Even a weak zap can kill a single young swarmling!

"Nine one one, what is your emergency?"

"Uh I felt bugs in someone's house and woke him up and now I'm fighting them - uh - house number - uh-" Zap! "-Shit I don't know, sixth and Washington!"

"I'm sending a squad to the intersection now. Do you have a clear escape route?"

"Yeah they're in the basement I can back out the front door but they're coming up right now."

"If you shut the door, that will slow them down. If you have time to shut any open windows that will also help, but prioritize your safety."

Zap. She looks around briefly for open windows, but the swarm is coming out onto the first floor now. It's - intimidating. No time to safely go close a window even if one's open. She backs up to the front door, knocking over a lamp with her wings by accident. (Zap, zap.)

She is able to outrun the swarm to the door.

"Can you get me the address of the house?"

She slams the door. "One sec - I think everyone's out - " House number house number - there it is, she practically shouts it at the operator, then turns and runs to the end of the driveway before watching the house from there.

And the squad appears about a minute later, before the swarm has figured out how to get out of the house. They don't stop to say hi; they try the door, find it unlocked, and barge right in, shutting the door after them.

The guy who owns the house comes up to Laura and asks for his phone back. The kids are sitting on the curb, shivering.

Some part of her wants to follow them in. To clean up the swarm with magical might. But seeing the surging, disgusting mass of bug-things - and her zaps were so weak - that's a terrible, frightening idea. At least her neighbors are fine. That's really the important part. 

"Ah- 'Course, here. Uh, it's still on the 911 call. You all alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He asks the 911 operator if he can hang up, answers a few yes-or-no questions, and then hangs up.

She... Stays there, standing a little apart from them, not quite sure why.

"Thank you," he tells her.

"Yeah. No problem. I-" She shakes her head and shrugs, feeling very awkward. "Uh... Sure glad the swarm squad's here, though. I... Probably couldn't have gotten them all myself."

"You warned us. We were asleep and everybody knows the swarm alarms don't work that great. You might've saved our lives."

"Yeah, but, you know, common decency? And - nobody getting hurt is obviously better than not that."

"Thank you," he says again.

"Thank you!" pipes up the older kid, who looks about twelve.

Her wings flutter happily a bit, at that. (It's surprisingly fun to offload body language to them!)

"I'm just glad you're all okay."

The last swarmling in the house ceases to exist.

Out troops the squad. It's three girls; two have wings, one has digitigrade feet and doglike paws, plus a plumed dog tail. Other details are a little hard to make out in the dark, though one girl has a lot of glow-in-the-dark lines tracing out her contours. "Hey," says the one with the tail. "Thanks for calling us in, you did good. The swarm would've had fifteen minutes to grow before a regular patrol came in range of this house."

"Oh, I think they're done-" 

Ooh, they look so heroic, walking out like that after deleting a swarm. And glowy lines are a cool idea!

"Hi! Uh, yeah. It woke me up. And I had to do something."

"You did the right thing, not just something," grins dog girl. "Do you have a squad you accompany? You should start if you're into this kinda thing."

"I thought you have to be sixteen? -And, uh, I don't usually look like this, I threw it on real fast."

"Middle of the night, it happens," says dog girl. "You'll get better at doing it from memory. You do usually have to be sixteen but sometimes you can fudge that if your parents are cool with it."

"That sounds good! I'll look into it! After going back to sleep. Uh, do they need to do anything in particular, cleaning up?" She indicates the neighbors.

"The goop isn't harmful to people or dogs though it can hurt cats if they eat it," says one of the winged girls. "Assuming they have renter's or homeowner's insurance it'll cover a cleanup service and repairs and some property replacement."

"We have insurance," he says. "I think."