Chapter Twenty-Eight

“That was pretty rough, kids.”

I looked at Overclock, then at the floor. The team was in chairs and couches, while Overclock had opted to perch on the back of my chair. A new Magical Girl, or one that I didn’t really recognize, stood by the television.

“Oh, Olivia,” Chelsaeus had big dimples and freckles. Her red uniform looked less like a schoolgirl’s outfit and more like a dress from the first Captain America movie. She smiled brightly. “It wasn’t all bad! There are a lot of decent foundations to build on. And you’ll be building on them for sure.”

Overclock nodded from her perch on the back of my chair. “Yeah, you’ll fix this mess between Ebon Ring and me.”

Chelsaeus whispered to her Operator, and the television flickered on. “We’ll clear the trees. Sam, Luciole, go to the fountain…”

Overclock stared at me. “I know you saw ResCute split up a little, but Cobra Kyra was always close enough to support Sunburst or Jasper. Your two teams separated too far, and it took too long for Candice and Li Mei to help you once you got pinned by the Type Twenty-Eights.”

“But we needed to clear the trees!” Candice balled her fists from the couch.

Overclock held up her hand. “Why? Your objective was to find Haven’s city leaders and get them to safety. They were most likely in the building.”

She stared at Candice until the new girl’s glare dropped.

“One of your biggest issues was a lack of trust in each other.” Chelsaeus explained. She skipped the video to the courtyard, where Candice and I had almost fought over Sam’s injury.

I winced and looked down as the video played Candice’s words back over and over. “Did you let Sam get hurt?! Luciole, you’re supposed to be keeping her okay! Without her, we can’t take care of the civilians like we need to!”

Chelsaeus cleared her throat. “This delay cost ten and a half seconds from you yelling at Luciole, Candice. Another eight seconds was lost when the second wave of Type Twenty-Eights pinned you down. And your assault up the stairs took three seconds longer than it should have since you were dodging bullets.

“Fifteen to twenty seconds faster in your approach, and your team would have saved both guards and avoided the second two Type Seventeens.”

Candice glared at me. At me! As if the delays were my fault!

Chelsaeus skipped forward again. This time, to the battle with the Type Seventeens in the rotunda.

“Right here, there was a communication problem. If everyone had known what the others’ abilities did, Li Mei could have positioned to allow Candice’s Mana Surge to fire safely. Her death was preventable.”

Sam and Li Mei stared at the TV, Li Mei’s face white as she watched herself die over and over, but Candice wasn’t even looking. She just glared, tears running down her face as she shook.

“Unfortunately, you didn’t clear the first objective, so your last major issue didn’t cause any real problems. But with Luciole burning through mana, it wasn’t likely she’d have enough to keep casting. At Level Fifteen, her Soul should be enough to more or less keep her functional. But at lower levels, spreading the mana use around would have helped,” Chelsaeus finished.

I flushed. I had been casting more than I had during the West End battle.

“Give us another chance! We’ll do better. I’ll do better!” Candice’s voice shook as she stood up.

Chelsaeus smile, holding a hand up. “We know you’ll do better, Candice, and that’s why you’re not going again until the end of your SHOCKS training. The parliament siege is the final exam, as well as your baseline. And yes, your Operators probably told you it’s not passable. Not for Level Ones, it’s not, but you’ll all be Ten or higher, with a class, the next time.”

“So, what do you think you can fix first?” Overclock asked. Everyone grew quiet. The other girls glanced at each other and then at me.

I swallowed. I didn’t really want to talk. But I had to say something, anything, to get things moving.

“Communication problems and trust issues. We can fix those without learning to fight as a team,” Li Mei said. “Communication is easy. Our Operators told us what our generic Mana Surge and Perk did, but we didn’t tell each other.”

Chelsea clapped her hands. “Okay, good! You’ve each gotten your mana organs, so you should start having some idea about your abilities soon. In the meantime - yes, Li Mei?”

“I don’t have them yet. Mana organs.”

“Why not? They’re necessary for any Magical Girl to be magical.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“I’m still unsure about the chances of infection or how safe it is.”

“I suppose I understand that,” Chelsaeus said. “Reggie, can you be a dear and contact January Rain? She’d know the risks and details. Thank you!” She looked at Li Mei. “Okay, you’ll come with me after we’re done with this discussion. January’s a really professional Girl, someone you can talk to about your concerns.”

“Thank you.”

“Alright, so most of you have your mana organs. Luciole, would you mind sharing your Mana Surge and Perk?”

I froze. I was so tired of performing, and it wasn’t going to help with Candice. I could already see her glare shifting to me.

“Just do it, kid,” Overclock said from behind me.

I nodded and stood up. “My Mana Surge is Feu-Follet. It’s a light beam that breaks up armor, and I think it messes with circuits or something too. It gave Overclock a full-body sunburn, so being in front of it is not great.

“My Perk is defensive. It’s Fogform.” I looked around for something to demonstrate with. “Anyone have a pencil or something?”

Chelsaeus passed me a pen, which I aimed at my hand and dropped. It clattered to the floor while my hand fogged and swirled back to being a hand.

Sam smiled and stood up. “That’s really cool!” She stepped over to get close and poked me in the shoulder. “Why isn’t it working?”

“Cooldown, maybe? It’s got a long time between uses. I’m not invincible. I need to test it again, though–it may have gotten shorter.”

“It’s just as likely that it doesn’t consider a hand a threat, but a pen is sharp enough to do damage if used as a weapon,” Chelsaeus said.

Sam shrugged, disappointed, and sat back down on the couch. “I hope my perk is more useful than that.”

I heard Candice snort from her chair and looked at her. Her eyes sparkled as she stared at me.

“Okay, when you learn what your powers do, meet back here and show your teammates if you can. If not, explain what they do or simulate it,” Overclock said.

We talked a bit more about some of the strategy mistakes we’d made and the possibility of other combat simulations for practice. Then Overclock stood up. “Sam, Luciole, and Candice. You three go talk to your Operators. You’ll need a loading room, and Sam and Candice, you may have leveled from today’s training.”

Chelsaeus nodded to Li Mei. “Let’s go see January.”

As I headed to my room, I could feel Candice watching me. I shut the door. “Bentley, meet me in the simulation?”

“Of course, Luciole,” Bentley said.

I changed back into the clammy sensory suit, hesitated for a moment before I dunked myself into the tank, and found myself in the nothing-space of the simulation. The six-legged yellow otter waved at me and chased its tail momentarily.

[Why do you do animal stuff when you’re Tags?]

[Actually, a lot of those are idle animations. Your experience in the simulation is immersive, but for Operators, it’s one of about six windows we’re staring at.]

[So you’re playing a video game right now?]

[Yes. Looks like Sims Thirteen. Better graphics, though.]

[So, why do I need a loading room? The parliament building simulation was fast.]

[Two reasons. First, a lot of classes are in simulations. If the teacher is running late, you’re either in a void of nothing or in your loading room. And second, it’s a space that no one except the two of us can access. Most Girls use it as a comfy getaway, but some have -”

[Ookay. I need a loading room. Suggestions?]

[Common archetypes are ‘comfy,’ ‘armory,’ ‘picnic,’ ‘magic school,’ and ‘hospital waiting room.’ Not sure why the last one exists, but…yeah]

[I’d prefer comfy, then.]

The otter ran around in a rectangle, old brick walls springing up behind him to surround me. [Walls here. You’re a poetry person, so let’s populate some shelves with books. Most of them won’t be real, the loading servers can’t handle that much, but you can pick three or four poets.]

[Okay. Pat Mora, Carl Sandburg, and Nikki Giovanni, please. And a Shel Silverstein if possible.]

[Sure] The shelves whooshed through the walls in a roar of wind, snapping into place. [Armchair, please. Something overstuffed and velvet or corduroy. Can you make it red?]

The chair popped into existence. [Building a reading room, then? That’s surprisingly common.]

[It is?]

[Sure. Jane Austen-era furnishings, a big window with a simulated view, and a cozy fireplace.]

[Yeah! Just like that! A beanbag too. And maybe some plants. I never had plants in Duncan Towers, either apartment.]

As I said things, they popped into being. A big chandelier. Some more intimate reading lights. A view of a lighthouse out the window, with light rain off the shore. Before long, the room was just the way I wanted it.

[If you don’t need me, I’ll work on some of my class work,] Tags said.

[No, you can go. I’m going to stay a while.]

[Great. I’ll call you if anything comes up.] An ancient-looking, brass-plated, wall-mounted phone popped into existence, and Tags curled up. One second, he seemed to be sleeping. The next, he disappeared.

I curled up in front of the fire with Where the Sidewalk Ends. Childish? Yes. Outdated? 100%. But fun and silly. Before I knew it, I was drifting off.

Not asleep. Just relaxed.

This was better than having my own room.

I zoned out for…I don’t know how long. But after an eternity, the phone rang, like a bicycle bell ringing at ten times the speed. There was nothing digital about the sound. Or was there?

I picked up the phone.

“Luciole. Your teammates are looking for you.” The words didn’t come out of the phone as physical things. I could actually hear them.

“Okay, I’ll be out soon. Changing, then I’ll see them.”

I dried my towel, the floor, and the suit. Then I changed into clean clothes and opened the door.

“Oh good, you’re here. First thing. Sam’s Operator told her about calisthenics, and she convinced us to try it. You’re coming too,” Candice rattled off.

“I am? Sounds miserable.”

“It will be. Doesn’t fucking matter. We have to get better if we’re going to beat the parliament building mission. You have to get better too, six levels on us or not.”

“Besides,” Sam said, “this is a chance for me to show you Girls something I can do well.”

“Okay, fine. The second thing?”

“Catch!” Candice threw a pen at my face like a dart! I held up my hand to block it, but Fogform activated, and it inked a line across my cheek.

“Hurry up! We’re going to be late to the gym,” Candice taunted as I ran to the bathroom to scrub my face.