Babe or Billionaire - Chapter 1

Three women compete for fabulous wealth in a game show where the penalties are humiliating, infantilising, and potentially permanent. I should warn you that I’m not planning on happy endings for these girls, so if you like stories where the subjects end up enjoying their regression in the end, this might not be for you.

***

“Welcome everybody!” called a strong, male voice. “I’m Jacob, your host, and this is Babe or Billionaire, the game show where our contestants either walk away with more money than they could ever dream… or they say bye-bye to their big girl privileges forever!”

There were loud cheers and applause from the live studio audience as a spotlight lit up Jacob’s tall, well-built frame and ruggedly handsome features.

“Before we start, let me fill you in on the rules! The contestants will compete in a game of rock, paper, scissors each round. The winners will gain points, and the one with the most points at the end of the game will win our fabulous cash prize! But when one (or more) of our girls loses, our game master behind the scenes will bring up a selection of delightful penalties that you the audience get to vote on!”

More shouts and woops echoed throughout the studio.

“Now let’s meet the contestants!” said Jacob, turning to face the three women who were each standing in front of a podium, suddenly illuminated by the stage lights. Jacob gestured towards the one on the left, a beautiful blonde woman in a short black dress that exposed her slender legs and gave particular focus to her generous chest.

“Isabelle here is a twenty-seven-year-old model, known for her saucy swimsuit sets and her demanding attitude during a shoot! She wants to win the prize money so she can attend the finest events and galas in the country and get the respect she deserves – and so she never has to do another nude set!”

The audience laughed and began catcalling and wolf-whistling.

Isabelle scowled at Jacob’s comments and surveyed the crowd with distaste. She’d happily have given them all the middle finger, but she knew it wasn’t a good idea to piss off the audience in a game like this, so she forced a bright smile and blew a kiss at them instead.

Jacob moved on to the girl in the middle, a pretty, nervous-looking girl dressed in skinny jeans and a white crop-top that exposed her tummy.

“Kimberly is a twenty-three-year-old law student. She’s the top of her class, and she hopes to use her prize money to start her own legal practice! That will make a nice change from relying on your boyfriend financially, won’t it Kimmy?”

The crowd cheered and roared again. Kimberly smiled at the audience, trying to conceal the way their eager, almost hungry expressions unsettled her. She felt a prickle of anger and shame at Jacob’s words as well. Her boyfriend was just helping her out! She couldn’t stand the thought of people thinking she was some sort of trophy-girlfriend who couldn’t get by without a man. It wasn’t as though she was going to be dependent on Paul forever!

“And lastly, we have Eily!” Jacob continued, moving on to the third and final contestant, a slightly cold and serious looking woman dressed in a beige pantsuit, her dark hair tied up in a neat bun behind her head. “Eily is a thirty-one-year-old businesswoman so devoted to her career that she staged a hostile takeover of her own now ex-husband’s company! But there’s always room for growth, and she wants to take her business to new heights with the prize money from today’s game!”

The audience applauded and cheered again, and Eily was sure she could hear jeering mixed in as well. She nodded coolly at the crowd. She wasn’t like those two little bimbos sharing the stage with her, and she was going to make sure the audience knew it. There weren’t just men in the seats opposite them – there were a fair number of women too, and Eily was sure she could get them on side with her calm, professional demeanour. Eily knew how to deal with other women; they didn’t like it when younger girls dressed and acted like ditzy little sluts.

“Each of them has been dosed with our special nanomachines,” Jacob went on, a smirk playing across his mouth, “and our tech boys behind the stage will be responsible for giving our little ladies their penalties – we can alter their outfits, their bodies, even their minds! And remember, the one with the most points at the end of the game will be allowed to remove three of her penalties, but the losers will be stuck with theirs for the rest of their lives… Now it’s time to play – Babe or Billionaire! The theme for tonight’s first penalty will be… Hairstyle!”

At once, the screens on the girls’ podiums lit up, displaying a picture of a rock, a piece of paper, and a pair of scissors. All three women snuck glances at each other, but it was impossible to see what anyone else was selecting. With three pings, they made their decisions, and the fronts of their podiums lit up to reveal their choices to each other and the audience.

Kimberly’s heart sank when she saw them. She’d chosen scissors, but both Isabelle and Eily had chosen rock. What exactly did a hairstyle penalty mean? Were they going to dye her hair a ridiculous colour or something?

“Ooh, sorry Kimmy!” said Jacob, with faux pity in his voice. “But it looks like you’re the loser of our first round! And that means you’ll be getting a change in hairstyle. Rest assured, once your new hairstyle gets chosen, our nanites will make sure you can never style your hair any other way. Your hair will force itself into a predetermined look no matter how hard you try to alter it!”

“I... I… What?!” Kimberly squealed. She ran her hands through her long, luscious brown hair almost automatically, an anxious expression on her face. She felt a horrible wave of fear wash over her. What exactly had she got herself into? Was all that talk about nanomachines actually real? When she’d looked over the contract, she’d just assumed it was some stupid fake gimmick!

“Let’s see what the options are!” said Jacob, turning towards the large screen that faced half to the audience and half to the stage. “So ladies and gentlemen, your choices are… Pigtails! Golden Curls! Or Baby Tuft! Oh dear, Kimmy. It looks like you’ll be saying goodbye to that lovely long hair of yours one way or the other! Now everyone, vote on the tablets attached to your chairs and let’s decide what pretty Kimmy’s locks are going to be like from now on! Will she have a pair of adorable pigtails sticking out from either side of her head? A set of golden curls to make any toddler jealous? Or will she be left with some little tufts of baby hair on a mostly bald head? Vote now!”