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Three Weeks Ago (Week 7)

Mia Cabalis, also known as the Magical Girl Luminous Libromancer, yawns as she gets up from her comfy, oh-so-soft bed. Then she sneezes, and lets out a little whimper. Even as she rubs the sleep out of her lidded eyes, her hand's already reaching for the thermometer on her nightstand.

"38C. Does this even count as a fever? Am I sick again?" Mia grumbles and grouses. Ugh, it certainly feels like Mia has a fever, she's all hot and bothered again. The bedsheets squish as Mia wriggles her pleasantly soft thighs together. The glass of water sitting on the nightstand's guzzled quickly as Mia gets up and shuffles to her desk like the zombie she feels like.

Strangely, the cooling liquid's not enough to quench the roaring thirst that Mia feels right now. Or the tingling ache Mia's feeling between her legs… She licks her chapped lips, smacks her mouth, winces as the putrid stench of her morning breath wafts into her nostrils.

Damn this weak mortal body Mia's been stuck with! It's so prone to maladies like illness and terribly inefficient physical needs that prevent Mia from progressing her research in as timely a manner as possible. Like the need to use the facilities, or to drink water and eat everyday…

Another wave of needy heat overtakes Mia, faint memories of a shy, young test subject moaning through her gag rising to the forefront of Mia's mind, and she finds herself licking her lips again.

Well. As much as Mia despises some of her body's useless needs, there are some that are quite nice to indulge in. Scratching an itch, taking a refreshing nap…

Experimentation.

Hehehehehe. Mia wipes an errant bit of drool from the corner of her mouth. Ooh, that nap was truly invigorating. Mia's got all sorts of ideas percolating in her magnificent brain now about how to experiment on her adorable test subject some more. So many ideas.

Mia's stomach rumbles, and she flushes.

Ideas that Mia will get to after she eats. And maybe showers, Mia can smell her own body odor now and it's not particularly pleasant, Mia got all hot and bothered which means that she's sweating a lot now. It's to the point where her nightgown's sticking to her body, almost like the skin of an overripe fruit.

Eugh. Mia plucks at the sodden material gingerly, watching the sheer fabric slowly peel away from the curve of her breasts. And then she sneezes, feeling that same familiar heat wash over her.

Yes, a shower, a meal, and maybe some Tylenol later for this fever. And then maybe a nap too, a glorious brilliant arch-mage still needs her beauty sleep after all.

And then? Onto some glorious, glorious experimentation~! Mia's got all sorts of samples she needs to start running tests on, after all! Skin samples, hair samples – It's time to get to the bottom of the mystery that's Evelyn Parker!

Mia's stomach gurgles again.

… Right after Mia makes herself a sandwich. Even brilliant, genius arch-mages need to eat after all.

--

One Week Ago (Week 9)

The Contractor strapped to Mia's desk looks like a cute, fluffy stuffed animal. An animated orange lion plushy, capable of walking, talking and flying. A poofy, cutesy mascot with its big beady eyes, its floofy mane, its soft velvety hide.

A velvety hide Mia's casually cutting through with a pair of scissors to expose the creature's stuffing, even as it struggles in its bonds.

"Oh, stop whining, I know you can't feel pain. You have as much of a nervous system as a jellyfish does," Mia huffs, feeling rather cross about this whole thing. "It was enough of a hassle trying to capture you to start with, and you're still struggling now?"

"Mmph," the living stuffed animal tries to work its mouth, a mouth that's been sloppily sewn shut with cheap cotton thread. Not some of Mia's best work, but it'll have to work for now.

Ugh, if it weren't for the fact that these fluffy floating mascots were responsible for creating Magical Girls… The stupid plushy just won't stay still! And this is another case where Mia can't use her magic to enforce her will upon the dumb test subject!

Because any amount of magical residue on the samples Mia's trying to take would utterly ruin them.

So. The hard way, then. Mia's hands reach for her scalpel and slices into the Contractor's hide, as easy as tearing open a seam in some cheap clothes. White stuffing leaks out from the cut, a fluffy cotton-like substance positively brimming with mana.

Mia carefully tweezes some of the fluff-stuff into a test tube. Then reaches for a few more. No sense in wasting precious material, after all~! It was hard enough trying to acquire this test subject in the first place. The silly biddies in the MGA have so many boring hangups when it comes to experimenting on the Contractors.

Corporations experiment on animals all the time. This is really no different. Sure, these are the entities responsible for giving a lot of Magical Girls their powers, but that doesn't mean that they're some sort of sacred spirit beast!

It just makes it more imperative for Mia to learn absolutely everything about these fascinating entities! Where did they come from? What are they made of? How do they work? How far can Mia push the modern understanding of magic in a world that's gone insane, brimming with kaiju and demons and Magical Girls?

Yes, sample collection is vital for this process…

Mia frowns, unconsciously wiggling her thighs together as that damnably familiar heat rolls up from her loins. She licks her lips, one of her hands wandering down to the hot spot in between her legs, squishing up against her sticky panties.

Hmm. This reaction again. How peculiar, that Mia's feeling this… Excited. Why, this reaction has been happening more and more recently, and Mia doesn't really know why. And there's more, too. It's like Mia forgot about… Something she had to be doing? Someone she had to meet?

Something work-related perhaps? No, no. Steele and Infinity Princess have the city well in hand, as well as the rest of the peons those two decided to pick up. Mia's been allowed to have some time to sit in her tower and finally conduct some research, and she's absolutely going to take full advantage of that time!

Still, this… This is a strange feeling. What could Mia be forgetting...

Mia shrugs, then gets back to taking samples from her captive test subject, taking up her scalpel and tweezers again. The stuffed animal mascot chained to Mia's table lets out a high-pitched squeal as her tools hover menacingly over one of its button eyes, and Mia finds herself rolling her eyes again.

"Oh, stop it already," Mia huffs, then slices through the thread connecting the button with the Contractor's fluffy face. Her tweezers drop the black button into another test tube, and Mia hums at the sight of a job well done.

Right, time to stitch this subject up and throw it back into stasis to see if it'll regenerate like the other subjects Mia's taken...

--

Now (Week 10)

Mia yawns, rubbing her eyes sleepily as she jerks awake. Ugh, those dreams again. Strange dreams, filled with soft… Things. That Mia was groping. There was a segment where Mia had a riding crop in her hand too, where she was…

Why on earth is Luminous Libromancer, Mia Cabalis, having such… Such raunchy dreams on a regular basis? Some enchantment that's wormed its way into her mind? No, Mia's been sequestering herself in her tower for three weeks, there's just no time for someone to have enchanted her.

Besides, Mia would've noticed strange, foreign magic influencing her thoughts. Maybe. Possibly. Truth be told, that sort of thing's always been Mia's weak spot. It just requires a level of finesse and attention to detail Mia can't be bothered with when there are significantly more interesting things to research.

Some kind of hormonal imbalance, perhaps?

Mia feels another wave of mysterious longing and lust wash over her, and the voluptuous bookworm frowns as she pads into her kitchen, opening her fridge and letting the cool air waft across her sticky body.

It could be, it could be…

"Kyuu!" The head of the stuffed teddy bear in Mia's fridge squeaks. The decapitated head fixes Mia with an accusing, imploring stare, almost as if it's begging for death.

"Oh shut up," Mia grumbles as she opens the fridge's empty meat drawer and tosses the head into the plastic compartment. Then she sighs.

Yep, Mia's fridge is totally empty. She's completely out of food.

"Kyuu, kyuu. Kyuu!" The Contractor's head lets out some more muffled squeals.

How irritating. Mia slams her fridge closed with a huff, then closes her eyes as a fresh wave of longing rocks her body. The girl lets out a frustrated groan as that familiar needy itch rolls over her, as well as that feeling like Mia's just totally forgot about something, lost in the throes of experimentation as she was.

What is it?

What's Mia forgetting about? What does Mia need to – to relieve herself?! Sleeping hasn't done it, eating hasn't done it, even experimentation hasn't been enough to slake this damnable thirst Mia's been feeling.

What is it Mia forgot about? Did she forget to submit her thesis to the MGA board? Did she forget to check her test results? Did she forget to order books from that quaint place in Terminus City, what was it called again? It was the one that Mia's adorable little test subject, the one with the peculiar magical resistance worked at -

Oh.

Oooooh. Mia wobbles on her heels as she realizes, in that instant, exactly what she's been forgetting about.

"Has it been three weeks? Hmm, maybe I should give my cute little test subject another call, if only to slake this sudden thirst that's overcome me..."

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(124/180 essence, 60 regen)