Chapter Thirty
A ringing alarm jolted me awake. I looked around, frantically trying to turn it off. “Where is it? I didn’t set anything, I thought?”
My phone sat, unringing, on its charger.
I blinked and yawned. What was making that racket? Suddenly, my eyes widened. “Bentley, turn it off!”
“Of course, Luciole. By the way, you’re behind schedule. Your first class today is Introduction to Team and Individual Branding with Maybelle-1. It starts in a little over forty-five minutes, and she expects you in uniform.”
“Didn’t I tell you not to use audio or video when I was asleep?” I crawled out of bed, dressed in my blue flannel pajamas.
“Yes. You didn’t say anything about alarms, though, and once vitals confirmed you were awake, I could turn the audio back on.”
I had to admit, that was similar to something I’d tried on my dad before. I thought about it for a minute. Get mad at Bentley, or let it slide?
“Okay, Bentley,” I said, “New rule. If you’re setting the alarm, I need to know in advance. Alarms for emergencies are fine, though.”
“Understood.”
I did my spin-around dance, feeling the pajamas magically replaced with my red-white-and-black dress, the black tights, and the boots. I looked at my blonde hair and gold eyes in the mirror. “Okay, Bentley, breakfast first.” I paused. “Is the rest of Z-4 coming along?”
“Yes. They’re waking up as well. Sam has not returned.”
I nodded, left the room, and got on the elevator. The Candice/Li Mei situation had exploded last night, and I’d spent most of the evening in my sensory tank. Sam had walked away, too. She’d left the suite, though - I had no idea where she was.
In any case, I didn’t want to see my team if I didn’t have to. They reminded me too much of home right now. Of Dad.
I grabbed a pile of fruit and a plate of waffles in the cafeteria. Sitting down, I texted my sister with one hand and shoveled a banana into my mouth with the other.
[Hey Claire. Its Alice. School is good here. Hope things are quiet there.]
Quiet was best.
[idk spent nite @ Kay’s]
[so jealous of u]
[dad is quiet and drinking]
Well, at least he was quiet. It was after he got loud again that Claire would need to worry.
[Ill see what I can do. Stay safe. Keep your head down. Maybe turn your game volume down too? Love you]
[ilyt]
After breakfast, I reported to the classroom - if you could call it that. Six sensory tanks sat in the back with tile all around them - dressing rooms off to the sides each held a variety of wetsuits. An assortment of chairs and tables sat scattered around the room. It looked like every language arts teacher’s fantasy for choice seating.
“Wow,” Bentley said in my ear. I couldn’t help but agree.
In one of those chairs sat a bombshell.
I’d seen pictures of Maybelle-1 before, of course. She was probably the most famous foreign Magical Girl, even after retiring. But it was easy to think those pictures were airbrushed or digitally fixed. But in person, it was easy to see they were not.
The curvy brunette in the chair wore a white dress, cut surprisingly modestly, with pink panels running up its side. The cap on her head sat at just the right angle to be a nurse’s cap, but also clearly a prop. Perfectly-mascara’d eyes pored over a tablet as she ignored me, the other girls on the team, and even Overclock.
“Excuse m-”
“It isn’t time yet. I’m still conducting research,” Maybelle-1 interrupted. Her Rügenfestung accent, while thick, was also somehow crisp. “I have one minute and thirteen seconds until the class begins, and I’m using them.”
I nodded, embarrassed, and retreated to a chair. One as far away from Candice, Li Mei, or Sam as I could get. They did the same. None of us made eye contact, and no one said a word.
A clock ticked loudly. I grinned in spite of myself. “Bentley, turn that off,” I whispered, trying not to laugh.
“Understood.” The clock in my ear stopped. “It broke some tension, though.”
“And class is now in session!” Maybelle-1 turned in her chair and set the tablet down. “Anders and I have been over the data, and this class is of utmost importance for you all. But first, about me.”
She stood. In contrast to her frankly stunning appearance, her posture felt military. Strict. “I am Maybelle-Ein. “ Candice snickered, and Maybelle-1 shot her a look. “I was part of Team Donner Schlag for three years, during which time we secured a foothold on the German coast.
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“After, I founded Team Makeover, shifting my image completely from war medic to the nurse you see before you. Two years later, my team lost to a trio of Type Sixty-Threes, and I retired from combat duties. I have created and repaired team and personal identities for Magical Girls since then, and your team, Z-4, desperately needs a makeover!”
“Alright, team identities with Maybelle-1 has begun. Anything she learned about you, she learned from your actions. Maybelle, text me when you need me.” Overclock walked out of the room.
“So, Z-4, what is going on?”
I fidgeted in my seat. No one else said anything. I didn’t want to lie to Maybelle-1, but I couldn’t just throw Candice under the bus. Not if I wanted the team to work out. “There’s…there’s nothing wrong here. We’re just, uh, working out some problems.” It wasn’t even a good lie.
Maybelle didn’t say anything. Her eyebrow went up, though.
Li Mei glared at Sam. “She found out private things about me and my Operator.” She turned her glare to Candice. “And she brought it up in public to humiliate me.”
“Well, you act like a stuck-up bitch!”
“I didn’t know she had it out for you!”
“And the way you treat everyone around you is -”
“Shut up, germ freak!”
I shrunk into my chair as Li Mei, Sam, and Candice screamed back and forth at each other. It was like drunk Dad at home, totally out of control, but three of them. I looked toward Maybelle-1.
“Enough,” she snapped. The rest of my team slowly got themselves under control. Candice and Li Mei sat back down slowly, glaring. When everyone was seated again, she continued. “We’ve seen your problems as a team. This is Z-4’s last chance to start being a functional team. Otherwise, SHOCKS will start separating you, starting with the problem girls first.”
“Good,” Candice muttered under her breath, glaring at me. “Get these two bitches off my team.”
Everyone froze. I’d seen anger before. Dad was angry a lot, and I knew how to deal with that.
But the look on Maybelle-1’s face? I hadn’t seen that before. Every muscle was perfectly controlled, her expression neutral. My eyes locked on hers. I couldn’t look away, even though she wasn’t looking at me. I could feel the rest of my team staring too.
If I could have shrunk further into my seat, I’d be inside of it. This was going to be ugly.
Maybelle cleared her throat. “Anders, would you please contact James? I need Overclock here immediately,” She quietly said. Then she continued, her voice icy in a way my father’s tone never was. “Candice, your and your teammates’ Operators have been reporting your bullying to SHOCKS command and Sanctuary. We hoped it would go away with familiarity. Still, besides Sam, you have had a constant, belligerent attitude toward the Girls you’re supposed to be learning with. And you haven’t treated her with respect either. You just don’t attack her because she followed you.”
“They just need to listen to me,” Candice blurted, mouth flapping. “It’s my team. I’m going to be the Orange!”
“You are used to feeling superior to everyone,” Maybelle-1 said. “It’s in your profile. A niece to one of CalWestTech’s executives, real food every day, and servants to take care of your needs. You, however, need to change that attitude. Everyone in this building is your equal now. And you treat those who’ll watch your back like dirt.”
“I don’t! What about the field trip?”
“The field trip is the only reason we offered you a place at SHOCKS, Candice. You have the potential to do great things. The field trip and your profile show great potential, but you need to fix your attitude,” Maybelle-1 said. “Otherwise, you’ll get people killed in more than a simulation.
“James said you needed me,” Overclock stuck her head in the door.
“Ah, yes. Candice has decided not to be part of this team,” Maybelle said.
“I did not!”
“I am going to take her down to counseling so she and - ah, Anders, who’s available? Kyle? Perfect - so that she and Kyle can discuss her options for rejoining a different training team, rejoining Z-4 later, or leaving SHOCKS.” Maybelle ignored Candice as she sputtered and swore. “In the meantime, maybe you and Miss Luciole can lead a discussion about why you chose your names and outfits. I will be back to talk more about personal branding after.”
“Got it,” Overclock said.
“This is my team! I’m not going!”
“Yes, you are,” Maybelle-1 said. She grabbed Candice’s shoulder and led her out of the room.
“Okay, personal branding, kids. This really isn’t my thing - I let Jasper and Sunburst take the media presence. But,” Overclock grinned nervously and held her arms over her head. She spun around so we could see her outfit. “Let’s talk about my choices and compare them with Luciole’s. Stand up, Alice. Please.”
Even though the pressure to perform was on, I still felt more relaxed than I had with Candice in the room. The other girls both looked calmer, too. Li Mei was smiling, and even though Sam’s eyes were downcast, I could see something melting off of her.
“Okay, I chose my name because it’s what I do. My power, Overclock, accelerates other peoples’ reaction times and muscle twitches with help from nanites. Basically, I’m overclocking people like you would a computer. Once my training team realized how ridiculously powerful it was, they helped me create the look.”
She pointed at her blazer and skirt. “I’m a Yellow, so yellow highlights are needed. My power isn’t actually time-based, but honestly, if you’re not looking for it, it’s hard to tell. So, clocks on my skirt. And socks, because I hate wearing tights or pantyhose. Overall, I’m not a good example of branding like Maybelle-1 is. Or like Sunny. She’s developed a whole persona and everything.”
She turned toward me. “Care to talk about your choices, Luciole?”
I nodded slowly and spun so everyone could see my outfit again. “Uh, the outfit came to me in a dream. It’s how James got me into Mme. Baudelaire’s Boutique without a sensory tank. There were a lot of choices, but this one stood out to me. Classy, bold, and aggressive, everything I’m...not. It’s not on-brand with my name, but I like it.”
“Mme. Baudelaire also helped me pick my name. I got fog and light powers, so she suggested different firefly variations until the French one came up. It’s in honor of my mom. She…she got killed in an Emergence when I was little and -”
“Attention, all Girls! Please report to the briefing auditorium on Floor Three! All Girls, to the briefing auditorium on Floor Three! Operators, to your stations!”
I flinched as the intercom blared. Overclock nodded slowly. “Okay, girls, don’t panic. It’s an All Girls’ alert, so let’s get going. Maybelle will meet us there. And don’t worry–All Girls’ or not, Candice won’t be there.”
She started jogging toward the door, and after a moment of hesitation, we followed her.