Food in the bastion cities should have been a struggle. For some, like Hong Kong and Mumbai, it was. But for most of them, their platforms could keep up. For us, it’s different. Vancouver Island had plenty of space for the survivors from Seattle, Tacoma, and Vancouver, with leftovers for some farming. So, if you’re willing to pay, you don’t have to eat the molecularly-restructured food Sanctuary provides. Even if you can’t do it consistently, eat real food one meal a week, minimum. It does the growing body good.
* Doctor Herbert Masani, Pediatrician.
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Chapter Twenty-Five
The tiles in my room were amazing!
I’d stripped the suit off, toweled dry, and changed into leggings, a t-shirt, and a green West End High hoodie. The soaking-wet sensory suit sat on the tile. Water pooled on the grout.
“Alice, there’s a button on the wall. Third switch over - the first controls the lights, and the second is fans. Flip it,” Bentley said.
“Okay, but what does it do?” I walked over but hesitated.
“Just flip it!”
I flipped the switch. The water disappeared as if the tiles around the sensory tank were sponges. I turned it off and touched the suit. It was damp. Not sodden. Not wet. Just damp.
“That’s amazing!” I thought about the constant wet towels in our apartment’s bathroom. The constant smell of dampness and the gross feeling of accidentally using someone else’s stinky towel. I wouldn’t have to worry about that ever again!
“You should still pick up the suit and hang it back up. It’ll actually dry that way.”
“Okay, Mom!” As soon as I said it, my chest hurt, and my smile shifted. I scooped up the stupid sensory suit and tossed it over the loft ladder. My stomach groaned again, and I stomped out the door.
“I’m not your mom, obviously. But your profile did say some organizational work would be helpful,” Bentley spoke in my ear. “I have a day planner I could fill out for you if you’d like, or I can keep track of important things for you. We can also work on a system to help keep your room clean.”
“No. After I eat, we’re putting some boundaries down, like Overclock said.”
“You can’t ignore me on this! Organization skills are important!”
I ignored him. “I’m starving. Who else wants to find some food?”
“Not until you show us your transformation,” Candice shouted from her room.
I narrowed my eyes as she strolled into the common room. Why was she so obsessed with this? Li Mei and Sam were both in the armchairs, staring at me, but I didn’t want to show off my Alias for no reason.
Why not? What was wrong with me? Candice hadn’t done anything I wouldn’t have if I’d met a Magical Girl for the first time. She just wanted to see what I could do.
“Okay.”
I spun clockwise, then turned again, my hands swinging. Then I spun the other way, raising my arms over my head. The red, black, and white dress formed as my sweats and leggings faded away. My hair went from damp and brown to a blonde bob. And at the end of it, I was transformed.
“This…is Luciole.”
Sam and Li Mei stared. Sam’s eyes flickered to Candice to see what she’d say.
She leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms, rolling her eyes. “That dance is stupid. Come on, Sam, Li Mei, let’s find some dinner.” The lack of an invite was painfully obvious.
Sam stood up, looking at me with an apologetic expression. “I’ll see you after.” She walked to the door as Candice held it open.
Li Mei, though, stayed in her seat.
“Are you coming?” Candice asked.
“No, I don’t think so. I’m not hungry. I haven’t given Charlie permission to replace my organs yet, even though he explained how they’d work.”
“Okay, fine. Tomorrow, you’re eating with me,” Candice spat. Somehow, it didn’t feel like a request, and Li Mei nodded. Candice shut the door, and it was just Li Mei and me.
“I don’t know why she’s like that,” Li Mei said. “She acted like we’d all be such good friends in the car, and then you showed up. She’ll come around to you. She has to if we’re going to work as a team.”
I nodded and opened my mouth to say something, but my phone buzzed.
[hey alice its sora come visit me im bored!!!! :D!]
“One second, Li Mei.”
She nodded. “It must be important. I’m starving, and I bet you are too.”
[Be there after dinner. Still in the same room?]
[okay hurry same room XD <3]
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
I laughed. Sora was a terrible texter. “So, you’re not hungry, but you’re starving? Which is it?”
“Oh, I lied to Candice. It was easier than fighting or arguing.”
I understood that all too well.
As we walked down the hall, Bentley talked in my ear. “The SHOCKS food court is on the top public floor. Above that is the communications superstructure - that’s where we Operators are. Magical Girls aren’t allowed up there, just like we’re not allowed into the lower half of SHOCKS. The food court is, unfortunately, the only co-ed area.”
The elevator dinged, and four Magical Girls got out, all in uniform - a Pink, an Orange, a Red, and a Blue. Each wore tiaras with a piece of plastic fruit on them. “Hi, new girls! Food’s on floor twenty-three,” the Orange said. “Don’t worry about eating like a pig - I had five pizza slices. You can’t out-pig me!”
“No, you had six, Erin. And two cupcakes,” the Blue said. They stepped out of our way, and we got on.
When the door shut, I squealed! “That was Team Fruit Fighters!”
“Who? Sorry, I was never into this stuff before. Hong Kong Walled City was so different than here. The Redemption orbital platform was still working, so even though Magical Girls existed, they were secondary to its weapons. Everybody was also on edge there, so close to each other and always competing for limited food and water, so celebrities weren’t something I had time to care about.”
“Fruit Fighters isn’t the best team, but outside of Paradise Found, they have the best theme! Tang-Erin, Clemen-Tiny, Water-Melanie, and Jazzie-Berry. They’re ridiculous. Watching their fights feels like watching a cartoon.”
The elevator reached the top, and the door opened on the most beautiful food court I’d ever seen. The late afternoon sunset poured through an arched set of windows, and planters between every booth and table gave the room a living feel. But at the same time, the magitech steel-and-glass look of inner city Haven was on full display. Whites and greys competed with fast food signs, and dozens of boys and girls chatted and ate.
I pored over the different restaurants. Everything looked so good! Suddenly, Li Mei turned and waved me toward the noodle cup line. “Keep your head down. Sam saw us, but I think she’ll keep it quiet. I gave her the look. I wonder what Candice has against you.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I don’t know. Ramen’s not my first choice, I’ll be honest. I’ve had too much of it.”
“Me too! Sometimes, that was all my family could find for weeks. A helping of noodles goes a long way, but when it’s all you eat for that long, you can really feel it. I bet this is better than lo mein with nothing, though.”
We pointed to the noodles we wanted - I got some with peppers and carrots - and sat down behind some ferns. I started slurping away - the noodles tasted much better than the dried ones Claire and I had.
[sooooooo booooooreeed :( ]
[Let me finish dinner. Ill figure out a way to Saxe Point. See you in an hour]
I slurped faster. “Hey, Li Mei,” I said as she squeezed sanitizer into her hand and started rubbing it into her palms, “How did you get enrolled, anyways?”
“I started a study group at my school. A lot of the students there were struggling with how to study, and I never had school come easily, so I had to learn how to learn.” She tucked the sanitizer bottle into her breast pocket and slurped her noodles too. “So, since I knew how to learn, I started teaching my classmates how to, too.
“The word must’ve gotten out, or one of the younger Magical Girls was in my study group because it wasn’t long before Autumn Ashes knocked at my door.”
“That’s really neat. Honestly, I’d prefer just getting recruited to how I got enrolled.”
“Yeah, me too,” Li Mei said. “Charlie said my profile reads like an Orange, but I’m not a leader. Not really. Candice is the most leader-ish of us, not that I want her to be in charge.”
“So, why don’t you want to install your mana organs?”
Li Mei looked down. Her voice was quiet. “Back home, in Hong Kong Walled City, I had an uncle who needed a transplant. He went to the hospital there, but with so many people and so few supplies, it wasn’t clean. He got sick. Really sick.”
Taking a deep breath, she kept talking. “My Operator says that he wasn’t surprised about my need to research. It’s all in my profile, he says.”
She paused and leaned in toward me. “It’s a little bit creepy that the Operators have a profile of us, isn’t it?”
I swallowed my mouthful of noodles. “My first Operator, James, didn’t ever really abuse it. He said it was part of giving us someone we could rely on and trust and stuff. I don’t think I have a problem with it. Did you set boundaries with Charlie? That should help.”
“I tried to. Maybe we could talk about which ones you set with your Operator?”
I looked down at my noodles. I hadn’t set any yet, either. “I, uh, sure. I just told Bentley -”
My phone buzzed, and I opened it quickly.
[r u here yet? doctor sunny says visitors are fine hurry!]
Saved by the message, I quickly responded.
[Walking down to the bus. On my way.]
I put my phone away. “Hey, Li Mei, I’m sorry, but my best friend’s in Saxe Point Memorial. She got hurt badly during the Emergence and needs some company. Let’s talk Operator boundaries later, okay?”
She looked down into her noodle bowl for a handful of seconds. “Sure, Alice. I’ll sit with Candice and Sam since you’re going.”
I waved goodbye and walked out of the cafeteria, dumping my leftover noodles on the way out. I couldn’t help but feel my stomach twist as I looked back to see Li Mei joining Candice. Had I just lost a friend? What was wrong with Candice? What was wrong with me?
I’d figure her out later.
Alone on the elevator, I started talking. “Bentley, do you have a bus schedule? I need to get to -”
“No busses stop here. I can signal to have a car waiting for you, though. As a Magical Girl, you have the right to requisition one whenever you’re not required elsewhere. Since your classes haven’t technically started, you can leave campus. I would caution you against staying out past nine, though. SHOCKS goes into a high-security footing in the evenings.”
“So, curfew? Got it. I’d like a car, but I don’t know how to drive yet. Dad…wasn’t the best teacher. He was just…busy…all the time.” I shrugged, then quickly got off the elevator.
A car pulled up as I exited the building. A woman in the same blue security uniform the officers in the shelter had worn popped the passenger door open. “Where to, Miss?”
“I’m sorry? Who’re you?”
“PFC Carter, Miss. I’m a SHOCKS driver for Girls and Operators who either can’t drive yet or don’t want to. Where to?”
I hopped in the car. “Saxe Point Memorial Hospital, please. Will you wait there for me?”
“Yes, Miss. It’s a fifteen-minute drive, so you’ll need to return to the car by 2030 hours to get in before lockdown at SHOCKS.” She started the car and looked at my confused face. “8:30.”
“Ah. And you won’t be listening if I talk to Bentley? He’s my Operator.”
“I’m fully confidential, I promise,” Carter smiled and stepped on the gas. “You’re not the first Magical Girl I’ve had in my car today.”
“Thank you.” I touched my ear, more to let her know I was talking to Bentley than because I needed to. “Okay, Bentley, let’s work out some boundaries.”