Epilog: Overshoot
Thirty-seven months after the death of Felicity.
The two girls sat across from each other, silently sipping on their milkshakes. They weren't avoiding each others eyes exactly, but neither seemed interested in starting a conversation. The older of the two girls, a young woman really, flicked her long red hair out of her eyes with a hand, looking with almost sad eyes at her yellow haired companion. The younger stared out the window, looking at the sparse shrubbery that studded the ruddy colored ground outside. Two girls, sitting in a quiet roadside diner, their milkshakes disappearing in the silence.
The red haired one fidgeted briefly, then took a deep, sighing breath. Before she could speak, however, the younger girl, without turning from the window, started.
"73." she said briefly, letting silence settle again after her simple statement.
The red haired one blinked with muted surprise, then sighed again. "So you've kept track?"
"Of course I've kept track." the yellow haired one said, turning to look up at the other girl. "I'm the ditz, not the jerk."
"Sorry." the red haired one said. "You're right. Of course you've kept track." Silence hung in the air again as she struggled to find words to say. "God, this sounds cheesy, but how has life been to you, Moxie?"
Moxie shrugged. "That's not my real name. I never told you my real name." she looked sadly at the older girl. "I'm Priscilla. Yeah, it was a stupid, pointless thing to do, but fourteen-year-old me didn't think it was a cool enough name for someone with magical powers." she sighed.
"Which do you want me to use?" the older girl asked.
"Moxie, please." Moxie said. She shuddered for a moment, but gave the older girl a sad smile. "As bad as it sounds, I feel more alive as 'Moxie' than I ever will as 'Priscilla'."
"I know what you mean." the older girl nodded. Another silence seeped into the space between them as Moxie collected her thoughts.
"I've had a good three years, all things considered." she said, just before the silence became unbearable. "High school hasn't really been that much trouble. I'm not having too much trouble supporting myself. I have a little apartment in the town nearby, nice enough for one teenaged girl living alone. It was hard, the first few months, being alone. But I've gotten used to it." she paused briefly. "Barely enough witches to keep me running, if you were wondering. I don't have any grief seeds to spare."
"Don't worry, I'm not trying to invade your territory." the older girl said.
"Sorry." Moxie shook her head. "I know that I shouldn't be so suspicious of fellow FA magical girls, but it's hard to turn the paranoia switch off once it's been turned on."
"Are you having trouble?" the older girl asked. "I could help you if you need to keep someone else off of your turf."
"Yana, I'm sure you have other things to be doing." Moxie said, giving her a smile. "You're nineteen now, right? How's holding two full-time jobs been going for you?"
"Well, luckily one of those two jobs is 'student'." Yana said. "I got a rather large scholarship, almost a free ride, attending a state university. As for the other, well, let's say that state universities are plenty large enough to house healthy populations on their own. Being the campus magical girl is going quite fine for me."
"That sounds nice." Moxie said. "Being useful."
"Oh, don't get down." Yana said. "I'm sure Crystal Springs would be lost without their magical protector. A few freak accidents in a town of 3,200 and there wouldn't be a town."
"I'm not their protector." Moxie said bluntly. "I'm here because it's quiet, cheap, and there are enough witches floating about to keep me topped off, barely."
"Self-serving or not, I doubt this town would be here if you weren't active." Yana said.
"It's true, isn't it?" Moxie said. "So much of how the world works is dictated by what little naive girls in flashy dresses do behind the scenes."
"I'm sure they're appreciative, even if they don't know it." Yana said.
"Yeah." Moxie looked down at her milkshake for a moment, swirling her straw back and forth. "What are you here for, anyway?"
"It's summer. School is out, and I don't have a job. I'm doing a bit of traveling." Yana said. "Honestly, I didn't know you were here until about an hour ago. You're not exactly easy to contact, you know."
"Did you think that that might have been a hint?" Moxie said darkly.
"You've really changed, haven't you?" Yana said sadly.
"Yeah. Of course I've changed. I've been fighting for my life alone in the middle of nowhere since we scattered three years ago. A fourteen-year-old with no support group in an endless battle just to keep the lights on?" she pointed up at the electric lights above them, then down at her ring. "Both of the lights? Yeah, I changed. If I hadn't, I would have been one of the 188 who aren't still alive, rather than the 73 that are."
"You could have asked for help." Yana said. "About fifty of us are still in contact. We can't always support each other, but we try to do what we can."
"Magical girls groups don't work over extended periods of time when they're larger than two members." Moxie said. "Felicity's words, not mine. Someone smart might be able to juggle it, but I'm not the smartest person. I've eliminated the variables instead." she glared at Yana. "It's been working fine so far."
"Not if you're barely scraping by and having to deal with a territory fight." Yana said.
"I've dealt with other girls before." Moxie said. "I'll deal with this one too."
"Okay." Yana said, sighing. "Loner is a personality type, I suppose."
Silence fell between them again. Moxie pretended to be distracted while sneaking looks at Yana, while Yana did her best to pretend not to notice. A waitress approached them. Yana noticed that she seemed specifically wary around Moxie.
"I've brought your orders." the waitress said nervously, placing their food down on the table. She paused, leaning in a little towards Moxie. "Is she one of your, uh, friends?" she asked, tittering slightly.
"Yeah, someone I knew from a few years ago." Moxie said. "Before all, uh, this. No one to be worried about."
"If you say so." the waitress nodded, leaving without a word.
Yana cocked her head slightly at Moxie. "Do you run a gang or something?" she asked incredulously.
"Not so loud, if you wouldn't mind." Moxie said flatly. "And it falls more into the 'or something' part of that. Also, run might be a bit misleading. Just... look, don't worry about it."
"Okay." Yana said, putting her hands up. "None of my business."
"No, no, it's nothing like that..." Moxie growled. "Stupid Marie. I don't run a gang, Yana. I'm not in charge of anything. But, well, there are people here, people that make the other townies a little uncomfortable. Sometimes, if their names get mentioned around me enough, they stop doing whatever made the others uncomfortable. And if they don't, sometimes they stop showing up in town. And sometimes the ones who do come back start acting real strange around me. You know how it is. People put one and one together after enough time passes."
"I thought you said you weren't their protector." Yana said, raising an eyebrow.
"I didn't want you to get the wrong idea." Moxie said. "I expected you to be more against the whole 'vigilante justice' thing."
"What else, exactly, would you consider magical girls?" Yana said. "Sure, the rest of us are less explicit about it, but I get it. Moxie, I'm not the enemy. Or, at least, I'm trying really hard not to be."
"I know." Moxie said, sighing. She suddenly looked really tired. "I've been having a kind of shitty week, so you'll have to forgive me."
"Moxie, really, if you need help-" Yana started, but Moxie put a hand up.
"Let's just eat, okay?" Moxie said. "Please?"
Yana nodded. The two ate in silence for a few minutes, neither looking at the other. Suddenly, with no lead up, Moxie started talking again.
"It's really hard, you know?" she said sullenly. "Having to follow your own plan. I mean, sure, the other stuff it hard too, but... I don't know where I'm going, you know? I've never been a planer. I only see things in the moment. Despite how much I've changed over these years, that hasn't. I can't tell you what I'm doing one month, three months, a year from now. My future is maybe the next two weeks, if I strain it a bit. There's no certainty." she looked down. "Fuck it. I miss Felicity. I liked being under the control of someone who knew what the fuck they were doing. After that, you realize exactly how little the rest of the world actually knows. No one in charge knows shit. No one but her. We keep pretending we know what the fuck is going to happen in our future, and we make our little plans, but it's all just loudmouths pissing into the dark and hoping if they spray widely enough they'll hit a little of the truth. It's all stupid and pointless and... and..." Moxie sighed. "and there's nothing I can do about it."
"I should have checked on you sooner." Yana said softly. "Moxie, when is the last time that you refreshed your soul gem?"
"Yesterday." Moxie said stiffly. "I'm not that desperate. I keep myself topped off."
"Can I see it, then?" Yana asked.
Moxie paused. She closed her eyes, then put her hand over her ring, drawing the gem out. Yana gasped.
"That's what topped off looks like?" Yana asked.
"It's a bit cloudy, that's all." Moxie said.
"It looks half used." Yana said bluntly.
"Whatever." Moxie said. "It stores the same amount of power as it always has. I don't see the problem."
"Our soul gems darken when we start to take curses upon ourselves. They're not only a measure of our remaining power. A magical girl on empty with a strong will and purpose can still be farther from turning into a witch than one with a full charge but no will." Yana said. "How long has it been like this?"
"A couple of weeks, maybe." Moxie said. "I don't know. I haven't really been keeping track. I don't pay attention to time anymore, really. I've got a strong idea of the years by the seasons and that's about it."
"Moxie, you need help." Yana said. "I'm serious." she paused, then reached into her satchel, placing two grief seeds onto the table. "Take these, to start. A little security might take a bit of stress off the edge. But this isn't going to be enough. You need time to rest, a safe place with people who can help you. If you don't get it soon, you're going to-"
"I don't need your help." Moxie said. She stood up, walking out of the booth. "I don't need your handouts, and I certainly don't need your protection."
"Moxie, please." Yana said.
"Thanks for the meal." Moxie said, turning away.
Yana looked down at her hands.
**&^%^&**
Thirty-eight months after the death of Felicity.
"You should write a memoir." Janet said in Kara's ear, and Kara laughed lightly. "No, K, I'm being dead serious. Stop laughing."
"Old ladies write memoirs." Kara said. "I'm only 21. Not an old lady just yet."
"No, people with experience write memoirs." Janet said. "And you've had enough experiences for a lifetime."
"Oh, come on." Kara said. "Who would read about me? Seriously. There are plenty of more interesting things to learn about."
"No, this would totally work. 'Eight Years a Magical Girl, the Story of Kara Harbor.' You'd sell millions. Oh, wait! It'll take you time to write it anyway, so schedule a 2007 release and make it 'A Decade a Magical Girl.'" Janet said.
"Janet, no one would believe me." Kara said. "And if they did, it would be even worse. Besides, who even says that I'll be alive in two years for the decade? I have plenty of other things to worry about."
"Oh, come on. You're the oldest magical girl who's ever lived, far as we know. Something tells me that after you've survived the first eight years, you're not about to drop out of the running." Janet said.
"It's only a matter of time before I run into a witches circle, or a bad magical girl turf war, or even one of the triumvirate. Even I wouldn't stand a chance against Kali or Walpurgisnacht or Solace." Kara said. "It's just statistics, Janet. If one in two magical girls die every six months, then one in sixty-five thousand, five hundred and thirty six will make it eight years."
"Statistics don't work for individual people, unless Felicity left you some notes." Janet said, and Kara winced. Of course, Janet couldn't see that through the phone, and continued blithely on. "I'm going to bet that far less than a quarter make it to one year – I'll even bet that as little as a tenth do. And from there, I'll bet that less that 1% total make it to eighteen months. But here's the kicker. I'd also bet you that half of those who made it to eighteen months make it to three years, and half of those who make three years make six. Because once you've lived through the great filter that is the normal, daily life of magical girls, I'm going to bet that you're a whole hell of a lot less likely to die to it. Now, I don't know where the edge of this filter is; those numbers are examples. Fuck if I know the real ones. But it just makes sense that, at some point, your death rate is going to be much lower as you get more and more competent, and I'm almost certain that that filter is behind you at this point."
"Maybe you're right." Kara sighed. "Maybe between my broken wish and my natural skill, I've managed to game the system enough to stay on top. But if I start thinking like that-"
"You'll lose the edge that keeps you there, I know." Janet said. "Still, I hate how pessimistic you are about the future."
"Whatever works." Kara said. "And I'm not pessimistic. I'm a realist. Being a magical girl is deadly. We've lost almost four in five of all the magical girls we've ever met, and the only reason it's that low is the 73 left from 'Felicity's Army', none of whom have exactly a normal rate of death."
"Which leads me to believe that skill and planing really does have something to do with survival." Janet said. "Sure, one person could be a statistical anomaly, but 73 of 344 making it past the three year mark? That's not random. Under your 'half every six months', there should be..." Janet paused, thinking. "Uh... five or six left. I think. Anyway, like it or not, you've got a long life ahead of you. I'm almost certain."
"Maybe you're right." Kara said again, not really wanting to argue farther. "But I'm not writing a memoir, and that's final."
"Oh, come on!" Janet said, but she laughed softly. "Heh, I guess that isn't really like you anyway, is it? You're more of a 'forward into the future' kind of girl then a 'learn from the past' type."
"You can't change the past." Kara said. "What's done is done. Time travel isn't real, even in this world of magic. But we can shape our present to make it more like the future we imagine, if we're willing to spend the effort. There isn't really much use in dwelling on the past."
"Well, speaking of the future, when will I see you again?" Janet asked. "You've been gone nearly two months already."
"I don't know. I can't imagine it'll be more than another month." Kara said. "But these girls in Berlin really need the help. I've just barely managed to stop the fighting between them, but the situation is far from stable. Not to mention Erma and Helmine, who are both still on a fast path to self-destruction. It's... I know I can't stay here forever, but they're children, Janet. Twelve, thirteen, fourteen year olds."
"So were we. You started at thirteen, remember?" Janet said.
"And I can't believe how stupid, impulsive, and naive I was back then." Kara said. "Do you seriously think back on that time and not see just how wrong we were for thinking we had it figured out?"
"I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that they can take a little more stress then you're giving them credit for." Janet said. "Kara, you know how much I support this outreach project of yours. But if you stay in each place for six months, you're only going to be able to help two places a year. Not to mention that if you stay too long, they might get used to your help and lose out on developing their own edge. Giving too much assistance could be just as bad as not giving enough. You've stopped the interpersonal fighting, given training, saved a few lives, gotten things back on track. The area is stable again. It's not good, but, Kara, we're talking about magical girls. It's never good. They fell down and you picked them up, and I think that you should be proud of that. But now they're back on their feet, and you can't walk for them, even if you want to. You know that staying longer isn't going to do much good. You just don't want to see the new friends you've made get hurt, which is understandable. But that's on you, not on them."
Kara sighed. "You know, for someone who can't add three digit numbers correctly all of the time, you're scarily perceptive when it comes to people."
"That's why you talk to me." Janet said.
"Alright. Look, give me five days to take care..." Kara paused, then sighed. "To say goodbye, alright?" Kara said. "I'll be home by the end of the week."
"Okay. Well, in that case, you might want to start brushing up on your Japanese." Janet said.
"You have a new location for me?" Kara asked.
"Yeah. City in Japan, Kazamino. 2.4 million people, so just like home. I don't know quite how bad it is there, because our network doesn't really include Japan yet – but it's bad enough that someone there got desperate enough to track us down online for help. From their email, I think that they might have only, like, three magical girls total there. I didn't want to say this up front, because then you might be pressured to leave Berlin early even if it wasn't okay, but... well, I don't think we've encountered a worse case than this. I've already contacted some of our friends; you'll be going with another five girls. You honestly might need the help."
"Great." Kara sighed. "Well, I always wanted to go to Japan, I guess."
**&^%^&**
Forty months after the death of Felicity.
"What was she like?" one of the boys asked, cleaning a strange looking pistol with a faintly glowing purple liquid. "This, uh, Felicity." he paused, looking up at the older girl. "If you don't mind me asking."
"Smart, courageous, kind, selfless, determined, always trying her hardest to make the world a better place." Samantha said, not looking up from her workbench. "Honestly one of the five greatest people I've ever met. Deserves a spot in the history books. Managed to accomplish in three weeks more than most do in a lifetime. And so, so very human." she paused, turning up to glance at the boy. "Why do you ask?"
"I don't know. I guess I was just curious as to what someone had to do to get in your good books." he said.
"Well, you don't have to worry about that." Samantha said, finishing the repairs on the goggles as she spoke. "You're never even going to come close. No point looking into impossibilities."
"Oh ha ha." he said dryly. "Thanks a ton. I can almost feel the appreciation in your tone."
"Don't break your goggles every mission and maybe I'll be nicer." she teased, handing him back the goggles. He put them on, hitting a switch on the side. "Are they working now?" she asked.
"Yeah, the display has gone back on." he said.
"Max, what's that, fifth time this month you've needed repairs?" one of the other boys called. "These things aren't toys, you know."
"Shut up." he said. "I take the most dangerous missions that the rest of you pansies won't touch. So what if I get a little more banged up; it's to be expected."
"You act rashly before you get the rest of your team together, you mean." A girl snarked, and he flushed.
"Okay, settle down. I don't want a cat-fight in my workshop." Samantha said. She turned down to the workbench to hide her smile. "Speaking of missions, how has my little remedial team 2 been doing recently?"
"Henry's still out with a broken leg." the girl said. "The three of us are doing fine on our own, though. Five witch kills, three familiars. Hardly remedial."
"Eight in a week?" Samantha laughed. "There was a time a group of two would be expected to bring in twenty a week at least."
"Well, we aren't magical girls." Max said, finishing the care of his gun and cocking it with practiced motions. "We're witch hunters. Normal people. Without your tech we wouldn't be able to see the things at all, and our weapons aren't all that effective against them. The fact that for the first time normal humans have killed witches at all should be impressive."
"The technology wasn't available until very recently. And most magical girls don't have the liberty of also being scientists." Samantha said. "And now I'm in charge of three special forces units. Where did I go wrong?" she sighed. "I was supposed to be the one to figure this stuff out and then let other people actually deal with using it."
"Heavens knows you're not a great leader." the boy in the back said, and the girl elbowed him. "Ow! Hey, it's true. She'd do better in a lab building new kit for us full time, rather than have to juggle taking care of us as well."
"I agree." Samantha said. "But the rest of you'd make even worse commanders, so I'm not stepping down just yet."
There was a beeping noise, and one of the monitors flashed red. Samantha got up and looked at the display. Her eyes widened. "Oh, no. Please, not now. Not here. We aren't even remotely ready for this."
"What is it?" Max asked.
"One of the triumvirate." Samantha said quietly. "I think it's Walpurgisnacht, but I could be wrong. The data's a bit fuzzy. 30% chance that it's actually Solace. We're getting manifestation tags like crazy in the nearby area. It'll be here in... maybe fifteen hours."
"Fifteen... hours?" the girl said. "But, this is New York. There are eleven and a half million people in the city here. And you've got better detection tech then they do for this. They won't know remotely soon enough to evacuate."
"So I guess we'd better make sure that it never reaches there, huh?" Samantha said, quickly sending out an all call. "We're going to intercept it. Luckily it's coming down over land, so we have a little bit of an opportunity to set up our battleground. These things are so powerful that they just appear in a place and get their fill of death – they're used to easy victories. If we put up enough resistance, it might just chose another target and pass us by. Maybe."
"Twelve of us against that thing?" Max asked.
"Maybe not. I have some friends, but I don't know how many will be able to get here." Samantha's eyes flashed across the screen. Come on, someone, please...
**&^%^&**
Thirty-seven months after the death of Felicity.
Yana stared at the grief seeds on the table. After a quiet minute, she picked them back up and placed them back into her bag. Sighing, she got up, walked to the front desk, and payed the bill for the food. She walked back to her car, turned it on, and began to drive.
She looked out over the desolate area, the pit in her stomach growing with every passing second. There had to be something that she could do for Moxie, but it was impossible to help someone who refused to allow anyone to get close. Still, it felt wrong just to leave, somehow.
Of course it feels wrong. You're leaving her to die and you know it.
Yana shook her head. She couldn't leave here, not yet. Even if it took all week, she'd convince Moxie. Somehow. She pulled the car into reverse, heading into town. Hopefully a hotel wouldn't be too expensive.
Suddenly, her car flipped onto its side, spinning through the air briefly before landing upside down ten feet off the road. With controlled calm, Yana transformed, using her magic to blow the door off and escaping the vehicle less than a second before the gas tank burst into flame. She looked around, but there wasn't anything here that could possibly have knocked her off of the road. Scanning slowly, Yana began to turn around.
As she did so, she felt a cold pressure on the back of her neck. Her eyes went wide, and she stopped moving.
"Good. Now, don't try anything." the voice of a young girl told her, and suddenly Yana felt more scared than she had been in a very long time. "Take off your bag. Now."
Yana complied, dropping her bag in the dirt in front of her.
"Good." the girl behind her said. "You're pretty old for this, huh? Must be almost twenty."
"N-nineteen." Yana said. "I've been doing this for three years."
"Three years, not bad." the girl said, walking around to Yana's front and picking up the bag. She had a heavy looking axe held out with one hand, keeping it pressed to Yana's neck. "It would be a real shame to end it here after you'd kept it up for so long, huh?"
"Yes." Yana said, trying her best to seem as non-threatening as possible.
"Well, then I'd suggest not staying around here too much longer." the girl said. "This place is already claimed, do you understand?"
"Yes. I understand." Yana said. "I'm not here to give you any trouble."
"Good!" the girl said. "Keep acting like this and you might get to see the next three years. Now, stand up and start walking."
Yana did as she was told, getting to her feet and starting to walk. After a few steps, however, there was the sound of gunfire, and the younger magical girl turned to face the new threat.
Yana didn't waste a second. She quickly summoned her magical shuriken and threw them in a scatter at the girl. She yelled out as they bit into her flesh. The gunfire started again, closer this time. Yana saw Moxie running at them, her face a mask of calm concentration, as it always was in combat. The other girl swung her axe out at Yana, who barely managed to doge out of the way, but it was clear she was hurt. One of the gunshots met their mark, and the other girl went down. With a quick move, Yana embedded a shuriken into the girl's wrist, forcing her to drop her weapon with a scream. Yana kicked the axe out of the way, and the other girl kicked Yana's feet out from under her. She grabbed Yana's legs as she tried to right herself, removing one of the shuriken from her side and stabbing at Yana with it. Yana felt it cut a gash into her arm, but she managed to use the momentary imbalance that the strike caused to kick the other girl hard in the stomach, pushing her clear. The girl struggled to her feet, but stopped when she heard the cock of Moxie's gun. Moxie was now standing only a few feet from her, her duel pistols aimed dead for the other girl's face. Yana grabbed a rock off of the ground, and slammed her over the head with it. The girl crumpled.
"I had it taken care of at that point." Moxie said, annoyed.
"Yeah. That's what I was worried about." Yana said.
"I wouldn't have killed her." Moxie said defensively.
"What was the plan, then?" Yana said. Moxie didn't respond to that.
Yana sighed, reaching into her bag and taking out a metal cube. With a tug, she pulled the girl's necklace off and placed it in the cube. The girl transformed back into her day clothes with a flash. She then took out a little torch. Carefully, she sealed the cube so that it couldn't be opened. She placed the sealed cube in the girls hand, then, as a afterthought, attached it to her wrist with a pair of handcuffs.
"What was that?" Moxie asked.
"She won't be able to transform if she can't contact her soul gem. She's on probation until she can find someone to cut that box open. Which, most likely, she'll have to travel to a nearby city to do. It'll also show her very clearly that we could have killed her easily if we had wanted to. This should get her out of your hair, hopefully permanently." Yana said.
Moxie didn't respond to that. Yana sighed, then stood up. "She's yours, I guess. I don't actually know what she'd done, or how dangerous she is, but this should stop the both of you from doing anything rash. If she's enough trouble that you still want to kill her after you've managed to open that box, then she's probably dangerous enough to warrant it."
Moxie didn't say anything for a moment. Then she sighed and looked up at Yana. "Thanks."
"No problem." Yana said. "I want to help you, you know."
Moxie hesitated. "You'll need a place to stay, now that you don't have a car." she said tentatively.
Yana smacked herself. "Oh, god, your right. She kind of destroyed my car, didn't she?" she laughed sheepishly.
"I suppose you could stay with me, for now." Moxie said. "Just until you get a way out of here."
"Right." Yana said. "Of course. Just until I get a way out."
**&^%^&**
Forty months after the death of Felicity.
"I'm really glad you guys showed." Samantha said. "God knows we need the help."
"Yeah, but we're a team. Sort of." Yana said. "Of course we showed." She'd brought Moxie along with her, which Samantha found surprising, but she wasn't about to complain. Hanna and Leah had shown up as well, as had Nancy. Most of the others were simply too far away to reach them in time, but had sent their wishes and advice. Kara had even tried to reach them from Japan, but the quickest flight here would have taken her seventeen hours, just too long. It was touching how her friends were willing to drop everything to try to come to her aid.
She just hoped it would be enough.
"Ten minutes until manifestation." Max said, reading off of the display. It was raining slightly, the dreary September day weighing on them. Or perhaps that was the storm that followed the witch. "Readings indicate a 97% chance that it's Solace." He looked at Samantha. "It's weird, though. Solace is usually active in the winter, and it's followed by a deep, dry calm. This weather is much more Walpurgisnacht's style."
"No one's started blowing up into bloody smears, so it's not Kali at least." Hanna said, the others laughing nervously.
"We're going to be fine." Nancy affirmed. "Usually it's single girls, or teams of two or three, that try to go up against these things. And even they sometimes do enough to get them to leave. We've got six girls and eleven of Samantha's warriors. We stand a better chance than most ever had."
"We've got a surge!" Max said. "It's coming early!"
Everyone tensed. A grey mass began to accumulate some three hundred feet in front of them, growing in size quickly. The ground rippled outwards from it, and the rocks began to move back and forth rhythmic. A sweet, sad song started playing, making it hard to concentrate. Samantha struggled with her controls for a second, then managed to turn on her magical sound canceling headphones. She saw the little green lights going on on the other's headsets as well. She signaled her readiness, which the others responded to with clear determination and quick ready signals of their own.
Time to fight, Samantha thought, then leaped into battle, the others following in the artificial dead silence which surrounded them.
**&^%^&**
Thirty-nine months after the death of Felicity.
Kara looked down at the note in her hand, then over at the unconscious 27-year-old woman and her crying one-year-old daughter. She didn't say a word, didn't make a sound, dropping the note to the floor. Ferra turned to her, cocking her head.
"Something important?" she asked.
Kara didn't answer, instead walking over and checking the woman for any major damage. Finding none, she stood back up, turning back to the street.
"Make sure she gets home safely." she said, already beginning to walk away.
Ferra shook her head, but took the woman by the arms, preparing to carry her. Once Kara had left the area, she turned and picked up the note. It was written in Japanese, so it took her a moment to translate.
Her name is Tomoe Hiromi. The daughter is Tomoe Mami. Make sure they stay safe. Keep an eye out for them in the future. Do not introduce yourself under any circumstances until 2013 at the earliest.
-FH
P.S. - See you in thirteen years.
**&^%^&**
Thirty-three months after the death of Felicity.
"Is the interface working?"
"Affirmative. The construct is fully formed. Consciousness data is 99.8% done recovery. Beginning wake up protocol now."
"Prepare for wake up."
The girl opened her eyes, blinking in the harsh light around her. She was stunned momentarily, her mind fuzzy. Something seemed vaguely amiss to her, but she couldn't place what. She tried to think what it could be, before gasping with shock. Her identity was missing. She had no idea who she was. Memories flickered in and out of her consciousness, but she couldn't hold onto any.
"Please, calm down." a voice said, and the girl turned to face a strange looking white catlike creature, with long floppy ears and bright blood red eyes. Instinctively, she felt distrust of the creature, despite it's appearance. She gave it a cold look.
"What are you?" she asked. "Why am I here?"
"We are the incubators." the cat thing said, giving her a cute look. "We have reconstructed you from your residual data after death. How are you feeling, Felicity Harbor?"
Felicity looked down at herself, hugging her naked body tightly with her arms. "I'm scared." she said truthfully. "I don't understand what's happening."
"Your memories have been uploading to you slowly." the incubator said. "You may have recall problems initially."
"Why did you... reconstruct me?" Felicity asked.
"During your lifetime, you managed to develop a model of human emotional reaction far more advanced than any we possess. To further our cause, we wanted to use your mathematics of psychosociology to make better and more accurate predictions of human psychology. With your help, we can jump a thousand years in understanding of humanity in a few months!"
"I see." Felicity said.
"In exchange for your help, we will permit you to live out a second life here." the incubator said. "If you give us enough to allow for our own models to progress without your assistance, we may even allow you to return to your home, under certain restrictions."
"I... see." Felicity said.
"Are you making any progress with your memory?" the incubator asked. Felicity shook her head, then paused. Something was building in the back of her mind, filling her head with knowledge and energy. She closed her eyes, then flashed them open, smiling.
"Oh, yes, I've gotten my memories back." Felicity said, quickly hiding her smile. Everything was going according to plan, of course. After all, she was a human-incubator interface. It wasn't just human psychology that she had made models for. If anything, figuring out how to play incubators had been easier. Six months, and she'd be in a position to begin starting the fifth phase of her plan – removal of the incubators from earth for good. It would be a long process, much more difficult to handle; but she had a good head on her shoulders.
"What do you remember?" the incubator asked.
"I used to live on earth. I had an older sister, but I can't place her name. I had magic, I think. And..." she bit her lip, acting for all the world to be attempting a difficult recall. "Do you have a piece of paper?" she said. "There's an equation in my head. I can't really understand it yet, but I could copy it down."
The incubator dipped its head and left to fetch Felicity paper. Once it was gone, Felicity let out a sigh. This was going to be a hard act to pull off, but she was already calculating forward for the incubator's response. Play off of their fears, their wants, their needs. Tie them up and force them to push themselves to the edge. Just thirteen and a half years, and she'd be done. Or, at least, she'd have a 87.46% chance of being done.
Now, to start...
Authors note:
So, that was a thing! I hope you liked the thing. This started out as just a fan theory as to how the magical girl population, which grew linearly, could ever hope to control the witch populations, which grew exponentially. Instead of posting the idea on some forum, I decided to turn it into a story, and suddenly this happened. I expected this to be about half the length it ended up, but it still seems sort of rushed at the end anyway. Oh well.
I don't have all that much to say about it, really. I think it does what it needs to and does so competently. It's not going to win story of the month, but it's easy enough to read and hopefully engaging enough to not feel like a waste of time. I'm neither really happy or particularly upset with how it turned out. Maybe I'm talking up my own butt and it's really awful; if so, feel free to let me know in a review! And, if you liked it, I'd appreciate if you'd also write a review! Watching my 'Favorites' number tick upwards is nice and all, but it tells me basically nothing about what you actually liked, and makes it harder to improve my writing. I'd rather a bad review that told me what I did wrong than a 'favorite' with no explanation.