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Tina gasped and curled her toes once again as the music continued to play, both from the screen in front of her, and from the store's speakers. One would expect the two music sources to be discordant with each other, but instead, they harmonized into something completely different, something that grew more mind-numbing with each passing hour. The rocking horse had looked so innocent when she had first been lowered onto it. The vibrations it provided were not constant, but instead increased and decreased in time with the music, as though everything around her were swinging to the same insane beat. A few times, she had tried to run for it when she thought no one was looking, but they always caught her and dragged her back to the break room and the horse. The pleasure it gave was making it harder and harder to want to leave. Here, resistance was a torment, and Tina knew that she could just give in at any time, and be lost in this senseless world for good.

She barely thought about what was on the screen anymore. She tried to simply ignore it, but her eyes kept getting dragged back to it. She would come back from letting her mind wander to find that she had been staring at the screen, almost unblinking, for what felt like hours. Soon, she knew, one of the smiling commercial-people would drop by again to put her down for her nap, or give her another bottle, or for yet another trip to the bathroom. She hated going to the bathroom. The way the women clapped and cheered and offered encouragement (or worse, instruction) as she did made the act feel so unpleasant and embarrassing as to hardly be worth the effort. Which was, she guessed, the point. To somehow make it her fault when she inevitably ended up in diapers. Any excuse to make it seem that she was somehow the one to blame.

The Sponsors were not exactly subtle about their plans. The cutesy cartoon she was watching was proof of that.

Baby Elephant: But...but Mama! I don't wanna be a stupid little baby anymore! I wanna go have adventures out in the world, and have a job, and use the potty like the big kids do!

Mama Elephant: Honey, why can't you accept that Mama loves you and knows what's best? You need to understand that the very best place for you is right here, in your nursery. You could never learn to use the potty, silly. You're never going to be done with diapers. Not in a million years! And why would you want to go and leave your Mama all by her lonesome? Can't you just wear your diapers like a sweet little baby should?

Tina rolled her eyes. Messages about accepting others or sharing or telling the truth were nowhere to be seen on the Sponsor's programming. She knew without having to watch that the baby elephant would run away from home, find out how boring and miserable the world was outside of the nursery, and then go running back home begging to be kept in diapers forever. Lather, rinse, repeat. The characters changed, the settings changed, but the plot was always the same.

Tina was finding it difficult to keep her mind together. Sally and Marsha visited her intermittently, always with some new brain-melting toy or treat. She hadn't always manged to refuse what they offered. She was getting pretty skillful at always having a pacifier in her mouth when they came by, which was sometimes enough to deflect them from shoving another bottle of creamy, delicious, formula with who-knew-what effects in her face. The mindless entertainment and near-constant pleasure were getting to her, and she knew it. Still, she stubbornly held on to her mind, and as she hid, disposed of, and otherwise rejected her host's tempting offerings, it was starting to grow easier. Not easy, not at all, but easier. She knew her chances of escape were slim, maybe non-existent, but she refused to allow her will to falter. These bizarre creatures could force whatever they wanted on her, but they could not make her choose it. She insisted on being her own person, to the very end, if necessary.

“Good news, honeybunch! We finally found your Mommy! You're going home today!” said Sally as she opened the door of the “break room”. Tina reflexively popped her pacifier in her mouth before Sally could see her without it. Tina's fellow inmates looked up from their toys or glanced away from the screen, smiling in response to Sally's cheerful tone. None of them were in any state to actually understand her, and Tina wasn't about to stand out from the crowd under these circumstances.

“Everybody wave bye-bye to Tina now! She's going home to her wonderful, wonderful Mommy to live happily ever after! Yayyy!” said Sally, clapping her hands mockingly as she crossed the room. An unfocused smattering of applause broke out, although Tina reflected that they probably would have reacted the same to hearing that she going to the gallows. It was a little surprising that they were persisting in this fiction of Tina's “Mommy”. Her actual mother was off living a quiet retirement in Maine, as far as she was aware. Would the Sponsor's go so far as to include her in their sinister plans? The simple fact that she couldn't rule the idea out made her want to punch someone, for all the good that would do.

Sally effortlessly lifted Tina off her valiant steed and carried her in her arms. One hand was supporting Tina's butt, which was still covered only by Wuvvies training panties. Tina fought the urge to react when two manicured fingers invaded her underwear.

“Wowee! Somebody managed to keep her training pants nice and dry! Good job, sweetie!” cheered Sally.

Tina stared straight ahead, and kept her face neutral. Everything these creatures said was a phony performance, but that last comment had sounded particularly forced. It wasn't just her imagination, then. She wasn't turning into a mindless, slobbering infant on their schedule. Her resistance was working, at least to some degree. But that also meant that they were aware of it. Maybe they would start taking stronger measures to wear her down. She shuddered at the thought.

As Sally turned, Tina saw that a pair of uniformed police officers had followed her into the room. Well, one was certainly wearing a uniform: form-fitting and mostly jet black, with official-looking badges and equipment. The other, who was taller, more strongly-built, and seemingly older than her fellow officer, was wearing a bright blue version of the same uniform with much larger badges that were clearly made of painted plastic. The badge on her left breast identified her as Deputy Winona. Judging by the pronounced bulge of her rear and the white leak-guards peeking over her belt-line, it was clear that she was heavily diapered under her uniform. The shorter officer had a beaming toothpaste-commercial smile and kind, understanding eyes. If they swapped clothes, she and Sally would hardly be distinguishable. The taller woman was also showing off a blissful grin, but her teeth were not quite as shiny, nor perfectly straight. Her expression was much less focused and more relaxed. There were visible lines under her eyes and a tiny pouch under her chin. Tina could tell at a glance that she was as real as herself. Another victim of the Sponsors, whoever they were.

“There's our little escape artist!” announced the shorter officer. “Are you ready to go home to see your Mommy, little one?”

Tina didn't respond. They could take her wherever they decided to, whether she wanted it or not.  Escape now just meant running through another maze of weird commercials and insane products for a few minutes. She tried her best to relax. She made no effort to resist as Sally passed her over to the officer, who held her with the same combination of gentleness and inhuman strength.

“You'll be wanting some supplies, in case our 'Big Girl' has a little oopsie on the way, I expect?” said Sally, winking as she said “Big Girl”.

“Oh, that won't be a problem. I keep plenty of supplies on hand for when my little deputy Winny has an accident!” said the officer, giving her deputy an affectionate pat on the rear.

The “deputy” grasped her hands together and looked down at her shoes, clearly

embarrassed but still smiling.

“That never takes very long, does it?” she inquired. The older woman shyly shook her head.

“Well, they're aren't really accidents anymore, I suppose.” continued the officer. “She just goes right in her diapers these days. Not a word of warning anymore, either. She's not a Big Girl like little Tina here!” said Sally, giving Tina a pinch on the cheek. Although the pinch looked fairly forceful, Tina noted that it wasn't as unpleasant as she was expecting. There was no pain.

Tina regarding the diapered woman, who reluctantly nodded her agreement to her superior officer's words and began sucking her thumb for comfort. Tina wondered how long she had been able to hold off under this kind of treatment. Had she been easy prey, or had they just made her more of a priority? She might well have been a judge or a police commissioner in her old life, but now she was reduced to silly caricature of her former self. Tina sat in the synthetic policewoman's arms as she was carried out of the store, her training pants on display all the way. The deputy followed behind, thumb in mouth, holding the officer's other hand. The store seemed larger now than it had when Tina had first arrived, as though the dimensions of the store were being forced to expand to accommodate the growing selection of merchandise. She wasn't surprised to see a massive candy isle, although now the colorful treats were being advertised more like pharmaceuticals, with the effects given preeminence over the taste. They also seemed to be selling Halloween costumes, although they were just being marketed as clothing. Customers were still in the store, but Tina saw no one who looked like they were in danger of being captured as she had been. Every face was either cover-model perfection or blissful indifference. She wondered if she were the last sane person on earth.

In the back of a squad car, Tina found a pair of large, pink carseats set up. The officer set her in one, and her deputy into the other, cooing and blowing kisses all the way. Once the engine was on, a familiar piece of music began to pour out of the police radio. They drove off.

Tina looked out the window. The world outside was unrecognizable now. She had found the extent of advertising irritating and obnoxious in the old world, but now there was practically nothing else. As they reached the freeway, Tina saw that the trees and grass and even the houses were being crowded out by billboards. They were shooting up like weeds everywhere, and they were all either offering increasingly bizarre products or simply praising abstract concepts. Love, Edible Blankets, Weakness, Diapers, Laziness, Lollipop-Flavored Lollypops (Deliciously Recursive, Recursively Delicious), Happiness, Rainbows, Being a Good Girl, Sucking, Unconditional Love, Extra-Large Pacifiers, Diapers, Wetting Your Pants, Failure, Sofa Strollers, Stupidity, Diapers, Boobs,  Thumbsucking, Getting Changed...

Tina forced herself to look down. The signs had been beginning to blend together in her mind. That cliff-edge feeling had returned. Part of her still wanted to let her mind wander away, to be lost in this world of frivolous indulgence. She gritted her teeth, trying to get a logical grip on the situation. She turned to Deputy Winny, who was happily bopping her head and kicking her feet in time with the music. She certainly seemed to to be under the Sponsors' spell, but she had to at least try to reach out and hope she could wake her up.

“Pssst. Hey! Can you understand me?” she asked in the softest whisper she could manage.

The deputy turned, looking delighted to have someone to talk to. She eagerly nodded her head.

“Do you want to try to get away with me? Maybe we can find some others to help us. There has to be some kind of resistance to all this.” Tina whispered softly.

Winona looked like she had been stung. Her eyes went wide, and she inhaled sharply. It was clear that she was being roused from a dream by the sudden shift in tone. She shook her head. She was frightened.

Tina narrowed her eyes slowly. The diapered woman bent forward to whisper, even more quietly.

“I'm sorry, ma'am. I can't. I don't know how you've held out so long, but it's no good. I'm just too far gone.” she said sadly.

Tina was caught off guard. That was much more of a coherent response than she had expected. “You're not! You still have your mind! Come on, we can beat this! Help me, dammit!”

She shook her head. Tears rolled down her cheeks. Her voice broke intermittently as she whispered. “I can barely remember where I am half the time. I can't even tie my own shoes anymore. I'm just...they've made me dumb, and soft, and and...lazy. They won. They beat me, and I'm not even really mad about it. They turned me into a dumb, spoiled little thumbsucker, and it...it just feels so goood. The best times are when I forget. When I get to just be a silly toddler waddling around in my pampers. I'm so sorry ma'am. I really want to help, but...but you don't understand. I need this, now. I need to be taken care of, and fed, and fawned over, and....changed. Gawd...they made me want it. So much. They made me love my diapers.” she winced at the humiliating admission. “It's too late for me.”

Tina sagged. Listening to her pour her heart out, she knew that she had fought. Winny had struggled against the same forces that she was fighting, and it had all been for nothing.

No. This was another ad. Another attempt to break her, to wear down her resolve. They were getting more subtle.

“Oh, you two are just becoming best buddies back there!” came the saccharine voice from the driver's seat. “I can hear you two whispering like a pair of co-conspirators! Better say your bye-byes, now. We're almost at your Mommy's house, Tina.”

Tina sighed. The moment of truth was on the way. She risked a glance out the window. The atmosphere had changed now that they were off the freeway. The road they were on now was a cozy residential street, lined with trees to provide some shade. The Sponsors were clearly at work here as well, but their influence was less obvious. An oversized tricycle sitting in a front garden. A discarded box of Wuvvies next to the trash cans. The way all the lawns looked like they had been mowed just this morning, and all at the same moment. There wasn't any peeling paint, or a missing roof tile, or a leaf-clogged gutter to be seen. Not so much as a crack in the sidewalk. They were driving through something that could only exist in the imagination of a real-estate developer.

They pulled up in front of a large, old-fashioned manor-style house. It even had a white picket fence. The path to the front porch was marked by flagstones and guarded by blooming rosebushes. A large, spreading cherry tree shaded much of the front yard. A woman in a red, polka-dotted dress with a big white bow at the back was examining the roses as they pulled up to the curb. The officer came around to open Tina's door and help her out of her carseat.

As Tina emerged from the car, the woman turned. She looked delighted to see Tina for an instant, but then seemed to remember herself. She needlessly straightened her dress, forced her face to adopt a warm, serene smile in place of the excited one she had just had, and clasped her hands together in front of her. She wore a white pearl necklace and white gloves, making her look dangerously close to Minnie Mouse. Her shoulders were bare, her skirt reached to just above the knee, and her breasts threatened to break loose from their containment at any moment.

“Welcome home, Teeny-beanie! Mommy missed you, sweetie.”

Tina stared. It was Miko. The Sponsors had gotten her best friend to play the role of her Mommy. She had often suspected that Miko had a crush on her, but nothing had ever actually come of it. Miko had certainly never been so overt as to stare at Tina with a look of unfiltered adoration on her face, as she was now. Tina suddenly felt self-conscious, standing in front of someone she knew so well in a pair of training pants.

Miko looked like she had just finished a very intense make-over. Her teeth didn't have the inhuman perfection of Sally or any of her near-doppelgangers, but they certainly looked very healthy and well cared-for. Everything about her, from the way her hair looked like it had just this moment been thoroughly washed and then arranged very neatly into a tight bun, to the color and fullness of her lips, to the rich tan luster of her skin, to her breasts that had easily doubled in size, made Tina think that she was exceptionally healthy and well-cared for. It seemed that everything about her appearance had been...polished, smoothed over, simplified and turned up in vividness.

Despite all this, Tina could not believe that she was looking at anyone other than Miko. She certainly had been altered in some way, both physically and mentally if her expression was anything to go by, but Tina knew her friend, and this was her. She wondered what the Sponsors had done to her. She wondered if there was a way to turn her back...at least most of the way back.

Tina sighed and pulled out her pacifier. “Hi Miko. I guess you're supposed to be my 'Mommy' in this demented set-up?”

Miko's brilliant smile tightened a little, but only for a second. “That's right, sugar dumpling! Mommy is here now, and she always will be. Thank you so much for bringing her home, Officer.”

“No problem at all ma'am. You all have a lovely day.” The woman's smile remained in place as she sniffed the air. “Oh, I think my little diaper deputy has made me another of her little presents. Duty calls!”

Tina turned to the car, where Winny was waving goodbye to her from her carseat. Her eyes were downcast with guilt, but Tina could see her toes were already moving to the sound of the music again. Her brief, uncomfortable moment of lucidity was just about over, and soon she would be a happy diaper baby once again.

Miko took Tina gently by the arm. “Come on inside, Teeny. Mommy has a lot of important things to show you.”