Bimbo or Billionaire: Nursing A Grudge

Bimbo or Billionaire: Nursing A Grudge

Chapter 1 - The Grudge

Tammy frowned as she shot daggers at Paul who was laughing along with the rest of her friends around the table, so much so in fact that other people in the restaurant were starting to stare.

"So let me get this straight?" Paul started to say in between belly rolls, "...you think that Bimbo or Billionaire, the most popular TV game show on earth? is all fake?"

"Of course!" she shot back, crossing her arms under her small breasts.

"Ok? ok? let's say it is? that means that how many people are involved? Hundreds? No thousands? God, it's got to be tens of thousands of people, all working to deceive the entire world, all without anyone slipping up or spilling the beans?"

"Oh don't be so naive Paul, the government covers up things all the time, Bimbo or Billionaire is just another one of their ways to control everyone? just like vaccines and the Internet!"

This time the laughter was even more rambunctious and two of her friends even slipped so far down in their seats that she lost sight of them under the table.

Shelly, Paul's girlfriend decided to pipe in as well, "God Tammy, I've always known you were a kooky one? but come on! I actually saw Chrissi once at a mall opening and she was a total airhead, I even caught sight of her blowing one of the officiants after the ceremony! You can't fake that kind of bimbodom!"

"I think I saw that video on the Internet too!" Jason, one of her other friends chimed in with.

"Chrissi is paid good money to act that dumb!" Tammy replied, "You watch, when she retires she'll suddenly be smart again and will probably publish a tell-all book too!"

"Chrissi couldn't *read* a book, let alone write one! Did you see that episode where Jack asked her to write down her favourite sexual position, handed her a pencil and a piece of paper, and she tried to use the eraser end to do it! My god, the look on her face when it didn't work was priceless!" Kenny, the last of the guys at the table managed to say once he'd pulled himself up from under it.

Tammy turned to Daisy, her oldest and best friend who had remained silent throughout the ribbing, it broke Tammy's heart to see her trying her hardest not to laugh out loud.

"Daisy? not you too!" Tammy almost shouted and Daisy couldn't hold it in any longer, the loudest burst of laughter at the table yet coming from between her lips.

"Oh god, Tammy, I'm sorry? but really. I mean? you say lots of crazy stuff, but I? just? how do they do it then? I mean, you can watch them change right in front of your own eyes! Is it all computer graphics? Do they pay off the audiences as well?" Daisy replied.

"It's? it's holograms! And mirrors! The audience, just like us, think they're seeing it, but it's just a trick! And the contestants are in on it too! They get paid to play along!"

Tammy couldn't believe how cruel her friends were being, she'd done all kinds of research on the Internet about this and she knew she was right!

"You know what Tammy?" Paul asked but she refused to take the bait, "If you're so sure you're right? why don't you apply to be a contestant then?"

Tammy blinked several times as her eyes widened, "You know what Paul, you're right! That's exactly what I'm going to do! And you watch, they won't accept me because I won't play along with their silly game show!"

This brought an even bigger round of laughter from all her friends and she was done with them. She slammed her hand on the table as she stood up and walked away from them.

"You'll see I'm right! You just wait!" she called back over her shoulder and headed home. She'd show them all!

Chapter 2 - Opening Credits

The studio curtains raised as the theme music blared from the speakers with the applause of the live studio audience. Tammy was giddy with excitement, she couldn't believe she'd been accepted as a contestant and she was going to show all her friends, and the rest of the world, what a scam this show was! Even if she'd had to put up with her near-nude state with the two tiny strips of material that they called a costume that she wore now.

Her fingers rose up to touch the Collar of Fate's cold steel against her neck, they had put on a big show about placing it around her neck a week ago, but she knew it was just a shiny piece of metal. Maybe it had a few electronic tricks in it for show, but that was it. She'd tried to get everyone that she'd talked to from the show to admit as much, but none of them broke from the company line.

"Yes folks it's time to answer the question that is on all of our minds? Is she a? Bimbo or Billionaire!" the announcer's voice came across the PA system and the audience roared in response.

The applause brought butterflies to Tammy's stomach, she had never been in front of so many people before, even though she didn't consider herself shy or anything. She took a look to see Jack standing on stage, holding his mic as he spoke, "Thanks Dan, welcome to the show everyone! Before we bring out today's contestant, I just wanted to remind everyone to get their booster shots, it's up to each and every one of us to do our part!"

Tammy rolled her eyes at the call to get yet another vaccine booster shot, when would it end?

The crowd clapped as Jack waited for their applause to subside.

"Ok, well enough small talk, let's bring out today's contestant... Tammy!" Jack called out and the audience came to its feet with cheers.

Tammy put on her best smile and walked out onto the stage and over to the podium that she would be standing behind for the show.

"Hello Tammy, welcome!"

"Hi Jack, thanks!" she replied with real enthusiasm, though not for the reason that the audience expected.

Jack turned to the audience and beamed a smile, "Folks, I have to be honest with you, Tammy isn't excited to be here for the reason you might think. Obviously appearing on the show is a big deal, but Tammy... well, Tammy why don't you tell the audience your little secret reason for being here today?"

"Ha! Of course Jack, I'd love to." she replied and then turned to the audience as well, "I'm here to prove that this is all fake! The Collar of Fate? More like Collar of Fake! Impossible! It's all just a ruse to let the government lull you into complicity!" she said defiantly.

The audience gasped and a murmur coursed through it.

Finally Jack let out a hearty chuckle and then spoke, "Yes, that's right, she's a Bimbo denier! I'm told you hold a host of other fringe ideas and conspiracy theories as well?"

"They're only fringe because the sheeple won't wake up Jack! You watch, I'll prove this show is just another government conspiracy, right here, right now!"

Jack laughed again and shook his head, "Well, good luck with that Tammy. I can't wait to see how it goes for you." he said with a chuckle at the end.

The audience picked up on it and laughed along with him, sending Tammy's blood almost to a boil.

"But let's get started Tammy... there's a question I need you to answer before we can begin... are you ready to play Bimbo or Billionaire?"

"I'm ready to blow this whole thing wide open Jack, so yes!" she replied with great confidence and a little spite in her voice.

"Sounds good Tammy, I've got to get a few housekeeping items out of the way and we can get going. First off I'd like to bring everyone's attention to our case girl Chrissi!"

As always the spotlight highlighted Chrissi and the buxom blonde bimbo wiggled and jiggled as the crowd cheered and whistled. Today Chrissi was wearing a tight white dress that hardly covered her modesty, not that she had any, and put her ample cleavage on full display. Across her chest was a wide blue sash with 'Best before midnight' written across it in big bold white letters.

"Chrissi was the unluckiest contestant to ever play our game here and opened twelve bimbo cases in a row. But we just couldn't let her leave with nothing so instead we didn't let her leave at all and she's been with us ever since!

Ah... Chrissi what's with the sash today?"

Chrissi giggled and then twirled around one and a half times so everyone could see the other side of the sash, which '...or after.' written on it.

Jack rolled his eyes as the audience chuckled, "Well, you can't say that's not a true statement Chrissi."

Tammy shook her head just a little and wondered if Chrissy had her own writing staff or if she came up with the stupid little bits herself for each show.

"Ok, well now that we know that Chrissi is best before... or after... midnight, let's not forget the fine technical folks who are operating the Collar of Fate tonight, we won't get a chance to see them but we'll certainly see their work on stage!

And of course we cannot forget our generous benefactor, who has put up the billion-dollar prize! Our mystery man that we simply call 'The Accountant'". As always the pitch-black area above the columns of monitors was backlit revealing a person sitting at a desk but obscured in darkness like each show.

"Of course you all know our board, two sides with twelve steps each, revealed one at a time as the cases are opened. As always the cash side starts at a penny and works its way up to one billion dollars!

The Bimbo side is divided into two halves, the first six are physical changes that the 'Collar of Fate' will make and the second half are mental changes. Each of the changes will be selected by an audience vote from a list of four random selections from our database!"

Chapter 3 - Round 1

"Ok Tammy, as you know we have five rounds here. In the first round you have to open 12 cases, the second 6 cases, the third 3, the fourth and fifth rounds are 1 case each to see if you win the billion dollars or not. I need 12 numbers from 1 to 24 from you right now."

"Everyone knows that Jack! And it really doesn't matter as it's all fake, so let's start peeling back this onion with case number 22."

"Chrissi, could you please open case 22 please?" Jack called over to her and she wiggled her way over to the case, the audience watching closely to see if the too-short dress would ride up her hips. Impossibly it stayed in place and the audience seemed disappointed.

Chrissi opened the case revealing a bimbo symbol.

"Well things are starting off spicy already aren't they Tammy?" Jack said with a grin on his face.

Tammy rolled her eyes and let out a little huff, "Now I'll show you what's real and what's not!" she replied.

"Alright, now on to the first category! Which is of course Hair! And the four voting options are? Blonde Bomb, Curly Cue, Braided Bum, Over the Top! Ok folks, as always use the pads on your armrests and vote for which one you want." Jack said as the options appeared on screen.

Tammy smiled, it would be easy to tell it was fake and show the audience and the rest of the world.

"Well the audience has voted and the winner is? Braided Bum!"

Tammy felt the Collar of Fate around her neck start to vibrate and she reached up to touch it just as she felt something coming down the back of her neck. By the time the collar had stopped vibrating, she could feel a long braid of hair running down her back all the way to her ass.

"That's right everyone, Tammy's got a nice long french braid of hair that stretches all the way down her back! No more short haircuts for her!" Jack said and Tammy reached around and grabbed a hold of the hair that was now attached to the top of her head.

She pulled it around to see it was the exact same golden blonde that her short hair was, but perfect in every way, no split ends, no damage, or anything. She gave it a tug and it seemed firmly attached.

"Well Tammy, what do you have to say about the Collar of Fate now?" Jack asked.

Tammy frowned, "Well... I don't know... it can't be my hair... you must have attached it somehow when I wasn't paying attention... like when I was focused on Chrissi opening the case!"

The audience laughed and giggled but she refused to engage with them.

"Well, alright I guess. If that's what you think Tammy. Either way, I need another case number from you so we can continue to 'trick' you with our 'gimmicks'."

Tammy tried to reduce her frown and then looked over at the cases, "Ugh... well, how about case 19 then."

"Chrissi, if you would..." Jack said and smiled over at Chrissi.

"Like, would what?" Chrissi replied with a confused look on her face.

Jack rolled his eyes and chuckled, "Open case 19 Chrissi... case 19." he repeated very slowly for her.

"*giggle* Sure Jack, like, anything for you! *giggle*" Chrissi replied and then opened the case.

"Oh Tammy, a second bimbo case!" Jack enthused with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Yeah, whatever Jack. It's my voice this time right?" she scoffed in his general direction.

"That's right, and the categories this time are... Whisper Quiet, Irish Drawl, Valley High, and Pause for Effect! Audience, if you will be so kind..."

The audience quickly got to work as Chrissi opened and closed the case she'd just opened a few times, seemingly in awe at the possibility of opening *and* closing a case.

"Alright, the votes are in, let's see what the audience has chosen... Whisper Quiet!" The audience let up a huge cheer as Tammy raised an eyebrow.

"I see you're not familiar with that one Tammy, so let me explain. This will reduce the volume of your voice significantly, in fact, your normal speaking voice will be little more than a whisper, with the top of your volume range being just under a normal speaking voice. Apparently the audience isn't a big fan of what you've been saying so far." Jack said with a chuckle at the end.

"Yeah, ok, whatever. It will just be some trick in the studio, some kind of noise-cancelling system. I'm sure as soon as I leave it will be back to normal!"

"Whatever you say Tammy... if the technical team would activate the Collar of Fate please!"

Tammy felt the same tingly/vibration as before and then it was gone.

"Anything you'd like to add Tammy?" Jack asked.

She parted her lips and spoke, "Not really Jack..." she started and could barely hear her own voice, it was an impressive trick for sure.

"Hang on a sec there Tammy... perhaps the boys in the back could turn up the volume on your mic so we can all hear you..."

Tammy frowned and waited a moment before continuing, "Not really Jack, we've all had noise-cancelling headphones, that's all this is done at a room scale." she said and this time the speakers in the studio make her voice sound almost like it had before.

"That's better Tammy, but as you say, just a trick, so why don't we get on to the next case number?" Jack said and the audience gave a laugh as he did.

"Sure Jack, how about case 14?"

"You've got it Tammy. Chrissi, if you would *open* case 14 please?" Jack said, emphasizing what he wanted Chrissi to do this time so there was no confusion, at least no more than expected, for Chrissi.

Chrissi giggled and moved over to case 14 to open it, revealing a cash symbol.

"Congrats Tammy, you're on the board!"

"Great, thanks Jack, a whole one cent." Tammy replied.

"Well it's a start, but like any journey, we need to take the next step, so if you would?"

"Fine, case 24 Jack."

"Alrighty then Chrissi, please open case 24!"

Chrissi dutifully did so to reveal another cash symbol.

"It looks like you might be on a roll Tammy! That's a whole ten cents in your pocket so far!" Jack said with a chuckle at the end.

"Can you even buy anything for ten cents Jack?" Tammy asked, her voice still sounding very soft to herself but being amplified by the studio speakers. She had to admit it was an impressive effect, it almost even fooled her, but she knew better.

"I'm not sure, Chrissi, what do you think?" Jack replied.

"*giggle* Like, I think you can totally buy a car with that much money Jack!*giggle*"

"Oh Chrissi, that's why we love you so much here at the show... you just love any shiny little bobble, even a dime!"

"*giggle* Yeah, like sparkly! *giggle*"

"Well, now that we've determined, that in fact, you can buy pretty much all of Chrissi attention with a dime, what's your next case going to be Tammy?"

Tammy gave a little snort of disgust with the dumb blonde act that Chrissi was milking for everything it was worth, "Let's go with case *10* Jack."

"God one Tammy, you've got it! Chrissi, please open case 10 for us."

Chrissi opened the case to reveal another cash symbol.

"That's three in a row Tammy! You've got a whole one dollar now! I bet you could buy a whole lot more than just Chrissi's attention with that much money." Jack said turning to the audience and giving his best Groucho Marx impression. The audience roared to life with laughter, whistles, hoots, and haulers.

"God, you're such a pig Jack."

"Well, yes, but all men are really. I just have the good fortune to be able to have a job where I get to embrace it." Jack said with a sly smile that felt like oil and grease to Tammy.

"But enough about me, today is all about you and what your next case is going to be."

"Fine... how about case number 23.

"23 it is... Chrissi..." Jack said and Chrissi giggled and stood there smiling until Jack gave her a little wave of his hand and the audience laughed in response.

"Oh, that's your third bimbo case Tammy! This time the category is, of course, Lips!"

The audience cheered and Jack let them settle down before continuing, "The options are... 'O'pen for Business, Lickety Split, Fire in the Hole, and Heart Shaped Pout! Audience if you would...

Any thoughts on the choices Tammy?"

Tammy thought about them for a moment as the audience entered their votes, "Well Jack, I've read on the Internet that the lip category is all done with the makeup you applied to my face before the show. Somehow it's activated at the right time and gives a temporary effect for the cameras."

Jack just laughed and shook his head, "Well, whatever you say Tammy. But the audience has voted so let's see what they've chosen... Heart Shaped Pout!"

The audience roared once more to life and Tammy just couldn't believe how gullible they were.

"Alright, please activate the Collar of Fate!" Jack said and Tammy felt the now familiar feel of it. She could feel her lips tightening up and a little warmth in them. She reached up and touched them and could feel them form into a slight pout.

"As the audience can see..." Jack said as the monitors in the studio switched over to a closeup of her lips, "Tammy now has a slight pout with her lips forming a nice little heart shape as they do."

Tammy looked at the monitor in shock, the effect was very real, with what looked like red lipstick on her lips to emphasize the effect. She reached up to try and brush the lipstick off but it didn't budge at all.

"Shit Jack, that's really well done, is that lipstick a digital effect or really on my lips?"

"Audience?" Jack asked as he turned to the audience.

"On your lips! On your lips! On your lips! On your lips!" the chat from the audience rang out.

Tammy just rolled her eyes again, wondering how long they'd practiced the chant before the show.

"Sure, whatever guys. Let's get on with this Jack, I want case number 8 next."

"You've got it Tammy."

This time Chrissi had finally gotten into the groove of the show and jiggled her way over to the case and opened it without being asked.

"That's another bimbo case Tammy! That means it's time for our fourth category... Body Shape! This time the choices are... Corset Trained, Flaired and Funky, Heart Shaped Bottom, and Tipped Forward!"

Tammy let out an "ugh" that caught Jack's attention.

"See something you like there Tammy?" he asked.

"No... but I think it's obvious what the choice is going to be. I mean, couldn't you guys at least do something original instead of the same trick twice?"