The harsh drone of the air conditioner stabs through Kaina's ears, the same color as the blinding fluorescent lights that make Kaina's eyes sting. The mechanical noise scratches against Kaina's skin, as harsh as nails on a chalkboard. The cold air tastes sour and bitter. Kaina shivers, squeezing her eyelids shut.

There's that sense of synesthesia again. That feeling Kaina gets when everything tickles and pops, those queer sensations that Kaina experiences when something momentous occurs.

When the world itself becomes too much to bear.

There's only one thing keeping Kaina grounded right now. One person holding onto Kaina's hand, tugging her into the bowels of her laboratory.

Alice Takanashi squeezes her fingers, and Kaina unconsciously reciprocates. Alice's hand is so small and warm, so soft and pliable…

And just beneath Alice's skin, there's a faint tingle of energy. Essence, essence, Alice's essence – Alice was clever, Alice was subtle, Alice has been careful. But now that Kaina knows what she's looking for, she feels like a fool for not noticing it sooner.

Inferna Shadowflare was the first Dark Magical Girl Kaina – Infinity Princess – Fought. And that fight was one of the few times Kaina almost died. It was early in her career, before her durability had evolved into true invulnerability.

Kaina remembers – Fire. Lots and lots of fire. Dark flames eating away at flesh and soul alike. A cackling face wreathed in hellfire, pouring vile corrupting energy into Kaina's body and setting her very bones alight. The pungent porky smell of flesh cooking blending together with the nauseating scent of choking smoke, the disgusting smell of that evil woman's vile magic seeping into Kaina's body -

A small shudder wracks Kaina's shoulders, an involuntary tremor, and she momentarily loses her grip on Alice's hand.

Now that Kaina knows what she's looking for, she can feel Alice's Essence, her corrupted magic. Not entirely, Alice is very good at hiding who she is, but it's still there. Essence tingles underneath Alice's soft, yielding skin, sweet and cloying like bubbles in fizzy soda. It snaps, pops, and crackles, exactly like that – That woman's magic did.

But it is different. Alice's Essence feels different. She's warm, but it's not – It's not the smothering heat of a bonfire. Alice feels more like… A space heater. Like the old kotatsu Kaina's mother had. It's a comforting, soothing heat that wafts off of Alice. As soothing as Alice's smell, and very presence is.

Alice's breasts nudge against Kaina, and Kaina feels her spine stiffen as Alice's comforting milk scent wafts against her nostrils, and Alice's squishy breasts press up against Kaina's upper arm. Alice is so cute, so soft and warm and comforting...

And that's – That's wrong, isn't it? It shouldn't feel this nice to be around Alice. Alice's practically admitted that she's a murderess. That she's done terrible, awful things and that she'd be willing to do more awful, terrible things in the future. Alice is a Dark Magical Girl, and Kaina knows all too well how dangerous Dark Magical Girls can be.

Except…

… It's difficult to contemplate, this idea that Alice is a bad person. Because that's not Kaina's experience. Kaina can't imagine Alice would really – Not when Alice's been so nice, not when Alice's promised that she'll stop, not when Alice does keep her promises -

Alice hums, pressing herself against Kaina even more, and Kaina swallows nervously as Alice's smooth, supple thigh grazes against Kaina's leg.

Ah, Alice is so soft, and warm, and cute and… And it feels a little strange that Alice's comforting presence is what Kaina's fixating on right now when Kaina should be thinking about…

About…

"What are you thinking about, silly?" Kaina blinks as Alice relinquishes her grip on Kaina's hand, as Alice turns around to stare up at Kaina. Kaina stares down at Alice's pink eyes, at her open, friendly smile, and desperately tries to ignore the way Alice's body is… Is…

Kaina swallows nervously as she realizes that she has a perfect view down the front of Alice's shirt at this angle.

"… I don't know," Kaina mumbles.

… The idea that Alice is 'evil' really is just… Too difficult to contemplate. Too difficult to think about, too difficult to understand. It's too difficult even to address. How do you deal with the idea that your girlfriend, your lover, your favorite person in the entire world…

How do you deal with the idea that she's a murderer? How should that affect your view of her? How should that affect the way you treat her? Because right now? Right now all Kaina really wants to do is to take Alice to bed, rip off her clothes, and spend a night luxuriating in Alice's warm, comforting presence.

Except… That's wrong, isn't it? Somehow that feels like it's the wrong answer. Moral conundrums like this have never been Kaina's strong suit, truthfully. Most of Kaina's sense of morality honestly came from her friends and her relatives. From Kaina's mother, from Maxine Steele, and Mitsuko...

… Mitsuko would've known how to deal with these… These uncomfortable, awkward thoughts. Mitsuko would've known, Mitsuko always had that way about her, Mitsuko could understand where Kaina just couldn't. Mitsuko would've known what to say here; Mitsuko would've known what to do.

Except Mitsuko's not here anymore. Mitsuko went to heaven, leaving Kaina behind with her complicated, troublesome thoughts and unresolved questions…

"You don't know? Well, tell me when you do know, okay? Your thoughts are important to me, Kaina!"

"… Ah," Kaina replies for lack of a better response.

"Anyways, we're at the lab now~!" Alice reaches out to push a button, and Kaina blinks as she finds herself in… A sterile, white room furnished with medical equipment. Recessed panels in the room's floor open up, and servomotors whir as a medical table pushes up into the center. And on top of that table…

"Alice, is that a… A body?" Kaina asks because in front of Kaina, there is, in fact, a body. The naked body of a young girl. Except it's… Wrong. Too stiff, limbs too rigid. Its shiny hairless scalp glistens, and when Alice takes ahold of Kaina's hand and lays it on the body's breast, its pale flesh is as cold as marble.

There's no life in this body. No warmth, no pulse, no semblance of self.

"It's basically a blank body. Kind of like a template? I stuffed Subject 001's brain into it and left it on ice," Alice explains.

"… Why?" Kaina finds herself asking.

"Well, I was going to recycle her and turn her into one of my cute maids or something," Alice explains. "But then I thought that you'd like to be involved."

"Involved in what?"

"In customizing her, silly," Alice giggles, leaning in to rest her head against Kaina's side.

"… Customizing her?" Kaina asks numbly.

"Kaina, I specialize in biomancy," Alice says. "How do you think I made my cute maids? Your adorable puppies? This is basically the same thing, except this time I'm giving you input!"

"Input into – Into changing her. Into turning her into… Whatever you want," Kaina realizes far, far too late.

"Uh, yeah, pretty much," Alice replies, sounding so at ease. Discussing forcible bodily modifications as casually as she'd discuss the weather.

"… But that's…" Kaina trails off, unable to articulate her thoughts. That's wrong. That's not a good thing. Forcibly altering people like this – That's a Bad Thing, isn't it?

"…" Alice hums. "Why are you hesitating, Kaina? What were you expecting me to do with her?"

"… I don't know. I thought…"

"It's not like I can turn her over to the authorities, Kaina. Because then we'd have to start answering all kinds of awkward questions. Unless you're ready to tell your friends about how I'm an 'evil' Magical Girl who's supposedly been doing all sorts of terrible things…?" Alice says, leveling a meaningful glance in Kaina's direction, and Kaina squirms, thinking about how Max would react.

Oh no. Max. How will Kaina even begin to explain what's been happening to Max, Kaina's dearest friend…

Because Kaina knows, knows all too well that Max won't hesitate to enforce General Order 47 if she ever learns that Alice is a Dark Magical Girl and that…

… That's also a problem, isn't it?

But hiding the truth from Max – No, stop. Kaina shakes her head, attempting to clear her mind from these complicated, troubling thoughts.

Perhaps it'd have been better if Kaina just stopped thinking and let Alice direct the conversation. Things would be simpler that way, at least. It'd be like being with Mitsuko again, in its own way, back when things were easier. Better.

"… No. Not yet," Kaina answers Alice's question, and Alice lets out an approving hum.

"That's what I thought. And, Kaina, it's not like we can return her to the place where we found her, right? Do you know what the corporations did to this poor girl? She was nothing but metal when we recovered her. Nothing but a brain and spinal column bolted to an exoskeleton," Alice reaches down, guiding Kaina's hands down Subject 001's body. "A brain and spinal column in such pain too, the poor dear…"

"… Really?"

With a gesture, Alice waves at the wall, and a display shows a sequence of… Of…

Kaina swallows, feeling her gorge rising as detailed imagery of Subject 001 is displayed, a time-lapsed sequence of the recovery of her mangled chassis and subsequent breakdown. Here, her limbs are being methodically detached. There, the sac containing her still-beating heart, her vital organs, is pulled carefully from its protective chassis.

… Alice was right. Mendesdyn Security took… Everything from this girl. There's nothing left of her and who she originally was. Her name, her face, her very body…

"So. We can't send her off, so our only option is to keep her. Unless you want me to kill her? I could kill her, Kaina, if that's what you want. Some people might consider that a mercy, really. Is that what you want though?" Alice asks.

"…" Kaina shakes her head. "… No."

"If we're not killing her, and if we aren't sending her away, then we have to take responsibility for her. Our only option is to keep this girl, Kaina. And if we're going to do that, then we need to fix her. We can do it together, Kaina. We can rebuild her, we can make her better. We have the technology, we have the magic. We can give her a new lease on life, we can make her a wonderful, beautiful body and give her a happy life. Doesn't that sound like a good thing, Kaina…?" Alice asks, sounding so reasonable, sounding so warm and kind…

"… I…" Kaina hesitates. "But what about what she wants?"

"The poor dear's been comatose ever since you beat her senseless," Alice says sadly. "The stress of combat, the stress of being vivisected and forcibly implanted into a cybernetic combat chassis… It was too much for her mind to take. The corporations took so much from this poor dear, I don't think she even knows who she is. She doesn't have a future, Kaina, unless we give one to her."

"…" Kaina hesitates, only for Alice to continue speaking. Alice's sweet, seductive voice worms through Kaina's ears, every sibiliant syllable soaking into Kaina's mind.

"We can do it, Kaina. We can do this together, Kaina, we can make this girl beautiful again. Won't you help me?" Alice implores, and something cracks within Kaina. It's like a dam's burst, like a dyke's sprung a leak. Suddenly everything makes sense.

This is what Alice does, isn't it? This is how Alice's corruption has manifested. Where all of the Dark Magical Girls Kaina knows are content to ravage and destroy, Alice builds and changes. Alice makes things beautiful, Alice makes things shine…

And that can't possibly be a bad thing at all.

"Ah, I understand now," Kaina whispers to herself under her breath.

"Hmm, did you say something?" Alice asks.

"… Nothing," Kaina takes a bracing breath. "Alright. I'll – I'll help you. How do I…"

"Oh, I'll do all the heavy lifting here," Alice giggles, taking Kaina's hands again and placing them directly on Subject 001's breasts. "You'll just be my creative input for now, and I can teach you the more, ah, practical side of things later. For starters, how about we start with something easy, like… Hmm. What's your preferred cup-size?"

"…" Kaina blushes, her thoughts wandering to Alice's chest even as her hands are filled with the squishy tit-flesh of another girl. Two round, gravity-defying titties that are currently mashed against Kaina's back, because Alice is right there and she's pressing up against Kaina - "… What's your cup-size, Alice?"

"Eh? Oh. Oh!" Alice laughs. "Oh, I see what you're getting at. You like my boobs that much, huh? Well then, in that case…"

Kaina twitches as hot Essence pours through Alice's fingers. The sparks of pink energy glide off the surface of Kaina's hands, repelled like oil sliding off of water, and sink into Subject 001's pale, still form. And then…

"Uwah," Kaina whispers as Subject 001's breasts begin to expand. Soft, fatty titty-flesh begins to bulge out from between Kaina's fingers, the hard peaks of Subject 001's nipples begin to graze against Kaina's palms, and in no time at all Kaina finds herself molesting a pair of breasts that are the exact same size and shape as Alice's.

"How's that~?" Alice asks, and Kaina frowns and gives the pair of tits in her hand an experimental squeeze. Uwah, so soft, but…

"… Alice, your breasts are softer, but they don't sag as much…" Kaina gives Subject 001's breasts a few more experimental squeezes. "The color's wrong too, your skin isn't this pale, and the smell's all wrong-"

"Ooh, I can fix that real easily. A little tweak to her glandular tissue there, a little touch-up to her skin pigmentation there… What else do you like, Kaina? How else are we going to make this girl beautiful?"

Unbidden, a small smile crosses Kaina's lips, even as she begins listing off all the changes she'd like to make to this girl, to this test subject. Because… It's the right thing to do, isn't it? To give this girl the best chance at life in the most beautiful body Alice can craft?

And besides, this is… It's actually a little fun.

"… She's too tall, you should make her shorter. And her hair's the wrong shade, and her hips are too narrow -" Kaina lists, operating on instinct, operating on what her own perceptions of beauty are.

It's quite a pity that the only thing filling Kaina's head right now is tantalizing images of Alice.

--

You're Alice Takanashi.

And it's been a while since you've had this much fun personally modifying one of your new slaves. Indentured servants. Pets. Whatever term you wind up using that Kaina finds acceptable. Ooh, this is so much fun! You're creating a new pet with your love~!

Haah~!

It's not as fun as making a child with Kaina would be. Goodness knows you want her to get you pregnant yesterday, but it's fun in its own right. Happy bonding time, happy bonding time weaving flesh and knitting bone all to Kaina's specifications! Ah, the act of creation has never felt so sublime, especially when you've got your love at your side~!

You work in a euphoric stupor, gleefully listening to all of Kaina's input and altering Subject 001 accordingly. Kaina wants her to be shorter? Sure, no problem, you'll just shave a little bit off of her height here, alter her skeletal structure there, and this is a perfect time to teach Kaina how to increase bone density without causing all kinds of problems – What's that? Kaina wants her hair to be pink and for her skin to be a bit darker?

Sure, no problem! What a great way to introduce Kaina to the wonders of pigmentation! You have a neat trick you've been working on with certain organelles -

What's this? Kaina wants her to have a thicker ass, and squishier thighs? No problem! It'll be a little bit of a pain bumping up this slut's fat reserves, but you've got biomass to work with; you just have to get your slaves to wheel a fresh carcass into the next room to be put into the digester…

And on, and on, and on the changes pile on. Wider hips, daintier hands, and feet, more shapely limbs, an extra bit of padding to her belly to make her that much nicer to squish and pat, a touch-up to her face there…

… Huh. You blink, snapping out of your stupor, and take a moment to study your new pet.

And, well…

"Kaina, darling, I'm not sure how to break this to you but… Aren't we recreating me right now?"

Indeed, lying before you is the naked body of a girl who could pass as your identical twin. No, your clone. Her hair's the same shade as yours, her skin's the same pigmentation, her eyes, her proportions – Even the little blemishes across her body are the same!

You reach down casually to spread Subject 001's legs, and sure enough, she has that little mole on the inside of her asscheek, the same as you do. Huh. You thought it was weird that Kaina was so insistent on that detail, but well…

"… Ah…" Kaina coughs, looking sheepish. And well, you can't blame her; you're blushing a little yourself. Sheesh, you really should've said something sooner or noticed this sooner. Gosh, this is kind of awkward.

… But it's also heartwarming as well? It's lovely that Kaina's studied you this much, to think that she's so into you she memorized you to this extent, to think that you're the ideal of beauty she'd like to recreate…

… Kyah~!

"… We should probably change her appearance," Kaina mumbles, sounding a little dejected.

Well. You're inclined to agree with her here; this is a little creepy. But that's not necessarily bad, especially when this has given you a naughty idea. You don't have to make a pet out of Subject 001. Who says you even need another pet?

A back-up body will do just nice. An identical clone of the most perfect girl in Kaina Shikinami's eyes – Yourself. Complete with your own memories, your own personality, loaded into a fresh body that has a fresher suite of powers you can exploit.

Why entrust something as dangerous as magic nullification to some pet when you can wield that power yourself to keep your loves safe?

Haah. So many choices right now…!