" the Navi inquired, probably to his operator.
Surf continued to stare kind of blankly for a moment, turning back to Phero and HunterWoman with a baffled smile. "Uh... so dudes, maybe this isn't-" she began, before another pair of Navis made their entrance (not by announcing themselves, but simply by stepping into the ropes):
The first was a woman of a bit less than average height, with a stout, slightly large build that looked about forty percent muscle, forty percent mass in the right places, and about twenty percent more in the wrong places. She was wearing a dark red Navisuit that covered her entire body, excluding her head. Her head was covered in a silver helmet: it was boxier than it was round, but the edges were smooth, and it had a design with a peg at the back, from which a small iron ring hung. Two holes in the helmet revealed two dark eyes peering from inside, and the face was open, showing fair skin with light freckles and an easy smile. The armor consisted of a silver chestplate with a bulky, serrated design that might recall old war hand grenades above the shoulders and at the paldrons, and smoother metal below. Two thick leather straps slung over her shoulders and winding underneath her arms appeared to be serving a dual purpose: one, there were several still-pinned hand grenades adorning the front of her outfit, and two, a huge metal "U" shape (a weapon?) was strapped to her back. The Navi was also wearing thick silver gloves and boots, looking out-of-place on the beach, and silver shorts that didn't look very armored over the Navisuit at her hips. A leather belt supporting the shorts had two similar, smaller metal "U" shapes hanging from the sides. Her Navi emblem, at the chestplate and earpieces of her helmet, appeared to feature a yellow "omega" symbol over a background explosion.
The second woman was of such a different figure as to make them look a comic foil pair. This woman was a tall, with thin, model-like proportions and lacking much muscle. This Navi had very light brown hair, feathered into a short pompadour that came back from her forehead. She wore a red metallic visor, with a pattern of white and black stripes at the bill. She also wore sharp, sporty-looking shades with a yellow tint. Both were strapped to her red plastic-like earguards in a way that seemed to suggest it was all one assembly. Her lips were painted red, and held in a neutral expression that might only look like a frown compared to the others' smiles. Her outfit appeared to consist something like a sleeveless black jumpsuit with discrete clasps across it that appeared to hold it together over a dark red Navisuit that could only be faintly glimpsed at the neck or just below the upper and lower parts. The Navisuit was also sleeveless, revealing her thin arms all the way to fingerless black gloves. Some red accents adorned the jumpsuit: most notably, a conservative open collar, but also the rims of the sleeves and a line down each side of the suit in general. From the neck down the middle to the crotch of the jumpsuit and back up the other side to the shoulders was a pattern of thin green and red lines. At the back of the suit (which wouldn't be obvious to the girls at a distance, of course) was a design like a dartboard, with alternating white, black, green, and red spaces and white numbers all around. If that didn't make her theme obvious enough, she also had a Navi emblem at her chest and earpieces, showing what could only be a black-and-white dartboard with a single green dart in the bullseye.
"Hold up, hold up! We're in time, right?" the shorter woman spoke, powerwalking her way to get closer. While she looked to be in a good mood, it wasn't hard to see she was already sweating beneath her armor. "The Queens thing, the Beach Net Ad Tourney..."
"AD NET Beach Queens Tournament," the woman beside her spoke in a calm, quiet voice (probably the only calm, quiet voice among those gathered).
"Why, yes! This is that tournament," MascotMan responded with his perpetual grin. "It's not over! In fact, it hasn't started. Lucky you!"
"Whoo! I love getting lucky on the beach! Eh? Woah! Did I just say that?! I went there! You saw me go there, right, Dart? Come oooon! Up high!" The shorter woman put her hand in the air.
She recieved little but a sigh from her partner, who kept her arms crossed. "This is Toss. I'm Dart. We're here for the beach sports contest."
"Of course you are!" MascotMan told them. "Only, I'm not sure it's a beach sports contest yet."
Toss rolled her eyes, casting her head around. "Pfft, Pass got the joke. She didn't laugh at it either, but, anyway, yeah! Not much of a beach sports contest in its current state. You couldn't throw a stone on this beach without hitting an emptier spot than this."
"No, I mean I'm not sure there'll be beach sports! That's between you ladies and Morty," MascotMan corrected her, waving his arms and rocking on the heels of his feet. "Morty wants you ladies to do eeeeverything possible to 'save his bacon!'"
"Bacon...?" Dart asked, putting a hand to her chin thoughtfully.
"It's an expression..." Toss informed her, rolling her eyes again. "But there are gonna be beach sports, right? Or at least, some bounty hunting to do? Cause, uh, if things aren't heading that way, I really don't think Dart and I are supposed to be here..."
"Y-yeah, what about the beach sports, dude?" Surf agreed, seeming eager to get the conversation back on track. "I think all five of us were under the impression there were gonna be some beach sports."
"Well, is that what you think will get the most viewers and let Morty keep his kneecaps? Beach sports?" MascotMan inquired innocently, tilting his head.
"Uuh... Let's revisit that, dude," Surf replied, holding up a hand. "Why don't you explain this to us from the beginning? Who's Morty? What is this tourney? What are you expecting us to actually be doing here...? I kinda hired these gals to be part of my team, so if it's no go, I need to let them know they can leave!"
"Hmph. Hired hands," the shades-wearing woman commented, a hint of a smirk crossing her face. "There's no way two legitimate partners will lose to miscellaneous hired hands."
"... Dart, our third is a separate hire too, remember? If she ever shows up," Toss reminded her ally.
"Hmph. As you say," the tall woman responded, keeping her cool demeanor.
"All right, I'll explain it so you ladies don't leave!" MascotMan told them, waving his hands frantically. "Please don't leave, I think Morty is, uh, gonna have his 'sausage packaged' if we don't do our best! So, um, the AD NET Beach Queens Tournament is a contest that Morty came up with after feverishly poring over popular videos on the Net and trying to find something he could do to please his sponsors. His sponsors are very, very unhappy because Morty never pays them any of the money he owes them! So Morty is, um, trapped in a closet somewhere. He says there are guys with golf clubs outside waiting for him if he can't pull this off! Not that I know what golf has to do with anything..."
Surf gulped, and Toss and Dart traded an uneasy glance between the two of them.
"So, right now, I've come up with a number of different contest ideas based on reaching different target audiences. I've also rounded up a number of potential sponsors to air our events on various forums, and other financial donors. I've got my own video equipment I think will be more than adequate, and when the event starts, we can open up these bleachers and get a real audience together. It seems like we've got plenty of personality together here, so I feel good about that! It's just the whole thing about appealing to people I'm worried about. This'll be my third shot with Morty, and I'm not sure what's gonna happen if we mess up. Morty says they'll 'pull the plug' and 'cut him off,' then he'll be 'up the river.' They're expecting immediate results, so we don't have a lot of time for planning... anyway! Let me tell you what I'd like your help with, besides obviously taking part in the tournament."
"First off," the Navi spoke, holding up one hand and folding in his mitten-thumb, "There's the sponsors. This beach is acting as our studio audience, but in reality, there are four major sponsors we're trying to reach out too. They're the ones paying for our broadcasting and resources. If we lose too many, our event is 'up sh*t creek without a paddle,' as Morty likes to say! Let me lay it out for you girls:
The first is a casual entertainment channel. This content will display in a number of cafes around the square and on some social forums. It has a wide audience that our marketing information indicates can be buzzed by any type of excitement: competitive competition, spontaneous violence, humor, or sexual triggers. The only danger of losing this audience is by pushing content too far: if our subject matter becomes unsafe for general audiences, they'll probably pull the feed.
The second is a deep-UnderNet entertainment channel. This content displays in a number of shady dives around the square and on some illegal forums. It has a narrow audience that our marketing indicates can be buzzed only by extreme content: gratuitous violence, sexual content, and/or material of a messed-up, deviant, or criminal nature would be a must to hold their attention. There's no way we can get pulled, but it's entirely possible some stations will stop broadcasting if they don't get any viewers.
The third and fourth are not channels so much as independently wealthy patrons. They reached out to Morty and agreed to be involved so long as we meet their terms and conditions. With their involvement, they'll get other stations involved in the broadcast. However... the terms of their requests are still entirely unknown! There's no knowing what will appeal to them, but during the competition, I will issue any instructions they give. On one hand, keeping them is easy. Just do what they say, and you can expect them to continue their patronage. On the other hand, I have no idea what they'll ask you to do. Morty couldn't ask, and they didn't say! We'll only know once they actually start contacting us.
In order to keep Morty's 'head together,' so to speak, I'd say we need to appeal to at least two of the sponsors with decent viewership. If we get down to one, it will need to be pretty much locked in. Remember, once we lose one of them, we don't get them back. At the beginning of the show, they'll probably be pretty tolerant of whatever, so we can test the waters if we need to, but later into the show, it'll be hard to change certain aspects without losing our support base. They will probably seek a 'ramping up' of the content they appreciate.
Now, in terms of our actual competition, I'm open to doing whatever, but I've prepared four 'tracks' to consider in order to speed the planning along. Basically, I'll give these four options for the general flow of the competition, and you girls let me know what you think will be most successful in keeping Morty 'eating solid food.' The four are:
Number one, standard! I have official tournament swimwear prepared for all of you, which is pretty conservative. In this swimwear and this track, the focus will be entirely competition: the perfect track for women who want to show their competitive spirit and keep the audience's attention with a display of finesse!
Number two, cute! Everyone loves to watch cute girls having fun on the beach! This display would involve individually selected swimwear to enhance your charm, and would have lots of fun activities, maybe some party games!
Number three, sexy! Modeled after our research of Showbiz's usual events, this track will involve swimwear specially selected to turn heads, complimenting each of your features. The activities would mostly be stuff that would be fun for guys to watch, but may or may not be fun for you.
Number four, raunchy! Leaving the well-worn road of swimsuit magazine photoshoot and bee-lining straight off the cliff, this track would be deviant and dirty. Both the activities and the swimsuits selected may, in fact, be intentionally debasing and/or tailor made to appeal to certain popular fetishes...
And those are them! So, from each of you, I'd like to hear your input on what track you want us to pursue, and if you have any special requests on the competitions! I'll also accept any advice you have to get Morty's 'balls outta the clamp,' so to speak."
Surf had crossed her arms, casting her eyes down thoughtfully. "I'm... not sure about this, dudes. Is everyone really up for this? I mean, not only does it sound like some serious shenanigans might be going down, here, but... uh... MascotMan, are you saying this dude's life is in our hands? I mean, you've kinda been dancing around it, but... is that the gist?"
MascotMan remained silent for a while, holding his vacant grin and showing no apparent response behind his glasses. "Uh... yeah. Sounds right," he finally said in a surprisingly matter-of-fact way.
"Well, you know I'm down for whatever, and I won't back down from a challenge-" Toss chimed in.
"I'm not necessarily," Dart added, flatly. "I'm interested in playing darts, and I'm not so sure I'm interested in some of these things that are... things that are not playing darts."
"Yeah, and I want beach horseshoes, buddy, but I'm starting to think that ain't gonna happen," Toss told her partner. "I mean, I'm down for whatever, but this sounds like a matter of life or death for some guy. For one thing, do we have anyone who knows enough about advertising to make these sorts of calls, when this Morty guy is evidently an actual professional?"
"Oh, uh," MascotMan replied, kicking the back of his foot against the sand. "Morty is, uh, 'a sniveling little mofo' when it comes to his job? In his words. I think that means he's not good at it? So you might be better!"
"Uh huh," the large woman droned, nodding her head sadly. "Well, for two, are we getting paid like this is a life or death situation? Dart and I are bounty hunters, remember? We need some serious scratch to make this worth our while."
"Oh yeah, prizes! There are real good prizes," MascotMan added, tilting his head. "Like, as long as the show goes through without us ending up in hot water, I think I can promise some fabulous prizes. Furthermore, by winning the competitions, you can earn even better prizes! When you ladies leave this beach, you might be living like actual queens. Isn't that right, Morty? ... Well, Morty wants me to dial that back a bit. All I know is that our market research shows these are especially sought-after prizes and you may be receiving them in large quantities."
"Huh..." Surf mused, tapping her foot. "So, for those of us interested in prizes, it'd actually be best if the events were best suited for us, regardless of how much the audience might like it. Not that it matters, since we clearly wanna have a surfing contest, but-"
"Surfing? Darts are what audiences crave!" Dart interrupted sharply.
"I happen to know a lot of friends who love beach horseshoes! It makes every beach a party, seriously!" Toss complained. "But, hey, if we're going with contests we can win, let's do the sexy stuff! A win for everybody who gets a look at the hot bods on Dart and me, and a win for Dart and me when we walk off with those sweet goodies."
"... I'm not saying we're not hot, but..." Dart replied in a quiet voice, putting a hand up to her mouth and considering their opponents curiously. "I mean, surely you are, or we are... but maybe we shouldn't push our chances here. Darts is a superior option. Multiple rounds of darts! Best three out of five. The contest of champions."
"Ugh, enough about darts!" Surf shouted, putting her hands on her ears.
"Never enough!" Dart barked in return.
Ignoring her, Surf turned back to her allies. "You two dudes seem a bit more level-hea-... uh... a bit more impartial," Surf spoke as she addressed HunterWoman and Phero, biting her tongue and retracting her words part way through. "You gals have any input? We'll all tell what we wanna do after you say first. Majority wins."
"Unless, of course, any of you is an advertising genius!" MascotMan piped up, hopefully. "In which case, majority does not win and I will instead defer to your genius. But, uh, I'm pretty sure.... none of you three are advertising geniuses," he added as softly as he could, speaking of Surf, Toss, and Dart. "Uh, and yeah, I don't know where number six is, yet... she should be here by now. But let's keep moving, regardless! I don't want Morty getting 'the screws put to him,' after all. I'll give some more details once we've decided."
This conversation had already been going on a while, but it might not be in the ladies' interests to let it keep going much longer (and, apparently, most definitely not in Morty's best interests). A number of the gathered audience had started to drift off: the six gathered in the ropes were interesting characters, but not so interesting as to keep eyes on them when they were just chatting.
The other Navi interrupted, stepping forward with springy, exaggerated steps. "I never said it wasn't a modelling thing! Hi there, I'm ADNETMascotMan, but most people just call me MascotMan." The Navi pronounced his name with "Ad" and "Net" as separate words, as one might expect. "It's kind of a mouthful otherwise!"
"Waaah?" Surf responded, her smile falling temporarily as she crossed her arms. "Hold on a sec, dude! We were just talking, and I'd been saying 'I can't wait to show off my sick surf skills and catch some serious waves," and you were going along with it! Were you talking, what, surfboard modeling or something? Wait, I get it... you changed it to modeling just cause these two knockouts showed up! That it, buddy?" Surf ventured, poking at his head in a friendly way.
"Of course not! Well, maybe. Yes and no!" MascotMan responded, still sounding cheery and child-like. "The truth of the matter is, it might be both! Or any, or all. I haven't decided yet."
"... Huh? Haven't decided yet?" Surf responded, seeming a bit more genuinely confused this time. "But, like... hold on a sec. This is a big televised surfing event, right? Ralph was saying-"
"Nope! It's not," the mascot replied succinctly. "We haven't really decided what it is yet, only that we need to get super-big viewership so Morty doesn't, uh... get his nuts cracked! Right, Morty?" the Navi inquired, probably to his operator.
Surf continued to stare kind of blankly for a moment, turning back to Phero and HunterWoman with a baffled smile. "Uh... so dudes, maybe this isn't-" she began, before another pair of Navis made their entrance (not by announcing themselves, but simply by stepping into the ropes):
The first was a woman of a bit less than average height, with a stout, slightly large build that looked about forty percent muscle, forty percent mass in the right places, and about twenty percent more in the wrong places. She was wearing a dark red Navisuit that covered her entire body, excluding her head. Her head was covered in a silver helmet: it was boxier than it was round, but the edges were smooth, and it had a design with a peg at the back, from which a small iron ring hung. Two holes in the helmet revealed two dark eyes peering from inside, and the face was open, showing fair skin with light freckles and an easy smile. The armor consisted of a silver chestplate with a bulky, serrated design that might recall old war hand grenades above the shoulders and at the paldrons, and smoother metal below. Two thick leather straps slung over her shoulders and winding underneath her arms appeared to be serving a dual purpose: one, there were several still-pinned hand grenades adorning the front of her outfit, and two, a huge metal "U" shape (a weapon?) was strapped to her back. The Navi was also wearing thick silver gloves and boots, looking out-of-place on the beach, and silver shorts that didn't look very armored over the Navisuit at her hips. A leather belt supporting the shorts had two similar, smaller metal "U" shapes hanging from the sides. Her Navi emblem, at the chestplate and earpieces of her helmet, appeared to feature a yellow "omega" symbol over a background explosion.
The second woman was of such a different figure as to make them look a comic foil pair. This woman was a tall, with thin, model-like proportions and lacking much muscle. This Navi had very light brown hair, feathered into a short pompadour that came back from her forehead. She wore a red metallic visor, with a pattern of white and black stripes at the bill. She also wore sharp, sporty-looking shades with a yellow tint. Both were strapped to her red plastic-like earguards in a way that seemed to suggest it was all one assembly. Her lips were painted red, and held in a neutral expression that might only look like a frown compared to the others' smiles. Her outfit appeared to consist something like a sleeveless black jumpsuit with discrete clasps across it that appeared to hold it together over a dark red Navisuit that could only be faintly glimpsed at the neck or just below the upper and lower parts. The Navisuit was also sleeveless, revealing her thin arms all the way to fingerless black gloves. Some red accents adorned the jumpsuit: most notably, a conservative open collar, but also the rims of the sleeves and a line down each side of the suit in general. From the neck down the middle to the crotch of the jumpsuit and back up the other side to the shoulders was a pattern of thin green and red lines. At the back of the suit (which wouldn't be obvious to the girls at a distance, of course) was a design like a dartboard, with alternating white, black, green, and red spaces and white numbers all around. If that didn't make her theme obvious enough, she also had a Navi emblem at her chest and earpieces, showing what could only be a black-and-white dartboard with a single green dart in the bullseye.
"Hold up, hold up! We're in time, right?" the shorter woman spoke, powerwalking her way to get closer. While she looked to be in a good mood, it wasn't hard to see she was already sweating beneath her armor. "The Queens thing, the Beach Net Ad Tourney..."
"AD NET Beach Queens Tournament," the woman beside her spoke in a calm, quiet voice (probably the only calm, quiet voice among those gathered).
"Why, yes! This is that tournament," MascotMan responded with his perpetual grin. "It's not over! In fact, it hasn't started. Lucky you!"
"Whoo! I love getting lucky on the beach! Eh? Woah! Did I just say that?! I went there! You saw me go there, right, Dart? Come oooon! Up high!" The shorter woman put her hand in the air.
She recieved little but a sigh from her partner, who kept her arms crossed. "This is Toss. I'm Dart. We're here for the beach sports contest."
"Of course you are!" MascotMan told them. "Only, I'm not sure it's a beach sports contest yet."
Toss rolled her eyes, casting her head around. "Pfft, Pass got the joke. She didn't laugh at it either, but, anyway, yeah! Not much of a beach sports contest in its current state. You couldn't throw a stone on this beach without hitting an emptier spot than this."
"No, I mean I'm not sure there'll be beach sports! That's between you ladies and Morty," MascotMan corrected her, waving his arms and rocking on the heels of his feet. "Morty wants you ladies to do eeeeverything possible to 'save his bacon!'"
"Bacon...?" Dart asked, putting a hand to her chin thoughtfully.
"It's an expression..." Toss informed her, rolling her eyes again. "But there are gonna be beach sports, right? Or at least, some bounty hunting to do? Cause, uh, if things aren't heading that way, I really don't think Dart and I are supposed to be here..."
"Y-yeah, what about the beach sports, dude?" Surf agreed, seeming eager to get the conversation back on track. "I think all five of us were under the impression there were gonna be some beach sports."
"Well, is that what you think will get the most viewers and let Morty keep his kneecaps? Beach sports?" MascotMan inquired innocently, tilting his head.
"Uuh... Let's revisit that, dude," Surf replied, holding up a hand. "Why don't you explain this to us from the beginning? Who's Morty? What is this tourney? What are you expecting us to actually be doing here...? I kinda hired these gals to be part of my team, so if it's no go, I need to let them know they can leave!"
"Hmph. Hired hands," the shades-wearing woman commented, a hint of a smirk crossing her face. "There's no way two legitimate partners will lose to miscellaneous hired hands."
"... Dart, our third is a separate hire too, remember? If she ever shows up," Toss reminded her ally.
"Hmph. As you say," the tall woman responded, keeping her cool demeanor.
"All right, I'll explain it so you ladies don't leave!" MascotMan told them, waving his hands frantically. "Please don't leave, I think Morty is, uh, gonna have his 'sausage packaged' if we don't do our best! So, um, the AD NET Beach Queens Tournament is a contest that Morty came up with after feverishly poring over popular videos on the Net and trying to find something he could do to please his sponsors. His sponsors are very, very unhappy because Morty never pays them any of the money he owes them! So Morty is, um, trapped in a closet somewhere. He says there are guys with golf clubs outside waiting for him if he can't pull this off! Not that I know what golf has to do with anything..."
Surf gulped, and Toss and Dart traded an uneasy glance between the two of them.
"So, right now, I've come up with a number of different contest ideas based on reaching different target audiences. I've also rounded up a number of potential sponsors to air our events on various forums, and other financial donors. I've got my own video equipment I think will be more than adequate, and when the event starts, we can open up these bleachers and get a real audience together. It seems like we've got plenty of personality together here, so I feel good about that! It's just the whole thing about appealing to people I'm worried about. This'll be my third shot with Morty, and I'm not sure what's gonna happen if we mess up. Morty says they'll 'pull the plug' and 'cut him off,' then he'll be 'up the river.' They're expecting immediate results, so we don't have a lot of time for planning... anyway! Let me tell you what I'd like your help with, besides obviously taking part in the tournament."
"First off," the Navi spoke, holding up one hand and folding in his mitten-thumb, "There's the sponsors. This beach is acting as our studio audience, but in reality, there are four major sponsors we're trying to reach out too. They're the ones paying for our broadcasting and resources. If we lose too many, our event is 'up sh*t creek without a paddle,' as Morty likes to say! Let me lay it out for you girls:
The first is a casual entertainment channel. This content will display in a number of cafes around the square and on some social forums. It has a wide audience that our marketing information indicates can be buzzed by any type of excitement: competitive competition, spontaneous violence, humor, or sexual triggers. The only danger of losing this audience is by pushing content too far: if our subject matter becomes unsafe for general audiences, they'll probably pull the feed.
The second is a deep-UnderNet entertainment channel. This content displays in a number of shady dives around the square and on some illegal forums. It has a narrow audience that our marketing indicates can be buzzed only by extreme content: gratuitous violence, sexual content, and/or material of a messed-up, deviant, or criminal nature would be a must to hold their attention. There's no way we can get pulled, but it's entirely possible some stations will stop broadcasting if they don't get any viewers.
The third and fourth are not channels so much as independently wealthy patrons. They reached out to Morty and agreed to be involved so long as we meet their terms and conditions. With their involvement, they'll get other stations involved in the broadcast. However... the terms of their requests are still entirely unknown! There's no knowing what will appeal to them, but during the competition, I will issue any instructions they give. On one hand, keeping them is easy. Just do what they say, and you can expect them to continue their patronage. On the other hand, I have no idea what they'll ask you to do. Morty couldn't ask, and they didn't say! We'll only know once they actually start contacting us.
In order to keep Morty's 'head together,' so to speak, I'd say we need to appeal to at least two of the sponsors with decent viewership. If we get down to one, it will need to be pretty much locked in. Remember, once we lose one of them, we don't get them back. At the beginning of the show, they'll probably be pretty tolerant of whatever, so we can test the waters if we need to, but later into the show, it'll be hard to change certain aspects without losing our support base. They will probably seek a 'ramping up' of the content they appreciate.
Now, in terms of our actual competition, I'm open to doing whatever, but I've prepared four 'tracks' to consider in order to speed the planning along. Basically, I'll give these four options for the general flow of the competition, and you girls let me know what you think will be most successful in keeping Morty 'eating solid food.' The four are:
Number one, standard! I have official tournament swimwear prepared for all of you, which is pretty conservative. In this swimwear and this track, the focus will be entirely competition: the perfect track for women who want to show their competitive spirit and keep the audience's attention with a display of finesse!
Number two, cute! Everyone loves to watch cute girls having fun on the beach! This display would involve individually selected swimwear to enhance your charm, and would have lots of fun activities, maybe some party games!
Number three, sexy! Modeled after our research of Showbiz's usual events, this track will involve swimwear specially selected to turn heads, complimenting each of your features. The activities would mostly be stuff that would be fun for guys to watch, but may or may not be fun for you.
Number four, raunchy! Leaving the well-worn road of swimsuit magazine photoshoot and bee-lining straight off the cliff, this track would be deviant and dirty. Both the activities and the swimsuits selected may, in fact, be intentionally debasing and/or tailor made to appeal to certain popular fetishes...
And those are them! So, from each of you, I'd like to hear your input on what track you want us to pursue, and if you have any special requests on the competitions! I'll also accept any advice you have to get Morty's 'balls outta the clamp,' so to speak."
Surf had crossed her arms, casting her eyes down thoughtfully. "I'm... not sure about this, dudes. Is everyone really up for this? I mean, not only does it sound like some serious shenanigans might be going down, here, but... uh... MascotMan, are you saying this dude's life is in our hands? I mean, you've kinda been dancing around it, but... is that the gist?"
MascotMan remained silent for a while, holding his vacant grin and showing no apparent response behind his glasses. "Uh... yeah. Sounds right," he finally said in a surprisingly matter-of-fact way.
"Well, you know I'm down for whatever, and I won't back down from a challenge-" Toss chimed in.
"I'm not necessarily," Dart added, flatly. "I'm interested in playing darts, and I'm not so sure I'm interested in some of these things that are... things that are not playing darts."
"Yeah, and I want beach horseshoes, buddy, but I'm starting to think that ain't gonna happen," Toss told her partner. "I mean, I'm down for whatever, but this sounds like a matter of life or death for some guy. For one thing, do we have anyone who knows enough about advertising to make these sorts of calls, when this Morty guy is evidently an actual professional?"
"Oh, uh," MascotMan replied, kicking the back of his foot against the sand. "Morty is, uh, 'a sniveling little mofo' when it comes to his job? In his words. I think that means he's not good at it? So you might be better!"
"Uh huh," the large woman droned, nodding her head sadly. "Well, for two, are we getting paid like this is a life or death situation? Dart and I are bounty hunters, remember? We need some serious scratch to make this worth our while."
"Oh yeah, prizes! There are real good prizes," MascotMan added, tilting his head. "Like, as long as the show goes through without us ending up in hot water, I think I can promise some fabulous prizes. Furthermore, by winning the competitions, you can earn even better prizes! When you ladies leave this beach, you might be living like actual queens. Isn't that right, Morty? ... Well, Morty wants me to dial that back a bit. All I know is that our market research shows these are especially sought-after prizes and you may be receiving them in large quantities."
"Huh..." Surf mused, tapping her foot. "So, for those of us interested in prizes, it'd actually be best if the events were best suited for us, regardless of how much the audience might like it. Not that it matters, since we clearly wanna have a surfing contest, but-"
"Surfing? Darts are what audiences crave!" Dart interrupted sharply.
"I happen to know a lot of friends who love beach horseshoes! It makes every beach a party, seriously!" Toss complained. "But, hey, if we're going with contests we can win, let's do the sexy stuff! A win for everybody who gets a look at the hot bods on Dart and me, and a win for Dart and me when we walk off with those sweet goodies."
"... I'm not saying we're not hot, but..." Dart replied in a quiet voice, putting a hand up to her mouth and considering their opponents curiously. "I mean, surely you are, or we are... but maybe we shouldn't push our chances here. Darts is a superior option. Multiple rounds of darts! Best three out of five. The contest of champions."
"Ugh, enough about darts!" Surf shouted, putting her hands on her ears.
"Never enough!" Dart barked in return.
Ignoring her, Surf turned back to her allies. "You two dudes seem a bit more level-hea-... uh... a bit more impartial," Surf spoke as she addressed HunterWoman and Phero, biting her tongue and retracting her words part way through. "You gals have any input? We'll all tell what we wanna do after you say first. Majority wins."
"Unless, of course, any of you is an advertising genius!" MascotMan piped up, hopefully. "In which case, majority does not win and I will instead defer to your genius. But, uh, I'm pretty sure.... none of you three are advertising geniuses," he added as softly as he could, speaking of Surf, Toss, and Dart. "Uh, and yeah, I don't know where number six is, yet... she should be here by now. But let's keep moving, regardless! I don't want Morty getting 'the screws put to him,' after all. I'll give some more details once we've decided."
This conversation had already been going on a while, but it might not be in the ladies' interests to let it keep going much longer (and, apparently, most definitely not in Morty's best interests). A number of the gathered audience had started to drift off: the six gathered in the ropes were interesting characters, but not so interesting as to keep eyes on them when they were just chatting.
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Even while sharing a bath with the handsy Cheshire, Phero had never actually experienced the dynamic of being the reasonable one in a duo. This time, it seemed she was going to get that rare chance, as HunterWoman went a step further than the already questionable tactic of yelling at her employer and straight to leaping at them. Phero didn't find this as out of place as others might; when faced with situations that were foreign to her, she generally assumed the other person knew more than she did. She immediately regretted that she hadn't taken the initiative to pounce as well, but moved over to join the others with a nervous smile, seeing that Surf had accepted her greeting all the same.
She looked down to where HunterWoman was bent over in a state of mostly-nakedness, regarding her curiously. She and Dharma had modeled her own bikini to be scientifically fetching, but she wouldn't be surprised if one like that turned some heads as well. Between Dharma's Clusterbucket uniform and HunterWoman's strategically placed leaf curtains, Phero was beginning to wonder if there wasn't some correlation between being in the nude and being happy, which was a dangerous thought for someone already so prone to behaving improperly in polite society. "Good to meet you, Surf! Thank you for saying so," she replied politely, leaving out the explanation sealed just behind her lips at the last moment, that she was specifically designed to knock out "modeling things." "I'm pretty sure I can swim in this if I need to!" she added unnecessarily, as the question hadn't been intended for her. "Well... I think I can swim," she added in a quieter voice, realizing now that she wasn't one-hundred percent sure. She'd never had the chance to try before. "It's also good to meet you, MascotMan," she added.
It turned out that their contest wasn't set in stone yet; Phero didn't mind. Unlike her operator, she wasn't the kind of person who favored order and rigidity, nor did she tend to make heads roll when things got unorganized. Two more navis showed up before any decision was made one way or the others, these ones looking a little out of place on the beach. Phero wasn't going to miss out this time, though; she'd greet them properly. She made a leap at the shorter one with a look of cat-like focus on her face. This would end one of a few ways: Phero would dodge, be sidestepped, or connect and slide down uselessly as she failed to knock the much sturdier woman over. Either way, she'd end up in the sand looking up at the new girls, reflecting that this method of greeting seemed a little painful and more than a little messy, as she shook sand from her bright pink hair and spit it from her mouth. "Sorry, I messed that up," she apologized. "I'm Phero! It's nice to meet you both." She reflected that she wished she'd been offered the high five instead of Dart... she definitely would have reciprocated, as being lucky was always nice, and on the beach, it was probably only just that much nicer. HunterWoman had said something about getting plowed by a guy on the beach, which had made her blush a bit... even she wasn't quite ignorant enough not to know what HunterWoman was talking about. "Not that there's anything wrong with that," Phero reminded herself; public indecency wasn't so bad, compared to the kind of "bad" her operator usually got up to.
As the conversation continued, it occurred to Phero that the things MascotMan was warning might happen to Morty sounded like familiar expressions she'd heard before... she couldn't recall where, exactly. If she were thinking more clearly, she'd probably realize that her operator had used them in quiet, threatening whispers before, and that furthermore, her operator was probably uniquely suited to rescue Morty without anyone having to do any silly contests... but she tended to associate Dharma more with intimidating people than rescuing them from their intimidators. Just as importantly, Dart had a good point: it was going to be hard for loose acquaintances to beat a time-tested team of friends. Then again... Dart didn't exactly seem like Pass's BFF, she had to admit. The two were certainly familiar, but Dart was a little cold, at least. "HunterWoman and Surf and I are going to become friends so fast, you'll be surprised! Before long, we'll all be legitimate partners!" she returned the taunt, beaming confidently (not exactly smirking, that wasn't an expression that would come naturally to her). She rose to her feet and began brushing off sand as the conversation continued.
"Golf clubs?" Phero murmured, putting on a pensive expression. "I suppose that's a problem, if they want Morty to participate in a dangerous golf tournament. Golf's not an easy sport to just pick up, from what I hear," she agreed, keeping her demeanor serious, in matching the grave tone of the conversation. She continued nodding, but did interject at one point: "we'll probably also lose sponsors if we say phrases like 'up poo creek without a paddle,' so we should probably watch our language," she posited, remembering at least enough of Dharma's lessons on proper etiquette from one representing a major company in front of investors to know that they ought not to say "sh*t" if they could help it. The rest of the explanation was becoming pretty complicated, so she mostly just nodded along and tried her best to understand.
Phero would just be happy as long as everyone picked what made them most happy; that being said, she didn't think she had much to offer as far as 'finesse' went. She could be cute or sexy, but 'finesse' wasn't something she was programmed with much of. It sounded like Morty was in a lot of trouble, one way or the other, and she wasn't about to let him suffer in order to get out of an event that sounded like a fun way to pass time regardless. She figured she best play best to their strengths and what people wanted to see; this required a trip down memory lane to remember what she'd seen work well in the past. "I say we all give it our best shot! Marty doesn't deserve to die or lose his kneecaps or embarrass himself in a golf tournament in front of business people when he can't really golf," she urged the others. "Besides, prizes are nice, and the chance to be a queen is pretty rare, from what I remember. I've never even heard of an AD Net Beach Queen before!"
She'd seen darts before, but not horseshoes... the basic gist she was getting, however, was that they were contests that would be easy, but not necessarily successful in saving Marty from all of the terrible things awaiting him. "Don't worry everyone, I have an idea that's great for audiences and seems like a lot of fun too!" she responded once MascotMan put the ball in her court. "From what I've seen, the best way we can go is to wear costumes, play music, and strip off our clothes slowly while speaking to an audience, doing things like squeezing each other's butts and stomping on the reproductive parts of male audience members. That got a great reaction, last time I saw it," she pointed out. "I guess that means 'raunchy', but when I watched last time, it went over great! The audience was cheering and throwing money! It's easy and it will get Marty right off the hook," she explained, smiling with determination as she looked between the other audience members. "It might be a little embarrassing, but-" she began, realizing she'd get a reputation she didn't want if she said, "I was made to inspire feelings of sexual arousal in men and women." "... But we can overcome any challenge together! What do you say? HunterWoman and I will have to put more clothes on, though, or we won't have anything to take off..."
She looked down to where HunterWoman was bent over in a state of mostly-nakedness, regarding her curiously. She and Dharma had modeled her own bikini to be scientifically fetching, but she wouldn't be surprised if one like that turned some heads as well. Between Dharma's Clusterbucket uniform and HunterWoman's strategically placed leaf curtains, Phero was beginning to wonder if there wasn't some correlation between being in the nude and being happy, which was a dangerous thought for someone already so prone to behaving improperly in polite society. "Good to meet you, Surf! Thank you for saying so," she replied politely, leaving out the explanation sealed just behind her lips at the last moment, that she was specifically designed to knock out "modeling things." "I'm pretty sure I can swim in this if I need to!" she added unnecessarily, as the question hadn't been intended for her. "Well... I think I can swim," she added in a quieter voice, realizing now that she wasn't one-hundred percent sure. She'd never had the chance to try before. "It's also good to meet you, MascotMan," she added.
It turned out that their contest wasn't set in stone yet; Phero didn't mind. Unlike her operator, she wasn't the kind of person who favored order and rigidity, nor did she tend to make heads roll when things got unorganized. Two more navis showed up before any decision was made one way or the others, these ones looking a little out of place on the beach. Phero wasn't going to miss out this time, though; she'd greet them properly. She made a leap at the shorter one with a look of cat-like focus on her face. This would end one of a few ways: Phero would dodge, be sidestepped, or connect and slide down uselessly as she failed to knock the much sturdier woman over. Either way, she'd end up in the sand looking up at the new girls, reflecting that this method of greeting seemed a little painful and more than a little messy, as she shook sand from her bright pink hair and spit it from her mouth. "Sorry, I messed that up," she apologized. "I'm Phero! It's nice to meet you both." She reflected that she wished she'd been offered the high five instead of Dart... she definitely would have reciprocated, as being lucky was always nice, and on the beach, it was probably only just that much nicer. HunterWoman had said something about getting plowed by a guy on the beach, which had made her blush a bit... even she wasn't quite ignorant enough not to know what HunterWoman was talking about. "Not that there's anything wrong with that," Phero reminded herself; public indecency wasn't so bad, compared to the kind of "bad" her operator usually got up to.
As the conversation continued, it occurred to Phero that the things MascotMan was warning might happen to Morty sounded like familiar expressions she'd heard before... she couldn't recall where, exactly. If she were thinking more clearly, she'd probably realize that her operator had used them in quiet, threatening whispers before, and that furthermore, her operator was probably uniquely suited to rescue Morty without anyone having to do any silly contests... but she tended to associate Dharma more with intimidating people than rescuing them from their intimidators. Just as importantly, Dart had a good point: it was going to be hard for loose acquaintances to beat a time-tested team of friends. Then again... Dart didn't exactly seem like Pass's BFF, she had to admit. The two were certainly familiar, but Dart was a little cold, at least. "HunterWoman and Surf and I are going to become friends so fast, you'll be surprised! Before long, we'll all be legitimate partners!" she returned the taunt, beaming confidently (not exactly smirking, that wasn't an expression that would come naturally to her). She rose to her feet and began brushing off sand as the conversation continued.
"Golf clubs?" Phero murmured, putting on a pensive expression. "I suppose that's a problem, if they want Morty to participate in a dangerous golf tournament. Golf's not an easy sport to just pick up, from what I hear," she agreed, keeping her demeanor serious, in matching the grave tone of the conversation. She continued nodding, but did interject at one point: "we'll probably also lose sponsors if we say phrases like 'up poo creek without a paddle,' so we should probably watch our language," she posited, remembering at least enough of Dharma's lessons on proper etiquette from one representing a major company in front of investors to know that they ought not to say "sh*t" if they could help it. The rest of the explanation was becoming pretty complicated, so she mostly just nodded along and tried her best to understand.
Phero would just be happy as long as everyone picked what made them most happy; that being said, she didn't think she had much to offer as far as 'finesse' went. She could be cute or sexy, but 'finesse' wasn't something she was programmed with much of. It sounded like Morty was in a lot of trouble, one way or the other, and she wasn't about to let him suffer in order to get out of an event that sounded like a fun way to pass time regardless. She figured she best play best to their strengths and what people wanted to see; this required a trip down memory lane to remember what she'd seen work well in the past. "I say we all give it our best shot! Marty doesn't deserve to die or lose his kneecaps or embarrass himself in a golf tournament in front of business people when he can't really golf," she urged the others. "Besides, prizes are nice, and the chance to be a queen is pretty rare, from what I remember. I've never even heard of an AD Net Beach Queen before!"
She'd seen darts before, but not horseshoes... the basic gist she was getting, however, was that they were contests that would be easy, but not necessarily successful in saving Marty from all of the terrible things awaiting him. "Don't worry everyone, I have an idea that's great for audiences and seems like a lot of fun too!" she responded once MascotMan put the ball in her court. "From what I've seen, the best way we can go is to wear costumes, play music, and strip off our clothes slowly while speaking to an audience, doing things like squeezing each other's butts and stomping on the reproductive parts of male audience members. That got a great reaction, last time I saw it," she pointed out. "I guess that means 'raunchy', but when I watched last time, it went over great! The audience was cheering and throwing money! It's easy and it will get Marty right off the hook," she explained, smiling with determination as she looked between the other audience members. "It might be a little embarrassing, but-" she began, realizing she'd get a reputation she didn't want if she said, "I was made to inspire feelings of sexual arousal in men and women." "... But we can overcome any challenge together! What do you say? HunterWoman and I will have to put more clothes on, though, or we won't have anything to take off..."
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"Ack!" One thing HunterWoman hadn't banked on was Surf's board having hovering capabilities; as such, she had gone full force, and wound up landing face first in the sand. It took a few moments for her to recover, during which she was on her knees, facing away from everyone, with only a few leaves to protect what little modesty she still had. But it wasn't too long before she bounced back up to a standing position, wiping some sand from her face. "Well, at least I didn't get any sand in my-PEH! I just got some in my mouth! Eww!"
"Oh, don't worry! I'm a good swimmer for a Navi that isn't Aqua!" While entirely not answering Surf's question, the more nature based of the mission taking Navis had a bombshell thrown at her. "Hang on, why wouldn't you want your nuts cracked? You ever eaten peanuts without getting them out of the shell? It's super gross! You totally need to get them out, THEN pop 'em in your mouth!" Meanwhile, Phero tried her method of greeting on someone else. She noticed, and immediately gasped. "Don't, Phero! They might fly!" While this wasn't the case, the other Navi wound up in the sand, albeit not face first like her. "That could happen, too...oof!"
Around this time, a butterfly popped up. Not a virus, just an ordinary butterfly one could easily find in the real world. Naturally, this drew HunterWoman's complete and undivided attention. "C'mere, Mister Butterfly!...Or Miss Butterfly!" As MascotMan explained the situation, she comedically chased after the flying bug, which had a knack for flying higher whenever she drew near. "Aw, come on! I don't wanna put you in a collection or anything, I just wanna say hi!" There it was...jump! ...Nope. Aww. Eventually, it flew too high for her to ever hope of reaching, causing her to stop and watch it. "No, come back! I wanna be friends and everything! ...Aww..." Extremely depressed, she returned to the others right as all the discussions were finished, and there was silence. "...Huh? Why'd everyone get quiet all of a sudden? Let's do this!" Truthfully, she had zero idea of what was going to happen. But it was going to happen, and that was good enough for her. And when you were excited to do stuff, who needed ideas? Not her, that was for sure.
"Oh, don't worry! I'm a good swimmer for a Navi that isn't Aqua!" While entirely not answering Surf's question, the more nature based of the mission taking Navis had a bombshell thrown at her. "Hang on, why wouldn't you want your nuts cracked? You ever eaten peanuts without getting them out of the shell? It's super gross! You totally need to get them out, THEN pop 'em in your mouth!" Meanwhile, Phero tried her method of greeting on someone else. She noticed, and immediately gasped. "Don't, Phero! They might fly!" While this wasn't the case, the other Navi wound up in the sand, albeit not face first like her. "That could happen, too...oof!"
Around this time, a butterfly popped up. Not a virus, just an ordinary butterfly one could easily find in the real world. Naturally, this drew HunterWoman's complete and undivided attention. "C'mere, Mister Butterfly!...Or Miss Butterfly!" As MascotMan explained the situation, she comedically chased after the flying bug, which had a knack for flying higher whenever she drew near. "Aw, come on! I don't wanna put you in a collection or anything, I just wanna say hi!" There it was...jump! ...Nope. Aww. Eventually, it flew too high for her to ever hope of reaching, causing her to stop and watch it. "No, come back! I wanna be friends and everything! ...Aww..." Extremely depressed, she returned to the others right as all the discussions were finished, and there was silence. "...Huh? Why'd everyone get quiet all of a sudden? Let's do this!" Truthfully, she had zero idea of what was going to happen. But it was going to happen, and that was good enough for her. And when you were excited to do stuff, who needed ideas? Not her, that was for sure.
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"Don't know, huh?" Surf replied to Phero, kicking her feet in the sand casually. "I guess there's a difference between some programmed knowledge and knowing if you can put it into practice. Anyway, you look like you'd be a natural, sure! Just start in the shallow water if you decide you wanna practice, dude..." She flashed HunterWoman an approving grin as well, seeming predictably pleased at having a teammate who vouched for their own swimming ability.
There were some more introductions after that. Surf reacted with some surprise when Phero mimicked HunterWoman's earlier failed tackle. Toss, on the other hand, just stepped out of the way of the charge. "Oop! Sorry, Phero, didn't realize that was a greeting. My cat-like reflexes kick in when I'm in danger! Too fast for my own good." Despite her apology, she didn't bother restraining a few laughs at Phero's expense.
All gathered mostly let Phero's offbeat commentary stand unaddressed, each of them lost in their private thoughts about what they were going to do and their public declarations of which exciting beach sport would most captivate their audience. Only when Phero finally spoke up about her own recommendation did everyone actually go silent. Surf's mouth hung open with an incredulous smile; Toss rolled her tongue across her teeth, then gave a chuckle and glanced at Dart; Dart fixed her gaze on Phero with an expression that looked as though she'd been insulted.
MascotMan was the only one whose expression didn't change as a result (excluding HunterWoman, who had evidently missed the exchange chasing a mysterious beach butterfly). "Oh! Yeah, that sounds like it'd be pretty good for driving viewership!"
"Woah woah, dude, seriously! We're on a beach!" Surf said, still laughing, but seeming a bit desperate to turn Phero's straight-faced suggestion into a joke. "I, uh, I don't know what kind of thing you have in mind with 'raunchy,' but it's nothing like that, right? I dunno if I mentioned it, but I basically live on this beach! Not exactly eager to go flashing my birthday suit to all the tourists..."
"Nah, this could be a fun change of pace" Toss argued, grinning. "Like, I dunno about making it a full on strip-show, but I'll cast my vote for raunchy as well. Heck, Phero's apparently gotten a good reaction from it before, and me and Dart are both twice as hot. If we go all out, I'm sure we can save Morty, and me and Dart are gonna be swimming in queenly prizes!"
"Wah... what?" Dart protested, now flushing obviously and letting her cool facade crack. "H-hold on! I'm voting for competitive, all right? I don't think that we need to resort to stripping or bum-squeezing or any of that nonsense to entertain people. And it wasn't in our contract! Certainly not. We'd need to get paid more for that, right, Toss?!"
"Ah, come on, live a little!" Toss cried in response, wrapping her arm around her ally to cradle her neck in a headlock. "Isn't this actually easier than most of the stuff we get up to on the job? They already said we're getting paid extra, too!"
Surf watched with contemplative, nervous smile, her eyes darting from the bounty hunters to her two partners. "I... I was gonna vote for 'cute' or 'sexy' maybe, but... if I'm understanding this right... if I don't vote 'competitive,' raunchy is gonna win? MascotMan, is that right? And are we really gonna have to do what Phero is saying if it is?"
"That's my count, yup," MascotMan responded, rocking back and forth on his heels. "I have something slightly different in mind if we go that route for the track, but it'd be similar. I think HunterWoman is saying she has no preference?"
"I'm... not actually sure she was paying attention," Surf said, biting one of her fingers. "All right, well... uh, w-well, why not! Sure, if that'll save your operator, dude, I won't object. I mean, if we do well enough, I'll just move to a different part of the beach and start a new identity or whatever! You'll just have to meet your end of the deal with those rewards."
"Well, I'll do what I can, I promise," MascotMan reassured her. "It's all up to you girls. So if we're all decided..."
"Wait a second!" Dart shouted out, still speaking from Toss's armpit. "W-wait a second! We can't start without a sixth, can we? We can't! And she might have a different idea about what she wants to do!"
"That wouldn't matter, though," MascotMan reminded her, speaking in his mercilessly friendly tone. "'Raunchy' has three votes, so we're already locked in."
"What about our sixth, though?!" Dart cried, finally pulling herself free of the headlock. "Don't we need to wait for them to show up?"
"Yeah, what's the deal with that sixth?" Toss agreed, crossing her arms. "Maybe she showed up, saw this stiff competition, got cold feet and chickened out. Not everyone's got our God-given confidence! Or our dynamite bods, for that matter... say, what about Pass? Pass! You wanna do it, Pass? ... Oh, come on! Morty's gonna die! Morty's blood is gonna be on your hands, Pass! Get your skinny little behookus out here-"
Interrupting the bounty hunter, a set of four full-height mirrors suddenly appeared in the sand, annoyingly reflecting sunlight into the eyes of anyone looking without shades. They quickly circled, pulling into each other before shattering into harmless fragments, revealing a pale woman standing in a vogue pose, clutching her hand to a cream-colored fedora she was wearing, one knee bent to an arc, her head cast down, and her free hand out at a straight diagonal. She immediately straightened up, allowing those gathered to get a look at her cream tailored suit, which didn't appear to have been designed with any pretense towards typical Navi gear. For all intents and purposes, it appeared to simply be a well-fit suit as one would wear in the real world, complete with no-nonsense short-heeled footwear. Both the footwear and the short gloves she were wearing had some brown accents to them, but not much in the way of frills. The emblem on her suit was the only part that gave any impression of a Navisuit, featuring a yellow measuring tape pulled out against a black background.
The Navi tilted her head up to cast her eyes to MascotMan, revealing the much more Navi-like features of her costume. While she had shoulder-length, luxurious black hair, her face was entirely covered with a sort of metallic mask. Looking closer, that seemed less like a mask and more like a cyborg body: her lower head was covered by a sort of metallic-half mask, her eyes by goggles that had long, periscope-like eyepieces and red lenses. Thin metallic armor extended up the neck and all the way up to the earpieces. "Good day!" her voice came muffled and metallic. "MascotMan! I've brought equipment from my lab. Should you choose to utilize it in your presentation, you will have our assistance. You mentioned various tracks in your communication: which was selected?" The woman didn't bother introducing herself to the other women, although her speaking was friendly enough. She also didn't have any obvious "equipment" with her.
"Oh, hello! You must be AdjustLady," MascotMan replied, reaching out for a handshake and receiving it. "Yes, they've chosen 'raunchy.' I think it's gonna be great! Thanks for your cooperation."
"Mmm," the woman replied succinctly. Suddenly spinning in place, she put a hand to her hat again and fanned out the fingers of the other to her side, revealing a number of small devices between the knuckles of her fingers (six in total, so some knuckles had multiple sandwiched between them). "Thank you for your cooperation. The ladies in your competition will simply need to wear these devices as they perform in order to receive our feedback. No input on your part should be necessary. Should any of the ladies refuse to wear the device, our cooperation will be considered terminated, and I shall come to retrieve the devices later. These ones are tuned to your track. All clear?"
"Crystal!" MascotMan replied with a gloved thumbs-up. "Although, I dunno if they will go along with it or not. That's up to them! If they don't, of course, you're free to terminate your end of the deal. Of course, I hope they will!"
"I hope so, too," the woman agreed, nodding shortly. "Well, ladies, I'll take my-" she began, before suddenly being bear-hugged by Toss. "Hck!" she gasped from behind her mask.
"Wait, don't go!" Toss begged. "You've gotta be the sixth in our contest!"
"There are... hck... several issues with that plan!" AdjustLady complained, struggling in the other woman's thick arms. "Please, unhand me!"
"No way, you've gotta! Listen, the pay's great, and... and you'll be saving our butts, here! Look, you want this show to go forward so you can test your doohickeys or whatever, right? Well there might not be a contest if you don't help! You look like you've got the figure, don't you wanna get raunchy with us?!"
"Listen, I'm not... ack!" the woman cried as Toss tightened her hold. "I can't be a part of the test using this equipment! Besides, I'm really not... I don't think I'm properly equipped for... Please, just let go! Wait... wait, hold on! My operator wants me to! I'll do it, all right, so just put me down! Let me go!"
Toss dropped her into the sand, heartlessly dirtying her good suit, and grinned widely. "All right! We got three. No problems, right?!"
"Uh... if everyone here's okay with it, and it's good for business, I'm good with it!" MascotMan agreed.
"Yes, it's been decided that it might be effective for me to act as a sort of control and also witness the test of the device first-hand," AdjustLady spoke, trying to reclaim her cool as she rose to her feet and furiously brushed off her slacks. "As such, it appears I will be your teammate. As for you three ladies," she spoke, turning her eyes to Phero, HunterWoman, and Surf, "It would appear that I am to be your opponent. Be warned, I have no reason nor any inclination to offer mercy. Rewards from this event can further my research goals. I'm going to do what it takes."
"Yeah, okay," Surf acknowledged, waving her hand. "You're a little over-dressed for this, though, dude!"
"Ahem!" MascotMan interrupted, clapping his hands. "That's actually a good segue! I've got the .GMOs for the beginning of the test. I'm going to have each of you wear one of AdjustLady's devices in one ear, and my discrete earpiece in the other! All of it is waterproof, of course. I know it sounds like a pain, but really, all I plan to do with my earpiece is relay the current favorability results to each of you. I'm going to give you periodic updates of the aggregate 'interest score' we pick up for you, personally, as well as the average interest score of all other contestants. That will give you an idea of whether you're doing well enough, or if you need to step it up. I don't know what AdjustLady's piece does, though!"
"Ah, it doesn't relay any audio data, but rather, it influences certain routines and provides a sort of... information database. I don't think any of you will find it terribly disruptive. It's crucial for me to test and, if successful, I think it may even enhance the show," AdjustLady input. "I can give you the disclaimer, if you like, but I really don't see any need. You're free to 'opt out' by simply not wearing it. Of course, I've already mentioned that in that event, my company will pull its sponsorship."
"Oh, but you'll still be part of the event anyway, right?" MascotMan chimed in. "I mean, we need a sixth! I can't have you just leaving in the middle of the program."
The woman put a hand to her facemask, looking as though she was sighing. "... Yes. Yes, I suppose I'll give that guarantee. I strongly encourage you ladies not to throw away my company's generous sponsorship and the opportunity to be part of technological progress."
"Well, normally, I have a strict policy against putting dangerous-looking bugs in my ear just because I'm told to," Toss chuckled, picking up one of the devices from MascotMan. "But, when in Beach Net, they say!"
The device looked like a tiny purple disc with what looked like speaker holes and no other distinguishing features, including any company logo. It was probably intended to be discrete. MascotMan's earphone was a little larger and looked more like one might expect an earpiece to, including a big, stoic AD NET logo. Both were designed either to fit in an ear or be clipped to an earpiece.
"All right, ladies! Thank goodness, it looks like Morty is gonna 'see the sunrise' after all. Let me tell you what I've got planned. The first thing I'm gonna have you all do is put on these .GMOs Morty and I have prepared for you. It's really important that you keep the shirt on when you equip the .GMO! I'm gonna hide myself when we start, and I'll be focusing only on MCing and providing the result updates to you, and also managing equipment. I'll be in charge of handling all of the cameras, and I'll control them while we're shooting. It'd probably be best if you avoided talking to me when we're shooting, but I might put in some intermissions so we can take breathers and discuss if we need to.
"The first part of the contest is gonna just be introducing yourselves, so take it easy! Let the audience know a little bit about yourselves. Your name, what you do, why you're looking forward to winning the contest, things like that! For this, it'd be good to be yourselves. Don't worry too much about standing out now. Oh! And one more thing. I already received the instructions from our second sponsor by mail. It's, uh, just one message. Specifically for Surf's team. So, here you go! You showed up first, so I'm gonna call you team leader, Surf."
"All right, dude," Surf agreed, taking the message data and calling for the other two to huddle around. She was speaking discretely, since the unstated apparent gist of this was that it was supposed to be hidden from Toss's gang. "The message says... 'Do what it takes to make Dart and Toss break up! Make them miserable and fussy with each other, spread lies between them, or drive a wedge somehow. Your results will be judged halfway through the show. If I don't see an effort, I'll pull sponsorship.' Woah, dudes... break up? Hold on, you think those two are... no, nevermind. Even if it's just as bounty hunting partners, that's a little harsh, don't you think? If we're gonna do the earpiece thing and go full, uh, raunchy... Maybe we don't need to do this one? What do you dudes think? I get bad vibes from this one. Then again... more sponsors probably means we get more rewards..."
Whatever the two decided, unless they forced Surf to do so for them, she would simply nod along with the decision and break up the huddle.
Surf would go over and take her earpieces and .GMO data. It looked like the others had already done so. The group would have a chance to check it out even before they put it on, if they wanted...
As for the earpieces, both were completely silent for the moment. There wasn't even a static buzz, indicating they probably had not yet been activated.
The crowd had begun to gather again, probably sensing the competition was about to start. Seeing this, MascotMan withdrew closer to the bleachers, taking a seat and adjusting his shades. "Laaaaadies and Gentlemeeeen!" he suddenly shouted out at microphone volume. "Our ladies are just finishing up in preparation of the AD NET Beach Queen Tournament: Suuuurvival Toooour!! Soon, you'll be seeing these ladies strut their stuff in a no-holds-barred competition to win fabulous prizes! You're the real winners, however, as you will witness these women put their pride and their bodies on the line!"
The Navi would pause momentarily, evidently dealing with some personal windows. It would not be long before the gang would see the formerly stationary TV cameras lift into the air, folding in their tripods and hovering. The equipment began zipping around the makeshift stadium, seemingly programmed to avoid collisions as they sought good angles.
Phero would find herself the first recipient of their attention (although, they'd avoid it if she was not yet changed). "Our first team is composed of Phero! HunterWoman! and Surf! Our first introduction will be Phero, she of the adorable pink hair! Take it away!"
The announcement would stop while Phero spoke. Whether she was prepared for it or not, she'd find that her AD NET ear piece had suddenly been rigged to project her voice around.
After Phero had spoken, assuming she did, she'd receive her reception and the cameras would shift to HunterWoman. "Next up is HunterWoman, she of the exotic green tresses! Tell us who you are!"
There were some more introductions after that. Surf reacted with some surprise when Phero mimicked HunterWoman's earlier failed tackle. Toss, on the other hand, just stepped out of the way of the charge. "Oop! Sorry, Phero, didn't realize that was a greeting. My cat-like reflexes kick in when I'm in danger! Too fast for my own good." Despite her apology, she didn't bother restraining a few laughs at Phero's expense.
All gathered mostly let Phero's offbeat commentary stand unaddressed, each of them lost in their private thoughts about what they were going to do and their public declarations of which exciting beach sport would most captivate their audience. Only when Phero finally spoke up about her own recommendation did everyone actually go silent. Surf's mouth hung open with an incredulous smile; Toss rolled her tongue across her teeth, then gave a chuckle and glanced at Dart; Dart fixed her gaze on Phero with an expression that looked as though she'd been insulted.
MascotMan was the only one whose expression didn't change as a result (excluding HunterWoman, who had evidently missed the exchange chasing a mysterious beach butterfly). "Oh! Yeah, that sounds like it'd be pretty good for driving viewership!"
"Woah woah, dude, seriously! We're on a beach!" Surf said, still laughing, but seeming a bit desperate to turn Phero's straight-faced suggestion into a joke. "I, uh, I don't know what kind of thing you have in mind with 'raunchy,' but it's nothing like that, right? I dunno if I mentioned it, but I basically live on this beach! Not exactly eager to go flashing my birthday suit to all the tourists..."
"Nah, this could be a fun change of pace" Toss argued, grinning. "Like, I dunno about making it a full on strip-show, but I'll cast my vote for raunchy as well. Heck, Phero's apparently gotten a good reaction from it before, and me and Dart are both twice as hot. If we go all out, I'm sure we can save Morty, and me and Dart are gonna be swimming in queenly prizes!"
"Wah... what?" Dart protested, now flushing obviously and letting her cool facade crack. "H-hold on! I'm voting for competitive, all right? I don't think that we need to resort to stripping or bum-squeezing or any of that nonsense to entertain people. And it wasn't in our contract! Certainly not. We'd need to get paid more for that, right, Toss?!"
"Ah, come on, live a little!" Toss cried in response, wrapping her arm around her ally to cradle her neck in a headlock. "Isn't this actually easier than most of the stuff we get up to on the job? They already said we're getting paid extra, too!"
Surf watched with contemplative, nervous smile, her eyes darting from the bounty hunters to her two partners. "I... I was gonna vote for 'cute' or 'sexy' maybe, but... if I'm understanding this right... if I don't vote 'competitive,' raunchy is gonna win? MascotMan, is that right? And are we really gonna have to do what Phero is saying if it is?"
"That's my count, yup," MascotMan responded, rocking back and forth on his heels. "I have something slightly different in mind if we go that route for the track, but it'd be similar. I think HunterWoman is saying she has no preference?"
"I'm... not actually sure she was paying attention," Surf said, biting one of her fingers. "All right, well... uh, w-well, why not! Sure, if that'll save your operator, dude, I won't object. I mean, if we do well enough, I'll just move to a different part of the beach and start a new identity or whatever! You'll just have to meet your end of the deal with those rewards."
"Well, I'll do what I can, I promise," MascotMan reassured her. "It's all up to you girls. So if we're all decided..."
"Wait a second!" Dart shouted out, still speaking from Toss's armpit. "W-wait a second! We can't start without a sixth, can we? We can't! And she might have a different idea about what she wants to do!"
"That wouldn't matter, though," MascotMan reminded her, speaking in his mercilessly friendly tone. "'Raunchy' has three votes, so we're already locked in."
"What about our sixth, though?!" Dart cried, finally pulling herself free of the headlock. "Don't we need to wait for them to show up?"
"Yeah, what's the deal with that sixth?" Toss agreed, crossing her arms. "Maybe she showed up, saw this stiff competition, got cold feet and chickened out. Not everyone's got our God-given confidence! Or our dynamite bods, for that matter... say, what about Pass? Pass! You wanna do it, Pass? ... Oh, come on! Morty's gonna die! Morty's blood is gonna be on your hands, Pass! Get your skinny little behookus out here-"
Interrupting the bounty hunter, a set of four full-height mirrors suddenly appeared in the sand, annoyingly reflecting sunlight into the eyes of anyone looking without shades. They quickly circled, pulling into each other before shattering into harmless fragments, revealing a pale woman standing in a vogue pose, clutching her hand to a cream-colored fedora she was wearing, one knee bent to an arc, her head cast down, and her free hand out at a straight diagonal. She immediately straightened up, allowing those gathered to get a look at her cream tailored suit, which didn't appear to have been designed with any pretense towards typical Navi gear. For all intents and purposes, it appeared to simply be a well-fit suit as one would wear in the real world, complete with no-nonsense short-heeled footwear. Both the footwear and the short gloves she were wearing had some brown accents to them, but not much in the way of frills. The emblem on her suit was the only part that gave any impression of a Navisuit, featuring a yellow measuring tape pulled out against a black background.
The Navi tilted her head up to cast her eyes to MascotMan, revealing the much more Navi-like features of her costume. While she had shoulder-length, luxurious black hair, her face was entirely covered with a sort of metallic mask. Looking closer, that seemed less like a mask and more like a cyborg body: her lower head was covered by a sort of metallic-half mask, her eyes by goggles that had long, periscope-like eyepieces and red lenses. Thin metallic armor extended up the neck and all the way up to the earpieces. "Good day!" her voice came muffled and metallic. "MascotMan! I've brought equipment from my lab. Should you choose to utilize it in your presentation, you will have our assistance. You mentioned various tracks in your communication: which was selected?" The woman didn't bother introducing herself to the other women, although her speaking was friendly enough. She also didn't have any obvious "equipment" with her.
"Oh, hello! You must be AdjustLady," MascotMan replied, reaching out for a handshake and receiving it. "Yes, they've chosen 'raunchy.' I think it's gonna be great! Thanks for your cooperation."
"Mmm," the woman replied succinctly. Suddenly spinning in place, she put a hand to her hat again and fanned out the fingers of the other to her side, revealing a number of small devices between the knuckles of her fingers (six in total, so some knuckles had multiple sandwiched between them). "Thank you for your cooperation. The ladies in your competition will simply need to wear these devices as they perform in order to receive our feedback. No input on your part should be necessary. Should any of the ladies refuse to wear the device, our cooperation will be considered terminated, and I shall come to retrieve the devices later. These ones are tuned to your track. All clear?"
"Crystal!" MascotMan replied with a gloved thumbs-up. "Although, I dunno if they will go along with it or not. That's up to them! If they don't, of course, you're free to terminate your end of the deal. Of course, I hope they will!"
"I hope so, too," the woman agreed, nodding shortly. "Well, ladies, I'll take my-" she began, before suddenly being bear-hugged by Toss. "Hck!" she gasped from behind her mask.
"Wait, don't go!" Toss begged. "You've gotta be the sixth in our contest!"
"There are... hck... several issues with that plan!" AdjustLady complained, struggling in the other woman's thick arms. "Please, unhand me!"
"No way, you've gotta! Listen, the pay's great, and... and you'll be saving our butts, here! Look, you want this show to go forward so you can test your doohickeys or whatever, right? Well there might not be a contest if you don't help! You look like you've got the figure, don't you wanna get raunchy with us?!"
"Listen, I'm not... ack!" the woman cried as Toss tightened her hold. "I can't be a part of the test using this equipment! Besides, I'm really not... I don't think I'm properly equipped for... Please, just let go! Wait... wait, hold on! My operator wants me to! I'll do it, all right, so just put me down! Let me go!"
Toss dropped her into the sand, heartlessly dirtying her good suit, and grinned widely. "All right! We got three. No problems, right?!"
"Uh... if everyone here's okay with it, and it's good for business, I'm good with it!" MascotMan agreed.
"Yes, it's been decided that it might be effective for me to act as a sort of control and also witness the test of the device first-hand," AdjustLady spoke, trying to reclaim her cool as she rose to her feet and furiously brushed off her slacks. "As such, it appears I will be your teammate. As for you three ladies," she spoke, turning her eyes to Phero, HunterWoman, and Surf, "It would appear that I am to be your opponent. Be warned, I have no reason nor any inclination to offer mercy. Rewards from this event can further my research goals. I'm going to do what it takes."
"Yeah, okay," Surf acknowledged, waving her hand. "You're a little over-dressed for this, though, dude!"
"Ahem!" MascotMan interrupted, clapping his hands. "That's actually a good segue! I've got the .GMOs for the beginning of the test. I'm going to have each of you wear one of AdjustLady's devices in one ear, and my discrete earpiece in the other! All of it is waterproof, of course. I know it sounds like a pain, but really, all I plan to do with my earpiece is relay the current favorability results to each of you. I'm going to give you periodic updates of the aggregate 'interest score' we pick up for you, personally, as well as the average interest score of all other contestants. That will give you an idea of whether you're doing well enough, or if you need to step it up. I don't know what AdjustLady's piece does, though!"
"Ah, it doesn't relay any audio data, but rather, it influences certain routines and provides a sort of... information database. I don't think any of you will find it terribly disruptive. It's crucial for me to test and, if successful, I think it may even enhance the show," AdjustLady input. "I can give you the disclaimer, if you like, but I really don't see any need. You're free to 'opt out' by simply not wearing it. Of course, I've already mentioned that in that event, my company will pull its sponsorship."
"Oh, but you'll still be part of the event anyway, right?" MascotMan chimed in. "I mean, we need a sixth! I can't have you just leaving in the middle of the program."
The woman put a hand to her facemask, looking as though she was sighing. "... Yes. Yes, I suppose I'll give that guarantee. I strongly encourage you ladies not to throw away my company's generous sponsorship and the opportunity to be part of technological progress."
"Well, normally, I have a strict policy against putting dangerous-looking bugs in my ear just because I'm told to," Toss chuckled, picking up one of the devices from MascotMan. "But, when in Beach Net, they say!"
The device looked like a tiny purple disc with what looked like speaker holes and no other distinguishing features, including any company logo. It was probably intended to be discrete. MascotMan's earphone was a little larger and looked more like one might expect an earpiece to, including a big, stoic AD NET logo. Both were designed either to fit in an ear or be clipped to an earpiece.
"All right, ladies! Thank goodness, it looks like Morty is gonna 'see the sunrise' after all. Let me tell you what I've got planned. The first thing I'm gonna have you all do is put on these .GMOs Morty and I have prepared for you. It's really important that you keep the shirt on when you equip the .GMO! I'm gonna hide myself when we start, and I'll be focusing only on MCing and providing the result updates to you, and also managing equipment. I'll be in charge of handling all of the cameras, and I'll control them while we're shooting. It'd probably be best if you avoided talking to me when we're shooting, but I might put in some intermissions so we can take breathers and discuss if we need to.
"The first part of the contest is gonna just be introducing yourselves, so take it easy! Let the audience know a little bit about yourselves. Your name, what you do, why you're looking forward to winning the contest, things like that! For this, it'd be good to be yourselves. Don't worry too much about standing out now. Oh! And one more thing. I already received the instructions from our second sponsor by mail. It's, uh, just one message. Specifically for Surf's team. So, here you go! You showed up first, so I'm gonna call you team leader, Surf."
"All right, dude," Surf agreed, taking the message data and calling for the other two to huddle around. She was speaking discretely, since the unstated apparent gist of this was that it was supposed to be hidden from Toss's gang. "The message says... 'Do what it takes to make Dart and Toss break up! Make them miserable and fussy with each other, spread lies between them, or drive a wedge somehow. Your results will be judged halfway through the show. If I don't see an effort, I'll pull sponsorship.' Woah, dudes... break up? Hold on, you think those two are... no, nevermind. Even if it's just as bounty hunting partners, that's a little harsh, don't you think? If we're gonna do the earpiece thing and go full, uh, raunchy... Maybe we don't need to do this one? What do you dudes think? I get bad vibes from this one. Then again... more sponsors probably means we get more rewards..."
Whatever the two decided, unless they forced Surf to do so for them, she would simply nod along with the decision and break up the huddle.
Surf would go over and take her earpieces and .GMO data. It looked like the others had already done so. The group would have a chance to check it out even before they put it on, if they wanted...
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BeachQueenSwimwear.GMO
The .GMO seems to be a long, plain white tee shirt, custom fit for each woman to reach to just below the hips, obscuring a black one-piece competition swimsuit beneath (also fit for the specific wearer). The tee shirt has "AD NET BEACH QUEEN TOURNAMENT: SURVIVAL TOUR" written in black paint in big letters across it." By default, no accessories of the Navi's are kept on when equipping the swimsuit, although they may be optionally enabled.
As for the earpieces, both were completely silent for the moment. There wasn't even a static buzz, indicating they probably had not yet been activated.
The crowd had begun to gather again, probably sensing the competition was about to start. Seeing this, MascotMan withdrew closer to the bleachers, taking a seat and adjusting his shades. "Laaaaadies and Gentlemeeeen!" he suddenly shouted out at microphone volume. "Our ladies are just finishing up in preparation of the AD NET Beach Queen Tournament: Suuuurvival Toooour!! Soon, you'll be seeing these ladies strut their stuff in a no-holds-barred competition to win fabulous prizes! You're the real winners, however, as you will witness these women put their pride and their bodies on the line!"
The Navi would pause momentarily, evidently dealing with some personal windows. It would not be long before the gang would see the formerly stationary TV cameras lift into the air, folding in their tripods and hovering. The equipment began zipping around the makeshift stadium, seemingly programmed to avoid collisions as they sought good angles.
Phero would find herself the first recipient of their attention (although, they'd avoid it if she was not yet changed). "Our first team is composed of Phero! HunterWoman! and Surf! Our first introduction will be Phero, she of the adorable pink hair! Take it away!"
The announcement would stop while Phero spoke. Whether she was prepared for it or not, she'd find that her AD NET ear piece had suddenly been rigged to project her voice around.
After Phero had spoken, assuming she did, she'd receive her reception and the cameras would shift to HunterWoman. "Next up is HunterWoman, she of the exotic green tresses! Tell us who you are!"
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Phero nodded at Surf's words. "You're right! It's interesting how different the net is from what you read, sometimes. Or maybe I just didn't read enough before I came out of testing... I'm starting to think that may have been the case," she murmured, pressing a finger to her lower lip with a pensive expression. Her attempted leap started and failed once Toss showed up, ending up similar to how HunterWoman's attempt with Surf had gone.
"Noted: after significant testing, I have to agree that we should probably abandon this method of greeting new friends altogether," Phero spoke quietly, still swiping dirt from her forearms. For a while, the odd beach butterfly threatened to steal the attention of both HunterWoman and Phero completely, as the pink-haired lady found herself mesmerized by the antics of her partner, who was in turn fascinated with the fluttery bug. As such, she'd mentally checked out a bit until the initial shock towards her suggestion was out of the way. She looked between the others with a vacant smile, then nodded along with MascotMan. "I guess it is what it is! People did seem to like it," she reiterated. "I think only one two people didn't like it, although one of them had a face kind of like they did, even when it was obvious they didn't..."
Surf had a logical protest to raise and Toss a brazen support to offer. "I, er, haven't done it myself before, I was just talking about someone else... Well, I did strip down with a friend once and we played around in the tub, but that was just me and her at the time," she offered, creating a nice mental image for people in to that sort of thing. Dart had a much stronger objection to the idea. "Aw... But friends squeeze each other's butts some times! It doesn't feel that bad if it you do it right," she reiterated. "And I want us to be friends... Plus, it's to save Morty!" Surf changed her tune; Phero responded with a quick hug. "That's the spirit!" she encouraged her ally, although "the spirit" probably ought not to be acceptance of the need to change one's identity out of shame.
The plot thickened when it seemed that the third member of the opposing team wasn't going to show up. "I guess she passed on it!" Phero offered, though the joke was so obvious it didn't need stating. As if punishing her for her hubris, a beam of light shot out from a mirror, which in turn shot out from the sand of the beach nearby her. "Ow," she commented, vaguely concerned until she rubbed her eyes and saw the new navi appear on the net. "Ah ha! Pass!" she incorrectly guessed, before the dialogue went on to explain who the navi actually was. She turned red as the conversation proceeded towards the strange devices AdjustLady had brought. "O-Oh dear... I was thinking we'd just strip down to micro-bikinis like the last time I watched, but you're saying all we're going to be wearing is those little things?" she asked. "I don't think it will cover... oh... oh, nevermind," she sighed in relief. "I'll be happy to wear one. Luckily, I already took off my usual headset, or that might be a little troublesome."
Even though HunterWoman and Phero had sworn off pouncing their new friends, AdjustLady got pounced regardless and held in their company. "Neat, now we have all the people we need! For a moment, I thought MascotMan was going to need to join in," Phero laughed, although she really had started to think of suggesting that. With AdjustLady's androgynous (and robotic) features, one had to wonder how effective she'd be here, but those details weren't what caught Phero's eye. "You'll need a swimsuit, though" she pointed out, intending to be helpful. "Or maybe you've brought one? Then again, Dart and Pass are still in their armor too. I think Surf's is a swimsuit... but it might be a navi-suit. I've never seen a swimsuit like that before. Maybe it's a surf-suit? If she doesn't intend to leave her board after she gets in the water, then that would make sense."
AdjustLady stated her intentions and Phero countered with a confident smile. "Don't worry, I don't have any reason to be merciful either! Because we're all just friends here, so nobody needs mercy!" she explained, looking to her partners to see if they agreed. "Two earpieces? I hope we'll still be able to hear what's around us," she commented idly, though she accepted the conditions. Phero nodded along with the other instructions, including Surf being named leader, as she did seem to have the home-turf knowledge amongst them, being named after what might be one of the events (unless they ended up hunting anything, in which case, HunterWoman might usurp Surf's position). "Instructions already? I'm sure we're up to the task," she reaffirmed. As long as she wasn't instructed to steal secret herbs and spices. She hadn't proven to be very good at that in the past.
However, as Phero huddled together with the team leader, she realized that the actual task might be even less in line with what she was good at. "That's terrible!" she spoke a little too loudly, seeming somehow more aghast than when she'd learned MascotMan's operator was in mortal peril. "They're such good friends! I don't want to break them up," she whispered, shaking her head fervently. "Anyone can see they go together like horseshoes and competitive dart throwing... If we do something like that, everyone will just tune out because we're terrible people! Nobody will want to watch us..."
That wasn't strictly true, she knew; Dharma was a privately terrible person, but the nasty aspects that leaked out here and there seemed to be fascinating to most people, as long as they weren't on the receiving end. Still, she knew there was almost nothing she wanted to do less on the net than break up friendships, when she'd gone so long without having a single friend herself. "Don't worry! If we're SUPER obedient to AdjustLady and SUPER raunchy, then we'll keep those groups for sure! And maybe the casual folks will stay around as well if we're fun and engaging!"
With her thoughts emphatically stated, Phero would hear the others out, then equip her GMO with little thought as to what she was putting on. "Hm... that's a little strange. If we're being raunchy, I thought my original bikini, or HunterWoman's especially, was racier. Then again, there's nothing to strip off if I'm only wearing a bikini," she reminded herself. Once the sounds and excitement started, Phero got plenty hyped, settling easily into the enthusiasm that would be expected of her. She was first up. "That's me! I'm Phero, a... scientist who works for... a pharmaceutical company!" she announced, waving at everyone around with a cheery smile. She had to keep the wraps on her connection to Heart-Payne; Dharma never appreciated her waving around that affiliation so much. "I hope you'll vote for me in this contest... If there's audience voting! I want to win so that I can make friends... well, I can probably do that even if I don't win... Okay, instead, I want to win so somebody I sort of know doesn't have vague, unpleasant things done to them." She said it with such a straight-faced bubbliness that it was hard to interpret as anything but a joke.
"Noted: after significant testing, I have to agree that we should probably abandon this method of greeting new friends altogether," Phero spoke quietly, still swiping dirt from her forearms. For a while, the odd beach butterfly threatened to steal the attention of both HunterWoman and Phero completely, as the pink-haired lady found herself mesmerized by the antics of her partner, who was in turn fascinated with the fluttery bug. As such, she'd mentally checked out a bit until the initial shock towards her suggestion was out of the way. She looked between the others with a vacant smile, then nodded along with MascotMan. "I guess it is what it is! People did seem to like it," she reiterated. "I think only one two people didn't like it, although one of them had a face kind of like they did, even when it was obvious they didn't..."
Surf had a logical protest to raise and Toss a brazen support to offer. "I, er, haven't done it myself before, I was just talking about someone else... Well, I did strip down with a friend once and we played around in the tub, but that was just me and her at the time," she offered, creating a nice mental image for people in to that sort of thing. Dart had a much stronger objection to the idea. "Aw... But friends squeeze each other's butts some times! It doesn't feel that bad if it you do it right," she reiterated. "And I want us to be friends... Plus, it's to save Morty!" Surf changed her tune; Phero responded with a quick hug. "That's the spirit!" she encouraged her ally, although "the spirit" probably ought not to be acceptance of the need to change one's identity out of shame.
The plot thickened when it seemed that the third member of the opposing team wasn't going to show up. "I guess she passed on it!" Phero offered, though the joke was so obvious it didn't need stating. As if punishing her for her hubris, a beam of light shot out from a mirror, which in turn shot out from the sand of the beach nearby her. "Ow," she commented, vaguely concerned until she rubbed her eyes and saw the new navi appear on the net. "Ah ha! Pass!" she incorrectly guessed, before the dialogue went on to explain who the navi actually was. She turned red as the conversation proceeded towards the strange devices AdjustLady had brought. "O-Oh dear... I was thinking we'd just strip down to micro-bikinis like the last time I watched, but you're saying all we're going to be wearing is those little things?" she asked. "I don't think it will cover... oh... oh, nevermind," she sighed in relief. "I'll be happy to wear one. Luckily, I already took off my usual headset, or that might be a little troublesome."
Even though HunterWoman and Phero had sworn off pouncing their new friends, AdjustLady got pounced regardless and held in their company. "Neat, now we have all the people we need! For a moment, I thought MascotMan was going to need to join in," Phero laughed, although she really had started to think of suggesting that. With AdjustLady's androgynous (and robotic) features, one had to wonder how effective she'd be here, but those details weren't what caught Phero's eye. "You'll need a swimsuit, though" she pointed out, intending to be helpful. "Or maybe you've brought one? Then again, Dart and Pass are still in their armor too. I think Surf's is a swimsuit... but it might be a navi-suit. I've never seen a swimsuit like that before. Maybe it's a surf-suit? If she doesn't intend to leave her board after she gets in the water, then that would make sense."
AdjustLady stated her intentions and Phero countered with a confident smile. "Don't worry, I don't have any reason to be merciful either! Because we're all just friends here, so nobody needs mercy!" she explained, looking to her partners to see if they agreed. "Two earpieces? I hope we'll still be able to hear what's around us," she commented idly, though she accepted the conditions. Phero nodded along with the other instructions, including Surf being named leader, as she did seem to have the home-turf knowledge amongst them, being named after what might be one of the events (unless they ended up hunting anything, in which case, HunterWoman might usurp Surf's position). "Instructions already? I'm sure we're up to the task," she reaffirmed. As long as she wasn't instructed to steal secret herbs and spices. She hadn't proven to be very good at that in the past.
However, as Phero huddled together with the team leader, she realized that the actual task might be even less in line with what she was good at. "That's terrible!" she spoke a little too loudly, seeming somehow more aghast than when she'd learned MascotMan's operator was in mortal peril. "They're such good friends! I don't want to break them up," she whispered, shaking her head fervently. "Anyone can see they go together like horseshoes and competitive dart throwing... If we do something like that, everyone will just tune out because we're terrible people! Nobody will want to watch us..."
That wasn't strictly true, she knew; Dharma was a privately terrible person, but the nasty aspects that leaked out here and there seemed to be fascinating to most people, as long as they weren't on the receiving end. Still, she knew there was almost nothing she wanted to do less on the net than break up friendships, when she'd gone so long without having a single friend herself. "Don't worry! If we're SUPER obedient to AdjustLady and SUPER raunchy, then we'll keep those groups for sure! And maybe the casual folks will stay around as well if we're fun and engaging!"
With her thoughts emphatically stated, Phero would hear the others out, then equip her GMO with little thought as to what she was putting on. "Hm... that's a little strange. If we're being raunchy, I thought my original bikini, or HunterWoman's especially, was racier. Then again, there's nothing to strip off if I'm only wearing a bikini," she reminded herself. Once the sounds and excitement started, Phero got plenty hyped, settling easily into the enthusiasm that would be expected of her. She was first up. "That's me! I'm Phero, a... scientist who works for... a pharmaceutical company!" she announced, waving at everyone around with a cheery smile. She had to keep the wraps on her connection to Heart-Payne; Dharma never appreciated her waving around that affiliation so much. "I hope you'll vote for me in this contest... If there's audience voting! I want to win so that I can make friends... well, I can probably do that even if I don't win... Okay, instead, I want to win so somebody I sort of know doesn't have vague, unpleasant things done to them." She said it with such a straight-faced bubbliness that it was hard to interpret as anything but a joke.
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Oh hey, it sounded like everyone reached some kind of decision. So things were going to happen. THINGS. "Yeah, we're doing it! ...Uh, quick refresher. What're we going to do, exactly?" Instead of an answer, someone else showed up, eventually becoming the other team's third member. Without anything to focus on, though, HunterWoman started to zone out, thinking of entirely inconsequential things...until Toss joked about the earpieces, which made her snap out of it. "Whoa whoa whoa! Who wants bugs in their ears?! I mean, they're bugs! They could bite you, or crawl into your brain, or lay eggs there! Or all of the above! And then later the eggs hatch, and you have tiny bugs crawling out of your ears! And's that's...EWWW!! It's too gross to even think about! But if you really have a thing for that, just put on the earpieces so they can't get in! ...Wait a sec. There's two of them? Then how are we supposed to hear each other? Unless...gasp! Do you guys all have extra ears? Because I only have two!" She immediately went over to Surf, and looked her over. "I don't see a third ear anywhere...oh, it's hidden, right? So people won't look at you and be all 'hey, that girl's got a third ear, what a dork', right? Well, I need to know where it is, in case I need to tell you something during the competition!" Without even giving the other Navi a chance to just tell her, the huntress Navi gave her a swift, yet extremely thorough pat down, from the top of her head down to her feet. And no area was spared; it was quite the clinic on how to be entirely clueless on the concept of personal space.
"Weird, I didn't feel anything that could be an ear. You did a really good job hiding it...well, just make sure you pay attention in case someone says anything, okay?" Though still curious about the location, she shrugged and grabbed the earpieces, and put them both on. "...Oh, hey, you can still hear just fine, even with both of them in! Guess even people with just two ears'll be just fine!" Crisis averted. Now feeling much better (aside from the fact one of her opponents wanted to put bugs in her ears), she grabbed the GMO and activated it without even bothering to look at it. Her T-shirt was a bit wider than usual for her frame, preventing it from basically attaching to her hips. "Wait, this covers more than what I was wearing. I woulda thought that'd bring in more viewers...although, lots of people watch ShamanMan's show, and he's pretty much nothing but robes and masks and weird glowy eyes, so what do I know?"
The team proceeded to get extra orders, which Surf shared with the others. Phero managed to speak up first, preventing the huntress Navi from monopolizing the conversation with tangents, and instead just keeping her on task. "Yeah, not cool! We're already a bunch of super cute girls, we don't need to be jerks to bring in the viewers! I don't even care if it gets us extra stuff, I'm not doing it!"
And then, suddenly, the event started. HunterWoman watched the cameras float around for a moment, snapping out of it as soon as MascotMan introduced her. However, unlike Phero, she looked at him a bit confusedly. "Huh? But didn't you just do that? I mean, you just introduced me as HunterWoman, and now you want me to introduce myself? That's super repetitive, and if time's important that's time we totally don't have! Get your priorities in gear!" Unless someone got her attention and explained things, that was about it for her intro. At least she confirmed who she was, for better or worse.
"Weird, I didn't feel anything that could be an ear. You did a really good job hiding it...well, just make sure you pay attention in case someone says anything, okay?" Though still curious about the location, she shrugged and grabbed the earpieces, and put them both on. "...Oh, hey, you can still hear just fine, even with both of them in! Guess even people with just two ears'll be just fine!" Crisis averted. Now feeling much better (aside from the fact one of her opponents wanted to put bugs in her ears), she grabbed the GMO and activated it without even bothering to look at it. Her T-shirt was a bit wider than usual for her frame, preventing it from basically attaching to her hips. "Wait, this covers more than what I was wearing. I woulda thought that'd bring in more viewers...although, lots of people watch ShamanMan's show, and he's pretty much nothing but robes and masks and weird glowy eyes, so what do I know?"
The team proceeded to get extra orders, which Surf shared with the others. Phero managed to speak up first, preventing the huntress Navi from monopolizing the conversation with tangents, and instead just keeping her on task. "Yeah, not cool! We're already a bunch of super cute girls, we don't need to be jerks to bring in the viewers! I don't even care if it gets us extra stuff, I'm not doing it!"
And then, suddenly, the event started. HunterWoman watched the cameras float around for a moment, snapping out of it as soon as MascotMan introduced her. However, unlike Phero, she looked at him a bit confusedly. "Huh? But didn't you just do that? I mean, you just introduced me as HunterWoman, and now you want me to introduce myself? That's super repetitive, and if time's important that's time we totally don't have! Get your priorities in gear!" Unless someone got her attention and explained things, that was about it for her intro. At least she confirmed who she was, for better or worse.
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Toss gave a big laugh at HunterWoman's "bug" interpretation, slowing down only as she realized Dart was also giving her a horrified gawk. "What? Like, this kinda remote device you'd put in your ear, you'd call it a bug! I'm just... talking about the headphone, it's... Look, I'm not the weird one here, all right?!" she complained, swiping the device onto her headphones and crossing her arms with a frown.
All gathered worked through their initial apprehension at the thought of wearing dual audio devices, which turned out to be less obstructive than it might sound. Surf certainly didn't need any more distractions, between her mind wandering on Phero's preferences and HunterWoman's lack of boundaries. "Just one ear! One ear, dude. Another would just be one more to get ocean in when I wipe out!" Still, her team was on the same page regarding their rejection of the new directive. Surf nodded, smiling. "Right on, dudes. No need for that kind of animosity..."
All of the ladies gathered equipped their .GMOs and earpieces, which allowed some revelations about the other women Phero and HunterWomen were just meeting. Without her surfsuit on, the rest of Surf's body was still tan, implying she must work on her bikini tan every now and then as well. With Toss no longer wearing her armor, the full, stocky, pale and freckled figure observers had probably been imagining was made apparent, but there seemed to be plenty in her chest, as well. As a new revelation, however, her curly dark-auburn hair was on display, framing her round face. On the other hand, there wasn't much new to see about Dart in her shirt, except that she'd chosen to leave her shades on when she changed. AdjustLady's form was probably the most interesting reveal: her change had removed the lenses and half-mask she'd been wearing before, revealing round LED-lit red eyes and a human-like face of the dark metallic color they'd seen before. The face didn't appear to actually function with ordinary muscles, and was sculpted into a neutral model pout. The rest of her body was the same way, with distinct joints and even very small knobs visible throughout it, tucked away discretely in various contours. The body didn't appear to be metallic after all, but was instead some form of soft, plastic-textured synthetic, a fact which could be confirmed by looking at the indentations of her fingers on her crossed forearms. As would probably have been predictable by the figure she'd cut in her suit earlier, her body shape was slender.
That aside, there was little time for gawking, as the event had gotten underway. Phero led off with her introduction, which was received with some polite enthusiasm from the audience. It was probably safe to say they were as confused as she was as to whether or not they were expected to cheer for a favorite or just cheer for everything. Toss joined in the cheering, while Dart and AdjustLady stood, one frowning and the other unreadable.
The cameras moved on to HunterWoman... who proceeded to address MascotMan directly, rather than any apparent "audience" behind the cameras. Most gathered seemed to assume HunterWoman was cracking a joke, and so she received polite laughter as Phero had received applause.
Surf put a hand to her mouth, grinning behind it and looking bemused. "No dude, you're supposed to tell them what you do and why you're here!... Uh," she started, realizing the cameras had come over to her.
MascotMan's voice had begun introducing "she of the sporty purple mop," leading into a chance for Surf to introduce herself. Off to the side, AdjustLady slowly moved into a position with her arms crossed behind her head, tilting her head to what seemed as though it was intended to be a vogue angle. "I believe the real competition will be starting momentarily... Let's see things get a little more interesting, shall we?" she muttered, seemingly to herself.
"Ssh, wait our turn!" Toss shushed her under her breath.
Surf wasn't paying any attention to the exchange, clearly focused on how to start her introduction. Probably realizing she couldn't let it hang, she launched in without further preparation. "Yo dudes! So you just heard, my name's-" she started, before what looked like a jet of smoke shot from the earpiece where the smaller of the two devices were hidden. All eyes were most likely on Surf, so she would be the one seen, but the same phenomenon actually happened (soundlessly) with all six earpieces, each of which was now emitting an extremely faint, consistent buzz. Even right next to a Navi's audio receivers, only the sharpest would be likely to pick it out from the crash of waves on the beach or roar of the crowd. If the smoke were to continue emitting, it'd likely cause those gathered to remove the earpieces and avoid catching fire in the Net's wackiest on-record catastrophic live-streamed ear fire incident, but the smoke was gone as soon as it had appeared.
Surf seemed aware something had happened, but she kept going, presumably not wanting to miss her step again. As she talked, the others would most likely notice something changing, which might take up more of their attention... It was all happening below the T-shirts, so the only visible change for the audience would be the lettering on the tees.
"My name's Surf..." Surf continued, keeping her usual affable grin on, but raising an eyebrow in confusion as she seemed to realize a number of things had just changed (her teammates' shirts, if nothing else). "If you want, though, you can call me 'Beach Bunny'... that's what all the boys do!" she declared, giving a wink to the camera and running her tongue along the upper row of her teeth. She held that for a moment, her grin looking even a bit goofier than usual as some color rose to her face. "Uh... yeah! They call me that because I'm so quick to hop on it, I guess," she explained, conversationally enough. Seeming to realize, again, that she'd said something strange, the girl giggled and paused, putting her hands on her hips. "H-hold on a sec, let me just..." she began, before hooking her hands under the lower him of the tee shirt and raising it over her head with a playful wiggle of her hips.
Surf tossed her shirt aside onto the sand, revealing the swimsuit beneath: a dark blue surf top, starting just below the breasts wrapping below the armpits and up around the neck, connecting in a "Y" on the back at the shoulder blades. Compared to some other swimsuits that were probably about to be revealed, the surf top would probably look down-right competitive and serious if it wasn't for the fact that letters on the front (white on the dark blue, dark blue where they crossed a white strip pattern down the middle of the suit) spelled "LEGAL" in large block writing. It also had to fight with the nature of the bottom that was included: a strappy, psychadelic-patterned number, with a diamond of fabric covering the front and a more complete pentagon-shaped portion on the back. Those bottom fabric pieces were held together by three thin, dark purple straps on each side, revealing a good portion of the sides of the swimmer's toned hips (and her bikini tan line, which suggested she normally wore a lot more swimsuit than this bottom was offering).
"Much better!" Surf shouted, although a careful listener would probably detect that might be as much to herself as anyone else listening. "So let me hurry up and finish off that intro so we can get to the good stuff... So, I'm a professional surfer, part time boy-hunter," she proclaimed, looking down at her outfit as if seeing it for the first time. Grinning broadly, she made a point of tracing a finger across the text on the surf top. "I like to spend my time riding 50-50: half on the board, half on the dudes!" Apparently having decided to go all in, Surf punctuated this statement by leaning back and pantomiming grinding her hips up and down, a grin that had clearly crossed the line from "goofy" to "perverse" across her face. She settled back, leaning forward to the camera and putting her hands on her knees. "Anyway, I wanna win this contest so I can put all that prize money into some gnarly new gear! I also wanna help out Phero's buddy, so that basically makes me a hero! The protag! Make some noise for me, okay?~ I'm Surf, and I'm gonna be... the AD NET b**ch queen!" she shouted, putting two hands in the air as peace signs and giving the camera her more familiar smile, in spite of the fact that it was accompanied by some very unusual lines coming out of her mouth.
It would probably be safe to assume that one of 'Beach Bunny's' partners would want to intone with some commentary by this point: either commending their partner's efforts, checking their partner's temperature, or checking if she remembered the explicit instruction that the shirt wasn't supposed to come off. As soon as anyone tried to, though, they'd likely find where Surf's colorful presentation had come from.
The small earpiece AdjustLady had provided appeared to be active. The effect appeared to give the girls a sort of all-you-can-eat buffet of experience in terms of various dirty media that appeared in various advertisements across the darker corners of the Net. It wasn't so much of a database that could be browsed at will: more so, the girls would find themselves able to easily generate (and, indeed, act upon) perverse or provocative gestures, language, or thoughts, regardless of their actual familiarity or comfort levels with the subject. Clearly, it'd also had the ability to influence their active .GMO. These capabilities were nothing to sneeze at, and an inquiring mind might wonder how AdjustLady had developed such a tool (if she was responsible), and why she was testing it in a little-known beach competition.
This primary capability of the tool might come in handy, but it appeared there would be at least a one-time cost: the first time either of the girls was likely to figure out what exactly was happening would be when they next opened their mouths, at which point some obscenity was likely to spill out. After the initial fumble, however, the girls would learn the tech had a "riding a bike" feel: the brakes could be easily applied, allowing one to speak and act as they regularly would. The tricky thing was there seemed to be no "middle level": attempting to be at all provocative or promiscuous, or, really, even thinking of doing so would send one tumbling down a slope of speech and actions and they'd need to brake if they wanted to cease.
There were a couple of other peculiarities of the routine worth noting, as well. Just as many of the expressions and thoughts coming to the girls would now seem second-nature, so too would a couple of directives that were, in fact, identical for both Phero and HunterWoman. While the freeform expression of raunchy thoughts and actions seemed to be influenced and directed by their individual creativity (and, naturally, stymied if they decided to apply mental brakes), each would have the distinct, binary direction in their minds to, at some point, take off her shirt, and, second, declare she wanted to become the "b**ch queen." Either of these directives could be refused like all others, but were so binary as to make the question "why are you taking off your shirt?" pointless. Both girls would be instinctively aware of why Surf had done so. The other peculiarity was that, perhaps tuned to the nature of the contest, the "raunchiness" enabled by the device seemed to have a hard stop when it came to any inclination to become fully nude or to actually perform the act of sex. This was, indeed, a hard wall, as all of the impulses the girls would feel would probably initially drive their minds straight to that prospect before walling it off, shuttering it as a non option as clearly as "take the shirt off" was a direction.
Surf had finished her speech, and the audience, which had been stunned up to this point but had now been explicitly instructed to "make some noise," did so. A decidedly male roar picked up around the fringes of the stadium. Toss had joined in with a two-fingered whistle. Dart and AdjustLady both remained silent: the latter's face was unreadable, although she appeared concentrated, but the former's was grim and nervous, making it a safe bet she'd experimented to herself and figured out what was going on.
The purple-haired team leader approached her allies, her face stuck in a helplessly silly smile and looking quite red for her short time in the sun. "H-how about it, dudes? How'd I do?" she spoke in a more quiet voice. "I think I could've stuffed those vibes if I wanted, but once I got started, I realized it was probably best to pull in that viewership... Uh, either of you feel like you need to do more with your introduction before MascotMan continues? I think I stirred him up a little, so he's taking a while moving on to the other team..."
All gathered worked through their initial apprehension at the thought of wearing dual audio devices, which turned out to be less obstructive than it might sound. Surf certainly didn't need any more distractions, between her mind wandering on Phero's preferences and HunterWoman's lack of boundaries. "Just one ear! One ear, dude. Another would just be one more to get ocean in when I wipe out!" Still, her team was on the same page regarding their rejection of the new directive. Surf nodded, smiling. "Right on, dudes. No need for that kind of animosity..."
All of the ladies gathered equipped their .GMOs and earpieces, which allowed some revelations about the other women Phero and HunterWomen were just meeting. Without her surfsuit on, the rest of Surf's body was still tan, implying she must work on her bikini tan every now and then as well. With Toss no longer wearing her armor, the full, stocky, pale and freckled figure observers had probably been imagining was made apparent, but there seemed to be plenty in her chest, as well. As a new revelation, however, her curly dark-auburn hair was on display, framing her round face. On the other hand, there wasn't much new to see about Dart in her shirt, except that she'd chosen to leave her shades on when she changed. AdjustLady's form was probably the most interesting reveal: her change had removed the lenses and half-mask she'd been wearing before, revealing round LED-lit red eyes and a human-like face of the dark metallic color they'd seen before. The face didn't appear to actually function with ordinary muscles, and was sculpted into a neutral model pout. The rest of her body was the same way, with distinct joints and even very small knobs visible throughout it, tucked away discretely in various contours. The body didn't appear to be metallic after all, but was instead some form of soft, plastic-textured synthetic, a fact which could be confirmed by looking at the indentations of her fingers on her crossed forearms. As would probably have been predictable by the figure she'd cut in her suit earlier, her body shape was slender.
That aside, there was little time for gawking, as the event had gotten underway. Phero led off with her introduction, which was received with some polite enthusiasm from the audience. It was probably safe to say they were as confused as she was as to whether or not they were expected to cheer for a favorite or just cheer for everything. Toss joined in the cheering, while Dart and AdjustLady stood, one frowning and the other unreadable.
The cameras moved on to HunterWoman... who proceeded to address MascotMan directly, rather than any apparent "audience" behind the cameras. Most gathered seemed to assume HunterWoman was cracking a joke, and so she received polite laughter as Phero had received applause.
Surf put a hand to her mouth, grinning behind it and looking bemused. "No dude, you're supposed to tell them what you do and why you're here!... Uh," she started, realizing the cameras had come over to her.
MascotMan's voice had begun introducing "she of the sporty purple mop," leading into a chance for Surf to introduce herself. Off to the side, AdjustLady slowly moved into a position with her arms crossed behind her head, tilting her head to what seemed as though it was intended to be a vogue angle. "I believe the real competition will be starting momentarily... Let's see things get a little more interesting, shall we?" she muttered, seemingly to herself.
"Ssh, wait our turn!" Toss shushed her under her breath.
Surf wasn't paying any attention to the exchange, clearly focused on how to start her introduction. Probably realizing she couldn't let it hang, she launched in without further preparation. "Yo dudes! So you just heard, my name's-" she started, before what looked like a jet of smoke shot from the earpiece where the smaller of the two devices were hidden. All eyes were most likely on Surf, so she would be the one seen, but the same phenomenon actually happened (soundlessly) with all six earpieces, each of which was now emitting an extremely faint, consistent buzz. Even right next to a Navi's audio receivers, only the sharpest would be likely to pick it out from the crash of waves on the beach or roar of the crowd. If the smoke were to continue emitting, it'd likely cause those gathered to remove the earpieces and avoid catching fire in the Net's wackiest on-record catastrophic live-streamed ear fire incident, but the smoke was gone as soon as it had appeared.
Surf seemed aware something had happened, but she kept going, presumably not wanting to miss her step again. As she talked, the others would most likely notice something changing, which might take up more of their attention... It was all happening below the T-shirts, so the only visible change for the audience would be the lettering on the tees.
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PheroBeachQueenSwimwear.GMO
The .GMO seems to be a long, plain white tee shirt, custom fit to reach to just below the hips, obscuring a swimsuit beneath. The tee shirt has "AD NET B**CH QUEEN TOURNAMENT: SURVIVAL TOUR" written in black paint in big letters across it, replacing the original lettering with some evocative asterisks. By default, no accessories of the Navi's are kept on when equipping the swimsuit, although they may be optionally enabled.
Beneath Phero's tee is a white one piece, secured by thin tie straps from chest at the front to a knot at the neck around the back. The suit is cut low enough on the front to reveal good cleavage, and high enough on the legs to show the hips. The suit is open at the upper back, showing the shoulder blades completely and only beginning coverage at the small of the back. Additionally, an ornate rose pattern is cut out above each leg, the fabric at the center of the rose banded together by a trick of the inner wire. An additional rose cutout at the center of the chest (smaller than those at the legs) opens up a bit more cleavage and underboob, but avoids neglecting any fabric that would allow the most indecent elements to slip free. An sparse silver sequin pattern aligns the edges of the rose and continues in a sort of "flower stem" design down the front of the one-piece.
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HunterBeachQueenSwimwear.GMO
The .GMO seems to be a long, plain white tee shirt, custom fit to reach to just below the hips, obscuring a swimsuit beneath. The tee shirt has "AD NET B**CH QUEEN TOURNAMENT: SURVIVAL TOUR" written in black paint in big letters across it, replacing the original lettering with some evocative asterisks. By default, no accessories of the Navi's are kept on when equipping the swimsuit, although they may be optionally enabled.
Beneath HunterLady's tee is a two piece swimsuit. The top portion is a tight classic triangle style, the majority of the material scaled with reflective forest-green sequins, with a black trim that forms the straps around the back from the sides and alongside the neck from the chest. There are two separate ties for the top: one at the back of the neck behind the back. The cleavage window is relatively generous. The bottom portion is a similarly sequined forest-green piece in a tight half-pucker style with black trim. The trim knot ties at the sides of the suit.
"My name's Surf..." Surf continued, keeping her usual affable grin on, but raising an eyebrow in confusion as she seemed to realize a number of things had just changed (her teammates' shirts, if nothing else). "If you want, though, you can call me 'Beach Bunny'... that's what all the boys do!" she declared, giving a wink to the camera and running her tongue along the upper row of her teeth. She held that for a moment, her grin looking even a bit goofier than usual as some color rose to her face. "Uh... yeah! They call me that because I'm so quick to hop on it, I guess," she explained, conversationally enough. Seeming to realize, again, that she'd said something strange, the girl giggled and paused, putting her hands on her hips. "H-hold on a sec, let me just..." she began, before hooking her hands under the lower him of the tee shirt and raising it over her head with a playful wiggle of her hips.
Surf tossed her shirt aside onto the sand, revealing the swimsuit beneath: a dark blue surf top, starting just below the breasts wrapping below the armpits and up around the neck, connecting in a "Y" on the back at the shoulder blades. Compared to some other swimsuits that were probably about to be revealed, the surf top would probably look down-right competitive and serious if it wasn't for the fact that letters on the front (white on the dark blue, dark blue where they crossed a white strip pattern down the middle of the suit) spelled "LEGAL" in large block writing. It also had to fight with the nature of the bottom that was included: a strappy, psychadelic-patterned number, with a diamond of fabric covering the front and a more complete pentagon-shaped portion on the back. Those bottom fabric pieces were held together by three thin, dark purple straps on each side, revealing a good portion of the sides of the swimmer's toned hips (and her bikini tan line, which suggested she normally wore a lot more swimsuit than this bottom was offering).
"Much better!" Surf shouted, although a careful listener would probably detect that might be as much to herself as anyone else listening. "So let me hurry up and finish off that intro so we can get to the good stuff... So, I'm a professional surfer, part time boy-hunter," she proclaimed, looking down at her outfit as if seeing it for the first time. Grinning broadly, she made a point of tracing a finger across the text on the surf top. "I like to spend my time riding 50-50: half on the board, half on the dudes!" Apparently having decided to go all in, Surf punctuated this statement by leaning back and pantomiming grinding her hips up and down, a grin that had clearly crossed the line from "goofy" to "perverse" across her face. She settled back, leaning forward to the camera and putting her hands on her knees. "Anyway, I wanna win this contest so I can put all that prize money into some gnarly new gear! I also wanna help out Phero's buddy, so that basically makes me a hero! The protag! Make some noise for me, okay?~ I'm Surf, and I'm gonna be... the AD NET b**ch queen!" she shouted, putting two hands in the air as peace signs and giving the camera her more familiar smile, in spite of the fact that it was accompanied by some very unusual lines coming out of her mouth.
It would probably be safe to assume that one of 'Beach Bunny's' partners would want to intone with some commentary by this point: either commending their partner's efforts, checking their partner's temperature, or checking if she remembered the explicit instruction that the shirt wasn't supposed to come off. As soon as anyone tried to, though, they'd likely find where Surf's colorful presentation had come from.
The small earpiece AdjustLady had provided appeared to be active. The effect appeared to give the girls a sort of all-you-can-eat buffet of experience in terms of various dirty media that appeared in various advertisements across the darker corners of the Net. It wasn't so much of a database that could be browsed at will: more so, the girls would find themselves able to easily generate (and, indeed, act upon) perverse or provocative gestures, language, or thoughts, regardless of their actual familiarity or comfort levels with the subject. Clearly, it'd also had the ability to influence their active .GMO. These capabilities were nothing to sneeze at, and an inquiring mind might wonder how AdjustLady had developed such a tool (if she was responsible), and why she was testing it in a little-known beach competition.
This primary capability of the tool might come in handy, but it appeared there would be at least a one-time cost: the first time either of the girls was likely to figure out what exactly was happening would be when they next opened their mouths, at which point some obscenity was likely to spill out. After the initial fumble, however, the girls would learn the tech had a "riding a bike" feel: the brakes could be easily applied, allowing one to speak and act as they regularly would. The tricky thing was there seemed to be no "middle level": attempting to be at all provocative or promiscuous, or, really, even thinking of doing so would send one tumbling down a slope of speech and actions and they'd need to brake if they wanted to cease.
There were a couple of other peculiarities of the routine worth noting, as well. Just as many of the expressions and thoughts coming to the girls would now seem second-nature, so too would a couple of directives that were, in fact, identical for both Phero and HunterWoman. While the freeform expression of raunchy thoughts and actions seemed to be influenced and directed by their individual creativity (and, naturally, stymied if they decided to apply mental brakes), each would have the distinct, binary direction in their minds to, at some point, take off her shirt, and, second, declare she wanted to become the "b**ch queen." Either of these directives could be refused like all others, but were so binary as to make the question "why are you taking off your shirt?" pointless. Both girls would be instinctively aware of why Surf had done so. The other peculiarity was that, perhaps tuned to the nature of the contest, the "raunchiness" enabled by the device seemed to have a hard stop when it came to any inclination to become fully nude or to actually perform the act of sex. This was, indeed, a hard wall, as all of the impulses the girls would feel would probably initially drive their minds straight to that prospect before walling it off, shuttering it as a non option as clearly as "take the shirt off" was a direction.
Surf had finished her speech, and the audience, which had been stunned up to this point but had now been explicitly instructed to "make some noise," did so. A decidedly male roar picked up around the fringes of the stadium. Toss had joined in with a two-fingered whistle. Dart and AdjustLady both remained silent: the latter's face was unreadable, although she appeared concentrated, but the former's was grim and nervous, making it a safe bet she'd experimented to herself and figured out what was going on.
The purple-haired team leader approached her allies, her face stuck in a helplessly silly smile and looking quite red for her short time in the sun. "H-how about it, dudes? How'd I do?" she spoke in a more quiet voice. "I think I could've stuffed those vibes if I wanted, but once I got started, I realized it was probably best to pull in that viewership... Uh, either of you feel like you need to do more with your introduction before MascotMan continues? I think I stirred him up a little, so he's taking a while moving on to the other team..."
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"Wow, HunterWoman! You know a lot about 'the great out-doors,' even the nasty parts" Phero commented, in awe of HunterWoman's knowledge of creepy, ear-dwelling insects. She didn't remember learning anything about when she was studying biology back during her initial fact-cramming phase. "But I know a thing or two about bugs myself, and I don't think it's your kind of bug, and I don't think it's my kind of bug, so it must be a third type." HunterWoman was apparently pretty convinced of her logic, though, because she went on to search Surf rather thoroughly for a third ear. "Alright... I'm not sure about the bugs, but if humanoid navis were typically programmed with third ears, I think I'd know!" she resolved, keeping her mouth shut on the issue. "You might have a point. If we all dressed as TV shamans, we'd definitely catch some eyes!" she added, her own internal logic quickly breaking back down.
Luckily enough, it seemed like everyone was on board with her idea not to be mean towards Toss and Dart. Her introduction also went well enough, although she thought HunterWoman got the better reaction. "I wish I had gotten some priming on humor too... learning as I go has put me a fair step behind her in terms of being funny on demand," she thought to herself, pouting a bit. "I guess the only way to be truly funny is to spend time amongst nature. That will make you zany and unpredictable," she reasoned out.
Next up was Surf's introduction. Phero was expecting to be shown up in terms of humor again; Surf seemed like a jolly person who spent a lot of time out doors, so she'd undoubtedly have the crowd chuckling again. What she hadn't expected was the smoke that shot out from Surf's device or her own. "It's a bug!" she cried instinctively, worrying that the insect that HunterWoman had mentioned earlier might have found its way into Surf's brain. It soon became apparent that the only bug that had found its way into Surf's head was a love bug, which was a nice way of saying she had performed a Dharma-like transformation into a horny exhibitionist. "Oh goodness," she murmured, only vaguely aware that anything had changed about her own clothes. Surf's performance was pretty distracting.
On the other hand, she had her own thoughts on her mind... Namely, a different kind of biology than she'd studied for her prototype priming and a strong need to slip out of her shirt, which she noticed had been annotated for some reason. The reason became apparent as Surf either flubbed the name of the Beach Queen contest in a rather embarrassing fashion or adopted the proper new name. "Well, we did promise to be raunchy," she recalled aloud. This was going to be weird, for sure... but then, she was supposed to inspire feelings of adoration in people, so she supposed she already had the pedigree. And Dharma had seemed pretty happy when she'd done something like this recently. And it was a lot easier than the alternative of being mean to people. And it was for the continued well-being of Morty's testicles.
The introduction grew continually over the top and raunchy, but Phero figured that was a good thing, partially because it followed their direction and partially because she couldn't stop thinking about this sort of thing herself, for some reason. Once it was over, she clapped along with the audience, although she didn't join in whistling or catcalling. "Wow, Beach Bunny! That was crazy," she complimented her ally. "We're going to be the winners for sure! Watch, I'm going to go again!" She announced, before bouncing forward and raising her hand to get the crowd's attention.
"I want to add a thing or two so that you all don't think I'm just some stuffy 'egg-head,'" she began, crossing her hands in front of her lap. "You see, my specialty is researching devotion in other creatures, specifically, the kind you reinforce with... specific types of encouragement... like this!" To illustrate her meaning, she tucked her fingers beneath the hem of her t-shirt and began lifting it over her head. "My name is actually derived from 'pheromones'... Some say pheromones are the essential elements that draw creatures together for mating. Well, that may be, but you might also be interested in these," she teased the crowd, tucking her hands beneath the now more loosely restrained breasts and pushing them up for emphasis. "As well as this!" she added, turning and showing the crowd the back of her swimsuit, adding in a cutesy shift from one leg to the other. She added a less cutesy notion, running her fingers through the taut line of fabric at her posterior and then allowing it to slip back into place.
"If you ever have the pleasure to contribute to my research, you'll find that the pheromones that I secrete give me a rosy smell you'll appreciate... and a sweet taste that you'll enjoy as well," she giggled, then licked one of her fingers slowly, showing the pink of her tongue. She transitioned into sucking the index finger briefly, before smiling and pulling it back out. "And you can bet that I'm happy to let anyone contribute to my research, even especially large test groups! I'll be happy if you all want to feed me your data at once," she explained, giving an 'okay' sign with one hand and winking to whichever guy seemed the most receptive to it. "Because I'm a girl that loves her work! And you'll love it when I'm your bitch... Your AD NET Bitch Queen, that is!" she finished, raising her hands above her head and bouncing provocatively. She smiled over to HunterWoman next, watching to see if she'd follow suite.
Luckily enough, it seemed like everyone was on board with her idea not to be mean towards Toss and Dart. Her introduction also went well enough, although she thought HunterWoman got the better reaction. "I wish I had gotten some priming on humor too... learning as I go has put me a fair step behind her in terms of being funny on demand," she thought to herself, pouting a bit. "I guess the only way to be truly funny is to spend time amongst nature. That will make you zany and unpredictable," she reasoned out.
Next up was Surf's introduction. Phero was expecting to be shown up in terms of humor again; Surf seemed like a jolly person who spent a lot of time out doors, so she'd undoubtedly have the crowd chuckling again. What she hadn't expected was the smoke that shot out from Surf's device or her own. "It's a bug!" she cried instinctively, worrying that the insect that HunterWoman had mentioned earlier might have found its way into Surf's brain. It soon became apparent that the only bug that had found its way into Surf's head was a love bug, which was a nice way of saying she had performed a Dharma-like transformation into a horny exhibitionist. "Oh goodness," she murmured, only vaguely aware that anything had changed about her own clothes. Surf's performance was pretty distracting.
On the other hand, she had her own thoughts on her mind... Namely, a different kind of biology than she'd studied for her prototype priming and a strong need to slip out of her shirt, which she noticed had been annotated for some reason. The reason became apparent as Surf either flubbed the name of the Beach Queen contest in a rather embarrassing fashion or adopted the proper new name. "Well, we did promise to be raunchy," she recalled aloud. This was going to be weird, for sure... but then, she was supposed to inspire feelings of adoration in people, so she supposed she already had the pedigree. And Dharma had seemed pretty happy when she'd done something like this recently. And it was a lot easier than the alternative of being mean to people. And it was for the continued well-being of Morty's testicles.
The introduction grew continually over the top and raunchy, but Phero figured that was a good thing, partially because it followed their direction and partially because she couldn't stop thinking about this sort of thing herself, for some reason. Once it was over, she clapped along with the audience, although she didn't join in whistling or catcalling. "Wow, Beach Bunny! That was crazy," she complimented her ally. "We're going to be the winners for sure! Watch, I'm going to go again!" She announced, before bouncing forward and raising her hand to get the crowd's attention.
"I want to add a thing or two so that you all don't think I'm just some stuffy 'egg-head,'" she began, crossing her hands in front of her lap. "You see, my specialty is researching devotion in other creatures, specifically, the kind you reinforce with... specific types of encouragement... like this!" To illustrate her meaning, she tucked her fingers beneath the hem of her t-shirt and began lifting it over her head. "My name is actually derived from 'pheromones'... Some say pheromones are the essential elements that draw creatures together for mating. Well, that may be, but you might also be interested in these," she teased the crowd, tucking her hands beneath the now more loosely restrained breasts and pushing them up for emphasis. "As well as this!" she added, turning and showing the crowd the back of her swimsuit, adding in a cutesy shift from one leg to the other. She added a less cutesy notion, running her fingers through the taut line of fabric at her posterior and then allowing it to slip back into place.
"If you ever have the pleasure to contribute to my research, you'll find that the pheromones that I secrete give me a rosy smell you'll appreciate... and a sweet taste that you'll enjoy as well," she giggled, then licked one of her fingers slowly, showing the pink of her tongue. She transitioned into sucking the index finger briefly, before smiling and pulling it back out. "And you can bet that I'm happy to let anyone contribute to my research, even especially large test groups! I'll be happy if you all want to feed me your data at once," she explained, giving an 'okay' sign with one hand and winking to whichever guy seemed the most receptive to it. "Because I'm a girl that loves her work! And you'll love it when I'm your bitch... Your AD NET Bitch Queen, that is!" she finished, raising her hands above her head and bouncing provocatively. She smiled over to HunterWoman next, watching to see if she'd follow suite.
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...Wait, did Surf just say she had one ear? That wasn't the normal two, either. But before she could confirm the exact number of ears of her current employer, HunterWoman was distracted by the contest's start. "Ohhhhhhhhh...got it!" She was all set to give a proper introduction after being corrected, but everyone had already moved on. "Aww..." And around this time, some...alterations occurred. Immediately noticing, she opened her T-shirt neck, and had a look. "Whoa, this isn't what I had on just a second ago! And, uh, when did this turn from Beach Queens to Bi...ugh, what's that buzzing sound? ...Oh no, don't tell me the bugs are coming! Darn it!"
In a rare moment that didn't involve the tracking and subsequent death of viruses, HunterWoman proceeded to go quiet for a while. A whole bunch of things started flowing through her mind...which was normal for her, except most of those things were dirty. In an odd way, it almost kept her focused, since usually she was thinking about completely different stuff, like whether she should tweak the design of her arrows, or where bologna came from, or if she should consider taking up knitting, all at once. But here, it was taking a back seat to all sorts of...things.
By the time she'd snapped back, Phero had just wrapped up. Seemingly unaware of this, the huntress Navi started to walk forward, noticably shaking her hips as she did so. "Hey there, everyone. HunterWoman here. You can guess from my name, but I'm a hunter by trade. I always go after what I want while doing that, but right now, do you know what that is?" She quickly flung off her shirt, revealing the bikini underneath. "Are you suuuuuure you want to know? Okay, but it's a little embarrassing..." Anyone that actually knew her knew that was blatantly false, as the next time she was embarrassed would most likely also be the first. "'Cause, you see, what I want more than anything..."
Without warning, she suddenly dropped down on all fours, and turned around so her mostly exposed rear was facing the crowed. "I-I want your support so bad! Give it to me, please! I wanna feel it down to my soul! I wanna be cheered on like I've never been cheered on before! Ah, you can probably just look at me and see how much I want it...! No, I don't just want it, I NEED it! Give it to me hard, and don't ease up, even if it doesn't look like I want it anymore! And then, after we're done...I wouldn't just be any girl. I'd be a real Bitch Queen, yeah!" She raised her arms, and gave the audience a wink. And that was when she finally figured out how to 'apply the brakes', causing her to suddenly hop up.
"Hey, that was totally weird, huh?" As she asked her teammates, HunterWoman turned to face them...and causing her to tilt her head in confusion. "Uh, when did you guys take your shirts off? Did I miss something?"
In a rare moment that didn't involve the tracking and subsequent death of viruses, HunterWoman proceeded to go quiet for a while. A whole bunch of things started flowing through her mind...which was normal for her, except most of those things were dirty. In an odd way, it almost kept her focused, since usually she was thinking about completely different stuff, like whether she should tweak the design of her arrows, or where bologna came from, or if she should consider taking up knitting, all at once. But here, it was taking a back seat to all sorts of...things.
By the time she'd snapped back, Phero had just wrapped up. Seemingly unaware of this, the huntress Navi started to walk forward, noticably shaking her hips as she did so. "Hey there, everyone. HunterWoman here. You can guess from my name, but I'm a hunter by trade. I always go after what I want while doing that, but right now, do you know what that is?" She quickly flung off her shirt, revealing the bikini underneath. "Are you suuuuuure you want to know? Okay, but it's a little embarrassing..." Anyone that actually knew her knew that was blatantly false, as the next time she was embarrassed would most likely also be the first. "'Cause, you see, what I want more than anything..."
Without warning, she suddenly dropped down on all fours, and turned around so her mostly exposed rear was facing the crowed. "I-I want your support so bad! Give it to me, please! I wanna feel it down to my soul! I wanna be cheered on like I've never been cheered on before! Ah, you can probably just look at me and see how much I want it...! No, I don't just want it, I NEED it! Give it to me hard, and don't ease up, even if it doesn't look like I want it anymore! And then, after we're done...I wouldn't just be any girl. I'd be a real Bitch Queen, yeah!" She raised her arms, and gave the audience a wink. And that was when she finally figured out how to 'apply the brakes', causing her to suddenly hop up.
"Hey, that was totally weird, huh?" As she asked her teammates, HunterWoman turned to face them...and causing her to tilt her head in confusion. "Uh, when did you guys take your shirts off? Did I miss something?"
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"Thanks, dude, but please don't call me that when the cameras aren't on us... kind of embarrassing," Surf confessed to Phero, fanning herself with one hand. "Anyway, tear it up!"
Surf watched with interest as Phero began her take two. Toss crossed her thick arms and frowned, although it wasn't clear if this was because she had a problem with Phero getting a redo or if she simply wanted to get to her own turn. While it wouldn't be clear with AdjustLady's LED eyes or Dart's shades where they were looking, the former had turned her head with a clear laser focus to the presentation.
The audience hung on with clear anticipation, their expectations having obviously been primed by Surf's earlier go at it. It wasn't clear if they realized there was any external influence or not: it could very well be the case that some simply thought Surf had raised the bar on the competition. Either way, they were very receptive to every innuendo they were presented with, and gave roars and whistles of various volumes throughout. A male Navi in the audience gave Phero a particularly raucous cheer upon having a gesture thrown his way directly, before he was suddenly strong-armed and pulled away by a female Navi next to him, who seemed as though she'd seen enough.
The Navi's new beach buddy clapped as well, although she didn't have time to say any specific words of praise before HunterWoman decided to give herself a proper introduction... as "proper introductions" in such a contest went, anyway.
Upon getting an eyeful of HunterWoman's less subtle request for support, the audience, which had stayed at an interested murmur as she spoke, broke into a din of roars and cat-calls. It was pretty clear by this point that any guys who'd started watching with a lady had been forced to leave, by their own volition or otherwise. The remaining crowd was mostly a raucous crowd of guys one might see at a spring break party, with very few exceptions.
"... All right, yeah..." Surf commented, rubbing her chin and blushing with embarrassment on behalf of her shameless partner. "...That ought to do it! Good hustle, dude. Uh... the shirts? Well, all of us just did something kinda like... j-just watch these other three and you'll probably see."
"So, there's team Surf!" MascotMan's voice boomed, as his cameras swept into the air to get some overall shots. "Phero! HunterWoman! And, of course, Surf herself! Will one of these passionate ladies capture the hearts of our many fans watching across the Net and become the AD NET B*tch Queen?!"
The audience gave another cheer while Surf hung her head, letting out a sigh. "So the 'b*tch' thing is gonna stick, huh? I guess this whole thing'll be easier if I just get used to it..."
"However, our introductions are only half over! Can you believe it, lucky viewers? Another three beautiful babes are waiting to make your acquaintance! We'll start with Toss, the one with the darker brown hair."
"Running out of different ways to say she has whatever-color hair, are ya?" Toss commented as the cameras began focusing on her, laughing at her own commentary with her hands on her shirt-clad hips. "Well, MascotMan decided to save the best of our team for first! Lucky for all of you guys. My name's Toss, and I'm a bounty hunter when I'm on the clock... but I didn't come in my bounty hunting armor,~" she teased (and, presumably, fibbed, based on what the group had seen when they arrived), hooking her fingers below the lower hem of her shirt and shimmying it up off of herself. Doing so revealed the swimsuit she had on underneath: a gold-colored one piece, fit tight (but seeming appropriately sized to begin with). Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be something like a very small dress coming from a strapless bandeau top. The dress was short to the point of sticking around the hips, allowing a bottom of a similar material to be seen below. The close fit of the top drew a good deal of attention to her relatively broad shoulders and her cleavage.
"Yeah, for those bad little boys all over the Net, I have to present my strong side," she said, casually flexing her arms in front of her and smiling broadly. "But for good little boys... I've got some nice, big soft spots, as well," she said, lowering her voice to a more sultry tone as she placed her hands over her chest meaningfully and made her best bedroom eyes. "My partner likes to take it slow and careful, but I'm always taking it fast and [/i]dangerous[/i]," she hissed, running her hands down the sides of her hips and up again, giving a wink to a camera that had found its way behind her. "My favorite things are horseshoes and hand grenades, and for me, it's all about getting lucky!" She grinned more widely as she said this, bouncing onto one foot and pumping one fist in the air. "Those things aren't cheap, though, so I think I'll feel really lucky if you get behind me..." She made a point here to bend over meaningfully, placing her hands on her hips. "... And give me your support, that is! All you guys that wanna get behind this, make me your new B*tch Queen!!" She punctuated the comment with a playful slap on her own butt, in case it wasn't clear what she was inviting people to get behind.
Toss got plenty of cheers as well, especially on her finale, but, to the careful listener, not as many as Phero nor as loud as HunterWoman's. Of course, it would be hard to say exactly why. The one she'd certainly got the strongest reaction from was Dart, who had clenched her teeth and gone red as a beat about halfway through, all the way up until the finish. Of course, AdjustLady had also given her attention, but any reaction she had was far less obvious.
"Next up, with the lighter brown stylish do, it's Dart! Everyone give her a big round of applause," MascotMan's booming voice commanded.
In spite of receiving the commanded applause, Dart remained silent and still, her lips pulled stiff like a child refusing food. "Mmm, I'm feeling it..." she finally said, raising a finger to her painted lower lip and becoming red. She got a pop on this, but it quickly died down and became a confused murmur when she began shaking her head. "But I can't! I can't do this like you, Toss!"
"Aw, c'mon!" Toss complained, throwing her hands in front of her. "But you've got great boobs, a tight *ss, and everything! The audience is gonna love you."
"No! No way!" Dart complained, seeming redder and even less convinced. "Why should I appeal to a bunch of pervs?!" Since she was still on camera and mic, this garnered laughs from some in the audience and boos from others.
"You've just gotta relax and let it take over! I know we're not all gifted with my unique brand of sauciness, but, guess what! Today, you are! Why not take it for a spin? Once in a lifetime chance, right? Live a little!"
"What does 'sauce' have to do with anything?" Dart protested. Sighing, she put one hand to her face. When she took it away, she'd transformed her expression to one of a cocky grin (albeit a grin still framed by the red all over her face. "Alright, you lot! Listen up! I'm Dart, an expert bounty hunter, world-class competitive darts champion, and woman of many, many other talents! I've never been with a man before, but I'm looking forward to it! Uwaaah, no! I mean, I've never met a man who was worthy of my sexy body before, but of course, I've b-been with plenty of men before! I'm just, I'm just looking forward to being with one who is worth my time! That being you men, or, uh, probably one of you specifically...? Aaaugh, darn it!"
The woman was stamping around in frustration now, and took the opportunity to tear off her own shirt in an attempt to get her show back on track. Doing so revealed a bright red halter top and a white-and-black checkered short, frilly skirt. The skirt was clearly a decoration covering the actual swimwear of the bottom half, which wasn't fully visible... although even an errant breeze could reveal a red bikini that looked stringy, with plenty of cheek on display at the back. As expected, the woman had dynamite proportions by most standards, although a bit on the skinny side.
"Look, all I want to do is be sexy for you guys and get your eyes all over me, okay?! I'm going to be working really hard to make you all drool over my nice body and my cute butt, so don't mess with me! I could be off capturing criminals or winning a tournament, and instead, I'm here, shaking my butt-" she complained, placing her hands behind her head and quickly gyrating her bottom to make her point, "For you guys?! I want that prize money, so just hurry up and make me your b*tch, already! Your B*tch Queen, I mean, obviously!"
In spite of all her protests and her slow start, Dart garnered a great deal of applause from the crowd in her finale. Her fists shaking at her sides, she continued fuming next to Toss, who laughed and patted her on her head. The larger woman gave her a thumbs up and a grin. "See? When have I ever given you bad advice before?"
"Oh, shut it. You're up," Dart told AdjustLady, who had been watching her with the usual interest.
Of course, that was just a bit premature. MascotMan himself made the announcement only seconds later. "And, finally, our last contestant with the synthetic yet alluring dark hair, AdjustLady!"
AdjustLady turned from her partners and walked forwards, glancing at the cameras around her and keeping her arms folded as her hair blew in the breeze. "Greetings, all," her muffled voice finally came. "My name is AdjustLady. I'm not a bounty hunter like the others, merely a scientist in charge of various ventures I won't bore you with. Like Phero, I think I have other toys you'd be far more interested in..."
The woman grabbed her shirt and flung it off with an exaggerated wave of her arm, keeping that arm in the air as she posed with her other hand on her side. She did this for a while before slowly looking down at what she was actually wearing...
Stripping off the shirt revealed a body composed of various dark, synthetic, and occasionally silicone-like parts, as might have been expected. Some slightly less discrete knobs could be seen around her bare back. As far as a swimsuit went, she had a rather shocking pink number on, with a classic triangle style on the top and a high-cut "v" shape on the bottom. It seemed as though it was probably supposed to draw attention to very glamorous proportions, but there really weren't any: setting aside the fact that her body was synthetic, it was attractive but thin, even thinner than Surf's or Dart's. The other notable factors would probably be, first, that the top and bottom were connected by a strip that appeared to be purely decorative, fastening at the center of the chest and the sides of the bottom into silver rings. The strip, improbably, appeared to have an LED display, a bar against a black background that faded from dark green to bright orange as it went to the top. Observation would probably reveal it corresponded to her voice. There was also a black heart print on each of the top triangles, and the black-lettered word SEXBOT printed across the back of the bottom, the middle letters being taller than the outside letters due to the swimsuit's shape. It wasn't clear if she was aware of this last detail.
The woman stared at what she was wearing for a moment longer before dropping her pose, leaving her arms hanging at her sides. "How's that?" AdjustLady spoke, still not necessarily falling into the same sultry, come-hither tone many before her had adopted. "I bet some of the technophiles among you are already salivating at what's on display here... but I bet a few of you with simpler tastes are still hungry for more? Is that correct? Well, lucky for you, I have some special features which give me a unique advantage in this competition..."
AdjustLady proceeded to fiddle with a tiny knob on the center of her chest, just beneath the ring. A faint sound like a glove being slipped on could be heard, but could easily be ignored in light of what was surely the intended effect: the woman's chest began expanding, growing until it was debatably Dart's equal. Receiving some "oohs" and "aahs" from the audience, but realizing she couldn't leave that unbalanced appearance standing, the woman reached to a knob on the right side of her hip with her right hand, keeping the left hand posed behind her head. As she turned this knob, her hips, thighs, and behind began to fill out as well. Although this had, abstractly speaking, left her with an impressive hourglass figure, the woman proceeded to tweak other knobs throughout her body, changing other proportions like height or the size of her calves ever so slightly until she was where she wanted to be. Her swimsuit, which had been racy in design but conservative in practice before, was now well-taut against her remodeled curves.
"I don't know about all of you, but I'm going to guess this is more to the majority taste... I don't like to give away all my secrets, and I don't normally let naughty little boys put their hands on my knobs, but I might be happy to experiment some more with the right special someone... Why don't we allow one more appropriate adjustment...?"
The woman fiddled with a couple of very discrete, miniscule knobs around the sides of her face, near her ears and the nape of her neck, until her LEDs went a pinker shade from their current red. Her face moved in a way that was technically smooth, but probably in the uncanny valley for some, into a more playful smile, curling her full lips. "How's that? I'm feeling a little more casual now... a little more loose. A little silly, if I'm being honest! But I want to be the best toy I can be for all you nice boys. I need the prize money from this competition to do even more fun experiments, so won't you please make me your B*tch. Queen?" she finished, enunciating her final words clearly and running her hands up her body, finishing at the breasts to allow them to rise and then bounce on the fall.
AdjustLady received applause, and plenty of cheers considering she didn't have the same biological appeal as the other girls in the crowd might... then again, with many of the crowd gathered being standard Navis and not human-like forms themselves, it might not matter if conventional biology wasn't part of the equation.
"There's Team Toss for you!" MascotMan shouted. "Toss, Dart, and AdjustLady! Will the unique charms of this trio carry them to victory, and see us crown one of them as your B*tch Queen?! We won't have to wait long to find out! You fans around the Net have already been making your preferences known and showing some love to our lovely contestants! However, it's too soon for our ladies to begin enjoying their time on the beach. While we love to have a good time out here at Beach Net, it's safety first! And you know what that means, guys: sunscreen!!"
To demonstrate his point, the cameras that were flying around floated over to Surf's team, presenting them with a new packet of data that quickly materialized as a tube of sunscreen for each of them. "The real contest begins now, folks! We want to see you ladies help your friends on team Toss get very thoroughly protected! The two groups will take turns: each lady from Team Surf picks one from the other group and helps them apply the sunscreen... either through a hands-on approach, or through some friendly direction. So don't wait around! As much as we all want to see you ladies exposed, being exposed to UV rays is a no-no!"
As a brief aside, when MascotMan finished speaking, the girls would gain access to a quick bit of data from MascotMan's uplink (each would only hear her own personal score). No further information was given, so the Navis would need to come to their own conclusions:
Surf rolled her eyes, accepting the tube with a smirk. "Oh, brother. Feels like I'm gonna be tired of this before we're done here... I was surprised we get to go first again, but keep in mind: us going first means they get to know the bar and react. We've got to make a strong impression, maybe shake them off their game so they can't retort. Anyway... I don't care who I do, so if either of you have an idea... maybe you'd better lead."
The three members of Team Toss had their own powwow in the meantime, but the three were done by the time Team Surf finished their discussion, turning to them. Toss remained silent with a confident smile on her face; AdjustLady wore the same slightly-more-playful and pink-lit mask she'd just adopted. Dart alone was making any noise, crossing her arms and frowning. "Don't take this too lightly! I'm not going to be happy if I walk out of here with burns... and d-don't get carried away, either! These guys aren't hard to please, so there's no reason to get carried away."
In the meantime, the camera bots had helpfully distributed large "AD NET" towels on the sand, three in total, working together to spread them out.
Surf watched with interest as Phero began her take two. Toss crossed her thick arms and frowned, although it wasn't clear if this was because she had a problem with Phero getting a redo or if she simply wanted to get to her own turn. While it wouldn't be clear with AdjustLady's LED eyes or Dart's shades where they were looking, the former had turned her head with a clear laser focus to the presentation.
The audience hung on with clear anticipation, their expectations having obviously been primed by Surf's earlier go at it. It wasn't clear if they realized there was any external influence or not: it could very well be the case that some simply thought Surf had raised the bar on the competition. Either way, they were very receptive to every innuendo they were presented with, and gave roars and whistles of various volumes throughout. A male Navi in the audience gave Phero a particularly raucous cheer upon having a gesture thrown his way directly, before he was suddenly strong-armed and pulled away by a female Navi next to him, who seemed as though she'd seen enough.
The Navi's new beach buddy clapped as well, although she didn't have time to say any specific words of praise before HunterWoman decided to give herself a proper introduction... as "proper introductions" in such a contest went, anyway.
Upon getting an eyeful of HunterWoman's less subtle request for support, the audience, which had stayed at an interested murmur as she spoke, broke into a din of roars and cat-calls. It was pretty clear by this point that any guys who'd started watching with a lady had been forced to leave, by their own volition or otherwise. The remaining crowd was mostly a raucous crowd of guys one might see at a spring break party, with very few exceptions.
"... All right, yeah..." Surf commented, rubbing her chin and blushing with embarrassment on behalf of her shameless partner. "...That ought to do it! Good hustle, dude. Uh... the shirts? Well, all of us just did something kinda like... j-just watch these other three and you'll probably see."
"So, there's team Surf!" MascotMan's voice boomed, as his cameras swept into the air to get some overall shots. "Phero! HunterWoman! And, of course, Surf herself! Will one of these passionate ladies capture the hearts of our many fans watching across the Net and become the AD NET B*tch Queen?!"
The audience gave another cheer while Surf hung her head, letting out a sigh. "So the 'b*tch' thing is gonna stick, huh? I guess this whole thing'll be easier if I just get used to it..."
"However, our introductions are only half over! Can you believe it, lucky viewers? Another three beautiful babes are waiting to make your acquaintance! We'll start with Toss, the one with the darker brown hair."
"Running out of different ways to say she has whatever-color hair, are ya?" Toss commented as the cameras began focusing on her, laughing at her own commentary with her hands on her shirt-clad hips. "Well, MascotMan decided to save the best of our team for first! Lucky for all of you guys. My name's Toss, and I'm a bounty hunter when I'm on the clock... but I didn't come in my bounty hunting armor,~" she teased (and, presumably, fibbed, based on what the group had seen when they arrived), hooking her fingers below the lower hem of her shirt and shimmying it up off of herself. Doing so revealed the swimsuit she had on underneath: a gold-colored one piece, fit tight (but seeming appropriately sized to begin with). Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be something like a very small dress coming from a strapless bandeau top. The dress was short to the point of sticking around the hips, allowing a bottom of a similar material to be seen below. The close fit of the top drew a good deal of attention to her relatively broad shoulders and her cleavage.
"Yeah, for those bad little boys all over the Net, I have to present my strong side," she said, casually flexing her arms in front of her and smiling broadly. "But for good little boys... I've got some nice, big soft spots, as well," she said, lowering her voice to a more sultry tone as she placed her hands over her chest meaningfully and made her best bedroom eyes. "My partner likes to take it slow and careful, but I'm always taking it fast and [/i]dangerous[/i]," she hissed, running her hands down the sides of her hips and up again, giving a wink to a camera that had found its way behind her. "My favorite things are horseshoes and hand grenades, and for me, it's all about getting lucky!" She grinned more widely as she said this, bouncing onto one foot and pumping one fist in the air. "Those things aren't cheap, though, so I think I'll feel really lucky if you get behind me..." She made a point here to bend over meaningfully, placing her hands on her hips. "... And give me your support, that is! All you guys that wanna get behind this, make me your new B*tch Queen!!" She punctuated the comment with a playful slap on her own butt, in case it wasn't clear what she was inviting people to get behind.
Toss got plenty of cheers as well, especially on her finale, but, to the careful listener, not as many as Phero nor as loud as HunterWoman's. Of course, it would be hard to say exactly why. The one she'd certainly got the strongest reaction from was Dart, who had clenched her teeth and gone red as a beat about halfway through, all the way up until the finish. Of course, AdjustLady had also given her attention, but any reaction she had was far less obvious.
"Next up, with the lighter brown stylish do, it's Dart! Everyone give her a big round of applause," MascotMan's booming voice commanded.
In spite of receiving the commanded applause, Dart remained silent and still, her lips pulled stiff like a child refusing food. "Mmm, I'm feeling it..." she finally said, raising a finger to her painted lower lip and becoming red. She got a pop on this, but it quickly died down and became a confused murmur when she began shaking her head. "But I can't! I can't do this like you, Toss!"
"Aw, c'mon!" Toss complained, throwing her hands in front of her. "But you've got great boobs, a tight *ss, and everything! The audience is gonna love you."
"No! No way!" Dart complained, seeming redder and even less convinced. "Why should I appeal to a bunch of pervs?!" Since she was still on camera and mic, this garnered laughs from some in the audience and boos from others.
"You've just gotta relax and let it take over! I know we're not all gifted with my unique brand of sauciness, but, guess what! Today, you are! Why not take it for a spin? Once in a lifetime chance, right? Live a little!"
"What does 'sauce' have to do with anything?" Dart protested. Sighing, she put one hand to her face. When she took it away, she'd transformed her expression to one of a cocky grin (albeit a grin still framed by the red all over her face. "Alright, you lot! Listen up! I'm Dart, an expert bounty hunter, world-class competitive darts champion, and woman of many, many other talents! I've never been with a man before, but I'm looking forward to it! Uwaaah, no! I mean, I've never met a man who was worthy of my sexy body before, but of course, I've b-been with plenty of men before! I'm just, I'm just looking forward to being with one who is worth my time! That being you men, or, uh, probably one of you specifically...? Aaaugh, darn it!"
The woman was stamping around in frustration now, and took the opportunity to tear off her own shirt in an attempt to get her show back on track. Doing so revealed a bright red halter top and a white-and-black checkered short, frilly skirt. The skirt was clearly a decoration covering the actual swimwear of the bottom half, which wasn't fully visible... although even an errant breeze could reveal a red bikini that looked stringy, with plenty of cheek on display at the back. As expected, the woman had dynamite proportions by most standards, although a bit on the skinny side.
"Look, all I want to do is be sexy for you guys and get your eyes all over me, okay?! I'm going to be working really hard to make you all drool over my nice body and my cute butt, so don't mess with me! I could be off capturing criminals or winning a tournament, and instead, I'm here, shaking my butt-" she complained, placing her hands behind her head and quickly gyrating her bottom to make her point, "For you guys?! I want that prize money, so just hurry up and make me your b*tch, already! Your B*tch Queen, I mean, obviously!"
In spite of all her protests and her slow start, Dart garnered a great deal of applause from the crowd in her finale. Her fists shaking at her sides, she continued fuming next to Toss, who laughed and patted her on her head. The larger woman gave her a thumbs up and a grin. "See? When have I ever given you bad advice before?"
"Oh, shut it. You're up," Dart told AdjustLady, who had been watching her with the usual interest.
Of course, that was just a bit premature. MascotMan himself made the announcement only seconds later. "And, finally, our last contestant with the synthetic yet alluring dark hair, AdjustLady!"
AdjustLady turned from her partners and walked forwards, glancing at the cameras around her and keeping her arms folded as her hair blew in the breeze. "Greetings, all," her muffled voice finally came. "My name is AdjustLady. I'm not a bounty hunter like the others, merely a scientist in charge of various ventures I won't bore you with. Like Phero, I think I have other toys you'd be far more interested in..."
The woman grabbed her shirt and flung it off with an exaggerated wave of her arm, keeping that arm in the air as she posed with her other hand on her side. She did this for a while before slowly looking down at what she was actually wearing...
Stripping off the shirt revealed a body composed of various dark, synthetic, and occasionally silicone-like parts, as might have been expected. Some slightly less discrete knobs could be seen around her bare back. As far as a swimsuit went, she had a rather shocking pink number on, with a classic triangle style on the top and a high-cut "v" shape on the bottom. It seemed as though it was probably supposed to draw attention to very glamorous proportions, but there really weren't any: setting aside the fact that her body was synthetic, it was attractive but thin, even thinner than Surf's or Dart's. The other notable factors would probably be, first, that the top and bottom were connected by a strip that appeared to be purely decorative, fastening at the center of the chest and the sides of the bottom into silver rings. The strip, improbably, appeared to have an LED display, a bar against a black background that faded from dark green to bright orange as it went to the top. Observation would probably reveal it corresponded to her voice. There was also a black heart print on each of the top triangles, and the black-lettered word SEXBOT printed across the back of the bottom, the middle letters being taller than the outside letters due to the swimsuit's shape. It wasn't clear if she was aware of this last detail.
The woman stared at what she was wearing for a moment longer before dropping her pose, leaving her arms hanging at her sides. "How's that?" AdjustLady spoke, still not necessarily falling into the same sultry, come-hither tone many before her had adopted. "I bet some of the technophiles among you are already salivating at what's on display here... but I bet a few of you with simpler tastes are still hungry for more? Is that correct? Well, lucky for you, I have some special features which give me a unique advantage in this competition..."
AdjustLady proceeded to fiddle with a tiny knob on the center of her chest, just beneath the ring. A faint sound like a glove being slipped on could be heard, but could easily be ignored in light of what was surely the intended effect: the woman's chest began expanding, growing until it was debatably Dart's equal. Receiving some "oohs" and "aahs" from the audience, but realizing she couldn't leave that unbalanced appearance standing, the woman reached to a knob on the right side of her hip with her right hand, keeping the left hand posed behind her head. As she turned this knob, her hips, thighs, and behind began to fill out as well. Although this had, abstractly speaking, left her with an impressive hourglass figure, the woman proceeded to tweak other knobs throughout her body, changing other proportions like height or the size of her calves ever so slightly until she was where she wanted to be. Her swimsuit, which had been racy in design but conservative in practice before, was now well-taut against her remodeled curves.
"I don't know about all of you, but I'm going to guess this is more to the majority taste... I don't like to give away all my secrets, and I don't normally let naughty little boys put their hands on my knobs, but I might be happy to experiment some more with the right special someone... Why don't we allow one more appropriate adjustment...?"
The woman fiddled with a couple of very discrete, miniscule knobs around the sides of her face, near her ears and the nape of her neck, until her LEDs went a pinker shade from their current red. Her face moved in a way that was technically smooth, but probably in the uncanny valley for some, into a more playful smile, curling her full lips. "How's that? I'm feeling a little more casual now... a little more loose. A little silly, if I'm being honest! But I want to be the best toy I can be for all you nice boys. I need the prize money from this competition to do even more fun experiments, so won't you please make me your B*tch. Queen?" she finished, enunciating her final words clearly and running her hands up her body, finishing at the breasts to allow them to rise and then bounce on the fall.
AdjustLady received applause, and plenty of cheers considering she didn't have the same biological appeal as the other girls in the crowd might... then again, with many of the crowd gathered being standard Navis and not human-like forms themselves, it might not matter if conventional biology wasn't part of the equation.
"There's Team Toss for you!" MascotMan shouted. "Toss, Dart, and AdjustLady! Will the unique charms of this trio carry them to victory, and see us crown one of them as your B*tch Queen?! We won't have to wait long to find out! You fans around the Net have already been making your preferences known and showing some love to our lovely contestants! However, it's too soon for our ladies to begin enjoying their time on the beach. While we love to have a good time out here at Beach Net, it's safety first! And you know what that means, guys: sunscreen!!"
To demonstrate his point, the cameras that were flying around floated over to Surf's team, presenting them with a new packet of data that quickly materialized as a tube of sunscreen for each of them. "The real contest begins now, folks! We want to see you ladies help your friends on team Toss get very thoroughly protected! The two groups will take turns: each lady from Team Surf picks one from the other group and helps them apply the sunscreen... either through a hands-on approach, or through some friendly direction. So don't wait around! As much as we all want to see you ladies exposed, being exposed to UV rays is a no-no!"
As a brief aside, when MascotMan finished speaking, the girls would gain access to a quick bit of data from MascotMan's uplink (each would only hear her own personal score). No further information was given, so the Navis would need to come to their own conclusions:
Quote ()
TEAM SCORES
TOSS: 5.7
SURF: 6.0
PERSONAL SCORES
PHERO: 6
HUNTERWOMAN: 7
AVERAGE: 5.8
SPONSORS
GENERAL: Most feeds have been cut
UNDERNET: All green
SPONSOR 1: Equipment in use, all green
SPONSOR 2: No feedback
Surf rolled her eyes, accepting the tube with a smirk. "Oh, brother. Feels like I'm gonna be tired of this before we're done here... I was surprised we get to go first again, but keep in mind: us going first means they get to know the bar and react. We've got to make a strong impression, maybe shake them off their game so they can't retort. Anyway... I don't care who I do, so if either of you have an idea... maybe you'd better lead."
The three members of Team Toss had their own powwow in the meantime, but the three were done by the time Team Surf finished their discussion, turning to them. Toss remained silent with a confident smile on her face; AdjustLady wore the same slightly-more-playful and pink-lit mask she'd just adopted. Dart alone was making any noise, crossing her arms and frowning. "Don't take this too lightly! I'm not going to be happy if I walk out of here with burns... and d-don't get carried away, either! These guys aren't hard to please, so there's no reason to get carried away."
In the meantime, the camera bots had helpfully distributed large "AD NET" towels on the sand, three in total, working together to spread them out.
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"Oh! Sorry... I thought you said your friends called you Beach Bunny, so I just wanted to do that... since we're friends," Phero apologized, smiling hopefully at the end in a plea for companionship so earnest and sweet it could cause a tooth-ache. Next up was HunterWoman's show. She continued smiling, although she covered her expression with her palm with a gossipy look. "That's sex she's imitating! she thought to herself in a giddy way, feeling a little naughty and perhaps forgetting that she'd just pantomimed something different but similar. Once HunterWoman returned, Phero clapped to congratulate her. "They really seemed to like it! I think they all want you to appreciate how big their support is," she offered. "Er... we all took off our shirts to show off our bikinis, right? That's the law of nature, as you'd probably call it!" She thought to herself that HunterWoman seemed to have a way of spacing out.
Phero smiled sympathetically as Surf offered her misgivings. "I know it's a little diminutive, but I think it's meant as kind of a... positive thing! Like um... like that music video, 'Bitch Get It!' You know the singer really respects the figure of the woman he's singing about, so much so that he's willing to pay her for it," she offered, perhaps the worst analogy she'd made despite a long history of terribly naive analogies. Thankfully, there wasn't a lot of time to think over it, as MascotMan began to announce the remaining contestants. They had plenty of raunchy things to say about themselves as well and swimsuits to reveal that were just as racy as those Surf's time had donned.
At Toss' reveal, she found herself oddly thinking that she thought she'd like to hug the big lady, more than anything. All of the talk about softness and showing off her big bosom and arms made it seem like she might be a delightful hugger. Perhaps that was what drew Dart to her? Dart seemed like she'd appreciate a good hug right now... She was very pretty, but not particularly well-situated in this kind of contest, it seemed. "Maybe we're being a little mean to her after all..." she commented quietly, though she thought maybe it wasn't as bad as Dart thought it was. AdjustLady, on the other hand, seemed surprisingly at home. "Oh my! She had a secret weapon," Phero commented, feeling a twinge of respect for AdjustLady's crafty strategy. "And what a neat swimsuit... You don't think she gave herself the sexiest one on purpose, do you? Although, HunterWoman's is almost as sexy, because she's got a similar shape..."
The next contest was surprisingly contestant friendly (at least to Phero): the application of sunscreen. Not all navis tanned, and even fewer sunburned, but it couldn't hurt to take precautions. "That's a great idea. What a nice contest," she smiled to the others, happy they'd all agreed not to be mean today. Surf sounded like she was mostly disavowing the leadership role on this one, preferring to let the others choose. Phero knew they had to decide quickly; the crowd was energized, but it wouldn't stick if they stood around and whispered amongst themselves. "Don't worry, I've got an idea..."
She turned her eyes discretely to Toss and Dart, although it probably wasn't too well hidden, considering the girls were likely watching Phero and her team right now. "I think that if we want to get the best results, we ought to play to Toss and Dart's preferences! We know Toss likes thin women, since she's such a good buddy to Dart, so Surf, you can take her. HunterWoman, you've got the biggest butt and of all of us, like Pass, so you go with Dart! That ought to get a reaction out of her!" HunterWoman wasn't quite big in the same ways as Toss, of course, but Phero was applying her logic as best she could. "And AdjustLady and I share a bond as scientists! Or... product-testers, at least," she finished, pressing one finger to her chin thoughtfully. "So I'll take her!"
Confidently, she grinned and approached AdjustLady, with a smile that may have been intended to be wolfish, but just looked cute on her. "I'll lead off with you! Although... um... does suntan lotion... I mean, your skin..." she murmured, looking AdjustLady over again. "I-It doesn't matter! You can wear sunscreen too," she assured AdjustLady, as if she was hoping to make sure her feelings weren't hurt. "Please, lie down on your stomach over there and I'll get started," she encouraged the relative stranger.
Rather than using the tube, Phero sucked a portion in through the discrete holes in her wrists, then rubbed her wrists to make sure it was packed in just right. She figured it would be sexier if she could just use her hands, rather than having to rely on the bottle, and she was uniquely qualified to apply the lotion that way. Once AdjustLady got down, assuming she did, Phero would kneel neatly down next to her and place her hands gently upon the shoulders. "There you go... you'll feel a little coolness now," she explained in a quiet voice.
AdjustLady would, but she'd also feel a little buzz. It became apparent that it wasn't just sunscreen; some of her experimental compound was mixed in as well, which was not actually intentional. "It will be easy to get every spot, since this bikini doesn't cover very much, Sexbot," she beamed, calling AdjustLady by the words on her butt as though they were her name. "Wow... Even though your body looks a little like an android's, some parts still seem really squishy," she suggested, though she hadn't actually gotten to those parts. She was starting out logically with the arms, shoulders, and neck. She also reached down and got the back, but seemed stuck when she felt the knobs poking up from the spine.
"... Am I really going to put sunscreen on those too? Can they actually burn?" she thought to herself, but shrugged and did so anyway. "These things are interesting," she offered absently, stroking one hand seductively up and down each in turn. Looking both sides with a guilty smile, she quickly turned one of them, like a child allured by the allure of a button she shouldn't touch. "Whoops!" she giggled, turning it a few more times for good measure. "I'm a butter fingers!"
Feeling a little naughty now, she repositioned her body so that she sat over AdjustLady's back, facing opposite her direction. She gasped a bit as a knob brushed the area between her legs, then blushed and repositioned herself slightly. That was almost a little dangerous... "Ahem! Well, if you don't like me twisting your knobs, I'll work on this instead," she teased, grabbing hold of the lady's buttocks a hand on each cheek, and dispersing enough liquid that it oozed all over the surface, welling up betwixt the cheeks and dripping across the hips. She massaged softly, remembering back to the time where she'd helped Cheshire soap up in the bath. "That's right! I've got experience already!" Phero thought to herself triumphantly. She leaned over and continued down the legs, before coming back to focus on the bottom.
"You might have to show some more skin somewhere during the contest... just a hunch... so we ought to be thorough," she reminded AdjustLady, running her fingers beneath the slender straps of the bikini and massaging slowly around the buttocks. She narrowed her eyes and beamed widely, blushing heavier as she started to feel a bit aroused herself. Unconsciously, her lower body began to move against the knob again, very subtly, in back and forth motions. "Sexbot, do you feel like turning over now so I can do the front? I'll turn around too, of course, so you don't have to stare at my booty..."
HunterWoman and Surf would have free reign over their targets without prying eyes or backseat driving from Phero, as she was focused on the duty before her. She hadn't though over the scores too much yet, but it seemed they were about where she expected... the only real disappointment was that so many women were being turned away. "I'll bet if Cheshire were here, she'd want to stay and watch..." she thought to herself. That thought would have caused her to pout, if she wasn't enjoying herself otherwise right now.
Phero smiled sympathetically as Surf offered her misgivings. "I know it's a little diminutive, but I think it's meant as kind of a... positive thing! Like um... like that music video, 'Bitch Get It!' You know the singer really respects the figure of the woman he's singing about, so much so that he's willing to pay her for it," she offered, perhaps the worst analogy she'd made despite a long history of terribly naive analogies. Thankfully, there wasn't a lot of time to think over it, as MascotMan began to announce the remaining contestants. They had plenty of raunchy things to say about themselves as well and swimsuits to reveal that were just as racy as those Surf's time had donned.
At Toss' reveal, she found herself oddly thinking that she thought she'd like to hug the big lady, more than anything. All of the talk about softness and showing off her big bosom and arms made it seem like she might be a delightful hugger. Perhaps that was what drew Dart to her? Dart seemed like she'd appreciate a good hug right now... She was very pretty, but not particularly well-situated in this kind of contest, it seemed. "Maybe we're being a little mean to her after all..." she commented quietly, though she thought maybe it wasn't as bad as Dart thought it was. AdjustLady, on the other hand, seemed surprisingly at home. "Oh my! She had a secret weapon," Phero commented, feeling a twinge of respect for AdjustLady's crafty strategy. "And what a neat swimsuit... You don't think she gave herself the sexiest one on purpose, do you? Although, HunterWoman's is almost as sexy, because she's got a similar shape..."
The next contest was surprisingly contestant friendly (at least to Phero): the application of sunscreen. Not all navis tanned, and even fewer sunburned, but it couldn't hurt to take precautions. "That's a great idea. What a nice contest," she smiled to the others, happy they'd all agreed not to be mean today. Surf sounded like she was mostly disavowing the leadership role on this one, preferring to let the others choose. Phero knew they had to decide quickly; the crowd was energized, but it wouldn't stick if they stood around and whispered amongst themselves. "Don't worry, I've got an idea..."
She turned her eyes discretely to Toss and Dart, although it probably wasn't too well hidden, considering the girls were likely watching Phero and her team right now. "I think that if we want to get the best results, we ought to play to Toss and Dart's preferences! We know Toss likes thin women, since she's such a good buddy to Dart, so Surf, you can take her. HunterWoman, you've got the biggest butt and of all of us, like Pass, so you go with Dart! That ought to get a reaction out of her!" HunterWoman wasn't quite big in the same ways as Toss, of course, but Phero was applying her logic as best she could. "And AdjustLady and I share a bond as scientists! Or... product-testers, at least," she finished, pressing one finger to her chin thoughtfully. "So I'll take her!"
Confidently, she grinned and approached AdjustLady, with a smile that may have been intended to be wolfish, but just looked cute on her. "I'll lead off with you! Although... um... does suntan lotion... I mean, your skin..." she murmured, looking AdjustLady over again. "I-It doesn't matter! You can wear sunscreen too," she assured AdjustLady, as if she was hoping to make sure her feelings weren't hurt. "Please, lie down on your stomach over there and I'll get started," she encouraged the relative stranger.
Rather than using the tube, Phero sucked a portion in through the discrete holes in her wrists, then rubbed her wrists to make sure it was packed in just right. She figured it would be sexier if she could just use her hands, rather than having to rely on the bottle, and she was uniquely qualified to apply the lotion that way. Once AdjustLady got down, assuming she did, Phero would kneel neatly down next to her and place her hands gently upon the shoulders. "There you go... you'll feel a little coolness now," she explained in a quiet voice.
AdjustLady would, but she'd also feel a little buzz. It became apparent that it wasn't just sunscreen; some of her experimental compound was mixed in as well, which was not actually intentional. "It will be easy to get every spot, since this bikini doesn't cover very much, Sexbot," she beamed, calling AdjustLady by the words on her butt as though they were her name. "Wow... Even though your body looks a little like an android's, some parts still seem really squishy," she suggested, though she hadn't actually gotten to those parts. She was starting out logically with the arms, shoulders, and neck. She also reached down and got the back, but seemed stuck when she felt the knobs poking up from the spine.
"... Am I really going to put sunscreen on those too? Can they actually burn?" she thought to herself, but shrugged and did so anyway. "These things are interesting," she offered absently, stroking one hand seductively up and down each in turn. Looking both sides with a guilty smile, she quickly turned one of them, like a child allured by the allure of a button she shouldn't touch. "Whoops!" she giggled, turning it a few more times for good measure. "I'm a butter fingers!"
Feeling a little naughty now, she repositioned her body so that she sat over AdjustLady's back, facing opposite her direction. She gasped a bit as a knob brushed the area between her legs, then blushed and repositioned herself slightly. That was almost a little dangerous... "Ahem! Well, if you don't like me twisting your knobs, I'll work on this instead," she teased, grabbing hold of the lady's buttocks a hand on each cheek, and dispersing enough liquid that it oozed all over the surface, welling up betwixt the cheeks and dripping across the hips. She massaged softly, remembering back to the time where she'd helped Cheshire soap up in the bath. "That's right! I've got experience already!" Phero thought to herself triumphantly. She leaned over and continued down the legs, before coming back to focus on the bottom.
"You might have to show some more skin somewhere during the contest... just a hunch... so we ought to be thorough," she reminded AdjustLady, running her fingers beneath the slender straps of the bikini and massaging slowly around the buttocks. She narrowed her eyes and beamed widely, blushing heavier as she started to feel a bit aroused herself. Unconsciously, her lower body began to move against the knob again, very subtly, in back and forth motions. "Sexbot, do you feel like turning over now so I can do the front? I'll turn around too, of course, so you don't have to stare at my booty..."
HunterWoman and Surf would have free reign over their targets without prying eyes or backseat driving from Phero, as she was focused on the duty before her. She hadn't though over the scores too much yet, but it seemed they were about where she expected... the only real disappointment was that so many women were being turned away. "I'll bet if Cheshire were here, she'd want to stay and watch..." she thought to herself. That thought would have caused her to pout, if she wasn't enjoying herself otherwise right now.
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"Uh, I dunno what the laws of nature say about taking off your shirt..." Even HunterWoman wasn't really sure about that particular Phero analogy, but upon learning that she'd get answers by watching the others, she turned over to give it her (by her standards) undivided attention. She didn't get to hear the worst of all Phero comparisons as she focused on Toss. Thankfully, since she wasn't a big music person, it only spared everyone a blank stare.
Perhaps the most noticeable thing to her after Toss's intro, was the audience reaction...or relative lack thereof. Phero definitely got a better reaction than that...maybe they were winning now? Woohoo! Dart's performance was a bit slow to start, but the audience seemed to like it just fine in the end. Hee hee, in the end. Okay, now for AdjustLady's turn...wait, she could do that?! "Whaaaaaa?! I didn't even know a Navi could do that!" She was pretty sure Diana didn't give her that feature..."Hey, I wonder if she can adjust other Navis like that? Like, she turns one of those dials, and boom, everyone has giant boobs! I think that'd be a good battle tactic, actually, since suddenly they have extra weight in their chest, and that could screw up their movement! Though, could you even imagine something like a Shrimpy with big boobs? That'd just be super crazy!"
And then, the first event was announced...sunscreen? Phero half looked like she was already burnt, and AdjustLady didn't look like she was even capable of it. Besides, once she'd spent an entire day in the NetFrican desert with no ill effects. Even if she was programmed to be able to get a sunburn, her tropical complexion made sure she was pretty resistant to it anyway. "Putting on sunscreen? Really? Because I'm pretty sure AdjustLady can't burn, and I'm really unlikely to burn, and...what? We're putting it on each other? Ohhhhhhhhhh..." That made way more sense. HunterWoman accepted the tube, taking a moment to inspect it. Yep, that sure was a tube of sunscreen. "So, who gets who? Do we pick names out of a RNG, or what?" Fortunately, Phero had ideas on that front. "...I dunno, I don't really base my friends off of whether they have big butts...but, if you say so!"
And so she walked over to Dart, and motioned for her to get on the towel. "Heya! Just lay down, face down, and we'll get started!" While the other Navi did that, she opened up the tube, and squeezed it to get some sunscreen out...but, oddly, nothing did. "Huh? Hey, this tube's totally defective! I need a-" She had brought it up near eye level to investigate, and squeezed harder...resulting in her face being covered in white goop. She blinked a couple of times, letting it drip for a moment, before sighing. "Never mind...at least it didn't get in my eyes..." Not being one to waste things, she simply wiped off her face with her fingers, got down on her knees, and used that to get started on Dart's shoulders. "So, uh, I guess darts are how you do things in battle, huh? I use lots of sharp pointy things, too! I use a crossbow, of course, since arrows are harder to throw than darts." Probably against the other Navi's wishes, she wasted no time in working underneath her top. "'Cause, ya know, they're usually bigger. Unless they're like lawn darts, those things are huge! Like, if you shot one of those out of a bow, that'd do mega damage! I bet some people think that'd be a goofy theme to have if you're a bounty hunter, but not me! Those things'll mess you up!" And down to the back, after refilling on sunscreen. "So, you got any interests other than darts? Me, even when I'm not hunting, I love the outdoors! I really like the more natural areas of the net, like Yumland and NetFrica. Something like SciLab Area? Pass!"
With little fanfare, she immediately continued her trek downward, working on Dart's butt. "So, this came up earlier, and I kinda wanna know...are you and Toss lovers or something? Or just really good friends? It doesn't bother me either way, you know!" Said as she was applying lotion to another woman's bottom. "Just curious, is all! Oh hey, that reminds me! You know the weird voice in our heads tried to get us to drive a wedge between you two? We shot that down pretty quick, though...there's a difference between being a Bitch Queen, and just being a bitch, you know?" And down to the legs. "Oh, mind if I ask what your score was from earlier? Mine was a 7, I guess out of 10? If the average was 5.8, really makes ya wonder what a really high score would've looked like!"
She stood up, and took a look. Everywhere seemed to be nice and coated in white, creamy fluid. "Okay, turn around, and I'll get your front, okay? We need you burnproof!"
Perhaps the most noticeable thing to her after Toss's intro, was the audience reaction...or relative lack thereof. Phero definitely got a better reaction than that...maybe they were winning now? Woohoo! Dart's performance was a bit slow to start, but the audience seemed to like it just fine in the end. Hee hee, in the end. Okay, now for AdjustLady's turn...wait, she could do that?! "Whaaaaaa?! I didn't even know a Navi could do that!" She was pretty sure Diana didn't give her that feature..."Hey, I wonder if she can adjust other Navis like that? Like, she turns one of those dials, and boom, everyone has giant boobs! I think that'd be a good battle tactic, actually, since suddenly they have extra weight in their chest, and that could screw up their movement! Though, could you even imagine something like a Shrimpy with big boobs? That'd just be super crazy!"
And then, the first event was announced...sunscreen? Phero half looked like she was already burnt, and AdjustLady didn't look like she was even capable of it. Besides, once she'd spent an entire day in the NetFrican desert with no ill effects. Even if she was programmed to be able to get a sunburn, her tropical complexion made sure she was pretty resistant to it anyway. "Putting on sunscreen? Really? Because I'm pretty sure AdjustLady can't burn, and I'm really unlikely to burn, and...what? We're putting it on each other? Ohhhhhhhhhh..." That made way more sense. HunterWoman accepted the tube, taking a moment to inspect it. Yep, that sure was a tube of sunscreen. "So, who gets who? Do we pick names out of a RNG, or what?" Fortunately, Phero had ideas on that front. "...I dunno, I don't really base my friends off of whether they have big butts...but, if you say so!"
And so she walked over to Dart, and motioned for her to get on the towel. "Heya! Just lay down, face down, and we'll get started!" While the other Navi did that, she opened up the tube, and squeezed it to get some sunscreen out...but, oddly, nothing did. "Huh? Hey, this tube's totally defective! I need a-" She had brought it up near eye level to investigate, and squeezed harder...resulting in her face being covered in white goop. She blinked a couple of times, letting it drip for a moment, before sighing. "Never mind...at least it didn't get in my eyes..." Not being one to waste things, she simply wiped off her face with her fingers, got down on her knees, and used that to get started on Dart's shoulders. "So, uh, I guess darts are how you do things in battle, huh? I use lots of sharp pointy things, too! I use a crossbow, of course, since arrows are harder to throw than darts." Probably against the other Navi's wishes, she wasted no time in working underneath her top. "'Cause, ya know, they're usually bigger. Unless they're like lawn darts, those things are huge! Like, if you shot one of those out of a bow, that'd do mega damage! I bet some people think that'd be a goofy theme to have if you're a bounty hunter, but not me! Those things'll mess you up!" And down to the back, after refilling on sunscreen. "So, you got any interests other than darts? Me, even when I'm not hunting, I love the outdoors! I really like the more natural areas of the net, like Yumland and NetFrica. Something like SciLab Area? Pass!"
With little fanfare, she immediately continued her trek downward, working on Dart's butt. "So, this came up earlier, and I kinda wanna know...are you and Toss lovers or something? Or just really good friends? It doesn't bother me either way, you know!" Said as she was applying lotion to another woman's bottom. "Just curious, is all! Oh hey, that reminds me! You know the weird voice in our heads tried to get us to drive a wedge between you two? We shot that down pretty quick, though...there's a difference between being a Bitch Queen, and just being a bitch, you know?" And down to the legs. "Oh, mind if I ask what your score was from earlier? Mine was a 7, I guess out of 10? If the average was 5.8, really makes ya wonder what a really high score would've looked like!"
She stood up, and took a look. Everywhere seemed to be nice and coated in white, creamy fluid. "Okay, turn around, and I'll get your front, okay? We need you burnproof!"
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"When I woke up today, I definitely didn't picture 'B*tch Get It' as the height I'd be aspiring to... well, every day's full of surprises! Anyway... it sounds like you've actually got a good idea there, dude." Surf told Phero, nodding along. "I mean, about you taking the other scientist. I'm, uh, not really sure if the bounty hunters have a partnership with each other based on the size of their butts...? I mean, your guess is as good as mine, I suppose... Anyway, I've got no complaints. Let's get this show on the road and give it our all so we can walk out champions...! Or, B*tch Queens, or whatever," she finished with a wry smile. She made her way over to Toss, allowing the other three to approach their targets as they saw fit.
AdjustLady held one arm at chest level as a shelf for her other, placing her hand on her chin. She giggled softly at Phero's uncertainty. "Yes, Phero, I can wear sunscreen," she agreed, dodging the question of whether or not she actually needed it. "I'll gladly take position... I can't wait to get started." She walked over to the towel, then leaned down as if touching her toes. Her feet seemed to slide back until she was on her knees. Once in that position, she finished siding down onto her upper legs until she was reclining with her head on her hand and her arms crossed beneath her chest. Seeming to realize she really ought to be lying down completely flat for the application, she shifted again so her arms were crossed under the side of her face. She didn't respond as Phero began applying her slightly modified sunscreen: either she'd braced herself for the coolness, or she wasn't receptive to changes in temperature.
"Mmm... this is... what?" AdjustLady murmured, suddenly perking her head up. "It feels like there's a foreign substance interfering with the base and overlaid routines... something in the sunscreen? Will this affect the relevance of the data we collect in today's testing? Mm? You say it's okay? Well, I'm just fine with it then...~" she tapered off, giggling again as she let Phero continue working her back. It seemed as though she'd missed Phero's commentary (including her new nickname) as a result of a quick talk with her operator, but her attention clearly got focused again when the other woman began playing with various knobs. "Oh, dear... you know, those knobs are interesting for all sorts of scientific testing, but in terms of what would be interesting here I really feel you'd need some sort of instruction manual..." The woman didn't appear to feel any stimulus in response to having them touched, and her concern apparently outweighed any sense of duty to pretend she did in order to get a rise out of the audience.
Saying she didn't have a reaction, however, would be a mistake. Indeed, there was an immediately apparent reaction: the first knob Phero began messing with caused the lady to grow slightly, as though she'd been scaled to be larger. "Oh- Can you... Oh dear," she tapered off, as Phero continued playing with the knob and causing her to grow even larger. By the end of it, the woman was about seven and a half feet tall, her feet hanging off of the edge of the towel that had been provided. The incorrect proportions relative to Phero would be distinct to anyone watching the two of them. "Phero, you may do as you like, but unless you think there is a reason the audience should be terribly interested in this, maybe you should- ah? No? Very well," she conceded as the applicator switched positions. "If you aren't planning to put it right back, just make a point to remember which it is later in case we need to return it to its original sta- ooh!" she gasped, as Phero began working on the now especially considerable surface area of her posterior. "Mm... you're forward, but you seem quite comfortable. I somehow get the sense you've got natural talent or experience at this... Please, continue."
Phero wouldn't be able to tell if she didn't look back around at AdjustLady's face, but the hand which had been holding her cheek had moved to her mouth, with one of the fingers held between the lips. Notably, doing so appeared to have no effect in terms of muffling the woman's voice. "Unh... this sunscreen appears to have an interesting quality... when it rubs into... more sensitive areas... Ah!" It was quite possible neither lady would be aware of it the exact phenomenon, but Phero's grinding against the knob was having the effect of slightly shrinking and expanding AdjustLady again. While Phero might not be able to tell what was going on, she'd probably feel it, as shifting size led to some rubbing of the knob against the area between the Navi's legs.
"Now Phero, it's not fair to give me a naughty nickname when I haven't thought of one for you, yet...~" The woman sounded far more amused then offended by the nickname, but also didn't seem to draw a connection between it and her swimsuit. "Regardless, your wish is my command... your Sexbot is ready to receive further input." AdjustLady, presuming Phero would let her, would roll over in place on the towel so her front could be accessed. "Be warned... even as you feed input, background process are optimizing your user experience. By the time you finish up, I believe I will have developed quite an application for you to look forward to...~"
While Phero's target had clearly been compliant, Dart was far less so, still giving HunterWoman her apprehensive frown as she approached. "Oh great, I get the fun one..." she muttered audibly. Still, she made her way to the towel briskly and lied down on her stomach, keeping her eyes forward. "I'm not planning to take the shades off, so you don't have to get there. I'm not planning to take the skirt off, either! Don't get any funny ideas..."
The woman frowned, turning back to see what was taking HunterLady so long, then blushing and gritting her teeth when she saw. "H-hey! Are you clowning around?! Nobody wants to see that! Just go ahead and do it properly!" In contrast to the woman's statement, there were plenty of cheers and laughs for HunterWoman's blunder, whether it had been intentional or not. Dart piped down again as HunterWoman got to work. She seemed hard to get talking, but discussing her weapon of choice seemed to be the right topic to get a foot in the door. "Arrows, you say? Not bad! Maybe you've got more taste than I expected." Distracted, the woman didn't seem to raise a fuss as HunterWoman got underneath her top. "Still, I think a bow only adds a middleman to the equation that's best cut out if you have the proper accuracy, precision, and muscle control. Sure, even weaponized darts aren't going to hurt much if you don't strike vital points or critical targets... But that's what makes darts a perfect weapon to strike fear into your opponent's heart! A single strike to bring them low, and a grasp on the element of surprise... but um, lawn darts, hm... I can't say I've heard of that," she admitted, going quiet again. "And no. Bounty hunting, and darts... that's plenty for me."
The woman quite visibly tensed as HunterWoman broke various rules of conduct, arching her shoulders forward and clenching her teeth. As expected, if HunterWoman got to the butt beneath the skirt, she'd find the skimpy article she'd glimpsed earlier: Dart's bikini was in the style of a red thong. "Hey! Hey, w-w-whoa, what?! Don't just blurt out something like that while your grabbing my *ss! Who do you think you are?!" The woman took a moment and finished hearing HunterWoman out, raising an eyebrow behind her shades and growing quiet again. "Oh... ah, so that's why you thought that... I didn't hear anything like that, but it sounds like it's probably some loser we threw in jail trying to break up our ruthlessly efficient partnership." She tried to settle down again as HunterWoman finished her legs. "Look, you have my thanks for not making things harder for us than they need to be, but a competition is still a competition. I'm not going to give away info to the enemy when I don't have to. If you got a 7, it sounds like I have my work cut out for me, anyway..."
Dart rolled over, crossing her arms behind her head and pouting. "It's fine if you want to wrap this up quickly, you know? I'm not too worried about burning, and if you've already got a lead, there's no sense to go out of your way to get a bigger reaction, right...?" The woman adopted a small smile, which all-too-obviously implied "do a sloppy job so I can catch up on your lead."
Surf watched the other two girls go to their work, lagging a bit behind as she approached Toss. The other woman wasn't having that, and quickly closed the distance herself, grabbing Surf by the arm and leading her over to the towel. "C'mon, c'mon! These other girls may be joking about it, but I actually will burn if I don't get sunscreen, you know? I wear armor most of the time, so a bad tan isn't a big deal, but a burn totally would be! Imagine itching under that armor with no way to scratch it! Do it thorough or you're gonna be on my sh*t list, Beach Bunny!" With her complaints registered, Toss plopped down on the towel, resting her cheek on her crossed arms.
"All right, all right, geez," Surf replied, tugging at her hair. "You know I practically live on the beach, right, dude? I know how to apply sunscreen."
"Well I don't know how to apply for retirement, so hurry it up!" Surf joked, kicking her legs impatiently.
Surf squirted a small portion out on her hands and placed them on Toss's shoulders, working her way methodically along and covering the body thoroughly. She went up for the ears and neck before moving on, getting the visible skin surface coated. "The other girls have been getting underneath the swimsuit in case we have to take stuff off... I'm not sure how-"
Toss smiled and sat up momentarily, hooking her hands under the sides of her tight dress and shimmying it up so it was above her ribs and lying back down. Doing so revealed that the bottom she was wearing was a bit dangerously low rise: in fact, in her lying position, it looked like the crack of her backside was nearly visible. "There ya go! Have at it."
"Thanks," Surf muttered, rubbing in on the rest of the back. She began to massage a bit tentatively as she got lower, biting her lip and looking at what the other girls had been doing. "Welp... when in Beach Net," she muttered to herself, before suddenly plunging her hands into the leg holes of Toss's briefs and beginning to work sunscreen onto her behind.
"Whoop!" Toss shouted, an amused grin spreading across her face. "Gee, I've never gotten this kind of 'personal treatment' in a suntan application before, Bunny! Do all the other girls get this kind of personal care...?~"
"Nope! You're the first," Surf replied with a half-cocked smile on her red face.
"Oh! So I'm special, then?" Toss pressed, still grinning and looking back at the other girl. "Mmm, I think you missed a spot! I don't wanna get an embarrassing tan line later. You'd better be take a good, long time there..."
Surf finished up quickly, withdrawing her hands and giving Toss a quick swat on behind of her swimsuit. "You're a big brat, you know that?"
"Ooh! Sexual harassment! She's disqualified for that, right?!" Toss said with a laugh. "That was a joke! No, Pass, of course it was a joke. Gee, what are you so upset about? Two girls having a little fun? Lighten up, I can't keep talking to you in the middle of this contest, but I also can't have you complaining in my ear all day!"
Surf ignored Toss's back-and-forth in favor of getting the woman's legs. "I hope that's enough," she said, finishing quickly and wiping her hands together as she stood back up. "Roll over, dude. Gonna get the front."
"Yes, my mistress!" Toss complied with another snorting laugh, rolling over in place. "Hoo boy, this is already a hoot. Dart seems to be having fun, too! You never hear her that chatty with anyone but me. There must be something about this extreme female bonding scenario that loosens lips..."
AdjustLady held one arm at chest level as a shelf for her other, placing her hand on her chin. She giggled softly at Phero's uncertainty. "Yes, Phero, I can wear sunscreen," she agreed, dodging the question of whether or not she actually needed it. "I'll gladly take position... I can't wait to get started." She walked over to the towel, then leaned down as if touching her toes. Her feet seemed to slide back until she was on her knees. Once in that position, she finished siding down onto her upper legs until she was reclining with her head on her hand and her arms crossed beneath her chest. Seeming to realize she really ought to be lying down completely flat for the application, she shifted again so her arms were crossed under the side of her face. She didn't respond as Phero began applying her slightly modified sunscreen: either she'd braced herself for the coolness, or she wasn't receptive to changes in temperature.
"Mmm... this is... what?" AdjustLady murmured, suddenly perking her head up. "It feels like there's a foreign substance interfering with the base and overlaid routines... something in the sunscreen? Will this affect the relevance of the data we collect in today's testing? Mm? You say it's okay? Well, I'm just fine with it then...~" she tapered off, giggling again as she let Phero continue working her back. It seemed as though she'd missed Phero's commentary (including her new nickname) as a result of a quick talk with her operator, but her attention clearly got focused again when the other woman began playing with various knobs. "Oh, dear... you know, those knobs are interesting for all sorts of scientific testing, but in terms of what would be interesting here I really feel you'd need some sort of instruction manual..." The woman didn't appear to feel any stimulus in response to having them touched, and her concern apparently outweighed any sense of duty to pretend she did in order to get a rise out of the audience.
Saying she didn't have a reaction, however, would be a mistake. Indeed, there was an immediately apparent reaction: the first knob Phero began messing with caused the lady to grow slightly, as though she'd been scaled to be larger. "Oh- Can you... Oh dear," she tapered off, as Phero continued playing with the knob and causing her to grow even larger. By the end of it, the woman was about seven and a half feet tall, her feet hanging off of the edge of the towel that had been provided. The incorrect proportions relative to Phero would be distinct to anyone watching the two of them. "Phero, you may do as you like, but unless you think there is a reason the audience should be terribly interested in this, maybe you should- ah? No? Very well," she conceded as the applicator switched positions. "If you aren't planning to put it right back, just make a point to remember which it is later in case we need to return it to its original sta- ooh!" she gasped, as Phero began working on the now especially considerable surface area of her posterior. "Mm... you're forward, but you seem quite comfortable. I somehow get the sense you've got natural talent or experience at this... Please, continue."
Phero wouldn't be able to tell if she didn't look back around at AdjustLady's face, but the hand which had been holding her cheek had moved to her mouth, with one of the fingers held between the lips. Notably, doing so appeared to have no effect in terms of muffling the woman's voice. "Unh... this sunscreen appears to have an interesting quality... when it rubs into... more sensitive areas... Ah!" It was quite possible neither lady would be aware of it the exact phenomenon, but Phero's grinding against the knob was having the effect of slightly shrinking and expanding AdjustLady again. While Phero might not be able to tell what was going on, she'd probably feel it, as shifting size led to some rubbing of the knob against the area between the Navi's legs.
"Now Phero, it's not fair to give me a naughty nickname when I haven't thought of one for you, yet...~" The woman sounded far more amused then offended by the nickname, but also didn't seem to draw a connection between it and her swimsuit. "Regardless, your wish is my command... your Sexbot is ready to receive further input." AdjustLady, presuming Phero would let her, would roll over in place on the towel so her front could be accessed. "Be warned... even as you feed input, background process are optimizing your user experience. By the time you finish up, I believe I will have developed quite an application for you to look forward to...~"
While Phero's target had clearly been compliant, Dart was far less so, still giving HunterWoman her apprehensive frown as she approached. "Oh great, I get the fun one..." she muttered audibly. Still, she made her way to the towel briskly and lied down on her stomach, keeping her eyes forward. "I'm not planning to take the shades off, so you don't have to get there. I'm not planning to take the skirt off, either! Don't get any funny ideas..."
The woman frowned, turning back to see what was taking HunterLady so long, then blushing and gritting her teeth when she saw. "H-hey! Are you clowning around?! Nobody wants to see that! Just go ahead and do it properly!" In contrast to the woman's statement, there were plenty of cheers and laughs for HunterWoman's blunder, whether it had been intentional or not. Dart piped down again as HunterWoman got to work. She seemed hard to get talking, but discussing her weapon of choice seemed to be the right topic to get a foot in the door. "Arrows, you say? Not bad! Maybe you've got more taste than I expected." Distracted, the woman didn't seem to raise a fuss as HunterWoman got underneath her top. "Still, I think a bow only adds a middleman to the equation that's best cut out if you have the proper accuracy, precision, and muscle control. Sure, even weaponized darts aren't going to hurt much if you don't strike vital points or critical targets... But that's what makes darts a perfect weapon to strike fear into your opponent's heart! A single strike to bring them low, and a grasp on the element of surprise... but um, lawn darts, hm... I can't say I've heard of that," she admitted, going quiet again. "And no. Bounty hunting, and darts... that's plenty for me."
The woman quite visibly tensed as HunterWoman broke various rules of conduct, arching her shoulders forward and clenching her teeth. As expected, if HunterWoman got to the butt beneath the skirt, she'd find the skimpy article she'd glimpsed earlier: Dart's bikini was in the style of a red thong. "Hey! Hey, w-w-whoa, what?! Don't just blurt out something like that while your grabbing my *ss! Who do you think you are?!" The woman took a moment and finished hearing HunterWoman out, raising an eyebrow behind her shades and growing quiet again. "Oh... ah, so that's why you thought that... I didn't hear anything like that, but it sounds like it's probably some loser we threw in jail trying to break up our ruthlessly efficient partnership." She tried to settle down again as HunterWoman finished her legs. "Look, you have my thanks for not making things harder for us than they need to be, but a competition is still a competition. I'm not going to give away info to the enemy when I don't have to. If you got a 7, it sounds like I have my work cut out for me, anyway..."
Dart rolled over, crossing her arms behind her head and pouting. "It's fine if you want to wrap this up quickly, you know? I'm not too worried about burning, and if you've already got a lead, there's no sense to go out of your way to get a bigger reaction, right...?" The woman adopted a small smile, which all-too-obviously implied "do a sloppy job so I can catch up on your lead."
Surf watched the other two girls go to their work, lagging a bit behind as she approached Toss. The other woman wasn't having that, and quickly closed the distance herself, grabbing Surf by the arm and leading her over to the towel. "C'mon, c'mon! These other girls may be joking about it, but I actually will burn if I don't get sunscreen, you know? I wear armor most of the time, so a bad tan isn't a big deal, but a burn totally would be! Imagine itching under that armor with no way to scratch it! Do it thorough or you're gonna be on my sh*t list, Beach Bunny!" With her complaints registered, Toss plopped down on the towel, resting her cheek on her crossed arms.
"All right, all right, geez," Surf replied, tugging at her hair. "You know I practically live on the beach, right, dude? I know how to apply sunscreen."
"Well I don't know how to apply for retirement, so hurry it up!" Surf joked, kicking her legs impatiently.
Surf squirted a small portion out on her hands and placed them on Toss's shoulders, working her way methodically along and covering the body thoroughly. She went up for the ears and neck before moving on, getting the visible skin surface coated. "The other girls have been getting underneath the swimsuit in case we have to take stuff off... I'm not sure how-"
Toss smiled and sat up momentarily, hooking her hands under the sides of her tight dress and shimmying it up so it was above her ribs and lying back down. Doing so revealed that the bottom she was wearing was a bit dangerously low rise: in fact, in her lying position, it looked like the crack of her backside was nearly visible. "There ya go! Have at it."
"Thanks," Surf muttered, rubbing in on the rest of the back. She began to massage a bit tentatively as she got lower, biting her lip and looking at what the other girls had been doing. "Welp... when in Beach Net," she muttered to herself, before suddenly plunging her hands into the leg holes of Toss's briefs and beginning to work sunscreen onto her behind.
"Whoop!" Toss shouted, an amused grin spreading across her face. "Gee, I've never gotten this kind of 'personal treatment' in a suntan application before, Bunny! Do all the other girls get this kind of personal care...?~"
"Nope! You're the first," Surf replied with a half-cocked smile on her red face.
"Oh! So I'm special, then?" Toss pressed, still grinning and looking back at the other girl. "Mmm, I think you missed a spot! I don't wanna get an embarrassing tan line later. You'd better be take a good, long time there..."
Surf finished up quickly, withdrawing her hands and giving Toss a quick swat on behind of her swimsuit. "You're a big brat, you know that?"
"Ooh! Sexual harassment! She's disqualified for that, right?!" Toss said with a laugh. "That was a joke! No, Pass, of course it was a joke. Gee, what are you so upset about? Two girls having a little fun? Lighten up, I can't keep talking to you in the middle of this contest, but I also can't have you complaining in my ear all day!"
Surf ignored Toss's back-and-forth in favor of getting the woman's legs. "I hope that's enough," she said, finishing quickly and wiping her hands together as she stood back up. "Roll over, dude. Gonna get the front."
"Yes, my mistress!" Toss complied with another snorting laugh, rolling over in place. "Hoo boy, this is already a hoot. Dart seems to be having fun, too! You never hear her that chatty with anyone but me. There must be something about this extreme female bonding scenario that loosens lips..."
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Phero seemed to be batting zero on effective analogies today, to hear her partners' reactions, but luckily, the contest wasn't grading her on that. "Still, I can't help but feel like the dumb one," she mused, wondering just where she'd gone wrong in assuming that women would want to be admired and paid for their sex appeal like the subject of the, by internet accounts quite popular hit single, Bitch Get It. At any rate, HunterWoman seemed to be getting along well enough with Dart (if one went in with the expectation that she'd remain at least a little prickly). On the other hand, Surf and Toss seemed like strange bedfellows; if Toss was this assertive on the bottom, Surf might end up getting overwhelmed when they switched sides. "How fun," Phero thought to herself with a smile. There was something about turning conventional relationships on their heads that really spoke to her as a scientist in the field.
As for Phero's charge, she seemed amiable enough, and quite erotic to work on, which Phero did not mind admitting to herself. Not being one to hold women to conventional standards of beauty, she didn't mind at all the odd, synthetic-looking body of AdjustLady. It filled her with some genuine curiosity; she was interested to see what various knobs would do, but ended up settling on just one. After all, her goal was more so to get a thorough application over AdjustLady than to sate her scientific curiosity. The artificially "throbbing" knob beneath her was giving her a sensation that was more than a little distracting and very risqué, in her estimation. She wasn't one to be modest, though, and her face told the story as she grinned and exhaled in alternation. "I shouldn't play around on this too much... if she doesn't even feel it, it's sort of like I'm just pleasuring myself, which isn't very nice in a situation like this," she reminded herself. "Caring for your partner! That's the goal of a good relationship."
AdjustLady seemed to be pretty easy to please, which Phero supposed made sense. Being agreeable was generally sexier than complaining, after all, even if Dart made it look cute. "She's so sexy... like Cheshire. It feels like she's leading me," Phero mused, with excitement, but also a bit of nervousness. For one thing, she was supposed to be the one who was engineered to attract others; if she wasn't holding the reigns, that might be a flaw in her design, which was dangerous for her longevity. More directly in her mind, there was the possibility she was getting fewer points than AdjustLady was... and that would be bad for her team. She lifted her caboose so that AdjustLady could roll over. "I'll just have to inspire a couple of naughty nicknames myself, then!" she resolved aloud, leaning over AdjustLady's body and bringing her fingers up to gently caress the side of AdjustLady's neck, tracing slowly up to her cheeks.
Being less concerned about personal space than the average person, Phero leaned her whole body over AdjustLady's so that their breasts touched together lightly, while she studied the new face AdjustLady had equipped herself with. "It's different," she remarked quietly, barely resisting the temptation to turn the knobs again. Even without the knobs, Phero was unconsciously rubbing her lower body back and forth, now against AdjustLady's own. After finishing the cheeks, she ran a finger down the bridge of the nose, then the chin. "Hmmm," she hummed, continuing from the chin back down the neck, then to the piece de resistance, given that she'd already given the arms a pretty thorough application earlier. She leaned up a bit to observe the breasts more fully, then pressed her hands gently to the sides of each and started rubbing, pushing the breasts first together, then letting them fall back. "Do you think about your 'natural size,' or is a concept like that unimportant to you?" she asked curiously, allowing her hands to grasp more fully now, still over the suit. "They're much bigger than Cheshire's... and mine," she thought again, noting that, especially with the increase in AdjustLady's overall size, she could no longer fit her whole hand around one.
All of this was a bit much for Phero, and being thus overstimulated, she suddenly shut her eyes and whimpered slightly; although nothing happened visibly, AdjustLady could feel a new moisture in the air and a sweet smell pervading. "Sorry... I just got excited," she blushed, staring more intently at AdjustLady's breasts. At the same time, she'd gripped them more tightly, scrunching the swimsuit up a bit and splurging out large pools of lotion onto both. "Sorry," she repeated, trying to rub all of it around so that it wouldn't be so clumped. Embarrassed, Phero continued down the stomach, then rubbed the hips enthusiastically. There was another part she'd been wondering how she'd get... she tabled the issue for now and worked from the outer thighs and down. As she trailed back up, she looked to AdjustLady's face. "I'll just... be careful," she reassured AdjustLady.
Her definition of careful was interesting, because what it translated to was basically grabbing over the crotch with her hand and gently rubbing in more of the liquid, not underneath the suit... but still immodestly rubbing the area. "Does that feel good? I haven't tried it before..." she murmured with a hopeful smile. "Do you feel that sort of thing? I know you said you didn't feel it... with the knobs, earlier..."
As for Phero's charge, she seemed amiable enough, and quite erotic to work on, which Phero did not mind admitting to herself. Not being one to hold women to conventional standards of beauty, she didn't mind at all the odd, synthetic-looking body of AdjustLady. It filled her with some genuine curiosity; she was interested to see what various knobs would do, but ended up settling on just one. After all, her goal was more so to get a thorough application over AdjustLady than to sate her scientific curiosity. The artificially "throbbing" knob beneath her was giving her a sensation that was more than a little distracting and very risqué, in her estimation. She wasn't one to be modest, though, and her face told the story as she grinned and exhaled in alternation. "I shouldn't play around on this too much... if she doesn't even feel it, it's sort of like I'm just pleasuring myself, which isn't very nice in a situation like this," she reminded herself. "Caring for your partner! That's the goal of a good relationship."
AdjustLady seemed to be pretty easy to please, which Phero supposed made sense. Being agreeable was generally sexier than complaining, after all, even if Dart made it look cute. "She's so sexy... like Cheshire. It feels like she's leading me," Phero mused, with excitement, but also a bit of nervousness. For one thing, she was supposed to be the one who was engineered to attract others; if she wasn't holding the reigns, that might be a flaw in her design, which was dangerous for her longevity. More directly in her mind, there was the possibility she was getting fewer points than AdjustLady was... and that would be bad for her team. She lifted her caboose so that AdjustLady could roll over. "I'll just have to inspire a couple of naughty nicknames myself, then!" she resolved aloud, leaning over AdjustLady's body and bringing her fingers up to gently caress the side of AdjustLady's neck, tracing slowly up to her cheeks.
Being less concerned about personal space than the average person, Phero leaned her whole body over AdjustLady's so that their breasts touched together lightly, while she studied the new face AdjustLady had equipped herself with. "It's different," she remarked quietly, barely resisting the temptation to turn the knobs again. Even without the knobs, Phero was unconsciously rubbing her lower body back and forth, now against AdjustLady's own. After finishing the cheeks, she ran a finger down the bridge of the nose, then the chin. "Hmmm," she hummed, continuing from the chin back down the neck, then to the piece de resistance, given that she'd already given the arms a pretty thorough application earlier. She leaned up a bit to observe the breasts more fully, then pressed her hands gently to the sides of each and started rubbing, pushing the breasts first together, then letting them fall back. "Do you think about your 'natural size,' or is a concept like that unimportant to you?" she asked curiously, allowing her hands to grasp more fully now, still over the suit. "They're much bigger than Cheshire's... and mine," she thought again, noting that, especially with the increase in AdjustLady's overall size, she could no longer fit her whole hand around one.
All of this was a bit much for Phero, and being thus overstimulated, she suddenly shut her eyes and whimpered slightly; although nothing happened visibly, AdjustLady could feel a new moisture in the air and a sweet smell pervading. "Sorry... I just got excited," she blushed, staring more intently at AdjustLady's breasts. At the same time, she'd gripped them more tightly, scrunching the swimsuit up a bit and splurging out large pools of lotion onto both. "Sorry," she repeated, trying to rub all of it around so that it wouldn't be so clumped. Embarrassed, Phero continued down the stomach, then rubbed the hips enthusiastically. There was another part she'd been wondering how she'd get... she tabled the issue for now and worked from the outer thighs and down. As she trailed back up, she looked to AdjustLady's face. "I'll just... be careful," she reassured AdjustLady.
Her definition of careful was interesting, because what it translated to was basically grabbing over the crotch with her hand and gently rubbing in more of the liquid, not underneath the suit... but still immodestly rubbing the area. "Does that feel good? I haven't tried it before..." she murmured with a hopeful smile. "Do you feel that sort of thing? I know you said you didn't feel it... with the knobs, earlier..."
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"Fun one?!" HunterWoman seemed a bit upset, though naturally...not for the expected reasons. "More like you get the super awesome fun one!" She got started, though her smile faded as Dart argued for her weapon of choice. "What, no way! A bow totally isn't a middleman...it's just an extension of yourself! And arrows are super versatile! You can go for the kill right off the bat, disable pretty much anything about your target, warning shots...and you can totally set them on fire before shooting! Or you can dip them in poison, or tranquilizer, or pretty much anything you want! They're soooooooooo handy! ...Really, you've never heard of lawn darts? I know Netopia's not too keen on them, but...well, my operator said she loved them as a kid! Even though her lawn was pretty much the entire NetFrican savannah. ...Could you even imagine doing something in a place that big? Like, mile long croquet! Or just run a marathon sized lap in your backyard!"
Speaking of backyards, apparently asking questions about preferences while holding that person's was frowned upon. "Huh? Why not? I mean, it's not exactly 'hey, you like it when I squeeze your ass?', even I know that's out of bounds!...Aww, come on! Why can't you tell me?" Unfortunately for Dart, the combination of not telling her applier her score (even in a way that made it clear her score was worse), and trying to make her get sloppy in front, had the exact opposite effect, as she became a bit nervous. "No way! If you get attacked by a tiger, you don't just sit back and let it maul you! You grab your gun or crossbow and shoot away!"
HunterWoman, after liberally applying more sunscreen to her hands, elected to grab something else, and went underneath Dart's top to apply it to her chest. "Oh man, could you even imagine getting burnt on your boobs? It's never happened to me, but I bet that would suck hard! And, who knows if we end up with, like, a bouncing breast competition or something, where everyone goes topless! That'd be awful! At least you can easily reach it when it starts to peel..."
With that, she descended to the belly area, and started rubbing there. "Y'know, I bet that's why my operator made me to be all tropical and stuff. I think she said I had both Yumlandian and Jawaiian influence in my design, and you know how often those guys get burnt? Not much! It's because darker skin has more...oh, what do you call it...melonoma? Yeah, that's it! It's got more melonoma in it, which lets you process the TV rays that cause it, or something! I guess that'll take off the pressure for whoever has to rub me down, since I've got innate resistance!"
As though she wasn't even realizing where she was rubbing now, HunterWoman moved on downward, getting some of the areas underneath the skirt. "Oh man, getting burned down there...that'd be the worst thing ever! And who knows, what if we have to get naked for something in this contest? Nope, I don't care if you're my opponent, I'm not letting that happen to you!" And with that, she went underneath the thong for a moment, as well. "Crisis averted!"
With the most embarrassing (for Dart) parts done, she went on to handle the legs, which she did pretty quietly. "...All done! Oh, wait, no I'm not!" A little more sunscreen was squirted out, and she started to rub it on the other woman's face, which was of course completely natural and not all awkward. "What do you think we'll be doing after this? I'm trying to think of what might get thought up, but I've got nothing!" And...there, done. "Yay, all done!"
Speaking of backyards, apparently asking questions about preferences while holding that person's was frowned upon. "Huh? Why not? I mean, it's not exactly 'hey, you like it when I squeeze your ass?', even I know that's out of bounds!...Aww, come on! Why can't you tell me?" Unfortunately for Dart, the combination of not telling her applier her score (even in a way that made it clear her score was worse), and trying to make her get sloppy in front, had the exact opposite effect, as she became a bit nervous. "No way! If you get attacked by a tiger, you don't just sit back and let it maul you! You grab your gun or crossbow and shoot away!"
HunterWoman, after liberally applying more sunscreen to her hands, elected to grab something else, and went underneath Dart's top to apply it to her chest. "Oh man, could you even imagine getting burnt on your boobs? It's never happened to me, but I bet that would suck hard! And, who knows if we end up with, like, a bouncing breast competition or something, where everyone goes topless! That'd be awful! At least you can easily reach it when it starts to peel..."
With that, she descended to the belly area, and started rubbing there. "Y'know, I bet that's why my operator made me to be all tropical and stuff. I think she said I had both Yumlandian and Jawaiian influence in my design, and you know how often those guys get burnt? Not much! It's because darker skin has more...oh, what do you call it...melonoma? Yeah, that's it! It's got more melonoma in it, which lets you process the TV rays that cause it, or something! I guess that'll take off the pressure for whoever has to rub me down, since I've got innate resistance!"
As though she wasn't even realizing where she was rubbing now, HunterWoman moved on downward, getting some of the areas underneath the skirt. "Oh man, getting burned down there...that'd be the worst thing ever! And who knows, what if we have to get naked for something in this contest? Nope, I don't care if you're my opponent, I'm not letting that happen to you!" And with that, she went underneath the thong for a moment, as well. "Crisis averted!"
With the most embarrassing (for Dart) parts done, she went on to handle the legs, which she did pretty quietly. "...All done! Oh, wait, no I'm not!" A little more sunscreen was squirted out, and she started to rub it on the other woman's face, which was of course completely natural and not all awkward. "What do you think we'll be doing after this? I'm trying to think of what might get thought up, but I've got nothing!" And...there, done. "Yay, all done!"
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"Do your worst," AdjustLady encouraged Phero in a teasing tone. The sensation of being face to face with her in her current state would probably be uncomfortable for most: after all, a close look at her face, with her unblinking LED eyes and her unnaturally still parted lips was the easiest way to break the illusion that she was a perfectly humanoid design, and because of the size tinkering, her head was about twenty percent larger than it ought to be. Since Phero didn't seem bothered, however (at least, not by that), the unusual Navi continued to face her unflinchingly and speak to her easily as Phero worked on her face. "I know what I'm going to call you. I'll call you 'Cutie,' since you're so absolutely adorable," the woman told her, reaching up to poke Phero's nose with an oversized finger.
AdjustLady lowered her arms again and clung onto the edges of the towel beneath her as Phero started getting busy on her chest. It might occur to Phero that the Navi beneath her was letting out soft moans that indicated arousal, but not any heavy breathing. If one had been observing carefully, AdjustLady didn't ostensibly breathe at all. "That's an... interesting question. I don't typically consider myself... to have a natural form. I find myself more interesting as... a personality and intellect. That said, I find plenty of value... in aesthetics and the tangible form...!" The woman punctuated her response by placing her hands on the backs of Phero's thighs, rubbing with brief but intense interest in spite of not having sunscreen to apply. She removed her hands with some alarm when Phero suddenly released, probably wondering if she'd hurt her by accident based on the unexpected reaction. After a sharp gasp when Phero got a bit carried away with her grabbing, she otherwise remained quiet. With her face's lack of expression, it was hard to tell what she was thinking if she didn't say anything. When Phero moved on, leaving a bit of a mess of un-worked sunscreen in the wake of her excitement, the lady casually attended to it herself with one hand, allowing Phero to work on the legs.
She sat up slightly when she realized where Phero was going with her lower application, then arched back down as Phero actually began. "Oh my! The knobs are different!" she said with urgency, failing to really complete the thought as she grasped the edges of the towel more tightly. She couldn't put up with that for very long, so after a brief moment, she leaned up and gently pushed Phero up with one large hand. "Yes, I recommend you try it yourself some time, in private. For now, I'm very eager to begin my work on you, Cutie. Why don't you take a spot..." she began, sliding out from underneath Phero in the same strangely lithe way that didn't seem to depend on natural muscle movements, "On your hands and knees, please? If you're cooperative, I believe I can offer the audience a show they'll really enjoy."
If Phero did as she was told, she would very quickly find AdjustLady behind her, sitting on her knees spread on other side of Phero. The now intimidatingly large woman would lean over Phero, using her size advantage to reach Phero's shoulder while remaining poised behind her, the front of her hips touching the back of Phero's swimsuit. "I bet you haven't felt anything like this, Cutie... but I'm guessing I can offer the audience a vicarious experience here that plenty would love to have..."
Assuming things had gotten this far uninterrupted, Phero would feel a suggestive pressure against the top of her backside. If she was to look back, she'd see that AdjustLady had placed the lotion bottle between her legs, and was now using the pressure of her inner thighs and movements of her hips to shift it up and down the cleft of the other woman's buttocks, while keeping it loose enough to avoid compressing and squirting. "You recall I don't see myself as having a single physical form... I find this kind of role experimentation quite enjoyable!" There was an obvious edge of excitement to the Navi's words.
Whether Phero did or didn't allow this, however, she'd receive an interesting set of new directives, concrete thoughts in her head like the "take off your shirt" one before. They were still possible to ignore, but would have to be distinctly recognized as noise and set aside. These thoughts were, first, that expressing empathy with AdjustLady was undesirable, and, second, that Phero should do whatever she wanted without worrying about consequences. Interestingly, Phero would hear words scratching at the back of her mind... "I don't care about this one, do whatever you want." The meaning of the words and the directions she were receiving seemed oddly incongruous...
Dart seemed to clam up a bit as HunterWoman's mile-a-minute speech left her behind, looking completely lost by the time she got to discussing lawn darts. Her attention was back one-hundred percent, however, when the other lady began working underneath her chest. "Uwah! What's wrong with you?! I don't want sunscreen on my boobs and I'm not doing some topless contest- you -youhggheehee!" she began giggling uncontrollably, as HunterWoman moved on to her stomach. "Woaho no! H-he-hold up a sec! Sh-haha-huttup about melawhatever a see-ha-haaaah!" she continued guffawing.
She finally got a chance to wind down when HunterWoman moved on, leaving her gasping for air. Dart worked to get her mouth out of a goofy stupor before her eyebrows raised at HunterWoman's next conquest. "Wuhuh nooo! No, get your hands out of there, you animal!" At this point, she was actually slapping at HunterWoman's hands until she removed them from beneath her bottom. While the topping Navi worked on the legs, Dart grit her teeth and placed her hands defensively over the crotch of her swimsuit, determined to protect her privacy from another further invasion. "Oh, just you wait until we get done here! I can think of lots of things I want to do to your airheaded *ss! And I don't even mean that in the naughty way, I mean that in the violent way- Oh. We're done? Good," she said, calming down. "Oh, we're not? Okay..." she corrected herself, frowning again as HunterWoman got her face (and frowning especially widely if HunterWoman decided to encroach upon her shades; if she tried to remove them, Dart would quickly raise a hand to grab the wrist and stop her). "Well, then, let's get this over with. Lie down on your front, and prepare to be thoroughly trounced as I appeal to the audience with professional-grade application! You'd be surprised how similar applying sunscreen and throwing darts can be."
Leaving all who heard to chew over that deep statement, Dart attempted to rise and gave HunterWoman an impatient "roll over" gesture with her hand. Glancing down at her swimsuit, which had been slightly shifted out of place with HunterWoman's rough handling, Dart blushed from embarrassment and frustration, quickly fixing it. "This is going to be professional. Business-like. You've had your fun already, so just calm down and be quiet while I do my work, all right?"
If Dart was allowed to continue unobstructed, HunterWoman would find Dart was, in a sense, a woman of her word. The coating would be very thorough and very quick, just the kind of rub-down someone in a hurry to get in the water would love. In a flash, she would already have worked the sunscreen into the shoulders, back, and neck, with a lack of exploratory feeling beneath the top indicating she didn't intend to offer the same service HunterWoman had. At the rate she would be moving, she'd definitely receive a winning score... if the judges were judging this as a race, that is.
HunterWoman would hear a much more direct message than Phero had: "This one is the enemy! Toss is mine!" This, again, translated to a string of directives. HunterWoman would feel an imperative to treat Dart as an enemy and to claim possession of Toss. Again, with some concentration, HunterWoman would be capable of interpreting these thoughts as external influence and setting them aside, if she chose.
Surf had taken a similar but less intimate approach to Phero, straddling Toss's stomach carefully so she could loom over her and begin application at the face. Toss continued grinning up at her as Surf applied her sunscreen more or less professionally, a job any lifeguard would be proud of. Getting bored, Toss experimented making some funny faces at the other Navi, eventually getting a giggle out of her when she shifted her jaw and messed up the application.
"Hey! Don't blame me if you get a splotchy tan 'cause you were moving around too much, dude," Surf told her, putting both of her hands on the sides of Toss's face to move her head forward, then keeping one there to try and keep it still. She moved the other hand to get Surf's chin, then used both to move on to the area below the neck, keeping downward.
Toss continued grinning at Surf even as the other woman moved he eyes away, focusing on her work. "Uh-oh, Surf! You're doing the shoulders... what comes next?! Are you gonna get them too...? You heard your buddy HunterWoman, right? Burnt boobs aren't cool!"
"Well, yeah, but I'm not actually sure how from this angle..." Surf muttered, trying to find some way to approach the top Toss was wearing from her current position.
"Hmm... gimme some of that, I'll get it. You work on the lower parts, all right? We'll tag team it," Toss responded, helping herself to Surf's lotion bottle with a quick swipe and squirting some out on her hands before she handed it back. "This probably isn't gonna be my proudest moment, but whatever!"
As Surf backed off, Toss sat up, plunging her own hands carefully into the top of her swimsuit and carefully massaging her own breasts with her lotion-covered hands. Surf, meanwhile, moved first to the stomach, quickly covering it and moving her hands onto the front of Toss's hips as the other woman worked slowly.
"Gee... wouldn't have guessed I'd be doing this on a live stream!" Toss muttered, shutting her eyes with a crooked smile as she continued playing with her chest and felt Surf's hands slip under the fabric covering her hips.
"First time for everything," Surf told her, forcing a quick wink. She didn't give this area the attention she'd afforded most of the rest of the body, and quickly moved on to the legs. She saw Toss carefully removing her hands from her top so nothing shifted out of place. At the same time, the woman gave her a wicked grin. "What's that all about...?" she wondered aloud, working on the feet.
"Oh, nothing... just thinking about how much fun you're gonna have when I get to work on you! You're gonna wonder why you ever came to the beach without letting me put sunscreen on you. Say, are you ticklish?"
"Not really," Surf admitted, finishing up and rising to her feet.
"Aww, ticklish people are the most fun, though! Dart's ticklish, and Pass is hella ticklish! Though neither of them would want anyone to know that, of course. 'Kay, the time of reckoning has come! Lie down on your belly."
Surf did as she was told, taking her place as soon as Toss was out of the way. She rested her hands on her arms, thinking it wasn't bad to enjoy lying out on the beach instead of shredding in the water once in a while. Unfortunately, relaxation time was not long-lived, as Toss wasted no time demonstrating that this was not to be a professional application. As soon as she had the chance, she peeled Surf's top all the way up to the shoulders, revealing a tell-tale lack of straps that implied a lack of anything beneath. Feeling the surf shirt come loose of her breasts in the front, Surf gasped and crossed her arms below her chest. "Woah, dude, woah! S-save some for the show! Anyway, y-you can't get me naked, right?! Don't you feel like you can't for some reason?"
"You're not naked, though," Toss pointed out, rubbing hard on Surf's exposed shoulders. "And I need to see what I'm doing!"
AdjustLady lowered her arms again and clung onto the edges of the towel beneath her as Phero started getting busy on her chest. It might occur to Phero that the Navi beneath her was letting out soft moans that indicated arousal, but not any heavy breathing. If one had been observing carefully, AdjustLady didn't ostensibly breathe at all. "That's an... interesting question. I don't typically consider myself... to have a natural form. I find myself more interesting as... a personality and intellect. That said, I find plenty of value... in aesthetics and the tangible form...!" The woman punctuated her response by placing her hands on the backs of Phero's thighs, rubbing with brief but intense interest in spite of not having sunscreen to apply. She removed her hands with some alarm when Phero suddenly released, probably wondering if she'd hurt her by accident based on the unexpected reaction. After a sharp gasp when Phero got a bit carried away with her grabbing, she otherwise remained quiet. With her face's lack of expression, it was hard to tell what she was thinking if she didn't say anything. When Phero moved on, leaving a bit of a mess of un-worked sunscreen in the wake of her excitement, the lady casually attended to it herself with one hand, allowing Phero to work on the legs.
She sat up slightly when she realized where Phero was going with her lower application, then arched back down as Phero actually began. "Oh my! The knobs are different!" she said with urgency, failing to really complete the thought as she grasped the edges of the towel more tightly. She couldn't put up with that for very long, so after a brief moment, she leaned up and gently pushed Phero up with one large hand. "Yes, I recommend you try it yourself some time, in private. For now, I'm very eager to begin my work on you, Cutie. Why don't you take a spot..." she began, sliding out from underneath Phero in the same strangely lithe way that didn't seem to depend on natural muscle movements, "On your hands and knees, please? If you're cooperative, I believe I can offer the audience a show they'll really enjoy."
If Phero did as she was told, she would very quickly find AdjustLady behind her, sitting on her knees spread on other side of Phero. The now intimidatingly large woman would lean over Phero, using her size advantage to reach Phero's shoulder while remaining poised behind her, the front of her hips touching the back of Phero's swimsuit. "I bet you haven't felt anything like this, Cutie... but I'm guessing I can offer the audience a vicarious experience here that plenty would love to have..."
Assuming things had gotten this far uninterrupted, Phero would feel a suggestive pressure against the top of her backside. If she was to look back, she'd see that AdjustLady had placed the lotion bottle between her legs, and was now using the pressure of her inner thighs and movements of her hips to shift it up and down the cleft of the other woman's buttocks, while keeping it loose enough to avoid compressing and squirting. "You recall I don't see myself as having a single physical form... I find this kind of role experimentation quite enjoyable!" There was an obvious edge of excitement to the Navi's words.
Whether Phero did or didn't allow this, however, she'd receive an interesting set of new directives, concrete thoughts in her head like the "take off your shirt" one before. They were still possible to ignore, but would have to be distinctly recognized as noise and set aside. These thoughts were, first, that expressing empathy with AdjustLady was undesirable, and, second, that Phero should do whatever she wanted without worrying about consequences. Interestingly, Phero would hear words scratching at the back of her mind... "I don't care about this one, do whatever you want." The meaning of the words and the directions she were receiving seemed oddly incongruous...
Dart seemed to clam up a bit as HunterWoman's mile-a-minute speech left her behind, looking completely lost by the time she got to discussing lawn darts. Her attention was back one-hundred percent, however, when the other lady began working underneath her chest. "Uwah! What's wrong with you?! I don't want sunscreen on my boobs and I'm not doing some topless contest- you -youhggheehee!" she began giggling uncontrollably, as HunterWoman moved on to her stomach. "Woaho no! H-he-hold up a sec! Sh-haha-huttup about melawhatever a see-ha-haaaah!" she continued guffawing.
She finally got a chance to wind down when HunterWoman moved on, leaving her gasping for air. Dart worked to get her mouth out of a goofy stupor before her eyebrows raised at HunterWoman's next conquest. "Wuhuh nooo! No, get your hands out of there, you animal!" At this point, she was actually slapping at HunterWoman's hands until she removed them from beneath her bottom. While the topping Navi worked on the legs, Dart grit her teeth and placed her hands defensively over the crotch of her swimsuit, determined to protect her privacy from another further invasion. "Oh, just you wait until we get done here! I can think of lots of things I want to do to your airheaded *ss! And I don't even mean that in the naughty way, I mean that in the violent way- Oh. We're done? Good," she said, calming down. "Oh, we're not? Okay..." she corrected herself, frowning again as HunterWoman got her face (and frowning especially widely if HunterWoman decided to encroach upon her shades; if she tried to remove them, Dart would quickly raise a hand to grab the wrist and stop her). "Well, then, let's get this over with. Lie down on your front, and prepare to be thoroughly trounced as I appeal to the audience with professional-grade application! You'd be surprised how similar applying sunscreen and throwing darts can be."
Leaving all who heard to chew over that deep statement, Dart attempted to rise and gave HunterWoman an impatient "roll over" gesture with her hand. Glancing down at her swimsuit, which had been slightly shifted out of place with HunterWoman's rough handling, Dart blushed from embarrassment and frustration, quickly fixing it. "This is going to be professional. Business-like. You've had your fun already, so just calm down and be quiet while I do my work, all right?"
If Dart was allowed to continue unobstructed, HunterWoman would find Dart was, in a sense, a woman of her word. The coating would be very thorough and very quick, just the kind of rub-down someone in a hurry to get in the water would love. In a flash, she would already have worked the sunscreen into the shoulders, back, and neck, with a lack of exploratory feeling beneath the top indicating she didn't intend to offer the same service HunterWoman had. At the rate she would be moving, she'd definitely receive a winning score... if the judges were judging this as a race, that is.
HunterWoman would hear a much more direct message than Phero had: "This one is the enemy! Toss is mine!" This, again, translated to a string of directives. HunterWoman would feel an imperative to treat Dart as an enemy and to claim possession of Toss. Again, with some concentration, HunterWoman would be capable of interpreting these thoughts as external influence and setting them aside, if she chose.
Surf had taken a similar but less intimate approach to Phero, straddling Toss's stomach carefully so she could loom over her and begin application at the face. Toss continued grinning up at her as Surf applied her sunscreen more or less professionally, a job any lifeguard would be proud of. Getting bored, Toss experimented making some funny faces at the other Navi, eventually getting a giggle out of her when she shifted her jaw and messed up the application.
"Hey! Don't blame me if you get a splotchy tan 'cause you were moving around too much, dude," Surf told her, putting both of her hands on the sides of Toss's face to move her head forward, then keeping one there to try and keep it still. She moved the other hand to get Surf's chin, then used both to move on to the area below the neck, keeping downward.
Toss continued grinning at Surf even as the other woman moved he eyes away, focusing on her work. "Uh-oh, Surf! You're doing the shoulders... what comes next?! Are you gonna get them too...? You heard your buddy HunterWoman, right? Burnt boobs aren't cool!"
"Well, yeah, but I'm not actually sure how from this angle..." Surf muttered, trying to find some way to approach the top Toss was wearing from her current position.
"Hmm... gimme some of that, I'll get it. You work on the lower parts, all right? We'll tag team it," Toss responded, helping herself to Surf's lotion bottle with a quick swipe and squirting some out on her hands before she handed it back. "This probably isn't gonna be my proudest moment, but whatever!"
As Surf backed off, Toss sat up, plunging her own hands carefully into the top of her swimsuit and carefully massaging her own breasts with her lotion-covered hands. Surf, meanwhile, moved first to the stomach, quickly covering it and moving her hands onto the front of Toss's hips as the other woman worked slowly.
"Gee... wouldn't have guessed I'd be doing this on a live stream!" Toss muttered, shutting her eyes with a crooked smile as she continued playing with her chest and felt Surf's hands slip under the fabric covering her hips.
"First time for everything," Surf told her, forcing a quick wink. She didn't give this area the attention she'd afforded most of the rest of the body, and quickly moved on to the legs. She saw Toss carefully removing her hands from her top so nothing shifted out of place. At the same time, the woman gave her a wicked grin. "What's that all about...?" she wondered aloud, working on the feet.
"Oh, nothing... just thinking about how much fun you're gonna have when I get to work on you! You're gonna wonder why you ever came to the beach without letting me put sunscreen on you. Say, are you ticklish?"
"Not really," Surf admitted, finishing up and rising to her feet.
"Aww, ticklish people are the most fun, though! Dart's ticklish, and Pass is hella ticklish! Though neither of them would want anyone to know that, of course. 'Kay, the time of reckoning has come! Lie down on your belly."
Surf did as she was told, taking her place as soon as Toss was out of the way. She rested her hands on her arms, thinking it wasn't bad to enjoy lying out on the beach instead of shredding in the water once in a while. Unfortunately, relaxation time was not long-lived, as Toss wasted no time demonstrating that this was not to be a professional application. As soon as she had the chance, she peeled Surf's top all the way up to the shoulders, revealing a tell-tale lack of straps that implied a lack of anything beneath. Feeling the surf shirt come loose of her breasts in the front, Surf gasped and crossed her arms below her chest. "Woah, dude, woah! S-save some for the show! Anyway, y-you can't get me naked, right?! Don't you feel like you can't for some reason?"
"You're not naked, though," Toss pointed out, rubbing hard on Surf's exposed shoulders. "And I need to see what I'm doing!"
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"Aw, thanks. That's not a sexy nickname like 'Beach Bunny' or 'SexBot', though," Phero responded to her new nickname in a pouty voice, though it made her happy to be addressed in such a familiar way regardless. She hoped she was doing a good job with her massage / sunscreen application, but it was hard to tell... partially because AdjustLady's face wasn't very expressive, but also, because she had the vague impression that AdjustLady might be adept at faking it. "Oh well... so long as her real personality is better than Dharma's personality, I can't complain," she reasoned. Even if AdjustLady wasn't being honest, it was fine, as long as she wasn't an evil megalomaniac.
Along with her confirmation that AdjustLady had typical human feelings in most parts of her body that were typically human, she also got a gentle cease-and-desist notice. Apparently, while hugs and butt-grabs were okay between friends, those sorts of touches were still off limits. "That makes sense... I might have been presuming too much," she admitted, not feeling shame that she'd done something dirty in public, but rather that she'd overestimated her relationship with AdjustLady. Next up, she was asked to get on her hands and knees; she didn't know where it was going, but she was happy to comply. "Of course! We want everyone to enjoy themselves, especially since the well-being of Morty depends on it." AdjustLady mounted up behind Phero, putting her into a position that she had indeed never been in before... and few navis had ever likely been in with other female navis before. "She's doing it like an animal," Phero realized, knowing a fair bit about biology, which remained on her mind more often than not.
The illusion became closer to reality (but still not really reality) as AdjustLady found an innovative use for her sunblock bottle. "A penis!" Phero cried out in surprise all too loudly, although not with repulsion. "I-Is that another one of your 'adjustments?' Maybe I missed a knob," she thought to herself, not thinking to look backwards and realize that the smooth, hard thing pressed and moving between her cheeks was just a bottle. It didn't take long for Phero to realize that, shamelessly, she enjoyed this kind of experimentation as well. "Yes... I'll bet they'll like it a lot," she agreed, resting her chin against the blanket and covering her mouth with the tops of her hands as she awaited the cool sensation of lotion. It didn't really occur to her that a lot of people might be pretty freaked out by her declaration from earlier.
Across the way, Surf and Toss were having similar, albeit more conventional, fun. "Oh dear. Another wardrobe malfunction... Maybe having 'legal' on her suit will decrease the shock value of it, though. It seems like a good trick to me," she reasoned, her eyes drifting over to HunterWoman and Dart. Those two seemed to be having a speed contest rather than a sexy contest... which, she supposed, could be another form of fun. "I'd lose to AdjustLady, though. She's a lot bigger than me... I wouldn't be able to cover her as quickly," she thought to herself, admitting defeat in that aspect.
More instructions were coming through on her headset (and into her brain), but they were tying her logic into knots and thereby difficult to act on. The feeling of acting however she want really meant exactly what she was doing, but then, something was telling her to play hard to get as well. "Hmm... Now that I think about it... this doesn't feel that strange at all. Actually, it's pretty normal in biology! I'm not sure if the audience is really going to react to it after all," she puffed up, playing it as tsundere as she could. On the other hand, puffs of mist, transparent at first, then brightening to pink mid-air, were beginning to emanate from her body with each thrust. She didn't seem to be trying to stop or conceal them any more. If AdjustLady could see Phero's face, she'd see it had a very dirty expression, the eyes dizzily staring forward as red spread across her cheeks. Her mouth was hidden, at least. "I'm not reacting to it much myself! There's not that much to react to. It's just normal."
In the mean time, on the outside, Dharma had realized that her navi, who had gone off for a mission with the navi of a person whom she was currently sharing an office with, was currently 80% naked and being humped by another, larger, also 80% naked woman in front of a cheering crowd. She continued to make eye contact with Diana and chat pleasantly, as if nothing strange was happening, or perhaps as though she hadn't noticed (she was certainly hoping Diana wasn't paying attention to the PET). On the other hand, another part of her was feeling overwhelmingly jealous; she could admit that to herself now that she'd realized just how empowered she felt when using her sexuality in front of an audience. Well, subconsciously, at least. "I can't believe my navi is doing something so demeaning, degrading, and utterly foolish... and she's doing it all wrong! She's letting herself be dominated by that other woman... Doesn't she know she needs to take authority, or that crowd is going to eat her alive?!" she berated her navi inside her head, the corner of her smile twitching a bit as she tried to pretend she was just having an ordinary conversation.
Along with her confirmation that AdjustLady had typical human feelings in most parts of her body that were typically human, she also got a gentle cease-and-desist notice. Apparently, while hugs and butt-grabs were okay between friends, those sorts of touches were still off limits. "That makes sense... I might have been presuming too much," she admitted, not feeling shame that she'd done something dirty in public, but rather that she'd overestimated her relationship with AdjustLady. Next up, she was asked to get on her hands and knees; she didn't know where it was going, but she was happy to comply. "Of course! We want everyone to enjoy themselves, especially since the well-being of Morty depends on it." AdjustLady mounted up behind Phero, putting her into a position that she had indeed never been in before... and few navis had ever likely been in with other female navis before. "She's doing it like an animal," Phero realized, knowing a fair bit about biology, which remained on her mind more often than not.
The illusion became closer to reality (but still not really reality) as AdjustLady found an innovative use for her sunblock bottle. "A penis!" Phero cried out in surprise all too loudly, although not with repulsion. "I-Is that another one of your 'adjustments?' Maybe I missed a knob," she thought to herself, not thinking to look backwards and realize that the smooth, hard thing pressed and moving between her cheeks was just a bottle. It didn't take long for Phero to realize that, shamelessly, she enjoyed this kind of experimentation as well. "Yes... I'll bet they'll like it a lot," she agreed, resting her chin against the blanket and covering her mouth with the tops of her hands as she awaited the cool sensation of lotion. It didn't really occur to her that a lot of people might be pretty freaked out by her declaration from earlier.
Across the way, Surf and Toss were having similar, albeit more conventional, fun. "Oh dear. Another wardrobe malfunction... Maybe having 'legal' on her suit will decrease the shock value of it, though. It seems like a good trick to me," she reasoned, her eyes drifting over to HunterWoman and Dart. Those two seemed to be having a speed contest rather than a sexy contest... which, she supposed, could be another form of fun. "I'd lose to AdjustLady, though. She's a lot bigger than me... I wouldn't be able to cover her as quickly," she thought to herself, admitting defeat in that aspect.
More instructions were coming through on her headset (and into her brain), but they were tying her logic into knots and thereby difficult to act on. The feeling of acting however she want really meant exactly what she was doing, but then, something was telling her to play hard to get as well. "Hmm... Now that I think about it... this doesn't feel that strange at all. Actually, it's pretty normal in biology! I'm not sure if the audience is really going to react to it after all," she puffed up, playing it as tsundere as she could. On the other hand, puffs of mist, transparent at first, then brightening to pink mid-air, were beginning to emanate from her body with each thrust. She didn't seem to be trying to stop or conceal them any more. If AdjustLady could see Phero's face, she'd see it had a very dirty expression, the eyes dizzily staring forward as red spread across her cheeks. Her mouth was hidden, at least. "I'm not reacting to it much myself! There's not that much to react to. It's just normal."
In the mean time, on the outside, Dharma had realized that her navi, who had gone off for a mission with the navi of a person whom she was currently sharing an office with, was currently 80% naked and being humped by another, larger, also 80% naked woman in front of a cheering crowd. She continued to make eye contact with Diana and chat pleasantly, as if nothing strange was happening, or perhaps as though she hadn't noticed (she was certainly hoping Diana wasn't paying attention to the PET). On the other hand, another part of her was feeling overwhelmingly jealous; she could admit that to herself now that she'd realized just how empowered she felt when using her sexuality in front of an audience. Well, subconsciously, at least. "I can't believe my navi is doing something so demeaning, degrading, and utterly foolish... and she's doing it all wrong! She's letting herself be dominated by that other woman... Doesn't she know she needs to take authority, or that crowd is going to eat her alive?!" she berated her navi inside her head, the corner of her smile twitching a bit as she tried to pretend she was just having an ordinary conversation.