✅ Unusual Vacancy

Part 12 - The Explanation

"That's why I removed the tabs on your diaper," Auburn explained patiently. "There's a part of you that wants to act like a child, but you've spent so long being a grown-up that you're scared to give in. You're a little afraid to admit how little and cute you are now. Oh, and there's that blush again, that makes you look even sweeter!"

Amy was trying to think how to answer that, to protest that she'd never wanted to be a child and she had already offered a compromise. But with the last comment she brought her paws up to her cheeks, eyes wide. She'd been blushing, but how could the fox tell? One of the great things about fur was that it hid your skin and made such obvious physical signs of emotional state much harder to read.

"Oh, you hadn't noticed yet? It's a custom macro on our morph presets, embarrassment turns your cheek fur pink for a few moments. I think it's amazingly cute. Now, I'm sure you think it might be fun to stop protesting you're a big girl, and let yourself act your age. But there's a mental block there, a little fear. So when someone new is too nervous to take the plunge, sometimes we make sure you don't have a choice. If you can't take your own diaper off, then you have to ask for help. See? And once you start playing along, once you realise how much fun it is, you won't worry any more."

"I can try," Amy muttered. She still wasn't sure. This seemed to be going against everything her parents had spent a lifetime drumming into her; to take responsibility for herself, and prove how capable she was. But if she was being paid for this, then she had to show willing. She would at least make an attempt at following their instructions.

"Good. Now, I'm supposed to make a choice for you now. But I get the impression you feel like you're tumbling down a helter skelter and you can't stop. So I'll give you the choice this time. Just for now, and if you want to make your own choices later you'll need to prove you're going to work with us. But now, you can keep on trying to be a big girl, trying to show us that you're not as little as we know you are. Or you can accept it and play along. Your choice. If you can be a good kitten, I'll help you to grow up a little more as the week progresses so you can feel a little less helpless. But if you keep saying you're a big girl, then I'll have to encourage you to accept your current age. And that means taking away some of your choice. You tried to avoid asking for help, so I made a small change, and now you couldn't do it yourself if you wanted to. If you keep on fighting against the programme, then there will be some more changes in the same vein. Do you understand your options?"

Amy thought about it, and about how Auburn might choose to punish disobedience. She could imagine the shorts becoming tighter, or less flexible, so she couldn't walk so easily. Or the diaper, already embarrassing, could easily get thicker with a simple signal to her implant, and then she might not even be able to stand. Or they could put mittens on her hands so she couldn't hold things any more. She already felt uncoordinated, so it wouldn't be hard at all for someone with access to the computer to render her completely helpless. And when she thought about those things, she had a very clear image in her mind of how that would make her feel.

"I'll try," she whispered, embarrassed to admit it, "I'll try to play along."

"That's a good girl," Auburn fuzzled Amy's springy hair again, and this time she let herself smile and purr, just enjoying the feeling. "So we won't have to push you into acting your age."

"Umm, yes. But, you can if you want to?" Amy's eyes darted down to her own paws. She didn't even know why she'd said that, but the words made so much sense as they tumbled out into the world. "A little bit. It might be easier to play along if you close down the other path, I think?" She twiddled her thumbs, or tried to. Her brain hadn't adapted yet to the changing size of her muscles, so she didn't have that much coordination. It brought home just how much she'd been changed, and she couldn't bring herself to look the grown-up in the eyes at that moment.

"You'd like me to make you feel helpless, like a little cub who needs to be looked after? I can do that, if you think it would be fun. And I'm sure you won't regret it. Sometimes your upbringing says that you have to do certain things, like remembering your responsibilities. And if you think a lot about being good, the only way to escape the things you have to do is to find yourself in a situation where you can't. Is that what you would like?"

After a lot of thought, the tiny lynx nodded. The movement was so slight that if she hadn't been looking very closely, Auburn wouldn't have noticed it.

"Would you like a little warning before I change something using your implant? I know some little ones like to know what's happening, even if they can't properly understand it at the time. And others prefer to be surprised, so they can be confused by the world around them just like real cubs. What do you think might be most fun for you? Surrendering the choice but still knowing what the rules are?" Another nod.

"And... while you're being so helpful, I'll give you the final choice. If you're nervous about something, say if I told you I was going to take away your big words again, you might be scared and say 'no'. I know I do sometimes. Would you like me to do it anyway, to push your nervousness aside and show you that it can be fun not having to do all the grown-up things?" This time Amy hesitated, and thought about it. She knew that if she said no, there were plenty of things that her choice wouldn't apply to. This was a courtesy offer really, and her 'no' would only be honoured if it fit in with company policy. In the end, it was knowing that Auburn had been through all of this herself that made the biggest difference. She nodded slightly, and the blush painted half her face fur in pastel pink.