My First Shopping Spree!

I stood at the front doors of my new home in the MGI office in Marrowsville, my heart racing with excitement and a tad nervousness about making a good first impression. What would I do if my new teammates don’t like me!?
Miss Gretchen leads me over to an elevator, she inserts a keycard and the buttons light up allowing her to hit the up button. “You might have noticed at the Lab building but only staff can use the elevators, safety for not only you girls but also for the staff working here. We can’t just have anyone waltzing in here now can we?” I nod in agreement as the elevator doors close. “You’re all on floor 3, that floor is just the four dorm rooms plus a community bathroom. Oh and it’s got a fantastic sized tub that could probably fit two or three of you!”
The elevator dings as we pass floor 2. “This building has a research floor on B1 as well, oh and floor 2 and 4 are also floors but you’ll go there whenever someone thinks you need to so don’t even worry about them.” The elevator dings saying we’ve reached floor 3. The doors part and we step out into a hallway only twice my own length holding my hands out. Both walls have two doors each, and the hallway ends at an archway into a tile room which must be the bathroom! There is a nice reddish carpet on the floor that looks like the sort you see in a hotel, the walls are a flesh like white.
We walk past the first door, a nameplate beside the door reads “Clarice”. That must be the name of one of my future new friends! I wonder if she’s the B+ or the A- ? The next door is mine, it already has a nameplate reading “Sophia”. Gretchen messes with a device sticking off the door lock, then she turns to me, “Lemme see your finger kid.” She pulls my hand, sticking my pointer out and pressing it onto the device. “Fingerprint door lock, now you can unlock your door whenever but no one else can burst in if you were changing or something.” She chuckled, “Though all the staff are able to bypass it so really it just keeps out your teammates and people who shouldn’t be here.”
She lets go of my finger and motions for me to try unlocking the door. I place my finger on the sensor where I had just had it and a little light flashes green. “Great work kid, let’s see what we are working with inside.” I step inside first, taking in the room. 
The largest item in the room is a king bed with a fancy looking bed stand. It looks old and has many swirling parts that are pleasant to run my fingers along. The bed however does not have any sheets or pillows on it, so I assume they must be in the closet. Looking inside the closet there isn’t anything there at all, it’s completely empty besides hangers. I walk over to Gretchen and begin writing down in my notebook. “HOW DO I GET STUFF?”
She reads my question and grins, “Well you’re in luck, as an official new member of a Magical Girl team you get an allowance of $700 to spend on furnishings and things you’ll need.” I am left in shock at the money amount, I’ve never seen that much money before! I get to spend that!?
Gretchen continues, “We’ve got stuff here actually, you just gotta say what you want and we’ll subtract it’s cost from your spending cash. It’s all done via tablet. It's pretty nifty gadget work. First, we need you to accept some gifts from some folks back at the research building. I brought them in the van with us, let me just grab them from outside.” Miss Gretchen walks off back towards the elevator, as she walks she calls back to me, “Stay put I’ll only be a minute.”
I do as told and just walk around my room looking at the walls and imagining what sort of things I want in my room. A vanity was pretty high on my list, as is bed sheets and a pillow. A thousand dollars sounds like a lot, but when it comes to furnishings it might actually leave me on a budget where I’ll have to really weigh what I need vs want.
Gretchen returns pulling a small cart with some packages. She’s also now got a cigarette in her mouth, it looks almost used up, how fast does she smoke? “Here you go kiddo.” She hands me the first package. “That one is from Doctor Kris.”
I open Doctor Kris’ package, inside is a handheld white board and marker along with a package of 6 sets of black stockings. She left a small post-it note on the white board, “For easier reusable communication.” That was very considerate of her. Plus now I have socks, so that’s at least one item in my closet now!
“Other one is from Doctor Mac, here.” She hands me a larger package. I’m excited to get something from Doctor Mac, especially knowing that means she is still thinking of me! Inside are four jumper skirts and five blouses! My closet is really starting to look like a closet! I quickly get up and put them all on hangers, making sure they all are attached properly.
“Here’s that handy dandy tablet kiddo, you used a shopping app before? Same idea here.” Miss Gretchen handed me the thick black tablet. “You take your time ordering whatever you need, someone will bring it to you once you click the submit order button. I’m gonna take off, have some other duties to tend to, but if you need anything just hit one of the elevator buttons and I’ll know someone needs something, kay?”  I give her a thumbs up while my main focus is on the tablet and all the pretty things on its screen. She walks off, closing the door behind her as I’m engrossed in the tablet’s treasures.
I look up “Vanity” and find so many vanity desks! There are some that are more simple for only $150, but some are way more pretty and have more drawers for storing stuff but they can go up to  $815! All of my funds could be used up just on that! I form a plan to return to the vanities once I’ve got the essentials figured out, then I can spend all the remaining money on that!
Bedsheets and pillows are first up, for pillows I found two for only $20 which didn’t seem too bad. Then I found a cute pink ruffled duvet cover set for only $60 which would cover sheets, blankets, and pillow covers. I decided I could handle spending $80 for all my bed needs.
Next up was clothing, specifically undergarments of which I had none but the ones I was wearing. There were so many options, way way too many! And I don’t know any of my sizes anymore, I don’t know what size any of this stuff should be. I take off the blouse I’m wearing and can see it’s a woman’s medium, same with the ones I got from Doctor Mac. So I’ll base all my clothes off that size, but that won’t help with undergarments! I don’t know what to do, so I buy a multipack of underwear and just hope for the best. For bras I just ordered three more that had images that looked like the two I’ve worn already, fingers really crossed on that.
I keep thinking about what sorts of other things I might need. I buy two blank notebooks for a dollar just so I can have some in case my current one ever is full. I also decide to buy some color pencils for $16 so my pictures can have color now. I see I can get a deck of cards for only a dollar as well, so I throw that in my cart. In a dream situation my new friends and I can play cards at night while telling secrets and growing closer, the worst case scenario is the cards are just used by me and Knight. 
I see a cute pair of laced boots that are only $68! They are the type that come up to just below the knee, they looked so cute I couldn’t stop myself from adding to cart. Plus, I only own one pair of flats, so obviously I’m gonna eventually need another pair of shoes! Maybe I should buy another set of flats.. But I can’t use all my money on shoes! I have to stick to the bare minimum for now, surely there will be more times I get money to buy things I need. I do end up throwing in a $10 bundle of hair ribbons and hair ties, but that seemed like an obvious necessity for my future popularity!
I stumble upon a whole section which is just cute plush toys, and it’s like going to the pound just to look at sad puppies, every plush’s eyes are telling me I need to bring them home! I back out of that section quickly and end up in one filled with tea sets. At first I considered getting a cheaper one, but then I started to wonder when do I drink? That led me to wonder about how I don’t think I’ve had anything to eat in days yet I feel completely fine? All I’ve eaten is some pills, yet I feel great? I put the thought aside as something I should ask about at a later date to some staff. For now I just won’t get any tea set, there’s alway next time.
I thought about getting some books, but I don’t have a shelf to put them on. I then saw there were magazine subscriptions available!? So I scrolled through those until one caught my eye, PopSister. It wasn’t like the girl’s matched my fashion exactly, but they looked so pretty and the sample cover said they had lots of tips of hair and makeup. I, the weak amateur, had no choice but to click on a 6 month trial for $48.
Feeling pretty good about myself I added up everything to see I still had about $300 left! Maybe this shopping thing wasn’t hard at all! I clicked add to cart on a $270 white vanity desk with one large drawer and two smaller ones on either side. It had a great mirror size and also had little lights! $30 left, what else could this room need? Only $5 for a poster of Elemental Guardian Vontavia, why not! With the remainder I buy a small tote bag to carry my whiteboard and notebook in.
I’ve got a dollar and some change remaining but I go ahead and click on my cart. I scroll past everything I ordered, and then click the “Order” button. I wonder how long it will take for someone to gather everything I wanted? Is there just a large place where they are storing everything available on the tablet? That would surely have to be a giant warehouse! MGI sure is something, nothing is impossible for them it seems!
I suddenly wonder if the others are all in their rooms? I mean they might just be spending time in their rooms and not even know I’ve arrived and we could meet! Would it be rude if I went and knocked on their doors? Maybe I should just wait here until my stuff arrives, I wouldn’t wanna get sucked into great conversations with my new friends just to then have to leave to set up my room. Even worse, what if they then feel morally obligated to help me set the room up! Then the first impression of me is that I'm nice but I expect my friends to do free labor for me at the drop of a hat!
No, surely they wouldn’t think poorly of me just because I have to set my room up. They all had to have first days here as well, so they would completely understand me needing to go! Yeah, I’m gonna do it! I grab my whiteboard, along with the three pictures I made for my new friends, and throw open my door marching out. No one is out in the hallway, now which room to start at? Across from my door is Tikki’s, she knows me so I could go to her first then she could introduce me to the others! I march over and knock on her door. Standing there in the hall I listen for any sounds of movement, but am met with none. I knock again and still nothing. Well shoot, there goes that plan! One down, two rooms to go. I cross the hallway diagonally and go to the door I saw before for “Clarice”.
With a deep breath I knock on the door. Immediately there was a small crash sound as if someone had fallen over knocking down something. I could then hear quick footsteps bolting at the door and stopping right in front of it. I waved to the peephole nervously waiting for the door to open. When the door finally did open it was only partly cracked, enough for something to emerge from inside the door. I stood there eye level staring eye to eye with a hand puppet.
It was some sort of green alien, it had two eyes that extended from the puppet body, it had a cute expression on its mouth with a tongue and blue spots. It wasn’t the type where you put your hand in the mouth, but the type where your hand is just inside the whole head and your fingers control the hands. I didn’t know what was going on so I stood there frozen trying to make sense of it, that’s when the puppet spoke. “Well? What is it?”I'd tell you the puppet said it, but surely it came from behind the door and just sounded like it came from the puppet?
I snapped out of my trance and quickly retrieved my whiteboard from my bag and wrote down a message. “GOOD AFTERNOON. I AM SOPHIA. I AM NEW HERE!” I held the board towards the puppet which seemed to turn its head scanning the board, then there was a thump on the other side of the door as if someone had knocked into it. The puppet spoke again, “Hold your message in front of the peephole, my servant must see this as well.”
I did as I was asked. “Very well, Sophia, welcome to the dorms!” The puppet shook side to side. I then remembered the drawing, I pulled it out and handed it to the puppet. It held it in its little hands tightly and passed it through the crack in the door to the person inside. After a moment the puppet spoke again, “Mute are you! That explains your silence, I figured you were trembling in my presence!”
“ARE YOU CLARICE?” I wrote on my board. The puppet leaned back and laughed, “No, that girl is my lowly servant who attends to my every need, I am the King Pulsar, but please just call me King.” Oh, the puppet has a name. I guess I like to name my plush toys too, so it’s not odd, I just didn’t think they’d have such an odd dynamic. Maybe she’s just really shy and is introducing herself with the puppet?
“MAY I SPEAK WITH CLARICE? I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE MYSELF AS WE WILL BE WORKING TOGETHER.” I make sure to show the peephole as well.
King rubs at his forehead below his funny eyes, “I suppose my servant may be seen. One moment.” King retracts inside the door and it closes, I listen as I can hear footsteps bolt across the room and then back to the door. The door unlocks again and this time fully opens revealing a girl in a cloak with King on her right hand. She has thick bangs that cover her eyes so it's hard to decide where to look, especially when King’s eyes are so visible.
“IT IS A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU CLARICE.” I hold up.
“Yeah it’s nice to see you made it here in one piece.” She smiles, “You only took the test the other day and you already look ready for another one, you must have done really well for yourself.” King turned to her, “Unlike you Clarice!” He turns back towards me as Clarice looks more sheepish, “This girl practically cried the whole test and left all the actual work to me! Hmph, the things I do for my servants.” Clarice sheepishly nodded along, King really did hold all the power in their relationship.
I ran my marker along my whiteboard again, “MAY I ASK IS KING YOUR POWER?”
“He is.” Clarice said blankly. “She has no powers.” was King’s response. I didn’t really know what to say to that so I just watched as the two of them looked at one another. “You really think I’m powerless?” Claire looked almost hurt. King as a hand puppet didn’t seem bothered that much, he did a shrug motion with his hands. “If the boot fits. Your only purpose is to serve me, and even that you aren’t exactly all that  great at.”
Clarice’s lip quivered as she appeared to be getting ready to cry. I quickly jotted down the first thing that came to mind to relieve the situation, “I’M SURE YOU WORK WELL TOGETHER AND MAKE A GREAT TEAM!” Both of them look at my whiteboard and then me before laughing slightly.
King swayed towards me, “Team huh? That's one word for it.” Clarice wiped the tears from her face, “Well you certainly wouldn't get so far without me.” King seemed to glare at Clarice even though he didn't have eyelids. “You wouldn't even be here if not for me! So if anything we're a team with a clear hierarchy!”
This seemed to have a possible effect on Clarice, who began swaying from side to side with a smile, I even think it looked like she might be blushing? “Shucks King, I didn't know you'd approve of us being called a team, I'm so happy to hear you say that. Hehehe.”
King turned to face me again, “See what you've caused, now she's going to get a big head for the rest of the day.” King did a puppet sigh, placing his small round hand on his head as he did.
I began writing down my next question when I heard the elevator ding. Turning to look I saw someone pushing a cart of boxes. It took me a moment to realize who all those boxes were for. When the man pushing the cart stopped at my door it suddenly made sense. I quickly jotted down a message, “THATS MY STUFF I MUST GO! THANK YOU.”
Once King nodded and it seemed they'd both read it I took off to unlock my door for the delivery guy. Behind me Clarice called out, “Let us know if you need any help! We're always available!” To which King added, “Happy to share my servant's attention for a short time, but don't think you can have her all for yourself!”
I didn't have time to turn around and give a message. So I just decided to go with spinning around jumping up and down with a big smile throwing some thumbs up. The message seemed to be received as I could see a smile below Clarice's bangs as she turned around and entered back inside her room.
I got to my door and was greeted by the delivery man, he had the MGI logo on his work jacket so he must also work for MGI. “Are you Sophia?” He asked. I nodded and that seemed to be a good enough response. I opened the door with my fingerprint, leaving the door fully open as the delivery man brought all the boxes in.
The delivery man piled the boxes up in the middle of my room, it was quite the impressive pile. Seeing it all in front of me it really felt like maybe I’d ordered way too much! The delivery man dropped the final box off his cart and left back towards the elevator. Looking at my tower of boxes I began to wonder if things like my vanity had come assembled just based on the size of the boxes. You’d think if I needed to build them they would be more compact? I tear at the tape on the largest box and pick at it until the tape rips off, the box folds open and I can now view the box’s contents. 
The largest box did indeed contain my vanity, and as I had suspected it was entirely already built for me! Thanks MGI, that’s gonna save me a lot of time and effort! I pull the box apart, tearing at the walls until the vanity is sitting just on the cardboard floor of the box. I wiggle it, finding it has quite some weight to it. The delivery man moved these boxes like it was nothing, he must have been pretty strong.
I get on the backside of the vanity and begin to wiggle it back and forth getting it to move slightly with each twist. I slowly walk it over towards the wall where I want it, and it works pretty great up until it doesn’t. Leaning it back this time I was unable to push it back forward, its weight quickly descending onto me. I freak out realizing it will crush me and I’ll probably bust through into the glass of the mirror or something worse. I scream, “HELP” as hard as I can, no sound escaping my mouth of course. I brace myself slamming my eyes shut as I wait for the painful crush to be over with. 
Suddenly the vanity stops falling, I open my eyes to see my savior standing over me. Knight stood raising the vanity back onto its feet, he noticed my open eyes and gave a smoky nod. “Are you alright, your majesty?” I climb back up to my feet as Knight stabilizes the vanity, once I’m on my feet again I wrap my arms around his waist, hugging him. His armor feels cold, but below that there’s a warmth to it. I wonder which one I am right now, myself or Knight. Am I hugging the air, or am I being hugged by the air? Right now it feels like we are both really here, so perhaps it doesn’t matter what others would see.
Knight grabs the vanity and puts it against the wall for me, having my full strength he doesn’t seem to have any issue just sliding it the rest of the way across the floor. Once that was done he took a knee facing me and disappeared with a “Your majesty.” Once he is gone I’m standing next to the vanity, so I was Knight yeah. I wonder why I get to see us as separate if we are really just one body in reality?
I moved onto the smaller boxes next, unloading the clothes I’d ordered and hanging them up in my closet. I also placed my boots and new flats in the closet as well to wear later. I found the box with ribbons and hair ties and I put them into one of the vanity drawers.  I find the spare notebooks and put them away in the lowest vanity drawer. 
I open up my new pillow and sheet sets and begin making my bed. Pulling the sheet over one corner just for it to come off while I’m working on the other. After a few minutes I’ve got the sheet on properly and can toss all my blankets on top. I wanna hop right into bed and roll around in it all, but I haven’t showered today, and I probably want to do that before I climb into my new clean bed.
I found the rolled up poster of Elemental Guardian Vontavia, it came with some adhesive putty for putting it up. I get up on my tippy toes and attach it to the wall beside my bed, now I can have these senior Magical Girls watching over me as I rest. That’s gotta be like a good luck charm!
I put the final items away like my new pencils and deck of cards, once everything is put away I break down the boxes and pile them by my door to get rid of them once I know how to. I take a moment and admire my new room, it’s really come together!