The girl didn’t respond to Dave directly.
Instead, she looked around until she found a reflective surface that allowed her to examine her head.
“Did I get brain damage or something?” she asked to herself, clearly not asking Dave.
“I don’t know how hard you hit your head or if you got brain damage, but I’m telling you that you have the opportunity to become a magical girl if you want it,” Dave said, trying to sound upbeat, even as he felt more and more ridiculous with each word that came out of his mouth.
He hoped that he didn’t sound like he felt.
“You mean like Sailor Moon, Pretty Cure, or any of those other anime?” the girl asked, making Dave wish he knew what she was talking about because then he might have a clue as to what she was referencing and why that applied.
“You can’t expect me to believe that fiction is actually real.” Dave took a moment to respond.
He wasn’t sure exactly how to respond, as he was pretty much in the same boat until he was turned into a stuffed animal.
However, he knew that he couldn’t exactly give the girl that experience, as he doubted that it would do much to convince her.
Dave wished the voice would offer some suggestions because he felt like he was striking out with anything he could think of to say.
Then suddenly he recalled something that the voice had said about transformations.
Dave wasn’t quite sure what that exactly entailed, but he figured that it would at least be something worth trying.
“Well, why not try to transform?” Dave asked, worried that the girl would instead tell him where he could shove his suggestion.
Although, part of him wondered why he felt so nervous about the whole thing given the worries he’d had about the ethical nature of what he’d done without the girl’s permission in the first place.
“Really?
How do I do that?” the girl asked, sounding as skeptical as she had been about the whole offer to begin with.
“Uh?
System?” Dave whispered to himself, not sure what else to call the voice.
*You need me?
I thought you were handling it well enough on your own.* the voice replied, sounding a little too smug for Dave’s tastes.
“How does she transform?
I don’t know how to answer that.” “Hey, are you going to tell me or not?” the girl asked, sounding rather impatient.
*Alright, have her hold up her Soul Gem and call out the words that come into her mind.
Each magical girl has a different phrase, though if they’re on the same team, that phrase can be the same, but there’s no guarantee about that.* Dave took a deep breath and looked at the girl, noticing the crystal star tied around her neck like a choker.
He hadn’t paid it any mind before because he hadn’t seen the girl before, but suddenly as he looked at it, he could sense something.
Something that seemed almost similar to the feeling he’d gotten when she’d had been giving off the pressure of her magical potential.
“Like I thought,” the girl said dismissively, laying back on the gurney, looking like the whole thing had been a bad joke.
“Take your Soul Gem and say the words that come into your mind as you hold it,” Dave said quickly, afraid he was already too late and she was going to refuse to become a magical girl altogether.
“What Soul Gem?” the girl asked, lifting her head to look at Dave, making it clear that he hadn’t quite lost her just yet.
“I believe it’s what you’re wearing around your neck,” Dave said, wondering if he was mistaken about the choker around her neck.
As it was entirely possible that he was misreading the sensation he’d gotten when he’d looked at it before.
“What?
I don’t have anything-” the girl started to say but stopped when she reached her hand around her neck and felt the choker.
“When did this-?” Dave waited for her to finish her question but when she remained quiet after trailing off, Dave realized it was his turn to continue his sales pitch.
“Doesn’t matter when, just say the words that come into your mind as you hold it in your hand.” “What?
Alright,” the girl replied, sounding rather disinterested.
“Crystal Soul Shatter.” Dave wasn’t sure what to expect, but when a blinding light started to shine from the girl’s body, he felt stunned.
He wished there was a warning for him to have had, but the light disappeared almost as quickly as it came, leaving her body shimmering as what he could see of her hospital gown disappeared, leaving her shoulders bare as she glowed.
Then as he watched, fragments of crystals grew up her body from under the blanket placed over her until it reached the mid-point of her neck when it suddenly burst, leaving what looked like some sort of cloth that covered the girl wherever the crystals had been.
Her eyes also took on a purple hue while her hair grew in length and took on a lilac color, with the ends and tips having shades of blue, pink, and purple in them.
One other point he noticed was that her chest seemed noticeably smaller than before.
He wasn’t sure if that was important or not, but it was hard to miss at least.
“How do you feel?” Dave asked, unsure if he should say anything at the moment, but wanting to get on with the whole point of her transforming in the first place.
“How do I feel?” the girl echoed, sounding almost like she was worse than she had been before, until her eyes suddenly widened and a grin came across her face.
“Much better.
Almost like smashing my face into that rock in the middle of the river didn’t happen.” Dave wished she would have put that statement differently as just the thought of seeing someone’s face smash into a rock made him feel a little queasy.
He wasn’t sure if her saying that was a good thing or not, he was just quite sure it wasn’t good for him.