Humans were strange.
Predictable, yet so unpredictable at the same time.
They had a habit of falling into patterns, but at the same time easily rejected them, along with logic, deduction and rationality. The things that the Incubator considered the building stones of success. Through those building blocks, it and its fellow species could figure out basically anything.
Yet it didn't quite get what was going on with Homura Akemi.
On the one hand, this was not necessarily a bad thing. Its species specialized in scientific analysis, having an anomaly like her gave them something new to work on.
On the other hand, having an anomaly in such close proximity to Madoka Kaname was worrisome. The plan had been to direct Mami Tomoe towards her and her friend, fix two issues with one solution as it were. And while another magical girl helping them wouldn't be the end of the world, it would prefer that said girl was known. Homura Akemi, somehow, was not recognized by any other Incubator or Archive. Officially speaking, no contract existed. Thus, there was nothing to base predictions off of.
It kept its safe distance, watching the anomaly closely. Based on her body language and the confused demeanour of the Potentials, this was a very different girl from Mami, likely a more cynical one. The path had gone in a different direction.
How… troublesome. It had multiple ways to steer this at least, but the most efficient ways were out. Truly, this was unfortunate, but with time, it could fix this.
Though the road to Homura's home was safe, it was paved with an uncomfortable feeling. Neither of the three girls wanted to start a conversation, knowing it would just be awkward. The silence was preferable, with Madoka and Sayaka sharing the occasional look as they processed everything that had happened. It was a relief when they finally entered Homura's house, though it did not feel like a home.
It was abnormally dark, even when the lights were on. The walls of the hall were laden with mirrors, while the living room was sparse, but for a table surrounded by many chairs and couches. All of these were radically different in design, which would clash were it not for an intricate pattern in their lay-out. It was distinct, at the very least.
Homura briefly debated between two light buttons, before pressing one that bathed the room in a warm light. It was calming, but not quite comforting. Now that Madoka could easily look around, she noticed various projectors mounted onto walls or laid on cabinets. Madoka hazarded a guess that those could be related to the other light button.
"It feels wrong to call any place weird after just now, but… damn, this place is weird." Sayaka said, despite comfortably leaning back in her chair. "At least the weird thing about her is chairs and magic, not… murder." Her mind flashed back to the massive gun the girl had pulled out of nowhere. Okay, maybe murder was still on the table, but since her life was saved just now, she was going to be an optimist about it.
"I'm glad, yeah…" Madoka nodded, though the thought had clearly never crossed her mind. "Still, I'm glad this place feels kinda normal. I felt like I was going crazy earlier."
"If it provides any 'comfort', I can assure you both that you are perfectly 'sane'."
Homura returned as if out of nowhere, carrying a tray with three tea cups. The girl moved as gracefully as before, like there was no difference between now and the kaleidoscopic world they had just entered. Still, when Sayaka focused, she thought the girl looked tense. She wondered why exactly.
The noirette sat down and handed out the tea, saying she had prepared banana tea for Madoka and cinnamon tea for Sayaka. It wasn't a flavour Sayaka had tried before, and a quick sip confirmed that the tea was both way too hot and pretty tasty.
With everyone having received their tea, Homura sat down as well. Her chair, a straight wooden one, was not made for comfort, much unlike the softer ones Madoka and Sayaka had taken to.
"It seems you two took this all quite well."
Both of them nodded, with Sayaka answering first: "I guess so, yeah. Maybe just because I'm not processing it at all, but it feels weirdly normal. Like we were just watching some kind of scary movie."
Madoka giggled at that. "Ehehe, I wouldn't say that, Sayaka. I thought it was really scary, but at the same time, seeing Homura so unfazed… it felt weird to stay scared."
Sayaka gave her friend a confused glance, but nodded all the same. She wasn't sure where Madoka got all that trust from, but at least she understood.
"That's good, I suppose. I would rather not have you two experience trauma from this sort of thing." Homura took a sip of her tea, unfazed despite it clearly being scalding hot. "We have the benefit that today's occurrences weren't too 'complex'. Everything you saw just now, from the 'area' to 'myself', was the product of 'Magic'."
"I figured that much, yeah." Sayaka leaned forward, interested. "Oh, since you did the whole transformation thing and such, does that mean you're like, an actual Magical Girl?"
"That is quite observant, 'Sayaka Miki'. It is very different from the 'anime' you've seen, much more dangerous, but the fundamentals are about the same."
"That's really cool, still! Doesn't that make you a superhero?" Her eyes widened, curious. "Wait, do you have a cute little animal mascot lying around, too?!"
Homura sighed. "...yes, unfortunately. Also, I'd prefer you not call me a 'hero'. It's a grim business, I'd rather not romanticize it."
"What does that mean?" Sayaka tilted her head, curious. "You still saved us, didn't you? You're doing heroic stuff."
"That I did." Homura took another sip of tea, considering the possible routes she could take. This was a whole new approach for her, everything could go wrong early, but she couldn't be frozen in fear either.
"I suppose you could say that I try, but almost every magical girl has skeletons in her closet. On principle, the system we have asks you to make hard decisions, many of which will leave you as a worse person."
She could already tell Sayaka was sceptical, being used to that expression from her. It was in a different direction than she had expected, though. "I suppose I shall start from the beginning, then…"
It was weird, to be the first one to lay out the system. She was used to hearing it from Mami Tomoe, who put it in an entirely different way from her. Much more positive, much more glorified. At least she never undercut the danger.
"In this world, there are people with 'magical potential'. People like me, or like you two, most of them female. A third party, calling itself Kyubey, might take notice and propose the following 'contract': The human gets one 'wish' of their choice, while Kyubey makes them a 'magical girl' that fights Witches and Familiars, creatures like the ones I faced earlier. They are responsible for many unexplained deaths across the world, compelling humans into suicide. Thus, it's important they are defeated."
Both Madoka and Sayaka nodded, both of them looking curious, interested. "So in return for being a magical girl, you can make any wish? Literally any wish?"
"Correct. It will not twist your wish, though it won't protect you from the consequences. Wishes have to be carefully considered."
Sayaka nodded, a thoughtful expression on her face. Homura hoped that her fate hadn't already been locked in.
"That sounds… alright so far?" Madoka cautiously prodded. "What's the bad part about it?"
"We'll get to that now." Homura took another sip of tea, before raising her left hand. The gem on her ring glowed brightly, transforming into the faberge egg-like form Homura had briefly shown before. Madoka was reminded of the Pamjat Azova-egg for a moment, having seen it at an exhibition once.
"Once Kyubey has made the contract, it will use its abilities to create a 'Soul Gem'. As is implied through the name -but never once said-, it contains your soul. If it breaks, you die. If you 'strain' it through magic use, you'll eventually die. If you give up, you will also die."
That seemed to have an impact. Both Madoka and Sayaka looked appalled at the idea while they inspected the gem. Madoka noted the various small spots of darkness drifting through it. That had to be the 'strain' she was talking about.
"That's… terrible…" She finally vocalized. "Why would Kyubey do that? Why wouldn't he tell you about it?"
"It's done to increase our 'survivability'. By separating the soul from the body, the body can be healed even if it 'dies'. We become much more durable, at the cost of being… puppets, I suppose. The only reason it keeps it quiet is to make more magical girls, since that's it's prime directive."
Madoka was on the verge of bringing up unlawful contracts her mother once mentioned, before quickly figuring that the law probably didn't matter much in magical business. She could understand why it was done, but she very much didn't like it.
"Because of the vulnerability of the soul gem, Magical Girls often die young. Few survive into adulthood, their fates essentially sealed from the beginning. I understand you might have great wishes, but I'd rather no one throw away their lives like that."
"B-but… if you do this alone, won't that be even worse? Won't you be in more danger?" Madoka sounded worried and a bit fearful. "I just can't let you do all of this alone in good conscience, not if it's so dangerous."
"Yeah!" Sayaka agreed wholeheartedly. "If magical girls are in danger like this, we can't just not do anything. There's gotta be some way to help, right?"
Homura hesitated, then nodded. "Yes, I suppose. It doesn't involve becoming a magical girl, and unfortunately will not grant a wish, but there is a way." She transformed again, reaching into her shield to pull out a golden arrowhead. "There exist supernatural abilities besides 'magic'. Based on your potential alone, I believe you could wield them."
She held out the arrow towards Sayaka, who took it in her hands and inspected it. Looking closer, it seemed to be vibrating, for some reason.
"This is a 'Stand arrow', an object capable of awakening special abilities inside of people cut by it. These abilities are called 'Stands'. While these come with their own risk, proximity to me already means you are in some danger. If you want a means to protect yourself, use this."
Sayaka raised the arrow up to her fingertip, much like Homura had done, but paused a moment before. "Wait. Does this have any drawbacks? Like, is my soul gonna get messed up here, too?"
"No. A 'Stand' is a manifestation of one's soul, meaning that it taking damage damages you in kind. The only other effects I have observed are a tougher body and a strange craving for Italian food. But-"
Sayaka laughed at that, interrupting her with a levity that felt nice, even to Homura. "If that's all, I've got nothing to worry about! I love that stuff already." And with that anticlimactic claim, Sayaka stabbed the arrow into her finger. Various blue sparks flew out of the wound, which quickly started to close up. The bluenette then handed the arrow to Madoka, who did the same thing.
"That's it? I thought it'd be more… dramatic."
"Perhaps it would've been if you didn't proclaim your love for Italian food first." Homura managed to joke, taking the arrow into her shield once more. "If the wounds start to hurt, or something 'strange' happens, tell me and I will use my 'healing magic' on it. Otherwise, your abilities should manifest soon, and we can begin training them shortly. Now, I think it's best if you two go 'home'. It's getting a bit late."
Madoka nodded, but quickly followed up: "Actually, Homura… would you want to come with us? Sayaka was planning to eat at my house anyway, I'm sure papa won't mind another one. I think it would be nice."
Homura hesitated on that, for a moment. It had been a few loops since she had allowed herself to get this close to anyone. But with the moves she had made this time around, it would only be right if she did something like this.
"If I'm not intruding, then I would love to."
A safe distance away from the house, kept there by Homura's scrutinising eyes, rested a lone Incubator, red eyes staring.
The signatures of its magical girl prospects had shifted significantly, in a way it only attributed to Stand users. It had its suspicions that Homura was one as well, but the first manifestations were the most obvious. It would've accepted it, had there been some means by which Homura could have done it so simply. But such a thing did not exist at all, not in a manner it couldn't sense.
It bowed its head, communicating with some of its other units to formulate a strategy. They would need to get to the bottom of this.