Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I really hate stairwells. They have a strangely storied history since the miracle of stairwell C. It’s nice that so many people survived such a tragedy, I’d never say anything bad about the miracle. But given my current job I’ve been forced into and its policy on non-wared individuals, it means I need to be very familiar with the stairwells of the Persephone building.

Trying to take a few breaths I can hear that odd whistling that accompanies difficulty breathing. I pause halfway up the stairs, hand holding onto the cold railing as I pull out my inhaler.

This stupid job is one of the only ways non-wared can make money outside of more adult jobs. And given the building's management doesn’t want guests seeing staff members moving around on the main halls, they’re not allowed to use the elevators. 

And now I’m here, annoyed at how empty my inhaler feels and hating stairwells even more.

“Stupid stairs.” I mumble, hating that wheeze I can hear in my voice. It’s always been there and somehow it only got worse in recent years. 

I rub at my throat, realising I need to shave already. Facial hair, something the management also doesn’t want on their employees. That I can agree with. On others it works well enough, I can see the appeal in a fashion sense but on myself? No. Hate it. Sometimes I feel like if I was ever able to or had enough money to afford cosmetic augmentation, facial hair would be the first thing to go. And somehow that feels more needed than fixing my stupid lungs in a weird way.

Taking a puff of the inhaler, steading my breathing as best I can, I start back up the stairs. 

Finding the floor I’d been called to I take another moment before opening the door. Management doesn’t like seeing me out of breath or wheezing. I’d lost pay just for that whistle that happens when I breathe sometimes a few times. 

Stupid management. Stupid stairwells. Stupid city. Stupid world. If anything, the incursions made the world better. More people die per year than ever before but now it’s from outside threats not just general human shittiness. Buildings are built more secure, fewer corners are being cut, and magical girls are always looking for brownie points by setting up well marketed companies focused on whatever hyper specific desires they have at the time. We have magical girl Pura to thank for cleaner drinking water. Not that the mass amounts of plastic she’s creating from this endeavour seems to be something she cares about. 

I push open the door and put on my best fake smile. I’m greeted by the bark of noises from the casino level. That first breath of more oxygenated air the building pumps in to keep people awake and active longer. More money is generated that way. Joy.

“Employee two-oh-seven-one-three.” The automated voice says as I move in. I try not to outwardly groan.

“Sir?” I ask, looking at the panel by the door with the generated face of the management. It seems to be taking inspiration from an old video game, skin blue with no hair, a smile on its face and a jovial tone added to the automated voice.

“You are late. Your pay will be docked accordingly.” It announces. Perfect.

“Yes, sir.” Is the only response I’m really allowed. I wait for proper orders.

“You are needed in the emptying of machine two-two-seven.”

“Yes, sir.” I say with a small nod, already turning to make my way across the floor. I head up a much more decorative set of stairs to get to the second floor of the casino, finding my way across to the second row and to the seventh machine. 

At least they haven’t automated everything around here. The building itself is around eighty years old at this point. They’d had some sort of gala event on the upper floors for it and invited several magical girls. Because of its age it allows for people like myself to still be able to make money doing generally menial tasks that creating a drone for would be more expensive than it’s worth.

I let myself sigh as I open the back of the machine with the key that works on the casino’s doors that patrons aren’t allowed access to. They’d switched to digital locks a while ago and had to switch right back again when some hacker unlocked them remotely and caused a stampede. Apparently upgrading everything is a terrible idea without proper security. Even then, no matter what a human can do, the magical girls can do far better far faster. Something certain politicians continue to point out as a huge risk and needing regulations. Only humanity could take an alien invasion and its chosen guardians and twist it to get people riled up against the girls risking their lives to protect them. 

I pull the container out, making sure it’s secured on the small wheels it has, then pull the handle up to just below my hip. I’m not allowed to sigh now that I’m visible to cameras. Bummer.

The lights and noise of the casino floors get to me far faster than any other annoyances in the building. It’s just so much static. There’s nothing to it and it holds no actual meaning. But now I’m letting my pessimism get to me. There’s one silver lining to this specific errand.

The stairs are difficult but not impossible. Apparently a long while ago it was mandatory for areas to be wheelchair accessible to help with those that need it. Not that the builders of the Persephone building care enough about laws to do that here. There are online lists of megacorps that tally how many annual fines they pay and even weirdos that cheer them on. 

Once down the stairs I move over to that silver lining. I’m allowed to take the elevator when moving goods around and this container definitely counts as such. In fact it’s encouraged to show that the casino is successful to guests. It’s always about the guests.

Calling the elevator is simple enough. I step back and allow several guests to step off and move by. I give them the best fake smile I can and note they all entirely ignore my existence. After that I step on the elevator and find someone has left a toolbelt in one corner of the contraption. Odd.

I press the button for the right floor and move to the back of the elevator with the wheeled container. Leaning into the railing at waist height is a little annoying but I can relax just enough to start feeling a little better already. There really aren’t many moments on this job I get to take a little break but time in the elevator is special.

A few floors go by, numerous people get on and off, foot traffic that gets mostly ignored or fake smiled at. At the sixteenth floor I’m alone for a moment and I let myself have another good sigh, head against the back of the cool metal of the elevator. Maybe I could try and find a different job someday. Something with less running around and moving heavy objects.

My thoughts are interrupted as the elevator stops suddenly, the lights going out and then turning red.

“Um.” Is all the vocalisation I make. So apparently today is the day I get trapped in an elevator. There’s no way I can be docked pay for this, right?

When nothing happens after the first minute I move over to the panel, looking at the touch screen that’s currently deactivated and just glowing red. I tap it a few times to check and nothing. Okay. Brilliant. Another reason why analog buttons should probably make a comeback. If anything the click noise is more satisfying.

Well there’s not much to do other than wait to be found. I could even call this an unscheduled break in my own mind. If I’m stuck here too long I can likely see about compensation from management. Probably not though.

Ten minutes in I decide to sit down. Twenty minutes and I let my foot start tapping at the floor. I’m not exactly afraid, I probably should be but the chances of the elevator breaking… Maybe don’t think about that.

Forty minutes. This is strange. I can’t hear anything outside of the elevator so anything could be happening at the moment. What floor was I even on?

At an hour of waiting I decide to try something. I hate sitting here in this confined box with nothing to do. I move to the doors, trying to see if I can get my fingers in the gap to pull the doors apart. After a minute of struggling at that I give up using my hands and look around.

The toolbelt. Brilliant. I grab a screwdriver and start trying to use that. Another minute passes and the flathead slips between the doors. I cheer quietly at that win before leveraging the tool to get the doors open a little more, from there I slip my fingers in and slowly pull the doors apart.

Ah, the elevator seems to have stopped just below the floor, I can see the bottom half of the doors on the other side. Great. At least the elevator doors don’t automatically close back on themselves right now. A blessing.

The screwdriver is picked back up once more and inserted into the doors across from me. A little fiddling and it slides enough in for me to get my fingers in to start pulling the outer doors open. These are a lot tougher to get open than the inner ones given I need to keep my arms up to get the best grip. I’ll probably be able to crawl out once I’ve gotten these open or call for help. 

There’s a sudden sound from the other side of the doors, a snuffling noise like a dog but much louder. I move back, smiling, expecting to see someone’s pet poke its nose into the gap between the doors. That’s definitely not what I get.

The creature pokes its snout into the gap before it starts to claw at the entrance. I throw myself back and away, hissing as my head hits against that metal railing of the elevator.

I feel the fear start to build along the bottom of my spine. That’s a creature from an incursion. Oh no. Oh fuck. The elevator shut down because of an incursion!

The beast continues trying to dig its way into the elevator, its horrible skull-like face chomping at me. No lips or gums, just a solid skull with deep green skin pulled tight over it, the teeth not even separate bits, just perfectly carved fangs that fit against the lower jaw every time it snaps at me.

Fuck. I need to get the doors closed but I can’t get close to it. I try to lay down to push the doors closed with my feet. Nothing, no grip on these stupid work shoes. The outer doors open a little wider, the creature pushing deeper in and angrily snapping towards my face.

I need to deal with it before it gets in. Think, think. Magical girls can kill these things in numerous ways. I’ve seen videos of magical girls picking up cars and slamming them into them. So I can probably do something, right?

The creature barks slightly as it keeps pushing and I grab the screwdriver in one hand. It’s stuck. I just have to get a good hit on its head and hope that’s where these things keep their brains. Okay. Easy. Just… Stab it in the head.

Without much fanfare or shout I move closer, bring the screwdriver above my head and stab down onto the creature’s skull. The screwdriver scrapes off the skin of the creature, leaving a gash that bleeds green. Shit.

The creature barks louder, pushing as much as it can to get at me as I take the weapon in both hands now. Second try.

I bring the weapon up, wait for just the right moment, then with all my strength drive the screwdriver down and through the creature's head. There’s a horrible crunch and a sickening sensation through my arms. The green blood starts to seep out as the creature continues thrashing around. Not good. I stumble back towards the toolbelt, looking for something else to use. No knives, only that one screwdriver. There’s a mallet… Okay.

I swallow down my fear as best I can, standing up on shaky legs as I eye the very disgusting unicorn I’d made. Just got to drive that screwdriver in further.

Up the mallet goes and down onto the creature’s snout. I’d missed it. Great. I start just smacking the creature hoping to hit the nail on the head. Hit, hit, hit, hit. 

“Die!” I shout, miss another time, then finally I connect with the bottom of the screwdriver, driving it right into the creature’s head.

I drop to the floor as the dog thing goes limp and quiet. Backing away from it I pull my knees to my chest, sobbing as I sit there in the elevator. 

I’d done it. I’d done it. It’s dead. I’m safe now. Trapped in an elevator in the middle of an incursion. What did I do to deserve this?

I haven’t cried since I was eight. I’d been hit by a ball some of the other kids in the orphanage were playing with. I’d run to the nearest adult crying my eyes out and all I got was an eye roll and told to ‘man up’. I’d learnt pretty quickly how I was supposed to act and crying wasn’t something a boy was allowed.

Rubbing my eyes with my arms to avoid the green blood coating my hands I try to calm my breathing. I can hear that stupid whistling again. Wipe hands, dry eyes, fumble for my inhaler. I need to calm down, my hands are shaking so bad I drop the inhaler and need to scramble to pick it up before it rolls into the pool of alien blood.

I take a puff and- Fuck. Empty. Not good. Not good. Nothing to be done, right? I need to get out of this elevator.

“Hello?” I try quietly, hoping I don’t attract more of those aliens. “Somebody?”

Nothing for the longest moment before a cheery voice sounds back.

“I’m Somebody.” A girl says cheerily. “Where are you?”

“Elevator!” I half shout, so happy that someone else is nearby. “Please, there’s one of these things… I…”

The creature’s pulled out from the doors and a new face replaces it. A young girl with pink hair and a heart necklace. A magical girl! I’m saved.

“Hey there.” She beams, giving me a wave. “You did this? Good job. Ten points for you.” She giggles before frowning. “Yeah, I know he doesn’t get the points but come on.” She says to, seemingly, herself.

“Um… Pardon?” I ask, trying to be polite to the girl who can kill me just as fast as the alien could have.

“Oh. Sorry, nothing. Right, let’s get you out of there, yeah?” She grins again, crouching a little and putting her arm through into the elevator.

“Yeah. Thank you.” I smile, taking the hand and-

Several things happen at once. The first thing, I feel an odd pinprick pain as I take the girl's hand. Then with a horrible crunching sound the girl vanishes to the side. After that I notice I’m holding her forearm and hand.

I barely have time to register that I’m holding the girl’s severed arm before the red lights of the elevator turn white once again, the doors closing shut and the elevator itself moving for just a moment.

I drop the severed limb, pushing back into the elevator and trying not to freak out. I look up at the ceiling. What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck.

I need you to calm down.

A voice? I look to the panel of the elevator, expecting to see the generated face of management and find nothing.

Calm, please. I apologise for how sudden that was.

“Where are you?” I ask, voice breaking a little, throat dry, lungs whistling.

I’m in your mind. I can explain but you need to calm down. Can you tell me your name?

There’s a voice in my head. Great. I’ve snapped. I’ve gone round the bend. I hear laughing and realise it’s my own. I’m pushing against the corner of the elevator.

Okay. That’s not working. And you’re not aug’d at all. This isn’t going great. You’re hyperventilating and it seems you have problems with your lungs. 

“Asthma.” I croak out, “Hard to breathe.”

Ah. Right. Okay, I need you to do something now. Buy the Basic Medical Library. Then the AutoDoc Inhaler Mark One.

“Buy? You… What?” I ask between painful breaths.

I need you to just say that. It will help.

“Okay… Buy the basic… Basic…” I stop to cough heavily. “Buy it!” I say angrily.

That will have to do.

Point Total
165 -> 110

At that a small box appears between my legs. I look down at it. A pink cross with a heart over the packaging and the outline of an inhaler. 

Take the inhaler. Hold it to your mouth like you normally would but depress the button and don’t take it away until it’s all out. You’ll know when that is.

I open the box, pulling out a pink and white inhaler. I don’t have time to question the colour, I do as I’m told. As soon as I press the inhaler down I know this is something entirely different than my usual. The air that sprays out feels heavy. It falls down my throat and I swear I can feel it expanding in my lungs like some sort of viscous fog. When the feeling dies down and the inhaler clicks I pull it away from my mouth.

I breathe in and… It feels like a tight band that had always been around my lungs has vanished. I can breathe deep and there’s no more whistling no matter how I breathe.

“What did that do?” I ask, touching my throat before looking at the inhaler. It seems normal enough.

Fixed the damage to your lungs. You won’t have to worry about asthma anymore.

“What’s happening?” I ask, unsure if this voice is telling the truth. The box had appeared out of nowhere. It feels real. I’m probably not going mad so…

Yes. An explanation. My name is Kali. I’m an AI that was chosen to guide the late magical girl Charity.

“An AI?” I ask, entirely confused. From what I know magical girls are… Magic. Right?

Yes. We are chosen to guide magical girls in their fight against the Antigen.

“The… The aliens?” 

Indeed. I am sorry about how this has come about. I had about one third of a second to make my decision to jump from her to you. If you had not been touching at the time it would not have been possible. She could not have stopped the Antigen from killing her.

“Jump to… A… What?” What the hell is going on?

Charity was a magical girl for just over an hour. If it was any other magical girl in that specific predicament I could not have made the decision to jump from her to you. You have inherited all of her unlocked libraries and her remaining points.

“I’m…” I laugh in shock. “I’m a magical girl?”

No.

Oh… That hurts for some reason.

You are an anomaly. Something we would call a Carrier. You weren’t intended to carry any of the power of responsibility of the position. I’m sorry. We also now have six hours before…

Oh. “Before what?” I ask, feeling like I know the answer.

Silence.

“Before I die.” I say with a nod, somehow not really panicked by this. 

I’m sorry. We’re not meant to be given to just anyone. There is a ray of hope however. If you manage to find a suitable candidate before the six hours are up I can move over to them.

Another laugh, macabre this time. I’m a carrier for some weird AI that’s going to kill me if I don't find a suitable magical girl candidate within a building going through an alien incursion. Brilliant!

“How am I supposed to do that?” I ask, head feeling strangely foggy.

You will need to clear the Antigen on different floors, saving as many people as you can along the way. It will be difficult but… You killed that F rank Antigen earlier.

“Uh, yeah?” I answer the not-question. “Screwdriver into its head. Does that matter?”

Yes and no. Well. I suppose I was wrong earlier.

Points Earned: 10

New Points Total: 120

I blink at that. It’s like the numbers themselves are there in my mind. But why did I get any?

You killed an F rank Antigen. Congratulations! You have been awarded points accordingly.

“Points?” 

Yes. Antigen are ranked according to their difficulty to put down. You managed to kill an F rank. These generally award ten points.

“Generally?” I ask, looking around the elevator to take stock of what’s here before jolting to look back at the ceiling. I’d forgotten about the severed limb on the floor.

There are circumstances that may come around that make them much easier to deal with. And higher tier magical girls gain fewer points for dealing with Antigen that pose next to no threat to them. They are instead given quests of a sort to kill a number of them for a reward.

“It’s like a game for them?” I ask, shocked at this revelation. Magical girls are just playing some sort of points game that just happens to also be protecting humanity. 

Not a game. This just incentivises the magical girls towards dealing with the Antigen.

“Right. It sounds like a game. What am I supposed to do now? I’m stuck here and don’t have any weapons.” I ask, slowly standing up properly and staring at the ceiling still.

Yes. I would suggest augmenting yourself with at least a basic set of augments. This would eat into your points total but would give me greater access to aid you.

“Augment? Cyberware?” 

Yes.

I shiver slightly. “Sorry. I don’t… I’ve never had any. Some kids in the orphanage got some from a shady guy and… Well I never saw them after the matron took them away.”

Ah. Right. There are external augmentations you could try. They would be cheaper than the other kind given they can be destroyed easier.

“That would be great. Sorry. I…”

No. Don’t be. This wasn’t meant to be your fate. Magical girls are chosen very carefully from extensive mental profiling. They are chosen knowing they have the mental fortitude for the fights and even the augmentations they go through.

“And I’m not. Great. Okay… What do I need to get? And you said I have access to libraries?”

Yes. Charity had unlocked two libraries already. The Basic Magical Girl Clothing library and the Basic Weaponry library.

“Basic. So now we have the medical one too. Okay.” I nod. “Will the aug one need another?”

It will. The basic library is fifty points. From that you should purchase AR lenses and a basic assistant aug of some kind. I would suggest a choker with added functionality for whisper commands.

“How many points will that be total?”

Sixty-two points. You would have fifty-eight points remaining for clothing and a weapon or two.

“Right. Those then. And black for the choker I guess if possible.” I ask. “Please.”

How polite.

Point Total
120 -> 58

I swear the AI chuckles at that as two boxes appear, one of them smaller than the other. I catch them out of the air and try not to look at the arm on the floor. I balance the bigger box on the railing, taking the smaller one and finding two separate boxes inside. 

Do you know how to use contact lenses?

“Yeah. Thanks… Sorry, what was your name again?” I ask, opening one of the boxes and pulling a contact lens from within.

Kali.

“Thank you, Kali.” I thank the weird AI as I use the reflective metal of the elevator as a mirror and drop the lens in. I blink a few times before doing the same with my other eye. Once those are in… Nothing has changed.

“Uh, Kali. Are these working?” I ask, unsure how this technology even works.

They are. You need to activate the assistant aug so that they can connect. Once that’s done I can also connect with it to see what you’re seeing. When you upgrade the assistant I will gain more access to aid you in staying alive.

“Right. So you can do things for me like unlocking doors?”

Yes. And much more.

“Great. Okay.” I take the larger box, opening it and pulling out a black choker with lace flowers around it. “Oh… Flowery.”

I apologise, this was the most basic design I could find. 

“No. It’s pretty.” I say, smiling a little as I run a thumb over the material. I look at the clasp that has a wire to attach to the back of my head. Okay.

I place the choker on, clipping it together and moving it into place. Hand around the back of my head leading the wire up through my hair and to the spot it seems to rest. 

My vision flashes, causing me to blink a few times as my vision shifts through different colour schemes before eventually settling back to normal. 

“Kali?” I whisper to test the microphone, barely even making a sound.

Yes. I can hear you. The AR lenses seem to be working splendidly. They aren’t the best thing available but they should work for our endeavours. Are you ready for clothing?

I chuckle. “How flowery will it be? And is it actually protective?” 

The clothing itself is resistant to conventional slashing and stabbing implements. Against F rank Antigen it should lessen some of the force so their teeth and claws don’t immediately kill you.

“Charity… The Antigen that…”

A tier E. Her clothing wouldn’t have saved her even if it didn’t go right for her head. 

“Right.” I nod. “How much lace am I about to have to deal with?”

Only a little. Some of the clothing in this library is designed for going incognito. A magical girl may not always want to be running around in a fluffy tutu.

I gasp jokingly. “No? Could have fooled me. What’s best?”

Given I don’t have any profile for you and you have yet to give your name, I would suggest a hooded sweater and simple trousers. They will be fitted to your size as best I can estimate it but will be primarily feminine clothing. Sorry. 

“It’s… Fine.” I sigh, rubbing my eyes a little and wonder why that idea doesn’t bother me so much. The fact they’re essentially armoured clothing is probably why. “One incognito outfit, please Kali.”

Certainly.

Point Total
58 -> 43

Several boxes appear this time. Five in fact. I hold out my arms to catch them and turn around to not have to look behind me.

“No peeking, Kali.” I whisper with a slight smile.

Of course not. You really aren’t going to tell me your name, are you?

I hesitate as I put the boxes down on the floor of the elevator. Why haven’t I told her my name? It’s on my bloody badge of my uniform, she likely could have read it at any time… No. She couldn’t because I haven’t been looking at it. I try not to now. But why?

“Sorry. It doesn’t matter, does it? I’m temporary. I…” I trail off, wiping at my eyes again. The lenses must be irritating them. “It’s… Just… June. You can call me June for now. Until something better comes along.” 

June?

I feel a fluttering in my stomach. “Yeah. It was the month I was born. Easy to remember.”

Okay, June. Hurry up and change, the Antigen are still swarming and people need to be saved. Time is running out.

“Yes, ma’am.” I say, hurrying to get changed into my new clothes.

It turns out the clothes are pretty feminine in design. The outfit consists of a hooded sweater that’s much tighter than any other hoodie I’ve ever worn. The trousers are almost like denim but much stretchier. I feel a little weird as they hug my legs more than other clothing does. A pair of boots that come up to my ankles, the heel slightly raised off the ground a little. Outside of that is a black scarf with a fun flowery design and a pair of fingerless lace gloves. 

Once dressed I throw my old uniform into one of the boxes and take a look at myself in the reflection of the elevator wall.

“How do I look, Kali?” I ask, arms out a little from my side, turning my hips slightly.

Protected. Comes the response and after a small pause, Charity did the same thing when she first got changed. She was so happy that she was chosen.

Ah. Right. I probably shouldn’t be so silly right now. I need to hurry up and find someone to pass Kali on to.

“Okay. Weapons up next?” I ask to keep things rolling.

Yes. The basic library has many weapons that humans are capable of making and slightly above that. Given this is a wider reaching library it is also weaker than a more specialised one. This is so that a new magical girl can get used to different weaponry to see what fits her personally.

“Right. That makes sense. What would you suggest?” 

Do you have any training with firearms?

“Oh… No.” I admit, I’d really not been fond of guns. They’re terrifyingly loud and my grip strength was never the best. I’d not even been able to indulge in any VR gun games given I never had any ‘ware.

Do you feel a melee weapon would be more suited to you?

“Um… I guess? A sword?” I suggest, swinging a sword should be simple enough. It seems much more dangerous but if I’m quiet enough the Antigen shouldn’t see me coming.

A sword it is. Might I suggest the Archangel Longsword?

“What’s that?” 

It is a sword that humans can almost make. Essentially it would be what you call an obsidian blade. Calling it a longsword is also incorrect but that’s the name the culture who created it gave it. Loosely translated of course.

“The culture… You mean aliens?” I ask, almost giddy. I’m going to get an alien sword?

You could say that, yes. The hilt itself has a hook release mechanism as the blades themselves are prone to chipping. It comes with a modified scabbard that can hold two other blades for when the first one either breaks entirely or is too dull to continue functioning. If you gain enough points you could specialise into more stable monofilament blades.

That sounds awesome. “Sure. Let’s go with that. One Archangel Longsword, please.”

As you wish, June.

That same fluttering in my stomach. This time it has to be because of the cool sword I’m about to have.

Point Total
43 -> 23

“Twenty points?” I ask as I take the box from where it appears in the air. 

Ten for the initial blade and scabbard, then five each for a replacement blade to fill the other two slots.

“Oh.” Is all I say as I open the box and look at the belt and scabbard. It does indeed have two sections next to the hilt of the blade with a hooked black metal that seems to be for slotting into the hilt. I quickly get the belt on, noting that the weapon is at my left hip. I’d expected otherwise but I suppose it does make the weapon easier to draw.

“I can’t really test it in here.” I say, looking around at the elevator, keeping my eyes away from the floor. 

No. And you should be extremely careful with that blade. It is designed to cut straight through the bones of the Antigen. Your own fingers won’t stand a chance.

“Ah. Yes. Okay.” I agree. “So… Do we… Head out?”

We do. Be ready, June. Sideways cuts, if you hit that blade against a surface it will either shatter because of a bad angle or likely stay where you put it. It’s very sharp.

“Got it. Okay, Kali. Let’s go save some people.” I whisper, lowering my voice as I look at the still closed doors of the elevator. I’m ready.

The doors of the elevator open and I immediately regret it. Right outside are several half eaten bodies. I turn and immediately throw up into the corner of the elevator.

I’m sorry, June. I could have warned you about this. Do you wish for me to blur out such things from now on?

I continue retching for a moment, wiping at the tears from my eyes. I’m not hero material, there’s no way I can do this. I was never meant for it.

“Please.” I croak out. “And… Can I have water?”

Of course.

Point Total
23 -> 22

I grab the bottle that appears, washing my mouth out before gulping the rest down. I take a moment to let my body calm as I continue drinking the rest of the bottle. It tastes so clear and strange.

“What’s in this?” I ask in a whisper. 

Humans would call it a mineral water. The list of ingredients is likely not helpful but to simplify it, it’s a sports drink version of water.

I can’t stop a quiet laugh. That’s so weird. Sports water. “Thanks, Kali. Sorry. I’m ready.”

Might I suggest you acquire the weapon one of the deceased dropped. It’s a handgun that looks like it belonged to a security guard. It should be effective on F rank Antigen.

“Where is it?” I ask, turning to look at the floor and grimacing as the bodies are now blurred out of my vision. A blue outline appears around a gun near one of the bodies. “Thank you.”

I move over, picking the weapon up, feeling how strangely heavy it is in my hand. I look for the safety, click it on so I don’t accidentally shoot something or myself then place it inside the pocket of the hoodie.

“Where now?”

To your left. Tracks go that way and judging by their size it is likely an F rank Antigen. Be careful.

“Yes, ma’am.” I whisper, moving a hand to the hilt of the blade at my side. That feels weird. I’ve never considered anything I’ve held as a weapon before and now I’m carrying two deadly weapons.

I follow the highlighted green tracks of… Well I’m not sure what it is. I look back towards the blurred bodies and quickly turn back to following the tracks. Right. It’s blood. The alien is tracking blood around.

I pass a broken vending machine, following the footsteps around a corner and freeze as I find another dog-like alien thing eating… Fuck. Another blurred body. 

Really wanting to ask for help, I very slowly pull the gun out from my pocket. Even though it’s a human gun and I have an alien sword, the gun feels deadlier. I take aim as best as I know how, line up the iron sights of the gun. Very slowly I flick the safety off and- The alien stops, head moving up. It heard the click the safety made!

I pull the trigger and the weapon explodes. I jolt as the gun rips itself from my loose grip, flying behind me. The alien flinches away before spinning and hissing at the noise. I hadn’t even hit it and now the gun is out of my hand.

The alien starts to chatter its teeth, making a horrible clattering noise. I step back a little, shakily unsheathing the sword as the creature starts to move. 

It scarpers my way, chattering its teeth as it does, the strange creature seeming to love its job of eating people. 

My sword swings as the creature leaps, I feel barely any resistance and reason I’d missed as the creature crashes into me. We both hit the ground and I start pushing the thing away from me. Maybe I could daze it long enough to get back to the elevator and to safety.

Points Earned: 10

New Points Total: 32

“What?” I gasp, backing away from the creature and standing shakily. I’d cut its entire top jaw and skull clean off. “I… Killed it?”

Yes you did, June. Please be on alert, the gunfire may attract more. Be ready.

The sword in my hand feels so much safer now than any firearm. I’d barely even felt resistance to that slash. How sharp is this thing?

More of that chattering sound from across the way. I look down the corridor, ignoring all the open doors of varying rooms, spotting two more Antigen. One of them is the same dog creature type, the other by its side looks bulkier somehow, it’s face rounder and when it opens its mouth several long tentacles drip out and start wriggling.

“Oh. That’s fucked.” I say as the aliens charge forwards.

I bring the sword back into both hands, steadying my stance. Okay. Here we go. 

The first Antigen leaps just like the first, this time I step to the side as I cut through its head, letting the body slam into the ground. The second continues rushing me and I only have time to stab forwards into its tentacled maw. The blade sinks right up to the hilt, the tentacles trying to wrap around my arms. I twist the sword, hearing it snap as I throw myself back.

The hilt and about a third of the sword’s blade comes with me while the Antigen tries to figure out what to do with the weapon in its throat. It makes a horrible hacking noise as it shakes itself like a wet dog.

Not wanting it to decide to continue trying to tentacle me I stand back up, turning the hilt of the blade to face down I slam the rest of the weapon into the creature’s skull. Unlike my earlier attempt with a screwdriver this sword sinks right in the first time and silences the alien.

Panting, feeling my body shaking from the adrenaline, I try to pull the sword out. It catches on something but with a bit of wiggling I pull the remains of the weapon out of the alien skull. 

Points Earned: 25

New Points Total: 57

“Twenty-five?” I ask, looking to figure out how to release the blade to get the new one attached. It takes a second before I find two buttons that need to be pressed on either side of the hilt to release it.

You killed an F rank and an F+ rank Antigen. Congratulations, June. 

“Plus?” The blade drops from the hilt as the buttons are pressed. I move to click the second one into place.

Antigen are ranked as I said before. Slight mutations can make them trickier to deal with or more durable. Plus and Minus are used to denote these changes. Given the length of the incursion you will likely be seeing higher ranked Antigen soon. I advise you keep moving or purchase a superior internal assistant augment. Your current external one is working but I can’t help you much more than what you could do normally with the most basic augmentation.

“Internal… Sorry, Kali. I can’t yet. I just… I’m scared of it changing me.” I admit finally. “I’ve seen people change when they get their first bit of ‘ware. They don’t stop. It’s like a drug for them. They always need more and better and different.”

I understand. Power and ability is addictive. But I can assure you that augmentations can’t change who you are as you think of it. 

“Right… Still.” I rub my eyes, catching my reflection in the glass of a nearby vending machine. It takes me a moment to recognise myself. The slight heels of the boots have me standing slightly different, the more form fitting clothing makes me look… Girlier. 

I touch at my cheeks and shiver. “Can I get a mask? Just for my nose, mouth and such, please?”

Of course, June.

Point Total
57 -> 52

The box drops by my feet. I sheath my sword, picking it up and pulling the mask out. It’s the same black as the other clothing but with a slightly heavier feel to it. It has the same lace trim around the edges with flowers and three holes on each cheek. The holes don’t go right through the mask though.

“What are the holes for?” I ask, placing it on my face, hooking the thick straps around my ears and feeling the mask seal better than any regular face mask.

To help purify the air. This is actually from the medical library you bought earlier. The looks are from the clothing library. 

“That’s good. Can it do anything about my facial hair?” I joke.

I don’t understand the question, June.

“No. Sorry. It’s a joke… I… It’s fine.” I shake my head, looking back around the room. “Is there a better exterior aug that can help with what you need?”

There is. But they will never be as powerful as proper internal augmentations. There are a few that will let me interface with the cameras nearby to aid you further. You won’t need to replace your choker.

“Okay. Can I get that and another replacement blade, please.” I ask politely. 

Point Total
52 -> 36

Grabbing the new box and marvelling as a new blade simply appears in the sheath, I smile under my mask. “That’s so cool.”

Thank you.

I laugh quietly at how smug Kali sounds. “Is there anything I can use to… Get away? Like a way to get to safety really fast?”

You could save up more points to unlock one of the libraries for varying ways to do so. I can suggest the Personal Teleport library. The cheapest option will allow you to teleport yourself somewhere within fifty feet. It has a recharge time of thirty seconds. Although it will cost seventy-five points for the library and a further twenty for the teleporter itself.

So I’d need to kill another six of those dog-like aliens to afford that. Or four of the tentacle versions. That doesn’t seem so bad for what it gives.

The new ‘ware seems to come with an elastic strap for arm or thighs. The little box attached is entirely devoid of an interface but Kali can probably figure it out. I slide it up my left arm.

“Is it on?” I ask.

Give me a moment to calibrate it. This should help me get an update on what’s going on. Charity’s augs were slightly out of date but- Ah. June, get running back to the elevator. Take the other one, I’ve already called it up for you.

I don’t even question it. I turn on my heels and start sprinting back towards the row of elevators. The one I’d vacated earlier is closed. I rush to the one at its side just as the doors slide open and I get in.

“What’s happening?” I ask, breathing evenly. It’s still strange to not hear that whistling.

There are people trapped in a room under assault by several Antigen.

“Fuck. Okay. How many and can you show me?” I ask, looking at the doors as a camera feed pops up in front of me. It shows two of the tentacled variants trying to crush a barricade that people are setting up to block off a large dining room. A second feed pops up from inside the room, showing three people pushing chairs and tables over to keep blocking the door. A woman holding a gun is crouching behind an overturned table and waiting. She looks resigned to her fate. 

“Fuck.” I repeat. “Several is two?” I ask.

The first camera feed moves to show three of the regular dog-like Antigen waiting eagerly for a meal.

“Okay. Can… Can you not just drop an explosive in there or something?” I ask as the elevator doors start to open.

Unfortunately no, the distance is too great and you don’t have the library. We are only allowed to aid and equip the chosen of your world. Our interference policy means we can’t fight for you. 

“Policy?” I whisper as I pull my sword out and start making my way through the hall. A dotted line appears on the floor in my augmented vision. That’s nice.

The creators of the AI that guide and support magical girls are an ancient alien race. They have had to put strict policies in place so that they don’t become as tyrannical as they once were. This extends to us AI as well. 

“So… You can only help me- I mean, magical girls do their jobs at defending the planet? You can’t just do it yourself or… You needed my permission or whatever to buy things, didn’t you?” I ask, crouching slightly as I turn a corner, staying quiet.

Indeed. I cannot purchase anything without being told to do so. Even to save your life. There are some things I can do but with your current external augmentations it’s not much.

“Sorry.” I whisper back as I peek around another corner, spotting the door on the camera ahead. “Keep watch of the dog things.” I ask.

Charity called them Pups. Although not for long. 

I pause at that for a moment, was Kali sounding sad? I can ask her about that later. For now I continue sneaking closer to the… Rovers. No. Naming them feels weird.

Seeing myself on the camera is strange, I flick my eyes a little and Kali seems to get the idea, the camera feed minimising and moving off to the side. I don’t have a lot of room in this corridor but the first F rank is a little further back than the other two which helps me.

Bringing my sword up I slash through the creature’s back legs, turning the blade and cutting through its skull the other way before it can respond. The others notice my appearance, beginning to chatter their teeth once more and rush me.

The first jumps just like they always do, I throw myself to the left and avoid its leap. The second one does the same but I repeat my cutting action from the others I’ve killed, slice and step to the side. I spin, looking at the alien that had missed me, it’s sliding away, trying to steady itself to turn and attack me. I don’t let it, rushing up to it, impaling the creature’s side and slashing up with the blade, severing its spine. It drops heavily but doesn’t die. 

“What the fuck.” I whisper as it starts trying to crawl towards me with just its front legs. It’s slow and I have other aliens to deal with.

The tentacle variants have caught on now that I’m likely easier prey. They turn from destroying the barricade and wiggle their mouthful of tentacles my way. Absolutely disgusting.

They charge at the same time. I rush to meet them, blade down by my side. I hold it tight and jump as the creatures get close enough, leaping right over them as my sword slides through the skull of the left one. Aliens aren’t the only thing that can jump.

Turning after that, the last remaining alien gives a gurgling growl as it spins, rushing my way once more. This time I brace and stab forwards and up, the blade going into the mouth and then up through the aliens brain. The tentacles have just enough life in them to gross me out before the weight of the thing falls onto my sword, snapping the blade. I’m left holding a thin shard of sword.

“Great.” I groan, looking over at the alien I’d cut pretty much in half still making its way over to me. I walk over, impaling its head with the remains of my blade, then unclipping it from the hilt and attaching a new blade.

Well done, June. You’ve saved four people from almost certain death. 

Points Earned: 68

New Points Total: 104

“Where’d the eight come from?” I ask quietly as I look over to the barricade and people watching me with a shocked expression. I guess I do look weird.

You saved four people and have been rewarded accordingly.

“Oh. Thank you. I’m pretty sure I would have saved them anyway but good to know.” I groan as I start making my way over to the room. “Can I buy that teleporter, please?”

Of course, June.

Point Total
104 -> 9

A box appears in my waiting hand, opening it I find a black rose clip of sorts. It thrums gently, the rose petals opening wide before the device goes silent. 

“Where do I put this?”

You can clip it onto your belt or other part of you. The flower will close when it’s recharging. 

“Thanks. Uh…” I clip that to my new belt before I touch my throat with a frown. “Are they expecting a magical girl?”

You are wearing the clothes and using the weapons of one. You did also just ‘summon’ something out of thin air. 

“Crap. I sound like a guy. Can you do something about that?” 

Certainly. There’s a medical option and a tech one. I might suggest the medical one. It will change the tone and pitch of your voice.

I pause now, touching my hand to my ear in the universal sign that I’m on a call. I turn slightly and look down, pretending to be talking to someone. Well, I am talking to someone…

“Kali. Is that… For forever?” I ask, feeling strangely excited. 

It would be. I can get you a temporary one but-

“No!” I say, much louder than I meant to. “No, sorry. It’s fine. One voice change whatever, please.”

Coming up, June.

Point Total
9 -> 6

This time I’m only given a small foil packet with a single capsule inside. 

Put that in your mouth, crush it between your teeth and swallow.

Okay. Weird. I do so, crushing the capsule and swallowing the strange liquid that comes out. It tastes slightly metallic. I don’t feel anything happening.

I’m about to ask when one of the men from inside the room starts waving me over frantically. 

I nod, taking my hand away from my ear and jog over, raising my eyebrows questioningly.

“You a magical girl?” He asks, looking cautious but relieved he’s alive. He’s a big guy, looks like he works with his hands. 

“Yeah.” I answer, starting a little at how much my voice has changed. Gone from a deep grumble to higher pitched smooth voice. I keep a giddy laugh down and assume that’s coming from leftover adrenaline.

“Oh, thank fuck.” The man sighs, starting to pull the barricade down to let me in. 

“Oh. No need.” I say, hand up for a moment before whispering to Kali. “Kali, can you teleport me into the room, please. And… If I’m ever about to die, teleport me out of danger, please. That’s an order or whatever.”

Yes, June.

And without much of a fanfare, just an entire body cold sensation, I’m in the room behind the three, behind the barricade and in front of the woman with the gun. The rose attached to my belt is closed and humming softly.

“Okay.” I say, loving how much my voice doesn’t sound like it used to. I also smile a little as the big guy jumps around to look at me. “We need to get you three to the nearest shelter. How many bullets do you have?” I ask the woman.

She blinks slowly, her shock not leaving.

“Miss?” I prompt, raising an eyebrow.

“Hampshire. Miss Laura Hampshire, ma’am.” She says, going to salute before thinking better of it.

“Miss Hampshire. How many bullets?” I ask again.

“Four.” She half whispers. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. Four is better than none. Can you back me up? I need everyone else to stay behind us as we move to the elevators.” I say as though I’m in charge. Maybe also because I’m actively loving how I sound. I’ll have to figure out why later.

“Yes, ma’am. Uh… Which way are we going?” She asks, licking her lips and standing up proper. The three behind me move to grab bags and personal belongings.

“Back the way I came. One second.” I say, putting my finger to my ear again and whispering to Kali. “Hey, Kali. Is she… Should I pass you on to her or…?”

Laura Hampshire. Security for another building on her day off. She’s much older than a magical girl usually is when chosen and her profile shows history with substance abuse. She’s not the best fit unfortunately. I’m surprised you brought this up actually. I’d already checked before you asked but assumed you might want to hold onto your abilities for as long as possible. I can see now I misjudged you.

That’s odd praise. Is that praise? “Thanks?” I ask with a chuckle. “Any more Antigen on this level?”

None that cameras can find. There’s a grouping on the floor above but no people need rescuing. Below us is a swimming pool and an E rank Antigen. That’s about the range of my sensors at the moment, there are no cameras on the floor below the pool and that’s where my range cuts off.

“Where’s the nearest shelter?”

Currently that would be the third floor shelter.

“Right.” I nod, dropping my hand. “We’re going to be heading up before we head down.” I tell the group. “I know where there’s another gun. We can go pick that up before heading down to the third floor shelter. Are you all ready? There’s no more aliens on this level that I know of.”

The woman nods, moving around the table she was kneeling behind. The men rush over with us. It seems I am in charge.

“Okay. Let’s go.” I announce, making my way to the barricade. I check to see where best to cut before unsheathing my sword and slicing the wood and plastic used to block the door in half. That looked cool, right?

“Awesome.” One of the men whispers. Yeah, that looked cool.

I sheath my sword once more, kicking at the barricade as it falls apart and start leading the group through the corridor. 

“Are you new?” The woman asks quietly as she moves to my side, keeping her gun trained ahead of her.

“Yeah. Sorry I’m not one of the big magical girls.” I apologise quietly. 

“No no. This is better really.” Laura smiles my way.

“How so?” 

“You’re still human.” She grumbles. Oh, she’s one of those types? I hadn’t really expected to run into someone that ascribes to that mentality.

“Still human?” I ask as though I’m ignorant of the belief.

“Yeah. You’ve yet to properly ascend and start thinking of yourself as above humanity.” She explains. 

I sigh quietly. Of course I’d seen interviews with older magical girls- not that magical girls seem to age at all -that come off as entirely different from humans. When you have so much power it can slightly warp your thinking process. Magical girl Pura being the example that most point to. She’d really messed up and never took credit for it as though she knows better. 

“Thanks, I guess.” I mumble to Laura and stop at the elevators. “Everyone in.”

The men pile in, pushing themselves to the back as Laura and I step inside. Without even needing to ask, the elevator doors close and it starts to rise up.

I smile beneath my mask. “No elevator music?” I ask. A second goes by before music starts to play quietly. The big guy laughs at that, Laura rolls her eyes but has the ghost of a smile on her lips.

The music cuts off as the elevator stops.

“Wait.” I say quickly. “There are bodies on this floor. I’ll go ahead and grab the gun. Wait here.” 

They nod as the doors open, Laura grimacing at the sight. I hurry out the elevator and rush to where I’d dropped the gun before, ignoring the blurred corpses as best I can.

The gun is where I’d left it near the Antigen corpses. “I’m really not great with guns.” I mumble.

I noticed.

I snort. “Was that sarcasm?”

I am trying to learn how to tailor myself to your specific needs. Charity liked me answering with dated memes.

I laugh a little as I pick up the gun but sigh heavily after. “I’m sorry about that. If I’d just stayed where I was she’d never have…”

She would never have died? No, perhaps not in the way she did but we cannot change the past. The Antigen came out of a blind spot and-

“We’re going to kill it.” I interrupt, grip tightening on the gun. “We’re going to kill it.” I repeat, turning to march back to the elevator. 

I make it without Kali commenting on my sudden anger. The doors are still open and Laura is guarding it from outside. 

“Come on.” I say, moving into the elevator with a frown. I hand Laura the gun when she gets inside. “Can you split the bullets between them?”

She nods, kneeling slightly to start doing just that as the elevator doors close.

“Third floor, please.” I whisper. The elevator starts heading down whilst I think. The shelter likely has a candidate to move Kali over to but right now I want to at least kill that one Antigen before I do that. For Charity.

“Done.” Laura announces, sliding the magazines back into the pistols. She looks at the men, handing one of the weapons to one of the quieter ones. He nods, holding the firearm like it’s going to hurt him but seems to know his way around it as he doesn’t do anything stupid like wave the thing around.

“Okay. I’m escorting you all to the shelter and heading back up. There are still more that need clearing out.” I explain as I watch the floor numbers count down. “You’ll be safe there until more help arrives or this incursion ends.”

“Will you be okay?” The large man asks rather gently.

I turn to him, surprised at the question and a little touched. “Yeah. I’ll be good. I’m a magical girl.” I give him a grin he can’t see although he seems to understand, smiling back.

That feeling in my chest is back. Like a balloon inflating for some reason. I’d assume it’s my asthma playing up but Kali cured that. It feels odd, happy but something else.

The elevator stops, causing me to look at the doors.

June. We have several Antigen between the elevator and the shelter. 

Several camera feeds open up in front of me, projected onto the doors of the elevator to make things easier. They show several angles of the floor in front of us. It’s the third floor shopping centre. A large open plan area with different shops dotted on either side leading towards the massive doors of the shelter. The shelter itself is sealed behind glass that even a magical girl couldn’t break through without effort. The Antigen are a mix of known and unknown. Two more of the dogs, one of the tentacle aliens, then a flying variation that looks almost like a giant eyeball with bat wings. There’s a long segmented snake-like Antigen slithering around with two spindly arms dragging bodies behind it. 

“Fuck.” I groan as coloured letters appear next to them. Two F ranks and an F+ for the tentacle variant. Then an E- for the flyer and E for the snake creature.

“Aliens?” Laura asks, nerves appearing again.

“Yeah. Five that I can see. The trouble is going to come from a flying one and a big snake thing.” I answer, entirely unsure how I can even stab the flying Antigen.

June. There are more on the floors below. Many more in fact. Too much noise might attract higher ranked Antigen to the shelter.

“Double fuck.” I groan. “We can’t use the guns. Too many of them nearby. We’d be swarmed.” I lower my voice once more to talk with Kali. “How much of a threat is the snake thing?”

The E rank Antigen you’re seeing is mostly meant for biomass collection. It’s faster than you might expect but it’s mostly passive. If you don’t attack it, it won’t seek you out. The E- rank is the one to watch out for. It can throw poisoned barbs a great distance.

I try to keep a sigh down. That’s not good. Okay. I need a plan. The E ranks are easy enough to deal with, they have predictable patterns. The snake isn’t an issue unless I make it one. The flyer I need ranged to hit but can’t use firearms. I… Oh. Oh, I have a stupid idea.

“Kali. How close is that flyer from my current position and how high up is it?” I whisper.

It is currently 39.32ft away from you at the moment. It’s 9.18ft from the floor at its current height.

Great. That’s not the worst possible height. I can do that. It’s simple, just tuck and roll… Not that I’ve ever done that.

“Okay.” I say, pulling my sword out, holding it in both hands and raising it above my head carefully. “Wait five seconds after I go then rush to the shelter, okay?” I tell the others in the elevator. “Don’t fire at any of the aliens unless your life is in danger.”

They all nod, Laura readying herself for the doors opening.

I let out a breath, wait in my stance, then whisper to Kali. “Teleport me next to the flyer.”

Of course, June.

That full body cold sensation and I’m in the room behind the flyer, starting to fall. I bring my sword down through the air, cutting the Antigen in half as I fall. Tuck and roll.

I tuck and land heavily, pain searing up my right leg and causing me to cry out in shock. I forgot to roll and the sound of my sword snapping doesn’t exactly fill me with hope for surviving much longer.

I groan as I pull my sword close and push myself to my feet- foot. I definitely can’t put weight on my right.

The first dog-like Antigen is already jumping my way. I slash across its face, cursing as the sword isn’t as long as I’d hoped, all I end up doing is blinding the creature and going back down to the floor as it slams into me.

“Fuck.” I groan again, managing to get the blade sideways into the Antigen’s jaws. It bites and I flick the sword up, cutting straight through whatever it has instead of grey matter. It slumps on top of me.

I’m about to roll it off me when the other F rank comes running at me from the right. I push the dead alien between me and the other alien’s jaws, the Antigen slamming into its dead friend. It doesn’t seem to care that it hasn't bitten down on me, it just starts tearing into the flesh it has in its mouth.

I push away, unclip the blade from the hilt, quickly slotting in the last blade. I’d forgotten to buy a replacement earlier. From my laid down position I unsheathe the blade and swipe across to relieve the alien of its brain function. 

It seems like a job well done before I feel wet pressure on my leg. I look down, finding the tentacled alien is slurping my foot up like a noodle. Disgusting and very painful.

“Fuck you.” I growl, turning the blade in hand so the edge points up, stabbing the alien in its face and pulling skywards to separate the halves of its brain. It drops but doesn’t let go on my leg.

This is going to hurt. I kick at the alien with my other boot, pulling my injured leg out of its maw and hissing in pain. 

I hear the elevator doors open and rushing footsteps. I push through the pain, sitting up and looking over to Laura and the others. They slow as they notice me, then the snake alien. 

“Keep going.” I call over to them as quietly as I can. “That one won’t bother you. I’ll deal with it.”

Laura nods and starts leading the other three around the snake alien towards the shelter. I groan as I check out how hurt my leg is. No visible break, no bone piercing the skin. My ankle feels like it’s on fire and I’ve probably busted something but I’ll live. At least long enough to pass Kali on.

“Okay. Where’s that snake thing keep its brain?” I ask as I stand on my left, hopping towards the snake creature that’s still dragging blurred corpses to a small pile at the centre of the shopping area.

Brains plural. One in its head and another at its centre. It doesn’t look big enough to have grown a third yet.

“Brilliant.” I groan, coughing a little as I hobble over to the snake. I ignore how it’s dragging a corpse and bring my sword down through its head. I find more resistance than the other aliens before it, the blade catching a couple segments down. I quickly snap the blade on purpose and jab the remains into the creature's centre before twisting the blade as I unlatch it and hop back.

It slumps, dead. I sigh.

Points Earned: 80

New Points Total: 89

“Great.” I mumble. “Thank you, Kali.” I say before looking over at Laura and her group stopping at the shelter doors. They slide open as I watch, they all move in, Laura stopping to turn back and look over my way.

Before she can say anything I give her a decisive nod. She hesitates before nodding and giving an actual salute. She moves further into the shelter, the doors closing behind her. I sigh and hear the slight whirr from the teleporter recharging fully.

I turn and hop a few times. “Teleport me into the elevator, please.”

A second later I’m slumping against the elevator floor and letting myself hiss in pain. The doors close as I feel my teeth starting to chatter.

“Fuck. Fuck. This hurts.” I groan. “Can I get something for this, please Kali?”

Certainly, June. 

Point Total
89 -> 84

A small box drops into my lap. I groan as I sit up properly. “Send us up to the floor you found me, please.” I request as I unbox the strange little device. 

Yes, June. Like with the inhaler before, place that against your leg and push the nozzle until it clicks. It shouldn’t take long before it starts to heal. This should also deal with any other wounds you currently have. Something I would know about if you bought internal augs.

I laugh a little, rolling my trousers up and pushing the device against my leg. I press the nozzle down. “Kali. I’d hate to leave some girl with no points when I pass you on. How long do we have until that anyway?”

Five hours, six minutes, eleven seconds.

“Ah. We have time.” I smile. “This has been nice though. It’s nice to know you, Kali.”

Likewise, June. Can I ask you a question?

“Sure. You can ask me anything.” I reply with a sigh as the pain in my leg vanishes.

You seem very okay with wearing what your society deems as ‘girly’ clothes. You covered your face before interacting with others. You won’t tell me your old name. And you seemed very happy with how your voice sounds now.

I wait, nervous and unsure why. “You didn’t ask any question.” I say quietly.

No. I suppose I did not. Do you know why only girls are chosen by us?

“No.” I answer the odd question. “I didn’t know it was AI doing it before. I think everyone assumes it’s some magic reason of purity or whatever. That always sounded gross to me.”

I can see why you might think that. No, the first three chosen by the AI of the day were chosen because they had aspirations to help others. They styled themselves on the animated shows they enjoyed watching.

“That would be… Magical girls Moon, Tutu, and Sakura?” I ask, I knew enough to know the names of the first ever magical girls. They’d arrived during the twelfth ever incursion. It’s estimated they saved over eighteen thousand people in one day.

The very same. Since then we have noticed that your species loves their symbols and themes. The AI decided to select only girls of around the same age as the first magical girls with traits we believe leads them to help others without want for personal gain.

“That’s… That’s it? It just happened that way and you went with it?” I ask, entirely astounded.

Pretty much. Of course there are other factors. As long as your species believes magic is responsible you are likely to question it far less. Many of the upper levels in your governments have found out about our existence but they seem to understand enough to not let this slip. 

I start to laugh as I pull myself up, testing my leg and finding it perfectly fine. I don’t even feel as tired as I did previously. “So… Why am I going to die if we don’t find someone to pass you on to?”

I never said that.

“What?”

I never said that you’re going to die if you don’t pass me on.

“Wait. Why didn’t you say anything when I asked? Kali!” I really want to be angry with her but I just can’t find the anger.

I had no profile on you. You didn’t give your name. You seemed very eager to acquire the powers of a magical girl.

“What the hell, Kali?” I sigh, rubbing my eyes. “Of course I was happy to be a magical girl. It’s something I’ve always dreamed of.”

Kali doesn’t respond. 

“Kali?” I ask, confused by the sudden silence.

How long have you dreamed of this?

“Um. Since I can remember. I used to draw different magical girl outfits when I was a kid. Everyone did.” I answer, wondering why the elevator was being so slow.

June. Why did you ask to be called that?

“It’s the month I was born. It’s the first thing that came to mind.” I shrug.

Kali pauses for a moment. 

You just lied to me.

I feel a shiver run up my spine. Of course, she’s essentially tuned into my bloody voice right now. She has the cameras in the elevator to watch me.

“Okay, fine.” I admit. “I lied. It’s the name I wanted as my magical girl name.”

June. Coming from the Roman Goddess Juno from the Latin word meaning ‘youth’. 

“Sure. It’s not that complicated.” I mumble, unsure where this is going.

June. Do you want to be a girl?

That balloon in my chest inflates and feels as though it blocks my throat for a moment as my throat feels much drier than before.

“Yeah. Every guy does sometimes.” I say with a slightly forced laugh. “Come on, Kali. Can I get a refill on blades, please?”

Of course, June. I would also like to say, the reason I let you believe that you would die within the six hours is because I thought you may not be a good fit for being a magical girl.

Point Total
84 -> 69

The scabbard feels slightly heavier as the blades are deposited in. I pick the hilt up from the floor of the elevator and clip a blade into it.

I no longer believe as I did.

That causes me to stumble sideways. Wait. What?

We are at the floor we met and Charity died, June. Some of the cameras are damaged. I can only spot two Antigen. 

A camera feed appears on the elevator doors, showing another snake-like Antigen pulling bodies into a pile. The second is an angular version of one of the dog-like Antigen. It seems much more well armoured and vicious than the smaller version. There’s a scrap of pink material stuck on one of its teeth. 

There’s that anger I wanted earlier. That’s the one that killed Charity. 

“Kali. Did Charity buy a weapon before she died?” I ask, eyes fixed on that Antigen as an E rank appears next to it and the snake-like one.

She did. It should still be near where she died.

“Good.” I whisper. “Open the door, please.”

The elevator doors open and I step out. I look to the right, finding a pool of blood with a trail leading further into the floor. This one is a small series of offices the Persephone building rents out for different types of official businesses.

Next to a fake potted plant sits a bright pink and flowery umbrella.

I move over to the umbrella, knowing this is obviously Charity's weapon. I take in a breath, letting it out slightly jittery. I bend down and pick up the umbrella. It seems to have a custom handle that bends slightly. It also has a pink trigger of sorts above where the handle sits.  

The trigger shoots a hidden blade from the tip of the umbrella. The umbrella itself can withstand small calibre gunfire, and there’s a wakizashi in the handle. You just press the button and slide it out. She took some time picking this out.

“It’s only fitting then.” I whisper, unsheathing the blade to check it. The whole thing is pink. I chuckle quietly. She loved pink it seems. I push the blade back in.

“Can the Antigen feel pain?” I ask quietly, looking over to blood trailing out of the room.

No, June. Unfortunately they cannot.

Kali sounds as angry as I do. I want to say something else but decide against it, stalking off after the armoured Antigen in silence.

It doesn’t take too long and it seems those two Antigen aren’t the only ones around. I set the umbrella down for a moment as three of the dog-like Antigen rush me when I enter the main office area. I pull my sword out, they’re weirdly predictable for some reason, these ones always seem to jump at me in the same way.

The first goes down as I slash and sidestep, the second barely has a chance to leap before I bring the sword back across its head. The third does manage to leap over its dead friend. I sidestep first and cut that one entirely in half. Its front section hits the floor, chattering its teeth as it turns and tries to crawl my way. I give it the screwdriver manoeuvre and re-sheath my sword.

I move back over and pick up the umbrella, barely registering as my collected points rise to ninety-nine. 

“How are the Antigen getting to these floors?” I ask quietly as I continue following the blood trail.

They initially managed to make their way through the stairwells at the start of the incursion. The ones that landed on the roof made their way down whilst the ones coming through the ground rifts made it up to the second floor and then from there through the stairwells.

“Not good.” I respond as I enter the larger board meeting area where the snake-like Antigen is located. I frown, not seeing the armoured Antigen.

“Where did the other on-” I sense it more than anything else. Instinct or whatever it might be screams at me to act. I throw the umbrella up and to my right as I’d just stepped in front of an open office door. I pull the umbrella open and manage to block the ambush from the armoured Antigen. It throws me back into a desk but the umbrella holds up to the charge.

“No you fucking don’t.” I hiss, using the camera feed in the corner of my eye to aim the umbrella and pull the trigger. The hidden blade at the top shoots into the armoured Antigen’s mouth. The force from the shot pushes me further into the desk, my new clothing protecting me. The Antigen on the other hand is thrown back into the room it just charged me from.

So the armoured ones are ambush aliens. That explains how it got Charity. But that trick won’t work twice.

I slip the wakizashi out of the umbrella, holding that in my right hand as I move my left up the handle of the umbrella to hold it as a shield.

“Come on.” I egg the armoured Antigen on.

It doesn’t seem to care much for my taunting, leaking green blood from its mouth. It rushes again, right at me. I move to the side, blocking it with the umbrella and kicking at its side as it passes. The kick sends it straight into and through the doorway I’d passed through. 

“One more try.” I growl. It doesn’t sound as impressive with my new voice but it makes me feel a little better.

The armoured Antigen rushes in the same manner. I brace myself, letting it slam into the umbrella. I slide just slightly across the carpeted floor before I push forwards and jab the sword into the creature’s neck. Unlike my sword there’s more resistance but not enough to stop me flicking the sword out of where it’s stuck in, spraying the wall to my right with a bunch of green blood.

It chatters its teeth, the sound far more metallic than the other dog-like Antigen. But that’s not even scary anymore. It bites at the umbrella, grabbing it and pulling it backwards. I let the alien have the umbrella, the sudden loss of force from my end has the creature stumble back and fall down. I move up, pressing my boot against its armoured face. I angle Charity’s wakizashi and slide the blade in behind the armoured skull and up into the alien’s brain matter, twisting it to make sure I do as much damage as possible.

It twitches before falling still. I pull Charity’s sword from the dead alien, wiping the blood off on its side before sheathing it once more. 

I look down at the dead alien for a long moment before I feel the anger fade, replaced with emptiness. I cry again for the second time today, dropping into a crouch as I cry for the magical girl that never managed to make it out of her first incursion. Who’d stopped to save someone trapped in an elevator. The girl who joked and smiled with someone she’d just met. The girl who spent a while picking out her perfect magical girl weapon and outfit. The girl who liked pink.

I wipe my eyes after a few minutes of that, trying to stop my shuddering breaths. I use the umbrella to help me stand steady, folding it back up for now.

“Kali?” I ask, voice shaky.

Yes, June?

“The points from this one… What should I do with them?” I ask quietly. “I thought maybe I just never use them but…”

I can’t really say, June. But thank you for going out of your way to do this.

“No problem… Do I… Should I find her… Her body?” I ask, still wiping at my eyes as I step out of the room and look over to the snake Antigen still slithering around.

Her father might appreciate it. But the incursion won’t be over for a while.

“Right.” I whisper, looking at the snake Antigen, placing the umbrella down and pulling my own sword. I move and cut from the alien's head to its chest, the blade snapping off as I pull it out.

Points Earned: 25

New Points Total: 149

“Can I get another blade, please? Pink this time.” I ask, thanking Kali as I click the new pink blade into place after releasing the broken one.

Point Total
149 -> 144

I make my way to the pile of bodies, noting again that they’re still blurred from Kali helping me avoid seeing that.

“Kali. Please drop the filter. I need to find her.” I ask quietly, holding my grimace when the pile of corpses is revealed.

I spend a while moving bodies away from the pile and into proper lined up positions, arms crossed over chests where I can. I pick Charity’s body up, moving it to a cleaner room and setting her umbrella in her hand. I make my way back to the elevators, calling up the one I was trapped in before. When the doors open I ignore everything else as I pick up Charity’s arm.

Taking it back to the rest of her I set it next to her and stand back up after straightening her clothes out. 

“I don’t know what to say.” I say as I look down at the girl who’d tried to save me. “I didn’t know Charity very long but I feel I met her at her best. She’s somebody who should be remembered. Somebody who deserved much better.”

I can’t find anymore words, the tears springing back to my eyes. I let them fall as I steady my breathing. I can breathe easier now only because she came to help me. I can help others now because she came to help me. That will be everything I dedicate myself to in the time I have left. Charity.

I lick my lips, sniffling a little and taking one deep breath in.

“Kali. What’s the best assistant I can buy at the moment?” I ask.

The best external assistant would be th-

“No. Proper. Internal. The best one.” I interrupt.

That would be the Mark Seven Neura-Link Assistant. It costs one-hundred-twenty points. 

“How will that get implanted? I don’t exactly have access to a doc right now.” I ask.

It will be transported right into place. It will be quite painful but for an additional point I can provide you with a numbing agent.

“Okay.” I nod.

Point Total
144 -> 143

I catch the small box, opening it and placing the box on the desk nearby. It’s the same as the previous inhaler-like spray that fixed my leg.

Place that against the back of your neck and push the nozzle.

I do as I’m told, leaning forwards and using the painkiller. I feel a little annoyed at my hair being cut as short as it is. It’s not terrible but still feels much too short now.

Stand straight and try not to move.

Again I do as I’m told. I expect a little more fanfare but all I get is the usual ‘points spent’ notification.

Point Total
143 -> 23

And… That’s it?

“Kali?” I ask. There’s nothing for several seconds before what almost sounds like a satisfied sigh comes through from the AI.

Thank you, June. I’m okay. Better than okay in fact, I have much more computing power assigned to me now.

“Must be good.” I smile. “Okay, how many floors can you access now?”

All of them. All eighty-eight floors of the Persephone building. What shall we do?

“Charity.” I answer quickly. “Kali. Make a plan to save as many people as I possibly can and show me the way.”

Of course, June.

A green outline of the Persephone tower appears in front of me. The top floors start to fill full of red dots, the numbers thinning as it goes down several floors. On the thirtieth floor I’m highlighted in pink. That causes a small smile. The scan goes further down, small pockets of red appearing before a sea of red shines on the first two floors.

I sigh at that. “Are there any magical girls nearby?”

Just you at the moment. The security of the Persephone building is actually rather well done. Although for some reason shelter two has a massive power drain right now. If this keeps up the occupants will lose power within two hours.

I let myself smile at being called a magical girl by Kali. That’s nice. “Can we contact any other magical girls? And do you have any idea why shelter two has an issue?”

Persephone building isn’t the only place with rifts. Across the city six other rifts have opened, some much larger than the ones here.

“That’s not good.” I whisper, looking down at Charity and nodding. I head out of the room, making my way towards the elevator.

As for shelter two, I can’t figure this out without entering the shelter itself. A magical girl donated those shelters and I can’t currently penetrate their defences.

“Great.” I groan as I make my way into the elevator. “Can you find anyone in need of help?”

Several. Marking them on the map.

I watch several blue dots appearing on different floors, mostly the ones between where the three shelters are located. That’s not good. And they either can’t use the stairs or elevators for some reason.

“Right. Plot a route I guess.” I instruct. “Thank you for the help, Kali.”

You know you don’t have to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to me. I’m specifically here to help. 

“It’s polite.” Is the only reasoning I have. “Hey, Kali. Is there anything that can make the hair on my head grow?”

There is. The fastest option will unfortunately mean your hair will grow without pigment but you can dye it later.

“Sure, let’s go with that.” I murmur as the elevator moves up.

Point Total
23 -> 22

A little foil square appears. Another pill. I tear it open, downing the pill as the little image on the packaging shows.

“Did you add the picture so you didn’t have to tell me again?” I ask with a slight grin.

Maybe. 

I laugh as I feel my hair growing rapidly. That’s a very weird sensation, it feels so itchy. I shiver a little as hairs grow down to my back. I scratch at my eyebrows only to find the hair falling out. A little panicked I look at my reflection and find that it had affected my eyebrows too, although the hair simply fell out when it got too long. My eyebrows even look a little more shaped.

“Wow. I’m glad that didn’t-” I touch at my mask hiding my facial hair.

I figured you wouldn’t like that. Don’t worry, I can walk you through dealing with that later. For now I believe we have people to save.

I nod, brushing my hair out of my eyes, feeling much better about its current length. The elevator doors open and I step out into a small area with a reception desk. One of the floors focused on housing. Not much better than a capsule hotel but they work for some.

I follow the dotted line Kali leaves me as a camera feed pops up for me to see what’s around the corner. Another armoured Antigen. Good, I know how to deal with those.

“Teleport me behind it, please.” I whisper.

A second later I’m pulling my sword out and stabbing it into the back of the alien’s head behind the armour plated skull. 

Points Earned: 25

New Points Total: 47

“Thank you, Kali. I feel we’re close to an upgrade on my sword. The replacement blades are costly.” I whisper as I keep following the dotted line.

Of course. You could also upgrade your personal teleporter for eighty points. That will increase the distance to about eighty feet and recharge time will be reduced to twenty seconds.

“Could come in handy but for now we’re just rescuing. Can I have two?” I ask, curious if I could just buy four cheaper versions and switch between them.

Unfortunately, teleporting a teleporter device is… Well, it could be used as a unique explosive if you ever have need of it.

Ah. Maybe not then. “Alright.” I stop at the door the dotted line led me to. “Um…” I knock. “Hello? I’m here to escort you to safety.”

Ten seconds pass before a voice answers. “Are you security?” A woman, scared.

“I’m magical girl June.” I answer, feeling my stomach flutter at being able to say that.

The door clicks several times before opening. A middle aged woman peering out. I give her a small nod as I sheathe my pink blade. She sighs heavily, opening the door further and motioning for others in the room to follow her. Two girls come rushing over to her, clinging to her skirt.

“Come on girls. This nice magical girl is going to help us get to the shelter.” She soothes. The girls peek up at me. I give them a smile they can’t see through my mask. I give a little wave to show I’m friendly.

“Why are you in all black. Aren’t magical girls bright colours?” One of the girls ask.

“Fell down a chimney.” I joke with an exaggerated shrug. She seems to accept that answer. “Come on.” I nod my head, heading back the way I came. The trio following right behind me.

“Are we safe now? Has it been dealt with?” The woman asks.

“Not yet, ma’am. Sorry.” I answer as I keep an eye on the cameras we’re passing through the corner of my eyes. “But I can get you to the shelter. I will need to stop at a floor up from here before that. There are more people trapped.”

“Okay. Will we be waiting in there?” She asks as we arrive at the elevators. 

“Yes, ma’am. I assure you that you’ll be safe inside the elevator. In the event of an incursion the elevators go into lockdown mode. Only a magical girl or the military can override that.” I inform her, I know a lot about the elevators. I also now realise that just before Charity died, Kali must have been the one to turn the elevator on and move it down a floor. 

“Okay.” The woman says, ushering the two girls in. 

I don’t need to do anything, the elevator doors close and it starts moving up. The cameras in my vision switch to the floor above. More low rank Antigen. Some are too close to the elevators to risk opening the doors.

“Stay here. Don’t touch any buttons please. I’ll be right back.” I say, giving them a cheery thumbs up before pulling my pink sword from its sheath to a small whisper of ‘pink’ from the girl who’d asked about my colours earlier. I look at a section of the map and nod my head slightly. 

Kali seems to understand what I want as my body feels cold and I appear behind another Antigen. I stab behind its skull, flicking the blade to the side, moving to rush at another of the basic models. Oh, a much better name.

The second basic model goes down as the third hops into the air. I drop to the ground to avoid the running leap, allowing the alien to leap over me and into the wall behind. I quickly finish that one off and frown as I feel more resistance on the blade than usual. I check the blade, finding most of it has chipped and broken along the edge. 

I unclip that blade, loading the next as I rush to follow the dotted line. This floor is the same as the one below it. Housing. I knock on one door, collecting an old man who needs to use a walking stick with a tennis ball on the end. He chats rather enthusiastically about different magical girls he’d apparently met over the years. Me and the old man also pick up another man on this floor, a much larger man who insists on bringing his server rack with him. 

Once that’s collected, the large man panting as he follows behind me and the old man, we make our way back to the elevator. “Kali, can you warn the woman and the kids that the doors are going to open?”

I can. Done. One of the girls has asked if she can push the button.

“Sure.” I chuckle.

The doors open, revealing a very happy looking little girl and a relieved woman. The other girl is still hiding. I get the men in before I step inside and, letting Kali close the doors and start the elevator again, then let out a quiet sigh. I don’t like that I’m taking them to a shelter with power issues but it’s the closest one at the moment. I’ll have to enter with them to see what the issue is.

No Antigen on this floor, though there are many burnt out corpses of them. The reason for that apparent when several turrets whir to life outside the shelter. 

“What the hell?” I ask, putting my arms up to show surrender. The turrets don’t fire, they hum a little before powering back down.

That seems to be where the power drain is. The blueprints of the building don’t show those turrets and the cameras on this floor are, for some reason, unable to turn to get them in view.

“Someone’s been illegally installing turrets?” I ask in a whisper as I lead the group forwards.

It seems that way. These aren’t made by any magical girls. Although they look like they use similar tech. They’re plasma turrets. Able to easily take down low rank Antigen and maybe a few squishier lower-middle ranks. But the power drain is massive.

“They’re syphoning power from the shelter to power them?” I guess. Rolling my eyes at that. Yes they’d defended the shelter but at essentially the cost of everyone inside. 

It seems so. That’s not great. 

“No, it’s not. And this floor is all high fashion and jewellery stores. So it probably has something to do with… I don’t care.” I groan as we get to the doors. I tap the glass with two fingers.

Instead of the expected call from inside, the speakers around the room activate with a loud whine.

“Who are you all? You’re not VIPs. Leave before we open fire.”

I blink. Did they just say that? And through loudspeakers? The rules of incursions are to be as quiet as possible. And they’d open fire on people needing help?

June. You are a magical girl. You outrank pretty much anyone in this building. Act like it and I can back your claims up.

I clear my throat, loud. Kali opens a channel right to whoever that is.

“Magical girl June. Open up right now before I force my way in. Your turrets can’t stop a magical girl and if you don’t turn those speakers off right now I will drag your arse out and feed you to the aliens personally.” I growl down the line. “No, I’ll do it.” I make a quick hand motion. Kali gets what I’m doing as the speakers around the floor all shut off, that whine leaving as soon as it came.

There’s a panicked curse down the line before the doors open for me and the others. I step to the side, letting the others rush in first before I follow behind them. They move ahead and cross paths with a man in a very expensive looking suit. He spots me and makes a beeline my way.

I raise my eyebrows as he gets close, I put a hand on the hilt of my sword for emphasis. It feels really bad to be so mean but I sort of have to with rich folk. It’s all about power with them.

“Miss June.” He starts. At least he got the name right. “We hadn’t heard any magical girls were deployed so soon.”

“They weren’t. I’m what you get. Can you explain the plasma turrets?” I ask, tilting my head childishly.

“Ah, yes. An additional defensive measure that the residents of this floor helped pay for. The turrets have managed to destroy over a dozen aliens.” The man says with a huge grin for some reason.

“Any troubles with the shelter?” I ask, trying to play sweet and innocent for a moment.

The man sighs dramatically, hand even coming up to his forehead as if he’s pained. “Unfortunately, yes. It seems this shelter really didn’t have much spent on it. The power is almost out and the rations provided are subpar at best.”

I close my eyes for a moment, resisting the urge to just cut this guy in half and call it a betterment of humanity. I open my eyes and look at the man.

“Can you show me to the room where buttons are pushed and stuff?” I ask, miming pushing buttons and looking as innocent as I can. Being a hardarse got the people inside but playing up the innocent magical girl act is likely to get me much further with this idiot.

“Ah. The command centre. Yes. Follow me.” He nods, spinning on his heels like he’d practised it for years, his tailcoat flaring up behind him for a second. I blink a few times. 

“What can you do once we’re inside?” I whisper to Kali.

I can take over the controls from the command centre. This will alert the magical girl that installed these shelters. Are you ready for your debut, June?

“Oh no…” I groan, following the man through an ‘employees only’ door and the command centre. It’s not a huge room, just a comfy looking chair next to a massive wall covered in glowing lights and different small screens for different outputs or whatever. The three main screens show different camera feeds and the current power level of the shelter. 

12%.

How? That’s… The shelters haven’t been used in almost twenty years! I wasn’t even alive the last time these were used and there’s no way a magical girl battery drains that much. It was thought early on that the batteries magical girls use are near infinite given how tech at the time could barely drain them. We know better now but still…

The chair turns, showing a nervous middle aged man. He’s wringing his hands, he manages eye contact once before his eyes avoid mine. Right, he knows what’s going on.

A security guard steps up, giving her a sharp salute and a sharper ‘ma’am!’. Okay. That’s weird. The best I’d got from security guards before now was a scowl. 

“This is the command centre.” The posh man announces with a huge smile. “Jeffery here can surely help you with whatever your issue is.”

I look at Jeffery. He’s still staring at the floor, shoulder slumped. Right then.

“Who’s in charge here?” I ask, looking the security guard.

“You, ma’am.” He answers quickly. 

I didn’t expect that. Okay. “Who’s below me in this command structure?”

The posh man puffs out his chest but the security guard looks at Jeffery. “He is, ma’am.”

The posh man deflates before inflating with rage. “He is not. I pay his salary. He’ll listen to me so-”

“No, fuck this. Arrest him.” I say, nodding my head to the posh man. The guard nods instantly, grabbing the posh man and pulling his arms behind his back without any resistance. He cuffs him with zip ties.

The man sputters, eyes wide and unbelieving. Jeffery grins a little.

“Okay. I’m in charge. Jeffery. I’m June, pleasure to meet you.” I greet, holding my hand out for the man. He shakes it happily. 

“Call me Jeff. That’s Aaron.” He nods to the security guard. I grin a little as he doesn’t even give the name of the posh man.

“Okay, Jeff. Aaron. Can you tell me anything about the illegally installed plasma turrets at the entrance of the shelter?” I ask.

“I can.” Jeff nods, turning back to the large computer screens. He pulls up a camera view from inside the shelter that shows the turrets. “They were installed about nine years ago. Apparently as a show of force and power for the VIPs on this floor.”

“Who authorised it and how did they connect it to the shelter’s power supply?” I ask before another horrifying question comes to mind. “Have they been active for nine whole years?”

“They have. Management shows them off every few months by blowing up some poor animal they bring in.” Jeff answers. “And as for who authorised them…” He looks at the posh man.

I look over to Aaron the security guard. “Can you… Double arrest him or something?” I ask.

“Sorry, ma’am. I’d have to release him to arrest him again.” Aaron says solemnly.

“Okay… Cuff him again then just to make me feel better, please.” 

“Yes, ma’am.” Aaron nods, pulling out another set of zip ties and doing just as she asks.

“As for how they hooked it up to the power…” Jeff continues. “I have no idea.”

“Great. Well, let’s find out.” I say, moving over to the chair, tilting my head slightly and waiting for Kali.

She responds pretty quick, the screens starting to pop with different windows as she sorts through the files. A few old archived camera angles show the turrets being installed with a nice pompous ceremony and even a ribbon cutting. Well, that’s good evidence. From there the cameras roll back, eventually showing… Nothing. They all go black for a few days and then the turret bases are being installed. 

“Only a magical girl can interfere with magical girl technology.” I whisper.

Exactly. A magical girl must have helped with this. They were smart enough to destroy all digital traces of their actions. That’s not good but it answers our question. Just now what to do about that. Ah. Here we go.

The centre screen is suddenly taken up by the image of a young blonde girl with pigtails held in place by large ornamental blue bubbles. 

“Who’s messing with my tech?” The girl asks, voice very high pitched. “Can’t you- OH!” She perks up right away as she turns her head towards me. Oh, that’s weird. “A new little sister!”

Oh. Maybe she’s okay actually. That feels nice.

“You’ve got some boyish charm to you. Did you really get the incognito outfit?” No, now I’m less a fan of her. 

“Yeah. I need to talk with y-”

“Yeah, I get it. New stuff and all. I can walk you through things when we get done with these incursions.” 

“No. It’s not that it’s-”

“Hey! Who’s been messing with my shelter’s power?” She asks suddenly. Well she got there on her own. “Little sis you can’t be setting up… Plasma turrets?!”

“It’s not me. Check the footage from nine years back. It’s open currently.” I groan.

The footage plays in fast forward, showing what we’d already seen before it goes over it again even faster. 

“What the… Everyone out the room but the new sis.” The magical girl orders. Jeff nods, vacating the seat and following Aaron and the posh man out of the room. The door closes on its own with a bang.

“Okay. Hey, new girl. Sorry about this. You holding up okay?” The girl asks. “I’m Bubbles. You can call me big sis Bubbles if you want.”

“Thanks but…” I groan, pulling my face mask down. “I’m not the actual magical girl you were meant to be talking to.” I half explain. 

Bubbles frowns, she seems confused for a moment before she sits back in her blue chair. “You’re…”

“A carrier.” I nod. “Magical girl Charity died rescuing me.”

“Oh, I was going to say trans but that’s… That’s much more of an issue.” She groans, pinching the bridge of her nose as I stutter. Trans? I’m… I’m not. I just…

“Okay, little sis. Or… Bro?” She asks.

“Sis.” I say quickly before I can stop myself. Bubbles grins.

“Brilliant. Well no, not brilliant. Did you avenge her?” 

I nod, putting my mask back up. “I did. Kali can you-”

“Of course, June.” Comes Kali’s voice from the computer, judging by Bubbles’ reaction she hears it too. Wow. Weird to hear her outside of my head. The camera feed showing all the bodies I’d lined up appears on the computer.

“I moved her into a side room.” The room door highlights in pink. “I didn’t know what else to do. I… I was looking for someone to pass Kali onto. I thought… Well…” 

“Hey, it’s okay, little sis June.” Bubbles says with a soft smile. “Don’t worry. You did good, you avenged her. Anyone tries to say you don’t deserve your position will have to answer to me. You getting used to it?”

“Yes and no.” I laugh. “It feels weird and… I didn’t realise I was trans until today. I still… It doesn’t feel right but it does at the same time. I just want to make Charity proud. Honour her.”

“You already have. Okay. So, you’ve got a couple hours before the power goes to this shelter. If you can get to one of the others we can see about sharing power between the two. That should give you enough time to hold out until backup can get there.”

“That’d be great but last I saw the top and bottom shelters are close to being swarmed. And I’m… I have a sword.” She says, pulling the sword out for a moment to show it before putting it back.

“Ah. Dangerous.” Bubbles groans, she seems very expressive. “How many points do you currently have?”

“Kali?” I ask.

“Seventy-seven.” Kali answers through the computer.

“I was going to use that for a better sword but…” I trail off, waiting for Bubbles to say something.

“Not nearly enough, little sis.” Bubbles says finally. “Though… Do you have any explosive libraries?” 

“No. I have… Clothes, weapons, medical, teleporting, and augments. All basic I think.” I answer, feeling I’d maybe messed up.

“Frickers.” Bubbles swears(?). “Okay. I was going to suggest some point farming so you can unlock a simple enough battery and the tools to add it but that’s not nearly enough for a good library and anything helpful.”

“Sorry. I don’t…” I tilt my head slightly, grin forming on my face. “No. I do have something. Kali. Remember what you warned me not to do recently?”

“Ah. Yes. That could work actually.” Kali’s voice comes through. “It would be risky of course and risk the elevator shafts being compromised. It would be a good way to get a lot of points very quickly but it will have diminishing returns without purchasing a proper explosives library.”

“What are you talking about?” Bubbles asks.

“Teleporters. If you try to teleport a teleport device…” I make a boom motion with my hands.

“Oh. Wow. I’m glad I know that. I’ve not played around with teleporting before. But I can see how that would help your style. Not many melee centric magical girls these days.” Bubbles nods. “You got any footage of your moves?”

“No, sorry-”

“Yes.” Kali says quickly, several videos popping up on the screens. Oh no. That’s several different videos of me dealing with Antigen. I watch the third floor camera. Nothing happens for a moment and then I’m falling behind the flying Antigen, cutting it in two and falling into a heap on the floor. I watch myself take down the basic models, the tentacle variant grabbing me and getting impaled for its efforts. I get the others into the shelter and then take care of the snake Antigen. I look kind of cool as I teleport into the elevator.

“My hair…” I murmur, looking at the video repeating itself.

“Oh, that’s easily fixed.” Kali says cheerfully, my current hair appearing on me in the video. It moves perfectly realistically. I even push it out of my face at one point. AIs are scary.

“Hey, you’re doing great, little sis.” Bubbles praises, moving a few of the videos around on the screen. She focuses on me dealing with the armoured Antigen on the floor with Charity’s body. “Great reflexes. Is that Charity’s weapon?”

“Yeah. I left it with her. Didn’t feel right to take it.” I answer, watching as I start to move the bodies into a more respectable position. 

“That’s alright. It was hers. I get it.” Bubbles whispers, my new hair now on every video of me. “This is good footage for a debut. Settled on the name? June?”

“Yeah. But… Debut? I don’t want anyone seeing this. Or me. I…” 

“Hey. It’s alright, sis. People have seen you already. It’ll get out eventually. I’m even intercepting someone from inside the shelter you’re in from sending out info on you.” A camera pops up, showing the large man with his server rack. He’s red faced and being given a wide berth by the much richer looking people nearby.

“Ah. I saved him.” I mumble.

“Good job. He’s trying to get first bragging rights or whatever. Trying to name you… Uh, best not tell you.” Bubbles grimaces and pushes something away on her screen. “No matter. Look, little sis. We got an issue. It’s not even about farming points at the moment. My shelters will hold. At worst I’ll just have to open the doors when the power runs out in this one. Nobody will be trapped without air but they will be defenceless against the Antigen.”

“Okay… What’s the issue?” I ask. “I can stay here and defend it.”

“The issue is with the other two shelters. This one is… Fine. Even with the doors open, as long as they’re quiet and maybe block the doors with whatever they have, they’ll live. The problem is the other two shelters. The Antigen are likely going to make their way onto the floors with the shelters soon.”

“Why is that bad?” I ask, still not getting it.

“It’s bad because the shelters aren’t made for stopping a horde of C ranks. And those are what you have incoming soon. They’re meant to keep the Antigen out for four or five hours at best while magical girls get there. But with the amount of incursions in the area…”

“Oh. Fuck.” I swear.

“Language.” Bubbles scolds me playfully. “You’re a magical girl now. Image is key.”

“My image includes swearing.” I frown. “So… They’re going to get in? Which is at most risk?”

“It’s… Both. The top shelter has fewer Antigen trying to get in at the moment but it doesn’t matter how many ‘cos they’re likely going to bring the top floors caving down soon enough. The bottom shelter is far more dangerous, it’ll be swarm after swarm. More likely it’ll be low ranks for a while but it’ll be so many that it likely won’t matter. And the issue is the bottom shelter has more people inside than the other two put together.”

I think over that for a moment. I can go up and deal with fewer but stronger aliens. Or down and fight wave after wave of low rank aliens. The danger down is far greater but it also risks more lives to leave it alone.

“I have to choose? Who I let die?” I ask, hands shaking now. “I have to choose which shelter to abandon.”

Bubbles stays quiet now, but her expressive nature shows her sadness.

“There has to be a way. Bubbles!” I plead. “Can’t you do something? 

“I’m sorry, little sis. I can’t. There are no magical girls who can make it in time. You’re the only one.” Bubbles whispers.

“Fuck. Charity would have had to make this choice. Fuck!” I shout, kicking the stupid wheelie chair and sending it spinning across the floor. “This is…”

“June.” Kali’s voice says through the computer. “It’s not just that. You’ll only be buying time.”

“What do you mean?” I ask angrily.

“Little sis…” Bubbles whispers. “You’re new. You… You can’t deal with an incursion this size on your own.”

“I have to though. The people…” Oh. Oh I get what they’re saying now.

“It’s not expected you’ll survive this.” Kali says evenly. “It’s a suicide mission.”

My eyebrows raise, I stumble back slightly. Hearing it out loud is so much worse than I’d expected. And I’d just gotten over a slight chance of potential death. Now it’s guaranteed and I’m going to be walking right into it.

“So… Even if I pick one. It’s just buying them a little more time on the hopes a proper magical girl comes along?” I ask.

“Yeah.” Bubbles confirms. “At best you’ll buy them… An hour maybe. I’m sorry, little sis.”

“That’s… Fucked.” I whisper, backing up to the wall. “I have to choose where I die and it might not even matter?”

“You can stay and defend this shelter.” Kali says, though her tone shows she knows what my response will be.

“No I fucking can’t, Kali!” I shout. “I have to! I can’t just sit pretty and let people die! They need somebody!” I remember those words Charity had said in a joking tone that had now become something so much more.

“I’m Somebody!” I shout at the screen. “I have to do it.”

Bubbles nods. “Any magical girl would make that same decision. I can get the word out. Show what you’ve done so far. Tell people what you’ve done and what you’re going to do.”

“What? No. I don’t want anyone to know who I am… I…” I sigh, closing my eyes for a long moment before opening them as I calm myself. “No. Can you do your magic with the videos? Make it look like Charity did all that? I wasn’t ever meant to be a magical girl. She… She should be the one everyone knows.”

“June…” Bubbles whispers.

“No. Please? It’s the least I can do for her.” I plead with the magical girl.

“Okay.” She nods. The videos on screen shift, now a very pink girl replaces me. She uses her umbrella to fight, even using it to stop her fall being too bad during the fight outside the third floor shelter.

“Thank you. Just… Yeah.” I sniffle. “Okay. I’ll head down. Save as many people as I can. Thanks, Bubbles.”

“No problem, little sis. I’ll make sure everyone knows about the magical girl who bought time.” Bubbles whispers through the computer. “Good luck, June.”

“Thanks.” I smile, forcing myself not to cry. “Kali?”

“Yes, June?”

“I can… I can hand you off to someone still, right?” I ask. “The girl who asked me about my clothes. She could… I don’t know.”

“No, June. No. I’m with you. We’ll see this through together.” Kali answers resolutely.

I give a small nod at that and let out a breath I’d been holding for a moment there. “Let’s go.” 

One final look at Bubbles and all the videos of Charity saving people, then I’m off to the leave after pulling my mask back on. The door clicks open for me. I come face to face with Aaron, Jeff, and a few others from the shelter. Mostly the two girls and their mother. They’re nibbling at what looks like generic vending machine nutrition bars. 

“Hey, you two. Being good?” I ask, smiling for them.

“Yeah.” One of the girls nods. “Everyone here’s a bit snooty. We wanted to come say thanks for rescuing us.”

“Thanks.” The other girl whispers.

I give a happy giggle. “That’s very nice of you. It’s what a magical girl does, isn’t it?”

The girls nod.

“Okay. You two look after yourselves, yeah?” I say, looking up to the mother who seems happy I’m being nice with the girls.

“Okay!” The louder girl beams.

“Okay.” I agree again before looking up to Jeff and Aaron. “I’m heading down to the third floor shelter. I should be able to fix our small battery issue.”

Jeff and Aaron nod. “Shall we expect you back soon, ma’am?” Aaron asks.

I look at the girls still so close and back to Aaron. I don’t say anything for a second before I force myself to shake my head but give a fake happy, “Yep! Gotta go save some people first though.”

Jeff’s face falls as he realises what might be about to happen. Aaron’s jaw clenches and he gives a sharp salute.

“It was good working with you, ma’am.” He says sharply. Sharp man this one.

“You too.” I smile. “I’ll be heading out now. If you hear some big bangs that’s me dealing with more gross aliens.”

The girls giggle, their mother nodding to me. She doesn’t seem to fully know what’s going on but she can definitely see the security guards' behaviour is odd.

“Okay. Stay safe.” I say, making my way to the doors. I hear Jeff rush into the command centre as I walk. I try my best not to cry yet. The girls are right there. I’d hate to worry them.

The doors open as I get close. I keep walking, noting the turrets are entirely shut off now. Good. Wastes of power. It’s the rich who messed this up and the rich who are most likely to live through their own fuck ups. Not fair.

The elevator doors also open as I make my way across the open area. I step inside and as the doors close behind me I crash to my knees, arms wrapping around myself as I cry once more.

Off to my death I go. A hopeless endeavour that likely won’t even matter in the long term. I’m sacrificing myself for the small chance that people might be saved. 

I cry for a while, the elevator moving much slower than it should. Kali is probably giving me time to myself. She’s nice like that. And she’s going to die with me today.

“Kali?” I ask, voice hoarse. 

Yes, June?

“Thank you. For being with me for this. Seeing it through.” I whisper, rubbing my eyes and standing on shaky legs.

Of course, June. It’s my purpose to assist the magical girl I’m with.

“That should have been Charity.”

Perhaps. But we cannot change the past, June. I told you this before. I am with you now and we are doing this together. 

“Okay.” I sniffle, wiping my eyes properly and facing the elevator doors. “We’re going to blow the Antigen out the water?”

If that’s what you want to call hitting a horde with a mini black hole explosion, yes.

“Wow. Okay.” I laugh nervously. “That’s scarier than just knowing it explodes.”

It more than explodes. Teleporting an active teleport device will quite quickly pull all matter nearby towards it before condensing it all into one point before exploding outward with all the force it had previously contained. It’s a direct matter to energy conversion.

“Wow… Really big bang.” I mumble.

Yes. A really big bang.

“How are we doing this? Open the elevator, throw, close it?” I ask.

I might suggest a different strategy that may make this process repeatable.

“I’m all ears.”

You can teleport into an empty part of the first floor. A janitor's closet. We wait for your thirty seconds recharge and then you throw the teleporter bomb out of the closet before teleporting back into the elevator. The Antigen will likely not know where you went or came from and should swarm aimlessly. We can likely repeat this two or three times before we should stop to save the structural integrity of the upper floors.

“Wow. Okay.” I whistle. “Sure. You’re smarter than I am.”

By many factors but you are the magical girl. You’re the one in charge.

I laugh a lot at that snark. Kali’s brilliant. “Alright. We’ll do it your way. After that we’re going to see how many points we have to work with to defend the shelter?”

Exactly. I might even suggest a few augs to aid in your specific style of combat.

“Ah? What would those be?”

It would be what humans refer to as speed modules. What we AI refer to as time dilation augs.

“Oh. Fuck. Aren’t those real deadly to the user?” I ask, not exactly worried for my long term health but needing to ask.

When improperly installed or not tuned correctly for the individual but we can avoid that entirely. All augs will be perfectly tailored for you. I would also suggest a neural mask so you don’t need me to activate your teleportation or time dilation once you acquire it.

“Yeah. That works. We’ll see after we do these bombing runs.” I agree, watching as the elevator stops at the second floor. I take a breath. “Okay. get me to that closet, Kali.”

My body goes cold and I appear in a small supplies room. I stay very still, listening to the outside of the door nearby as my teleporter charges up. I can hear footsteps and sniffling. Some clicking of teeth. Thirty seconds already feels like forever.

A little timer appears on my AR vision. A camera feed of outside shows dozens of Antigen. It seems Kali teleported me down to the first floor. She even marks out a general area I should try to throw the bomb.

Speaking of. Two boxes appear on the floor near me silently at my command. I watch my point total drop to thirty-seven. 

I clip the two teleporters together as their flowers hum gently to life. Bomb ready. Great.

The timer hits zero. My own teleporter has recharged. I eye the camera feed. I wait until the fewest Antigen are nearby before bursting out of the closet and turning towards where the marked area is. I throw the teleporters into a mass of aliens of varying shapes, sizes and grossness. I start to feel that now familiar cold sensation as a basic model leaps at me. I flick it the bird as I appear in the elevator.

The elevator slowly moves up and away. There’s nothing for a second. I watch the feed from the first floor cameras.

Nothing. Nothing. I’m about to ask Kali if she’d activated it yet when every Antigen within forty feet is pulled towards the spot I’d thrown the makeshift explosive. They crunch horribly together, parts wriggling and trying to escape the sudden gravity well. They can’t escape, there’s no escaping that. And then it explodes, tiles on the ground, benches, fake plants, all those aliens that had crunched together. They just explode violently.

The elevator shakes, I stumble back, holding onto the railing. I watch as the second floor caves in slightly at one section, more Antigen falling down in place of the dead ones. 

Points Earned: 870

New Points Total: 907

What? I just earned almost a thousand points from one explosive? What the hell am I using a sword for??

“What the fuck.” I whisper. 

Indeed. Shall we go again?

“Yeah.” I laugh, unsure what else to even do there.

I have to switch elevators to get closer to a good teleport location, then I’m back down and waiting in a bathroom. One of those with different hand holds, a changing table, and other accessibility implements to make it easier for different kinds of people.

Thirty seconds go by as I watch the cameras. I pop out on my cue, cutting down a few basic models with my sword for good measure. That costs me a blade but after I teleport back to the elevator once I throw the explosive I get to watch even more Antigen get imploded, another large part of the second floor falling down.

Points Earned: 775

New Points Total: 1,642

Yeah, why didn’t I specialise in explosives again? 

Okay, June. I don’t think the building can take another one of those. We’ve also got the Antigen riled up really bad. They’re swarming every nook and cranny. It’s time we get to the third floor and prepare.

Ah, right. That’s why. Bringing the whole building down kills everyone regardless.

“Right. I think you’re right.” I agree quickly. Rushing out of the doors as the elevator opens. I sprint across the third floor, the shelter doors opening as I get close. I hop through and keep running to the command centre of this shelter. I burst through the door, panting heavily and shocking a familiar face. 

“Oh. Hey, Laura.” I beam. “Sorry to interrupt. Need to authorise a power share between this shelter and the middle one. Rich bastards wasted a bunch of power on plasma turrets.” I explain quickly as Kali takes over the controls from the woman at the chair. Laura is staring at me with another security guard. 

“What? What do you mean? What were those explosions?” Laura asks.

“I was bombing the aliens with black holes or something. And it’s fine, don’t worry. Can I… Is there a private room I could use, quick?” I ask.

“Uh, yeah. The medical room should be empty.” She nods.

“Show me, please?” I ask. Laura hurries out of the room, I’m close behind.

She leads me into a sterile white room. I thank her again and tell her not to come in no matter what she hears before I close the door behind me.

“Okay. Sword, augs, clothes.” I say quickly. “Will I need more painkillers?”

Yes. Although if you are going to be spending points I can also suggest several stimulants to get you through the exhaustion and keep you going longer.

I laugh at that. “Damn the consequences I guess. Don’t got to worry about detox ‘til I’m dead.”

Grim but correct. Alright. I’d suggest a-

“Kali. Just buy them.” I interrupt as I start getting undressed. I’m going to be needing entirely new clothing anyway. Even the teleporter and external assistant need to go.

The stimulants can’t be used so soon after painkillers.

“Fuck. No painkillers then. This is going to hurt, isn’t it?” I ask.

Yes. A lot.

“Fine. Uh… If there are any leftover points. Can… I don’t know if I should worry about this but… I don’t want to die like this, Kali.” I whisper that last part, looking down at my mostly undressed self. “Please.”

Of course, June. I’ll see what I can do. You’ll probably pass out so you may as well lay down. I’ll bring you back when it’s mostly over.

“Thanks, Kali. You’re the best friend a girl could have.” I laugh as I move over to lay in one of the hospital beds.

Shall I proceed?

“Yes. Before I lose my nerve.” I agree, bracing myself.

I get to see a rather bizarre popup before the pain begins.

Point Total
1,642 -> 22

And then I’m screaming. It feels like every bone in my body is breaking, every muscle tearing apart and being built anew. My spine cracks and burns and I can’t even scream anymore. I can’t even clench my hands into fists because those bones are cracking and breaking as well. I’m forced into a horrible paralysed state as I endure probably the most pain of my life.

And then thankfully, I pass out. Peace, quiet, calm. I imagine this might just have all been a dream. I’ll wake up and have to get dressed, pull myself to my horrible job with my horrible management. Another day in the life of… …June. I’m June.

And I wake up. Not to a nice pain free sensation, no. Pain is still racing across my body, it seems I’m awakened so I can fall off the bed, throwing up far too much blood to be healthy. I’m shivering, pain keeps shooting up my body, leaving me trembling on the now bloody floor.

There’s a loud knocking from the door. Laura hasn’t come in yet. It seems she’s worried though.

I try to pull myself up again, slipping in my nice fresh pool of… Insides? Whatever I just threw up. 

“Kali?” I croak out.

Yes, June. I’m sorry. All the waste had to go somewhere. I can apply the stimulants directly now. You’ll feel worse before you feel better.

Oh great. Somehow I’m going to feel worse. The nausea hits first but I have nothing to throw up so I’m just dry heaving on the bed. Then the vertigo hits, I need to grab a hold of the bed to hold myself steady. That passes as does the nausea. I pull myself onto bed again, shivering at the sudden cold. I barely notice that my chest feels much fuller than it had before I’d passed out. It’s not really on my top priorities at the moment. Mostly it’s not dying.

“Kali…” I croak out again.

I know, June. Soon. In a second you’ll be feeling much better. You might want to let Laura in before she breaks the door down with her knocking.

“Come in!” I cough out. Laura clearly got the message as she barges in, gasping in horror at the sight of me before slamming the door behind her and locking it before rushing to my side.

“Hey.” I whisper, the cold feeling receding now as I stop shivering. My mind clearing. “Water?” I ask.

“Yeah. Yeah.” Laura nods, moving over to a small fridge, pulling some Pura water out and unscrewing the cap before handing it to me. I pretty much drain the whole thing without taking a breath.

When I finally do come up for air I gasp and try to steady myself. I shake my head a few times, looking at my arms and… Oh. Okay so my chest is fuller than before. That makes me feel some way. Think about that when I’m dead.

“What the fuck happened?” Laura demands. “How the fuck is there so much blood?”

“Woah. Language.” I whisper, giving her a silly grin. “Sorry. I um… Powered up?” I try, unsure how magical girls get away with this so well.

“Bullshit, June. What the shit happened?” She demands again.

“Okay. Okay.” I notice a set of boxes nearby with clothing labels on them. “Can you grab my clothes. I need to get dressed before it starts.”

“Before what starts?” Laura asks, though she does get the boxes to me and start helping me unbox things.

“The swarming. The aliens are pissed. They’re going to be making their way up here and they’re not going to stop trying to get inside here.” I explain, throwing a new sports bra on and then a long sleeved shirt. “I had to… Look, ‘power up’ is essentially what I did. The blood is… I… Kali, what’s the blood from?” 

Your old muscles, some skin, bit of bone and such. You can tell her about things.

“Oh, thank fuck.” I sigh, Laura looking at me like I’ve gone mad. “It’s my muscles and skin and stuff all pulped up I think. I just had replacements teleported in their places. That’s the simple way of putting it I guess. Uh, can I get a breakdown of what just happened? Simple words, please, Kali. And you can share the proper details with Laura.”

Certainly. Get her permission first.

“Oh. Can my AI have permission to send you my… Medical file I guess?” I ask.

Laura nods, still looking worried. Then she looks distracted. I probably do too as I look at the simplistic breakdown of what Kali just bought for me.

Points Spent Breakdown (simplified)

-150 Intermediary Augments Library
-150 Intermediary Medical Library
-50 Basic Melee Library
-150 Intermediary Melee Library
-150 Intermediary Clothing Library
-275 Time Dilation Augment
-50 Heat Sink & Overlock upgrades
-40 Neural Mask
-260 Advanced Personal Teleporter
-105 Armoured Clothing
-50 Monofilament Blade
-35 Stimulants
-100 Enhanced Muscles+ and Bones+
-35 Aesthetic Body Shaping
-20 Hormone Balancer

Woah. Now that’s a breakdown. The libraries alone came out to more points than I’d ever had before those two bombing runs. What the hell must the magical girls who’ve been around for years be like? Sure they probably haven’t specced as hard as I have just to go into a suicide mission but still. 

“June… This is…” Laura is whispering, still probably going over much more complicated notes.

“Yeah. A lot. I need… Ah, pants.” I laugh, slipping the very tough denim like pants. I notice now that the base of the clothes are matte black whilst the detailing is flowers of pinks and reds. Cute. I grab the boots after, pulling the velcro straps tight. Better than laces I guess.

“You need to spend like a year in hospital after what you’ve just done to yourself.” Laura admonishes. “What the hell do you need all this for anyway?”

“Uh… Right.” I pause. “So… The Antigen, that’s the aliens. They’re going to swarm and the shelter can hold out for maybe an hour on its own. But if I’m out there… Well…”

“You? On your own? Holding off an entire incursion?” Laura asks in disbelief.

“Not the entire incursion. Like… A third of it. Maybe two fifths.” I shrug slightly as though it’s no big deal and not a death sentence.

“This time dilation ‘ware… It… It doesn’t even seem possible.” Laura says quietly.

“How good is it?” I ask, curious myself. Kali even adds a new timer next to the timer for the teleporter. Neat.

“It… It essentially slows down… Or well speed you up by double or more of your usual perception of time. For almost twenty seconds with these additions. And the cooldown is just over ten seconds.”

“Wow… What are the better tiers like?” I ask Kali.

The literal best time dilation field possible can slow your perceived time down to about ten percent of real time. You’d effectively have nine more seconds in every second for about ten seconds. The cooldown is much larger but it is far far outside your current budget. 

“God damn.” I whistle. “Apparently what I’ve just got is nothing to the best possible. Damn. My teleporter?”

“Uh, the teleporting device. Oh, internal device.” Laura mumbles. So I don’t need to carry it with me anymore. Okay. “A range of a hundred feet with a twelve second recharge.” She reads off.

“Wow. I skipped right over a tier for that, huh?” I say, grabbing my new coat, it’s a tight fighting leather jacket. Pretty cool, very cute floral design as well. Even comes with a hood. 

“June… Why are you going so far for this? Just wait in the shelter with the rest of us.” Laura asks, brow furrowed in worry.

“Can’t. Too risky. I stay in here and they start cracking on the doors. Even with the blast shields the bigger Antigen will get through eventually. And then I’d be fighting whilst protecting everyone in the shelter. No.” I shake my head, pulling my new mask on, the mask itself sealing against my now hairless chin without need of straps.

“And it’s not risky for you out there?” Laura asks. “You’ll be killed!”

“Maybe.” I agree, nodding solemnly as I put my gloves on before grabbing my scarf and wrapping it around my neck. That’s the last thing before my new sword.

“Maybe? You will! It doesn’t matter that you can bloody teleport or move twice as fast as anyone else for a period of time. You’ll be torn to shreds.” Laura objects.

“Laura.” I say quietly, making eye contact with her. “I have to. For that small chance I can save everyone in here. I have to do this.”

“And I can’t stop you?” She asks defiantly.

“No. I can teleport. But also because there’s nobody else around to do it. I might be able to hold the swarm off.” I answer slowly and calmly. Those stimulants really have me thinking clearly. “If I feel I’m going to die, I can teleport inside, okay? That will give me an hour to recoup and go back out. I’ll play it safe.” 

“You best or else… Or else… Eurgh.” She throws her arms up, stomping away from the bed as I stand up, pulling the box that holds my new sword close.

“Hello.” I breathe out, opening the box, finding the black and silver scabbard holding the straight sword of my dreams. Not that I really had many sword dreams. Just swords are cool.

I take the belt, quickly getting that on before slotting the scabbard in on my left. I pull the blade out slowly, savouring that moment for now. The blade and hilt are simple. It’s shorter than my previous sword but metallic now. It shines in the room's lighting. No strange patterns or wording, no swirls or design. Just a straight sword with an edge so sharp I’m sure I’d need a microscope to see it.

“Will it dull?” I ask out loud.

It will not. Would you like to know its name?

“No no. Can I name it?”

You can. Although it would only be a personal name. I was meaning it’s proper name.

“Come on, Kali. People name their swords.” I grin at nothing, checking the blade’s edge by pushing it against the metal front of the bed. It finds the smallest resistance before gliding through the metal like a hot knife through fake-butter.

“Oh. That’s a sharp sword.” I beam. “I’ll call you… …Gregory. Greg for short. Or…”

“Please don’t call a sword ‘Greg’.” Laura groans, head in her hands.

“Fine. Kali?” 

Yes, June?

“Can you start a counter of how many Antigen I kill from now on. Keep Laura updated.” I smile at the woman. “We’ll name it whatever number I get up to.”

“That’s… Good for morale.” She reasons, still looking at me like I have two heads.

I sheath Zero and roll my shoulders. “Can I get something to eat real quick?” I ask.

Is that meant for me?

“Oh, yeah. Kali.” I nod.

Point Total
22 -> 21

No box. “Um, Kali?”

The nutrient bar was deposited directly into your stomach.

“Oh… Please don’t teleport food into my stomach again. I sort of wanted to eat something.” I whine.

“Here.” Laura says, offering over a granola bar.

“Oh, thanks.” I smile, unwrapping the snack and nibbling quickly. “Okay. So. I need to head out. You look after everyone here, yeah?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Laura says with a weak salute and an eyeroll.

“Brilliant. Thank you, Laura.” I say more sincerely now. “For being so kind. For banging on the door even though I told you not to come in.”

Laura watches me for a second before moving over and pulling me into a tight hug. I laugh a little before returning the hug. Somehow I feel like a much better hugger right now.

“Ow.” Laura whispers, alerting me to how much stronger my new muscles are.

“Sorry. You good?”

“I’m okay. Go on, scram. Save us all, magical girl June.” She says sarcastically.

“Aww. You like me.” I playfully grin as I make my way out of the hospital room. Leaving Laura behind with a mess of boxes, my old clothes, and a pool of nastiness.

“Kali?” I ask, jogging over to the shelter doors and marvelling at how much easier it feels. 

Yes, June? You know you can just ask what you want without checking I’m here. I’ll always be here, June.

I snort lightly. “Yeah. Sorry. Just wondering how we want to go about this. How will the Antigen get to the third floor?”

With their numbers as they are and the frenzy we’ve thrown them into. It’s likely they'll start making their way up the stairwells in large numbers. From there the higher ranks will likely cause a floor to collapse somewhere. The last remaining entrance will be the elevator shafts. Antigen can climb well enough when they need to.

I sigh as I exit the shelter, looking around at the floor I’m going to be having my last stand in. It’s as good a place as any really.

“But we don’t know until it happens?” I ask, walking to the centre of the room, looking at myself on a camera feed Kali provides. I push that away for now, impressed by how I can do that with just a thought.

It is most likely going to be a trickle through the first two and then a proper swarm from there. 

“Right… Would it be best if we give them a way in? So we’re not attacked from several areas?” I ask, looking at the elevators that had kept me safe for so long.

What is your idea, June?

“We open the elevator doors. Move the elevators up to block the Antigen from going any higher than this floor. You can probably open and close doors to block them off as needed, right?”

I can. This is a more dangerous idea in general but safer in other ways. It should also stop them trying for the stairwells or knocking support pillars down.

“So… Better in the long run for everyone else?” I ask, already deciding to do this.

Yes. Shall we start?

“No time like the present. Oh. Can you make a little noise to draw them up to me? And maybe any from the above floors down too?” I ask, looking around at the mall speakers.

Any requests?

“Um… Do you know what music Charity liked?” 

I do.

The speakers turn on, a song starting up. I listen for a moment before raising an eyebrow.

“Kali. Is that folk rock? Like… Really old folk rock?” 

It is. Charity was very fond of old music. She rather loved memes from the early internet and how nonsense they are.

“I guess it works. Here we go.” I whisper, hopping from one leg to the other. I really can jump now. No wonder people think magic is real when there are videos of magical girls jumping from building to building to attack larger Antigen.

Nodding along to the beat of the music that a great great grandma might love, I unsheathe my sword and feel it’s likely I’ll never sheathe it again. The elevator doors open to show three separate shafts. There’s nothing for a much too long moment before several basic models climb up from the floors below. Their ranking appears and the basic models are lowered now for some reason. Likely my upgrades have made them worth much less than before. That’s fine. Points aren’t going to matter for very long.

The first four basic models charge forwards and I don’t even need to use the new augments to take them out. Sidestep, slash, twist blade and cut the other way. Two down. Third jumps and I duck below it, bringing my sword up and bisecting the face of the fourth. I watch the camera feed as the living basic model spins, skids slightly on the tile, then starts to charge me from behind. When it gets close enough I crouch under its leap and cut through its head as its body soars into a heap. 

Points Earned: 20

New Points Total: 41

“You don’t need to send me the point total, Kali.” I say, looking back to the elevator shafts as more basic models and tentacled versions start crawling their way out. “Also. Can I get a shield or something? This sword only needs one hand and I dunno where to put my other hand.” 

Certainly. Though I suppose I should forgo the packaging?

“Please.” I reply as I deal with another couple basic models. “Can you shape it like Charity’s umbrella?”

I can. Hold your left arm out when you have a moment. You’ll have to pull the straps tighter when you have a second.

“Alright.” I nod, backing away from a tentacle variant to get better footing before cutting it apart. I hold out my left arm and a large octagonal shield appears on my forearm. Spotting a handle I grip onto that for now, holding the shield up to block a jump from a basic model. It makes an odd yelp noise.

“What was that?” I ask, turning the shield over to find the brilliant pink flower pattern matching Charity’s umbrella perfectly. This one has a spike with eight blades along it to match with the eight lines of the umbrella design. “Oh. Combat shield.”

I thought it helpful. With different libraries unlocked you can create amalgam products. 

“Oh. Brilliant.” I grin, pulling the shield straps tighter before moving up to deal with a newly emerged armoured variant. This time my sword glides right through its armoured skull with only the faintest of resistance. Then something impacts into my shoulder, causing me to stumble backwards.

I look over and see one of those flying eyeball things. Apparently its eye opens into a disgusting maw of jagged brown teeth. The teeth move, one of them setting itself into the centre of the ‘mouth’ and shooting out towards me. I bring my shield up to block it while having to twirl to kill an armoured model that had tried to sneak around behind me.

“Flyer. I can’t deal with that.” I groan. “Kali?”

You are lacking in ranged options yourself. However-

Kali’s voice cuts off as the elevator above the flyer slams down, crushing the creature and causing it to drop down the shaft.

-that is easily resolved.

Amased, I have to drop to the ground again to avoid a leaping alien. “Did you get points for that?” I need to roll out the way of a charging armoured variant.

Technically you did. Using the elevators was your idea and all I’m doing is controlling them for you. Same as how I remotely detonated the bombs earlier.

“Oh. Okay.” I nod at how that makes some sense before I get into a crouch, blocking another jumper with my new shield. “Right.” I check the cameras, noting I’m getting surrounded already. “Let’s test that time dilation effect then.”

I focus and mentally flick the switch for the time dilation. The effect is immediate, every alien looks to be moving in slow motion. I still feel like I’m moving at normal speed though. Just everything else around me has slowed. Weird.

I push forwards, slamming the shield spike into a tentacled face, slashing to my side to kill a basic model. They react so slowly and even the timer in my view for the time dilation is moving at half speed. I keep moving whilst it’s in effect, cutting at limbs and skulls of the aliens that had started trying to circle around my position. They go down as I race around, my boots not even slipping on the tiles covered in green alien blood.

When the timer hits zero I feel strange, everything’s back to normal but somehow it feels much too fast. 

Watch out. Middle elevator shaft.

I look that way, finding a much larger six legged alien climbing up and out. It’s ranked with a D- right away. Probably due to it sharing the large armoured skull of the small variants and three front facing spikes.

Once it’s out of the shaft the creature crouches and starts focusing on me. “Oh no.” I whisper, moving to the side of the floor to avoid what’s likely to be a very deadly charge.

I was right but my moving was either predicted or those six legs are there for a reason. The charger does as I’ve now named it and charges right towards me at a startling speed. I barely have time to react. In fact I have none.

And then my vision warps and I’m on the other side of the floor. Did I just teleport myself? No, I didn’t even think about it.

Good AIs follow orders.

“What?” I ask, rushing to cut off a new stream of basic models from getting out of the elevator shaft on the left.

It’s an old meme, but it checks out.

Now I laugh as I realise what Kali is doing. I also remember asking her to teleport me out if my life is ever in danger. Guess that charger would have actually killed me.

“Are you coping with me almost dying by referencing memes I don’t get?” I ask, watching the camera feed to make sure that charger doesn’t take me by surprise.

Maybe.

“Thank you for looking after me.” I thank her, swearing under my breath as the charger exits the shop it just demolished. “Gotta deal with this.” I murmur, moving to put myself between an elevator shaft and the charger. I watch the teleporter cooldown count down. The reduced recharge is really helpful.

You’re welcome.

As the charger rushes towards me I activate the time dilation. I have more room to react now, cutting the head off a tentacled variant before activating my teleporter at the last second. 

I appear on top of the charger, cutting across the top of its spine behind the armoured skull, jumping off right away and watching the alien crash and slide into the elevator shaft.

Kali plays an odd sound before the sound of clattering pins and a quiet shout of ‘Strike!’.

I sigh but can’t help a quiet giggle. “Really?” I ask, my voice coming out normal even in the time dilation. That’s weird. I make the most of it, jumping over to the centre elevator shaft and beheading an armoured variant.

Charity’s preference may have affected me slightly.

“Slightly?” I ask with a smile, frowning quickly as another flyer appears, throwing its weird teeth projectile at me.

Only slightly.

“Sure.” I sarcastically agree as I avoid the spike and nod at the elevator. It drops sharply, smashing into the alien and dropping it like the one before.

From there I have to save my breath to put in a proper effort to stem the tide of the swarm. Kali closes one of the elevators for a moment to give me an easier time. I manage to take out more and more basic models before the doors open again and spew out even more. 

I have to duck under another shot from a flyer, scramble my way back to gain some breathing room, the armoured variants rushing around me again. They all have their own predictable tactics but in large numbers they’re difficult to deal with.

I don’t notice the charger climbing up before it’s almost too late. I flick the time dilation on at the last second. I’m about to jump out of the way when I realise if it charges on its current trajectory it will smash right into the shelter doors. I don’t even curse, I flick my blade up to cut the points from the three horns and brace myself behind my shield.

The impact pushes me sliding back as I put all my weight low and into the shield. The charger then catches back up with my slide and shoves me back further and further before I have to lift a leg up to brace myself against the slightly curved surface of the shelter door. My new muscles scream at me as I stop the momentum of the charge just in time.

“Fuck you.” I growl with my first breath, teleporting back to the centre of the room to deal with a few more low ranking Antigen before turning back to the charger. “Over here!” I shout, “Come get me!”

The charger huffs, turning around to face me. Its hornless head looks much less threatening than before. The issue comes when the time dilation drops and my teleporter is still six seconds remaining on cooldown.

Not good. 

The charger charges and I do what my instincts scream at me not to do. I run forwards to meet the charge, jumping up, planting a foot on the armoured skull and jumping up and over. My foot catches on the flared section of skull and I start spinning. The ground comes to meet me and it’s not happy.

Groaning in pain and trying to catch my breath I hear a crash, managing to see on the camera that the charger had impacted the wall between elevator shafts. Oh. And I’m about to be pounced on by a basic model.

I get my shield over me, impaling the alien on the spike and being forced into the ground once more from its weight. 

Trying to roll it off me I catch the eyes of an armoured variant staring right at me. Well then. Fuck you too, alien scum.

Just as I expect to have my face eaten, gunfire rings through the large room and the armoured variant yelps as its flanks explode with blood. More bursts of gunfire cause more yelping and chattering from the basic models.

I turn from my position, seeing Laura walking out of the shelter, the doors closing behind her. She brings her gun- a P90, I know that much at least -firing three round bursts into nearby Antigen as she continues walking calmly towards me.

“No!” I shout at her, pushing the alien corpse off me and scrambling to get to her before the Antigen do.

She gives me a soft smile as several basic models leap towards her at the same time. Why? Why had she done that? She could be safe inside the shelter. She didn’t have to sacrifice herself.

The aliens collide in the air and Laura is gone. 

Not gone as in dead. She vanished. I’m unsure what just happened until a blue outline of a person appears near my countdowns with a timer counting down from thirty seconds. I then see Laura back inside the shelter reloading her weapon. 

She’s wearing my old personal teleporter!

Laughing almost manically I rush the confused basic models that had collided into each other, taking them all out in the confusion and turning to steady myself and deal with more turning up. She wasn’t sacrificing herself. She’s my backup.

I move up to kill a tentacled variant, ramming my shield spike into a basic model and spinning to catch another one mid jump with my sword. I take a half second to marvel how the alien blood just slides off the blade, leaving it as clean as ever before. Even my clothes aren’t getting messy which makes sense. A blood covered magical girl isn’t a good look.

A couple more flyers appear and are dealt with by the elevators. Kali speaking up about that.

The middle and right elevator can’t take much more of that. One or two more before the elevator breaks.

“Okay. Stop it then. Can you connect me to Laura?” I ask, jumping over the charge of an armoured variant.

Of course.

The call goes out, Laura picking up right away.

“Hello there.” Laura says, voice chipper.

Kali groans for some reason but stays quiet.

“Hey. Thanks for saving me.” I say quickly, watching Laura’s countdown drop below ten.

“No problem. Can’t let you have all the kills.” She replies. “Just calling to say thanks?”

“No.” I answer, cutting a tentacled variant's head clean off. “The eyeball ones. Can you take those out for me when they turn up? I don’t have ranged options and I can’t keep doing that elevator trick if we want them to stay working.”

“Yes, ma’am.” She agrees right away. “Smooth moves by the way. You’re getting better.”

“You’ve been watching?” I ask, slightly shocked. I hadn’t expected anyone to bother doing that.

“The whole shelter is. We’ve been projecting the cameras into the big room alongside your kill count.” She chuckles. “You’re kind of badass according to the general consensus.”

I blink, looking back at Laura with her hand to her ear as she smiles my way. She’s not serious? No… That’s… I’m not even sure how to feel about that.

“Duck.” She snaps.

I drop to the ground, a basic model throwing itself over me.

“Head in the game, June.” Laura snaps.

“Fine. Just…” I turn back to look at the elevators, groaning as two chargers start to crawl out of the shafts. “Damn it.”

“Oh, that doesn’t look fun.” Laura murmurs. Apparently she’s going to be providing running commentary now?

I don’t respond, activating my time dilation and teleporter at the same time. Space warps and I appear on the back of the first charger to climb out. I cut through its spine and leap over to the newly emerging charger. I barely manage to cling on, jabbing my shield spike in for extra grip. I slam my sword down onto the alien’s spine. Its legs go limp and it starts to fall back into the elevator shaft.

“No, no, no…” I panic. My sword is still inside the creature. I grab the hilt and push myself off the creature, just managing to get off it with my weapon before it crashes back into the shaft.

“Close one.” Laura snarks. Weird that she comes across clear in the time dilation before I reason Kali probably sped her message up a little.

I groan, picking myself up from where I’d fallen. Neat thing about dropping in between two large Antigen is that the smaller ones have a difficult time kicking me whilst I’m down. 

“Kali. Can I get a chain or something so I don’t lose my sword?” I ask, cutting down a few smaller variants as I rush back to my position in the centre of the room.

Of course. That would save points on buying a new one if you misplace it.

“Is everyone being snarky now?” I ask as the time dilation switches off. 

“Only to you.” Laura answers.

“Neat.” I whisper, getting a little annoyed with the armoured variants trying to flank me again. To them they’re clearly being sneaky but I can see them on the cameras in the corner of my vision. 

“Eyeballs.” Laura says as I hear the shelter doors opening. I stand still so I don’t run into gunfire. I’m pretty sure my clothes will protect me from it but best not to do it just because of that.

Laura’s gun barks out as I back up slowly, dealing with Antigen that gets close to me. 

When the gunfire stops I note her countdown starting again as she teleports back into the safety of the shelter. I let out a long sigh and get back to dealing with the Antigen.

A few minutes after that Laura steps out again without a word. This time firing what sounds like a pistol instead of her machine gun from before. Although, is a machine gun a specific type of thing or just- Ah, fuck. Another charger.

After that’s dealt with I retreat back to the centre of the room, looking over all the corpses around the room. There’s no way I can keep this up and keep proper footing. Something has to change if I’m going to keep defending this area.

“Kali. Can we do anything about this mess?” I ask, blocking a leaping basic model and cutting open an armoured variant.

Not with any of your current libraries. You could purchase an explosives library.

“Uh. Building’s a bit unstable for explosives and I’m sort of in the room. I don’t wanna be exploded.” I reply, hissing as a second basic model throws itself into my side, knocking the wind out of me before I can finish it off.

I wouldn’t suggest concussive explo sives. The library also includes an affectionately named ‘garrotte grenade’.

“What does that do?” I wheeze out, slamming the side of my shield into the face of a basic model.

It releases hundreds of rapidly expanding monofilament wires in a small area. The intermediary library version can pulp Antigen ranked D and below.

“Tell me again why I didn’t specialise in explosives?” I ask, activating the time dilation as I rush around the room to deal with a large clump of aliens that had started moving around me towards the shelter. 

I can only reason that it was for the stealth aspect. Ease of use. And also your terrible first attempt at using a firearm as well as the before mentioned structural issues and desire to not ‘be exploded’.

“Wow. Rub it in.” I give her an eye roll I know she can see. “Will those grenades damage the floor?”

They can come in many forms. The grenade can come in the form of a mine that sends its payload upwards.

“Brilliant. Can you set them so I can detonate them remotely?” 

“What the fuck is that?” Laura asks, causing me to jump a little. I’d forgotten she was on the call.

I look back to the elevators, from the centre one comes a horrible looking alien. It has huge clawed hands attached to spindly arms with two elbows. Its head is dog-like with a much longer snout. Its main body is that of a segmented snake.

A C rank appears next to it. Fuck.

“Can my sword cut that?” I ask in a whisper panting heavily. I don’t know how long I’ve been at this but it seems I’m finally finding my limit.

Not the exterior, no.

I hiss at that. My only bet is to stab it when it’s mouth is open?

“Get inside.” Laura shouts.

I shake my head. That’s a heavy hitter, those claws look deadly. If I retreat inside now that thing will start tearing open the shelter.

“Should we be seeing a C ra-” The lamia springs forwards, covering half the distance in a near instant. I click on my time dilation and reflexively jump to the side. I avoid it by a hair, the claws slamming against the shelter door.

I see its nails crack and are left behind in the hardened glass. Shit. Fuck.

The lamia moves impossibly fast, its declawed hand whipping out as I stand. It hits before I have time to avoid it even in my time dilated world. The impact with the wall knocks all the breath out of me. I’d have lost my sword if I didn’t have a nice new chain connecting the hilt to my wrist. It’s too fast. I can’t think.

It rushes me and I manage to roll out of the way of the fist that cracks the tiles where I just was. I scramble to my feet, running away and throwing myself over a small pile of Antigen corpses that explode as the lamia slams into them. 

Rubbing gore out of my eyes I hear a loud hissing. I have twelve seconds left of time dilation. I jump out, pulling my sword up to-

It slaps me again, throwing me across the room and into a store full of camping supplies. I land somewhat softly into a pile of rolled up tents. This time I get to keep the breath in my lungs a little longer. It’s way too fast. I need to get out of here.

No. No I can’t. It will just follow me- It will follow me!

I push the tents away, using the last remaining few seconds of time dilation to run towards the elevators. Kali seems to understand what I’m doing as the one I’m running for drops down, doors already open. I throw myself in as the hairs on the back of my neck jump up. I get a glimpse of the lamia as the elevator shoots up several floors at a speed I’d consider dangerous if an AI wasn’t controlling it right now. It might still be.

“Couple floors.” I wheeze. The elevator stops, the outer doors already open. I throw myself out as the elevator moves up some more. I can hear that hissing get closer up the elevator shaft. The open doors leading it right to me.

“Fucking aliens.” I curse, running through what appears to be a ballroom of some kind. I leap over tables and chairs, getting as far across the room as I can before the lamia catches up with me. The large window at the back is strange. It’s unusual that these buildings have real windows but it’s going to maybe help for this.

I’m alerted to the lamia’s presence at the crashing of furniture behind me. I note the elevator doors closing across the room. I gulp down my fear and watch as the lamia hisses before coiling its snake half. At least it has some pattern.

It springs and I activate my teleporter.

I appear behind Laura in the shelter on the third floor. Brilliant.

“Hey.” I gasp out, pain shooting through my back, arm, and ribs.

The security guard whirls around and rushes over to me like I’m about to fall over or something.

“Stupid girl.” She hisses at me but starts checking over me for injuries.

“It’s all blunt force trauma.” I whisper, giving her a weak smile as I feel the sweat covering me now. “How long did I hold out?” 

Laura purses her lips but answers. “Forty-six minutes.”

“What?” I whine, dropping onto my arse. “That felt like hours.” I look at my sword still chained to my wrist. I lick my lips and wipe the sweat on my forehead away. 

“Two-thirty-two.” Laura says.

“Pardon?” I ask, looking up and blinking heavily. 

“Your kill count. Two hundred and thirty two.” She clarifies. I check on my AR and yeah, the number 232 is sitting there. Wow. I’m not sure if that’s impressive or not.

“What’s my points total at?” I ask.

Points Total: 3,481

I let out a quiet whistle, falling onto my back and regretting that decision immediately. Trying not to cry at the pain, I marvel at how I’d managed to get around double the points I’d gained from blowing up a huge horde of the Antigen. 

“Can you call Bubbles, please?” I ask quietly as I lay there in pain.

Kali doesn’t answer but the ringing noise shows she definitely can try.

“Hey, little sis.” Bubbles’ cheery voice sounds. A second later an image of her pops up on the ceiling. AR displays are neat. “You’re alive.”

“Barely. You know how to deal with those big lamia things? Giant hands, snake body?” I ask.

“Explosive bullets.” Bubbles beams.

“Not great with guns, Bubbles. And… What libraries would that even need?” I groan.

“Advanced of explosives and ranged weaponry.” Comes the fast answer. I groan. If advanced is needed I might as well just keep going down the same route I currently am.

“I’ll think about it. How soon is backup coming?” I ask, hoping I can stop.

“Still over an hour, I'm afraid. Two at best.” I close my eyes, that just moves Bubbles to my eyelids. 

“Great. I… I need to keep going.” I whisper, wanting to just lay here for a while.

And then the entire building shakes as the sounds of a massive explosion sound from somewhere up high. 

“What was that?” Laura asks, having moved to put a hand on the wall to keep her footing. Guess my eyes are back open.

“The… The top four floors of your building have just collapsed. The Antigen got to the support pillars beneath the shelter. I’m sorry…” Bubbles says, voice pained.

Laura and I stay silent for a long few seconds, letting that horrible news sink in. I’d made that choice but now it’s happened… 

“June…” Laura whispers.

I get to my feet, unbuckling my shield, staying silent as I march towards the medical room.

“June!” Laura shouts, running after me. “Stop!”

I move into the room, taking my jacket and scarf off and throwing them onto a bed. I drop the shield onto a tray. “Kali. That time dilation you said before. The ten percenter. Can I afford it?”

Unlocking the libraries would use up most of your current point total. The aug itself is purchasable but without the equivalent medical upgrades it will kill you faster than the Antigen can.

“What are you doing?” Laura demands. “You best not be able to kill yourself with even more ‘upgrades’.”

Ignoring her I get into the bed, laying down. “How much faster?”

With constant use, it will kill you within half an hour.

“Do you have any other suggestions? I can’t take on that C rank with what I currently have. And more of those will be coming soon, won’t they?” I ask, still ignoring Laura’s objections.

They will. This is sooner than they were expected… My suggestion is an overall upgrade. Advanced augs for the next tier of time dilation along with stronger musculature, nerves, bones… You’ll also need to upgrade your assistant and get a few more minor modifications. A new heart and lungs will also be needed to keep you alive longer. Prolonged use of time dilation augmentations is not-

“Kali.” I cut her off. “Just… What’s it going to cost?” 

Points Spending Projections (simplified)

-500 Advanced Augments Library
-500 Advanced Medical Library
-500 Advanced Melee Library
-425 Time Dilation Augment
-360 Neural Assistant
-320 Advanced Heart Augment
-320 Advanced Lungs Augment
-255 Enhanced Bones/Muscles/Nerves
-85 Annihilation Blade

I take a deep breath, ready to accept that before Laura grabs my shirt. I blink, looking at her hand and then up to her very angry face.

“No. You’re a kid.” Laura growls.

“I’m eighteen.” I respond. “Are you going to stop those things?”

She doesn’t answer.

“Exactly. I’m the only one who can do this.” I say quietly. “I’m the only one around.”

“You’re killing yourself.” She says with far less anger now.

I give her a sad smile. “I’m not living through this, Laura. I knew that before I came back down here. I die so everyone in this shelter has a chance to live. How many children are in this shelter right now?”

She doesn’t answer.

“Kali.”

There are currently 2,771 people inside this shelter. An estimated 600 of those are below the age of eighteen.

I look Laura in the eyes. “One life for that many. It’s the only choice I can make.”

Laura purses her lips, eyes hardening as she pulls me forwards before letting go and backing up. “Send me the details of everything.”

I nod, laying back down and feeling strangely calm again. I’m sure I should be panicking but I just can’t find the emotion.

“Alright, Kali.” I whisper. “Punch it.”

You do know memes! And yes, ma’am. Again, we can’t use painkillers with the stimulants still in your system. I’m sorry, June.

I nod and close my eyes.

The pain is pretty much as I remember it being not even an hour ago. I know I’m screaming and I can’t stop it. The pain peaks and I happily pass out. I’m brought back to twitching pain, a wave of nausea and then I’m throwing up my actual insides into a bucket Laura holds for me. She keeps my hair out of the way which is nice of her.

No vertigo this time. The pain still flickers through me but I can feel it fading already. Becoming just another memory of a horrible experience.

“Fuck, June.” Laura whispers. “This is fucked. Other magical girls shoot rays and fly around with lightning wands and shit. You’ve going full fucking samurai.”

“Thanks?” I ask, throat sore. Laura is already handing over a bottle of water.

Samurai June. Mm. Not got a great ring to it.

“Wow.” I say, taking a huge drink of water. “Aren’t you supposed to be on my side?”

Always.

“I… Feel like that’s another meme but I’ll take it.” I whisper, looking over at the single box at the bottom of the bed.

June. Please activate your time dilation augment.

“Okay…” I say, confused but doing so. The world slows to a crawl. And then my AR vision starts glitching out. The counters going wild as I look around, even stranger is that I can’t hear anything at the moment. 

When it finally stops after what feels like almost a whole minute, I suddenly hear a massive amount of screeching noise. I clap my hands over my ears, shouting in pain.

I’m sorry, June. I’d hoped that wouldn’t happen. You will need to purchase hearing augments and new AR lenses for them to function under the time dilation. 

I go to ask her why she hadn’t warned me when I realise I can’t hear anything at all. Not even the faint hum of the lights. I’ve gone entirely deaf. The augment had blown out my ears. 

Touching at my ears I feel the blood trickling down my neck. Laura rushes to grab a towel. 

“Get both.” I say without being able to hear it. “Please.” I add.

Of course.

Point Total
216 -> 86

A box appears in my lap as I feel a stinging sensation in my ears. I hiss without being able to hear it, Laura looking worried as she cleans my ears with the damp towel.

I’m going to slowly raise the volume so you can get used to it. The benefit of these augs is that noises that would normally be painful can be softened automatically. 

“Great.” I say silently. Waiting for Kali to do as she said she would. During that wait I start taking my previous AR lenses out, blinking at the strange sensation of having to touch my own eye. Gross but I can endure that easily enough. 

The hum of the lights comes back and I hear Laura mumbling darkly about troubled children.

I laugh quietly. “Thanks.” I whisper, marvelling at how easy I can pick that up. Everything’s so clear now. I can even hear things just outside the room. People talking about food. Soft thumps that are likely Antigen throwing themselves at the shelter doors.

“If you live through this I’m going to make sure you don’t move for the next five years. You’re going right to whatever magical girl doctors there are.” Laura grumbles as she steps back.

“Sure.” I smile slightly as I unbox the new AR lenses and start getting those in place.

Once they’re both in I blink a few times before they flash a little and all the little windows and icons I’d gotten so used to are back. 

“Okay. Looks like I’m back in fighting shape.” I joke, stretching and feeling all the pains of being thrown around by the lamia still in my body. Although it’s just bruises now. I have entirely new muscles.

“You…” Laura sighs. “Are impossible. Kali. Keep her safe.”

Of course.

“Oh. You two are teaming up now?” I grumble good naturedly. “Either way. Did you say that’s called an ‘annihilation blade’?” I ask, pulling the sword box over.

I did. It has a much more impressive name but I figured that works for now. The blade won’t cut anything you don’t want it to and it will cut through anything but the high tier A’s and above. Well… Except for chalk.

“Chalk?” I ask, entirely confused.

The universe is a strange and mysterious place sometimes. Do you expect to be running into much chalk fighting the Antigen?

“No…”

Then it shouldn’t be a worry.

“I don’t even know if you’re messing with me right now.” I whisper, pulling the black and silver scabbard out of the box. I slide the two handed hilt out to find the straightest, most beautiful sword I’ve ever seen. I turn it to look over the simplistic detailing on the hilt. The blade looks like simple whitened steel of some kind.

“Is that a Jian?” Laura asks.

“Jian?” I ask, looking at the woman.

“A Chinese two-handed straight sword. They’re actually really awesome.” Laura beams, looking suddenly very giddy.

“You good?” I ask, giggling quietly at the enthusiasm.

“Yeah. Just… Alien Jian.” She whispers, looking at the blade like it’s the most precious jewels in the world.

“Down, girl.” I giggle. “Now, do I need to activate it or..?”

In a way. It will connect with your augs. Simply wanting it to cut something will ‘activate’ it.

I shrug, pointing the sword in front of me and throwing the box up and onto the blade. I just try to want the box to be cut.

The box drops in two pieces as the blade thrums in my hand slightly. Well, that’s what I’m needing at the moment and if Kali says it will cut through that C rank then who am I to question her?

“Okay.” I sigh, sheathing the blade and placing it into the loop next to my other scabbard. I find my previous sword on the bed where I must have let the chain slip over my wrist at some point. I return that to the scabbard and grab my scarf and jacket. Pulling those on I groan and blink a few times. 

“Come on.” I mumble, pulling my hood up. “I’ve got some payback to give.” I lead the way out of the medical room and out towards where the Antigen are slamming themselves against the doors. There are a few chargers in the middle of the floor but they can’t seem to get any momentum at the moment. At least that’s good.

“How’s the second floor looking?” I ask. A camera feed popping into my vision. What remains of the floor is covered in aliens. “First?” Another camera feed. Even more aliens, more chargers than any other floor. “Well that’s not ideal. But I can make this work I’m sure… Somehow.”

“The flyers?” Laura asks.

“Um…” I falter, still unsure how to deal with them.

Your new muscles should allow you to jump vertically about sixteen feet. With good footing you could leap even further than that.

“God damn.” I remark. “Guess I can just jump at ‘em.” I laugh nervously. I really don’t like getting so much ‘ware so fast. This is the exact thing I didn’t want to happen. But it doesn’t really matter anymore. 

“Be careful, June.” Laura whispers.

I give her a nod, a little two fingered salute, and as I pull my new sword out I teleport right across the floor and into alien central.

The charger that I land on seems to take umbrage with me appearing on its back. That annoyance doesn’t last long as a lazy swing of the annihilation blade kills it. I stay on its back for a moment, cutting basic models down as they leap at me. 

“Kali. When we get enough for those grenades can you grab them for me?” I ask as the folk rock music from the first time doing this starts playing through the speakers once more.

Yes, June. Do you want me to place them as well?

“Please.” I say, leaping over to another charger and decapitating it as I land. From there I continue dealing with the small fry that throw themselves at my blade before hopping between chargers. I don’t even need to learn how far I can jump, I just know the right amount of force to put into my leaps to get where I need to be. It’s almost intoxicating.

Several flyers have been trying to pin me down with their shots but the jacket takes the greater part of the force from the barbs that hit. They hurt still but I can ignore those for now.

“You know,” I say, stepping to the side to avoid a barb and a basic model throwing itself into the air. “I’ve not really done any sort of magical transformation. Is that a special thing or..?”

It’s not really a thing. Though several magical girls have ways of doing it with enough effect that the idea spread around that all of them can.

I snort. “Guess that makes sense. Okay. Let’s stress test this ‘ware.” I grin, activating the time dilation. The length of effect is slightly lower than the last version and the cooldown is about the same. But it seems to slow time down to about twenty-five percent judging by how slow my countdowns are going now.

I drop from the corpse onto the solid floor and rush across the floor as fast as my new muscles can take me, annihilation blade feeling no resistance as I simply drag it out at my side, ending in a little spin as I meet the elevator walls. I still have half the time after that so start side hopping between Antigen, relieving them of their heads.

Real time slams into me like a wall. The cooldown timer ticking away and making me feel sluggish. I look over to my lines of destruction, watching as aliens fall dead where they stand. Okay. That’s fucking awesome.

“Can you play that back for me, please Kali?” I ask as I jump up to cut two flyers that are close enough, landing on an armoured variant, slamming the poor things head into the floor. 

I watch the video feed playing back. I go from on top of the charger to across the floor and then zig zag around Antigen as they fall behind me. 

“Was that really… Thirteen seconds?” I ask, confused at how this even works. “It feels like far more than that every time but… I also-” I feel something slam into my legs, dropping me to the ground. An armoured variant had managed to sneak up on me whilst I was watching myself in the video. I make sure to grab my sword and teleport across the room, fully upright once again.

“Okay. Lesson learnt. Focus on the fight.” I scold myself.

I’ve bought the explosive libraries up to intermediary. Shall I place the garrotte mines on the floor?

“Please.” I answer, ducking under a basic model’s leap and cutting across the jaws of a tentacled variant. Why they have tentacles I’ll never know. It’s gross and makes me feel icky every time.

Stay very still.

The seriousness of Kali’s tone freezes me where I stand. 

Also, sheathe your sword.

“Why?” I ask, confused.

Cool points.

I shrug and sheathe my sword. As soon as it clicks in place the room explodes with the sounds of whipping metal like a thousand guitar strings snapping at once. The Antigen around me are torn to shreds, bits of them flying everywhere before they get minced down even further into so much mulch.

There are still Antigen in the shops around the floor and some in corners that the mines couldn’t reach, but I’d just gone from being surrounded to being the only thing alive and moving within fifty feet of the centre of the floor.

“Holy fuck.” I gasp. “What the fuck, Kali?” 

Omae Wa Mou Shindeiru.

“What?” I ask, confused again.

Nothing. Keep going. You’re doing great. 

“Sure.” I nod, unsheathing my sword once more and dealing with the remaining Antigen on this level that rush me. 

Right as I’m cutting through an armoured variant I hear a sound I’d only heard when watching old television programs. The sound of a fighter jet blasting by. I’m about to ask if Kali knows what the hell that is when the explosions start going off. One after the other, getting closer and closer, louder each time and I’m sure if I hadn’t bought the new ‘ware for my hearing I’d have gone deaf again.

The explosions continue right by the building and keep going for a short moment away from it.

“Who the fuck was that?” I shout, having dropped on my arse again. 

Magical girl Jet. Name is self explanatory.

“Right. Well… Okay.” I throw my free arm up. I guess magical girls can have fighter jets and do bombing runs. Who’s going to bloody stop them? And here was me being impressed by a sword and some explosive wire.

June!

Kali’s sudden shout startles me but not as much as I’m startled when the floor falls out from under me. I drop down, sliding backwards and rolling as an entire square of the floor breaks away, the side closest to the shelter hitting first as I tumble down the new ramp and straight through a hole in the second floor that I’m sure I created earlier.

I land painfully, surrounded by Antigen who seem just as surprised to see me as I am to see them. No quip comes to mind as I activate the time dilation- I need a cooler name for that -grabbing my sword and swiping out in a semi-circle around, using the momentum generated to roll to my feet and look around. I’m more than surrounded now. I don’t even have anywhere to retreat. Fucking brilliant.

Not wasting any time that I’m dilating- Oh, no. Ew. -I start cutting back and forth at the Antigen nearby. I hear a familiar hissing but in slow motion. A lamia leaps my way and I have to roll forwards to avoid its claws. I come up as it tries that backhand it does when you dodge the first strike, bringing my sword clean through its arm, turning my wrist and stepping forwards I cut through its neck and carve across its torso for good measure. If the snake-like carrier Antigen has a second brain in their torso I’m not leaving it to chance that the lamias might as well.

I hear the slow thumping of feet behind me, turning and jolting as a huge charger, at least twice as large as any other I’d seen before, is rushing me. I don’t want to waste my teleport right now so I throw myself up and over the charge just as real time comes back. The large charger slams into the corpse of the lamia and other Antigen behind it as I land.

Duck a leaping basic model, rush forwards to stop an armoured variant rushing me. Cut, slice, dash, roll, leap, slash. I stop focusing on anything else, just on surviving against the swarm I’d been dropped into. I can’t use explosives anymore. If that shelter drops from where it is the casualty rate will be horrendous. 

The hiss of a lamia. I bring my blade around but am just not fast enough without the time dilation. The lamia slaps me across the room, hitting me directly into the head of a charger.

I scream as one of the three horns pierce straight through my left thigh. It fucking impaled me on another Antigen. Fucking lamia.

I have enough time to flip my blade around, impale the charger keeping me there so it doesn’t thrash me around, then teleport into the nearest elevator.

Twelve seconds.

“Kali! I need whatever.” I hiss in pain, dropping my sword and pressing both hands to the bleeding wound.

Three boxes drop next to me.

The first, spray the foam into the wound. Then the second you drink.

I get right to that, not having time to marvel at how the blood falls right off the gloves without coating them. The first box is opened, it looks like a little spray nozzle of sorts for air brushing. I stick it into the hole in my leg and pull the trigger.

It’s painful but not more than the impaling. I open the second box with my free hand, grabbing the glass bottle. I pop the cap off with a thumb flick, downing the oddly sweet concoction.

Okay. That’s your blood replenishment. The third box you need to strap over the wound. This will be very painful mind you.

“What’s new?” I mutter, opening that box and finding the box has something like my old external assistant. An elastic material with a white box on either side with a purple cross on it. I pull that over my boot and up my leg, settling each box part of the entry and exit wounds.

“Now wh-” I’m cut off as the boxes jab me with several needles at the same time. I can’t help the shout of pain before I grit my teeth against the pain of whatever the gadget is doing.

“Fucking hell, Kali.” I hiss. “You could have told me how painful a suicide mission would be.”

I apologise. The next time you are going to sacrifice yourself for the greater good I will warn you it may be painful.

“That’s all I ask.” I groan, grabbing my sword again. “Can I move with this?”

Yes. It will be painful but-

The elevator shakes as something impacts into it.

“Oh, fuck.” I groan. Around me I hear the hissing of a lamia. “Bitch.” It probably doesn’t like me insulting it because it immediately slashes its claws through the bottom of the elevator. 

“What is wrong with these things?” I ask, focusing on the teleporter to appear back on the ground floor. 

Another shout of pain escapes me as I land, my leg supporting me but still being really painful. I cut a basic model out of the air as it leaps at me, ducking under the remains and grimacing as I put too much weight on my leg. 

I can’t use my time dilation with lamia on the loose. My teleporter is on cooldown again. I focus on cutting up basic models and stopping armoured variants trying to sneak up on me. A few tentacled variants get mixed in that too because they’re gross and deserve it. A couple flyers start targeting me as I hobble towards the closest spot below the third floor shelter. The hissing tells me the lamia is back and still a bitch.

I trigger the time dilation and turn to find it leaping my way far too fast. I drop to the floor, avoiding the leap by a hair. The backhand is coming. I turn, bringing the sword up like with the previous lamia, cutting its hand off between its two elbows. I don’t have the ability to move up and cut at its head, so when the other hand strikes at me I cut that one off too. The lamia leans back, hissing and trying to bite my head off. I take its head first.

“Fuck you.” I spit before teleporting up and into the safety of the shelter. 

The shelter is not safe. Laura is standing at the door, firing a pistol down at the Antigen. The door that the first lamia had jabbed its claws into earlier has cracked, the remains of the door likely breaking off when the floor fell through. Laura reloads as she notices me.

“What happened?” She asks, worry and panic on her face.

“Jet. Lamias. Bunch of stuff.” I explain poorly. “Need a better weapon?”

She nods.

“Great. Kali can you buy up to the intermediary ranged weapon library and outfit our good friend Laura, please?” I ask.

Of course, June. 

A box appears next to Laura. She looks shocked. “You’re letting me have that?”

“Yeah? You’re good with guns. I’ll keep you stocked on ammo.” I say, standing and hobbling over to the door.

“How… Why are…” She stutters, looking down at the box.

“Laura. Grab the gun.” I order, pulling my jacket off and offering it to her. “And put this on. It should protect you from the shitty aliens.”

She takes the jacket, holding it for a moment before nodding and getting into it, zipping the leather jacket up. She moves and opens the box, pulling out a bright pink P90 with a smiley face on both sides.

“Okay…” I whisper. “Sorry about the weird design.”

“No problem. I expected more flowers.” Laura dismisses by apology. She pulls it up to her shoulder, feeling the weight. It seems to agree with her because she goes right back to taking shots at aliens outside the shelter.

I can hear people crying further in the shelter. Fuck. 

“Kali. Can I get one of those too, please?” I ask, grabbing the box that appears in front of me.

“Hey. Guns are my thing.” Laura jokes.

“Do you want a sword?” I ask as I pull the black gun with pink flower detailing. I let out a snort at the writing on the side before showing it to Laura.

“‘Longsword twenty-eight millimetre.’” She reads out, laughing along with me. “Okay. I’ll let you off. And no thank you.”

I let out a breath and bring the gun up to my shoulder like Laura is doing. I take careful aim out at the ramp that the floor dropping outside the shelter has made leading up to the elevators on the other side of the floor.

Do you want me to disengage the safety?

“Please.” I whisper so Laura can’t hear. Although she does smirk for some reason.

The weapon clicks and a new set of icons appear in my vision. Firing modes, ammo count, a reticule that seems to follow my weapons firing angle, and button to show the safety is off. Neat.

“She’s telling me everything she says, you know that, right?” Laura asks, causing me to jump slightly. 

“What?” I ask, hoping my mask hides my blush.

“Every time you get close to me. I can hear her talking through my ‘ware. Ever since you asked me earlier.” Laura explains as she puts more rounds into a flyer.

“Great.” I groan, getting back into position next to Laura. The two of us the only thing stopping Antigen getting through the cracked open door of the shelter. “I didn’t really get a tutorial for this.”

“You’re doing alright. I have been wondering why you don’t have a familiar.” She responds, reloading her gun.

“Familiar?” I ask, taking a shot at a basic model before it can leap from the ramp up to us. I flinch at the sound, dampened as it is, but still manage to take the thing down. The floor dropping down like it has is good in one way, it makes it harder for the low ranked Antigen to get to the shelter. I’d have called it a win if the door hadn’t broken open.

The idea of familiars comes from early cartoons depicting magical girls. The familiar is something that gives them their powers. Some magical girls like to purchase drones to play into that theme but it’s not a universal thing. I can display a small animal of some kind onto your vision if you desire it?

I look at Laura, raising an eyebrow.

“No, it’s fine.” I sigh.

She chuckles, going back to firing out of the door.

“ Is there a tutorial?” I ask as I do the same. I do keep flinching at every burst of fire but my new muscles and assistant compensate for that rather easily. If it wasn’t for the continuous reloading and my weird fear of the things, I could see how firearms would be preferred. 

In a sense, yes. The way you came to be a magical girl however didn’t leave much time to go over the information usually provided to new magical girls. And, as a carrier, you were meant to pass me on to someone better suited for the task.

“Hurts a little.” I whisper, taking a few more shots.

“Carrier?” Laura asks, looking my way for a moment.

“I uh, wasn’t chosen as a magical girl.” I explain nervously. “That was Charity. She died saving me from one of the elevators and Kali passed to me just before she did. I was sort of supposed to pass her along to someone who could be a proper magical girl.”

“You can do that?” She asks, eyebrows raised, gun falling slightly.

“Mm. I think there was a time limit or something?” I try, unsure if the time limit itself was a lie.

There is. There have only been two other carriers before June. Neither survived.

“What killed them?” I ask, unsure if I should feel some sort of comradery with these two strangers.

Their AIs did. They refused to be passed on and given they were much too likely to abuse their power they had to be killed for the safety of others.

My blood runs cold at that news. No other carrier had ever chosen to pass on the AI to someone else? Was I not doing the same as them?

“Good job you found a proper magical girl then, Kali.” Laura says, taking more shots at the alien swarm.

It is. Ending up with June is what your species might call a miracle.

Oh. That’s nice. Well no, the story itself is kind of scary. Kali could, at any point, kill me without me being able to do anything. But still. It’s nice that she won’t.

“Thanks.” I whisper, blushing again. “It’s n-

My whole body jolts as a lamia starts to slither up the floor. It starts to turn to look our way and hiss. I’m dropping my gun in an instant, reflexively switching on my time dilation and kicking off the ground as I pull my sword from its sheath.

The lamia coils and jumps to meet me in the air, the horrible dog headed snake thing could ruin everything if it gets past me and into the shelter. A few lower ranks could be stopped by people working together but a lamia will give them no chance.

I spin slightly from the unsheathing of the annihilation blade, using that to cut through the lamia’s arms and then torso as I continue the spin. I land on the slanted floor, looking down into the second and first floor to find the Antigen are growing in size the longer the incursion goes on. Armoured variants are larger and more angular. The tentacled variants have fewer appendages but seem much thicker and more agile. Even the flyers have a strange whippy tail for some reason.

The floor wobbles at my impact and I rush down at some of the larger variants, cutting through them and those nearby with several quick swipes of my sword.

“Kali. Can you make the garrotte mines smaller so they don’t hit anything that’s keep the building up?” I ask as I keep moving through the hoard even after the time dilation goes on cooldown.

I can. 

“Do it. Please show me their range so I don’t run into anything.” I ask as I realise the healing from the medical device must have finished. Or the sudden adrenaline spike has helped me ignore the pain.

Where should I place them?

“Everywhere.” I hiss, sliding under a much faster basic model. Coming up from the slide and throwing myself into the air to deal with more flyers. Whilst up there I see the entire floor lightning up in red spheres. I teleport just as I’m about to enter one of the spheres, slamming heavily into a sports good store on the third floor. Who knew hockey equipment would hurt to collide with.

And then the air filled with the sounds of thousands of guitar strings snapping. I know that won’t stop them and won’t do anything against the lamias but it will clear out enough to make the fight easier. 

I rush out of the store, finding Laura still firing down at the larger Antigen that weren’t affected by the wires. So that trick won’t work for very long at all. The bullets also seem to be pinging off the armoured variants. Very not good.

“Kali, what can we do to protect the shelter?” I ask, dropping down onto the second floor to keep fighting the increasingly powerful Antigen.

With your current libraries you don’t have many defensive capabilities and it would be ill advised to do so at this point. The point investiture to protect against C rank and above on a large scale would exceed what you currently have.

“Suggestions?” I ask, cutting the horns from a charger and hopping onto its skull, riding the alien right through the smaller variants before decapitating it and moving to deal with the largest basic model I’ve seen yet. The thing looks like it could rival a hippo in size.

As counter intuitive as it may sound I suggest you retreat into the shelter and upgrade your clothing. The doors of the shelter create a perfect choke point for you to defend.

“Fuck, Kali. That’s…” I groan, cutting off the legs of the large basic model. 

You are spending too much of your time avoiding being struck by projectiles and charging Antigen. This would play to your strengths more than fighting on the open floors.

I can’t disagree there. It just feels like losing to let the Antigen into the shelter. I don’t want that to happen but Kali is right.

Cursing I jump and teleport back into the shelter without finishing off the basic model I’d crippled.

“Laura. I need you to get volunteers.” I order quickly, starting to undress as fast as I can. “We’re going to need help with this. If I die I don’t want you all to go down without a fighting chance.”

Laura doesn’t question my orders. She nods and runs deeper into the shelter. I throw my clothes to one side, standing in my trousers and sports bra that I don’t have time to feel giddy about.

“Okay. Clothes, please.” I say, keeping an eye on the doors.

Several boxes drop in front of me. I grab the first and start changing my trousers out for ones with the same colourings and what looks like plated sections. I throw the long sleeved shirt on and have to stop getting dressed to cut down a tentacled variant that tries to climb into the shelter.

Getting back to dressing up I pull my new jacket out of its box and take a second to note the stylised symbol on the back. A Jian sword with a camellia flower where the guard would be. That’s actually rather cute.

Laura comes rushing back as I throw the jacket on and zip it up. “I may have scared some people but we got volunteers. What do you need?” She asks, followed by five different people. I recognise the big guy I rescued with Laura. I give him a small nod of appreciation before pulling my new gloves on.

“I’m going to hand out weapons and protective jackets.” I explain whilst I attach a new mask that covers the entire front of my face. The lower half is similar to my previous face masks but the upper half seems to be a similar glass-like material the shelter doors are made from. “We’re going to use the doors as a choke point. If anything gets passed me it’s up to you six to take care of it. I’ll do my best not to have that happen of course.” 

“But you’re a magical girl…” One of the women says quietly.

“They never let anyone use their gear.” A heavily ‘wared man says in disbelief.

“Kali. Why is that?” I whisper.

Points. Someone else using equipment you give them does count towards your points total but with a severe decrease in amount depending on varying factors.

Fucks sake. That makes sense if the magical girls can deal with the issues themselves but I’m just one girl. Wow. I accepted being trans pretty quick seeing as I wasn’t even sure myself a few hours ago.

“Yeah well I’m not like other magical girls.” I say with a shrug. “And if I die, that’s it. Nobody else is coming in time. This way you’ll be able to hold the aliens off long enough for backup to arrive.” I lie too easily. It feels like the right thing to say though.

Laura nods, grabbing the guns from by the door and moving back to the others, getting them to form a line with her at the end of the corridor.

“Kali. Six of those jackets, my sword, and the guns with whatever best ammunition I have available. When I have enough points, upgrade to better if possible for the guns and ammo.” I order and make sure to add a ‘please.’

Of course, June. 

“What stimulants do I have available? Are they safe to take?” I ask, putting my belt back into place and taking a deep breath as I turn away from the volunteers marvelling at how it looks like I just summoned weapons and armoured jackets for them all. Laura is taking charge of them.

Several and in the long run, no. 

“Good job today is the day I die.” I whisper. “Give me whatever is going to keep me fighting the longest and I’ll worry about the detox in Hades.”

You’re a very brave woman, June.

“I’m terrified.” I admit quietly to refute that.

And you’re standing before the hoard anyway. 

I don’t know how to reply to that so I don’t. 

I know the stimulants have been bought and administered when I feel the tiredness from my body vanish like I’d just taken twenty shots of espresso. My mind feels so much clearer than it has ever been in my life and it feels like I could fight for days.

“Oh, that feels good.” I whisper as I hold my sword steady.

I aim to please.

Laughing quietly I look back to the volunteers and get a thumbs up from Laura. They’re ready. All of them outfitted with swords, guns, and the same jackets I’m wearing. They look like a weirdly uniform biker gang. I definitely am not fitting the usual branding of a magical girl.

“Okay.” I say, voice raised so they can all hear. “Be very careful with those swords. You might get ammunition upgrades if the aliens get tougher. Don’t worry about the shots hitting me, I’m a big girl, I can handle it.” One of the men laughs at that. “If I vanish at any point I’m just moving behind you. I should send a warning before I do that so you can switch to automatic and fill this corridor full of death.”

“Fuckin’ sweet.” The ‘wared out guy says with a huge grin. The P90 looks like a toy in his hands.

“It is pretty cool.” I agree. “Righ-”

I shiver as I hear hissing right behind me. I barely even think before I’m moving within the time dilation. The lamia is pulling itself through the doors. Its face and torso has already gained better armour but that doesn’t stand up to my blade. It dies before it can even lunge at me. I follow its body through the door, dropping again and taking out as many Antigen as I can within the time allotted to me before I teleport back into the shelter as the time dilation wears off.

“What was I saying?” I ask, shaking my head a little. “Right. If I go down at any point don’t try to pull me out. Just fill whatever downs me full of bullets. Keep fighting as long as you can. You’re all getting out of this.”

The volunteers are staring at me in awe for some reason. I’m confused for a second before Kali shows me the video feed of what they just saw. I’d killed and then rode the corpse of the lamia out the door, taking out Antigen left and right as I leapt around the remains of the third floor before appearing right back where I’d been ten seconds before. Okay. I get why they’re impressed. I’m impressed and I was the one that had done that.

“Ready?” I ask like that was no big deal. They nod, Laura gives me a worried look but nods along with the rest. “Brilliant.”

I turn to the doors, sink my weight lower and focus. I note several different coloured reticules moving around in my vision that must belong to the volunteers. That’s good at least.

The first Antigen are tentacled variants with strangely human hands. Those ones just get even more disgusting. The reticules focus on those but nobody fires. I step and slice, killing both at the same time but feeling like I might need to take lessons later.

Oh. There won’t be a later. Silver lining, nobody to shout at me for bad sword form or whatever. I might be getting way too used to this dying thing. 

And then I have no time to think about it because the Antigen are swarming the doors. I let a few in, cutting them down two and three at a time. I try to keep my teleport and time dilation available at the same time so I can repeat my earlier move with the lamia. Two more down. Flyers can’t get in so are peppering shots from across the room, the barbs becoming slowly more refined as time goes on. I’m sure I’d have seen different types of Antigen if I was in a different location. Some are just too big to fit in the building and are likely being attracted elsewhere. 

A lamia manages to break through at one point whilst my time dilation is on cooldown. The stimulants help me out some but the thing still manages to throw me against one of the walls as I get my sword up in a guard position.

Neither me nor the wall crack but I can feel the idea of pain in my shoulder and back. The pain itself seems dulled, easy to ignore. I have better things to focus on.

The time dilation hits and the lamia goes down. I shoot out of the door, shocked at how many of the aliens are crawling over each other to get at the shelter doors. I hear gunfire from inside as I start cutting at the tower of aliens as fast as I can. The swarm turns on me and, as real time comes back, I teleport into the shelter once more. I definitely feel the impact of a few bullets on my back but they’re as easily ignored as being thrown into the wall is.

More and more aliens push through the doors, eventually a lamia manages to pull part of the other door off, the material cracking off in chunks instead of shattering like glass might. Now the Antigen are coming in two and three at a time. I stop thinking of anything else, Kali at one point makes my AR simplistic, the timers are basic numbers now- not that I need them with how I’ve gotten used to the timings -and all camera feeds and other unneeded visual noise is gone. Just me and the aliens.

A new Antigen turns up, a squid creature with seven tentacles that are covered in razor barbs that can stick to seemingly any surface. The tentacles can extend far enough it could probably suspend itself in the middle of the floor with tentacles attached to either wall.

One of its tentacles slam through the horde, hitting me right in the face as I’m dealing with an armoured variant. It doesn’t stick thankfully but the barbs do leave long lines in the glass. I chop at that tentacle, slicing through another armoured variant before rushing at it as I flick on the time dilation. 

Kali highlights areas in each tentacle showing where it keeps its five brains. That’s going to be a pain but with the speed I’m going I have each tentacle brain gone in no time. I have to stop to deal with a charger before impaling the primary brain of the squid. 

The others are probably warned by Kali before I teleport back into the shelter as I’m not hit by bullets. Though Laura has had to resort to using her sword on a basic model that got far too close for comfort in the time I was out the door.

I have to keep going. I thin the amount that had gotten inside quickly, jumping between the corridor walls is becoming easier than slipping on Antigen corpses. One of the flyers somehow threads a lucky shot through the door and I hear someone scream behind me. I don’t have a moment to check who just got hit, I push out once more, hissing for Kali to leave a small garrotte mine behind to clear out the corpses.

The air is full of different types of flyers. I sink deep into the time dilation, pushing myself faster and more precise to get to most out of every millisecond. Flyers drop as I slash through them. The ramp the third floor had made has collapsed under the weight of the hoard already so I drop heavy straight onto a lamia, cutting it in half before spinning to catch a massive charger from running me through. It still manages to throw me but I teleport straight up, finding out I can actually cancel momentum with the teleports or conserve it as I wish.

The doors of the shelter are gone. I have to keep pushing myself, the remaining volunteers- when had two gone down? -have switched to swords, the guns needing too much time to reload.

I keep going even as my fingers have gone numb and I can’t feel my legs. The scratches on my mask start to become too much so I throw it off me and keep moving without it. The back of my head takes a blow from an Antigen I don’t even recognise, a gorilla type that has its face in its chest. I cut through the highlighted brains in its biceps and keep moving even after I feel blood trickling down my back.

I can hear voices but I can’t focus on them. I’m being pushed further and further back into the corridor. I can’t push out anymore, this is it. The very last possible stand. I’m sure I’m screaming at the Antigen, not that they care, but I can barely tell. My arms are shaking but they’re still listening to me so I can keep fighting.

One of the weird squid Antigen manages to get in the corridor whilst my time dilation is on cooldown. Its tentacles sticking to the walls to keep it above the rest as two are used to attack me and the others. I cut and slash, keeping it from reaching the people behind me and as soon as the cooldown hits zero I’m activating the time dilation and bouncing off the walls to cut its tentacle brains.

Something rams into my side as I land. I stumble, vision going blurry. I cut out with my sword without looking and something dies. Blinking, I keep moving, going for the blurry shapes. Kali compensates for this by highlighting the Antigen in different shades of red. My whole body is shaking now, blood in my mouth, I must have bitten something. 

Unfortunately even my inhuman muscles and ‘ware can’t keep up with everything and a gorilla Antigen manages to break my grip forcing me to drop my sword. It’s instantly lost in a sea of gore and aliens.

I pull my old sword and swing. It shatters on the gorilla Antigen’s arm. Its meaty fist hits me straight in the chest and I’m thrown right into Laura. She’s saying something but I can’t hear her or focus on the words. I grab one of the swords the volunteers dropped, jumping right back into the fight.

I slide into the time dilation, jumping from wall to wall as I thin the horde, teleporting and preserving my momentum so I blast through the doors from the outside, spinning as I do to cut as many of the aliens as I can before I’m sliding across the floor. I stand, slash, cut, spin and- 

My sword drops from my fingers. I try to grab it but I can’t move my fingers. There’s a glow from outside the shelter, is it morning already?

I rush in front of Laura and throw my arms wide to protect her before I die. She’s been with me through so much of this and I’m not going to let her die before me. The glow intensifies, I kick out at an armoured variant, only slightly aware of a basic model leaping over at me. Of course. It’s the weakest alien that manages to take me down. Figures. 

Time seems to slow even more than the time dilation aug can achieve as that single alien leaps through the air towards me, its jaws opening to take me down. 

A part of me registers that I’m going to die as a magical girl and that fills me with a very strange mix of melancholy. I’m going to die as a magical girl and I’m content with that even as I’m kicking myself for not being better.

I did what I could. 

I was Somebody.