Commercial Break (Worm / Slut Life) (Borderline SFW)

Hello, and welcome to Commercial Break. It’s a Worm and Slut Life crossover… with a few other elements added in for favor.

If you want to skip the entire first Arc of the story, where Taylor will be making her decisions and much world building is done, click here. You may become somewhat lost, however.

Spoiler: NSFW Links

Slut Life CYOA

I don't particularly care for that CYOA, so I took it and the one it was based on and heavily modified them in a Google Sheet. That can be found here. It is a work in progress, but has already been greatly expanded on, compared to the originals. Feel free to use it for your own projects or amusement. Just let me know if there's something that could use work or you think should be added.

Before you get too far into things, a few notes.

1. While this is a Slut Life crossover, please notice that it has been placed in the SFW section. This is not a mistake. I don’t plan on having any raunchy sex scenes or smut show up, and if they do happen to make an appearance, it’ll be far enough in that I’m not going to worry about them now. In part, this is because I find writing sex scenes exhausting, and I’m hoping not writing them will allow me to write significantly more of the story, instead of stalling on a NSFW scene that refuses to flow.

2. Regardless of what was said in note 1, this is still based in part on the Slut Life CYOA. There will be mentions of sex as a result. If this bothers you then you should not continue reading.

3. There will probably not be terribly much physical conflict in this story. If this offends you, I’m sorry, but I’m not going to add it just for the sake of adding it.

4. I plan for this story to have several arcs, and each arc may have a slightly different writing style. This isn’t necessarily intentional, but it may happen as the focus of the story changes from procedural to slice of life to action. Or something along those lines. I’m hoping the shifts won’t be too jarring, but I haven’t gotten to the first one yet, so we’ll see.

This idea came to me while reading some of the Slut Life stories in the NSFW Creative Writing forum after I found a link to an interactive CYOA. After messing around on there for a while, I started thinking about how various characters would react to the choices and what they would pick. From there, this arose. Yes, that does mean I have entire CYOA forms filled out somewhere for multiple characters. No, they will not be posted until they are finalized in story, and then they’ll be posted under 'extra' threadmarks rather than in spoiler tags.

I waited until I had a ten chapter buffer established before posting the first chapter. This buffer will ensure that, should I lose my momentum, I’ll still be able to keep posting regularly for a good while. It will also me to avoid rushing the next segment to make an arbitrary deadline… or getting discouraged by missing one, leading to a stalled story or easily avoidable mistakes.

I’d also like to offer a big round of thanks to the various people who have helped with proofreading my buffer as well as allowing to bounce ideas off of them. Most of them frequent the Taylor Varga Discord Channel.

I've recently started another Discord Channel, for discussing Commercial Break, the modified CYOA I'm working on (and will be using later in this story), and other Slut Life related things.

 

Recruitment 1.0

---

“Where am I?” Taylor groaned woozily as her sedatives slowly wore off. Then her final memories hit. “The locker!” she exclaimed, bolting upright. Taylor gasped in pain as the sudden movement caused a previously minor headache to flare. Her heartbeat echoing in her ears as it suddenly began pounding didn’t help. She tried to not hyperventilate, more because she didn’t want to breath in any more of that vile air than she had to than in order to keep calm.

“Ah, Miss,” a voice began before pausing a moment, “Hebert. Greetings.” As Taylor blearily looked towards the speaking blob, it continued. “My name is Jacob Tricher.”

“Who?” Taylor asked.

“Now,” the man continued, “I don’t expect you to have heard of me. Our corporation doesn’t have much of a presence in your neck of the woods, yet. We’re looking to change that, however. Starting with you.” He paused again, but continued before Taylor could comment, “Ah, yes, your myopia.” He held out what she knew had to be his hand. “Here are your glasses.”

Taylor took the glasses and put them on, watching as the blur resolved into a man, probably in his late twenties or early thirties, wearing a suit. “Thanks,” she said, giving her glasses the final adjustments to make them comfortable. Now, what did you want with me?” Taylor immediately repressed the twinge at how plaintive that sounded.

“Hm, yes,” Jacob Tricher mused. “You probably would like an explanation.”

“That would be helpful,”Taylor replied dryly.

Jacob leaned forward. “Alright, let’s start with the basics. This company is the premier television network here, calling on talent from many worlds.”

“Many worlds?” Taylor interrupted to ask. “You mean I’m not on Earth Bet? Did you kidnap me?!”

Jacob visibly winced. “That is one way to interpret it, yes,” he began. Holding up a hand, he quickly continued, “However, we prefer to view it as conducting negotiations away from distractions. If you turn down our proposal, we’ll return you back to where you were, none the worse for wear.”

Taylor relaxed minutely. At least they weren't going to force her into anything, assuming Jacob was telling her the truth. “So, you’re what? So kind of recruiter?”

“Essentially, yes,” Jacob agreed. “It’s my job to find suitable candidates who might be amenable to joining one of our shows. When I find someone suitable, we bring them to a corporate office, where we discuss the details of the offer. Those who agree are sent on to Legal to hash out all of the details of their contracts, and those who don’t get sent back to continue with their lives as though this opportunity had never presented itself.”

“That sounds, reasonable,” Taylor offered. “So I’m in your corporate office, while,” she looked down at herself before finishing, “still in a hospital bed. Is this how you meet everyone?”

“Ah, yes, that,” Jacob began with a nervous chuckle. “You’re something of a special case. The reason you’re in a hospital bed in a gown instead of in a chair and dressed, is that we didn’t want to make you uncomfortable by dressing you while you were still sedated. As for the rest… we are not in the main office.” He paused for effect before continuing. “Due to special considerations in your case, we are currently in orbit. We’d normally be on the surface, but there are… issues we’ll need to see to first.”

Taylor blinked. What issues could cause… Only one thing made any sense. “Am I a parahuman now? Do I have powers?”

Jacob took a moment to flip through a file before replying, “Ah, yes, that is the nomenclature used. Yes, you are a parahuman. Unfortunately, your mind is having issues dealing with the increased stimuli, so we decided it would be easiest to remove you from the stimuli before having this conversation. If you agree to our proposal, we will slowly acclimate you to the stimuli until you can function normally regardless.”

“What are you talking about? What kind of stimuli?” Taylor asked.

“According to your file, your terminology would rank you as a mid-tier Master, with the ability to see through the senses of those you control,” Jacob explained. “The human mind is not used to being bombarded with the senses of a few others, let alone what you were experiencing, so your mind hasn’t had to to learn how to process all of the additional input yet.”

Taylor had a sudden, sinking suspicion. “And what happens if I decide not to agree?”

Jacob put on what looked to be a practiced grimace. “Should you decide our offer is not for you, we would be legally required to return you to your world as you currently are. Our doctors believe it’d take at least a week of near catatonia for you to adjust in those conditions. Depending on your parents and the hospital, you could either be discharged into your parents’ care or sent to a dedicated facility for the duration.”

“But-” Taylor protested, “my dad can’t afford that!”

Jacob shrugged. “Unfortunately, our company can take no responsibility for your welfare beyond ensuring you are returned to where we picked you up properly. There are provisions for cases when doing so would result in your immediate death, but this is not the case here. Ultimately, should you reject this opportunity, you and your father will be no worse off than had we not made the offer at all.”

“Fine,” Taylor growled, crossing her arms angrily. “And don’t expect me to forget that you still haven’t explained what you want from me.” After a second of thought, she added, “Or what your company is called.”

“Ah, right,” Jacob began, leaning back in his seat. “We would you to be a contestant in a reality TV show we host.”

“A reality TV show?” Taylor asked flatly. “Really?”

“Oh, yes,” Jacob confirmed. “It really is quite popular the universe over. If you join, cameras would broadcast your life for all who wished to watch. In return, based on your length of service and the choices you make, you would have to potential to receive quite the impressive reward. Of course, most of that would be explained in further detail by our Legal department. And you may find a few, though not many, of your options restricted in light of your abilities.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad. What was that about length of service?” Taylor asked. “I don’t want to be away from Dad too long.”

“I wouldn’t worry to much about that,” Jacob said encouragingly. “One of the rewards would have you back in your bed picoseconds after you left. He wouldn’t even need to know you’ve gone. In fact, if I recall correctly, that option also includes a decent cash payout, which could definitely help your financial situation.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “As to the length of service, that’s really all up to you. While you can, and many do, choose to remain a contestant in perpetuity, the standard term is one year and can be extended up to ten years. The shortest term you can do is six months.”

“Seems reasonable,” Taylor agreed.

“And it would give you plenty of time to adjust to your new powers,” Jacob added. “So,” he continued, pulling out a single paged form and a pen. “What do you say? Want to be a contestant? This form just says you’re willing to join up. The full contract would be handled by Legal.”

Taylor looked at the paper with some skepticism. “This’ll give me time to figure out my powers, get me enough money to help Dad, and get me back before he can miss me?”

“If you pick the right rewards, certainly,” Jacob said smoothly.

“Fine,” Taylor decided. “I don’t want to end up in the mental ward or something. I’ll sign up.”

“Great,” Jacob said cheerfully, passing over the paper and pen. Once Taylor had given the contract a quick look over, glancing over the SL logo without comment, and had signed it, he continued, “We, at Slut Life, are happy to have you as our newest contestant.”

“Wait, what?” Taylor demanded, her eyes snapping fully open as she stared at Jacob.

“Now, remember,” Jacob said as he retrieved the papers from Taylor’s limp fingers and shuffled it back into his file, “while the details of your contract will be worked out later, the Contestant Registration Form you just signed is binding.”

Taylor continued gaping at the man in disbelief.

“I’m sure you’re still recovering from your ordeal, so I’ll leave you to get your rest. We’ll have something delivered shortly to begin your acclimation to your abilities and some food for when you get hungry. Get a good rest, we’re expecting great things from you.”

As the man left, Taylor could only ask, “What did I just sign up for?”

 

Recruitment 1.1

---

“Well, you’ve done it again,” Cindy Matos said in a combination of awe and disgust. “How do you do it?”

“It’s pretty easy,” Jacob Tricher explained. “First, you need to look sympathetic to their condition, then you explain the downsides of not signing up while playing up the good points and, ah, forgetting to mention the downsides unless they ask. Then, all you have to do is keep them distracted long enough to sign on the dotted line before they think to ask about anything else. After that, it doesn’t really matter what they think. It’s not like I’m going to see them again.” He grinned again and added, “It also helps when you don’t mention the name of the company until it’s too late.”

Cindy shook her head in disgust. “One of these days, you’re going to do that to the wrong person.” She gave a slightly feral smirk and added, “And I hope I’m there to watch you deal with the Ethics Violation Committee or watch you get eaten by a dragon or something.”

“Hasn’t happened yet,” Jacob glibly replied.

“Only needs to happen once,” Cindy countered. “Either way, thanks for leaving her for me to deal with.”

“No problem,” Jacob said with a smirk before sauntering away.

“I just love it when that asshole makes my job harder,” she muttered under her breath. Still, it’d probably be best to get Taylor a set of clothes and something to focus her abilities on then give her some time to cool off. Hopefully, being the bearer of good news and presents would make things easier in the long run.

---

Taylor looked towards the closed door. Something was coming. She wasn’t sure exactly what, but she could feel it, jostling around in some kind of container. A thought had the thing scurrying, eight legs finding purchase on the container’s walls, allowing it to scramble around. “Is that my power?” she asked herself in wonder. The creature, she supposed it was a spider, was coming closer. From the way it was jostling and the speed at which it was approaching, she figured someone pushing it along on a cart, moving at a brisk walk.

It took a few minutes for the spider to come to a stop outside of her door. She was somewhat surprised when the knock came, instead of the person just opening the door and walking in. “Yes?” she called questioningly. Hopefully it wasn’t that jerk from earlier.

“May I come in, Miss Hebert,” a female voice called through the door. “I have some clothes and food for you.”

“What if I don’t want you to?” Taylor called back. “Are you going to trick me into signing up for something even worse?”

There was a definite huff from the other side of the door. “Damn it, Tricher,” the voice griped. “If you want me to leave, I will. I’ll just leave this cart out here for when you’re ready for it.” She paused for a moment before adding, “I just thought you might want to talk about it.”

Taylor thought for a moment before replying. On the one hand, she was thoroughly fed up with this entire situation. It finally seemed somebody was going to help her, but it had all been a trap. On the other hand, she now knew everything was a trap, and she’d already sprung it, so there probably wasn’t much harm to be had in trying to learn whatever details she could get this woman to spill. “Sure, come on in,” she finally called, her voice a bit more bitter than she had intended it to be. A moment later, the door slid open and a young woman, who couldn’t be much more than twenty, walked in. Her long, impossibly red hair streamed behind her as she pushed the cart.

“Thanks for letting me in,” the woman began. “I’m sorry you had to deal with Jacob. He’s an ass.” She made her over to the seat Jacob had used before, parking the cart at the end of Taylor’s bed as she passed. “Anyway, I’m Cindy Matos, and I’ll be working with you to finalize your contract once you’re ready.”

“So you are going to try to screw me over,” Taylor stated sourly.

Cindy held up her hands in warding. “No, no! That’s not it at all! My job is to make sure you actually understand what you’re signing up for and to make sure that everything balances out.” She smiled a bit before adding, “Also, unlike Tricher, I was actually a Contestant, so I know what I’m talking about.” Taylor could actually hear the capitalization in Contestant. Shaking her head, Cindy added, “I’m sorry for what Tricher did to you, it was a rotten trick. Unfortunately, he didn’t break any of Slut Life’s policies when he did so. From what he said when he was bragging about ‘bagging another recruitment bonus,’ he never lied to you or forced you to sign up.”

Taylor puffed up in indignation. “He didn’t tell me anything about what I was doing and said I’d be sent back to the hospital, even though it’d bankrupt my dad!”

Cindy sighed. “Again, that’s not against policy, though it sounds like he was more blunt than he needed to be when he explained it. And, most importantly, you did sign up. Even if he had lied, that contract would be binding, so long as he didn’t force you to sign it. Still, I’ll mention the emotional blackmail he used to the Ethics Committee and see if they’ll take a closer look at his methods.”

“And they’ll just ignore it,” Taylor grumbled. “After all, it’s just his word against mine.”

“That’s… not quite true,” Cindy reluctantly admitted. “We always record pre-admission interviews for use in any trailers we may make before your debut. If the candidate doesn’t sign up, we only use the footage for training and legal purposes. He was supposed to mention that to you.” She sighed again. “It’s not enough to earn him much more than a verbal reprimand, unfortunately.”

“Damn,” Taylor muttered. “So, now what? Going to extol the virtues of your company and how I should be happy to have been chosen?”

“I can if you want,” the redhead replied with a shrug. “But that can wait for a different day. I’m going to be completely frank with you. Slut Life is going to be making a sizable investment in you. They want to more than make back what they’ll be spending on making everything work. That said, a happy Contestant is a profitable Contestant, so they also what us to do what we can to make you happy. Unless you want to be miserable, of course. We can handle that, too.” At Taylor’s incredulous look, she added, “What? Some people like that kind of thing.”

“If you say so,” Taylor replied dubiously. In an obvious effort to change the subject, she asked, “So, what’s with the spider?”

Cindy nodded happily. “Ah, good. You’re fine with a single arachnid. We were a little worried that the different sensory inputs would cause you some issues.”

“What different senses?” Taylor asked. “You have it in a dark box.”

“That’s… a fair point,” the redhead admitted. “Let’s let the little guy out and see if that makes a difference.” Putting action to words, she reached over and opened the box. “How’s that?”

“Bug eyes are weird,” Taylor opined. “She doesn’t see like we do, that’s for sure.” Closing her eyes for a moment and concentrating, she added, “It’s not too bad, but I definitely can’t get a clear picture.”

“No headache?” Cindy asked.

“None,” Taylor confirmed.

“Good, we were hoping it’d take more than that to bother you. Tomorrow, we’ll bring you a few crickets. That way we can make sure having different types of arthropods around won’t bother you. It’s also a good idea to find out what happens when one of the insects in your range dies while we have you in a properly controlled setting.”

Taylor paled dramatically. “That could be bad,” she agreed.

Cindy smiled before looking over at the clock. “Oh, dear, is it that late already?” Standing, she stretched, a move that showed she was much more limber than she had any right to be. “I need to be heading off to a meeting, but I’ll be back to talk to you some more later on, alright? For now, think about what you would like to get out of this experience. Nothing specific, mind you, that’ll have to wait until I get all of the forms drawn up, but it doesn’t hurt to start considering things.”

Taylor sighed. “Alright,” she finally said. “I’ll see you later. At least I have this little lady to keep me from complete boredom.”

“Oh, right, my apologies. I’d forgotten you’ve been stuck in here with nothing to do for a few hours now,” Cindy remarked. “Since Jacob obviously didn’t do it, I’ll see about getting a television in here for you, along with a highlight reel of previous Contestants. It’ll be good to have an idea of what you may be signing yourself up for.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Taylor said, now sullen at the reminder of her inevitable fate. “I’ll see you later.”

“Count on it,” Cindy confirmed. “And, if my meeting goes well, I’ll hopefully have some good news for you, too.” Making her way over to the door, she gave Taylor one last little wave before leaving.

---

“Sir,” Cindy began, as soon as pleasantries were out of the way, “we need to talk about Jacob Tricher.”

“Oh?” Senior Executive Bob Ross, no relation, queried. “What has Dewey done this time?”

“Dewey, sir?” Cindy asked.

“It’s his first name,” Ross explained. “Dewey Jacob Tricher. Now, what has he done?”

“His current recruit had no idea what she was signing up for until after the ink was on the paper,” she bluntly said.

“Did he lie to her about it?” Ross asked, stroking his goatee.

“No,” Cindy admitted, “but he had her file. He should have known what tricking her like that could do to her mental state.”

“That bad?” Ross asked.

“Have you had a chance to look through her file, yet?” Cindy asked instead of immediately answering. If he hadn’t she’d save time and the aggravation of being interrupted repeatedly to explain basic points. Better to get it all out of the way first.

“I haven’t had the pleasure, yet. One of the problems with being this high in the organization,” he admitted. “The amount of paperwork that crosses my desk makes it impossible to give everything not immediately critical the attention to detail I’d like as early as I’d prefer. Give me the bullet points, please.”

“Yes, sir,” Cindy agreed, glad she had asked. Granted, Bob Ross was a fairly easy going man who appreciated all of his workers and the Contestants. He’d convinced her to join the Slut Life family, both as a Contestant and as an employee, and she regretted almost none of it. “She’s the first person we’ve pulled from her Earth, making her the test case. She was taken from her hospital bed, where she was still being sedated after a very traumatic incident that induced some form of symbiotic merger with an entity we still haven’t finished analyzing. This was after every authority figure you could care to mention failed to prevent it.”

“And then Tricher decided the best way to get her on board was to trick her, correct?” Ross interjected.

“Yes, sir. He never outright lied to her, but he managed to make Slut Life sound like an ordinary reality TV show, somehow managed to never actually say the name of the company, and engaged in some emotional blackmail.”

“That is a serious claim,” Ross stated with a frown. “I take it the recording devices were active the entire time?”

“Yes, they were,” Cindy confirmed. “I’ve reviewed the footage and, while he never broke the wording of our regulations nor broke any laws, he certainly stomped all over their intentions.”

“How so?” the man asked. “We want willing contestants, not people who want to undermine everything we stand for. Well, except for the punishment details, of course.”

“Strictly speaking, he didn’t blackmail her at all,” Cindy admitted. “He did, however, bluntly explain how, should she refuse, she would be returned to her previous location. Since she wouldn’t be given time to adapt to her powers while here, she’d likely be institutionalized for a while, gaining both the stigma of a crazy person and a large debt that she likely can’t afford.”

“Damnation,” Ross growled, scowling angrily. “That’s not how I want my team to operate! If it weren’t for Tricher’s Uncle...” He stopped suddenly before softly adding, “Could you forget I said that? I don’t want to get you stuck on the bad side of office politics. Either way, I can’t get rid of him unless he wants to leave or if his screw is large enough that we have to get rid of him.”

“Actually, I have an idea for that,” Cindy began, a vindictive smile spreading across her lips. “And, best of all, it’ll let Taylor get back at him, too.”

“Oh?” Ross asked, quirking an eyebrow. “What did you have in mind?”

“It’s been a while since we’ve had a recruiter on the ground in a new sector, right?”

Ross nodded, “Ah, I see. You think she’d be willing to join up? It’s not the easiest path she could take.”

Cindy huffed out a sigh and hunched forward a little dejectedly. “Yeah, I know. It’s probably going to be a hard sell, but there’s a few things going for it she might like that’ll make it worth the effort.” She grinned and added, “And that’s not including the chance she might get to cover Tricher in bees.”

Ross laughed. “I don’t know if you’ll be able to pull it off, but just that mental image will make it worth the effort. Do what you can, but make sure the poor girl knows what you’re trying to sign her up for.”

“Of course,” Cindy said, affecting a scandalized expression. “I’m not Tricher, after all. I actually want my Contestants to be happy.”

Ross laughed again. “Good. The best of luck to you. Now, I think I’d better read her file completely before any other issues turn up.”

Taking the statement as the dismissal it was, Cindy nodded and made her way out of the office, ideas already bouncing around in her head. This was going to be such fun!

---

Back in her room, Taylor was playing with her new pet and watching the television a technician had brought in, flipping through channels in an effort to get a decent idea of what she might have to deal with in the all too near future. A notebook lay open in her lap as she made notes on things she was both interested in and definitely wanted no part of.

Right at the top of the list was no duffel bags. Just watching that girl being tied up and placed inside the bag had nearly caused her a panic attack. There was no way she’d be willing to subject herself to that torture if she could at all help it.

Another thing she had noticed, though she didn’t have enough details yet, were the girls who occasionally fought what looked to be an ongoing alien invasion of some kind. It didn’t look to be on the same scale as the Endbringers back on her Earth, but they seemed much more frequent. As she watched, a number of girls fought, driving the creatures back through their portals. She wanted to be a hero, and if she was going to be here for a year, she might as well try to help out as much as she can, even if she had no idea how being able to control a spider would be useful. Maybe Cindy would have some ideas.

She changed the channel again and stared. That girl had a penis and forcing that other girl to suck it! What the hell?! She stared for a moment in disbelief before hurriedly changing the channel again, trying to ignore her blush. When she focused on the screen again, her jaw dropped in disbelief. On the screen was who she easily recognized as Cindy, bouncing up and down on a member larger than her arm, sprouting up from what could only be a dragon. An honest to fuck dragon. On the screen. Fucking the person she was supposed to take advice from. And the weirdest part was that it seemed like Cindy was actually enjoying it! Hell, Taylor couldn’t even see how something that large could even fit into a body that size.

A clatter startled her out of her daze as the pen she’d been holding hit the floor. She quickly hopped off of the bed and grabbed the pen before checking on her spider, which was happily spinning a web underneath the bed. Looking closely, she examined the thread, admiring the way it shone like gold in the light. She climbed back onto the bed and flipped the channel again, only to stare in shock as the same dragon was featured, this time with a girl who had to be at least several years younger than herself, taking that large dragon dick into her to the hilt, her stomach distending visibly around the invading member.

“How is that even possible?” she asked aloud in shock. Shaking herself, she turned off the television, figuring she’d had enough of the show for one night. She was rather afraid of what she’d find next if she kept flipping through channels like that. Lying down, she made herself comfortable before coming to an annoying revelation. The light switch was across the room. Grumbling, she got up again and made her way to the switch, turning it off.

For a moment, she nearly panicked as she was suddenly plunged back into absolute darkness. Under her bed, the spider began frantically running around. Using the spider as a guide, as she’d gotten turned around and didn’t quite know the layout of the room yet, she made her way back to the bed and laid down again. Maybe things would seem better in the morning.

---

Author's note: In terms of my update schedule, this is being considered the first chapter, as the previous chapter was just a prologue. Until I get the buffer up to 15 chapters, I'll be posting on Tuesdays. After I have 15 chapters in the buffer, postings will be on Tuesday and Saturday.