High school is great. Ever since her asthma cleared up, her fellow students have been much friendlier. Athletic accomplishments more than make up for her rapidly falling grades. Besides, amateur heroics keep her busy most nights.

She's eating lunch, as expected.

A shadow falls across her table.

"Fleming. Got a minute?"

"We could make a minute for you."

"Ignore him. What do you need?"

"We need to talk. Just us girls."

"Ty, we'll be back in a few minutes."

"Fine. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

It's crowded inside the cafeteria, but they can find a quiet spot outside.

Ellie checks to make sure no one's listening, then speaks quietly.

"Have you been to the city recently?"

"Not recently. Why?"

"Word is there's a bunch of new girls. Came over from Japan. Recruiting for some kind of corporation."

"They want recruits? That's different. Are you thinking about it?"

"No. It sounds complicated. Don't need complicated."

Nod.

"Do you want me to check them out, or do you think they could trace me back to you?"

"Don't borrow trouble. If they come looking, don't do anything stupid."

"Alright. Thanks for the warning."

"We're doing good. Just keep your head down and keep killing wraiths."

"I'll try my best. See you around."

Ellie nods, and wanders off.

Probably going to skip the rest of the day. Afternoon classes don't matter.

Gwen gets to her classes, thinking about what the other girls might be like.

They don't show up that day. Or the day after.

Late in the evening her soul gem starts pulsing. There's a large concentration of wraiths somewhere towards the north end of town, near Ellie's territory.

That's more important than math. She goes.

Turns out it's not near Ellie's territory, it is actually in Ellie's territory.

Any sign of Ellie from outside it?

Nope.

Yup.

She goes in, club at the ready.

A few streets in, and she can hear the noise of a fight from behind the buildings.

Electricity crackling between knives embedded into the walls blocks entry to the alleyway.

Ellie would probably be upset if she entered her territory, but she's already made that mistake.

Hopefully she doesn't mind the interruption.

Do you need any help?

Fucking- what are you doing here? Don't move, I'm coming out.

A muffled grunt of pain, then Ellie stumbles out through the gate, clutching her left shoulder.

That's easy enough.

She reaches out to heal her.

"I wasn't sure if you needed backup, but if you do, backup."

Sigh.

"There's like fifteen of the bastards still in there."

"I can't do as much as you can, but two are still better than one. I'll stay out of your way."

"Need a better plan than that." She nods at Gwen's club. "Can you take melee?"

"I can. I have some minor wind powers. I use them to corner them but I've never tried with this many."

"Okay. I'm going to go around the back, get up on the roof, try to set up something big. I'll drop the gate, you stay on the ground, keep them penned for me."

Nod.

"Good luck."

"Try not to die."

She heads off around the block. After a moment, the knives in the alley walls disappear.

She goes inside, club at the ready. She shouldn't need to use it, but just in case.

She goes looking for wraiths.

It's not like they're hiding, shadowy amalgamations of eyes, teeth, and lava that they are.

She calls upon the Mighty Forces of the Wind to form a curved wall, trying to push them against a building.

They're buffeted back, but the wall starts looking melt-y.

They can break through my walls, but not immediately. I won't be able to do this for long.

She adds another layer around the first.

Just hold them.

She checks the charge in her soul gem. Should be enough, grief cubes after.

Raise hands, eight knives, throw them down crackling with barely-contained charge, landing amidst the group. One larger knife thrown upwards, spinning, end over end until the apex- CRACK! A searingly brilliant bolt cuts down from the sky, guided to the knives on the ground and jumping out to fry each of the wraiths, which dissolve into a small pile of black cubes.

Convenient enough for her, then.

She relaxes, admiring the results.

Nice job. Do you know why there were so many?

Ellie jumps lightly down, her green-and-black skirt hardly billowing. She kneels to pick up one of the cubes and presses it to the gem on the inside of her forearm.

"Happens sometimes."

Nod.

She looks around for any sign of other girls.

"What?"

"I was just wondering if the Japanese girls you mentioned might be paying attention to us now."

"Who knows."

A soft white cat-like creature appears from around the corner and sits down.

Ellie tosses the used cube at it and starts gathering up the others.

Unless Ellie or the Incubator seems to object she'll borrow one of those.

She's sorting them into two piles, one slightly smaller than the other. Gwen can have one from the smaller pile.

That works.

"I heard there are other magical girls in town," she says to the Incubator.

They haven't come here yet, it says, tail flicking placidly. They will soon, assuming the pattern of their movement continues.

"Thank you. Ellie, I think I should get going. Have a good night."

"Mm."

They can't really say anything in front of it, verbally or not.

She goes.

"Will you tell me when they're coming?"

Would you like me to?

"Yes."

Gwen goes home to worry. She hasn't met any magical girls besides Ellie, and she's not hopeful. If they want recruits, how can she leave her territory? Maybe they won't ask her to. She sleeps.

Ellie gets a telepathic message during class.

They are coming tonight.

How many?

Two.

Close fight, if it comes to that. But not overwhelming force, so they probably aren't looking for one. As long as she's not caught alone.

Ugh. She should hunt with Fleming tonight.

Fleming won't know what she's thinking. Fleming is busy trying not to think about their visitors. She sets out that night to patrol as usual.

Ellie's waiting for her.

"...are they here? What do you need?"

"They're coming tonight."

"Okay. Where do we want to meet them? Neutral ground?"

"There isn't any where they're concerned. And they'll probably be better at finding us."

Nod.

She doesn't need to be armed for a conversation, so she isn't.

At the edge of her territory appear two magical girls.

No weapons here either.

"They seem a little nervous. Maybe try smiling."

"Let's just get this over with."

"We're here to make friends, remember."

And off they go to meet the locals. They don't try to sneak up on them.

"Hey. You must be the representatives from Japan. I'm Gwen."

She nods at both girls.

"I'm Makoto, and this is Arashi. It's nice to meet you. And what's your name?"

"Ellie."

"Is it just the two of you?"

"So far. What brings you all this way?"

"We're here on a...diplomatic mission."

"We represent a group called the Mahou Shoujo Youkai, or MSY. Our aim is to increase the standard of living for all magical girls."

"So you're here to recruit us? What would that mean?"

"We're here to offer the benefits of cooperation."

"And the perils of staying independent?"

"Mm, not exactly. Let me put it this way. How long have you been a magical girl?"

"Ten months."

"And you?"

"Almost six."

"And how many magical girls have you known?"

"Two."

"Just Ellie."

"A town this size could support four girls comfortably. The reason there's not more of you here is that magical girls tend to die. I'm guessing you know, at least."

Ellie tightens her lips, but doesn't say anything.

"Before the MSY, the average lifespan in the city I come from was something like three years. I've been contracted for twenty."

"How many places has this been tried before?"

"Japan should be a good enough example. We've completely revolutionized the system. Things are more comfortable than ever before."

"Almost everyone in Japan has signed up."

"Ah huh."

"Is this the same pitch you made to them?"

"More or less. The MSY is a framework for intergroup cooperation. The ability to smoothly and fairly share resources smooths a lot of bumps."

"It seems like it would be easier. How does the MSY handle girls who don't join?"

"We don't force them, if that's what you're asking."

"I'm sure she wasn't implying that. Look, we just want to make this job easier. If you're not interested, that's fine. I can understand not wanting to be part of a big group like this."

"I think if I join and Ellie doesn't, there could be some problems."

She looks at Ellie, and then at the Japanese girls.

"Ellie can handle herself, but I don't want to cause any trouble."

"Trouble is the last thing we want."

"I'm sure. Why are you even here?"

"The MSY maintains several front corporations. They're at a position where it makes economic sense to expand overseas. Because many of our business advantages are driven by magic, we're taking the opportunity to recruit as well."

"What's the process like? If I want to join."

"We show you the Charter, you agree to abide by it. Probably there'll be a little meet-and-greet with other local girls, and you can come see our operations if you want."

"It sounds like a nice proposal."

"Yes. It does."

"Do you want some time to think it over, maybe?"

"I think that makes sense. Ellie, you don't mind taking some time to think, do you?"

"No. I think that's a good idea."

Makoto produces a pair of cards and offers them.

"Here's our contact information. You can reach me at any time."

"Thanks. We'll think about it."

She nods her goodbyes, and they take their leave.

Gwen sighs.

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that it sounds too easy. And that on principle, I don't trust them."

"I think if it's something an entire organization wants- do we know how many girls in Japan are part of it? They wouldn't admit to threatening us."

"Doesn't mean they won't do it."

"We should find out how they took over. It's gotta be hard managing an entire country."

"I doubt finding anything out will be easy. What do the cards say?"

She examines them.

D&E Corporation
Makoto Sato, Executive VP, Human Resources

"I'll pretend to be enthusiastic if you act reluctant but interested. It seems like the easiest way to split the work."

"Maybe it'll work."

"Do you want to just avoid them?"

"I'm skeptical that will be possible."

"I'm not seeing a good way out of this, yeah. We'll have to talk to them somehow. Let's just go with that plan."

"Yeah. Maybe go for a visit."

"Maybe. This wasn't really something I wanted to deal with tonight. How are you feeling?"

"Oh, I'm fine," she says, flashing her gem.

She nods.

"I'll go in first. You can show up later so we can see how they handle that."

"Yeah. When are you thinking?"

"I should go tomorrow. You can wait as long as you want."

"Mm. Let's go kill something."

They go.

Elsewhere, Makoto enters the destination into their car's guidance system and turns to her companion as they pull away.

"So, what did you think of them?"

"Overly friendly, anti-social. They're not exactly what I hoped for."

"All sorts of girls make a contract. They're here, so they're who we're dealing with."

"I understand the logic. Do you think she'll be dangerous to us, the angrier one?"

"I think if we provoke her she would try to be. But if it comes to that, she's only six months old."

"I suppose you're right."

"Which is not to say we should be careless, of course."

"We should get word back to the others."

"I don't know if we really need to call ahead."

"No, it's just something to do. I hate when we miss out on action, even if this is what we wanted."

"Do you want to take over driving?"

"If you don't mind?"

She presses a button on the center console and a steering wheel pops out on Arashi's side.

She drives.

She seems to relax the longer she spends actually doing something.

It's pretty hard to actually crash a car these days. Makoto's not worried.

Then they'll arrive without a hitch, won't they? It's nice when things go according to plan.

Yep. And then they can go let everyone know.

They arrive without much fanfare, but they're greeted by another magical girl.

"How was it?"

"Two girls. The older is suspicious, but the younger seems pliable."

"Why is the older resistant? Distrust of strangers, of authority? What's your read?"

"She likes predictable. We are not that to her."

"Do you expect it would help if she got news about our activities in Japan, or would she dismiss it as propoganda?"

"She seems instinctually, not rationally, skeptical."

"I don't think she'll take it if we offer. She wants to dig for it."

"The information is out there. I suppose that will have to be enough. What about the other one? Is she ready to start now?"

"That depends on how invested she is in following the other girl's lead."

"I don't think she can be. Do you think she wants power, or protection?"

"Protection."

"We can wait for her. In the meantime, treat the other one normally. As she sees her friend folding into our organization, she'll appreciate what we do."

"That sounds reasonable."