Help

"Thankies!...people notice it a lot, and they should...I mean..it's only the most expensive phone in the world...but anyway don't worry about having no phone, we can keep in touch via my friend Yata-Garasu!" With those words Alice pressed a button on the music-player clipped to her skirt and what seemed to be a small tear in the very fabric of reality tore open right in the air above Alice. From out of the hole a black, robotic bird with glowing red electronic eyes and a gunmetal grey beak about the same size as a crow flew out of the portal. Alice extended her arm and the robotic bird landed gracefully on it, standing cold and motionless as if it where the stately raven of Poe's most infamous poem.

"This is a little toy of mine called a Yata-Garasu Unit. I have a lot of them. The're how I communicate to all my friends who are a part of my game without others knowing. The're tricky little things that nobody can detect because they use the space between worlds to travel." Alice said as the mechanical bird stood erect and silent on her arm.

"Now, how this little birdy works is simple. When I need you, I'll send one to you and it will play a holo-message telling you what your newest assignment is. You don't need to do anything except watch. Yata here does all the work for you. All I need you to do is let me give you a tracer of some kind so Yata can find you. Most of the time, I give my friends a nanite injection, but I don't think you'll need that unless you want it of course. Instead, I can give you a portable tracer that you can keep on you or, at the least, in your room so Yata can wait there for you. That way you don't have to get a needle stuck in you and worry about robots in your bloodstream." Alice explained as the Yata Garasu unit continued to sit comfortably on her arm.

With those words a cone of red light came out of the Yata Unit's eyes. It started up high and moved down slowly, in what looked like a scanning motion. As the cone of red light moved a small device slowly began to form in the red light. At first it looked like a red, digital grid, but in a matter of seconds it turned from a grid to a small piece of black metal with a large, eye-like mechanical red circle in the center of it. When the red light disappeared the object left it's suspended position and fell towards the ground, the force of gravity finally doing it's work. Alice caught it in her other hand and gave it to Claire. "See? No phone, no problem! Just keep this with you or in your room and I can always talk to you through my friend Yata-Garasu!" Alice said with glee.

Sadly for Claire, Alice didn't desire true friendship. While Alice may act perpetually friendly, but beneath it all was pure wickedness and a hunger for absolute power. Within that dark space, Alice could not help but revel in twisted glee at her new victory. Claire was hers to do with what she wished. Perhaps... She thought Perhaps she could be enticed to join the Black Specters down the road. That would be a great day indeed...another specter to add to the roster. Alice continued in her mind. Surely, Alice thought, she was strong enough to be at least a b-ranked, if not a-ranked agent...and with a little training S-Rank was not out of the question. However, while dark thoughts flowed through her mind in the outside world Alice remained the friendly girl she pretended to be as smiled at Claire and responded to her comment.

"Thank you, Claire-chan! That means a lot to me...your pretty awesome too, you know. However, Yata here isn't a gift. You're gonna have to work if you want to be a part of my game, and I got your first assignment. Surely, there are other students who would want in on my little game? They don't have to be good people either. People that hate humans or those who just want power, wealth, fame or some other selfish desire all fit the bill. Simply put, I'm looking for students who'd be down with my plan, no matter what their reasons, and I want you to find them for me." Alice said to Claire.

" There is a catch, though. I don't want you telling them about my plans; I'm gonna do that myself. All I need for you to do is find them and tell me who they are, name, grade, physical description and their powers if possible, is what I'm looking for. You don't have to sway them to our cause, don't worry. That's MY job. All I need you to do is find them and tell me who they are, I'll do the rest. So, think you can do that for me Claire-chan?" Alice asked Claire.

"Of course there's more you can do! For one, I'd just like to hang out sometime, if you'd like that. We can't be all work now can we?" Alice responded to Claire. In her mind, she all but believed Claire was hers. Yes...this one is eating out of my hands. If I "befriend" her perhaps she'll be more open to induction into the specters. Alice continued to think to herself, still overjoyed at her new "acquisition."

"So...when do you want to hang out next, Claire-chan?" Alice asked in her usual happy tone.

Right now? Well, now was as good a time as any, Alice thought. The sooner she got her claws deeper into Claire the better, after all, so in Alice's twisted mind right now was as good as any time and most likely better. "Yeah, right now is good for me too...most of my friends tend to work around my schedule, not the other way around, so I'm up for anything. So what do you want to do, Claire-chan?" Alice asked Claire.

"Ooo...I know one place we could go! Would you like to see one of my houses? I have a bunch of them all over the world in the most beautiful places and I could take you to one right now if you like. It's pretty far away but we can use a special vehicle that travels like Yata to get there in no time flat!" Alice said to Claire. "How about my mountain home? It has a great view. It can get pretty cold and snowy outside though, but it's still a beautiful place." Alice continued. One more question, Claire-chan, do you play any videogames? I'd absolutely love to play with you if your into that kind of thing? Alice asked.