THE MOMENT
"Division of Magical Girls...," Sandy read the title after thoroughly studying the pamphlet. "..a subdivision of Sharp Development. It consisted of red text printed on white paper; it was as boring as the rest of the rooms she'd been in that morning. It seemed the only two colors that existed in the entire building were white with small red accents here and there. She had no idea how she ended up deciding to wear white to her entrance exam; but, she was glad she did.
But, something jumped out at her as she went from room to room for the various tests. And, again, she noticed it on the pamphlet itself. The corporate name Sharp Development was printed everywhere; but, not once had she seen a government mark. She had plenty of time to kill and read through the pamphlet. Though, she was less enthusiastic about the job by the time she got to the end.
"Six years... I'll be a magical woman by the time I'm done...," she giggled to herself. Luckily, she didn't have any interest in being a magical girl. The entire reason she was there was on the advice of her school counselor. Sandy was told it would be great for her college transcript; and now, she understood why. She didn't expect to have to do it for six years; but, it was an opportunity she couldn't miss out on.
"Sandra Dunne?" Sandy looked up when she heard her name called. A young woman dressed in white like a nurse stood by an open door and smiled at her. Sandy stood and walked into the office while the woman walked around a wooden desk and sat behind it.
"Hello, my name is Edna," the woman smiled. She kept her attention on Sandy while she attached some forms to a clipboard and readied a red pen. "You may have noticed you skipped a few steps," she said.
"Yeah," Sandy nodded. She thought something was strange. The examiner singled her out from the rest of the group. Everyone else went on to the physical exam; she was given a pamphlet and told to wait.
"There's a reason for that," Edna continued. "Your favorite number is #42, you are a Unique Soul. Do you know what any of that means?"
"No...," Sandy shook her head.
"Well, for one thing, it means you're overqualified to be a magical girl," Edna replied with a grin. Despite the friendly smile, Sandy felt a sudden disappointment take shape in her gut. "But, that opens up a better option for you," Edna said.
"Damage...," Edna started to explain; but, Sandy gave her a questioning look. "...D.M.G.; the Division of Magical Girls...," she summed it up before continuing. "...is owned and operated as a daughter company to Sharp Development. The kids we pick to be heroes are sort of interns working their way up and into Sharp Development itself. You get to skip that line and start with the company today if you like," Edna slid the clipboard across her desk to Sandy.
"Why do I want to?" Sandy asked. She'd never heard of Sharp Development until she applied to be a Magical Girl. But, in the short period between the sign-up and the entrance exams, she noticed the Sharp logo was everywhere.
"Sharp Development is a powerful corporation," Edna replied. "We have branches on hundreds of millions of...," the young woman paused for a moment to smile. "...alternate Earths. Parallel worlds, some of them just like this one, and some so different you could never have imagined it. If you work for Sharp Development you can work from any Earth you wish; any Earth you can imagine."
"I can be a Magical Girl in an alternate universe?" Sandy asked.
"Or not," Edna nodded. "This particular position is for Magical Girl; but, if you work for the company you can pick a different division to work with. You may also choose to be a different type of hero altogether if you want to help people but not be a magical girl. You could join a Super League, or even be a solo vigilante."
Sandy didn't have any interest in being a Magical Girl; but, now she had a wealth of opportunities open to her. She had an idea of what she wanted; and, she hesitated to ask. But, during their short exchange, Sandy decided Edna liked her job. She got a certain, impartial vibe that felt like Edna had already seen and heard things more surprising than Sandy could conceive. She felt emboldened to take a risk.
"What about something... like a Villain's league... is there something like that?" she asked. Edna stared at her for a moment, then, her ever-present smile grew slightly broader.
"Sharp Development is proud of the honest opportunities it offers to every one of its hard-working employees," she pulled the clipboard back to her side of the desk. "However, if you're looking to do evil...," She placed a transparent glass card on the desk and slid it to Sandy. "...Sharp Development has a few extra opportunities you might be interested in."