"Adjustments?"

"Yes, as I said. A new emotional baseline, as it were."

"Well, I appreciate that it seems kindly motivated but thanks for the heads up, I think I'm not very prone to depression and will be able to self-maintain while immortally and magically defending the progress of civilization."

"Oh, lovely, you're not freaking out about it.  The Puchuu are hardly ideal allies-slash-employers, but I do think they're by far the best option available. They pay well enough, get you access to a network and support system, and are by far the most entrenched competitive power in the magic scene. You look at your options and pick one instead of moaning about how paradise is not one of said options, yes?"

"Yeah. What else won't they tell me, or what do I need to ask?"

"The Black Mint is sketchy as fuck and most Puchuu won't mention them, but they do offer new girls loans. It seems likely to be a bad idea. And it's not all sunshine and roses and for the good of humanity, not all girls get along? That's hardly a secret, though, just reality. I don't have any other big warning signals for you, I don't know how psychic magic would work."

"Not get along like, coworkers may not, or like, I don't know, gang warfare?"

"Eh. Puchuu girls don't go past verbal sniping with each other, mostly, but there's rogues and indies, and a few monster-aligned girls - nasty stuff - and you want to watch your back in the Overworld generally. There's also, like, so much random magic crap once you start going looking and a lot of it is prickly."

"Will the puchuu help me navigate that okay?"

"They lean towards 'don't touch it' or 'destroy it' when in doubt, but broadly yes."

"Well, that's probably good enough to start with? Are there other magical girls I should talk to? Why is it girls?"

"One of the great mysteries. Whatever system makes us is very, very old. Though some of us were trans. Some were boys who weren't trans, or were genderfluid or whatever and dealt with it for magic power. Maybe five percent are actually magical boys. Very bishounen when it happens. We're pretty confident the modern animation genre is inspired by reality, not vice versa, for what it's worth."

"Weird. The puchuu didn't make it? What's their - interest, stake -"

"Who knows? Stability. Peace, banishing the darkness. Take your pick." Tanya sighs. "I hope you'll put all this to good use, for what it's worth. It will be nice to have another sane person around."

"I'll do my best - how bad is the sanity situation?"

"...I'd better not deprive you of the chance for a fair first impression more than I already have."

"I guess that's legit. Puchuu says it should be okay to tell my parents, do you have any regular folks who know what's up with you at all?"

"I think we should meet in person some time if we're going to discuss personal matters."

"Okay. I live within daytrip distance of Port Angeles if you know where that is?"

"Google is a girl's best friend~," she singsongs. "Sunday? Lunch, scheming, and me showing off?"

"Sounds great!"

"Noon? Lincoln Park?"

"Can do."

"Look for a blonde kid. I'll be hard to miss."

"Brunette teenager. See you then, thanks so much!"