SB: Introduction

Author's Note: This is a simple story that is used to help me figure out what I need for the prologue of Magical Girl Ava and the Cursed Harness. There will be sections in here that will be different based on the player's choices.  They'll be marked with []

{Fade in from black.  Focus on the interior of the shuttle, Meghan is sitting on a seat.  She is the only person on the shuttle.}

It was a bright and sunny day, I would love to say that, but I was on a shuttle down to the planet and it was night. I had been delayed at the space ring, and I could do nothing about it.  It was a new life for me, coming here for tertiary education and maybe college. I had no connections here, which was both good and bad.  No one knew who I was, but then again, NO-ONE knew who I was.

Who am I?  I’m glad you asked.  I’m Meghan Higgins.  Who’s that? Well, no one really, she’s no one, but you might also know me as Magical Girl Ava.  Yes, that’s right, it’s me.  The savior of Calibran planet.  Proud defender of justice and defeater of the demon horde.

That was all behind me now.  Now I just wanted to be a regular girl, go to training school and then maybe university afterward.  I’m nineteen now, and I’ve been fighting demons for ten years. Ten long years until my youngest sister took up my wand.  I did keep some benefits.

“Almost there Milo.”  I said quietly to the fox that lay in my lap.

“I can see that Megs.  I’ll be glad to breathe real air again.”  The thoughts came directly into my mind. Milo was one of the benefits I kept when I left my home world.  Every Magical Girl needed a mascot.  Mom thought she was an angel; Dad said she was an alien.  Milo didn’t tell us but I agreed with Dad.  Not that I was talking to them anymore.

See I didn’t exactly tell them I was leaving, and I felt guilty about leaving my sister my wand.  It’s complicated, but to make a long story just a bit shorter, I ran away from home and came here to start a new life.  Milo insisted that she was coming with me.

Not that I minded.  Milo’s white fur was soothing to touch, thick and plush, and I could run my fingers through it over and over again.  The shuttle we were on, was the last step in our trip. Juentual Three was our destination. The third mining colony of the Juentual coglomotrate.

A newish colony, it had only been here for three quarters of a century.  Past the third stage of colonization.  It even had it’s own orbital ring, where all the the families had moved to after the recent boom.  No-one was on planet now but the miners, support staff and students like me.

Yes, I’ve come here for tertiary training, and to start a new life.  That’s right, these are the adventures of Perfectly Ordinary Girl: Meghan Higgins… Roll Credits.

Touch down was at 1:30 am.  I’d love to act surprise that there was a 1:30 in the morning, when most people were dead to the world.  But I often had to fight demons when they were the strongest… But never on a school night…. Who am I kidding, I failed tests because of the early morning battles.  Including the entrance exams that I had studied for.  Maybe I was a bit mad afterwards…. But they deserved it really.

The shuttle was mostly empty, not many people wanted to take the red eye flight to the surface.  Especially when those delayed were given the option of staying in a luxious hotel.  Milo and I decided to come down now, we’ve been in those hotels before part of my old life and I really wanted to get away from it.

I gathered up Milo onto my shoulder, one of her favourite places to perch by the way.  She liked to watch people’s reaction as they realize she’s not a fur coat, but a real fox.  The passenger shuttle, was just a mining shuttle fitted with a typical passenger bay. No windows, basic seats, no amenities. There wasn’t even a cockpit on this shuttle, everything was automated, including the doors, and seatbelts.  We had the pick of seats, Milo was my only companion.

When we pitched up at the customs and immigration desk I was able to use my brand new passport for the first time. Since I wasn’t stopping on the orbital ring I didn’t have to present it there.  During our planet hopping trip from Calibran through the alliance, I just needed my citizenship card.  Juentual wasn’t part of the alliance.  Which means that no-one back home would know I was here.

The customs person, officer, er man looked irritated when he took my passport.  An old man looking to be at least thirty-five, maybe even older.  Might be because I was the only one in line.

“Do you know what time it is?”  He asked me as I handed him my passport.

I tried not to be sarcastic, “It’s 1:50 am, sir.”

“Bah, don’t you know most people-“. He started as he opened up the passport.  His face went slightly pale as he looked at it.  Then back to me, and then back to the passport.

“Please put your hand on the biometric’s scanner, ma’am.”

I tilted my head to the side, confused, but did as instructed.  His tone had changed from the harsh old man grouch to a much more neutral tone.  My hand found the scanner, I never liked these things.  Everyone said I was over reacting, but every time I touched one I got a shock, and it felt like something was trying to push my mana out of the way.  I did my best just to grin and bear it.

“Oh…. What brings you…. To the planet?  Your Excellency?”

Excellency?  Where did I hear that title before?  Was he trying to ask me out or something?  I know I take care of myself, and magical girls are pretty even in their untransformed state.  It comes from, nevermind where it comes from, it’s just normal.

“Umm, oh, yeah, I’ve come to attend the tertiary school, the pre-university course.”

“Oh, yes.  History and culture, and all that.”

“Umm, yeah.”  That’s it, no I’m here for science and technology.  They have this interesting energy crystal, only found here.

“Do you mind me asking why your excellency is coming here at this time of day?  The chief wants to make sure to greet foreign dignitaries from the alliance properly.”

Foreign Dignitaries?  What is he talking about?  What did Rex do?  I just asked him for a passport, so I could attend school outside of the alliance. Rex was my friend in the state department.  He’s known me as both Meghan and Ava for at least five years.  When I helped save those diplomats from Seti Nau IV.  He really helped me keep from putting my foot in my mouth.  Can you just see a fourteen year old saving the ambassador and his daughter from the wrath demons, and not even knowing how to address them…. Oh shit!

I quickly had to cover things, “Oh I don’t like the pomp, if everyone knew that someone like me was coming to school, would they still be friendly?”  Yeah that’s right.  What did my passport say.  Class A(c) or something like that.  Rex said it was normal for students.

“That makes sense, but I should still get the chief, he’ll know what to do.  Just follow me to the VIP lounge.  It’s not manned right now, but it’s more comfortable than these chairs.” He grabbed my passport and led me behind the booth towards a hallway.

The room he led me to was definitely posh, I think that’s the word.  With overstuffed leather couches, that felt so good to sit on when he left.  milo had kept quiet all this time, and I looked over to her.

“I think Rex gave me the wrong passport.”

“No, I think he gave you the one he thought fitted you best.“

“But why?  I don’t want to be an ambassador.  They’re the only ones who get called ‘Your Excellency’.  What about the current ambassador?”

“There isn’t one, remember?  You didn’t want to go to an alliance world remember?”

“But don’t they have to go through all sorts of paperwork and get permission and all that?”

“Yes, they do.”

“But… I don’t want that!”

“Would you rather be listed as a strategic weapon?”

“I am not a strategic weapon, milo!”

“Not since you—“

“Gave up my wand!  And even before then I was not a strategic weapon!”

“You definitely were.  It’s why you left.”

“Look, this isn’t getting us anywhere, milo.”

“You always try to change the subject when you’re losing.”

“No I don’t!  What are we going to do about this?  An ambassador is going to have her movements tracked by the local people, she’ll be driven everywhere.  Given special treatment.”

“And you don’t want special treatment?”

“No I don’t.  It means I have to…”

“Be reliable?”

“No, fight again.”  I could feel my emotions spiraling into the dark hole again, no I had to stop it.

milo quickly tried to cheer me up. “Well what do you want to do? Run?”

“Yes.  That’s a good idea.”  My fox mascot just sighed at me.  “Think we can get past the cameras and to the metro station?”

“That’s not a good idea Megs!”

“Why not?”

“You’ll leave your luggage and passport behind.”

“That’s the point!  I don’t want to be special.”

“Fine.  But I don’t think it’s a good idea.”  milo muttered, but I could still hear her clearly.

“It’s decided.”  I went over to the door to the lounge and had a look down the hallway.  There was a ladies room there that I could use.  At least that got me out of the lounge.  And there were signs pointing towards the tram station.  That would be easy to follow, but there were cameras. And we’d have to sneak past them.

“Up for some sneaking milo?”

“If we must.”

The first stop was the bathroom.  No peeking now.  I had a look at myself in the mirror, and I could see what the first impression was.  I looked nineteen, and not the most affluent person around.  I was wearing a comfortable half T-shirt over my ample breasts, and a comfortable set of gym shorts.  I looked slovenly at best.  But it was comfortable.

My only foot wear was the sneakers I was wearing, not even socks.  My underwear? That's private.

The first camera was fairly easy to sneak past, the patrol zone it set up went back and forth, and while it was pointed away from us I just stood under it.  Why do people think that fewer cameras are good for saving money, when fixed cameras would be better?

The next few cameras were just as easy to get past, but then came the hallway towards the metro station.  It was fairly large, and there were cameras everywhere.  It might not be as easy to sneak down.

“What do you think milo, think we can sneak past?”

“If we went up, we probably could. Go from arch to arch.  But that means j umping, and without your magic I’m not sure you can do that.”

That was a problem.  I swore off using magic again, and I would keep to that promise.  I’m not going to break it just because it would be convenient.

[Player's Choice: PrologueEscapeDirection (PrEsDi)]  Which way should I go?

[Choice: PrEsDi.AirVents]  I'll take the air vents

[Choice: PrEsDi.

Then my eyes saw the air ducts. One was right over a set of seats, and I should be able to get in there.  They were set up to feed large rooms, so they should be big enough to get through.

“Let's go up there, milo!”

“They look dusty and not cleaned.”

“Well that means they probably won’t look there then.”  I was convinced and I was going to do it.  I got up on the couch, and moved the air vent out of the way, and let milo hop up first.  You’d think it wasn’t my first air vent.

Those air vents were dusty, but there was nothing we could do about it.

Taking the Air Vents

I removed my shoes, to keep them from banging against the thin metal of the air duct.  Even crawling on all fours, especially in an air duct, you lift up your leg as you move.  The air ducts were a bit too tight.  I was fourteen the last time I crawled through one of these, and I've grown since then. I tied my shoes together and held the laces in my mouth.

We were heading in the general direction of the metro.   The first obstacle was a vertical section we'd have to climb.  Fortunately, it wasn't to big, or too small.  Milo got on my shoulder again.  Climbing an air vent for a small white fox is hard.  It also doesn't help that there was a fan at the bottom of the shaft.

"Watch out Megs, it looks like there's some metal poking out."

I tilted my head and looked up, "I doubt they come in here to refasten the clips.  I'll do my best to avoid it."  I thought back to her, I couldn't really answer with my mouth full of laces.

After worming my way upwards, we got to another horizontal air duct.  Milo hopped off my shoulder and went to investigate.  I climbed my way up and performed one of the harder moves in air duct movement, getting back to horizontal without falling down the shaft. It was fairly warm in the air duct, go figure with the metal around body temperature.

Halfway through I knew something was wrong.  My shorts had gotten stuck on the transition.  I was committed and couldn't grab them.  They slipped off my hips and were down to my ankles before I was comfortable reaching back to them.  The air duct was barely big enough for me to  turn around to grab them.  I had to pull my legs completely out of them to turn around, and without my ankles on them, they fell, down into the shaft.  I winced when I heard the tearing sound.

"Fuck."

"What's wrong?"

"I lost my shorts!  When I pulled myself up, they got caught.  And when I went to reach for them they fell into the fan."

"Oh."

"We need to move on, what's up ahead?"  I asked.

"There's a branch to the left and what looks like the main passage continuing on."

"Let's check out the branch."

"We're not here to explore."

"You're right but you never know."

I crawled along the air duct, and we went to the branch.  It was smaller but I could still crawl on my hands and knees, if only barely.  My back was up against the top of the air duct, but I could barely feel the metal.  The metal was close to body temperature, I felt the air more than I felt the air duct.

My vision was restricted, and I couldn't tilt my head back and move at the same time, because the air duct was so tight. I wasn't paying too much attention until I stopped, and I heard what sounded like clothing ripping.

"What's that?"  I asked, "Sounds like something is ripping?"

Milo was at least ten meters ahead of me, and she stopped.  "Yeah, it's something behind us."  I turned my head and turned my body a little, and I heard another rip.

"There it is again."

"Let's get to somewhere we can turn around and see if something is following us."

I moved forward again, and then suddenly, I found my shirt around my wrists.  That ripping was the back of my shirt from the collar down to the hem.  I was still moving, and I had to scramble to keep from falling; my hands came out of the shirt, and the flow of air took it.

"Double fuck!"  I said, dropping my shoes to the base of the air duct. I had to catch them before they got caught in the airflow.  I had to scramble to catch them.

"Maybe this wasn't the best idea."

"You think?"

I sighed and picked up the sneakers again, and kept going, "Hopefully we can get to the end soon."

"Careful there's a fan here, and it's leaking lubricant down the slope."

"Thanks, Milo."  When I got to the fan, I could see the problem. It was installed at the top of the vent, and pushed air downwards.  Probably from an air intake on the roof.  I could see another air vent above the fan, and the stars beyond.  But there was no way I was going to be able to get out that way.

The air duct turned to the left and slopped downwards, "I see how slick it is."  I thought to Milo as I started to move carefully down the slope. Not carefully enough as I misjudged how slick the floor was and I fell down on my front and slid down the air duct. As we went I could feel the slime like lubricant against my breasts and groin.  I didn't have much time to think about that as I hit the vent cover at the end and went through it into the room beyond.

Somewhere along the way I had let go of laces of my sneakers.  Fortunately, the drop from the event wasn't far, only about three meters, and my instincts and training kicked in, and I was able to hit the ground and do a roll to kill my momentum and get back up to my feet.  That's when I felt the cool air against my nipples and groin.

Above my head were the busted remains of the air vent, my panties and bra hanging from it mocking me, ripped and … melted.

"What happened?"  I asked as I quickly covered myself as best I could.  Milo hoping out of the air vent, down to my shoulders again.

"I told you to be careful; you slipped."

"That's not what I meant; why are my panties melted?"

"Might be something in the lubricant, that reacts to the synthetic material?  Don't ask me I'm not a chemist."

"Oh."  I looked around the room. It was mostly dark. It was more of a warehouse than a room, with a large vehicle door off to one side, a smaller person-sized door, and another on the opposite wall. There were crates and boxes in the warehouse and a big sign that said 'Impound Warehouse #4' over the vehicle door.

"We're in an impound warehouse. Maybe we can find some impounded clothes or something here?"

"We can try, Megs."

I started to have a look around the room; most of the crates were closed up tight, and only some of the crates by the inspection area were already opened.  So after a bit of fruitless searching, we went there.

"SMU Corporation?  I haven't heard of that one before."  I looked in the first crate, it was definitely a shipping crate with more things inside.  The first box I pulled out had the words '4000 (base) set, 34 cm normal' written on it.

Opening up the box I found foam packing surrounding a set of seven metal rings of four different sizes.  I pulled out the largest one, it had a set of D-rings and O-rings attached, and what looked like terminal connections.

"What's this?"

"Looks like a slave collar, and a pretty expensive one."

"How do you know that?"

"You don't want to know Megs."

I closed off the box, and looked at some of the other boxes in the crate, 'Shock module, asphyxiation module, and explosive module for 4000 series?'  I decided not to look through that crate anymore.  And then opened up one of the other crates that was there.

Another shipping crate, but this time, I pulled out boxes and listed 'Ball, ring, and combo.'  What I found in the first box was a bunch of leather straps attached to a rubber ball.

"What's this for?"

"That goes in your mouth, Megs. It helps you be quiet."

"Like this?"  I asked as I brought the ball up to my mouth and felt it slide behind my teeth.

"I didn't think you'd actually do that.  Take it out, Megs."

That sounded almost like an order from Milo; I paused momentarily when my rebellious teenage nature warred with my common sense.  I couldn't talk with the ball in my mouth, so I pulled it out.

I almost wanted to see what the other things were, but I decided against it. I couldn't help but examine the ball and leather harness. The three buckles were made of steel, and each had a pin with a loop through the end.

"This is all stuff that slaves wear, Megs.  Nothing for you to wear here."

"There might be something more covering here,"  I said as I opened the third crate. Something that looked like clothing was in there. "Ahh, here it is. SJD?"  I asked as I opened the clothing bag and pulled out what had to be a shirt. There were long sleeves, but I couldn't tell what else was there.

I put my arms through the sleeves like a jacket. "It's too big for me,"  I said as I pulled back the sleeve to adjust the neck buckle. "Umm, where's the rest of it?" I asked.

"It's just straps; they won't cover it.  It's probably not a good time to play dress up, Megs."  I started to yawn; it was almost three AM, and I was getting worn out, and my brain was fuzzy.

"But I need something to wear,"  I said as I started to take off the jacket and straps I had found.

"I don't think we'll find anything here."  There was a rattling at the door; it sounded like someone was going to come in from the spaceport.

"We better get out of here, Megs. It might be a night patrol.  Lets see if we can sneak past him quietly."

"Ok."  Then I thought about the ball that Milo told me about, "You said this would help me be quiet.  What are these straps for."

"Not quiet in the way we want, Megs.  They're for around your head."

Quiet is what I wanted, so I put the ball back in my mouth and took a moment to figure out the straps.  There, not even a yawn would get out.

The door to the outside had opened up, and a guard with a flashlight came in.  I waited till he walked by.

"What are these doing here?" He had found my sneakers, still tied together.  I didn't wait; while he was distracted, I slipped out the door and looked back and forth. The metro station was to my right, and I ran off towards it.  A train was just coming in.  There was a fence, but the guard had left the gate open, and I went through. 

Boarding the Train

I was past the turn styles so I didn't have to worry about a ticket.  No one was about as I jumped onto the train.