Minus-four looked down at the unconscious creature before it. Thoughts within that structure...if it could only get at them, it could experience so much...know so much... It wanted to...it thought it could get at them, if it only had the time. So many memories and sensations stored within... Perhaps...perhaps it could find the answers to all these questions...perhaps it could understand these feelings... It reached out its hand towards the unconscious squirrel-girl, thinking as much of the softness of her fur as it was of the potential information...
NO! This was maddening! This was not part of the plan! All these strange thoughts and feelings crowding unbidden into its mind...this wasn't supposed to happen! It had a purpose, it had a job to do! It wasn't supposed to be getting distracted by all these trivial things like sensation and...and emotion, and...being! This form was crucial to the plan, and yet it was the chief obstacle! It couldn't just...
It looked back at the creature again. Just a moment, just as brief and simple an observation as it could conduct...just a taste! It would only take a moment, not even a whole minute...then it could be on its way. Surely, that would be okay? It could stop after that, surely! And maybe that could help alleviate this distraction, and it could focus more effectively...
No. Minus-four stared down at it, hand clenched and trembling, then stiffly whirled about, turning its back to the unconscious figure, huffing, lip curling into a pout. Fine! It didn't want those thoughts, anyway!
It had to focus. Time was of the essence here; Four was close enough that it must have been detected by now. She was not moving away yet, but there was no time to waste. Minus-four had to do this...to fulfill its purpose, to bring an end to this internal chaos and...and...emptiness...
...what was it?
Trying to pull its attentions back to the task at hand, Minus-four straightened up and bounded off in the direction its target lay. For some reason there was fluid build-up in the corners of its eyes...yet there were no foreign materials within that needed to be purged. Perhaps it was a reaction with the air rushing past...
Robert was panting heavily by this point. She was...she was near the park, she guessed. She didn't come out to this area too often, but she thought that seemed about right. But as for finding this girl...she was lost again. She was just too fast, and so tireless...whatever she was, she had more energy than even an ordinary child her age.
Stepping gingerly towards the park, the devil-woman spied a little figure huddled on the grass. Alarmed, she rushed over. It wasn't the girl, it was someone else...a little squirrel-girl. She sighed in relief when she found that she seemed to be simply unconscious, though that didn't look like a position anyone could ever fall asleep in. She laid the girl out on the grass and gently shook her.
Lilly snapped back to consciousness with a start. "Huh!?" she gasped. "Wha' happened? Who're you?"
Robert smiled, though she was more concerned than cheerful. "I'm Robert," she said. "Are you okay? You were just lying here...did you go to sleep?"
Lilly frowned. "Nuh-uh...I was...there was a girl who looked like my friend Jenny, but she wasn't. I thought it was Jenny wearin' a costume, but she was actin' all funny, an' then she...did some kinda magic, or somethin'..." That sounded very strange to say, but Lilly wasn't sure how else to explain what she'd seen!
Robert eyed her curiously. "This girl...was she about your age, with black hair in four braids?"
The squirrel-girl stared up at the strange red-skinned lady. "You know her?"
Robert nodded. "I'm trying to find her...I think she's lost or needs help."
Lilly smiled. "I can help! I can follow her better 'n you!" At last, something she could do!
Robert didn't really want to drag some little squirrel-girl she didn't even know into this, but it was obvious the child wanted to help, and it would be good if she didn't lose track of this strange girl even further. "Okay," she said. "But you be careful, okay? If there's something dangerous up ahead, let me deal with it."
Jenny stood ready, feeling tense and holding Muriel's spare hand tightly. She had done her transformation into magical-girl form, and Tetra had told her what she could. She had to be careful that this "opposite" didn't touch her, or she would be killed, and maybe a whole lot of other people would, too... Her lip trembled a bit. She didn't want to kill anything! She wasn't supposed to be like that! ...she didn't know why she felt so strongly like that, but she did.
But...if other people could get hurt, maybe she should? She remembered what Muriel had said, when she'd taken her and showed her her gun...the same gun her mom was now clutching in her other hand. If she could save other people by doing something like that, then maybe...but she didn't want to...not if she didn't have to...not if there was another way...
"M-mommy?" she asked, looking up at Muriel. "Are...are we gonna be okay?"
Muriel couldn't find the words for a moment. She tried to think about it...she didn't know, but could she just lie to her daughter? But...she realized she was overthinking it. This wasn't really a question, it was a request. Jenny...her little girl wanted to hear her say it...just like she had at that age...even though she didn't really know. "Y-yeah," she said, choking up a bit. "We'll be okay."
Jenny nodded and squeezed her hand. Nothing now to do but wait...Tetra standing on Jenny's shoulder, and Artemis off to one side. Muriel desperately hoped the moon-girl was serious about being able to keep out of the fray; her mother had only just gotten Harriet back, she didn't want to have to tell her that...that she was gone for good.
Suddenly Tetra stiffened. "Here it comes!" she said. There was the noise of something moving in the brush on the far side of this particular clearing; light rustling as it swished through, and brief, crunchy thumps as it hit the ground. Muriel kept her hand around the gun. Then, with a final bound, it landed in the clearing, and stood.
It took a moment for Muriel to resolve the figure. She blinked in confusion, then stared, her mouth dropping open. It felt like every organ in her body was tying itself in knots. It couldn't be...no, it couldn't! Not...not Jenny! Not her little girl...she had black hair, she was dressed differently, and something about her movements seemed...off, but the resemblance was clear...
She felt her hand tremble. She'd wondered, now and again, in the course of her job, if she would ever have to shoot someone. She'd thought about the implications, and what reasons she could consider justified. She had gone through the scenario in her mind, sometimes, when she was out at the shooting range, and she thought...she didn't want to, but if she had to, she thought she could do it. But in her mind it was always adults...a mugging gone wrong, or a psycho stalker, or something...she'd thought that the hardest thing she might ever face was if it was a teenager. But this? A little girl...her little girl, almost...
"No," she murmured. "No, no...it...it can't..." Without even thinking about it, the gun slipped out of her hand and made a heavy thump on the grass. She stood and stared.
Tetra's attention was torn between the enemy, which had paused for a brief moment to collect itself, and Jenny's mom. This was not good! "Muriel!" she said. "Muriel, listen to me! That's not Jenny! It's an enemy, it's only taken that form because they want them to completely cancel out! It's not her!"
It didn't seem to do any good. Muriel couldn't stop staring at the girl; she didn't even give any indication of having heard. She sank to her knees, still staring. Tetra nudged her partner. "Jenny," she said, "we gotta move! You can't let it touch you, remember?"
Jenny nodded and backed away, pausing for a moment before letting go of her mother's hand. The enemy turned towards them...it stared at Muriel for a long moment, a curious expression on its face, then turned to Jenny. Both the magical girl and her mentor could see in its eye that it was ready.
