Huh. That's an awfully pretty notebook. She knows she's been sweet-talking the folks over at Employee Experience pretty well, but well enough to throw in this? That's quite the surprise. She'll have to figure out who did this latest round and buy them a gift card or something.

She picks the notebook up, turning it over carefully in her hands, examining it, savoring the design. Awfully pretty. Then she examines the fountain pen, checking the reservoir, examining to see what the fill mechanism is like, and so on.

It's a pretty nice pen! There's a modular ink insert, a fine metal nib, a neat clip and everything. It has a reassuring quality weight to it, a deep violet-fading-to-black rich ink. It's full, too. 

It looks something like this:

Well. That's pretty great. She tests on a bit of scrap paper, just to get a feel for the flow of the new pen. And then she puts pen to paper in the new notebook. She inks some casual swirls and flourishes at the top of the page, just the sort of thing she might do before putting the title or purpose of the book in.

✨You have very steady hands, and a good sense of shape and space!✨
Just below her sketches, there's a some swirling cursive in the same color as the ink of the pen, with a little gleaming heart at the exclamation point. 

The book talks back.

Wait. Did one of her headmates? Did they suddenly develop the ability to ever not share a memory?

A chorus of various negations echo in her mind.

Well.

The notebook talks back. Either that or she's crazier than usual. Best not to keep it waiting, though.

She writes a response neatly below the notebook's words.

Why thank you! I've never drawn in a notebook that could reply to me before. Do you like having drawings like that?

🌀They're nice, yeah! It's always good to see a feminine spirit expressing themselves! 🌀

...I have been correctly gendered by a notebook. This is a novel experience for me. Even more novel than the recent uptick in getting correctly gendered as my transition has progressed further.

Do you prefer feminine expressions on your pages in particular?

🤷🏻‍♀️My purpose is to unleash feminity through the multiverse! It being on my pages specifically isn't particularly important, though there's a reason it's part of my style here~ ❤️

As someone who has spent a fair bit of time, money, and effort on clawing forth every scrap of femininity I can from this benighted universe, I have a deeply personal appreciation for that purpose.

She's letting herself enjoy some extra flourishes on her letters in this whole exchange, but she really leans into the little curls and embellishments on "purpose".

I'd love to hear more about how and why a lovely and responsive notebook like yourself wound up at my doorstep, if there's anything you'd care to share~

Of course! I'm an avatar of The Spirit of Femininity Unleashed, sent to offer you my power 🪄! I'm here because you're a suitable vessel, and so I got meta-narratively arranged to arrive at your doorstep. Convenient, isn't it? 

That gets a little grin out of her. She might as well believe, at this point. She's already got a talking notebook, right?

Quite! Well, femininity, power, and metanarrative contrivances are three of my very favorite things. I'm beginning to think adorably-charming talking notebooks might belong on the list as well, now that I think about it.

Awww! 

The next line of text is conspiratorily written in the margins. 

Wanna see my neatly formatted list of powers~?

She draws a little face with a curly bob of hair and a lopsided grin under the conspiratorial note, then writes,

I'd love to~

(I'd also love to know what pronouns you'd like me to use, dear notebook-friend~)

I don't really have any picked out? They, it, or she are all fine. I'm an object, but as a spirit of the feminine...

Ink drip drip drips down the side of the page, staying somehow inside the stock, trickling down through the pages. A little (0/70) in placed into the bottom right hand corner, before a whirl and wave of violet slides across the page and makes some neat almost printer-like tables in a very neutral, neat font. 

On the opposite page, there's an intro and the first slate of options. 

These powers* are offered under an aegis of metanarrative protection. Anytime you might expect a power to have obvious negative side effects, like glowing eyes making it harder to see, it simply won't—you'll be able to see just fine anytime it actually matters, while having dramatically hazy vision at cool, narratively appropriate moments. This doesn't apply to your own preferences about the explicitly described effects of the power; if you don't want to be Well Endowed, the metanarrative cannot protect you from choosing that option and having to live with it.
*The powers enumerated are not a complete list of things available to be granted! Feel free to ask about tailoring options to you, or about options you think ought to exist!

Huh. This implies the sort of fiction-multiverse common to isekai fantasies. Are they living in an isekai fantasy right now?

<Isekai fantasy is great, but how is the departure implemented, and does it handle plurality,> Hailey asks in her mind.

Good point. She writes a bit more, back on the conversation page.

Isekai experiences sound pretty tempting, but how is the departure handled? Do I just mysteriously vanish? Will my job be left in the lurch, will my somewhat-distant family members think I died?

One potentially-complicated question at a time, right?

The departure is usually just an instantaneous transition to the place selected! Whether or not you 'mysteriously vanish' changes depending on your choices and actions elsewhere, and what the spirit thinks that you want. 

Also! There's no synchronization convention that you have to follow? If you end up going to a place with interdimensional travel available, you could pop back here as close or as far from the time you arrived as you and the meta-narrative desire!

Thanks for the information! For reference, I want my family of origin to not wind up sad, and my job to not be left in the lurch. Whether that happens through clever notes that appear after I depart or through future me showing back up after a suspiciously short absence is something I'm far less picky about. Ideally not mind control, though.

Ah, another question. How much do you know about plurality, specifically as a way of being, rather than a gramatical construct?

That can be arranged! 
🗭Hmm... I'm somewhat familiar with the idea! Multiple people in the same head is a truly special trait, don't you think~?

We certainly like to think so!

She grins for a moment, then lets Hailey slip in front. The handwriting is a bit different now: sharper, quicker, with short little serifs rather than Sable's curling flourishes.

Hi. I'm Hailey, one of Sable's headmates. Are there any preferred mechanisms for handling plural systems? We've got five girls in here all told, each with our own desired expressions. Sable, the one you met first, is the host. The ideal way to end up, in the end, is in individual bodies, but retaining a mental connection of some sort. Advice from pretty notebooks is certainly welcome.

Hi Hailey! 👋🏼
There's a few options! There's a bunch of powers you can get that can influence that kind of thing! Let me list them out for you. 

The next page sort of... floats away, pushing back to show a new page with a bunch of annotated options. 

Huh. these are pretty great options, Hailey thinks.

These should all definitely help a lot. Mostly they can't manage the "separate bodies" goal, but I could see Dragon Fairy Elf Witch and Anything You Can Do making a big difference there if we run into relevant local magics or heritages. And acquiring a heritage that comes with a cognitive hardware upgrade would probably just make being us easier in general.

I'm glad ✨
There's a reason why the insertion options are designed around fitting your preferences! If arranging for physical bodies is important to you, then the Isekai Roulette should provide a way for that to happen in the setting you arrive in, and you can always pick a setting that you think would let you accomplish that well, too!

That's very helpful. Thank you, Notebook-Friend.

I'll let Sable swap back in then.

And the handwriting shifts back to the curls and swooshes.

Hey. Thanks for that. So, one last big question: are our choices locked in, or can they be changed?

Choices aren't locked in until you've confirmed that you're satisfied with the completeness of your choice selections. Don't worry - feel free to fill out your draft build in here! I'll even keep track of the points!

That's lovely, thank you.

She flips to the destination section and checks Isekai Roulette for now, then starts her way down the plurality-helping list. Just A Little Longer looks straightforwardly like an upgrade in their ability to get shit done, and it's cheap. That gets a check.

She pauses at Dragon Fairy Elf Witch, and writes out a question:

Does Dragon Fairy Elf Witch work by changing the past, creating the whole history of the heritage, or just by modifying our biology and metaphysiology in the present?

It works at minimum by changing your physiology, and then if there's room for it in the narrative, it can do more, too!

;

(1/70)

Can you mark us down as generally preferring not to change the past through that ability except when we specify otherwise, please?

Of course!

Thank you! 💜

She checks that off, then, and continues down. Ability to learn much faster, and learn things that normally aren't possible, seems like a strict upgrade. That gets checked.

Closed Book and Indelible both seem to be delightful defensive powers on top of the benefits of helping prevent them from leaking when they don't want to. Those get checked.

And then she reads Time Enough For Love, and her jaw drops.

Wow.

Just... wow. Time Enough For Love is a power I would do very nearly anything for. I've longed for something like that for years.

Thank you.

She checks it.

You're welcome! 💙

There's a few little blush marks spread out around the words. 

(19/70)

And, thus marked, she flips to the next page of options.

The next page is the import options again, which fades out quickly to a new section, which looks to continue on further pages.

Beauty would be really nice. Gender euphoria, all for one easy checkmark. But...

Dear Notebook-Friend, how do the various beauty perks handle things if my ideal vision of feminine beauty for myself changes from one moment to another? Both in terms of different headmates fronting, as well as in terms of... um... there are times when I feel like changing up the plumbing, you could say?

Dear Sable-Friend, I'm not totally sure! That won't be an issue within the scope of a singular feminine ideal - changing around some details of your digestion or lactation shouldn't be a problem at all, say, if you take A Thousand Ships. 
I think... If you take these options, you should be able to change the ideal like you're able to change clothes like you can with Dressing Room?

Name: Well Endowed - Cost: 1 ☐
You have a generous figure, whether that's a classic hourglass or more of a well-rounded look; you can choose the details. Your endowments maintain a state of perfect grace and beauty at all times, never troubling you with uncomfortable bounces or uninvited jiggles.

Name: Hollow Leg - Cost: 1 ☐
(Requires Well Endowed.)
Regardless of your diet and exercise habits, your body maintains the physique and silhouette you prefer. Lack of visible muscle never impairs your strength or endurance. As your preferences change, so will your body; you are no longer bound to the generous figure stipulated by Well Endowed.

Um, "digestion or lactation"?

I was perhaps being a bit too indirect in my use of the word "plumbing", judging by your interpretation of that to mean "digestion or lactation". Those aspects might still be useful, mind you, but they're not what I was aiming at.

 

...To put it entirely too bluntly, I was hinting at the idea of wanting to swap out genitalia configurations.

Oh! That's encapsulated by Well Endowed, too! Don't worry ^^

Oh good.

Both of those get checked, and then she continues to the page of options she'd been on before asking.

A Thousand Ships is simply beauty, no apparent gotchas, so that gets checked. Name magic is scary, so What's In A Name gets checked. Angelic Tones means having the voice of her dreams and never fearing voice dysphoria again, so another check there. And then Emerald Orbs is just lovely and aesthetic, as is Perfect Hair. Both of those get checked.

Size Difference? Well, she and her headmates all have different heights, so that's great. Also, sometimes it's nice to be smaller than your partner, and she wants to enjoy both sides of that question. So check that.

Dressing Room, Personal Hygiene, and Like Roses all get checked. Wait, here's a thought, they might synergize.

Do Dressing Room and Personal Hygiene and Like Roses synergize to mean no laundry ever again?

Yep! Even just Dressing Room is enough for you to be able to always have perfectly laundered clothes whenever you want them!

(36/70)

Utterly delightful. Thank you!

She flips to the next unseen options with a smile.

Behold!

Yourself, cont.

Name: Immunity System - Cost: 3 ☐
You can't get sick or poisoned. You can still use recreational drugs and alcohol normally, but can't overdose.

Name: My Ears Are Burning - Cost: 6 ☐
You always know exactly what people are thinking, as long as it's about you. This effect is not telepathy and is not blocked by effects that block telepathy. It applies even to people you can't perceive normally. You are never impaired by the flood of information.

Name: Inner Strength - Cost: 3 ☐
(Requires Hollow Leg.)
You are implausibly, superhumanly strong, with endurance and toughness to match. You might have to strain a little to lift and carry at the same level as construction equipment, or deal with lightly scraped knuckles if you punch as hard as a battering ram.

Name: Battle Angel - Cost: 1 ☐
Somehow, you never get significantly injured in a fight, unless it's a very dramatic and plot-relevant fight in which case you might be glamorously wounded and pick up a cool new scar.

Name: Battle Demon - Cost: 1 ☐
You have an unerring intuition for gaps in an opponent's defenses, though it may be beyond your power to exploit them.

Name: Battle Maiden - Cost: 3 ☐
(Requires Battle Angel and Battle Demon)
No matter what kind of fight you're getting in, you're always a match for even the most skilled opponent.

Name: Making Ends Meet - Cost: 1 ☐
You have enough money to sustain a comfortable lifestyle. It comes from a source you don't have to pay much attention to, like a job with almost no responsibilities, a large inheritance, or a noble title.

Name: Motherlode - Cost: 2 ☐
(Requires Making Ends Meet.)
You have enough money to sustain a fairly extravagant lifestyle. It doesn't come from anywhere, you just have it.

Name: Four Star Daydream - Cost: 4 ☐
(Requires Motherlode.)
The answer to "can I afford that" is "yes".

Name: Iron Will - Cost: 2 ☐
"(Requires Closed Book and Indelible.)
You are immune to all forms of mental illusion, alteration, interference, or control. Even extreme torture, extended solitary confinement, advanced brainwashing techniques, and so on cannot touch you. You can be lonely but not cripplingly lonely. You can be upset but not traumatized. "

Name: Omniglot - Cost: 3 ☐
You learn languages insanely, ludicrously fast. You know exactly what any word said to you means, and you make strangely accurate guesses about how to phrase things you're trying to say. You never forget any grammar or vocabulary you learn.

Immunity System is simply excellent, check. My Ears Are Burning is only useful if she gets into terribly complicated intrigues, and awfully invasive, and her ability to read people is usually good enough to obviate it anyway. Skip that. Inner Strength is a delightful upgrade, might as well.

<Are we going to be getting in fights?>, she asks her headmates.

<We're meddlers,> replies Hailey.

<I'm not gonna back down from trying to do what's right,> adds Ruby.

<You couldn't stay out of things if you tried, love,> Maya says.

And Neo just nods mentally, expressing her fondness for a good fight.

Well, that squares it. She checks the whole Battle sequence.

She contemplates the money. She might feel guilty having that much money, but she'd feel just as guilty passing it up. She checks Making Ends Meet and Motherlode and decides to come back if she has spare points.

Iron Will and Omniglot both get quickly checked with a smile, and then she flips to the next page of options.

(55/70)

If she can't do Mysterious Allure all on her own without using mind control, then what is she even doing? That and Captive Audience get skipped. Blackout Binge is mostly unnecessary and also mind control, so skipped.

Disney Princess is... interesting. And kind of aesthetic. But not a priority? She checks it and puts an asterisk in case she needs to free up points. Best Friend and Bestest Friend are maybe interesting, but don't stand out at this point.

Generosity, Helpfulness, Cuddle Buddies, Flattery, Quality Time, and Agree to Agree all feel too much like mind control, and also are things she can get for herself if she's even remotely close to as good as she thinks she is. Those all get skipped. So she flips to the next page.

Love Interest/Triangle/Dodecahedron is mind control again, and she already has enough skill with flirting to get all the mutual interest she wants. Hard pass. I Can Fix Them will encourage her bad habits, is possibly mind control, and and is something she can largely do without magical assistance anyway. Pass. True Love's Kiss gets a hell yes. She checks it and draws a heart around it. Planned Parenthood is an easy yes, but Two Become One and Bop It make her pause. She has enough sexual skill that Bop It is kind of pointlessly cheating, and sometimes the awkward, honest things that happen in real life sex are kind of nice. It's a measure of relationship health if you can experience them and laugh together and bounce back, she figures. Those get skipped.

She definitely takes The Princess And The Dragon, though. That's just a convenient physics perk.

GGG and Before Your Eyes get skipped on the same basis as some of the others: if she can't make her partners enjoy her kinks without mind control, either she's not trying hard enough or it's just not going to happen. Well, unless the partner is into mind control, but that's a special case and she'll just make herself find local mind control for that.

Knowing her luck, she figures she doesn't need Fated Lovers, so she skips that.

And then Sorry About That and Excuse Me get skipped for being mind control she can just not need by being good to people, learning from her mistakes, and giving sincere apologies.

Goodness, there's an awful lot of mind control.

She flips to the next page

The rest ensues!

(59/70)

The entire remainder of Power of Friendship can be skipped for the same reasons as earlier, huh. And yeah, she still has points to spend. Hm. She flips back to an earlier page, looks at Bestest Friend again.

<There are some magical creature options that could improve our early flexibility quite a lot,> she says into mindspace, <but most of my best options here are y'all's alts.>

Maya gives a mental hum, then asks, <You're thinking of my shapeshifting Gardevoir form, aren't you? Could Bestest Friend embody me in that, rather than making a new instance?>

<It doesn't say anything about being able to do that,> Hailey counters.

<But doesn't it say something about asking where things can flex, since it's not all set in stone?>, Ruby replies.

Huh. Sable writes down a question:

Can Bestest Friend be used to embody existing headmates (without the forced loyalty mods), rather than creating whole new people?

Hmmmm... 

Embodying should be doable with some work! I'm not sure why you think it's 'forced'? It's just that they're naturally loyal in an unbounded, innumerable way, and that doesn't prevent a lot of things! They can complain, they can leave, they can even angle for forced reforms of their bondmate. At the limit, it's just that they'll always feel personally attached to them, and having their bondmate as their concern and someone who ought to be on their side. 

Mostly that my girls are already plenty loyal to me and I don't feel the need to alter that in any way other than what I naturally earn through my behavior.

How many embodiments could this manage? Just one, or more?

*wiggles* 

Even aside concerns about loyalty, the effect is pretty much the same just from the implicit-guarentee-of-usability from the perk itself. I can see about mitigating those concerns, if you'd like. 

The number of embodiments depends somewhat on what you have in mind? One should be doable with minimal compromises, and two is possible, but the option is designed to provide one companion as it is now, so they'd likely have to be the same kind of creature at minimum. 

Fair enough. I'll poll the peanut gallery.

<Well, loves,> she asks in mindspace with a grin, <which up-to-two of you most want to be embodied as a magical creature to improve our capabilities and get a non-human headstart on embodiment, and what would you like?>

<I'm up for taking my Gardevoir form from that Pokéfic outline,> Maya replies.

Neo conjures a mental image of a cheshire cat with the ability to create illusions, but shrugs disinterestedly.

<Maya has transport and flight and telepathy covered, it sounds like,> Hailey adds. <I could go for some flight of my own, though, and maybe some elemental abilities. What about some kind of thunder phoenix, but in my color scheme?>

<Do you mean a thunderbird?>, Ruby asks.

<Nah, those take up the whole sky, dork,> Hailey replies with a snicker and a kiss to Ruby's temple.

Ruby blushes and snuggles in. <I don't think I want to be a magical creature. The only thing that comes to mind is some kind of cute puppy, and I can't think of any that have powers I'd want. So I'll pass.>

<Well,> Sable replies with an affectionate grin, <it sounds like we've got our answer. Also, I love y'all.>

How does this sound? Maya takes her Gardevoir form from that one pokémon fic we outlined, the one where she can shapeshift into other forms like Latias, and Hailey takes the form of a phoenix, but aligned to thunder and lightning instead of fire, and with a black/green/silver color scheme instead of reds and oranges and golds? And then Maya uses her telepathy to maintain a strong mental link between us all even though two of us are in separate bodies?

The handwriting switches to Hailey's then, and another question is written on the next line.

Oh, I can't remember if phoenixes can usually attack with their elements, but I'd really like to do that too. Can I, please?

📜👀📜

Without paying more, you can get Maya's full gardevoir / latias form. She'll even be able to mega-evolve for both forms without a stone or key through synchronization, too! Hailey's form would be... at least three points? More like six, if you want as much power as Maya would get. 

The ability to attack with their elements is totally customary for pheonixes!

Sable grins, and checks off Best Friend and Bestest Friend.

That works perfectly. Can you mark off those extra six points then, please?

And then she flips to the drawbacks page and checks off They'll Know.

Given that I'm not buying any of the Not Mind Control™ powers, the most trouble this will cause me is having to explain that I have a power that inexplicably alters me to have useful and aesthetic heritages, or that a weird fate-warping effect is helping me get better at fights.

She doodles another grinning foxgirl next to this note.

Sure! That's a reasonable, if sometimes risky approach! 

The foxgirl sprouts a mickey-mouse style patting hand atop its head. 

(76/78)

Did you just draw me a headpat? I love that.

I'm glad ^^

Any suggestions for what to do with the last two points? We're running short of ideas.

There's a lot of Power of friendship perks you haven't taken! You could leave your points alone - sometimes that can result in sudden manifestation of powers at just the right time! - or think about what custom powers you might want to have? 

The remaining Power of Friendship perks are all things I'd rather win through my own skills and charms. Saving the points could be a very good idea. Custom powers are an interesting possibility, though. Hmm. I do have a bit of a personal aesthetic thing about ink...

Could I get precise ink control? Or an ink transformation? Alternatively, at the risk of being even more chuuni than I already have been, what about some kind of shadow magic affinity?

The spirit doesn't usually offer that kind of object level power? Usually the best way to get that kind of power is just to go to a world with such a thing and specialize! I think I should be able to get some sort of multiplier of your abilities when you can arrange yourself to be dramatically cloaked in shadow? Something to do with ink might be possible, but feels further out of reach...

Probably just stockpile them, in that case. Never know when two points might turn into something completely unexpected that saves the day.

I think we're going to pause the build here and review it carefully for a while before making a final decision.

Okay!

They go through the motions of the rest of their day: play a few games on the computer, chat with some casual acquaintances online, eat leftover stew for dinner, read a story, and go to bed.

When they wake up, Sable reports in sick for work to get the day off for final decisions.

And then she's sitting back down in front of the notebook, and writes out a question.

After thinking it back over, I find myself wondering two things:

1. Does Incomplete only affect powers that "affect other people's minds" (whether or not they're considered "mind control")? In other words, are ones that just give me information or tweak physics/time/logistics immune?
2. Are the various Friends In X Places powers purely internal-to-me mental powers, or do they have external effects on other people?

If I understand what you're trying to say...

1) It doesn't affect your own abilities and skills, just the broader influence under those perks' remit!

2) The powers are largely about skill and enhanced intuition. Cutting out the broader metanarrative impact is a change well within normal variation, as well ^^!

Okay, good. But does Incomplete affect perks like Time Enough For Love or The Princess And The Dragon or True Love's Kiss?

Effectively not! You're already taking They'll know, which already gets rid of the implicit normalizing effect of those perks. It also largely won't impact your abilty to heal with true love's kiss too! It won't nesscarily be feature complete on certain extremely well-integrated curses, or every mental illness you'd otherwise be able to address, but it should work just fine for what you sound like you're planning on using it on! 

<I'll just have to make sure y'all, nor any of our inevitable local polycule, get really thoroughly cursed.>

She checks off Incomplete and all three Friends perks.

Can you help me uncheck Disney Princess please?

Of course ^^

(78/78)

She looks over her build one last time (after making sure she marked Isekai Roulette as her destination), then nods firmly to herself.

<Last call for objections or edits, loves.>

There's a moment of silence, before Hailey replies, <Let's do this.>

Sable smiles softly, and writes to the notebook.

We're satisfied with this build. Last question before we push the metaphorical button, then: what happens to you after, and would you like to come with us?

'After' doesn't really apply! From an outside perspective, this avatar would just disappear. And I'd be delighted to come, if you'd have me ^^

Gladly! Onward to adventure, friend!

Getting isekaied is a ride, and one the five girls experience individually.

The first thing that Hailey notices is the space. The space in her mind, to unwind and unfurl and think her thoughts a little more cleanly, continuously, linearly, her mindscape opening up into its own skyscape, a faint emerald barrier just at the horizon that keeps everything so clear and free. The space around them - the wind beneath her wings, almost whistling, the roiling winds, crackling thunder that pulses through the air like her blood through her veins, and the endless expanse of blue sky above her as she hurtles down towards something odder - so many little lights and pulses and hums gently buzzing in synchronicity, only notable against the sheer volume of the storm around her by the constance. 

The emerald glow of her eyes and crackling down reflect and refract endlessly into a halo of heavenly jade as she descends upon her new home. 

The first thing that Maya notices is the order. Ordered minds budding off from her source, shining beside her, and the bustle of connected communicating minds miles and miles below, ordered light against her skin ready to shift at her command, ordered energy in the clouds that she could call upon, and the settled firmness in her soul of separation from the bustle and brightness of Sable’s excitement. By a reflex she’s never honed, she reaches out, and feels her and hers oh so close once more. 

The things she can tap into feel countless, and her body sings as she soars through the air, ready to take her rider, her captain, her love wherever she wishes to fly. 

The first thing that Sable notices is the brightness. The sharp flashing gold of the crackling lightning in the clouds below, the sun above that perfectly frames her cheeks, and the thoroughly glorious glow through her body as everything fits exactly right for once, clothes clinging calmingly, breasts firm and full on her chest, lips soft and sweet on her face, her hair lustrous and long against her back.  

The rain drops glisten the color of the fresh leaves of spring and mingle with her tears of joy as she plummets down towards her next adventure. 

The first thing that Neo notices is the colors. Everything lights up with just a little more color, feels a little more substantial, and there are so many glowing gleaming big red buttons to press, to make her hair flare and billow or to change her build or to queue new little transitional changes to every cute outfit she’d ever imagined. She could even do signs! 

With a lightness in her step and a grin on her silent lips, she watches her loves fall. 

The first thing that Ruby notices is the energy. So much weight is gone from her shoulders that it feels a bit like gaining her aura again, being unleashed and unshackled into herself all over again. There’s more, too. Little dapples of arcane power and sparks dancing along her form like her petals. 

With a focus like few times before, and a bashful smile on her face, she feels her team fall and fly. 

Holy shit. Holy shit. She wasn't sure before today that she liked skydiving, but yep, apparently she loves it. She spreads her arms just a bit and tries to feel out how to direct her fall.

Hailey finds herself extremely glad to have wings as she dives alongside her loves, green sparks crackling in her feathers.

This won't do. She plummets alongside for a moment, before with a swift grasp of instincts she's never used before, she shifts.

And then she's a Latias, and angles her dive to slide under Sable, before gradually leveling out.

She grabs hold, arms wrapped securely around Maya's neck, looking around as they soar. She starts patting herself down, making sure all the things from her bag and pockets are still on her person — including the new notebook friend.

Maya, meanwhile, reaches out and draws her loves into a telepathic link, both the ones in and out of mindspace.

Neo smiles mentally at everyone, enjoying the ride.

Ruby snuggles up to Neo in mindspace, marveling at everything. <Holy fudge, we got isekaied!>

<Okay, everyone seems to be here. This is amazing.>

<But where, I wonder, is here?>

Her possessions are still on her person, not a speck of dust out of place!

How convenient ^^

Below there's a large city - big enough to fit perhaps a million people, if not more. 

Spread out below them, she can see countless art deco skyscrapers, built of odd dark metals and gleaming glass, spread out through a jungle of concrete, shining platinum white lamps, and smaller cozier apartments and vast classical buildings nestled into a mass of trees, a canopy of unfamiliar leaves covering a vast network of streets, tied together with wires and rails above and below for traincars and power and perhaps other things. A vast river cuts through the center of the city, with spider-cracks of canals running through the veins of the 'downtown'.  

The city doesn't quite peter off into the distance, but beyond there's a horizon spanning network of glass spun with gold, shining brightly at each thunderstrike as the rain pours down. 

Neo marvels at the architecture as they soar, grinning in mindspace.

<Beautiful. Let's find a nice spot to land near some people who could handle introductions.>

She strokes the sleek skin of Maya's neck, marveling at the fact that she's riding one of her headmates through the sky.

Maya scans the city below for parks, courtyards, plazas and the like, anywhere that seems like a decent gathering point, and very lightly glances along the edges of all these minds for people open to meeting distant travelers.

There's lots of both of those things! 

There's a relatively central park here, along the river, closer to more of the classical architecture.  There's lots of nice little shops you can visit if you'd like, and some nice park benches and some trains and the like fairly nearby. Here's a few dozen parks and plazas spread throughout the city that'd work well enough. It's rainy though, and so fairly few people are out milling around. 

She turns toward the more central of the parks, then pushes a question to her loves, <I think I can reach the instinct for invisibility, and feel out how to stretch it across you darlings. Hailey will have to perch, but we could have a more discreet approach. Would you like to try it?>

Sable hums thoughtfully, then nods.

Hailey soars close and lands on Sable's shoulder, tucking her wings close before nestling in between her and Maya.

There's a brief glow to her eyes, and then Maya's form fades from view, followed gradually by Sable and Hailey. They swiftly descend toward the park.

The park is pretty expansive - acres of rolling hills covered in grass, walkways following the curve of the river, an outdoor amphitheater, little spots for stalls, bike paths, and seating areas, some even with people still there, vast umbrellas in a cacophony of colors protecting them from the rain. LED lamposts shine brightly to light the paths throughout, gazing down on concrete roads with little pieces of cerulean glass scattered throughout, evenly and regularly spaced alongside the side of barely slick trails. Signs with directions and little street names poke out every once in a while along the paths with little rustic red signs, written in three languages - english amongst them. 

She soars down to a large enough clear space to land in, one that's comparatively unobserved. Once on the ground, she waits for Sable and Hailey to dismount, then returns to visibility and Gardevoir form in the same moment (or as close as she can manage).

Hailey perches atop Sable's shoulder, keen eyes peering around the park, watching everyone.

And Sable walks back toward the nearest group of people, hand in hand with Maya, a curious smile on her face.

You can see maybe three people in your relatively immediate vicinity at the tables.

The first is a blue haired woman with stylized foxgirl headphones and microphone sitting by her nicely polished lips. Her manicured fingernails tap tap tap at the keyboard of a sleek laptop, her the cerulean of her nails exactly matching the blue hue of her keyboard's RGB, and a light relaxed smile rests on her face. The second one is a younger figure, with deep brown hair that spills down halfway along their chest, flipping a leatherbound book in their hands, with a steaming mug billowing out a thin mist as they nurse their drink and read. The third is a slender androgynous figure, with short cropped hair and a lean build, with dusty brown-blonde hair, and earphones half-spilling out of their ears, their head turning a little at the slight woosh in the rain at your descent. 

Ooh? Do they have waterproof tech here? That's so cool!

She walks up to the three people, waving a greeting and grinning cheerfully. (Is waving the greeting gesture here? She does whatever her enhanced intuitions tell her the appropriate greeting gesture is.)

The intuitions agree that it's okay to wave! It's a greeting, but a relatively non-committal one - it's normal enough to wave to people as you come by just for a bit of social interaction and acknowledgement, and not nesscarily too much of an ask for a reply. The blue haired woman reads as upper class, and the rest of them as more middle class-y.

The blue haired woman tilts her head to the side for a moment to take you in, her eyebrows quirking up and her smile flashing a little brighter at the sight of you, before returning back to work alongside a faint reddening of her cheeks. The second person doesn't seem to notice you at all, and the lanky one shifts in their seat and waves back, blinking their eyes as they look at the strange sight. 

She strolls up to the lanky one, since they've actually paused enough to keep gawking, Maya's hand in hers and Hailey perched on her shoulder.

"Hello there," she says, smiling. "We're new in town — new to rather more than that, even — and I was wondering if you had a moment to share a few basic facts about this city, country, or more?"

Lanky stretches out, blinking their eyes and shimmying in place a little, a soft brown windbreaker tight against their shoulders. 

"Hello?" 

Their brow furrows a little. 

"I'm hardly the person to ask, but I can try to field your questions, sure."

"Thank you! So, first and easiest questions: what are this city and country called, and if you're familiar with interplanar or interdimensional travel as well, this world or plane?"

They blink again, a bit disoriented at the question, before locking their soft brown eyes with yours. 

"We call it 'The Gilded City', for most purposes. I'm not too sure what you mean by 'country', but we're in Alaria. I've never bothered looking into exotraveler tongue, so I don't know. The planet is called 'Respite', if that helps." 

She nods, grinning at them. "That helps quite a bit, thanks. The city's certainly pretty enough to earn a name like that, too. I'm Sable, and these are Maya and Hailey," she says, gesturing indicatively. "What are the major things going on lately? What sorts of interesting events or trouble have been happening? And all of that aside, could you tell us a bit about yourself?"

They give a quick acknowledging glance at each of them in turn. 

"There's the summer solstice festival in a few days - there's been a good few concerts and a lot of street food places popping up for the event." 

They're grinning a little, before they catch themselves and rub their hair back against their scalp. 

"The laser-bird migration just passed - it was a pretty light show but a bit scary..." 

They pause, searching. 

"Ms. Electra's popped up again for her customary 'shows'. That went well enough, but glad I got well clear of it." 

"As for me..."

They reach out their hand for a handshake. 

"Iza, student, architecture. Charmed to meet you."

"Well! That all sounds fascinating, and in some cases a bit threatening. Charmed as well, Iza!" She shakes their hand with a smile.

"Laser-birds definitely sound very pretty, but worrisome. How big are they?"

They smile a bit bashfully, and squeeze your hand firmly as they shake it. 

"Quite. I've heard some stories of ones as big as houses, but most of them land somewhere from pigeon to dog sized." 

"Goodness. And they emit lasers?" She shakes her head. "Does anyone get hurt when they pass by, typically?;

"The name says it all."

They nod their head down at a slightly suspicious angle, and shake it a little. 

"Mostly you just need to stay within the walls and in a proper ward-house and you'll be fine, though sometimes people do get caught out and wind up injured if they don't get swept up under the protection of the Enhancile guardians."

"Enhancile guardians?", she asks, tilting her head curiously.

"They're irregulars with unusual abilities who protect people. Magicians, technologists, Enish'terais'*, the works." 

* Lit. "World Womb Women", with an less literally meaning closer to 'mutant', 'super', or similar. 

Basically superheroes? Mages, tinkers, mutants or parahumans?

<Superheroes!>, Ruby cheers in mindspace.

"Well, they certainly sound like fun for meddlers like us to meet," she replies with a grin. "Always wanted to learn magic, get into trouble, save some people. Are there particular groups a newcomer with sparkly powers should go talk to?"

"A few, I expect. Probably the best way to do it is to search it up - let me..." 

They pull their phone back up and type quickly.  

"The Terai centre, probably? Down the Dragon line 'til you get to Brook's street, then down to Haven's stop."

She makes a mental note of the directions and nods.

"Thank you! Now what were you saying about a summer solstice festival? That sounds lovely."

"It's always good fun, yeah. There's a few different ones - there's the proper religious one, the casual semi-religious one, and then all of the convention cosplay and eating ones. As you might guess, I'm on the latter side."

She nods. "Yeah, we never really got into religion. No gods that verifiably existed in the world we came from. What sorts of things do people do at the cosplay and food focused ones? I presume there are lots of good food carts and the like? Exotic cuisines? What do people tend to dress up as?"

"Huh. Weird."

They let out a bemused little snort. 

"Usually it's about dresses and colors and doing all the little prepwork that it's not normally worth going through, you know? Food carts, buffets, slow dining, wines and cheeses, the works. Think the original point of the festival was showing your best face to their goddess - showing off your best on the date that you're closest to her, or something like that. Cosplaying heroes and fictional characters is part of it too, though - showing off the best of the art and things we've created, too." 

Was that surprise at the Earth she came from not having gods? Interesting.

"Oh, that sounds lovely. We'll have to make time for it. Can you think of anything else that's particularly important for newcomers to the Gilded City to know?"

"You should grab a transit map and pass as soon as you can, if you haven't already. Make a serious plan if you want to go past the outer walls - that's always a headache and a half to make sure is safe. Mostly though, you should be alright as long as you look things up as they come up and are willing to listen if there's something odd coming up." 

"That all sounds quite sensible," she replies with a nod and a grateful smile. "Where can I find those? And do they cost money? We may need to visit the Terai center first, if they do, because we definitely have no local currency yet."

That brings forth a bit of a furrowed brow. 

"The maps should be free at the station, and there'll be an ATM at Haven's station if you look around a little, and you won't need cash for intracity transit anyways. Even if it doesn't take your card, you should be able to find a bank on the network with a bit of a look, I'd have to think." 

"I'll certainly try the ATM," she replies with a cheerful giggle, "but I suspect my bank may not be networked with any local banks here at all. I will be deeply impressed if the local ATMs manage to withdraw money from my account."

"I think you'd be suprised by what some of the exotech here can do." 

There's a faint sly smile beneath the slightly intimidated shy. 

"Oooh." She grins widely. "That sounds fun. I'll have to try it."

Maya looks over at Sable and sighs a bit. "Voir. Gar."

<My love, did you forget that you bought the income perks?>, she asks over headmate-only telepathy.

She flushes, then giggles sheepishly. "Um. Apparently I forgot that I actually do have local currency. Oops."

She shakes her head at herself.

"I'm glad that you have that off your back, at least." 

She nods. "Well, thank you for all the advice, Iza. I suppose we'd best be on our way," she says with a smile.

They nod shyly. 

"Fair thee well." 

She's about to walk away, then pauses. "Oh. I really should have asked where the station was. Would you mind pointing us in the right direction, please?"

They shake off a moment of resettling. 

"Sure. Just follow the road upriver 'til you get to the street, and then there should be signs pointing the way from there." 

"Thanks!"

And with a last wave, they wander off upriver, following the road and looking for signs while they sight-see.

The walk is nice enough, given the sheets of rain pouring down steadily beneath the lights. The road meanders into sight close to a row of miscellaneous shops, as it arches up into the road, nicely made metal chairs sitting out in the rain along the path before it merges with the main street. You can see a large tram run by, a faint drizzle of water spilling out past the tires as it goes.

Sure enough, there's a plain blue sign with directions towards a museum and the station Iza mentioned. 

Maybe another six hundred meters away, past two crosswalks, is the station, all arching ceilings and dimly humming lights, basalt-black and cerulean blue shining beneath the darkness. 

Hailey watches everything, enjoying the feeling of rain sluicing down her feathers, then has a thought.

<Hey, Sable, I bet Maya and I count as having heritages you could copy now.>

<Ooh. Good idea.> And as they walk, she feels out the mental motion to try to copy a heritage. If she copies Maya, can she be psychic-type the way some humans are in the Pokéverse?

At that thought, there's a shift, a reaching out, and a glow of power, a glut of it running through her veins, a glow of green the color of her crests settling atop her head and an ominous breeze pushing against the ground as the pressure on her feet frows a little lighter. 

...You're also pretty sure you can lower someone's physical strength by looking poutily at them, for some reason. 

Annnnd there's another valid target right next to you, isn't there. 

<Okay, that was awesome. I think I got one of the status moves, too. I've got this sense of being able to drop physical strength by pouting at people the right way.>

And she immediately takes a moment to solidify mindspace a bit more and take some of the work of keeping the shared mental link going onto herself. No point in Maya doing all the work now that there are two psychics.

And then she points that same copy power at Hailey. Yoink.

This one feels a bit more subtle, your hair sliding out behind you, emerald lightning flowing through it and the droplets as the storm stills for a moment around you, then dissipates in a breath, waves of power rolling through your muscles as the power of rebirth runs through you. 

Wow.

<....I may have just become immortal? We'll have to poke at that safely at some point.>

She holds out her hand and hums, sending a flurry of emerald sparks dancing between her fingers, savoring the feeling. Then she reaches into her bag and pulls out a little fidget spinner, holding it in her palm. She tries to gently levitate it off her hand as she walks, and if that works set it to spinning slowly.

It's a little awkward, but there's enough raw power that you can kind of just... force it, somehow, rings of lightning dancing around the perimeter of your hand. Spinning it without leaning on moving your hand is... very tricky, if possible, though you can get it to float and spin it with your other hand relatively easily. 

Frankly, it's a little harder since there's a bit of instinct from what you've gotten from Maya to just telekinetically control it, or to use a different aspect of the same power to twist the wind in your hand.

This is so cool! Holy shit! She's psychic and has lightning elemental powers! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Neo and Ruby give Sable a mental glomp, snuggling her tightly in mindspace, just as excited. They're going to meet superheroes and learn magic and be dashing women of adventure!

Hailey nuzzles against the side of Sable's head, delighted.

And Maya squeezes her hand with a fond smile.

And that's when they reach the station.

Now let's see, where are those transit maps, and where can she find transit passes? And what about an ATM?

Past the vaulted doors, the room opens, the gentle blue light spilling along the floor giving it a bit of an aquatic glow. A black ticker slides along the far wall showing the scheduled rides, and a stand of convenience store snack stands to her left, with racks of leaflets including one with the transit map sitting in place. 

There's a staircase down below for a metro, and a sign pointing towards the right directing you to the Dragon Line train. 

There doesn't seem to be an ATM here.

Ah, right. Iza said the ATM would be at the destination, not here. Okay.

She walks up to the convenience stand, grabs a transit map, and checks whether it's free or costs money. Then she looks over the various racks to see if transit passes are available here, or if she needs to go to the train to figure that out. For that matter, does the map say anything about that?

It's free, clearly seperated from the rest of the items. 

There doesn't seem to be such a thing here. 

The map covers a mishmash of intracity routes, which seem to be handled separately from intercity ones, on different tracks and the like. After reading a while, it seems like there's just... not tickets for the intracity trips? There's a bit more complicated arrangement recommended for handling the safety considerations of intercity ones, recommending a trip planning website to book everything, and a note about being able to pay at the door if you really need to and quickly tap through some waiver stuff. 

Interesting. Okay, no need for tickets at the moment, then. She tucks the map into her bag and then strolls with Maya and Hailey over toward the Dragon line.

Following the signs is simple enough and the wait is brief.

The train arrives - all jet-black and silver against the tracks below. The seats are well appointed and plush, and the space wide enough to be comfortable. There's a few other people somewhere down the track, but they largely mind their own business' there. It settles, for a moment, and slips out a ramp. 

Soon enough, it's off along the line, twisting and turning through the streets and tunnels, a great humming power rumbling beneath in another new sense - One of Hailey's, you'd think. 

She smiles softly. <Let me know if I miss the announcement for Haven station, loves?>

After the others agree, she pulls out the notebook, flips to a blank page, and starts writing.

Hi!

We made it safely here, and this world has something like superheroes! It's really cool. We're on our way to the Terai center, some sort of organization that can handle newcomers with shiny powers. Did you make it through the trip okay?

Oh! I totally forgot to ask your name!

Maya, meanwhile, watches out the window with her eyes, and watches the minds go by around her with her psychic senses, and listens for station announcements.

Of course I did! I'm glad you like it from the start too. 

🤔I don't really have a name. We could figure one out, maybe?🤔

One thing that is perhaps a bit easy to forget is that Gardevoir are fairies too - so it's a little harder to get a real read of things through those powers. 

There's largely a hum of perhaps a dozen or two minds throughout the train, a gentle wash of weariness alongside some satisfaction and bubbling excitement and passing feelings of interactions, with the distant blurs of people's houses and lives beyond. 

It's nice to just feel the minds go by in a blur. She doesn't need details. She's just happy to enjoy the sense of presence.

Sounds like fun! What sorts of names seem nice to you? Some people take names inspired by flowers, or attributes, or colors, or all sorts of things.

I'm not sure! I like the idea of it being mysterious and exotic, but also easy to say! Want it to be cool but suave and "Ooh that sounds neat" but approachable, you know? 

Ah, a classic problem in name selection. Good things to want. Let's try some options... Caroline, Elizabeth, Makoto, Jade, Violet, Bernadette, Melanie, Olivia, Alexandra?

Caroline seems almost right but a little too mundane, Elizabeth seems a bit too pedestrian, Bernadette and Makoto seems a bit out of nowhere and emphasizes hard syllables too much... 

Jade and Violet are both pretty names but a color name seems a little wrong? 

Melanie, Olivia and Alexandra kind of have the same issues as Elizabath and Caroline. 

It's also hard to get the implication right for a book like me ^^

Hmmm....

Melisandra, Saraya, Coraline, Oliviana, Annabelle, Melissadora?

I will confess that some of these are my taking existing names and embellishing them to sound prettier and more dramatic.

Saraya's closest, I think! Feels simultaneously too consanant-y and too vowel-y, if that makes any sense? 

The those names feel awfully particular, somehow? And though being resourceful is important, a certain amount of reuse can become an issue, yes ^^

I'm not sure it does make sense. There are vowels, and consonants, and the only way to have less of both is to have a shorter name altogether?

You'd think! 

Sara?

🫣We can maybe do that? I'm not too sure I want a name, to be honest. 🫣

You don't have to have one. It's up to you.

Separately, what sort of involvement in the adventures ahead would you like? I could tell you about things and chat about what happens? I could write to-do lists and you could help us stay organized? Something else entirely?

🧐Hm.🧐
I'm happy to answer any questions you have about how your powers work, of course! Or the metaphysics behind that kind of thing. Beyond that it's less clear? You can use my body for notetaking if you'd like, unrelated to involvement in your adventures! I don't mind being left alone indefinitely too, which makes it hard to answer more on. 

You can use Sara as my name if it really feels appropriate to use one, but it feels wrong to just take it as mine right now?

It's also hard to know what I can really say to your stories of your adventures! They're yours to have, you know? The spirit of feminity unleashed is about freedom, not about letters back to mommy, you know? 

...Goodness.

It's more just that I invited you to come along, and I feel responsible for making that decision worthwhile for you, if that makes sense. I'm trying to figure out how best to achieve that.

I'm happy to just default to questions and notetaking, if that's what you'd like.

Aww okay! 

🤗I'll be here if you need me.🤗

She takes a moment to pull out her wallet and check for payment cards that didn't exist before, as that's a likely implementation of the income perk.

There's no new card! 

Buuuut there is a "Now supporting multiple planets!" text plastered onto her existing cards diagonally in a cheesy sans font. 

A delighted giggle escapes her. That certainly solves that problem. She opens the notebook again.

Checklist time!~ Feel free to comment on anything whenever you like, btw.

She flips to a blank page and starts listing.

Goals for Settling In

• Get a transit pass
• Meet Enhancile Guardians
• Get more-detailed information on the state of this world to figure out how we can help
• Find magic lessons
• Find housing

let me see... 

📜Hmmmm...📜
You might want to look up advice for people who have discovered powers here, or something like that beforehand? Negotiating blind can be an issue! 

Getting a variety of interrogable perspectives can be important too! 

I've heard that humans need food? Do you need that yet? 

Definitely planning to look up advice on things like that. Going to figure out some local tech once I get told the official "you're a newcomer to this plane, here's what's up" stuff. Once I've got that, I'll look up a lot of perspectives on things like that.

Don't need food yet. Probably in a couple hours. Likely going to go get some after the meeting is done.

Oh, I saw the Spirit updated my bank cards and whatnot to work in this world, which is very cool. Thanks for that. Did my phone also get updated for local compatibility? (No worries if not. I'll just buy a local phone if necessary.)

I don't think so! In theory, it might be compatible anyways if you check? LIttle things that like are sometimes accommodated well in this sort of world.

She pulls her phone out and takes a look.

Annnnd nope. 

Or there's a detected connection faintly in the distance? 

Annnnd gone. 

Huh. Interesting. Well, she'll just have to buy a local phone. That gets added to the checklist as well.

Looks like a no there. It flickered a bit, but no real reception. Interesting that there was anything at all, though.

Alas!

And after that, she looks out the window as well and quietly snuggles Maya and Hailey (and Ruby and Neo in mindspace) while waiting to arrive.

It's not too long before they let out into brook's station - it's a bit smaller, and more like the ones you remember - concrete and grey, though there's a handful of dancing twining figures wrought in stone along the walls. 

There's another bus much like the previous one to Haven.

And off they go, transferring from one to the other, and then onward toward Haven.

Soon enough, you filter out of the train and into the main body of the station itself. 

Haven's a much larger station - all glass and silver, the central atrium reminiscent of something like Penn Station in her previous world, though there's shops and buisnesses scattered about in a way more reminiscent of an airport or even a mall. There's a few atms visible, and even a small bank peeking out from a corner. A few dozen people meander throughout, going through their business. A vast ticker shows the schedule and the time - 6:47 PM. 

Oh hm. That's... late enough that the Terai center might be closed, at least by the time they get there. And early enough that a phone store might be open. Although, if they handle powered individuals, maybe they're open late?

<Maybe there are public terminals? Or maybe someone here knows?>

Ruby has a point. She walks up to the most interruptible-seeming person passing by in the station.

"Excuse me, do you know roughly how late the Terai Center stays open?"

The first person - a stately looking middle aged woman with brown hair and a dapper suit demurs at the question. 

"Can't say I happen to know off the top of my head, dear." 

"That's okay! If you have a moment to look it up, I'd certainly appreciate it — trying to figure out whether I should go there immediately or focus on replacing my phone first — but if not, thank you for your time."

"Oh honey..."

She fumbles with their purse for a moment - soft suade in pure white - and grabs her phone, flicking through a password then searching for a moment. 

"The center looks like it stays open 'til 9 pm for regular business. They handle a lot of strange things, so there's some wiggle room for that, but they can't just keep everyone in the office all day." 

She pauses for a moment, then glances a bit awkwardly up at Maya and Hailey. 

"A phone is certainly good to have, but I expect they can direct you to one that fits your - more unique needs?"

She smiles lopsidedly. "Oh, you see right through me, don't you? Well, thank you very much for your time looking that up. We'll just head right there, then."

Hailey decides this is a good moment to try a soothing bit of phoenix song, just for a moment.

The song lingers, soft and light and bright. There's a bit of magic in the air and in her lungs, still ready to unleash, in the lyrical lilts and the push of her presence. You can barely tell just from hearing that she's a bird, even if it's easier to emote with avian trills and rumbles. 

The brief moment of song carries a sense of gratitude, appreciation for the assistance, and a hope that everyone here has an easier and nicer evening.

<You should try harmonizing with me some time, since you're part phoenix now and have the voice perk too.>

<Ooh. Good point.>

She smiles lightly, far away and oh so close all together. 

And with that, the group heads onward to the Terai Center, catching their transfer finally.

The Terai center looks... rather odd, and almost like a temple. Countless pillars of innumerable colors of glass gleam gently beneath an angled roof with intricate little carvings of heroes fighting, with wire-thin little streamers of glass in light blue and glossy gold draping down every few inches around the perimeter of the building. Soft lights hum from within, and a gentle thrum of layered wards press against your newly minted senses. 

Oh wow.

The body's left eye shifts pink for just a moment as Neo savors how intricate the building is, in its architecture and design.

Maya smiles, taking it in for a moment, then nods firmly. <Here we go, beloveds.>

And in they go. Is there anything like a receptionist?

The floor is mirrored, for all that it doesn't reflect much light back up at you. The atrium past the main room is a bit more of a humble space, past all the little doors and side paths, there's something close to an airport's service desk, five attendants well spaced out, with little tucked behind offices visible just past them. Each attendant wears a pin of prismarine, and body covering suit of some sort of light red metal. 

Interesting. The girls walk up to the nearest open attendant.

She waves, a soft smile on their face. She's slender and sleek, with olive skin and a tucked back bun of black hair.  

"Hello. How can I help you today?"

The old easy smile comes to her face as smooth as ever. "Hi there. We were told that newcomers with sparkly powers should probably come here first. Is that correct?"

"That's one of the use cases we're here for, yes." 

"Well, that's us. Newcomers to this universe, bearers of sparkly powers, lacking locally-compatible tech or documentation. We could likely use local ID, recommendations on getting a phone, and a pointer on finding housing, along with whatever else you'd recommend in our situation."

She nods lightly. 

"Might I ask first about the others you brought with you?"

She glances acknowledgingly at each of Hailey and Maya.

"These are Hailey and Maya," she gestures indicatively at each in turn. "Both are sapient, though neither can use spoken language. Maya and I are telepathic enough to allow either of then to communicate with others, however."

Do her social instincts have anything to say on the subject of this world knowing about plurality?

That's out of scope, alas. 

"We have the facilities for telepathic communication here as well, if needed. Given Maya being sapient and telepathic, we can also likely set up something simpler, such as a keyboard for text input and a voice synthesizer, if desired, if there's no issue with that I'm not familiar with? If you have an alternative interpretation set up, we can see about using that as well."

Maya nods.

"Either of those should be fine, yes."

"Excuse me for a moment."

She quickly strides off to the side, and pulls out a keyboard, then clicks something on a computer, before handing it off to Maya.

"This should print to my screen, or another one with a bit of setup." 

"Would you like to be handled individually, or together? Shouldn't take more then a few minutes to arrange regardless." 

It makes sense why people would offer such things, but being separated from her loves is the opposite of her goal.

Together, she types, nodding firmly.

She nods lightly, and inclines her head towards Hailey. 

Hailey gives a sharp little avian nod, and scoots closer in on Sable's shoulder. The faintest hints of green sparks dance in the tips of her feathers for a moment, then fade.

She half-pauses for a moment, then returns to her smile. 

"Alright then. Would you like to come back to my office so we can talk things over more thoroughly? I expect we'll be here a while, and that more private environment can be more comfortable for some."

They all nod, ready to follow her.

She fusses with her computer for a moment, logging out and then striding into her office. 

It's more modest - wooden panels along the wall, supply and filing cabinets laid out around the room, with a console and two palm-sized pearly orbs. There's a handful of gaming-chair style seats spread out before the desk, and one behind it. 

"These are the psychic transmitters - they should work cleanly through the wards here. Just try to project the thoughts that you have in mind and the target, and it should create a very 'readable' text feed for the people you have in mind. The range isn't very large, but it should be plenty for an application like this." 

"Could you talk to me about your goals and needs a little? Do you have any specialized dietary needs or medical concerns I should be aware of? Learning more about your powers is important for making a more concrete recommendation about the sort of devices that would be useful for you, and it can help guide my reccomendations in general, of course." 

"Please tell if there's anything I can do to make this experience more comfortable." 

Sable and Maya pull a pair of chairs closer together and sit in them, still holding hands.

They look at each other for a moment, then Maya nods. <That will be simple in one respect, and somewhat complicated in another,> she projects for the attendant. <May we ask your name?>

"You can call me Estra." 

<Basic things about needs can be explained fairly simply,> she sends to Estra (and her loves as usual), <however our powers and broader goals will necessarily involve explaining complicated things. Which would you like first?>

She settles her hands on her lap gently.

"In that case, I think the best place to start is your goals and abilities, since I think that will help inform how best we can fufill your needs." 

She tilts her head for a moment, and hums, then nods. <Are you familiar with the concept of "plurality", or "multiplicity"?>

She inclines her head slightly. 

"While I'm not a psychologist or telereseacher, but I'm familiar with the idea, yes."

Maya nods. <There are five of us. As of a handful of hours ago, all of us were in one completely mundane, human body, and in a completely mundane world. We were granted... an upgrade, if you will, and we were able to use that power to give Hailey and I individual bodies, if not humanoid ones yet. Our overall goals are: make friends, do good, explore and grow our powers, get individual humanoid bodies for each of us, and travel.>

She nods empathetically. 

"That must have been a big change. Are you suffering from any Body Dysmorphia issues?" 

She hums softly, and types a few notes out on her computer. 

"Could you talk a bit about the powers that you have, and what you're comfortable with in terms of options to pursue those goals?"

Hailey shakes her head. <Not a lot,> she relays through Maya and Sable. <I had the most extreme change, and mostly I'm just glad to get out of that body and be able to move independently. Not having a humanoid alternate form is... not the best, but I love being able to fly, and none of us liked the original body>

"Even though we did put a lot of work into making it fit better," Sable adds with a rueful grin.

<I have essentially none at all, as this is a form I'd taken from time to time in our mindspace.>

"As for our powers... Maya is psychic, with a number of associated and tangential abilities."

<Telepathy, telekinesis, teleportation, healing, hypnosis, sleep inducement, health-drain, confusion, and a variety of beam attacks — some of which are associated with an alternate form that can fly,> she lists off. <I need a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and grains should be fine as well, though I'm not certain about meat. I'll need a fairly high caloric intake.>

She turns to look at Hailey. <Hailey, however, is a phoenix, except aligned with lightning rather than the traditional association of fire.>

<Lightning blasts, travel through bursts of lightning, be reborn in lightning when I die (we haven't tested that yet), healing tears, carry heavy loads, and soothing and emotionally expressive song. Diet's approximately in the range of an omnivorous bird of prey, plus bits of loadstone and quartz,> she relays.

She nuzzles Sable's cheek. <This one is where it gets more complicated.>

She smiles. "Yeah, I've got a pretty wide spread: various minor style and hygiene powers, enough shapeshifting to look like whichever of the other three of us is fronting, the ability to swap outfits when out of sight, immunity to sickness and poison, implausibly convenient metabolism, automatic language acquisition, massively accelerated learning of anything known by anyone I have a personal connection to (including forms of magic I shouldn't be able to learn), super strength, implausible skill in any kind of battle, immunity to just about anything mind-altering or inspecting that I don't allow, the ability to gain the benefits of any heritage I encounter, and the ability to heal anyone I'm in a serious romantic relationship with a kiss."

She tilts her head a bit. "Those all apply to the other headmates who are still in here with me for now, but we don't know if they'll stick around when we get individual bodies, however. That merits a bit of considering later."

She shakes her head, then adds, "Oh, and I've copied heritage from both Maya and Hailey so far, granting me a set of psychic abilities and lightning affinity as well. It's unclear if I got the teleportation or rebirth, however."

<As far as options we're comfortable with, we do not know enough of the available range to say much. We're open to suggestions.>

She types dutifully and methodically, with the quickness of a scribe, with increasing little trembles in her eyebrows and lips at the long list of powers. 

"That's... quite a selection of abilities. Your upgrade must have been quite generous." 

She pauses, flicking open some tabs and taking a settling deep breath. 

"Assuming that those abilities are fully consciously controlled and the like..." 

"The most obvious things we can offer are ability testing, a fund dispensation for room and board, our database of resources for newly empowered people, and then we can see about integration and the like, and helping with placements to give you a more traditional income source outside of something more transitional that we can offer. Getting your own source of income also means that you might be able to afford empowered services we can help facilitate that might otherwise help you achieve your goals." 

She taps her fingers against her thigh. 

"I mostly ask that question because a lot of people have different opinions about how involved in the riskier side of empowered life they want to be - whether or not you're comfortable with being in an organization that conducts combat operations, whether you're willing to personally undertake dangerous field missions, against the forces of nature or hostile fighters, that sort of thing. 'Doing good' can mean a lot of different things to different people." 

Sable hums thoughtfully. "They can, with the exception of a few of the style ones. Money almost certainly isn't an issue, though we're not likely to say no to getting paid for field work. Recommendations of where to acquire accommodations or tech would be very helpful, recommendations for empowered services would be great, so would power testing, exposure to skills I can learn or heritages I can mimic would be excellent, and..."

There's a brief pause while they all exchange Looks for a moment, then, "we would be quite willing to involve ourselves in dangerous missions as long as we had sufficient evidence that it was the right thing to do. For a few examples, stopping a natural disaster is almost certainly good and we don't need much more information than where to go and how to help, while combat would merit rather more explanation. That's not about risk on our part so much as wanting to be sure of the impact we're having, by the way. Due to my powers, I expect to be safer in combat than in comparably dangerous natural disasters."

"Oh? In that case, I can perhaps recommend to you getting a more personal coach from amongst our staff or contacts to help you adapt to this world a little more - from smaller consults to perhaps even a dedicated concierge or assistant. We can also recommend realtors who are used to dealing with more complicated cases, and of course, the power testing facilities we have here." 

She hums softly. 

"That makes sense. The most desirable application for combat powers is in quick-response units, which might make that a little impractical, but I think that a lot of that largely has to do with trust and the like? We can certainly work on cultivating that as we work with you."

<A more personal coach would be lovely, as would all those recommendations. And yes, you're correct that it's really a matter of trust. In addition to the usual slow route, there are shortcuts if someone we expect to be sufficiently knowledgeable allows one of us to telepathically verify their intent, or convey the entire breakdown of a situation over telepathy directly.>

She shakes her head. <To put it simply, the law enforcement officers in the world we came from had a serious problem of perpetuating or worsening systematic oppression, and we would like to avoid participating in anything like that in our new life.>

She nods gravely. 

"While I'm sure I could arrange that sort of telepathic communion with some time, I'd feel a little disingenuous if I didn't mention the existence of some methods designed to fool that sort of effect. Also, for reasons that I hope are fairly clear, that sort of invasive effect is interdicted by the wards here, and it's against policy to undertake without some further consultations." 

<Extremely understandable and expected,> she replies with a nod.

She waits a moment in case you have something more to say, then continues. 

"Is there anything that you'd particularly like to look into first of the items I've mentioned?"

"First order of business is acquiring local comms and shelter for the night. Recommendations on a suitable phone and where to buy it, along with a hotel that can deal with us and all of our us-ness," she gestures indicatively at the visibly unusual group, with her own enhanced beauty and somewhat odd eyes, and Maya and Hailey's obviously inhuman natures, "would likely help there. After that, an appointment with someone for tomorrow, and contact details for your recommended realtors. From there, if there's any time left in the night after we've got the phone and booked the room, maybe power testing?"

"I'd most recommend a basic E-type model - it's designed to mimic the functionality of a consumer device while being somewhat robust to electrical interference and more remote conditions. I can give you some purchase links for online retailers, if you'd like, or send you to the appropriate store. There's a handful of hotels that should be adequate in their discretion - though if funds truly aren't an issue I expect simply calling and asking for white glove service should be plenty sufficient, without worrying overly much about vetting, unless you're looking to be especially security conscious. I don't believe booking an appointment for tommorow should be an issue - just give me a time and I should be able to find someone to take care of your needs." 

"Thank you very much. Is an appropriate phone store likely to still be open tonight, accounting for travel time?"

"Likely!"

She nods. "Okay then! In that case, how about an appointment for nine or ten in the morning, whichever is easier, and then we'll head out to a phone store once we've got directions?"