"Max," Kaina whispers into Max's ears. Max turns over in bed to study her best friend. God, Kaina looks like a gorgeous angel . Her blonde hair cascades down her bare back like a curtain of gold, her green eyes glitter with warmth, and her slender body feels so nice nestled against Max's side...
"Max, I love you," Kaina whispers, and Max shivers as Kaina's leg presses against Max's thigh, as Kaina's arm wraps around Max's waist...
"And I love you too, Max~!"A peppier voice chimes out, and Max turns over again to look at her other companion.
If Kaina's a pure angel, Alice Takanashi must be a sinful, seductive succubus. The pink-haired girl grins saucily, leaning in to press her lips against Max's shoulder blade, right underneath Max's implants. The blanket only just covers her voluptuous body. A thin sheet is all that covers Alice's voluptuous breasts, wide hips, and thick thighs…
Yeah, okay, this has to be a dream. Max reaches up to pinch her cheek…
… Only for Kaina to take hold of her arm and gently tap her fingers into the center of Max's palm.
"Max, were you thinking this was a dream?" Kaina asks.
"Kyah~! Kaina, our love's being so silly, thinking this is a dream…" Alice giggles, and Max twitches as she feels Alice's bare breasts press against her back, as Alice's legs press insistently against Max's own. "Well, does it really matter if it is a dream?"
Yes. Yes, it matters. It matters, it matters, it matters a lot.
"… Yes, it does matter. I'm not going to get in between you two," Max says. "I'm not… I can't..."
"Silly Max~! You're already between us~!" Alice giggles.
"It does feel like you're protesting too much, considering that-"
"You know what I meant, Kaina," Max sighs, closing her eyes as she examines herself. No readouts from her cybernetics which means... Yep, this is a dream. A weirdly lucid dream, but a dream nonetheless. It's been a while since Max was put through a dream this elaborate and detailed. The last time had to have been when she visited Washington for that MGA conference and met with one of the girls who specialized in mental magic there.
That was probably the best time of Max's life because she managed to get a good night's rest for the entirety of that conference. It's sort of weird she's going through the same thing now…
… But that's probably just because Max is just that exhausted. Sheesh.
"Why? Don't you want us? I thought you liked me, Max…" Oh goddammit, now Max's dream version of Kaina is pouting. Max feels her heart pang at that sight and her confidence wavers.
"I thought you liked me too! And you know I've been giving you all the right signals!" Max's lurid fantasy of Alice exclaims, turning over in a motion that causes her chest to jiggle very appealingly-
No, stop. Max mentally baps herself.
"… I'm not even talking to you, I'm talking to the versions of you I've dreamed up," Max explains. "Probably because yeah, I'll admit it. I find you both really attractive, okay?"
"Hehe~!" Alice giggles. "Kaina, she thinks we're pretty-"
"Yes, I do think you both are pretty. Gorgeous, shit. Kaina, you're… God, just looking at you makes me feel happy. And Alice over there is sex on legs. Five, six years ago, and I'd be doing my best to tap that. To tap it hard," Max rants. "So yeah, I know that having the two of you here like this? It's a wet dream come true."
"Uwah…"
"So direct!"
"But the thing is… This isn't real," Max sighs, cradling her forehead. "This won't ever be real. Because… Am I seriously talking about this with manifestations of my subconscious right now? You're not even real."
"… Don't we feel real enough for you?" Alice asks, biting her lip.
"You know what, fine, whatever. Maybe just getting this all out will help me put some things in perspective. Kaina," Max says, turning to address Kaina. "Kaina I… I like you. I do like you. The real version of you. I… I admire you, and I love you a lot. You literally saved my life, and I owe you everything, and… And I love you."
"I love you too, Max," Kaina murmurs, and Max sighs.
"You might but it's not… It's not in the same way. You're not capable of liking me back in the same way in real life, and you know what? That's… That's fine. Honest, I'm just happy you've found yourself a girlfriend who loves you the way you should be loved," Max swallows, feeling a pit form in her stomach as she confesses what she could never dare to confess in real life. "And I hope you'll stay happy, because god knows you deserve to be with someone who can make you happy. And you, Alice…"
"Yes, my love?" Alice asks.
"… I hope you stay happy too," Max confesses. "Because… Honestly? I want to like you too. And not just because you're sex on legs, it's because you clearly love Kaina as well. I might not know exactly what your deal is, but I saw how you were with her earlier, and… And even though I was out of my mind from sleep deprivation, I could see how genuine that love was. And that's something I couldn't ever provide Kaina, so… Please take care of her."
"… That's not all you want to say to me though, is it?" Alice shifts, propping her head up using her arm as she looks askance at Max. "What would you say to me, in real life?"
"A lot of things? That I'd like to collaborate with you on some bioengineering projects. That I'm a little weirded out by how flirty you are? And that I'm terrified that I don't actually know what your deal is. It scares me. It scares me a lot. Because you also remind me of…" Max bites back those next words.
"Of?" Alice prods.
Max hastily buries the memories of her ex, the ones wandering up to the forefront of her mind. Nope, nope, fuck Yumeko; Max refuses to let her continue to live rent-free inside her head.
"Nobody who matters now," Max mutters, flopping back in her bed. Much to her relief, the dreamed-up naked versions of Kaina and Alice slowly untangle their limbs from Max's frame.
"… Alice?" Kaina asks.
"Yes, darling?"
"… I don't understand what just happened," Kaina says.
"I don't understand either, this is... You know it's messed up that you're not going along with the flow here, right?" Alice replies, addressing Max directly. "If I were real I'd probably be psychoanalyzing you right now behind my cheery mask, because gosh is it obvious you've got some real problems."
"Oh gee, you noticed?" Max snarks. "You're a figment of my mind, of course you'd know that."
"You aren't even letting yourself stay happy in a lucid dream that was designed to cater to your tastes," Kaina observes.
"What my sexy counterpart just said," Alice agrees. "Max, you have to realize that's remarkably messed up. And horrifying. You've gone and derailed your own wildest fantasy because you refuse to let yourself feel happy. Even in your dreams, you're trying to stamp out any chance you have to feel an iota of happiness. Why is that?"
"Well, maybe that's just because I don't deserve to be happy," Max sighs. "So what if I'm trading one set of addictions for another? At least the pain's real. At least my teammates are real. At least the things I'm building matter, at least I matter. I don't have to be happy to be content with the way things are."
"But are you content?" Alice asks, and Max…
Max finds she doesn't have a good answer to that armor-piercing question.
… Alright, screw this. This has gotten way, way too weird for Max's taste, and she doesn't even care that it's her hindbrain telling her off right now, Max is just done.
"… I'm gonna wake up now," Max says in as bland a tone as possible as she starts mentally groping for the controls to her implants. A quick electric shock down Max's spine should do the trick…
"Yeah, I suppose that's fair," Alice nods, and Kaina nods with her. Kaina takes Max's wrist and quickly presses a soft kiss against the back of her hand.
"Be safe, Max," The dream version of Kaina implores.
"What she said! And make sure you get more rest! Sleep more often! Maybe if you showed up here again y-"
--
Max jerks awake, panting heavily. Beads of sweat drip down from her brow.
"… Fuck," Max groans, resting her heavy artificial arm over her eyes. This close, she can hear the servos in her forearm whining, the creak of metal as she clenches her fingers into a fist.
"Ah! Ms. Steele! You're awake!" The catgirl nurse attending to Max pipes up. "Hold on, let me get some water for you, you must be parched-"
"How long have I been asleep?"
"16 hours!" The nurse says proudly.
Shit, no wonder Max feels a lot better. Alice wasn't kidding; this cot was comfortable. It's just a pity that Max's sleep came at the price of that weird, fucked-up dream that started nice but ended bizarrely.
Snippets of Max's running argument with the actual figments of her imagination echo in Max's ears, and she winces.
… Wow. Max's dreamed-up version of Alice was right. Max is remarkably fucked up, Max couldn't even let herself indulge in her literal dreams, that's just… Yikes. Okay screw it, Max is going to have to start sleeping more. And maybe start seeing her therapist again because Max's issues have issues.
Eh. Aside from that, there's... Nothing else Max can really do besides soldier on. After all, someone has to hold this shit-mire of a quag-heap city together. Someone's got to be the dependable Magical Girl on the team. Max sure isn't up to that task, but at least she's trying. And she's no good to anyone if she starts breaking down. Mama Steele can't show any weakness.
"Can I get some of that water now?" Max asks.
"Sure! Is there anything else I can do for you?" The nurse asks.
Max pauses, looking at her speculatively. An idea churns to the forefront of her mind. A bit of a paranoid idea, Max promised herself she wouldn't turn into a total bitch and ruin Kaina's relationship with Alice, but…
"… Yeah. There is something. Can you show me around the clinic? I'd like to see how this place operates before I have to go. It shouldn't take too long. Half an hour at the most?
As a CEO, Max knows damn well that you can tell a lot about someone from the company they keep. But you can learn way more by observing how someone treats the people working underneath them, how they treat day-to-day operations within their business.
It's a good thing Alice Takanashi isn't here right now; she'd probably derail Max's little investigation by being herself. All stupidly sexy, upbeat, and distracting. And Max might appreciate that…
But it wouldn't be helpful.
So, hopefully, Max doesn't turn over anything suspicious. Hopefully, Alice Takanashi's legitimately on the up-and-up. Hopefully, Max will be able to settle that nagging bit of her brain that constantly worries about Kaina, the part of her brain that wants to repay Kaina for giving Max back her life…
… And okay, sure, Max is also doing this because of that weird dream she had and she wants to make damn sure that Kaina's girlfriend isn't remotely like Yumeko was. So it's like, two parts Max being overprotective and one dose of healthy paranoia because even without the Yumeko comparison, there's something nagging at Max's brain about Alice right now, and that feeling's only gotten worse.
Is it really a coincidence that some mysterious new CEO's managed to make connections with all three of the senior Magical Girls in Terminus City? First Kaina, then Max, and now Mia?
This is absolutely going to screw with Max's schedule, but hell, it has to be done. Max's the responsible one, after all. Someone has to ensure Kaina and Mia aren't getting into too much trouble...
--
Max eyes the hallway she's currently walking through suspiciously, even as her chatty nurse keeps, well, chatting.
"And here's one of our outpatient rooms! We can't stay here too long, Mr. Grady over in room 39 needs to be moved here so we can get him sorted, the poor man…"
"Right," Max replies absently, poking her head into the room and looking around. It's… Just a hospital room. Clean, sterile, and tastefully furnished with wooden shelves. Medical instruments hang off to the side, along with boxes of latex gloves. Max kicks at the linoleum floor, noting how it's been polished so cleanly Max can see her reflection.
Max glares down at the floor like it's offended her. Because it sort of has, it matches everything Max has seen so far. This clinic is clean, orderly, and well-kept. Even the equipment's up to spec, for the most part.
And then there are the nurses.
Or rather, Alice's maids. Max's kept a running tally of all the nurses she's seen in this clinic, and invariably? They're all adorable cat-eared maids with cute furry tails and even cuter smiles. Every single one. They're the most striking thing about this clinic…
… And clearly the most important, considering how well-kept they look. Max studies the maid in front of her carefully, taking note of how rosy and healthy her skin looks, how bright her eyes are, how relaxed her joints are. And then Max's attention wanders back to the cute cat ears twitching on the maid's head.
That… Is some seriously impressive bioengineering right there. Max figured that was the case when Alice brought her maids into her tower, but it's one thing to see someone else's work over the camera and another thing entirely to see actual catgirls in real life. There was a time when Max tried to do the whole catgirl thing herself, back when she was a hedonistic lush who sniffed cocaine and drank so much she had to have her liver replaced five times. So Max knows it's not nearly as easy as just adding on some ears and a tail like you're putting on a headband and a buttplug. Body modification's gotten a lot easier since the Resource Wars, but most mods are cybernetic for a reason.
… And it'd be one thing if those mods were purely cosmetic, but they're not. Max taps her foot against the floor and watches as the maid's ears twitch in response to the minute sound, as her tail swishes behind her wiggling derriere in a nervous gesture.
Max nods. Enhanced hearing, on top of the obvious cosmetic mods. Those cat ears don't just look realistic; they've got to be fully functional.
… And every single one of Alice's maids is supposed to have the same mods. That's what Alice went on about, the first time she met Max. And those mods are also supposed to be able to be passed down, so it's not just a simple splice; there's a genetic component to whatever Alice's done.
"Is everything okay? You've, uh, been staring at me for a while…" The maid in front of Max fidgets, shifting uncomfortably as Max glowers at her in silence.
"… Yeah, everything's peachy. Just like you seem to be," Max drawls, folding her arms under her chest and doing her best to look unimpressed.
Inside she's freaking out, just a little bit. Not just by the mods, but by how happy this girl appears to be.
There is no way your average worker in Terminus City is this happy without drugs, hookers, booze or some fucked-up means of coping with life in Terminus City. No way. Nuh-uh. Max's woman enough to admit that even her own workers aren't nearly as happy as Alice's maids appear to be.
And Max does her best to try to take care of her workers. She forces HR to hand out PTO. She kicks the asses of her executives and gets shellacked by her shareholders for having the temerity to mandate a 40-hour workweek with paid overtime when every other company in Terminus City is forcing 60 hours of work as the industry standard.
"I beg your pardon?" The maid asks.
"You look really good. Your skin, your hair… Your ears," Max gestures towards the top of her head. "I guess your boss takes really good care of you guys?"
"Oh, yes!" The maid beams. "Mistress Alice takes such good care of us, it's so wonderful…"
"Y'know, I think I'm interested in hearing a little more about that," Max continues in an entirely unsubtle attempt to mine as much information as she can from the maid in front of her. "Tell me more about yourself?"
"Oh?" The maid blinks. "What would you like to know, miss Steele?"
"Everything. Your name, where you were born, how you got here, how your mistress takes care of you…" Max waves her hand dismissively.
"Oh. Oh, I see," the maid pauses, cocking her head as she studies Max. "… You think I'm faking right now. That nobody who lives in Terminus City could possibly be as happy as I am."
Max raises an eyebrow. Huh, perceptive. Interestingly, Alice doesn't go out of her way to stamp out the initiative of her maids. "Yes, I sort of do. No offense, but you know that feeling you get when you see something that's too good to be true? It's what I've been feeling around your boss. And around this clinic."
"… I guess I can't blame you. I thought this was too good to be true, too, when mistress Alice saved me. Where do I begin then…? My name is Sophie Freitak, and two months ago? I was homeless," Sophie smiles mirthlessly.
"… Homeless?"
"You know how it goes. Mom and dad died from overwork and my brother and I couldn't pay rent, so we were forced onto the streets," Sophie says. "… And it was rough. We tried to stay at one of the Steeletech shelters, but well… They just ran out of room, so..."
Max winces as she feels her heart pang. Dang, seriously? "… I'm sorry that happened to you. I should've-"
"Oh, I don't blame you. Everyone in this city knows, you're the only good CEO," Sophie says earnestly, her eyes widening. "Your charity programs were what helped keep us alive, when we were just trying to look for a place to live. If it wasn't for the food banks your corporation ran, or the used clothing stores, well. I wouldn't be here talking to you!"
Max shuffles, feeling oddly self-conscious. She shuts her eyes as a familiar feeling of… Guilt and regret well up inside her. Because Max knows she could have done more. She should have done more. She's staring at living proof she could have done more if this girl's story checks out. Why isn't Max doing more…?
"Well, I thought you were the only good CEO. That's before I met mistress Alice, of course. She actively recruits people like me, you know? People who've got… No prospects, or hope for anything better. People who are all broken down. And then she puts them back together, better than ever. Just look at me," Sophie giggles. "I'm so cute now!"
Yep, she sure is. It's a little creepy how cute Alice's maids are.
"My brother does accounting with the corporation now, and I? I get to serve the most gorgeous, fabulous woman in Terminus City. I get to sleep in a warm, comfortable bed, work reasonable hours and eat delicious food every day. I get to work with other cute girls to help make our home a better place. And, well…" Sophie looks to the side, then slips her hand into her dress to pull out…
A ring. An engagement ring.
"I managed to get a girlfriend! And I'm planning on proposing to her, once I get off my shift here at the clinic," Sophie winks. "She's one of mistress Alice's maids, just like I am~! Mistress Alice actually agreed to give us new biomods to celebrate the occasion, isn't that phenomenal?"
"… That's nice," Max forces a smile onto her face, unsure of how convincing it is.
"It is! So I've… The truth is, there are days where I go to sleep and wake up feeling blessed. Because if it wasn't for mistress Alice, well, I wouldn't have any of the things I do today," Sophie confides.
… Right. Because Alice is just that kind, apparently…
Max's hand spasms in a nervous twitch. Because this is a case where Max is smelling bullshit now, except the problem is? Everything about this girl's checking out. Her breathing's even; her tone hasn't wavered in the slightest, and her heartbeat's remained steady…
As far as Max and her lie-detector suite can tell? This girl's telling the truth, or what she believes to be true. God, Max sort of wishes Kaina were with her right now. Because Kaina's bullshit sensors are a lot more finely tuned than Max's. Max has to rely on her cybernetics to figure out of people are bullshitting her, but Kaina? Kaina can look at someone and instantly tell if they're lying, or even telling a lie by omission.
It makes playing poker with Kaina beyond frustrating, but damn, if that isn't an ability that would come in handy now.
"And if I asked any of the other maids in this clinic, would they give me the same story?" Max asks, unable to fully dispel her suspicions.
"… Yes, actually," Sophie confesses. "Laura and Cynthia are at the clinic today along with me and I know that they… Were actually trafficked here by the Jade Tigers. They were supposed to be… Lupe tells me that they were all supposed to… Oh it's too horrible to even think about…"
"That's okay. I can guess," Max swallows around the lump in her throat. The freakin' Jade Tigers. God, even after the gang's been splintered, they're still causing Max so many headaches. At this point, Max isn't sure if she wants to find the person who shot up the primary Jade Tiger safehouse with autocannons and kiss them on the mouth for beheading one of the scourges of the city…
… Or slap them because the Jade Tigers getting merked? That nearly caused a fucking gang war that'd have spilled out into the rest of the city, and Max was seriously not looking forward to that.
"I'm glad that didn't happen to your friends," Max says.
"So am I! Cynthia gives such good backrubs, and Laura's just a darling. If I weren't about to propose to my girlfriend, hmm, I probably wouldn't mind sleeping with her a few more times…" Sophie laughs. Then her phone goes off, interrupting her. She pulls it out and checks the screen. "Oh, speak of the devil, it's mistress Alice, and… Hmm. I see. I apologize miss Steele, but I have to leave now."
"Oh?" Max asks.
"Mistress Alice's told me to report to the labs so I can get my new biomods done," Sophie winks. "The next time you see me… I'll probably have puppy ears instead of kitty ears~!"
"That so?"
"Yes. I'll look so cute, and so will my girlfriend…" Sophie sighs happily before affecting a more serious demeanor. "Anyways. If you need anything else, if you'd like to tour the clinic some more, I can call Laura in here. But I really do have to be leaving now, I'm so sorry."
"That's fine," Max waves Sophie off. "I'd like to spend some time alone in this room. Just… Tell them not to disturb me for a few minutes, yeah? You've given me a lot to think about."
"Okay~!"
Max watches the catgirl leave, her tail jiggling in time with her ass. The door slams behind her, and Max sighs, heaving her heavy body into a chair.
… That entire conversation was as illuminating as it was frustrating. The cynical part of Max wants to believe that was some sort of trick. An illusion, sort of like the Potemkin villages the Russians used to construct. It'd have been easy, after all, to just… Place maids who'd say the right thing around the clinic to assuage Max's suspicions. It'd be easy to keep the clinic well-maintained too to make this story all the more convincing.
It wouldn't be the first time some corpo bitch tried to get one over Max. Yumeko was fond of deceptions like this; Max remembers that well. Yumeko was the sort of person who'd pretend to be your friend… And then she'd manipulate you into doing anything for her. Anything at all.
On the other hand, Max remembers how Yumeko treated her workers. Her slaves, really. It wasn't with anything approaching kindness. Yumeko's mantra was that if you weren't working, you could be working. And if you stopped working, you needed to be liquidated. It's the sort of philosophy that left her employees all… Twitchy.
Sophie displayed none of that twitchy behavior. If anything, she seemed way too relaxed. And genuinely happy in a way that surprised Max and left her a little envious. Alice's maids are so relaxed, happy, and cared for they can think about small things like marriage…?
Maxine Steele examines that fact, and in the back of her mind, she takes some of the doubts she's been having about Alice Takanashi and buries them.
Because nobody who treats their maids that well can be totally, 100% evil like Yumeko was. Nuh-uh.
It's strange; Max should be feeling a lot better after figuring this out, so why does she feel vaguely worse all of a sudden…? What's this burning sense of – of jealousy that's begun to overtake her…?
Max's phone beeps, snapping her out of her maudlin thoughts. She looks down, and checks her texts…
… Then inhales through her nose in an attempt to brace herself.
Kaina: Steele, I require your assistance again.
Kaina: I have agreed to move in with Alice, so I'll need my contact information updated following that information.
Kaina: I'm also currently packing my things up for transport, so I would greatly appreciate it if you could provide me with a vehicle to make this process easier.
Great. More… Kaina weirdness. No, it's fine. It's fine; Max isn't bothered by this at all. She's actually happy for Kaina; moving in with someone else is a very big step in any relationship. Besides, it's not like she's asking for much. Max quickly thumbs through and texts a quick message to confirm that, yes, Mama Steele is going to take care of her girl-
Alice: Sure, not a problem. Glad to hear you're moving in! That's always a huge step in any relationship!
Kaina: I see.
Kaina: I have also agreed to have a child with Alice. Does this constitute a 'huge step' in my relationship with Alice as well?
And Kaina's response… Well, it sort of breaks Max. Max finds herself staring at that goddamn text way longer than she should, with an expression on her face that morphs from comical disbelief to incredulous, sputtering outrage.
Fucking hell. Really. Really. Really? Moving in is one thing but a goddamn kid? Talking about having a fucking child with Alice?! How?! Wait, was Alice serious about making that medicine that'd let girls have babies with other girls?!
Max's phone beeps again as Kaina sends her followup response.
And boy, is that one a doozy.
Kaina: Steele? I know you've read this message. Please respond, I have additional questions l'd like to ask.
Kaina: From my research I've come to understand that talk about children indicates that talks about marriage are soon to follow. Is this accurate?
Kaina: Because I'd like to prepare for that eventuality if I can. This means that I require assistance gathering the requisite materials, such as a suitable ring.
Kaina: Are there any stores open in Terminus City right now that carry engagement rings? If so, are there any vendors you would recommend?
…
Okay, screw it. Max casually puts her phone down, placing it on a nearby table. She walks over to the bed now, the bed with a pillow in it…
"AAAAARRRRRRGHHHH!"
And promptly screams into that pillow at the top of her lungs. It's a good scream that carries for a long time. And it's something Max desperately needed to do.
Because, Magical Girl nonsense is one thing. Terminus City being a shithole's another. But this? Being Kaina's relationship guru?
It's proving to be way, way more stressful than any of that. Max almost misses the days when all she had to worry about were Kaiju, demons, other supernatural horrors, and more mundane horrors. Like her shareholders being a collective bag of dripping, pox-ridden dicks. Shit, Max almost wishes Mia were here to blow herself up again; that would be way less stressful than this; why does Kaina have to be so Kaina, marriage what the hell, aaaaaaarrrrgh-
"Goddammit Kaina, why don't you ever do things slowly, you don't need to be going at everything full tilt the whole time, holy shiiiiiiit-" Max grumbles before grabbing her phone and speed-dialing Kaina right that instant. "Kaina. Kaina, you'd better pick up, I swear to god I will sit down and lecture you if you don't pick up, Kaina, pick up this instant what even are you doing-"
--