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Team 9999 files into the auditorium of the richest high school in the area for kickoff. Ms. Saotome, the team's lead mentor, leads the group, followed by Mrs. Kaname and her pink-haired daughter Madoka, who's surprisingly energetic for the early hour. Madoka's friend Miki Sayaka sits next to her, flanked by her boyfriend Kamijo Kyosuke. In the next seat down is Tomoe Mami, the team's mechanical lead and Sayaka's senpai. Akemi Homura, a shy girl in glasses who's responsible for the team's strategy and some of the wiring, sits at the end of the row. Unbeknownst to everyone but Madoka, these last three girls are magical girls, capable of impossible things without breaking a sweat.
Months later, Homura and Madoka sit in the pit during the playoffs, waiting for Ms. Saotome to bring the trailer around. Their robot isn't bagged; today is the end of 9999's season. They'll be back in class on Monday as if nothing had happened, as if six weeks of hard work and three days of pulling out every stop short of magic in this drafty fieldhouse meant nothing.
Earlier in the season, Homura had gotten in an argument with Mami about using magic in FRC, the fourth year's words ringing in her head telepathically. "The point of this competition is to see how good we are at building robots, not how good we are at wasting grief seeds and cheating using magic!" she'd said. Even though she couldn't bring herself to look her senior in the eye for a week after that argument, she'd followed her rule all season. Now, sitting in the pits without even being picked by the eighth and worst alliance, she wishes she'd used magic.
She has an idea and transforms into her magical self. Her pink-haired crush looks at her, confused, but before she can say anything, Homura reaches for her shield.
Loop 1
Akemi Homura wakes up early on the morning of kickoff. For the next few hours, she is the only person outside of FIRST HQ who knows anything about this year's game, and the only one who knows what serious play will look like. Her plan to use this information to her advantage is half-baked, but that doesn't stop her.
She opens up ChiefDelphi.com on her computer and creates a new account with the same username as last time: AH9999, simply her initials and team number. She scrolls past the traditional water game speculation thread to find what she's here for: the encrypted game manual. She takes a scrap of paper with a series of letters and numbers scrawled on it out of the compartment in her shield and kicks herself for not having brought a flash drive with the decrypted manuals as she mistypes the annoyingly long password. Even though some of her teammates are magical girls too, she knows they won't believe her and she's going to have to do this alone.
Despite Homura's best efforts to fix what she thinks she did wrong last time, she does not carry her team to victory. FRC is a team sport, not something that can be done by one girl on her own. Team 9999's final place is even lower than it was the previous attempt, and no other team picked them for their alliance. "I can do better." Homura thinks to herself as she reaches for her shield again.
Loop 5
The red-haired girl finishes the stick of pocky she's been eating and steps out onto the field to represent her team for alliance picks. Homura waits on the sidelines with the other representatives of teams below the top eight, looking over the slate of top teams. She suddenly hears a voice in her head: "Whatcha looking at, four-eyes?" the redhead stares right back at her.
"Just spotted your ring; it's always nice to run into another magical girl."
"Is anyone else on your team a magical girl? I've got an idea."
"Yeah, our driver and our human player are magical girls too."
"What's your team number, then? This picklist's trash anyway."
"I'm Homura on team 9999."
"Kyouko from 8888; pleased to meet'cha."
"Team 8888, who do you pick to join your 6th seed alliance?" the master of ceremonies asks.
"We pick team 9999." the redhead answers, not even consulting her list and not caring about her teammates' confused looks from the stands. Homura steps onto the field to stand next to Kyouko.
"Team 9999, do you accept?"
"On behalf of the Shizuki Foundation and Mitakihara High School, team 9999 accepts."
The drive teams of the 6th seed alliance all gather in team 8888's pit to discuss strategy. Kyouko gives each of the magical girls a knowing nod as they arrive.
"We wanna start here and grab these in our auto, so stay out of our way." she gesticulates at a poorly photocopied diagram of the field with a stick of pocky.
"Wait, aren't you not supposed to eat in the pits?" Sayaka asks.
"I've got a blood sugar thing; I gotta eat."
"Are you serious?"
"What's it to ya? Let me live, I haven't had anything but a red bull on the bus this morning."
As team 9999 heads back to their pit, Mami turns to her teammates.
"I don't like how nonchalant she was about using telepathy during matches" she silently tells them.
"We're just doing it to line up the bot with the human player station; it doesn't seem too much like cheating to me." Sayaka chimes in.
"You're just defending her because you think she's cute."
"She is, though!"
Even with a collective four magical girls, the alliance doesn't make it beyond the quarterfinals. Homura knows she can do better and starts the season over.
Loop 7
[x] pretend to intently read manual on way back from kickoff
[ ] copy homework from last loop
[x] get replacement side shields for safety glasses
[x] swap drive motor mount aluminum for lighter grade (no time stop needed)
[x] put 4' of 3/8" steel hex stock in metal closet
[x] distract Madoka while she's sewing bumper covers so that she messes up and Mami does it instead with ribbon magic
Loop 8
Akemi Homura wakes up early on the morning of kickoff yet again. She'd have to check her notes to know how many times she's tried, but this time she's confident that her newly revised checklist will carry her to victory. At kickoff, she silently mouths the words of the narration to the game animation. She's seen it enough times that she hears the words "Welcome to the 2015 FIRST Robotics Competition! Here's how we play Recycle Rush!" in her head during the rare moments she tries to sleep.
[x] pretend to intently read manual on way back from kickoff
[x] strategy discussion
[x] push for can grabbers
[x] completely dismiss coopertition bonus
[x] buy enough mecanum wheels to make them backordered on AndyMark
[ ] slow down totes in chute to encourage field feeding strategies
[ ] swap drive motor mount aluminum for lighter grade (no time stop needed)
[ ] put 4' of 3/8" steel hex stock in metal closet
[ ] distract Madoka while she's sewing bumper covers so that she messes up and Mami does it instead with ribbon magic
Loop 9
[x] pretend to intently read manual on way back from kickoff
[x] strategy discussion
[x] push for can grabbers
[x] completely dismiss coopertition bonus
[x] buy enough mecanum wheels to make them backordered on AndyMark
[ ] come up with a convincing lie to tell the AndyMark sales rep asking what the hell I'm doing with four thousand wheels
[ ] slow down totes in chute to encourage field feeding strategies
[ ] swap drive motor mount aluminum for lighter grade (no time stop needed)
[ ] put 4' of 3/8" steel hex stock in metal closet
[ ] distract Madoka while she's sewing bumper covers so that she messes up and Mami does it instead with ribbon magic
Loop 10
[x] pretend to intently read manual on way back from kickoff
[x] strategy discussion
[x] push for can grabbers
[x] completely dismiss coopertition bonus
[ ] buy enough mecanum wheels to make them backordered on AndyMark
[ ] come up with a convincing lie to tell the AndyMark sales rep asking what the hell I'm doing with four thousand wheels
[x] tamper with computer to show that mecanum wheels are backordered
[x] stop time before the page loads and use inspect element
[x] slow down totes in chute to encourage field feeding strategies
[x] swap drive motor mount aluminum for lighter grade (no time stop needed)
[x] put 4' of 3/8" steel hex stock in metal closet
[ ] distract Madoka while she's sewing bumper covers so that she messes up and Mami does it instead with ribbon magic
Loop 13
"You're a magical girl too, aren't'cha, four-eyes?"
"Guilty as charged."
"Team 9999, who do you pick to join your 3rd seed alliance?"
"We choose team 8888."
The crowd emits a collective "oooooh" at this; picking another high seed team is allowed, but is somewhat unusual.
"Team 8888, do you accept team 9999's offer or will you decline and form your own alliance?"
"We accept." the redhead says, raising another "ooooh" from the crowd.
Loop 16
Every single loop, Homura spends quite a bit of time on the ChiefDelphi forums. She tries not to let herself get dragged into arguments, but sometimes she sees people being so wrong about how the game will be played that she can't help but argue. "No! It's absolutely absurd to think that the coopertition bonus is going to matter, let alone design your strategy around it. If you could read, you would know that it gives both you and your opponent equal amounts of points and is absolutely useless, but you're being illiterate and spreading misinformation on here instead." she writes and triumphantly hits send.
Her screen refreshes a few minutes later, but not with the angry rebuttal she expected; instead it's a message from the moderators carrying a one week ban. She sighs loudly at the screen and Madoka turns to look at her.
"Oh? What's up, Homura?"
"I just got banned from ChiefDelphi for a week."
"You can use my account; the username's Pink_Dreamer and the password-"
"It's just a week. I'll be okay without it."
It proves not to be okay. Homura silently fumes every time she has to fill out a captcha (a rotating list of FIRST-themed questions like "what is Dean Kamen's last name?") just to search. After getting the same question four times in a row, she gives up on this loop and tries again.
Loop 20
[x] pretend to intently read manual on way back from kickoff
[x] strategy discussion
[x] push for can grabbers
[x] completely dismiss coopertition bonus
[ ] buy enough mecanum wheels to make them backordered on AndyMark
[ ] come up with a convincing lie to tell the AndyMark sales rep asking what the hell I'm doing with four thousand wheels
[x] tamper with computer to show that mecanum wheels are backordered
[x] stop time before the page loads and use inspect element
[x] slow down totes in chute to encourage field feeding strategies
[x] swap drive motor mount aluminum for lighter grade (no time stop needed)
[x] put 4' of 3/8" steel hex stock in metal closet
[x] stop time and correct hole placement on elevator bracket
[x] reapply dykem to the right hole mark so it matches drawings
[x] edit CAD to ensure elevator clearance at the top
[x] replace elevator Jaguar controller with TalonSRX
[x] connect encoder directly to motor controller
[x] connect limit switches directly
[x] update roboRIO, Talons, etc to end of season firmware (from flash drive)
[x] suggest that others on CD having problems report bugs to CTRE
[x] copy homework from last loop
[ ] stage snow day supplies
[ ] sleeping bag
[ ] cup noodles
[ ] energy drinks
Nobody but Akemi Homura knows how much of the fifth week of build season this snow storm will steal away from team 9999. Last loop, she'd used this storm for research, but with nothing left to research, she stocks up on supplies to weather the two snow days inside the school, where she knows the lights will stay on. While snow piles up outside, she works on the robot's autonomous mode with nobody to interrupt her as she tries to get it to stack totes consistently.
She suddenly hears a knocking sound, but she doesn't look up from her computer. She hears it again and looks up to see Kyosuke, one of the team's programmers, knocking on the window
As the snow-covered programmer takes off his coat, Homura looks at him quizzically.
"Did you walk here?" she asks.
"Yeah, I live basically across the street and wanted to get the auto to work." he answers.
"So do I."
"I didn't know you were a programmer."
"I.. dabble in it; staying here staring at code beats being home anyway."
In previous loops, Homura has far more than dabbled at programming, but she knows enough to downplay her knowledge.
The two work well together when free of distractions, and several hours and an energy drink each later, they've gotten the tote stacking working consistently. They sit in silence for a long moment before Kyosuke speaks up. "Hey Homura, can I ask you something kinda .. personal?" he asks. Homura's mind fills with worries about him having figured out one of her many secrets. "Yeah?" she finally tentatively answers. "H-how does it feel to be a girl who loves girls?"
She didn't ask him to ask about that "secret" and answers with nothing but a confused noise.
"Wait, are you not-"
"No, I am. ... just surprised."
"I- I've been jealous of Sayaka and thinking.. thinking that something's wrong with me"
"It's so great that she's a girl growing up to be a woman, but here I am, stuck with being a boy who'll be a man .. and-and it'd be so much better to be a girl." he continues.
"B-but if I'm a girl, I'll be a-a freak or something and Sayaka w-won't love me anymore" he stumbles over his words, clearly just moments away from tears. Homura doesn't know what to say or how to respond at all. If she was transformed, she would've already reached for her shield to pause time and give herself time to think, but instead, she just freezes up for a moment that feels longer to her than any of her entire past loops.
"Sayaka will definitely still love you if you're trans and become a girl" she finally says.
"Really?" the silver-haired programmer asks, looking hopeful.
"She's definitely bi, and she loves you a lot." Homura reveals, remembering Sayaka's blush as Kyouko flirted with her last loop.
"What should I call you? Kyosuke feels weird if you're probably a girl."
"I-I don't know."
".. How does Katie sound?"
"I kinda like it."
[x] distract Madoka while she's sewing bumper covers so that she messes up and Mami does it instead with ribbon magic
[x] copy over last time's blank scouting sheet
[x] do not copy pick list
[x] pick 8888 for alliance
[x] stop time and fix auto modes on 8888 bot
[x] drive PID values: 0.001, 0.0, 0.17
[x] distances and angles for auto A: 36, 91°, 15
[x] distances for auto B: 53, raise to 14, 44
[x] stop time and correct can position in QF2
Even though this loop was the most successful yet, 9999 loses in the finals. Homura, Katie, and Madoka sit next to each other in the stands for closing ceremonies. Katie and Madoka blame their loss on luck, but Homura blames herself and decides to try again.
Loop 21
On the school bus to kickoff, Homura sits alone and Sayaka and her partner take the seat across from her. "Morning, Katie." the dark-haired magical girl says, forgetting for a moment too long that this is not the same programmer who confided in her last loop. The next moment is filled with a silence that weighs on all three of them. "What did you just call my boyfriend?" Sayaka asks, indignant. Her partner says nothing and Homura thinks she sees their mood fall at being called her "boyfriend." Without a word, Homura transforms and reaches for her shield, leaving the mistake behind her.
Loop 22
Not having much to do early in the build season, the team's programmers are tasked with helping build the wooden practice field. Katie is alone in the wood shop, trying to get some pieces lined up to drill a hole, when Homura walks in. "You are a girl and I'll be using she/her for you." Homura suddenly says, her voice cutting through the sound of drilling. "Please pay attention to not drill into your thigh this meeting." she continues. "What the actual fuck, Homura?"
Homura doesn't answer and tries to hand her a bottle of estradiol pills. Katie slaps it out of her hand and storms out of the wood shop. As the door slams behind the trans girl in denial, the time traveler's heart sinks. She just wanted to help her, but she's just gone and pissed her off. She transforms and reaches for her shield, trying yet another time.
Loop 23
Helping a teammate through a gender crisis is much harder than building a robot and Homura has run out of ideas. One hope remains: ChiefDelphi, the place that's helped her with so many other things while trying to win this season. She opens a direct message to a prolific trans poster on the forums and writes her a direct message. "Hi! I know this is a bit of a weird thing to ask, but how did you realize that you could be trans? A friend is going through something and I want to help them through it." she finally sends after having backspaced and retyped her message a dozen times. The next day, she gets a reply: "For me, it was when a friend told me that I could be a girl if I wanted to and I couldn't stop thinking about it. Send my best wishes to your friend. ;)"
Homura strolls into the boys' bathroom with a marker in hand, not even bothering to stop time in the empty school building. She scrawls the words "you don't have to be a boy if you don't want to" on the wall and walks out.
Homura and the silver-haired programmer sit together in an otherwise empty classroom during the third week of build season, scrolling ChiefDelphi and fighting with code, respectively. It's been weeks since she wrote her graffiti and she's started to worry that Katie didn't see it. Suddenly, the programmer asks her a question. "Hey Homura, can I ask you something .. personal?" "Yeah?" the magical girl answers, knowing exactly what she's asking about.
Later in the season, Homura is alone in the machine shop when the creature that cursed her with magic appears. "Kyubey, can trans girls make contracts with you?" "Any girl with sufficient potential will be offered a contract. Why do you ask?" "No reason." As soon as the incubator vanishes, she mutters a curse under her breath; this was not part of her plan.
Every single part of Homura's plan has worked so far this season and as the second finals match starts, she worries about what will go wrong this time. To her surprise, nothing does and her alliance wins both finals matches. She high-fives Kyouko and walks back to the pit in a daze to pack up and bag the robot for championships.
The team's mentors are waiting back at the pit to congratulate the students and pack up. Ms. Saotome takes a ratchet strap and tightens the robot down to the cart.
"Don't we need to bag the robot for championships?" Homura asks, confused.
"We talked it over, and we're not going to championships." Ms. Saotome answers.
"What?!" Homura exclaims.
"I know it's disappointing, Homura, but we just don't have the money."
"Can we ask Hitomi's parents for more?" Madoka asks.
"We can't. Mrs. Shizuki told me that she was worried about how much this was hurting her daughter's grades and that she was going to have to leave the team."
As Ms. Saotome walks away, Homura feels like she's about to cry.
In her and her teammates' moment of despair, a creature emerges from the shadows. "Uhh.. please tell me you see the .. cat? thing? next to the battery cart too" Katie asks.
"Yeah, that's just Kyubey" Madoka answers.
".. You know it?"
"I have spoken with Kaname Madoka on several occasions." Kyubey says to the three of them.
"It can talk? It can talk inside my mind?"
"Your reaction to telepathy is not uncommon among humans."
"Katie Kamijo, I have a request for you."
"Huh?"
"I want you and Kaname Madoka to make contracts with me and become magical girls like Akemi Homura is."
"Wha-?" Katie asks, looking to the dark-haired girl in confusion.
"When you make a contract with me, I will grant you any wish you desire."
"Wh-uh-what? Sorry? Excuse me? Wishes? What's going on? Being a girl's pretty magical but-" the trans girl panics.
"I have a wish ready, Kyubey." Madoka quietly interrupts. Katie immediately relaxes while Homura tenses up. The incubator blinks and tilts its head towards the pink-haired girl. "I wish that FIRST Robotics never existed."
Two magical girls walk through the dark, drafty fieldhouse at a college neither of them attends. It's spring break and the only sign of life in the huge building is a pair of glowing red eyes peeking out of the shadows. "I remember it too, Madoka." one girl says to the other.
FIN.