✅ Unusual Vacancy

Part 8 - The Introduction

Amy knew she should pick herself up off the ground; try to take command of the situation. But she was overwhelmed by emotion, and surprised to find herself changing so much. And she had wet herself when she fell. She didn't know if they'd be able to see, but there wasn't much chance she could get away without them noticing. She could feel the damp patch on her shorts spreading already. The fall had surprised her so much that it took a couple of seconds before she even thought to stop the flow. She'd never been so embarrassed before, and she didn't know what to do. There would be no way to hide it once she got up, and she couldn't keep lying on the ground all day.

"Are you otay?" a voice cut into her panic, surprisingly close. She looked up and saw a blue-grey face with enormous teeth right above her. She squeaked in fear, then turned her head round some more so the newcomer was the right way up, and she could see him properly. A blue squirrel cub, maybe three or four years old, with oversized teeth making his speech a bit mumbled. "Are you new here?"

He offered a paw, and Amy grabbed it gratefully. He pulled her back up to her feet, this kid was stronger than he looked. And then she could only stare in shock as she noticed: the kid was bigger than her.

"My nameth Dougie," he said with a smile, "Are you the new girl? They told uth we might have a new kitty to play wif today!"

"Uhh..." Amy didn't know what to say. The ad had only said 'play team member'. She didn't know if she was supposed to be a nanny or an auntie, a teacher or a babysitter from the kids' point of view. She didn't want to confuse toddlers by giving them a name she wouldn't be using later. But they were expecting a new kitty, and somehow she was smaller than most of her charges. Maybe she wasn't a caretaker at all, but some kind of playmate for lonely rich kids? She didn't think it was likely, but why else would she be so small?

"Oh, you had an accthident?" he glanced down, and then looked at her face and must have realised how hard she was finding it not to cry now. "Don't worry, it happenth a lot. Ethpethially on your firtht day, with the thurprithe." Amy tilted her head on one side while she thought about that, trying to make out the words behind Dougie's lisp.

"Awww, she's blushing!" another voice, shrill and self-important, interrupted any more offers of help. This time the voice was immediately recognisable as both female and feline, but Amy could feel those words vanishing from her mind as soon as she thought of them. A girl kitten she corrected herself. Did they want her to use easy words as well? "Look, it's a blushy baby bobcat!"

This time Amy couldn't stop the tears. She didn't know what was happening. She was supposed to be helping, but she'd embarrassed herself in front of the little ones, and now they were laughing at her. She knew the image of that girl, a sneering miniature lioness, would be in her nightmares for a long time.

"Stop it Callie!" another voice interrupted, loud and piercing. "You remember what you were like on your first day?"

The lion – Callie – mumbled something in reply, but Amy couldn't make out the words. Then she felt the newcomer's arm across her shoulders.

"Come on, I'll show you the facilities," they whispered. "We can do introductions when you're feeling a bit better. And sorry about the language, let me know if you can't understand me. The mental changes hit different people differently. Even–"

"You're an emper... uhh..." Amy found her voice in surprise when her new friend mentioned changes, and then realised she couldn't remember the word she'd just started to say. Was that a dirty word? She tried again: "You... changes?"

"An employee? Yeah. But I can still talk, even if I'm a baby. I keep my vocabulary and they don't know why. But I usually play along with baby-talk, because it's more comfortable for everyone else. We're supposed to act like real toddlers, and it's not so hard when you don't have a choice."

"But... but... you a grown-up? You work here?"

"Yeah. Most of us do, but some of them don't remember. Did you read the vacancy description in detail, or just see what you expected to see? It's a complete surprise for some people, that's the thing. They drop you in at the deep end, best way to see if you'll fit in with the little ones."

Amy let herself be guided by the strong arm around her shoulders. She couldn't tell if her new friend was a boy or a girl, but it didn't seem to matter. She could just see a face coated in stripy fur, pink and gold, and a muzzle shape she'd never seen before. And sparkling, intelligent eyes that met hers but never stared at her body, or her wet pants. When she stumbled again, still not used to her tiny legs, he caught her easily to keep her standing, even though they were both the same size.

And as they talked, Amy thought back to the job description. "Functional Morpheus System and open change consent required. Must be comfortable with age 1-4." She'd thought those were separate things they were asking for. You have to let them use your implant, you have to let them change you, and you have to be confident looking after kids who are four or younger. But now she thought about it, it could just as easily mean that you have to be okay with them using your implant to make you one year old again. And the title, "play team member", she assumed that was a member of a team to look after kids playing. But could it mean she was on a team and their job was playing? It could mean that, sure. But why?

"Why?" she said, "Why do they do this?"

"Some kind of college project I think. Or sociology research. They can't use real kids because of some law, so they have adults take on the role. There's a mad scientist here, but they never do anything that hurts us."

"But I never agreed to..."

"They decided that if you don't pay attention, it's your fault. And the receptionists will have told you, they never actually lie. But most people gloss over it and fill in what they expected to hear. But you're getting paid plenty to be here, better than the average wage. When you grow up again in three weeks, they'll remind you that negative publicity is a reason to withhold your payment, so you won't tell anyone. And you're not losing anything, you're getting a chance to be young again. There are people who pay for this, you know? A break from life. Not many, but one or two of the kids are clients. It's kind of fun, you might find that if you play along for a bit, you get carried away and it comes naturally. Some of the kids out there can't help acting like real kids, they asked for more intense mental changes. And it works. Most of us come back, because where else would you get to be a little kid, play in the sun for a few weeks, and then get a decent cheque for it?"

"Umm..." Amy had been listening, but she didn't know lots of the words her friend was using. She couldn't understand when he started talking in long words. Her mind must have changed quite a lot.

"Don't understand? Don't worry about it. Being a kid again is fun. Right?"

"Yeah," she beamed. "Fun!"

"Right, now this door's where you go if you need grown-ups. Got that?" Amy replied with another nod. It was getting harder to think of words now, but she didn't think it would matter too much. "They'll give you some clean clothes, and help you get changed if you can't do it yourself. I'd say let them help you. It's fun when somebody else does things for you, right?"

"Yeah," she smiled, still a bit nervous about this job. But as she stepped through the automatic door with smiley faces on both sides, she didn't worry quite so much. If there were things she couldn't think now, then she didn't need to deal with them now. And she was sure she could remember how to play.