Subway (3): Absolute Obedience
The door gap wasn't wide, as if they were on guard, so I couldn't see inside clearly. But the eyes of the magical girl staring at the Hypnosis App were perfectly visible. Her hypnotized gaze lost all focus, her expression turning blank. The hypnosis I was about to implant now was crucial. There was sure to be another magical girl inside the cab. I still hadn't confirmed if it could affect two at once. If the one inside sensed something off, it could turn into a major problem.
"From now on, you obey me absolutely."
"Ugh...."
Grape was top-tier, friends with Rapid, and my team leader at the company—a unique situation—so I'd thought to use the most natural hypnosis possible and avoided provocative commands. But there was no need for that here. This was a magical girl riding the subway during rush hour, in a place I couldn't reach unless I wanted to. I wasn't sure if such a strong command would work, but if it didn't, I'd switch to something else fast.
"Aah... ugh...."
After issuing the command, a light flashed briefly above her head before fading away. This was a first. From my experience so far, a glow like that meant mental resistance kicking in. So I could judge this as an attempted resistance that failed.
"Open the door."
Whether my judgment was right or wrong, I'd know once the trance lifted. The girl with the blank eyes obeyed, opening the door and revealing herself to me.
She was even shorter than I'd thought when I held the app at eye level. A tiny magical girl in her thirties with the look of a child, red hair, red uniform—Lui.
"From now on, you consider all my actions completely natural."
That was the hypnosis done. This should be plenty. With absolute obedience implanted, if another magical girl noticed something suspicious, I could just order Lui to subdue her. Or if it came to confrontation, hypnotize her during. And if no one noticed? Even better.
"Eh? Huh...?"
I turned off the app, and Lui regained her senses, looking up at me with a bewildered expression. She seemed totally confused, unable to grasp the situation.
"Hello, Lui."
"Ah, hello...?"
"You know, right? I'm here to check the magical girls' working conditions. Mind if I ride along for a bit?"
This was the tensest moment after hypnosis. To test if it had taken hold properly, I asked for something only possible if it had—calmly, like it was nothing. I tried not to show it on my face, but my heart was pounding like mad.
"Ah, of course... I know! Yeah, ride along... of course?"
"Alright, then I'll board."
Good—hypnosis successful. I'd thought it was a pretty strong command, but she accepted it without a hitch. Maybe she obeyed any order, no matter what.
But if content didn't matter, it bugged me that this mid-tier girl had tried to resist the very first command, unlike a top-tier like Grape. Did stronger commands trigger resistance more easily? I'd have to test that gradually.
"Ugh...?"
I brushed Lui aside and stepped into the cab, but a sharp sting at my neck made me freeze. A dagger was pressed to my throat. The cab was dark—no bright lights to avoid stimulating any Infected—and I belatedly spotted a black shadow inside. Black bobbed hair, black mask, sharp eyes, body wrapped in mesh, arm and knee guards, clothes with deep side slits. Small chest, but incredibly wide hips.
"What the hell are you?"
This must be the other magical girl waiting in the cab. I should've thrust out the app right away, but she already suspected something—blade at my neck. Had she caught the hypnosis moment?
Subway magical girls had to stay transformed at all times, ready for crises. Even mid-tier were superhuman compared to normals, incomparable to top-tiers but still able to punch through concrete walls with those slender arms. Reaction speed and physical abilities far beyond human—too late to hypnotize now.
"You—what the hell are you doing! Rose!"
"Ah!"
I tensed, wondering if I should command Lui to subdue her, but before I could, Lui smashed her shield into the woman's head.
The magical girl called Rose clutched her head with both hands gripping the dagger, letting out a pained cry.
"B-but... you said earlier, if a suspicious person tries to come in, subdue them right away..."
"Suspicious? Can't you see? It's a work environment inspector!"
"Eh? Is... is there such a thing? First I've heard..."
"Of course there is! This is why rookies... haa, and earlier you went and broadcasted on your own, making trouble..."
Rose listened to Lui, her eyes welling up as she apologized to me.
"S-sorry! So you're staff...? I'm new to this post!"
"Haa, really... Ah, want to sit on the sofa? You're staff... right? Don't recognize the face."
Lui's reaction made me pause in thought. Already showing differences. Grape seemed to sense incongruities in anything I hadn't directly commanded, getting puzzled. But Lui felt no such thing—she was adapting herself to fit the hypnosis.
Just personality? Or mid-tier vs. top-tier difference? I'd have to look into why these gaps occurred.
Lui had me sit on the sofa, then picked up the mic up front and started the announcements, setting the train in motion. The cab filled with the rumble of wheels on tracks. Rose kept stealing glances at me, while Lui treated me like I wasn't there, continuing whatever conversation they'd been having before I arrived.
"Anyway... Rose, your mom's a famous magical girl, right? So proud? Then do things right so you don't get chewed out."
"Y-yes..."
"So why are you screwing up on our first shift together? I told you not to touch the mic during my rush hour, didn't I? But the second I step out to the bathroom, you go and do it?"
"But... it didn't match safety protocols..."
Apparently, Rose was a newbie freshly promoted to mid-tier and assigned to the subway. That earlier broadcast had been her going rogue.
I lounged on the sofa, legs crossed, enjoying their exchange a bit longer.
"Haaa... you think following the manual gets the job done? You gonna do it right or not? Making subway magical girls look like a joke?"
"S-senior... th-there's... staff here right now..."
"Ah, don't mind me. Just here to check working conditions."
"Heard that? Trying to dodge using the staff as an excuse? You messing around?"
Rose's face shifted to one of regret. Even with her mask covering nose and mouth, her eyes made her expression crystal clear. She realized her mistake, and Lui—spotting that realization—laid into her like a corporate boss.
"You're the same age as Arna and Siena, right? All twenty? Must be nice? Just became adults and already mid-tier, assigned to a sweet subway spot to build experience?"
"Yes..."
"So why are you different from them? Arna's rich, fine, got training—but Siena didn't. Your mom's a magical girl too, elite and all?"
"I never said elite..."
"If you don't wanna hear crap like that, stay sharp even after drinks and don't go bragging about your mom being a magical girl. Right?"
Rose clenched her fists, trembling as she nodded.
"Y-yes... sorry."
"When you see a magical girl like me, you think 'thirties and still on the subway, serves her right'? Fans are vicious, so she deserves it?"
"No... watching you handle it so skillfully, I thought it was impressive..."
"Oh yeah? My cute little voice taming big, sweaty pigs looks cool? Suits me?"
"Su-suits..."
"Not what you meant? So it doesn't suit? Answer properly."
"...Sorry."
This Lui was way off from the image I knew. Not in a good way like our department head, but some other unpleasant flavor. Still, from the conversation, I got their dynamic. Rose, the rookie, respected Lui and was still green on subway ops. Lui, in her thirties with tons of life experience, was infamous as a veteran forced into long subway shifts via malicious fan campaigns.
To Rose, Lui's words during duty were gospel. This was getting fun.
"Lui."
"Yes?"
"Come to the sofa for a sec?"
"Haa... sure."
I called her over, legs crossed on the sofa, and she trotted up like a kid before plopping down. The way she sank into it screamed burnt-out office drone.
I glanced at Rose, then placed my hand on Lui's chest.
"Eh?!"
But Rose reacted before Lui did, raising her dagger hands before lowering them. As I kept kneading, Rose looked confused, lifting the dagger again, then pointing at me.
"Um...! Senior?! That guy's...!"
"Hm? What."
"Senior, b-breasts! He's touching your breasts!"
Rose blurted it urgently, weirded out that Lui hadn't noticed, and Lui slowly looked down at her small chest gripped in my large hand, eyes full of annoyance. She tsked once, then turned to the finger-pointing Rose.
"So? What about it?"
"...Huh?"
"It's natural, isn't it?"
"Yes?"